Truth Magazine

By Robert C. Welch

A great host of preachers and churches are now riding the tide of opposition to the engaging of churches in the support of human systems and organizations which in turn perform the work of evangelism, edification and benevolence. They had and have nothing to do with stirring up or increasing that tide; they are merely riding it.

Some of these preachers are enjoying popularity among the churches; not because they are rigorously opposing the institutional systems which are catholicizing the churches of the Lord, but, to the contrary, because they are, at least publicly, refraining from discussing it. Of course, when asked they are happy to tell you privately where they stand. Many of the churches who are now using these preachers who are riding the tide do not any longer see the need of using some of those preachers who dared to fight the battle when the cause was so unpopular.

Such preachers and churches even consider those who pitched and waged the battle in the heat of the fray as controversial and radical figures, unworthy of the one-time respect, as without any influence locally and throughout the brotherhood. Such churches forget that these men sacrificed their popularity in order to keep the institutional machine from destroying the faith and righteous function of these churches. Such preachers forget that these men counted themselves expendable in order to maintain the independency of the congregations where others are now provided a place to preen their wings and enjoy their popularity.

Much of the teaching which opposed the -institutional movement was done in writings in religious papers. Many of the preachers who are riding the tide of present popularity no longer subscribe to those papers and no longer think it profitable to read what those same men are continuing to say. Perhaps they think that they have outgrown the thinking of these men who made it possible for them to ride the tide.

It is true that the man in the front of the battle does not have the time to polish his gun as does the man who is spending his days back in camp. But the polished gun may not fire as well, or may not fire at all, as does the gun which has been tried on the line. The man who has sat in camp while the battle was raging may have polished his manners and his sermons, but the glint of the steel is meaningless unless his sermon will continue to push back the error and sin.

Churches of the Lord, now as in the last century and always, will have to keep pressing the battle and stirring the tide against error one kind or another. As was the Lord and his apostles they must be controversial in nature. There can be no relenting. There can be no riding the tide.

Written in December 7, 1961 in the church paper of the Nacogdoches, Texas church.

TRUTH MAGAZINE, XVI: 40, p. 2
August 17, 1972

By Robert W. La Coste

Before people go wrong in doctrine or practice, they first go wrong in attitude. The very way you feel toward Bible teaching could very well determine the destiny of your own soul!

Bad attitudes, and consequently false teaching, do not occur overnight. Apostasy in any sense is a slow process by which Satan through his vain deceit captures and rules the hearts of men. When attitudes start souring toward Bible teaching, individuals become disgruntled, indifferent and then finally fall in to apostasy. Those that respect the word of God are those who take inventory of their attitudes and make sure they do not conflict with divine teaching. How about You! What is your attitude toward the word of God? (And I mean everything contained in His word?)

Are you one that likes and obeys part of the word and rejects the rest? Is that your attitude? Or perhaps it is your attitude to like what the word says, but delay in your obedience to it. In either case you must change or turn from such attitudes! The only attitude God will accept in relationship to His word is an open acceptation of it and one who lives it openly! Consider the attitude of Cornelius. “We are all present before God to hear all things commanded thee of God.” (Acts 10:33) Consider the attitude of Joshua, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve…. as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” (Josh. 24:15)

Whatever our attitudes toward Bible teaching, we must make sure they are godly and in respect of that teaching; any other attitude would eventually prove fatal. Is your attitude one that loves and obeys all of Gods teachings? Or is it just possible that your attitude keeps you from having a covenant relationship with God? Consider it well; for where you spend eternity will depend on it!

TRUTH MAGAZINE, XVI: 39, p. 13
August 10, 1972

By George T. Eldridge

The great potential for Christ at Perkins Rd., the attitude of the Tolles, which is seen in their letter that follows, and the crying need for a gospel preacher there influenced my wife and me to move to Baton Rouge by the end of June, 1972. We fully know that no money has been promised or indicated by any Christian or church for my wages, but we are going to Baton Rouge. I will do the work of a faithful proclaimer for our Lord and Savior in that city. The Perkins Rd. Church is not able financially to contribute anything toward my wages yet, but I believe the brethren and churches will respond to my need for wages and money to cover my moving expense.

The Building

The money collected presently by the Perkins Rd. Church pays the $255.36 monthly payment on her building, which only has a $6,300.00 remaining debt, the building utilities, and the cost for some teaching material. Two families (5 in att6ndance) are doing their best to handle these absolute costs.

The building is located in a growing section of Baton Rouge. It will seat comfortably 160 to 175 people and would conservatively have a replacement cost of $40,600.00 to $50,000.00. The building has 4 classrooms, the auditorium, an empty space for another classroom, an adequate preachers study, and a nursery.

The Money Future

At least five years must pass before the church will even be close to what is called self-supporting. By Gods help, much work, much prayer, and declaring “unto all the counsel God,” we will be self-sustaining and a tower of spiritual strength. Peace and fellowship does exist between this church and the church where Brother Bill Crews preaches.

