Earlier text: Effects of Worry and Nerve TensionForces in Training
By C. M. S.
We are in a wonderful world. We see on every hand the operation of two mighty forces. One is continuously and persistently active in the production of light and life and beauty; the other just as continuously and persistently active in the production of darkness and death and decay. We have no difficulty in accomplishing what the physicist calls the “resolution” of these forces; for they originate at the very extremes of creation; they have no fellowship the one with the other; and they meet only in conflict. We read that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” But that force which has opposed the purpose of the Almighty since before the earth was brought forth, and which smote the very Son of God himself, is spoken of by our Lord as the “power of darkness” and the “rulers of the darkness of this world.” This conflict of forces that we see all about us from the death of a clover blossom to the death of the king of the mightiest nation of earth, is a conflict that is not circumscribed by the latitudes and longitudes of this world. It reaches from the humblest home of the human family right up to the throne of the Deity, and spreads blight or blessing, mildew or scented blossoms, hate or charity, misanthropy or philanthropy, loyalty or treason, on either side of its pathway. One writer speaks of the conflict of these forces of good and evil in these words:— What strange contrasts this earth of ours presents! Noonday and midnight are not more opposite than the scenes which are constantly passing before our eyes. Truth and falsehood walk side by side through our streets, and vice and virtue meet and pass every hour of the day. The hut of the starving stands in the shadow of the palace of the wealthy, and the carriage of Dives every day throws the dust of its glittering wheels over the tattered garments of Lazarus. Health and sickness lie down in the same apartment; joy and grief look out of the same window; hope and despair dwell under the same roof. The cry of the infant and the groan of the dying arise together from the same dwelling. The funeral procession treads close on the heels of the bridal party, and the tones of the lute and viol have scarcely died away before the requiem for the dead comes swelling after. O the beautiful and deformed, pure and corrupt, joy and sorrow, ecstasies and agonies, how strangely blended together on this our restless planet! O how good and evil, light and darkness, chase each other over the world! We, in our day, have seen mighty forces arraying themselves for a last mighty conflict to decide the question of the supremacy of truth or falsehood, love or hatred, life or death. We have watched them from afar, and we are seeing them now close at hand, marshaled and mobilized for the culmination of the conflict which God foretold when he declared that the seed of the woman should “bruise the serpent’s head.” The purpose of the Almighty is being wrought out by the forces trained under the influence of the Holy Spirit; and the purpose of the adversary is progressing through forces trained under his supervision and direction. Some of our college graduates are required in their final examinations to figure out the final direction of a group of forces moving upon a body from various individual directions; in other words, to find the “resultant,” the final direction, of the combined forces or of the body moved upon by them. The matter of their examination-standing depends upon their ability to find out what that “resultant” would be. We have spoken of the multifarious forces operating upon the human family for good or ill. The “resultant” of those forces thus operating spells the destiny of the redeemed and the certainty of the triumph of God’s purpose for his children. The forces of evil are many, and their unopposed influence and power would push us and our world over the precipice of eternal ruin. But that our God will not permit. “They that be with us are more than they that be with them.” Mighty angels are commissioned to aid those who have a set purpose to be “heirs of salvation.” “Ministering spirits” are they all. Against the confederated powers of evil are pitted the forces of heaven, the forces of our God; and concerning the “resultant” of the meeting of those forces, the inerrant Word of God has fully apprised us. For we read: “As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. . . . He must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. . . . And when all things have been subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subjected to him that did subject all things unto him, that God may be all in all.” That speaks the accomplished purpose of Jehovah, the final result when the conflict of opposing forces has been decided for eternity. Intensity is indeed taking hold of all things earthly. A few days ago Theodore Roosevelt, in his lecture on “The World Movement” at the University of Berlin, said:— The play of new forces is as evident in the moral and spiritual world as in the world of the mind and the body. Forces for good and forces for evil are everywhere