Truth Magazine

By Frank Jamerson

And it came to pan, as he was praying In a certain place, that when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Father, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give no day by day our daffy bread. And forgive us our sins; for we ourselves also forgive every one that Is Indebted to us. And bring as not Into temptation (Lk. 11:14).

Perhaps the model given in Matthew 6:9-15 is the best known prayer in the Bible. Its brevity and yet comprehensiveness is impressive. Basically, Jesus told them that prayer is to be reverently addressed to God, and petitions are made concerning physical and spiritual blessings and needs. Though time could be well spent in studying each of the petitions in the model prayer, we will discuss some basic principles of how to pray acceptably.

Pray In Faith

The first condition of acceptable prayer is that we must “ask in faith” (Jas. 1:6-9). We must believe that God is and that He is in control. He is the:

God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things (Acts 17:24, 25).

He is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20).

Not only does He possess the power to answer prayer, He is also concerned about our needs and has promised to hear us. Jesus said, “Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on” (Matt. 6:25). Paul said, “In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6).

But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord; a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (Jas. 1:6,7).

According To His Will

Not only must we believe in God, and His ability to answer prayer, but we must acknowledge His wisdom in doing so. “And this is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us” (1 Jn. 5:14). Asking “in faith” and “according to God’s will” presents a problem to some. How can we believe that He will give it to us and at the same time say “if it be thy will”? This difficulty is easily removed if we consider the relationship of parents and children. Did you ever ask “in faith” for something from your parents, or have your children asked “in faith” from you, and the request not be granted? (I remember asking my father to let me go to town and live with my grandmother. He said, “No, I need you to help on the farm.” Why do you think I wanted to-live with Grandmother?!)

Our Father knows what we need, even before we ask Him (Matt. 6:8). “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matt. 7:11). If we received everything we asked for, we would probably be ruined! We should be thankful that God knows more about what we need than we do, and yet He has taught us to ask “in faith” for the things we desire.

The apostle Paul, at least once, asked “in faith” for something that God did not grant. He prayed three times for the “thorn in the flesh” to be removed (2 Cor. 12:7). God refused to remove it and said “my grace is sufficient for you.” With good “hind-sight” Paul realized that the “thorn” was being used of God to keep him humble and dependent upon Him. God had rather have Paul with the thorn than to remove it and possibly lose him. Looking back, Paul had rather have the thorn and rely on God than to have it removed and possibly become “exalted overmuch” and lose his soul. Have you ever looked back and thanked God that He did not grant your request? We can trust God’s wisdom to give us what we need rather than what we want!

The Right Motive

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). We must remember that in our prayers, our purpose is to glorify God. James said that those who ask selfishly will not be heard. “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures” (Jas. 4:3).

There is nothing wrong with petitioning God for material necessities and physical health (3 Jn. 2; Matt. 6:11), but even those things should be used to glorify God. It is possible for us to forget our true mission in life, even while asking for the things we want.

Prayer should not be used as a badge of piety. Jesus said:

And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites: for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the comers of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward . . . And in praying use not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking (Matt. 6:5,7).

There is nothing wrong with being seen or heard (1 Cor. 14:16), but there is something wrong with praying “to be seen, or heard.” There is nothing wrong with repetition in prayer (Matt. 26:44; Lk. 18:1-8), but there is something wrong with “vain” (empty, meaningless) repetition.

Many of the expressions heard in prayer would probably cease if we looked upon prayer as talking with God. When a child asks for something he wants or thanks his parents for something he has received, he does not use some artificial, memorized, trite speech that has no meaning. He speaks from the heart. That’s what prayer is! We are not preaching to God or to men, when we pray. We are not trying to impress God or man. We are talking to our spiritual Father from a heart filled with gratitude for His blessings or need for His provisions.

In Jesus’ Name

Jesus said, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, that will I do” (Jn. 14:14,15). Praying “in the name of Jesus” involves more than just saying those words. It means that we understand that He died for us and sits at the right hand of the Father as our Mediator. “For there is one God, one mediator also between God and man, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. . . ” (1 Tim. 2:5,6). Thayer defines “name” as: “relying or resting on the name of Christ, rooted (so to speak) in his name, i.e., mindful of Christ and in reliance on the word which invites us to him. W.E. Vine says, “For all that a name implies, of authority, character, rank, majesty, power, excellence, etc., of everything that the name covers . . . in recognition of authority.”

