Musings From Motor City
My latest number of "School and Society" brings me news of three of the brethren: T. H. Etheridge, who gets the deanship of Sul Ross State Teachers College at Alpine, Texas; E. V. Pullias, dean of George Pepperdine College and who contributes an article on "Liberal Education's Greatest Need: Teachers," and Jonah W. D. Skiles of Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, who holds forth on "Latin and Greek in Preparation for Medicine."
My long memory cannot parallel a fellow to this particular issue, so replete with the doings, and the sayings, of the initiated. These three worthies I have not known after the flesh, However, I did see a notice about Brother Etheridge in the F. F. to the effect that he'd gone up in the world; the name of Pullias has been one to conjure with in the brotherhood fox some decades past; and Bro. Skiles is known only to me as the signer of a column in a certain Louisville, Ky., newsmag whose editor has so much to say about the day which comes after the last day.
Perusing the editorials in the Banner recently-I always read them and never my own offerings first-I came into the office of the dean of Pepperdine by the back door, so to speak. What was said by way of introduction to the dean did not impress me with his ability to throw himself into the breach nor with his powers of ringing out in clarion tones, "They shall not pass!"
No college among us will ever succeed in the predictable future that tries to remain half free in Christ and half in slavery to the world. "Stressing the spiritual" is, or was, the slogan of one of them. As an example of sounding forth some thing without commission to anything, it wins the wickerwork bathtub. The church is the fold and family of God. If a college represents it before the world, such an institution should be possessed of-its spirit of brotherhood and of its love for the unsullied truth. Cliques and secret orders would better become the organizational genius and worldly-wise philosophy of Roman Catholicism than of the groups which saints preside over.
Bro. Skiles may be a good man, but I know he is aiding and abetting the propagation of disunity. I call upon him to repent of his unfortunate endorsements. Bible Banner readers then might welcome his "studies in the original text" in their own columns.
A
is for AARON: his honor's still bright;
His priesthood's now hidden, but'll soon come to light. B is
for BOLLITE: a party name quite;
Of course they deny it, but ain't history right?
C
is for CITIES, the saints to reign over.
They're here, right here now: from Denver to Dover.
D
is for DEVIL: he cannot be chained!
Why, we still make mistakes and with faults are ingrained!
E
is for E. L. His book's all the rage,
And softies delight on page after page.
F
is for FANCY; it takes a hold quite
On those who see big things in Mrs. White's flight.
G
is for JUDGMENT: of course I can't spell it:
No more can some worthies make two where just one is.
H
is for HADES: the dead'll come out
At diff'rent occasions to moan or to shout.
I
is for "INSIGHT"; just a few do possess it; In "scriptural"
studies
they proudly display it.
J
is for JANGLING; the ones who do start it Are seldom
the ones who do squarely admit it.
K
is for KINGDOM: it's not here as yet;
It'll come with His coming, his crown for to get.
L
is for "LOUIS": it graces a "ville"
Where seers do gaze in their crystals at will.
M
is for MILLER; he started it all
With a couple of guesses on God's ending this ball.
N
is for NORRIS: he's more loved by some
Of the brethren than this writer, by gum.
O
is for OPEN; till Boll we'd had no such a vision.
Now methinks all our truths need revision.
P
is for PROPHET. The present-day type
Know more than the Master when the time'll be ripe.
Q
is for "QUEER ONE": all who oppose Suppositions and
guess-work take that on the nose.
R
is for RECENT: truth is as old
As the Scriptures. On that I completely am sold.
S
is for SAINTHOOD. It's all yet to be
When Satan gets bound up real tight, don't you see!
T
is for TERRY: his pirates I guess
Steal 'siderably less than some pirates. Me bless!
U
is for UNION both now and forever:
On Baptists, Adventists we'll turn our back never!
V
is for VICT'RY: to come swift and sure
As soon as the Rapture for rich and for poor.
W
is for "WORD": and it's also for "WORK".
We wonder WHOSE word; and that's one work we'll shirk!
X
marks the spot where the body was found:
Where the cannons of Scripture with thongs were all bound.
Y is for YOUTHFUL: it's too bad in one's age
To cling to a notion that just won't pass the Gauge.
Z
is for ZEBRA: a many striped brute;
Yet whiter than some who give Foy the boot.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away."
Yes, the gospel net gathers all kinds of fish in its meshes. We stand at the place today where we can see the gathering and experience what kind of individuals many who are caught in the gospel net actually are.
