Our Magazine Ministry
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narrow in your plans. You do not put into your work all the tact and
perseverance that it deserves. There are more difficulties in this work
than in some other branches of business; but the lessons that will be
learned, the tact and discipline that will be acquired, will fit you for
other fields of usefulness, where you may minister to souls. Those who
poorly learn their lesson, and are careless and abrupt in approaching
persons, would show the same defects of manner, the same want of
tact and skill in dealing with minds, should they enter the ministry.
Short Subscriptions a Mistake—While short subscriptions are ac-
cepted, some will not make the effort necessary to obtain them for a
longer time. Canvassers should not go over the ground in a careless,
unconcerned manner. They should feel that they are God’s workmen,
and the love of souls should lead them to make every effort to enlighten
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men and women in regard to the truth. Providence and grace, means
and ends, are closely connected. When His laborers do the very best
they can, God does for them that which they cannot do themselves; but
no one need expect to succeed independently and by his own exertions.
There must be activity united with firm trust in God.
Economy is needed in every department of the Lord’s work. The
natural turn of youth in this age is to neglect and despise economy,
and to confound it with stinginess and narrowness. But economy is
consistent with the most broad and liberal views and feelings; there
can be no true generosity where it is not practiced. No one should
think it beneath him to study economy and the best means of taking
care of the fragments. Said Christ, after He had performed a notable
miracle: “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”—
Testimonies for the Church 5:399, 400
(1885).
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