January, 1945
II. THE MOVEMENT. The Christian Endeavor movement began sixty-four years ago, when Francis E. Clark organized the first C. E. society (mostly of high school young people) in the Williston Con- gregational Church of Portland, Maine. When various pastors heard of the ef ficiency of this organization in hold ing young people, and training them for Christian living and Christian serv ing, they also organized societies in their churches. The World’s Christian Endeavor Union reports that societies have beén organized not only in a great many churches in most denominations over America, but also missionaries have organized societies on mission stations far and wide, until today there are C. E. societies in sixty nations, and in eighty-seven Protestant denominations around the world. Up to the Golden Jubilee C. E. Convention held in San Francisco in 1931, twenty-seven million people had passed from Christian En deavor into the church. The thousands of copventions, ral lies, and conferences held by Christian Endeavor that áre international, in terracial, a n d interdenominational, have contributed greatly'to the answer of Christ’s prayer in John 17:21, “That they all may be one.” Christian Endeavor has been the méans used by the church in training thousands of church workers, ministers, and missionaries. The war has stopped Christian Endeavor work in many countries and hindered it greatly in others. A fund of $60,000 is being raised to help put Christian Endeavor back on its feet in all of these coun tries at the close of the war, and also to hire regional men to cover neglected areas-in the United States. Every church should analyze its own local field and immediately take steps to organize societies to reach all age groups. The. boys who are now in the service of our country will be coming back, and will expect to find societies all aglow with spiritual life and en thusiasm. Shall they be disappointed? The answer depends upon us! FEBRUARY 11, 1945 THE MYTH OF RACIAL SUPERIORITY A cts 10:34, 35 By Lyman A. Wendt It is not very popular now to sug gest that God has no favorites among nations. It is true that God has made certain everlasting covenants with Israel as a nation, but no one is ac ceptable to God just because he hap pens to belong to a certain race, not even an American! Nor does God ex-
elude any man just because he hap pens to belong to a particular nation ality or race. Because, of the intense propaganda of the day, to which we are constantly subjected, we need to have our think ing clarified by God’s Word. The fol lowing topics based on Acts 10:34, 35, with supporting passages, will enlight en us concerning “ the myth of racial superiority.” For Those Who Have Topics I. NO RACE IS SUPERIOR. 1. “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). Note the support of this truth in God’s Word: From the Old Testament (Deut. 10:17; 16:19; 2Chron. 19:7; Job 34:19); from the Gospels (Matt. 22:16; Lk. 20:21); and from the Epistles (Rom. 2:11; Gal. 2:6; Eph. 6:9; Col. 3:25: Jas. 2:9; 1 Pet. 1:17). 2. Contrast the modern attitude of certain nations: Germany and its phi losophy of the superiority of “Aryans” ; Japan and its “sons of heaven,” with the alleged divinity of the emperor; other nations of the world, including our own, assume the attitude “we are the people.” II. ALL RACES MAY BE ACCEPTED BY GOD. 1. Note carefully the text, Acts 10:34, 35, and its context. Cornelius was ap parently of pure Roman blood (Italian —Acts 10:1). It would seem that his nationality was against him, but God reveals that the “heathen” are not shut out because of their nationality. The Lord belongs not to the Jews only, but also to the world. There is no difference between one nation and another *in regard to the Universality of sin and the way of salvation. None are to be saved by external privileges, and none are to be lost by the want of them. 2. We need not accept what a group or nation "stands for,” but we must not allow any barrier (racial, social, economic, political, religious) to ob scure our view of the individual. III. THE BASIS OF GOD’S ACCEPT ANCE. 1. “He that feareth him and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:35). In the context of this passage, it is declared that Jesus was crucified (v. 29), raised from the dead (v. 40), and that “whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission o f sins” (v. 43). This is the gospel (cf. 1 Cor. 15:1-4), and by believing it any individual of any nation is “ accepted,!’ Salvation is not based on external possessions, but on the state of the heart. Cornelius was not accepted on account of his good works. They were simply an evi dence of the condition of his heart.
IT’S AN IDEA February 4th is Christian Endeavor day, and should give us a good start for a great Christian Endeavor month v • Idea 1 .' Send out attractive invitations to the biTthday celebration, of Christian En deavor. You may plan your meeting for February 4 on that theme, for on February 2, 1945, C. E. will be sixty-four years old. • Idea 2. Have a “key-man” meeting on some Sunday eve ning. Use for your texts, 1 Corinthians 9:22; 15:10. Every person is the “key-man” to some situation. Invitations in the shape of large keyi may be sent. • ’ Idea 3- In order to show the importance of each C. E. member, let someone prepare a poster or object lesson on the two words, “Untied” and “United.” Show that the dif ference all depends on the* position of “I.” Where I am makes a difference as to whether my society is at loose ends or united fot Christ. • Idea 4. in connection with the meeting on February 25th, ballots may be prepared that will enable us to see that every day we are voting for or against Christ and the church. Every time we are absent we are voting against our society. Whenever we re fuse to take part we are vot ing “no” on the question, “Do you want a good C. E. so ciety?”—Carlton C. Buck.
It was his embracing the Saviour in believing faith that made him accept able. 2. In God’s view it is immaterial whether man belongs to one nation or to another. A young German, re cently having become a naturalized American citizen, told this story: He was reared in a real Christian home. The other members of his family, including three brothers, are still in Germany. One of his brothers, a "black sheep” entered the German air force and there, through the influence of I
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