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“A tent or a cottage, why should I care? They’re building a palace for me over there! Tho’ exiled from home, yet still I may sing: All glory to God, I’m the child o f a King.”
Keystone Photo Service
One of many picturesque trails that lead to the mountains and to the sea, near Pacific Palisades. Physical Rest and Spiritual Blessing at the S U M M E R B IB L E CON FER EN CE of the BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES Pacific Palisades Assembly Grounds, Near Santa Mon ica,Calif., Aug . IO to Sept. 2, IÇ 3 5
left free for recreation, for which there are many facilities convenient to the assembly grounds. Ocean bathing —within a mile and a half of the Conference Grounds. A hike down the beautiful Temescal Canyon brings one to the ocean front. Bath houses are conveniently near. Lifeguard protection is afforded at all hours. Fishing — by line from the beach, or from the barges anchored off the coast, or from the numerous fishing boats that journey daily to and from the fishing grounds. Boating — in the still waters of Santa Monica Harbor, two miles up the bathing beach, easily reached by bus service along the ocean highway. Riding -—miles of winding trails through the Santa Monica mountains. Riding academy is conveniently located within a mile of the assembly grounds. Arrangements can be made to have car call for riders and bring them back after the ride. Golf — at the Municipal Golf Course at Clover Field, within four miles of the assembly grounds. Motoring — to many points of interest. Numerous tours may be arranged, with Pacific Palisades as a convenient center. The Ocean Front Highway, which extends from San Diego through Northern California, passes by the assembly grounds. Beverly Boulevard gives easy access to Los Angeles. One- day tours to Santa Catalina Island, Santa Barbara, or San Diego— the scene of the California Pacific International Exposition—may easily be arranged. L O C A T IO N O F THE C O N F E R E N C E G R O U N D S No more beautiful or convenient spot could have been selected than the parked and shaded grounds of the Pacific Palisades Assembly. Old oaks and sycamores spread leafy arms over a tumbling mountain stream that winds from the mountains to the sea. On the left bank of the stream, a great audi torium, half hidden by foliage, is located on a convenient hillside; while casitas, tent houses, cabins, rustic classrooms, a large restaurant building, and a gymnasium are spaced at intervals along the winding canyon floor. Yet all this isolation is located within twenty-one miles of busy Los Angeles. R EA SO N A B LE H O U S IN G A C C O M M O D A T IO N S For a family of two, a ten-day vacation in one of the floored tents, including light, water, gas, blankets, linen, and housekeeping equipment, means an outlay of only $11.50. For twenty-one days, the rate would be $20.50. If three persons be included for the ten-day period, the cost is only $14.50; and for the twenty-one day period, $26.00. The only additional expenses would be the purchasing of provisions, as the tents are fully equipped for housekeeping. If preferred, reasonable meals may be obtained at the near-by cafe or local restaurant. There are, of course, more elaborate accommodations, including rustic casitas and artistically furnished cabins, at slightly higher prices. IN F O R M A T IO N G L A D L Y FU RN ISH ED If you .desire that full information regarding reservations, program, and other features of the conference shall be sent to you, mail the coupon.
Plans are rapidly maturing for the Bible conference, announced recendy in the KING’S BUSINESS, to be held under the auspices of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, August 10 to September 2. A busy committee, of which William G. Nyman, Treasurer of the Institute, is the chairman, is at work on program features which will appeal to Christian people everywhere. THE SPEAKERS Louis T. Talbot, President of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles and Pastor of the Church of the Open Door— whose church is cooperating in this conference— plans to be present at all the meetings. Arthur I. Brown, M.D., writer, preacher, and popular speaker on scientific and prophetic subjects, will be heard in stirring addresses on favorite themes. Dr. Brown’s message appeals strongly to young people of university age. Elbert L. McCreery, Vice-President and Dean of the Bible Institute, will add scholarly studies on important Bible topics. With years of experi ence as a missionary, as a pastor, and as a Bible Institute instructor, Dr. McCreery is able to speak with authority on many subjects. Henry C. Thiessen, Professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis, Evangelical Theological College, Dallas, Tex., will be welcomed for his clear exposition of the Word. Other speakers have been invited, and are now endeavoring to arrange their schedules in order to be present at Pacific Palisades. Among these leaders are Mr. Mitchell, of Portland, Ore., and Mr. Lowry, of Chicago, 111. Jack Mitchell, known as the founder of hundreds of Bible classes in the Pacific Northwest, possesses a wealth of experience gained in the organiza tion and teaching of these classes. Oscar Lowry, author and Bible teacher, has helped many people— young and old— to memorize God’s Word. His simple, workable plan is popular everywhere. DA ILY V A C A T IO N BIBLE S C H O O L One of the chief attractions of the Bible conference will be the Daily Vacation Bible School, which will be directed by an expert in that field. With a full corps of trained teachers and workers, the school will convene each morning. While
"1 their boys and girls I are thus happily en- | gaged, parents will be I free to attend other I meetings. Each day j will begin with a J sunrise service, to be J followed by teaching j and preaching sessions j in the large audi- I torium. ] RECREA T IO N As far as possible, i the afternoons will be
BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES 558 South Hope St., Los Angeles, Calif. Dear Friends: Please send full information about the First Summer Bible Conference held under the auspices of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Name......................... ................. ........................... Address........... ......................................................
