White’s Ferry Rd. Church of Christ
3201 N. 7th St., West Monroe, LA 71291
Website: www.wfrchurch.org
(318) 396-6000

Don Yelton, Director
Email: donyelton@wfrchurch.org
(828) 891-5562

“If you spend yourself on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
 then your light rises in the darkness and your night shines like the noonday.” Isaiah 58:10

Carol Ogle, Ministry Coordinator
Email: cogle@wfrchurch.org
(318) 665-0569

May 9, 2007

Dear Friends:

 By midnight last Friday eleven Greensburg families, members of the church of Christ, were
homeless. Ninety-five percent of their town was destroyed. They attended Wednesday evening services
at the nearby Mullinsville church of Christ and left that night having no idea that within just 48 hours their
lives would be changed forever.

The small town of Greensburg, Kansas, located about 100 miles west of Wichita, was ripped to
shreds by the violent tornado which hit the town in a 1.7 mile wide path of terror on Friday night, May 6.
At the request of the church in Mullinsville and on behalf of WFR Relief I will go to the stricken area to-
morrow to pray with people, offer our hand of friendship, answer the phone and just help out for a few
days. We will deliver funds for immediate needs to relieve some of the suffering in central Kansas even
as we continue providing Katrina relief along the Gulf Coast. We will also install a computer for internet
service to help the church there with their communications.

The first and foremost goal of our ministry is to offer hope to those who are hurting. By assuring
people affected by disasters that their immediate needs will be taken care of, they can look to the future
with confidence and be assured that Christian brothers and sisters around the world care and are praying
for them.

Almost two years ago you helped WFR Relief deliver supplies of food, water, building materials
and volunteers to Churches of Christ all along the gulf coast who were striving to help their members and
their communities recover from the hurricane damage. After Katrina came Rita and several other hurri-
canes, floods and storms in the Caribbean. There is still much work to be done all along the gulf coast
and those funds are almost gone.

We must have your partnership and financial support to be able to continue to be ready to bring
hope and help to people whose lives have been devastated by disasters. Please pray for us as we reach out
to them.

WFR Relief is using our emergency start-up fund for the Kansas disaster. We need to replenish
that fund to provide more help to the churches in Mullinsville, Pratt, Saint John and other Kansas commu-
nities. We must also be ready to help others in this storm season. Even as this letter is being written,
floods threaten many areas. Please be generous.

Checks may be made to “WFR Relief” and notated for the “Kansas tornadoes and U.S. Storms”
account. You may also use Pay Pal or a credit card at our website: www.wfrchurch.org/relief 

 God bless you for caring,

 Don Yelton

Exactly one year ago today I ended an exchange of emails with a fellow who believed those who do not adhere to the tradition of a cappella singing are lost. He asked me this question. “Could Noah have built the Ark out of Mesquite wood and been pleasing to God?  We follow God instructions and are accepted or we no not follow His instructions and are condemned.  Real simple.”

My reply, and my last communication with him follows. It is still almost unbelievable to me that so many people, many of whom are elders and preachers, have such ignorance. I continue to see blogs, letters to the editor, etc. where people continue to make themselves look no more mature than grammer school children.

Am I nuts too? Or does this letter get to the heart of the matter? Your comments are welcomed.

“My dear brother XXXX, 

May I appeal to your common sense? Taking your line of reasoning to its logical end, one could invent all sorts of sins, and thus reasons to not to “fellowship” lots of folks. The bible says nothing about making the human voice louder by using electronic equipment, but every acapella congregation I have ever visited had a public address system. The bible says nothing about a church building, water coolers, air conditioners, heaters, telephones, church buses, and the list is endless. None of them is sinful just because the bible never mentioned them and musical instruments are not either.  

The bible says “I am the Lord, I change not” (Mal 6:3) and, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 8:13) The Psalms encourages God’s people again and again to praise God using musical instruments. When did that change? How much more of the Psalms should we disregard today?  

Should I fellowship you? Just because you worship in a church that adheres to the church of Christ tradition of acapella singing, is that enough of a reason? Should I also require that you are a “one cupper”? Should I add that you have no Sunday school? They are not mentioned in the bible! Should I check to see if you comply with every other rule that suits my taste?  

Or should I fellowship someone who speaks against brothers who love Jesus as much as you do? Should I fellowship a man who is critical of everyone who is not like him? The first fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 is “love”. Paul talked at great length about the importance of love and the futility of serving God without it. He said even if he became a martyr for the faith without love, he would have failed. I think it is striking that immediately after the famous verses on the supremacy of love Paul said these words.  “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1 Cor 13:11)  

If I am required by my Lord to love my enemies I believe I can manage to love and have fellowship with those who have surrendered their lives to Him, even if they are not like me in some ways.  

I like Paul’s way better than your way brother. In his letter to the Philippians he said this, ” Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: 16 The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; 17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”  But Paul, do you know they have a piano? Do you know they pool money together with other churches to preach the gospel on foreign soil? Are you aware they have some folks singing while others only listen? But what about the TBN TV network?  

Paul would say again, if Christ is preached I will rejoice, and will rejoice. I believe I will too.  

Royce Ogle