TO EVANGELIZE RUSSIANS WORLD-WIDE PETER DEYNEKA reports from the Far and Near East of great oppor tunities and need for the Gospel among Slavic people who are now scat tered over the world. There is a great need for the Holy Scriptures in the Slavic languages NOW. If the Holy Spirit should direct you to have fellowship with us in spreading the Word of God among Russians and others around the world, make your checks payable to the . . . SLAV IC GO SPEL ASSOC IAT ION , INC. Rev. Peter Deyneka, Founder and General Director
Are You Really Mature? Spiritually
PETER DEYNEKA
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by R. Lofton Hudson THE RELIGION MATURE PERSON This is a volume of ten down-to- earth messages offering advice on such subjects as "Is It Wrong to Love Yourself?" "Are You Pushed or Pulled?" "Cultivating a Christian Conscience," and "O n Getting Our Fingers in Too Many Pies." Readable, refreshing, this series of essays is presented to help you to know how to apply the Christian faith to everyday prob lems. $1.75 at all bookstores BROADMAN PRESS NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
This is the most significant Sunday School course we have ever published. It is the answer to the tremendous potentialities of the largest age group in the Sunday School. Not ju st a course— a thrilling adventure in Bible study A veritable treasure o f comprehensive, sound Bible exposition. It is designed to win and to stimulate grown-ups to action for Christ. 1Covers the entire Bible in an 8-year curriculum. : Some o f the many "plus” features o f this eight-year course are: plenty o f helpful illustrations . . . visual aids . . . promotional ideas . . . 4-page student’s leaflet . . . built-in study helps . . . missionary and evangelistic "slants” . This is not just a revision but completely new course with completely new materials. Fill in the coupon today and get complete details in your FREE sample packet. *$tarting with October
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Likes Cover I want to commend you on the cover picture of The Kings Business for July. Very good. The world needs the Bible and America is part of the world. H azel T homson Roseburg, Oregon Question Box Helpful Let me tell you how much I enjoy The King’s Business. It is a wonderful magazine that I cannot do without. I always read Dr. Talbot’s Question Box first and that helps me to understand the Bible. Thank God for you. I save my copy to give away. As I read the articles by Dorothy C. Haskin, my heart ached for her, but I praise our Lord that she has found the way of salvation. W illie T. F ant Townville, South Carolina Thanks from G.I. Wife This is to express my deep appreci ation for the article which appeared in your July issue entitled “ Strictly G.I.” by Captain Cleo W. Buxton. Being the wife of a wonderful Christian soldier, this article proved to be a real blessing to me. My husband is accepting his call into military service as part of God’s will for his life. So often we refer to Romans 8:28 and it means everything to a young couple whose lives are dedi cated to God and yet they are separated for a while while the husband responds to the call of his country. May we have more articles for the G.I.’s? May God continue to bless all of you who have part in The King’s Business. M rs . C lyde S pencer Bassett, Virginia Appreciates Editorial We believe the editorial, “ Smoking Women,” in the July number of The King’s Business should be issued in tract form and given wide distribution. It surely would be the means' of saving at least a few of our girls from this vile habit. The editorial in the April number, “ Favorite Bible Passages by 25 Famous Americans,” is significant. We wrote to the Haskin’s Information Bureau, Wash ington, D. C., asking about General Eisenhower’s “religion.” He is quoted as having said to John J. Smith of the Chicago Daily News: “ I am the most intensely religious man I know. That doesn’t mean I adhere to any sect. A democracy cannot exist without a religi ous base. I believe in democracy.” D r . and M rs . C. H. W right . Fredericktown, Ohio S E P T E M B E R , 1 9 5 2
Official Publication of The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Incorporated
Louis T. Talbot, D.D.
