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THE K I N G ’ S BUS INESS
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By DAN E. L. PATCH *
Police officer questioning this mother knows who is really to blame for the trouble— and it is not the child.
International News Photo
A IE Christians asleep?” I ask that question in all serious ness. It is my contention that ance with many of them. I know their habits. There are far too many somnambu listic Christians, Christians walking in their sleep. We find them everywhere: self-satisfied, professing believers who have no interest in the spiritual wel- fare of others. They remind me of a boy I encoun- tered at three o’clock one summer morn ing when I started patrolling a beat. In the silence, I heard the pit-a-pat of bare feet. Stepping into the shadow of a hedge, I watched the apparition skilled, he has been made Chief of Police twice, in different communities, servina at present at Ypsilanti, Mich. Always within easy reach are his gun— and his Bible. “ To check «rim , at if. s o u r c e h e declares, "w e need the ktnd of relation that exalts Jesus Christ as personal Saviour." —EDITOR. Author of this article ts a veteran of twen- i -e,i j Uear.s tn law enforcement. Highly
approach. I-.threw the beam of my flashlight on the figure an^i SAW ? imj about twelve years old, clad in his night clothes, wholly mauierem. u, v,.e world about him. He was asleep. I was merely an object in his pathway. He turned slightly from his course as though he would pass me. My pres ence was unreal to him. He saw, but saw not. When I seized his arm, he uttered a startled exclamation and awoke. I took him home and restored him to a deserted bed and to anxious parents. A somnambulist—whether in the physical or spiritual sense—is one who walks while he is asleep. He goes somewhere before he knows he is go ing. When he arrives, he does not know where he is. When he wakes up, he does not know how he got there; and when he gets back, he does not know where he has been. . . . #s All too many Christians are like that —even some preachers. Tney are in
a fog. They are sleeping, though they give the appearance of being normal and active. You know the type. To the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” they re spond with a cold attitude, if not one of defiance. “ No,” they say, “we’ll take the responsibility for our own transgressions. If other people want to go in the way of Cain, why should we interfere?” Every community has disgruntled misfits like this who never do any thing for Christ, yet are critical of the efforts of others. As long as they can manage their own affairs, they are satisfied. We try to make ourselves believe that this attitude involves non-Chris tians only, but this is not true. We forget that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and that “ all” includes every one of us. Our smug satisfaction is sin, no matter how happily v
they are. I have a personal acquaint
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