Since 1908, Biola has been the Christian education center of the West. Over 15,000 former students are serving in places of spiritual leadership around the world, not only in the ministry but also in the business and professional society.
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ROSE OF SHARON CHAPEL Away from the busy activities of Campus life, the chapel provides the students with an ideal place for meditation with the Lord. The prayer chapel Was given by a former student in w.emory of his bride of only a few months who died of luekemia.
The Biblical Division includes studies in Bible, Christian Education, Doctrine, and Missions. The majors in these areas enable the student to render valuable service to the church and church-related organizations at home and abroad. Extensive practical experience coupled, fo r example, with the new intern ship program in Christian Education, make these majors an excellent blend o f study and practice. Biola College is accredited with the Western Association o f Schools and Colleges. In addition, with accreditation through the Collegiate Division o f the Accrediting Association o f Bible Col leges, Biola students receive from two to three times more Bible and doctrine than other comparable Christian liberal arts col leges require.
Dr. Bynum Holding the D.R.E. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Sominary, Dr. Bill Bynum servos as Divisional Chairman and professor of Christian Education. He is an enthusiastic teacher who is much in demand as a consultant.
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BIOLA COLLEGE LA MI RADA , C A L I F O RN I A
Dedicated to the spiritual development of the Christian home T h e K i n g s B u s i n e s s A PUBLICATION OF BIOLA SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES, INC. Louis T. Talbot, Chancellor • S. H. Sutherland, President • Ray A. Myers, Board Chairman Vol. 58, No. 6 • JUNE, in the year of our Lord 1967 • Established 1910 A r t i c l e s
THE CRUCIAL DISTINCTIVE OF EDUCATION — J. Richard Chase 8 TO MY CHILD'S TEACHER — Fred D. Acord ....................................... 10 THE MAKING OF A MINISTER — Vance Havner ............................... 11 BEFORE YOU MARRY ................................................................................... 14 CHURCH MUSIC — Gunnar Hogland ..................................................... 16 IS YOUR CHURCH REACHING FAMILIES FOR CHRIST? — C. Chester Larson ............................................................................ 18 THE CHRISTIAN AND LSD — Lambert Dolphin .................................. 21 DECLINE OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL — Max Rafferty ................... 30 WHAT ABOUT GOD IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS? — Ron Hafer .... 40
goes with each one of these MBI graduates— trained for His servicer —said an annuitant of the Imagine the thrill that was h ers. . . know ing that her annuity funds had helped to provide tuition-free training for these young people. Now they were being graduated—pre pared for Christian service—some called to the mission field . . . others to engage in Christian education work in churches . . . others prepared to enrich the music ministries of churches . . . and still others to continue their studies in prep aration for pastorates. Yhar after year, for more than three- quarters of a century, this has been the history of the Institute. . . . and as an MBI annuitant, a little bit of YOU, too, can go with every graduate, with the millions of pieces of literature, science films, and the many other Christ-honor- ing ministries of the Institute. And in addition . . . you'll receive a generous, guaranteed lifetime income! R ates up to 9.09% , depending on you r age. M ail coupon Institute at last year’s graduation exercises.
MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR — Samuel H. Sutherland ................... 4 DR. TALBOT'S QUESTION BOX — Louis T. Talbot .......................... 25 OVER A CUP OF COFFEE — Joyce Landorf ......................................... 26 TALKING IT OVER — Clyde M. Narramore ......................................... 29 JUNIOR KING'S BUSINESS ......................................................................... 32 BOOK REVIEWS — Arnold D. Ehlert ...................................................... 34 CHRISTIAN WORKERS CLINIC — C. Chester Larson ..................... 35 SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE — Bolton Davidheiser ............................... 36 CULTS CRITIQUE — Betty Bruechert ................................................... 28 C o l u m n s PEOPLE IN THE NEWS ................................................................................. 6 C o v e r This photo could well be a reminder of the many young lives who are being prepared for tomorrow's leadership. In this issue are a number of helpful articles on the task of Christian education in today's world. Taken by Luoma Photo.
