THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21022, 10 May 1930, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME, A SMILE OF GOD. God wills but ill,” the'doubter said. Lo, Time doth evil only bear. Give me a sign His love to prove— Hw vaunted goodness to declare! " The poet pointed where a flower, A simple daisy, starred the sod’ And answered; “Proof of love’and power . - Behold, beloved, a smile of God!! " A PRAYER. May we still wait upon Thee, O God: open our hearts to. Thee, let the light and warmth of Thy love flood our minds and hearts and souls, as flowers open themselves and drink in the light and warmth of the SUn, and become their true, beautiful selves thereby; so may we rest in ,c conscious thought of our living union with Thee, in Christ. ’ Amen. ■ THE CHALLENGE. Here is the challenge to the Christian Church. What is to take the place of the non-Christian faiths? What can satisfy the souls of these children of darkness? What can give them, vision to direct their steps to -God, and enable them to walk in the ways of brotherhood and Me? ' A TEXT FOR EACH DAY <sf THE WEEK. Sunday.—“ The Lord is my strength, He is become my salvation, He is my God- • • • I will exalt Him.”—Exodus xv, 2. __ God is my strength, and my power. Tie maketh my way perfect.”—2 Sam. xxn 33. Monday.—“ I will love Thee. O Lord, my strength My God, my strength, in Whom I will trust;.my buckler, and the hnjn of my salvation, and my high tower.” —Psalm xviii, and 2. “ The Lord is my strength and my shield. —Psalm xxviii, 7. Tuesday,—“ The Lord will give strength unto His people: the Lord will bless His Poople with peace.”—Psalm xxix, 11. The salvation .of the righteous is of the Lord: He is their strength in time of trouble.”—Psalm xxxvii, 39 Wednesday.—“ God is our. refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. The Lord .of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob, is our refuge.”—Selah.—Psalm xlvi, 1. 2, and 7. 1 Thursday.—“ Whom have ’l in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee? My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. It i 8 good for me to draw near to God.” —Psalm Ixxiii, 25, 26, and 28. Friday.—" The way of the Lord is strength to the upright.”—Proverbs x, “Behold, God ia my salvation: I will trust, and not'be afraid: .for the Lord Jehovah is my strength. Therefore with joy shall ye-draw water out of the wells of salvation.”—lsaiah xii, 2-3. Saturday.—“ Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because He trusteth in Thee. Trust ye - in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is, everlasting strength.”—lsaiah xxvi, 3-4.- “ O Lord, my strength, my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction.”—■ Jeremiah xvi, 19. —H. R. Higgens, in the A, C. W. REJUDGING JOHN WESLEY. ", I was born too late to experience the whole weight of the Puritan tradition,” ■writes Mr Gilbert Thomas in the Nation and Athenaeum. “ But I ivas horn early enough to. feel a part of it.” . , “•Over my bed in those days," he says, there hung a portrait of ‘John Wesley, A. MJr— somewhat forbidding in itself, as the sterner portraits of Wesley certainly are. Is it t surprising that I associated that portrait with the tedium of chapel, and that I.came to regard Wesley as the human prototype of a relentless Judge? It was not until years later that, having discovered, his ‘Journal,’ I found that Wesley was no mere ‘ fire and thunder ’ evangelist, , but a scholar, a gentleman, a philosopher, a poet, a social reformer, a humorist, and the most comprehensive and acute observer of his age. I realised then that, one could not judge Wesley by •he Wesleyans—any. more than, to carry the idea a. stage further, one could judge Chnsf by most Christians’’ MORE BEYOND. A young.man.who had spent hia life in the prairie country .of the. United States had always longed to see the ocean, finally the war came, the youth enlisted, and was assigned to overseas duty. The first day at sea, as he stood looking out £ver “e waves, he said to an officer, , I -v e heard a lot about the ocean—is this all there is to it? ” “ Hardly,’’ was the laconic answer. " There’s a lot beyond —don’t forget that." . • pf how many things in life may it be said There’s more beyond? ” Is it in the realm of human wisdom and exploration. How little we know compared to that which is waiting to be known! :The philosopher’s illustration still holds good for most of us. We are just children picking up a shining pebble here and there along the shores of wisdom; the great ocean of infinity still rolls beyond. Is it in the realm of spiritual' knowledge and experience? Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not. Ana which entered not Into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them that love Him. . ' CHURCH FINANCE. The International Association for Church Finance reports that in connection with the conference to be held in Edinburgh in July of next year sub-com-mittees are already being set up in the United States, Australia, England, and elsewhere, and that there are signs that the conference will mark a great advance in the adoption of modern improved methods of church finance all over the world. The association suggests that when possible extensions in the college curriculum for theological students are under consideration the question of, modern methods of church finance and organisation should be kept in view. x AUGSBURG CELEBRATIONS. Preparations are in full swing for the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Confession of Augsburg this year. A stream of literature has poured from the press making known the full historical significance of the occasion. The most outstanding of these, a book by Dr Hans Preuss, professor of church history at Erlangen, deals with “ Lutheranism in 1530,” During the winter university professors have been lecturing in Augsburg, and study circles have met for special discussion. The celebrations, on June 24 and 25, will be attended by delegates freqn other countries. A huge open-air demonstration. on Sunday. June 22, is to precede the festival. THE PROFESSOR’S PROGRESS. A Dutch professor who attained- high *fnce in the State has returned to the pulpit. Dr Slotemaker, formerly professor of theology at Utrecht, became widely known by his writing on social questions, Q nd w as appointed head of the Ministry of Labour. Recently, says La Semaiue Rengieuse, Dr Slotemaker was elected assistant pastor at Wassenaar, RELIGION IN BRITAIN. The current number of The Echo, the very ’ readable magazine of the United Theological College, Montreal, contains an article by Professor W. A, Gifford on “The Religious Situation in Great Britain.” Dr Gifford spent a year in Britain, and, amongst other things, tried to find out “ how Britain is getting, forward with the integration of the old religion wih the new.” The article above-mentioned contains his conclusions, and they are well worth pondering. We have but space for a brief quotation:— “ The observation of many months did not discldsc that the historic Gospel is having any appreciable effect upon society dt large. It is not true that “ those who preach the Gospel have the crowd." What is true is that any man or woman, with a warm heart, the gift of utterance, a place’ to speak, and some light to shed upon the problems of existence, can get a crowd; the crowd will remain, if such a leader can provide it witli a fellowship through which to express itself.”

