BUSINESS
C H R I S T M A S 1 9 5 6
P i if
C L IM B IN G t h e H E IGH T S Compiled, by A l Bryant This big 384 page book is compiled from the writings of great people of God. Well known Christian leaders like Billy G raham , Charles H. Spurgeon, Bob Jones Jr., Paul S. Rees, Robert G. Lee, Eugenia Price, W. A. Criswell and many others have written pungent, heart-warm ing bits of spiritual wisdom and truth. Parents and individuals who have searched for a book suitable to use as a guide in daily devo- tionals can now find the answer in this comprehensive volume. Many of the meditations are beautifully w ritten in heart-touching verse. Brief, day-to-day Scripture texts provide inspirational guidance the year round. Discover for yourself how much CL IM B ING THE HEIGHTS will mean to you—now and in the future.
3 Outstanding Books for Teens and Young Adults
NEVER A DULL MOMENT Honest Questions by Teenagers; Honest Answers. By Eugenia Price. An indispensable guide to successful Christian living written about teenagers ana for teenagers. This valuable book contains straightforward answers to such questions as: Can a Christian be popular? How can I be sure I am a Christian? Why is sex wrong if God made it? etc. Due to the outstanding popularity of "N ever a D u ll M om ent” 100,000 copies are now in print, only a year after its publica tion. Cloth, $2.00. Paper, $1.00. Z O N D E R V A N
T IP S FOR TEENS By Mel Johnson. Mel was converted under the minis try of Mel Trotter, world renowned superintendent of Mel Trotter Mission in GrandRapids. He is widely known for his radio minis try and has appeared in Gospel film s. H is book "Tips for Teens*’ is the an swer to the complex prob lems that confront young people in facing modern society. Cartoon illustra tions. Paper, $1.00.
LIFE AND LOVE A Christian View of Sex. By Clyde M. Narramorey Ed. D. Here is an up-to-date, read able book in which Dr. Nar- ramore discusses such subjects as: A Christian’s Approach to Sex, Dating and Rating, How Our Bodies Grow, The Story of Birth, and Youth Talks it Over. This work also contains a chapter of 150 definitions of specialized words. DR . V. RAYMOND EDMAN, presi dent o f Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, calls it /' ... j factual, frank, wholesome...” JACK WYRTZEN calls it " . . . tremendous. . . ’’Illustrat ed, Cloth, $2.50. Paper, $1.50.
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You Can Make The Difference Tonight as you go to sleep thank God that you have a bed and that your children do not have to sleep in a barn or in a refugee camp. Last winter the Continent of Europe suffered the worst weather of the century. Tens of thousands were made homeless and in certain distressed areas thousands of others were isolated from the outside world and threatened with starvation. A new winter confronts them. Today many of them have not fully recovered from the disaster that struck them. And they face the coming winter with fear and forbod- ing in their hearts.
We need your immediate help. You can make the difference. Yes, you can bring the SUNSHINE of God’s love into their SADDENED lives. Stretch out your hand of love across the ocean to your brothers and sisters in Christ. Life will take
From Greece, Germany, Austria and Yugoslavia we have received many heart-rending appeals for help from God’s own children who have gone through much suffering. Added to this we have the plight of Europe’s refu gees who live under depressing and dismal circum stances. One typical family writes: “As refugees from the Communists, we have lost everything. We are forced to live in a barn. There are eight of us in our fam ily. Three sacks filled with straw serve as our beds. We plead with you for help, not for ourselves, but for our children. Your par cel was a direct gift from God. May He con tinue to supply our daily bread through you.” How can we refuse such an appeal! The best way I know to help these refugees is to send them CARE parcels. CARE parcels are already in European ware houses and all that is needed to release them are your gifts. The European Evangelistic Crusade stands ready to translate your Christian love and sympathy into IMMEDIATE aid for these stricken people. In cooperation with the United States Government and the CARE organization. $1.00 will help us send one parcel contain ing 20 lbs. of food. $5.00 will help us send 5 packages or 100 lbs. of food. $10.00 will help us send 10 packages or 200 lbs. of food. $100.00 will help us send 100 packages or 2,000 lbs. of food.
Rev. Douglas G. Stewart, Director
on a new meaning for you when you realize that your gift will bring SUNSHINE into hearts that have had so much darkness. Send your gift today. YOU CAN MAKE THE DIF FERENCE. Please help God’s people in Europe during this Christmas season.
Europe's REFUGEE FUND Rev. Douglas G. Stewart, F.R.G.S. European Evangelistic Crusade, Inc. (Member Mission I. F. M. A.) 811 Westview Street, Dept. K Philadelphia 19, Pennsylvania
YES, I want to bring sunshine into the saddened hearts of our Christian brethren. Enclosed is my gift of $.................... for CARE parcels.
N A M E ............................................ AD DRESS................................ -...... C IT Y .................................. STATE.
PH ILADELPH IA 19. PA.
