C. H. Woolston

“ All the world questions should be settled by arbitration. "Come let us reason together" is God's good way to settle questions with the sinner or the nations. The spirit of this bad black bottle has slain its countless trillions, and if all the human skulls through which war bullets have crashed could be assembled in one great Potter's Field they would cover an acre of Towers of Babel. If all of the bones of the slain by war could by some magic magnet be thrown together they would well nigh cover the civilized acres of the world. ”

“ These words are like matches from God to light the red lamp of danger. Alcohol is a deadly thing. God says so. Tell them that it is the greatest idol in all the world. Millions worship it, for every drinker of this red poison bows to this idol whenever he drinks. Strike a match and set fire to it, and as it blazes forth say "I will now burn the idol, because it is a burning idol, like the great Moloch about which we read in the Old Testament, within whose blazing arms little children were cast and burned to death. So this fiery idol destroys millions. ”

“ No fairy or any human power can change the black of sin into the white of righteousness.
The pool of life is full of these fancy colors that declare that they have the power to change black to white, but they are only bubbles on the surface. Don't trust them. This is a matter for eternity. God alone can change black into white. The blood of Jesus Christ takes all sin away. ”

“ Sometimes the school books are enemies to the word of God and destroy all taste for the Bible. Often when the boys and girls have finished their book learning, they have not only no time for the Bible but no use for it at all. They cast it into the rubbish and say "The world has outgrown the Bible." So under the books of the school, they have buried it and called it dead and that is the reason they buried it. Bright boys and girls should know the Bible is the king of all books of learning, and the highest crowning wisdom of all is to know God, that alone is the perfect education. ”

“ Eighty per cent of all the knowledge we receive from the cradle to the grave comes through the eye. It is the Big Highway with wide gates ever open to the heart of a child.
The moving pictures of the day are visited daily in the United States by six million of little children. This one, thing they are doing for the children: they are training them to look and see things; they are learning to be good lookers; they come to us in our Sunday Schools and children's meetings with eyes trained to look and happy is the teacher if he can show them truth. ”

“ No boy or girl can love himself or herself above all others without dying inside. Like the African ant, selfishness destroys from within, it kills the heart.
Bishop Butler, one of the most learned men, said, "Be more afraid of thyself than of the world." Be afraid of the idol of selfishness, it is yourself at your worst. Put it away, not to bed.
A poor little girl in the slums of London one cold snowy night said to her little brother who was shivering with the cold by her side, "Come closer to me, dear little brother, come under my shawl, it will stretch and cover us both." ”

“ The Bible contains the world's best literature, and it is more than good literature. Its words are life and concentrated power. They are bits of radium. They glow with inside light, they never lose their lustre. Their light is as penetrating as the X-ray. They shine into the other life. Don't hide the light of the mighty word with the novel or secular reading of the present day. ”

“ All the world seem to fix their eyes on the golden country, but the road is so narrow that few there be that find it. All people are pilgrims seeking that fair land, but at the end of their trail they meet the wreckage of the failures of the ages. Harken, and I will tell you how to find the trail that leads to the Land of Happiness. Once upon a time a lad called upon a wise man and asked him if he would direct him to this land of joy. ”

“ Our colonial fathers when they spilt salt at the table, threw a pinch of it over the left shoulder to keep the witches away; so it seems that often this black bottle of ignorance finds a place on our table of daily bread. Let us seek knowledge and light always. Learn something every day, and keep far away from this bottle of dark ignorance. Remember the mountaintop window of light is to know God aright, and to love him and keep his commandments. ”

“ Read John 14 when the darkness is at hand, and nothing in the wide, wide world can be compared to the heart pleasure this gives. It puts the soul in touch with a little bit of heaven. Don't cover up God's great pleasure garden—the Bible— with a ton of worthless worn out, dried and faded earthly flowers. ”

“ The joy the world knows is like the desert plant. It fastens its root by the side of a little stream, and drinks in the moisture, and spreads out its leaves of life. The stream is dried up at last by the heat of the desert, and the roots loosen their hold on the soil, and the windstorm rolls the plant over the desert like a dead leaf until another piece of wet ground is found. ”

“ All men are not born sinners, but born in sin, and later on, that sin manifests itself, and we begin to choose evil in preference to the right, and that makes us sinners. The seed of sin was hidden deep in the heart. The jar apparently pure has in it a hidden property no eye can see, but it is there and when evil gets in it finds a response from that hidden power and at once the apparently pure water has turned black with sin. ”

“ There it fastens for another short season, and again the sun dries up this spring of life, and hurls the root on in the heart of the desert storm, This is repeated over and over again until at last it tosses it out into the piercing rays of the sun a withered dry old root dead at the heart. So men and women are like this dry root. ”

“ These ten friends are never failing friends. They say to you "I'll stand by you, and perhaps I can make you rich and great some day." We must all depend on these ten friends, and they will never fail us. Now hold up both hands, open wide the fingers and say "These are your ten friends. They are your ten friends, and they are your ten best friends. They are ten obedient friends. They always do just what you tell them to do. They are never disobedient. They never refuse to work for you. They never go on a strike." ”