What Happened?

The Tolles described well the attitude seen in “certain actions” which started the church where Bill Crews works, and slowly diminished a 70 plus attendance down to two families, now numbering five in attendance!! Digesting such unscriptural “certain actions,” weak pulpit preaching, unscriptural leadership, and the ideas of Brother W. Carl Ketcherside, where else could the Perkins Rd. Church go but to hobnobbing with the liberals? The congregation also compromised truth, lost a few members to the new sound church and more to churches in error, and then had an attendance of about zero.

The teaching of Brother Ketcherside is many sided, but please read his own written word to an admirer of his at Perkins Road.

“When we arise above the artificial walls and barriers and begin to love all of the brethren, God can give us a whole new dimension of service and he will. We must simply ignore the divisiveness and factionalism of the past and refuse to be trapped inside the narrow enclosures which men have built. . . A great door has been opened to witness to Baptist folk, sincere, eager, and seeking!”

Even with Brother Ketchersides “speech of Ashdod” and having gone to “the plain of Ono,” what conclusion is drawn from his writing? You do not love the brethren when you point out their rejection of Bible authority by their practices, for example, of instrumental music, centralized control, sponsoring church co-operation, churches building and maintaining man-made organizations, one container in the Lords Supper, or pre-millennialism.

This admirer of Brother Ketcherside and the two young preachers of Perkins Road, who were Ken R. Durham and Lynn McCauley, attended the A-C. C. lectures together and heard his unity speech, “Authority of the Word.” He then wrote Brother Ketcherside March 2, 1971 these words.

“You really impressed Ken and Lynn. They have already been to see Max Goins at Calvary Christian Church and he invited Lynn to speak there on a Sunday evening. They are also swapping pulpits with two of the other ministers of churches of Christ in town. They were very impressed with the black minister and he is going to swap out with one of them this month. When I told our “double-trouble” team they were not letting any grass grow under their feet, Lynn said, – Weve got to put all this trivia aside and get on with it. How about that?”

The “double-trouble team” of Ken and Lynn had the right environment at Perkins Rd. to make certain no grass grew under their feet. The church was soft. She would tolerate error. She wanted unity at any price. Men of the stature of B. Hall Davis and Thomas Smitherman had left. These false teachers (Ken and Lyn) could view “make all things according to the pattern” as “trivia  (Heb. 8:5). Imagine so called preachers calling the pattern for (1) music in the church, (2) church work, (3) church worship, (4) church fellowship, or (5) church co-operations as “trivia.” The false teachers got on with their work and destroyed the church more, but the Perkins Road Church had asked for it!!!

The church kept going down and down before the Tolles awakened. When they did get scripturally aroused, it was too late. The congregation was in shambles! The church now has seven in attendance, counting my wife and me.

Churchs Present Attitude

She will now “hold fast the form of sound words … in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 1: 13). We know we are small in number, but we want all faithful Christians coming to Baton Rouge to work with us. The lazy, the unconcerned, and the indifferent person should not want to come our way because we need workers to labor with us in filling our present building with saved sinners. Our location is easy to find: 1-10 & College Drive; 4270 Perkins Road; near Colonel Sanders; less than four minutes off 1-10.

The City

Baton Rouge is called the “Growth Center of the South.” Her population is a growing 200,000. She has four main pillars to her economy: She (1) is the state capital of Louisiana, (2) is the center of me of the worlds largest petrochemical areas, (3) is home of two large state universities: Louisiana State University and Southern University, and (4) has a major world port.

Industrial Complex. The petrochemical center of the South, the growing industrial development along the Mississippi River is based on petroleum, but it claims chemicals, rubber, plastics, fight and heavy metals and other products. At least one hundred fifty manufacturers employ 18,500 people.

Port of Baton Rouge. It is the seventh largest port in the nation. It is the farthest inland deep water port on the Mississippi. It serves both deep water and river transportation. Vessels from many countries berth here.

Need

Brethren, pray for me. I need your financial assistance for my wages and to pay my moving expense (2 Cor. 11: 8; 2 Tim. 1: 16-18). Also, tracts are needed. I know you will respond because we serve the same God, are guided by the same Bible, are interested in the lost souls of men, and want to go to Heaven together.* Also, you answered the call when I authored an article about the new church in Monroe, Louisiana, which concerned H. Tom Swilley. I await your answer.

Letter

TO: The Elders and Brethren________Greetings in Christ Jesus our Lord!

We want to write you personally and let you know how we stand on the truth of God. About 2 or 3 years ago, certain actions led many brethren to believe my wife and I were no longer Biblically opposed to (1) the centralized control and unscriptural church co-operation seen and taught by the Herald of Truth; (2) churches of Christ building and maintaining human institutions (man-made organizations) such as old folks homes, orphan homes, and colleges; and (3) churches of Christ providing entertainment and recreation for Christians.