811 W ESTVIEW STREET
3
DECEMBER 1956
THE KING'S BUSINESS A publication of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Inc. Louis T. Talbot, Chancellor S. H. Sutherland, President •
THE CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
Ray A. Myers, Chairman of the Board
DECEMBER In the year of our Saviour Nineteen Hundred and Fifty-Six
Vol. 47, No. 12 "
Established 1910
Dedicated to the spiritual development of the Christian home
So philosophy calls it, but the Word of God uses simpler and clearer language. “It was nec essary,” Paul told the Jews at Antioch, “that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you.” That is, as if he were to say, “I can’t help myself; it is a categorical imperative!” The imperative lies inherent ly in the very nature of the case. The natural procedure is to start any Gospel program with the Jew. Sentiment calls for it; gratitude requires it; and, above all, God commands it! So pow erfully was this conviction borne in upon the conscience of Paul, and so important did he consider Jewish conversion, that he cried out, “I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren . . . who are Israel ites!” Dear child of God! Will you not ask Him to let you see Israel as He sees her? And when you do, a new joy and a new blessing will come to you. Try it. We feel that some day you will thank us that you did. Our work merits your every confidence. It is a program of world-wide testimony to the Jews. Your fellowship is always welcomed and appreciated. THE CHOSEN PEOPLE magazine is sent to all contributors. AM ER ICAN BOARD OF M IS S IO N S " TO THE JEWS, Inc. 236 West 72nd Street, Dept. 12 'New York 23, N. Y. I Canadian Office: 39 King William St., Hamilton, Ont., Can. I do want to help the Jews. Here is I $................ Use it as God directs, to | make known the saving power of the I Lord Jesus Christ to Israel.
ARTICLES THE WORLD'S MOST TRAGIC WASTE — A. W. Tozer ............. 10 AUSH IRIS AGAINST THE WORLD — Lillian Robinson Perez ........ 11 THE AGONY OF PRAYER — Oswald J. Smith ........................... 14 THE DIVINE KEEPER — H. C. G. Moule ................................ 16 POEMS BY HELEN FRAZEE-BOWER ............................ 27,29,31 YOUR MOST SPLENDID CHR ISTMAS — Richard C. Halverson .... 37 SONNETS — The Story of Helen Frazee-Bower ....................... 38 FEATURES PEOPLE — A monthly column of names in the news ................ 6 UNDER THE PARSONAGE ROOF — Althea S. Miller ................ 7 READER REACTION ....................................................... 8 THEOLOGICALLY TH INK ING — Gerald B. Stanton ................ 18 OUT OF THE LAB — Donald S. Robertson .............................. 19 JUNIOR KING 'S BUSINESS— Penny and the Christmas Baby Helen Frazee-Bower ................................................... 22 SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES: ACTS — Chester J. Padgett ...... 24 BOOK REV IEW S— Donald G. Davis ...................................... 32 ADVERTISERS' INDEX — Classified for your Christmas shopping .... 40 TALKING IT OVER — A Psychologist Answers — Clyde Narramore 41 CHR IST IAN EDUCATION THE ADULT & SUNDAY SCHOO L— Part Two— Henry Jacobsen 20 OBJECT LESSONS— Elmer L. Wilder ..................................... 34 COVER We cannot think of Christmas without thinking of the guiding star that shone the night our Saviour was born in Bethlehem. When we were selecting a photo for this month's cover we were impressed with this shot of Washington's Mount Rainier taken at midnight. The film was exposed for 15 minutes, enough time to record the brighter stars as they traveled in the sky. See page 37. Photo by Haines
S. H. SUTHERLAND: editor
LLOYD HAM ILL: managing editor MILTON R. SUE: advertising manager J. RUSSELL ALLDER: business manager
LUCY BARAJIKIAN: editorial assistant JANE M. CLARK: circulation manager
editorial board: Donald G. Davis, Charles L. Feinberg, James O. Henry, Martha S. Hooker, Margaret Jacobsen, Chester J. Padgett, Donald S. Robertson, Oran H. Smith, Gerald B. Stanton
SUBSCRIPTION INFO RMATION — "The King's Business" is published monthly: $2.50, one year; $1.25, six months; 25 cents, single copy. Clubs of three or more at special rates. Write for details. Canadian and foreign subscriptions 25 cents extra. It requires one month for a change of address to become effective. Please send both old and new addresses. REMITTANCES — Payable in advance, should be made by bank draft, express, or post office money order payable to "The King's Business." Date of expira tion will show plainly on outside of wrapper or cover of magazine. ADVERTISING — For information address the Advertising Manager. 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles 17, California.
M ANUSCRIPTS — "The King's Business" cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to manuscripts mailed to us for consideration. Entered as second-class matter November 7, 1938, at the Post Office of Los A n geles. California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in the Act of February 28, 1925, em bodied in paragraph 4, section 538, P.L. and R., authorized October 1, 1918, and November 13, 1938. Printed in U.S.A. by Church Press, Glendale, California. ADDRESS: The King's Business, 558 S. Hope St., Los Angeles 17, California.
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THE KING 'S BUSINESS
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Your last chance! Yes, this is your last chance this year to order T he K ing ’ s B usiness for a Christmas gift. For just $2 you can give a really helpful and thoughtful gift that will be a 12-time reminder of your Saviour. Order as many as you want now at our sale price and pay after the first of the year. Remember our price goes up to $3 Jan. 1.
Our gift for you. W ith one order you’ll get a free booklet of poems and stories by Helen Frazee-Bower (see pages 38, 39 this issue); with three or more orders Dr. Narramore’s 18,000-word question & answer booklet, "Christian Psychology, How it Can Help You.”
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X u xanouâ f ie u , J / , orneó In Mesa La Mirada (Approximately 1 Mile from BIOLA) $1000 DN. FOR NON VETS Vets!... Still Nothing Down Limited number of these luxurious Harry Brittain homes available to Non- Vets at only $ 1,000 down. For Veterans, still nothing down on sales price (impounds only) . . . 30-year loans. Drive out today!