evident, each acting with a hundred- or a thousandfold the intensity with which it acted in former ages. Over the whole world the swing of the pendulum grows more and more rapid, the mainspring quickening the whole world movement of constantly accelerating velocity. In this movement there are signs of much that bodes ill. Notice his reference to “new forces,” to “forces for good and forces for evil everywhere evident,” and to his declaration that they are “acting with a hundred- or a thousandfold the intensity with which they acted in former ages.” The forces of evil, with their six thousand years of invention and experience, are focusing their powers upon the one great purpose of God and Christ, to defeat that purpose, and overturn the government of God. Six thousand years of plotting, six thousand years of ingenious deception, six thousand years of working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, are focused upon the people of this generation. Is it not significant that even discerning men of the world, who know nothing of this message we hold so dear, are recognizing these conditions, and proclaiming them to the world? It is significant; and if they see them, shall we permit our eyes to be blinded to such facts and their significance? But we are not dependent upon men of the world for such observations. One who speaks to us as the servant of God has told us of these things. She says:— Every movement in the universe of heaven is to prepare the world for the great crisis. Intensity is taking possession of every earthly element. While a new life is being diffused and is springing up from beneath and taking fast hold of all of Satan’s agencies, preparatory to the last great conflict and struggle, a new light and life and power is descending from on high, and taking possession of God’s people who are not dead, as many now are, in trespasses and sins. The people who will now see what is soon to come upon us by what is being transacted before us, will no longer trust in human inventions, and will feel that the Holy Spirit must be recognized, received, presented before the people, that they may contend for the glory of God, and work everywhere in the byways and highways of life, for the saving of the souls of their fellow men. The only Rock that is sure and steadfast is the Rock of Ages. Those only who build on this Rock are secure.—Special Testimonies (An Appeal12 to Our Ministers and Conference Committees), page 39. We hardly need to have our attention called to these things to recognize that what the servant of God has said concerning them is true. Every work of evil is intensified to-day. A force is laying hold upon the hearts of evil men that is making them a mighty force for wickedness; but in the power of God do the servants of God go in among them, rescuing here a brand and there a smoking branch to quench in them the consuming fires of evil, and make of them trees of righteousness to be planted in the gardens of God. We can not even name all these various forces of evil in the space we have, to say nothing of commenting upon their ways of working, and the results they reap in the ruin of souls; but they are attacking the work of God all along the line and at every outpost. A most insidious assault is being made upon the Word of God, where rests our faith, our hopes,—to destroy the faith of the Christian in that Book as the mouthpiece of the Almighty, and to sow through the entire world the seeds of doubt as to there being any Almighty, any Redeemer, any redemption, any Rock of refuge, any haven of rest for weary pilgrims and storm-tossed voyagers. And that campaign of blasting and blighting the buds of faith, and of grafting doubts upon the main branches of our trust, is not confined to the lecture halls of secularists and infidels. It has been established in the general curriculum of the public school system, almost from the kindergarten up, where the inventions of the geologist and the evolutionist are made to contradict the teachings of the Word of God from its first proposition,—the creation of the universe,—to its final declaration in reference to the return in glory of the Son of God to destroy a world of sin, and save a righteous remnant out of it. That Genesis record the evolutionist utterly discards and repudiates. In the place of the fiat of the Almighty in the creation of man, the evolutionist puts a protoplasmic cell, a speck of jelly, to grow into a man through a succession of ages and a succession of impossible animal transformations; but he does not tell us who made the jelly, or put into it that marvelous principle of life, which no one but God himself can explain. At the door of that mystery even the evolutionist is compelled to pause in wonder and acknowledge defeat. The Word declares, “He spake, and it was: . . . he commanded, and it stood fast.” “Impossible,” say the evolutionist and the geologist; but, say they, out of a fire-mist in space a ball was formed; and as it revolved upon its own axis, it wound about its own core successive rings of earthy matter attracted to itself out of the dust in the sky. But we ask: “Who created the fire-mist? Who put the