Christian Chronicle (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 1, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 2, 1943 Page: 2 of 8
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UNIVERSAL
No. 1
I June 2, 1943
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Paul Southern, Abilene, Texas
Hugo MpCord, Dallas, Texas
.-^Editor and Publisher
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Our Opportunity and Our Adversary
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By Bonds Stocks
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This is the Place
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Vol 1
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Published weekly at 8408 Asbury A venue,' Dallas, Texas
$2.00 per Annum in Advance
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thority, under Christ, i
hands of the local cdngrei
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ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
Each week the editorial article which is adjudged most
timely and valuable will be printed on this
page of CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE.
1
Otis Gatewood, Salt Lake City
John F. Wolfe, El Paso, Texas
Jim Taggart, Dallas, Texas
Joe Malone, Dallas, Texas
*• r .... .....’ (
Send all communications *knd articles to Box 4408, Dallas, Texas
in our “visions.”
Bearing- all this in mind, it yet
remains to bt? said that unless all
signs of the times are misleading,
the New Testament church is now
entering, or hate recently entered,
a great and effectual door of op-
portunity that blds fair to lead
through the most prosperous per-"
iod of growth it has enjoyed since
apostolic days. If we may believe
even a small part of what we see,
Hear and read, the members,
leaders and preachers of the
church all over the * land are
1 ■ ■ ■»•
OLAN L. HICKS.......
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® - STAFF MEMBERS
t _ — Boftds Stocks, Washington, D. C.
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A survey of the shape of
things today in the spiritual
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to the fields that are white unto
harvest. The church has in many
respects made -more progress
during the past fifty years than
it made in the previous one hun-
dred years. There are hopeful in-
dications that we are now in the
first stages of a growth unparal-
leled in the history of the church
sinfie »the Apostles turned the
world upside down with the dy-
namite of the Gospel of Christ.
We must be careful, however,
that we do not permit our vis-
ions of conquest to become sim-
ply so many utopian dreams.
Sincere men of other times have
felt certain that the church was
well on the way to putting the
Devil on the run, abolishing
greed, hate, and war, and estab-
lishing th4 church as the most
potent influence for good in the
world. These sincere beliefs
teach us caution. „»
While the church has made
progress during some period's of
the past, of course nothing ap-
proaching a golden age has ever
been achieved. As we consider
the opportunities that are open
to us today it will be well for us
to profit by the experience of the
past by being cautious even to
ly set their fbrces in motion for
unyielding and relentless oppo-
sition.
We must be ever alert to this
truth: The same spiritual dyna-
mite which blasts sin out of the
hearts of those who are recep-
tive to good provokes bitter an-
tagonism on the part of those
who have hardened their hearts
against the reception of truth.
Verily, Paul said ‘‘The preaching
of the cross is to them that per-
The CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE_______ ■_
1 “This Is The Placer’
the tremendous responsibility of
the church duping and. after this
unprecedented global crisis.
It is certainly true, that in the
vast unharvested field in the east
the church is filled with seal,
fired with determination, and im-
bued with vision as it has never
been before.
A year ago ,in May, 1942, an?
informal meeting of some of the
church leaders in he east was
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being done, and will be done,
without in any way impairing
the complete autonomy of each
individual unit of the Body of A
Christ. The churches here are^
working shoulder ,to shoulder,
but, thsTnk God, they are doing it
according to the New Testament
formula. There is not now, and
there nev4r can be, a dictatorial
synod, and autocratic tongress
’. of cardinal s, or a human ecclesi-
astical polity in the church of
Christ. And here is definite
proof, if any is needed; thatXlod’s
, clear-cut plan of vesting <11 au-
in the
hands of the local congregation,
with no super-government to die-
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ther devoutly loved or vehement-
ly hated. His gospel is either en-
thusiastically .received or impu-
dently spurned.
