Gipsy Smith Goes Home H E WAS a world evangelist for near ly three-score years. Bom in Great Britain, Rodney Smith, known to the world as “ Gipsy,” went to be with the Lord from the liner Queen Mary as he was planning to make another visit •to the United States. No one who ever heard Gipsy Smith will ever forget his fervent preaching of the gospel. He was a frequent visitor to the Bible Institute of Los Angeles and the Church of the Open Door and on each occasion, the great auditorium was filled with vast crowds who were stirred by the power of his preaching. There was nothing sensational about his methods; in fact, his language was clear and simple, but there was behind his words a passion for souls in his heart as he tried to persuade men and women to give their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is most wonderful to think that while the Gipsy has literally hundreds of thousands of friends in all countries of the world, he has now gone to a land where there are just as many, if not more, who found Christ through his preaching. England’s Problem T HERE is no doubt but that the great British Empire is in serious trouble. Since the war, the entire British economic structure has been dangerously near complete collapse. Many proposals to ward off bankruptcy have been made, for the problem of Britain is the prob lem of the United States and of all those nations which desire peace and economic sufficiency. Looking at the question from other than purely economic factors (for we most sincerely believe that no nation’s prosperity is geared merely to economic laws) we note that over a third of the English population professes no belief whatever in God. In addition to that, only a very small percentage of English people frequent any house of worship on the Lord’s day. While ,it is certainly true that the his tory of the English people has been one of outstanding achievement in religious and missionary enterprise, it is sad to contemplate that for the last fifty years there has been a steady retrogression. More than that, there is that blot upon England’s character in their shameful renunciation of the Balfour Declaration which promised to the Jewish peoples of the world a national homeland and a national state. Coupled with this, there is the almost daily news of British cruel ty in regard to Jewish immigrants." To these things God cannot turn a deaf ear, for He is vitally interested in the Jews and the English people. The key to the entire British tragedy may be found in a national revival of evangeli cal religion. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S ☆
prince of Bible expositors. He advised the rather rapid reading of books of the Bible at one time in order to fasten in one’s mind the complete message of the book. It is the testimony of those who have changed to this method of Bible reading that instead of finding Bible reading a tiresome duty, it has become an intensely interesting and delightful exercise. Small books of 1, 2, 3, or 4 chapters can be read easily in from 5 to 15 minutes. If one has additional time, he will find the Gospels becoming in creasingly precious as they are read at a sitting. ☆ The Plight of the United Nations E ACH day, the press brings into bold er relief the pitiful inadequacy of the United Nations Organization. With world-shaking problems in the balance, the United Nations concerns itself with soft talk and generalities which fool no one and settle nothing. We are not un aware of the fact that this group faces a stupendous task. The problem of set tling the woes of 2,000,000,000 people is huge, but our contention is that both wisdom and adequacy could be the lot of any government if proper recogni tion of God were made. At the inauguration of the U.N.O. in San Francisco, an attempt was made to have the parley opened with prayer, but a representative from the United States ruled out the suggestion. As far as we know, from that time to the pres ent, there has been no acknowledgment of God in the sessions. How can we ex pect any organization so begun and so maintained to have anything but trouble upon trouble? Does it not seem reason able that God who is intensely and minutely interested in the affairs of this world should feel grieved when an or ganization purporting to represent all the nations of the earth fails utterly to recognize Him as the creator and main- tainer of all things? It is not too late to rectify this sin, for our God is a God of mercy and forgiveness, and we are sure that if the U.N.O. were yet to call upon God for help and guidance in this dark hour, we would be amazed to see the efficiency with which the world’s problems could be solved.
And Be Ye Thankful I T IS a splendid thing to have a day set apart by our country when special attention is called to the goodness of God. In spite of the fact that Thanks giving Day each year has many extra neous features, still the heart of the day beats with sincere gratitude and appre ciation to the Lord. God is anxious that in the life of His children every day should be a Thanks giving Day. His mercies are constant and continuous. They are new every morning and fresh every evening. Every Christian has been guaranteed that all things will work for his good. Therefore the heart of every child of God should be an altar on which are offered sacri fice and praise day after day and hour by hour. On the other hand, those who are un grateful,' and who fail to give God the praise due to His Name, are not only robbing themselves of blessing, but are bringing upon themselves severe punish ment. One of the reasons for the ter rific indictment of mankind as found in Homans 1 is explained by the phrase, “ Neither were thankful.” There is this added truth as well that oftentimes the key to both peace and joy is found in a thankful heart. Even when circumstances argue anything but good, thanksgiving may be forthcoming because of the as surance within our hearts that our Heavenly Father not only has all power both in heaven and in earth, but that He loves us with an everlasting love. ☆ How to Read the Bible I T IS a well known fact that both chapter and verse divisions in the Bible were arranged as merely a matter of convenience. The original text, as found in the most ancient manuscripts, divides the subject material only by paragraphs. As a result, there are some unfortunate errors both in verse and chapter divi sions where the thought is broken and the meaning distorted. If one is merely used to the habit of reading a chapter a day or certain verses here and there, he is due for a happy surprise when he reads an entire book at a time. This was the method ad vocated by the late Dr. James M. Gray, Page Four
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