Texas Christian Advocate (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 50, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 22, 1903 Page: 1 of 16
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Texas Christian Advocate and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
A
-0
N,
A
-8g
—
E}$
(R
77
L. BLAYLOCK, Publisher.
Official Organ of all the Texas Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
G. C. RANKIN, D. D., Editor.
No, 9
Dallas, Texas, Thursday, October 22, 1903,
Vol, L,
Editorial.
I
t)
■ •
nipe
demands and exactions of his high rule of
against his father’s judgment, and grew up ed, while the man responsible for the trouble
$
3
I
r (
V
4
J
,/
I
without training and guidance. True he nev-
er lost sight of the fact that he was Abra-
ham’s son, and he was present and took
part in after years with Isaac in the burial
of their father, but he was an embittered
youth and a prejudiced man. His life was
estranged from good, and he naturally de-
veloped the traits of the desert brigand. His
unfortunate circumstances made him what
he was. He was naturally capable of some-
thing better. But he had no opportunity.
There are similar cases to-day. Boys come
into this world with the odds against them.
There is no one to train them at the proper
time. They fall into ways of vice and im-
NO REAL LIFE WITHOUT
SACRIFICE.
Life is valuable only to the extent that
it lays itself out for some noble and useful
purpose. This is true in the lower orders
of existence. The flower is useful in the
reproduction of its fragrance and beauty for
the pleasure of others. To accomplish this
end it grows, matures and then dies; but it
life. Luxury does not enter into the best
escaped with only a serious wound. The
whole community is thrown into gloom on
account of the affair, and it comes about by
the effort of those who set themselves above
the law and who do not propose to submit
to the law. And this sacrifice of life fol-
lows. But every righteous cause must have
its martyrs. Somebody, even the innocent,
must often suffer for the offenses of the
guilty. Bad men do wrong and good ones
become the victims. Tins seems to be the
law of life. We have to submit to it, but
the truth will grow stronger because of it.
God will vindicate the right in his own good
time. Let no one become discouraged. We
When you get the worst of a controversy
do not lose your temper and grow disagree-
able. Study the question at issue more close-
ly, and it may be that all the truth was not
on your side. We do not always like to
acknowledge it, but once in awhile defeat is
better for us than victory.
must go ahead and carry every county possi-
ble for local option, and if bloodshed follows
it will be upon the heads of those responsi-
ble for it. Bad men must not be allowed
to browbeat public sentiment. The blood of
the martyr will become the seed of prohibi-
tion. On with the battle!
23.23 7g*ES
e EXAS -
2V
•) 1
W
ISHMAEL, THE WILD MAN OF THE
DESERT.
Ishmael was Abraham’s son, born to him
of his bondwoman. In this day such a
birth would be out of wedlock and therefore
sinful, but not so in that day. Polygamous
marriages were then according to the un-
written law of the land among nearly all
peoples, and under this state of things Ish-
mael was born. There would have been no
trouble about the boy’s presence in Abra-
ham’s household had it not been for the fact
that a few years thereafter Isaac was born
of Sarah, the head woman of the family.
Up to this time Sarah was satisfied with
the condition of things in her tent, but after
the birth of Isaac she refused to tolerate
Hagar and Ishmael. She drove the woman
with her childd into the desert, and such
was her strength of character that Abraham
had to submit in this instance to her im-
perial will. Ishmael was not responsible for
(his birth and in some sense neither was
ildier. Shewas not a member of the
household of her own accord—she occupied
the place of a servant until her mistress gave
her a sort of pre-eminence. She was the vic-
tim of circumstances, and so was her son.
She was pushed out into the wilderness to
make her way the best she could with no one
upon whom to lean for support. Ishmael came
into the world with a unique temperament.
His father was a Hebrew and his mother an
Egyptian. He inherited the strong elements
of both races. He was a mixture of the two.
He had the great individuality of his father
and the weird, roving disposition of his
mother. He grew up in the wilderness, a
sort of wild man. He loved the forest and
the chase, and he became a mighty hunter..
He had none of the settled habits of home
life. He loved the freedom of the hills
and the desert. He became the head of a
great tribe and his descendants are still
the people of the desert. From him sprang
great national strains, but even to this day
they have been a curse to the highest type
of civilization. Whose fault is it? You
have to look backward through the interven-
ing centuries to Sarah’s tent and dominant
will to locate the fault. Had he been kept
under his father’s roof the results would
have been different. But he was cast out with
a degree of cruelty and neglect, though
living. We are to give of talent, influence,
activity, means, moral investment until the
experience pinches and hurts, before we get
the greatest' good out of the'giving. This
holds good in all cases of actual service.
When we feel the pang of intense thinking
and serving we are manifesting the real
value of living. This sort of devotion will
often lead us to where we will have to say,
"Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass,
nevertheless not my will, thine be done.”
At such times we may well be convinced
that we are not far from the real example of
the Master. In such an hour life takes on
its highest value.
makes the world richer while its life is ma-
turing and dying. So with the tree that
yields its fruit. It literally gives itself for
man and beast. It never appropriates any
of its own produce. The same is true in the
lower forms of animal life, but more espe-
cially true when you come into the sphere of
human life. "No man liveth unto himself
and no man dieth unto himself”" is a maxim
applicable to all useful existence. In pro-
portion to our ability to suffer and to sac-
rifice is the extent of our importance as a
factor in the great plans of providence.