Examples of these certain actions were: 11) the meeting with the elders from North Baton Rouge and their preacher on November 10, 1970, (2) Bob Hendren, the preacher from North Blvd. church of Christ preaching in a meeting at Perkins Road church, and (3) brothers Ken R. Durham and Lynn McCauley and others who they got to preach at Perkins Road church of Christ including Lynn Cook of the North Baton Rouge church who believe and practice the actions mentioned above.

We have repented for any participation we had in the aforementioned actions. God has helped us to see the error of the direction in which we were headed … liberalism … away from the old paths revealed in the Scriptures for the pattern and practices of the church Christ built.

God has forgiven us for the error of trying to hob-knob with the “Weighty works” brethren. We now stand on the Scriptural pattern for the church of Christ as revealed in the New Testament and exemplified therein. My wife and I will examine the Scriptures more and more, pray more and more, and work more and more for our precious Lord and Savior so that we may grow steadfastly in grace and knowledge of Him who was crucified in our place.

We are ready at all times to give an answer as to why we are now opposed to the above named unscriptural practices, which cause division among brethren and mark the promoters as being “liberal” or going beyond the things which are written. We also are positive that the Perkins Road church of Christ with her preacher, George T. Eldridge, will be of the same mind, speak the same thing, and be of the same judgment; will hold forth sound doctrine by advertising, debating, and publicly proclaiming the unscripturalness of such yokes of bondage being placed on Gods church by the “big promoters” in the church today.

A debate with North Boulevard or North Baton Rouge churches in defense of these practices they are glorying in will do much good to show if they really believe these things are Scriptural and sound. When one is right scripturally, he has the courage and will uphold what he believes is right.

We have remained members of the Perkins Road church of Christ which is one of only two faithful congregations in Baton Rouge standing for the truth of Christ and exposing and condemning error in the church -and out. Let us remind you that it took a long, long time for us to awaken, so we dont expect you to change overnight; but, remember when you let down on one little point of Scripture, it is not long before you are compromising on all others. If we can assist you in the work of the Lord, do not hesitate to call on us … but, we will not fellowship error.

Your brethren in Christ,

Albert and Evelyn Tolle

TRUTH MAGAZINE, XVI: 39, pp. 10-13
August 10, 1972

By Leslie Diestelkamp

For three decades I have been pleading for more mature men to go into the new and destitute fields for gospel work. Many have done so. Many others admit a desire to go but they never fulfill that urge because they do not want to ask for support. Some have told me, I refuse to beg. Please consider the following:

1. It would seem wonderful if churches would become so thoroughly awakened that they would beg preachers — no, not to bid for them to come and work locally, but to beg them to accept support and go into the needy fields. But perhaps this would not actually be good. A preacher who had to be begged would probably not be spiritually suited to such work anyway.

2. But why should a preacher decline to ask for support? If the work he plans to do is indeed the real work of an evangelist, and if the work he asks churches to do in supporting him is indeed the very mission of the church, then why would he hesitate? After all, be is not asking for personal gain but he is really asking that the church participate with him so that fruit may abound to your account (Phil. 4:17). Actually it is only a false sense of pride that would prevent a worthy preacher from asking for support for work in new fields.

3. A few churches still do not want to support men in distant fields. Usually this is because they have not been taught to do so. Their local preacher may have delivered profound lessons from the scriptures but he may have failed to emphasize the scriptural mission of the church.

4. Modern transportation facilities and abundance of money in the church treasuries have enabled some preachers to go abroad for a few weeks of evangelism. This is wonderful. Yet this produces two dangers: (1) Preachers may feel that a few weeks in a distant field thereafter excuses them from any such work. The great and crying need is still for men to go out into the fields where truth is unknown and commit themselves to a sacrificial labor of love there. (2) And churches may supply funds for short-term work from their reserves and fail to really make a commitment to support again and again the world evangelism that is so dependent upon them. So, let us send more and more, even on short-term trips to distant places, but let us not mistake this for our total obligation. Father, let such become a motivation for fuller, greater and wider use of men and money in the various fields of the world.

5. A few years ago when a preacher determined to go abroad he had to spend many months raising support and travel funds. But today this is not longer true. There is no need for men to advertise far ahead for funds to travel. Churches will not want to tie up funds for so long in advance. Let those who want to go make their plans and two or three months before departure they should write a few churches, describing their necessities, and they will get the money. Brethren will not let them down. And if you want to get money easily, go to those churches that are already deeply involved in such work. They know its worth and they will find ways to help you too. But if you want to do a greater service to the cause of Christ, prevail upon the churches that have not done much of such work. It may be more difficult for you, but it will awaken them. Soon they will be enthused and will seek such work to do. And some of the otherwise greatest churches in this land still need to learn that lesson.

TRUTH MAGAZINE, XVI: 39, pp. 9-10
August 10, 1972