they selected First Corinthians 3:9 “ For we are laborers together with God” as the 1951 motto. Their great faith was rewarded, for they won Grand Prize again in 1951. Not with 1002, but an almost unbeliev able 1036! Again church membership increased. Missionary giving was topped, plus one thousand dollars’ worth of clothing and valuable equipment. The year 1951 saw four missionaries safely onto their field of service in South America. Two con tinued to serve in Kentucky, and four candidates prepared at Biola. A longed-for building program became a reality. The need for more room was so imperative that men of the church toiled night after night under great floodlights excavating the basement of the new 700-capacity auditorium and classrooms. The general upheaval failed to faze the contest chairman who con tinually urged co-workers “ Bring in
HAPPY MARRIAGE J UDGE Joseph Sabath, an outstanding figure in the Court of Domestic Re lations, has a long and varied experi ence with the affairs of broken homes and wrecked marriages. He has presided for twenty years over what he calls “the nightmare world of the divorce courts.” He says:
This department broke records.
Folks are volunteering who never worked before. Let’s do this oftener.” From the chairman of the Board of Christian Education: “ Increased attend ance means more teachers. Result: a six-week’s teacher-training course which gave us fresh inspiration and consecra tion.” Teachers reported marvelous answers to prayer for their pupils. One told of a one hundred per cent conversion of a class of twelve little girls as a result of Spirit-inspired presentation of the plan of salvation plus daily earnest prayer. She confessed, “ Though I prepared the lessons carefully, there seemed to be no conviction. During the contest, I decided to devote the opening session to presenting the plan of salvation simply and lovingly. Then we all knelt down and asked Jesus to come into our hearts, into one heart after another He did! God answers prayer!” A new member was joyful. “ Dad used to bring me and leave me at the church door. During the contest, callers came to our home and personally invited my parents to ‘come and see.’ They tried it, liked it, and now we all come together.” Altogether, peak attendance reached 786, a gain of 351 pupils in six weeks. At the same time church membership received new impetus. The evangelism of “each one reach one” was at work. The missionary program of the church benefited particularly from spe cial emphasis during the contest. The annual missionary budget voluntarily increased from $8,000 to $12,500. Mis sionaries and candidates were mightily encouraged. Young people of the church gathered a factual and pictorial record of the contest in the form of a remarkable 75- page book. It was a veritable “blessing book” of what God had done for a con gregation that had dared to do and then to depend on God for the increase. Christian Life judges voted it Grand Prize. The excitement had scarcely died down before officers and workers met for a “What Next?” rally. The new goal? “ 1002 By ’52!” They dared to be definite because Hope Union had tasted victory through the God with whom all things are possible. After much prayer, Page Eight
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“Ninety thousand people, who have come to the parting of the ways through bitter recriminations have stood before me to testify of broken homes, sordid betrayals, and the unbelievable rancor which cause separations. “ Out of my fifty years of married life and my twenty years as a divorce jurist, I have framed a decalogue for those who are married or are contemplating it, which I think would prevent at least ninety percent of the marital smashups. “Here, to me, are the rules of a suc cessful marriage: 1. Bear and forbear. 2. Work together, play together, and grow up together. 3. Avoid the little quarrels, and the big ones will take care of themselves. 4. Compromise. (Give and take.) It is the antitoxin of divorce. 5. Practice sympathy, good humor and mutual understanding. 6. Don’t grouch before breakfast— or after it. 7. Respect your “in-laws,” but don’t criticize them or take criticism from them. 8. Establish your own home, even in a one-room flat. 9. Fight for each other, but not with each other. 10. Build your home on religious faith, with love and forgiveness as the watch words. The Lord’s word, through the Apostle Paul to saved wives and husbands, is: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.” “ Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them” (Col. 3:18, 19). By Tom Olson in NOW T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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the unsaved. We will put them some where!” Everyone was amazed at the increase. “ It is God working,” folks told one an other. The fame of it spread through out the community. Rosemead was church-conscious as never before. Church members were burdened for their com munity in a new and special way, for their pastor had told them “ Ye are my witnesses saith the Lord.” Where will it end? Please God, soul winning in Sunday schools will never end so long as our Lord tarries. And soul winners will ever be willing to pray and to prepare. Yes! We believe in contests!
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