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This is no book of dry theory, it is a “how to” book. Jones believed that if we fail to deal with the tough issues, we essentially show Christianity and the Kingdom of God as a viable alternative to be weak, hesitant and hopelessly inadequate. Aside from the enormity of this subject, Christ’s Alternative also holds a message for you personally. It strikes at the inner thoughts we sometimes hold about the reality of the Kingdom of God and our place in it. Jones outlines our ontological relationship clearly and his reasoning is cogent and persuasive. See if you agree with his view that the Kingdom of God is the “vast, indefinable and defining, radical, redemptive, refining, transforming, enlivening and powerful key to everything else there is.” Jones writes that whether you recognize and embrace Kingdom principles or not, they will work for us, even if we “stumble” upon them. Prepare to be completely revolutionized and revived for authentic and real life.
In this book, written sixteen years ago, I said that this generation, or at the most the next will have to decide between materialistic, atheistic Communism and the Kingdom of God on earth. I thought it would take a generation for this issue to come to a head. In half a generation the issue has become acute. The book was written in 1935 before Russia had attacked Finland, had absorbed the Baltic States, and had turned imperialistic in general. The Russian experiment was apparently going to be demonstrated initially within Russia. That meant that at that time we were more interested in the Russian experiment than afraid of her imperialism. Along with many others, my attitude toward the experiment was more sympathetic than it would be today. I see Russia now as a world danger. Nevertheless, I find that the main issues I pointed out then have become intensified and the main prophecies fulfilled. I felt that force used in the means would persist in the ends, and it has been so. What Communists gain by force they must hold by force.
I felt that with no objective moral universe—the only morality being that which gets you to your goal of Communism—there would be a sense of expediency running through the whole. That has happened. We do not trust the word of Communists, on the whole, for they are ready to use truth or untruth if it, in their view, forwards the cause of Communism. I was sure that the dictatorship of the proletariat would become a dictatorship over the proletariat, and it has been so. The state has not faded out, as orthodox Marxism prophesied, but has become more ubiquitous and dictatorial. It has become a police state. But this book was primarily written not to emphasize the weaknesses or the strengths of Communism, but to present the Christian alternative to Communism. In rereading what I wrote I find myself holding to the main thesis of the book. That remains intact. There is a Christian alternative, and our emphasis should be to apply that alternative so that a soil might be created in which Communism could not grow. But our attitude of fear and hysteria has thrown the emphasis so strongly upon hunting out supposed or real Communists that we have forgotten almost entirely that our main defence is an economy so sound that Communism becomes irrelevant. Since this book was written, capitalism has shown signs of change. Profit sharing is modifying the system from being fiercely competitive to being fruitfully co-operative. That points in the right direction. The profit motive is legitimate and good provided the profits are shared widely. Communism as a system is not the answer. It will break down ultimately through inherent weaknesses. We must be ready with a demonstration of the Christian answer. The Christian answer is the Kingdom of God on earth. This book attempts to expound that answer and points to its application. I am gratified to know that the main plea is still relevant, and to my mind more relevant now than ever.
I had been reading a good deal on the great experiment in Russia for two reasons. One was the pressure I could feel in the whole of the East, and in the West, an indefinable sense of being pressed upon by an unseen and almost unknown something: that “something” was the fact of a new order in our world midst, with new principles and a different goal. This ‘sense’ rather haunted me. For I felt that its issues had not been fairly and squarely met. It gave one that sense of uneasiness that one has when he has a big, difficult, and unpleasant job on his hands, which he knows he has to tackle, but which he postpones by doing in the meantime various unimportant things, all the time knowing that, sooner or later, he must come to grips with the bigger thing. His absorption with the unimportant cannot quite make him forget the untackled task. It hangs over him. The sensitive minds in Christendom know that sooner or later they must come to grips with the issues raised by the Marxist experiment in Russia. But to do so would not mean a theological debate (had that been all there was involved, we should have been in the fray long ago), but the question of a new world-order. That is disturbing. Hence the hesitation. We read propaganda for and against the experiment, hoping that will settle it.
