Quips & Quotes

Church Pews Needed

The church at Midland, Texas would like to purchase four used pews. These need to be approximately 12 feet long. Wade Gamblin, 4731 W. Cuthbert St., Midland, Texas 79703.

Free Tract, “Why I Left The Denominational Church of Christ,” Available

Last year, the article “Why I Left The Denominational Church of Christ” appeared in print. The request for it to be put into tract form has been outstanding. To allow full and free distribution, I have added it to my website. It is laid out in a three-fold tract form, to be printed on legal sized paper, available in Works, Word, txt and MS Publisher formats. Publisher gives the best results. They are “zipped.”  You are welcome to download and copy for distribution as you wish. It is available at: http://users.chipshot.net/~wgoforth/ liberals.zip (Wayne Goforth, wgoforth@chipshot.net, P.O. Box 366, Vernon, TX 76385, 940 553-4920).

Hispanics Have Highest Teen Birthrate “Washington  — The percentage of Hispanic teen-agers who gave birth has surpassed that of black teen-agers for the first time, with both groups more than twice as likely as whites to become mothers before they turn 20, the federal government reported Thursday.

“In 1995, nearly 11 percent of Hispanic teen-agers gave birth, compared with about 10 percent of black teen-agers and 4 percent of non-Hispanic white teen-agers. While the rates for black and white teen-agers have declined in recent years, the figures for Hispanics have continued to rise, driver by a 32 percent increase among Mexican Americans since 1989.

“The figures represent an important benchmark in teen-age birthrates and provide more evidence that Hispanics, the nation’s fastest-growing minority group, increasingly are suffering from the problems that historically have plagued African Americans. In 1995, for example, the poverty rate among Hispanics was greater than the figure for blacks for the first time. Hispanics also have higher out-of-wedlock birthrates than African Americans and have the lowest rates of high school and college graduation” (Barbara Vobejda and Pamela Constable, The Indianapolis Star [February

13, 1998], A9).

A Biblical Impasse

“Can public school students study the New Testament without learning about the Resurrection?

“No, says the National Council for Bible curriculum in Public Schools. Yes, says U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich, who has ordered the Fort Myers, Fla., school board to scuttle the council’s curriculum and find another.

“The judge said it was difficult to see how an account of the Resurrection could be presented as history without indoctrinating students in the Christian religion.

“Elizabeth Ridenour, president of the council, views the judge’s order as blatantly hostile because it would allow schools to teach the Bible only if they ‘censor out the main issue.’

“The council’s instructional materials reportedly have been adopted by public school districts in 22 states. Its curriculum is a bare chronology of biblical events that implies historical accuracy or at least offers no viewpoints that question it.

“The Resurrection, of course, is the main issue of the New Testament, the core of Christian belief in the divinity of Jesus. There is no Christianity without the Resurrection”