PROTESTANTS AND INDO-CHINA. French Protestants have been disturbed by reports concerning the question of religious liberty in Indo-China. An inquiry made by a member of the Chambre des Deputes in a letter to the French Minister for the Colonies, elicited an assurance that the French Protestant pastors in that country are free to conduct services and to, engage in religious work, ine Minister states, however, that foreign missionary societies and foreign ministers of all denominations must apply to the authorities for permission to work in Indo-.China, “We welcome the assurance," says Evangile ct Liberte, "that French Protestant pastors have official sanction for their activities. In regard, however, to foreign missions anad ministers we should like to know in what spirit the authorities at Assam consider their applications. Until we are satisfied on this point we shall be unable to regard the_ question of religious liberty in Indo-China as entirely settled.”

GIFTS FROM-MISSION CHURCHES. We have been frequently reminded that the days' of "giving” and "receiving” churches are over; in the present hour and still more in the future there will be giving and receiving both in the East and in the West, and in the South. Missions of help may be organised for the Western churches by the Eastern churches, just as to-day such missions are arranged for the East by the West. The visits to this country of such men as Dr T. Z. Koo last year, and Dr Cheng Ching-Yi this’ year, are events of importance in our Western church life. > There is an Indian village the Christions of which, out of. their great poverty, have sent £1 to the Watchcr.s’ Prayer Union of the L.M.S, It is in reality a gift to fhe society, though the church in that village takes six handbooks r-: the Prayer Union. The pound means much when it is remembered that practically all the Christian,, .u . earn less than £1 a month. The sovereign is in reality the offering of scores ol village Christiana. This year they brought the money in gold, as sovereigns can be bought in the bazaar at exchange rates.'

This year, too, they sent a gift to the Save the Children 'Fund. It is some years ago now since in Kentish Town we received a gift from, the. African children at Hope Fountain to provide holidays for the poor children of NorthWest London. It will be all to the good when there is a fellowship of giving and receiving between the churches overseas and those at homo.