There is for instance, Bro. Mackerel. He's as cold as ice. He makes his enthusiasm for gospel work conspicuous by its absence. He stands at the edge of the crowd. He lays burdens upon other men's backs, yet he will not touch one of them so much as with his little finger. He criticizes, blocks and tackles. He has not one spark of constructive or creative leadership in his body. He is the "compleat" dog-in-the-manger. He will not call the numbers, and successfully keeps anyone else from doing so.
Then there is Bro. Eel. He's as slippery as they come. Yes, he may be on the committee which has formulated the suggestions to be placed before the church. If talk were new churches-planted the country would be covered -with them from Maine to Alabama, for Bro. Eel is possessed of the persuasive verbiage of a life-insurance office manager. Yet when the work is actually to be performed, where is this enthusiast? He finds suddenly he's very busy with some other matters, etc., etc.
Then there's Sister Jelly Fish. She lives in mortal terror of a preacher's raising any issue in the neighborhood. Sister Jelly is most sweet, and most uncomprehending. "There's good in all the churches," she opines. "We must live a good life and do the best we can." Vague and indefinite sermons on love are her dish. She heedeth not the warning of God to the prophet that four-sixths of his labors would make folks uncomfortable: "to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down." Or an equal mathematical proportion to Timothy: "Rebuke and reprove."
The time would fail us to speak of Bro. Sponge, Sister Shark, and Bro. Whale, the latter forgetting that God enjoins temperance in all things, including the joys of the table. But someday there will be a mighty casting of the bad away!
The time to take out life insurance is when one is still in good health; the time to write one's will is when one is still in his right mind; the time to pick a bride is to see the candidates in the unflattering light of the morning after! and the time to get religion is when one still has something to offer the Lord by way of strength, reputation, and talent.
It pains me to reflect on the great number of people whose only thought of the church or of one of its ministering servants is when death enters the home. Surely if they could live without Christ, they could die and be buried without Him. But, no: They come whimpering to the minister's home and lay their pitiable case before him. He lays their burden on his heart and does what he can to assuage their grief.
But he can do little more than moralize in a general way on the fleetness of life and do what he can to reconcile his hearers to their lot. Occasionally the family becomes somewhat miffed because the deceased wasn't sent forthwith to Glory. But what can the preacher do when not even the ashes of one's life, as it were, were offered in the service of Heaven?
To that which we give our hearts, we dedicate our lives. That may be thoughtlessly living just for today. It may be the securing of a better job, or creating an estate (for our children to squander); it may be running an orderly home with no permitting of church obligations to upset the even tenor of its ways. Thus we become guilty of idolatry. "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." The Lord is a jealous God. He will not serve as mere messenger boy when the orchestra of our life needs urgent service. He'll not stand over in the corner somewhere meekly thumbing the bull fiddle once in a while. He'll not even take a place among the second fiddles. He must play first fiddle while He is directing the assembly!
A preacher once confessed to the congregation: "I've lost the notes for this morning's sermon, so today I guess I'll have to depend on the Lord!" It would have been a good thing if he'd lost every sermon note if that would have brought him closer to the Lord! "Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou has brought me forth; for they have turned their backs unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise and save us." (Jer. 2:27).
_______________
CHARLES M. CAMPBELL COMMENDED The Northside church moves along with interest and with good prospects for the future. Much of the credit for the present improved condition is due Bro. Charles M. Campbell, now of Bowling Green, Kentucky. Brother Campbell labored faithfully and diligently in our midst for almost two years. We do not hesitate to recommend him as sound in doctrine and able indeed in building up the cause. He left the work here under the urgent invitation of the leadership to remain.
While Bro. Campbell worked with us many improvements were made on the church property, a radio program was inaugurated, a lively newspaper controversy with the Baptists was engaged in, in which the Baptists quit. Also Bro. Campbell was largely responsible for bringing Bro. N. F. Hardeman to Chattanooga and arranging for the very successful afternoon service in the Central High school auditorium, with about two thousand in attendance. He took a leading part in the plans and their fulfillment of the very successful Wallace tent meeting.
These are but a few of the things Bro. Campbell achieved and for which we hold him in high esteem. We say these things of Bro. Campbell, not for worldly praise, but for Christian commendation and in gratitude for the good that was done. John H, Gerrard, former evangelist for the Brainerd congregation of this city, followed Bro. Campbell in the work. Upon Bro. Campbell and his fine family, all of whom we learned to love, we pray God's blessings wherever they may go.
Signed: Elders of the Northside Church of Christ:
W. 0. MITCHELL, J. W. FARMER, A. H. Goon, R. L. MYNATT.