News
A Twenty Pound Devil
Wilson M. Coon: "Mister Oral Roberts, the modern divine healer, has done it again. On Friday night, November 27, 1959 he broadcasted his services over the radio networks which included testimonies from women who had lost weight. One woman said that she had lost twenty pounds. Mr. Roberts proceeded to thank God for removing the devil from the woman which he preferred to call the "Devil Of Gluttony." Several other women testified that they had lost weight in the same manner. Mr. Roberts then announced that he was sending strips of cloth, that had been prayed over, to all women who were overweight, upon their request. No doubt he will receive letters from hundreds of women who have devils weighing all the way from five to two-hundred pounds. Of course there is a catch to all this sly business. Oral Roberts reminded the ladies to enclose an offering to support him in his ministry. He could not afford to advertise his strips of cloth for a sum of money for several reasons. He could be handled for fraud in the first place and Uncle Sam would get his cut, if the procedure were legal, in the second place. So, Mr. Roberts puts his business under the guise of religion, takes to the air with men who advertise everything from harmonicas to pills for gaining weight or losing weight, makes his profits and pays no taxes. Mister Roberts has the scheme well under control at present but he had better watch his step. He is not the only religious racketeer in the world who is greedy of gold and silver. Other fakers will take up the cry and come in for the kill, stalking their fat sisters who are too burdened with devils to outrun the wolves."
Guthrie Dean, Box 69. Bald Knob, Arkansas: "Louis Sharp recently conducted a meeting with us at Bald Knob. There were three responses during the meeting, and there have been four more responses since then. I baptized a gentleman at one of the Searcy hospitals this week who is 88 years of age."
M. A. Mansur, 731 W. Oklahoma, Vinita, Oklahoma: "Three precious souls were restored last Sunday, with one being baptized; making a total of sixteen responses to the gospel in the past five months; for which we give thanks unto the Lord. When traveling stop and worship God with His disciples meeting here in Vinita at 350 So. Scraper."
Luther G. Roberts, Salem, Oregon: "Dorothea Rutherford passed from this life October 23, 1959. She was the wife of Gorin Rutherford, faithful gospel preacher, who is preaching for the church in Columbia, Missouri. Dorothea was born at Hedley, Texas, August 2, 1920. She was a faithful Christian and lived a quiet, modest, useful life as a child of God. It was my privilege to perform the marriage ceremony of Dorothea and Gorin December 23, 1939. We were closely associated through the years since that time and a more consecrated and devoted couple to the Lord and his church I have not known. They made sacrifices gladly to work in hard places to strengthen the church and teach sinners the way of truth and righteousness. Although no children were born to them they adopted three children and trained, provided for and cared for them as they would have had they been born to them. The husband, the three children, the mother and two sisters of the immediate family survive. Funeral services and burial were in Amarillo, Texas, where the deceased was reared. May the Lord bless and comfort the loved ones and friends who sorrow at her going hence. "In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ. Jesus."
Vestal Chaffin, 716 Main Street, Charleston 2, W. Va.: "I closed an eleven day meeting with the church in Beckley, West Virginia, Wednesday night November 4. Fred M. Cline is the faithful preacher for this church. The elders and brother. Cline are standing firmly against all forms of innovations so prevalent in the church today, in spite of pressure from some of the preachers in this section."
C. W. Scott, Director of Public Information, FCC Tampa: "The Fourteenth Annual Lecture series at Florida Christian College has been moved forward to March 21-25, 1960, according to James R. Cope, president. A last of February date was set earlier in the year for the lectureship but with the contractor's promise that the Mary Lena Hutchinson Auditorium will be completed by mid-March, the full day and night program will be conducted on the FCC campus. A detailed report of both the theme and the speakerse for the lecture series will be released in January, states President Cope."
Earl Robertson, P. O. Box 25, Monticello, Kentucky: "After more than two years labor with the church here in Monticello, I am moving to work with the Belmont Avenue church in Indianapolis, Indiana. The work here has been pleasant and profitable. Brother Charles Brown of Stanford, Kentucky will succeed me. He is a sound, diligent worker. Our new address is: 1006 South Belmont Avenue, Indianapolis 21, Indiana."
Billy T. Jones, 541 Blueberry Lane, Grand Prairie, Texas: "I began working with the Central church of Christ here December 6th. This is a faithful congregation set for the defense of the Gospel. When in Grand Prairie, worship with us at 400 E. Grand Prairie Road, Grand Prairie, Texas. Correspondents take note of change of address."