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Dr. Robert Sumner passed away in December 2016. The Biblical Evangelist newspaper is no longer being published and the ministry of Biblical Evangelism has ceased operation. The remaining inventory of his books and gospel tracts was transferred to The Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles and may be ordered here. Off the Cuff - Part 1 Appreciate and enjoy the messages and articles we have prepared for you in this issue. It seems that almost all the college students I meet these days, when I ask their major, smile and reply, “Psychology,” with an emphasis on counseling. I immediately ask what text is being used in their class, hoping it would not be one by Jay Adams. Here is why: our former associate, Doug Kutilek, deals with the radical hyper-Calvinism of author Adams, who is considered an expert on counseling. It was published first 10 or 12 years ago on the author’s blog, As I See It (3:2). And we have made reference to the same matter several times over the years. It needs to be said again. A consistent Calvinist cannot tell a lost sinner God loves him. Then there is a needed message on the oft-ignored theme of trying to remain neutral in a time calling for war from the pen of Franklin L. Kirksey, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort (AL). Shame on Meroz and all his spiritual ancestors alive today! Too many preachers and other church leaders are laying down their sword and shield long before reaching the river. Robert Dick Wilson (1856-1930) was a key fundamentalist in the early days of the movement, even though in many areas he did not fit the mold. He disagreed with most of his fundamentalist peers on church government and some of the doctrinal positions of Baptists, Methodists and other fundamentalists of the day. But he had a brilliant mind – he could read and speak some twenty-six languages, including all related to the Old Testament – loved the Lord sincerely, and was willing to suffer loss in taking a stand for the truth of the Word. Even his religious enemies and the secular press acknowledged his scholarship. The article we are printing appeared originally in the old Sunday School Times, a blessed and useful periodical of a bygone era. There is also a helpful article about Bible study classes from the pen of Bruce Oyen. He is a careful scholar and his writings have proven very helpful to our readers. Pastors and Sunday school teachers should be especially helped by this one. The editor has more than one offering in this issue, but he thinks they are very timely. The evangelical world was shocked recently with one of the alleged evangelical superchurch pastors writing a book some were calling heretical universalism. Your editor carefully read the book and he has a major review of it, not in the book review section but on page one. Also in this issue is a strong biblical study from his pen relating to the theme of Also there is an important notice on page 3 about the future of this magazine. Read it carefully. Editorial Note: Before we go on to other matters, the editor would like to offer a word of thanks. We doff our editorial hat to our friend and subscriber, Floyd Vincent. Some time ago we lamented that our unabridged dictionary was at least 60 years old (probably 70 or more; purchased ‘used’ in the 1940s) and assured everyone that “if someone would like to donate a 2010 or 2011 edition, we will be happy to accept it.” Our brother Vincent – without even telling us in advance – came through with a 2011 edition of Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (unabridged; it included a complimentary one-year subscription to Merriam-WebsterUnabridged.com). We are too old to do somersaults in the office, but it made us very happy. Now I guess I ought to say, “If someone would like to donate a 2010 or 2011 edition of the BMW we’d be happy to accept it.” (Just joking!) MEMORIALS The founder and first president of Starting in the secular world after graduating with a degree in chemical engineering from Carnegie Tech (now While he was faithfully serving the Lord in the business world he began, in 1956, studies at Faith Theological Seminary, the institution headed by the late Dr. Carl McIntire, where he earned his M.Div. and was granted a D.D. In 1959 he was appointed vice president and treasurer of Faith. Later, in 1962, he became president of another McIntire institution, In what was then considered a sensational move (as we recall it), Steele and several members of Shelton’s faculty determined to launch a new college “founded upon Biblical principles” and settled on Clearwater (FL), naming the institution the Clearwater Christian College. It began on He then joined the faculty of the Far Eastern Bible College in