To Laugh away the Blues...

An Initiative of Jesus Youth

Christian Pet A Missionary Movement at the Service of the Church
A Christian couple felt it important to own an equally fundamentally Chris-
tian pet. So, they went shopping. At a kennel specializing in this particular Don Bosco Utume August 30, Sunday: Issue 93
breed, they found a dog they liked quite a lot. When they asked the dog to • Jambo You(th) is a weekly news letter aimed at helping the Youth in moulding their daily
fetch the Bible, he did it in a flash. When they instructed him to look up lives in Christ.
Psalm 23, he complied equally fast, using his paws with dexterity. • Our vision is expressed in just two phrases: GOOD CHRISTIANS and
They were impressed, purchased the animal, and went home. That night RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS.

they had friends over. They were so proud of their new fundamentalist dog Pep-up : Stories for Reflection
To the Young : Skeptic Convinced of Christ

and his major skills, they called in the dog and showed off a little.
The friends were impressed and asked whether the dog was able to do any
of the usual dog tricks as well. This stopped the couple cold, as they
hadn`t thought about "normal" tricks.
Well, they said. "Let`s try this out." Once more they called the dog and
they clearly pronounced the command, "Heel!" Quick as a wink, the dog
jumped up, put his paw on the man`s forehead, closed his eyes in concen-
tration and bowed his head.
Last Drop
Faith
Without risk there is no faith. Faith is precisely the contradiction
between the infinite passion of the individual's inwardness and
the objective uncertainty. If I am capable of grasping God objec-
tively, I do not believe, but precisely because I cannot do this I
must believe. If I wish to preserve myself in faith, I must con-
stantly be intent upon holding fast the objective uncertainty, so
as to remain out upon the deep over seventy thousand fathoms of
water, still preserving my faith.
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
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Features
Points to Ponder : The 23rd Channel
Saint of the Week : St. Aidan
Jokes : Christian Pet
Last Drop : Faith
SELF-SACRIFICE
In his moving book, Miracle on the River Kwai, Ernest Gordon tells his story of life as a Japanese
prisoner of war among the men building the infamous Burma Railway. They endured horrific condi-
tions with what seemed to be no hope or purpose to life.
A few Christians, however, formed Bible study groups, which began to bring about amazing
transformations within the camps. POWs who had stolen and cheated from one another became men
who cared for and gave their lives for their friends. Those death camps became places of hope and
life because God's Word was at work.
Gordon recounts: During one work detail a shovel went missing, and the Japanese guard
shouted, insisting someone had stolen it. Striding up and down before the men, he ranted and de-
nounced them for their wickedness, working himself up into a paranoid fury. Screaming in broken
English, he demanded that the guilty one step forward to take his punishment. No one moved; the
guard's rage reached new heights of violence. "All die! All die!" he shrieked. To show that he meant
what he said, he cocked his rifle, put it to his shoulder, and looked down the gun sights, ready to fire
at the first man at the end of the line. At that moment one of the men stepped forward, stood stiffly to
attention, and said calmly, "I did it."
The guard unleashed all his whipped-up hatred--he kicked the helpless prisoner and beat him
with his fists. Seizing the rifle by the barrel, he lifted it high over his head and, with a final howl,
brought it down on the prisoner's skull, who sank limply to the ground and did not move. The men of
the work detail picked up their comrade's body, shouldered their tools, and marched back to the
camp. When the tools were counted again at the guardhouse, no shovel was missing.
Gordon later completed theological training and became Dean of the Chapel of Princeton Uni-
versity.
David Holdaway