A monthly column of names in the news The latest fe a tu re - le n g th (one hour) film produced for the Billy Gra ham organization is being premiered across the nation this month. The film: “Fire on the Heather.!’ Pro duced by veteran Christian movie producer Dick Ross of World Wide Pictures (see “A New Merger,” Sept. K.B.), “Fire on the Heather” covers a lot of ground. A Californian who was invited to a special press showing of the picture summed it up this way:
John Brown, wife & friend. For the heather, fire.
“It’s an historical outline of how Christianity came to Scotland and the rise of the Presbyterian church, a travelogue of Scotland today and a newsreel on Billy Graham.” One his torical scene tells the tragic story of John Brown. It is from this scene that the film gets its name. As John Brown’s wife bends over her slain husband’s body she tells his execu tioner, “My husband, who was no preacher, has this day set the heather on fire, with words and deeds that will never die. Ye cannot stamp out the fire of God when He sends it upon the earth.” In Grand Rapids, the Zondervan Publishing House has named Dr. James H. Hunter of Toronto as relig ious Author of the Quarter Century. Hunter is the editor of The Evangeli cal Christian and the author of a number of religious fiction titles in cluding Thine is the Kingdom. In New York, Evangelist Jack Wyrt- zen has contracted for 200 stations of the Mutual network to bring his Word of Life broadcast coast-to-coast each Saturday night. Geared to ap peal to young people the half-hour broadcast will feature, in addition to Wyrtzen, a male quartet, pianist, or ganist and the White Sisters, who prior to their conversion appeared on radio and TV with Dennis James, Arthur Godfrey and Ted Mack.
See 6 Model Homes— 15 Styles — Beautifully Furnished MORE HIGH-PRICED FEATURES THAN IN A N Y OTHER MODERATELY PRICED HOMES IN SOUTHERN CAL IFORN IA • Homes of distinctive design and structural integrity by Harry Brittain, Inc. • In the all new $150,000,000 community of La Mirada, located in Los An geles County. • Near schools, churches, shopping, park and golf • 3-4 bedrooms, 2 baths — some with dens. • Beautifully landscaped yards and extra-large patios. • Built-in GE Clothes Washer & Dryer — Disposal, Dishwasher. • Distinctive floors of cork tile — Lifetime T V aerial. • 16 other outstanding features. • 30-minutes on Freeway to L.A. City Hall. PRICES ON THESE LUXURIOUS HOMES . . . FROM $15,650 TO $16,900 IMMEDIATE OCCUPANCY ON MOST MODELS HOW TO GET THERE: Take Santa Ana Freeway. Turn off at Rosecrans and drive straight east. Mesa La Mirada is 1 % miles past Valley View on Rosecrans. Drive out today * ~ and see distinguished homes in
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THE KING 'S BUSINESS
DO YOU HAVE $300, $500 or $1,000?
Under the Parsonage Roof by Althea S. Miller
READY FOR CHRISTMAS
hat’s the date today?” Mother heard one saleslady ask another. “September 25th.” “Oh no! Do you realize that Christ mas is only three months off? And I’m no more ready . . .” and her voice trailed off as she went to wait on a customer. As Mother finished her shopping the dismayed voice of the saleslady kept intruding itself upon her mem ory. “And I ’m no more ready. . . .” Mother wanted to go back and ask her, “Ready for what?” Christmas is indeed upon us and many a harried person is echoing the saleslady’s complaint. The tragedy of their state is that they do not know that beautifully wrapped gifts will not make them any more ready for that great day. No one is ever ready for Christmas who does not know the Christ of Christmas. To those who know Him not as Jesus, Saviour, this day of all days has deteriorated from a holy day to a godless holiday. Rather than planning for the day with a hushed and holy expectancy with great re joicing for so great a gift, a frenzied anxiety holds the general populace. To most people out of Christ and to many in Christ, Christmas is a time of extra spending, ill-afforded by most, and of receiving gifts that will not always please the recipient. “Althea,” Mother inquired of her seven-year-old daughter, “what would you do to get ready for Christmas?” “I’d get some presents ready.” “Would there be any for Jesus?” “What do you mean?” “Whose birth do we remember at Christmas?” “Jesus’.” “Who gets gifts on your birthday?” “I do.” “Then to whom should we give gifts at Christmas?” “To Jesus.” “What gift beside yourself can you give?” “Money so that missionaries can go tell others about Him.” “That’s just what we’ll do this year, honey. We’ll try to think less of our selves and our wants and more of the lost who cannot enjoy Christmas be cause they don’t know Christ.” “. . . thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).
This will interest YOU . . . Our field representatives meet Christian men and women quite frequently who are looking for places to invest their money. Most of them need a return on their savings. Some are considering investments in stocks. But because of their limited knowledge of stocks and bonds, they are reluctant to buy. Others hesitate because of market fluctua tions, uncertainty of dividends, etc. And some tell us of disappointing experi ences on their investments. * * * Without exception, all are looking for security . . . a guarantee that they will be as sured of a generous income. Something they can count on as long as they live . . . in good times or bad . . . regardless of whether the stock market is up or down. But they’re interested in something else, too. * * * You should see their faces light u p ... when we tell them about the DOUBLE DIVIDENDS provided by Moody Annuities. When we tell them that Moody Annuities assure them of a generous, guaranteed income as long as they live (up to 8*A% depending on tbeir age) ... plus a share in the Lord’s work . . . they’re overjoyed! And when we tell them that every annuity is backed by all the resources of Moody Bible Institute, and that MBI has never missed a single payment in almost 50 years . . . they are convinced that it’s the plan for them!
WO U L D Y OU L I K E TO R E C E I V E DOU B L E D I V I D E N D S ON Y O U R M O N E Y ?
