Truth Magazine

By James R. Cope

(Editor’s Note: When we called brother Cope relative to writing something for this Memorial Special, he suggested that we might publish his personal letter to brother Cogdill on the occasion of brother Cogdill’s 78th birthday, April 24, 1985.)

My dear Roy,

On this, your 78th birthday, also the birth date of our oldest daughter, Connie Cope Benson, Georgia Deane and I join your multitude of friends in wishing you a very joyous occasion.

As I reflect upon my more than forty year’s association with you, several things particularly come to mind:

1. Our first face-to-face acquaintance was in the early 1940’s. You were in a series of meetings with W.E. Brightwell and the Waverly-Belmont church in Nashville. I was teaching at David Lipscomb College and preaching for the Belmont church. I came to hear you several times, and this began the relationship which has continued uninterrupted till this day. Avidly I took notes as you preached and I still have several of them.

2. To some degree you were responsible for my meeting the girl of my dreams. It was you who recommended me for my first Texas meeting Preston Road in Dallas — where I met the beautiful and dedicated Georgia Deane Combs, June 4, 1944.

3. In the intervening years we have met many times in various places and our paths have crossed many times. The only meeting in which I ever preached where you were living and laboring was Nacogdoches, Texas, in early March, 1960. Even though I had been preaching 25 years, I still recall how inadequate I felt in each lesson because you were in the audience. I understood well that you wanted me to do well and that I was there because you had asked the brethren to invite me, yet I was on “needles and pins” and felt like a Little Leaguer pitching to Babe Ruth. Nevertheless, you were there “rooting” for me and encouraging the brethren to attend every service. (I suppose the elders felt I gave general satisfaction for they never invited me back!) It was also in March 3 (Wednesday night) of this same week that your beloved Lorraine became so seriously ill that only a few days later she was moved first to Tyler and then to Houston for diagnosis and operations which led to her demise back home in June of the same year. About five weeks after Lorraine’s passing, I closed a meeting on Sunday night at Pruitt and Lobit in Baytown. I was to begin a meeting in Blytheville, Arkansas the night following. As I now recall you were to begin a meeting somewhere north of there either the same night or shortly thereafter and asked me to ride with you. Never shall I forget those hours together! Each of us would drive to rest the other. We would laugh awhile and cry awhile. I picked your mind for all mine would hold. I never felt closer to you in my life except the other time which I shall mention presently.

4. Our next relatively close association was the Florida College term of 1969-70 when you drove daily from Orlando to teach our young men preparing to preach. Never I think, did you ever give more of your physical self for such a long period as you did in this 200-mile daily drive. I was so involved in administrative affairs that we spent precious few hours together. It was much the same with Homer Hailey. After we had administrative offices over the Chatlos Library, there was only a wall between Homer and me, yet we hardly saw each other except to say “hello” as we would pass going and coming in and out of our offices. That’s just getting “too busy”!

5. Then came your move back to Houston and in 1972 our trip to Bible lands. It was indeed pleasurable yet, again, there was little time for personal visitation.

6. Except for our long ride through Texas and Arkansas, no event do I now or shall I ever remember more pleasantly and profitably than that of this last December 6 or 7 when Dee Bowman, Harold Fite, and I visited with you in your home-the same day that hard-headed you would have it no other way than you foot the bill for our delightful lunch! What a day that was! I felt that we were wearing you to a frazzle. I was torn between my selfish desire to hear every word your weak voice spoke and my judgment that said we were unduly imposing upon your willingness to feed us spiritually as well as keep us laughing at your humorous stories.

And when we separated that day! Oh, my brother, I can still feel the warmth of the gentle but strong embrace of our parting moments. Somehow I was conscious of a similar scene, at the home of C.R. Nichol in Clifton, Texas, when he and C.E. Wooldridge held each other and wept as these two white-headed saints, long-time preaching and debating companions, bade each other goodbye-probably for their last time.

Even though I would like to see you again before either of us meets the Lord, his angels, and all who have loved and labored in his kingdom and for his Cause, no memory of you and what you have meant to the gospel of our Savior and to me personally can ever erase from my awareness that in those few moments I was holding in my arms the physical body of a man who was a giant in his day; your life hams blessed thousands through pen and preachment for two-thirds of a century, and your commitment to “preach the word” and your firmness of resolution to be faithful at all costs has helped otherwise weary soldiers to keep their armor on and the battle going.

