----F-------------------------------------------------------- !lvert~d. May God ~ve to you ~isdom and courage m thts hour of destiny. God still lives and rules in the affairs of men and nations." A reply came by return mail, signed by the President himself: THE WHITE HOUSE December 7, 1950 Dear Mr. Dick: Your message of December fourth is a source of encouragement and strength to me. Please tell your associates that I am deeply grateful for their kind thought in sustaining me through their prayers for Divine Guidance. Very truly yours, • A Call to Prayer [Signed] Harry Truman. God can change the most hopeless situ­ AS WE go to press, an urgent call to ation into a victory for His cause. "He £1 prayer is being sounded throughout doeth according to his will in the army of our ranks the world around. The heaven, and among the inhabitants of the world situation is grave. The shadow of earth." Dan. 4:35. what some feel might be a third world war Ezekiel and Daniel lived at a time of falls across the nations. Mankind is cring· widespread distress and bloodshed. In their ing in fear. "A third world war will mean day the sun <?f Assyrian power had just set, the suicide of the race," declares one states· and_ Babyloman tyranny was spreading des­ man. He voices the apprehension of many. olation everywhere. Ezekiel's soul was dis­ If men ever needed divine guidance, they tressed. "He mourned bitterly day and need it now. night." But God gave him the assurance How many times in national and inter­ that He was still in control. national crises the servants of God have led "Myriads of glorified beings were ready at his the church in seasons of special prayer! word t? overrule the_ po':er and policy of evil men, Hear J ehoshaphat cry to the God of Israel and bnng good to his faithful ones."-Testimonies, when the nation faced annihilation: "Our vol. 5, p. 752. eyes are upon Thee." Before the end of time there will Not fear or despair inspires this call, but "open J:>e~ore us a period of overwhelming interest rather the conviction that God knows the to all hvmg.... The scenes to be enacted in our world are not yet even dreamed of."-Ibid., p. 753. way out. In confidence we seek Him for help which He alone can give. To our be­ Have we already reached that time? If so, lievers in all the world the General Confer­ then we surely need God's special guidance ence committee recently sent this word: and intervention. Surely the Lord is again saying: "We invite you to enter with us, not simply into one special day or hour of prayer, but into repeated "Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, seasons of supplication, in your private devotions assemble the elders, gather the children.... Let and in our church services .... the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between "May God prepare us all in heart and life for the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy the last hours of earth's history and may He give people, 0 Lord, and give not thine heritage to us great boldness in Jesus Christ to witness before reproach." men as to the meaning of these dark days. We have With our brethren in every land we join a message of hope. Let us with new confidence and hands, and sensing the gravity of the situa­ vigor proclaim it, remembering that the Majesty of Heaven has the destiny of nations as well as the tion, we claim the promise, "The Lord will concerns of His church in His own charge." be the hope of his people." Whether we The following telegram was sent by the serve or suffer we are still fellow members, General Conference to President Truman, and those who may be called upon to walk and also to Prime Minister Attlee, when the valley of the shadow may know that they were in council in w·ashington: their brethren are upholding them before the throne of grace. This hour of doom and "In this dark and ominous hour, the General Conference Committee of Seventh-day Adventists death is but the prelude to a glorious dawn. meeting in solemn session engage in earnest prayer The eternal day is about to break. to Him who is ruler of all nations that yon and :1\!ay the N e~ ~ e_ar find us happy in our those with yon in momentous conference shall be SaviOur and reJOICing that we can have a so guided in your deliberations and decisions that the will of God shall be done, peace be restored, part in hastening the day of His appearing. and the awful threat of a third world war be R. A. A. Page 2 THE MI:-IISTRY In This Issue E GREET you in this new year. THE W MINISTRY appears in a new dress, but it comes to serve the field as it always has. Official Organ of the As never before, this journal is geared to a MINISTERIAL As'SOCIATION OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS great and glorious hour! Under the guid­ Editor: ance of the Holy Spirit the Lord is rousing ROY ALLAN ANDERSON His remnant church to the great task of Associate Editors: world evangelism. This challenge we have WILLIAM H. BRANSON, LOUIS K. DICKSON, MELVIN K. incorporated into