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UNUSUAL TOURS INC. 1967 SCHEDULE LANDS O F TH E BIBLE TOUR Enjoy these important features: • LOW COST: 22 days (all expenses included) First Class or better Ho tels, Je t A ir Travel. JUST $1,055.00 IM AGIN ATIVE ITIN ER A R Y: Italy, Greece, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Syria and many other areas available. • CONVEN IEN T MON THLY DEPAR TURES • T O U R E S C O R T S A N D B IB L E TEACHERS W ITH EVERY TOUR. STUDY TOURS also available for Col lege Credit to EUROPE, and SOUTH AM ERICA. TOUR LEADERS: Learn how you can organize your own group. Qualified inquiries invited. COMPARE FEATURES . . . THEN . . . COMPARE PRICES. W rite for FREE Guideline Fact Sheet to help you evaluate Bible Lands Tours. ^ UMJBLMKL. "Feature for feature, there is no COM PARABLE TOUR at this LOW PR IC E/' For complete Information on Any of the Above Write Today: UNUSUAL TOURS INC. La Mirada, California 90638, Dept. K Free: Spiritual Growth booklet tract on GALATIANS 2:20 Write: M ILES J . STANFORD P.O. Box 3035 Colorado Springs, Colorado 80907 Author: Principles O f Spiritual Growth (Also titled The Green Letters)
BY DR. SAMUEL H. SUTHERLAND
IT
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A Distinguished Layman Speaks Out I n t h e M a y , 1966 issue o f The Reader’sDigest an article appeared entitled "Should the Church Meddle in Civil Affairs?” Its author is Mr. J. Howard Pew, Chairman o f the Board o f the Sun Oil Company. He has been President o f the Board o f Trustees o f the General Assembly o f the United Presbyterian Church for the past thirty years, Chairman o f the National Lay Committee o f the National Council o f the Churches o f Christ in the U.S.A., and is a ruling elder in his local church at Ardmore, Pa. His con nections are mentioned because they reveal him not only as a man o f outstanding administrative ability but also one who has been in a position through the years to know and understand current trends in his own denomination and in all o f Protestantism. Although his ideas are couched in very polite terms, the entire tenor o f his article presents a stinging indictment o f his denomina tion and o f Protestantism as a whole. The following quotations from this article disclose a very disturbed mind because o f the apparent direction in which the "mainstream denominations” are moving. "I am concerned,” writes Mr. Pew, "that many o f the church’s top leaders today are sorely failing its members in two ways: (1) By succumbing to creeping tendency to down-grade the Bible as the infallible Word o f God, (2) By efforts to shift the church’s main thrust from the spiritual to the secular. The strength o f the church in the past has been its reliance upon the Bible as the basis o f ultimate eternal truth . . . the Scriptures have been accepted as the one changeless guide to faith, morals, life. The philosophy o f our day makes all truth relative. Standards, values, ethics, morals — these we are told are subject to change according to the customs o f the times. The effect o f that kind o f thinking has been devastating to the morals o f our times . . . and one brilliant but confused man said to me recently, 'The trouble is we are being asked to play the game o f life without any stable ground rules.’ ” Then Mr. Pew quotes the late Richard M. Weaver, Professor o f English at the University o f Chicago, who stated: "This decay
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o f belief in standards has affected the highest echelons o f our social and political life.” Mr. Pew continues his comment: “ It has also infected important sectors o f the church. Studies made at leading schools o f religion reveal that belief in unchanging morals has largely given way to the view that 'all guide lines are irrelevant’ that is, a fixed moral code must go. In other words, decisions must come from man’s sense o f what the moment demands. That is called 'situation ethics’ meaning that, instead o f applying eternal moral principles to situations, we let each situation determine the principle.” Mr. Pew adds a quotation from Dr. Robert L. Shinn, Dean o f Instruction at Union Theological Seminary: "In the twenty-five years that I have been studying theology, I have never seen the situation more chaotic.” Mr. Pew then goes on: "Natur ally. When foundations are shaken, chaos ensues. With seminary emphasis what it is today, it is not surprising that Biblical preach ing in many churches has declined. Like most laymen, I go to church to hear heralded the mind o f Christ, not the mind o f man. I want to hear expounded the timeless truth contained in the Scriptures, the kind o f preaching that gets its power from 'Thus saith the Lord.’ Such preaching is hard to find these days. This may well explain the curious fact revealed by latest church sta tistics, as well as a Gallup poll, that while church membership is showing a steady rise, church attendance is steadily dropping. Whenever any official church body relegates the Bible and its teachings to a lesser place in its program, it almost always turns to activity in non-church fields to fill the vacuum. Thus we see church leadership everywhere expending vast time and energy to push the church into fields far outside its God-ordained juris diction.” Mr. Pew points out that evangelism, which was traditionally interpreted to mean that o f winning individuals to a saving knowledge o f Jesus Christ, has been given a completely new defini tion. He quotes the statement o f Dr. Morikawa, Secretary of Evangelism o f the American Baptist Convention, "Contemporary evangelism is moving away from winning souls one by one to the evangelism o f the structures o f society.” He adds these words o f Dr. D. T. Niles, one o f the leaders o f the World Council o f Churches: "The heart o f Christianity is not concerned about these trends as he is. He likewise quotes from political leaders who are greatly distressed over the pressures that church men are putting upon political leaders to vote according to their socialistic, if not communistic, ideology.” One distinguished Senator declared: "I have been particularly distressed by the actions o f many o f our clergy and other church leaders who justify their violation o f fed eral, state, and local laws on the grounds that these are bad laws and that the only way to correct them is to break them. Once it has been stated that any law need not be obeyed unless it is 'a good law,’ the beginning o f the end o f rule by law has been initiated.” How true this is! The only regret is that these discerning lay men still support the boards and agencies o f their liberal churches Continued on page 42
