Point And Counterpoint
J.D. Tant -- Texas Preacher. Sorry, but the book is now out of print. Nine years ago I finished this biography of My father. Four thousand copies were printed. I had had no illusions about the book's reception; N.B. Hardeman told me that it should have been published immediately following my father's death in 1941. John Allen Hudson told me that the book would be like other biographies of gospel preachers — a slow seller, but a long-time seller. But I didn't give much thought to either Hardeman or Hudson in writing the book. I wanted to do it for my mother's sake — and just because I wanted to! Anyhow, if enough people write in and tell me they'd like to have a copy of it, I'll get it back into print before too long. I'd really like to have enough of them printed to give one as a gift to each "preacher boy" in the schools among us. But I'm not rich (not in dollars, anyhow); however, some of the readers of this paper ARE rich in dollars, as well as in other ways. Any of you interested in making this book available to the preacher boys? If so, write me.
Old sermons. Do any of you preachers ever write out your sermons in full? I recommend the practice, particularly in your early years of preaching. I can't think of anything more calculated to deflate a man's ego and bring him a bit of the grace of humility than to go back and read some of his thirty-year old "sermons." What patience the brethren must have had to endure this stuff! But I did run across a quotation in one of my ancient manuscripts the other day about the total worthlessness and insignificance of man. I have no idea where I got it, but the item is in quotes. Like this: "In the visible world the Milky Way is a tiny fragment. Within this fragment the solar system is an infinitesimal speck, and of this speck our planet is a microscopic dot. On this dot tiny lumps of impure carbon and water crawl about for a few years, until they dissolve into the elements of which they are compounded." Now, what do you "tiny lumps" think of that?
It gets curiouser and curiouser! A few weeks ago I printed that geometric design of "the liberal mind" — the one that drives you crazy as you try to make sense of it. Well, I got a new version of this "middle-of-the-road" "both ways at the same time" attitude in a drawing from Floyd Chappelear down at West Columbia, Texas. He says my design was all right, but it didn't go far enough; it should have gone "crazy" in two directions at the same time. So he sends me a corrected version, which I will HOPE the printer can re-produce. Maybe it will drive him crazy. If it doesn't show here, you will know that is what happened. If it does show, it will be right here:
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Remember quote. "By the time the average politician finds out he's wrong, he has too many backers to quit." - Rex Mobley
IMPAC again. I don't want to bore you with the details -- but the IMPAC programs are going like the proverbial prairie fire. And, highly gratifying to all who had any part in producing this revolutionary new approach to "personal evangelism", brethren who have begun to use them are even more enthusiastic about them than are the producers — if possible! This is likely to turn out to be one of the most significant "break-throughs" in this field in many years. Everywhere I go people keep asking me about it, and wanting to know how it works. I'll continue to write on it from time to time; but you will never really KNOW what it's like till you try it!
Between The Testaments. It has been in print for nearly a decade, but for some reason I missed it completely until last week. I'm talking about the book by the scholarly Charles F. Pfeifer, bearing the above title. It is one of the most thorough and concise short histories of this "400 years of silence" that I have run across. To the careful student of history it will be utterly fascinating. Others may enjoy it; but the lover of history will be the one who will be enchanted. It is not a large book, only about 139 pages or so; but there is an unbelievable wealth of information packed into this brief compass. The price is a modest S2.95, and the Gospel Guardian Company carries it in stock.