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"
Dr. Robert L. Sumner

If we did not have a bias in favor of this magazine, we ought to quit. Right? I say that as a preface to saying I think we have another really great issue for you. For one thing, there is the tremendous evangelistic sermon from the pen of my dear, ministry-long friend, Dr. Fred M. Barlow, “The Pay-Up Day.” It is taken from his book of sermons Biblical Evangelism Press published back in 1970, Timeless Truth for 20th Century Times. We have a few copies of this title left, I believe, and you may have them for only $6.50 each, postage paid, by ordering from our Raleigh office. And although you may be tired of hearing about Tim McVeigh by now (if so, we don’t blame you), I think you will nonetheless be interested in Dr. E. Wayne Wall’s timely and insightful study, “The Untold Truth Behind the Oklahoma Carnage.” He brings out things the media has [deliberately?] covered up. And there is also a strong warning from our friend in Maryland, Dr. Maret H. Dinsmore, about what will happen if you decide to join the ranks of the so-called “Jehovah’s Witnesses” cult. It is an important study; share it with your friends.

To supplement these things is a sermon from yesteryear by George H. Morrison on the text in Hebrews 12:1 about laying aside, in addition to besetting sin, weights that hold us back from success in His service. Morrison is a favorite with Dr. Warren Weirsbe, apparently, because he used so many of his messages in his ‘classic’ sermon series. There is also a fine message by the evangelist under whose fiery preaching your editor was converted, Dr. Ralph W. Neighbour, who recently went to be with the Lord. We just learned of his decease and in his memory wanted to publish another one of his sermons. I, obviously, thank God for Ralph W. Neighbour, Sr., one of the sons of Robert E. Neighbour, an early Fundamentalist leader, who followed his dad into the ministry.

In our Bible Study corner is Dr. Fred Moritz’s follow-up to his study “Evangelical Distinctions Between Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism” in the last issue. Entitled, “Progressive Dispensation-alism,” it deals with a very, very important and timely issue in today’s dispensational ranks.

Of course, all our regular features are herein as well. So, dig in and enjoy!

“MY CAPTAIN!”

A lot has been made over Timothy McVeigh giving part of the lines from William Ernest Henley’s blasphemous poem, “Invictus,” as his “last words.” How incongruous it seemed to us that he would leave us those lines as his final message and yet, as a Roman Catholic, receive ‘Last Rites’ from a Roman priest. What good, pray tell, would the latter do? Absolutely none!

However, we write now to call attention to a box elsewhere in this issue that gives the illustration drawn by the gifted and greatly used artist, E. J. Pace, “The Contrast, Infidelity Answered.” On the one hand he gives the full “Invictus” poem and on the other the sweet rebuttal to “Invictus” written by Dorothea Day, which she titled, “My Captain.” Some of you may never have heard or read it and it is beautiful. I quoted it a lot in my early preaching.

You will find the box on page 9. Read them both carefully and then determine which you would like to have represent your position. Would you prefer the philosophy of Henley and McVeigh, or the philosophy of the child of God, represented in the words of Dorothea Day? As for me, I unquestionably and unwaveringly choose the latter.

Regarding Henley, his poem was apparently the final draft of a couple of others. The first he had titled “A Love by the Sea” and may have been the result of a broken romance. Many of the thoughts in it are preserved in “Invictus.” The other was much closer to the actual wording of the verse in question and he had titled it “A Thanksgiving.” In it he expressed thanks to “whatever gods there be” for his independence and control of his own destiny.

I read one preacher’s defense of Henley and his wicked poem, claiming Thomas Carlyle said he had “a serious heart condition” and had been ordered to bed for a year by a Scottish physician (the doctor was apparently Dr. Joseph Lister and his stay at the Royal Edinburgh Infirmary, I believe, was closer to two years). He argued that “Invictus” was Henley’s way of saying he had obeyed the doctor’s tough instruction (thanks to his tremendous inner power), even though it had been difficult. But that doesn’t seem to fit the facts. Henley did suffer ill health all his life and in his youth developed tuberculosis, the effects of which remained all his life, eventually causing his demise. In fact, he was only a teenager when his left foot was amputated – somewhere above the ankle and below the knee; accounts differ – because of tubercular arthritis.

More importantly, the argument by the good brother defending him doesn’t do a thing to answer Henley’s line, “I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul!” It is clear he was an agnostic. Period. Even his long friendship (and collaboration in 4 plays) with Robert Louis Stevenson, admittedly a good brother, didn’t change that, apparently. If the dates on his poems are correct (and there is some concern that they are not), he didn’t even meet Stevenson until after “Invictus” had been written.

Under the heading “Philosophy and Theology,” the Henley Website reveals, in part: “The closest that Henley ever came to admitting to a greater power was in ‘Invictus,’ ‘I thank whatever gods there be’ [This is the wording in “A Thanksgiving,” slightly different from “Invictus” – Ed.]. Though it mentions the possibility of gods, the poem lacks any hint of faith. The speaker is agnostic and very well may be an atheist. And so, ‘Invictus’ serves as a testament to Henley’s own personal philosophy, as it demonstrates the individual’s own inner strength and indomitable free will as being his/her only resource for survival.”

Henley had a “serious heart condition” all right, but it was first and foremost spiritual. The same was true of Timothy McVeigh.

OH, WORSHIP THE KING!