SHOWS YOU HOW TO INVEST YOUR MONEY FOR BOTH TIMELY PROFIT AND ETERNAL REWARD Covers all phases of responsible stewardship thru investments • HOW TO M AKE YO UR D O LLARS CO UN T The best ways to make the most of your gifts • W HY YOU N EED A W ILL Gives valuable information on helping you make a will • A N N U ITY PLANS O U T LIN ED Both single and joint life with interest rates • REV O C AB LE G IFT A G R EEM EN T How to transfer stocks and other property and receive a life income • SHORT TERM TRUSTS Saves on income tax and provides a way to give more to the Lord without additional cost to you • G IFT SUB JEC T TO LIF E IN C O M E Relief from responsibility of managing your affairs . . . guaranteed income for life • M ISSIONS SEC URITY A G R EEM EN T Substantial interest rate that benefits both you and the cause of Missions • APPREC IATED PRO PERTY PLAN Transfer appreciated property and take advantage of tax savings • O TH ER PLANS Some are tailor-made to fit your individual needs. All can be obtained without obligation by sending your name and address on the coupon below. Why not do it today? FILL IN COUPON AND MAIL TODAY! Stewardship Department, World Vision, Inc. 919 W. Huntington Drive, Monrovia, Calif. 91016 World Vision of Canada, Box 181-K, Toronto 12. □ Please send me your free book on Faithful Stewardship. name________ — --------------------------------------- address____________________________________________ — city_______________state_________zip code------------- birthdate:__________________ —------------------------- occupation____________________________________________ DEPT. KB67
JUNE, 1967
PeopletotheNewt
Concerned abou t your HIGH
Hans E. Josephsen, has been appoint ed as head of the newly established COLLEGIATE DIVISION of the American Tract Society. The ap pointment marks the beginning of a special effort by ATS to effectively communicate the Gospel to the soar ing student population of the United States and Canada. Over half of the U.S. population is under 27 years of age, reports ATS. Mr. Josephsen has a background in evangelism and has occupied several pastorates. He was also assistant director of the Sermons from Science pavilion dur ing the two years they were shown at the New York World’s Fair. Horace L. Fenton, Jr., general direc tor of the Latin American Mission, has announced the Mission’s estab lishment of a new office of world wide evangelism-in-depth. This ven ture has come in response to in quiries and requests for help from more than thirty countries outside Latin America. The new office will communicate in-depth-evangelism principles, and will help in training personnel for evangelism and in planting large scale evangelism ef forts. J. Edward Smith, international direc tor of the Pocket Testament League, has announced that more than 600,- 000 Vietnamese Gospels have been distributed to Vietnamese Christians and U.S. Military Chaplains. Mr. and Mr*. Garth Hunt, C. & M.A. mission aries. assigned to PTL since 1965 have been working with Vietnamese assistants to supply the need.
participate in the summer mission ary project since its beginning in 1958. Upon completion of their classes in June, students will travel to their assignments in 15 countries. The project is designed to benefit the missionaries visited as well as to offer practical training to the stu dents who participate.
SCHOOL CLASS?
Here’s Help! Excitingly NEW High School lesson material is on the way . . . starts with January quarter. Closes the “ generation gap” in communica tions! Send for FREE brochure. Or visit your Christian Bookstore. SCRIPTURE PRESS Scripture Press Publications, ine. Wheaton, Iflinois 60187 ALPINE INDIAN VILLAGE Vacancy for Churches Available dates: June 19-24; July 18-23; July 24-29 Located one mile high in the San Bernar dino Mountains in a lovely wooded area and surrounded by beautiful trees. Only three miles from Arrowhead. Call or write ALPINE COVENANT CONFERENCE GROUNDS Box 155 Blue Jay, California 92317 (714) 337-1416
Dr. Bert Turner (left), evangelist and founder of Rose Garden Village, Riverside, meets with General Dwight D. Elsenhower in the latter’s Indio home. The Southern C a lifo rn ia Christian retirement center was the first development constructed with federal loan funds of over one mil lion dollars. The organization is now planning a two million dollar expan sion program which -will provide fa cilities including convalescent and life care. Rev. Mr. Turner’s desire is to provide an area for mission aries and ministers upon their re tirement. The Christian Camp and Conference Association International held its third bi-ennial convention on April 17 through 20 at Asilomar Confer ence Grounds near Pacific Grove in the Monterey Peninsula of Northern California. The speakers included Coach Harvey Chrouser, Director of Athletics at Wheaton College; Young Life’s National Field Director, Bob Mitchell, of Colorado Springs; Miss Kathy Nicoll of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, and Cal Morash, a recrea tion director at San Fernando State College. There were workshops, semi nars, and various meetings all geared to the campus program. Dr. Roy B. Zuck, Executive Director of Scripture Press Foundation, has returned from a six-week assignment in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He visited missionaries and conducted Christian Education Con ferences for missionaries and nation als in Africa. He traveled with Rev. William Warner of TEAM literature missionary in Rhodesia. Mr. and Mrs. Warner have adapted a n d
CEYLON and INDIA GENERAL MISSION and Pakistan Christian Fellowship CAMPS for young Nationals. COUNSELING University Students. CORRESPONDENCE BIBLE SCHOOLS in the vernacular.