I love you, Roy Cogdill!

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 14, pp. 429-430
July 18, 1985

By Harold Fite

I first became aware of Roy E. Cogdill during my high school days in Dallas, Texas. At that time he was with the Preston Road congregation of that city.

In my teen years I had several opportunities to hear him preach, and through the years he preached in meetings where I did local work. In those years, it never entered my mind that someday we would be members of the same congregation with the roles reversed: I would be doing the preaching, and he the listening.

My relationship with brother Cogdill as a co-worker and fellow-member of the Fry Road church of Christ was a brief one. His health and bodily strength declined rapidly during !he three and one-half years we worked together. He was in and out of the hospital several times. He was a sick man, yet he managed to teach two classes a week and preach when I was away.

Here was a man who had traveled the length and breadth of this land preaching God’s Word; he was recognized as one of the great preachers of our time; he had received over the years the adulation of admiring and appreciative brethren. Now, for the most part, he was regulated to the pew. The once strong voice was now weakened by age and illness. Words which at one time flowed eerily and freely, were not always there when needed. Forced by circumstances, he had to watch another standing in the pulpit where he once stood, listening to another preach that gospel he had preached with clarity and vigor for over sixty years.

One might think that he might be a bitter, mean-tempered, crotchety old man who vented his hurt, anger, and frustration on the one who “took his place.” But not so!

Brother Cogdill was supportive and encouraging. The last words he said to me were words “pressing his appreciation for the sermon I had preached that Sunday morning on the subject of prayer. I reminded him of the first sermon he preached. It too was on the subject of prayer, and was delivered in Hobart, Oklahoma, in 1922. The outline was displayed during the tribute we gave him on 23 April of this year. We concluded that it was still a good outline after sixty-three years.

Knowing Roy’s strong will, his outspokenness and intimidating presence, preachers warned me about moving to Fry Road. They thought I was making a mistake. They said, “You will have trouble with him.” I knew what they were talking about and did not take the warnings lightly. I appreciated then, and do now, their concern for me.

I phoned brother Cogdill and told him the elders had invited me to work with the brethren at Fry Road and asked him if he had any doubts about our working together. He replied, “Not a bit. I hope you come.” I told him it would not be easy for him to listen to me after what he had been and done, but that he would have to be patient. He said, “Come on, and I will try to stay out of your way.”

I know it wasn’t easy for him, but he handled it as gracefully as any man I know. He understood my work. He was interested in what I was doing. He didn’t want to make it difficult for me;

We did not always agree, and if he thought it necessary to express his view on the subject he would do so at an appropriate time, but always in a positive way, never abusive, never referring to me by name. I respected him, and I believe he respected me. I respected his right to preach his convictions, and he respected my right to do the same. Differences did not affect our friendship because we both knew that friendship is a responsibility, not an opportunity.

When he became physically incapable of filling his meeting appointment with the Expressway church in Louisville, Kentucky, he recommended me to the Expressway elders and suggested I fill his- appointment. The elders graciously consented, enabling me to preach in a city where I had not preached, and to become acquainted with the wonderful brethren who compose that congregation.

Brother Cogdill had a sense of humor, and maintained it throughout his illness. At times we “picked” at one another in good fun, but I don’t believe I ever had the last word. But I kept trying.

I enjoyed our visits together, and profited as I listened to him talk about persons, places, and events which compose a part of our history of the past sixty years.

Our relationship was a good one. He was my friend, and “life has no blessing like a prudent friend.” I appreciate the attitude he had toward me and my work. His interest and encouragement have made these three and one-half years at Fry Road “a piece of cake.”

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 14, p. 427
July 18, 1985

By Hoyt H. Houchen

On Monday morning, May 13, 1 received a telephone call from Texas to tell me that brother Roy Cogdill had passed away the night before (Sunday evening, May 12, at about 11:30).

My first acquaintance with Roy E. Cogdill goes back many years, to the time that I was about nine years of age, possibly 1928. Since that time we have had a close association through the years. We have worked together in several gospel meetings, but we somewhat grew apart in the last few years because of the span of miles between us.

