Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

attend."evangelism"upholds the Torah, and that its members proved that it waspossible to build a village and lead a most fruitful andsuccessful life, whilst at the same time abiding by everyrule of the code of Jewish law."The day begins at 4:00 a.m. when the members listento a sermon by their Rabbi. After the morning service theystart to milk the cows and work in the fields. Before the evening service the Rabbi again preaches a sermon which allthe members of the settlement (ERA-7/13/55)A Century of Protestant Progress in South AmericaIn Colombia next year, 1956, a centennial of ProtestantChristianity will be sponsored by the Evangelical Confederation. The event will celebrate the arrival of the Rev. HenryB. Pratt, pioneer Protestant missionary who began thework of evangelization in Colombia shortly after the country had achieved its independence from Spain.A program of commemorative activities will unfoldduring the whole of 1956. Special emphasis will be givento evangelism. Information will be published on the advance of the Protestant churches against fanaticism, indifference and systematic persecution. Three large meetingswill be held, one in Barranquilla, one in Cali, and anotherin Bogota. The one in Bogota will be designated as the FirstProtestant Congress of Colombia. One of the goals of theCentennial is the distribution of 20,000 copies of the NewTestament in a special binding to commemorate the event.(MNS-7/13/55)Gospel Radio Programs Now Blanket UruguayThe entire population of Uruguay will soon be coveredby a "saturationradio effort being sponsoredjointly by the Evangelical Alliance Mission and World RadioMissionary Fellowship.Charles Ward, TEAM missionary serving in the specialradio project, reports that currentlyeight radio programsa week are reaching into the interior of the country andthat two additional stations will be added to the specialnetwork in the immediate future.Lesson Helps for the Week of August 21, 1955C. Y. P. U. TOPICAugust 21, 1955"HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOtTRBIBLESTORIES?"Luke 15:11-32.Comments by Thomas J. Wilson,Psalms:White LakePsalm 119, page 287, verses 1-3.Psalm 119, page 288, verses 1-4.Psalm 119, page 299, verses 1-2.Psalm 119, page 301, verses 1-4.Psalm 119, page 309,Scripture passages:verses 1-4.2 Tim. 3:14-17; Mark 12:24; Luke 1:68-71; Heb. 3:7-10; 2 Peter 1:19-21;Acts 7:51-53.Comments:The historic stand of our Church isthat the "Scriptures of the Old andNew Testaments are the Word of Godand the only infallible rule of faith andlife."Because of this we have not minimized the value of the Old Testamentin comparison with the New Testament.Our ministers have preached from theOld Testament with the understandingthat a good knowledge of it gives a fuller meaning to the New Testament. Because of our emphasis on the Old Testament I have heard us called, "Old TesChristians."tamentNevertheless, anylogically-minded person will have toadmit that if the Old Testament is thevery Word of God, then it must beworthy of our careful consideration.Recently I have heard the idea proposed that the Bible teaches a numberof truths. The details of the storieswhich teach these truths are relativelyunimportant so long as we learn thetruths themselves. On the surface thisAugust 3, 1955idea sounds very good, but after thinking it over you will realize that it is animpossibility. If you want a clue on howto study history, I would say: studypeople. When history becomes impersonal, then it becomes dry and uninteresting. Even so it is with the Bibleand especially the historical books of theOld Testament. If you want a good understanding of the Old Testament, studythe lives of the people which it tellsabout. If you want a better understanding of the teachings of the New Testament, then fill your mind with the truthsof the Old Testament. As Stephen, thefirst Christian martyr, preached thatgreat sermon to the council just beforehis death, he preached to them from theOld Testament and theygot the point.How well do you know the storieswhich are found in the Old Testament?I am going to relate to you a Bible storywhich contains a number of"slight"errors. I would suggest that you readthis story in the meeting and then correct the mistakes."Once upon a time there lived in theland of Babylon a beautiful young queenby the name of Ruth. Ruth had beenmade queen because she had won abeauty contest which the king, Ahasuerus, had held. It seems that his formerwife, Valeria, had done something whichhe did not like so he decided to run thisbeauty contest and find a new wife.Ruth was a Jewess but it is evident thatnobody around Shushan knew that.At this time there was a fellow by thename of Hanna who was Prime Ministerof the Persian Empire. We do not knowtoo much about old Hanna except thathe was a greedy sort of a fellow; he wasexceedingly proud of himself, and hehated the Jews with a passion. Therewas one Jew who spent a lot of time sitting at the palace gate who especiallygalled old Hanna because of the factthat he did not pay him enough respect.This fellow's name was Mordecai, andit just happened that he was the queen'scousin but Hanna did not know that.Well, to make a long story shorter, Hanna decided that he would get even withMordecai and all of his kind in one-fellswoop.He got the king to sign a decree that on a certain day all the Jewsin the whole empire should be killed androbbed. When this decree had been sentout, of course, all the Jews were veryfrightened, and Mordecai covered himself with camel's hair and sat outsidethe walls of the palace in mourning.Then he sent a note to the queen andtold her about the decree which hadbeen issued and he reminded her thatshe too was a Jew. She did not needto think that she would escape deathjust because she was in the palace ofthe king. Mordecai also reminded herthat this was probably the reason whyGod had placed her in the palace. Itwas her duty to intercede for her people with the king.It was the law in the palace in thosedays that the queen could not go intothe king's chamber unless he had calledfor her. Ruth knew this and she wasafraid to go in to see the king. If hehappened to be in a bad mood that dayhe just might have his guards kill heron the spot. But finally Ruth decidedthat it was her duty to risk her life inorder that her people might live. Beforeshe did this, however, she wanted tohave one last fling just in case she waskilled, so she and her maids had a party75