Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 3
November 8, 1951
NUMBER 27, PAGE 14

The Overflow

F.Y.T.

Church equality

"What is the relation of the local congregations to one another? They are all on equality before God. The size of the group or the number composing the group has nothing to do with determining the blessings that the church shall receive; neither will the number, great or small, prevent it from fulfilling its mission. The local congregations stand before God on equality."

—H. Leo Boles

(Tract on the Eldership)

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Recommended reading Brother Frank Pack has had an excellent series of articles on "Modernism" appearing in the Gospel Advocate in recent weeks. We recommend a careful reading of these articles. All preachers, elders, and teachers especially should be familiar with the background and the cardinal points of this false philosophy.

—O—

Alexander Campbell James Madison, ex-president of the United States, said of Alexander Campbell, "It was my privilege to hear him very often as a preacher of the gospel, and I regard him as the ablest and most original expounder of the Word I have ever heard."

—O—

Tolbert Fanning Yater The editor's first cousin, Dr. Tolbert Fanning Yater, was recently installed as an elder in the Westside Church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas. His father, for whom we were named, was one of the godliest men and most faithful workers ever known in the church in Cleburne. We are confident the son will measure up to his new responsibilities, and will prove not unworthy to bear the name of two great men: Tolbert Fanning and Tolbert Fanning Yater.

—O—

Do you get discouraged?

When T. B. Larimore was at the height of his career as an evangelist of Christ, holding meetings all over the nation, and baptizing scores of people in nearly every meeting, and hundreds of people in some, he was called to St. Catherine's Ontario, for a meeting of forty days duration. Larimore was at his best and most persuasive— and the forty days meeting resulted in one baptism!

—O—

Good commentary?

Are you looking for the "best commentary ever written" on the New Testament? Well, we know one brother who desired such a commentary—and thought maybe "Larimore And His Boys" was the book he needed! But even at that we think he'd do better to get that book than some of the "commentaries" we've seen. Commentaries can be helpful, but wrongfully used they can become an unmitigated curse.

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The rest of the story A few weeks ago with the editorial comment "Brethren we are drifting, or are we?" brother Goodpasture printed a Gospel Advocate report of 1928 showing that J. D. Tant was once employed to work for the Tennessee Orphan Home. As usual, our brother editor, gave only a part of the story; for J. D. Tant wrote concerning his connection with that institution:

"The Home is used as a clearing house to find homes and locations for orphan children. When my brethren come back to the Bible from where we have drifted to be like the sects, then every local congregation will be an orphan's home to care for three or four children. We will then have a thousand orphans' homes in Tennessee caring for three or four thousand children, instead of one home caring for one hundred."

(Gospel Advocate, 1928)

Just how many children, brother Goodpasture, are being "cleared" through Tennessee Orphan Home "1951 style"? Yes, brethren, we HAVE drifted.

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Capital and labor: a definition Many brethren have money. That's capital. When some of the preachers try to get some wealthy brother to turn loose a bit of that money for a worthy project—that's labor!

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Caution necessary We believe the above should cause all of us to realize (if we haven't already) that we must be on guard against accepting anything appearing in the Gospel Advocate on these controversial issues at face value.

Brother Goodpasture is seeking to promote a certain thing in the church (institutionalism), and he publishes only those things which he believes will further his aim. Probably most of the brethren are aware of this by this time, but it will be well to keep it in mind.

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Bogard-Warlick The recent death of Ben M. Bogard, doughty defender of Baptist doctrine in numerous debates with gospel preachers, calls to memory some of the anecdotes circulated concerning him and these debates. One of the best of them has to do with the Hardeman-Bogard debate in Little Rock, Arkansas, a few years back. Bogard in jovial mood, was telling of his past debates with some of the old warriors present, among them Joe S. Warlick. "Warlick and I are good friends," said Bogard. "We have debated each other many times, have gone to some of these debates in the same conveyances, have sometimes stayed in the same home, and have even slept together! ... Of course, I took a bath afterward!" Without a moment's hesitation, Warlick's heavy voice boomed out, "I wished to the Lord you had taken it before!!"

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That's what we've been saying In a Firm Foundation editorial of October 16, brother Showalter relates a conversation he had with a certain brother concerning the issues that have been discussed relative to foreign mission work. Said brother Showalter, "Brother blank, I wish you would tell me what the boys really mean and what is the point they are trying to make." His reply was, "Brother Showalter, that is just the question I wanted to ask you." "I told him that as of that date, I was unable to tell him."

That's not news. We've been saying for a year or more that brother Showalter didn't understand the issue. We hope our review of Cecil N. Wright will help clarify it for him.

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Hollywood chuckle We see where Lana Turner was giving some advice in one of those mushy, gushy, movie magazines (which so many of the brethren keep in their magazine racks) on how to have a successful marriage. Said Lana, "The girl who brings to her marriage nothing but beauty and sex is nearly certain to wind up in the divorce court." Lana ought to know. She's working on her fifth (or is it her sixth?) divorce!