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

Of interest to some will be the fact that our web site, although still under construction, is now open. You may view it at www.biblicalevangelism.org. Michael Gile, founder and president of Web Services Group (WSG.net) put a lot of time and effort into setting it up for us, for which we are very grateful.

One of the first sets of sermon books we ever purchased was a nicely bound set of Alexander Maclaren’s sermons, provided for young preachers at a special price by Harold J. Seeley, associated at the time, I believe, with the Interstate Evangelistic Association. I enjoyed the set immensely. Alas, the set proved to be very inflammable when the church I was pastoring burned to the ground, destroying my library (also ordination papers, seminary diploma, plus all other “proof” I had that I was entitled to preach)! The sermon from his pen in this issue is based on one of our favorite texts. Maclaren did not join Spurgeon in his “Downgrader” fight, but that did not mar their friendship or mutual respect. He was the first president of the Baptist World Alliance, launched at the start of the 20th century, but it “went south” fast and we have no confidence in it or respect for it today.

Did you ever hear of Richard Baxter? He was a tremendous 17th century English Puritan preacher known for many things, but especially two books (using the titles by which they are usually referenced), Saint’s Rest and Baxter’s Call to the Unconverted. Dr. Robert L. Hymers, pastor of the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle in downtown Los Angeles, has put the latter book into modern English and released under the title, A Puritan Speaks to Our Dying Nation (reviewed in the book review section of this issue). In so doing, Hymers has done today’s church a distinct service, and he also graciously granted us permission to reprint Chapter 8 in this issue. Share it with your lost loved ones and friends.

There is a fine study by Labib Mikhail on the need for complete surrender (a subject not dealt with much these days in our “me generation”). He is the author of the book on Islam we’ve been promoting and if you don’t have your copy yet, make haste to get it (see the ad in our last issue). There is also a thrilling story of how a Jewish rabbi came to know Christ which you should share with your Jewish friends.

Our Bible Study Corner has a study by David Dunlop on “The Righteousness of Christ” that really rings the bell. There is confusion in some circles today about this issue and this should set the record straight for all who read it. It is right on the money. And while we don’t usually comment on guest editorials in this slot, we certainly want you to see the utter depravity and total depths to which Hollywood has stooped by reprinting an item from Baptist Press. If ‘Bruce Almighty’ is humor, it is very sick humor saturated in blasphemy. One of its rules for reprinting permission is to give its web site, which we did. That reminded us we haven’t given you ours:

Unfortunately, the Jack Hyles issue has come up again and has to do with his misrepresentation of a good man, Dr. Ford Porter, the author of the greatly-used gospel tract, God’s Simple Plan of Salvation. [Incidentally, in our notice of that tract’s 70th anniversary, we listed their fax number instead of the phone. The correct number is (317) 539-4466]. We have shown what Dr. Hyles said in his book and the rebuttal by Porter’s son, Dr. Robert Ford Porter.

Incidentally, the word from Hammond seems to be that Hyles is being exalted more and more into a cult-like figure. Last week, while in Virginia, we read three new books honoring Hyles, in addition to the book with the Porter story. One was by his son, David Hyles, The Other Side, subtitled, “The Passing Over of Dr. Jack Hyles.” A second was authored his lawyer, Attorney David C. Gibbs, Jr. Interviews Dr. Jack Hyles. The third was Jack Frasure Hyles: The Fundamental Man, a biography written by his daughter, Cindy Hyles Schaap.

To show how cultic the group is becoming, here is a quote from Cindy’s book: “He was born with a thin veil of skin over his face. Dr. Carlisle, the doctor who delivered Jack, said that he had seen that phenomenon only once before. He said that he had heard about it, however; he had heard that it meant the child was set apart to be used by God in a special way” (p.25). Oh, brother!

The book by his daughter says in the front: “Scripture references in this volume are taken from the King James Bible.” That is a mistake KJVOnly people often make. It is not the King James BIBLE, it is the King James VERSION of the Bible. There is no King James Bible. Scattered throughout her book are highlighted Hyles quotes. Here is a sample: “It is always right to do right.” That profound statement was obviously adopted from Dr. Bob Jones, Sr.’s, “It is never right to do wrong in order to get a chance to do right.”

