Tornado: Regarding Looting, the Los Angeles Times, and Rumors

Photo of Suspected Looter is from MSNBC

I thought some of you would enjoy this quotation. By way of background, Tuscaloosa County is a very large county. The city of Tuscaloosa has a police force and the county has the sheriff and his deputies. The sheriff and deputies must protect a much, much larger area than the city. The tornado did more economic damage in the city, being more densely populated, but damaged far more square miles in the county.

The city had serious problems with looting. They called in the National Guard to help the police out. The Guard arrived very quickly, putting a quick end to most of the looting. As the Tuscaloosa News reports, the county is a very different story —

However, there have not been any reports of looting from areas in the county, where many residents have been guarding their homes, Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ted Sexton said.

“Individuals in the county are very independent,” Sexton said. “If I was considering looting, I don’t think I’d want to go to the county. I’ve seen a number of persons armed out there.”

Not only do the county residents have guns, they can bury you where you’ll never, ever be found.

On College Hills Baptist Church

My church has been glad to host College Hills Baptist Church, which lost their building and will be meeting in our chapel (called Campus View Auditorium) for a while. It turns out that the media was there. The Los Angeles Times ran a story. I’m told CNN was there as well, but the story didn’t make it to their web site.

On the name of the church and other rumors

There’s a rumor circulating that the University Church of Christ has dropped “Church of Christ” or “of Christ” from its name. The rumor even says the name has been changed on our sign. It is not true. The name remains the same on both exterior signs and the web site (it’s on the home page at least twice).

Now, the astonishing thing is this rumor was passed along as actual fact by someone who had not checked out the facts, either by visiting our church or our website or calling us. You know, nowadays, long-distance calls are nearly free. But we’ll pay the charges if you want to call collect to check your facts the next time you hear a scurrilous rumor about us.

My daddy was an elder for many years, and I learned from him never to pass along a rumor, even one found in the church bulletin, without checking it out first. I’ve learned that some of the worst gossips are preachers — when it comes to other preachers and Churches of Christ. I can’t count the number of untruths printed in a church bulletin that could have been easily resolved for the price of a phone call.

Some years ago, a campus minister of ours — a minister who is a little grammatically challenged — sent out a recruiting letter, mentioning our “pool and ping pong table.” He was referring to a pool table and a ping pong table. It was reported in a church newsletter than the University Church of Christ has a swimming pool. The poor campus minister was devastated, called the preacher who sent out the newsletter, and explained the truth of the matter. The preacher refused to believe him. Our campus minister offered to pay for the man’s gas if he’d drive to Tuscaloosa to see for himself. The preacher of the gospel responded, “I don’t need to drive to Tuscaloosa. I know you have a swimming pool”!

Some people love to believe the worst in their neighbors, especially if it’s another Church of Christ.

(1Co 13:4-6 ESV) Love  … does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

Now, I say all that to point out the College Hills Baptist Church is not a Church of Christ and they use instruments of music in their assembly. And so, if someone notices a drum kit or maybe even a melodeon in our building, they belong to the Baptists. Please don’t take an ax to them. And please don’t start any rumors.