When we pray “in the name of Christ,” we are recognizing His authority, position, and His claims. The “model prayer” was not offered in the name of Christ because He had not yet been perfected as our High Priest and exalted to the right hand of the Father. Those today who approach God without recognizing the name of Jesus are denying His authority, position and claims.

Public And Private

The Lord often engaged in private prayer (see Matt. 14:23; 26:38-44; Mk. 1:35; 6:46; Lk. 5:16; 6:12; 22:41-46), as well as public prayer (see Matt. 27:46; Jn. 11:41; 12:27-29).

There is a need for us to engage in private as well as public prayers. Jesus said, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee” (Matt. 6:6). There are things we can talk about “in secret” that we would not want to express publicly. We can pour out our hearts and desires and thanksgivings to our Father without concern for how it may sound or how long it will take.

One problem we may have in private prayer is wandering attention. My suggestion for overcoming this is to pray, over and over, for God’s help to concentrate and to feel His nearness.

Public prayers are led so that all can participate. Paul taught the Corinthians to “pray with the understanding,” so those who heard could say “Amen” (1 Cor. 14:14-16). The context here is dealing with spiritual gifts, but the principle of being understood could be applied to other things. How can men say “Amen” to mumbling or to a prayer that cannot be heard? If a person cannot be heard or understood, he is praying privately in public!

Conclusion

The mechanics of acceptable prayer are not difficult to learn. An effective prayer life however, takes time, commitment and concentration. James gave the example of Elijah who “prayed fervently that it not rain” and said that “the supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working” (Jas. 5:16,17).

It has been said that the intensity of the desire determines the fervency of the prayer. It is true that we pray more fervently at times, but most of us could probably be more fervent all the time. It is our privilege to pray anywhere, in any position, about anything. We need to “Take time to be holy, Speak oft with thy Lord. . . . ” It is our responsibility to be “righteous,” and to pray fervently, in faith, and it is up to God to answer “according to His will.”

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 15, pp. 459-461
August 1, 1985

By Irven Lee

Man has been given the wonderful privilege to approach boldly the throne of God in prayer. God, with all His mighty power, is holy, and man is weak and sinful. The opportunity to pray is not at all based on man’s merit. It is an offer made by God, and this blessed offer is based upon the amazing grace of God. We can see the depth of God’s love as we look by faith at the gift of His Son on the cross that our sins might be forgiven.

Do we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who gave Himself upon the cross? We do if we believe the Bible to be heaven’s message to man given through the holy apostles and prophets as they were guided by the Holy Spirit. In this pleasure-mad world many do not believe in God or in His Son Jesus Christ. Prayer is not for them. They think they are animals which evolved by chance from lower forms of life. Such people, having no hope, are without God in the world (Eph. 2:12). If the evolutionists are correct, man with his senses, glands, digestive system, nervous system, respiratory system, and with power to remember, reason, and love, is a very, very remarkable example of what can happen by chance.

The Bible is a book that has influenced hundreds of millions to live useful lives of service. It has given these believers purpose for living, an explanation of their origin and destiny, and it has filled them with hope which is an anchor of the soul. Stable homes where love and loyalty abide have been by-products of faith. Honest, law-abiding citizens which exalt a nation come of faith in God. Prayer is for these people. The Bible teaches us to pray. It is people who recognize the Bible to be the word of God who pray.

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8). Generally speaking it is the unbelieving who are the murderers, whoremongers and liars. Such people are counted very unworthy. These unbelievers do not pray. Their unbelief opens the door to unrighteousness and closes the door to prayer, righteousness, and hope. It opens the door to the second death, and closes the door to life everlasting. “He that believeth not shall be damned.”

Of course, there are some decent citizens and good neighbors who do not have a living faith. They may have been taught decency by believing parents and their behavior is in spite of their lack of faith. It is very evident in America today that humanists (atheists) are not examples of moral purity, honesty, and decency.

