1944
FEBRUARY
Official Organ of THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Incorporated
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Class Quarterlies International Uniform Sunday school Les sons, streamlined for daily living, rich in Bible information, inspiration. One quar terly for adult class members, another for young people 15 to 21. Both abound in life application of the lesson truths and an un usual amount of condensed study material. 64 pages, size 4 ^ x 6 ^ inches. Price in quan tities, 8c each. Order now for next quarter! W R IT E FOR free information on Standard's Uni form teachers’ helps; or Free Prospectus o f Stand ard’s Closely Graded Lessons for your department. Address Desk K B -2
Miniature of Billboards
Our Nation Is in D ire Need o f A Spiritual Awakening
The Standard Publishing Co. 8th and Cutter Street», Cincinnati, 3, Ohio E X C L U S I V E !
tppalling scene before us today in America is that of 'millions upon millions who are so indifferent to their souls’ need that they re fu s e to attend church, or listen to any gospel broadcast, or read the Bible. God’s answer to this condition is the challenge to be- livers: “ Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel A them to come in.” 1 The B ib le C ru s a d e rs is a comparatively new organiza- 1 1 tion of strictly fundamental Christians, who are endeavor- | 1 ing to obey God’s command by presenting vital portions of 1 1 Scripture in c o lo rfu l po ste r settings, using the billboards of outdoor advertising concerns. Scores of billboards in 1 § many West Coast cities now bear these posters. The B ib le | 1 C ru s a d e rs are “publishing God’s W o rd where man cannot ¡j ■ escape it.” N ew posters are designed at regu lar intervals. A llow us to send you a miniature of the billboard poster 1 1 in co lo r, together with the interesting story of the work, 1 ■ without any obligation to you, that you may acquaint your- | ■ self with this growing ministry.
by her granddaughter, Emma Moody Powell. Only biography of the life associate of D. L. Moody, evangelist and founder of schools. Reveals Mrs. Moody’s share in the destiny of her era. The au thor had access to diaries, let* ters, intimate family records and photographs never before used. 343 pp. $2.00
Dept.K-382
PLEASE NOTICE When sending in subscriptions (new or renewal) kindly write or print name and address VERY PLAINLY. "How to Win Souls to Christ" A new booklet on soul-winning Very effective. Easy to use. No memorizing. No objections to an swer. Tells you how from ap proach to decision. Makes soul- winning easy. Many using it with amazing results. Each 25c. Stamps accepted. Soul Winners Exchange, Inc. 1147 E. Wilson Ave., Glendale 6, Calif.
THE BIBLE CRUSADERS, Inc: P. O . Box 777, Seattle 11, Wash.
Please send me a miniature in color of your present bill board poster, and .the interesting story about the beginning and the growth of this work. MY NAME ..................- ..... ............-...................................... -............... ADDRESS ................... .......... .................. ......... ....... ................. .... CITY and STATE .................... .......... .......... . p. Publishing God’s Word Where Man Cannot Escape it.
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February, 1944
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How to Destroy The Jews! Hegel called the Jews the en igma of the world. It was he who gave them the name, “The In destructible Jew.” And it was he, in the midst of his struggles with his Philosophy of History, who cried out, “I cannot understand them!” Pharaoh tried to drown them, but” only’ landed his own . hosts into the bottom of the Red Sea! Haman tried to hang them, but in the end it was he who dangled from the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai, the despised Jew! Nebuchadnézzar tried to burn them in a seven times heated furnace. But, eyes bulging with astonishment; he shrieked, “Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt” ! But, a Baptist preacher in Ohio discovered that if you could do a certain thing, you wiü be able to destroy the Jews! Hit ler has sworn to exterminate the Jew from o ff the earth, but this he can neyer do unless he will accomplish something else first! I f Hitler had any sense he would have sent for this secret and saved himself many ,a headache, besides the destruction o f the Nazi armies. Every Jew hater in the world owes it to himself to read this tract Every real Chris tian will of course seize the op portunity to learn something of God’s eternal purposes in a world tottering on its founda tions. This 16-page tract is yours for 10c, including a copy of THE CHOSEN PEOjPLE, which has found a place of affection in the hearts of the choicest of the Lord’s people. Just enclose 10c and say “ Send me ‘How to De stroy the Jews.’ ” And may we remind you also of the continuous needs of our Missionary undertakings? Our work merits your every confi dence. Your fellowship ih prayer and gift is always appreciated. Dear Friends: Here is 10c, and please send me a copy o f , “How to Destroy the Jews.” I also add a gift of $........ „„.„a s my fellowship with you in your world-wide ministry o f the gospel to Israel. Name '.—...........— :.______________ Street — ..— ------j___ .___________ City--------........... State........._____ AMERICAN BOARD OF MISSIONS TO THE JEWS, Inc. 31 Throo£ Avenue, Brooklyn 6, N. Y. 39 King Williarti Street Hamilton. Ontario Canada
