THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
282
August, 1935
Bible Institute o f Los Angeles c .Announces Coming o f New President
PAUL w. ROOD To Take Office September 16,1935
Paul W. Rood
T hose who have loved and aided the Bible Institute of Los Angeles will undoubtedly agree that the Insti tute’s most pressing need has been to find a wise and con secrated Christian leader who would be able to devote all his energies to the coordination of the Christian forces which have long supported this work. Dr. Louis T. Talbot, who has served the Institute willingly and without remuneration during a particularly trying period, has repeatedly requested freedom from the obligations of the presidency because of the increasing demands upon his time and strength. The invitation that was recently extended to Dr. Paul W. Rood to become President of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles was voiced by Dr. Talbot, who cordially urged upon his brother min ister the acceptance of the call, if the Lord should so lead. Not long ago, Dr. Talbot wrote to a number of In stitute friends: “For the past three years, I have endeavored to divide my activities between the pastorate of the Church of the Open Door and the presidency of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, and I have been fully conscious for some time that I had attempted an impossible task. I believe that in the selection as President of Dr. Paul W. Rood, President of the World’s Christian Fundamentals Association, the Board of Directors of the Institute has found the right man for the place. The Bible Institute of Los Angeles is growing in influence and is being blessed with a very fine enrollment from year to year. Its work demands the full time of the ablest Christian leader avail able. Through the grace of God, I believe that leader has been found.” E qu ipped for L arge S ervice Although he has spent twenty-four years in the pastor ate, Dr. Rood is still a young man. He was graduated from North Park College, Chicago, in 1911. For two years, he served the Mission Covenant Church in South Chicago. Later, for three years he was the pastor of Broadway Temple, Minneapolis. From 1915 to 1922, he ministered to the congregation of the Swedish Tabernacle, Seattle, Wash. During this latter pastorate, a church debt amount ing to $31,500 was paid, a pipe organ was installed and paid for, and the Sammammish Bible Conference was be gun—the grounds being bought and paid for during this period. From 1922 to 1933, Dr. Rood was pastor of Beulah
Tabernacle, Turlock, Calif., resigning this charge in order to accept the pastorate of the Lake View Mission Church, Chicago, where he is now in charge. In 1929, Dr. Rood became President of the World’s Christian Fundamentals Association, an office which he has held ever since. Under his leadership, the Association today has a large active membership, organized under local leaders in many states. His honorary degree, that of Doc tor of Divinity, was conferred by Wheaton College, Wheaton, 111., in 1932, in recognition of outstanding serv ice in the cause of evangelical Christianity. With broad experience, Dr. Rood comes to his new task. He is known as a pastor, evangelist, Bible teacher, and leader of youth. Yet it is with marked humility and dependence upon God that he assumes the tremendous and exacting duties of the presidency of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. In his letter of acceptance, written to the Board of Directors of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Dr. Rood concluded with these words: “In accepting your call, I am leaning on James 1 :5 and Jeremiah 33 :3. It is only as the omnipotent God gives grace, guidance, and wisdom that we can be successful in the great responsibility that has been placed upon us . . . May we keep very humble and very close to the heart of God, and He will see us through.” The two verses to which Dr. Rood refers are familiar and precious to many of the Lord’s people. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (Jas. 1:5). “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not” (Jer. 33 :3). The many friends of Dr. Rood and of the Bible Insti tute of Los Angeles will rejoice in the evident and gracious guidance of the Lord which has caused His servant to asso ciate himself with this school. Mingled with the praise that arises to God, there must be also a great volume of that supporting prayer which is the only means of the accom plishment of great things on the part of an individual or an institution that seeks to serve God. Will you remember Dr. Rood, and the Institute that he represents, in faithful prayer? Will you say, as Samuel d id : “God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you” ?
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