Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 19
November 2, 1967
NUMBER 26, PAGE 5b-6a

S-A-L-M-A-G-U-N-D-I

You think editing a weekly gospel journal is no sweat? Would you like to see what twenty years of it have done to me? Then take a look at the bright-eyed, eager young man at the right; with hair on his head, hope in his heart, and oozing confidence from every pore. And contrast that with the balding sad sack whose illness gazed out at you from this page last week. That, friends, is the story of twenty years! Someone has said it isn't really hard to write a regular column. All one needs to do is sit down before a typewriter — and remain there till small drops of blood begin to form on the forehead. Incidentally, the accompanying picture was made at Commerce, Texas, by the late and beloved Webb Freeman when I was there in a gospel meeting in April, 1948.


We get letters. Like, for instance, this one:"I've read the first few chapters of J. D. Tant, Texas Preacher, and I'm enjoying it so much that I know my father will nearly kick over the traces with pure delight when he reads it. So please send him a copy (T. C. Hill, Pleasanton, Texas). Check is enclosed. The book is a great inspiration to me. I thank God frequently for such men as your father, for their faith and courage and dedication. " (Signed) Jerry Hill, Guatemala, Central America.


And bulletins. Like, for example, that one from Hamden, Connecticut, in which it is affirmed the Churches of Christ ARE a denomination. Says the author: "Now, is it so bad to recognize that we are a denomination? I certainly do not think so. Rather I think we ought to acknowledge the fact and go ahead and make the best of it. Then we might truly be able to be non-denominational in our outlook. Paradoxical though it may seem, I think the way to overcome denominationalism is by recognizing that one cannot be a Christian today without belonging to a denomination; that is, to a group which is distinct from other groups."


From Clayton, Oklahoma, comes a letter from George Bennett, faithful preacher for that congregation: "The Clayton church is standing for the truth and we have gained considerable strength since your son, David, preached for the congregation here. Brother Savage of Lewisville, Texas, has very generously sent the Gospel Guardian to every member of this congregation and it is doing much good. It is a fine paper, and I only wish that I had been receiving it for many years." (Letters like this are warm compensation for the "slings and arrows" that are often an editor's unhappy lot — and tend to cause one to forget the "bludgeonings of chance" and the "fell clutch of circumstance" which may indeed leave one's head bloody — and not always unbowed.)


And here is a nice bit from an OLD "old timer', Newt Allphin. Says he, "The G. G. has always been good; but my estimation of it is getting better as time goes on. It is carrying articles by many fine writers that taste more and more like those from J. D. Tant, C.R. Nichol, Early Arceneau's which appeared in the F. F. and The G.A. in years gone by. May it live long and take its timely messages against the liberalism that is making the Lord's "ecclesia" into just another Big denominational "Church'. (Signed) N. W. Allphin, Tahoka, Texas, (He will be 92 years old this month.)


Not far behind Brother Allphin in the longevity relays is Brother E.H. Clark of Regina, Sask. in Canada. He is in his 88th year, and writes: "I am fortunate to have had five five-month terms in Beamsville Bible School, where I had a chance to learn something of the precious book. I boarded with Brother and Sister Charley Watterworth, who was a long time friend of yours and Brother Cogdill's. I love the truth, and consequently the Guardian. I am alone in the fight for truth in Sask. so far as I know. I had expected to change my address before now, but you kept the Guardian coming to me. Thank you for your kindness."


A mark to shoot at. Some of our brethren are going to turn green with envy when they learn that the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, (now celebrating its Centennial) has 14,000 members. Makes these little 2,000 and 3,000 member Church of Christ churches look sick doesn't it? But maybe if enough of merge — say like ALL the Church of Christ in Dallas — hum-m-m , reckon any of our brethren have thought of that? You can bet your life they have!

"The grave is but a covered bridge leading from light to light through a brief darkness." -Longfellow In seventeen years the Billy Graham Association has grown into an enterprise with headquarters in four Minneapolis buildings, branch offices in ten cities around the world, and a yearly budget of $12,000,000.00.

Then there was this preacher who had worked his very heart out in a certain congregation, only to meet with apathy, resentment, or indifference among the members. At last he decided to go to Africa as a missionary. The congregation gave him a "going away" party, and everybody bragged on what a wonderful guy he was. Finally, he arose to speak: "I thank you all for your kind wishes, and for the many wonderful things you have said about me tonight. I shall always be grateful to you, and - and I want you to know that when I am far away, surrounded by ugly, grinning savage faces, I'll be thinking of you."

Did you see where ex-Bishop James A. Pike recently "talked" with his son, James, Jr., who committed suicide in February, 1966? It all came about through the efforts of a "medium" who had some sort of spiritual trance — or whatever it was. Anyhow, Pike is now convinced that there is life beyond the grave. Some skeptics were unkind enough to wonder why Pike didn't use this pipeline into the other world to clear up his doubts about the Virgin birth, the divinity of Christ, and the existence of a personal God. But he didn't. They just talked about hum-drum every day matters.