We’ll be happy to send you the fr e e booklet, d o u ble d iv id en d s , which explains the Moody Annuity Plan in detail. Contains a chart showing income rates for all ages, explains tax benefits and tells you all about the many ministries of Moody Bible Institute in which you’ll have a share. C L I P A N D M A I L C O U P O N T O D A Y !
Write: Carl J. Frizen, Stewardship Department
Dept. K-56-30-2
MOODY BIBLE INS T ITUTE 820 N. LaSalle Street • Chicago 10, Illinois D Please send me, without obligation, double dividends , Plan. D Please send folder, Where There’s a Will, relating to stewardship.
story of Moody Annuity
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7
DECEMBER 1956
on
" I PREFER TO GO HUNGRY” It was the first time I had seen Con stantin Djeghennakis since 1953, and I was shocked at how greatly he had aged. Now, on my third missionary journey to Greece, this faithful missionary poured out his heart to me. For many years he has gone from village to village preach ing the Gospel and giving out Christian literature. My heart nearly broke as he told me that many nights he goes to bed hungry so that he may have enough money to go to the next town. "I never wanted to mention my finan cial difficulties, brother Zodhiates,” he said, "because I did not want you to think I was begging. I have been living under extreme privation in order to visit as many places as possible with the Gos pel. When it comes to lodgings, I choose the cheapest, and I must also pay my transportation out of the $50 monthly allowance that I receive from your Mis sion. The only savings I can make are at the restaurant. In spite of this, I am forced to leave towns and villages where there is still fertile ground for sowing the Gospel seed. I have never mentioned this to anyone before except God. "Last year as I was laboring for the Lord in a town, I slipped in the snow and dislocated my wrist. I could not af ford a doctor, and someone who did not know anything about it tried to fix it, but it is still dislocated and painful. "Sometimes I meet people who lack even their daily bread. I just cannot tolerate such conditions and prefer to go hungry myself and help others out of my necessity. However, I praise God for the privilege of suffering for Him.” Such a spirit of sacrifice shames us. How often have we gone hungry for the sake of the Gospel? This Christmas shall we not share our comparative abundance with those who are struggling against poverty and persecution to bring the Gos pel to the villages of Greece? We invite you to adopt this or another missionary in Greece by contributing regularly to ward his ministry—even $5 or $10 a month will go a long way. Each month you will be receiving thrilling reports and thus you will be a real missionary by proxy. Even one dollar will bring 22 lbs. of U.S. Surplus food to this or any of our other missionaries. Send your gifts to the American Mission to Greeks, Inc., Rev. Spiros Zodhiates, General Sec retary, P.O. Box 423, Dept. K, New York 36, N.Y. (In Canada: 90 Duplex Ave., Toronto 7, Ontario.) Mr. Zodhiates’ diary of his third missionary journey will be sent free on request.
Unhappy Molokan
Sirs: It is my unpleasant duty to call your attention to some very serious misstatements about our denomina tion appearing in your October issue [“Molokans from the Flats” ]. These statements by their animosity have c a u s e d deep-felt indignation and resentment among our people. The author shows that he was ignorant not only of the most rudi mentary knowledge of Molokans and/ or their religion but also of socio logical conditions in Los Angeles. In East Los Angeles there is no “five mile circle of slums.” What slums there were have been cleared about 10 years ago and replaced by modem housing projects that are occupied by Mexicans, Negroes and other low- income groups b u t n o t by one Molokan. In the area formerly known as the Flats only about a dozen Molokan families now remain, the rest being widely scattered in some of t h e b e t t e r hou s e s of East Los Angeles, Alhambra, Monterey Park, etc. As for the churches in which they worship, two are old and of framed construction but not “dirty, ram- shackled, unswept.” One is a modem youth center costing approximately $75,000. One is a modem stucco building 23 years old and two are modem stucco structures five years old. These last four are newer by far and better kept up than Jack Green’s headquarters. This attempt at showing the Molo kans in a bad light is bolstered by a semi-truthfully c a p t i o n e d picture appearing on your cover. This picture captioned “Russian Molokan” . . . shows one of the poorer Molokan farmers living not in prosperous Los Angeles b u t in a m u c h p o o r e r community in Mexico. Showing this p i c t u r e as a typical Los Angeles Molokan would be as truthful as for some Russian newspaper to publish as a typical American Baptist a picture of some poor sharecropper sitting in front of his shack in some of our Southern states. We realize that one of the attri butes of Christian charity is forbear ance but there is a limit even to that. When by inference our preachers are accused of inciting to murder and arson, when our youth are falsely accused of being religious dupes and of wildly running around yelling for blood, are we to forbear? Los Angeles, John K. Berokoff, Secretary Calif. Molokan Advisory Council
sparkling new filmstrips with a |§|j|ng Gospel appeal, especially designed MP today’s boys and girls. These new Jilaal messages challenge boys and girls w five daily for the Lord Jesus and stress Jjlpe need for the Gospel in other lands. Tfriginal scripts adapted from stories in |j|(f^ COUNSELLOR, popular Sunday *Sthool paper. Fresh new modern art interpretations by topflight commercial 'illustrators, reproduced in brilliant colors. |g|§ach strip has 32 to 40 frames. An added ^ifeature is the optional correlated Gospel jpsong at the end of each filmstrip. HIV jg| MISSIONS " THE LONG WAY TO TENANGO— A little Mexican flH| boy's dishonest scheme to make money plunges Iflf him into a quicksand trap and gives a missionary a chance to tell him about the Lord Jesus. M7412 I H the MAN WITH THE BIG STICK— -T wo Christian HIP schoolboys risk bodily harm to witness to others and the way is opened for the Gospel in a needy | village of India. M7413 THE WITCH DOCTOR'S CURSE— An Ecuadorean |B Indian girl is almost frightened to death by curse § until a missionary explains that God's Son mode the only sacrifice necessary for sin. M7414 CHRISTIAN LIVING LIGHTNING AND OLD MAN MACY— A little 1 Christian newsboy shows an old man what it % means to serve Jesus and is rewarded with a | new bike. M7415 * SUSAN’S FIFTY CENTS— A Junior High girl is tempted to keep money that doesn't belong |||| to her but learns that God blesses those who forsake all sin. M7416 $5.00 EACH information about 12 other Scripture Press filmstrips! r from your favorite film dealer er •
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THE KING 'S BUSINESS
The beginning student will be inspired to serious study with a de luxe edition of the Pilgrim Bible. Fully annotated. Morocco. Ultrathin Oxford India paper. Gold edges. Choice of 3 colors. 514 x 7% x 114". $16.00
Those old folks you love will thank you every day for the big,, easy-to-read type in this compact Text Bible. French Morocco. Ultrathin Oxford India paper. Gold edges. 3 colors. 51/2 x 714 x 114". $15.00
wifiC y f n i g w & tius Christmas?