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A PTL Gospal hit Just bMn presented to Para- Military, one of the key guards hi the heart et VC territory. The Plain of the Reads. Wheaton College has selected 35 stu dents for summer missionary work. This represents the largest group to
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translated Scripture Press Sunday school lessons to the Shona language of Rhodesia. An English version of these, “ Africanized” lessons were presented to the missionaries and nationals at the conferences in A fri ca. Many have already expressed in terest in translating them into their vernaculars. Rev. Roy G. Irving has been named to the Editorial staff of Scripture Press Publications of Wheaton, Illi nois. Having served in a similar ca pacity before, Mr. Irving assumes the position of Senior High Editor. He has earned BA, MA, and MRE degrees. He has also served in large churches as minister of youth edu cation as well as assistant professor of Christian education at West Coast College. The Missionary Broadcaster, a b i monthly magazine published for the past forty-three years by the Evan gelical Alliance Mission will have a new name and a new editor begin ning with the May-June issue. TEAM has named Tom Watson Jr. as editor of the magazine, now to be known as Horizons. Mr. Watson is a former missionary to Japan and Korea and since 1959 has been TEAM’S radio and film secretary. The periodical, re-designed a n d given a new format, will report on what God is doing at home and abroad in world evangelization, ac cording to Mr. Watson. Rev. B. L. Armstrong was named first executive secretary of the National Religious Broadcasters Association at its 24th annual convention in Chi cago’s Palmer House. Formerly Mr. Armstrong served for eight years as director of radio for Transworld Ra dio at an international missionary network. Dr. Eugene R. Bertermann, re-
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The college that is distinctly Christian . . . feels compelled to instruct the stu dent in the message and obligations of the Word of God. A ll education purports to equip man fo r a more productive and useful life. Whether the stu dent is acquiring the principles and. skills o f an “ art,” is probing the knowledge and hypothesis o f a “ science,” or is mastering the demands o f a spe cific vocation, he is involved in education. Neither the Christian nor secular institution can claim that it ajone qualifies man fo r a useful place in society. The minister o f Christian education and the public school teacher equally profit from and need formal education. The Bible college, Institute o f Tech nology, and Liberal Arts College all rightly main tain that they are significant segments o f higher education; all prepare students fo r a meaningful life in their chosen vocation. The college that is distinctly Christian, how ever, is not satisfied just to acquaint the student with the usual smattering o f general education courses and specific subjects and experiences de manded by his major program. It feels compelled to instruct the student in the message and obliga tions o f the Word o f God and to confront him with demands o f the Lordship o f Jesus Christ. This is the Christian institution’s crucial distinctive. Ideally, the student majoring, fo r example, in Eng lish in a Christian college is not merely studying a field or preparing fo r life in general; he is also becoming an informed and dedicated Christian. To many this smacks o f indoctrination, but spiritual commitment and Biblical study is at once the genius and peculiarity o f the Christian institution. Remove the disciplined instruction in the Bible and you destroy the particular species o f education that we are considering. I f it is an educational lia bility, it is not without its Biblical assets. Further, its disciplined instruction is frankly admitted and proudly proclaimed; this openness, at any rate, is more palatable than the thinly concealed indoctri nation that any student o f motivation can readily
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
spot in many a course in most institutions— Chris tian and secular. The distinctive o f Christian concern and Bibli cal study parallels a dominant element throughout the history o f education, that o f morality. To many, education is basically a moral business. Unless man is improved, becomes more virtuous and sensitive, the educational experience has failed. O f course, the distinct Christian college believes that man is transformed and matures only when he accepts Christ as his Saviour and becomes thoroughly ac quainted with the Word o f God. Nevertheless, it is significant that morality is a dominant theme in the history o f education. And wisely so, fo r unless education involves the matter o f morality, the graduate may simply acquire skills that enable him to become more proficient in his pursuit o f spe cious, i f not ignoble, ends. Education that simply involves the acquisition o f certain hallowed facts, principles, and skills without evaluation is poor education; but education that does not concern itself with the ultimate use o f these tools and the moral responsibility o f the student is no education at all. Werner Jaeger, a renowned German scholar, in his significant three-volume study o f Greek educa tion ( Paidea, I. 3) begins by stating that the con tent o f education “ is roughly the same in every nation— it is both moral and practical. It consists partly o f commandments like Honour the gods, Honour thy fa th er and thy mother, Respect the stranger; partly o f ancient rules o f practical wis dom and prescriptions o f external morality; and