fire in the mist? Who set the ball revolving and speeding in its changeless orbit around its central sun? Whence came the dust in the sky?” He has no answer. Only God can answer, and he has done so in his Book. The geologist tells us that the story of a universal flood is impossible; that it is a pure fabrication, or a greatly enlarged tradition of some local occurrence; and the mighty tracings of that tempest of waters upon the earth the geologist attributes to the slow action of glaciers. And yet in his search for material with which to prove his contention, he finds the buried victims of that very catastrophe in regions which could not have been their habitat. Their lifeless bodies, borne far from the tropical clime in which they lived, testify that his premise is untrue. Likewise the scientist denies the possibility of any such miracle as the sun standing still at the command of Joshua, and the story of Jonah and the great fish is discredited by the scientist and the Higher Critic. The truth of the Holy Scriptures, the veracity of God himself, are made to depend upon the size of a whale’s throat and the ability of a man to hold his breath three days and nights. The absurdity of such doubtings ought to be apparent to any one who believes in the almighty power of God,—his ability to prepare what the Word says he did prepare, a “great fish,” to do his bidding; and his ability to preserve a man alive, with breath or without it, for any length of time he might choose. It would not be so serious did these doubtings stop with the scientists, or even with the curricula of the public schools; but they do not. A worldly clergy has taken them up; and the pulpit, consecrated to the service and worship and teachings of God, is being to-day, in thousands of cases, prostituted to this propaganda of doubt, disbelief, and infidelity, while souls hungering for the truth of God are being fed upon such husks of death. So cunning has been the work of the deceiver that many good people to-day smile when you speak to them of these wonderful works of our Creator. The devil has succeeded in making them believe that these records of the doings of God are fabulous human creations. But that these things are vital to the gospel, is shown in our Saviour’s attitude toward them. He utilized no fabrications on which to build the structure of the gospel; but he did indorse the record of the flood, and used it as a warning of the final destruction of the world. He did indorse the record of Jonah and the great fish, and showed Jonah’s experience to be a type of the resurrection of the dead, and a prefiguring of his own experience in the grave. If these records are to be consigned to the limbo of fabulous human creations, then the gospel goes with them, and with that goes the veracity of our divine Saviour. And when that is gone, all is gone, hope is lost, and we are lost. If we deny the power of God in creation, we deny his power in recreation and regeneration also, and salvation is impossible; for there is no one able to accomplish it, no matter how much we desire it. But the apostle says: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation.” The psalmist prayed (and we pray with him), “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Says the inspired apostle Paul: “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” And again: “Put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.” That work God promises to do for us; and because he is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, he is able to accomplish it, and will accomplish it if we will put ourselves into harmony with the process of his purpose. The forces of evil may fulminate against it; but in the face of the forces of our Almighty God, their disloyal and deceptive purposes shall come to naught. C. M. S. Our Offering for the Poor
By W. T. Knox
SABBATH, April 1, is the time of the denomination’s next general offering. The object of this donation is to assist the poor among us, and especially the orphans and aged, an object that will appeal to all. The poor and helpless were ever the subjects of our Saviour’s tender solicitation during his earthly ministry. In fact, it is the necessity of man that is the strongest appeal we can present to God. Not only by Christ’s example, but by all the teachings of his Word, are we exhorted to be solicitous for the welfare of those who are unfortunate. In the economy of the Old Testament times, ample provision was made to meet this ever-present condition. Its neglect, and any form of oppression of the poor, called forth rebuke from the Lord. This is shown in Isa. 1:16, 17, where, after setting forth the exceedingly sinful condition of his people, he exhorts: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.” Other forms of service, be they ever so faithful, are not fully acceptable to13 the Lord if tender compassion and helpfulness to the needy are lacking. The situation is placed before us very graphically by Isaiah in the fifty-eighth chapter:— “Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. “Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?” Doubtless the most acceptable form of this class