Of the 280,000,000,000 dollars estimated productive wealth of the five principal nations involved in the war, the National City Bank of New York, says the World of that city, has computed that $15,000,000,000, or more than five per cent, has been expended already during the first year of the war, and that as the cost of the war is increasing daily, its continuance for another year would probably bring the total nearer fifteen per cent. In this case, the writer says, "It would be as if, within two years, these civilized humans had deliberately destroyed a seventh of the permanent property fruits of almost twenty centuries of Christian civilization."
Furthermore, this includes only wealth-producing property, and makes no account of the losses of mere valuables. The question is asked finally, "Will the total of wealth and power in wealth production which is being destroyed fall far short of equality to a fourth of the total accumulations of the five nations from all ages, even if the war were to end within another year? And this does not include the effect on neutral nations, nor the loss of life, the physical suffering, the emotional agony, and the moral degeneracy, which must come. With this fearful lesson in retrospect, will the nations be able, notwithstanding their incompatibility, to agree on terms of permanent peace?"
W. H. S.
How May Men Know?
"By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another." John 13:35. To come in contact with Christ is to have His love imparted to us so that it becomes an essential part of our very being. The transformation that it produces, as manifested in the spirit of love of one brother for another, is so marked that, in the words of the Master, all men may know thereby the disciple of Christ.
The individual who has this divine love burning in his heart will not only have love for his brethren, but he will reach out for every soul that can be touched by divine grace; for all who can thus be touched will immediately become his brethren, and enter with him into the sacred joys of the Christian life. The true love of Christ in the soul is the essential motive power of every truly Christian missionary movement.
"Umbrella Sermon"
A PREACHER in one of the leading cities of the United States has a church that is "pretty well surrounded with the motion picture theaters," and hence his "Sunday evening meetings are not very well attended." So he announced to preach an "umbrella sermon," saying, "We will draw practical and religious lessons from the umbrella." He was to be dressed with raincoat and hat, and carry an umbrella over his head, as he preached the sermon. At the close of the sermon, a man and a woman, selected at random in the congregation, were each to receive an umbrella—the man to be presented with the one used on the platform.
Such a service would certainly be very unique, to say the least. And it says a great deal for the lack of spirituality in these times; for while this particular service is a little out of the usual in its freakishness, similar things for the purpose of drawing crowds to the church are by no means uncommon. It is not essential that a minister shall have a large congregation in order to have a good meeting. If he personally knows the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of His salvation, even though very few people may come to hear him, he can benefit them. Christ gave one of His greatest discourses to a lone woman by the side of a Samaritan well. But He brought so much into her spiritual life in that conversation, and awakened such strong hopes in her mind, that it was only a little while until the Master, through her personal testimony, had a congregation desirous of hearing the great message of salvation.
The people of this time may want amusement, and the minister may be tempted to give it to them; but the age is amusement mad, and the thing the people ought to have is not amusement, but a message that will awaken them to a realizing sense of their lost condition.
New Representatives at the Vatican
By M. C. W.
The new Holland minister to the Vatican is Mynheer Begoud, Catholic member of the first chamber, appointed, we learn from the Western Watchman, despite the opposition of the Dutch Protestants. The new Servian minister is Mons. Michel Gravilovitch. And now it is said Switzerland will soon send a representative to the Vatican. In the first and the last of these countries, Protestants are in majority, and the Protestant religion is established. Servia is Greek Orthodox in religion.
M. C. W.
Alberta Votes for Prohibition
ALBERTA, Canada, passed prohibition July 21 by a majority of two to one. One of the most encouraging things of the present time is the strong sentiment growing up everywhere in favor of the prohibition of the liquor traffic. As is often charged by the liquor dealer, prohibition may not completely prohibit anywhere; but nevertheless, this world is in a much better condition because of the prohibition work that has been done than it would have been without it. Indeed, who can measure the awful conditions of debauchery that the world would have been in by this time had it not been for the heroic efforts of the temperance forces to throttle the evils of the liquor business!
Harvest Ingathering "Signs" in Foreign Languages
By James Cochran
PRACTICALLY the entire subject matter of the Harvest Ingathering SIGNS is being translated into the German, Danish, and Swedish languages, and will be printed and sent out from the College View branch of the Pacific Press Publishing Association.
These foreign papers will have the three-color cover and illustrations, the same as the English paper. Orders for the Ingathering paper in these languages should be sent direct to Pacific Press Publishing Association, College View, Nebraska.
