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invitation rejected, and no idea un tried. Everyone must have his chance, and under our American system of free enterprise and equal opportunity, everyone gets just that chance. It is our freedom that has brought us to this high estate — intellectual free dom, religious freedom, political free dom, industrial freedom — freedom to dream, to think, to experiment, to invent, to match wits in friendly com petition — freedom to be an individ- A bed— but not sleep. Books— but not brains. Food— but not appetite. Finery— but not beauty. A house— but not a home. Medicine— but not health. Luxuries— but not culture. Amusement— but not happiness. A crucifix— but not a Saviour. A church pew— but not heaven. BUT what you cannot buy, you can receive as a GIFT. ual. That is our great American heri tage. To each of us is assigned a part in the great drama of life, and we can play our parts with the greatest meas ure of perfection only as free, un hampered individuals. Faith vs. Communism I believe that the Church is the only institution that can save this country from Communism. The rea son for this is quite simple: Com munism is atheistic — the Church is MONEY W ILL BUY
I n 1790, John Philpot Curran, the great Irish patriot, enunciated the principle of liberty when in a speech to his constituency he said: “The con dition under which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance, which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.” Liberty is a Christian concept, but people must first have faith in God before they can enjoy the blessings of liberty, for God is the author of lib erty. Then they must fight for the preservation of that liberty. Their failure to do so is a crime the punish ment for which is servitude. From the first until the fifteenth century liberty was rare, because the people either were lacking in faith or were unwilling to fight for their liberty. During this period there was little or no material progress; each generation lived just as did its for bears. Then in the fifteenth century came the Reformation. Under the Re formation men’s consciences were freed. Thereafter they were able to exercise their genius, initiative, and ingenuity. Freedom— Its Accomplishment No planning authority could possi bly have foreseen, planned, and or ganized such an amazing spectacle of human progress as the world has wit nessed right here in this country dur ing the last hundred years. No trust or combination — ecclesiastical, pri vate or governmental — could have accomplished it. This foresight could have been achieved, but only if there had been a wide-open invitation to all the genius, inventive ability, organiz ing capacity, and managerial skill of a great people — nobody barred, no
Christian; the one is the very anti thesis of the other. The Church must inculcate in the minds and hearts of its people that God alone is the Lord of Creation. When the Church takes its stand that man is a creature of God, it denies the very concept of Communism. Communism, crime, and delinquen cy are not caused by poverty, bad laws, poor housing, or any other eco nomic, social, or political condition. They are caused by sin. The only way to eradicate sin is by the redemptive power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church is God’s instrument to carry the Gospel to man. In one of his great sermons. Dr. McCartney told of an old Saxon king who set out with his army to put down a rebellion in a distant province of his kingdom. When the insurrec tion had been quelled and the army of rebels defeated, he placed a candle in the archway of the castle in which he had his headquarters. Then, light ing the candle, he sent his herald to announce to those who had been in rebellion that all who surrendered and who took the oath of allegiance while the- candle still burned would be saved. The king offered to them his clemency and mercy, but the offer was limited to the life of that candle. We are all living on candle time. While the candle still bums, let us accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Let us by our life and witness spread the Gospel. And let us through faith acquire Christian freedom which alone can make this country a better and a finer place in which our chil dren and our children’s children may live and work. —J. Howard Pew Available in printed form from the American Tract Society, Oradell, New Jersey.
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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