of service is where the individual engages in it personally, making his own home to the limit of his ability the refuge for those in need; yet it is true, and always will be, that many will not be able to fulfill this requirement in this personal way. Where this is so, we have in this general plan an opportunity of doing, through others, that which we would be glad to do personally if conditions were different. Evidently, the revelation in man of the character and righteousness of God is impossible if his compassionate disposition in this particular is lacking. In Pentecostal days, great care was exercised that the needy of all classes should be properly provided for. With all the many cares and great burdens resting upon Paul in carrying the gospel to the world, with the severe and continual persecutions that attended him, he still found time and occasion to set before the church the needs of the poor, and to receive from all the Christian world, contributions for the poor saints. The donations called for on April 1 are designed for the relief of the needy in the conferences where the donations are made, and are planned to relieve those cases that can not well be attended to otherwise. The funds will therefore be distributed, in harmony with the general plan of the denomination, by the officers of the local and union conferences where they are raised. A liberal offering should be made, in order that the conferences may be able properly to meet their responsibilities in this particular. “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord.” In an article dealing with the papal coat of arms, the Ecclesiastical Herald has this to say of the Pope’s triple crown:— The tiara, or triple crown, is nowadays of ovoid shape, and since the time of Benedictine XII has been encircled by three crowns of gold, and surmounted with a small terrestrial globe and its cross. The three crowns by heraldic tradition, and as can be seen on the tiara of the Pontifical Jubilee of Leo XIII, 1902, are of three different orders; the larger and lower one is a royal crown of fleur-de-lis; the middle is a princely, or ducal crown; and the upper, a count’s coronet. These three crowns, called often the tri-regnum, are interpreted to represent the Pope’s attributes as king, prophet or doctor, and high priest, as expressed also in the coronation ceremony, when the first cardinal-deacon imposes it. The Passing of the Evangelist
QUOTING the Omaha Bee in a caustic criticism of the professional evangelist, the Lutheran of February 16 adds the following sensible remarks concerning some who carry forward religious work under this honored title, but whose conduct brings discredit upon the holy calling which they profess to follow:— Want of sincerity and genuine character evidently accounts for the waning popularity of the professional evangelist. The mercenary spirit is more manifest in most of our modern evangelists than religious zeal. Their vaudeville antics and coarse expressions, resorted to for the manifest purpose of advertising, were shocking to the people of real piety; and the disposition of both pulpit and pew to require definite knowledge regarding the character and habits of evangelists before approving them, has had a tendency to discourage evangelism as a profession. Unfortunately the Moodys are rare, and the mountebanks plentiful. Not long ago the writer was shown a letter from one of these vaudeville-evangelists to a friend with whom he had been associated as a street-fakir, in which this new-fledged revivalist, after telling about the big collections he was receiving, used this language: “This is a better graft than the patent-medicine game!” Imagine a man of that character as a propagandist of Christianity! Salaries of English Ministers
A RECENT number of Sunday at Home (London) considers the subject of the salaries paid to ministers by three denominations in England. The following statement indicates the salaries paid:— The Baptists keep their preachers the poorest; two thirds of these get less than $1,000; a large number get less than $600. Taxes and rents are high in England, and thus hundreds of Baptist preachers have to make both ends meet by working at a trade, keeping a shop, teaching school, etc. The Presbyterians, who have 352 churches in England and Wales, pay their ministers salaries ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. The Wesleyans give their ministers not less than $1,000 and not more than $1,750, and encourage home life by adding thirty dollars to forty dollars for each child. THE evils of theater-going in the past have been augmented during the last two or three years by the marked tendency to present so-called religious plays in European and American playhouses. Most of these plays are sentimental in character. Some love-scene is introduced, and even the histrionic features are pictured in such a way as to detract from the sacredness and dignity of the events. These plays serve to make a burlesque of religion. They drag it down into the depths, to be made the subject of jibe and scoff and ridicule. These are days in which nothing seems too sacred to be exploited for commercial gain