Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

the last part of that year Garrett was confined tohis bed. His father frequently came to visit him. Andsometime later his older brother Neal also with aserious ailment, would come to Pittsburgh for treatments and would stop at the Seminary to rest. Sometimes we would try to comfort them as we thoughtwe should. Maybe we did not know how, but we triedto comfort and encourage that dear father of thesetwo sick men. But, you know, every time we had toadmit afterwards that Dr. Blair did us far more goodthan Ave could do him. Sharing these hard experiences constitutes a real blessing in the lives of others.God hath not promised skies always blue,Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through ;God hath not promised sun without rain,Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.God hath not promised we shall not knowToil and temptation, trouble and woe;He hath not told us we shall not bearMany a burden, many a care.God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,Swift, easy travel, needing no guide ;Never a mountain, rocky and steep,Never a river turbid and deep.But God hath promised strength for the day,Rest for the labor, light for the way,Grace for the trials, help from above,Unfailing sympathy, undying love.Annie Johnson FlintREPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON SIGNSOF THE TIMESIt may be fairly easy to forecast the weatherwhen the morning sky is red and lowering, or whenit is gray. The difficulty comes when it is neither.It would be easy to foretell the future if thiswere a Christian world wherein dwelleth righteousness, or if God were not in the thoughts of any.But the indications do not all point in the samedirection. That makes it difficult to predict, thefuture. The committee does not attempt this.There are many causes for hope and encouragement.The church in America is free. It holds a position of influence. It does help to restrain much evil.It can be said of millions of Americans as it was saidof Jesus, "As His custom was, He went into thesynagogue on the Sabbath Day." Many congregationsare compelled to hold two morning services becausetheir auditoriums will not accommodate all theirmembers who desire to worship the Lord.There are many who are leaving the so-calledliberal churches and putting their membership indenominations Avho accept the Bible as God's inspired word. Several ministers have made inquiryconcerning membership in our denomination, andone did come into membership this past year. Othershave left the denominations in which they wereraised and trained to enter the membership and minof more conservative denominations. There isistrymuch heresy taught in American theological seminaries and proclaimed from Protestant pulpits, yetthere are still thousands of ministers preaching theGospel forcefully andsemiunashamedly.OrthodoxAugust 17, 1955naries and Bible schools are growing both in numberand in the size of their student bodies. There is anencouraging evangelical movement on the campusesof colleges and universities.In our own denomination there are many whoregularly travel long distances because they believein the truths taught in the Bible and accepted bythe church. Ministers and members are loyal to thestandards of the church in spite of many temptations to leave it. This last year the Brief Covenantwas signed in our congregations after being signedat Grinnell. This put in writing the truths whichwe hold and the great majority of our people expressed their acceptance of these truths by puttingdown their names to the covenant.We rejoice that our President and others in highplaces have declared that all our progress and prosperity have a spiritual foundation, and that we mustseek and have God's blessing if we are to remain astrong nation. Many of the meetings of the President's Cabinet begin with prayer. J. Edgar Hoover,head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, callsfor a revival of interest in spiritual things as ourgreatest need.There are some indications that this is bearingfruit in righteousness. There has not been onelynching in the United States for over three and onehalfyears. Our Supreme Court has declared thatrace segregation must end in our public schools. TheCongress of the United States has amended thepledge to the flag by adding the words "under God."This acknowledges our indebtedness to Him for allHe has done for us and that we are subject to hisauthority.The divorce rate has been declining for severalyears. This decline is not rapid, but the fact thatthere is a decline is cause for hope. After years ofconstant increase, the sale and use of cigarettesdeclined in both 1953 and 1954, the first decrease insales since the decline in 1932 over the sales of 1931.The Christian Amendment Movement seemsto be gaining ground. The truth concerning thenation's relationship to Christ is being broadcast onfree time over stations in many states.These and other reasons give hope for the coming of a better day. But the greatest reason of allis in the promises of God. We have His certainpromise that the kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.That promise will be kept. We may not see muchprogress in one year, but Christ came to destroy theworks of the devil, and conditions are certainlymuch better than when He came in the flesh. Rightwill triumph in this world because God has promisedit and His promises are sure.To our regret there are other signs which indicate disaster. Crime is constantly increasing andthis increase is largely among the young. This reflects a perverted sense of values and a growing disrespect for authority. In spite of the fact that churchmembership is increasing at a rate faster than thegrowth of our population, this growth in the numberof professed Christians does not always show itselfin reverence for God or obedience to His holy laws.While we rejoice in all that our President hassaid about the need for a right spiritual emphasis,we lament his personal misuse of the Sabbath. Thereare millions of professed Christians all over Americawho seem to forget that the first day of the week is105