The Official Organ of THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Inc. "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood " (Rev, 1:5), THE KING'S BUSINESS VolNf ? v Cover Photograph is an O fficial U , S. Marine Corps Photo Current Business — Editorial ____ _ __________ _____ __________42 Behind the News — Dan Gilbert....... .................................... ...................... 43 Ou t of Borneo, Part l — J. Arthur Mouw as told to Anne Hazelton ____________ ________ ________________ .‘„............„„„„„„44 When God Saved the Brewer’s Boy, Part I I — Louis T . Talbot as told to M ild red ,M . Cook .... ..................______________ ______47 Saints in Unlikely Places— Col. F. J. Miles.. ________________..„............ 49 When Marines Sing, “ H e Holds M y Hand” Chaplain E. Harlan Fischer........ _____ _„.____........... ......,......„.50 Biola Family __________________„.I.....;..___ .........................____ 52 Junior K ing’s Business—Afar/Aa S. Hooker ........ .................................... 53 International Lesson Commentary.... .......:________ __________________ __... 55 Dr. Talbot’s Question Box....... ......................________________ _______ ____ 66 Christian. Endeavor— M . D . Lathrop, Grace M . Roberts, Samuel H . Sutherland , Ruth G. Ender..... ___________ _____ ________ 68 Daily Devotional Readings.......... ..........................___ _______ „ ____ _____ 72 Literature Table .......____ ___________ ___________ ___ ...._____;_______ ....___ 78 SUBSCRlPTION, INFORMATION—"The King's Business" is« published monthly: one yr.; $1.50, two^yrs.; 50 cents, six months; 10 cents, single copy. Clubs of three-or more at special rates. Write for details. Canadian and for eign subscriptions 25. cents extra. It requires ¡one month for a change of ad dress to become effective. Please send both old and new addresses. REMITTANCE-—Payable in advance, should be made by bank draft, express, or PW* office money order payable to “ The King’s Business.’’ Date of expiration will show plainly on outside wrapper or cover of magazine. ^ ^ £ {rRTISING—For information, address the Advertising Manager, 558 South Hope Street. Los Angeles 13, Calif., or our eastern representative, Religious Press Association, 51 No. 52nd St., Philadelphia 39, Pa. MANUSCRIPTS~“ The King’s Business’’ cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to manuscripts sent in for consideration. Entered as second-class matter November 7, 1938, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, 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 13^938 4’ sectlon 538' p* L * and R- authorized October 1, 1918, and November ADDRESS: The King’s Business, 558 So. Hope St., Los Angeles 13, Calif. LOUIS T. TALBOT. Editor-in-chief MILDRED-M. COOK, Managing Editor RANSOM 0. MARVIN, Staff Artist
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Current Business LOUIS T. TALBOT, Editor-in-Chief
brance of that prayer, since it was many donors, and not just one, who contributed to the giving. But the prayer was answered, most graciously, as the Lord u s e d the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Institute not only as a leader in the inauguration of the plan, but also in his willingness to match, dollar for dollar, amounts sent in during the first week in January. For this gen erous gesture of Ray A. Myers, the In stitute thanks God—but no more than for the gifts of dimes or of dollars of friends who could not give more. “We are members of one body”'— and if there is any one truth that the period of financial struggle and of deliverance has taught us it is that unity in the body of Christ is a pre cious and a powerful thing. Henceforth, all gifts received at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles will be used in the constructive task of training consecrated youth for wit nessing at home and abroad. ■t Progress Ahead In gratitude to God for His lifting of the burden of indebtedness from the Institute, officials of the school are moving forward in faith to em brace the larger opportunities that are at hand. Plans are under way for strength ening of the Educational Department. A motion picture is being prepared, depicting the work of the s c h o o l , and is to be released to interested friends who desire to show it. The In stitute library is to be enlarged; min isters who wish to dispose of part or all of their choice theological books aré invited to communicate with the Dean concerning this matter. More prayer, more faith, more dili gent study df the Word of God, more witnessing to the lost at home arid abroad—these are the aims toward which - the "new” Bible Institute is striving, by the grace of God. Private lii Action The war is bringing to view, quick ly, some kinds of encouragement for which more normal times would re quire a longer period of waiting. For example, there came to my office a few days ago a fine appear ing Private First Class. On the way to the vestry he had chanced to meet in the lobby two of his former Sunday- school teachers—one who remembered the mother as she brought her toddler to the Cradle Roll class, and the other who had had the boy in a group of lively junior-high-school pupils. A ll through his growing years, he had been “ a good boy,” a regular at tendant at church and its organiza tions. In young manhood, he made confession of Christ as Saviour, but he was not outstanding as a leader.
