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A REGRETTABLE ACTION.
Our Confession of Faith declares that "Syn
ods and Councils may err " ? Some of us can
not help feeling that the General Assembly of
our Church did err in practice, in directing
its Committee of Foreign Missions, to decline
to send out any new missionaries, lino matter
how urgent the need, except such physicians
and nurses as are imperatively needed." This
was in support of a resolution of the Commit
tee of Foreign Missions.
The unfortunate impression has therefore
gone forth amidst the Church that our For
eign Mission work is at a standstill. "We dare
in a modest fashion to dissent from this action,
and trust that the next General Assembly will
rescind this action and say to the Foreign Mis
sion Committee, "speak to the Children of
Israel that they GO FORWARD."
May some reasons be given why this is a
regrettable action? It does not seem that the
Committee's own showing justifies this radical
retrenchment. While the debt is $250,000, the
Committee is paying interest on only $50, 000
of that amount, and if the reserve were called
in it would practically pay this interest-bear
ing debt. We are sure that if a business con
cern had no interest bearing notes in bank, it
would never think of not seeking new business.
It would expand, probably to the limit of its
credit with its bank.
Then too, with current assets of $2,000,000,
this debt of apparently $250,000 does not seem
to be much. There are few business houses
which carry as fine a showing as that. All
these figures are from the Minutes of the As
sembly and the Report of the Foreign Mission
Committee.
Even if things were worse, it would be a
bad policy from the point of view of the Mis
sion work itself. None of our Mission work
is absolutely permanent. It is all more or less
in an embryonic state. Little of it Is so far
finished that it can stand still and murk time
without serious deterioration. The study of
Roman Catholic Missions in various parts of
the world is an evidence of the danger ??f
slackening up of the reserves.
Our Missions are calling for 217 new mis
sionaries, of whom oidy 38 have been sent. We
need a number of new missionaries, not only
to hold what we have, but necessarily to ad
vance into new fields, the necessity arising
from the very success of our mission work.
There is a tide in the affairs of missions, as
well as men, which taken at its flood leads on
to missionary success, but neglect the oppor
tunity and our further progress will be bound
in shallows.
We are sure this is a mistake form the point
of view of the Church at home.
It will chill down Missionary zeal. None of
us are content to mark time. The question
will arise, "Is it a going concern," with the
emphasis on the "going," if our choice young
men and maidens cannot go.
The business world has been passing through
a strenuous year. Is it good business! Does
it leave a good impression on the community
for a house to say, "I will not seek any new
business; I will spend my time in trying to
make my old customers pay up?" The real
business will say to its customers "you buy
from us and pay as you can." Then they will
look out good new business.
Wo even dare to ask, Did the As
sembly have the ear of the Lord of the Church
when they said to the Foreign Mission Com
mittee, "stop sending missionaries?" We ask
this in the light of His command to "Go ye
into all the world."
The Church appreciates the invaluable serv
ice of this choice Committee, but the Church
is not satisfied with "marking time." Where
is the faith in our Lord who lias said, "Go."
Will he not furnish the way to go?
Where is our faith in His* blood-bought
Church? Will she not respond? What a beg,
garly sum this is for a great Church to handle.
Give them an opportunity to do so.
Oue thing is certain; never in our history
was it so important for every Synod, Presby
tery, Session to make the utmost effort to put
The Presbyterian Progressive Program over.
We can if we will. God helping us we will.
A. A. L.
Contributed
NO CROSS, NO CROWN.
By Mrs. Mary Payne Garnett.
The Master asked of me a cross to bear,
A grievous cross which none with me could share;
I wanted not this burden which He gave,
I willed that He with joy my pathway pave.
Long years have passed since lirst this cross was
given.
Time has not lightened it, and I have striven
Alone the weight to carry all the way,
Nor dreamed it need not heavier grow each day.
It still is mine ? will be through all the years,
But as I carry it I have no fears
That I may ever falter on the road,
For now Another carries half my load.
Brownwood, Texas.
CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA.
Our desire for union with other churches
seems to be endangering Christianity itself,
certainly in China. The serious obstacle to
'union with the Northern Church has been its
permitting some of its Presbyteries to license as
Presbyterian ministers men who reject the
Virgin birth of our Saviour, his miracles, the
atonement and other doctrines taught by
Christ Himself. Of what value are guarantees
of the fundamentals of the Westminster Con
fession in the Nanking Seminary when pro
fessors there express disbelief in them and
teach the destructive criticism of those doc
trines?