“I MUST HELP THE JEWS” “ Everything I have seems going or gone— yet I MUST HELP THE JEWS/* Thus wrote a child of God whose soul had been stirred to its depths because of the tragic con dition of the Jews throughout the world. “ I MUST HELP THE JEWS!“ Dear child of God, they are still God*s people, beloved for the fathers* sakes; and because you have been born again, you love what He loves; and you know that He still loves Israel with an everlasting love. *;i MUST HELP THE JEWS!’ *Driven like cattle through the fields and forests of Europe; tortured, haras sed, brutally beaten, Jewish girls mutilated by hordes of savage Arabs, the borderlands of Germany teeming with thousands of Jewish refugees who have stum b led their way through the bloody attacks of Nazi hate, to the emergency shelters of Switzerland, Poland, Holland, France — what a Christianity for the Jews to gaze upon! “ I MUST HELP THE JEWS!** In the face of such a crisis, the Church of God is silent! What a reckoning will have to be given to Him in whose veins flowed the blood of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob! Dear Reader, will you say, “ I, TOO, MUST HELP THE JEWS**? Help us to tell them, “ These things you have suffered are not things which Chris tians do! No true Christian ever hated a Jew!** This is an S.O.S. It is Israel’s eleventh hour. So swiftly does the world cataclysm move, this may be the last call before the trumpet blows, and you will be face to face with a Christ Who may look into your eyes and ask4 “What have you done for these, my brethren?** Matt. 25:40. Ame r i c an Board of Missions to the Jews . . I n c o r p o r a t e d . . . 31 Throop Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. I do want to help the Jews. Here is $................. . Use it as God directs, to make known the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ to Israel. Name.............................................. ....... Address..............:..................................
She Sidle Tamil# Ttaga^ine Motto: “ Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood .”— R ev . 1 :5.
Volume X X V I
May, 1935
Number 5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
y Around the King’s Table— Louis T . Talbot.......................................162 Shadows of the Past-=Martha Snell Nicholson...:............................ 163 / Three Altars America Must Build— Cortland Myers........................ 164 Children—A Heritage of the Lord— Peter Stam and Eleanor E. Elliott.................................................. 167 Experiences with Real Boys— Julia E. Cole....................................... 168 Socialism, Communism, Fascism;'“ Three Unclean Spirits like Frogs’p -L ou is S. Bauman.................................... 171 Bible Institute Family Circle....................................................................174 Junior King’s Business—Martha S. Hooker.................... .................. 177 International Lesson Commentary.........................................................179 Notes on Christian Endeavor— Mary G. Goodner............................. 190 Daily Devotional Readings......................................................................194 Our Literature Table.................................................................................199
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P O L IC Y A 8 D E F IN E D B Y T H E B O A R D OF D IR E C T O R S OF T H E B IB L E IN S T IT U T E OF LO S A N G E L E S (a) To stand for the Infallible Word of God and its great fundamental truths, (b) To strengthen the faith of all believers, (c) To stir young men and women to fit themselves for and engage in definite Christian work, (d) To make the Bible Institute of Los Angeles known, (e) To magnify God our Father and the person, work and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; and to teach the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in our present practical life, (f) To emphasize in strong, constructive messages the great foundations of Christian faith. 558 So. Hope St., BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Los Angeles, California
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c_ Around the King’s Tables By Louis T . T albot
Christ came into the world, what it means to be saved, and what are the consequences o f rejecting Christ. Third, there must be family prayer. The boy who has spent say eighteen years of his life in a home where he has the opportunity of looking into the face of his father each day as that parent has poured out his heart in prayer to God for the protection o f his boy, or the girl who has grown up in a home where the arms o f a mother have been around her, and where the breath of prayer has been breathed into her soul, cannot depart far from the influence o f such a godly environment. Fourth, there must be parental authority. O f Abraham, God said: “ For I know him, that he will command his chil dren and his household after him.” The voice o f authority gives strength and stability to the home. Every parent who would have a Christian home must meet the same require ments that Paul said were necessary in a bishop: A bishop is “ one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity.” Home should be not only a place of safety but also a place o f fellowship. There should be companionship and love between the children and the parents. I wish to acknowledge, with praise to God, all that I owe to my father and mother. There were eight children in our family. All the members of that family came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour, and so far as human instrumentality is concerned, that glorious outcome can be traced largely to the sweet Christian influence of my mother and to the wise counsel o f my father. A few months ago, when I was in Australia, one of the first places that I went to see was the house in which I had been born and where I had spent the first sixteen years of my life. As I walked along the street, recalling boyhood scenes, the faces of the persons that I passed were all strange to me. The neighborhood had deteriorated; what was once a residential district had become a part of the slums. With strange emotions, I stood outside the house that had been my early home. I ventured to the door and offered a sum o f money to the woman who was using the place as a boarding house, asking if she would allow me to walk through my old home again. She seemed greatly surprised at this request, but cheerfully complied. I went into the room that had been my bedroom. This was the place where my mother had come every night and prayed with me and taught me the way o f life— the place where my father had often entered to advise or reprove me. The room did not have at all the same appearance that it had had years before. It had lost its clean attractiveness. A man, half-drunken, lay upon the bed. But as I glanced around those worn old walls, my heart rejoiced, for though the house had changed, I could still clearly see by faith those strong battlements that my father and mother had built about my early home. Those protecting walls had been used of God to spare us children many a heartache and to lead us to a saving knowledge o f Jesus Christ. Are there battlements about your home today? I f not, and if one o f the little ones shall fall, in the light o f God’s Word, whose fault will it be?— L. T. T.
