August 20: Sin must be forgiven, or it will be consumed.
August 21: Only the pure in heart shall see God.21August 22: The perils of pride.
August 23: Vanity of human achievement.
August 24: Am I faithfully doing my part to give the warning message for this time?
August 25: The hope of the resurrection.
August 26: God's love for his house.
The Book of Ezekiel
This, the fourth of the major prophetical books, is by some divided into three parts, thus: (1) Chapters 1 to 24, prophetic warnings uttered before the destruction of Jerusalem; (2) chapters 25 to 32, a group of prophecies against seven foreign nations; (3) chapters 33 to 48, prophecies of the restoration. Or it may be divided into two parts: the first (chapters 1 to 32) occupied with correction, denunciation, reproof; while the remaining chapters (33 to 48) deal chiefly with consolation and promise.
The prophecy abounds in sublime images and lofty ideas. As we read, the mind is caught away from the low things of earth to the open heavens and the throne of God, circled with “the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain.”
“One of the most important topics of the book is the subject of the Sabbath. The combined testimony of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, constitutes a very strong evidence for the importance and enduring nature of this institution.” Isaiah testifies concerning the blessedness of the Sabbath; Jeremiah sets forth the consequences of observing it, and also of disregarding it; and Ezekiel mentions its sanctifying influence, and shows the distinction between the Sabbath and the other days of the week.
The Book Talks
When for the first time an African village was shown a book, and heard the missionary reading the Scriptures in their own tongue, they cried out, “The book talks! the white man has a book that talks!” And indeed the Bible is a book that talks. It is the “living word,” not as the books of men.
“We know the word you teach is good,” said heathen chiefs who came to one of our missions in German East Africa to plead for a school.
The late John G. Paton, the apostle of the New Hebrides, in the South Pacific, said that an old Aniwan chief had helped him to translate the first little Scripture portion. At last the book was printed. Dr. Paton said:—
“Namakei came to me, morning after morning, saying, ‘Missi, is it done? Can it speak?’”
“At last I was able to answer, ‘Yes!’”
“The old chief eagerly responded, ‘Does it speak my words?’”
“I said, ‘It does.’”
“With rising interest, Namakei exclaimed, ‘Make it speak to me, missi! Let me hear it speak.’”
“I read to him a part of the book, and the old man fairly shouted in an ecstasy of joy, ‘It does speak! It speaks my own language, too! O, give it to me!’”
“He grasped it hurriedly, turned it all round every way, pressed it to his bosom, and then, closing it with a look of great disappointment, handed it back to me, saying: ‘Missi, I cannot make it speak. It will never speak to me.’”
“‘No,’ said I; ‘you don’t know how to read it yet, how to make it speak to you; but I will teach you how to read, and then it will speak to you as it does to me.’”
“‘O missi, dear missi, show me how to make it speak!’”
“A Message from Surrey”
UNDER the above heading one of the guests of the Caterham, England, sanitarium, T. R. Blumer, J. P., of Sunderland, contributes the following letter to the Monthly Messenger of the Thompson Memorial Hall, Sunderland:—
“I am writing these lines on Good Friday; it is an ideal spring day. From our bedroom window there is a beautiful outlook, and everything is reminding us of a new life coming to nature. The birds are singing, the buds well-nigh bursting into leaf, and the spring flowers are with us. I was first here ten years ago, and am glad to be here once again. Many weeks ago I made up my mind that on Mr. Bennett’s return from France, we would come to Caterham. I was conscious that I needed a rest, and I knew of no better place.
“There is something very delightful about the atmosphere of this home. All the workers and assistants are members of a branch of Christ’s church, and they look upon their work here as part and parcel of their religion. None of them are ‘servants’ in the ordinary sense of the word; they are helpers moved by a constraining love, and do their best to bring health and happiness to the visitors. There is a real feeling of restfulness, quietness, and peace pervading the whole place, which is very refreshing. . . .