“ Weeds are not good things in a garden. They are not good things in the heart, Watch them when they first show their little heads. Close the door at once, they soon turn to poison and death in the soul. ”

“ People grow white in the face in their excessive seeking to find the latest thrill, and they stay white until he cold hand of death gets them. Pleasures pure are pleasures right. At the right hand of God there are pleasures forever more. If they are right for heaven, they are right for the world, but pleasures worshipped are always bad for they are tipped with sin and bar the gates of heaven from the pleasures at the "right hand of God." ”

“ Watch it shine, and you will notice it puts its whole life into the business of shining. Measure it as it shines, and you will discover it grows less and less, and leaves nothing behind it—gives itself, and all of itself into the business of shining. It consumes itself in the process of shining, This is a true light picture of the Christian. Real service requires the giving of the entire self. David Livingstone, the heart of Africa missionary, gave all that he had and consumed all his energies for the good of the Dark Continent. ”

“ IN the Old Testament days we read of the Scriptures or "The Law" being hidden away under the rubbish of the neglected temple. There is great danger in these days that we might lose our Bible in this way also. We so easily and frequently put it aside, neglect it, and then forget it and often forget where we put it. The cares of this world and its sinful pleasures are the dust which so often covers our Bible, and which covers it over to such an extent that we find it is not even in our thoughts. ”

“ Mother is heaven, her shining eyes are the stars. There is a cry in the night. Mother understands its language and gives her holy ministrations. Watch Mother, she is the teacher God has trained. Listen to her first "few words." Baby does. Mother understands. God give the preacher this understanding. Learn how Mother her first "few words," then "try, try again." Learn your first lesson in the language of a child. It loves picture words. It learns the names of common things first. Things fix themselves in the eyes. Its language is born as it looks. Looks at a cow and calls it "moo cow." ”

“ In the making of a Christian there cannot be a perfect Christian with some of the commandments left out. He that fails in one is guilty of all.
Figure 4.—Here we see the field but the stars left out. This is not the flag of the U.S.A. That man who calls himself a Christian without the Star of Bethlehem is not a New Testament Christian.
Figure 5.—Here we have nothing but stripes—no blue field. This is not the national banner of our country. It lacks the one thing— the blue. In making of the Christian we must not lack one thing; if we do, the life is rejected. ”

“ Every little cradle is a ship starting on the voyage of life. Little Eyes looks out from its cabin windows and discovers that the land it sees is America. It is not dreaming of lakes sublime or rivers majestic. It is not in fact a discoverer. It is a see-er. It is seeing things, real things, in the land it has just discovered. Its first adventure is the finding of Mother, which means it has discovered perfect love, protection, and tender care. ”

“ As the sides of this Promise box are around about me, so are the mountains of His power. I am closed in by tons of mountains, a congress of giants, so Salvation is God's safety box. It shuts the soul in His Cross, His Care, His Love, His Power, His Promises. No wonder it is written "They shall never perish." Marvel not it is written "No man shall pluck them out of my hand." When Noah and his wife, and his three sons, and their wives went into the Ark, God shut them in, and they were safe. When God shuts the door He shuts the soul in. No man can open. God holds the key. ”

“ It is the man who can believe the longest and work the hardest that will find the North Pole of the Bible. This is the secret passage to the Greater Pole: Love God, and stick to it until you can do it with all your soul. It is sad to think that not every one will do this. This is why God can't reign in his own world, because of the people's unbelief.
God is yet waiting to show the world what mighty things he can do for us with the man who loves him with his whole heart, and the man who does this has reached the North Pole of the Scriptures. ”

“ At this point you seem to be in deep study and finally say, "I just remember that I have overlooked a little box," which you produce from some corner and on opening it you discover another toy which you give to the little girl with the one toy. Now they both have the same number and so it is all right at last. This teaches us a lesson so hard to learn in life,—how one man receives much, the other but little. Strife and war are often the result of this condition but we must be patient with our lot. ”

“ Money is like a skeleton key which unlocks a multitude of sin doors through which we enter to the eternal hurt of our soul. Mary Magdalene found it paid for a season in dollars and cents, but this is tainted money and slips through the fingers, and on wings supplied from the demons themselves flies away to come back no more forever. "His money was his curse," that [200] the people often say when like a devil it has entered and destroyed a human heart. We are now speaking only of the evil use of money. Put the card with the dollar mark on it into the heart and say, This is the fourth devil. ”

“ Ever since that day, whenever the glad Christmas day approaches, lights, beautiful and cheerful seem to shine out the glad light of the first Christmas day and so from window on hill top or valley, from tree and toy room of countless homes, the Christmas candle plays its happy part in the drama of Merry Christmas. To illustrate this Christmas candle story, construct a large background like the inside view of a window, and place a tall candle in front of it. If the window cannot be erected draw one on a blackboard or sketch one on a piece of muslin. ”

“ Here we are taught the Bible is food for the soul. Without it we will all perish.
"I have esteemed thy word more than my necessary food" is the confession of the heart that finds the Bible the real bread for the soul.
The prophet said, "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? harken diligently unto me, [15] and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." This is free bread; it is without money and without price. Come to the gospel Free Market and live. ”