Hallelujah! There is no longer any-debt on the two dormitory buildings of the be loved Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Above these two beautiful thirteen- story structures, the illuminated testi mony, “ Jesus Saves,” now has even greater significance than before. As this issue of THE KING’S BUSI NESS goes to press, it is too early to give fu ll details, but it is not too early to praise God for the mighty victory that He has wrought. Within a period of only a .few months, thousands of dollars were, re ceived, of which only about $4,000 is due in pledges. Commenting on this fact, a Los Angeles bank vice-presi dent wrote: May we take this opportunity of congratulating you on the splen did accomplishment of your or ganization in having raised and paid on your debt $115,000 since August, 1943. The achievement reflects conscientious effort by your entire organization. Indeed, every organization connect ed with the church, the Sunday-school, and the Institute has contributed gen erously. For the most part, however, the gifts have been small amounts from individual donors. One o f the many radio listeners wrote:
I am enclosing a small gift as an expression of the grateful hearts of all'the members of my family. Several years ago, we lis tened to a sermon preached by the President of the Institute on “Three Hells: Hell in the Heart, Hell in the Home, and Hell in the Here after.” We were experiencing the first two, and we were on the way to the third. But the Lord stopped us that night, and now every member of our family can truly testify that it is heaven in the heart, heaven in 'the home,: and heaven ahead of us. May God abundantly bless the Bible Insti tute of Los Angeles. At least sixteen .persons asked to have the honor of contributing the last block! Without doubt, the others who desired this privilege w ill step aside in favor of a sailor, recuperat ing from wounds and shock received in action, whose gift was a ring worth $100. An older brother had died in August, represented by the first gold star in the service flag. In answer to prayer—in some cases the prayer of many years—the money came in. One good friend of the In stitute had been heard to pray often in public that the Lord would lay upon the heart of, some one person thé desire to liquidate the indebtedness on the Institute buildings. Perhaps some w ill smile, now, at the remem
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Then the demands of war snatched him away from familiar scenes. For a time, he floundered in his thinking. But then a letter was reqeived from a close boyhood friend, stationed many miles away. “ i*— * said he was starting a Bible class among the fellows there,” the Private explained, “ and I thought, ‘Boy, that’s just what the Lord wants me to do, too!’ ” The good church-going boy became a firebrand for Jesur Christ. He or ganized the weekly Bible class to which upwards of' thirty young people come regularly. Around that study
table are J-nvs, Catholics, and mem bers of many and no denominations. Back to the home church in Los An geles, the Church of the Open Door, go specific requests for prayer—and God is answering them. “I guess I was the most surprised person of all,” the soldier admitted. Then, gratefully, “When I had to put it to the test, I found that what I had gotten here, in church and in Sunday- school, was the kind of truth a fellow can live by and can give to others." Let preachers and teachers take no tice: “ Preach the word, be instant in season and out of season.” God giveth the increase.
“ Consider him that e n d u r e d s u c h contradiction of s i n n e r . s against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint, in your minds.” (H eb. 12:3) The way we fight and win the war will largely determine the nature of the peace. False religious groups have championed the slogan: “ The end jus tifies the means.” This is bad logic as well as bad morality. For, the means determine the end. If we seek to advance a good purpose by evil methods, the purpose itself w ill be made evil. If we wish a democratic peace, we must keep democracy in operation in the conduct of the war. MAN-ÏÜADE WEAKNESSES: w uui country naa a major part m me thrusting back, in 1943, of the Axis threat. God made America strong. Sin and selfishness make us weak. Our own weaknesses postpone the day of ultimate victory. Oyr Creator supplied America with a great abundance of coal, but strikes have created an arti ficial shortage which has hampered war operations. Our Creator endowed America with a more-than-adequate oil supply.. But pleasure driving, black- market operators, and bungling bu reaucratic interference with productive forces, have converted the surplus in to an impending shortage. Greed, pr of i t e e r i ng , selfishness; these are the« factors that still are impeding the full mobilization of our God-given resources for the final vic tory of liberty and democracy. CONSTITUTIONAL IGNORANCE: • Several months ago, I wrote a little book entitled, “Who W ill Be Elected President in 1944?” EveT since, I have been receiving letters from Christian readers informing me that, according . to the- Constitution, we cannot have an election in wartime. Of course, the Constitution has no such provision. Certain radio commen tators have suggested that we should not _have an election in wartime. Others have recommended a Constitu tional amendment to prohibit war time elections. But every one who bothers to read the Constitution of the United States knows that the Found ing Fathers provided that democracy should go right on functioning, in wartime as in peacetime. A good New Year’s program for every Christian American would be to read through the Constitution and the Bible. We ought to know what is the basis of Americanism. The writers of the Constitution, for the most part, were Bible readers and Bible believers. They made Constitu tional democracy to rest upon imper- [ Continued on Page 67] •
Behind the News By DAN GILBERT San Diego, California
SUPERSTITION FOR SALE: • Nothing that can be told about in side Washington amazes people more than the facts regarding the flourish ing of cults and sects of superstition “ under the Capitol Dome.” Ray Tucker, one of Washington’s best-known and most widely syndi cated columnists, recently dealt with this subject in these paragraphs: The most popular and profitable businesses in the capital today are those carried on by fortune-tell ers, palm’ sts, astrologists, tea- leaf diviners, and psychiatrists. Washington has g o n e “ nuts” about foreseeing its personal and collective future. Diplomats from foreign prin cipalities first introduced the idea. They never threw a party without hiring a voodoo artist and ensconcing her in an upstairs room where she psychoanalyzed the guests. Her fee was around $20, plus a bottle of good wine. The fad has spread since Wash ington became the center of do mestic and overseas leaders. They consult these star-gazers regu larly. Some of our topnotch offi cials frame their policies in ac cordance with the soothsaytngs of these oracles. Hitler, too, frames his policies in ac cordance with the “ brain trust” of as trologers and clairvoyants who have long had a dominant voice in Nazi A f fairs. The following of such counsel leads a nation into sin, degradation, destruction, and ultimate death. Amer ica grew great as her people and lead ership followed the course laid out in the Bible. Our greatest national need now is to return to that path.