But it does not. For through the rifts of the clouds of controversy we see the fact of a new order emerging, different and challenging to the whole basis of present-day civilization. In spite of the clouds, we can see that the Russians are making amazing progress; for instance, their literacy has gone up from 35 per cent in 1913 to 85 per cent today; instead of 3,500,000 pupils in 1912, there are now over 25,000,000 pupils and students; the circulation of daily papers is twelve times what it was in the Czarist days. They have risen from the eighth nation in total industrial production in 1927 to second today. Only the United States now surpasses them in total industrial production. And they have accomplished this in five years. The total output of Soviet products, excluding the agricultural, is 334 times what it was in 1914. They are in the process of creating in Moscow what will be the tallest and perhaps the most imposing building in the world, the parliamentary building and memorial to Lenin—symbol of the fact that they expect to surpass all the material and cultural achievements of the rest of the world. And in doing this there is a repudiation of all religion. These two facts of accomplishment and irreligion put together make the problem of Communism in Russia the untouched task of Christendom. The Christian world is uneasy, because it knows that with all its absorption in many unimportant things, it must sooner or later face this question with an adequate answer. And it is dawning upon it that the adequate answer will not be the production of an argument, but the production of a better order. That pressure is the pressure of a veritable thorn in the side of Christendom. The second reason I had for reading all I could on Russia was that I was going to glimpse it for myself on my way back to India. I hoped to get the feel and the drift of the great experiment at first hand.
But all the books I read left me with a sense of incompleteness. Something had not been said. Many of the books were written from the Christian standpoint, and were able and incisive and moving. They were tremendous in letting us see what was happening in Russia, and moving in their appeal to the Christian world to do something about it. But when it came to putting up the Christian alternative the emphasis seemed weak or hesitating. They seemed to take it for granted that we know what the Christian alternative is. And that is not quite plain. Just as I had felt the pressure of Russia on the one side, I had felt a bigger pressure on the other— something vast and overwhelming and challenging and adequate—the Kingdom of God. Our Christian writers have come in sight of it and its interpretation, but haven’t interpreted it and presented it as a head-on and sweeping answer to Marxist Communism. As I sat one night reading on an ocean liner, the Inner Voice raised the question with me whether I should not attempt that interpretation. It was stronger than my words indicate—it was a call, almost a mandate. I shrank from the task for many weeks. Questions which Marxism raises involve social and economic specializations which are not in my field. I am a simple interpreter of Christ to the East, and I must stick to my task. But then the increasing realization came that I should be sticking to my task if I were to attempt to interpret the Christian message in the light of the Communistic challenge. For to interpret the Christian message is my field. Fortunately, when I returned from Russia I went straight to the Ashram at Sat Tal in the Himalayas where, with a group of about a hundred persons, we studied together for two months the Christian alternative to Communism. This gave me the immense advantage of getting the reactions and the corrections of the group to the message contained in this book. We emerged from those two months of corporate study with our hearts on fire. There was an open door before us. The Kingdom of God on earth was that open door. We had an answer, and we felt that it was an adequate one. But while we felt that we had an adequate answer in the Kingdom of God, we knew that our interpretation of that answer would be partial and incomplete. Our hope is that this interpretation may at least throw open doors for possible advance. If this rough-hewn attempt stimulates more skilled and painstaking workers to correct and to polish the program presented in these pages, the author will be grateful. We shall need an army of thinkers and workers who will pool their thought and plans before an adequate Christian alternative will clearly emerge. It is now in the process of emerging. But our time is short. The world mind is being made up and we must be ready with an adequate program. I take the announcement at Nazareth as the starting point of that program, but only as the starting point. If I seem to be putting more weight on it than it was intended to bear, which I do not believe to be the case, my inward justification is that I do not rest the program upon this announcement alone, but upon the sum total of the attitudes and teachings of the New Testament. The writing of this preface is being done at about the geographical center of India. It is Sunday morning and my missionary colleague calls to me that Moscow is broadcasting in English and that I must come. The intelligent and able speaker ends up his address by announcing that a prize of a book will be given to the best answer, sent in by the radio listeners, to the following questions: “Why is there no unemployment in the U.S.S.R.?” and “Is there individual liberty in the Soviet system?” Sunday morning, quiet and peaceful, in this ancient land of India— and those two questions intrude! No unemployment? In a world suffering the horrors of unemployment? There must be a catch somewhere. But whether there is or isn’t, the whole question of the Russian Experiment is intruding into the Sabbath-like but ominous calm of the East, and into the struggling strenuousness of the West. The Christian answer must be unmistakable and clear—that is, if there is any Christian answer.