This was the underlying principle in the
plan of redemption. Christ had large ability
to suffer and in his suffering he satisfied
a broken law and prepared a plan for man’s
escape from sin and its consequences. He
knew no sin, yet he suffered for our sins.
As his followers, we are to accept his law of
sacrifice. We are to toil, to undergo self-
denial, for his sake, and then lay the results
upon his altar. "If any man will come after
me, let him deny himself, take up his cross
and follow me” is the Savior’s injunction.
A life of ease is no part of the Christian
Indifference is the enemy of spiritual en-
terprises. Opposition is not to be dreaded
half so much as inertia. When the Church
is vigorously opposed without, she arrays
herelf for the conflict. She gets ready for
battle, but when indifference settles down
upon her forces she becomes paralyzed. Her
energies drag and her vitality runs low. The
inspired writer knew exactly the import of
his words when said, “Woe unto them that
are at ease in Zion.” There is nothing to .
stir them and they sleep on their rights.
But when fierce opposition attacks them they
arouse themselves and seek for help to over-
come it. The great effort of the ministry
to-day is to awake the indifferent to a sense
of their danger. Under the spell of lifeless-
ness the Church languishes and the adver-
sary triumphs. “Awake thou that sleepest"
needs to be the cry of every pulpit in the
land.
LIFE’S LITTLE THINGS.
Life is not made up of the great things.
Neither is the world in which we live. It
is composed of atoms. These are infinitely
small. Yet the great physical universe is
composed of them. We are often prone to
underestimate the small elements that enter
into life, character and experience. We
place the emphasis on great matters. In
this we err. The small deeds, the small
words and the small influences make destiny.
Even moral principles have their beginnings.
When you analyze great acts you find that
small constituents enter into them. A mul-
tiplicity of little things makes a great one.
Opportunities do not come to us full grown.
They are oftenest embryonic. They grow
larger aS W become shronger and wiser to side qf experience, Ese can hot meet the
use them. Fortunes have to grow from -
small accumulations. Happiness is the re-
sult of the attention we give to the passing
moments. The little attentions given to the
home circle, the kind words spoken in time
of depression, the caress bestowed upon a
drooping heart, the loving pressure of the
hand, the . little smile, the little act of kind-
ness—these are the things that make home
happy. The result is stupendous, but the
elements entering into it are small. How
much we miss by neglecting these little mat-
ters! Yet life is full of opportunities for
the largest investments of our time and
attention for brightening and inspiring each
other in the struggle and toil of oor daily
drudgery. To-day we se a poor woman with
a sad face and tearful eyes. She is hungry
for a little sympathy, and we fail to give
it, and she passes on unrelieved, and we see
her no more. A poor fellow heavily laden-
ed comes into view. He is discouraged and
weary, and he longs for a kind handshake
or a word of helpfulness. We are too much
absorbed with other matters to detect his
need, and directly he is wallowed up in the
world. We left home this morning and fail-
ed to imprint the kiss upon loving lips, and
as a result there is an aching void all the
day long that even a little thing like a kiss
could have filled with joy. These little at-
tentions and courtesies make the bright
spots in life. They lighten our burdens,
they dispel our clouds, they let in the sun-
shine. Why not take advantage of them
while the days are going by?
A DEPLORABLE TRAGEDY.
A deplorable tragedy was enacted one day
last week in the town of Mineola. Whisky
was at the bottom of it. Some time ago
Wood County voted in local option. It went
into effect. A party undertook to “boot
leg” whisky in the town in violation of the
law. A United States Deputy Marshal, who
was also a private detective, was engaged
to ferret out the offense, which he did, and
as a result indictments were found against
the guilty party. The officer was on the
streets of Mineola and was accosted by the
indicted man. An altercation followed in
which the man against whom the indict-
ments were found was shot once or twice
very severely and fell to the ground. The
City Marshal ran in between the two men
and stooped down to pick up the one wound-
ed and a stray ball hit him in the head,
from which he died in a day or so. At the
same time the wounded man gathered up a
pistol and fired at the detective, killing him
instantly. A good citizen who was standing
near by was also struck by a stray bullet
and seriously wounded. Thus two prohibi-
tionists were killed and one fearfully wound-
morality and finally they become criminals.
Are they wholly responsible? We doubt it.
Either their parents or society, or both, are
responsible. And society reaps the harvest.
Men have to erect courthouses, support
Judges and Sheriffs, build jails and gallows
as a means of protecting themselves from
the presence of these criminals. Better take
them when they are boys, put them in
school, bring them under religious influ-
ence, teach them habits of industry and give
them a chance. This is better morals and
better economy than to let them grow up
neglected, learn the ways of sins, fall into
crime and then have to be dealt with by the
criminal courts and the prisons. Give the
stray boys a chance and the probability is
that some of them will make men instead
of criminals. We have the young Ishmaels
all about us. What will we do with them?
Send them out into the wilderness? Or
gather them into our Sunday-schools and
try to make men and citizens out of them.
If we follow the former method, then we
must prepare to multiply our officers and
prisons. As a matter of fact we either have
to save them or later in life punish them.
The good of society demands it. Which
will we do?
$ $
e
A /
2,e9
9
9
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View nine places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Rankin, George C. Texas Christian Advocate (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 50, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 22, 1903, newspaper, October 22, 1903; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1594192/m1/1/?q=War+of+the+Rebellion.: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Library and Archives Commission.