THE LURE OF SATAN: • Adam and Eve fell into sin as they Satanically sought to attain the ambi tion to “be as gods.” The desire to probe the secrets of Infinite Wisdom is an attitude of the unregenerate, car nal mind. Man does not trust God; therefore, he seeks to take hjs future into his own hands. One of the telltale signs of a “wicked and rebellious generation” is the flour ishing of cults of superstition which seek to unveil the future, penetrating the mystery in which God keeps it en shrouded. Curiosity has carried many an indi vidual to hell. Our present age has exalted science at the expense of re ligion. ft has extended knowledge; while crippling faith. The unregen erate mind wants to "know." The spir itual mind aspires to "believe." We do not need to know what the future holds; we need to have faith in God and in the future which He provides for those who love Him. 1944: THE PIVOTAL YEAR: • Last year was the “crisis year.” Dur ing 1943, the tide of battle definitely turned. Both Japan and Germany were thrust back on the defensive. The year 1944 may well be the “ pivotal year.” This does not mean that the war w ill necessarily end this year. But it does mean that the whole out line of the postwar world will begin clearly to assume countenance and contour. The postwar world is now be ing formed: not so much by long-term commitments, but by day-to-day de velopments. In our cooperation with our smaller allies, in our treatment of the conquered peoples, in our home- front solutions to vexing problems, democracy is being put to the test
By J . ARTHUR MOUW A t told to Anne Hazelton
t T WAS December 7, 1941, Saturday ■ 'in Borneo. War clouds were gath- I ering swiftly, but in the dark jun gles o f. Borneo we were unaware of their nearness. The day was like any other to. me, like the twenty or more days each month I spent walking the tangled paths, witnessing to the heathen Dyaks and ministering to the Christians. It was green dusk on the trail. Over head, tall palms and gutta-percha trees met with interlacing branches, effectively shutting out the sunlight, even at noonday. High up in the trees a score of monkeys quarrelled. Ten .years earlier, the Lord had called my wife and me to be His wit nesses in Borneo, one" of the. two or three largest islands in- the world, which rises in a hump of huge, moun tains densely forested. It was through these forests that we picked our way now, and toward evening we reached our goal. Emerging from ■the dense jungle, we stood in a clearing before a fine church building and saw its seven hundred or more members gath ering for thè evening service and for worship on the following Lord’s day.' As always, my heart lifted to see this evidence of the work of God, where but a few years before there had been no single witness to the Lord Jesus Christ À Borneo jungle church boasts no electric lights. This one was illuminat ed by six kerosene lanterns, suspended from the rafters by means of old cords.' The church was crowded, and I could not see all of the congregation be cause of the dim lights, but I knew they were there for every once in a while some one f r o m a m o n g the shadows would say, “ Amen,” or “ Praise the Lord.” The people were present, not in body only, but in mind and spirit« as well. We slept that night—the night of the memorable December 7—in a little hut provided for our accommodation, and were on our way back to the
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church the next morning .when we were surprised to see something flying overhead which was much more for midable than our largest tropical birds and bats. They were bombers, and as I noticed their direction, a strange foreboding filled me.. This faint uneasiness was still in my mind on Monday as we took leave of the group of Christians and set off down the trail-to the river where our small motor boat, the “ Kabar Baik” (Good News) waited to take us the last lap of our journey to our station. It was good to round the bend in the river and see our station home at Balai Sepbeak. If all looked so peace ful and familiar that war Seemed re mote and unreal. There stood the large house,* a former Chinese trading post house,^built up on stilts so that the overflowing river in flood time would not damage it; the garden which the Chinese lady also had ingeniously put on stilts; the dense’ jungle crowding in, with the river lying wide and quiet in front; and my wife and two chil dren waiting to greet me. That evening I stepped on the small 5-8 h. p. Johnson motor which turns over a generatpr to get our radio going. Instantly the room was. filled with the sinister message i the world- was lis tening to. “Chungking calling Manila. Chungking, calling Manila. Stand by Manila,” the pperator called excitedly over and over. Then we learned, for the first time,' that Pearl Harbor had been attacked by the Japanese, and that America was at war with* Japan. This meant the Dutch •„ doubtless would be at war with Japan, also— and we were in Dutch West Borneo.
Uncertain Days There began for us, now, a period of uncertainty that was to beconfe a pattern for our days; an earnest seek ing to know the Lord’s will for us, and His final deliverance. No word had come through from our .American consul or Mission headquarters, and at first we scarcely thought of the war’s actually coming to us, or that it would be necessary for any to leave. We realized that we might be cut off from communications, of course,' and for this reason, I set off- once more, down the stream, to get provisions that we could store against such a possi bility. While down river, I spoke over the telephone with the leading official in one of the inland towns. “Have you a radio?” he asked. I “ Yes.” ' “Then you know what is going on,” he said quietly. “But perhaps you don’t know that Sarawak and British North Borneo fell to the Japanese this morn ing. I would advise you to get back to your station as soon as possible.” I thanked him’ and Started home ward. Sarawak was gone, and'our in land station was only about sixty miles, air-line, from there! Thus swift ly the war had moved, and i knew there was every likelihood of our dis trict’s knowing invasion. . Still there was no word from those in authority, asking us to leave. Until a clearer indication came, we felt the work of the gospel should go on, for were we not there to buy up Op portunities? Thus it was that when a letter came from one of our Dyak workers, asking me to come to his
district for dedication services for the church building just completed, both my wife and I felt that I must go, though I was reluctant to leave my family alone. Committing each other to the Lord’s care, I -set off on the trail. No one else can realize what a thrill comes to a missionary’s heart as he walks down a jungle trail and comes to a clearing where stands a new church, hewn from the forest by the Dyaks, with only the aid of their na tive tools. The building before me stood as a monument to the power of the gospel—an edifice in which those who had been known, until a short time before, as the "w ild men of Bor neo,” head-hunting Dyaks, were now worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ. Soon more than two hundred mem bers were gathered, listening rever ently to the message of dedication "of the house of God they had built. That afternoon, converts who were deemed, ready for baptism went to the water’s edge and there made public confes sion of the Lord Jesus dhrist in bap tism. This addition brought the total of baptized Christians to 3,964. Nine years before, none of the Dyaks Ln that ..great region had even heard the name of Jesus. What a miracle o'f grace God had performed in the heart of that Borneo jungle! War Comes Close That night we held a meeting In a Dyak' longhouse, where a whole v il lage lives in one house. The next day at noon, at the insistence of the be lievers in another Village, we were waiting t o . be swerved a meal of chicken and rice, when disquieting Mr. and Mrs. J. Arthur Mouw are missionaries of the Christian Missionary Alliance, and have served in Borneo for approxi mately nine years. Before go ing to the mission field they at tended the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. They are shown at left with their two children. After Pearl Harbor, they were c o mp e l l e d to return to the United States— in the spring of 1942. Mr. Mouw is now en gaged in deputation work for their mission.