Our Savior often said: “O ye of little faith” (Matt. 6:30; 8:26). He would have occasion, evidently, to say that to many if He were on earth today. The sin of unbelief is the sin that doth so easily beset us (Heb. 12:1). Think of Hebrews eleven on faith and chapter twelve as the context of Hebrews 12:1. Is not unbelief the besetting sin? “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Heb. 3:12). Great and eternal danger lies in this sin which can cause us to depart from God.

“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). “And he spake a parable unto them to the end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Lk. 18). “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Lk. 21:36). “Continuing instant in prayer” (Rom. 12:12). “Praying always with all prayer and supplication for all saints” (Eph. 6:18). “Continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2). Are these not commandments? How do faithful servants of Christ respond to His clearly stated commands? We understand that when an ambassador of Christ says, “Repent and be baptized,” men should repent and be baptized. If He says, “Pray without ceasing,” men should pray without ceasing.

Prayer is not a burden that is placed on man. “The effectual fervent pray of a righteous man availeth much” (Jas. 3:16). This is speaking of a wonderful blessing that is offered to man. The cleansing of erring Christians — all of us — is related to prayer. Peter told Simon to “repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee” (Acts 8:22). We make confession and talk with God in prayer. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9). This confession is necessary to our proper relationship to God.

The Savior took for granted that His followers would pray, and He gave instruction to help them (Matt. 6:5-15). He gave encouragement to reassure them (Matt. 7:8-11; Lk. 18:1-14; Matt. 6:24-34; Phil. 4:6,7). We have wonderful examples of prayer, and the Lord thus shows us what He wants us to do. Paul mentions his regular prayers and thanksgiving at the beginning of each epistle. “Prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God” for Peter when he was in prison at Jerusalem (Acts 12:5). Paul and Silas prayed in the jail at Philippi. Teachable people like Lydia and Cornelius were given to prayer. Do these examples mean nothing to us? They certainly should have significant meaning for us.

People sometimes get offended and refuse to speak to those who were their friends. This is a way to insult or to indicate one’s lack of respect for another. Is one refusing to speak to his heavenly Father when one fails to pray? Abraham was called a friend of God (Jas. 2:23). This friend often prayed. Surely every one who can be called a friend of God does pray. Prayer is an outgrowth of the warm gratitude to God and of full confidence in His power and love. The Father who wills that we come boldly to His throne deserves our happy response.

“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork” (Psa. 19:1). The Father and all His angels can minister to our little needs (Heb. 1: 14). Let none lack faith in God’s power to answer the prayers of His saints. Joseph, Daniel, Paul, and others could testify to the fact of God’s providence. Let men everywhere lift up holy hands and pray without wrath and doubting (1 Tim. 2:8).

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 15, pp. 451-452
August 1, 1985

By Mike Willis

Many Christians only knew Roy E. Cogdill through his writings. Though I have had opportunity to have personal contact with him and to feel the influence of his work through his impact on my oldest brother Cecil, brother Codgill’s impact on my life came most directly through his writings.

The Cogdill-Jackson Debate

As a young gospel preacher, my brother Cecil encouraged me to read debates on various subjects. One of the first debates which I read was the Cogdill-Jackson Debate. Brother Cogdill met D.N. Jackson in Lufkin, Texas in December 1946 in a public discussion. The propositions for that debate pertained to salvation and apostasy. Brother Cogdill centered the issues of the debate on Calvinism, quoting extensively from the Philadelphia Confession of Faith, adopted by the Baptists as their creed in 1742.

The purpose of water baptism and the doctrine of faith only were discussed for two nights. I can still remember being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine while reading the book as a young Christian. As the debate progressed, the clear refutation of Calvinist doctrine was apparent; this was one of the many works which helped me to better understand the conditions for salvation.

The discussion of apostasy was as helpful as the first two nights of the discussion. As recently as two or three years ago, I went back to read how brother Cogdill responded to D.N. Jack;on on such passages as Romans 8:1 in an effort to be better prepared to discuss this passage as it is now being used by grace-unity advocates.

The Cogdill-Jackson Debate is still in print. I can recommend it to you because of its impact on my own life.

