The Overflow
We will affirm We have word now that Brother E. R. Harper's chief interest in debating the Herald of Truth is that he may come to Lufkin to "show up the sins and inconsistencies" of the Guardian 'men.' He will have a hard time getting anyone to deny that proposition. If we have a debate on the subject, this writer is willing to affirm that every man who has ever written for the Guardian (including E. R. Harper), is a sinner. Will he deny? But what has that to do with the scripturalness of Herald of Truth?
G. H. P. Showalter The long career of Brother Showalter ended, as has been the case with so many gospel preachers, on the Lord's day. This writer's father J. D. Tant, brought his earthly pilgrimage to a close on such a day; as did also David Lipscomb, Alexander Campbell, and a host of other worthies. We will carry an extended sketch of Brother Showalter's life in a later issue.
They are quitting We are informed of three churches in one city who are dropping their Herald of Truth contributions at the end of the year. Total contributions from these three congregations are $4,500.00 per year. Is this typical of other cities throughout the nation? As more brethren study the implications of "universal church action under a single eldership" we anticipate increasing defections from the ranks of the supporters of such.
"I wish my children were orphans"
We know a gospel preacher down in East Texas who got so enthusiastic over a program by the children from Boles Home that he got to his feet and told the audience "When I see the wonderful training these children are receiving, it jus makes me wish my own children were orphans so they could have the benefit of such!" He also went ahead to say he was almost sorry he hadn't been reared an orphan; and he thought every gospel preacher in the land ought to be an orphan for a few years. How silly can one man get?
Leroy Garrett's article Our publishing an article in this issue By Leroy Garrett no more constitutes an endorsement of Brother Garrett's extreme Position than the publishing of Brother Harper's articles implies an endorsement of his position. We endorse the extremes of neither. But Garrett does do a fine job of exposing some gross misrepresentations of Lipscomb and Campbell — misrepresentations which we can scarcely conceive a student of the Restoration Movement making.
Joe H. Blue Veteran of many a hard' fought battle for the Lord, Brother Joe H. Blue now rests from his labors. He died September 4 secure and hopeful in the promises of Christ. Weary and grieving over the death not many months ago of his beloved Mary, Brother Blue must have welcomed the summons with relief and joy. We will give a more extended notice of his life and work in an early issue.
Subtractions Then there was the time J. D. Tant held a meeting for a church which was having serious trouble from a group of factionists. In the course of the meeting they withdrew from eleven ungodly members. Tant reported, "We have had the best meeting in the history of the church here, with two additions and eleven subtractions."
How many?
It will be of real help to us if we can have some idea of the number of people who will purchase the Holt-Potty debate. We need to know how many to print. It will be the only debate in print on these vital subjects, and ought to be carefully studied by all. Prepublication price of the book (approximately 300 pages, cloth-bound) will be $3.00. Advance orders are already coming in. Will you let us hear from you?
Politicking preachers The way some of the brethren employ political techniques in their work gives a pretty sharp point to this brief item appearing in Harper's Magazine in 1856: Passenger: "Well Mr. Conductor, what is new in the political world these days?" Conductor: "Don't know, Sir; I haven't been to church for the last two Sundays."
Exegesis Did you hear of the well known Texas preacher who was explaining 1 Corinthians 1:17, "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel"? Said he, "To understand that verse you have but to turn to the same book, chapter three, verse five: 'I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.' Which simply means that Apollos was the one doing the actual baptizing; he was the one who `watered' those whom Paul had taught!"
Review of Woods Brother Guy N. Woods has recently had a series of articles in the Gospel Advocate relative to the benevolent work of the church. While much has been said that is certainly true and about which no one would raise any question, there are certain positions advanced and advocated which are clearly antagonistic to Bible teaching. Brother James W. Adams, our associate editor, will give a full review of the series very shortly. We will let this brief notice serve as an answer to some score or more of gospel preachers who have written us asking if the Gospel Guardian intended to review the series.
Who are they?
At the Indianapolis debate we were in a lengthy conversation with a brother who kept talking about "you Guardian men." We asked him, "Who are the 'Guardian men'?" His reply, "Those who write for the Gospel Guardian." Move over, brethren, and make room for Ernest R. Harper. He is the most prolific writer the Guardian has these past few months! On our desk right now we have three articles from him (including one eighteen pages long) awaiting publication. We hope to have space for one of them next week.
Additions One of Brother F. B. Srygley's pet peeves was the preacher who would hold a meeting, baptize three, have fourteen restored, twelve to place membership, and then write in to the Gospel Advocate: "We had a great meeting with twenty-nine additions from all sources." Once Srygley held a meeting in Florida, baptized one person, and wrote back to the Advocate: "We had a fine meeting, with one addition from all sources."