Psalm 29:2 invites all of God’s children: “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” There are two words there I wish to emphasize: “worship” and “holiness.” They go together. Any worship that is not done in “the beauty of holiness” is not true worship. The same words are in Psalm 96:9, “O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.” Once again, it is “worship” and “the beauty of holiness.” Psalm 99:5,9 offer the same emphasis: “Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy. ...Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.” In verse 5 it is “worship” the One who is “holy.” In verse 9, it is “worship” at his “holy hill.” In the context it was His temple for Old Testament saints; if you wish to make an application for His church today, be my guest. The important thing is that worship is to be in the beauty of holiness.

I was in Ohio recently to attend the graduation of my youngest daughter’s youngest daughter. Shannon Phipps, daughter of Rita and Terry Phipps, received her M.D. (in orthopedics) at the University of Ohio at Athens. Her elder sister did the same 3 years ago and, in fact, Dr. Heather Phipps “walked” with her in the procession as her mentor, a custom at that institution. It was a great time, a happy time and I am offering a picture which was taken during the festivities. I call it “A Paradox and the Fat Man.” The fat man is your editor. One of the doctors is Dr. Heather on the left and Dr. Shannon is on the right. Isn’t that a “pair of docs”? They are smart, beautiful girls (what would you expect from the editor’s lineage?) and I am justifiably proud of them.

However, that is digressing so let’s get back to worshiping God in the beauty of holiness. While in the area I attended a good, evangelical, fundamental, separatist church. I assume the pastor was gone because there was a guest speaker from another school in a nearby State. His subject for the hour, believe it or not, was “The Sacred Dance.” His text was Exodus 24:1-18, which has absolutely nothing to do with dancing (the closest thing to modern dancing in Exodus is in the 32nd chapter, when the people took their clothes off and danced around the idolatrous golden calf Aaron had made).

The guest minister opened with a tale about his teenage years and a 16-year-old girl inviting him to one of those social debutante deals. He could not escort her without going to a special class to learn the etiquette of the waltz and all the details of what he was to do (and he passed all that information on to his congregation so we would know, too). I confess that I didn’t gain much spiritual knowledge that hour, but I did learn the intricacies of the waltz. He informed us that he fell in love with waltzing and that his love has not diminished in the slightest to this day. In fact, he further confessed, the only reason he didn’t waltz today was due to the fact that he was on the faculty of a school where it was forbidden (so much for personal conviction – and so much for signing agreements with which you do not agree just to get a paycheck).

But here is my punch line: he had the audacity to tell us that true worship was waltzing with God! In fact, God comes to us and says, in effect, “May I have this dance,” then waltzes us around the dance floor! That is true worship, according to the speaker. Fortunately, I was able to suppress my nausea and did not embarrass my relatives or myself by losing my previous meal all over the ‘sanctuary’ furniture.

By the way, there was no one saved that morning. In fact, I didn’t see anyone who appeared under conviction. I imagine, however, a lot of the teens couldn’t wait to get home to tell their parents what “justification for dancing” they had heard in church that day. What a pity.

Incidentally, when a child waves his arms and stomps his feet, we call it a temper tantrum. When a churchgoer uses his arms to clap his hands and stomp his feet while singing, we call it worship. But when a worldling swings his arms and stomps his feet, we call it clog dancing! How come? Which is it?

A PROTESTANT POPE?

Most of the media, especially the major networks, make fools of themselves every time they dabble in religion. A week before the Southern Baptist Convention was to convene in New Orleans, CBS’s popular “60 Minutes” did a little dabbling with a segment called “The Preacher’s Daughter,” Anne Graham Lotz. While it was as much more a putdown of the SBC than an honor to Mrs. Lotz (whom we think is a very nice lady, dedicated to Christ), it did prove one thing: neither have a clue about what the Baptist position on women preachers really is – or seemingly what their revised Baptist Faith & Message is all about.

Be that as it may, what we are interested in right now is Morley Safer’s statement about Dr. Billy Graham, calling him “the closest thing American Protestants have to the Pope.” Oh? Does Billy get carried around on a portable throne or ride in an open ‘popemobile’? Does he have people fall on their knees before him, adulate him, and kiss his hand or his ring – or his big toe? Does he make ex cathedra announcements that are infallible, the very words of God equal to what is revealed in Scripture, and all Christians in the world are to obey them? Does Billy get off planes, fall on his face and kiss the ground, making the land and the nation “blessed of God” where he is visiting?

Let’s make it clear: Protestants don’t have a Pope! Let’s make it even plainer: Protestants don’t need a Pope! Nor do they want a Pope!

By the way, Lotz justifies her preaching/teaching to men from the fact that Jesus asked Mary Magdalene to “give her testimony to His disciples.” While we wish every woman in the world would “give her testimony” everywhere she goes, to both men and women, what has that got to do with women preachers? We assume, primarily because it is the only place in the Bible it could match what Lotz is saying, she refers to John 20:17,18, which tells us: “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her” (emphasis added). Where is there anything in those instructions about women preaching to men or teaching men? It is a simple statement to pass on a one-time announcement from Christ to His apostles that His promise of a resurrection after three days and three nights in the belly of the earth had been fulfilled.

Let Mrs. Lotz come up with a statement where the Lord Jesus Christ said: “Women, I want you to be religious leaders and preach/teach men. I was only kidding when I had my personal slave, Paul, tell Timothy, ‘Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not [Greek, ouk epitrepô, I permit not] a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression’ (I Timothy 2:11-14). Smart women know I didn’t mean it when I instructed the church at Corinth about the behavior of women in the church, ‘Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant’ (I Corinthians 14:34-38, emphasis added).” If she can do that, she might have a point. At least, I would be willing to listen to her argument.

