Prayer for the Day of Atomic Bombs

Currently Scanning: 131. "The Presence of God."

One thing that is becoming increasingly evident about my great-grandfather as I learn more about him through his sermons is his strange combination of traditional, conservative theology and social progressivism. Yesterday's post featured a newspaper clipping of an article by Bob Jones. Today we have another clipping featuring a prayer against the violence and destruction caused by the American nuclear bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. In a time in which wars often had a definite cause behind which U.S. citizens could rally (far from the uncertain nature of our government's secret and numerous international "conflicts" we see most prominent today), to stand against the nuclear option as a viable form of warfare seems pretty bold to me.

Sermon #100

Today I scanned Pa's 100th sermon, "The New Birth." With this milestone, I am officially a little under one-fifth of the way through scanning the entire collection.

"The New Birth" was first preached in Ilasco, Missouri, on August 11, 1946, and was delivered a total of 27 times over the course of my great-grandfather's career. It was last preached at Walton Chapel, a little congregation not far from my hometown, on March 29, 1987, just a little under one year before I was born. The scripture text is John 3:1-15.

Though I'm not exactly sure where, it was apparently the last sermon he preached at one of the churches he pastored. An admiring parishioner gave him this note:

Also, on a bit of a morbid note, I found a newspaper clipping among the supplementary materials in this sermon's folder. On the front is a Sunday school lesson, but the back includes a brief article about a local tragedy in which a family of three was killed in a house fire. The town of Patterson is about 15-20 minutes away from my home town of Williamsville, MO.