OUR CHANGING WORLD

 

Ouida and I visited her old hometown of Athens, Texas some weeks ago, where I addressed the congregation for the first time in 25 years. I was pleased to do this, for Mother Pitts’ sake as well as theirs and the Lord’s, for my controversial reputation has caused them to be polite but restrained during my scores of visits through the years, even though I was their preacher at age 23. They blessed me more than any Church of Christ ever by giving me Ouida (and Mother Pitts.) It was there I conducted Mr. Pitts’ funeral less than a year after our marriage. Well, I was back in the pulpit once more, with no one objecting as far as I know, and I spoke on the believer’s hope, dedicating the lesson to the seniors of the congregation, especially to dear old Jack Browning, who has shepherded that congregation for, I suppose, a half century. It was the answer to my prayer. I wanted to speak once more while he and. Mother Pitts were still sitting there. The Lord granted it. Nothing bad happened. No demons came crawling out of the woodwork and no rafters came crashing down. The church is none the worse for it, I think, and, possibly better off. I even received some embraces. If my brethren would just read and listen, and be reasonable and not fearful, they would see that I am not only not an enemy, but among the best friends they have. But the oldest sister there really has my number, no doubt about that. Said she to me afterwards, “Oh, I remember you well. You’re the one who would never preach the way we wanted you to!” Should I utter my complaint to the Lord, in a Job-like: lament, as to why I was not born a conformist?

Carl Ketcherside had standing-room only hearing at the Westchester Church of Christ in Los Angeles for four nights, where Harold Thomas labors. One night 50 congregations were represented. The head of religion at Pepperdine thought it not best to invite him to the campus because he is “controversial” (Someone rightly asked if this would leave out Paul and Jesus), so the faculty took it upon itself to issue the invitation. What a tragedy it would be, and how boring, if college kids always had to listen to non-controversial cats.

From the Samsom Avenue Church of Christ in Gadsden, Alabama comes a war bulletin with an article on Liberalism. The author and minister once lived in the Dallas area, and I remember him fondly, a good man I would say. I n the article he names as liberals Norman Vincent Peale, Billy Graham, Pat Boone, Ben Franklin (not the one that discovered electricity, I think!) and Leroy Garrett. That is some combination, and I should think that each one would be uncomfortable in being classed with any of the others. Peale and Graham liberals together! That shows how we abuse terms as well as each other. Well, our brother goes on to say that such men are “leading millions into an eternal hell.” In writing to this concerned brother I assured him of my love and best wishes, and suggested that he might have overstated his case. That we liberals should be leading millions to hell reminds me of Mark Twain’s reaction to the news stories of his death. “The news reports of my death have been grossly exaggerated!” he assured the world. This is my first time to be yoked with Peale. That is OK, I suppose, but I’d rather be classed with Paul. I find one appealing and the other appalling!

Dozens in the Church of Christ in Campbell, Ca. read the New Covenant scriptures together during the month of January. Ten pages a day, or about eight chapters, did it. Their impression? “Wow! What a spiritual send-off that was!” What a people we might be if we became inebriated of the scriptures like that, especially if we began each sitting with the prayer, “Holy Spirit of God, teach me as I read.”

The bulletin of the Eastside Church of Christ in Farmington, N. M. quotes Harry Emerson Fosdick as saying, “Christians are supposed not merely to endure change, nor even to profit by it, but to cause it.”

The Word of Truth, published monthly in Cedar Lake, Indiana, ran an editorial recently in which it affirmed that demons cannot inhabit the believer. “Is Christ a Savior or not?” it asked, and went on to insist that he did “spoil the strong man” and “destroyed the works of the devil,” thus securing the believer so’ that “the wicked one toucheth him not” (1 Jo. 5:18).

Our non-class brothers have substantial missionary interest in Malawi, Africa, where they operate a school and hospital as well as churches. A recent report reads: “There are now some 200 congregations and 20,000 Christians in this small country.” It isn’t clear just whom they include in these numbers, but it reads like a broader view of the Christian world in that part of Africa.

Reuel Lemmons, editor of Firm Foundation, said in his March 11 editorial: “We constantly plead for more liberty in opinion than many brethren are willing to allow, and we make no apology for it. Conversely, we cannot conscientiously accept the limitless liberty that some brethren advocate. They want liberty to cover not only area of opinion but the realm of faith as well.” It would be most helpful if Reuel would be more specific. Does premillennialism or instrumental music fall within the category of the “liberty of opinion” for which he makes no apology for pleading? Unless one can make clear what he means by such a statement, it does little good to make it. For a century now we have drawn the line of fellowship on our Christian Church brothers because of the instrument. Is Reuel saying that this is really a matter of opinion and that we should not do this? If not, what is he referring to that his brethren are not willing. to allow?

There is a group of brethren who are concerning themselves with “spiritual renewal in the Church of Christ” by way of intercessory prayer. The Fellowship of Daniel the Intercessor, 2290 La Vista Rd., N. E. Atlanta, 30329, issues a news letter of reports and causes among our people, inviting the readers to join in prayer. The latest one bore news of spiritual concerns on the part of certain students at ACC.