![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/Shush.jpg\")
A “Country Meeting” had gone exceedingly well, and elders from another community asked the preacher to work with them in a meeting the following year. He came at the appointed time and found his reputation had spread, and the building was packed. The elders met him at the car, told him they had never had such a gathering of Methodists, Baptists, and no-church folk, so he must be very careful lest he offends someone with his forthright teaching.<\/p>\n
Being young and brash, and having no more tact than to tell the truth, he reminded them of the undiluted lessons that had been given at the neighboring church the previous year. He said that since he had not been in that section of the state before, the previous year’s work must have drawn this year’s crowd; and certainly was the reason he had been asked to come. He concluded, “if you expect to hold and convert these people with something other than the kind of preaching that brought them together, in the first place, I’m afraid you have the wrong man. I’ll get back into my car and go home.”<\/p>\n
With much confusion — “Oh no, you must have misunderstood us” etc., the preacher was persuaded to stay, and the meeting began. The preaching was strong and seemed to get a little stronger, but the people continued to come, and several were converted.<\/p>\n
I do not now believe, nor did I then, that “skinning the sects” is good preaching. Some folk will turn away from straight, plain truth, no matter how fairly we seek to present it. But we are dead wrong in thinking we can convert people to Christ with anything other than the Bible message. It will convict the world respecting sin, righteousness, and judgment; and many won’t like that. But we are looking for the “few” who will like it, and will genuinely turn to God.<\/p>\n
“Toning it down” will produce only “toned down” members of a “toned down” church. You may keep the money, the politicians, and silk-stocking crowd; but you will lose the backbone and fiber that is necessary for a church to prevail and please the Lord. And if “members” are not interested in pleasing the Lord and saving souls, why bother with any preaching at all?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Robert Turner A “Country Meeting” had gone exceedingly well, and elders from another community asked the preacher to work with them in a meeting the following year. He came at the appointed time and found his reputation had spread, and the building was packed. The elders met him at the car, told him they…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1101,536],"class_list":["post-20242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-compromise","tag-preaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":89345,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/protectors-of-the-flock\/","url_meta":{"origin":20242,"position":0},"title":"Protectors of the Flock","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jerry C. Brewer When Luke penned Paul's last words to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, the Holy Spirit guided his hand in selecting a single word that graphically sums up and illustrates the work of elders. That word is, poimaino. According to McClintock and Strong, this word means,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19331,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-congregations-dwindle\/","url_meta":{"origin":20242,"position":1},"title":"Why Congregations Dwindle","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Connie W. Adams It is not uncommon to see congregations that once were large and active in the Lord's work gradually dwindling. The natural question is, \"Why?\" I believe the following reasons must be considered. People moving away Sometimes workers are transferred, or lose jobs and must move elsewhere.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Old-Pews-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14974,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-husband-was-previously-involved-in-a-marriage-scam-is-my-marriage-legitimate\/","url_meta":{"origin":20242,"position":2},"title":"My husband was previously involved in a marriage scam. Is my marriage legitimate?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you for reading and responding. I have found your articles and answers to be very helpful and I\u2019m happy a platform as such exists.\u00a0 I met my husband the same day he filed for divorce and things between us moved fast. We were married in less than a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16636,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/elders-who-rule-well\/","url_meta":{"origin":20242,"position":3},"title":"Elders Who Rule Well","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: I Timothy 5:17-21 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Consider an imaginary congregation \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At the beginning, there was much work to be done. The challenges of the demands required many sacrifices. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The members joined in planning and the work. As each was aware of what went on and what was required to do the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1486,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-appoints-elders\/","url_meta":{"origin":20242,"position":4},"title":"Who appoints elders?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 18, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Who appoint elders? Answer: The qualifications for the position of elder are found in lists recorded in\u00a0I Timothy 3:1-7\u00a0and\u00a0Titus 1:5-9. 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