The first recollection of brother Cogdill in my early boyhood years was most impressive. I can well remember my first glimpse of him. He was to preach in a gospel meeting at Alhambra, California. He and his wife (Lorraine) had driven out from Texas in a green Ford coupe, possibly a model A. My parents and I drove to Alhambra that Sunday morning to attend the meeting (I believe it was a tent meeting). In the Bible class sat this young couple, a blond hair young visiting preacher with his attractive and dignified looking wife. I heard his clear, booming voice for the first time as he made some comments about the church at Corinth.

From my earliest impression, Roy Cogdill continued to have a great influence upon me. He was a source of encouragement to me as a boy preacher in southern California and in my preaching years in other places in the years to follow. He was a pillar of strength, firm in his convictions and never hesitated to express them. No one ever had to guess where he stood on any issue. He loved the truth and preached it with force, conviction and simplicity. He was an outstanding speaker, and in my opinion, when he was in his prime he was without a peer in the pulpit.

My wife (Doris) and I had many pleasant associations with Roy and Lorraine Cogdill through the years. We had the privilege of living in the same city that they did on two occasions, both cities in Texas (San Antonio and Lufkin). We took pleasant automobile trips together, and we remember with joy when on a beautiful day we would stop at a roadside park to eat a picnic lunch. Lorraine always wanted me to drive, not that I am such a great driver, but I guess she thought that anybody’s driving was safer than his.

We shared some of the tensions during Lorraine’s illness in the Houston Medical Center. The Cogdills were living in Nacogdoches and we in Lufkin during that time. She departed from this life on Thursday morning, June 23, 1960. Had she lived until July 21st, she and her devoted husband would have celebrated their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. The funeral was conducted in the church building at Mound and Starr (Nacogdoches), James W. Adams, Fanning Yater Tant, and this writer participating. Her frail and worn body was laid to rest in the cemetery at Lufkin, Texas. Brother Cogdill later wrote:

The grief we feel when our loved ones depart to be with the Lord is but selfish. We shrink back from the loneliness and void their going leaves in our lives and know our tremendous loss in the lack of their presence to strengthen and encourage and help us as they have through all of these years of the past. But we strengthen our hearts and mend our spirits, even dry away our tears, in the knowledge that they are as much alive as they have ever been and in the transition are infinitely better for they are free from differing and the heartaches of this life and know only the happiness and bliss of those who have “died in the Lord”(The Gospel Guardian, August 11, 1960, p. 10).

Roy Cogdill had known the Faulkner family who were members of the old Tenth and Francis church in Oklahoma City. Nita Faulkner also lost her companion by death, thus Roy and Nita were later united in marriage. They shared many happy years together, as well as burdens and sorrow due to Roy’s illness in the last few years. Nita was a faithful and beloved wife. Roy once said to us that he did not know how he was so fortunate as to have two such wonderful wives. Nita has two children: Pam and John. Our oldest son, Ron, was with Pam in Florida College in 1962, and he also served as best man at her wedding. Later, Roy and Nita adopted a little boy, Philip, now a grown man.

Roy E. Cogdill not only preached with power, but also employed his pen to express his convictions in defense of the truth. He had occasions to stand upon the polemic platform and “contend earnestly for the faith.” In December 1946, he met D.N. Jackson (Baptist) in Lufkin, Texas. Four propositions were debated, and the speeches were recorded and published in book form. Brother Cogdill, using several charts, did a commendable job in devastating Baptist arguments and defending the truth.

Through the bitter and hard fought controversy on issues confronting the church, Roy Cogdill was prominent on the fieldof battle. In those years his pen was active in the pages of The Gospel Guardian, and his voice was heard in pulpits all over the nation. He was relentless in his opposition to unscriptural practices. There is no question that faithful congregations today are standing for and practicing the truth because of the work done by such men as Roy E. Cogdill.

Agreement was reached in 1957 for Roy E. Cogdill and Guy N. Woods to debate the issues of churches supporting benevolent homes and the Herald of Truth nationwide radio broadcast, also being supported by churches. The discussion was held in the Philips High School auditorium, Birmingham, Alabama (November 19-23, 1957). There were four speeches delivered each night for six nights, each being thirty minutes in length. The speeches were recorded on tape and transcribed. Numerous charts were used in the discussion. Brethren from all over the nation attended the debate, many of us travelling in inclement weather. Many of us believe that brother Cogdill’s opening speech on authority was masterful, and dealt a devastating blow at the very outset to the unscriptural practices being defended by brother Woods. The debate was on a high plane and a definite contribution was made to a study of the issues which divide us. James W. Adams moderated for brother Cogdill and Thomas B. Warren was the moderator for brother Woods. The debate was published in a book (The Cogdill-Woods Debate) and is still available.

