Hymns Are Favorites A recent national survey conducted by the American Music Conference con sulted 4,537 families to determine their musical preferences. The findings sup port the repeated contentions of religious broadcasters in regard to the popularity of sacred music, for 60.8 of the families put religious music, particularly hymns, at the top of the list. More than that, churches were rated above theaters and concerts as the principal outside factor in stimulating interest in good music. Such a poll is a strong commentary on the output of many disc jockeys’ pro grams. Do not expect, however, unre generate program directors in our na tional broadcasting chains to decide im mediately for more religious music. The devil is, and always was a counterfeiter, and he will continue to operate in this manner. A Bleating Pest In a recent magazine in a Question and Answer column, the question was asked whether a baby lamb made a good pet. The answer was quite illuminating: “ Of all the pets I know, none is so de manding. A little lamb is charming, but what a pest he can be! Unless he gets his bottle, his bleating becomes unbear able, and he demands constant attention. The owner is a substitute for his mother, and a lamb always stays close to his mother.” In this connection, it will be remem bered that our Lord likens Christians to sheep and new Christians to lambs. The same characteristics undoubtedly hold true in this case with the exception that our Shepherd knows full well how to handle both lambs and sheep, no matter how great pests they may be. Too Many People In a recently published book by Fair- field Osborn, President of the New York Zoological Society, the fear is advanced that it cannot be long until the earth will be utterly unable to feed the bil lions of people who will be swarming over it. Mr. Osborn points out that in 1639 there' were about 400,000,000 peo ple on the earth. By 1830, the earth’s population had doubled; in another 70 years, it had doubled again, and now the total is over 2,000,000,000, with an in crease of about 1% a year. Because of this rate of increase, Mr. Osborn ex presses serious doubts concerning the earth’s capacity to support such a mul titude of people. He asks the grave ques tion: “ Can the human race continue to increase indefinitely without reaching the starvation point as, for example, In dia has already done?” There is no question but that this is a sobering thought to all but those who un derstand the prophetic Scriptures. The population problem is just another indi cation of the nearness of the time when God will call a halt to the present world system with all its deficiencies and place His own Son on the throne in order to bring to pass marvelous prophecies of that golden age when righteousness and J U L Y , 1 9 4 8
The custom of using the Scriptures as a standard for absolute truth and hon esty is an old one. Both in England and in this land, monarchs and executives have promised to do their best in office/ with the help of God by placing a right hand upon a copy of God’s .Word. The sad thing is that in far too many cases the covers are never opened and the in comparable riches of the Scriptures re main unknown and unappreciated. Selfish Babies In a recent address to a service club in a neighboring city, Dr. John A. Stiles, who is Chief Executive of Boy Scouts in Canada, holding three decorations from the King of England including “ Officer of the British Empire,” declared that un less something is done about the abso lute selfishness of the new-born baby, it will continue all through life as selfish as he began, an enemy of society, unwel come in any community in which he lives. He claims that all men start life 100% selfish. We remember, in this connection, that the solemn teaching of the Word of God is that “ there is none righteous, no, not one,” and that everyone who comes into the world is the possessor of a fallen nature with its sinful characteristics. However, the Word of God goes on to point out that there is a remedy for in herent sin, not reformation, but regen eration, through the all-atoning work of America is not ordinarily considered primarily a mission field. Outside of a few backward sections, most of our popu lation is thought to be well evangelized. Yet, in 60,000 churches last year there were no conversions. There are 10,000 villages without even one church, and 30,000 with no resident pastor. Of the American children, there are 27,000,000 under twenty-one today receiving no re ligious instruction whatsoever. Page Nineteen Christ on Calvary. Solemn Statistics
peace shall cover the earth as the waters cover the deep. Bigger and Bigger? Currently the thought is advanced that among other improvements, the health and stature of the American people has improved and enlarged over the past cen tury. This is supposedly due to our su perior knowledge of dietetics and health habits. But the United States Army gravely shakes its head at this idea. It has been measuring Americans for uni forms for a long, long time, and recently a comparison was made between the sizes of American soldiers in the Civil War and in World War I and II. The verdict on the comparison was that there was no “ startling difference.” Civil War veterans averaged 67.40 in. tall and 141.38 lbs. In World War I, the av erages were 67.72 in. and 144.67 lbs. In World War II, there was a further in crease to 68.43 in. and 154.78 lbs. Nor is foreign immigration k e e p i n g t h e United States average down. According to the Army, “the old Americans,” with all four grandparents native-born, are a hair’s-breadth shorter and 1.5 lbs. lighter than the sons of immigrant parents. We cannot help thinking, in this con nection, of the Lord’s challenge in Mat thew 6:27, “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stat ure?” On a Borrowed Bible Recently Mr. W. Averill Harriman took his oath of office, as roving ambas sador for the Economic Co-operation Administration. When Chief Justice Fred Vinson came to swear Mr. Harri man into office, there was no Bible at hand. Someone suggested that they send a messenger to the hotel next door to borrow a Gideon Bible, but another had the bright idea of borrowing a brand new Bible from a neighboring book seller. This was done and Mr. Harriman received the oath of office on a borrowed Bible.
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