The New Testament Church

Choosing what subjects to preach on is a problem for all preachers, although it is usually more intense for young preachers. Cecil recommended that I preach a series of sermons on the church, using brother Cogdill’s book, The New Testament Church, as a study tool. I remember gathering several others books as well, including Why I Am A Member Of The Church Of Christ by Leroy Brownlow, The Church Of Christ by T.W. Phillips, several sermon outline books with miscellaneous sermons on the church, and other books. Every Sunday night for nearly a year, I preached on the church.

Those fundamental lessons have stayed with me through the rest of my preaching life. I frequently go back to those outlines and preach those basic, fundamental lessons in both the local church where I preach and in my meetings.

Unfortunately, many of the young men who are beginning full-time preaching have not preached these sermons. The fundamental lessons such as, “The Establishment of the Church,” “The Organization of the Church,” “The Authority of the Church,” “The Rules of Admission,” “The Worship of the Church,” and such like themes, are generally being neglected in the pulpits of this country. Many preachers reason that brethren have heard all of these lessons before, forgetting that a new generation has grown up which has not heard these lessons. Consequently, many Christians are beginning to see little difference in the church of Christ and human denominations. Books like The New Testament Church need to be a part of the curriculum of the local church.

Walking By Faith And The Cogdill-Woods Debate

I began preaching in Alexandria, Indiana in 1967. Within a couple of months of that time, the liberal churches in Indiana had a “campaign for Christ” in Indianapolis, Indiana. The featured speaker was Jimmy Allen and, as I recall, Pat Boone was scheduled to lead singing one night. The campaign was conducted through a sponsoring church arrangement, organizationally structured like the Herald of Truth at Highland, in Abilene, Texas.

One of my fellow students at Florida College was attending a liberal church in Anderson. As I began to make contact with him in an effort to persuade him to leave, I was forced to study the issues of church support of human institutions (colleges, orphan homes, old folks homes, etc.) and the sponsoring church arrangement. In studying these subjects, Cecil directed me to Walking By Faith and the Cogdill-Woods Debate.

The outlines in the book Walking By Faith, in my judgment, are still the best study material available on the “issues” which divided the church in the 1950-1960s. They show how the sponsoring church is a violation of the organization of the church, destroying the autonomy of the local church. They demonstrate that the church cannot do its work through (by making contributions to) human institutions, whether they be missionary or benevolent institutions. The book also shows that the work of the church is not recreational in nature. Anytime anyone asks me questions about these issues, I still direct them to brother Cogdill’s book, Walking By Faith.

Books And Tracts

Another source which I used in studying this issue was the Cogdill-Woods Debate. Reading through the book as a young preacher, I was confused by some of the arguments which were being made in this debate. I will never forget reading the final speech which brother Cogdill made. Recalling the proposition which brother Woods was committed to defend, brother Cogdill then took up brother Woods’ arguments one-by-one. He then raised the question, “Does this argument prove brother Woods’ proposition?” The confusion began to leave my mind as I concluded that debate book. This remains one of the most popular debates on the sponsoring church arrangement and church supported benevolent institutions which is in print. You need to read this debate, if you have not already done so.

The New Testament Book By Book

Another adult workbook which brother Cogdill has written is this survey book on the New Testament. In twenty-six lessons, brother Cogdill presents an overview of the books of the New Testament. The work was originally designed for a senior high class but has been studied by many adult Bible classes as well. The material in the book is thorough to. the point that it is difficult to cover each New Testament book in one class period. His analysis of the New Testament books makes this material useful to young and old alike. As more and more brethren use this book, the word will spread that this is a good companion study to The New Testament Church.

Chapters In Books

Brother Cogdill also participated in some other books in which he wrote significant chapters.

1. Preaching In The Twentieth Century. In 1945, the Old Paths Book Club published this work which was written by J. Pilant Sanders, C. Arthur Norred, Fanning Yater Tant, and Roy E. Cogdill. Brother Cogdill wrote a 55-page chapter entitled “The Bible In Preaching.” This chapter certainly reflects the concept which brother Cogdill had of the place of the Bible in the sermon. The final section of the chapter discusses 1 and 2 Timothy as “instructions to a young preacher” and a study of other significant texts on preaching. This book is no longer in print. However, if you see one in a used book store, brother Cogdill’s material will make the book valuable to you.

