that God put him first. To this we add a hearty “amen.” While this does not condone neglect of one’s studies, we are sure that if there is a genuine re solve on the part of the young person to seek “first the kingdom of God,” high grades and honors, too, will be among the “all these things” that will be “added” to him. Try it. ★ ★ Palomar Telescope Soon SPHERE has been in preparation for the last ten years a giant 200- inch telescope by which scientists hope to unlock the ¿secrets of the atmospheric heavens. This great glass is being installed at Mt. Palomar near San Diego in Southern California. It is predicted that this telescope will be in operation soon after the first of the year. With its mighty eye capable of projecting one billion light years into space, it is hoped that by this means man may ascertain whether or not the universe is curved. Up to this time scientists have been limited to observations at half of this distance, with the 100-inch telescope at Mt. Wilson. Now it will be possible to ob serve many galaxies which today are invisible with the instruments now in operation. An interesting side light on the possibilities wh i c h will be opened when the new glass is finish ed is the investigation of the theory of “the outer darkness.” The testimony of the scientists heretofore has been that there is no reason to believe that this exists, but since, on a number of occasions, the Bible refers to it as the place of punishment, these discoveries should be matters of great interest to the Christian. At any rate, the coming of the new telescope will do one thing—that is, fix more firmly in our minds the infinite power of our great God, who not only called all the stellar marvels into existence, but who also maintains them day by day. What a mighty God is ours! ★ ★ Spiritual Fanaticism A RECENT speaker at the Church of the Open Door suggested that what the Christian Church needed was more fanatics —fanatics of the right kind. We must confess that we have used this term only in the bad sense, referring to one zealous, but misguided, energetic but unlearned. However, the original meaning of the term “fanatic” has a different con notation. In reality, a “fanatic” is a “fan,” one who is full of enthusiasm for a purpose or cause. To fan a fire is to produce moving currents of air which will make c o a l s glow and and flame. From this association, the fan has come to mean one whose glowing enthusiasm for a cause
Cause of Strife rpHE YEAR that has followed the close of the war has been marked especially by two noticeable things: continuation of bountiful harvests, and an increase of shortages of materials manufactured by man. Each succeed ing month has brought new turmoil, more strikes and work stoppages, with resultant deficiency in these articles. Many reasons have been advanced to account for these shortages. It has been clearly proven that this condi tion inevitably follows a war. It has been pointed out that the pendulum of favor has swung over to the side of labor. Others affirm that most of our goods are being shipped over the seas to the war-devastated countries. These reasons may be true and valid; we admit that we do not possess the extraordinary wisdom requisite to judge adequately. But there is a pas sage in the book of First Timothy (2:1, 2) in which the child of God is exhorted to pray for all men, and par ticularly for kings and all those in authority. The result of this interces sion is a promise that we shall lead a quiet and peaceable life in all god liness. God further corroborates this by the statement that this practice is good and acceptable to Him. We do not know what is the private intercession of many Christians, but if we can judge it by their public prayer, we are sure that for the most part the prayers of God’s children in clude only the inner circle of family, friends, pastor and missionaries. It should be fully realized that the earnest prayers of Christians on be half of political leaders could insure the end of strife, turmoil, shortages and industrial warfare. What an ex alted position the Christian occupies when on his knees! ★ ★ Attending Prayer Meeting S OMEONE has wisely observed that those who love the church attend on Sunday morning, those who love the pastor appear on Sunday evening and those who love the Lord are found in the Wednesday evening prayer gathering. Be that as it may, the mid week service for prayer is very sparse ly attended, and rarely are young peo- ple present. Recently we were talking to a young man about this very thing. During his high school years, he had a top scholastic rating which was in itself somewhat remarkable as this lad was employed both before and after school. When asked what was the secret of his doing so well in school, the answer was that his par ents had insisted that he attend all of the Sunday church services as well as the Wednesday evening prayer meetings. The philosophy of these parents was that the high school stu dent who put God first would find
kindles to a flame the interests of others. It goes without saying that there is urgent need in the churches of our land today for the ri g h t kind of fanatics. There is so much of mere turning of machinery and emphasis only upon the externals of life. What is sadly lacking in Christian life and testimony is g o d l y zeal and en thusiasm. The Christian Church may well take a lesson from the Com munists and Fascists. The leaders of these ideologies are wholly devoted to the causes which they represent, and, as a consequence, multitudes rally about them. The early Chris tians were fanatical in their zeal for the Lord, and enthusiastic in their fellowship With each other. Oh, for a spiritual fanaticism of this kind to win converts by thousands! Let the churches pfay for this. Let the fol lowers of Christ flame with such de votion that a revival of genuine re ligion will Sweep over the world, such as we have never known before. ★ ★ New ALONG With other multitudinous duties, Generalissimo Chiang Kai- shek last February completed the monumental work of editing a new Chinese translation of the New Testa ment. This task was begun two years ago, during the critical phase of the war, and the secret was not revealed until now. Without commenting on the possible Scriptural and literary value of the translation, it may be said to the Credit of the Generalissimo that he has the commendable wisdom of putting “first things first.” Even in the midst of almost insurmountable difficulties, he has undertaken the work which will endure when the Chi nese struggles with Japan and the Communists are forgotten. ★ ★ Students VTEW PLANS for the spending of $2,000,000 on religious student centers have been presented to the National Lutheran Council by Dr. Ar- min George Weng, president of the Illinois synod of the United Lutheran Church. These centers are to be located on the campuses of American non- sectarian colleges at which it is esti mated mote than 80,000 Lutheran young people are now in attendance. During the years of the war, the Lu theran Chutch was very active in car ing for the needs of servicemen and women. Now they are turning to a new field and will attempt to reach young people with the technique de veloped by service centers during the war. Surely this is a commendable move which should be emulated by other large religious bodies. TH E K I N G ’ S BUS I NE S S
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