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October, 1937
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Shall W e Evangelize the Com ing Conquering Arm y?
By KENNETH M. MO N RO E Los Angeles, California decalogue, ostracize God, deify man, and bow the knee only to Mammon, Pan, and Priapus. According to Homer S. Cummings, United States Attorney General, the armed crim inals of the United States outnumber the army, the navy, and the marine corps in a ratio of two to one. Yes, the seeds of destruction are within that bid fair, if not restrained, to plunge this nation into chaos. Notwithstanding the possible danger from this insidious army of adults, wq would not wax bold, in dogmatic phraseology, contending they constitute the coming con quering army. The army of which I am thinking comes neither from across the Atlantic, nor from the other side of the Pacific, nor from the present generation of American citizens. Nevertheless, I can hear the tramp, tramp, tramp of little feet, the feet of those to whom America is destined to submit. Our children, six to seventeen years of age, con stitute an army thirty million strong, which soon will rule, if the Lord tarries, America’s vast domain. They are in training now, and the fathers and mothers and teachers now alive are preparing this army. Desired Qualities in the Army Instead of waiting twenty years and condemning the generation then in power, let us decide the characteristics to be de sired in those controlling our country. For their own good and for the safety of the nation, they will need: 1. Physical health—freedom from weak ness and disease. The increased knowledge of the body made available by modern science enables the father and mother to build in their children strong resistance to destroying forces. Yet millions of men and women by the breaking of God’s laws are contracting weakness and disease which definitely mortgage their posterity. The social diseases are handicapping more child ren than is generally realized. 2. A well-developed mind, which is trained not only in things secular but also in things spiritual. It has often been point ed out that philosophy, alone, has always lacked “ an ingredient vitality necessary to the soul’s health.” Further, we are not interested in having our .youth become de praved aesthetes, but we do want an appre ciation of the beautiful in nature and life which will call forth a “Te Deum Laud- amus” to the Creator. By the separation of the church and the state, the training of the mind has been taken over largely by the state. Consequently, from the negative standpoint, the education of America’s youth has been despiritualized; regarded posi tively, it has been secularized. The advice which the mother of Thomas
A MERICA will soon be conquered by an army. This coming conquering “■ army will force its customs, educa tion, economics, philosophy, art, language, and religion upon millions in America. You may ask, “W ill this army come from the north or the south, the east or the west?” Looking across the Atlantic, we see Eu rope in a veritable war camp. Animosities of long standing have not been settled sat isfactorily to all. While nations are signing with one hand peace and disarmament treat ies, with the other they are constructing land, water, and air forces in the mad rush to protect their own lives and property, and even, in some instances, to carry on aggres sive warfare. Europe may be a neighbor hood, but it is no brotherhood, and there is still a possibility that the Spanish war may embroil Europe and the United States. But this nation is not in immediate danger from the east. Looking to the west we see that the hair has broken which held the Damoclean sword above China and Japan. And there is a possibility that a half dozen other nations may grasp its hilt in defense of life and property. But although Uncle Sam may resort to force in self-defense, it is not toward the Pacific that we must look for the coming conquering army of which we speak. The Threat to America A number of years before Abraham Lincoln became President, he delivered an address in Springfield, 111., in which he said that, even though the nations of the world would combine their armies and together strain to fill one mammoth war chest, “ they could not, without our consent, put one foot on the Allegheny Mountains or take one drop from the Ohio River.” He then proceeded to say, “ If America is ever destroyed, it will be by seeds of de struction within.” Today we face within the nation leeches which, if continually fed by the blood of our ideals and institutions, will vitiate America. I refer to those who engage in commercialized crime, those who are un scrupulous purveyors of corrupting amuse ments, those who are endeavoring to break down the morals of both youth and age, those who would destroy the sanctity of marriage, those who would cashier the [Dr. Monrot is a member of the faculty of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, and is Secretary of the Institute’s Correspondence School. It was under his supervision that the Child Evangelism Course offered by the Correspondence School vias prepared .— E ditor .]
Carlyle wrote her illustrious Son is as appro priate now as when penned: “ Tammie, Tammie, dinna lose the Word in the Iearnin’ !” The really good life is one that is inspired by a love for God and guided by a knowledge of His Word. Minds thus trained could hardly consider the pagan trilogy, “ Power the goal of the state, profit the goal of the economic order, and pleasure the goal of all people,” as being compatible with the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. A constant spiritual experience. A new birth in Christ Jesus through saving faith in His efficacious work, and a daily fellow ship with Him—these constitute the spirit ual experience to be desired for the coming hosts of America’s leaders. The American people need Christ and the Bible more than they need any things of a material nature, if we are to preclude future conditions like those of the present. The changes achieved by the reformer, much as they are needed, will never constitute a substitute for regen eration. Twice-born men will do more to lift America out of the mire than will reformed men. Twice-born men in politics, business, churches, and educational institu tions, men whose Christian profession and practice are consistent, will make our land more safe for democracy, and, under divine Providence, “ insure domestic tranquillity.” By way of summary, what more could we hope for than that our sons and daughters and all others we are able to touch might be fine Christian men and women? And to this end, the army of our youth must be fed on “ the bread of life.” Causes of Past Failures One morning, a few years ago, several of us attended the Anglican Church of St. George, in Jerusalem. On this particu lar morning, the rector took his text from Acts 1:8: “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jeru salem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Introducing this message, he said, in part, “ Only about one-fourth of the inhabitants of Jerusalem are Christian. Only a small part of the world is Christian. There are two reasons: first, many who have heard the gospel, and know the way of salvation, persistently refuse to accept Christ. There is a second and more important reason for the small proportion of Christians: the church has failed to witness as she should.” It is only reasonable to believe that every person has the right to hear the gospel once before any man hears it twice; and certainly every child has a right to hear the story of Jesus’ love for him, and of [Continued on page 409]
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