Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

prayer"
experience."
movie."
glad."
years!"
world."
tidal wave of
while she was in
Hollywood, that the moving message of
her book might become the heart also
of the movie, to carry its message to the
heart of America. In the letter just re
ceived she says, "Someday, I hope to be
able to tell in detail the exciting story
of what prayer did for the
As technical adviser for the screen
play in Hollywood, she went through
some "bad
moments,"
when she saw the
producers "on the verge of very wrong
decisions."
Her faith often "wavered and
faltered"; how was God to guide those
who often were not even aware of Him,
and who perhaps did not even seek His
guidance
"With Complete Integrity"
But, she writes, "On January 21 in
Hollywood, 80 clergymen Protestant,
Jewish, and Catholic
saw the rough-cut
version of this movie. Their overwhelm
ing reaction was, 'We didn't think Holly
wood could do it!' " She is overwhelmed,
she says, with gratitude that the spirit
of the book is so faithfully carried
through in the movie; that Richard
Todd impersonates Peter Marshall "with
complete integrity"; and that "big
chunks"
of Marshall's sermons in his
own words are spoken on the screen
this "for the first time in motion-pic
ture history." She herself saw it March
7 in New York "an awe-inspiring and
humbling
In her letter dated March 15 she again
appeals for a tidal wave of prayer that,
as Peter again preaches to vast audi
ences across the land, God will open the
hearts of the people to receive the mes
sage.
United Presbyterian
RISING TIDE OF EVANGELISM
NEW KORK CITY, April 2 This
Easter, when Americans will traditional
ly throng to worship services in their
greatest numbers, the nation's churches
will welcome more new members than
ever before in history, according to the
Rev. Berlyn Farris, executive director
of the Department of Evangelism of the
National Council of Churches.
"The Lenten Season of 1955 will see
more persons uniting with the Christian
churches of America than in any other
similar time," he declared. "A rising tide
of religious interest and evangelistic ac
tivity
on the part of the churches, and
particularly of the laity, can point to
this."
nothing less than
Dr. Charles "Chuck" Templeton, na
tionally known evangelist who has travel
ed in 26 states during the past 12 months
said he has seen "unmistakable evidence
of the greatest interest, in evangelism in
my
memory."
Speaking
as evangelism
secretary of the 2,000,000-member Pres
byterian Church, USA, Dr. Templeton
said that last year his
304
denomination
"had the greatest results from its evan
gelistic program in all its history." He
predicted that the trend will carry into
this year.
Some 90,000,000 persons in the U.S.
are enrolled as members of Christian
churches an all-time high. Of these,
2,500,000 joined the church during the
past year. Another 35,000,000 chiefly
children and young people belong to
Sunday Schools. The Religious Newsweekly
On Easter this year the churches of
the United States were attended by a
greater number of people than ever be
fore in the history of this nation or any
other. This at least is the opinion ex
pressed in a recent issue of the popular
weekly magazine,
"Newsweek."
In its
survey of religion in the nation as of
"Newsweek"
the present time,
said in
part :
"The resurrection was celebrated
in the nation's churches by some ninety
million persons, the highest church-go
ing percentage of total population in the
country's history. Some fifty-seven per
cent of all Americans (paid) homage be
fore some altar to the risen Christ; a
century ago it was only sixteen per cent.
This fourfold -expansion cannot be dis
missed as an empty statistic. Rather, it
apparently symbolizes a steady growth
of America's belief in God, and an in
creasing desire to participate in the life
of His churches. American church mem
bership since the turn of the century has
increased more than twice as fast as the
population. But even the numerical
growth has been overshadowed in recent
years by the obvious vigor and scope of
America's religious life. If the United
States is undergoing a genuine religious
revival
that it is
and there is every indication
the rebirth is one which has
been fostered by preacher and parishion
er together in unprecedented co-opera
tion to spread the Word of God." We can
be grateful that as Bishop Kennedy of
the Methodist Church expresses it,
"Something has happened! Something
tremendous!"
Let us hope that it is still
happening
every day.
not on Easter day alone, but
Influencing Our Little Ones
"When we go dead, then we are going
to live again. That makes us
Thus spoke four-year-old Johnnie
writer's little nephew.
the
"When we die that's the end of us,"
said a niece, nicknamed "Johnnie," who
is ten years old. These two Johnnies
belong to the same Christian communi
ty. And yet how different!
The ten-year-old "Johnnie"
the case with the younger Johnnie
as was
did
not give expression to views which ori
ginated with her personally. She voiced
the religion of her larger surroundings.
The ten-year-old has been exposed to
non-Christian influence. The stamp of
the world has been impressed upon her
young soul. As a natural reflex the
language of the world flows from her
lips.
Another True Story
A boy had attended a certain school
up to the fourth grade. In this school
the Bible was honored. Then his pa
rents moved, and the boy went to
another school. One day, in Spelling,
the word "create" was in the word
list. The class was asked to use the
word in a sentence. The new boy held
up his hand and said: "God created
the This was met by a telling
smile from the teacher, and the whole
class burst out laughing. (Fourth grade,
"Well,"
mind you!) said the teacher,
"there are still some who believe that."
No subject not even Spelling is
safe in the hands of an unbelieving
teacher. Ridicule on the part of the
teacher and classmates is a deadly wea
pon of destruction. Who can stand under
its withering effects in more mature
years
How many children of the King are
exposed to the attack of the enemy
while at school
Know this: a child
of the King taught by worldly teach
ing is royalty set up as a target in
easy range of the enemy.
"To mispronounce a word is a griev
ous blunder, to misquote an author is
a crime
but to put a kink in a stu
dent's thinking is to tamper with his
eternal destiny."
Stearns
National Association of Christian
Schools, 542 S. Dearborn St., Chicago
5, Illinois.
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT
A Slaveholder had committed the care
of one of his teams to a faithful slave
for some years; at last one of them died.
While the slave was burying the faithful
animal, the other horse came across the
field and stood by, watching the opera
tion as a silent mourner.
The master said to the slave, "I be
lieve Dick loved Billy." Instantly the
slave replied, '"Course he did, Massa;
why they pulled together for twenty
It is the pulling together of the
various Christian forces against the
common enemy and for a common cause
that will unite the hearts of the follow
ers of the Master.
J. W. Knopp, D.D.
COVENANTER WITNESS