the design of the new ECKENROTH, GEORGE E. VANDEMAN, LOUISE c. KLEUSER name plate, or front cover heading. The Office Editor; Advertising and Circulation Manager: watchword, For World Evangelism, sets be­ BEN GLANZER fore us our objective. We are dedicated to a worldwide program. Many of the changes you now see in THE MINISTRY are the result of requests from the field as well as counsels from General Con­ NUMBER l VoLUME XXIV ference officers. The introductory articles AT A GLANCE are printed in a larger type for greater read­ ing comfort. The balance of the paper is FEATURES ·-------------·-----·-- ---------·---------------------···----- 4 printed in the same size as previously, but The Opportunity of the Ages! W. H. Branson­ the lines have been spaced, or "leaded out," The Recovery of Real Preaching, C. B. Haynes as the printers would say, to make for easier -Introducing Association Secretaries reading. Also, quotations that appear in MUSINGS --------------------·------·---------------------·-------------- 10 articles are in larger type than formerly. COUNSEL From the Spirit of Prophecy ------ ll In order to retain a variety of contribu­ PASTOR -----------·-·---·---------·--·-------------·---------··--------- 12 tors, we are urging that when you write you condense your material. Shorter articles are EVANGELISM -----------·-----------·-----------------·--------·-- 15 usually read with more interest anyway. PULPIT ------------·--------------·------------------·---------·------- 18 Our General Conference president has set us a good example in his article on page 4. HEALTH EVANGELISM-------------·---------- 20 He has said a great deal in his I l/3-pag-e, MUSIC . ---·-----------------------··--------------------------------- 24 1,072-word message. The next article by RADIO ·-----·-·----------------------------·---·-------·---------------- 26 Carlyle B. Haynes is also brief but pert:i­ nent-a timely and valuable contribution. BIBLE INSTRUCTOR ---------·-------------------·---·----·--- 31 Each month the front cover will portray SHEPHERDESS ---·---------·---------------------------·-------· 35 some feature of general ministerial interest. TRENDS ---------··-------·-----------------------------·----------·--·· 38 The picture this month-a Ewing Gallo­ way copyright-is a quaint little church in RESEARCH -------------------···-----------·----------------------- 40 a beautiful, peaceful New Hampshire set­ ORDINATIONS -------·--·----------·--------------------------------- 44 ting, a perfect example of attractive wor­ NEWS -----------··----·---·-·-----------------·-··---------·------------·----- 46 ship in small-town or rural areas. BOOKS ---------·------------·---·-··-----------··-----------------·------·- 50 Another new feature of the journal is the list of ordinations for 1950 on pages 44 CLASSIFIED -----------·----------··-----------------··-------·------- 52 and 45, and we are sure it will be of gen­ WITH OUR POETS--------·---------·--·-------------··-·------ 54 uine interest to all. 't\T e will publish such a list once or twice a year. And we hope to soon include a similar list from overseas Printed and published monthly for the Ministerial Association of Seventh-day Adventists by the Review and Herald Publish­ divisions. ing Association, Washington 12, D.C., U.S.A,, $2.50 a year; 25 cents a copy. Add 35 cents for yearly subscriptions to So this new issue comes to you with our countries requiring extra postage. Entered as second... class mat­ greetings. Whatever your appointed task ter December 19, 1927, at the post office at Washington, D.C., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. may be, fellow worker, please consider THE MINISTRY your medium of inspiration and of guidance as together we work For World Evangelism. JANUARY, 1951 Page 3 The Opportunity of the Ages! By W. H. BRANSON, President General Conference E HAVE come to the the tame messages borne by some of our ministers, when they have a message of life and death to bear. beginning of a new The ministers are asleep; the lay members are W· year. This is 1951! asleep; and a world is perishing in sin. May God This is the one hundred and help His people to arouse and walk and work as seventh year since that fate­ men and women on the borders of the eternal world. Soon an awful surprise is coming upon the ful day of October 22, 1844, inhabitants of the world. Suddenly, with power and when Jesus, our High Priest, great glory, Christ will come. Then there will be rio entered' the holy of holies time to prepare to meet Him. Now is the time for and began the work of the investigative us to give the warning message."-Testimonies; vol. judgment. For one hundred and seven years 8, pp. 36, 37. the people of the message have been pro­ On Fire for God claiming to the nations, "The hour of His A few years ago there appeared in the judgment is come." For one hundred and Watchman-Examiner the following observa­ twenty years Noah warned of the approach­ tion as to why many people were drifting ing flood.