E. STANLEY JONES
December 2, 1934
Leonard Theological College
Jubbulpore, C. P., India
One night while E. Stanley Jones was reading on board an ocean liner, the Inner Voice called him to “tackle” head-on Russia’s great experiment with Marxist Communism. Many “isms” – jingoism, nationalism, militarism, materialism, racism, radicalism, fanaticism and sexism, to name a few, swirled about menacingly in the mid-l930s. They persist today in nations, institutions, terrorist movements, politics and politicians. No question, these relentless evils need to be exposed and confronted. Jones certainly did not neglect to unmask these prevalent scourges in his writings. However, near the end of World War I communism of the Russian ilk (Marxist-Leninist) struck the world stage with a “terrific thud.”1 This new order sprang up so forcefully in the midst of the world that in Jones’ view not to meet the tough issues of Russian communism head-on would expose the Christian alternative as weak, hesitant and hopelessly inadequate.2 Initially, Jones deflected this divine “mandate” to present and interpret the Kingdom of God as Christ’s alternative to materialistic, godless communism. For many weeks he reasoned that he was not sufficiently qualified in social and economic “specializations” to address the problem of communism in Russia. Moreover, for all the books ably written at the time putting forth the Christian alternative, Jones sensed an “incompleteness.” On the one hand, he felt the “pressure of Russia,” and on the other hand he knew the bigger pressure of “something vast and overwhelming and challenging and adequate – the Kingdom of God.” That the Kingdom of God was the “sweeping answer” to communism was inescapable. So, gradually it dawned on Jones that he would not overreach his “simple task” of presenting Christ in the face of the communist challenge because the interpretation of the Kingdom of God was his “field,” his raison d’etre.3 Not unlike Soren Kierkegaard who felt impelled to reintroduce Christianity into Christendom, Jones, armed with the certainty that we must either offer something better than this new order of Marxist communism or “succumb to it,” launched his life’s work of unpacking the meaning of the unshakable Kingdom for world restoration. Being persuaded that his calling was indeed to interpret the Christian message of the Kingdom of God along the lines Jesus revealed throughout his ministry, Jones determined to go to Russia. In 1934 he glimpsed up close and personal Russia’s brand of communism. When he returned to India he went immediately to the Himalayas. For two months he and fellow Sat Tal Ashramites engaged in corporate study focusing on the Gospels’ teachings of the Kingdom of God. What emerged was Jones’ 1935 book Christ’s Alternative to Communism. Jones acknowledged that while the answer of the Kingdom of God as alternative was adequate, the interpretation of that answer would be “partial and incomplete.”4 Five years later Is the Kingdom of God Realism? appeared as the quintessential exposition of the Kingdom of God as Jones rediscovered it within the pages of the New Testament. His treatment of the Kingdom of God in this 1940 book is unsurpassed in its profundity. If the Church even now could but see, believe, receive, enter into and proclaim the Kingdom of God on earth as Jones, writing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, understood it, Christianity and Christians would be completely revolutionized and revived for authentic ministry, mission and witness. When Jones grasped the centrality of the Kingdom of God, its comprehensiveness, and its implication for every area of life, not only for the individual but also for the social as the only way to live life here and now, he rescued it, as it were, from beyond this life where it had been relegated to the future. After traversing Russia and painstakingly investigating materialistic communism, Jones was convinced that the “whole basis of society” must shift from competition to cooperation.5 To Jones the world’s choice was narrowed to two: “atheistic communism and the Kingdom of God on earth.”6 Jones revealed his irrepressibly sanguine assessment thusly, “… the Russian experiment is going to help … Christianity to rediscover the meaning of the Kingdom of God upon earth. If it does it will mean such a mighty revival of the Christian spirit that will transform the earth.”7 Repeating his contention more forcefully, he wrote, they (Russian communists) were going to make us rediscover the meaning of the Kingdom of God on earth. And if we did and should apply it in its full meaning, it would prove to be the greatest spiritual awakening since Pentecost and would dwarf even that in its world sweep. It may be that God is using the Communists to awaken Christendom to something neglected in its own gospel.8 In hindsight we do not see that this prediction happened (or has not yet happened). However, this should not prevent those who read and appreciate Jones’ works from recognizing the truth and significance of his interpretation and analysis of the meaning of the Kingdom of God and the implications of the same for the Church today as being spot on. What, then, is Jones’ take on the Kingdom of God? To reiterate, Jones put forth the Kingdom of God concept, derived from scripture, in his attempt to delineate clearly Jesus’ Master program and its content to be Christianity’s answer to Russian communism. Jesus, Jones held, was “revolutionary” but he was a “constructive Revolutionary.” Whereas Jesus’ program was audacious and radical because based on love; communism, based on hate, was ruthless, iconoclastic, and despising of all that was past. Jones directs his readers to Mary’s Song in Luke’s gospel. Mary saw that the new Kingdom would “precipitate revolution in the sum total of human living.” He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart. He hath put down princes from their thrones, And hath exalted them of low degree. The hungry he hath filled with good things; And the rich he hath sent empty away.