or to meet the pampered taste of depraved minds. Yet doubtless there are well-meaning persons, and even Christians, who may be deceived by the advertising of these so-called religious plays, and even be found to commend them. There needs to be a quickening of individual conscience. The devoted child of God will find other avenues for the exercise of thought and the employment of leisure than theater-going. DR. WOODWARD, health commissioner of the District of Columbia, points out the great danger in fondling and kissing pet cats and dogs:— A cat or a dog is no cleaner than the substance with which it comes in contact. When a dog or cat rolls in dirt, the dust of the carpet, or the grime of the cellar, it is collecting a quantity of disease-breeding germs of all kinds, which it may spread to humans. The danger resulting from the constant handling of pets is therefore obvious. This is especially true with regard to cats, which are carnivorous, and prone to catch and kill their prey. A cat that has recently devoured a mouse is not a fit plaything for a child. Commissioner Rudolph emphasizes this warning in the following words:— The ever-present danger of disease in the fur of animals, should act as a warning to parents, and cause them to rigidly guard their children from the danger of handling pets. A lover of animals myself, I nevertheless believe absolutely that the best for the pet and its master is that each lead a life unhampered by the other. The fact that the fur of cats and dogs is a nesting-place for disease germs has long been established. It has been demonstrated that many diseases, particularly with children, are directly traceable to household pets. There is need of parents heeding the oft-repeated warnings which are now given with reference to this danger. OLIVER PERRY WILSON
By Oliver Perry Wilson
“But exhort one another daily, while it is called to-day.” Heb. 3:13. To-day, of all the days for me,
With thoughts most gentle, pure, and
free,
Is what my soul doth count as true
To all my duties, old or new.
With all my courage high, to lend
For gladsome deeds, and words to send
Decision home, or lead the way,—
I'm nothing still but mortal clay. To-day, this hour, I hear a voice
Say unto me: “What is thy choice?
Is fame alone thy sought-for goal,
Or whited wall to hide thy soul?”
Then soon my better thoughts rise up,
And bring to view that bitter cup;
For what this day doth bring to me
Is reckoned in the time to be. To-day I start with greater vim
To count each duty work for Him;
For keeping time with all his ways
Is service true that greatly pays;
May each new day that I live here
Be reckoned with a conscience clear,
And then, with freedom, I can say
That I am glad for life to-day. Six Months' Course for City Workers
By M. H. Serns
OUR ministers and physicians of Chicago engaged last season in a profitable series of tent-meetings. These were well attended, and a deep interest was manifested to the last. As one result of our tent and hall efforts, twenty-six persons were baptized. Others were reclaimed and brought back to the fold. At present our hands are full, following up the interest. Dr. Paulson gave us valuable assistance, taking part of a service three times a week; this gave him an excellent opportunity to give a clear exposition of health principles from a Bible standpoint. At the close of the tent-meetings, a city missionary training-school was started in connection with our public efforts. Thus far we have enrolled seventeen students. In the short course of six months the Bible class receives instruction only in those lines which are considered the most essential to establish souls in present truth. The medical workers are endeavoring to give in the same time the most essential features of a regular nurses' training-course. The students have ample opportunity to put into practise the instruction they receive in this course. The class make out semimonthly reports of their work, and have definite territory in which to labor. In this territory they search out the interested ones, following them with reading-matter, and, if possible with Bible readings. When they have found all the interested ones in their district, they move on to new territory, and thus add to their number of Bible readers. The expenses of the students are mostly met by the sale of magazines and books. This is an excellent opportunity for a short training-course for Bible working nurses, with an actual daily experience, especially for those who can not take the longer courses provided in our academies, colleges, and sanitariums. We want only those in our course who have a burden to assist in warning the world of its impending judgments and of the soon coming of Christ. Action on your part must be prompt in writing to us, because we want every student to be with us from the very first. The next term will begin April 2. In writing for information and circulars, address the writer at 528 Thirty-third Place, Chicago, Ill., or Dr. David Paulson, Hinsdale, Ill. M. H. SERNS. As a result of the blessing of the Lord upon the efforts put forth by the laborers in Indiana last year, one hundred forty-one persons accepted present