Your Minister or Teacher can take this thin, handy Reference Bible everywhere. Natural Grain Mo rocco, leather lined. Concordance. Ultrathin Oxford India paper. Gold edges. 5 colors. 5x7!4x u/i6". $14.00
Mother and Dad deserve the best — a beautiful, large Scofield Bible bound in hand, grained Morocco, leather lined. Ultrathin Oxford India paper. Gold edges. Choice of 6 colors. 514 x 814 x $23.00
That young person you’re proud of will welcome this Sco field Reference Bible. French Morocco, leather lined. Concordance. Ultrathin Oxford India paper. Gold edges. 514 x 814 x Red or black. $18.00
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The new Bible reader will find the Pilgrim Bible’s simplified helps a perfect introduction to Bible study. Cross references, complete in dex, special maps. Blue cloth over boards. 514 x 7% x \ s/s". $5.00 Jttore titan 200 styCespricedfirm *2t?to *265 «?
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DECEMBER 1956
The W o r ld ’s Most Tragic Waste by A. W. Tozer
B ne has only to travel over the surface of the earth a little to discover that God is extremely prodigal of material things. There appears to be a vast amount of almost everything: sand, prairies, mountains, lakes, seas, rocks, hills, plains, rivers, des erts, and only a tiny fraction of all these are of any use to mankind. The rest is, as far as we can see, wholly wasted. There is on earth, however, one precious treasure which God is not willing to waste; that is human per sonality. Of this there is never a surplus. The sacred Scriptures are emphatic about God’s regard for the human personality. It is written that God made man in His own image and likeness; not the soul or the spirit as a separate and superior part of man, but the whole living personality. The tendency in popular thinking is to extract the soul from the total man and focus all attention upon it as the only thing about which God is concerned and by inference the only thing about which we should concern ourselves. This has always appeared to me to be an extremely restricted view of things. Paul said, “Christ loved me and gave himself for me.” The death of Christ was for the whole person, not for the soul only, and His invitation is to the entire man. I think the whole modern notion embodied in our common phrase “soul winning” could stand a good overhauling in the light of the broader teachings of the Scriptures. True, the Proverb says “He that win- neth souls is wise.” But the word “souls” here stands for the whole man and not merely for his soul. The use of “soul” to mean a human being is common in the Bible. When Abraham set out for the land of Canaan he took with him Sarah, his wife, and Lot, his brother’s son, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran. Is it not plain that these “souls” were persons whose names it did not suit the purpose of the narrative to give? Certainly they were people, not naked souls. It is not my wish to create difficulties for the pleasure of solving them, and it is altogether possible that thousands of zealous Christians use the expres sion “soul winning” while having in mind a true understanding of its broader meaning; but so power ful is human speech that the continued wrong use
of a word or phrase may easily result in real error in thinking. If we would have a healthy grasp of truth we must see to it that we are semantically as well as theologically sound. Human personality is dear to God because it is of all created things the nearest to being like Himself. Of nothing else is it said that it was created in “the likeness of God” (Gen. 5:1). Though alienated from God by sin and destined to perish, the fallen man is still nearer to God’s likeness than any other creature upon earth. This makes it possible for him to receive regeneration and be fully restored to the fellowship of God, a privilege not enjoyed by those fallen beings of whom Peter and Jude and certain other Bible writers tell us. For this reason also the Word could become flesh and dwell among us. The Son could not take upon Him the nature of angels, but He could and did take on Him the seed of Abraham (Heb. 2:16). These considerations tell us why God is willing to waste mountains but never willing to waste men; why He spends material things so prodigally and conserves human personality with such tender regard. While God does not waste personality it is one of the heavy tragedies of life that human personality can waste itself. A man by his sin may waste himself, which is to waste that which on earth is most like God. This is man’s greatest tragedy, God’s heaviest grief. Sin has many sides and many ramifications. It is like a disease with numberless complications, any of which can kill the patient. It is lawlessness, it is a missing of the mark, it is rebellion, it is perversion, it is transgression; but it is also waste—a frightful, tragic waste of the most precious of all treasures. The man who dies out of Christ is said to be lost, and hardly a word in the English tongue expresses his condition with greater accuracy. He has squandered a rare fortune and at the last he stands for a fleeting moment and looks around, a moral fool, a wastrel who has lost in one overwhelming and irrecoverable loss, his soul, his life, his peace, his total mysterious personality, his dear and everlasting all. (Included in “Root of the Righteous,” Christian Publications, Har risburg, PcC)“m M END.
