September, 1942
THE K I NG ’S BUS I NESS
332
ever, seemed perfectly oblivious of any responsibility for, anything. Here and there in England, as in the United States, there are churches recognizing the spiritual needs of the people and preaching the gospel. I found such a church in Brighton. Thè pastor of this church was formerly the pastor of Spurgeon’s Tabernacle. The church was comfortably filled on both Sundays when I was in attendance, and there was a faithful presentation of the Word. Each Sunday, I was told, some one in the congregation finds the way of salvation. Summarizing I believe that there is a great amount of serious thinking taking place in England at this time and that England is weighing her past history and her present responsibilities heav ily. Although in general the church does not appear to be taking the most significant part in molding present thought, it must not be forgotten that the country is considerably disturbed from regular routine, that the men are in the Forces, the women are in the factories, the children are evacu ated, and that if chujches are not at tended in great numbers, it may be
because other activities demand at tention. - Fervency- of loye ,-for the Lord,- not statistics of formal church attendance, must be the true standard in peace or war. It is noteworthy that the King of England announces, with the support of the people, the ¡special days for prayer for an Empire on which the sun never sets, and that the people heed his request and: gather to pray. When a nation openly acknowledges its dependence upon God and its need to repent for past sins, God is able to wdrk a deliverance. On the other hand, it is disturbing to note that churches of most denomi nations seem to bear insignificant re sponsibility for leadership for a “back- to-God movement” and that such churches as outwardly are most active now appear to be more concerned with the social aspect of “the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man” than the preaching of a gospel requir ing the confession of sin and the new birth through Christ. Let us in Amer ica pray earnestly, for all members of the body of Christ in England. May God grant them His peace and power —-and ,true fruitfulness—in days of increasing pressure. Mr. Sanden has made the1correla tion of science and the Bible his prin cipal study for a number of years, in pursuance of which he resigned a successful pastorate in order to return to the University, that he might carry out his project. He was graduated from the Texas State University with highest honors, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was made a member also of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,and the Texas Academy of Science. He recent ly delivered an address before the latter at their annual convention held in Houston, Texas. During June and July of this year, Evangelist Sanden a d d r e s s e d the state-wide conference of Presbyterian young people of Texas ten consecutive days oh “Science and the Faith.” He is now campaigning in the maneuver' area of Southwest Louisiana, where the Defense Service Council is spon soring his work. His messages are unique, vital, and evangelistic, and: are designed to be of special interest to students. Mr. Sanden was grad uated from the Bible Institute of Los Angeles in 1923. He is a graduate of. Austin Presbyterian Theological Semi nary of Austin, Texas. Mr. Sanden can be addressed temporarily at Box 895, Glendale, Calif.,:in care of Paul W. Rood.
ENGLAND'S CHURCHES DURING WAR [Continued from Page 321] There were sixteefi of us occupying this little room. A pleasant open fire burned as we, sang praises, prayed, and listened to a simple service con ducted by a devout layman. On another Sunday I attended two church services with the'London Sec retary of one of the outstanding Afri can missiohary organizations. The church was well filled and a fine spirit prevailed. I was told that a few Sun days before this a raid had been on during the morning service. While the preacher was discussing Job and saying, “Satan could not have touched Job without God’s permission,” there came the familiar whine of a bomb and a resounding thud as it pene trated the church grounds. But it failed to explode; Later, after the area had been roped off and all per sons ordered from the immediate neighborhood, the bomb was dug up and taken away. Contrasts in Churches Raids occurred for four successive nights d u r i n g one of my visits to Liverpool. My elderly mother and sis ter s l e p t in an especially prepared section of the basement of a four-story apartment house., I slept upstairs. When “chandelier” flares lit up the whole sky and the drone. of planes above: Continued, I aroused my mother and sister, and escorted them to the Anderson air-raid shelter in- the gar den while I fire-watched for incen diary bombs. ;One of the raids took place very early Sunday morning and lasted for nearly three hours. We finally went to bed at about four o’clock. As a result it was about church time when I hwoke. I dressed quickly and went a ’short distance to a well-known de nominational church. T h i s church, located in a residential area, was not far from Where Soldiers were quar tered, but there were only eighteen p e r s o n s in all in attendance that morning. What did the church have to offer to a group of people who had passed a harrowing night in that vicinity? The singing was cold and uninspiring, and the sermon had no connection, as far as I could tell, with the war situa tion or the spiritual needs of the con gregation. It is, not surprising that where vital spiritual help was lacking, it was not sought by many. ' Ji great many churches stress the social re-' sponsibilities of the church during the present era and the following recon struction period. Some churches keep their planning on a merely human level; others relate the present and future problems to the Word of God and' the program of the Lord Jesus Christ. This particular church, how-
Speaking on Science and the Bible
' Friends of Oscar E. Sanden, widely known lecturer and young people’s evangelist, will be glad to hear of his anticipated return to the West Coast after the first of the year. He expects to be engaged in a series of youth rallies and evangelistic campaigns, working under the direction of Paul W. Rood, Presidents of the World’s Christian Fundamentals Association.
Oscar E. Sanden
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