Dr. Steele’s wife, Dolores, preceded him in death. He leaves behind five children, fifteen grandchildren, twelve great grandchildren, and limitless friends and supporters. In a statement released by CCC it stated, “Dr. Steele was a man of faith, integrity, and character. The board, faculty, and staff of We concur with that evaluation. We visited CCC on one occasion when in meetings in the area and Dr. Steele greeted us very cordially, graciously and kindly. He was a good man who practiced what he preached. Sometimes at a price. * * * * * One of the early faculty members at the The handout at his “Thanksgiving” service described him as a faithful student of God’s word, a servant of many, an apologist for the Truth, disciplined and dependable, dedicated pastor and teacher, musician for the glory of God and a loving husband, father and grandfather. One former student said of him: "I have two distinct images of Dr. Congdon. The first was the feeling that if I dropped my pencil I would miss a full page of note taking, and being afraid to ask a question ..." Another couple of former students testified, “He walked and talked the Christian Life so we could learn and understand it.” You can’t beat that! Lionel Woodworth, a friend of this paper who has researched and sent us many articles, forwarded the report of his memorial service, which had a personal note to him by Mrs. Congdon, “Roger enjoyed answering your questions until cancer struck him – we’ve enjoyed knowing you, Lionel.” Dr. Congdon was obviously a kind, gracious and considerate gentleman. * * * * * One of our heroes was Dr. Dale Crowley Sr., pioneer Like his father, he was a strong inerrantist and was a key figure in the SBC turnaround in the late 20th century. He was a part of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary’s board of trustees for a decade (chairman 1987-90) and instrumental in bringing Dr. Paige Patterson to that institution as president in 1992. He was a key voice in turning SEBTS around from its liberal leadership to “a conservative one that proclaimed the authority of the Bible,” according to the senior vice president of academic administration and dean of the faculty, Kenneth Keathley. Dr. Daniel Akin, Southeastern’s current president, said he and Dr. Patterson commented "on many occasions that neither one of us would have served at Southeastern were it not for Bob Crowley. He is as responsible as any person for the miraculous theological turnaround of Southeastern Seminary. I am grateful to God for all He did through this wonderful pastor, husband and father." He also served for a time as a trustee of what is now GuideStone Financial Resources. Crowley was one of the early pastors seeing the importance of Christian education in the lower levels and in the mid-1970s led his church to establish “a fully accredited K-12 school, Montrose Christian School, and a daycare, Montrose Christian Child Development Center.” He also established Summit Lake Camp (1969) and Middle Creek Bible Conference (1983). The former was “an innovative camp in its founding … among the first integrated camps where children of all races came to play games and hear the good news of Jesus Christ." The news report of his death stated, "In a time when Washington, D.C., and the nation were struggling through racial issues and riots in the streets, Pastor Crowley had the vision and the wisdom to bring the gospel of God’s peace to children and families of many different races." His wife of more than six decades, Elizabeth "Libby" Crowley, survives him as do two daughters, plus several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. MILESTONES The Southern Baptist Convention foreign mission group, the International Mission Board (IMB) has selected Tom Elliff as its new president, succeeding Dr. Jerry Rankin. An Oklahoma pastor of long standing – Dr. Elliff served First Southern Baptist Church of Del City following Dr. Bailey Smith – and was a two-time president of the Southern Baptist Convention, just as Smith before him. The choice was unanimous on the part of the 15-member search committee. The full board followed with a call in March. Executive Vice President Clyde Meador had been serving during the interim. Unlike the late Jack Hyles, who was born in Italy, Elliff was born in Paris (both are Texas towns). DAD’S DAY! The first Father's Day observance was held on the third Sunday of June 101 years ago. It was in honor of Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, who raised his six children (5 boys, 1 girl) following his wife's death while giving birth to the sixth one. Daughter Sonora Smart Dodd, seeking to honor her father for his devotion, started the special day for dads. He deserved the tribute even if some of today’s fathers do not. So many of