10
THE KING 'S BUSINESS
A different view of the Ecuadorian tribe that took, the lives of five U. S. missionaries
AUSHIRIS against the world
by L ILL IAN ROBINSON PEREZ
news, white settlers on the fringes of Aushiri territory, who had had experience with their guerilla tac tics, expressed the opinion that the photographs of Indians taken by the missionaries and recovered from the scene of the tragedy were not of Aushiri men and women at all. They seemed to be Zaparos, mem bers of another local tribe who are not hostile and who are probably the ones that befriended the mis sionaries. The people pictured did not have the unusual big-toe sep aration of the extremely primitive Aushiris, caused by climbing trees and clinging to tree trunks. It seems likely, therefore, that when the missionaries radioed their last cryptic message—“Here come a group of Aucas whom we have not known before”—they were actually getting their first and only look at genuine Aushiris. According to 17th century Jesuit missionary reports, Father Lucas de la Cueva was the first white man to make contact with the Aushiri tribe, around 1670. He persuaded them to give up their nomadic way of life and settled them at a mis sion called San Miguel de Avijires. There he started teaching them the principles of Christianity. However, after a few years Father de la Cueva was replaced by another Jes uit teacher who apparently lacked his predecessor’s tact. He con demned the polygamous practices of the Aushiris and was killed by the headman Quiricuari who burned the mission and led the tribe back CONTINUED
he dramatic massacre of five U.S. Protestant mis sionaries on the banks of the Curaray River in the
aries’ point of view. In all this sen sational publicity, the antecedents of the tribe and its possible motives for murder have been completely ignored. In the first place, auca is a Que- chua word meaning “infidel” or “unbaptized” and is widely used throughout Ecuador by Quechua- speaking people of highland origin as a contemptuous term for savage, heathen peoples. The Yumbo In dians of the eastern jungle lowlands apply this word to the hostile neigh boring tribe involved in the mas sacre whose real name is Aushiri or, in the old Spanish spelling of early Jesuit reports, Avijire. It is inaccurate to call the Aushiri “Stone Age people,” for they have had contact with whites since the 17th century and are familiar with firearms and metal weapons such as machetes which from time to time have been left in their terri tory by exploring parties trying to befriend them. Also photographs of these people do exist, notably some taken by pilots on aerial recon naissance for the Shell Company of Ecuador, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell that held an oil con cession in this area up to 1948. Some shots were made at such close range that you can see the enraged faces of the Aushiris as they ran out of their communal huts to threaten the plane with their long lances. Several Aushiri women who de serted their tribe have also been photographed. When the killing was front-page
jungles of eastern Ecuador last Jan uary spread the fearsome, if erro neous, name of the Auca Indians around the world and provoked the most varied reactions. The mission aries—Nathaniel Saint, James El liott, Edward McCully, Roger You- derian and Peter Fleming—have been hailed as martyrs and con demned as fools. Ecuadorian Cath olics were divided on the issue, some holding that the massacre was a just punishment for preaching an apostate faith, others that the shed ding of blood in martyrdom is equivalent to the sacraments of bap tism and penance and entitles the victims to God’s glory in the here after. Finally, there was a flurry among local anthropologists and students of the history of Andean America’s many Indian groups and their cultures. Both U.S. and European maga zines of international renown em phasized the false notions that the killers were “Aucas” and that they are a “Stone Age people” who have never had contact with civilized men and have no metals or metal implements. They even maintained that no white man had ever pre viously photographed them. Of course, there was no spokesman for the Indians who disappeared into the jungle after the attack, so the accounts naturally tended to be one sided, concentrating on the mission-
H
DECEMBER 1956
A U S H IR IS continued
The cross and sword, mysticism and butchery, were alternately applied to a bewildered people to a nomadic life. It took nine years for the Spanish colonial mi litia to mete out their reprisal for this murder in the remote and trackless jungle. Two years passed before news of the missionary’s death even reached Quito, and not till after considerable trouble, ex pense and colonial and ecclesiasti cal red tape was a punitive expedi tion organized. The eight Aushiris responsible for the priest’s death were executed, and a feud that was to last for centuries was on. ing to pacify the tribe. Hampered by the children—two boys of about five and three years—the woman could not run fast enough to es cape and was taken prisoner. The Major described her as incredibly ugly, almost grotesque. She was short and completely naked, with a protruding belly, perhaps because of anemia or some parasitic disease. Her coarse black hair fell to her shoulders in a tangled mass. Her skin was dark, dirty and weather beaten. The children were naked too and similar in appearance.
