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Show v Missionary Letter. ifyk- f 64 Grange Rd.. East Middles- ris? borough, nglancH ftov. , 7th', "' 1911. . Editor Record: Trusting that f I am not infringing upon your j time, I take great pleasure in writing a few lines, informing i. -. my many friends of my ex-i ex-i istence in far away England, and am happy to also state that as r each moment goes fleeting" by, my joy and satisfaction in the work of the Lord increases. It is here that I am impelled to ap- predate blessings that I had en joyed at home. Little did I re- alize the necessity of leaving my I! home and pleasant surroundings K to go into the world midst the I babble and confusion, to be 1 vilified, ridiculed, and looked up- 1 on as an object of reproach in I order to appraise the sweet I serene and peaceful influence I that so predominantly prevails at ine nome ot the peopl.g of 1 God, among the majestic peaks 1 . of the Rocky Mountains. My l ' soul is made to unconsciously H j sing the beautiful words found 1 1 in this stanza: I ' "Proud? Yes, of our home in 1' the mountains, fc v Where prophets of Israel re- I ; side, I. ' ' 3uid faithful ones quaff from I the fountains; j ' j Where wisdom and virtue Ip And .thousands are riow gladly H i drinking ' At streams from the great f; fountain head." Let your powers of imagina- S tion forget their presence at li home and join me in a journey I'. through realms where the pow- ers of the adversary arc holding If sway upon the minds and hearts Tf of our fellow beings. You will be struck with utter astonishment, astonish-ment, and I might say horror, at the deplorable sight. It is true, this world would be a delightful de-lightful one were it not for the people. The greater portion of ! the strife, misery and sorrow are of human invention and come from breaking laws physical, physi-cal, mental and moral not wholly because of ignorance, but of absolute ab-solute disregard. We are able to ' perceive people indulging in I most abject and degrading in- I fluences that drag mankind down J to the very depths of hell. It II will surprise you to behold the I drinking which is so " prevalent J for women as well as men, i h especially in the slums, the har-' har-' borof filth and destitution. It is heart rending to see little I children, starving, half naked 1 wandering the strees, deprived J of parent love. I dare say the il domestic animals are capable of J setting them examples in cleanli-4 cleanli-4 . ness and care of the young. It j is rather unjust to charge all I these crimes to the low degraded ; class, but emerging into the 1 realms of aristocracy, we are I confronted with an almost total Ms disregard for moral virtues, the V prevailing indulgence in alcoholic beverages, pride, vanity and a . ' marked demonstration of con-It con-It tempt toward their inferiors. K Let us affect an investigation I of the ecclesiastical condition of Mi the world. If perchance you M 'Ml m tXL IKLJkl. i . .. may be in quest of religious truth, you will become bewildered bewilder-ed in your, effort because of the numerous contending systems foisted upon the world, each claiming its diviniy as the true churlch-.of Christ. Your rational mindsVwill conceive the palpable absurdity of such a claim ; however, how-ever, we can perceive some grains of truth in all these of course tend to make their- errors plausible thus the reason of tftajr numerous adherents. One of the. prevalent errors is the idea conceived that God Jiiust accept ac-cept any form of religion so long as they are sincere and devout in their desires.- Their-- minds are so warped and bound in unbelief's un-belief's degrading thrall that they do not recognize the light of truth' when they have the opportunity ; they allow the ministers mini-sters to be their guiding stars instead of thinking for them selves. Rational minds have discovered dis-covered that most -of the creeds are man-made and are promulgated prom-ulgated for selfish purposes and not for the soul salvationi of myriads hungering and thirsting after spiritual food. To express the object for. which many, learned divines are so jealous in their propogandas, I will quote the following: "0 money! 0 money! thy praises I'll sing, Thou are our Master,- our i Lord , and puyKiftgjV, ', i' :, . ,. weftSabbHthday, . V Money's my creed and Til not pray without it,-The it,-The heavens are closed against all those who doubt it, , This is the essence of popular re ligion, So come regular to church and be plucked. like a pigeon." Such things as herein portrayed will undoubtedly reveal to us a new appreciation of the true and everlasting gospel that we espouse, and were it nob for tl'ie consciousness of this perfect system of religion," we would at the conclusion of our inspection of worldly religion- stamp .the very name, ,as an obnoxious alien to pure humanity. I think we may adequately adopt the con elusion and say their creeds are abomination in the sight of God; they teach' for doctrine the commandments com-mandments of men having a form of Godliness but deny the power thereof..' The fact is irrevocable, that advantages and . disadvantages may be discriminated in. whatever what-ever bounds of habitation we reside re-side and sometimes we feel to rebel at the thought of seclusion from- the vivacity of the business and pleasantry of the world, but I for one must confess my gratitude grati-tude for the privilege I have had of being eliminated from the greatest contaminating influences influ-ences of. this wicked world. The bounteous blessings showering shower-ing constantly upon the little insignificant in-significant band of chosen people, lost from the world in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, is an evidence that God does not forsake for-sake his ppople, but if many of you, myself included, will take a retrospective view of our lives, will find that we have partially forsaken Him, by not' living whafewc profess .to be. It would be well to. gently remind our- -1 selves that we are), members of the "Only Churchjof Christ", which embraces -all truth, and if we do not live it our, lives arc a lie, nbtwithsandingHhe fact that we have been bafitized. The Gospel is an instrument given to us whereby we canfbe saved if we obey it, or irijother words, it is like any otherJinstrumcnt, if not used it is unless to us. To find the intrusio valuue of it, we must incorporate i$jn our lives so that it will become a part of our being, until wall become suns, radiating truUi into the world of darkness. .gje must remember re-member that ignorance will not bi'ing us into our-Maker, for the "Glory of God is-intelligence," and we are saved nojfaster than we gain knowledge.'Jfcriie Savior said, "This is- lifejj eternal to know Thee the only true God and his son Jesus Chrisfjfflvhom thou has sent," Wn wilhtiAwm tnnm Him unless we mitigate ourselves our-selves from thesins'orlthis fallen world by our own .integrity and perseverance unto-thgnd. Thanking you agajn for the Record and congratulating you upon the extensive improvement made in it, I remaia brother in the Gospel of Christ. J.1 C FORD. |
