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Show Young Ministers Called On to Devote Their Entire Lives to the Church i By BISHOP W. 0. SHEPARp, Methodist Episcopal Church. If a man is without conscience the ministry is the easiest place to ihirk duty. The minister is not watched like a laboring man, nor as men in other professions. Therefore, he must watch himself. The ministry i not a white collar job. It means hard work. Should a man who is a fisher of men work less hours than a catcher of fish? No minister need expect an eight-hour day if he is to accomplish the task to which he is called. Committees from churches come to me asking for pastors. They seldom demand a big preacher, although preaching is an important part of the Work of the ministry, but the question most often asked is, will the minister min-ister care for the people and will he give himself entirely to the church? They ask first of all a manly man. I know ministers who eat too much and some who have been rendered ren-dered inefficient, or have died prematurely because of this self-indulgence. A man must keep his body fit. Concerning doctrinal questions, young men need not have "locked up. minds." But they must regard some things as settled. You don't have to read everything and you don't have to know everything. But there are some things that are unchangeable, like love for one's mother, wife and children. We have settled some things. The most important, is that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of the world. This truth will probably be preached until the end of the world. |