Battlements for the Christian Home W hen thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not I I The Oriental home had a flat roof where family and friends were accustomed to assemble. For the protection of every man, woman, and child, God commanded that whosoever built a new home should provide battlements on the sides of the roof. The householder was solemnly in structed to see to it that these retaining walls were erected in order to avoid accident and possible loss o f life— “ that thou bring not blood upon thine house.” God is concerned, my brother, about the kind o f home you build. As a parent, you are responsible not only for the physical safety but also for the spiritual protection o f every member of your household. |One of the most subtle weapons that the enemy is using against parents in their attempt to make their homes dis tinctly Christian is the system o f teaching which boys and girls are receiving in the public schools of our nation. A little while ago I approached a number o f Christian busi ness men and asked this question: What do you gentlemen consider the greatest menace to the Christian home and to our present civilization? I expected to receive numerous answers, but only two or three were given. According to these men, the greatest menace to the Christian home is not the amusement craze or the love o f the fashions o f the world, but it is the rationalism o f our schools which makes an insistent effort to take from the rising generation all fear of God and reverence for and belief in the Bible!} The emphasis upon materialism is one o f the fundamental causes o f the sweep o f lawlessness through every nation and the increase o f vice everywhere. When God is out lawed, the sense of responsibility is lost. A s we recall in these perilous days the influence for good which was ex erted by the old-fashioned homes in which many o f us had the honor to be reared, shall we not determine, by the grace o f God, that we will build the battlements in our households which the W ord o f God requires ? If the means of protection are not there, and if your boys and girls fall into sin, their blood will be upon you. This is the plain teaching of the text. There are at least four battlements that should be placed around every home. First, there must be the fear o f G o d The only home that is truly safe today is the one where God is acknowl edged, where Jesus Christ is recognized—where Christ is the Head of the house. It is one thing to have a wall card which reads “ Christ is the Head of this House,” and it is another matter to recognize Him as Head in all things. Second, there must be reverence fo r the Bible. By “ rev erence for the Bible” I do not mean that merely to have a Bible in the home is sufficient. The Bible must be open, loved, and read in such a way as to beget respect and long ing for the Book of books. While the children are about you, during the impressionable years o f their lives, take timé to teach them the great truths o f the Word o f God. Put before them in unmistakable language why Jesus (Deut. 2 2 : 8 ).
blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence”
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B y MARTHA SNELL NICHOLSON Wilmington, Calif. Dedicated to Christian parents everywhere
“ Because she was an orphan child.” Then “ Where will be The flow’rs that bloom ahundred years from now?” Then he Would sing to us about “ the Fountain filled with blood, Immanuel’s blood, and sinners, plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains.” I thought o f that when I (I wore this green dress then) had told that dreadful lie. Three days before I would confess, three anguished days O f torture, while I wandered blindly in a maze O f doubts and fears, and all befouled with guilty stains. And then at last—how clear the memory remains— My cheek against her shawl— this brown piece here— And her tears mingling with my own. How dear, how dear She seemed, how deep and sweet my peace, how light my heart, How sure I was that nevermore would I depart From off the straight and narrow path . . . Ah, m e ! . . . This shawl I just described, see here, the dearest piece o f all. At birth or death, or sudden grief or injury, From all around, the neighbors sent for her, and she Would fling the shawl about her shoulders and depart. I used to watch her down the street, and my small heart Would burst with pride and joy at her omnipotence, And think, When folks in other towns had accidents, And Mother wasn’t there, how did they get along ? I wonder y e t . .. My mother, brave and wise and strong! One day when she was gone, my sister broke her doll. Her heart broke too, and I was hushed and awed, and all Confused with sense o f tragedy, and knew not what To do. And then our older sister ran and got Our mother. Oh, that dear and shabby worn old shawl! My heart is bowed before it when I think o f all The tears it dried, the aches and pains it comforted. I pressed my cheek to it that day when she lay dead. Quite dimly I recall this miniature pink dress. My mother went down town, and left me, comfortless, . T o stay at our good neighbor’s house till she returned. But I, though but a baby, suffered so, and yearned For her. I ran away, and so our neighbor found [Continued on page 170]
A dear and honored guest is coming to my home Tomorrow, so today I have prepared her room, And swept and garnished it, and brought in blossoms fair, But was not satisfied, for still a lack was there. I stood in thought a moment; then I ran and spread My shabby, treasured patchwork quilt upon her bed. Beneath its multicolored mem’ries she will sleep, And o’er her dreams my vanished years will vigil keep. And then I let my baking go, and mused awhile And dreamed beside my worn old quilt. With tender smile I watched the dim-remembered days step from the mist O f half-forgotten years— faint pearl and amethyst-— And glow again with vivid beauty for an hour O f magic. Strange, how days long dead have yet the power To live again, as bitter-sweet as this salt taste O f lonely tears upon my lips. But I must haste And count my treasures over once again. Now here, This crimson patch, my little sister’s frock. The dear— I see her yet, with flaxen braids, and air half shy, Half proud, as who would say, “ A small red bird am I.” And this, “ pinked” all around the edge, is all that’s left O f her wee quaint old-fashioned baby coat. Ah, swift The passing years, and quickly, quickly, grown remote! Last week my sister’s fingers stitched a tiny coat For her own sunny, laughing lad. This piece was blue, And faded. Mother dyed it red. It turned a hue O f dreadful purple, and I hated it, but we- Were poor, and dared not waste good cloth. And always she, Our mother, sat in her low chair, and patched and sewed T o keep us clothed. So frail, yet carried such a load! , It hurts to see that great three-cornered gash I tore in this when I would climb our mountain-ash. I see her patient stitches through my blinding tears, Those stitches made by fingers quiet now for years. At family prayers our father prayed that we might meet, Our circle still unbroken, at His mercy seat. And here’s Dad’s smoking jacket, though he never smoked. He wore it when he held us in his lap, and joked, And sang o f “ Old Dan Tucker,” and o f one who “ swept The crossings o f the street” (poor child, we always wept)
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Three <_
Altars AMERICA MUST BUIL
MYERS
o J J 3 ^ .
