Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

myself."me."sermon,"standing?"preacher."more."happy home life, the quiet services for worship in thelittle palaver house sufficed. The chapel still stoodwhere he had helped build it unfinished and unused.One day Maa looked up to see the priest standingin the doorway.stands."away!""Samuel Maa, why is this chapel still"No one ever told me to tear it down,"Well, I'm ordering you to tear it downand so itrightBut Maa explained that he had gone to prison fora month for having built what there was of itcrudenative materials and that the District Officerupon releasing him had said nothing about destroying it ; therefore he was not going to lay a hand uponit either to build or to tear down. By this time therewere others peering in over the priest's shoulders.Maa recognized the chief from up the road a mile orso where the priest had his chapel ; he recognized toothe evangelist of the Roman Catholic community.The priest turned away in wrath, and Maa sawthe axes the evangelist had brought. They crossedthe road followed by the crowd that had gathered,and priest and evangelist started swinging. Presently, they stood back to survey the ruin they had made,apparently satisfied. With the townspeople lookingon in silence, they marched off up the road and disappeared around the bend.A few Sabbaths later, we were in Maa's villageagain for the worship service in the little palaverhouse. They have come to know that they need nochapel of poles from the forest and thatch from thebamboo swamps in which to worship ; that more acceptable is the heart swept and made ready and filledwith the spirit of praise.The little community of Christ's followers inSamuel Maa's town has grown since these thingshappened. Man can reach out and lay waste what ismade with hands, but he cannot reach in to taketheir Gospel songs treasured in the heart. Out in theAfrican night, along the myriad trails, in innumerable villages under the Southern Cross, drums willthrob in shameful dance and raucous voices be liftedup in heathen chant, but in Maa's village and in hundreds of others like it someone will lift the song,"Jesus loves And other voices will join in,voices of men and women and children who havecome to know the love of God, and who, in spite ofoutward circumstances, possess their souls, andSING!The writer of "They Sing" is a graduate ofPrinceton Theological Seminary and a missionary"somewhere in Africa." For the protection of himself, his work and his African friends, his name andfield of service are not disclosed. Samuel Maa is notthe real name of the native Christian leader.GLIMPSES from page 66a cast of 250 went on about a year, at a cost of about aquarter million dollarsi. If it has the effect of producing morethousands of readers and believers of the Holy Scriptures, theexpense will be abundantly worth while; for the Scriptures areable to make one wise unto salvation through faith in ChristJesus.Not Satisfied with GainsThe liquor traffic is never satisfied with its inordinategains, says The Evangelical Christian. Like the horse leechNo matter how many livesit is ever saying, "more,are wrecked in this world and souls ruined for the next, thebrewer and distiller thinks only in terms of money. Nowwe read that attempts are being made to have liquor sold inOntario in grocery stores. It is quite possible, of course, thatthese evil plans will succeed, and many men who considerthemselves Christian will dispense the vile stuff over thecounters of their shops. In this connection we are reminded ofa story of a grocer in Europe before the war. The man wasan earnest Christian who kept Bibles on his shelves to sell tohis customers. One day a buyer came in and wanted to ordera case of whiskey. The grocer pointed to his shelf of Bibles,and shook his head. "Whiskey does not fit with these," he saidsimply. The grocer's logic was sound, simple and Christian.Too many Christians the world over are trying to fit both theBible and things contrary to it into their lives. This Europeangrocer knew better and recognized the incompatibility ofdrink and Christianity.ROCK OF AGESA POOR SERMON"It is a poor said George Whitefield,"that gives no offense, that neither makes the hearerdispleased with himself nor with the Itwas a noble eulogium that Louis XIV passed on oneof his preachers, Massillon : "I don't know how it is ;when I hear my other chaplains I admire them, butwhen I hear Massillon I always go away displeasedwithW. Jay.The Free Methodist72THE COVENANTER WITNESS