The Overflow
Oil well
A producing oil well, complete with tanks, pumps, tubing and all the trimmings was "dropped into the collection - plate" of the Luling (Texas) Church of Christ recently according to newspaper reports from the area. Furthermore, the pumper has agreed to operate the well free of charge for the church. The well, the V. P. Hoke Number 1, has been a good producer for some time. It will be interesting now to see whether or not the church sells the well and puts the money to the Lord's use, or decides to keep the well and be able to say, "I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing!" Time will tell.
Express command
One of the most astonishing things to come out of the recent Paragould debate was the public statement by Brother G. K. Wallace that he would do nothing in religion save that for which he could give "an express command" from the scripture. Thus he brushed aside both "approved example" and "necessary inference" as ways of revealing God's will. When pressed to give an "express command" for restricting the Lord's Supper to the first day of the week, and for "appointing elders in every church," his embarrassment was obvious — but he refused to retract his statement.
It was milk
This note will explain to several suspicious sisters that the brother was NOT sipping moonshine. He has a bad stomach ulcer. He wanted to attend the Paragould debate, and did do so; but he got so upset at some of the fantastic statements made that his ulcer began to act up. So to keep things under control he took a small bottle of milk to church each evening, carried in his inside coat pocket. He had a straw in the bottle; and when the going got rough, he would hastily duck his head and take a long pull on the straw. He saw several sisters casting dark looks of suspicion in his direction — and that made his ulcer even worse. So he had to tap the bottle (milk bottle) even more often! Life can sure get complicated sometimes.
A "documentary gospel teacher"
Recent efforts to prove that institutional orphan homes are "divine institutions" reminds us of the late Daniel Sommer's plea for church contributions to his "Octographic Review" on the grounds that his paper was a "documentary gospel teacher," and was entitled to church support just like any other gospel preacher. He took this position in a public debate with B. F. Rhodes at Odessa, Missouri, which, incidentally took place exactly fifty years ago from the day this page is being written — that is, February 18, 1907.
He says "No"
Brother E. R. Harper continues to remain silent about his challenge to this writer to meet him in debate at the Highland Boulevard church in San Antonio. His challenge was accepted; the San Antonio elders agreed — and then Harper backed out! His reason: He says he can't tell whether the San Antonio church agrees with this writer or not on the matter of church cooperation. So what? They agreed to have the debate, endorsed this writer for it, and asked Harper to set the date. Profound silence has followed.
He smelled a rat
One of our sister religious journals carries the report of a brother who thought he "smelled an anti-cooperation rat" as far back as 1947. Which has led some who know that brother to remark that if the tables had been reversed in that little deal, the rat would have come off with the short end of the bargain.
Explanation
Nearly a year ago we announced that Brother Cogdill was preparing a brief tract on current issues, to be entitled "That They May All Be One." We received quite a few advance orders for this tract, which was advertised at twenty-five cents per copy. That tract was never written; but instead the material was expanded into a class-book, "Walking By Faith," which is now ready for mailing, and which sells for ;1.00.(See editorial, also back page.) If we do not receive word to the contrary we will send "Walking By Faith" to all who ordered the tract, and will adjust the price on it accordingly.
Page Mrs. Eddy "A Scientist healer of Deal Once said, 'Although pain isn't real, If I sit on a pin And it punctures my skin I dislike what I fancy I feel'."
— Clem Wood's Limericks
"Miseries"
The abbreviation "Mrs." is a stumbling-block for nearly all of us when it comes to pronunciation. To say "Mistress," which is correct, sounds stilted and awkward to some; to chop it short to "Mix" is sloppy and inaccurate. The dictionary gives sanction to "Missis." But a common pronunciation in many areas is one that never fails to bring a smile — the suggestive and highly uncomplimentary "Miseries." What must be the feeling of a faithful and dutiful wife who is referred to by her husband as "Miseries Smith"?
Picturesque speech
We heard Charles F. Kettering use an expression the other day that caught our fancy. He said there was danger that certain of our scientists would become "asphyxiated with their own egotism." Not only do the scientists need to guard against that deadly gas, but we could name a few brethren who are in grave danger of similar asphyxiation.
G. K. Wallace — last year
"The care of widows and orphans is a work of the church. I have read the command for their care. There may be a question of expediency in the care of widows and orphans. ' Brethren, let the church do the work God requires of it. We do not need any other organization than the church to carry out the work of the church. Here is a command to teach the gospel which is the work of the church and we do not need to establish an organization to carry out that command. We do not need an organization to carry out the command to relieve widows and orphans except the church that Jesus built. I know it can be done because I have seen it done."
(Denominational Dogmas, page 162, 163; published in 1956.)
When hope is gone "When all our hopes are gone, 'Tis well our hands must still keep toiling on For others' sake; For strength to bear is found in duty done; And he is blest indeed who learns to make The joy of others cure his own heartache." — Anon. Constituent elements
One of the astonishing (and amusing) things about the famous Deaver-Warren "total situation, constituent elements" argument to prove sponsoring church cooperation is that the "component parts" change with every debate! We've seen the argument used at Abilene, Houston, Indianapolis, and Paragould — and in no two of the debates was the list of "constituent elements" the same!