Questions
A unity of purpose among those who participated in spite of obvious personal differences.
A love among the brethren that stimulated love.
Sincerely in Christ,
S.O.M.
Dear Dr. Naismith:
I have read with keen interest the “Question Column” in the latest number of Ministry in Focus, and sympathize with Bill Brown in his dilemma. I do not have the full answer to the problem, but submit the experience of a colonel in the British Imperial Army as being helpful.
The Colonel was saved during a period of service in India. He forthwith attended the Established Church in which he had been raised with more regularity.
On his first furlough back to England, he promptly visited his Christian sister and her husband who lived in Bath. On the Lord’s Day morning they took him with them to the Breaking of Bread in the local assembly.
Immediately, at the end of the service, the Colonel warmly gripped the hand of his brother-in-law and said, “This is the thing the Lord has commanded; I had no idea that the presence of the Lord could be so real.”
Let me list some of the features of that service which were so attractive to the Colonel, who, by the way, never returned to his former denomination. They were:
· Excellent order without ostentatious organization.
· Apparent guidance without a presiding elder.
· Real spontaneous worship in the absence of the usual sensual aids: the organ, the choir and the stained-glass windows.