“THE PROMISED LAND”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 638, 15 April 1929, Page 12

“THE PROMISED LAND”

METHODIST MISSIONER’S ADDRESS SERVICE AT THE STRAND “The story of man’s search for a promised land is as ancient as creation, and though the scene of the great drama is constantly changing, the story is ever the same—sometimes one of thrilling victory, sometimes of disastrous defeat. This was the spirit of the address given by the Rev. C. G. Scrimgeour, Methodist City Missioner, in the Strand Theatre last evening, when the picture “Grass,” the story of a forgotten people of Central Persia and their journey in search of food, was shown.

To enter into their promised land, said the speaker, the children of Israel had to march, under the leadership of Moses, through the scorching heat of the Egyptian desert and face the mad waters of the Red Sea. When they came to the place called Kadish Barnea their faith failed them, and the pleasant pastures of Canaan were lost forever to their generation. This way was the only way, and because they did not go forward in adventuresome faith they lost. “In this film story of a race of nomad Persians," continued Mr. Scrimgeour, “we see how they had to cross the threatening waters of the great river Karum and climb the great snow-capped Zardek Kuh mountains, 13,000 feet high, and almost a sheer wall of rock. This, too, is the outway trek. The Zardek Kuh is the door to their pasture, and in spite of the 48 days of desperate struggle, they win!

“And so it is in man’s great search for a higher and fuller life. It Is a trek of great danger, and often the traveller must take courage and go on, trusting where he cannot see. If you think it is easy to be a Christian, try it, and you will find your mistake. It is a one-way trek, too. Jesus says: ‘I am the Door; if any man enters in he shall be saved and find pasture.’ “You can have any brand of theology you like, be it Modernist or Fundamental, but if you fail to rise at His great call, ‘Follow Me,’ and do not interpret aright His great spirit and bring it to be the dominant factor of your life, then you fail to enter by the Door and the promised land of great living cannot be yours.”