We rejoice that an “Appreciation Get Together” was arranged for brother Cogdill in Houston, Tuesday evening, April 23, 1985 on the eve of his seventy-eighth birthday. The occasion was a dutch treat dinner at Luby’s Cafeteria. The tribute was appropriate, as so many of us have benefitted from the fruits of brother Cogdill’s labors for so many years. We regret that he was in poor health the last few years that he was upon this earth. Consequently, must of his preaching was curtailed and especially his gospel meeting work. We extend our thanks to thoughtful brethren who provided the special appreciation night for brother Cogdill, and we are also thankful that he was able to be so honored only a few days before his death. He was moved emotionally by the kind remembrances extended to him by so many. Letters and cards, from even those of us not able to attend, were all bound in a single volume and presented to him on the evening of the get together. He cherished it. Indeed, honor (tribute) was given to one whom it was due (Rom. 13:7).

Roy E. Cogdill was an outstanding and effective preacher of the gospel. Never can we fully appreciate all of his contributions to the cause of truth. He will be missed, but his influence will continue to live. He will ever be regarded by faithful brethren who lived during his lifetime, and by those who read the history of the Lord’s church in his generation as a great defender of the faith.

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 14, pp. 422-423
July 18, 1985

By Clinton D. Hamilton

It was about 43 years ago that I first saw and heard Roy E. Cogdill at Freed-Hardeman College in Henderson, Tennessee. N.B. Hardeman, the president, announced his appearance and indicated he was one of the most powerful and effective preachers among us. When he appeared, he was a powerful speaker, well read, highly regarded, and aggressive in defense of truth. With a robust body, a regal bearing, and an emphatic and resonant voice, he spoke with conviction and positive assurance in the rightfulness of his message.

Little did I know at the time that time and circumstance would converge to bring us into close association in later years and that a lasting friendship characterized by trust and confidence in one another would result. My family and some of his were to become personal friends in very close association. Our work as preachers of the gospel sharing a common faith and unfeigned confidence in the truth kept us united in belief and effort. When I first heard him, his confidence was reassuring as well as abundantly evident. Through the next few years he used his great ability as a logical thinker and powerful speaker in defense of truth against error both within and without the church of the Lord. He exercised great influence and ever stood ready to defend truth. Within five years after I first met him, the gathering storm of traumatic rupture of the body of Christ was well under way. Ultimately the issues would separate those who had been his friends and allies. Foy E. Wallace, Jr. and N.B. Hardeman both had been his friends and commended his dedication and defense of truth. But as the controversies over carnal warfare, congregational cooperation, church support of human institutions, and related issues continued into the early fifties, friendships were strained and broken. Among those so ruptured were those between Roy Cogdill and N.B. Hardeman and Foy E. Wallace, Jr. In spite of their being divided in views as to right and wrong, Roy Cogdill kept a warm spot in his heart for both of them. In private conversations between us, brother Cogdill expressed sadness over the rupture of their friendship and never expressed bitterness against either one of them. However, he lamented the personal displeasure they expressed on occasion toward him.

Roy E. Cogdill could not understand, he more than once said to me, why brethren who disagreed sometimes became bitter against one another. He was hurt at the bitter, harsh, and vituperative comments made about him and remained sad over the situation which he could not change, although he did not remonstrate in kind. In this respect he had a mild disposition, but he kept inviolate truth to which he had committed himself.

In spite of brother Cogdill’s tender feeling for those with whom he disagreed, he never compromised what he believed to be right. He would speak with aggressive conviction, undaunted faith, and uncompromising fervor. This staunch defense of truth with firm confidence in the rightfulness of his course caused many to conclude that he was cold, indifferent, and uncaring. Many hesitated not to assert that he was hard-hearted and basically lacking in human affection. But to hold this view of him is to betray any real knowledge and acquaintance with him. One holding such a view has a distorted view of him. To know him well was to learn that he was one of the most caring and tender-hearted persons one could ever know.