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willing to be led, why pray for guidance? • their getting passage to America. The English were retreating in Siam ahd the Malay peninsula. The Repulse and PrinCe of Wales had been sunk by Jap anese bombs. Manila wasvdeclared ah open city, all to no avail.
• Unless you are news came. A Dyak messenger from the local official’s office suddenly ap peared and called but: “ Pontianak has been bombed, 12,00 people Were killed and wounded.” I sat still for a moment, wondering what to do. Pontianak was the coast ■ city of Dutch West Borneo. Swiftly, as a bird of prey, war had struck—in Dutch territory this time. I thought of my w ife alone at our station, and I forgot about the rice and chicken. Asking jihe Dyaks who were accom panying me to wait and eat, I grabbed my canteen and hastened down the •trail. In a little over, three hours, I was climbing up the bank of the river leading to our house. The ?station was unusually quiet, gnd I soon learned that my wife, the twp children, and three Dyaks’ were the only ones there. My wife looked so calm when she greeted me I thought she could not have heard the news. But she had. “Are you all right, dear?” I asked anxiously. “Yes, quite all right.” “Well, if she is all right, I am too/' I thought. Thus the days went. Sometimes the news was gravé and disquieting. On 4other days the very lack of news lulled us into a sense of normalcy. Then suddenly it was Christmas. The -Christian Dyaks were making their usual plans for services in their churches on Christmas day. “ Don’t meet in your churches on Christmas,” the Malays said. “Thé Jap anese know all about you, and that is the day they w ill come and bomb every church.” “ Perhaps the Japanese will come,” they said. “ Perhaps they will-bomb our churches, but where is there a better place to go to heaven from than from the church?” This was the testi mony of people who had been out of heathenism only a few years. On Christmas day we listened, too, with aching hearts, to the incredible news that Hongkong had surrendered. Evacuation Becomes Necessary It was in the dead of night a few weeks later, and I was traveling up river from a conference with some fellow missionaries whose station was 156 miles from ours. Now and then the darkness of the mid-January night was broken, by flashes of light along the river bank, and I knew that fifth- columnists Were busy. More and more I felt that I should get my family to the coast and see them off to Java where there would be opportunity of
After a time, she said, “ If you think I should gp, I will.” I knew what it had cost her to say that, for if there was one Verse of Scripture above another the Lord had laid on both bur hearts it was: “Take heed to . . . the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers.” The decision made, we began to pack. During our hurried preparations, my wife said to me, “Why don’t you take us as far as Java? If everything is all right, you can return to the station here, and if everything isn’t all right, you w ill lie there with us.” Her words made me pause. The Lord Speaks “Perhaps that is the best,” I replied. I had scarcely spoken the words when something moved in my heart, and I knew the Lord wa% leading me, .as well as my family, out of Borneo. I could hardly believe it. Then I knew why I had found it so difficult to know God’s Will in the past weeks of un certainty. When one is praying for guidance from the Lord, one must come with an open mind, in fu ll sub mission to Him. I had had only one idea in mind, and that Was to stay! When I told the Dyak workers I was taking my family to Java, they cried with one voice, “ Yes, Toean, (Sir) you must get out. We’ve been wanting to tell you for two or three weeks, but we did not want to in fluence you. The Japanese don’t care anything about us dark:skinned peo ple, but they might kill you white people.” Their feeling tha,t we should go but confirmed my own decision. And so we set out, in one small motor boat,, towing another flat boat with out an engine. Two nights later we pulled in at the Williams’ station to pick them up Midnight of the following night found us on the wide river, our flashlights playing over the water to find the landmark that would guide us into the right river to reach Pontianak. Dozens of rivers run in all directions near the coast of West Borneo. It was necessary to find the right one or we might be lost for days. Pontianak was still with the stillness of death. Heartlessly bombed and ma chine-gunned, the place seemed like a graveyard as we made our way ashore and over to the steamship company to ask for passage to Java. “There w ill be no other boats put ting in here,” the manager informed us. “ The last ship left for Java at 1midnight.” [ Continued on Page 79]