Betty Bruechert Managing Editor
William W. Orr, D.D
Editor in Chief
Associate Editor
No part o f this magazine may Be reproduced without permission All Rights Reserved
Vol. 43
SEPTEMBER, 1952
No. 9
Reader Reaction ............................................................................................ 3 Editorially Speaking ..................................................................................... 4 Dr. Talbot’s Question B ox............................................................................ 6 Poem, If We Only Understood .................................................................. 6 God Has A Plan For Your Life, Merrill F. U n g e r ........................... 7 Discovery of Reality, Ann Marie M a lm in ............................................ 9 The Migrants, Dorothy Clark H a s k in ...................................................... 10 The “ All-Out” Christian, Mildred H. C o r b e tt ...................................... 12 Poem, “ Is Not This The Carpenter?” Mildred Allen J e f f e r y ........... 12 Doing What You Can’t, Leslie E. M a xw ell .......................................... 13 Youth's Moral Problems, Scott T. C la rk ................................................ 14 Junior King’s Business: The New Name, Helen Frazee-Bower . . . . 15 Alcoholism—What Is It? R. B. B r ow n ................................................ 17 Biola Family Circle .................................................................................... 18 Book Reviews, Donald G. D a v is ................................................................. 19 Young People’s Topics, Chester J. P a d g e tt .......................................... 20 Testimony To Israel...................................................................................... 27 Sunday School Lessons, Homer A . Kent, Allison A rr ow o od ............. 28 Object Lessons, Elmer L. W ild e r ............................................................... 33 Picture Credits: Cover, Eva Luoma, Weirton, W. Va. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION—“ The King’s Business” is published monthly; $2.00, one year; $1.00, six months; 20 cents, single copy. Clubs of three or more at special rates. Write for details. Canadian and foreign subscriptions 25 cents extra. It requires one month for a change of address to become effective. Please send both old and new addresses. REMITTANCES—Payable in advance, should be made by bank draft, express, or post office money order payable to “ The King’s Business.’’ Date of expiration will show plainly on outside of wrapper or cover of magazine. ADVERTISING—For information, address the Advertising Manager, 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles 17, California. MANUSCRIPTS—“ The King’s Business” cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to manuscripts mailed to us for consideration. Entered as second-class matter November 7, 1938, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, Cali fornia, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in the Act of February 28, 1925, embodied in paragraph 4, section 538, P. L. and R., authorized October 1, 1918, and November 13, 1938. ADDRESS: The King’s Business, 558 So. Hope St., Los Angeles 17, California. Page Three
young people, and older people as well, who desire to handle God’s Word ef fectively as lay workers. Those who at tend must have a high degree of spirit ual maturity. It is open to all men and women, spiritually qualified, who desire to become more effective workers for the Lord. A high school diploma is not re quired for entrance into this course. In addition to the schools mentioned above, the Bible Institute of Los An geles, Inc., provides a one-year post graduate course in the School of Mis sionary Medicine. This post-graduate school offers one year of accelerated missionary medical work to graduates of Bible Schools, seminaries and colleges as supplementary training for mission ary service, and is open to graduates of any school who qualify in the spiritual, intellectual, and missionary require ments that are offered. Young people are urged to come and select the school of their choice and pursue their studies here in this great school of the prophets. In every case, the graduates will be thoroughly train ed, spiritually qualified, intellectually mature, and will prove to be a real blessing in the lives of all with whom they come in contact. The training offered at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Inc., is the more remarkable because of the fact that there is no tuition charge here. The only expenses to the students are the customary enrollment fees and their room and board. This training has been made possible by God’s people who, by the thousands, are remembering this institution regularly and who are giving of their substance in order that these young people might be prepared for the Lord’s service. — S. H. Sutherland Bible Study a “Must” for the Christian O RTHODOX Protestantism makes much of the Bible, and rightly so. But one wonders sometimes how many orthodox Protestants really use their Bibles. No doubt it would be safe to say that far too few Bible-believing Chris tians actually study their Bibles. Bible study is not reading through the Bible in a year; it is not reading books about the Bible; it is not reading the Bible devotionally each day. Bible study is Bible study. Many Christians come to difficult places in the Bible and pass them by. Some Christians never read certain portions of the Bible be cause they seem too hard for them to understand. But the entire Bible was inspired of God and given to His people for their profit. This means both the Old and the New Testaments (Rom. 15:4; 2 Tim. 3:16,17; Luke 24:44,45). Every Chris tian ought to be more familiar with his Bible than he is with any other book. May we suggest a method of Bible T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
From this course graduates may con tinue, if they so desire, in the Talbot Theological Seminary (see below), or they may go to any one of the stand ard three-year theological seminaries throughout the country to receive their theological training. The faculty is of the very best; they are thoroughly trained in their respective fields of study and they are all spiritually ma ture and alert to the present-day aca demic and spiritual needs of young peo ple. The Talbot Theological Seminary is the logical outgrowth of the effort to provide comprehensive and complete training here in this great institution for those who desire a theological edu cation. The institution is named after our beloved President, Dr. Louis T. Tal bot, in recognition of the great service that he is rendering in behalf of the school and the cause of Christ at large. The Seminary faculty is definitely qualified to provide the very best pos sible training for the students who en roll. One of the outstanding features of the Seminary is the amount of English Bible which is required. Contrary to the ordinary custom of theological semi naries throughout the country, there is great stress placed upon the study of the English Bible, as well as studies in the original Biblical languages and in the various areas of evidences, apolo getics, theology and church history. During the past year the Board of Directors, with their vision and earnest desire to keep abreast of the times, re established the two-year Bible Institute course. The purpose of this course is to train lay men and women in the knowl edge and effective practical use of the English Bible and related subjects. It is not intended nor recommended to be a course which should be pursued by those who desire to enter the ministry or ap ply for missionary work or other types of full-time Christian service. But it is designed as a comprehensive and inten sive course of study in the English Bible and closely related subjects for the pur pose of assisting earnest Christian
BIOLA’s Schools T HE leaders of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Inc., are con institution the outstanding school of its kind by developing a program that will be in keeping with the academic trends of this generation. At the same time, the school authorities are determined to maintain, and develop wherever possi ble, the wholesome spiritual life which has characterized the school from its beginning. It should be kept in mind that there are two distinctive features of the Bible Institute movement: (1) the thorough study of the English Bible and (2) the emphasis placed upon prac tical Christian work while learning. These outstanding features of the Bible Institute movement have consistently been maintained by the Bible Institute of Los Angeles through the years. The school was planned, originally, for the training of young men and women that they might be able to learn the truths of God’s Word and then go back to their local churches as lay leaders and vital ize the churches and in many ways pro claim the great unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ. Calls came from mission boards, churches and other places, asking that Bible Institute students assume places of leadership in full-time Christian work. With the calls came the realiza tion that Bible Institute students should have a more thorough training if they were to be qualified to assume such places of responsibility and leadership. And so, through the years there was developed a curriculum which is em bodied in the four-year BIOLA Bible College. This is a standard Bible col lege of the highest type. The studies lead to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. There are several majors, any one of which may be pursued, but in addition at least thirty units of Bible and doc trine in each major are required. This Bible college curriculum is a splendid course for all young people who desire to go into full-time Christian work.