2. The Arlington Meeting. In January 1968, twenty-six brethren representing both sides of the institutional conflict, met to discuss their differences in Arlington, Texas. One of the participants was brother Cogdill. The discussions were recorded and published by the Cogdill (now Guardian of Truth) Foundation. The book contains an excellent article entitled “How To Establish Bible Authority” by brother Cogdill. J.D. Thomas presented the opposing point of view and both brethren had a fifteen-minute rebuttal speech. This book is still in print and will be one of the important historical documents of the division between brethren related to church support of human institutions.

Tracts And Booklets

There are a number of tracts and booklets written by brother Cogdill which remain in demand and stay in print. Among them are the following:

1. Miraculous Divine Healing. This booklet is a sermon which was preached in Bowling Green, Kentucky on Sunday afternoon, 5 October 1952. A faith-healer named Charles Jessup was in town, challenging preachers to deny what he was teaching. B.G. Hope met with Mr. Jessup and arranged the discussion. Approximately 12,000 attended the exchange. The booklet continues to be a popular tract on this subject.

2. What Constitutes Obedience? This tract emphasizes that obedience is the natural result of faith and that it requires more than just good intentions.

3. Bible Authority, How Established, How Applied. This tract is the first speech delivered by brother Cogdill in the Cogdill-Woods Debate which was conducted in Birmingham, Alabama in 1957.

4. The Bible – A Complete And Perfect Guide. Brother Cogdill discussed this proposition: “Either the Bible is a complete and perfect guide in religion or it is insufficient and incapable of fully directing man in his efforts to please God and reach heaven eventually.”

5. The Origin And Claims Of Roman Catholicism. This tract traces the historical origin of Catholicism and discusses some of its fundamental claims in light of the Scriptures.

6. Why I Am A Member Of The Church Of Christ. This tract details some of the unique characteristics of the New Testament church in contrast to modem denominationalism.

Conclusion

Although one cannot know brother Cogdill in a personal way solely through his writings, he can understand the basic principles of faith by which he lived. He can see his deep commitment to the revealed word of God and his militant stand against error and compromise. Brother Cogdill’s writings have had a deep impact upon me, and many others in other parts of this world. Through the printed page, brother Cogdill has preached in places his body could never have gone. His influence will continue to be felt as long as these writings remain in circulation.

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 14, pp. 435, 439
July 18, 1985

By Steve Wolfgang

The weather on the day of the funeral was miserable. The rainy drizzle and chill wind out of the northern plains starkly underscored the gray mood of those who had come to bury the dead. The widow and children, in the company of friends, watched tearfully as the earthly remains of their beloved were lowered into the earth. Roy Edward Cogdill, just one day past his eighth birthday, stood transfixed. The sight of the casket containing the body of 31-year Frank Louis Cogdill, killed in an industrial accident two days earlier, would forever be etched into the memory of his only son. Though a cavalcade of wagons, horses, buggies, and a few vintage automobiles brought many people to the Hobart cemetery on that April 25, 1915, the date would have as much, perhaps more, significance for young Roy Cogdill as for anyone else present that day.

Seventy years and three weeks later, family and friends lovingly bore the body of Roy Edward Cogdill back to that same cemetery in Hobart. The weather was dramatically different-a cool spring day, green with new life under the blue Oklahoma sky-but the sense of loss was the same.

Among the many ramifications his father’s death would hold for Roy was the deepening and cementing of the bond between himself and this widowed mother. It was through her that he would first learn the truth of the gospel which he obeyed at an early age. It was through her untiring efforts to prepare her family for worship each Sunday, regardless of weather or other circumstances, that he began to learn the meaning of devotion to Christ. Hearing her singing softly the hymn that would become his favorite (“Walk Beside Me, O My Savior”), he could faintly remember what it would be like to suffer the cruelties and tribulations which he would later endure.

It was his mother who shamed him when he “ran away” from home under the influence of a schoolmate who came from an alcoholic family, and who then mortgaged what little she possessed to see that Roy would have a more wholesome environment at Western Oklahoma Christian College, 22 miles away in Cordell. There Roy’s talent as a speaker, which qualified him for both high school and collegiate debate teams, became evident; and from Cordell he began the religious journalism with which he would be involved for much of his life. When Roy returned home during the first school break (at Thanksgiving, 1922), it was not only to be reunited with his mother, but to preach his first sermon.

