The Same Old Story
In a recent issue of the Gospel Guardian, Brother Yater Tant tells about trying to convince a brother that any kind of action, arrangement, etc., that activates the universal church as a functional body is wrong. Then, after an hour or so, when the conversation terminated, the brother happily said, "That's just what I believe. And of course that makes the Herald of Truth scriptural because all they have here is one local church under its own elders."
Reminds me of what F. B. Srygley once said. He preached what he called a "good 'un" and an old Baptist friend came up to him after he finished preaching, and said, "That sermon is just what I have always said, It don't make no difference what church you are a member of, just so you follow the Lord." (Srygley's theme: Matt. 16:18.)
Brother Thomas King was approached by a lady in Cullman, Alabama, about fifty or sixty years ago, who said, "Brother King, I just love to hear you preach — you never even mention the Methodists or Baptists, or any of the different churches. And Brother Tom said, "No, I just try to say what the Bible says, and it doesn't even mention these denominations." The lady went away happy.
When asked once, in Oneonta, Alabama, about Cain's wife, and where he got her, I tried to explain that the language used about Cain's knowing his wife in Genesis 4:17 is identical with the language used in Genesis 4:1 concerning Adam's knowing Eve, his wife; and the results in both cases are the same. The man SEEMED to be listening to me; but as soon as I let up in my explanation, he said, "Yes, that's true, all right; but what I want to know is where did Cain find his wife, and who was she?"
The fable tells about how the birds learned to build their nests from the Magpie. She made the foundation of mud; so the swallows flew away in the firm conviction that they knew how to build a nest, and that is how they've made them ever since. So did all of the birds, leaving at different stages of nest building. But the dove stayed unto the end, sitting there half asleep, and when the Magpie said, "take one more straw," or feather, she'd say mournfully, "Take Two!" But heard not a word that was said!
— Dora, Alabama