We can no mor£ expert to
preach the gosprt'cT Christ with-
out stimulating the opposition of
Satan than the Federal bureau
of Investigation <an prosecute
a vigorous campaign against or-
ganized crime without arousing
the ire of the underworld. It is
just as foolish to think that we
can build a powerful spiritual
structure without encountering
difficulty as it would be to try
to erect a material skyscraper
without giving any consideration
at all to the cost.
Here is something that we can
always count on: Whenever God
opens! the door of opportunity Sa-
tan has -one of his cohorts/itand-
ing on the other side reldy • to
slam the door in our faces.
But can he do it? That all
depends upon how much strength
wej have to resist the efforts of
Satan’s' acco'ftiplices to shut the
| door. These words of the Holy
Spirit addressed to the angel of - - .
the church at Philadelphia are
recorded in Revelation 3:8:
‘‘I know thy wftrks: behold
I have set before thee an open
tJoor, and no man can shut it:
• jor thou hast a little strength, „
ahd llasTcept my word, and has -
not denied, my name.^
This assurance should encous^
age us. Although we are, not to
ignore opposition, we must not- .
allow it to discourage, frighten 1
or det^r us. Tijne spent in dread-
(Continued on Page 5)
the point of being conservative the leaders of the congregations
of the"body of Christ in the met-
ropolitan area of Washington
have been meeting from , time to
time to discuss conlmon i (prob-
lems and mutual aspirations.
These meetings have already
borne much fruit.
And . here is the significant
thing: Much has been done, is
.....
“This is the Place!”
Thus spoke Brigham Young when his weary band of Mormons
arrived on the brink of the great Salt Lake Valley in 1847. That
has been nearly one hundred years ago. and in that time that
. vast untamed valley has "been transformed into a great religious
•commonwealth, boasting many great cities and. industries, with
great schools and immense agricultural qnd other resources.
To the Christian, however, that vast area of our nation is a
greater challenge today than it was to the straggling pilgrims who
settled in it to gain surcease from the opposition of their religious
opponents nearly one hundred years ago. This vast commonwealth
is one of tlie strange by-products of religious freedom. Here has
grown up a great and strong religious delusion which has’in its
grasp hundreds of thousands of souls. Mormonism is a powerful
organiation. It uses all the quirks of psychology, as well as the
fanatical zeal of its missionaries, to keep its hold on the people.
„ It is not only a religious, but also a political set-up. - t ►
The denominations JiMve not dared to challenge this people.
They could not, for they had no weapons with which to fight' But
men who believe and preach the New Testament can and have
been bold te move into the very lair of this lion and tackle him. This
summer’s campaign will he he third successive drive in the state
• of Utah. . *
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“This is the place” now for a concentration of all our efforts awakening, t»"The realization of
during 4,he next three months. Let churches rally to he call of
brethren in this difficult field and send money and workers, at
once. This is not only the place, but also the time for decisive.
k and unreserved action. "
Do not disappoint those who have struggled so long and hard
to, establish the Cause in the stronghold of Monnon delusion. More
important: Do not disappoint the Lord. See that you go into
action on thia nytt^er today* Let the chutches and individuals rally
to th^colors, .
__________' &.. i -aKMsr
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held in New York City. There
was no suggestion, or even a
thought, of setting up an ecclesi-
astical hierarchy of any descrip-
tion. The purpose of the meeting
was simply to exchange views on
the most effective means by
which the churches of Christ, in-
dividually and cooperatively,
could enlarge the borders of di-
vine government on the EasCern
Seaboard. That unofficial gather-
ing was characterized "by opti-
mism, faith, and dogged deter-
mination to bring the church into
its rightful position in this sec-
tion. Those who attended went
away with faith intensified, vis-
ion multiplied, devotion increased
an hundred fold—and with no ec-
clesiastical strings tied to them.