stantly endeavoring to make this great
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dom of God” is anywhere where God reigns, whether it is in your heart and life, or in some other life; whether it is in the worship of the holy angels; whether it is in Heaven or on earth. Of course, the angels that fell through sin are not in the kingdom of God. It is an inclusive term, and applies to every place, everywhere, in Heaven and in earth, where God is obeyed. God’s kingdom is where He reigns. An un saved man is not in that kingdom. He is doing his own will, and will never be in that kingdom until he is born again. That is why Jesus said to Nicodemus (John 3:3), “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” With the kingdom of Heaven, we have nothing to do. It is Christ’s personal rule on earth. The term, the kingdom of Heaven, is confined to the book of Matthew alone. Matthew wrote particu larly for the Jews, proving that Jesus of Nazareth is their Messiah and prom ised King. It is the same kingdom as that described in Daniel 2:44. When the seventieth week of Daniel has run its course then He Himself will bring in His own kingdom. What does Jesus mean when He told Peter in John 21:18: “another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not” ? Jesus is here telling Peter how he should die. Our risen Lord said: “Verily, verily I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walk- edst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands [suggesting crucifix ion], and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God.” This is all the Scriptures reveal to us as to how Peter died. Tradition says that he was cruci fied with his head down. But that is only tradition, and may, or may not, have been so. Do you think that Mary and Martha had any faith or hope that Jesus would raise their brother, Lazarus, from the dead? I do not see any suggestion in John 11 that they had even such a hope. Do you? In the raising of Lazarus from the dead, which is certainly one of the greatest miracles, faith and hope seem to have completely vanished from the hearts of the sisters. While they believed in the ability of the Lord to heal their brother while he was still alive, their faith did not extend to the raising of the dead. Yet this mighty sign was
wrought by Christ in spite of their lack of faith (John 11:1-44). We must not conclude, however, that Christ made faith an indispensable re-' quirement for healing, for He did not. Some of His miracles were wrought without any reference whatsoever to faith. In fact some who were healed had no inkling that the Lord was about to perform a miracle. Luke 1:15 sheds light on this ques tion. The verse quoted concerns John the Baptist; it reads “ For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.” Notice that you have a difference here between “wine” and “ strong drink.” The wine would be unfermented; the strong drink, fermented. I do not profess to know just what the wine at the mar riage feast was like, but I do know that our sinless Saviour, throughout His in spired Word, warns against the use of intoxicating liquor, and that He would have no part in creating a thing that would cause one of His creatures to sin. In Romans 14:21, we read: “ It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.” We should abstain, not only from wine, but also from anything that would cause the weaker brother to stumble. I f W e Only Understood Could we but draw back the curtains That surround each other’s lives, See the naked hearts and spirits, Know what spurs the action gives, Often we would find it better, If we only understood. Could we judge all deeds by motives, See the good and bad within, Often we should love the sinner All the while we loathed the sin. Could we know the powers working In the heart's integrity We should judge each other’s errors With more patient charity. Was the wine the Lord made at the marriage in Cana fermented? Oh, we judge each other harshly Knowing not life's hidden force. Knowing not the fount of action Is less turbid at its source. Seeing not amid the evil All the golden grains of good. We should love each other better If we only understood. —Anon. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Dr. Louis T. Talbot
Why were concubinage and polygamy permitted in Israel, especially in view of the seventh commandment? The fact that the law forbade adul tery is evidence that polygamy and con cubinage were contrary to God’s will. Trouble and tragedy followed its prac tice as the Old Testament accounts prove. It is clear from the account of i;he creation of woman in Genesis 2, and Jesus’ own reference to it in Matthew 19:3-12, that God’s original plan for the home was one husband and one wife. Israel adopted the sins of the heathen nations around her. We must remember that they did not have the full light of God’s revelation as we do today, and those men whose lives seem to us so sin ful were the only instruments through which God could reveal His truth at all. Acts 17:30, R.V., throws much light upon this question: “ The times of ig norance therefore God overlooked ; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent.” What is the meaning of Matthew 16:28: “ Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom"? This is a prediction of the transfigu ration of Christ which took place six days after this statement fell from the lips of the Son of God, as recorded in the 17th chapter of Matthew. In Mark 9 the prediction is included in the same chapter describing the transfiguration. Of course, there were no chapter di visions in the original Greek in which the New Testament was written. It is profitable to read what Dr. Luke records in the ninth chapter of his Gospel (vv. 27-36). Will you please explain what is the difference, if any, between “ the kingdom of God” and “ the kingdom of heaven” ? Yes, there is a difference. “ The king- Page Six
COD has a PLAN for YOUR LIFE
By Merrill F. Unger, Th.D ., Ph.D.*
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).