the latter sire children and then leave town. My heart – as I’m confident yours does – goes out to the fatherless children of America. Thank God for churches that have programs seeking to get fatherless boys hooked up with good Christian men in the church to nurture, help and befriend them. (And the same for motherless girls!) THE WIDOW’S MITE What a beautiful story is this! Our Lord and His disciples were at the Temple observing the people casting money into the treasury, something done openly for all to see. But let’s read the story as given in Mark 12:41-44: “And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.” Notice from this: 1. God is interested in what His children give to His causes. Is it because He is hard up and needs the money? Hardly, as the psalmist observed, “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof” (Psalm 50:10-12). He is interested in what we give, not for His sake, but for ours. He knows divine blessing is connected to right giving and divine curses relate to failure in this area (see Malachi 3:8-10). 2. The amount given is the least of His concern. The fact that the “rich cast in much” failed to impress Him. On the other hand, when a widow put an insignificant amount into the treasury box He suddenly became alert and impressed. No, His concern in our giving does not relate to the amount. Quite the contrary. 3. “Little is much, when God is in it!” That little chorus was very popular a third of a century back, although I haven’t heard it much lately. What the widow put into the Temple treasury was not much. It was the “lepton,” which the KJV translates “mite.” In the NIV version of the incident it reads: “But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny” (Vs. 42). Two of them increased in value to a farthing, which The New International Dictionary of the Bible tells us “was like a two-cent piece.” Whatever it is called, it had the least value of any coin of the day. Of these two tiny copper (or brass) coins, she put in two. I was sitting at my desk the other day trying to contemplate what this insignificant gift has meant to the cause of Christ over the last 2,000 years. It staggered my imagination, partly because I have no way of actually knowing its immenseness. I do know this: any time (make that every time) a preacher needs to raise funds, especially in an emergency, he preaches on the widow and her two mites. Is a church about to launch a new building project? The pastor preaches on this widow and her offering. Is there a mission project that needs money and needs it in a hurry? The widow is brought forth and expounded. Did a member’s house burn to the ground? It is the same. Is there a drive at Christmas for the underprivileged? Here comes the widow with her meager offering again. And on it goes. How much, I repeat, has been raised for the cause of Christ in the last 2,000 years telling about this widow and her faithfulness in giving? I am not the least embarrassed to say it must be more than millions, more than billions, more than trillions. Yes, little is much when God is in it! ABORTION FOR KIDDIES “No Easy Decision” was a follow-up for MTV’s “16 And Pregnant” which featured little kids that age trying to care for their babies they were stuck with and their “temporary” nonresident fathers. It was a stupid program, not even interesting. The follow-up was worse. It started with a girl, Markai, who had been featured on “16” and discovered she was pregnant again. Naturally, this time she had to have an abortion. Lori Ziganto watched and wrote about the latter, saying, “… it turns out, the show was even worse than I suspected it would be. It was infuriating and horrifying, almost beyond words. It was also heartbreaking beyond belief. My heart aches for Markai, and for the other girls (Natalia and Katie) who appeared in the discussion portion of the show.” She said the program was commercial free thanks to “Exhale, a group who says that they wish to raise awareness that abortion ‘is normal in the reproductive lives of women and girls’” (her emphasis). She went on, “The show was entirely agenda-driven and these young girls were sickly used and exploited for that purpose only.” We cannot understand parents who allow their children to watch MTV. Forbidding it seems like such an “easy decision” to me! SENIOR CITIZENS Now that I have the attention of our mature readers I want to pass on a warning about these “reverse mortgages,” that have become all the rage, at least to hear the TV pitchmen describe it. Consumer Reports, in its March 2011 issue, featured in its Money section an item, “Reverse mortgages: Know the traps.” It warned of diverse types of such mortgages and the various dangers involved. It concluded that most seniors would be better off selling their current