Government boats and large Chi nese merchant boats had stopped run ning along the river, causing a near- panic since no rice was being im ported. A week before; I had gone to con fer with the Dixons, fellow mission aries working in the Melowi river dis trict. There we had talked most of the night, discussing the gravity , of the situation and how it concerned us. I found they, also, had received no mes sage from our Consul or Missionary headquarters, it was necessary there fore for each to act as he felt the Lord led. Finally we had agreed that each family would get to the coast the best way possible, in Case of invasion of Dutch territory. On my return home, I had talked to my wife, but she was not ready to leave. The Dyaks tugged too hard at her heart strings. Every day from thirty to three hundred of them came to the station. They had their prob-^ lems and needed counsel and prayer, or perhaps first aid. I was away from the station nearly half of each month; who would help them if she left? Though I was much concerned for her, I had no heart to urge her to leave, Finally, I had gone to the station where Mr. and Mrs. Williams, of an other Mission, were working, .to de termine their plans. I had the only boat in the district and would need to help the others if the decision to leave was reached. After mUch prayer, We had decided We should get the women and.children out of Borneo im mediately. Now I was on my way home to break the news of evacuation to my wife. My heart was heavy, knowing what a disappointment it would, be to her to have to leave, dreading to see her go. The more I prayed, the most restless I became. Why was it so difficult for me to know the mind of the Lord, I thought. In praying about mission problems and church activities, I could see the Lord’s leading. Why should I be in such a cloud of inde cision now? It was three o’clock in the morning when I put in at the tiny cove of our river home, but my wife had heard the engine and was waiting to greet me. My first words were scarcely ones of greeting. “Dear, I’m taking you and the children to the coast at once, to put you on a boat for Java ” I said.
February, 1944
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SYNOPSIS The Talbot family lived in Syd ney, Australia, where, half a cen tury ago, the father was a sales manager for the largest brewery in the Southern Hemisphere. He never drank liquor mid he cau tioned his boys not to touch it. Though he did not declare himself a Christian during the years of the rearing of his family, it is in his honesty, fairness, and gener osity that his son, Louis, now rec- ognizes one of the major factors that molded the latter’s life. The mother, a godly young gen tlewoman of English birth, man aged the family of five boys and three girls with quiet understand ing. Her foresight, wit, and wis dom were a match f o r the unpre dictable pranks born of youthful minds. So great was her desire to see every member of her family yielded to Christ as Saviour that with daily prayer and extraordi nary tact she exerted all her ef forts to that end. Other influences also w e r e brought to bear upon the young lives. With some of these, the fol - . lowing chapter deals. >
There is one purpose, and one only, in the recording of these events; namely the magnifying of the grace of God in fulfilling the truth of Acts 16:31. God still longs to save persons and families. When God Saved the Brewer's Boy By LOU IS T. TALBOT as told to MILDRED M. COOfc S LENDER in a black suit, his thin beard neatly t r i m m e d , he greeted mg cordially outside our house. I was about fifteen. Chapter II In njore recent years, I have asked several persons who knew him: “How would you describe Fred Binns?”
usually found ways of making sure that 1 was not left alone with him. Our whole family, even my father, had great respect for this pastor, th# Rev. Fred Binns. But as a youngster, I had no appreciation of his talents. To my young mind that demanded constant and sensational action in any individual who was to be admired, this dignified, unspontaneous person had no qualifications at all for great ness. But he left upon my life an impression that has been indelible.
It has been surprising how often the answer has been, “Oh, he was a saint.” And he was. In church or Sunday- school, we Talbot Children often taxed his patience sorely—what with wads of gum, serving many purposes; beetles, cockroaches, and bees; eggs, not quite fresh, deposited,in near-by pockets. It was hard for him to con ceive that any human mind could be
“Oh, how do you do!” I was too af fable. “Won’t you go right in? Mother will be glad to see you. Sorrjl—but I’m on an errand for her right now.” I did not want to meet this man. He was an honored guest in our home, and I knew I dared not be rude to him without risking punishment. But I Copyright 19U. Mildred M. Cook.