We have said it many times before, but we don’t mind repeating it for slow learners: Three-quarters of the world’s population consists of women and children. The Word of God not only permits but commands women to teach them. Until they finish that job (and much of that land, beyond question, ”remains yet to be possessed”), they should forget about preaching to and teaching men!

Incidentally, Lotz admits women should not be “senior pastors” (a title not found anywhere in the Word of God, by the way; it is a new prestigious title adopted by today’s clergy, unknown to our Fundamentalist/Evangelical forefathers). So actually, her position and that of the SBC leadership is exactly the same. It is not our position, however. As far as we are concerned, it is something made out of “whole cloth” in order to be as politically correct as possible in today’s society.

“RECEIVING CHRIST!”

The pastor of a mega-church in Lake Forest (CA), Rick Warren, says he does not give a public ‘come forward’ invitation to receive Christ at his Saddleback Valley Community Church. When he started the church years ago in a rented theater building, there was no place for them to do it – although he had always done so before in his evangelistic ministry.

After several “trial and error” attempts at a substitute he came up with “registration” cards everyone in the audience fills out, members included, which offer choices to check on the back. Some are, “I’m committing my life to Christ,” “I want to be baptized,” and “I’m recommitting my life to Christ.” Those cards are simply dropped in the offering plate and then followed up personally in the homes. (Should we assume the offering is received after the sermon, or, if not, the individuals will know in advance whether they are going to be under conviction?)

What do I think? I have no objection. Some of my best invitations have been when I asked people, with heads bowed, to receive Christ right in their seat. Then, later, during the invitation, I invited them to come forward, if they meant it, as a public profession of their new faith in Christ. And when I give a regular invitation, I do not ask people to come forward to “receive Christ,” but to come forward if they want to be saved so that I, the pastor, or a trained personal worker, aside privately, can take an open Bible and explain carefully to them how to receive Christ and eternal life.

The commitment to receive Christ as Lord and Savior is the main thing. The method used to bring about that decision is minor.

OUR COUNTRY & OUR CHURCHES!

If you will forgive me for saying so, my personal opinion is that both our country and our evangelical churches are in mighty bad shape. Our citizens have been swallowing the propaganda (and that is exactly what it is) of the media for a number of years now and the convictions of the masses have changed dramatically – and not for the good. Americans are more interested in what is politically correct than they are in what the Word of God declares. If you have read (or read about) Gibbon’s The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, you know what I am talking about.

The callus disregard for human life in abortion (spell that m-u-r-d-e-r), with the precious little bodies tossed on a trash heap (or, worse yet, sold for big bucks to the unscrupulous wanting the body parts, some of it to make creamy skin lotion for Madame) should be considered a national disgrace. Yet it isn’t; rather, it is regarded as a “privacy” matter between a woman and her physician (you’d better include God in that, too, because He knows exactly what is going on – it is not private to Him). The precious child, which is the gift of God (an “heritage of the LORD,” is the way Psalm 127:3 describes him or her), is called a “blob” or a “tissue” and has absolutely no individual value at all to the killers.

Too, the sacred institution of marriage is almost destroyed. Teenagers commit adultery as a “rite of becoming an adult.” Young couples move in together in a form of continued adultery called “trial marriage,” or “living together,” or to use the old term of contempt, “shacking up.” Babies, the ones not aborted, by the hundreds of thousands are born out of wedlock, innocent little bastards (to use the dictionary and biblical terminology). Homosexuality and lesbianism (Sodomy, is the biblical term for this sin) is considered merely an “alternate lifestyle” and the Word of God is flaunted as teaching for the dark ages, not at all applicable in our “enlightened generation.” The ones considered “nuts” are not the guilty ones, but any one of the few who dare oppose it.

Add to this the new worship form that is sweeping the land. What is that? The god Sport! Our athletic coliseums are jammed and packed each Lord’s Day (and often in the 6 days between) as the worshipers gather to honor their gods. Most Americans are far more interested in who will win the NASCAR 500, the World Series, the Kentucky Derby, the Masters, or the Super Bowl than what the Lord Jesus Christ instructed His disciples in the Bible. If they do attend church it is for only an hour on Sunday morning (and woe be to the pastor who goes two minutes past the “bewitching hour” intended for the benediction – and that includes the invitation, if one is still given); nor do they attend every Sunday at that. Yet the same people will sit for hours in a stadium, arena or court and if the game goes into overtime, or extra innings, or whatever – they consider they got a good deal for their money, more than expected for the same price.

But let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of the problem. Why is the country in such bad shape? Because the “salt” has lost its savor; it has lost its saltiness, its preserving power. The salt is the church, the born again ones. Jesus told His disciples, in Matthew 5:13-16, early in His famous Sermon on the Mount that covers 3 chapters in that Gospel: “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” The church is no longer salty. Its light has gone out. For the most part, we are just “playing church,” like little girls play house and little boys play cowboys and Indians.

In fact, not only is the country in bad shape, our fundamental, evangelical churches are even worse off, if possible. I have traveled this nation a lot in the opening of this new century and millennium. Our fundamental churches are half-dead, some of them merely waiting for a memorial service and a committal (“ashes to ashes, dust to dust”). Hardly anyone comes to Sunday school in many of them and few have the D. L. Moody concern for going after the children in unchurched homes. Most of the auditoriums are half-empty during the ‘worship’ hour. Few come back on Sunday night and the trend is to no longer even have evening services. In the old days, if a church house was dark on Sunday night it was written off as a liberal church (maybe that still holds true; remember Sardis, of whom Christ said, “ I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead” (Revelation 3:1). Wednesday night, which was the powerhouse of the churches of our fathers, is even worse.