Not only has the east awakened ish foolishness." Christ was ei-
to its own need and opportunity,
byt many churches in the South
and West have been stirred from
their lethargy and made to real-
ize their responsibility towards
the work in neglected fields. A
praiseworthy example of what
can Le done by combined effort
is found in the church at Boston,
which now has a splendid building
in the very heart of the city, a
full time minister: on the-ground,
and a mission work started in
Vermont.
During the past few -months
I; ' . -
June 2, 1948
tato policy or prescribe doctrine,
is notumly wise, but efficient, ,ef- «
fective and adequate.
God has opened wide the door
of opportunity to us. The extent
to which we grasp the opportu-
nity will depend largely upon our
own sense of obligation to God,
to ourselves and to our fellow-
man. It will depend upon how
■ righteously we live, how skillful
we become in weilding our great
offensive weapon of combat, the
Sword of. the Spirit, the Word
of God, and how diligently we
work on God’s farm.
In Corinthians 16:9 Paul
, wrote: ‘‘A great door and ef-
S. fectual is opened unto me, and
there are mapy adversaries.”
That man who understakes the
establishment of a great enter-
prise and fails to take note in
advance of the antagonism that
hi^ energy and5 zeal ^vill surely
provoke is most unwise.
The only way we can take ad-
vantage of the opportunity
which God has. opened to us is
vigord^sly to preach the gospel
of Christ straight from tl^g shoul-
der, without fear or favor, with-
out addition dr subtraction, with-
out compromise or perversion,
and without malice or timidity.
The gospel of Christ is THE
power of God unto salvation.
__r_ Obedience to the gospel of Christ
is THE way to gain access to the
— blood of Christ, which is THE
remedy for sin. The blessings in-
herent in the gospel of Christ
comprise THE universal need of
man.
But that is not all: The gospel
of Christ is THE one thing that
our adversary, the Devil, does not
want preached. Now Satan is not
adverse tp the preaching of A
gffii'pel; nor doek he object to
the proclaiming of a multitude
of gospels. He delights in the
performance of those who parade
under the flag of Christianity
while they preach a perverted,
gospel. But he is dead set against
the preaching of THE gospel of
Christ in all its primitive simpli-
city, its original purity and its
inherent beauty, and when that
gospel is preached Satan and all
his impious satellites immediate-
See editorial on this page
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The Policy of Christian Chronicle
The CHRISTIAN .CHRONICLE is not in competition with any
other paper in the church today. It is not a successor to any other
paper. It ifl not to be like any other paper in the church. It* is
a weekly newspaper and is begun with the purpose of publishing all
the news of all the churches of Christ that is worthy of being pub-
lished." ■
The reason for publishing this paper is to stir up missionary
zeal and activity among members of the church everywhere, and to
• -give to all a broad'visfon of the opportunities and responsibilities
of the church today. It is believed that such a paper will do an
incalculable amount of good by giving direction and unity to the
efforts of Christians. It will generate a wider acquaintance and
cooperation among brethren.
The CHRONICLE will at all times maintain a firm and vigorous
editorial policy for all that is in the best interest of New Testa-
ment Christianity;'It will not become a mere gossip cqlumn; it is
not going to go into a coalition with any special interest nor be
exploited by any special group. It means to serve all alike, fairly
L*.-----.. and faithfully. ' I ■
. The. CHRONICLE will not be used as ?a clearing-house 'for U! to Pfe88 ®n
L- . scandals or petty rivalries. It' will steadfastly refuse to publish
any news which may seem to be detrimental to the person or church
about whom It is reported until its truthfulness has been verified.
EVen then, if its-publication will not serve any good pur^fse, it
wHl not be published in the CHRONICLE.
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E- The'CHRONICLE is not to be published for the purpose of
making money, but fos |he good it can do. If you like this policy
and want to help achieve the goal we have set, we solicit your
patronage. We promise today to do all in our power to spread the
Gospel of Christ into all nations. Here we take our stand.
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Hicks, Olan L. Christian Chronicle (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 1, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 2, 1943, newspaper, June 2, 1943; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1305767/m1/2/: accessed June 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.