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capable of thinking up the great va riety of pranks that we boys engaged In. I can see the look of shocked be wilderment on his face; now — of amazement that anybody would act as We did. Binns had heard Moody preach, years earlier, in London, and the com passion of the evangelist seemed to have been communicated to the then young Australian lad. He loved the Bible with a deep reverence. Even though he knew little of its dispen- sational significance, he implemented with his own holy life, the truths that he drew from the Word of God. Each year, he arranged for an evan gelistic meeting, called a' “mission,” to be held in his church. Throughout the year, preparatory to those days of ’special effort in winning souls to Christ, he would meet with members of his flock personally, never under circumstances embarrassing to them, and would urge upon them their need of-the Saviour. He usually began by inviting his hearers to “join the church,” but under his guidance, this step never could be taken thought lessly. On one of these friendly .calls, he approached a sister of mine. “My child,” he said kindly, “ aren’t you about ready to join the church?” “Oh, Mr. Binns, no!” she returned. “ I’m not, good enough,” (I would not have ventured such a comment, nor would any one have believed me if I had!) “ You’ll never be good enough,” he explained in even tones. “ Nobody is. . Nobody can be. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners." And -he went on with a discussion of sin and salvation, so clear and convinc ing that even a child could grasp it. . As the years drew on, one after another of my brothers and; sisters responded to this personal dealing \vith them, surrendered their lives to Christ’s control, and identified them selves with the church. I have heard that conversion, with some people, is like the flashing of a meteor in a dark night; with others, it is the ra diance in a cloudless sky, caused by the unspectacular return of another, morning. In either case, it is God’s miracle. There was no quiet “ dawn” ex perience ir my life, nor in the lives of Jim or Will, of whom I shall speak later. When Christ saved us, there seemed to be brought into play a mighty rush of His great power. We resisted Him logger than the others did. Actually, the death of Christ was ho more efficacious for us than ror those who received Him without struggle, or vice versa. Each of us was saved—as every soul must be— by placing personal faith in 'the aton ing work of Christ as set forth m
against spending all day Sunday in the church., But I knew, even then, that the practice of going was a good one. And because my mother’s order was backed up with prayer on my be half, God hallowed her discipline. I be lieve it is always thus: ,when church attendance is a formal command, there is no good in it. But when there is any genuine desire for the win ning for Christ of a human personal ity, God will use every means toward that accomplishment. A few years ago, I took my wife and two daughters to Australia for a visit, and we went to the old church that I had attended as a boy. The building was empty, for no service was scheduled for that hour. I had not been inside those doors for twenty- odd years. I was surprised to find that it was so small a place, accom modating less than 1,000 .persons. To my boyish mind, it had seemed vastly larger. Slowly we walked‘ down the aisle between massive pews. “Here,” I said with a rush of pride, “ is where we sat. This is our family pew.” The girls stepped in and sat down. Presently my older daughter, who was fifteen at the time, looked up at me, humiliation written large across her face. “Why, Daddy,” she breathed, “this is awful!” Her fingers touched the pew in front of ours. There, deeply gouged from the b e a u t i f u l oak were my name and initials, and those of my contemporaries. There was nothing artistic about the work, Speed ■and fierceness had evidently entered into the execution of it. Shame swept over me. “ Yes,” I said, “ it is awful.” To think that any child would thus desecrate the house of God! But in that moment I saw some thing else, a mighty drama of sub stitution. I had been ' held, often against my will, under holy influ ences, and through the -unfathomable mercy of God, my life had emerged without the marring, scarring, deep wounds that would surely have come had I been allowed to take my fling in the world. • The habit of going to the house of God did not save me, nor could it; nothing but the regenerating power of Jesus Christ could do that. Church attendance did not even better my nature one iota. But it did keep from my life a thousand evils that could have dragged me to the pit. Remember: I was a brewer’s boy. I was a headstrong youngster. In the pews’ of the old Sydney church is a record of the wonderful grace of God. That ■record spells out this truth: “ Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and for ever . . . MIGHTY TO SAVE.” (To be continued)
God’s Word, without; emotion or lack of it. It was apart from the old pastor and the influences of his church that, we three, at different times, made the ultimate decision to yield all to Christ. But Fred Binns nevertheless had a part in those later transactions. Throughout my growing years he had on occasions talked to me; but for a long time I made a game of evad ing him. Faithful pastor that ho was, he “planted” and “watered.” As a public speaker, probably he would have been rated as undistin guished. Even as a Soul-winner, he was not always successful, as men count success. But Christ possessed all there was of him, and in His own time and way He gave the “ increase” in spiritual fruitfulness. I have been a pastor, now, for many years. Often as I look over my congregation I realize that, like Fred. Binns, I have no personal great ness. But I pray that to me, as to my old pastor, there may be givten su«h a love for the souls of boys and girls and men and women that all their waywardness will, but increase my zeal- in witnessing to them of Christ’s power. The Restraint of Church Attendance Not only the ministrations of a devout pastor, but also the require ment ' o f regular •church attendance cast a . needed restraint upon my young life. My mother decreed that w e’ should go to church and Sunday- school regularly, and although Father did not often join her there. he upheld her decision. In Australia, in my youth, the whole Sunday was given to the church. We went to Sunday-school twice each Sunday, morning and afternoon, be: sides attending two church services. Sunday-school was all that the name “ school” implies. We w e r e given verses of Scripture to memorize and hymns to learn, and if the work was not done properly, a report of the failure was sent to the home. We used to -sing a- song about heaven, “where the Sabbaths never end,” and I determined vehemently I would not go there. I have heard men say that parental strictness in matters of religion can be a damning thing. No one ever rebelled more violently than I did
Shame swept over me
•February, 1944
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«
Sa ints in
Unlikely
By C O L F. J . MILES London,- England
"All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household" (Phil.4:22).
