1. The pastor should aim to secure in every family a good religious newspaper. This is a matter of primary moment, for such a paper is an ever-present force, educating religious thought and feeling and enriching and elevating practical life. Most pastors9 would be startled, on making the inquiry10, to find how few families in their congregation take a religious paper, and how many are taking only trashy and often morally poisonous publications, the habitual11 reading of which must utterly12 neutralize13 the instruction and influence of the pulpit. The magazine and newspaper are the habitual reading of the family circle; and the pastor who fails to exercise watchful14 care in regard to the character of this reading will often find it one of the most destructive forces at work among his people.
2. The intelligent and thoughtful minister, in his public [p. 115] and private work, will often call the attention of his people to good books, and use his influence to introduce them. His people, pressed under secular15 care and toil16, are most of them not in a position to judge of the value and tendency of the literature offered to them; and they rightfully look to him, as an intelligent and studious man, to guide their judgment17 in the selection of reading. The Sunday-school library also should be carefully selected under his eye and secured a wide circulation. In a large congregation it may sometimes be of advantage to have a reading-room and a circulating library, placed under the care of some association; and over this also the pastor’s watchful supervision will be required. He should also provide himself with tracts—brief, simple, pungent18, clearly setting forth19 sin, redemption, repentance20, faith, and Christian duties—such as may awaken21 the careless, guide the inquirer, and press to duty the hesitant Christian. These little winged evangels are most valuable auxiliaries22 in his pastoral work and should be kept for judicious23 circulation in the inquiry meeting, in pastoral visitation, and in seasons of revival24. As issued by our Publication Society, they are now of such wide variety and high value, and of such slight cost, that no pastor should allow himself to neglect a means so important to his success.[1]
3. The subject of reading and books should also be presented in the pulpit that the great importance of care in this may be felt, and the purity of the homes of the people be guarded against a pernicious influence of a poisoned literature. Many a Christian parent has never been aroused [p. 116] to the real peril25 in which he is placing his family by the reading he thoughtlessly admits to the home circle.
4. A pastor should also seek to inspire and elevate the public sentiment of the community where he is located in regard to schools, lyceums, libraries, and public lectures, so as to secure pure and Christian influences at these important fountains of public opinion and character. As an educated man and a Christian minister, this duty naturally devolves on him; and his influence, rightly and quietly used, may often determine the question whether the schools shall be under Christian or non-Christian instruction, or whether the lecture-course shall be filled by men who revere26 God’s Word or by those who hate and traduce27 it. No minister ought to be indifferent to the public sentiment around him; for it is the intellectual and moral atmosphere in which his people live, and which must needs tend either to poison or to purify their souls.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] It would be well were every church to see that the pastor is furnished with a sufficient supply of such publications. Some churches are accustomed to make regular provision for this object. They believe that the soldier should not be expected to purchase his own ammunition28.—Editor.
点击收听单词发音
1 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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2 providence | |
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝 | |
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3 pastor | |
n.牧师,牧人 | |
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4 inevitably | |
adv.不可避免地;必然发生地 | |
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5 potent | |
adj.强有力的,有权势的;有效力的 | |
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6 hindrance | |
n.妨碍,障碍 | |
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7 supervision | |
n.监督,管理 | |
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8 auxiliary | |
adj.辅助的,备用的 | |
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9 pastors | |
n.(基督教的)牧师( pastor的名词复数 ) | |
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10 inquiry | |
n.打听,询问,调查,查问 | |
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11 habitual | |
adj.习惯性的;通常的,惯常的 | |
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12 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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13 neutralize | |
v.使失效、抵消,使中和 | |
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14 watchful | |
adj.注意的,警惕的 | |
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15 secular | |
n.牧师,凡人;adj.世俗的,现世的,不朽的 | |
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16 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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17 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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18 pungent | |
adj.(气味、味道)刺激性的,辛辣的;尖锐的 | |
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19 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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20 repentance | |
n.懊悔 | |
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21 awaken | |
vi.醒,觉醒;vt.唤醒,使觉醒,唤起,激起 | |
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22 auxiliaries | |
n.助动词 ( auxiliary的名词复数 );辅助工,辅助人员 | |
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23 judicious | |
adj.明智的,明断的,能作出明智决定的 | |
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24 revival | |
n.复兴,复苏,(精力、活力等的)重振 | |
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25 peril | |
n.(严重的)危险;危险的事物 | |
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26 revere | |
vt.尊崇,崇敬,敬畏 | |
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27 traduce | |
v.中伤;n.诽谤 | |
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28 ammunition | |
n.军火,弹药 | |
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