ment to the laborer for the old sys tem of distributing the money through the gang boss or labor re cruiter, who all too often would pocket the workers’ pay himself. The Aushiris had their full share of this persecution and infection. To survive they adopted a policy of complete isolationism which has continued to this day and is en forced to the death. Their usual procedure is to kill any outsider who invades their territory, if they can do so with impunity, and then go off on long treks through the jungle. If outnumbered, they disappear in to the woods so silently and effec tively that they have been aptly de scribed as “the phantom people of the Curaray.” Farmers to some ex tent, they plant fields, then leave to return months later for whatever harvest there is. Because of their restless, nomadic ways they are hard to find, and their settlements are not permanent either in con struction or in site. An actual case history I heard from an Ecuadorian army officer il lustrates the tremendous difficulty of making any peaceful contact with them. This officer—let’s call him Major Rodriguez—was in com mand of a garrison on the Nushino River near Aushiri territory. One day he led a fishing party down stream to replenish the post’s food supplies. As they neared a beach along the river bank, they saw a naked Indian woman, whom the Major recognized as an Aushiri, with two children. He decided on the spur of the moment to kidnap the woman in order to learn the language as a first step toward try- Editor's Note W e thought our readers would like to see a secular magazines viewpoint of the death of the five US. missionaries in Ecuador early this year (see K.B. for April). This article is reprinted from "Americas," monthly maga zine published by the Pan American Union in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
The history of the Aushiris and other tribes in the Amazon basin since the coming of the white men has been one long tale of cruelty and carnage. Ironically, while the Spanish Catholic m issionaries searched out the infidel tribes in their own inhospitable green hell and either Christianized them or died in the attempt, the Spanish militia and both,Spanish and Por tuguese raiders invaded the Indian settlem en ts, hunted the brown skinned people like wild animals and sold them as slaves to the thriv ing colonial plantations. The cross and the sword — mysticism and butchery — were alternately ap plied to a bewildered and defense less people. But even the cruel ex ploits of the conquistadors were surpassed by the rubber traders who came later and exacted tithes of latex from the tribes. There were cases of Indian men being burned alive and their women quartered for failing to meet their rubber quotas. Diseases introduced by the Europeans, such as the dreaded smallpox, helped to decimate the tribes. The name of the Omaguas, a thriving and numerous people who were living along the headwa ters of the Amazon at the time of the Conquest, is now only a fading reminder of an extinct tribe. After the rubber boom collapsed, the sadistic traders left. But sub sequent white settlers instituted the peonage system, and the tamed In dian tribes in this area of Ecuador lived in virtual serfdom until the Shell Company alleviated the sit uation by substituting direct pay
Back at the garrison, the prison ers were locked up in a room, and Major Rodriguez tried his best to dispel the woman’s uncontrollable fear. But whenever the white men entered the room, she would howl like a terrified animal and crouch with the children in the farthest Comer. When they left they could hear her clawing at the walls seek ing a way out. At night they heard her jumping against the zinc roof like a wild creature until she finally fell to the floor exhausted. She re fused to eat and began to waste away. Then the Major, aware that confinement never agrees with peo ple brought up in the open, allowed her to go outside under watch. One day she wandered along the river bank with the children. The sol diers reported that she gathered a large quantity of barbasco root and chewed it to extract the juice. As suming she intended to use the poi sonous juice to stun and catch fish, as the Indians do in this region, the Major believed she was taking an interest in things again. During the night she drank the poison and gave some to the children. Despite the soldiers’ efforts to save them, only the younger boy survived. Much later the Major learned why she had committed suicide: she knew she could never return to her tribe, for it is a law that anyone who has contact with outsiders, willingly or unwillingly, must be put to death —such is Aushiri hatred and fear of the white men. The Major decided to adopt the surviving child, and in due course
12
THE KING 'S BUSINESS
won his friendship and overcame some of his fear of white men’s clothes and ways. They understood each other even though the boy was unable to master Spanish. When Major Rodriguez was transferred to the semi-tropical town of Puyo on the eastern slopes of the Andean cordillera, the boy went along. One day leaving his clothes behind, he took to the trees, apparently trying to find his way back to his jungle home. A rotten branch gave under his weight and he fell on a sharp rock. His would- be protector found him mortally injured. The most complete and recent re search on the tribe and its customs was done by a Swedish writer and explorer, Rolf Blomberg. He told his story in the book Vildar (Stock holm, Geber, 1949; English trans lation published by Allen and Un win, London, 1956, as The Naked Aucas). Along with a Colombian photographer, Horacio Lopez (who used the professional name “Rob inson” ), and David Cooper, a U.S. missionary belonging to the same group as those killed in the January massacre, Blomberg organized an expedition to the Curaray and Nu- shino rivers in the hope of meeting and pacifying the tribe. Trekking through steaming jungle, they ar rived at the Nushino and with the help of local Yumbo Indians built two balsa rafts. They thought they would be safer gliding through the Aushiri country on the water than taking their chances against such skilled woodsmen. Every night the party pitched camp on the river bank. Two na tive crewmen and one white man stood guard while the others slept. The river jou rney continued through five days of pitiless heat. The explorers knew that they could not have penetrated so far into hos tile territory without being observed by the watchful Aushiris. Yet they could not detect even the crack of a twig or the stir of a leaf that would reveal the Indians’ presence. They hoped to meet the Aushiris on friendly terms but were pre