“I suppose there are between forty and fifty visitors. We have not become acquainted with them all yet, but they very favorably impress us. Two or three ministers are here, men who have evidently broken down in health and are recruiting. One is a Wesleyan missionary from China. One gentleman is officially connected with missions among the lepers, has traveled a great deal, and visited many of the leper settlements in different parts of the world. He has had a breakdown through overwork, and has been ordered six months’ rest. Another gentleman is closely associated with one of the garden cities in the London district, and seems to know many of the leading officials in the Brotherhood movement. One lady is from America, and is connected with the press. She has been to France and seen much in connection with the war. One evening she gave a lecture, telling her experiences, some of which were very sad and pathetic. So we are surrounded by kindly Christian companions, and it is good to meet with them at prayers each morning after breakfast. . . .
“This is a wonderful place for treatment. They don’t use drugs or medicine, but seek by other methods to make people well. The bathroom is a great place—baths galore of all kinds, electricity playing the most important part. . . . I sometimes think the hour and a half spent in the bathroom is the best part of the day. Perhaps I might mention one special bath which I am to have six out of seven mornings in the week. The patient lies on a comfortable kind of couch and certain appliances are connected to his body, and when the electric current is turned on, all the muscles are set to work, and the whole body is being exercised while the patient is quietly reposing.”
Medical Missionary Department
W. A. RUBLE, M. D. - - General Secretary
L. A. HANSEN - - Assistant Secretary
H. W. MILLER, M. D. - - N. Am. Div. Secretary
Missionary Volunteer Department
M. E. KERN — — — Secretary
MATILDA ERICKSON — — — Assistant Secretary
MRS. I. H. EVANS — — — Office Secretary
MEADE MACGUIRE
C. L. BENSON
J. F. SIMON — — — Field Secretaries
News and Miscellany
Notes and clippings from the daily and weekly press
— James Whitcomb Riley, the far-famed Hoosier poet, died at his home in Indianapolis, Ind., July 22, 1916.
— Severe floods occurred recently in several of the Southern States, especially in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Georgia. The property damage, according to the early estimates and including crop losses, will total approximately $10,000,000, while eighty-five persons are dead or missing. In the city of Mobile, Ala., alone, the property loss is estimated at about $1,000,000, while other cities and towns suffered heavily, hundreds of people in the five States having been rendered homeless.
— The ban on the shipment of food and clothing into Mexico has been lifted by the United States government. At the request of the State Department instructions have been sent by the Treasury Department to customs collectors along the border not to interfere with further shipments of these goods into Mexico. The ban on munitions is to be continued, not in the form of an embargo, but by requiring absolute proof that munitions reaching border points are destined for the de facto government.
— The shortage of white paper, which recently caused the American Newspaper Publishers’ Association to urge upon its members the strictest economy, even to the cutting down of margins and the discontinuance of useless extra editions, is now so serious that the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the Department of Commerce has just issued a pamphlet with definite instructions as to what kind of materials should be saved, and how it should be assorted. These instructions are printed in the form of a manual for the guidance of small households, apartment houses, small stores, hotels, department stores, office buildings, large printing establishments, and other users of paper.
— In view of the calling out of the militia for federal service, there is much interest in the pay that is given the men by the government. Officers and men are paid as follows: Officers—major general, $666.67; brigadier general, $500; colonel, $333.33; lieutenant colonel, $291.67; major, $250; captain, $200; first lieutenant, $166.67; second lieutenant, $141.67. Enlisted men—first sergeant, $45; quartermaster sergeant, sergeant, cook, horseshoer (cavalry), $30; corporal, wagoner, artificer, farrier, saddler, $21; private, $15. These are monthly rates paid the militia when in federal service, being the regulation army pay proper. Officers receive allowances for quarters, and cavalry officers receive an allowance of $150 a year for one horse; $200 for two.
— Recently 200 fishermen lost their lives in a monsoon off the coast of Colombo, Ceylon.
— President Wilson has accepted in modified form General Carranza’s suggestion that a commission be appointed to decide whether the American troops shall evacuate Mexico, and to settle the difficulties now pending between the two countries.
