Who Art In Heaven?

      “Dwellers on the Mississippi and Missouri, and in the back woods of Canada and the prairies of the West, are there. Millions from the Andes and the isles of the Pacific, from the mountains of Thibet and the cities of China; from every jungle of India and from every pagoda of Hindostan, the untutored Arab and the uncultivated Druse, and the ‘tribes of the weary foot,’ the children of Salem are there,  *  *  and Augustine and Luther are there also, and many, we in our uncharitableness, or bigotry, or exclusiveness, or ignorance, excluded from Heaven, will be there also; and our sires and sons and babes and parents will be there, completed circles never again to be broken, and their united voices will give utterance to their deep and enduring gratitude “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and that hath made us kings and priests unto God, even the Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” Rev. Dr. Cumming.

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They Brought Little Children to Him

One day the mother, who believed,

Their little children brought,

And from the Master’s gentle hand

A gracious blessing sought.

* * *

But the disciples, in their zeal,

Said: “Take these children home,

They’re in the way of older ones,

Who for some good have come.”

* * *

But Jesus loved the little lambs,

And much displeased was He,

Saying: “Suffer little children,

That they may come to me.

* * *

“For ’tis such innocents as these

That God’s high kingdom win;

And all must have as simple hearts

Who gain a place therein.”

 * * *

Then gently lifting in His arms,

And folding to His breast,

He put His hands upon their heads,

And every infant blest.

Testimony To The Bible

In the district of Allahabad some conversions had taken place among the women and girls which had greatly stirred up the opposition of the men. The reading circles in the Zenanas had to be stopped and the missionaries were prohibited from visiting the women. One old woman, explaining the situation, said: “Our men say you come and take us away. It is not you who take our women away and make them Christians; it is your Book. There are such wonderful words in it; when they sink into the heart nothing can take them out again.”

More Links To Thoughts On The Bible:

• Wonderful Words of Life
• …A dialogue between Bible-lovers, Bible-haters, and everyone in-between…
• The Bible from CARM
• Why I love the Bible
• The Bible: Its Wonderful Unity
• The Wonderful Book – The Bible
• God’s Wonderful Book Divine!
• God’s Book, the Bible
• The Most Amazing Book!
• The Bible: Beyond Sunday School

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Effacement of Sins

   We are reminded of the promise that God will “blot out” our transgressions by the following incident:

  John Maynard was in an old-time country schoolhouse. Most of the year he had drifted carelessly along, but in midwinter some kind words from his teacher roused him to take a new start, and he became distinctly a different boy, and made up for the earlier faults. At the closing of  examination he passed well, to the great joy of his father and mother, who were present. But the copy-books used through the year were all laid on the table for the visitors to look at; and John remembered that his copy-book, fair enough in its latter pages, had been a dreary mass of blots and bad work before. He watched his mother looking over those books, and his heart was sick. But she seemed, to his surprise, quite pleased with what she saw, and called his father to look with her; and afterward John found that his kind teacher had thoughtfully torn out all those bad, blotted leaves, and made his copy-book begin where he started to do better. (Text)- Franklin Noble, “Sermons in Illustration.”

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Modesty

Colonel Nicholas Smith, in “Grant, the Man of Mystery,” gives us the following side-light upon Grant’s character:

“During a strenuous campaign, the opposition resorted to every means to discredit him and made the most virulent attacks upon his personal character. Grant remained silent and took no part in the campaign. He retired to his little home in Galena, received his friends, drove and walked about the streets, took tea and chatted in the most familiar way with his neighbors, and seemed totally unconscious of the fact that he was the central figure in one of the great political struggles of the century.”

