Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

will.'REMO I. ROBB, D.D.ECtH. Allen Tupper (Great Texts andTheir Treatment)CovemTO ILLUSTRATE THE C.Y.P.U.TOPICSOctober 3 My Part in the Home.A Modern Heroine.One Sabbath evening in a Westernfarmhouse, a plain farmer was teachinghis little girl Charles Wesley's hymn,"A Charge to Keep I Have." They cameto the verse:'To serve the present age,My calling to fulfill-On, may it all my powers engageTo do my Master'sThe godly father told his little daughter thai the Creator had brought herinto the world in order that she mightfulfill that verse. The child believed it.Thenceforth that was her understandingof what she was born for. And becausethat verse took possession of that littlegirl and started her on a great career,Frances E. Willard stands in perpetualmarble in Statuary Hall in the Capitolat Washington, the one woman whosestatue has a place under the dome inthe nation's Hall of Fame.October 10 My Part in the Church.The Necessary Spark.Recently I have visited Fort Monroeand was taken through those interesting barracks. An officer, pointing out agreat gun, said to me: "With that wecould tear to pieces yonder wall of stoneand destroy many lives thousands ofyardsaway."A friend, standing near,said: "Not so; that gun itself is powerless." "Oh,"the officer exclaimed, "ofcourse we must first place powder andshell in it, and then the disastrous workwill be done." The reply was made: "Allof your guns and powder and shell areabsolutely powerless to make any impression in themselves. One thing islacking." "Yes,"he said, "but a sparkof fire would hurl forth the missile ofdeath and bring about the great destruction."We may have bigguns in the pulpitand in the pew, we may have the finestmachinery and external equipment; butunless we have the fire of the HolySpirit we can never shatter the strongholds of Satan and bring in the rule ofour Spiritual King.200October 17 My Part in School andCommunity.Are We Responsible?The implications of a doctrine of human brotherhood are somewhat exacting and it is therefore easier to denythat the social classes owe anything toone another.In the days when William H. Taftwas governor-general of the Philippines,some American citizens sangFilipino:about the'He may be a brother of William H.Taft,But he ain't no brother of mine.'"Dear Jesus," prayed a little girl atbedtime, "we saw a man today withoutan overcoat and he was very cold, andhe looked very hungry, but it's noneof our business, is it, Jesus?"A business man, asked to subscribeto some temperance enterprise, refusedto help on the ground that it was noneof his business whether other men weredrunk or sober. Two hours afterwarda telegram was given him saying thathis wife and daughter had been killedin a highway accident. As he learnedlater, the driver of the other car hadbeen drinking. At so great a cost didhe learn that social irresponsibility isnot a well reasoned creed.October 24 My Lord A Living Lord.A minister asked an old negro hisreasons for believing in the existence ofGod."Sir,"said he, "I have been heregoing hard upon seventy-five years.Every day since I have been in thisworld I see the sun rise in the east andset in the west. The north star standswhere it did the first time I saw it;the seven stars and Job's coffin keepon the same path in the sky, and neverturn out. It ain't so with man's works.He makes clocks and watches ; they mayrun well for a while; but they get outof fix, and stand still. But the sun andmoon and stars keep on the same wayall the while. There is a wondrousPower that makes one man die and another get well; that sends the rain,motion."and keeps everything inOctober 31 My Lord A Just God.God Uses Men.Justice is positive. It means the painsFortaking bestowal upon other lives of thesame sort of constant, sacrificial ministry, bylived and without which we could notwhich we ourselves havereally live at all. Father Damien goesout to the lepers because he knows thatif he were a leper he would not wish tobe in helpless, unbefriended isolation,unrelieved by any touch of human kindness. Florence Nightingale goes out tothe Crimea because she knows thatif she were a wounded soldier broughtin from the battlefield, she would notwant to toss in pain unnursed by a woman's gentleness. Pioneers blaze thetrail of medical missions, because theyknow that if means of healing wereanywhere available, theywould notwish to lie in needless pain or see theirloved ones die in agony amid the rattleof witch doctor's drums. If once theGolden Rule were taken seriously, ifmen in earnest put themselves in theplace of all oppressed, benighted folk,unbefriended, and cheated of their sharein civilization's gains, and if in earnestthey set themselvesto do for themwhat they themselves in similar casewould need, there would come a worldwide tranformation of social life.REPORTS OF THEGRINNELL CONVENTIONCOMMITTEESTHE PLAN OF WORK COMMITTEEWe, of the Plan of Work Committee,recommended as a four year objective,the following items under the generalheading,OUR COVENANT OBLIGATIONS INSPIRITUAL GROWTH.These are to be adjusted to the conditions and needs of the local society.1. Bible Study Memory.We suggest the introduction of asystematic individual Bible study andmemorization with a regularly plannedgroup discussion. Methods are to bedecided by the local societies.2. Witnessing.We suggest the formation of evangelistic groups, both speaking and singing,for the purpose of sharing withothers our experiences in the Lord.We suggest also that a visitation program be set up in cooperation with thepastor.COVENANTER WITNESS