W HEREVER we look in the uni verse, we survey the glories of God’s handiwork and the unmis takable evidences of His plan and pur pose in all His mighty and manifold cre ation. The great Architect of the uni verse has plan and purpose in the sun and moon and each glittering orb in the starry vault of heaven. These heavenly bodies not only adorn the sky above but illuminate the earth beneath, and their courses are mapped out with minute and unerring accuracy. The Creator of the worlds has plan and purpose in the turbulent mountain stream splashing over precipitous rocks, in the thundering cataract roaring ma jestically in its mighty power, in the il limitable ocean to which He has said, “ Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed” (Job 38:11). He has plan and purpose in the tiny flower that is “ born to blush unseen and waste its fragrance on the desert air,” in the smallest insect that crawls upon the earth, in the lumbering beast that tramps the tropical jungle. He has plan and purpose in each grain of sand in the trackless wastes of the scorching Sahara, in each rainbow-tinted crystal of ice in the foreign fastness of the Northland. Everywhere we look in the physical sphere and in the lower creation we discover that God has plan and purpose for everything. Should we not find this fact abundantly more true in the life of * Professor of Old Testament Inter pretation, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas.
man, who is the crown and goal of all creation and pre-eminently true in re deemed man restored in God’s image and retrieved for God’s service? Has God given heaven’s best to re deem us with no thought or end in view? Did Christ suffer and die with no pur pose for His redeemed children? Are we saved merely to continue to live a self- planned life? Surely not. Such a conclu sion would not only be contrary to rea son but to the clear revelation of the Scriptures themselves. God Has a Definite Plan for the Life of Every Child of His This encouraging truth shines like a gem on the pages of Holy Scripture and compelling reasons are indicated why God has such a plan or purpose for the life of every child of His. God Has a Definite Plan for the Life of Every Child of His Because We Are His Creation. He, the infinite Creator, “made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture” (Psa. 100:3). He, the almighty Potter, “formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). He possessed our reins; He covered us in our “mother’s womb.” We can say with the Psalmist: “ I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and won derfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my sub stance yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written,
which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious are thy thoughts unto me, 0 God! how great is the sum of them. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, 1 am still with thee” (Psa. 139:13-18). God Has a Definite Plan for the Life of Every Child of His Because We Are His New Creation in Christ Jesus. Al though the Creator took the dust of the ground and formed and shaped it into an exquisite product of His skill called “man,” the product of His creative wis dom was soon marred. Through Adam’s fall sin wrecked God’s handiwork. Through the first man, the representa tive of the race, sin passed upon the whole human family, so that the Apostle Paul declared, “ All have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). “ By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). The Psalmist, conscious of his depravity and that of the whole race, cried out lamentingly: “ Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psa. 51:5). But the Lord Jesus Christ, our Re deemer, by His atoning work on the cross, took the sin-scarred and broken vessel, man, and by His wisdom and redemptive grace made him over, as a skillful potter mends a shattered vase. “ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are be come new” (2 Cor. 5:17). “ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:10). God Has a Definite Plan for the Life Page Seven
S E P T E M B E R , 1 9 5 2
Your heart will he moved by this young woman’s testimony of her
D IS C O V E R Y OF R E A L IT Y
By Ann Marie M alinin
Y OU sit there in the dimly-lit, smoke-filled lounge surrounded by others of your age, filled with a spirit of depression and foreboding. You cannot think clearly for the loud music blasting forth from the juke-box. You look around you at what is called the youth of America, at yourself too, for you are no better. And you wonder, if the world is in such a state of chaos and confusion today, what will it be like tomorrow when ruled by the contempo raries of this wild, restless, pleasure seeking youth that searches only after the things of the flesh. You look again, trying to see past the hard, cynical faces with the boisterous laughter, the eyes unnaturally bright, voices thickened, and senses dulled with drink. You wish you had the power to see into the unsearchable realms of their minds and then you have to laugh, for you cannot even see clearly into your own mind. You feel lost, empty, and so very confused. And all of a sudden you feel choked up inside with a sudden desire to leave the stale atmosphere and breathe in the natural air of the out doors. So you make a hasty and some what awkward retreat, and with a sigh of relief fill your lungs with the clean, refreshing oxygen. You begin walking aimlessly, and soon the feeling of relief leaves you and you are once again lonely, lost, and with a deep yearning for something in your life that you know is lacking. Then, as though led by some unknown force, you find yourself approaching a church where you know an evening evangelical service is in progress; a church that you have scorned and criticized, and whose members you term fanatical be cause they do not condone drinking, smoking, movie-going, gambling, danc ing, the things from which you derive your pleasure. However, tonight you are not in a scornful or critical mood and some overwhelming power is draw ing you inside the doors and compelling you to take a seat in the rear of the church, amidst the so-called fanatics. The service is about to begin and something within you tells you to listen with an open mind to what is said. In a way, you feel foolish there and cauti- S E P T E M B E R , 1 9 5 2
