Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 3
April 17, 1952
NUMBER 49, PAGE 14-15a

The Overflow

— F. Y. T.

Quoting Scripture

Loyce Howard sends us this one from Mayfield, Kentucky: A first grade teacher was having her pupils recite Bible verses each day. One little fellow with a lisp couldn't make himself understood, but apparently was quoting the same verse day after day. At last, after very careful listening, the teacher made out his "verse," which was "The old hen and her little chickens!" And that reminds us of the small Texas church which was having a mid-week service in which every member was asked to quote a verse. One brother, a member of the church for thirty years or more, confidently declaimed, "In my father's house are many mansions; if I hadn't of told you, you wouldn't have knowed it.

—O—

Sponsored And Sponsoring

Latest "sponsoring" deal to come to our notice was the attempt by a small group in a Texas coastal city to sponsor a missionary in Europe. They sent out letters and appeals to a number of congregations in their area asking for contributions to be sent them that they might "sponsor" this worker in Europe. But the letters failed to mention that the would-be "sponsoring church" was herself a mission point, being supported by another congregation in that city!

—O—

With Apologies To Poe

He finally yielded to his friends repeated solicitations and went out one night to hear the world famous preacher. The night was hot; the building poorly ventilated; the babies squalled like mad; and the famous preacher passed a dozen good stopping places before he brought his dull and very uninteresting discourse to an end. As the visitor was leaving the service, he was asked to sign the guest register, giving his name, address, and "Remarks." Under the latter he wrote, "Quoth the raven."

—O—

Good Friday Services

A March 5 clipping from the Lynwood (California) Herald-American announced that Dr. Hugh Tiner, president of Pepperdine College, was scheduled to be the principle speaker in Good Friday services at the First Christian Church on Sanborn Avenue. The service was also to feature "appropriate music of the season," as well as Dr. Tiner's message on "The Resurrection Message For Today's World." The Rev. Daniel Griffith, pastor of the Foursquare Church and Secretary of the Lynwood Ministerial Alliance, which is sponsoring the Good Friday program, cordially invited the public to attend.

—O—

Letter From Dr. Pullias

A letter from brother E. V. Pullias tells us that he plans two more articles dealing with the questions which have been raised concerning Pepperdine College. He feels much distressed at the unfavorable publicity given the school and her faculty by the Guardian. "Just how you can do this kind of thing in good conscience is very difficult for your fellow-Christians to understand," he writes. But how brother Pullias and brother Tiner (see paragraph) above can do what they do "in good conscience" is also a matter very, very difficult for thousands of their fellow-Christians to understand.

—O—

A Tent Is Needed

The congregation at Sunnyvale, California, is badly in need of a tent for use in meeting work in and near Santa Clara Valley. They would like to have some help in getting the gospel preached in that area. Can anyone lend assistance? If so, write Ernest L. Lewis (one of the elders of the Sunnyvale church) at 146 E. Iowa Street, Sunnyvale, California; or Otis H. Moyer, preacher for the Sunnyvale congregation, whose address is 394 Stonewall Avenue.

—O—

Brother John T. Lewis

Elsewhere in this issue we carry an article from brother John T. Lewis of Birmingham. Brother Lewis sent us the article, with the request that we give it space. Which we are glad to do. No matter how much we may disagree with him on the proper understanding of 1 Corinthians 11, we think any comment by brother Lewis on any passage of scripture is deserving of most earnest and prayerful consideration. Read his article.

—O—

A Notorious Lectureship

Miss Bertha Casada, teacher of English in Abilene Christian High School, assigned her freshman class the task of writing a paragraph of not less than five sentences descriptive of the recent A.C.C. lectureship. One young genius wrote, "The Lectureship was very interesting. Even though I missed two that I wanted to hear. The crowd was notorious this year. Last year there were not near this many. I saw one or three people I knew from out of town."

—O—

Cooperation With Digressives

Perhaps it is entirely innocent, but we just naturally can't help being wary of all these "cooperative" actions promoted by the digressives and in which they seek participation from the churches of Christ. Latest to come to our notice is set forth in a series of clippings from the Nashville Banner and shows A. R. Holton of Central Church of Christ and Henry C. Hale of West End Church of Christ joining in with some twenty or thirty digressive preachers in an effort to move the "Disciples of Christ Historical Library and Archives" from Canton, Missouri, to Nashville, Tennessee. We simply can't have much respect for apostates, and we think the apostate "Disciples of Christ" denomination could probably best be left to manage their own "archives." But maybe we're wrong.

—O—

Felix W. Tarbet

Brother Felix W. Tarbet, 1200 S. Washington St, Casper, Wyoming, will be available for full time gospel meeting work after June 1. He plans to spend the summer and early fall in meetings, and get back into local work somewhere this fall. He has had wide experience in getting the church started in difficult fields, and we unreservedly recommend him to a number of congregations who have asked us about suggestions for a good man to send to some mission meetings. After June 1, brother Tarbet will be temporarily located at Dalhart, Texas.

—O—

Undecided

The trouble some of the brethren have in making up their minds about which is what in the "Churches...Individuals...Institutions" matter (see Robert Welch's article, this issue) reminds us of the predicament of a man who was being released after long confinement in an insane asylum. Pronounced cured by the examining board, he came in to bid the superintendent good-bye before faring into the outside world. "What are your plans?" asked the superintendent. "I haven't quite made up my mind," confided the ex-patient. "I may resume my medical practice. I've also been thinking about becoming a newspaper reporter. Then, on the other hand, I may be a tea-kettle."

—O—

Unanswerable Argument

One of the "big preachers" in the brotherhood was preaching on the right of a sister to teach a Sunday school class. "I know she can do so," he said, "for the Bible says that in Christ there is 'neither male nor female'; and if a brother can teach a class, so can a sister." Now who will be the first thirty to write in and tell us the identity of this big preacher?

—O—

Night Communion

Then there is that Tennessee congregation that observes the Lord's Supper on Sunday morning, and before six o'clock on Sunday after noon. This is because they think the Lord's Day should be reckoned by the old Jewish calendar, and begin at sundown Saturday afternoon and close at sundown on Sunday. But what do they do about those December and January Sundays when the sun goes down sometimes as early as 4:28 p.m.? And do they ever have a Saturday night communion? Why not?

—O—

How We Please Our Guests

Oh, happy guests, with smiles unfurled, Who greet us, having spent the night, We would not tell you for the world Our bathroom scales weight four pounds light."

— Richard Armour