The Overflow
Schedule
When this appears in print (November 6), the writer will have just returned home from seven meetings in California — 74 days in a stretch. Itinerary for the next few weeks is as follows: Atlanta, Georgia (Glenwood Hills), November 9-16; Waycross, Georgia, November 17-26; Mulvane, Kansas, November 30-December 7; Del Rio, Texas, December 8-14; Beaumont, Texas, January 4-11. The middle of January will start another series of meetings in California. The year 1959 will have in it two trips to California, (January and July), and work in Oklahoma, Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oregon, and perhaps another state or two.
Real couth, man!
Then there is that California church whose cultured and oh! so educated membership had their highly sensitive ears jarred by the halting grammar and Arkansas nasal twang of a brother or two who had been called upon to lead prayer. Such uncouth and improper English could never be tolerated! So the elders responded to the requests of their discriminating brethren (and sisters) — and now write out the prayer they want prayed on Sunday morning, and give it to some brother with a cultured, well modulated voice, whose soothing pear-shaped tones will not offend their cultivated ears. He goes into the pulpit and reads the prayer he has been given. Man, that's culture! Real couth, we'd say.
Not empty-handed
Remember that old song we used to sing, "Must I go and empty-handed; Thus my dear Redeemer meet? Not one soul with which to greet him, Lay no trophies at his feet?" The song was written by a young man very near to death who thus lamented his short life of service as a Christian, and poignantly regretted that he would have no "trophies" (souls won to Christ) to lay at the Savior's feet. Well, one of the up-and-at-'em California congregations is solving that problem of "no trophies". Right in the vestibule, prominently displayed for all to see, is a showcase bearing the proud trophies won by this church's ball team in the soft-ball church league. They may not be able to show much on the ledger in souls won to Christ — but when it comes to "trophies", they will not be empty-handed.
Verboten!
It's not all in California. We know of a gospel preacher in Texas who went to work for a congregation in that state, and who was forthwith handed a list of topics which he was NOT to preach on during his stay with that congregation. The list was not a long one, but it was significant. Among the subjects which were "verboten" were: Masonry, dancing, Herald of Truth, instrumental music,
Oklahoma, too
Let no one short change the Sooner state! She is right there with the rest of the "on the march" brethren. Item: We see where they are advertising, "The. Annual State - Wide Youth Meeting" to convene at University Church in Norman, Oklahoma, on November 8. Within four short years we have seen that movement progress from "Youth Meeting" to "State - Wide Youth Meeting" to "Annual State-Wide Youth Meeting" to "THE Annual State-Wide Youth Meeting." So, paraphrasing Mark Twain's comment on "THE Mother Church" of Boston, we say that this Youth Meeting has now joined the illustrious company of the "THE'S" — like the universe, the Virgin, the devil.
Par for the course
In one of his regular bursts of irascibility Brother Rue Porter recently had another page of nasty things to say about some of his brethren who disagree with him on institutionalism. Labeling them as evil men and false brethren" he did his best to smear Roy Cogdill, Homer Hailey, James R. Cope, W. Curtis Porter, Yater Tant, Wright Randolph, and all the others who believe, as they do in the all-sufficiency of the church. In his excitement Brother Rue charged that one of these "false brethren" had gone into the Philippine Islands recently on a preaching tour, and that it might be necessary for Guy N. Woods to make a trip over there to straighten things out. Well, he was referring to a gospel meeting that Wright Randolph recently conducted in Hawaii. Rue was inaccurate only to the extent of about 8,000 miles. We'd say that is pretty close to par to the course for him.
From Kentucky
Knowing our interest in the names of odd religious organizations Brother Gene B. McMurray of Lexington, Kentucky sends the following which he ran across recently:
"The House of God
The Holy Church Of The Living God
The Pillar And Ground Of The Truth
The House of Prayer For All People, Inc.
Headquarters, 426 Ash St. Lexington, Kentucky."
Social drinking
The Gospel Advocate recently carried an article by one of the liberal-minded "institutional" brethren among us making a half-hearted defense of social drinking, and citing the Biblical story of Jesus' turning the water into wine at the marriage feast as justification. Well, we notice the Episcopalian Church, meeting in its general convention at Miami Beach, Florida, last month had a report from one of its committees to the effect that, "moderate social drinking is in full accord with Old and New Testament teaching." This report went our Gospel Advocate brother one better and cited scripture references all the way from Genesis to Paul's epistles to support its contention. The report added that the social drinker ought to "give thanks to God for these blessings" — i.e. that God has given the world wine and liquors to make them happy.
Sad, sad story
He is now a Texas preacher, but he used to be a California preacher. He was one of the ultra, ultra "promoters" in California, and went all out for youth camps, institutional homes, Herald of Truth, etc. He beat the drum till the whole country side reverberated with his boastings of the Yosemite Bible Encampment. But for some strange reason, as yet not explained, he balked at the ski parties. Many of California's young people (members of the church) had taken to those summer encampments like ducks to water. The enthusiasm got so high that they decided the summer wasn't long enough — so began to organize week-end ski parties for the winter. School responsibilities now prevented their going into the mountains for three or four weeks as they had done in the vacation time — so they could just go up over the week-end. They took the communion elements along with their cokes and sandwiches in the picnic baskets, and would take time out from their ski runs to have the communion. This preacher objected. The elders told him to keep his mouth Shut, that there was no difference really between a winter mountain trip and a summer mountain trip. The preacher was adamant. So they fired him. There aren't any ski slides in Texas.
"Into the pool-hall"
"No, sir, Brother Tant," once said a luke-warm church member to J. D. Tant, "when they moved that there organ into the building, I vowed right then and there I'd never set foot in that house again, and I haven't!" "In that case," responded Tant, "I think the brethren ought to move an organ into that pool-hall where you've been hanging out so much through this meeting." Read the life story of "J. D. Tant — Texas Preacher." It will be ready to mail this month. Price $4.00. Order from Gospel Guardian, Box 980, Lufkin, Texas.
Law-suit
Whatever happened to that $50,000.00 lawsuit one of the big "promoting" churches in St. Louis was threatening to wage against a brother whom they had removed from the eldership by majority vote, and had ejected bodily from the building by physical force? It seems that when this happened so many of the members were nauseated by the action of their preacher and other elders that they quit contributing — and the church was about to lose their property; so they decided to sue the kicked out elder and see if they could make him pay for the property! That was two or three months ago. Since the preacher for this church is often featured in the Gospel Advocate columns, maybe that journal would like to bring everybody up to date as to the progress of his lawsuit.