truth. While this was the most successful year Indiana has had for some time, we are praying that the number of converts may be much larger in 1911. At the present writing, Elder A. L. Miller is holding Sunday evening services in Indianapolis, with a splendid interest. Our faithful Bible workers are assisting, and some are being brought to an acceptance of the faith. One earnest young man has accepted the truth in Kokomo as the result of the efforts of one of our Bible workers. Although he has been severely tried, he remains loyal. Elders W. A. Young and E. R. Lauda are conducting services in Anderson. Not only is there an interest to hear the truth, but a synopsis of their sermons is being printed in the paper which is circulated in that part of the State. Brother N. H. Pool reports three additions to the Soldiers’ Home church the first Sabbath of February. His congregations in the chapel at the Soldiers’ Home are increasing weekly, more than one hundred fifty persons attending each Sabbath service. Elder O. S. Hadley and wife have been conducting meetings on the West Side, Indianapolis, and both report some interested in the truth. Brethren Thomas Hubbard and Chas. E. Allen recently began meetings at Marietta, where the message had never before been proclaimed. Elder U. S. Anderson, after holding meetings at Greentown, returned to Muncie, where several are awaiting baptism. Elder J. M. Ellis reports progress in meetings at Petersburg. He expects to visit several churches before attending the workers’ meeting in Indianapolis, March 6-13. Brethren J. H. N. Tindall and C. E. Gransey are following up their work at Hartford City. They expect to begin another series of meetings there soon. For some weeks the Daily Journal has been printing a series of Bible studies written by Brother Tindall. The twenty-four new members of this church showed their interest in religious liberty by making a united offering of forty dollars for carrying on this work. Subscriptions were also taken on the same day for the Protestant, Liberty, Instructor, and other periodicals. Brother H. M. Kelley, who recently began a series of meetings at Carbon, reports that the union church, of which he has the use, is filled to overflowing every night, several driving from three to five miles to attend. Under the supervision of Mrs. R. W. McMahan, our educational secretary, the twenty-one church-schools now being conducted in the conference all report progress. In addition to the foregoing, it has been my privilege to see eight persons take their stand for this message since the beginning of the year. Our Sabbath-school secretary has worked hard, and has at last succeeded in placing Indiana on the Honor Roll. The donations to missions by our Sabbath-schools during the last two quarters of 1909 were $938.64, as compared with the same period of 1910, when they were $1,155.61. Brother N. L. Taylor, our field agent, has been busy, and has succeeded in getting the names of several who expect to engage in the book work soon. We are glad to see that our canvassers are enjoying excellent success, not alone in getting the printed page before the public, but in creating an interest which can be followed up later by our ministers. The workers in the office are kept busy with an increasing volume of business, filling orders for books, tracts, and periodicals, and encouraging our members in the circulation of denominational literature and in subscribing for the various periodicals. More calls are coming in for meetings than we can fill. If all were faithful in paying tithe, we could not only pay the portion of the conference tithe which was voted to foreign fields, but also support more laborers, and thus answer more of these calls. The New Jersey Conference
By B. F. Kneeland
The ninth annual session of the New Jersey Conference, which was held at Irvington Center, Newark, N. J., January 17-22, was a season of spiritual refreshing, as well as a time when various business matters were considered. Each afternoon was devoted to convention work; the Sabbath-school, educational, and home missionary departments receiving consideration, while the last afternoon was given up to a discussion of the work of the church officers. The deep interest shown in these discussions indicated that our people appreciate these efforts to fully acquaint them with our plans. The treasurer's report showed that15 eleven and one-half per cent a week, or a total of $5.95, was contributed to foreign missions by each member in the State during 1910. The total offerings to general trust funds amounted to $5,768. Nearly one half of the conference quota of the $300,000 Fund has been paid in during the year. Considerable interest was shown in the question of providing Christian education for our young people. More than a score of our young people have been in attendance at our various colleges and training-schools during the year, besides several who are enlisted in the Fireside Correspondence School. We trust that this number will be largely increased during 1911. The business sessions of the conference were characterized throughout by a spirit of harmony. From the very first