partly o f those professional skills and traditions which (as fa r as they are communicable from one generation to another) the Greeks named techne.” The early universities and colleges o f our nation were founded by religious men fo r the advancement o f religious as well as general educational ends. It was not until after the Civil War that distinctly “ secular” institutions emerged in prominence. Commenting on our country’s academic history, John Gustad, a Dean at Ohio State University, writes that “ Morality and respectable behavior were also accepted concerns o f the college. There fore, again as an agent, the professor was respon sible fo r seeing to it that students behaved respect ably, that their faith, whatever it might be, was not undermined but even strengthened. (The Edu cational Record, XLV II [Fall 1966], 441 ).” Plato, in discussing the subject o f virtue in his dialogue Meno, suggests that the proper use o f knowledge is the improving o f the soul. Education to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle was fa r more than the acquistion o f skills. It embraced the moral ele vation o f man. In fact, the Greek word arete, or virtue, embraced the heart o f quality education. Among the many virtues suggested by the Greeks were their four cardinal virtues: courage, justice, self-control and wisdom — each o f which, by the way, is reflected and elevated in the New Testa ment. Much later, the great English writer John Mil- ton wrote in his essay “ O f Education” that the pur pose o f learning is “ to know God aright, and out o f that knowledge to love Him, to imitate Him, to be like Him, as we may the nearest by possessing our souls o f true virtue, which, being united to the heavenly grace o f faith, makes up the highest per fection.” The Bible, o f course, states more suc cinctly and forcefu lly than all when it states that “ the fear o f the Lord is the beginning o f wisdom.” Further, Christ states that He is truth (John 1 4 :6) and urges his disciples to learn o f Him (Mat thew 11 :29 ). Indeed, good education is a moral, or more specifically fo r us, a spiritual business. It is axiomatic to state that education prepares man fo r life— any institution worth its salt ought to be able to make that claim. The crucial distinc tive o f the Christian institution is that it prepares man both fo r life as a productive member o f society and as an earnest and knowledgeable Christian who is by nature a witness to, and the salt of, the earth. HD
Dr. Chase is
academic vice
president fo r
Biota Schools
and Colleges,
La Mirada,
California.
JUNE, 1967
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yet sublime words recorded in the book o f Genesis: “ In the begin ning God created.” The Bible is not a book o f science, although wherever the two meet, the Bible has never yet been disproved. You laugh aside the thought that God could create the earth in seven days, calling it a “ myth or legend.” My child, on hearing you say that replied (in her own mind, o f cou rse), “ But with God, nothing is impossible.” The faith o f a little child! A “ day” in Scripture does not always refer to a 24-hour period, but can and does in a number o f places refer to an extended peri od o f time. The Apostle Peter says, “ a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day.” As long as God is God (and He is not dead as some would have us believe), why does it test your credulity to believe that the creation o f the earth and the starry galaxies was but a simple matter fo r Him? O f course, you cannot believe that i f you don’t have a true understanding and conception o f God. I ask you, my young child’s teacher, please be fa ir and do not deride the faith in the Book o f books that my child possesses. You do not have to believe it, nor in my child’s Heavenly Father, but fo r her parents’ sake and fo r the child we trust that God will make her to be, please be fair. Evolution is a theory and all you have to say to your young “ impressionables” is that “ some people” believe this way as to the creation o f the world and man. Others believe what the Bible teaches, that God created the world and man. This is objective teaching which I’m sure that you as a good teacher would encour age. Thank you fo r taking the time to read this. I ’m sorry I can’t sign my name fo r my child would be embarrassed to tears. I know that you will understand. Sincerely and gratefully yours, U n d / s y iX c te td ts d s j O*&A j C^ la 7 * HD
Y ou have a calling, a high call ing — that o f teaching, o f implanting ideas and thoughts in to tender young minds. You are a good teacher. My child comes home daily telling us how you teach, what you say, and the way in which you say it. These are impressive years fo r our children, years in which the seed thoughts implanted by you and others will shape their thinking in years to come. Teaching is something like be ing a potter. The potter forms the clay into a beautiful vessel under his skillful hands, molding it, shaping it as he desires on the swiftly-moving wheel. I wonder i f you have ever read in the great est literature o f all time, the Bi ble, the story o f the potter and the clay? You will find this verse in the Isaiah 6 4 :8 : “ But now, 0 Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our Pot te r ; and we all are the work o f Thy hand.” Y our responsibility is great. Oh, I know that you are only a part in the over-all development o f our young impressionable child but you are a vital part. However, I understand from my child that you believe the Bi ble to be simply a myth or legend, a fanciful fa iry tale! I am sorry that you do, but you are free to believe as you wish. As it is easy fo r the potter to manipulate his fingers so as to change the shape o f the vessel he is molding, so it is relatively sim ple fo r a teacher to keep implant ing ideas o f her own into these young impressionable minds that look with awe to their teacher.
