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January,. 1944
Current Cusiness LOUIS T. TALBOT, Editor-in-Chief
Hitler came Into power . . . has been reduced by five million as a result of his war upon them . . . More than three million Jews have been destroyed by planned starvation, forced labor, deporta tions, pogroms, and methodical murders in German-run extermi nation centers in eastern Europe since the outbreak of the war in 1939. . . . In twenty-four countries of Continental Europe now under the control of the Axis, only three million Jews are alive today. Facing these terrible facts, many persons have gone so far as to ques tion the existence of God, because they cannot reconcile mounting trag edy with a divine rule of the world. This problem is created by failure to interpret aright the plain teaching of Scripture that the world will not be come perfect through the preaching of the gospel. God’s ancient people, Israel, must “ blossom and bud,” and then the face of the world will be filled with fruit. Whenever prophecy is interpreted with the rightful em phasis, whenever the central place ‘of Israel in the divine plan is recognized, we see the need for prayer “ till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth” (Isa. 62:7). What the New Year will bring to the Jew's only God knows. But God’s plan has not miscarried. “ God hath not cast away his people which he fore knew.” 'The outcome w ill be a glori ous deliverance; it has been proph esied. Oh that we may heed the divine summons to pray, with intensity and perseverance! A surprisingly small percentage even mentioned “ a son” or “ a hus band,” despite the fact that nearly every ho e in the land has contribut ed at least one member to the military forces of tion. Such surveys as these reveal sev eral things, which go far toward ex plaining the sagging morale on the home front; First, there is the super ficiality of the thinking processes of most of the people. Second, there is their self-centeredness. Life, for many, is still lived on the low plane of “crea ture comfort.” , THE NATION'S GREATEST NEED: • A third research organization in vestigated what people hoped to get out of the war. Individuals were asked to declare their opinion of what [ Continued on Page 17J
New Leaves
do not know that the Bible Institute of Los Angeles operates this, the larg- cest Bible Institute in the Far East, the Hunan Bible Institute. For years it has trained hundreds of young Chinese to witness for Christ in all parts of China. That work is still go ing on! It Js the present plan not only ’ to continue this teaching and preach ing ministry, but also to enlarge it along the lines of post-war require ments. Further facts are given on page 12 of this issue. It must be Christ— and not chaos—for China and for the world. The New Year— and the Jew When God 'wills that a thing be done. He first sets men to pray. Frederick A. Aston, director of the New York Jewish Evangelization So ciety, is not alone when he makes the comment that there never has been a time when prayer to God was more urgently needed than npw. Any thoughtful person who surveys the world today is startled and shocked. Everywhere suffering abounds. But upon the Jews has the Nazi fury de scended as upon no other people. • The New York Times of August 27, 1943, reported: The Jewish population of Eu- • rope, which totaled 8,300,000 when OUR PEOPLE'S GREATEST NEED: • A national organization for the “sampling” of public opinion has just completed a survej on the question: “What is your greatest need today?” The majority of women replied: “ silk or nylon hose.” The majority of men answered: “New tires for my car.” i Fewer than ten percent of the peo ple interviewed expressed a need for moral values or spiritual things. Only a handful- voiced a neea of God, of faith, of courage, of character, of self- control. The overwhelming majority could think of no greater need in war time than that of material things. Another research organization has conducted a survey of what people miss most, now that the war has de prived them of many things they for merly possessed.
The leaf is turned, The page is clean and new. I grieve already for the blots
That soon will show. Blots of my making,
Blots dropped by other hands. Oh, that the ink were colorless That none might see! Gould I but learn to keep A page unspoiled! O Lord, guide Thou the hand That does the writing. Remind Thy chiid No blot Is there to Thine all-seeing eye. “Whiter than snow,” “ As far as east from west”— Thy promise? are sure! —Helen Gailey. China: Chaos, or Christ W ill the close of the present war usher in a period of terrible chaos in the world? Thinking men are asking the ques tion. Answers,come from representa tives of every strata of responsibility. "In China, in the post-war world, it will be either the acceptance of Christ, or of chaos, that w ill face us.” “Us”— it is Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, China’s great leader of some 450 mil lion people, who has expressed this sentiment in various ways. The Generalissimo believes what he says. He must, for he himself turns to the Book of Christ’s teachings. Is it not significant that at the ,recent world-changing conference at Cairo, the press bulletins that described the unofficial activities of the principals made much of the fact that China’s leader arose at five o’clock in the morning in order to have his custom ary period of private Bible study and prayer? Not merely an hondfed tfadi- tion, but a matter of personal con cern is his relationship to God. Furthermore, he has done much to make pleasant the work of the mis sionary in China. And with what re sults? M u t u a l understanding and friendship exist between China and the United States, largely the Cumula tive result of a century of missionary endeavor. China’s leaders are men of outstanding ability, and many of them in high governmental positions are active Christians. To help the millions in China to learn of the Lord Jesus Christ—as the Generalissimo declares is essential— there is located in Free China a great Bible Institute. Many of- our readers
Behind the New s By DAN GILBERT San Diego,- Calif.
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