the arena to be torn to pieces by wild beasts. One night this unmitigated scound rel would give a garden party. Dur ing the day he had a thousand poles erected in the imperial gardens, a thousand Christians stripped, tarred, and tied to the poles, and at night they were set fire to, to illuminate an Emperor’s garden party. Those who have read works like “Darkness and Dawn” by Dean Farrar or “Quo Vadis” by Henry Sienkiewicz w ill know that I am not giving reih to my imagination when I affirm that Nero’s court was the veriest cesspool of iniquity and sink of vice in the whole world’s history. Slaves Who Were Saints There, in the most unlikely place in all history, were Christians who were sufficiently saved from self to consider others, to send their Christian salutations to the Church of Jesus Christ at. Philippi, and their greetings are ringing down.the corridors of time to you: “A ll the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar’s household.” Well, who Were they? They were slaves, bond slaves with fewer rights and privileges than our domestic ani mals enjoy today. When Paul walked the streets of-the imperial city, three men out of every five he met were slaves, so much the property of their
C TT T.HO WAS Caesar? •He was .1 / 1 / ; none other than Nero, the T f most infamous scoundrel and scandalous despot that ever ..disgraced the imperial purple;, a m an ,who as sassinated his own mother, divorced his first wife, and kicked to death his second;. a man who surrounded himself with, courtiers whose vices were so heinous as to put to shame the men of their own day and gen eration, whose own sins were so awful that they cannot, be described in plain prose in the opening o f. the Epistle to the Romans. It was these courtiers who at the instance of the Emperor set fire to the imperial city, and tradi tion affirms that “Nero fiddled while Rome was burning.” Then, when the populace ròse in their wrath and demanded the pun ishment of those responsible for. set ting aflame their beloved city, to shield his myrmidons, Nero accused the Christians. They were tiéd in sacks and thrown into the Tiber to drown. They were hanged, drawn, quartered, and crucified. They were thrown into j- AThis message, with three, others, is printed in a booklet, “A Cluster of Campfire” ob tainable at twenty-five cents each through the Russian Missionary Society, 18U West Monroe St., Chicago 12, III . Colonel Miles is the International Secretary of this mission, u)ith headquarters in London and Chicago, and is an author, lecturer, Bible teacher . and conference speaker .—EDITORJ
owners that if one of these owners, in a fit of pique, slew a dozen or a score of his slaves, few men would care, and no man would dare to in terfere. Here was the most unlikely material for the making of saints! Yet in the court of Nero, the great antagonist of Christ and persecutor of His church, there Were slaves who were saints, with “ a heart at leisure from itself, to soothe and sympathize,” so that they could send their saintly saluta tion to their fellow Christians In Philippi. The application is obvious. The God who could create and control, make and maintain Christians out of slave material in Nero’s court, can make and maintain Christians anywhere. Conquerors of Circumstances Modern leaders have stressed the power of environment and affirmed that a man must be made or marred by his circumstances. Our text teaches the contrary. The world and the Word alike teach that by the grace of God inan may be the conqueror and not the mere creature of his circumstances. We can illustrate this from nature. Oh the mullock heaps on the surface of our coal mines, white flowers of pristine beauty and fragrance flour ish, while on the somber slopes and [Continued on Page 77]
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Official V. S. Marina Corps Photo
When Marines Sing,"He Holds My Hand” By CHAPLA IN E. HARLAN FISCHER* U. S. Marine Corps
may be out in the South Pacific, fight ing in order that such services can be conducted not only here but all over the world sis well. One of the most encouraging signs of our work is the way the men go after the New Testaments. Does not God’s Word say, “My word . . . shall not return unto me void” ? We give out approximately five hundred Testa ments every Sunday. These books are wanted, and they are read. Marines know from the experiences of others who have spent days in the open seas on life rafts that the New Testaments are not just put away in sea bags and forgotten. Sometimes the boys are ridiculed, but most of them have enough of what it takes to ignore the jeers. This is God’s Word they are taking with them. Only He kn^ws what it w ill mean to them in the days that lie ahead. Interest in a Deeper Life One day a Southern boy came into the office and said he was out of fe l lowship with the- Lord and didn’t know what to do. He had been neg lecting prayer, reading the Word, and attending church services. He was un happy, and wanted help. It was not hard to bring this boy back into com munion again. He was happy in his recovered joy, and he returned to his
The men went back to their huts, many of them with New Testaments to read. We knew some would medi tate on the message of the morning. A few were under real conviction be cause the Spirit was striving with their hearts. Later in the week a father in the Mid-West wrote, “ I have a boy . . . [giving his name]. He was in the service there last Sunday. The speaker talked good. My boy felt like crying. That evening he prayed through. Since then he is a different boy.” The old gospel still is the power o f God unto salvation to every one who believes. Responsive to the Gospel These young men come here from all parts of our nation. They are proud of the title United States Marines. They know there is the possibility that they may never come back, con sequently the majority of them are responsive to the gospel invitation. The gospel appeals to red-blooded men, for it takes a real man to be a Christian Marine. A short time ago, Percy Crawfordf and his quartet conducted a service at our base. When the invitation was given, at least a thousand men raised their hands signifying that they want ed to accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour. These were men who by now
WO THOUSAND Marines were singing the chorus: “He holds my hand, Jesus holds my hand; Safely to heaven He leads the way, He is my keeper from day to day; He holds my hand,
Jesus holds my hand; The road may be long, But my Saviour is strong, And He holds my hand.” **
Church service was over. As the men were filing out of the auditorium, one lad came forward to have a word with the Chaplain. He said simply, “I want Jesus to hold my hand.” ' The Chaplain sat down with this eighteen-year-old boy and ■led him into the knowledge of Christ Jesus as Saviour and Lord. *Graduate of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Class of 1926v The picture on the cover of this magazine is that of Chaplain Fischer with children of a brother chaplain, **Words and music by Norman J. Clayton. Copyright, 1938. Published in The King’s Songs. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. Used by permission. t Heard from, coast to coast as Director of the Young People's, Church of the Air, Mr. Crauf- ford, like the author of this article, is a graduate of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.
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