Jump Start—# 3968
Galatians 5:15 “But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.”
Throwback Thursday—an article written from the past
Feuding Neighbors
Hello again from the folks down here at the Country church. Things have been mighty slow as of late. Most of the crops are in and we’re fixing to take things real easy for a spell.
Bro. Williams, from Hobbs Hill, has been coming to speak to us all this month. Talk was made at the monthly business meeting to get a real preacher, but most of us think that we’re doing fairly well as it is. We got our new baptistery put in (You’ll remember that it was bro. Jennings who paid for the whole thing because of the snake and all). We had a little problem fitting it in but we finally made it and the folks here are real proud of it.
The big news down this way is about our neighbors. About two Thursdays past, the Methodist meeting house burned down. There wasn’t a thing that could be saved. Some were saying it was a sign from Heaven. Well, anyway, the Baptist people, being the kind of people that they are, offered the Methodists to come and use their building on Sunday afternoons. It’s the Baptist church down near Martha Edwards place. Well, this all set pretty well with the Methodist folks, since they only meet once a week any how. Things were going well for a week or so until someone wanted to join the Methodist church. Actually, he thought he was joining the Baptists since it was their building. Somebody forgot to tell him that from 1:30-2:30, the Baptist church becomes a Methodist church. I reckon he couldn’t tell the difference. Well, the Methodist got him and they wouldn’t let the Baptist have him.
Things kinda got into a pickle between the Baptist people and the Methodist people. One day, over at Conner’s Feed Mart, the Methodist preacher and the Baptist preacher got into a shouting match. The Methodist preacher threatened to find a new place to worship until their new building is finished. This bothered the Baptist preacher, cause they were receiving real good rent money from the Methodists. I know this for a fact, because my cousin, Wilbur Thomas, does the books for the Baptists.
Well, it was decided right there in Conner’s Feed Mart, that the Baptists and the Methodists would meet on Sunday afternoon and talk things out. The Methodists said that they weren’t going to pay any rent for that meeting since the Baptists were going to be there. At this big meeting, the Baptists claimed a Baptist can’t be a Methodist. And, if God made him a Baptist, then he has to belong to the Baptists. The Methodist preacher claimed he couldn’t see why it mattered since everyone is going to Heaven anyhow. A lot of arguments were made one way and then the other. The preachers questioned the candidate as to whether he was a Baptist or a Methodist. Nothing seemed to be solved until ole’ Johnny Smitters, who was a pillar in the Methodist church, stood up and claimed that he has always been a Baptist at heart. He up and joined the Baptists right then and there. The Baptists were rejoicing so to get one like Johnny, that they told the Methodists that they could keep the other fella.
Well, we all thought the fussing and feuding was finally over until it was revealed that Johnny Smitters owned the land that the Methodist were building their new building on. Some said that he’ll just give them the lot. Others think that he may charge them to rent. We’ll have to wait and see.
One thing is sure, with all this fighting among all them preachers, it made a lot of us glad that we don’t have a preacher here.
Roger
December, 1991