B y CORTIA Pasadena,
California
That same centrality of the worship o f God is just as great a necessity in every other nation in the world. Whatever is done in the United States by political parties, it all is destined ultimately to be a miserable failure unless the altars in America are built, unless true religion is saved!) / 1v/ R ebuilding the F amily A ltar Ilf you are going to save the religion o f Jesus Christ in these United States, you must get back that which we have almost lost on this western continent. You will have to re store, build again, the family altar. I am talking to young people— and to a great many older people because they have forgotten the help they received in early life from the old family altarTJ //*/ Richard Baxter was one of England’s greatest minis ters. In early life, he went into a large parish and a com munity which was composed almost entirely o f rich, cul tured people. He found that the congregation was cold, and all was not as he had expected it to be in the ministry. He was disappointed and disheartened. The young pastor said, “ The way to save the church and this community is to establish religion in the homes o f the community and to build the family altars.” Thus Baxter spent three years in his visitation and in his determination to establish a family altar in every home in that community. He succeeded amaz ingly, and this condition in the homes was the fountainhead that filled his church to overflowing and started that mag nificent ministry and life. Fundamentally, religion must in volve the- family relationship. You cannot even build a church altar that is an attractive center without the family altar. Baxter was right and proved it. Now I will take you to the opposite side. Thomas Bos ton was likewise a great minister, but, unlike Baxter, he spent the years o f his early ministry in the slums o f a city among the poor people. There he discovered the same con-
I could not bring to you a more important subject, be cause if you do not save true religion in the United States, you can never expect to save the United States. Whatever else you do, or whatever else may happen, you can never save any country on the map, never have and cannot now,unless you save the religious life o f that country. I f you do not save religion in the United States, and if you do not save religion in this beautiful State of Califor nia, you cannot expect God’s blessing to continue on this State, or to have any prosperity within the borders o f the State. You will find the Scripture reference in Genesis 12:7 : “ And there builded he an altar unto the Lord.” That is not unimportant— that is very important. Much of history re volves around that significant statement, and very much of the Jews’ history depended on that statement. This man went over the border line in consecration. He walked the path o f faith to fulfill the promises o f God. And just the moment he stepjied over into that land, he built an altar. That was the highest wisdom any man could evidence. Then he went on farther to Bethel, and we read that when he reached this spot, he built another altar. All through the history o f Israel, the altar was the center o f the life o f the sons o f Abraham, and their prosperity depended on the building o f that altar and the keeping o f its sanctity. |A 11 through the entire history, captivity was there when the altar went down, failure was there when the altar went down, and success came in when they rebuilt the altar. Today you will make this discovery that the one unique na tion in the world is the Jewish nation—and it is still a nation. [This article is a synopsis o f a stenographically reported ad dress by the pastor o f the First Baptist Church, Pasadena, Calif. A s a preacher and conference speaker. Dr. Myers is known from coast to coast .—E ditor .]
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dition— the church was cold and empty. He had no influ ence. He was disheartened and discouraged. He said that the only way to save the church is to save the family. And he went all through that poor community and established family altars where they worshiped God in the home every day in the week. He built up the altars, and he says he spent three years doing it. And then Thomas Boston’s church started to revive, and the community was filled with spiritual power and influence. One o f the noblest of missionaries was John G. Baton. No man evidenced more heroism and sacrifice than did that kingly, wonderful soldier o f the cross. The finest, most in teresting thing in the world to read is biography or auto biography— if you can get the right kind of biography. The finest biographies read like fiction. Some o f the best biog raphies are“ of the great missionaries of the world. Read the biography o f this devoted missionary. You will find on the first page the secret o f that life of service, the one mem ory around which all the rest o f Paton’s ministry centers. That recollection is o f his father with his old family Bible twice a day at the family altar, children all around him hearing the message o f God, then down on their knees to gether. Paton says that in that old home his father’s mighty religious influence made him all he was and started his mis sionary life and work. As you read the rest o f the biogra phy, you will find this spiritual influence in operation all through his life. Henry M. Grady visited Washington, D.C., and when he went back to Atlanta, Ga., he wrote an editorial about the Capitol at Washington, described it beautifully, and called it the home o f this great .nation, the center around which this nation moves. Some months passed by, and he went back to his old home in Georgia. And then when he returned to Atlanta, he wrote another editorial, and in it he said that he made a tremendous blunder when he wrote that first editorial. He said that the center o f this country is not in the United States Capitol— it is in the hovels and in the cottages and in the old farmhouses and in every home in this land in which there is a family altar. The Christian home is the center o f American life from which
with money. Ilf you are going to save the family, you must build the American family al tar. Build that which has fal len down and gone to pieces. No new boards and nails are going to do this thing. You will have to rebuild the fam ily altanj J,9/ A P recious H eritage I know two men that lived in a country home in their boyhood, and they became rich men when they went away
