Reading The Bulletins
News From Here And There:
Avis Wiggins is leaving the Hickory Heights church in Lewisburg, Tennessee, November 1, to move to Phoenix, Arizona. He will work with the Eastside church there. Wiggins has been in Lewisburg nine years . . . . Jack G. Dunn, who has been with the church in Shelbyville, Tennessee, for nearly eight years is to move to Lewisburg to work with Hickory Heights . ... Jimmy Powell has moved from Boonesville, Mississippi to Huntingdon, Tennessee, where he will labor with the church .... After five years with the Central church in Jackson, Tennessee, Denton M. Neal is moving to work with the Overland church in St. Louis .. .. Charles Williamson is moving from Yorkville to Elizabethton, Tennessee . . . . Due to ungodliness and outside pressure, J. W. Brookshire decided to leave the work in Morton, Texas. However, the church and the elders have corrected matters, taken their stand for the truth and asked Brookshire to stay. He will do so. Morton is close to Lubbock... Gene Frost has launched a new gospel paper called Gospel Anchor. The first issue is eight pages, well printed and full of good reading. Address Gospel Anchor, 840 N. Miranda, Las Cruces, New Mexico. I suppose there is no charge for it ... Jimmy Thomas is moving from Lexington, Alabama, to work with the Island Home congregation in Knoxville, Tennessee . . . "You have been privileged to have one of the best preachers in the world to lead you in your teaching program for the last four years." That is a statement of Harold Baker concerning Jim Bill Mclnteer, of Grace Avenue church in Nashville. Mclnteer will soon begin with the West End church in Nashville. Baker will work with Grace Avenue . . . . Earl Dale was "fired" and sued at law by the elders (?) of the church in McAlester, Oklahoma. Dale has been the preacher there about three years. He had tried to get the worldliness and adultery out of the church, but didn't make it — it got him out. It is a shame and disgrace that men who are supposed to be elders have so little backbone and love for the truth. Dale is a faithful preacher and has moved to Harlingen, Texas, to begin with a new congregation... Paul Williams is now working with the Thayer Street church in Akron, Ohio .. . C. A. Brannan is leaving Akron, Ohio, to work with Rose Hill in Columbus, Georgia . . . . Virgil Bradford is now with the Stony Point church just out of Florence, Alabama . .. . Tom Holland has moved from Minor Hill to Pulaski, Tennessee, to work with the East Hill church where Bradford was . . . . "Having recently been refused entrance into South Africa, Paul Mill and his family have moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. There are 23 members of the church in this city of 300,000." — Trenton, Tennessee Church News . . . . Richard Weaver and his family are now settled in the work with Grand Avenue church in 'Chicago . . . . W. P. Jolly is moving from Dayton to Memphis, Tennessee, to labor with the Merton Street church . . . Johnie Edwards is now working with the church in Bloomington, Indiana. Moved there from Aiken, South Carolina . . . .
Roy Stevens is the preacher for the good church in Haynesville, Louisiana. He began there the first of September.
"They Went Out From Us":
One of the most forlorn statements made by an apostle was written by the beloved John, when he said, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us." (1 John 2:19.)
With these words John recorded the final apostasy of certain of his brethren. To say that he shed tears as he penned these lines would require but little imagination.
Certainly the heart of every sincere Christian is saddened when a brother makes "shipwreck of the faith." And thus it is with heaviness of heart that we report that brother Farrell Walters, who for some time preached in the city of Chicago, has left the church of our Lord and has turned to denominationalism. His move did not come as a surprise to many. He had long been known to entertain views and occupy positions which were in disharmony with the simple teaching of the New Testament. Some had predicted that he would eventually leave the church.
To others, Farrell's departure was both shocking and bewildering. Within recent months he had been commended in a bulletin of a Chicago church where he had preached for a couple of years. And only last November he was elected to the board of the Tri-State Christian Camp for a two-year term of office. Ironically, these expressions of confidence were granted to him, in spite of the protests and warnings of those who saw "the handwriting on the wall."
No, we have no bitterness in our hearts toward anyone. But we are gravely concerned about the church of our Lord. Surely the time is here when preachers and elders must be more vigilant and alert to the dangers of soft and unsound preaching and teaching from the pulpits, and in the classrooms. All the forces of denominationalism which may be brought to bear upon us cannot check the march of truth and right. The real challenge comes to us from within.
Brethren, let's meet the challenge! Let's tighten our belts and "preach the word." Let's "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." Regardless of the costs or consequences, let us never be guilty of compromising "the pattern of sound words" which has been committed to us! — The Church Messenger, Rockford, Illinois.
Misrepresentations
The Westside church has long been known for its solid stand for the truth and opposition to all forms of denominationalism. It stands against every form of church entertainment, believing that the scripture fails to authorize the church to "draw" members by such. (John 6:44, 45.) It stands opposed to the 'Herald of Truth society and benevolent societies which are in existence without scriptural authority. It stands opposed to worldliness of every sort. It stands FOR the simple gospel of Christ and is doing what it can to help restore New Testament Christianity.
As a result of its stand for the truth the Westside church has often been misrepresented. It has often been claimed that Westside doesn't love the orphans, the widows and other destitute. This is nothing more than a "big fat lie"! It is no doubt claimed that we don't want to preach the gospel to the lost because of our opposition to the Herald of Truth. This, too, is a misrepresentation of the highest order! It has been claimed that the elders dictate to the preacher in telling him what to preach — the devil is surely working overtime in order to persuade brethren to tell such "whoppers"!
But why all the misrepresentation of the Westside church? When brethren can no longer appeal to the word of God there is only one thing left to do — misrepresent those who oppose their unscriptural idols! If Westside be lied to, lied about, ridiculed, laughed at, vilified, discussed and even "cussed" we shall continue to love our brethren, even those who slander us, AND we shall continue to stand firmly for the ancient gospel! — The Perk-Up, Phoenix, Arizona, Derrel Starling, Editor.
"In our business meeting last Lord's day, it was decided to send $500 during the next twelve months to the Gospel Press. This money will be used to advertise the church of Christ in magazines such as Time, Life, Coronet, Harper's, etc. If you wish to make an individual contribution to this work, you may place it in the collection and specify that it is to be used for this purpose." — Church Street News, Lewisburg, Tennessee.
Signs Of Our Times
Pat Boone, the nationally-known singer of "Rock and Roll" music, was in Dallas recently to sing and entertain in one of the large night clubs. He gave out with the "Rock and Roll" music while the crowd dined, drank and danced! On Sunday he was the featured song leader at one of the churches of Christ!
The report has come that two preachers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are now contending that "social drinking" is scriptural! One argument (?) used to prove such is that Jesus our Lord was a "winebibber!" The preachers are members of the church — recognized men of the area.