Vol. 0 - No. 0 

December, 1981

A target date of January, 1982, has been set as the beginning of a new publication which will be called "The Expository Review." I will be the publisher and sole owner and Robert L. McDonald has consented to serve as editor. Brother McDonald and I have been rather closely associated for about 25 years, hence, we know the thinking of one another pretty well. I have the utmost confidence in, and respect for, Robert McDonald. He is a man of courage and ability and has demonstrated his fairness in dealing with people in the church paper he has edited for many years, The Discerner. We will work well together.

As some of you know, I have been in the printing, publishing and editing business longer than most of you can remember, having started with the Gospel Light in Delight, Ark. Then with the original Bible Banner and Foy E. Wallace, the Gospel Guardian with Roy Cogdill and Yater Tant, and a fine association with Stanley Lovett and The Preceptor. After that I put out my Texas Bible Banner, for several years. I spent about four years as editor of The Digest of Truth, then a short stint as coeditor of the ill-fated Bible Standard.

Brother McDonald and I have no delusions of perfection or infallibility. We will make mistakes, so we ask you to bear with us. Any mistake made will not be intentionally. We will willingly rectify any mistake you call to our attention or that we become aware of.

Robert has discussed, at length, the aim of the paper and the basic policy. Read it well. In addition to his statement let me add that we have no personal axe to grind with anyone. We have no specific issue to discuss. We intend to stand forthrightly for what we believe to be truth. If we have specific information concerning a departure, perversion, or modification in regard to truth, it will be dealt with. Should at become necessary to mention names, we will not hesitate to do so, but we will not deal in personalities; we will consider only issues that that person may be involved in. And if anyone feels he has been misrepresented, we want to hear from him immediately. If we have done such, an apology will be forthcoming and space will be provided to rectify that misrepresentation. At the same time we hope that others will extend the same courtesies and considerations to us.

Too, we would like to have your ideas in regard to the type of articles or departments you would be interested in. We want this paper to be used and your ideas will be the ideas of the READERS, not the writers.

We need your help! This publication will not have free distribution. It will be sold on a subscription basis. We intend for it to be beneficial for those who read it we expect you to get value received for money spent. For the greatest benefits we must sell subscriptions. So show this prospectus issue to your friends or subscribe for them. Since this is a commercial enterprise we must, in order to keep ourselves out of the red, charge a certain price. But, I believe that the subscription price will be reasonable especially in view of the material you will be receiving.

Brother McDonald operates a book business and he will be advertising in the paper but his book business is not connected, in any way, with the paper. He will pay for his advertisements. Give him your book, Bible, and church supply business. I will also be advertising my little printing business, Craig's Minit-Print, from time to time and we will sell advertising to others as we have such available. We will at no time, take more than 20% of our space for advertising. We are intending to have a 20-page paper, issued once a month, so even with advertising, you will have at least 16 pages of reading matter.

And, speaking of advertising be sure to take advantage of the "Church Ad Page" which will appear monthly. Inasmuch as many travel from place to place, such a directory becomes an essential. Use it. We will place your ad every month for one year, with 3 months free for beginners, for $50 at one billing. If you had rather pay quarterly, we will bill you for $5 per month or $15 for the quarter. If you are hard pressed for cash, we will bill you monthly, but it will be costly for us so we will have to charge $6 per month that way. Let us hear from you real soon in regard to this valuable space. I believe it will do you by far more good than an ad in a daily newspaper and cost much less. I will also have a classified column or classified fillers. (see sample) For $2.50 you may advertise your surplus books, equipment, services, etc. Try not to run more than five lines.

If you have something beneficial to share with others, put it in manuscript form and submit it to brother McDonald for publication. If' he accepts it, I will pay you a slight stipend that will at least take care of your postage and paper. We welcome mature men who have proved themselves down through the years. Let us share in your years of Bible study. We also welcome our young brethren, but, bear in mind that we will have only so much space available and everything cannot be used and brother McDonald will have the final say so in regard to what runs. If you get a rejection the first time, profit from it and try again.

So, now let's get on with it. Send in your own subscription. In addition to getting a club rate, I still have a limited number (35) of The Gospel Guardian, Bound volume 1. The first 35 people sending in 10 (or more) subscriptions will receive one of these Classics. If you already have one, it will make a fine gift for some young preacher. We'll be looking forward to hearing from you!