After graduating from the high school division at Cordell, Roy went to Abilene Christian College as a 16-year-old freshman, quickly becoming class president and a standout debater. It was at Abilene that he met a young Christian from East Tom named Lorraine Burke. Following a summer’s preaching near his home in Oklahoma and a stint selling Bibles in San Antonio during the fall of 1924, Roy accepted the invitation of the church in Frederick, Oklahoma to become the local preacher. He and Lorraine were married on July 21, 1925 — a union which was to last until her untimely death almost 35 years later (June 23, 1960). Heralded by the newspapers of the region as “the Boy Wonder,” his work with the church in Frederick continued until he felt the need to return to school.

He re-enrolled at Cordell and then, planning to attend SMU, moved to Dallas to work with the Sunset church in the fall of 1926. When those plans did not materialize, the Cogdills went to Greenville, Texas in May 1927 to begin work with the church there. As brethren everywhere became more aware of his considerable abilities, brother Cogdill began to do increasingly more meeting work, not only in Texas and Oklahoma, but in western states including California, Idaho, and Montana. Beginning in 1929 he entered full-time meeting work while continuing to live at Greenville. His association with Foy E. Wallace, Jr.– a warm friendship which would endure for a quarter of a century-began during this period.

A continuous schedule of meeting preaching magnified a throat problem which probably had its inception in the open-air meetings of Roy’s first preaching in Oklahoma while still a teenager. So, in October, 1930, brother Cogdill accepted an invitation to become the local preacher for the large church at Cleburne, Texas. The combination of preaching to hundreds of people in a large auditorium and continuing to hold meetings proved too much for his voice. Local doctors sent him to specialists in Dallas, and a growth on his vocal chords was discovered. After beginning to preach the gospel in so auspicious a manner, it seemed as though Roy Cogdill’s preaching days were over before he was 25 year old.

His determination to spread the gospel was not so easily thwarted, however. He continued to write, editing Bible class quarterlies for the Firm Foundation. He became “Texas Department” editor and subscription representative for the Gospel Advocate, moving to Dallas to open an office there for the Nashville paper. Throat surgery in Philadelphia by the world-renowned medical pioneer Dr. Chevalier Jackson (inventor of the bronchoscope) removed any immediate threat to permanent voice loss or other complications, but Roy was warned by physicians that any preaching for the foreseeable future could be done only to the detriment of his health and his voice.

Brother Cogdill enrolled in 1933 at Jefferson Law School in Dallas, where among his professors was Sarah T. Hughes, later a federal judge who would be thrust into the forefront of history by another event in Dallas thirty years later, swearing in a new President. Roy supported his wife and their daughter, Martha, during this period by working as a distributor for the Duncan Coffee Company by day while attending law school at night.

As his throat improved, he began to look for opportunities to preach, first by driving to Terrell, Texas (where he was later followed in that work by another young preacher, James W. Adams). When the brethren at the Sears and Summitt church (which became the Skillman Avenue church) in Dallas invited him to preach regularly beginning in 1934, Roy commenced a profitable work with them which lasted during his law school days and saw the church grow from about 200 members to an attendance regularly of 500-600.

During this period, brother Cogdill alternated preaching each Sunday over KRLD radio in Dallas with W.L. Oliphant of the Oak Cliff church. He conducted his first religious debate, returning to Oklahoma to discuss the instrumental music question at Carnegie. He also made his first preaching trip to Canada, a work which would be dear to his heart for the rest of his life. In 1938, he published his book, The New Testament Church, which, by his life’s end, would be translated into a half-dozen languages as well as Braille, selling hundreds of thousands of copies. And he began a prosperous law practice in the office of Jack Johannes, who would become general counsel for a small potato company which grew to become Frito-Lay before merging with the Pepsi-Cola company. While practicing law, Roy obtained on a client’s behalf what was at that time the largest monetary judgment awarded by a Dallas court.