— Capt. Sally Louisa Tompkins, eighty-three years old, the only woman ever commissioned as an officer in the Confederacy, died recently in the Home for Confederate Women. She was commissioned captain of cavalry in order that she might continue to conduct her private hospital after all other private hospitals were ordered to be closed, about the time of the first battle of Manassas.
— The “Deutschland,” a German submarine freighter, and the first undersea cargo boat to cross the Atlantic Ocean, bade farewell to Baltimore on the afternoon of August 1, and conveyed by the tug “Timmons,” made its dash to sea in safety, so far as known. The U-boat was painted a sea-green, with irregular lines of dirty white across the whaleback, and hence in deep water it is impossible to distinguish her, once she submerges.
— On account of a nation-wide strike of the railway employees of Spain, the government has suspended the constitutional guaranties, and martial law has been proclaimed throughout the country. The city and province of Madrid were declared by the government in a state of siege on July 13. The strike of the railroad employees has disorganized the transportation system of the country, and has resulted in serious disturbances. The strike began on the Northern Railroad on June 11, and has spread not merely to the other railroads of Spain, but to the industries in the great industrial centers of Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Bilbao, and Oviedo. The primary cause of the strike was refusal of the Northern Railways Company to increase wages, but there has been a growing unrest, and serious disturbances have occurred in most of the provinces of Spain as a result of the increased cost of food caused by the great war.
— On August 2 a general strike of motormen and conductors in New York City was called by the Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America, and the six surface rapid-transit lines were tied up, some of the men going out without giving any warning of their intended action. The boast of the union that it could close all surface traffic in Manhattan was made good for several days, but owing to the activity of Mayor Mitchel and Oscar S. Straus. The day following, normal service on all car lines was resumed. Owing to strikes and lockouts more than 100,000 clothing workers in the great metropolis, representing fully 500,000 persons dependent upon the wages paid by the labor industry, are idle. Orders for women’s and men’s clothing, amounting to fully $500,000,000, are waiting to be filled when a settlement between employers and employees can be made.
NOTICES AND APPOINTMENTS
Camp Meetings
ATLANTIC UNION CONFERENCE
Northern New England, White River Junction, Vt. ........ Aug. 24 to Sept. 3
Maine, Dover and Foxcroft. ........ Aug. 31 to Sept. 10
CENTRAL UNION CONFERENCE
Nebraska, Hastings ........ Aug. 17 to 27
Kansas, Emporia ........ Aug. 24 to Sept. 3
Wyoming, Bridgeport, Nebr. Sept. 21 to Oct. 1
COLUMBIA UNION CONFERENCE
Ohio, Newark ........ Aug. 17 to 27
West Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh ........ Aug. 24 to Sept. 3
West Virginia, Weston ........ Aug. 31 to Sept. 10
LAKE UNION CONFERENCE
Southern Illinois, Martinsville ........ Aug. 10 to 20
West Michigan, Allegan ........ Aug. 17 to 27
Indiana, Indianapolis ........ Aug. 24 to Sept. 3
North Michigan, Cadillac ........ Aug. 24 to Sept. 3
NORTH PACIFIC UNION CONFERENCE
Western Washington, South Tacoma ........ Aug. 24 to Sept. 3
Southern Oregon, Roseburg ........ Aug. 17 to 27
PACIFIC UNION CONFERENCE
Inter-Mountain, Salt Lake City, Utah ........ Aug. 17 to 27
Arizona ........ Oct. 12 to 22
SOUTHERN UNION CONFERENCE
Alabama, Montgomery ........ Aug. 10 to 20
Kentucky, Bowling Green ........ Aug. 17 to 27
Mississippi, Hattiesburg (colored) ........ Aug. 24 to Sept. 3
SOUTHEASTERN UNION CONFERENCE
Florida, St. Petersburg .... Sept. 28 to Oct. 8
Florida, St. Petersburg (colored) .... Sept. 28 to Oct. 8
SOUTHWESTERN UNION CONFERENCE
New Mexico, Clovis ........ Aug. 10 to 20
Oklahoma, Enid ........ Aug. 24 to Sept. 3
Arkansas, Springdale ........ Sept. 7 to 17
WESTERN CANADIAN UNION CONFERENCE
British Columbia (Okanagan District), Kelowna ........ Aug. 14 to 20
NOTICES AND APPOINTMENTS
Oklahoma Conference Corporation
By John Isaac; W. A. Woodruff
NOTICE is hereby given that the annual meeting of the Oklahoma Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists will be held in connection with the conference and camp meeting, Aug. 24 to Sept. 3, 1916, at Enid, Okla. At this meeting officers and a board of trustees will be elected for the ensuing term of office, and such other business transacted as may properly come before the association. The conference delegate body comprises the constituency of this association. The first meeting will be called at 10 A. M., Wednesday, August 30.
