From A Preacher's Note-Book
Regional Elderships
"A new fallacy has now become prevalent, that the only thing necessary to make a thing scriptural is to put whatever it is under the eldership of some church no matter where the church is. So institutions and organization with their boards, wholly outside the church, are being put under the eldership of some sponsorial church, boards and all. According to that idea all that is necessary to make a missionary society scriptural is to put the society under the sponsorship of some eldership! Comes then the notion that the eldership of a church in the U. S. A. may sponsor an institution under a board in Italy or Germany. It is now advocated that educational and benevolent institutions should first be set up in foreign countries as a beachhead for the church - hence, the establishment of a human institution to spearhead the work of the church, thereby making human organizations more effective than the divine." (The Christian Chronicle recently reported a speech made by Brother George S. Benson relative to the preaching of the gospel in the city of Hong Kong. The Chronicle quoted Brother Benson as advocating the establishment of a "mission school" in that city as the quickest and best way to proceed in evangelizing the city. J. W. A.)
"On what principle can the eldership of a church in America take the oversight of an institution in Europe or Asia whether that organization be a school or an orphanage? When the eldership of a church becomes a centralized board of benevolence or a general board of foreign missions, it is just as unscriptural as any other board, and the authority for it may be found on the blank page of your New Testament." (Foy E. Wallace Jr., "Torch," Vol. 1, No. 2, August 1950, pages 12-14.)
We might add that, on the same blank page of the New Testament, one will find the authority for a single eldership to become the general board of home missions, or of radio and television evangelism. J.W.A.
Workers In The Vineyard
The church of the Lord is God's vineyard. "Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." (1 Cor. 3: 9.) Christians are workers in that vineyard. Jesus said, "But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. ." (Mt. 21: 28.) How well kept is your portion of the Lord's vineyard? The Wise Man warns against sloth saying: "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth; and thy want as an armed man." (Proverbs 24: 30:34.)
Vigilance and diligence should characterize all of our efforts in the Lord's service. The rewards of such service are of eternal consequence. It takes but a little "folding of the hands to sleep" to give "thorns and nettles" their opportunity to thrive. Fruit is not produced by accident. It results from careful planting, cultivation, and nurturing. The church of the Lord will not and does not grow by accident. All growth is the result of careful planning and diligent application. It is not enough for us here at Tenth and Francis to maintain the status quo. We must develop an insatiable appetite for growth and progress. Let us not take refuge in a negative of being satisfied simply to preserve in our practice and teaching the purity of Christ's doctrine. Let us rather positively and fervently press the claims of Christ's truth upon every responsible heart within the scope of our influence.
There are multiplied thousands of people living in this great city who legitimately fall within the scope of the influence of our membership. Let us pledge ourselves anew to an unremitting effort in seeking and saving the lost. Why not select twelve persons, one for each month of 1960, from among our acquaintances and concentrate on influencing these particular people for Christ during this year of our Lord. Leave no stone unturned to make an impression upon their hearts for truth and righteousness. Such labor will not go unrewarded. You may be wonderfully surprised at its effectiveness. (J. W. A.)
Life's Story
No matter what else you are doing
From cradle days through to the end
You are writing your life's secret story- Each day sees another page penned.
Each month writes a thirty-page chapter,
Each year means the end of a part-
And never an act is misstated
Or even one wish of the heart.
Each day when you wake the book opens,
Revealing a page clean and white -
What thoughts and words and what doings
Will cover its pages by night?
God leaves that to you — you're the writer —
And never a word shall grow dim
Till the day you write the word "Finis"
And give back your life's Book to Him.
— E. J. Ritter
Excuses — ?
Brother A. G. Freed used to say jokingly, yet pointedly, "You may catch a man without his whiskey and sometimes without tobacco, but never without an excuse." The colored preacher defines an excuse as "a skin of a reason packed full of lies." Members of the church who habitually absent themselves from services are never without an excuse for their lack of faithfulness to God. One of the most common of these is: "I wasn't feeling well." This one covers a multitude of things from a lack of sleep due to Saturday night revelry to a slight headache brought on by contemplation of the difficulty of getting up and getting dressed in time to get to services. There follows a short article from the December issue of Cheer which we think might well be applied to such members of the church:
"There's a legend at Harvard that the late Le Baron Russell Briggs, beloved dean of the College, once asked a student why he had failed to complete an assignment.
'I wasn't feeling very well, sir' said the student.
'Mr. Smith,' said the dean, 'I think that in time you may perhaps find that most of the work of the world is done by people who aren't feeling very well'
Dean Briggs, a man of not too robust health, may have been feeling a little seedy himself when he uttered it; he may have dragged himself to the office that morning only because he puts his responsibilities ahead of his comforts.
The Dean knew that there is such a thing as a sensibly prudent attitude toward one's health. But he also knew that the symptoms of fatigue and of laziness are practically identical; that it is hard to tell the difference between not feeling well and not feeling like doing a hard job. He knew, too, that the wise man who has an assignment to complete by Friday has done so much of it on Tuesday and Wednesday that a headache Thursday won't matter much."
The Son of Heaven sacrificed equality with God to become a man and die between criminals as the very "offscouring of the earth" in order that we might enjoy redemption and the hope of eternal bliss. Is faithfulness, diligence, and promptness in divine worship on the Lord's day too much for Him to expect and receive from us? (J. W. A.)
Brass Monkey
A. Peterson On a cigar counter in San Francisco stood a brass monkey with a cigarette constantly lighted in his mouth. One day, however, this machine monkey would not perform. When the mechanic took it apart, it was found that the insides of the monkey, which governed the control, had been eaten and destroyed by the constant use of cigarettes and the nicotine in them.
The story was often told by my senior associate in the store where I was employed as a young man. Before he completed any sale to a young person asking for a package of cigarettes, he usually related the above incident with a twinkle in his eye, adding, "If it will do this to a brass monkey, what will it do to you?" — Smoke Signals, Vol. V, No. 2.