ously look around to be certain there is no one there that knows you. Reassured, you begin to relax and listen first to the singing of a hymn, “ Take Your Burden
self becoming lost in the power of his message. He seems to be looking directly at you and speaking only to you. What is this he is saying? “ Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” You had never before thought of religion in terms of personal gain, only of what you would be giving up. But surely it must be that God takes care of those who believe in Him. And then you ask yourself, “ Do I believe in Him?” and before you can answer, you hear the words, “ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life.” And all of a sudden you know in your heart that this is true, and it fills you with a joy you cannot understand. The speaker closes the message with an invitation to anyone who is not right with God to come forward and open his heart to the Lord and accept Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. You find yourself pushing your way up the aisle with tears of repentance to fall on your knees before God and claim His Son as your own Lord and Saviour. You realize that you are a sinner and in need of His cleansing blood, and in accepting Him, your heart is filled with a peace and joy that you have never before experienced. You leave the church with a song in your heart, and a lightness of step and a strong desire to tell others of the change in your life. Now, as you pass the place where you had wasted so much time in worldly pleasures, you find the desire for these things already dulled in the light of your new relation ship with God. You walk on with a feel ing, not of smugness, but of humility, thinking, “ There but for the grace of God, am I.” You have discovered real ity; your life has a purpose. And from that moment on you are truly “ a new creature in Christ Jesus.” You find yourself growing in grace and as your knowledge of the Lord in creases, you have an unquenchable thirst to win other souls to Him. And for you the verse, “ I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” be comes a living truth. Page Nine
Ann Marie Malmin All of a sudden you know it is true and it fills your heart with a joy you cannot understand. To The Lord and Leave It There.” You wonder if there is really a God, all- powerful and all-loving, who will re lieve you of your burdens. If there is, you think it must be only for those people who do not drink or smoke, or do all these other things. And somehow you can only see religion in terms of all that you give up and you cannot imagine yourself living in this world and sep arate from the things of the world. Then there is a word of prayer, more music, the taking of the offering. You begin to feel just as empty and strange here as with your friends but cannot bring yourself to leave until it is all over. The speaker is a youthful-looking man with a benevolent smile and a loud clear voice. As he speaks, you find your
The Migrants: No. 1 Black Spot o f the United States
By Dorothy Clark Haskin
Part II
A Christian Migrant Family
T WO fundamental, evangelical organizations have en tered the needy mission field of American migrants: Mission to Migrants and Missionary Gospel Fellowship. Ralph E. Blakeman entered the field in 1936. He is a rail road postal clerk and as he read of the migrants in the news papers, he was touched by their need. On his days oif he went to the potato area in Shafter, California, and held a meeting with them. Since then, he has continued working among migrants. He has led scores of them to know Christ as Saviour and given the financial help necessary to many to get on their feet. He interested other Christians in working among them and organized the Mission to Migrants. Its board is composed of a number of earnest Christians in the Los Angeles area. The missionaries working under this board find Mr. Blakeman’s name a magic word which instantly secures co-operation on the part of the camp bosses and friendliness on the part of the people. The board now has thirty full-time or part-time workers. In 1939 Paul J. Pietsch, moved by the need of these people, left an assistant pastorate to organize the Missionary Gospel Fellowship. He has since resigned and the work is headed by the Reverend Max B. Kronquist. He is backed by a board of sincere Christians from the San Joaquin Valley. This society has forty-five missionaries on the field. The field is sufficiently large for both organizations. Both preach the simple gospel, are distressed by the need for workers and enthusiastic about the results. There is, how ever, a basic difference in their method. Missionary Gospel Fellowship places its workers in the twenty-eight government camps because these camps provide a central building for a meeting. From them, they fan out to other camps. Mission to Migrants places a missionary in a trailer, where meetings must be held out-of-doors and he can serve three or four camps over a week-end. There are multitudes of small camps to each government camp. Missionary Gospel Fellowship emphatically does not want their missionaries to live in the camps. They state, “We be lieve in living close enough to understand the people but not
close enough that we are living with them.” Mission to Migrants seeks to have the worker live in a trailer, or if necessary, a tent, among the migrants. It has been Mr. Blakeman’s personal experience that these people need someone with whom to counsel frequently if they are to live the Christian way. And that Scripture is best understood when it is not only told, but shown in men’s lives. It is probable that with the vast amount of work to do among the migrants that neither mission will be able to carry on a sufficiently extensive program to prove either method right. Enough that both are reaching the people by their own method with the SAME message of Christ’s redeeming blood. That it is a great door and effectual but there are many obstacles is true of the work among the migrants. There is often a lack of interest in them among God’s people. Even Christians who own ranches who employ itinerant labor often feel the solution is to buy a ten-thousand dollar cotton picker instead of spending ten thousand dollars for better housing for the migrants. There is a dearth of Christian