JOHN ISAAC, President.
W. A. WOODRUFF, Secretary.
West Pennsylvania Conference Association
By F. H. Robbins; H. K. Hackman
The next session of the constituency of the West Pennsylvania Association of Seventh-day Adventists will be held at Homestead Park, Homestead, Pa., Aug. 30, 1916, at 1:30 P. M., for the purpose of electing officers, and of transacting such other business as may properly come before the meeting. The constituency will meet in connection with the camp meeting to be held in Homestead Park, of August 24 to September 3.
F. H. ROBBINS, President.
H. K. HACKMAN, Secretary.
Nebraska Sanitarium and Benevolent Association
By D. U. Hale; Anna M. Peterson
The Nebraska Sanitarium and Benevolent Association (a legal incorporation) will hold its annual meeting in connection with the camp meeting, at Hastings, Nebr., Aug. 17-27, 1916. The first meeting will convene at 9 A. M., Monday, August 21. This meeting is for the purpose of filling such vacancies on the board as need to be filled at this time, and of transacting such business as should properly come before this body.
D. U. HALE, President.
ANNA M. PETERSON, Secretary.
Nebraska Conference Association
By D. U. Hale; Anna M. Peterson
THE annual session of the Nebraska Conference Association of the Seventh-day Adventists (a legal incorporation) will be held in connection with the camp meeting, at Hastings, Nebr., Aug. 17-27, 1916. The first meeting will convene at 9 A. M., Monday, August 21. The delegates to the conference will form the constituency of this meeting, which will be held for the purpose of electing officers for this association, and of transacting such other business as may come before the constituency.
D. U. HALE, President.
ANNA M. PETERSON, Secretary.
Indiana Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association
By W. A. Westworth; F. A. Loop
The Indiana Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association will hold its regular annual meeting in connection with the conference, at Indianapolis, Ind., Aug. 24 to Sept. 3, 1916, to elect a board of trustees, and to transact such other business as is deemed necessary. The first meeting will be held at 9 A. M., August 29. All accredited delegates to the conference are delegates to this association.
W. A. Westworth, President.
F. A. Loop, Secretary.
Indiana Conference Association
By W. A. Westworth; W. A. Young
THE annual meeting of the Indiana Association of Seventh-day Adventists will be held in connection with the camp meeting, at Indianapolis, Ind., Aug. 24 to Sept. 3, 1916. The first meeting will be called at 9 A. M., Aug. 28, for the election of officers, and for the transaction of any other business that may properly come before the association. All duly accredited delegates to the Indiana Conference are delegates to the association.
W. A. Westworth, President.
W. A. Young, Secretary.
Arkansas Conference Association
By W. E. Baxter; C. J. Dart
NOTICE is hereby given that the annual meeting of the Arkansas Conference Association of the Seventh-day Adventists will be held in connection with the conference and camp meeting at Springdale, Ark., Sept. 7-17, 1916, for the purpose of electing officers, changing the by-laws to provide for the election of officers for a term of two years instead of one, and the transaction of such other business as may properly come before the constituency. All properly accredited delegates to the Arkansas conference are voters in the association. The first meeting will be held at 10 A. M., Monday, September 11.
