SUNDAY CIRCLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14245, 20 June 1908, Page 4

SUNDAY CIRCLE.

DEVOTIONAL. Nor Mine, But Thine. l Whose eye foresaw this way? ' No: niit'ic. ! Whose hand marked out this day? Not mine— A clearer eye than mine, < 'Ttvas Thine. 1 A wiser hand than mine, ' "i'was Thine! I Then let my hand be still, | In Thine, ■ And let mo find 'my will ( In Thine! , M. D. Babcock. j SupmcATiox. Accept our thanks, Almighty God, for all | the mercies in Thy revelation, and for tho . augmentation of that life which makes tho I revelation of Divine truth in Thy Word I clearer and clearer by the experience of 1 outward life. Cleanse us from mistake, from superstition, and from ignorance. Give us believing, trusting hearts, not for fear, but for love's Sake. May that ladder « which Jacob saw with his head upon tlio < slono be given also to those who have been ' taught, to lie upon the ground with but a ■ stone for their pillow, ivfay the angels of 1 God be seen ascending and descending; * and though the bottom of the ladder bo upon the ground may the top bo in > heaven. So bless us, we bcsoccli Thee, ' because Thou lovest us; and teach us to < love Thee, and to live a life of love for Christ's sake. Amen. — Henry Ward ' Bcecher. < 1 Meditation. &leltuai, manhood. " Strengthened with might by Ilis Spirit . in the inner man." . ( Spiritual robustness Js the need of tho ] day. The Miracle of Strength made per- 1 feet in weakness, in suffering, and in sor- j row, is so familiar, that the Life of tho < Spirit is by some accounted tho peculiar ■ privilege of the weaklings. But on the ' battlefield, in the struggles of daily life, men do not hand over their responsibilities ; to women, however devoted; —to the youth, however enthusiastic; —to the sick and suffering, however heroic. How can the ; Manhood of our Church, our Nation, our ; Race, loco without remorse the pathetic. ; reproach, "If ye offer tho lame and the [ sick, is it not evil'/" Have they not heard the battle cry: "Be ye strong, and very courageous!"'! Tho < Forces of tlio Spirit embodied in robust and vigorous manhood will carry all before them, recreating for our day and generation the Ideal of "the perfect man, tho - incisure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." If the world is to be conquered for tho Holiest, manhood must be to the fore. What might not be the result if, this day, hundreds of fresh recruits fell 'into the ranks! The generosity of manhood is nettled, tho broad views, the masterly intellect, the straigqhtforward, direct methods which strong natures may contribute. But the Indwelling of the Spirit must come first—an Indwelling whieli shall not weaken or dilute natural gifts, but shall multiply them a thousandfold. "Ye shall receive Power,—after that the Holy Ghost, is como upon you"; Power—moral, spiritual,., intellectual;— Power for governance; Power whereby the rule of the Divine may be hastened. ' Never in the history of our Race lias opportunity been so vast. Tho world lies open. Everywhere men's spirits are stirring witliin them. It is the Call of the Holiest quickening our inaction, summoning to the standard the manhood of our Church and of our Kace. Reserve and diffidence hold many back. " No man takcth this honour upon himself "out he that is called of Gcd." Does any doubt his call'/—let his heart be still enough to hear God speak. Let the Spirit in the inner man (not the surface personality, but the real man as he scarcely knows himself) have free scope; and once more shall tlie miracles of the apostolic times be accomplished in, our midst. "He was full of faith and power, and they were not able to resist the wisdom and tho Spiritby which He spake." 0 God, the Strength of all them that put their trust in Thee, mercifully accept our prayers, and because, through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without Thee, grant, us the help of Thy Grace, that in keeping of Thy commandments we may please Thee both in will and deed, through Jesus Christ our Lord.—Prepared for uso at tho ii'anAnglican Congress, Sunday, Juno 21. Exhortation, the harvest of sacrifice. You cannot have Gcd's beat blcssing» without sacrifice. How often we hear men pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit, as though it were something to bo'had merely tor tho asking, when all the while it i 6 a gift that can only be had on the condition of sacrifice. The baptism of the Holy Spirit must always bo preceded by the "baptism of self-surrender, it is the same with the victory over sin.- We do not get that victory by some miracle which God works in a man 6 nature, but by the sacrifice of conflict and ofttimes of agony. We must drink of the cup. _ And shall the Kingdom of God come without sacifice? God help us to fulfil the conditions of our own prayers. He has giv-an. He is willing to give. He just waits for to malic it possible for Him to give. There is the cup, and there is the baptism, and there is no blessing without. There is but one road, and that is the road Christ walked. It may lie through Gethsemauo, and up the hill of Calvary, but it is the only way. And it is the same in every age. No sweeter is the cup, No loss our lot of ill, 'Twas tribulation ages since, 'Tis tribulation still. E. E. Cim. SOUP AND SALVATION. During the past six months tho Salvation Army hag distributed 129,000 basins of soup to homeless wanderers in London betweon the hours of 1 and 2 in f-he morning. These men have beon sought out by volunteer workers of the Army, who have themselves been picked up from a similar condition. Hundreds have been put in tho way of earning their own living, and scarcely a week has gone by without three or four runaway boys being discovered by the ofiicers and returned to their homes. It will be .remembered that tho Salvation Army's soup distribution came in for rather severe criticism from Mr Burns during the debate on the Address last session, the president of the Local Government Board staling ' that, lie had himself been the recipient of the Army's charity, although fresh from the King's levee at, the time, wearing court dress under his overcoat, tlio distribution of soup will be discontinued during tho summer, though the Sunday morning free breakfasts, which are given to men found on the streets during Saturday night, w'll be continued throughout the, year. During April over 1100 applicants' asked for work at the Army's Labour Bareau at Whitechapel—a fair index of the trade depression which is spreading over the country.

