General Conference Bulletin, vol. 1

EDITORIAL NOTES

IT has been decided by the General Conference Committee to establish a permanent publication as a medium for communicating to the public, statistics, general information concerning our work, reports of meetings, etc. To this work the GENERAL CONFERENCE BULLETIN will be devoted. The regular publication will be issued quarterly, and will probably fill the place of our Year Book as the rapid growth of our work requires a more frequent publication. On occasions of special meetings the paper may be issued in extras as the circumstances demand. The subscription price has been placed at 50 cents per year, and it is confidently expected that the BULLETIN will be well worth many times that sum. GCB February 4, 1895, page 16.1

The BULLETIN is not designed to supplant any of our periodicals already established since it enters a field peculiarly its own. In a work constituted and prosecuted as is that of the Seventh-day Adventists, progressive and aggressive in its nature, changes are continually taking place. At the same time it is highly essential that the friends of the cause be made familiar with the various steps that are taken. It is believed that this little paper will contribute largely to that end. With an earnest desire to be useful in that field it goes forth on its mission to the world. GCB February 4, 1895, page 16.2

ELDER HOLSER reports that the brethren in Switzerland are likely to have serious trouble with the authorities in reference to sending children to school on the Sabbath. The law in most of the cantons requires parents to do this; and in one of the churches nearly all the members are under arrest for declining to do so. GCB February 4, 1895, page 16.3

DR. KELLOGG was absent from the city on Sunday, and his place was filled by several of his assistants whose remarks will have a place in our next number. Elder Olsen almost said he was glad the Doctor was away, because it gave the delegates a chance to observe and catch the earnest spirit of these devoted workers. GCB February 4, 1895, page 16.4

THE meetings on Sunday followed the course marked out in the program. The attendance was large and the interest good. Full reports will be given in the next BULLETIN. GCB February 4, 1895, page 16.5

Two classes daily in oratory have been organized in connection with the Institute. The instructor is Prof. A. S. Humphrey, of Chicago. GCB February 4, 1895, page 16.6

ELDER U. SMITH, who has been absent for some nine months on an extended tour in the Old World, resumed his editorial chair at the Review and Herald office on Sunday morning. He will sit in the Conference as one of the delegates at large. GCB February 4, 1895, page 16.7

THE Sabbath sermon in the Tabernacle was by Eld. D. A. Robinson, of London. Our space will not admit of a verbatim report, or even of an adequate outline of the discourse, which was replete with practical truth. The day was a pleasant winter’s day, crisp and clear, and the audience filled the Tabernacle in every part. GCB February 4, 1895, page 16.8

The discourse was based upon Jeremiah 31:3: “The Lord hath appeared of old [from afar, margin] unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.” GCB February 4, 1895, page 16.9

Many of us lose very much in our reading of the Bible by failing to realize that what we read is for us personally. We believe that God loves good men, — he loves others — but fail to see that he loves us. Again, we fail in not allowing God to do for us that which he shows us we need. He does not reveal our defects and leave us helpless to remedy them, but comes to heal and help. God is not “afar” from us, though sin places us far him. He is nigh to every one of us. Acts 17:27. His word is nigh to us, even in our mouths and hearts, but we do not receive it. Men do not always realize the value of the treasures committed to them. We treat with indifference the rich promises and offers of love. Jesus died in our behalf, but many do not appreciate the gift of life that is thus proffered to the race and that is placed within the reach of every one. GCB February 4, 1895, page 16.10

Satan would not have us to realize the love God has for us; but the Lord assures us, “Yea, I have loved thee.” His kindness extends to the unthankful and to the evil. He sends rain upon the just and the unjust. and if we appreciate this love it will beget within us a similar love for those about us. GCB February 4, 1895, page 16.11

The discourse was an illustration of the love and care of God and an exhortation to an appreciation of these great favors by receiving them for ourselves and imparting the same grace to those about us. GCB February 4, 1895, page 16.12

Elders J. H. Durland and E. H. Gates assisted in the services. GCB February 4, 1895, page 16.13

In the afternoon, social meetings were held in the fourteen districts into which the church is divided with an extra division for the delegates in the office chapel, and one for the German brethren, led by Elder Holser, which met at the College. No meetings were held in the evening. GCB February 4, 1895, page 16.14