June 1943
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many things, and yet not he an edu cated man in any sense of the word. If a man could name every star in any constellation and not know the “Bright and Morning Star”—Jesus Christ the Son of God—he is not a well-rounded man. What matters it if he know all that Botany can teach him, even unto the naming of every flower, and yet not know “The Rose of Sharon” or the “Lily of the Valley” ? Why should a man call himself edu cated who by research has found but a few of God’s laws and yet does riot know the God who formed thé laws? As Jesus Christ once drove the money changers out of the temple, so should the real red-blooded men 6f America, drive out of our halls of learning all who pose as teachers, poisoning the minds of America against the God who has made üs a great nation. America has given and will con tinue to give to its teachers our most cherished thing—the minds of our boys and girls; so it seems to me Ifcat at least we should demand that our youth be left at the end of their school years with their faith intact. Secular education first divorced morals from religion and then denied the validity of both Christian faith and ethics. It called in question all spiritual and moral values. In other words,' secular education has become a hydra-headed monster that, has turned upon its founder and chief pro tagonist, the church. This practice must stop and stop now. A Check upon Unrestrained Pleasure Further, it is the civilian’s responsi bility to do something about America’s pleasure madness. When I talk about these things, I feel like the messengers sent out by Joshua:’ "as grasshoppers . . . in their sight.” However, there are two things which give me courage: First, I re
member that Goliath was much larger than David, but you know the out come of that fight, or do you? If not, read 1 Samuel 17:38-51. Second, I am recommending this fight for civilians. But one may ask, How shall we judge our pleasures? Here is a sug gested standard: “Pleasure must first have 'the warrant that it is without sin; then the measure, that it is with out excess.” Many things are inno cent enough per se. Put them to ex cess and the act becomes sinful. “Would you judge of the law fulness or unlawfulness of pleas ure, take this rule: Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, ob scures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength of your body over your mind, that is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.” Why should we ask people to re study and reconstruct Americas pleas ure program? Because sinful and for bidden pleasures are like poisoned bread! They fill for the time being, but bring death in the end. History teaches us that nations who have given themselves over to pleasure are the nations who have gone down in ignominious defeat, and some of them are not now able to stir the sand that has had them buried for these long millenniums, while the groans and cries of others can be heard today, calling for deliverance at our hands. It was not the pleasure-seeking crowd who pushed our frontiers west, conquered the plains, spanned the deserts, harnessed the matchless power of wild mountains, and made our continent safe for mothers and children. It was, I believe, the solid men and women with an'unshakable faith in and a wholesomle fear of a great and good God, whom they wor shiped.
Just so we will keep the land safe and strong, to the extent that we find our pleasures within the realm of His will. God grant that we of America may soon say: “My delight is in thy law, O God.” Bible Truth in the Pulpit A third important responsibility of civilian leaders in America is to do something about demanding Bible truth to be preached from our pulpits. Why should we be so concerned about the pulpits? ■Not many people go to church anyway. Again we turn to the master of words, Dániel Web ster: “Though we live in a reading age and in a reading community, yet the preaching of the gospel is the form in which human agency has béen and still is most effica ciously employed for the spiritual improvement of men.” Yes, preaching does have, its place and mission. But its mission is not to supply the defects of human intel ligence. The preacher who stands in his sacred place and makes an at tempt to analyze world news is at once faced with world news' analysts who know more about that field than it is possible for the preacher ever to learn. If he attempts to dwell too much on literature, the local college professor has' forgotten more than the preacher can ever know. Surely the minister will not try to discuss stocks and bonds to the utter disgust of his broker friend or member. Why talk about the therapeutic value of certain drugs when any physician knows he cannot be correct. The most despica ble type is the kind who tries to be a comedian. T o listen to some dis courses, one would think the minister was running a poor second to a broken-down stage hand. I think Massilon about summed up the question when he said: [ Continued an Page 237] -
, If we of the military forces complete our task in one, two, t hr ee , or yet five years and come home —■ if we do come home—-we have every right to expect certain things from you who have be en at home in safety. — CHAPLAIN McLEROY.
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