March 1925 1
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
101
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E D I T OR I AL
it and pass it by when we read the papers. But the fact remainS that today boys and girls are guilty of gross sin; and they develop into hardened criminals. A young girl of sixteen, for instance, shoots her own mother and then goes off for an evening dance, leaving her mother’s body lying upon the floor! Crime is so frequent that we no longer feel any revulsion as we read the stories. Our own hearts are hardened, and the stream of compassion which should be flowing out towards these hardened hearts is so obstructed by their constant recurrence that we become
HAVE A HEART! We were riding into the city upon an interurban train. It was filled with people and some were stand ing. An elderly lady came in and we gave her our seat. Other women came in—some with children. Men sat, unheeding, reading their papers—some of them young men. We were forced to ask ourselves the question, “ Why have men changed?” In our young days no gentleman or manly hoy would sit while women stood. We were
indifferent, and the chill increases until we are, ourselves, hard-hearted. Have a Heart for the Heavy-Hearted. Who are they? Tens of thousands of them are living all around us. Sin, sorrow, suffering weigh upon the hearts of millions. They carry their burdens all alone. No one cares for their souls. The Bible means little or nothing to them, for they never see it exemplified in human life.; They look for some sign of the-Christ but see it not. Thé church is cold. More and more culture and intellectuality; more and more perfunctory ; more and more self-satis fied ; many well trained in the “ letter of the law’-’ but lifeless concerning the ‘‘life of. the Lord. ’’ They look to Christ to carry their own burdens, but
forced to the conclusion, “ It is-the age—this ‘new age’ ” ; and, looking out upon the panorama of the fields as we glided along we thought of the human heart, of the seeming chill which has enveloped it, and of the need in the life of the church, and this came to us : Have a Heart for the Heedless-Hearted! Most
Stir Me Into a Flame s T IR me, O, stir me,. Lord, till all my heart Is filled with strong compassion for lost souls, - Till Thy compelling “must” drives me to pray, Till Thy constraining love reach to the poles, Far North and South, in burning deep desire, Till East and West are caught in love’s great fire. Stir me, O stir me, L o rd ; Thy heart was stirred By love’s intensest fire, till Thou did’st give Thine only Son, Thy best beloved One, E ’en to the- cruel cross -that I might live. Stir me to give myself so back to Thee, That Thou can’st give Thyself again through me.
people are, by nature, sel fish, absorbed with their own cares and trials, their own comforts and tri umphs. They are domin ated by one desire—to get the most out of life for themselves. It is “ Eat, drink, and he merry, for tomorrow we die.” The r a v a g e s of sin mean nothing to them. The sor row and pain in this old world mean nothing to them. They are completely engulfed in a sea of indif ference. “ Every man for himself ” is their supremely selfish slogan..
Stir me, O stir me, Lord, for I can see Thy glorious triumph day begin to break; The dawn already gilds the Eastern sky; O, Church of Christ, AWAKE! AWAKE! O, stir us; Lord, as heralds of that day®! For night is past-rfbhr' King is -on His way.
never seek to bear the burdens of others. Have a Heart for the Hungry-Hearted. Who. are they? They include in their number all qf the other classes, for every soul was made in the image of God, made for God, having a longing for the one self-satis fying portion which is found alone in Him. Uncon scious of where it is, never having been told what it is, yet seeking it in selfish pleasure, in worldly amuse ments, in the greed for gain, in the cults and false sys tems of religion,-—seeking, seeking everywheré and in everything, but finding it in nothing and nowhere. • The laugh at the movies is turned to loathing ; money mocks; prosperity pollutes; popularity palls; work wearies and life is a living lethargy. What is it man needs ? The Gospel of peace. There is no peace to the
They take-advantage of all the conveniences of life, without a thought of the cost to someone. Their object in life is to have “ a good time” but—it must be borne in mind—not one’ of them is ever really happy, and we should have a heart for them. We should love them enough to seek to give them a vision of real life; of a life with a purpose; of what a transformation awaits them when they get the vision of Christ and of a Christ life. ' Have a Heart for the Hard-Hearted. Are there many such? Yes, very many. They are subject to the atmosphere of this age in which we live. Sin is rampant—all kinds of sin—the grossest character of sin—is so common that we ignore
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