Jones discerned four revolutions in Mary’s Song: First, a general revolution tolerating no special privileges; second, a political revolution as clear warning to the rule of any in power who were out of sync with the new Kingdom; third, a social revolution, exalting those of low degree and eliminating all “privilege based on birth and property and social standing.” Fourth, there would be economic revolution providing necessities for all as God intended and disallowing luxuries for the few.10 Jones concludes, “No wonder Bernard Shaw said that ‘this song of Mary is the most revolutionary song that has ever been written in the history of Europe.’ It is.”11 Next Jones turns our attention to what he labelled the Nazareth Manifesto, enunciated by Jesus in his hometown synagogue close on the heels of his wilderness struggle: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor [the economically disinherited]; He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, [the socially and politically disinherited] And recovering of sight to the blind, [the physically disinherited] To set at liberty them that are bruised, [the morally and spiritually disinherited] To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. [the Lord’s Year of Jubilee – a new beginning on a world scale] The Spirit of the Lord is upon me – the dynamic behind it all.
Jones believed that through this Manifesto, Jesus intended to “project into the soul of humanity” the true meaning of the Kingdom of God on earth. He also, in expounding on the key assertions contained in the Manifesto, aimed to expose the deceptions and inadequacies of the communist program to be on dangerously shaky ground. Jones was accused of becoming obsessed with the Kingdom of God. This did not curtail his enthusiasm for the Kingdom of God as the “vast, indefinable and defining, radical, redemptive, refining, transforming, enlivening and powerful key to everything else there is. It is the answer to the whole of life because Jesus Christ made it so.”13 Jones never considered himself a professional writer. He wrote out of an “inner urge” to meet a perceived need.14 He wrote almost thirty books, each aimed at a particular end. In 1934 Christ’s Alternative to Communism appeared because the subject of communism was the pressing need facing Christianity and the world. In Jones’ view the Kingdom of God more than met this pressing need. In his later books, notably, The Choice Before Us, (1937), Is the Kingdom of God Realism? (1940), The Unshakable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person (1972), Jones enlarged, corrected and refined the Kingdom of God concept. Of course, the Kingdom of God was more than mere concept; it was fact writ large. It was from before the foundation of the world. He distinguished the Kingdom from the church. For the most part the Kingdom of God was confused as being the same as the church. Time and again Jones clarified the difference.