from home. They went occasionally to visit their father and mother living in the old home. And finally the father and mother went to heaven. The sons did not know what to do with this old home. One o f them said to the other, “ If you’ll sell out your interest to me, I ’ll tear down the house and I ’ll build a summer home there, and let you come out to it when you want to.” Accordingly, they took a trip out to the old homestead to tear it down. Around that spot there swept many sacred memories. Then these two brothers, past middle life and rich, went into the house and looked around through it. One walked up and down in front o f the old fireplace, and the other sat down. Finally one said to the other, “ You know, Bsob, what I ’m thinking about? I ’ve changed my mind since I ’ve been here. W e’re not going to tear down this old house. This house is going to stand here; it’s not going to be torn down.” “ That is a strange thing,” the other- brother said, “ be cause when I was walking up and down in front o f the fire place, that is the same thing I was thinking about.” He looked over at the chair in which his father used to sit. “ Here is the old chair that Father sat in when he read the Bible, when we had family worship— the chair around which we knelt as Father lifted our hearts to God.” They stayed there two hours to talk things over. They both got down on their knees by the old chair, repented, and wept their hearts out before God. They went back saved men and gave their money to God and lived for God. And the old house stands. Not a single thing was moved out. It was too sacred to touch, because the family altar had stood there. It is a great thing to go back to the old house. I f you cannot go back any way but in memory, go back. I can make such a journey tonight. I am back there now, three thousand miles across the continent, on the banks o f the Hudson River, in that old farmhouse, in that old kitchen, around that great fireplace— father, mother, twelve children, twice a day, the old family Bible, and the wonderful prayer lifted to God! I am remembering that old house, that old center, that marvelous influence. Do not be surprised when I tell you that every one of those children was saved by the grace o f God. Four of them became ministers o f Jesus Christ, all the rest o f them Sunday-school teachers and God’s chosen men and women. And they all found that inspiration and life at the family altar when Father opened the Bible and then lifted his heart to God. That is the greatest heritage in this world. The greatest inheritance is the influence o f Christian blood and life, moral character, and spiritual uplifting power. Now if your old home gave you that, you do not need to have a dollar. My father and mother never left me a dollar, but they left me the greatest riches in the world. Some of you young people may be married soon. The first thing you want to do in your life— if there is to be
all the rest o f it moves and radiates. And Henry M. Grady was justified in apologizing for his mis take. Unless you save the family altar, you have not gone very far in sav ing the institutions of America. There is a great deal o f talk and money spent concerning these American homes. Y o u are going to repair these homes and borrow the money and never pay it back. The government does not want the homes. They are just going to get all the homes fixed up and painted up. If the rest are doing it, you might as well do it, too. They are going to repair these American homes; they are going to protect the American h o me . They are making a mis take, for you c a n n o t build American homes
TheAltar of the Home "Choose you this day whom ye will serve; . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Josh. 24:15). "The father to the children shall make known thy truth" (Isa. 38:19). Th e A l t a r of the Church "How amiable are thy tab ernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even faint- eth for the courts of the Lord. . . . Blessed are they that dwell in thy house" (Psa. 84:1, 2, 4). The Altar of Sacrifice "I beseech you therefore ... that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, accept able unto God, which is your reasonable s e r v i c e " (Rom. 12 : 1 ). "Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing" (2 Sam. 24:24).
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threshold o f the Christian church. One-half o f the other third go very rarely to the church. A bit o f a census was taken in Los Angeles. One church had thirty-nine people on Sunday night, thirty-seven women and two men. A busi ness man in Los Angeles told me that his church had tried to hold a service with only six people, but the outlook was so discouraging that at last they closed it for ^Sunday nights. Six churches o f one denomination were visited by a committee to investigate the attendance. They had a com bined membership of eight thousand souls, and on that Sun day night there were 240 people present. People are not worshiping God and supporting the church o f God. That is one of the saddest commentaries on American life. Until you rebuild the church altar, you cannot expect to save your institutions, no matter what else you do in America. R ebuilding the A ltar of S acrifice If we are going to save religion in the United States, we must rebuild the altar o f sacrifice. Jean McTaggart was a poor Scottish woman. She lived at the time o f one of the terrible religious persecutions in Scotland. There was no possibility o f worshiping in a kirk, and the believers hid behind the rocks when Sunday morn ings came. Finally the persecution ceased, and the privilege came o f rebuilding the altar. A t great sacrifice, the people built a small kirk. But when they needed a lintel stone to go across the door, they could not find a stone that was big enough. Jean McTaggart lived alone, a Christian with the old faith. Scotland had a great many of them. The minister called on her one day. With the help of a poker and shovel, she had dug up the hearth and had it standing beside the fireplace when the preacher came. “ I have been over to the kirk, and this hearthstone measures exactly the same as the lintel— I measured it twice— so I took it up for the lintel o f the church,” she said. They put Jean McTaggart’s old stone hearth over the door of the kirk for the lintel. And if you go there now, you will find one o f the finest stone churches in Scotland, and that old hearth is there today. W e have spoken of three altars. That lintel stone symbolizes them all. The hearth stone from Jean McTaggart’s family altar was brought to the altar of the church, and the gift was made at the altar o f sacrifice. Jean McTaggart represented Christianity at its best. The heart o f Christianity is sacrifice. Sacrifice is the center about which all Christian life revolves. T he C ross of C hrist an A ltar of S acrifice Men are trying to preach a gospel without the cross, without the blood, without sacrifice. The “ gospel” has no meaning whatsoever without the sacrificial atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross. W e must build again in our hearts that altar o f the cross. Every good minister of Jesus Christ must tell men and women o f that “ one sacri fice for sins for ever,” and then he must urge men and women to build the altar o f sacrifice and keep it at the heart o f Christianity. The other word for love is sacrifice. A questionnaire was sent out to a number o f parents, asking their views on the question o f the Christian min istry as a vocation for their sons. Almost universally the answers were of the same type. The reasons given for ob jection to this choice o f life work were that there was not enough freedom, or money, or honor to be gained by enter ing that field. But one man wrote back: “ God gave me a family o f six sons. Four o f those sons are in the Christian ministry; one is a missionary in China; and one is a Chris tian teacher. And I am happy to the last degree in their sac rifice for Christ. The greatest blessing God ever gave me was the sacrifice those boys made for Jesus’ sake.” That is a real father: That is Christianity at its finest and best. “ And he builded an altar there.”