workers. Those going into full-time Christian service seem more interested in the foreign field and those who stay in the United States prefer, or per haps are called, to regular church channels. It takes consecra tion to speak out of doors, with dogs running loose, and wind blowing dust into your mouth. The field has the dirt of Africa, the smells of China, the poverty of India and none of the glamour of being a foreign missionary. Money is still the unsolved problem of Christian work. Both of these organizations are faith works, depending upon the interest of a large number of people to carry on even a comparatively small work. In some instances the Mission to Migrant workers work in the harvest fields, supporting them selves. This problem can only be solved by complete conse cration on the part of every Christian. Then there is opposition from other religious groups. For forty years the Division of Home Missions of the National Council of Churches (formerly called the Home Mission Coun cil) has been in the field. They present a boy’s club, Sunday school and social betterment program. While the fundamental-
A Camp Service
Mexican Migrants in front of Camp Chapel
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(Luke 22:36). He didn’t buy a sword but he did buy a shotgun. The next night, he waited until he heard someone creeping up to the trailer. Shotgun in hand, he stepped outside and asked, “ Did you folks lose something?” The father and son looked from one to another and said, “We won’t find it now.” And that family never bothered Andrews again. A short time later, Andrews was ordered to move by those in authority, but the migrants held a mass meeting, insisting he stay. A young man, who owned some acreage which was entirely surrounded by company land, offered to sell to An drews for $1200.00. Andrews had four dollars in his pocket when he said, “ I’ll buy it.” His friends loaned him the money which he has since paid back. He had won the people to the gospel, and incidentally, to himself. With people of such emotional instability the gospel must be reduced to basic simplicity of “ Believe on the Lord Jesus and quit lying and stealing.” One weakness of the work is the people having too much head-religion. If they acquire superficial knowledge which they are unable to transfer into their actions, they become so discouraged they stay away from all meetings. Yet, the results are gratifying. Missionary Gospel Fellow ship from September 1950 to September 1951 reports morn ing and evening attendances, 16, 158; Sunday school attend ance 31, 765; prayer meeting 2, 620; tracts and literature 15, 103; Gospels, Bibles and New Testaments supplied, 1, 303; professions of faith, 742, and dedications, 360. Mrs. Max Kronquist further reported, “Yuba City camp has thirteen adults graduating from a teachers’ training course in a few weeks. Unusual.” “We have a young man from our camp who has graduated from Bible school and will be leaving any day for Brazil as a missionary,” reports Rubena Shultz of Coachella, California. “Mr. Hensen came to Christ about three years ago here. He is living a separated life and truly just beams for the Lord. Ahyone who visits our camp says, ‘You can sure see the Lord in him.’ He has a good job, is very dependable and a good worker. He teaches a class when someone else is gone,” also tells Miss Shultz. A mother of five children was saved very early in the work of Ralph Blakeman. She still lives in the migrant camps and recently wrote, “ Brother Blakeman, my husband has been drunk again, Junior broke his arm, nearly all of us have the flu, the tent leaks. I’m so happy I have Christ as my Saviour.” Five years ago Ralph Blakeman was preaching at Desert Edge, a pea contractor camp, at an outdoor service. People were sitting around on pea hampers or in parked cars. On one car the mother and two daughters sat on the bumpers. When Mr. Blakeman gave the invitation, the father was so moved, he got out of the car and came forward. Next, out of the car came the son-in-law, recently discharged from the Marine Corps. The men were followed by the mother, wife of the young man and the other daughter. This entire family is now back in Arkansas, active in the church. Mr. Andrews reports that his first convert in the Arizona
An imprdvised meeting place and children’s service in a peach harvest
ists feel they do not present the gospel, their work auto matically excludes other groups from some camps for the camp bosses usually consider all Protestant groups as the same. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists have door- to-door literature programs in these camps. Their zeal and persistent eiforts put evangelical Christians to shame. When a Christian worker goes into a camp of Mexican Nationals, it is only a short time until Catholic priests and nuns flock to the camp. The people may have been undisturbed for ten years but once the Protestants come, the Catholics are alert, forbidding the people to attend the meetings. At some camps a priest is stationed in a trailer. Whenever a worker is free to preach the gospel, these people respond with pitiful eagerness. Sometimes the greatest obstacle is the people themselves. When Elmer C. Andrews went to Arizona to work among the migrants one of his jobs was taking people to the doctor. Among others, he took Millie, a girl with epilepsy. In the car, he led her into a personal knowledge of the Lord as Saviour. She began attending services and when she stopped abruptly, Andrews went to her home. Her parents could neither read nor write, and they told him, “ She thinks she’s better than we are and she ain’t going to church no more.” Then, the father pulled a gun and ordered Andrews off. Andrews knew that without her treatments she was in danger of going, insane so he went to court and swore to a statement to that effect, thus getting the girl into the hos pital. The parents raged around the camp, saying “We’ll shoot that guy’s trailer full of holes.” Then Andrews remembered the Lord’s admonition, “He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one”
Biola Students Helping in Migrant Work
Marvin Foster and Bob Thompson
Dean and George Everts
S E P T E M B E R , 1 9 5 2
