The Brother Wants A Scriptural Example
The minister of the church in Palestine, Texas wants a bit of scriptural information. It is commendable and refreshing when preachers and others get interested in what the New Testament teaches, and I'm always glad to render what help I can along that line. The brother states his difficulty in these words:
"By the way, we are doing a little over here in Palestine, toward preaching the gospel to the colored people and also to some of the white people who are not able. But of course we are not doing as much as Cled and the Lufkin church. But when we get as 'big' as Cled and the Lufkin church maybe we can do as much. And another thing, the elders over here are overseeing the spending of the money and the preaching of the gospel both in the church here in Palestine, and the places where we are helping. It must be a big job for you to have all that responsibility of spending $36,000 a year in preaching the gospel to the heathens of East Texas. How did you happen to get into such a job? Tell me, is that the New Testament plan? I sorta got the idea from the New Testament, that the evangelist was to preach the gospel, and the elders were to oversee the spending of the money. Maybe I have been wrong all this time. Will you please cite me to a scriptural example or a command from the Book for your 'system' over here in East Texas?"
The brother has exactly the right "idea" and I hope he sticks to it. I want to congratulate the church where he labors for planning and doing its work according to "the New Testament plan." We have no 'system' different from that, in Lufkin. My awkward way of expressing things, was probably the reason the brother got the wrong impression. I said:
"This church here in Lufkin spent about $36,000 in gospel work last year, and they are keeping me pretty busy spending that much, or more, this year."
A well-placed comma, might fix it, but I have to watch my step pretty close these days. So I better rewrite it:
This church here in Lufkin spent about $36,000 in gospel work last year, and they, spending that much, or more, this year, are keeping me pretty busy.
That's a little better, but I want everybody to be happy and satisfied about my size. I'm busy, preaching and teaching. I handle no money, except the portion "the elders over here" hand over to me as mine, and I handle it only until the lovely woman who has watched over me for lo, these many years, gets her hands on it. Ah, me! What a life! Now, if there's anything else my public wants to know about my personal life, you cannot read about in the Firm Foundation, write me and I may tell you. I may not be able to give you "a Scriptural example" for all the details, and I might fudge a little in spots.