The Flaming IHC

Posted here are two versions of this flaming christogram by Kathy Grimm, one in orange and the other in red. This unusual christogram makes a visual connection between Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Links to the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit:

• “The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit”
• The Mystery of The Indwelling Of The Holy Spirit

Views Of Heaven Changed

When I was a boy, I thought of heaven as a great, shining city, with vast walls and domes and spires, and with nobody in it except white-robed angels, who were strangers to me. By and by my little brother died; and I thought of a great city with walls and domes and spires, and a flock of cold, unknown angels, and one little fellow that I was acquainted with. He was the only one I knew at that time. Then another brother died; and there were two that I knew. Then my acquaintances began to die; and the flock continually grew. But it was not till I had sent one of my little children to his Heavenly Parent–God–that I began to think I had got a little in myself. A second went, a third went; a fourth went; and by that time I had so many acquaintances in heaven, that I did not see any more walls and domes and spires. I began to think of the residents of the celestial city. And now there have so many of my acquaintances gone there, that it sometimes seems to me that I know more in heaven than I do on earth. –by Moody.

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The Dead Are Ours Still

   What we need is to banish all haze from our conceptions of the reality of that state, so that we can think of it heartily and talk about it to each other with clear eye and open brow, as we would talk of some great university or gorgeous landscape of a foreign land. Thus only can we have any comfort when our dearest are transferred hence. What is so inspiring, what aspect of our humanity is so lofty and divine, as when a Christian mother, one the hallowed clay of a little one, can say with assured faith: “This was only the earthly image of an innocence, a wonder, and a love that have been withdrawn into the deeps of eternal life, into that world of truth and essences and peace that is near me in my prayers. Its dawning faculties, which I loved so to watch and guide, are more precious to God than to me, and he has lifted them to a state of being  where a purer light and more delightful splendors than the earthly sun sheds or shines upon, surround its unfettered spirit. It is mine still through my faith in God , and my assurance of the supremacy of the spirit over the clay.” That is the way to think of the future world, -not in weak fancy, but in a conviction that our powers of thought, feeling, and worship are our real substance here. -Thomas Starr King.

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“Perseverando Vincit!”

by Rev. Carl J. Segerhammer

This is an old motto that has stood the test of centuries. “Perseverance conquers.” Yes, to keep pace with the progress that is now going on along every line of activity, requires not a little energy. Nothing short of a struggle is necessary if we are to master the many problems before us as individuals, as a community, as a nation, and also as a church of God. It has been so in the past. Kingdoms and empires were reared, often out of a state of chaos. The Church, also, was harassed and rent by schisms within and vicious attacks from without. Yet it stands to-day firmly resting on its imperishable foundation, the “Rock of Ages,” Jesus Christ. But to weather all these storms, both in church and state, there was need of much perseverance. Indeed, from the beginning to the present day, it has been a case of “Perseverando vincit.”

Even in our church work here we have need of a great amount of this trait. The fruits of our labors are not so readily forthcoming as we would wish. Some people, in their utter blindness to all that pertians to their moral and spiritual welfare, will, in spite of our best efforts to enlighten them, prefer to spend their time, their money, and –themselves–in, for instance, “nickelodeons” and othre “five-cent” demoralizing institutions, rather than take active part in Christian work. So cheaply do they value their souls!

Hence, we have need of much perseverance. But let us not forget that in this case, as well as all others, with the help of God, “perseverado vincit!”

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The Side of The Majority

by Rev. Carl J. Segerhammer

“O, I’m with the majority!” How often do we not hear that expression! Every one wants to be on the side of the majority. To take the other side, with the minority, generally requires more courage and determination. It is certainly so in regard to Christian work. The great majority are not interested in real Christian work. On the other hand, they revile the minority, the “little flock,” who strive to follow their Master and to do His will. Courage is needed, therefore, to stand with the minority and be the object of scorn and ridicule.

But may we never forget that we have on our side Him who is a majority in Himself, the almighty God, and as long as He is with us, there is no fear. “Fear not, thou little flock!” He says. “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

We can therefore say as Abraham Lincoln is reported to have said during the troublesome times of the Civil War: “When I know that God is on our side, then I know that we are on the side of the majority, even if all the world were on the other side.”

So, dear reader, the question in this case is not “Which is the side of the majority, the real majority?” That has been decided long ago, the side of Him to whom is given all power in heaven and on earth, who once for all has “bruised the serpent’s head,” and who shall reign until all His enemies will have been laid at His footstool.

The question for you to settle is this, “On what side shall I take my stand, with Christ and His Church, or with the others?” God grant that you may do the former! You will then be on the “side of the majority,” and the “gates of hell shall not prevail against you.”

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