greeted their unbelieving eyes. The radio programs, great department stores, the innumerable gadgets for comfort, and, above all, freedom of religion! A look through the eyes of these touch ingly grateful people is both a new and much-needed view for many of us. The United States is the greatest nation on the earth today and God has made it that way! The greatness of America is 100 per cent derived from the hand of God. But let Americans not forget that one cannot receive God’s favor without the corresponding responsibility of genu ine thankfulness. It is sin of the worst sort to open one’s hand to bounties from heaven while closing the heart and mouth to an expression of proper grati tude. God is not unmindful of the lack of a thankful spirit. History is strewn with nations that once enjoyed God’s gifts and then forgot the Giver. Let us solemnly consider and be warned. Add this up on our country’s balance sheet for one year: 59,000,000 people gainfully employed; $254,000,000,000 in retail sales; $7,000,000,000 going into new homes under Government auspices. The American people themselves own $48,000,000,000 in Government Savings Bonds and a total of bank deposits of $165,000,000,000. This cannot be matched anywhere on the earth or in the pages of history. This month brings a day of national thanksgiving. Let America with her whole heart save some of the time on Thanksgiving Day from football and tur key and meeting of friends to offer sin cere and heartfelt thanks to the God who has dealt so bountifully with our beloved land. Cheap “Sacred ” Music T HE criticism is justified. It is true that far too large a percentage of church music is cheap, “jazzy,” unscrip- tural and dishonoring to Christ. A listener to the Bible Instituie Hour radio program points out, after modest ly telling of 54 years of study and ex perience, that so much of the music in churches and over Christian radio pro grams is entirely unsatisfactory. Appa rently some musicians attempt to be dif ferent or sensational. Others imitate modern dance bands and orchestras. Still others play to the galleries where young people sing, with the result that instead of making melody in the heart to the Lord, they produce a hodge-podge of dis cord and untruth which must sadden His heart. It is not that there is a scarcity of noble and inspiring music. Our hymnals are filled with compositions which are both musically sound and spiritually uplifting. Let those who have the direc tion of sacred music resolve that their choice shall not be to tickle the ears of the jazz-jaded listeners, but to raise sweet and worshipful harmonies to the Lord of heaven and earth.
of events connected with the great tribu lation which is to come upon the earth. Yet for the child of God freedom from anxiety and genuine peace of mind are promised. The formula is given in Isaiah 26:3 where we are told that God will keep us in perfect peace if our minds are stayed upon Him. The way of peace is a conscious and constant application of our hearts and minds to the truths of Scripture. There is no need of dis tress—it is even a mark of lack of trust when the child of God is alarmed about world conditions. The general outline of what is to come is one of Scripture’s main revelations, and it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit of God to inform us of coming events (John 16:13). So, rather than be excited or perturbed, the Christian may rest upon his diyinely- given knowledge of coming events, re membering all the while that these form the setting for prophecy’s greatest jewel, which is the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God’s love. This new development in Russia, which will tax the minds and nervous systems of worldly people is to the Christian just another of God’s reminders that the day of His coronation is not far off. America Must Thank God — or Else A RECENT magazine article related the story of a couple who had just arrived in the United States from Ger many via Bolivia. This consummated a dream of more than fifty years. Their arrival in Philadelphia seemed almost like a fairy tale to this man and woman. Actually they could go into restaurants and buy anything their hearts desired, with no one to say “ nay,” and no limits put upon a single article! They had never seen so many kinds of bread— white, rye, whole wheat, pumpernickel and many others, with every loaf neatly wrapped and sliced! What a paradise! For their little dog which they had brought with them from Bolivia there were rows and rows of especially pre pared foods all done up in attractive packages. The dog was so overwhelmed that he even refused certain brands, per haps as a bit of a canine joke, thinking it was fun to be choosy! More wonders
Russia Has It— Now What? T HE world is being subjected to a new case of jitters over the recent announcement that now, four years after the close of the last world war, Russia has, at long last, succeeded in putting together a successful atomic bomb. Fear once more grips the hearts of men. One Southern California college professor took two lives including his own, with the only available explanation that the strain was too great. What is the answer to this new threat to peace and well-be ing, and how should God’s children re gard it? It is well-known to Bible students that one of the characteristics of the age in which we live is constantly recurring conflict. The Lord himself, describing our age, as recorded in the 24th chapter of Matthew, warned that we would have wars and rumors of wars, and that nation should rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. However, these are general characteristics of the age and do not necessarily constitute a sign of the immediate consummation of it. The truth of the Lord’s statement is abundantly verified as we consider the pages of history from that day to this. So in one sense the possibility of the immihence of another war should not surprise us. Then, too, it is to be remembered that there are several important prophetic passages, including Ezekiel 38 and 39 and Daniel 9 and 11, which apparently set forth the growth and importance of a great Northern Confederacy headed by Russia. Bible students have long be lieved that in the end times there would be two great coalitions of nations, one occupying somewhat the same geographic sphere as the ancient Roman Empire and led by the Antichrist; the other a group of nations not formerly in the Roman sphere, but comprising the Teu tonic and Slavic people of Northern Europe and, of course, headed by the Russians. The recent announeement concerning the Russian accomplishment with regard to the atomic bomb is but another step in the advance of Russia toward the goal of this Northern Confederacy. It is indeed a very remarkable sign of both the fulfillment of the prophetic Word and of the imminence of the Lord’s return and
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