Courage For Christ
Brian J. Galloway

It was in 1929 when the opposition reached its peak. The church in Pleasant Valley, Arkansas was growing in July when Joe Blue held that famous gospel meeting. They had no air conditioning so the windows were removed for circulation. "Some uncouth youths used that situation to aid them in pelting brother Blue with rotten eggs and green walnuts. To make matters worse, dynamite was placed under the Bible stand (pulpit) after services one night to try to blow up the building. It happened the Devil's workmen were not skilled with using explosives. The cap was bad, as was the dynamite, so the fuse burned until the oxygen was gone and it burned itself out with only a hole being burned in the rostrum under the Bible stand." (From a letter telling of the history of the church in Pleasant Valley.)

Sound fictitious, maybe exaggerated? The pulpit stand in which the dynamite was placed is now standing in the fellowship hall of our church building (West Main Church of Christ). Turn it over and you will see the black, burnt marks where the fuse burned until it snuffed itself out. Why did someone want to kill brother Blue? Almost certainly, it was because he was preaching the truth without backing down and some people who believed things other than what the Bible teaches wanted it stopped. One great lesson I learned and remember when I see that pulpit stand is that it took courage and trust in God for the church to reach where it is today. Yet looking around us now one could ask, "Where did the courage go?" Some preachers are not preaching the pure gospel of Christ, but are watering it down so people won't get mad. Some Christians are living with the attitude, "Don't bother me and I won't bother you."

When I look back on the hardships the church had in the past, and the growth attained, and compare it with the lack of persecution and hardships we have today, and see our small growth (or none at all), I wonder if we have it too easy. In the New Testament the early church was persecuted heavily, but it grew rapidly, in many cases because of the persecution (Acts 8:4). In our day of little or no persecution we have become lax, forgetting the hard times of those before us. I am sure many of the "pioneer" preachers and Christians dreamed of the day that they could preach and teach without worrying about being killed or harmed for what they believed.

Perhaps it might be well to suggest that if we don't develop courage and begin to teach people about Christ, God may help us by taking away our environment of ease and replace it with hardships and persecutions Let's take advantage of what we have by using it to the fullest.

Our young people will be traveling to Venice this week-end to participate in the Bible Bowl on Saturday. Keep them in your daily prayers that they may have a safe journey and that all the participants will be blessed for their diligent study of God's Word.

Someone inadvertently picked up the wrong book ("You're Not Going to Tell That, Are You Mom?" by Nan Alexander) from the foyer. Please check the inscription on the first page and see if you have the right one. If you have the wrong one - see Sandy Callender.

Personal Work Group

The Personal Work Group is scheduled to meet tonight (Sunday), after the evening worship services, in assembly room "B". All members of the group should plan to attend.

Congratulations

We are pleased to announce the birth of Braden Neal Wright (10 lbs, 9 oz) to Ben and Jincy Wright on Monday, Aug. 28^th. Ben will be our new preacher and is scheduled to start here on the 17^th. At last word all were doing well.

We are also pleased to announce that Bobby and Fay Wells have a new grandson, Trenton Blake Weems (7 lbs), born to Leann Weems, last week in Tennessee. There had been some problems, but at last word, mother and child were expected to be fine.

"I'm Gonna help Somebody Someday".
"Gonna" is not in the dictionary. "Somebody" is not found in the phone book. "Someday" is not on any calender. God said, "be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only" (James 1:22)