The old fundamentalist idea of standards for officers and teachers is passé today. The moment you mention it someone starts screaming “legalism” (showing, incidentally, their ignorance as to what legalism is according to the Word of God). One pastor and church got into trouble with peers a few weeks back when they sponsored a dance for college students, then wondered why fellow preachers got all bent out of shape over it. After all, they complained, the dance wasn’t held on church property and a couple of breaks were taken during the ungodly festivities to “give the gospel” to the lost. (What’s next? Buying several kegs of beer, renting an empty store building, and having a beer bust for unchurched college kids, stopping the guzzling at the refreshment party a couple of times to “give the gospel” to them? If the aim were to draw a crowd, this would do it; one might even throw in a little hashish with the booze). And some of the music in our evangelical churches, if you don’t pay close attention to the words, is not discernable from MTV or what is featured in night clubs (and worse).

[When writing the previous paragraph an incident came to mind of a girl who got saved and later went to a dance. She worked up her courage, while waltzing around the floor in the arms of a handsome fellow, to ‘witness’ to her companion. When he asked what brought that on, she replied, “I’ve become a Christian.” He stopped still, looked down at her, and blurted out, “Then what are you doing here?” A good question!]

If you go into churches today that were on fire for God 75, 50 or even less years ago, what do you see? In most of them, two-thirds of the congregation are on Social Security and a sudden epidemic affecting the elderly over 60 would almost wipe out the entire audience – if not all. Here and there may be a young couple with children, but they are few and far between. It is enough to make the angels weep (if they have tear ducts in their celestial bodies, that is).

That is why ABC-TV, the only major network with a full-time religion reporter, decided the other day that it didn’t even need one and eliminated her position; probably correctly concluding the general public has little or no interest in the subject. That is why our public schools, which were once very careful not to schedule events at church times, lest they be in competition with the area churches seeking to develop the spiritual lives of children, are now just as prone to compete as not, if it suits their agenda. (It may be that they have concluded, rightly in many cases, there are no longer any valid church nights, or even concern about Sunday mornings!)

That is why the general public, which used to be polite to church workers who appeared at their door – even if they had no interest in the church – will now curtly dismiss them or even slam the door in their faces. The church, for the most part, does not even get the respect of a Girl Scout selling her cookies or a Little League soccer team player asking for donations.

What’s the solution? If you’ve gotten this far and don’t know, maybe here is one editor who ought to put his pen back in the basket (or turn off his computer). In this matter, churches have forgotten what made them what they are, what made them great not only in size but, more importantly, in influence.

In the sports realm, if an ace pitcher or a star quarterback is ailing and it is the final game, reporters will ask managers what they are going to do. The latter often respond, using an old euphemism, “We’ll dance with the one who brung us,” meaning that since the star got them into the series they’ll start him in the big game, even if he is hurting and not up to par. Fundamentalism has forgotten what made it great: evangelism in every form, personal, collective and local church! There used to be a strong emphasis on the Sunday school, on regular weekly visitation, and on two or three evangelistic crusades a year.

We need to get back to the one who “brung us”: evangelism!

It won’t be easy. Our nation’s morals are at an all time low. We read recently that Paul Weyrich, who is credited with having coined the term “Moral Majority,” declared the term no longer valid, saying the war is over and morality has been defeated in our society. It seems rather obvious that he is correct.

A preacher sent me an e-mail recently defending Bill Clinton and his defense was that when he left office he was the most popular President we ever had in this country. That did not impress me and we don’t think it does other intelligent people. Why was he so popular? Because his morals were down on their level and he was “one of the boys.” The fact that he was a habitual liar and adulterer means nothing to today’s citizenry. They would vote for the Devil if they felt he would help the economy. And, by the same token, we doubt that “Honest Abe” Lincoln could win a half-dozen States were he running today for President. Because of this, we would not be overly surprised if Hilary, in fulfillment of her current goal, were to be elected President.

Too, our people have been taught (by example, if not by word) that evangelism is not important. The pessimists have been working overtime. “Times have changed,” we are told. “The old methods won’t work” (not true, but one thing is certain: the new methods aren’t working). Let’s be honest. We are too busy to dedicate ourselves to a solid week or two of “every night” preaching, praying and bringing in the lost! Some of our pastors even say to their people, “I know you are busy, but try to make it out to the meeting at least one night.” Nonsense and tommyrot. That won’t do it!

Listen, brethren (and sisters), in the old days evangelism had a priority. Everything else was incidental and/or considered nonessential. It is what built our churches and caused them to be the salt preserving the morality and ethics of this once great nation. And the “good old days” won’t be back until it becomes our priority once again.

It will take time. We will have to reeducate our people – and the majority of them won’t want to be educated. But, to use a couple of the old clichés, it is evangelize or fossilize, it is revival for survival! And revival won’t come until He has priority in our lives once again: personal fellowship on a daily basis, obedience to His commands, intercessory prayer, and the additional priority of His “great commission.”

This is a plea from my heart to yours. I pray you will not ignore or dismiss it lightly.

After rereading the above I feel constrained to add one disclaimer: “All churches are not this way, thank God.” There are exceptions and we praise His Name for every one of them.

SHOULD OUR MISSION-ARIES BE CALLED HOME?

The sordid state of our country can also be seen in the reaction of some in the media over the gunning down of the ABWE missionaries in Peru. Bill Maher, host of ABC-TV’s “Politically Incorrect,” mocked the tragic event and questioned if the drug runners were not as worthwhile as the missionaries – and his audience roared in hellish glee with approval! He opined that their “exclusivist” message of redemption did far more harm to society than does recreational drug use.

