Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 9
September 26, 1957
NUMBER 21, PAGE 12

The Overflow

F. Y. T.

A preacher's life

Just imagine if you can the feelings of a certain preacher who visited an East Texas church one Wednesday night some time ago, and was finally prevailed upon to preach, rather than occupy the time in the usual class study. An aged brother being called upon for prayer followed his usual routine: "We thank Thee, Oh Lord, for this opportunity of coming together to learn more of Thy word — Oh, just a minute, Lord, on second thought, I believe we are going to have a visiting preacher tonight.. ."

Caring for orphans

"I sincerely believe and will confidently affirm that the church can and should provide a home for destitute boys and girls within the range of its ability. I shall be glad to defend this position, if necessary, anywhere. Too, I shall be glad, with what influence I have, to encourage churches all over the nation to take care of the children in their community rather than to send them all the way across the country to some other congregation."

— G. K. Wallace

(G. G. May 24, 1951) "... and tender sympathy"

On the outskirts of Las Vegas, Nevada, gambling capitol of the nation, a huge sign at a filling station speaks to the sad victims of the crap tables and roulette wheels in these kind words: "Free Aspirin and Tender Sympathy." Somehow we think of that sign every time we read one of these lugubrious articles from some weeping brother describing how these awful "antis" are tearing down all the wonderful youth camps and fun and fellowship frolics that have been built by the churches with so much toil and sacrifice ...

"Died of shock"

A news dispatch from Tres Arroyos, Argentina, tells how Mario Cianca of that city "died of shock" when he entered a local funeral parlor and saw a "corpse" rise with a pleased smile from one of the coffins. It developed that the "corpse" was Pedro Fernandez, owner of the funeral home, who had been measuring the coffin for a client about his size. When we read the story we couldn't help wondering if this was what happened to Ananias. The Gospel Advocate Sunday School literature teaches that Ananias "died of shock" when he realized that Peter had detected his lying. Maybe Ananias and Mario Cianca can compare notes when they meet in — wherever they are.

Wrong nose

The way some of the brethren squirm and twist and tie themselves in knots with "constituent elements," "component parts," "total situations," "divine institutions," and "cooperation" reminds us of Walter Winchell's hilarious story of the retired wrestler. Winchell asked him why he had quit the "grunt and groan" game, and the wrestler replied, "I wuz a-fightin' dis Big-Nose Nanetti. Da foist fall is mine. Da second fall is his. Da thoid time I got his shoulders on da mat, when suddintly he hooks a leg around my neck and trows me. I grab his leg and twist it. He gets me in a Indian deathlock. I pulls a half-Nelson on him. He puts on a hammerlock. We do a coupla monkey-rolls an' we're knotted like a pretzel, him and me. Suddintly I sees my big chancet. Right in frunna my eyes I sees dat big nose ... so I bites it ... an' it's MINE!"

California

These lines are being written in California, where the writer is engaged in a meeting with the El Cerrito congregation. Lloyd Moyer is the local preacher. This is a new congregation, and they are showing wonderful progress. The same is true of the fine Berrydale Church at Santa Ana, California, where this writer spoke last Sunday. Floyd Thompson is the preacher there. These two new congregations, one in the Los Angeles area, one in the San Francisco Bay area, are typical of the kind of aggressive, active, forward-looking work that is going on in many sections of the west coast area. With scores of faithful preachers like these two, and new congregations starting out here every year, it may well be that California will be to the 1960's what Tennessee was to the 1890's.

On segregation

"Grouping large numbers of any unfortunate class of the human family together can have no other, it seems to me, than a bad effect on their minds. Particularly is this the case with a sensitive orphan. By this means he is made to feel that in fact he does not belong to the great family of man. Accordingly, concluding that he has nothing in common with it, he does not learn to sympathize with it, and hence is little inclined to work for it." — Moses E. Lard (Quarterly, IV, p 88.)

Ode to a baby

Baby dear, so cute and sweet

In your mouth you put your feet.

Papa's joy would be complete

If he, too, could make ends meet.

— Eddie Davis Where he learned it

In the Wallace - Barber Debate Brother G. K. Wallace presented some excellent charts showing that God's will for us is set forth in the Bible by (1) express statement or command, (2) approved example, and (3) necessary inference. Barber ridiculed the idea, and declared that there is no such thing as "approved example" or "necessary inference" — everything must be set forth in a command. During the course of the Woods-Porter debate at Paragould last winter, G. K. Wallace completely accepted Barber's position, and stated that there is no such thing as "approved example of necessary inference," but that we must have a command for everything we practice. Now if Brother Wallace would like to dispose of the fine charts he used in his debate with Barber, we know several faithful young gospel preachers who would be glad to receive them.

It had to happen

It was bound to happen sooner or later. It happened in California a few weeks ago — one of the ardent "institutional" brethren made a long speech at the Lord's table, emphasizing that any person who would turn poor little orphan children out in the streets to starve to death wasn't fit to eat the bread or drink the cup!