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altar, would save me. F o r I would say, ‘My fath e r lived a Christian life and I can live it too.’ ” My own memory goes back to a fam ily where th e re were, no t eleven bu t th irte en children, of whom I was one. No one ever ate a t my fa th e r’s table w ithout first getting down on his knees. Twice each day we worshipped at th e fam ily a lta r, and before every meal we had prayer, making five tim es a day th a t God was recognized in th a t home, every day in th e week, every week in th e year. I t was as n atu ra l to ta lk about Jesu s as to ta lk about th e hay- field, or th e brook. Five of those children are now in heaven, saved by th e blood of Jesus Christ. Three of those sons are m inisters today. There is n o t an influence on God’s ea rth to day— from th e hum an standpoint— which is equal to th e fam ily a lta r a- round which are gathered our boys and girls, the fath e r and th e mother. God help us to save the, fam ily a lta r in the m idst of the conditions th a t confront us— th e ru sh and hurry, th e Sunday newspaper, school lessons and all the other distractions of modern life. The Church A ltar In th e second place, we must save the a lta r of th e church. The church is th e channel th rough which religion comes into th e life of th e individual and into th e life of th e nation. You can ta lk until th e crack of doom about th e church not being necessary; th a t it is ju s t as well to worship and work for God in the fields, th e woods, on th e golf links,— b u t it never works. God has ordained the church as th e channel th rough which religion should reach our h ea rts and lives, and you cannot have th e church w ithou t organization. It has always been a question w ith scientists w hether life or organization comes first and it has no t been de cided yet, b u t they are all agreed th a t th ere can .be no life w ithout organiza tion, w hether it is hum an life, or a
thousand times—No! God p ity th is nation, which has been so favored, If religion is not saved. The Fam ily A ltar There is a statem en t in th e Old Testa ment, Gen. 12:7, “And th ere builded he an a lta r unto th e Lord.” Wherever Abraham went, he bu ilt an altar, and when he stopped building altars, and went down Into Egypt, he got into trem endous difficulty. Whenever th e Israelites neglected to build th e ir altars to God, they always got in to trouble and d isaster overtook them. If God made no exception in th e case of th e Hebrew nation, He cer tain ly will make no exception of these United States. If we do not save re ligion— real, vital, sp iritual religion— th e life of God in th e souls of men— then th is nation is doomed. How are we to save religion in the United States? (1) By saving the family altar. The fam ily is th e unit. As th e fam ily goes, so goes th e nation. Read the biography of John G. Paton, th e g reat apostle to th e New Hebrides. W hat is th e beginning, th e genesis of th a t biography,— for th e history of th e early life of any man is like the foun tain head from which th e stream flows. As we see a man in th e cradle, In th e yard, in th e haymow, in th e fields, so will the man be. His fath e r and mother were th e children of Christian parents, and a t th e very beginning of th e ir fam ily life they set up th e fam ily altar. All of th e ir eleven children were con v erte d in early life. It was as n atu ra l for them to go to church as to go to th e table for th e ir food. If religion is made attractiv e in th e home, th e church will b e .a ttra c tiv e to the children also. John G. P aton, th e most famous of these eleven children, when n ear the close of his life, said: “ If th e im possible could tak e place, a.nd I should in an awful hour of darkness find my self losing my faith in God, th e memory of my fa th e r’s life and of th e family
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