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The "All-Out" Christian By M ildred H . Corbett P ERHAPS there is no place where the phrase “ all-out” is better understood or more generally practiced than on the college or university campus. The majority of students live on or near the campus, in college-owned or managed houses, and all activities are centered in or around college interests and places. It is not so with the young person who goes into business direct from high school. He spends seven or eight hours a day at his occupation and then returns to his home and its interests, seeking social contacts among friends who may have widely different occu pational interests. Thus the daily task may be simply a way of earning a living and not a way of life. When former classmates from high school return to their home towns during vacation times, it may be difficult to find a common meeting ground of interest with those who are now in busi nesses or trades. High school athletes look forward with great eagerness— sometimes mixed with fear that they will not make good—to the college athletic season. Some who were stars in a small high school may be disappointed in the places given them among many stars. But those who are accepted are “ all-out” for the game. Exercises, meals and hours of sleep are subject to the rules laid down by the coach. Indeed, sad to say, some are even forced to study because they will be barred from the team if they flunk their courses. One who is specializing in piano or organ will be careful of his hands, so that nothing will mar their proficiency. He is willing to go to any inconvenience that he may reach his goal. Young people who aspire to high places scholastically will not let other things interfere with their studies. They are “ all-out” to attain their ambition, or rather the object of it. Class offices and other positions of honor are given to those who are willing to put everything they have into the task, willing to state their opinions and work for them, able to labor with and for others. But how many young people on the average campus are “ all-out” Christians? How many Christians are outstanding in their witness to Christ? How many young people, out standing in other ways, are giving true testimony of their faith in Christ and living lives that are examples of sincere Christian consecration? We wish it were not true—but we fear it is—that there are many college and university students who will confess upon pressure that they have received Christ as Saviour and occasionally go to church, but who have a secret fear that this confession will harm their chances of campus success or popularity. They are willing to be “ all-out” for everything except the most important thing in their lives—their eternal salvation. They are willing to please everyone but the One who made their salvation possible! Oh, what a travesty upon Christianity, as such! Does anyone ask the question as to what is an “ all-out” Christian? This kind of a Christian is formed not from pressure without but from pressure within. Such character comes not simply from attending church services or even evangelistic meetings, nor does it come from an almost- forgotten confession of Christ and a daily neglect of Him. It comes from daily reading of and meditation upon God’s Word, and daily and oft-repeated communion with Him in prayer. This heart-training will develop a radiant person ality from which all will know that Christ is the center. Glad acknowledgment of Him and quiet witnessing for Him, should be the further result of such daily living. Christian-on-the-campus, is your life Christ-centered and are you all-out for Him, or do lesser interests fill your horizon? If Christ is not first in your life, you are dis satisfied with your Christian life and living and you are a fruitless evidence of an under-nourished soul. “ Choose you this day whom ye will serve.”
grapefruit field is now a barber in Anaheim, California. There is a disagreement on thé part of the workers as to whether or not those who are truly bom again get out of the migrant class. Missionary Gospel Fellowship states, “ Our own missionaries testify that when both a husband and wife find Christ as Saviour, they inevitably leave the migrant camps and settle down in an adjacent town.” That may be true to a large extent but many Christians do remain in the camps because it is a physical and financial impossibility to get out. Mr. Sims accepted the Lord as his Saviour when he was fifty. He saw his son-in-law whom he had bailed “ out of hoosegow after hoosegow” living for Christ and decided, “ If he can do it, I can do it.” Now, at fifty-seven, the father of eleven children, with the youngest two years old, there seems to be no work for Mr. Sims but following the crops. There is, however, a noticeable difference between his home and many of the others. The floor is swept. Mrs. Sims carefully folds the clothes after she washes them though she has to pile them in the comer. They live in a one-room shack but Mr. Sims, out of packing cases, built an extra bedroom for some of the older children. They attend the gospel services regularly and encourage the hearts of the missionaries. Whether they leave the camps or not, these are people who are waiting for some one to care for their souls for Christ. Despite all the Federal government may hope to do to eradi cate the squalid conditions, it is doubtful if they ever can be removed entirely as long as there are crops to be picked. While the Government is working out a solution, another) generation is bom into poverty, living in shacks, wearing clothes fit for the rag heap, and receiving the lowest standard of education in the United States. If they ever find Christ it will be due to the loving efforts and prayers and sacrificial giving of those who know Him.
"Is Not This the Carpenter?"
Mildred Allen Jeffery
Is not this the carpenter W ho studied much at close of day? W h o memorized the scriptures w ell A nd climbed up mountain trails to pray? W h o know s the strength of tool and wood A nd builds according to their worth? W h o know s m en 's hearts and shapes anew Their lives through spiritual rebirth? Is not this the carpenter W h o , before the life of m an began . Laid the foundation of the earth And m easured heaven with the span? Is He not w ise? Is H e not good? And is He not G od 's Son D ivine? * * * * * H e'll hold the nations firm and shape Their destinies to H is design !