pared to shoot at the first sign of an attack. Suddenly the two rafts, sticking close together, were blocked by a huge half-sunken log in a narrow river bend. The Yumbo lookouts shouted in Quechua: “Aucas—we are in danger!” The log was a de liberate barrier planted to slow them down and force them closer to the bank where, silent and ser pentlike, the Aushiris waited be hind the tangled foliage. With savage, bloodcurdling war cries, the Aushiris attacked. Their lances rained on the little fleet. Hastily the men dived off the rafts, keeping submerged as much as pos sible. Standing chest-deep in the shallow water, they fired for their lives. One of the heavy lances struck down a Yumbo carrier. Lo pez tried to take pictures but his camera was soaked, and he soon discarded that idea in favor of more effective defense measures. Light ing pieces of dynamite from the second raft, the Yumbos hurled them at the Aushiris like hand grenades. The explosion made a terrific din and a column of thick smoke rose into the air. Under this screen, the explorers made shore and surveyed the scene. On the sand, in a neat clearing the size of a large room, were Aushiri foot prints, the toes spread out, the big one separated from the rest. Razor- sharp chonta-wood lances, deco rated with bright feathers, were stacked by the river bank. About three yards long, they tapered into saw-toothed points designed to in flict gaping wounds. A bloody trail led off into the woods. When the ambush failed, the Aushiris, evi dently frightened by the dynamite blast, had fled with their wounded. In a forced cross-country march of five more days, the explorers reached the Napo River and safety. Previously Shell Company ex ploration parties had also been at tacked by the Aushiris, and the company had tried its hand at paci fication. A lengthy report has been compiled of all the murderous raids on settlers and travelers made by
this tribe over the past 40 years. Two Aushiri women who had run away from their people because of some transgression of tribal law were brought to Quito so that efforts could be made to learn their lan guage. One could not reconcile her self to captivity and starved herself to death in the Convent Reforma tory School where she was being kept. The other was sent back to the East and lives as a servant on a plantation on the upper Napo River. Catholic and Protestant mission aries, explorers, writers, scientific expeditions and the Ecuadorian army have tried to make friendly overtures to these people, but none have succeeded. The Aushiris seem to have branded in their brains and in their blood an age-old resentment of past persecution and an undying hatred of outsiders. The question inevitably arises whether the U.S. missionaries who fell victims to these people knew the history of their savagery. Had they taken into account the long and bloody vendetta of the Aushiris against encroaching whites, their lives need not have been sacrificed. A long-ranch view of pacification might in the end have achieved more positive results. The drama of this tragic loss lies in the impact between the savage mind bent on survival and revenge and the civi lized mind rendered defenseless by adhering, even in the face of death, to a doctrine that has been preached for almost 2,000 years but is prac ticed only by a minority of isolated mystics, martyrs and true Chris tians. The primeval jungles of the Am azon, with their vegetable slime- sluggish green rivers and soporific swamps shrouded in wraithlike mists, make up a voracious region that has engulfed many a human life. Now it has been tinged once more with the blood of white bear ers of the cross. Yet in the book of history that stain pales alongside the blotch of Indian blood shed through the centuries by the white bearers of the sword. END.
13
DECEMBER 1956
by OSWALD J. SM ITH
The Agony
E paphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fer vently for you in prayers” (Col. 4:12). Why such fervency? Why so much labor? Most of us would simply take our request be fore God, believe that He had an swered, and think no more about it. But not so with Epaphras. To him it was hard work. He was a real intercessor, and so Paul describes his prayer life on behalf of others not only as “labour” but “fervent labour,” or, as it is in the margin, “striving.” Do we know anything about that kind of ministry? No wonder the early churches were what they were. No wonder Paul was so mightily used of God. In our day it is customary for an evangelist to take a singer with him, but in Paul’s day it was the custom to take a pray-er. We never hear of a song leader accompany ing the apostle, but we do hear of men who prayed. It is easy to sing, but hard to pray. Even a worldly congregation can join in the song service, but if real Holy Spirit fruit is to be produced our work must be carried on in an atmosphere of prayer. Every evangelist needs an Epaphras to accompany him if he is to secure the best results. “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). Thus prayed the Son of God. Even to Him prayer was the most difficult work that He had to do. Oh yes, it was a joy, for
c ommun i on w i t h God always brings joy and blessing; but then there is the enemy to meet when prayer becomes a battle. I wonder how much we know about this kind of prayer? The inspired Word says that He was in an agony, that after He had prayed for a time He began to pray “more earnestly,” and that the work was hard, the agony so great, the burden so heavy, the pressure so terrible, that the very sweat became blood as it oozed out through the pores of His skin. What intensity! How terrific the struggle! And how far we fall short in our intercessory prayer life. How little we know of the burden that rested on the Son of God. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom. 8:26). Here we have a picture of the prayer life of the Holy Spirit. Even He prays as Jesus prayed. Note the language used in regard to His intercession. It was with “groanings.” And, in order to give some idea of the intensity and suf fering, it is said that the groans of the Spirit are inexpressible. No language is capable of conveying an adequate conception of the fer vency of the Spirit’s intercessions. They are with groanings which cannot be uttered. What an exam ple. What an ideal. How fearfully we fail to measure up to such an experience. May God help us to lay hold in a new way as we engage in
this, the highest form of Christian service. Intercessory prayer is the Chris tian’s most effective weapon. Noth ing can withstand its power. It will do things when all else has failed. And the marvel is that we turn to other agencies in order to accom plish what only prayer can bring to pass. God has placed this mighty weapon in our hands and He ex pects us to use it. How disappointed He must be when we lay it aside and substitute natural means for supernatural work. The world’s methods are used for the raising of money with which to carry on God’s work. Yet we have His positive Word, “But my God shall supply all your need accord ing to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). On the basis of that God expects us to spread our needs before Him in prayer and thus have them met. We adopt ex tensive advertising methods with which to arrest the attention of the people and secure large crowds. Yet it is possible to so pray that God Himself will move upon the Christ- less masses and bring them in. I do not for a moment mean that I disapprove of advertising, for I do not. The people must be informed. I am simply saying that when we depend upon our advertising to the extent that we consider prayer un necessary, it is dishonoring to God. And so we might go over the whole list and show how in this 20th century we are more and more turning from the God-appointed means of intercessory prayer and
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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