success, joy, and happiness—-is to build at the center o f that new home a family altar. If you cannot pray together, you cannot live together. I f you want to stay out of the divorce court, build a family altar. And you people who have lost the family altar, if you want to save your children’s homes and future, must rebuild that altar. Pray together. R ebuilding the C hurch A ltar Not only must we build the family altar if we are to save religion in the United States, but we must also build the church altar. Russia tore down in Moscow the church o f the Saviour, and built on that place a shrine for Lenin, a tower 150 feet high, a monument to Lenin. It is covered with chromium. That tower— 150 feet o f it— is going to reaoh up into the heavens and is Lenin’s monument in the place of the church o f Christ. On the banks o f the Volga, the Russians have now built another monument about one hundred feet high, and it stands so that anybody who goes up and down on the boats will surely see that structure. They had great diffi culty in knowing to whom they would dedicate it— Lucifer, Cain, or Judas Iscariot. And they finally dedicated it to Judas Iscariot because he betrayed Christ. Russia is determined to put Christianity and God out o f Russian life, and builds its monument to Judas Iscariot. No matter what else they do in Russia, just as surely as God is in His heavens and as God has a way of producing judgment, Russia is doomed and damned because she has defied God and sought to stamp out the church o f Christ and the institutions o f Christ and anything relative to re ligious life. In contrast to Russia’s anti-God program is Mussolini’s wise insistence upon a knowledge of the Bible in Italy. One o f the wisest thiilgs Mussolini ever did in his life he did recently. He issued this proclamation: “ All professors and teachers shall read the New Testament, shall explain this Divine Book to the children, and see to it that they mem orize the best passages. This Book shall not be missing in any school library, for it is ever new throughout all the centuries. It is the greatest of all books, the most necessary o f all books, because it is divine. The National Govern ment desires by it to capture the children, and through them the soul o f the Italian people, for it is the discovery o f the true way which will lead the Fatherland to the worthiest and truest greatness.” Mussolini’s action puts in my heart a sort o f heaviness at every remembrance of the condition in this country. Two-thirds o f all the American people never cross the
The Trysting T la c tj By W INIFRED M. N IENHU IS Would you have God 's richest blessing On your life from day to day? Would you know the joy of vict'ry. When sore trials come your way? You must meet your Lord at dawning, Start with Him each new-born day— Meet Him in the upper chamber, Read His W ord and kneel to pray! You can never know the blessings, O r the fullness of His grace, Until you have met the Saviour In that sacred trysting place. Then, although the road be rugged, And the path you cannot trace, You can trust your Saviour's leading, Till you meet Him face to face.
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Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts Coortesy “The Friend”
A HERITAGE of the £ord
Through the kindness o f two honored parents whose testimonies follow , readers o f this Christian Home Num ber o f the K ing ’ s B usiness are drawn into the family circle o f two happy homes. P eter Stam represents Christian fathers. A s a priest in his own house, M r. Stam has had the joy o f seeing his sons and daughters grow up in the fea r and admonition o f the Lord. Out from his home there have gone strong and courageous Christians, some to be missionaries, some to be witnesses at home, one to seal his testimony in his blood—a martyr, with his w ife, at the hands o f Chinese Communists last December. A s might be expected, this father writes humbly, simply, revealing the childlike de pendence upon God that has made his home great. Eleanor E . Elliott, M .D .C .M ., the faithful helpmeet o f a missionary husband whose labors have been crowned with rest, speaks from the depth o f a mother heart. Four o f her children have been graduated from the Bible Insti tute o f Los Angeles. Others have received Christian training elsewhere and have become servants o f Christ. In the two intimate articles that follow , it will readily be seen that the authors’ first claim to greatness lies in the fact o f the recognized supremacy o f their Lord and the willingness o f their hearts to wholly trust in Him. Thus may every home everywhere be counted great and parents notable who give to Christ the place o f true preeminence. —E ditor . TH E SECRET OF A H APPY CHRISTIAN HOME B y PETER STAM J ust this morning as I was-about to leave for a short trip to the Middle West, I received .from the man aging editor of the K ing ’ s B usiness a 5 request for an article on the secret of a happy Christian home. In a word, I believe that the key to a happy Christian home is— “ Christ.” I was brought up in an old-fashioned saloon in the "Netherlands and came to America as an unbeliever when
I was a young man. God in His infinite grace led a woman to give me a New Testament with the Dutch and English languages in parallel columns. This volume I used in the study of the English language, but the Book became more than a textbook to me. Through it I learned to see myself as a sinner, and to trust the Lord Jesus as my Saviour. As I think o f the Christian joy and fellowship that our fam ily has enjoyed through the past years, I must look back to that incident and acknowledge humbly that the source o f all our joy is the grace o f God. My dear wife by her pious life brought me nearer to the Lord. Our home was crowned with six boys and three girls. From the beginning, Mrs. Stam and I, as Christian parents, were burdened about the bringing up o f our children. O f course we prayed about our business and about various other activities, but one o f the main subjects o f our prayer was always the rearing of our chil dren in the fear o f God. Somehow we never dared to pray that they might be rich or great, but always that they might be H is in the fullest sense o f the word. . Often we impressed upon the children’s minds their need o f the Lord in everything, whether great or small. Three times each day at meals we read our Bibles together and prayed. W e also had prayer after arising each morn ing and before retiring each night. ^>o not think for a moment that our children were angels. Often it was necessary to use the rod, though with God’s help we endeavored to use it prayerfully and lov ingly. Mrs. Stam and I frequentlymade blundersin the rear ing o f our family, but the Lord knew that we wanted the children to have the same joy that we had found in trusting Christ and serving Him. In His grace He overlooked all our failures and made otlr home one o f the happiest. One o f the three girls went to be with the Lord when she was a tiny baby. The other two and the six boys all grew lip and at some time during their youth learned to know the Lord Jesus as their Saviour. A ll o f them are witnesses for Him. Even our dear John and his wife, IJetty, though [Continued on page 200] ' - !
