Sleeping Pills from the Pulpit

Here’s one for the record! We quote the entire report that appeared in the Fort Worth (Texas) Star Telegram: “Sydney, Australia, Aug. 27 (CDN)—If a sermon puts you to sleep it may be doing you more good than listening to it. That’s the view of Rev. Gordon Powell. The Presbyterian minister believes that, in a sense, ‘the more people sleep in church the better the sermon.’ The clergyman declared from the pulpit of Sydney’s St. Stephen’s Church recently: ‘People today are tired because the tension in their souls prevents them from getting proper benefit from ordinary sleep. In church they are reminded of the love and care of God and develop an inner sense of security that has a strong sleep-inducing effect.’”

Apparently he regards his sermons and his religion as merely a drug for the mentally distressed. Those of sound mind, however, recognize that only sluggards sleep at vital times, and that those who want life must sharpen their ears and gain solid facts so that their knowledge will not run out and the light of truth flicker away. But apparently this clergyman feels it matters little whether one listens to his sermon or not. Such sleep-inducers peddle false security, and themselves refuse to awaken to the lateness of the time. Insomnia sufferers, take note: One such pill is bad, an overdose is fatal!—Prov. 6:9-11; Mark 13:32-37.