But lawyers like Jack Johannes knew that Roy Cogdill’s heart was really in his preaching and not in the practice of law. In 1940, Roy helped to locate the property and became first preacher (without charge) for the Preston Road church near the University Park section of Dallas. As the foregoing material suggests, Roy was doing as much work in the kingdom as a “part-time” preacher as some men do “full-time. ” Re-affirming his commitment to the priority of preaching, Roy quit a thriving law practice and moved his family to Springfield, Missouri, to work with the South National church. According to a recent history of that church, Roy’s coming seemed to the brethren there like “a dream come true.” To brother Cogdill, it represented the fulfillment of dreams and plans which had been thwarted more than a decade before.

Following his mother’s death in 1944, Roy succumbed to the insistent urgings of the Norhill church in Houston to move there. He had held numerous meetings for them since 1928, and living in Houston offered occasion to be nearer Lorraine’s parents. As with all of the churches with which Roy Cogdill ever did local work, Norhill experienced tangible growth during his preaching, numerically and spiritually. Norhill engaged the services of a second preacher, Luther Blackmon, who shared the preaching responsibilities locally with Roy, both of them also being involved in considerable meeting work. It was while Roy was there that the Norhill church arranged for Foy E. Wallace, Jr., to speak in the new Houston Music Hall, preaching sermons which Roy later would publish as God’s Prophetic Word (in response to rampant premillennial theories in both the church and various denominations). A subsequent volume, Bulwarks of the Faith (addressing various Catholic and Protestant doctrines), also began as sermons in the Houston Music Hall.

The possibility of beginning a printing/publishing company in Lufkin (near Lorraine’s home) caused Roy to move there in 1946. Foy E. Wallace, Jr., had been able to publish his Bible Banner only sporadically, and Roy and others saw the need for such a voice to continue to oppose the intensive post-war attempts by some to make the church a funding agency for various inter-church projects, colleges, and other human institutions. Brother Cogdill began a commercial printing firm which included a religious publishing division and began to publish Wallace’s Bible Banner, and, shortly thereafter, the Gospel Guardian, with Yater Tant as editor. Luther Blackmon had accompanied Roy to Lufkin in an arrangement similar to that at Norhill, and again the church experienced growth. Roy’s published debate with D.N. Jackson occurred during this period, but he had several other debates as well, including one at Clute, Texas with A.J. Kirkland, a Baptist.

Several factors during this period caused brother Cogdll to re-enter full-time meeting work in the early 1950’s, and in 1952 he went to Jordan, Ontario, to become involved in the efforts of that church to plant new works wherever possible in that province. Roy and his wife lived in Canada while he held numerous meetings in places where there was no church, preaching over radio stations and in public meeting halls and schools until a sufficient number had been converted to start works in various cities. Occasionally brother Cogdill would return to the States for meetings, and it was while returning to Texas following a meeting in Vallejo, California that Roy and Lorraine were seriously injured in an automobile accident on an icy road near Gallup, NM in March, 1954. Brother Cogdill was on crutches for a month and walked with a cane for a year afterward, but within a matter of weeks following the accident was back holding meetings in Alabama and Kentucky before returning to Canada for the summer. Since Lorraine was also seriously injured, it became necessary to slow the pace of their lives.

So it was that brother Cogdill moved to San Antonio in October, 1954 to work for two years with the West Avenue congregation. Though the church there experienced good growth, as the institutional controversy raged across the brotherhood, Roy felt the need to re-enter full-time meeting work, and he and Lorraine moved back to Lufkin. In addition to meetings, working with the Guardian, and conducting the definitive debate on the institutional question (with Guy Woods in Birmingham in November, 1957), Roy also produced his book, Walking By Faith, which dealt specifically with the issues of institutionalism.

Tragic circumstances were to intervene, however. Lorraine had contracted pneumonia (complicated by an ensuing staph infection and resulting mitral valve problem with her heart) while with Roy in a meeting in Canada. Though brother Cogdill began local work in 1958 with the Mound and Starr church in Nacogdoches, sister Cogdill’s health continued to deteriorate, and she died on June 23, 1960, following months of illness.