Can we compromise, for instance, Christ's
atonement and His glorious resurrection for
the sake of a nominal union! What have
Christians in common with men who vote down
and refuse to accept declarations of faith in
"Redemption through the Blood of Jesus" and
in "the whole Bible is the inspired word of
God?" They are without the very founda
tions of faith in Chirst's Gospel and really
only accept a few of the benefits that flow from
it. They would enjoy some of the less valu
able fruits that grow on the tree of Chris
tianity, such as moral and social reform, while
they lay the axe to the root of the tree itself.
We need today a clear perception of truth
as Christ teaches us, an abiding faith in Him
and a Calvinistic backbone. We tread softly,
'we deal gently with those who reject our Firm
Foundation, laid for our faith in His excellent
word, lest we offend them, when it is our duty
to oppose them even to the extent, if need be,
of giving offense. The soldier of the Cross
knows that his real battlefield is his own heart,
where daily struggles with his own weaknesses,
his own innate sinfulness take place, struggles
which would be vain without faith in the Re
deemer and the help of the Holy Spirit. If
Christ was not the Son of God, if his death on
the Cross was not to atone for our sins, if He
did not rise again, then are not only we, but
all men most miserable.
These "wolves in sheep's clothing" who
undermine the faith of Christians in our own
land and of the heathen who are beginning to
turn unto God, are the Church's worst enemies.
They are "boring from within" for her de
struction ; offering, in their blindness, as foun
dations for the souls of men to build on sinking
sand.
At one of our great institutions of learning,
the members of the faculty and of the com
munity formed a literary club. A German
scientist was invited 011 one occa
sion to address them. In very bad taste he
launched into destructive criticism of the
Bible. A lady, born and educated in England,
but for many years a citizen of Virginia, lis
tened restlessly and when the speaker was in
the midst of his animadversions of Christ, slie
arose, and as she left, with tears streaming
down her face, exclaimed: "I cannot sit
longer and hear my Saviour spoken of in such
a way." T. B. W.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF
GOING TO CHURCH BY RADIO.
By Rev. R. S. Boyd.
? 4 What Hath God Wrought ! ' '
Such was the significant exclamation that
flashed through the ether for the first time
seventy-eight years ago between Baltimore and
Washington. But with the developments ot
science, building as it has upon that achieve
ment, and discovering the radio we might bet
ter ask, "What will God work?" or "What is
God working?" The radiophone is another
"wonder of the world." Only the Infinite
Mind knows what the future holds in store
from this invention. Like a score of other
things it has stepped into line to take its place
in the onward march of modern civilization
that knows no retreat.
The effect of radio upon the business and
commercial world is possibly not as appre
hensive as its effects upon the social and re
ligious world. Since it has come to demand
a place in the life and activities of the Church
of the religious world we stop to ask in all
sincerity, what are the advantages and disad
vantages of "going to church by the radio?"
Some Advantages of ' ' Going to Church by
Radio."
It woidd be a very cynical and dogmatic
mind that did not recognize some good to the
Church in so wonderful an invention as thai
which eliminates all obstacles and makes the
human voices audible for thousands of miles.
Under the power of God who gave it, as He
gave the beasts that appeared in the vision to
Peter, it may be exclaimed, "What God hath
cleansed, that call not thou common." It is
one of those great material forces that must
be bridled, trained and put to work for the
building of the kingdom of God. Already a
large number of churches are erecting radio
distributing stations to broadcast their sermons
and music to great areas of country round
about. The great Baptist Church at Shreve
port, La., erected at the cost of half a million
dollars, is equipped to minister to a terri
tory several hundred miles in diameter through
its radio station. Churches that have no pas
tor may assemble and worship at the same time
and through the same minister and choir as
the Shreveport Church by a simple receiving
apparatus.
One of the advantages immediately appar
ent is the possibility of hearing the world's
greatest speakers, greatest musicians and en
tertainers through the radio. Not only
churches who h*ve no pastor may be provided
with one at little cost, but those who have no
choir or pipe organ or orchestra may step up
into the class of the wealthy city church by