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That BOY!
Hold
I
EXPERIENCES WITH REAL BOYS ' B y JULIA E. COLE* Chicago, Illinois
M y boys won’t: listen,” I heard a discouraged teacher of a class of thirteen-year-olds remark. “ If that is disheartening,” rejoined the department su perintendent, “ what about this ? For years, out of every four graduated into our department, one has gone on into the next department; and this when every teacher is a con secrated Christian, and we are in a rapidly growing Sun day-school.” “ H -mm -S ’ considered the teacher. “ A seventy-five per cent loss! What can be done ?” Because this is the usual situation in the early teen-age departments of our Sunday-schools, we venture an answer to “ What can be done?” “ T hey D on ’ t S eem I nterested ” The most common remark o f Sunday-school teachers coming to my office for help is, in effect', “ They don’t seem one bit interested.” In the older teen-age classes the pupils “ just sit, looking bored” ; in the younger classes, they “ do everything imaginable but listen.” I usually ask, “ Have you found out what does interest them ?” That is the beginning o f the solution to the problem. It mav be that they are interested in postage-stamp collec tions,"football, historic or current events, radio construc tion, or a host of other things. I have discovered that even boys like notice given to their new name plate bracelets and leather jackets. It does not matter that we are rather ignor ant about some o f their mechanical contrivances. W e need only be interested, and they delight in supplying the in formation. It so happens that I
him, and we hope that after a time he will decide to go o f his own accord.” As we talked, the boy and his dog came in. The friendly dog made it easy to get acquainted with his master. Ash ley’s eighth grade graduation day was only two weeks away. In connection with the interest of this occasion, we talked about the high school problems which were looming up. What subjects should he take? What language, if he pre pared for rajlroad engineering? What college would be best ? As we were speaking o f science and drawing, I was shown the science notebook. Our conversation drifted to ice skating. It was decided that we should go over and investigate the pond. Nor was the pond the only part of the park my enthusiastic guide exhibited. The botanical gardens and the zoo buildings were among his special interests. Our thoughts again turned to drawing, and Ashley dis covered that we needed a map o f Palestine for our class room. And now, one o f the prize possessions o f the class is an excellently drawn map. But best o f all, we have all the boys who originally made up the class when it came from the Junior department, and one in addition. The group is working and praying definitely for two other boys who are not in Sunday-school. One o f them was never in church before he visited our class. From the boys’ prayers last Sunday, I am expecting that the new boys will be won for the class and for Christ. W hen B oys P ray This subject suggests another question which is often asked—-“ How can we get these self-conscious, giggly early teens to pray aloud ?” This is what took place in our class; On the October morning we first met together, I let the boys understand that this was not my class, but our class. No one o f us would do all o f the talking, or all o f the praying. When it was time for prayer, each o f us thought o f something we wanted to say to God. We all stood with bowed heads. Instead of prayer, we heard from the first boy, “ How do you start?” Without surprise, in a natural tone, I explained that we first addressed God as “ our heavenly Father,” then asked Him, or thanked Him, for what we had in mind. When it came to the third boy, we heard, “ Milton prayed for what I was going to ask.” It was explained that we often wanted to ask for the same thing that some one else had mentioned. The teacher expected each boy to pray, and each one did. Now every Sunday when we stand for prayer, one boy is called on to lead, and each one follows who has some re quest or thanks to express. Most o f the boys pray each time. It has been a delight to watch this growth in their prayer life. Remembering the tendency to self-conscious embar rassment, we seek to help them forget self by keeping be fore them both God’s promises and the needs for prayer. Some suggestion is made or question asked each time, to direct our thoughts. Two weeks ago we asked for the read-
now have a class o f boys, the teaching o f which has been especially helpful in the preparation o f the les sons. Before I b e cam e really acquainted with my new class from the Junior department, one o f the boys stopped coming to Sunday-school. I called at his home one Sunday a f ternoon. Ashley was out, but his father and mother freely talked to me about their son and their prob lems with him. The father explained, “ J u n io r does not want to go to Sunday- school. Every S u n d a y morning we have had the same struggle trying to get him up and started. We have decided not to force *Writer o f Intermediate les sons fo r the All Bible Graded Series, and instructor o f De partmental Work at the Moody Bible Institute o f Chicago.