Another commentator ridiculing the missionaries was Lionel Tiger. Writing in the New York Press, he called the missionaries vain and presumptuous, rhetorically inquiring, “What on earth gives some people the right to decide that their view of God or nature or destiny is the right one?” Like all unconverted ‘natural’ men, he asked the wrong question. No one’s view is more important than another’s and missionaries do not go to Peru or any other country to promote their views. They have a holy Book inspired by the Holy Spirit of God that reveals the one way to Heaven. It is not their message; it is God’s! Tiger called missionaries like Roni Bowers “frank imperialists” and sneered at their sacrifices to get out the gospel of Jesus Christ. He called pouring out their lives in such a fashion – existing in cramped, crude and uncomfortable living quarters; spending years in difficult, strange language training; along with often daily threats of violence just to win converts – “objectionable and kind of cheap.” Cheap? He has a right to object to it, but calling it ‘cheap’ is cheap and rude on his part.

His solution? Our government should revoke all visas for those going as gospel missionaries since their mission is “almost a toxicity case for the World Health Organization.” Instead of cruising the Amazon with gospel music blaring over loudspeakers, “They should shut them off and come home.” And do what? Get on television, the radio, or write for the press the kind of idiocy Maher and Tiger are spewing? Would that make the world a better place?

Russell D. Moore, who serves as assistant to the president at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, whose article in Baptist Press provided the fodder for this editorial, put it well: “If the Bowerses and their compatriots in the global missions endeavor are so patently ridiculous, then why are they so offensive to Maher and Tiger? For profoundly theological reasons, evangelical missionaries do not use the threat of the sword to gain ‘converts.’ They simply proclaim Christ and offer salvation in Him. Do Maher and Tiger really believe those coming to faith in Latin America and around the world are too unsophisticated to turn down this ‘insult’ to their native cultures? Perhaps these poor, uneducated Third World Christians should instead listen to the cynical and sophisticated pundits and late-night comedians who know what’s best for them.”

What do we say? May God in His wisdom and grace raise up a whole new generation of Roni Boweres!

SWEETEST MUSIC THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN!

When I graduated from seminary and took my first church, the high priority on my weekly “must do” list was Charles E. Fuller and the Old-Fashioned Revival Hour each Sunday afternoon, broadcasting live from the Municipal Auditorium on the pier at Long Beach, California. As I now recall, it came on at 2 or 3 o’clock and was a highlight of the week as the dear brother spoke to an estimated 15 to 20 million people each Sunday. World War II was raging at the time – at its bloody peak, in fact – and I would sit by the radio and weep as Dr. Fuller gave the invitation, saying, “I see that hand, soldier boy,” “I see that hand, sailor.” And it would go on by the scores, culminating in a public invitation when the new converts came forward to be dealt with in an inquiry room. When I finally got to California after the war, the first “must see” on my agenda was the pier and participation in that magnificent service. It was even greater than I thought it would be.

What a thrill!

The broadcast went on for an hour and had many delightful features. Mrs. Fuller (“Honey,” as he called her) would read some of the letters from the mailbag. There would be congregational singing, of course, with literally thousands of voices harmonizing in the great hymns of the Faith. But, admittedly, one of the highlights of the program for me was when Rudy Atwood sat at the piano, George Broadbent was at the organ, and the Old-Fashioned Revival Hour quartet sang some of those good, old gospel songs.

Later, when I accepted a church in Texas, I took a good number of the quartet’s records with me and every morning on our daily radio broadcast, I would open the program with one of them. I wanted to share the blessing.

I still want to do so! How excited I was when, a few weeks back, Dr. Gordon Sears notified me that the quartet was available on CD for my listening pleasure. I obtained a copy immediately and if it is possible to wear out a CD, mine is not going to last long. I have played it and played it and played it in my automobile as I have crisscrossed the country, driving some 15,000 miles to preach the gospel in a little over 4 months – and I’m getting ready now for another long trip to the East. The CD will get plenty of mileage along with my car, I assure you.

I suggested to Dr. Sears that our readers would be interested and he has placed an ad in this issue. If you are ancient enough to remember the Old-Fashioned Revival Hour you won’t need any arm-twisting on my part to get you to order. If you aren’t that old, take my word for it: it is the sweetest music this side of Heaven! (Certainly better than the false claims of a dance band in an olden era.) Some of the songs are “This World Is Not my Home,” “Honey in the Rock,” “The First Thing I do Every Morning,” “Every Time I Feel the Spirit,” “My Sins are Gone,” “Jesus Will,” “The Love of God,” “Lily of the Valley,” “Standin’ In the Need of Prayer,” “Revive Thy Work O Lord,” “Springs of Living Water,” “I’m Bound for the Promised Land,” “I Am on the Battle-Field” and such Negro spirituals as “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.”

In addition to Rudy at the piano and Broadbent at the organ, the disk features John Lundberg, first tenor; Jack Coleman, second tenor; Ken Brown, baritone; and Art Jaissle, bass. There are 29 songs in this sweet package and the listening time covers approximately an hour and ten minutes. So enjoy! This release is a “Special Limited Edition,” so hurry.

I’ve never said this about anyone else’s product before, but if you get it and are not completely satisfied, I’ll refund your money. What an offer! Right?

LUTHER & THE JEWS!

Most evangelical Christians feel indebted to Martin Luther, and rightly so. He was a mighty voice in the reformation that brought about the Protestant movement with its emphasis on justification by faith and the total sufficiency of Scripture. While I think it is silly for some to use his remarks as the final authority on every doctrinal matter, I can still say, “God bless his memory.”