For the next several years Roy plunged himself into an unbelievably heavy schedule of meetings, including a second debate with Guy Woods at Newbern, Tennessee in 1961. His intense loneliness was relieved when he married Venita Faulkner of Oklahoma City. Nita, a widow who was a member of the Tenth and Francis church, had known and heard Roy preach through the years back to his preaching over KRLD while she was living in Dallas in the 1930’s. Oklahoma City became “home base” from which brother Cogdill engaged in nationwide meeting work until he and Nita moved to the Los Angeles area for a very successful four years (1963-1967) with the Winnetka Avenue church in Canoga Park. Once again a local church thrived and grew dramatically under the preaching of Roy Cogdill. Though approaching age 60, Roy Cogdill was not thinking of retiring.

When the Cogdills moved to work with the Par Avenue church in Orlando, Florida (where they lived from 1967-1971), Roy embarked upon a series of efforts in preaching the gospel through various media. During the time he was with Par Avenue, the church grew sufficiently that James P. Needham moved there in 1969 to accompany some members to a new work in the northern suburbs of Orlando. The old Gospel Guardian Foundation which Roy had begun years before was revived and merged with Truth Magazine (a monthly journal which after the merger became a weekly periodical and which since has become the biweekly Guardian of Truth) to become the Codgill Foundation. Through the newly-merged foundation, a new graded series of Bible class literature was written and published. Brother Cogdill served as editor of this series, and the Truth Magazine Bookstore was moved to Orlando.

As if these activities were not enough to occupy his attention, brother Cogdill became involved both in participation and publication of the 1968 meeting in Arlington, Texas, of estranged brethren on both sides of the institutional controversy. In 1969 he began teaching Bible courses at Florida College in Temple Terrace. Responding to urgent requests, Roy spent the entire month of May, 1970 preaching in the Philippine Islands in company with Cecil Willis,, then editor of Truth Magazine and associate editor in the Bible class literature project. Besides these activities, brother Cogdill somehow found time to lead a tour to the Bible Lands.

Such a schedule of activities would be strenuous even for a young man, and by this time Roy Cogdill had passed what serves for many as “early retirement age.” When long-time friends prevailed upon him to move back to Houston to help build up the Spring Branch church, Roy acceded to their requests. Brother Cogdill had surgery at Mayo Clinic in 1965, and beginning in 1973 suffered a series of health problems which would plague him for the remainder of his days on the earth. Still, his devotion to Christ and His church would not permit inactivity. Local work in Henderson and Conroe, Texas through 1976, gospel meetings, and several preaching trips to Italy occupied his time and energy during this period. When the foundation begun by brother John W. Akin for the support of gospel preachers was threatened with legal entanglements, brother Cogdill, then nearly 70 years old, literally arose from his hospital bed and began intensive efforts to help salvage it. Having moved backto the Houston suburb of Katy, brother Cogdill continued to hold meetings at various places and even worked as late as 1982-83 for a period of several months with the Midfield church in Birmingham during a difficult period of its history.

Roy Cogdill demonstrated devotion to God and the kingdom of His dear Son by teaching and preaching in public and in his home until the last days of his sojourn on the earth. Being human, he had his share of faults-a fact he would be the first to acknowledge. There are aspects of his life and personality which some could (and which many have) criticized. Often his weaknesses were exaggerations of the very tenacity and devotion which were his great strengths. But those who came to know him and love him for this work’s sake and his unquestioned devotion to God loved him in spite of those faults. Those of us who had the good fortune to know him on a more personal basis came to love him for his tender human qualities which were not always evident to those who saw him from afar or whose only exposure to him was in the heat of controversy.

I am disturbed that so many of my own generation of Christians are unfamiliar with the name and the work of Roy E. Cogdill. More than that, I am alarmed at the number of Christians who seem to lack-indeed, are critical of the very characteristics that made him a giant among soldiers of the cross. I am determined that his story shall be told and recorded for future generations — not to worship the man, but to express gratitude for his labor which too many of us have taken for granted-and to help future generations avoid, if possible, the same errors against which men like Roy Cogdill arose to do battle. He represents a cluster of values-conviction, sacrificial devotion, and hatred of “every lofty thing exalted against the knowledge of God” which are all too rare today, and which we would do well to imitate.

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 14, pp. 419-421, 436
July 18, 1985