“ We should all offer our whole life to God and not wait till it is almost gone and then offer a few short feeble days to Him. Don't wait until life is almost burned out and only a little stub left like this to offer God." As you say these words, hold up the little stump of candle. "Here is a candle almost burnt out. It will not give light much longer." In the old fashioned days when candle light was used it would be cast aside as good for nothing, and yet the little stump can do a little good for Jesus. ”

“ Now bring in a plain white candle and say: "After all, this white candle shines forth as brightly as any one of them. It makes no noise, says nothing about itself, but just goes on and shines. It is not the clothes which make the light of life shine the brighter." ”

“ As I look at the flag again I learn the lesson of the strength of organization. The Red, White, and Blue as separate colors stand for themselves alone. Unite them in the flag, and they stand defended by the Army and Navy of the country. Christians often say they can live the Christian life outside the organized body of Christians, called the church, but by so doing they stand alone and for themselves. United in the church, they are backed by the greatest organized power in the world, the church of Jesus. ”

“ Then again the weeds say to me: "My real name is Determination. I will come in, and you will have a hard time to get rid of me." They are determined to stay. It is no use to pull off their leaves, but pull them up by their roots and cast them into the fire. Just as soon as an evil thought comes into our minds, kill it at once. ”

“ Let me tell you how the seven devils got into her heart, and the story of how they were cast out when she met Jesus.
Mary Magdalene was just like the rest of us, for we all have seven devils in our heart, and some have a few more. She was born in sin like all of us. She was not born a sinner; none of us are, for we do not become sinners until we arrive at that age when with a free choice we choose to do evil, then we are sinners. ”

“ The world is richer than it has ever been, that is because we have learned to make money. The world is wiser than it has ever been; that is because we have learned to make many books. The world at heart is sadder than it has ever been ”

“ He has indeed lost his heart. He loves his gold, he loves it so much that he has given himself to the bank and forgotten God. Now, little girl, you can help your father find his heart again, for I am going to tell you where his heart has gone." The angel said: "On yonder shelf you will see a little iron bank; open it up, and you will find buried beneath the coins of this bank your father's heart." She did as the good angel directed, and there, sure enough, amidst the copper and silver coins, she found her Daddy's heart. ”

“ That is the way to shine forever. Burn out here, and you will shine forever in God's kingdom. So we learn that we are not only letting our light shine as a business, but in so doing we light the dark corner lights around the world. This candle I now hold in my hand can light a thousand other candles, and they in turn another thousand, and so on until it could light shining candles girdling the round world. Light is contagious. It easily passes from one candle to another.
One courageous enthusiastic person can fire many others to shine in their dark corners also. ”

“ Prepare a large black card with the words "My Sins" painted upon it. Hold it up before the audience so all can see it, and remark: "My sins are dark and terrible. The Bible tells me they are like a thick cloud. (Isa. 44:22.) Note the first letter of sin is an S, which resembles a serpent in the act of striking its deadly blow. You cannot pronounce the letter S without hissing as a serpent. Sin is a deadly thing. It is poison for the heart and will. Sin is like a monster serpent coiled around our soul, and will at last crush out its life forever. ”

“ We call the place where we bury the dead "cemeteries," which means "sleeping-places." It is a beautiful thought to think of the little graves as little cradles where rest the bodies of little children, but only our bodies sleep there, for the soul has gone to the God who made it. ”

“ Five thousand dollars was the legal value of a child. Would you sell your little girl for that figure? Is that what your child is worth? Are children for sale in this world of sin and unbelief? This child is for sale, and the world, the flesh, and the devil bid for him. Who bids first for this child?"
A man then walks up to the platform saying, "A business man makes the first offer." Read the card and say: "Mr. A. Cigaret, representing the Smoke and Brownleaf Co., bids for the child. He offers good fellowship, the thrills of the happy smoker, and the name of a jolly good fellow." ”

“ I see another prophet approaching. It is a foreigner. As he comes to the platform he bears the flag of China, and carries a Chinese lantern. He is coming not to preach but to listen. Hold up the lantern close to the preacher candle and say: "China is asking for the true light. What doth the preacher candle say?" And the candle answers: "Hear me, all ye people, Our Master's great commission tells us we are to go into all the world and preach the gospel. China is the largest nation of the world, and so according to the order of the Light of the World, we give China the light." ”

“ I think it will become entirely white if you pray to Jesus to forgive you. Tell your classmate and teacher and the scholars how sorry you are." William said to himself, "I will." That night he prayed long and earnestly and when the morning had come he was astonished to see how much lighter his heart had grown. This pleased him very much and he said: "I don't think I will trouble any more about my heart. It is growing so much lighter that I think the last remnant of the blackness will pass away in a day." ”

“ John Hus reached out his hand and drew the fagot close to his side and said, "With my heart I forgive you," for John was a Christian. She was a heathen putting her idol of "hate" to bed. She was so blind with hate that she did not know a saint when she saw one.
Be like Jesus who loved all men. A brother of mine when he was converted said, "I feel like kissing everybody." He had put the idol of hate in the rag-bag and, like Jesus, loved everybody. ”