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Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are!

By Louis Rushmore

    When I was a youngster, a popular game before the advent of computers, video games and more than two or three stations on a black and white television was the game, hide-and-seek. If you remember those days, you know the drill. One person, cautioned not to peek, would shut his eyes and cover his head and begin to count. Everyone else would scatter to various hiding places. When the one about to seek finished counting, giving everyone some opportunity to secret himself, he or she would yell, “Ready or not, here I come!” Usually, it wasn’t too difficult to 

Table of Contents Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are! By Louis Rushmore 1 Seventy Times Seven By Louis Rushmore 2 Lessons Learned from Adam and Eve By Rodney Nulph 3 Historicity Proves the Bible to Be God-Revealed By D. Gene West 4 Sleeping Sickness By Raymond Elliott 5 A Defense Upon All the Glory By Mark McWhorter 6 A Lamb in a Large Place By  Mark McWhorter 6 Murderers in the Bible Crossword Puzzle By Bonnie Rushmore 7 The Promise of God By Marilyn LaStrape 8 Ordinary People/Extraordinary Faith By Adam Blaney 9 Educated Love By Mike Benson 10 Clouds By Dean Kelly 11 Truth and Error By T. Pierce Brown 12 Miriam--A Faltering, Faithful Servant By Bonnie Rushmore 13 How Do We Deal with Our Enemies? By J.C. Choate 14 Are We Merciful Peacemakers? By Tim Childs 15 Perseverance By Tim Childs 15 Do the Loving Thing By Andy Robison 16 A Lack of Knowledge By Robert Johnson 17 The House of the Lord By Ernest S. Underwood 18 What Do You Think of "Them"? By Ernest S. Underwood 18 News & Advertisements 19 Fellowship Halls By Louis Rushmore 20 Is Jesus Really the Messiah? By Louis Rushmore 20 Louis Rushmore, Editor Rodney Nulph, Associate Editor Paul Mobley, proofreader A Moment of Reflection By Ernest S. Underwood A Word Between Friends (MP3) By Tim Childs Crossword Puzzle By Bonnie Rushmore Priscilla's Page By Marilyn LaStrape Since You Asked By Louis Rushmore Wisdom's Corner (Youth Page) By Mark McWhorter Free Subscription & Monthly Notification enter my subscription & notify me (type "subscribe" in subject box)

find each boy or girl who had attempted to conceal himself or herself somewhere in or around the house. Occasionally, though, someone had hidden himself so well that his hiding place simply could not be discovered. It was then that the seeker would holler, “Come out, come out wherever you are!

    One time when I was a teenager, my cousin and I were playing hide-and-seek in the barn loft. Those doing the counting and about to do the seeking often counted quickly to the designated number, so that those hiding had to hide quickly, often choosing poor places to hide as little opportunity afforded much decision or even distancing oneself very far from the seeker. That day, I climbed into the loft and promptly lifted a bale of hay, crammed myself into a cavity between other bales and replaced the bale above me. My cousin searched everywhere and could not find me. He walked all around me and almost walked on top of me; finally, he called for me to come out, but I neither came out nor announced my whereabouts. In exasperation, he decided to just go ahead and throw down bales of hay to feed the cows. I was under the very first bale Ricky picked up to throw down from the loft. Oh, how much fun I thought that was, and how ironic was it that the first bale of hay he picked up after he gave up looking for me revealed that I was right at his side.

    Kid games by kids have their place, and are harmless. However, children’s games have no place in the church of our Lord. That sentiment might well apply to many circumstances in congregational settings (e.g., pouting or whining Christians and other childish behavior among the saints). Yet, the part of hide-and-seek at the end of a fruitless search for someone who has hidden himself well resonates with me respecting another situation applicable to the Lord’s church: “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

    The last of June this year, Bonnie and I, after much reflection and prayer, accepted the invitation of J.C. and Betty Choate to work with them in their 45-year-old evangelistic efforts. The hardest part of evangelism today must be persuading congregations and Christians to part with some of the money in their possession of which they are stewards for God. Equally difficult is convincing congregations to sponsor a missionary, by receiving and dispersing funds relative to evangelism. Sometimes, it is difficult to convince congregations to permit a missionary the opportunity of apprising them about good mission works.

    I know that some congregations are already heavily involved in and are zealous of good works (Titus 2:14). I know that some congregations lack either the financial resources or the able-bodied persons to participate with a missionary family by sending them abroad or perhaps sponsoring them. Yet, I am convinced that there are still congregations of the Lord’s church and individual Christians who are able and willing to help missionaries fulfill the foremost mission of the churches of Christ (Mark 16:15-16). “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

    At this writing, Bonnie and I still need a sponsoring congregation; nominal responsibilities of a sponsoring congregation involve opening or allowing to be opened a checking account in the name of the church with a designation for evangelism. In addition, Bonnie and I find ourselves woefully short of acquiring our living and work expenses. We have moved to the facilities in Winona, MS and we are engaged in helping to perpetuate this good work that the Choates have planted over more than four decades, but we need your help. Please publish to as many congregations and Christians as you can, dear Reader, our determination to glorify God in his service by evangelizing the world to what extent we can, as long as we live. Further, encourage them to “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Louis Rushmore, 705 Devine St., Winona, MS 38967; (662) 283-9946; rushmore@worldevangelism.org.

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Copyright 2007