Into The Future
We call your attention to the letter appearing on the front page. This is a letter from Brother Roy E. Cogdill which is being mailed to many hundreds of faithful congregations throughout the nation. We believe the letter is of interest to the reader of this journal, hence reproduce it in this issue.
For nearly thirty years now the Gospel Guardian and her two immediate predecessors in the fight for truth and righteousness (the Bible Banner and the original Gospel Guardian) have stood as a bulwark against the innovations and inventions of men in the work and worship of the church. More than a thousand faithful preachers of the gospel have used these journals to set forth their earnest convictions and their powerful exhortations to scores of thousands of readers.
During these long and fateful years the main burden of financing and producing this journal has fallen on only a handful of men. By the help of God and the sacrifices of a faithful little group who were willing to help, the task has been accomplished. While the main editorial responsibility has fallen to this editor, the heavy financial responsibility has rested more on the shoulders of Roy Cogdill than on any single other individual. It was he, more than any other, who kept the paper going through its lean years. And while the venture is not now, and never will be a "money-making" enterprise, its financial stability is such now that monetary help from friends (so generously given in the past) is no longer sought nor needed.
The time has come for a reversal of that "flow" of help. Instead of receiving material help from faithful friends, the Gospel Guardian is now ready, as never before, to start giving help! The tense and terrible battle to try to save the churches from apostate programs and promotions has passed its climax. The lines have been generally drawn, and not many congregations will now be crossing over from one side to the other. Individuals will change, and a fair number of the smaller and rural congregations may yet, be salvaged from the general trend; but, by and large, the decisions have been made, and in most congregations the die has been cast — the Rubicon has been crossed. Out of a total number of perhaps 18,000 congregations something like 2,000 have elected to stand firm and faithful to "the old paths."
Facing The Future
It is to these congregations (and to any individuals in the liberal churches who still have some respect for God's word) that the Gospel Guardian intends in the future to address herself. We plan a greatly diversified and expanded future for this journal. Dedicated as she is to "the defense and propagation of New Testament Christianity," we envisage a future journal which will carry a powerful appeal to every member of the family. While we intend always to carry clear-cut and powerful articles on the specific issues that are current, we propose to give more attention in the future to a general teaching program — articles, for example, of special interest to the college student who is struggling with the sophisticated and subtle attacks against his faith which he meets on the campus and in the class-room; articles of interest to the godly mother who is trying so desperately day by day to guide her teen- agers into life patterns of truth and holiness, articles of interest to the thoughtful student who is concerned and troubled about the great sweep of world forces (both political and philosophical) as they affect the future of the church and of the world. There will be material here useful to the busy preacher, to the Bible School teacher, and to all those who cope with the down-to-earth practical matters of gaining the interest of non-Christians and guiding them step by step, to a full commitment to the way of Christ. There will be material devotional in nature, calculated to strengthen and build up the faithful child of God as he wrestles with the complex problems of godly living in an ungodly world. We hope to have a more complete news coverage, and especially of the work in foreign lands.
For some months now Brother Cogdill has hoped to find time to do an extended series of articles on the general theme of "How We Got This Way," or some such title, going back over the past thirty or forty years with an historical review of the significant developments and factors through the years which provided the background for, and finally brought on, the general wholesale departure from the old paths" which we have witnessed these past twelve or fifteen years. Knowing the mistakes of the past should be tremendously helpful in enabling faithful churches to avoid such mistakes in the future. His extremely heavy schedule has delayed the articles, but we are hopeful that they may be ready in the not too distant future.
It is our desire to make the Gospel Guardian a teaching instrument of such quality and usefulness that faithful churches all over the nation will want to have it coming into the home of every family in the congregation — and will regard this weekly journal in the home simply as an extension of the normal, routine teaching program of the church. Every family joining the congregation will automatically go on the subscription list; and this weekly gospel paper coming into the home will provide instruction, inspiration, and encouragement which will inevitably reflect itself in a better informed membership, better attendance and interest, and a body of people more fully committed to a service of Christ!
The Cost
By the most careful management and control of cost we are able to make these "multiple subscriptions" (see advertisement on back page, this issue) available to congregations at the amazingly low cost of only $5.00 per month for thirty subscriptions! This is less than the actual cost of printing the paper, but we have other sources of revenue which make it possible to extend this offer. This is considerably less than the normal cost of Bible School literature to the congregation; yet has a potential teaching value far in excess of most quarterlies or Bible School booklets. Churches which have tried this "congregational subscription plan" are enthusiastic as to its worth!
If your congregation has only fifteen families, then $2.50 per month will bring the Gospel Guardian each week into every home; if you have sixty families the cost will be only $10.00 per month. The time to act is NOW ... get together the names and addresses of all families in the congregation (and any others to whom you want the paper sent), send the list to us, and we will do the rest! Let us all move forward INTO THE FUTURE with a new program of teaching, a new emphasis on the fundamentals of our faith, and a renewed determination to so teach and instruct our generation of Christians that our children and our grandchildren will NOT face in their day the wholesale defection from the way of Christ which we have seen in our day. The ONLY preventative of such departures is teaching, teaching, and MORE TEACHING!
F. Y. T.