Little by little, line upon line, the shape begins to change. In today’s uncertain world, a world filled with fears and frus trations, a world that has more than its share o f people with “ no moorings,” casting about fo r a safe harbor, there is a vital need fo r a relevant faith— a faith that is sure and steadfast, a faith that anchors people and makes them solid, stable citizens. Faith is an inborn quality o f the young. It is only as one grows older that doubts begin to arise and people become “ faith-less.” However, i f you would think the matter through, soon you would realize that it is impossible to live without a modicum o f faith. My child has faith. My child believes in her Mommy and her Daddy. We would be unhappy parents i f she did not. But more than that, my child has faith in God, in His Son, Jesus Christ, as the message has been taught her at home, in Sunday school, and in church. She has faith that the Bible is God’s Word, and that it is true fo r it comes from a God who is true. She believes that God talks to man today through His Word, the Bible. You may believe that man is a creature o f evolution and over the millions or billions (no one seems to be quite sure) o f years o f time he emerged from a little one- celled amoeba until he stands up right today, reaching f o r the moon. Frankly, it takes more credulity fo r me to believe some thing like that, which is still theory and not fact, as any hon est scientist will readily admit, than it does to believe the simple,
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
CHRISTIANEDUCATIONANDPASTORS
The Making of a Minister by Dr. Vance Havner
situation into an opportunity fo r testimony. Beyond all this, however, we have set before us in this sermon the model minister. All that goes into the making o f a true preacher o f the Gospel is wrapped up in this mighty message. Paul begins with his own personal testimony and thus we have first, THE MAN. When God gets ready to make a preacher, He begins with the man. What kind o f man? A changed man, a transformed man. Paul was going the wrong way with a vengeance when he encountered Jesus Christ on the Damascus road. Now it is not necessary that one be stricken down by a blinding light but there must be “ an original experience o f Jesus Christ.” Too many are living on a second-hand experience.
ul ’ s address before A grippa is a model in more ways than one. It is a model sermon. It is a model defense. It is a model in psychology. It is a model o f how a Christian gentleman should act on trial. It is a model illustration o f our Saviour’s w ord s: “ Ye shall be brought before governors and kings fo r my sake, fo r a testimony against them and the Gentiles; but when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak : fo r it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit o f your Father which speaketh in you” (Matt. 10 :18-20 ). I do not know what else Paul would have said had he not been interrupted by Festus. But even there we have an example o f how to turn every
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Paul asked, “ Who art Thou, L o r d ; Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” You will observe that “ Lord” comes last in the first question and first in the second question. A fter we meet the Lord, He ought always to come first. Some are always asking “ W hy?” but a successful ministry is built on “ Who” and “ What,” the vision and the venture, the Fair K ing and the Far Country. “ A fter he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go ” (Acts 16 :10 ), - that is the order. Paul saw the Lord. So did Isaiah and cried, “ Woe is m e !” So did Job and abhorred himself. So did Habakkuk and his body trembled and rotten ness entered his bones. So did Daniel and his come liness was turned to corruption. So did John and fell at His feet as one dead. Moses failed on his first try as deliverer because “ he looked this way and that way.” He succeeded when “ he endured as see ing Him who is invisible.” God’s preacher must be a man who has looked unto God and been brightened so that his face is not ashamed. There must be the beholding, the brightness and the boldness. Paul was a MAN with a MISSION. The Lord said unto h im : “ I have appeared unto thee fo r this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both o f these things which thou hast seen, and o f those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gen tiles, unto whom now I SEND THEE . . .” The true minister is saved and sent, converted and called. Ministers used to believe they had received a Divine call. Today many enter the ministry as a profession just as they would enter law or medi cine. But preaching is a calling, and whatever other reasons young Samuel may have, he should hear the Unmistakable Voice. It is not enough to like to preach or merely to feel that one ought to preach. There must be the holy compulsion that says, “ Woe is unto me i f I preach not the Gospel!” “ We cannot but speak,” said the apostles and that preacher is in true apostolic succession who bums Jeremiah’s holy bone-fire that will not let him keep silent, as Amos put it, in an evil time. The preacher is a MAN with a MISSION, called that he may be sent. He is a missionary, an ambassador. What was the objective o f Paul’s mis sion : “ To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power o f Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness o f sins, and inheritance among them which are sanc