In essence the Church was to be the servant to the Kingdom. Jones pointedly reminded us that our highest loyalty is to the Kingdom making us bound to be “loyal to the Church to the degree that it is loyal to the Kingdom.”16 Jones outlined our ontological relationship to the Kingdom of God. His reasoning was cogent and persuasive. God made us for the Kingdom. It is our native home. Until and unless we realized that we were made for the Kingdom, frustration would rule the day. Using everyday metaphors, Jones said that we were made for the Kingdom as a glove is made for the hand or air for the lungs. Ethical implications were not overlooked. Jones maintained that we did not have to love our neighbor, but we wouldn’t get along without him. Moreover, Jones apprehended that the Kingdom was Christocentric. Christ was the Perfect Person embodying and giving:
The Kingdom of God is an expression to God’s Perfect Plan or Program for humankind. To underscore the primacy of the Kingdom, Jones interpreted Jesus words in Matthew 6:33 thusly, “Seek first, last and in between the Kingdom of God…” How did the Kingdom of God come? Jones discerned that based on Jesus’ teachings it came both gradually and apocalyptically. Amazingly Jesus declared that the “location” of the Kingdom, to the shock of the religious elite of his day, was “within” them, in their midst. The Kingdom of God was not to be thought of exclusively as a distant goal, but rather as a fact now. To conclude, here is a quote worth pondering: The Christian faith has often been trying to fly with one wing – the living Christ as expression of the living order, the Kingdom as a task and hope. We are now seeing more clearly that to fly with one wing is to go around in circles, be that one wing the Person or the Order. It must be both – the Person and the Order. Each is unique but coming together they make an uniqueness unparalleled.17 As indicated earlier, Jesus taught “those who have ears to hear” that we are to “see it (Kingdom of God), believe it, receive it, enter into it and proclaim it.” To repeat, that encapsulates our relationship to Christ and his Kingdom. Jones held that whether we recognized and embraced Kingdom principles or not they would work for us if we “stumbled” upon them. I am convinced from having read practically all of E. Stanley Jones’ books, some more than once, that he himself was possessed as much by the Kingdom as he possessed it. The book of Acts tells us that Jesus, before his ascension, talked with his disciples about the Kingdom of God. Was this a reiteration or reinforcement (perhaps both) of his earlier teaching on the Galilean and Judean hillsides. Or was this new content? Luke does not say. I am further convinced that the Holy Spirit imparted to Jones, through above and beyond revelation, all of what Jesus taught before temporarily leaving earth to return to heaven. If this is indeed the case, we can do no better than to delve into Jones’ seminal exposition of the Kingdom of God. Christ’s Alternative to Communism is not a bad place to start in our lifetime journey of rediscovering for our own edification, faith development, and spiritual enrichment of God’s Kingdom on earth.
MARCIA GRAHAM
June 2019
To the reader who has completed what I consider the most enlightening Christian book, I want to ask a question. It is based on one of Stanley’s wisdom teachings condensed into a few words…a gift above most others: “Impression minus expression equals depression.” My urgent and prayerful question is: “What do you plan to do with this knowledge?”
The reason I ask is that today, perhaps as never before in human history, the wisdom in this book is needed. I have visited Russia and spent years in China. Unredeemed mankind has, by its very nature, the possibility of destroying itself. The next war will likely not only be the last war, it may be the end of civilization. Little has been taught in Christian churches, seminaries and fellowships world wide on the example Jesus gave us when tempted by Satan, as he was during his fast in the desert. (Matthew Chapter 4) The fact of temptation is very clear. How to deal with that experience is one of the central needs of mankind. “Know your enemy,” a phrase in The Art of War, is good advice. Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:13 to pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” He met evil with scripture. Few today have studied the Bible enough to be able to do that. One can Google and find much help in this, and for sources to gain insight to almost any aspect of life. I mention this here to give aid in the answering of the question on what you plan to do with the knowledge you have just received. I will not seek to determine the best order of importance in the following suggestions, as yours may be in a different order than mine are here, as well as many more.
First, for me, I have set aside a part of my tithe to give as many copies of this book as possible to friends, family, my pastor, seminaries, colleges, as well as government leaders.
Second, I suggest that each of us visit www.christianashram.org and attend an E. Stanley Jones Ashram, with as many of your family and friends as possible. My first Ashram, meeting Dr. E. Stanley Jones, was a dynamic life-changing experience for me. It will provide spiritual growth as well as help you answer the question I have presented above.
Third, I will think of all that happened to me, after reading the original version of Christ’s Alternative many years ago. What I did then was take the second reading, marked copy and now re-read it again the third time. This time, I will make notes on what I can use for further growth in my own spiritual journey, as well as what I can share with others in the time I have left here on this planet. I was ninety years old January 6, 2018. I had recently found my first copy of this book, and was led to call Dr. Anne Mathews Younes, Stanley’s granddaughter, now President of the E. Stanley Jones Foundation. As she discovered the story of my long relationship with her grandfather, she asked me to write an Afterword for the new publication of this book. I am humbled by such a request, and smile as I know Stanley would approve. Dr. Younes has done a remarkable job going forward from that moment when the world lost one of the most gifted, dedicated disciples of our Lord. The vitality of the Christ-centered content and awesome challenge to dedicate one’s life to our Lord still lives!