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Editor: Shyjan Sdb
 SKEPTIC CONVINCED OF CHRIST The 23rd Channel
After six years given to the impartial investigation of Christianity as to its truth or falsity, I have The TV is my shepherd, I shall not want.
come to the deliberate conclusion that Jesus Christ is the Messiah of the Jews, the Savior of the
world, and my personal Savior." It makes me to lie down on the sofa;
These were the words of Lew Wallace, Governor of New Mexico, over a century ago. He had It leads me away from faith;
started out to write a book against Jesus Christ and in the process was converted to Christianity. It destroys my soul;
He told a friend how it happened:
I had always been an agnostic and denied Christianity. Robert C. Ingersoll, a famous agnos- It leads me into the paths of sex and violence for the
tic, was one of my most intimate friends. He once suggested, "See here, Wallace, you are a sponsors sake.
learned man and a thinker. Why don't you gather material and write a book to prove the falsity
Yea, though I walk through the shadow of my Christian
concerning Jesus Christ, that no such man has ever lived, much less the author of the teachings
found in the New Testament. Such a book would make you famous. It would be a masterpiece, responsibilities,
and a way of putting an end to the foolishness about the so-called Christ." there is no interruption, for the TV is with me;
The thought made a deep impression on me, and we discussed the possibility of such a book.
Its cables and remote control, they comfort me.
I went to Indianapolis, my home, and told my wife what I intended. She was a member of the Meth-
odist Church and naturally did not like my plan. But I decided to do it and began to collect material It prepares a commercial for me in the presence of my
in libraries here and in the Old World. I gathered everything over that period in which Jesus Christ, worldliness.
according to legend, should have lived.
Several years were spent in this work. I had written nearly four chapters when it became clear It anoints my head with humanism and consumerism; my
to me that Jesus Christ was just as real a personality as Socrates, Plato, or Caesar. The conviction coveting runs over.
became a certainty. I knew that Jesus Christ had lived because of the facts connected with the Surely, laziness and ignorance shall follow me
period in which he lived.
I was in an uncomfortable position. I had begun to write a book to prove that Jesus Christ had all the days of my life,
never lived on earth. Now I was face-to-face with the fact that he was just as historic a personage and I shall dwell in the house, just watching TV all the time.
as Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Virgil, Dante, and a host of other men who had lived in olden days.
I asked myself candidly, "If he was a real person (and there was no doubt), was he not then also SAINT for the WEEK
the Son of God and the Savior of the world?" Gradually the consciousness grew that, since Jesus August 31 St. Aidan
Christ was a real person, he probably was the one he claimed to be. Born in the late 6th century, he was a monk of the island of Lone in Scotland, but came
I fell on my knees to pray for the first time in my life, and I asked God to reveal himself to me, to Northumbria in 635 when the king, Oswald, who had himself become a Christian on
forgive my sins, and help me to become a follower of Christ. Towards morning the light broke into Lone, asked for a missionary to be sent. Aidan replaced an anonymous harsh and de-
my soul. I went into my bedroom, woke my wife, and told her that I had received Jesus Christ as manding monk, who said the English were unteachable and returned home. Aidan's base
my Lord and Savior. was the island of Lindisfarne (Holy Island), near the royal palace at Bamburgh, and from
"O Lew," she said, "I have prayed for this ever since you told me of your purpose to write this here he took the Gospel to Northumberland, leaving what we now call Yorkshire to St.
book, that you would find him while you wrote it!" Paulinus. Oswald's successor, Oswin, gave him a horse, which he promptly gave away in
Lew Wallace did write a very famous book. It was a masterpiece and the crowning glory of his accordance with his stress on personal poverty. Every Lent, Aidan moved to one of the
life's work. He changed the book he was originally writing and used all his research to write an- Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast for a season of penitential prayer. He died in
other book. 651 and was buried on Lindisfarne; the island was later sacked by the Vikings and Ai-
Now every time I watch the epic film made from that book and see Charlton Heston racing dan's memory was eclipsed by that of St. Cuthbert, until revived by monks in far-away
those four magnificent white horses in that amazing chariot race, I wonder how many who have Glastonbury. The Venerable Bede is the sole source of information about Aidan; he
seen Ben Hur, with its moving references to Jesus, know it was written by a man who wanted to highly approved of his qualities (possibly in contrast to some of the hierarchs of his own
disprove that Jesus ever existed, and instead became convinced that he was the greatest man time). In general, this gentle and selfless missioner has not received the attention he
who ever lived! David Holdaway, The Life of Jesus deserves, and there is only one ancient church dedicated to him in the whole of England.

Faith is reacting positively to a negative situation. Dr. Robert Schuller Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, faith looks up.

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