OFFICE NOTES

 

I will be speaking at the Annual Men’s Retreat at West Frankfort, Illinois, June 6-7 on “The Fellowship of the Spirit,” followed by a meeting with the old Church of Christ in Lowell, Indiana, June 8-1 2, followed by some visits in the Chicago area. In July I will take the family to Bethany, a northern route there and a southern one back, visiting old friends and churches on the way, which will take a large part of the month. In August I will teach daily at the Week of Ministry at Milligan College, in East Tennessee (Aug. 12-1 5) on something like “Spiritual Values in Restoration History,” in which I plan to show that we have not even begun to tap the great historic resources of power left us by our pioneers. I will be dealing with Robert Richardson in particular, drawing upon his rich essays in Campbell’s Millennial Harbinger through the years. Bethany and Milligan both make for idea1 family vacations, reasonable in cost and spiritually refreshing.

We have a new supply of Love Therapy by Paul D. Morris, which is well received by our readers. This book concerns itself with the application of scripture to the treatment of emotional problems. It reaches deep inside our inner problems, and it speaks helpfully to the discouraged and depressed. Its thesis is that the resources of the Spirit can bring healing and health to body and spirit. Only 2.95.

We keep recommending Christ the Controversialist by John R. W. Stott, which is one of the most informative books I’ve ever read. It takes you right into the stormy controversies between Jesus and Pharisees, and relates it all to the now. At 2.50 for 21 3 pages it shows that there are still bargains. But you should add a dollar and get The Mind Matters by the same author.

Anders Nygren is famous for his “Agape and Eros,” that great book on Christian love. But Eerdmans has republished two of his old essays under the title Essence of Christianity, which is well worth the reading. He defines religion and then shows how the Christian faith fu1fills this, spelling out what really makes Christianity what it is. 1.95.

You can get in on the last six months of Mission Messenger by sending 1.00 to 139 Signal Hill Dr., St. Louis 631 21. This is Carl Ketcherside’s last year of publication and it is predictable that the coming months will be the best of all.

There is a new issue of Alexander Campbell As A Preacher by Archibald McLean, who was a president both of Bethany College and the United Christian Missionary Society. It is said of him that he prayed by name every day for every missionary in the field. It is with that devotion that he evaluates Campbell as a preacher. In this 46page booklet are testimonials about Campbell from the likes of President Madison, General Robert E. Lee, Bishop Hurst, Judge Black, Moses Lard, and numerous newspapers of that day who reported on the reformer’s preaching. Only 1.00.

We also have a new edition of The Fool of God by Louis Cochran, which is a historical novel on the life of Alexander Campbell. In colorful paperback this 406-page work is but 3.50.

Also vital to a study of our history is J. D. Murch’s Christians Only, which is probably the best survey of the Restoration Movement in print. It is 392 pages and is priced at 5.95.

All who ordered a copy of The Church of Christ: Yesterday and Today have been sent their copy. This is our bound volume of this journal for 1973-74, which makes a 400-page book, along with introduction, table of contents, and artistic dust jacket matching our previously bound volumes. This is now available to any of you at 4.95. We now can furnish Restoration Review in bound volumes back to 1967. The 1966 volume is no longer available. The single volumes (1967-70) are 3.50 each, 1971-72 double volume is 4.50.

BICENTENNIAL FORUM AT BETHANY The 10th Annual Unity Forum will be conducted at Bethany College, July 2-5, and it will take on a Bicentennial theme: Our Movement and Our Nation after 200 Years. This is appropriate since our pioneers were builders of a new nation as well as a new movement in religion. Participants from several backgrounds of Christian Churches, Disciples, and Churches of Christ include F. L. Lemley, Gene Shelburne, Paul Eckstein, Perry Gresham, Burton Thurston, Edvin Hayden, and David R. Reagen. Subjects discussed will include the authority of scripture and the meaning of Restoration, along with evaluations of both our nation and our Movement after two centuries. Sharing and praying together will be emphasized. Special services at Campbell mansion and old Brush Run. Meals and lodging are available as low as 40.00 per person for the four days, and there will be lots of free time for swimming, hiking, etc. All who share in this are as free as the men who hallowed those old hills with new insights that jarred the Christian world. You can receive registration forms and information by writing to us or to the Office of Church Relations, Bethany College, Bethany, WV 26032. You’d better not miss this one. Besides, Ouida is going to be there, though she does not plan to deliver an oration. But Perry Gresham and I will do an “Ev and Charley” at the site of the old Brush Run Church, the first congregation of the Campbell movement.