Pointer's

Monthly pointer's by the staff of the Ministry.

By the staff of the Ministry.

 CHRISTIANITY'S NEW LOOOK

In many parts of the United States there is a growing religious fervor indicating that people are grasping for something solid. Plagued by fears of atomic warfare and financial and eco­nomic insecurities, multitudes are eager for peace of mind or some antidote to the confusion and tension of our time. While fear may bestir some, yet there is among a great group of people a long­ing for a better way of life. Thoughtful students of history declare that mankind drifts in cycles from tyranny to democracy, then to prosperity, then to materialism and back to tyranny again. And that is where we are heading. In spite of all our culture and religion there is a moral breakdown resulting in a very tidal wave of juvenile delinquency. One of the chief causes of this can be laid at the door of modern education, which leaves God out of the picture. Education for a hundred years has ridi­culed both Creation and the Creator.

Thomas Macaulay, English historian and states­man, over a century ago made this amazing pre­diction concerning the United States. "Your repub­lic will be pillaged and ravaged in the Twentieth Century just as the Roman Empire was by the bar­barians of the Fifth Century . . . with this differ­ence . .. that the devastators of the Roman Empire came from abroad, while your barbarians will be the people of your own country, and the product of your own institutions." If he had written that last week he could not have stated the situation better. The rising generation is being shortchanged in the classrooms of today, and the result is a wave of sensualism and immorality that is destroy­ing millions of young lives.

The need today is for a dynamic militant type of preaching, the kind that General Eisenhower was referring to when he addressed a group of clergymen in the White House. Stanley Pieza, reli­gious editor of the Chicago Daily News, reported the former President's speech in these words: "More than 250 clergymen recently stood before the mahogany desk of President Eisenhower in his office. What the president told the ministers amazed, gratified, and fortified them." "He drew a chorus of 'Amens' when he said 'I like militant preachers and chaplains. I so firmly believe that all free government is soundly based on religious faith that I feel that no one teaching moral standards and spiritual ideals should do so apologeti­cally. I occasionally have had quarrels with chap­lains. It was always because they were too diffident in their preaching. I think they should have been a little more belligerent in what they had to say!"

The President and General of the Army was right. Soft "Pollyanna" sermons can never build the church spiritually. "Speak unto us smooth things" was what the people were saying in Isaiah's day. Strong evangelical preaching that will make the issues clear and leave no room for misunder­standing is our task. Only the everlasting gospel can prepare a people to stand in this age of con­fusion.

R. A. A.

NOT YET

Ours is a crisis-ridden time. Emergency YET situations seem to be continuous. So conditioned are we to living with danger that we are neither concerned when the issues burn nor relieved when they cool off. To be sure, there are times when we come dangerously close to "putting out the lights." But the Master's judg­ment so far has prevailed. Said He, "The end is not yet" (Matt. 24:6). In short, there is more to come.

Preacher, do you find yourself hoping against hope for better times in which to raise your fam­ily, preach the gospel, and lead your flock into green pastures? For the comparative normalcy of yesteryear you need only be human to yearn. But the "good old days" are gone forever and you know it. We have been catapulted into an era of abnormalcy from which there is no return. It is a one-way street and all that lies ahead is ours. From here, things are scheduled to get worse. Un­believable that things can get worse than the Beatles, Buchenwald, and the battlefield, or can­cer, cranks, and the high cost of living. But things will get worse, infinitely worse. We will see the emergence of the image of the beast, a form of absolute power, absolutely exercised. We will wit­ness the outpouring of the seven last plagues. Anger between nations and individuals will become the continuing attitude. Destructive prejudices, hereto­fore restrained, will assert themselves like a raging torrent, so long contained, at last released. We have sowed the wind, the whirlwind is our por­tion. International anarchy stalks the earth. The end? "Not yet." Not until the saints are stripped of their pride and sinners their pomp. Not until all men recognize that all flesh is grass and as the flower thereof, and God stands at last alone, un­rivaled and unenvied. Then and then only "shall the end come."                                                

E. E. C.


Ministry reserves the right to approve, disapprove, and delete comments at our discretion and will not be able to respond to inquiries about these comments. Please ensure that your words are respectful, courteous, and relevant.

comments powered by Disqus

By the staff of the Ministry.

March 1965

Download PDF
Ministry Cover

More Articles In This Issue

The Holy Spirit and Evangelism

We need the power of the Holy Spirit today.

Shall we Bleed to Death?

The church bleeds to death when its ministry and laity stop winning souls.

"Tigers for the Soul"

Our danger is not sensationalism but stagnation.

289 Souls Won in the "City of Brotherly Love"

What a privilege the Lord gave to us in Philadelphia, the "City of Brotherly Love" this past summer!

Evangelistic Crusade in Mexico City

A report from a city of 6 million.

A Light in Rome

The Italian Union Committee held in Florence decided to have a special evan­gelistic campaign in Rome with the collab­oration of some evangelists and colporteurs.

Haunted House Cleansed by Prayer

Evil spirits get driven out.

The Miracle Church

If we are to successfully meet the challenge of this hour, every executive, departmental secretary, pastor, Bible instructor, colporteur, and layman must catch a new vision and unite in an all-out evangelistic drive for the enlarging of the kingdom of Christ.

It Works!

How to win more souls.

View All Issue Contents

Digital delivery

If you're a print subscriber, we'll complement your print copy of Ministry with an electronic version.

Sign up

Recent issues

See All