residence and downsizing, if pressed for cash or wanting money to spend. We are not going to repeat the article here, but if you have been thinking of throwing your home into reverse, you might want to read the article. I assume your local library would have a copy you could read for free. It would definitely be worth your time. HONOR TO WHOM HONOR In his instructions to believers in Romans 13 Paul ordered, “Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.” We often forget the honor part, don’t we? In this issue I want to give a tip of my editorial hat to some folks who have kept the machinery of The Biblical Evangelist running for some time and without whom, humanly speaking, we would have folded long ago. One of the foremost is our pager, Ray Toomey. He lives in Massachusetts and helps us via the miracle of the internet. [We owe a lot to Al Gore’s invention (sic) of the internet. Not only is our pager there, but our printer is in Alabama, our mailer is also in Alabama – and our writers range from the Southeast, to the Pacific Northwest, to the Southwest, to Minnesota in the north and Florida in the south, to the Midwest and right here in Lynchburg who also, believe it or not, send their columns via the internet. Even my wife, who lives in the same house, does!] But Ray is a special man. Legally blind with Retinitis pigmentosa, he able to see only about three inches of the computer screen at a time, but I’m confident that many with a full field of vision in both eyes and the most expensive software couldn’t do as good a job. He started working for us with the November-December 1998 issue and has been going strong all this time, well over a decade. Ray humbly said in a note to me (not intending it for publication), “Okay – but God has ‘let’ me serve. If I did not want to do it, He would have sent you someone else! It is like Mordecai said to Esther. She could step up to save Israel, but if she did not, God would have sent help another way … I like Ephesians 2:10 – we are saved to serve!” While that is true, it is still Ray who stepped up to serve us. (And his wife Diane has pitched in to help more than a time or two as well.) When not doing our work, Ray teaches at the Fellowship Christian Academy and serves the Grace Dental and Medical Missions as he does us, even handling its web (http://www.gdmmissions.org). He serves on the board of GDMMissions and is very active, even going on mission trips. What a man! Our huge Hebrews commentary (552 pages total) he paged completely, a tremendous task with footnotes on the same page where they belong (involving the kind of work most publishers skip and toss in at the end of the book). Oh, did I mention, Ray totally donates his time! Then there is our office manager, Kathy Sherrer. Like the editor, she does The Biblical Evangelist work out of an office in her home. In fact, she and her noble husband Randy used the third floor of their home to store our book inventory – until it got so big it could no longer be done that way and we had to use a storage rental. She has refused salary increase on occasion and even cut her own salary when times got hard. Kathy has been with us about the same length of time as Ray. She was recommended to us originally by Ellie Smith, daughter of our dear friend Bob Smith for decades until his death. The Sherrers have two fine grown sons; Eric, is now in graduate school and holding down a job, and Mark is a university senior. Then there is Ellie Smith herself. She has long supported our work as did her folks, Missionaries Bob and Mary Smith, before her (Bob was on our staff for years). Not only has she helped every way she could (see item about Mrs. Sherrer), but for the past couple of years she has been serving as our proofreader – absolutely without pay – and doing a terrific job. Others have helped by typing sermons without charge and doing various helpful things. The list is too long to print here and (at our age) we would probably forget some of the most helpful. Noteworthy also: all our columnists serve without remuneration. As do the preachers whose sermons and articles we print. So, a doff of ye old editorial hat to all these wonderful people! YOU GOTTA WATCH ’EM! The November-December 2010 issue of Modern Reformation contained an article by John R. Muether, “The ‘Magna Carta’ of Christian Liberty.” Muether, a professor of church history at the Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando (FL), rightly identified the Bible as that instrument. The article didn’t get off to a very good start for me, however, since the very first sentence was, “The Christian … finds in the Bible the very Word of God.” That statement today would be considered neo-orthodox, a theology that teaches the Bible ‘contains’ the Word of God. Biblicism