W. E. Baxter, President.
C. J. Dart, Secretary.
Kansas Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association
By W. D. MacLay; R. L. Carson
The Kansas Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association will hold its regular annual meeting in connection with the conference, at Emporia, Kan., Aug. 24 to Sept. 3, 1916, to elect a board of trustees, and to transact such other business as may be deemed necessary. The first meeting will be held at 3 P. M., Monday, August 28. All accredited delegates to the conference are delegates to the association.
W. D. MacLay, President.
R. L. Carson, Secretary.
Seventh-day Adventist Book Society of West Virginia
By J. W. Hirlinger; C. T. Redfield
The fifth annual meeting of the Seventh-day Adventist Book Society is called to convene at 10 A. M., Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1916, on the camp ground at Weston, W. Va. Officers for the ensuing year will be elected, and such other business transacted as may properly come before the society.
J. W. HIRLINGER, President.
C. T. REDFIELD, Secretary.
Northern New England Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Incorporated
By R. J. Bryant; C. F. Ball
THE regular session of the Northern New England Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, incorporated, is called to convene at 10 A. M., Aug. 29, 1916, on the camp ground at White River Junction, Vt. Officers for the coming year will be elected, and such other business transacted as may properly come before the session. Accredited delegates to the conference are also delegates to the corporation session.
R. J. BRYANT, President.
C. F. BALL, Clerk.
Southern Oregon Conference Association
By T. G. Bunch; J. P. Wheeler
Notice is hereby given that the annual meeting of the Southern Oregon Conference Association of Seventh-day Adventists will be held in connection with the annual camp meeting and conference, at Roseburg, Oregon, Aug. 17-27, 1916. The first meeting will be held at 9:30 A. M., Tuesday, August 22.
T. G. Bunch, Chairman.
J. P. Wheeler, Secretary.
Loma Linda Training School for Nurses
The nurses’ class for 1916-17 of the Loma Linda College of Medical Evangelists is still open for applications. Instruction begins August 13, but students may enter as late as September 1. In this training school the students have an unusual advantage in the way of the large medical faculty. During the course there is opportunity for experience in the sanitarium as well as in the hospital.
Students should be at least nineteen years of age, and should have completed at least ten grades of school work. Application blanks and calendars, with full information, will be sent at once to any applying for the same. Address Superintendent of Nurses, Loma Linda Sanitarium, Loma Linda, Cal.
North Michigan Conference
By E. A. Bristol; C. N. Keiser
The fourteenth annual session of the North Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists will be held in connection with the camp meeting, at Cadillac, Mich., Aug. 24 to Sept. 3, 1916. The first meeting of the conference will be held at 9 A. M., Friday, August 25.
During this session officers will be elected for the ensuing year, and such other business will be transacted as may properly come before the conference. Each church is entitled to one delegate for the organization, and to one additional delegate for each ten members or fraction thereof.
E. A. BRISTOL, President.
C. N. KEISER, Secretary.
Northern New England Conference Association
By R. J. Bryant; D. K. Royer
The third annual session of the Northern New England Conference Association of Seventh-day Adventists is called to convene at 10 A. M., Aug. 30, 1916, on the camp ground at White River Junction, Vt. Officers for the coming year will be elected, and such other business transacted as may properly come before the session. Accredited delegates to the conference are also delegates to the association. R. J. BRYANT, President. D. K. ROYER, Clerk.
Requests for Prayer
A REQUEST for healing from catarrh comes from a friend in Oregon.
A New York sister asks prayer for the healing of a serious injury.
Writing from Kentucky, a brother begs us to pray with him that his eyesight may be restored if it is the will of God.
An afflicted brother in Florida desires our earnest prayers that he may be healed of a disease which seems beyond the skill of earthly physicians.
A burdened father and mother in Missouri desire our united prayers for the recovery of their only child,—a son,—whose mind is becoming affected as the result of a complication of diseases.
