Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 14
June 28, 1962
NUMBER 9, PAGE 6-7

The Overflow

F. Y. T.

No Paper Next Week

Our long-time subscribers will remember that we publish no paper the first week in July and the last week in December. This provides an over-worked (and under-paid) staff a sort of "breather" to try to catch up on a mountainous pile of correspondence, orders, and accumulating chores. But look for your Guardian again after this brief interval; the next issue you receive will be dated July 12.

That finished speaker "I like a finished preacher I really, truly do; I don't mean one who's polished; I mean one who is through." — Anonymous "Fact Or Fiction?"

"Jesus, A Divine Being....Fact Or Fiction?" is the title of an excellent new tract by Brother Robert H. Farish, Beautifully printed and attractively bound, this thirty-two page booklet (3 x 5 inches) is the kind of tract churches ought to keep constantly in their tract racks. It is readable, reliable, and radiant with faith-producing fact and logic. The tract can be ordered from the Gospel Guardian, and is priced at 15 cents per single copy; 8 for $1.00; 50 for $6.00

Fat woman's ambition To be weighed and found wanting. Big enough?

Several brethren have preached and written lately on "The Grasshopper Complex," chiding those who look with distrust on the super, colossal, gargantuan promotions for the church which some are trying so hard to put into orbit. They want everything connected with the "Church of Christ" to be the biggest, greatest, most stupendous ever known. Well, we have a feeling the Billy Sol Estes scandal ought to be big enough to satisfy even the most radical of them! It grows bigger, wilder, and more wonderful with every passing hour....involving the "Church of Christ" in a national scandal that may well rival Teapot Dome of the Harding era or the infamous Credit Mobilier scandal of unhappy U. S. Grant's administration.

Price Increase

Sadly, but insistently, we must warn you of the price increase in the Gospel Guardian, effective as of November 1. After that date the regular subscription will be $4.00. But you can save yourself money by renewing NOW for two full years for only $5.00. And while you are at it, why not subscribe for a group of friends on the same basis....a club of six subscriptions for only $2.50 each, either new or renewal.

Lenten Message

The New York Journal-American last spring carried a series of "Lenten Messages" by clergymen of New York City, among the number being "Dr. James B. Coffman" (better known to most of us as Burton Coffman.) He IS a doctor, really and truly. Dr. George DeHoff, President of Magic Valley Christian College, conferred on him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in a special service of the Manhattan Church of Christ last summer. According to an article in North Atlantic Christian, "The investiture services were held in the church auditorium and were attended by a full house of members, friends, and citizens of the church neighborhood."

Consolation For Some

An archaeologist is the best husband any woman can have; the older she gets, the more interested he is in her."

— Agatha Christie Middle-of-the-roaders Your opinions, you will find, Are of small consequence If you're known as the kind Who straddles the fence. — Bertha Boone A Voice From The Grave

"It was never the purpose of the Lubbock church to act as agent for anybody, and we do not want money sent to us." These are the words of brother G. C. Brewer (Gospel Advocate, July 8, 1943), when he was preaching for the Broadway congregation. In the same article he says, "If one church is not able to support a missionary, or to supply the funds and equipment for the endeavors In any given field, then let a dozen churches if necessary select the same group of workers and the field in which they are to work, and let each church contribute its pro rata to the sum required by the undertaking in that field. And that some should be known and understood and agreed upon by all participants. What more is there to be explained about this plan? It is plain and scriptural, is it not?"

The Reason Some people wonder why The preacher is so big and fat, And his wife's so poor and thin. The answer's very plain.... He goes among the brethren Who feed him with a vim; And she lives upon his salary, Which is generally very slim! — T. R. Burnett Pop-Gun Elders

"When I was a boy, we used to cut the branches off an elderberry bush and make pop-guns. But in some places now the brethren have reversed the practice...instead of making pop-guns out of elders, they are trying to make elders out of popguns."

Billy Sol and the hand

Reading The Horrendous Exposure Of The Free-Wheeling, Big-Dealing Bribe- Giving Manipulations Of Billy Sol Calls To Memory Ambrose Bierce's Cynical Definition Of A Hand. He Says, "Hand: A Singular Instrument Worn At The End Of The Human Arm, And Commonly Thrust Into Somebody Else's Pocket."

Who Said So?

We have been fascinated by the "paper growth" of the "Churches of Christ" in recent years. Nearly every new edition of the encyclopedias or year-books will show a tremendous jump in the number of members of the "Churches of Christ." And the thing that intrigues us is that the figures are not always estimates or round numbers, but sometimes exact and specific..... for example, the 1962 Britannica Book of the Year has an article from M. Norvel Young listing the total membership of the "Churches of Christ" as 2,163,493. This includes 300 congregations in India with an "estimated" membership of 35,000. Are they included in the 2,163,493? If so, why is not that figure also an "estimate"?

How We Grow!

And speaking of "paper growth" here are a few of the figures we have picked up from various encyclopedias concerning the total membership of the Churches of Christ: 1957, about 1,750,000 (Collier's Encyclopedia); 1958, about 1,700,000; 1959, about 1,750,000 (Americana) or about 2,000,000 (Britannica); 1960, exactly 2,007,650 (both Britannica and Americana); 1961, exactly 2,007,850 (Americana) or if you like the larger figure, exactly 2,163,493 (Britannica). Seems to us that the brethren who supply these figures ought to get together! We have the ridiculous situation of the two major encyclopedias in the country differing in the same year (1959) by 250,000 members! And in 1961 they differed by 155,843 members. When Brother Goodpasture and Brother Burton Coffman and Brother Norvel Young supply the editors of these various reference works with such glaring discrepancies, somebody is going to think that these "Church of Christ" people sometimes get sort of careless with the truth! Where do they get their figures, anyhow.... particularly those EXACT numbers?