Unfortunately, he was not perfect and those who quote him (instead of the Word of God) as finality are missing the boat. One area of his imperfection (for want of a better word) relates to Israel. Some have accused him, based on some of his writings, of being totally anti-Semitic. Others are not quite that critical, but they cringe at some of what he said against the Jews. He did have a problem and the defense of some of his followers in this area is so pathetic it would be humorous were not the subject so serious.

The book by David Larson that we reviewed recently, Jews, Gentiles, & the Church (May-June, 2001), offered an insight into Luther’s views on the Jews in his chapter, “The Incredible History of Worldwide Anti-Semitism” (just prior to remarks quoted from Voltaire, the “High Priest of Anti-Semitism”). He wrote there: “Luther’s scatological diatribes against the Jews are all too familiar. The early Luther favored tolerance (note his pamphlet of 1523, ‘The Jesus was Born a Jew’). But Luther became disillusioned when the Jews did not convert, and he turned on them, accusing them of ritual murder and the poisoning of wells. Even the most sympathetic Luther scholars quail at the Reformer’s intemperate argumentation. To be sure Luther used inordinately rough language and invective on all whom he opposed, be they peasants, Roman Catholics, or Jews. But his students Jonas and Osiander held out hope for ‘a common liberated future for Jews and Christians.’ Contrariwise, in his hateful attitude toward the Jews, Luther became increasingly a child of his times rather than a follower of Jesus the Nazarene, and the architects of the Holocaust would later use Luther’s words to support their cause.”

Some feel the erroneous doctrine of amillennialism (no millennium), which teaches the church has permanently replaced Israel in God’s economy, is the cause and heart of the anti-Semitism problem. Perhaps so. In our mind, however, no one is a good Christian who is anti-Semitic. Period!

EDGAR J. GOODSPEED

A half-century ago, the Revised Standard Version hit the bookstores with tremendous fanfare (we are talking about the full edition; the New Testament alone had been released in 1946, very quietly). We didn’t like it even a little bit and we went to considerable effort to say so. The first book we ever had in print dealt with the subject and it was not an intentionally written book. We started with two daily radio broadcasts in mimeograph form, which our listening audience insisted be put in writing, later adding the fruit of research gleaned in preparing a citywide rally against the version that our church sponsored in the city auditorium.

I was just a young squirt then and admittedly had a whole lot more zeal than knowledge, but I knew I could not favor a translation that changed “virgin” to “young woman” of marriageable age in the great prophetic promise of Isaiah 7:14, referring to the birth of the Messiah, and toned down the deity of my Lord Jesus Christ at every opportunity. God blessed anyway and the booklet had a wide circulation. Radio preachers like John D. Jess and Dan Gilbert promoted it and gave it away on their broadcasts, and many churches bought large quantities for distribution among their members. Thousands of copies were circulated.

Goodspeed, whom I mention in the title of this editorial, was one of the translators and since he was such a well known ‘scholar’ (he even had his own translation on the market, The Complete Bible: An American Translation, University of Chicago Press; J. M. Powis Smith and a ‘group of scholars’ translated the Old Testament and Goodspeed did the Apocrapha and the New Testament), he was featured prominently in the promotion. We quoted well over a dozen of his modernistic, infidel statements in our little book.

We will not weary you by reproducing them here, but suffice it to stay the book got a heated response from Mr. Goodspeed himself (handwritten, no less). One of the arguments I made in the book was in favor of the validity of Mark 16:9-20, which the revisers had pitched because it was not in two of the oldest Greek manuscripts. We did considerable research and study on the matter and came to the firm conclusion that the “missing passage” did, indeed, belong in Holy Writ.

At any rate, Goodspeed clipped a front-page item from the Long Beach Press-Telegram (CA) telling about a lady in a nearby Pentecostal church who was showing off her faith (and that is what such action is) in an evening service by handling rattlesnakes. She was bitten and the bite was fatal. Since Mark 16:17,18 in the KJV say: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (emphasis added), he held me personally accountable for her death. In his handwritten scrawl he hurled his epithet at me, “Murderer! Murderer! The blood of this woman is on your hands!”

Well, being called a murderer didn’t make my day, as you can well imagine, so I wrote him back (my wife neatly and accurately typing it for me): “Murderer! Murderer! The blood of this woman is on your hands!” Then I quoted from his own translation of Luke 10:19 in American Translation. I no longer have that volume, but here is the way the New Revised Standard Version, which would probably be close to his own, treats it: “See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you” (emphasis added). I asked him which would be the safest and which would be the most radical: taking up [i.e., handling] snakes or getting into a snake bed and tromping on them? His own version would be much more dangerous than the simple statement in the King James.

He never answered!

I looked for that correspondence and couldn’t find it in the little time I had to look, so the above quote in his letter and my letter are as I remember them. I guarantee the gist of both, however, and I’ll never forget that he called me a murderer and I responded by pointing out that it I were a killer, then he was, too!

Now all of the above – which I really thought was interesting history you’d like to read – came about because I noted a comment regarding Goodspeed in Cyril J. Barber’s The Minister’s Library: Volume 1. Barber is probably the best authority on Christian books, especially of a scholarly nature, since the late Wilbur M. Smith. He referenced Goodspeed’s work on Hebrews and concluded: “A brief exposition. Of little value to preachers today.” To me, that sums up all of Goodspeed’s writings: “of little value.”

ON “FILLING TEETH!”

We have noticed recently, which we will offer as a follow-up on the item above referring to snake handling to evidence faith, some are referencing the miracle (sic) of teeth being filled (some with gold, some with silver, and some in the regular dental manner) in charismatic healing services. Fundamentalists reporting it seem to think it is a new twist in that movement.