meeting of the workers, who were called together for a season of special prayer a day before the conference opened, the Lord's presence was shown in a marked manner. The list of officers and workers remains practically unchanged from that of last year. The Sabbath spent at the conference will be long remembered by those who were present. As the day had been set aside as one of fasting and prayer, all seemed to realize that it was an occasion for special heart-searching; and as we wept and prayed together, the Spirit of the Lord came in with wonderful power. Wrongs were made right, and hearts were united, while a deep burden for perishing souls rested upon the workers. As the sun sank from sight, a small band gathered at the bedside of a suffering brother, and the answer to our prayers for him seemed a fitting close to the blessed day. The conference was greatly favored by the presence of Elder W. A. Spicer, who was with us during the greater part of the meeting. Elders B. G. Wilkinson, W. H. Heckman, and Brother E. R. Numbers were present from the Columbia Union, and Elder A. Boettcher, of Brooklyn, visited us in the interests of the North American Foreign Department. One church, the Jersey City Swedish, was organized during the year, and admitted to the conference. Sixty-six persons were baptized during 1910. The development of the work among the different foreign nationalities was very encouraging, as efforts for these peoples constitute a large part of our conference work. The present number devoting their whole time to work among foreign-speaking peoples in the State is in excess of the whole force of conference workers three years ago, while still we are not keeping pace with the demands. The problems before this conference are large. The great increase of our city population, and the fact that in the last ten years half a million foreigners have settled within our borders, are constant reminders that we have a needy field at our very doors. The large untouched areas of fertile farming land offer excellent opportunities for self-supporting missionary work. The great coast resorts are crowded with visitors from all parts of the country, while we have scarcely a worker on our whole seacoast. The excellent success that has attended the efforts of our canvassers and workers during the past year shows that this is a fruitful field. The people are reaching out their hands for help. God has plainly declared that the time has come for the message to return to the East with power. The field is ripe, but the laborers are few. The workers and believers here are of good courage, for they realize that the battle is the Lord's. We ask to be remembered in the prayers of God's remnant people, that the work may be speedily finished before the judgments of God bring swift destruction upon the inhabitants of this wicked world. Another Church in Philadelphia
By S. D. Hartwell
Among those who have become interested in present truth in Philadelphia, and have united with the North Philadelphia church of Seventh-day Adventists from time to time in the past few years, have been several representatives of the Negro race. Some of these have been active in the work of enlightening others in reference to the truths peculiar to the denomination, and the membership of the church from among the colored population of the city has increased. For some months, Elder W. H. Heckman and those associated with him in the management of the conference have felt the necessity of putting forth greater efforts for this class of Philadelphia's vast population, which alone numbers nearly as much as the population of some conferences. About a year ago the Colorado Conference offered to support one of its ordained ministers for a time to work among the people of his own nationality in Philadelphia, and Elder T. H. Branch has been laboring with encouraging results there. On Sabbath, February 11, Elder Heckman, with Elder Branch and other ministers in the city, met with the colored people in their chapel at 1700 Woodstock Street, and after a stirring and timely address by Elder Heckman on “The Church, Its Organization and Purposes,” in which the relation of the membership to the church and to one another was made very clear, the organization of the first colored church of Seventh-day Adventists of Philadelphia was perfected, with a membership of sixteen. Some of these joined subject to letters from the North Philadelphia church, some subject to letters from other churches, and others on profession of faith, subject to baptism. The entire congregation assembled seemed to be enthusiastic over the organization, and numbers of those who did not unite gave evidence of their indorsement of the movement by making substantial pledges toward a fund for the purchase of suitable property for holding meetings, $165 being subscribed for this purpose. If the same enthusiasm with which the organization of this church was effected continues for three years, the first colored Seventh-day Adventist church of Philadelphia will prove an efficient power in warning the cities of the East. That this may be the case, is the hope of all who are interested in this work.