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DOING W H A T VO L C A N T
By Rev. Leslie E. M axw ell*
S HE was very shy and self-conscious, so naturally timid that anything like personal work was well-nigh impossible. “ God finally got me so con victed,” she said, “that .I should be giv ing away gospel tracts, I answered, ‘Lord, I simply can’t do it; if ever I give away any tracfs, Thou art the One who must do it.’ Later while I was doing some business at the bank, the Lord said to me as I faced the bank teller, ‘Here is someone to whom you can give a tract.’ Immediately my heart asked, ‘Lord, art Thou going to give this man a tract?’ Even as I cried to God, my hand went out, and I gave him a tract. Since then I have passed on my secret of victory to others, and they too find that it works.” “Stretch forth thine hand.” Impos sible? Yet Christ was always command ing men to do similar things. The story of Christ’s dealing with “ a man who had his hand withered” is full of the deepest spiritual lessons. That man’s hand was useless, limp, helpless. He could grasp nothing. He could not put that withered hand to the plow. That poor helpless hand symbolizes souls ev erywhere calling for healing and resto ration. They sense how limp and useless and helpless they are. They feel their deep and awful need. Like a bolt out of the blue comes the definite command, “Stretch forth thine hand.” This called for an impossible thing. And if impossible, was it not utterly unreasonable? “ Stretch forth thine hand.” But how could he? Per haps he had come to the synagogue on that Sabbath day to have Jesus heal him, to have Jesus put strength into that withered hand for him. But to have the Lord Jesus ask him to stretch it out —well, that was impossible and there fore unreasonable. “ Stretch forth thine hand.” How absurd! Was not that the one thing he had long desired to do, but the one thing he could not do? Yet he was commanded to do it. It was the way of the Lord Jesus throughout His ministry. Christ picked out, shall I say, the man’s one great and conspicuous inability, and there de manded the impossible. How we feel for this fellow! How embarrassed he must have been before that critical crowd in the synagogue! He had been conscious for many years of that shrunken and limp member hanging helplessly by his side, a mere mockery of a hand. Sud- *President of Prairie Bible Institute, Three Hills, Alberta, Canada. Reprinted from Tabernacle Bulletin, Omaha, Neb. S E P T E M B E R , 1 9 5 2
denly there rang in his ears the com mand, “ Stretch forth thine hand.” Im possible? But he did it! And his hand was made whole like unto the other. You are a Christian. What is your withered hand? the one great impos sible? the one thing Christ commands? Did you ever notice that God does not ask you to do something easy and agree able to the flesh? Christ was continually bringing men face to face with the im possible. He laid upon men commands which were utterly contrary to the flesh, to human understanding. God calls you to deal with souls and hand out tracts. Perhaps He commands you to “ Stretch forth thine hand” on the street corner while declaring the un searchable riches of Christ. And He calls you to stretch forth your hand to your purse and promote the cause of missions. But there your hand hangs and hugs your side—and your purse. Your trouble, of course, is not in your hand. God is reaching for your heart— through your withered hand. You excuse yourself: If only Christ had asked me to do something else! But that some thing else would not have reached your heart. Christ wants you to know His power and grace. He therefore asks you to do something that will require His sufficiency and help. You could do some thing else without faith and without grace, perhaps without even being right with God. So, in asking you to do the one impossible thing, Christ crosses your will through your withered limb. F. B. Meyer said, “We never test the resources of God until we attempt the impossible.” God specializes in impossibilities. Per haps that is the reason God has chosen you to do something for Him. You are naturally impossible. Your close friends will agree. Perhaps you feel that God has made a mistake when He has asked you to do the utterly impossible and un reasonable. Do your circumstances seem contrary? your possibilities very un likely? your capabilities utterly inade quate? You must remember that God in His infinite wisdom brings His grace to perfect display through your human weakness and inability. Is your foot too limp and lame to walk in the path of obedience? You say you cannot go where He asks you to go. You complain, “Anywhere but there, Lord.” You suggest, “ I’ll go to anybody but so and so; I could never go to that person.” Yet God holds you to it. His word of command to you is: “ This do and thou shalt live.” The particular “ this do” that Christ asks of you might
be better rendered, “ this death and thou shalt live.” The particular thing Christ asks you to do spells death to your own ability and will and wisdom. The divine command comes to you just where you ,are so limp and so lame and so helpless that you must come into contact with Christ. Your poor withered foot will soon walk and leap and run in the way of His commands when God enlarges your heart. Christ is at the end of God’s command to you. What is it God asks you to do? You will find Christ just at the end of the command. Any other command would not bring you into touch with Christ. Any other self-chosen duty would be only self-righteous works. But God gives you a doing that is your un doing. He brings you into the dust of death, the death of self. Just there at the end of yourself and at the end of the divine command, you find Christ. There He meets you with all the author ity and power and ability to enable you to do the impossible. A missionary stood up in our meeting in Africa a year ago and with deep con vulsions cried, “ There has not been a single day when the Lord has not con victed me of not warning these people about their lost condition. I have not been willing that it be just Christ living in me; I feared what it would cost me.” A nurse confessed, “ I wanted to be filled with the Holy Spirit before the con ferences began so that I would have nothing to confess—would not get into this mess. But I was glad when the Mission recently assigned me work in the hospital so that I could do some thing without needing to be filled with the Holy Spirit.” The first missionary had deliberately disobeyed the command to witness to the heathen and warn them of their condition. The nurse de liberately disobeyed the command: “ Be filled with the Spirit.” Both found Christ just at the end of the divine command. And you will too. Do you measure your obedience and tell God just how far He should go? how much He should demand ? how much you can give to missions? Will God have to let you go blundering on until you break the neck of your stubbornness and ignorance over some obstacle? As God faces you with some impossible task, do you complain “ I’d rather die than do it” ? Do both. Die in doing it— die and come to life. Dr. J. H. Jowett said: “ I very much like an epitaph which is found upon a woman’s grave in New England: ‘She hath done what she couldn't!’ ” Page Thirteen
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