Upon learning of his passing, my wife and I were talking about him. I inquired of her what she believed to be one of his most prominent characteristics. She thought a moment and said, “His caring.” I believe, she spoke the truth. He did care deeply for people and his heart opened to those in need. Multiplied thousands of his money and untold hours of his time were expended in behalf of others. He cared.

When people erred, he would condemn the wrong but could feel for them. On occasion we discussed such situations. He was able to see and understand the human element. He could be sympathetic with the infirmities of others. He cared.

Roy Cogdill was a good thinker. His legal training and diligent study resulted in his developing a logical reasoning process and disciplined mind. Upon review of an issue, hee would search for the fundamental predicates and the consequences belonging to given predicates. Methodically, logically, and carefully he developed his arguments on any given topic. Once he had thought about a subject and then presented it, he did so with clarity, erudition, and fervent conviction. In his powerful, resonant voice, he would with clear logic and scriptural argument present his views.

His sermon on the trial of Jesus was a masterpiece of cogent logic, eloquence, and powerful marshalling of evidence. It was a most moving experience to hear it. One could not be indifferent after having heard the powerful presentation of the Jewish and Roman trials of Jesus. His legal training shone through the presentation brilliantly.

Roy Cogdill was a balanced person. He had a keen sense of humor. But he knew also that everything has its time. Accordingly, he knew when to be serious and when to be humorous. A well-rounded person, he c6uld converse on broad range of subjects. In a private setting, he could capture attention and make powerful points by means of humor, at which he was most adept. Many are the times that my wife and I have enjoyed invigorating laughter by listening to his humorous stories that helped to renew the spirit. But when he spoke on issues of truth he did so with fervor, seriousness, and with the gravity meet for it.

As an attorney, he could have been extremely successful and, no doubt, could have had a financially lucrative practice. But there was an overwhelmirg desire and commitment to preach the unsearchable riches. On the legal profession, he turned his back to devote his life to the proclamation-and defense of the gospel. His sense of values was undistorted and his dedication to the gospel was unashamedly open and emphatic.

A devoted family man, Roy Cogdill was intensely interested in their welfare. Moved by his desire to preach the gospel, he often was absent from home. Therefore, his family had to make great sacrifices also as he traveled widely, spoke frequently all over the country and abroad, and debated points of dispute. In these efforts, he spent large amounts of his funds. Often he was poorly paid. He persisted, nevertheless. He cared about truth and hesitated not in defending it.

Although he was self-confident, he was always willing to receive assistance and was not reluctant to seek the view of those he respected. In 1957, in Birmingham, he debated Guy N. Woods and again, I believe in about 1963, in Newbern, Tennessee. Prior to this latter debate, he requested me to read all that brother Woods had written and to give him the result of my analysis of his writings. I agreed to do so. Upon reading and analyzing the materials, I prepared charts showing his changes of positions and submitted them to brother Cogdill. In the Newbern debate, he used the material. He was interested in truth and wanted any enlightenment from whomever he could secure it. This showed his humility. Brother James W. Adams told me that on occasion brother Cogdill requested tapes and notes of his lessons for him to listen to and to study on a particular topic. Thoroughly versed in Scripture and well read, brother Cogdill desired always to learn more.

He was a friend who encouraged others to do what he disciplined himself to do. He wrote extensively and did untold good through his pen. His books The New Testament Church and Walking By Faith have done great good. He repeatedly urged me to complete a book I have begun on books of the Old Testament. He used the first volume I produced in the class context and reported his great satisfaction with it. I must get back to the writing desk. He encouraged people to do what they could to further the cause of truth.

His powerful voice was an articulate one against premillennialism and corruption of God’s order for the work of the church. Always vigilant against error and positive in his proclamation of truth, he convicted many in error, admonished watchfulness, encouraged the fainthearted, and consoled the heartbroken. In midst of doing all this, he often faced tragedy, suffered wrong at the hands of his enemies, and bore personal trials patiently. Philosophical about opposition, he never let his opponents depress him to the point of weariness in defense of his Master’s cause. He seemed perpetually refreshed at heart in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ.

From all that I have said here, it is certainly the case that I believe it was good that he was here.

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 14, pp. 424-425
July 18, 1985