ABOUT PEOPLE. The Rev. J. G. Henderson, of Islington, speaking at Claremont Brotherhood, said a woman once said to h'm, " It's all right my man going to your meeting and singing ' Hold the fort.' What I want to know is, when is he. going to hold the baby?" Mr Henderson added : " We have bee singing 'Throw out the life line.' That is very good. But how many of you men would be quick to help to put out the clothes line';" Miss Tonning, who was presented to King Edward at the Norwegian Court, wore full Salvation Army uniform on the occasion, ami made quite an impression on his Majesty. This lady has for 15 years been associated with the Salvation Army as an officer. She is an exceedingly capable woman, has charge of the women's rescue and slum work in Norway, and is a member of the Christiania City Council, where her business ability and shrewdness are much admired. Dr Wilbur Chapman leaves America early this month for Engla.nl, and he and Mr Charles M. Alexander, who are to conduct missions in England, are to be welcomed in London on June 24. Mr Alexander is publishing a new mission hymnal with ihe new hymns and tunes he has gathered during the hwt two years. Mr Robert Harkne'ss, tho pianist, who composes as many as 20 hymn tunes in a day, : when tlio mood is on Ipm, accompanies tho evangelists,

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME,

MiVs Olive Booth, the 16-year-old daughter of Airs Braiuwell Booth, road a paper, written by her mother, at tho life- ( vegetarian demonstration in tlio Memorial ( Hull, London. Slio appeared in the 5 familial' blue costume am poke bonnet of , tho Army. Mrs Booth's two youngest chil- [ dren—Dora and WyolHle—wore also on tiio < platform. L'ke the General, both Mr and ( Mrs Brumwell Booth are practical vege- ( tarians. and all their children have grown ( up on a strictly noii-fksh diet. Many of ( the Army's homes, especially tho Women's ; Inebriates Homo and the " Nest"—an c establishment for the care of homeless and \ destitute,—are run on the same simple ( lines. j Among ihe colonial representatives ex- < peeled to be present at the General < Assembly of tho United Free Church are ( the Rev. Dr G'bb (from New Zealand), tho ( Kov. Dr Cairns (from Victoria), and tho 1 llev. Dr Meiklejohn (fror New South 1 Wales), 1 The Rev. R. J. Campbell described him- 1 self on a recent Sunday, when he entered ; on his sixth year as minister of the City | Temple, as "the best hated man in tho < British pulpit." He was. conscious that 1 his people had had in some re- 1 spects a trying tinio, and, he added, ; "I certainly have." Ho spoke of ' the time sinco his sottlomcnt in London as 1 I "stormy years'," and could see no imme- J I diatc prospect that it is going to alter. < Then, in defiant tone ho added, "and I | am not sure that I care." ."Popularity : and tho true service of Christ do not go I hand in hand." < Wall street, New York, has an evangelist I of its own—the llev. William Wilkinson, ; a divine who addresses the stockbrokers every day on spiritual matters, and has ] the friend of all tho financiers, 1 because they recognise that he is '' tho one 1 man who comes our way without an axe ; of his own to grind." Mr Wilkinson, for ■ whom tho Bishop of London preached in i Wall street last. October, is a native of Huddersficld, who settled in America, 27 years ago, and was at first engaged as an , Episcopal missioner to the Indians. He i was due in England' this month «s chair- 1 man of the Minnesota delegation, to the Pan-Anglican Congress, and was to be the 1 Bishop of London's guest at Putnam ; Palace. i Dr Washington Gladden, who was : coming over for the International Congregational Council at Edinburgh, has been urging tho Congregational Churches of America to face the fact that two-thirds of their members are women. It is, he says, abnormal and shameful; it is contrary to nature and a scandal to the Church. There is something wrong about a religion that attracts only half as many men as, women. There are a million a.nd a-lulf more men than women in the United States, and no reason can be suggested why. the 9ax« should not, be equally reoresonted in the Church. We have none too many women, ujkl no one can tell the debt we owetto them, but a preponderance of female influence in the Church or anywhere else in society is unnatural and injurious. Dr Gladden adds the hope that thn Mon'e Brotherhoods have come to the at this time to redress the balance, and restore to the Church the element of masculinity in which it is deficient. THE BIBLE SOCIETY. YEAR'S ISSUE-5,638,381 VOLUMES. 