Fourth, please gather a few members of your church, or those in your community not attending any church, or even those who are atheists and unbelievers to study this book over several months. Such a study fellowship is one of my plans, at least to start and help those interested find the wisdom in this book, as well as the truth about Communism. Few know that the first people to hold all things in common were some of the early followers of Jesus, (Act 2:44 – 4:32) and, from your reading, you will discover the secret to this possibility. It is possible only with the born-again, conversion experience found in Christianity. When you re-read and study this book, you will discover the truth, the understanding, and the logic of that statement. May I add something I wrote in a class assignment while a student at Emory University. “In Communism, the ends justify the means. In Christianity the means determines the end.” Fifth, I believe that each Christian reading this book prayerfully and carefully will want to re-dedicate his or her life to Christ. Regardless of how far you have come in your journey with our Lord, there is yet another level waiting. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church in England, called it, “Moving on to perfection.” Sanctifying grace may not be something you are familiar with but Google that and do some reading. It is the concept of continuing growth in Christian living as we seek to follow the only perfect person ever. I might mention here if you take this seriously, Stanley’s book, The Way will take you forward day by day from where most of us are in our present moment, nearer to where our Lord would have us live and witness to his Presence and Love.
I wish I could share in great detail several other experiences of my friendship with Dr. E. Stanley Jones. He was my friend and my mentor. He once asked me to go with him to India to study to take his place when he had to pass that leadership on. I sat for a period with him, not knowing how long it was, for I was overwhelmed with the love, the honor of his offer, and the understanding that no person could take his place. I then shared with him the following: “Dr. Jones, the night I was converted, I was a gang leader in Birmingham, lost, and an atheist.” Coming from a Christian home the story of how I arrived is not for now. I continued “May 6, 1947, I attended a meeting at the North Highlands Methodist Church in Birmingham. Dr. Harry Denman, a friend of yours, was preaching. After his sermon, on the third verse of the invitational hymn, ‘Just As I Am,’ I found myself moving with several others toward the altar. The Pastor, Rev. L. E. Price and Dr. Denman prayed for me with the laying on of hands. When I had accepted Christ and my prayer of confession was completed, I stood and Rev. Price said, ‘Lucky, (my nickname) how do you feel?’ I tried to describe that which was beyond words. ‘I feel as a great weight, a burden, was lifted from my shoulders, and I am so light I think I could fly. After a moment of silence, I heard myself say: Tonight, I give my life to serve the Chinese people. Dr. Denman stepped back, putting his hand on me, and prayed I would serve as a missionary to China. I felt strange for I did not know one Chinese person.” Stanley smiled, leaned forward, putting his hand on my shoulder, as I wiped tears away, saying, “I understand Joseph,” and then he prayed a blessing on my life and the fact that I had been faithful to that calling to serve China.
I share that, for Stanley later helped me on my first trip to Singapore and Malaysia, where I had been invited as the National Chairman of Methodist Youth to speak at the All Malaysian Youth Conference on April 7, 1952. Kagawa, the great Japanese saint and another friend of Dr. Jones, that I had the joy and privilege of knowing has these words written by his biographer, William Axling: “Kagawa is a social engineer, absorbed in actual programs rather than academic speculations. His programs however, are built on deep – going, strongly buttressed principles. He believes in communism, but it is the communism of the early Christian church and of Tolstoy rather than of Karl Marx, as against the class hatred of Russian communism. He pleads for and passionately practices brotherly love. As against Marx class conflict, he advocates Tolstoy’s non-resistance. And the building of a finer and fairer social order. He believes in evolutionary rather than revolutionary processes.”