Not so!

In fact, this has been going on for decades. We wrote it up in our “Incidents & Illustrations” over a third of a century ago! (To date, we know of no dentist being forced out of business because of it!) One of the items was included in our big book, Sumner’s Incidents and Illustrations, released by Biblical Evangelism Press back in the 1960s. That latter piece was titled “Patching Teeth” and I quoted from a South Texas newspaper advertising a healing crusade where folks were invited to “see teeth filled before your very eyes” in answer to prayer. I had commented to the pastor for whom I was conducting an evangelistic crusade (we have always been more concerned with souls than bodies) that it would be very difficult to “see” fillings take place unless the teeth were false and could be placed on a table at the front. Something was false about the whole deal, but it wasn’t the teeth.

In the same item I told of comments by Editor C. T. Buchanan in the August 1963 issue of the Full Gospel Native Missionary to the effect that “many testify to teeth being healed and cavities filled. Strangely, sometimes they are filled with a SILVER-LIKE SUBSTANCE and sometimes with a GOLD-COLORED MATERIAL and sometimes it looks like the NATURAL APPEARANCE OF WHITE ENAMEL” (Buchanan’s emphases). He said one of the magazine’s staff members and his family of 8 children had several cavities filled, noting, “these children had never before been in a dentist chair to have their teeth filled….”

By the way, Buchanan called the report “almost unbelievable.” We went a step farther and called the account “absolutely unbelievable.” Why were we so skeptical? Because God doesn’t do for people what they can do for themselves. He doesn’t plant corn for farmers; that is their job. He doesn’t weed your tomato patch; that is your job. He will send the rain, the sunshine, and the other things you can’t provide, but He doesn’t answer prayer for people too lazy to do their own work. And if He were doing the job, the individuals would not have fillings – they would have new teeth! He doesn’t concern Himself with “patch up” jobs.

THIS & THAT…

Some people feel the Palestinian suicide bombing attacks are the will and wishes of just a few terrorists, not the general populace. Apparently this is not true, according to the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion. It reported a survey showing more than 3 out of every 4 Palestinians support those suicide bombings. We hope they know what they are doing, because the Israelite attacks on the Palestinians have only been in retaliation for those bombings. What they are saying is in effect, to use mid-20th century terminology, “Sock it to us, Israel!”…

Here is a voice from the past worth hearing: the late General Douglas MacArthur warned, “History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster.” Keep that in mind in reading my “Country & Churches” editorial above…

Disney has long been a staunch supporter of the Sodomite community, celebrating annual “Gay Days” (sic) each June at their Orlando park. It rained on their parade this year, however, with the Family Policy Network flying banners over the park with such statements as Jesus Christ: Hope for Homosexuals, with its web address hopeforhomosexuals.com. FPN seeks to win the Sodomites to Christ and fill the empty void in their lives caused by their perverted lifestyle. For the first time this year, Universal Studios became a partner with Disney in the “gala af-fair.” Obviously, that act was no surprise to the well informed. One change this year was that President Bush refused to declare June “Gay Pride Month”; his predecessor in the Oval Office did so for the past 8 years without fail. Alas, in spite of Bush’s act, every department of the executive branch observed the event in some way on its own. Don’t they care to recognize the wishes of their own Boss?…

Was Anthony Quinn a Christian? If so, we never heard about it until his death and we wrote about him three times in our exposé that went through numerous printings, Hollywood Cesspool, once about his Communist leanings and the other times about roles he played in movies. We were under the impression he was a boozing, cussing, smoking, irreligious unbeliever. The reason we ask now is because when he died a few weeks back his memorial service was conducted at a Baptist church in Rhode Island. At one time he had expressed a desire for a pagan burial (cremation, with ashes scattered in a Mexican canyon), but he was given a Christian burial at his home in Bristol. Had he trusted Christ late in life? We’d like to think so!…

A pro-Sodomite group, “Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays,” announced that Home Depot had made a grant to them of 100 gift certificates in the amount of $25 each and one would be given to each person donating $100 to their cause, all as a Father’s Day promotion. In short, the gift was a $2,500 bonanza to them. PFFLG Executive Director Kirsten Kingdom called it “a wonderful Father’s Day gift.” Is yours truly the only one noting the irony of it all? If the “Lesbians and Gays” had their way, there would be no fathers. Nor mothers...

“Now We’ve Heard Everything” Department: A woman in Akron (OH) actually called “911” several times (and a relative called at least once) trying to get emergency service for “Foxy,” a pet dog who was in labor. It seems one of the pups was stuck in the opening, apparently not wanting to be born into the kind of world we have today. (We don’t know why: it’s a dog’s life). Foxy managed to handle it all on her own, however, and the last we heard all 13 of the litter were doing fine. The same cannot be said for the strange lady who wanted help to come running for her dog. Criminal charges have been filed against her – and rightly so. The “911” emergency line is not for animals, it is for humans in dire trouble. A real catastrophe in the lady’s area might be taking place and some frantic individual would be unable to get through because the line was busy. Folks have been known to die in those cases. The lady’s defense? She said others called “911” for the fire department to get cats out of trees. Not so! Those calls were made directly to the fire department, which handled them only if no human emergency were taking place…

The Miami Herald, which threw its considerable support weight in the camp of Senator Al Gore, Jr., last Fall, recently printed an editorial saying its recount – worked in cooperation with USA Today – showed that the Supreme Court was right in stopping the recount farce, saying it “was sure to be a chaotic recount because Florida didn’t have a uniform standard in place.” That is a fact Floridians knew all along...

Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661) was a farm boy who became a professor and then a preacher. Imprisoned for his faith as a “Nonconformist” (refusing to bow to the religious status quo), he wrote 365 “Letters” (later published under that title and considered a classic today) from his jail cell. Eventually released, the political climate changed again and it looked like he would be returning to prison when the Lord said, “Come up hither!” Here is one of his remarks, gleaned the other day from an internet magazine: “Oh my debt of praise, how weighty is it, and how far run up! Oh that others would lend me to pay, and teach me to praise!” Don’t you feel the same? I do…

Ah, those racial “hate crimes” we are hearing so much about today. The trouble is that they are all about black victims of white people. The white victims of blacks don’t even make the classified sections in most major papers. For example, did you read about this in your paper: Jonathan and Reginald Carr, a couple of black men, went on a crime spree rampage late last year. Five whites were either murdered or injured for life and the perpetrators were charged with 58 counts of murder, rape, robbery and other crimes. Sorry, these “hate crimes” were the wrong color to get any national press. Poor Nola (Foulston), the Sedgwick County District Attorney in Wichita (KS), says she “ain’t gonna charge” the pair with hate crimes. She might find that very politically incorrect. Right?...

Mother’s Day and Father’s Day were canceled at the Rodeph Sholom Day School, a hoity-toity private school in Manhattan. Why? The school administration was afraid the celebration might offend children of “same sex” parents. Chalk up another victory for the perverts who have taken over our country. By the way, those people are not “parents” in any sense of the word. Baby sitters, maybe, but not parents...

United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spoke for me (and probably you) when he declared recently: “What secret knowledge, one must wonder, is breathed into lawyers when they become Justices of this Court...? Day by day, case by case, it is busy designing a Constitution for a country I do not recognize.”...

History was made at the Southern Baptist Convention in New Orleans last month when, for the first time in its 156-year history, a black Baptist pastor delivered the Convention Sermon (a tremendous honor for a Southern Baptist of any color, believe me; the two “biggie” messages are the President’s Sermon and the Convention Sermon – sometimes they are the only messages). The SBC was launched in 1845 by 327 “delegates” meeting in Augusta, Georgia in a planned break with the Baptists of the North over slavery (a slave owner in the South had applied to the American Baptist Home Missions Society and his request had been ignored), so that made the June action in Louisiana especially significant. The speaker was Fred Luter, pastor of the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, in New Orleans. His text was Matthew 9:35-38 and his subject was “The Master’s Call for Laborers.” He was interrupted with applause several times and at the end of his message received a standing ovation...

Peter Singer, whom we’ve mentioned in very derogatory terms in times past, is still on his kick that we should destroy the infirm and the elderly because they use up precious resources (especially medical) that younger people need. This strong proponent of euthanasia, it was recently discovered, is paying big, big bucks for round-the-clock nursing care for his own mother, who has Alzheimer’s. Does he want her put out of her misery to make room for someone in the next generation? No way, José. Our suggestion: if euthanasia is to commence, let’s not start with his mother; let’s start with him! Just kidding, folks, just kidding...

Well, the Oakland Marijuana Club – and all the other hypocrites on the West Coast who have been getting their jollies (highs) from marijuana as a medicine – came up short at the United States Supreme Court in May. The 9 justices ruled 8-to-zip (Justice Breyer abstained; his brother had ruled the other way down in District Court!) that such establishments were operating illegally since a federal law bans its sale and distribution for any reason. As Clarence Thomas wrote in the court’s opinion, “Congress has made a determination that marijuana has no medical benefits worthy of an exception.” The “cannabis clubs” are now out of business, legally anyway...

Milwaukee dares to be different! While the rest of the country, politically speaking, seems to be worshiping at the Sodomite shrine, the Common Council in the city known for its infamous product, voted 11-5 against a request by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union to grant the same benefits to Sodomites as to heterosexual couples living in holy matrimony. This action was taken in spite of its Finance and Personnel Committee’s approval of the measure (this, we are told, represents the first time in 40 years the Common Council has rejected a union contract recommended in committee). However, union rank and file members were strongly opposed to the recommendation...

The study conducted by Psychiatrist Robert Spitzer of Columbia University (and presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association) found that Sodomites can be delivered from their curse. In fact, his study showed that out of 200 ex-Sodomites, 66% of the homosexuals and 44% of the lesbians had been “cured” and were now functioning well in a heterosexual lifestyle. Churches that minister to Sodomites have known this for years...

A Sodomite in San Diego, angry because of the SBC’s position on homosexuality, marched into the First Southern Baptist Church of that city and demanded to see the pastor (Dr. Larry Lewis is currently serving as Interim Pastor). Since Lewis was at a playground (it’s okay folks; he was there with his granddaughter and wife), an associate offered to try to contact him by phone. The Sodomite made physical threats of harm to the minister (who had his 9- and 14-year-old daughters and his 16-year-old son with him). Dr. Lewis was contacted and so was a television station since the man was also demanding a reporter and a camera-person. Thanks to this, the police were notified and the man was soon in custody. Of course, this wouldn’t be a hate crime because it was by not against a Sodomite...

At the recent SBC meetings in New Orleans, the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists elected Dr. Jerry Falwell as the group’s Pastor-Advisor. Dr. Falwell said he appreciated the honor because “Southern Baptist evangelists are the best group of evangelists in the world today.” (He did not say “one of the best,” but “the best!”)…

QUOTE OF THE MONTH: “It is impossible to govern the world without God. He must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligation.” – George Washington