'Die British and Foreign Bible Society held its lORli annual meeting iu Queen's Hail, under the chairmanship of the president, the Marquis of Northampton. Rev. A. Taylor gave a summary of the annual report. The year's issues amounted altogether to 5,635,331 volumes. This total is 272,000 copies above the output in tho previous year. It still falls 298,000 bolow the record total announced two years ago. Compared with 1906-7, Bibles sliow an increaso of 21,000, while Testaments are 95,000 fewer. The issues from the Bible House in London for ihe past year were 1,838.281 _ copies—an increase of £5,0C0 on tin; previous year. The growth, however, liad been in foreign versions tent out frontLondon. The issues in English and Welsh amounted to 1,105.000 copies—a falling oil of 112,000 from tho previous year, which again was IW.OOO below tho year before. This fact was due to the issue of cheap editions by other publishers, and though it meant, a decrease to the society vet thev rejoicod in tho fact, that others were carrying on the work. ' With respect to finances, tho total income of the year amounted lo £240,106, and the expenditure to £227,456, leaviug an excess of income amounting to i! 12,650. They preferred not to have a deficit. During Hie year the society has completed a new Welsh Brevier Reference Bible, and a new edition of tho English Bible in Braille type for the blind was in preparation. FROM ALL SOURCES. Discussing the recent loss of membership iu the Wcsleyan Church in England, the Methodist Recorder says:—"lt is no use saying that we must not take the results of the census too seriously. We cannot take them too seriously. The results are disquieting and distressing in the extreme. We are disposed to think, moreover, that wo have not seen the end. What this person, or that, will «ay of Wcsleyan Methodism is a small matter tliat need givo us no concern. What Jcstm Christ is saying about it all is the chief thing for us to consider. Perhaps it may bo necessary that we shall need to judge some of our most cherished convictions, some of our most popular ideals; but a man ought not to hesitate. He who clings to any theory or any ideal in despite of facts is in tho worst of perils; and nowhere is the peril so great as iu a matter of this kind. We are convinced, from many signs, that the crisis is a grave one, graver than most people know. Modern tendencies are coming to the hour of their judgment. In the days that are immediately in front of us, we shall need tho wisdom of our wisest and the strength of our strongest. If wo think that a great 1 revival would eolvo our problems we should 1 be better content. But that solace is denied us. One thing only is clear—' He that fol- • lowcth Mo shall not walk in darkness.'" The Church Missionary Society's work 1 in Uganda has of late years been greatly ' aided by the consistent support it has re- | ceived from Sir Apolo Kagwa, the Prime ' Minister, and many of the loading chiefs. - Mr W. G. S. Innes, of Mengo, holds a 1 weekly Bible-reading, in the Prime Minis- ' ter's house, where often a» many as 30 of ' the highest chiefs' in Uganda meet for the '- study of the Bible. Finding; the attendance I at school unsatisfactory, Mr Innes applied > to tho Prime Minister and some. of the 1 leading chiefs to appoint " school inspec-1 , tors," with the result that 13 wore ap- • pointed forthwith, one in each of the vil- - luges round Mengo, whoso duty it is to look - up the absentees from school. Mr Innes is 3 able to report that the scheme is working r admirably. ) One of' tho most striking advances tos wards unity of modern times took place r recently at Jerusalem. The Hoiise of 5 Bishops of the Church in America, in contemplation of tho coming Lambeth Conference, look advantage of the occasion to send a fraternal message of good will to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and deputed the Bishop of Southern Florida to 1 act on their behalf. The Patriarch re- ' coiwl UlO deputation with exceptional t cordiality, and cxpres.-vd delight at tho - fraternal greeting of the 100 bishops in y America. He presented his photograph, and expressed the earnest hope that Ihe " union of the churches was not so very far s distant. Bcforo the interview was over,' 1 the Patriarch knelt down amongst those R present, and afterwards gave them his benediction. There is no doubt that the tendency amongst the churches is rather 0 to magnify differences than to recognise points of agreement; when, afler all, the e differences are not so great when weighed (1 and carefully considered. In the drawing ■ s together, the clearer light shows that, we ~ are human, and are much more in agrecv merit than we imagined. _ A certain s preacher once illustrated this- in a simple, s but striking, • manner. When walking out I, one day, he saw on the opposite hill what a appeared to bo a monstrous figure. As he approached, however, he saw it was a man, and, drawing closer still, he found it was his brother 1