October, 1938
T H E K I N O ' S B U S I N E S S
327
Flame of Sacrifice By MILDRED M. C O O K
F IR E caught the comer of the pages of a legal document held above a bronze brazier by Pastor Louis T . Talbot’s hand. The congregation that filled even the upper balcony of the auditorium of the Church of the Open Door on Sunday morning, September 11, and that came also to the afternoon and evening services on that memorable day, looked on in reverence and praise to God. Red tongues of fire ran avidly along the edges of the paper—a second mortgage and notes against the Bible Institute of Los Angeles representing an indebtedness of $700,000.00. So vo luminous was the document that the burning of it was divided among the three Sunday meetings. 0 Every eye was focused on the unusual sight. Some saw that, in reality, two flames were there; one that seared and burned and destroyed— literal fire that cast into oblivion every evidence of rightful claim of the Institute’s payment of a certain vast sum—and the other, a veritable torch of power discernible chiefly to those who had had some part in fanning it into the mount ing purifying blaze that it had become, the flame of sacrifice for Christ’s sake. O f this latter flame the casual observer a few weeks ago would have declared that there was no more than a spark to be seen. At about that time, the ominous notice of the sale of the Institute buildings by fore closure was posted publicly. The date of sale was set for August 5. Instantly Louis T . Talbot, pastor of the Church of the Open Door, launched a campaign of en couragement, calling upon his own con gregation as well as his many radio listeners to come to the help of the Lord as HE would lead forth to victory. The "spark" began to glow, fed by the people’s obedi ence to the call of the Lord. The account of the meeting at which a possible plan of procedure was outlined is now well known, having been published in the September K ing ’ s B usiness . And most readers also are familiar with the fact that, surprising though it seems humanly, actually more than the $25,000.00 needed for this par ticular purpose was received in cash from the Lord’s stewards—all of it to be devoted to the liberation of the In stitute from the shackles of debt. But of the sacrifice that prompted the giv ing, it is impossible ever to give a complete account, for only God knows the full depth of it—knows the pain and love and yearning with which some gifts were wrapped. From letters sent to the office of the Church of the Open Door (and there were over sixteen hundred communi cations that were received, largely in the month of August), glimpses
for I have to stay in bed most of the time. I'm sending five dollars as a little part in the undertaking for Biola. I can water my soup—and it will taste good, too.” "My little colored maid,” wrote a woman in a Los Angeles suburb, “wants to help. She had only fourteen dollars in her sav ings account, but today she went down and drew out nine dollars to send to the Bible Institute. She is an earnest little Chris tian and among her own race is stand ing almost alone here in— ----—-— for her Christian principles.” Two patient sufferers found a way by which they could make an offering to the Lord’s work. “I have had a nervous breakdown,” the mother wrote, "and my daughter has ar thritis. W e have been having the doctor twice a week. But this coming week we are going to look to the Lord in a special way, asking Him that we may not need the doctor’s, two customary visits and can send to Biola the money that would be spent for this purpose.” Kindled by Love Scores of letters revealed the esteem in which the Institute is held by parents and friends of students. The depth of one mother’s concern in the school’s emergency may be measured by her willingness to give a choice treasure for the Lord’s sake. “Yes, indeed, I love the Bible Insti tute!” she wrote. “My one precious daughter was graduated there. I have limited strength and small salary and cannot give any money, but I am sending my engagement ring which was given to me twenty-nine years ago.” Both gratitude and the regret of lost opportunities are mingled in some letters. "I know several young people who have been graduated from that fine institution [the Bible Institute of Los Angeles],” wrote a man as he sent his gift, “and I feel it must go on. How I wish I might have had this wonderful training in my youth!” From "retired” foreign workers comes this touching letter: “It would take too much time to tell you how we, missionaries for forty years in China, have been blessed by the Bible Institute, having known it from its infancy and having attended classes in rooms in the Temple Baptist Church taught by our beloved Dr. Torrey. Our precious daughter came under the blessed in fluence of the Euodia and Eteri Clubs and gave her life to Christ for full time service. He took her, ten years ago, to be with Himself. This week.
are afforded into the hearts of representa tive givers. As one reads these communi cations—some of them written in trembling hand, many of them enclosing very small amounts of money—the secret of the achievement is laid bare: God will not be unmindful of the loving devotion of His people to Himself and to the work of the Lord. Whoever responds to His “Prove me now” will find that
He
the Greatest
Giver.
Costly Fuel tor the Flame Many of the letters in d ic a te d th a t the writers were choosing to do without some thing of great value to themselves, in order to contribute to the fund for Biola. Would not a letter like the follow ing one make the heart of the Emmaus T rav eler g la d — the One who once shared a simple meal with two troubled friends, and who always delights to reveal Himself at th e " b r e a k in g of b r e a d ”? W rote this correspondent : "M y d a u g h te r, an only child, is in the General H o sp ita l recovering from an infection con tracted while nursing her father who died in June. Y o u r rad io
b r o a d c a s t , D r . T a 1 b o t l
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