tified by faith that is in me.” What a m ission! The preacher is an eye-opener. He is to turn men from idols to serve the living and true God. You will observe in passing what a radical transformation conversion brings. In the light o f this and similar passages, one cannot help thinking o f multitudes in our churches today who give no evidence o f ever having turned from idols to God. This is a mission that brings men and women to forgiveness o f sins and inheritance among the saints. All is by faith in Jesus Christ. The preacher is no mere reformer or idealist out with religious whitewash to tidy up the world a little. He has a revolutionary mission. He is out to transform men, to open their eyes to their real condition, to turn them from darkness to light, to deal with the prob lem o f sin, to make saints o f them. The recipe is, “ Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” No man has any business undertaking all that without making sure o f conversion and call ing, o f being saved and sent. Again, this MAN with a MISSION has also a MESSAGE. Paul declared to Agrippa that he was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision. “ Having therefore obtained help o f God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should com e; that Christ should suffer and that He should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.” Here we have a preacher obedient to his call. He gets help from God. He continues faithfully, witnessing both to small and great. Some forget the small fishing fo r the higher-ups and some forget the higher-ups, not remembering that while “ not MANY ” o f them are chosen, God did not say “ NOT AN Y .” What then is the MESSAGE? “ None other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should com e: That Christ should suffer, and that He should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.” Paul begins with the Old Testament as the Word o f God, which not a few o f his succes sors seem to ignore altogether. Then he presents the Gospel, Christ dead and risen, as he declared to the Corinthians. A fter almost two thousand years o f preaching, there is still amazing ignorance as to what constitutes a Gospel sermon. The Gospel is not that Christ came, Christ lived, Christ taught or even that Christ died unless you follow the news o f His death fo r our sins with His resurrection fo r our
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I am, except these bonds.” Paul was a persuader because he was persuaded, persuaded that nothing could separate him from the love o f God in Christ, persuaded that the Lord was able to keep that which he had committed unto Him against that day. Knowing the terror o f the Lord, he persuaded men. Visualize fo r yourself this scene. See the haughty rulers on their pedestals and before them this little Jew, this ambassador in bonds, with his bodily presence weak and his speech contemptible. Especially think o f the contrast between Agrippa and Paul, an enslaved king and an enthroned pris oner! Herod Agrippa was the last Jewish king in Palestine and Paul was the representative o f the coming King o f the Jews, now rejected but one day to sit on David’s throne. Agrippa’s forefathers had all been mixed up with Christianity. His father had executed James. His grandfather had murdered John the Baptist. His great-grandfather had killed the children at the birth o f Jesus. It was Christ and Antichrist facing each other. In such a situation the disadvantages appear to be on Paul’s side as he stands there a manacled minister, a prophet in prison. But do not forget that, instead o f wishing he were a king, Paul wished that the king could be a Christian! Thank God fo r a Gospel that makes a preacher, instead o f wanting to be a monarch, wish that all monarchs could be m in isters! Paul’s MOTIVE is m an ifest: he is out to make Christians o f all he meets. He witnessed before small and great and, whether jailers or Caesar’s household or women by the riverside, Pharisees in synagogues or angry mobs in Jerusalem, he would convert them all to Jesus Christ. A MAN like that with such a MISSION and MESSAGE and going at it with such a MANNER and MOTIVE— do you wonder that he shook the world ? He said that Christ appeared to him to make him a minister (verse 16 ). He speaks o f the Gospel “ whereof I was made a minister” (Eph. 3 :7 ; Col. 1 :23 -25 ). He did not make a preacher o f himself nor did others make one o f him. It is a Divine work, not the product o f schools. When God is allowed to make a complete work o f it, He produces a preacher on the pattern o f Paul. He may not be o f the same size and caliber, nor produce the quantity, but the quality will be the same and the essential ingre dients will be found in this order: a Man, a Mis sion, a Message, a Manner, a Motive. And all o f it is wrapped up in another word by the same preach er, “ Not I, but Christ.” OH
justification. We are not sent to give the world good advice or merely to hold up an Ideal Charac ter or the Master Teacher. We are witnesses to two stupendous historical events, that Christ died and rose again “ according to the Scriptures” just as here Paul joins Moses and the prophets with the glorious news. This was the message o f the early church. It is the message o f every true preacher through the ages. Ours is not a secret to be hidden but a story to be heralded. It is a day o f good tid ings and we hold our peace. The Gospel is NEWS fo r everybody, N fo r North and E fo r East and W fo r West and S fo r South. “We are His wit nesses o f these things.” Paul was not only a MAN with a MISSION and a MESSAGE ; he declared it in a MANNER that led Festus to say, “ Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.” I believe that not only the content o f Paul’s address but also the way in which he delivered it brought this interrup tion from his pagan listener. Here the great apostle was following in the steps o f his Lord whose friends said o f Him, “ He is beside Himself” (Mk. 3 :21) and o f whom the Jews said, “ He hath a devil and is mad” (John 10 :20 ). The manner o f the preacher may also be a tes timony. “When they saw the boldness o f Peter and John . . . they marvelled” (Acts 4 :1 3 ). Here again not only the message but the manner o f it arrested attention. Abraham Lincoln used to say that when he went to church, he wanted the preacher to preach as though he were fighting a swarm o f