Page:Southern Presbyterian Journal, Volume 13.djvu/827

 partisan politics. In the opinion of this Journal certain agencies of our church have already been used in an improper way for a partisan matter. Also, certain employees of the Church have seen fit to use their positions to further one side of a most controversial matter.

We believe this should stop and we believe that the Boards and their Secretaries should handle this matter without further delay. Other suggestions in this memo could also pave the way for continued dissention:

"Send me the names of men who voted FOR and AGAINST in your Presbytery"

"An all-out effort really to create a will to union among the people of the church"

"Keep alive interest in union, through church papers (?), in special meetings, in strengthened organization of Friends of Union."

"Instruct Committee on Union to continue discussions with view to another plan, to be submitted to a later Assembly."

"Goal (keep in our minds but not publicized): Union by or before 1961".

"Elect pro-union Moderators"

"Long term educational program in presbyteries voting against union"

Etc. Etc. Etc.

As we have studied the many suggestions in these "Next Steps" it was almost pathetically obvious that, to some, organic union is the most important matter facing the Church.

Over against these suggestions we could but compare a set of plans which were developed at a meeting recently arranged by some opponents of union. They were arrived at without having heard of the objectives, mentioned above. They include:

a. Promotion of a will all over the church to pray for a mighty outpouring of God's Holy Spirit in revival.

b. A renewed emphasis on Bible study throughout the Church.

c. Developing a spirit of patience towards those with whom we differ.

d. A deep sense of humility, that God might guide and use us fully in His cause.

e. A greater spirit of love in all our dealings with others.

f. A renewed emphasis on the spiritual mission of the Church and a whole-hearted backing of the "Forward With Christ Movement".

g. Constant prayer that all of the agencies and institutions of our Church may fully rise to their responsibilities in being loyal to the Standards of our Church.

h. If permitted to do so - a complete cessation of discussions, pro and con, on the matter of organic union.

There has been considerable talk along the line that: "The will of God has been thwarted by the vote of the Presbyteries". We do not presume to affirm that man's acts necessarily reflect the will of God. But, of this we are sure - THERE ARE THINGS WITHIN THE CHURCH OF INFINITELY GREATER IMPORTANCE THAN ORGANIC UNION.

It is our hope that we might concentrate on these for a change.—H. B. D.

One evening as I was conducting the mid-week prayer meeting, an elderly, white haired gentleman asked for one of his favorite hymns: How Firm a Foundation. The hymn has six long stanzas, and as the meeting was informal I wondered aloud which of the six we could omit. Not the first, of course—it speaks of the word of God as the foundation of our faith; not the second because we need the aid and strength of God's omnipotent hand; the third or fourth? The old gentleman interrupted my wondering by insisting that this was a good hymn and that we could sing it all. We did, and as we reached the fifth stanza, everyone else in the room saw in it the picture of the grand old man who had requested the hymn:

"E'en down to old age all my people shall prove

My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love.

And whom hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,

Like lambs they shall still in my bosom be borne."

He too sang it with vigor, and he sang the sixth stanza too:

"The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose

I will not, I will not desert to his foes."

Now it was a bit strange that this gentleman should have requested this hymn and should have sung it with such praise and devotion. For he did not like Calvinism; all his life he had been an Arminian; he did not believe in eternal security. He had told the people so for years. Or, had he now come to believe without realizing that the Arminian views of his earlier days had changed with the color of his hair? If it is strange that this lovely Arminian saint could become at least somewhat of a Calvinist FEBRUARY 23, 1955