says it is the Word of God. Then I noted Muether was quoting J. Gresham Machen, one of my early heroes and I knew he didn’t mean what Karl Barth, the alleged ‘founder’ of neo-orthodoxy, meant by it. Further reflection caused me to realize Machen wrote his statement in 1923 (in his famous Christianity and Liberalism) and Barth didn’t really hit the scene until his Christian Dogmatics was published in 1932, nearly a decade after Machen’s comment. You see Barth, who rightly rejected the liberalism of his day, used evangelical, orthodox terminology in his writings, but like Alice in Wonderland, he made the words mean whatever he wanted them to mean making his writings more dangerous than a liberal’s. In other words, Barth could sound like Charles Spurgeon or W. A. Criswell and mean what the 20th century’s Harry Emerson Fosdick or the 21st century’s Robert Schuller means by them. Barth would understand the Modern Reformation’s opening statement that God’s Word is contained in the Bible and it is up to us to dig it out. On the other hand, Machen would mean by it that the Bible is the Word of God and it is up to us to simply believe whatever it says. That is why it is so important that today’s child of God find out what his or her favorite writer/speaker is really saying. Micah spoke of those whose “tongue is deceitful in their mouth” (6:12). Paul enlarged on the matter, warning the Corinthians about “false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (II Corinthians 11:13-15). Paul said he didn’t use “enticing words of man's wisdom” (I Corinthians 2:4) “lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect” (I Corinthians 1:17). Every ‘type’ of false prophet that ever came down the pike can be found in modern Christendom. When they are exposed in one way, they simply change their name but keep promoting their false doctrines. They use beautiful words and phrases to cloak the deadly teaching they espouse. Since we’ve mentioned him several times of late, Joel Hemphill is a good example. He uses fancy words in both song and prose to speak highly of Jesus Christ, referencing Him his ‘Savior’ and calling himself a Christian, a follower of Christ. But Hemphill tramples underfoot the deity of our Lord Jesus, saying He was only a man, a created being, and not the God and Creator of the Universe as He Himself claimed. And he denies that the Holy Spirit is even a person, calling Him merely an influence, a power – and nothing more. As the Word of God says, “from such turn away” (II Timothy 3:5; see the entire context). Oh, yes, back to the Muether article. His point was that if the Bible doesn’t explicitly forbid it, you have liberty. He was especially hard on those who preach against smoking and drinking alcohol. I guess he doesn’t count Habakkuk 2:15, “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!” or Proverbs 23:32, 33, “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder” as Bible commands. I do. Yet Muether calls preaching against alcohol denying the sufficiency of the Scripture, inconsistent with sola scriptura, disloyalty to Christ, adding “man-made rules” and a “legalistic picture of the Christian life.” As for smoking, no one ever heard of tobacco until it was introduced to New World explorers by pagan Indians in North America, then taken back to the Old World where it became an instant hit. With that in mind, consider the Apostle Paul’s demand in II Corinthians 6:19, 20: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” If a Christian’s body is God’s very temple and he is to glorify God in it, wouldn’t you say it is a Bible command not to smoke? How could it be a mere ‘preference,’ as some say today? Reuters, with a London dateline, recently reported that those who smoke while pregnant produce children that are “at greater risk of developing psychotic symptoms as teenagers.” And the World Health Organization says tobacco smoke kills one person every six seconds. Don’t tell me that tobacco doesn’t defile the temple of God! The average Christian smoker inhales approximately 20 different deadly poisons in his body (God’s temple) every time he takes a drag on his tobacco. No wonder the Nobel prize-winning chemist, Dr. Linus Pauling observed if “everyone were to stop smoking, the over-all life expectancy would rise by four years.” If the Bible said, “Thou shalt not smoke” or “Thou shalt not use tobacco,” no reader would have known what he was talking about. If someone in Bible times walked down a path puffing on a pipe, cigar or cigarette, bystanders would have tossed him into the Jordan or Nile River – or whatever body of water was handy – thinking he was on fire. Brethren (and Sisters) use your brain. God gave it to you for that purpose. |
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