Church Fairs and Ice Cream Suppers.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume VIII, Issue 1, 1 July 1917, Page 5

Church Fairs and Ice Cream Suppers.

Concerning the multiplied Church entertainments, such as fairs, festivals, concerts, .tableaux, amateur theatricals, etc., I Wish to utter some words of testimony to God's professed people as to their Winning the heart and purse of the wbrld. These methods of raising nibriey fbir the Lord are all contrary to the precepts and examples of His Word, and therefore cannot please Him. They are counterfeit methods of giving and cultivate w bogus berievolerice. ... IJha simple method of free-Will pfEeririgs alone is approved and all other methods are virtually condemned. Study Ex, 35: 5, 21, 29 ; Matt, 10 : 8 ; Luke 6 : 38. One-tenth o* more, cheerfully and directly given, was w6 law of the Old Testament stewardship and it is the privilege of the New. : What if Moses had instituted a great carnival or bazaar to draw' the Surrounding heathen to the camp iii order to get means to build the tabernacle ? How would it comport with the character of the early Christians to read m one of Paul's epistles a suggestion that the saints m Corinth get up some Church fairs to raise some money for the poor saints! 'in Jerusalem, or an exhortation to Lydia to stir up the godly! women of Phillippi to get up a grand fair, festival br baby show ? With all our modern devices man's way may procure nibre money, but God's way will insure the greater blessing. These worldly devices are belittling, contemptible sind dishonest. It is almost a shame' to speak of them m detail. What shall we say!? What would the Master say of* a bevy of vain .and bedizened young ladies accosting and fascinating young men m order to sell them commodities above "value which they dp not want ?! What o|the many devices like grab-bag, fish-pond, ringcake, or a raffle, involving the gambling principle ? of the Church .of God peddling put small, .wares and fun to the world, or gettirig tip a variety show or milkmaids' drill to ._*s» plenish her treasury ? How belittling to the Church, ho w dishonest to $oa and how contemptible iv the eyes ol the world. ' •;. . „■''. ' !." :. ' j'^.;.!., '; The great infidel, once said, ,£?ll' think your God must be m, great need of money by the tricks the Churches practice to get it for Him." Eypri those wiw aid; tod ! atMdMe

fairs, ,,etc., cannot well approve, them. No iritelligerit'ChriStian cari ask God's blessing upon such or expect it to rest upon mohey ! So procured. This Whole System of ; . suppbrtirig; : religibn by the sale of jgrab-biags and ririg-cakes is a j&fa^Ld, A religibn that cannot be Sussiained Without such devices is not |vortn sustaining, and thb ministry ymict is dependent for its support 1 On tins sort pf. backsheesh begged from Of the world, the flesh and the 'jafevil, is a disgrace to the 'gps-? tely^hich it professes to prbclaim. v It u['4lni6Bl|.li!ke Sending Christ but begging bread from His erieinies. When the Blbbd-bbught Church of God, wim ail .'Her Store pf wealth resorts to such miserable Shifts to get help from the!! world, What must worldlings, with their laviSh outlay for the pleasures of sin, think of the value of bur salvation? Now, Brothers and Sisters, under the Blood of Jesus, may this missive be a lesson to all, and may we ever shirk this class of money-making for the Church of God, is my prayer. C.H.Fredericks.