One-third Trillion During the year ending June 30, 1948, America set a new record in the amount o f :cigarettes smoked, with the number represented at 345,000,000,000. This is the equivalent of 121 packs for each man, woman, and child in the land, but of course there are many who do not smoke;so the average smoker’s consump tion is higher than this, how .high no one knows. Smoking has long since emerged from the category of a na tional pastime to that of a national nuis ance. What God thinks of this tremen dous amount of wealth going up in smoke is not too difficult to imagine. There will come a day when many Christians will have to give an account to the Lord of their use of tobacco. Take Your Time! In regard to marriage, the advice of Judge Samuel H. Sibert of Cleveland, who has probably heard more divorce cases than any other judge in the coun try, is that the parties involved should take time and wait a year before enter ing into the contract, during which time they will have opportunity to change their minds If need be. The Word of God emphasizes repeatedly the serious and permanent side of marriage and, as is always the case with God’s laws, there is a sound principle involved. Young people, especially Christian young people, need careful and sympathetic counsel along this line. Touch of Larceny “ Many ordinary citizens are so dis honest they make professional criminals look like amateurs.” So says Prof. Joseph Lohman, faculty member of the Uni versity of Chicago. Deep down in his heart everybody has a touch of larceny in him, Lohman says, and it shows up among even the most “ respectable” peo ple. This is one of the painful facts of our present day. What Prof. Lohman reports as news does not surprise any one who is ac quainted with his Bible, for the Scrip tures declare, “ The heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desper ately wicked.” L’ttle Prayer—Little Bible & Average co lleg e student of 1948 neither prays nor reads his Bible very much according to a. report from two psychology instructors at the University of Denver. Daniel G. Brown and War ner L. Lowe believe that two-thirds of both Catholic and Protestant students never read the Bible. One-third of the same students never pray and never at tend church or feel the nearness of God. College education, furthermore, appar ently reduces religious desire. As a commentary on this sad fact one should read 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 and be challenged by the desperate necessity of getting young people saved before they reach college age. Biagest Problem & “ The treatment of alcoholics is the biggest single problem of law enforce rs C T O B E R , 1948
self who many times pointed out the extreme danger of underestimating this archenemy. Strength Through Division For a long time the cry of liberal minded church leaders has been the de precation of the manifold division of Protestantism. Much effort has been and is being expended in order to bring to gether various church groups. The phi losophy behind this movement has been that Protestantism’s division equaled weakness. In answer to this, a recent book by Dr. Marcus Bach of the Uni versity of Iowa School of Religion flatly indicts such philosophy. After a study of fifteen years, Dr.. Bach entirely reverses his former position, and now believes Protestantism’s multiplicity is i t s strength. He quotes an old friend who once told him, “ Unite the churches and you’ll kill what religion there’s left.” Be this as it may, there is no question that Protestant union is in the air to day and Bible students can ponder well this trend in connection with the ’ pro phetic portions of the Word of God. They foretell the complete union of the apos tate church near to the time of our Lord’s return. Church Increases <£ Each year The Christian Herald de votes a lot of time and effort to a survey of American churchgoing. In their annual report for 1947 recently complet ed, they show that church membership now stands at 53% of the population, an increase of a little more than 2%% for the year. This is in comparison with the Roman Catholic Church report of a gain of 3V2%. The report takes into con sideration the population gain and shows that church membership increase has kept pace and has managed to slip a little ahead in the race between those being bom and those added to religious rolls. We could rejoice heartily in these figures were it not for personal observa tions of the pitifully small attendance which so many churches have. There are far too many “ regular” church members that never attend the services from Easter to Easter. Page Five
ment officers,” states Burdette Daniels, Chairman of a special State Crime Com mission. A survey made in Los Angeles County reveals that 33% of the individ ual jail budgets go for the care of drunks. Other communities reported far greater percentages. For instance, in Monrovia, California, 90% of the jail budget is expended for the same purpose. This is discouraging news to taxpayers and very difficult to reconcile with the fact that millions of dollars are allowed to be spent on advertising liquor and that a free hand is given to dealers in merchandising it. Where is our boasted American consistency? Suicide «5* Each year 122,000 people in the United States attempt to kill them selves, with approximately one-fifth of that number succeeding. A recent survey by three members of the Chicago Psychi atric Institute nbted some of the rea sons for this amazing will to die. The real cause, as understood by these men of research is likely to be a deep sense of guilt, although the victim often re ports various other reasons. Is there any way to prevent suicide? The researchers hinted that close fam ily ties and strong religious relationships are helpful. The latter lead us to remem ber that God has implanted within the breast of man a very stern monitor called conscience. If there were no other reason to believe in God as the Creator, the presence of conscience would be enough. Says— "N o D evil" At Annapolis, Maryland, Alexander W. Andrews, who taught in a Methodist Sunday school for thirty years, offers to prove in ten minutes that there is neither devil nor hell. Andrews’ chal lenge was made in a paid advertisement in a newspaper in the Maryland city, and included an offer to debate the sub ject with any three Protestant ministers. Let no one be surprised at this for the devil’s subtle strategy, since the be ginning of time, has been to attempt to hide both his existence and his iden tity. On the other side of the ledger, we have the sure word of Christ Him
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker