163
May, 1944
Current Business
LOUIS T. TALBOT, Editor-in-Chief
possibly sustain one under these conditions of our present danger. With flak bursting on all sides, and enemy fighters diving in with all guns blazing, a man must have cleared his ,mind of doubt to be able to face it with calm courage. Many a man on the fighting front is * concerned, too, that his child, young though he or she may be, shall be taught to “face it [life] with calm courage.” He knows prayer will help. In this connection, the following anonymous letter is significant. It is addressed to a wife at home: Darling: You are having to do so many things alone these days: things we planned to do together. By now, you must be teaching Junior to pray, and I’m glad you are. How I wish I could hear his first lisped words! I don’t know how you can make a mere baby understand it, but I hope you will try to teach him that the biggest thing to pray for is that God’s will may be done. It is infinitely bigger, and better, than our little prayers for pleas ure and safety and a quick vic tory. The will of God is good, al ways, though it may be painful to us for a time. Darling, try to teach him that . . .
“Teach M y Child to Pray“ (See cover picture.)
Yes, the KING’S BUSINESS has fewer pages this month than usual. This reduction in size is in line with the War Production Board’s require ment covering magazine use of paper. Naturally, the ruling works hardship upon every one, to some extent; but it presents also a good opportunity for Christians to demonstrate coopera tion and patience, and we are deter mined not to fail in this. Our readers are entitled to the following explana tion. • Much advertising has been rejected, in order to give as nearly as possible the lisual amount of space for articles and departments. For example, ' this issue contains only about half as much advertising as last month. This plan has been followed with the readers’ interests in view, in spite of the fact that the magazine sustains a loss by thus limiting its advertising revenue. We are happy to point out that in this present issue, no one of the regular departments has been omitted entirely; and in the depart ments of lesson helps (Sunday School and Christian Endeavor) there has been no reduction whatever in the amount of material usually g i v e n . It has not been easy to accomplish this; we believe our readers will be grateful. • Many new readers have been found. In fact, it is the sizable i n c r e a s e in our circulation this y e a r , , over that of 1942 (the year on which WPB figures are based), that has made necessary the reduction in the size of this periodical * in order to keep within the designated tonnage. So, while you are enjoying your small - sized magazine, you may be thankful that several thousand other people are doing the same thing—readers who did not.have the KING’S BUSI NESS in 1942. • We give you our word that we will do everything possible to produce, un der these new difficulties, a Bible Family Magazine that will continue to contain the Lord's message for these war days. Will you PRAY for us?
There is many a young fellow in the service of his country today who is taking a different attitude toward religion than he used to take. Once he prided himself on being at least slightly irreligious. But the ‘‘blood, sweat, and tears” of wartime have made him think about God and pray er. Now he scoffs less, and he listens more. There are also Christian fathers who have gone to war—thousands of them. Before they left home, God was real to them, in the Person of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Prayer was a vital force in their lives. To these born-again men, many of them young fathers, prayer is still vital, and Christ is still near—only a thousand times more so than before the acid test of wartime experiences had been applied. They now have a new standard of values.« This thought is expressed by,Lieut. William J. Russell, a navigator in the Air Corps, in a letter printed in the United Presbyterian. He said in part: I have found myself looking back upon the simple Christian faith which we were taught as children. . . . It has taken a .hew meaning for me, a richer, fuller, more inspiring meaning. I am convinced that nothing else could
Behind the News By DAN GILBERT
Faith. They write of a “ trend,” not of a revival of fundamental Christianity. There are just two kinds of religion known to men. One is man-made; the other is God-given. Christianity is su pernatural, God-given: the one true faith. All other religions are man made. God created man in His own image. But, after turning his back upon God’s revelation, man has ever since been making gods and formulating reli gions according to his own depraved liking. While the modem attitude is to [ Continued on Page 189J
"WARTIME" RELIGION: C o l u m nists and editorial writers in the secu lar press have had much to say re garding the “ emergence in America of a new wartime religion.” A writer on business and financial subjects for a New York journal devoted a column to discussing “the new re ligious trend.” He concluded: “After undergoing a decline for two decades, religion is once again enjoying a ‘boom’ in America.” It is significant that the commenta tors speak of a new wartime reli gion, rather than a return to the Old
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