Let me close with something that has never been published. I was in Los Angeles, in a hotel, on my way back to Singapore after the afore-mentioned trip in 1952. I was sitting in my hotel room praying, for I did not have the funds for the ticket back to Singapore. A breeze blew the LA Times newspaper off the table spreading pages across the floor. I got up and noticed no window was open. Amazed I stooped to pick up the pages scattered a good three feet across the floor. There in the middle on one page was a picture of Dr. E. Stanley Jones, who was to speak that evening at the Methodist Church. I took that page, put it on the desk and began to dress. I was sitting on the front pew at 6:00 when the program was to start at 7:00 pm. When the time came all the pews were full and the pastor with Stanley behind him to the stage. As he sat down our eyes met, he smiled, and the evening proceeded. His message, as always, was beyond measure. I waited for almost another hour after the service as people came forward to meet and greet Dr. Jones. When all were gone, he came and sat with me. We found we were staying at the same hotel. We went back in a cab and up to his room. Asking what I was doing there, I told him the story. He had heard of the success of the first trip when a Wednesday night prayer meeting in the Paya Lebar Chinese Methodist Church with 12 people, growing week after week to a meeting in the Happy World Stadium with five thousand nightly for four nights. I shared with him the Straits Times News with one showing four hundred accepted Christ the first night, and another clipping showing five hundred the next. Stanley said “Last I heard you were in Singapore. I had received your request for prayer and from what I heard much indeed was accomplished.” Smiling he said, “Why are you here now?” I explained and he asked when I would be leaving. I replied, “Well, I am not sure. I do not have the funds necessary for my plane ticket. I cashed in the remainder of my Comer Scholarship at Emory for the first trip. Now a local church could be a source, but I have to meet with the pastor, they are also hoping to get some funds for my car. I am going back on a mission for the Methodist Church to preach in every city in Malaysia where we have a church.” He looked at me, then closed his eyes. In a moment, he said, as he got up and went to his briefcase and returned with a check book. “Joseph, you must give me your word this will never be mentioned until I am with the Lord. I am on the Mission Board and you are not going under the Foreign Mission Board of the Methodist Church. I would be in much trouble were they to know I was supporting a Methodist Evangelist to Malaysia.” I assured him I would keep the secret as he handed me a check for three thousand dollars. I sat, in tears unable to speak. I might add, we had eight hundred men, women and youth join the Methodist church in that preaching tour. Only in heaven will we know the full extent of the souls brought to Christ through his gift to me, and the untold stories of his support for others like me. This is the Dr. E. Stanley Jones I knew, loved, and who blessed my life in so many ways. God bless you as you go forth from the time you have spent with him in this great book. I now sit praying you will not only give a positive answer to my question but go beyond with the help of many of the great books by Dr. E. Stanley Jones. I want to close with quote about communism by Whittiker Chambers, a former atheist communist, who wrote a book called The Witness. In the forward to that book he wrote “A Letter to my Children.” Here are two of the paragraphs of that letter he wrote to his children–
“The revolutionary heart of communism is not the theatrical appeal ‘Workers of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but your chains. You have a world to gain.’ It is a simple statement of Karl Marx further simplified for handy use, ‘Philosophes have explained the world. It is necessary, however, to change the world.’ The tie that binds them across the frontiers of nations, across barriers of language and differences of class and education, in defiance of religion, morality, truth, law, honor. The weakness of the body and the irresolution of the mind, even unto death is the simple conviction that it is now necessary to change the world. Their power, whose nature baffles the rest or the world, because in a large measure the rest of the world has lost that power, is the power to hold convictions and to act on them. It is the same power that moves mountains. It is also an unfailing power to move men. Communists are that part of mankind which has recovered the power to live or die, to bear witness for its faith. It is a simple, rational faith that inspires men to live or die for it.” Communism is not a new faith, however, but in fact, it is mankind’s second oldest faith whose promise was whispered in the first days of creation under the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, by evil, which promised– ‘You shall be as gods.’ That, { to be as gods}, is communism’s simple vision. The communist vision is the vision of mankind without God.”
To me, this is the epitome of any definition of communism. E. Stanley Jones helped me find that answer, “Jesus IS Lord”.
Dr. Joseph B. Kennedy, Sr.
Retired Missionary Evangelist to China
Holly Lake Ranch, Texas
The E. Stanley Jones Foundation is dedicated to preserving and extending the legacy of the late E. Stanley Jones who blessed millions of people around the world with his preaching, teaching, and prolific written works proclaiming Jesus is Lord.