bees. Evidently he expected the minister to be excited about his message. The old quip, “ I f the congre gation goes to sleep, wake up the preacher” is good advice. Men have been beside themselves fo r lesser causes. I f the cheap concerns o f life can so intoxi cate men as to make them lose themselves, should not the message o f the Gospel make a man “ drunk on new wine,” a fool fo r Christ’s sake? Said Mat thew Mead, “ I f the preaching o f Christ is to the world foolishness then it is no wonder that the dis ciples o f Christ are to the world fools.” Moody said, “ You are not good fo r anything until the world considers you a fanatic.” I f the Gospel is not true, nothing matters; i f it is true, nothing else matters! Finally, Paul reveals his MOTIVE. Agrippa said, “ Almost thou persuadest me to be a Chris tian.” Whatever he meant, Paul answered, “ I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such as
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urge for those matters. They simply would be understood. Tithing was a habit from my earliest childhood, and as I wanted to be sure I should not have that question to settle after our marriage, we talked it over very freely. How It Has Worked Out All this was agreed upon, and I thought that my future husband was very near to saving grace. The fact was he was very much in love with me and was willing to make any concession necessary to keep me for himself. I wonder now sometimes whether he was fully conscious of the things he assented to then, not know ing how vital they were to me, or just thought I could be talked out of those observances when I saw how devoted he would be in other things. At any rate, when it came to the actual doing of those things, I was conscious that these practices looked foolish to him. The tithe not only looked foolish; it was an outrage to expect a person who had to work hard for an income to give one-tenth of it away. Now it was different. We were married and building up our home. The people I enjoyed were distasteful to my husband, and my convictions were so strong on many subjects that I could only go part way in friendship with the people with whom he would have enjoyed cultivating a friendship. I go to church most of the time alone, and he finds an excuse to stay at home or to do something else. Not always; he often goes with me, but I know it is a concession. If there is no seemingly good reason that he should not go, he usually will attend, but I know it is only because he wants to please me. Perhaps the service has been one of deep in spiration, although not of an espe cially intellectual tone; I have been blessed; he has been bored. I won der if he will resent going the next time. The matter of family worship has been indeed one of delicacy. It was hard to have to take the lead. My father had always done that. But that was nothing to seeing my hus band smile an apology when an un saved friend was present overnight one time. I was so heartsick then and many other times that finally I decided to have my devotions alone and to allow him to decide on his own relationship with the Lord. I thought I just would not mention anything religious to him. This I tried and found there was not balm to heal when the tests came. I could not keep my own nerves in control and his temper became cruel. We both acknowledged that we had to
BEFORE YOU MARRY Anonymously Written
“ ^ an two walk together, except w they be agreed?” Stop and think! Do you expect to be a Christian? Are you a Christian now? What do you think the mar riage you contemplate will add to your possible usefulness as a Chris tian? This message is a personal one. If the nature of things did not de mand reserve as far as the out spoken expression of my feeling on this subject is concerned, I should love to take groups of young people and analyze the reason w h y we should not be "unequally yoked to gether with unbelievers” (cf. II Cor. 6:14). This should not be done be cause I have a dear husband who would give his life for me and who is the kindest, most thoughtful of men. It would break his heart to have me express to any one that there is anything lacking in our marriage. It was the most unkind thing I could have done to him to marry him. Had I been living in commun ion with the Lord when I met him, I would have limited my acquaint ance to a helpful friendship. But I had allowed a bitterness to creep in and rob me of my fellowship with Christ. I had to find my way back to the cross where joy and peace abide. This I have done, and the mercy that has received me into service again is beyond my compre hension.
Beginning on a Wrong Foundation How subtle are the wiles of Satan, that arch-enemy! He made some one care for me and me care for him — one who knew the things of grace enough to converse and to sense what would offend my sensibility. But to know saving grace and place God first in a life is a far different matter. I was not an outbroken sinner at that time. The world looked upon me as a Christian. I knew in myself that I was not living a Spirit-guided life. It was then I gave myself in mar riage to my unselfish husband. When he had learned to love me, it seemed to me most cruel to break our en gagement, although I did attempt to, knowing our marriage hardly could be blessed of the Lord. When I saw the pain this effort caused, I seemed like a criminal to have awakened so deep a love then to refuse to give it the natural culmination. I told my fiance how I felt about it, and he insisted that not one bit of religious freedom should be taken from me in our marriage. I men tioned that we had always had fam ily worship in our home and that I was used to asking the blessing on my food audibly at home. I added that these things I felt were part of a Christian home which I would miss and would feel wrong in omitting. Had he been a blood-washed Chris tian, I would never have needed to
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