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ing of the memory verse of the previous Sunday, together with the verse which preceded it. While Edward read, the others were asked to see what relation they could find be tween the two verses (John 14:14 ,15). It was decided that . when we prayed, if we expected God to answer, we must be ready to do everything we could to bring about the answer. Asked to tell one thing for which they wished to pray, they first replied, “ For the boys who are absent” (our at tendance that day was the smallest o f any time). In decid ing what they could do, each boy took two names and ad dresses o f those for whom he was to be responsible. Then we had prayer. Last Sunday all o f our regular boys were present. "We are learning .how God answers prayer. P riceless R ewards for F riendship The a m o u n t of
was written the couplet of a stanza. He inquired concern^ ing the author. None o f the great people present knew. Timidly a boy crept up to his side, whispered the name of the author, and quoted the rest of the poem. Burns was surprised and delighted. Laying his hand on the youth’s head, he exclaimed, “ Ah, bairnie, ye will be a great mon yet in Scotland some day!” From that day, Walter Scott was a changed lad. One o f the greatest men in the world believed that he would do great things! G etting that B oy ’ s A ttention To most teachers, the lesson period is the time of great
est importance. The question they ask is, “ How can I hold the attention o f the class on the lesson?” The way to hold their attention captive to the lesson is to win it— literally w in it. There are many com petitors to that inter est, and the mind in stinctively attends to the thing which has t h e greatest appeal. The lesson must be the most engrossing thins within sight or To make the les son interesting, t h e teacher must s t a r t with the interests of the class. Teacher and pupils must be assured that the lesson devel opment is something they are interested in knowing. Often the best way to begin is for teacher and boys to ask questions, with the understanding that sound.
Fathers, W hat W ould You Y )o ?
help the teacher can render his pupils is in proportion to the amount o f his friend ship with them. Per haps you cannot visit their homes as much as you would like, but this you can do: A r rive at yoUr classroom ten or fifteen minutes b e f o r e the opening hour. Have something planned to do. Per haps there is some thing to write on the blackboard, or a pic-B ture or map to hang. I f you make this a regular practice, you will find that some of your boys will begin to come early. Natur ally they will help you, and a bappy compan ionship will develop. They will t e l l you m any th in g s they would not during the
A RE we, as fathers, forgetting that any fog that * * clouds our minds on life's greatest issues will weave its trailing streamers about the mind of the boy who comes to us for light?" Philip E. Howard, author of Father and Son,* asks the question. He adds: "In our grown-up forgetfulness we do not take sufficiently into account the impetuousness, the clarity, the frank directness of the boy mind, nor- the childlikeness to which our Lord Jesus invited, and which He enjoined upon His followers. The questionings of the small boy are not commonly those of the doubter, but of the hopeful and teachable explorer. Hence, the father must take seriously the expression of the boy's interest in religious questions . . . . In applied religion the boy is much more sensitive and logical than some of us fathers have* quite realized. In the border-line ques
tions of social practices, and in those that are really not of the border-line sort at all, the boy who would be a loyal follower of Christ— I mean the true born-again, whole-hearted Christian boy— is seeing many things level-eyed. In a town where dancing is very popular, a boy was explaining to his father why he did not dance. The fellows may talk as they please to their parents about dancing's being all right, he exclaimed, but I hear what the boys say among themselves about it, and why they dance. I tell you, I wouldn't want them to talk about my sister as they talk about the other girls. No, I'm not going in for it.' And another boy in his teens, when he heard a community leader in good works say publicly that he did not object to dancing and card playing if they were done in the right way, said earnestly to some other boys: 'I wish he hadn't said that. The trouble is, they can't be done in the right way.' Would you agree with the boy, or would you, if he were your son, encourage him to dance and play cards 'in the right way'?"
*Harper & Brothers.
class session. You can talk to individuals in this informal atmosphere as you could not when all are present. It has been my experience that more decisions for Christ have been made in little groups before and after class than dur ing the regular session. A B oy ’ s R esponse to T rust If you are a real frierid to your boys, you trust them and expect great things from them, and they know it. They are unconsciously encouraged, and will seek to live up to your expectations. You see their faults, o f course, but you understand, and know that together you can help to over come them. You know that there are great possibilities for the life o f each boy. Together you and they can de velop them. They will discover with you that the greatest life is-the one in Christ’s control; the greatest vocation is a life’s task for Him. When Sir Walter Scott was a boy, he was considered a great dullard. His accustomed place in the schoolroom was the ignominious dunce corner with the high pointed paper cap o f shame on his head. One evening when he was twelve or fourteen, he chanced to be in a home where fa mous literary guests were being entertained. The great Robert Burns Was standing admiring a picture under which
these questions will be answered as the lesson proceeds. An illustration may be the clearest explanation. W e shall try to reproduce our class situation o f two weeks ago. The subject o f the lesson was “ The Lord’s Supper.” T eacher : “ Next Sunday is the first Sunday o f the month. What service will be held following the regular morning session ?” E dward : “ The Lord’s Supper.” T eacher : “ Most of you do not attend. Have you ever wondered about the purpose o f this service ?” M ilton : “ I thought it was only for church members.” M aynard : “ I know what it is for. It is to celebrate the passover supper.” F red : “ The bread is the body o f Christ, and the wine is His blood.” T eacher (to Milton) : “ Let us find out whom Christ wants to take part in this service.” (T o Maynard) “ Are the passover and the Lord’s Supper the same thing?” M aynard (dubiously) : “ Yes— ” T eacher : “ Do you recall having heard the word ‘pass- over’ in any Old Testament connection?” No response. T eacher : “ When were these words spoken: ‘When I see the blood, I will pass over you’ ?”
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