The following request comes from Arkansas: "A motherless girl of four years who has been making her home with us is unable to talk, result of a severe illness. Please pray for her healing."
These requests come from a Michigan sister: "Please pray for the healing of my daughter; that the Lord may comfort my son in Canada who is passing through deep affliction; and that I may be restored to health."
The Time is Short
AUGUST, September. October,—three months before election time. What is the result going to be, and how are our people going to stand, either in a defeat or a victory, before the people in all communities where prohibition elections are to be held this fall, and in all other places where constant effort is necessary to maintain victories previously won?
The present world-wide temperance movement has not come by chance at this special age. It has a greater significance than a merely physical reform. The world may never succeed in fully removing the curse of liquor, but the popular reform movement to relieve humanity of this evil monster has come at just the opportune hour to aid in the greatest physical, mental, and moral reform the world has ever faced—the reform message of Revelation 14. It includes temperance in its entirety, and much more of the greatest importance to every nation and people.
The messages coming to us for many years assure us that we are not only obligated to give the leading features of the message, but to press the battle against the liquor traffic. We are required not only to work for, but to vote for, the suppression of the liquor traffic.
A Way in Which All Can Work
Every one may have a successful part in defeating the liquor traffic. After the liquor storm clouds of Maine had passed over in the struggle for prohibition in that State, Neal Dow was asked how the temperance victory was won against the overwhelming combined efforts of the liquor interests of all the States. His simple answer was, “We sowed the State knee-deep with temperance literature.” In other words, they educated the people of Maine. They kept before them the evils of the liquor traffic and the blessings of temperance. The people do not want a curse when they can have a blessing instead. The reason they tolerate a curse is that they do not fully recognize it. Expose it, and it passes away.
The public mind of this age is swayed more by literature than by all other means usually employed in imparting information. An individual, a community, or a nation is known by the literature read. If, therefore, we want to become an influence against intemperance, the means by which to do it is at hand. Any one who can sow temperance literature may be a strong factor against intemperance.
The Temperance Instructor Annual is recognized by leading temperance workers throughout the United States and Canada as the peer of temperance literature. It makes prohibition votes, reforms drunkards, revolutionizes communities, and brings prosperity to homes where poverty has stalked for years. It is called “the ally of all temperance forces.” It ought to be in every home in the land. It pays its own way. What more is needed?—Men, women, and children with such a keen sense of the nation’s great need that they cannot refuse to circulate the Instructor.
North Michigan Conference Association
By E. A. Bristol; C. N. Keiser
The annual session of the North Michigan Conference Association of Seventh-day Adventists will be held at Cadillac, Mich., in connection with the annual conference and camp meeting, Aug. 24 to Sept. 3, 1916. The first meeting will be called at 10:30 A. M., Tuesday, August 29.
Officers and a board of trustees will be elected at this meeting, and any other business transacted that may properly come before the association. All duly accredited delegates to the North Michigan conference form the constituency of the North Michigan Conference Association of Seventh-day Adventists.
E. A. BRISTOL, President.
C. N. KEISER, Secretary.
Maine Conference Association
By H. W. Carr; W. O. Howe
The annual meeting of the Maine Conference Association of Seventh-day Adventists will be held in connection with the Maine conference and camp meeting, at Dover and Foxcroft, Aug. 31 to Sept. 10, 1916, for the purpose of electing trustees, and of transacting such other business as may properly come before the association. The first meeting will be held at 10:30 A. M., Tuesday, September 5. All accredited delegates to the Maine conference are members of the association.
H. W. CARR, President.
W. O. HOWE, Clerk.
Wyoming Conference
By N. T. Sutton; Asa Smith
The ninth annual session of the Wyoming Conference of Seventh-day Adventists will convene at Bridgeport, Nebr., Sept. 21 to October 1, 1916, for the purpose of electing officers, and of transacting such other business as may come before it. Each church is entitled to one delegate without regard to membership, and to one additional delegate for each ten members.