In David’s book, the preacher who loaned it to me suggested I note how repeatedly he referenced his father’s “fear” as death approached. It was seen in his eyes (mentioned especially) and on his face, although David attributed it to concern for his wife and other survivors. Even hospital employees noticed it. This book comes across as a nomination of Hyles for special sainthood. And the author, although a proven fornicator of unspeakable dimensions, comes across as another saint.

There are strange statements in the Gibbs book as Hyles seeks to put a good spin on himself and his ministry. In it he makes this amazing statement, “I do not remember ever praying a prayer for myself” (p.16). Not even prayer for daily bread or safety on the highway? He claims that Dr. John R. Rice rode his coattails (p.144), although saying he rode Dr. Rice’s at the start. (Believe me, Dr. John R. Rice never rode the coattails of Jack Hyles! He didn’t need to.)

It is in the Gibbs book that Hyles says Dr. Rice asked him to take over The Sword when he died (p.149). That involved a private thing and I have no proof it didn’t happen, of course. However, I do know that a few years before Dr. Rice died, when there was speculation about his successor, he called a special meeting of the board members working at the office in Murfreesboro just to tell them of one man he didn’t want to replace him: Jack Hyles!

It was in the Gibbs interview volume that Hyles told a long pious story about how he counseled one woman to quit her job at First Baptist because her husband wanted her to. Hyles insisted she must quit. He told her, “I can find another secretary, but he cannot find another wife.” Then he made this strange statement, “I did not lose her. She has worked for me for many years” (p.37). I don’t know what he meant. If he was saying what it seems to be saying, his preaching was good, but his practicing was not, and he permitted her to remain in his employ in defiance to her husband’s wishes. She apparently went right on defying her husband and working for Hyles. At any rate, that is not what he told Mrs. Nischik. As for the latter, I couldn’t see that Jennie was mentioned in any of these three books, unless this was a veiled reference to her. If so, he certainly twisted the truth.

Here is what he told Gibbs about my first article exposing him in The Biblical Evangelist: “I came home the night that I found out about an article printed against me. I did not know about it. She [i.e., his wife, Beverly] told me to sit down. She said, ‘I have to tell you something. A man has written an article about you that is the biggest bunch of lies every printed about anybody’” (p.150, emphasis add-ed).

Speaking of a “biggest bunch of lies,” you just read them in what Hyles said. Note what I have highlighted above in boldface. The truth of the matter is that Hyles knew about it long before the articles came out. In fact, he knew about the first one weeks in advance, probably months. His friends knew I was doing research on him because I contacted many of them for information, and they passed on to him repeatedly what I was researching. In fact, even before the article was printed, when there was still time to stop it, he wrote me begging me not to print it, saying it would ruin a lovely lady (no, not his wife; he was referring to “the woman in the case,” as Dr. Bob Jones would have called her). I wrote him back and pointed out to him that it would hurt his dear wife more than any one and he hadn’t even mentioned her!

Those who knew Jack Hyles are not surprised by any of this, of course. If this surprises you – or you don’t believe it – you did not know Hyles, only his public image that he crafted very carefully.

BILL BENNETT, “HIGH ROLLER!”

We have always admired – and frequently quoted – our former United States Secretary of Education under President Ronald Reagan, William J. Bennett. He is a positive conservative in politics and takes a good position on most issues facing the American public, in our judgment. (One of his best sellers was The Book of Virtues.) Like the rest of the country, we were shocked to the depth of our soul with the revelations of his gambling obsession. While we have always been – and still are – 100% against gambling, let’s take a more realistic look at Bennett’s case than what the media has been presenting. His favorite vices in the gambling establishments were video poker and the slots (not the quarter ones, but the $500-a-pull ones).

Probably the word being bandied in the press and over the airwaves the most is “hypocrite,” a man who preached morality and lived the opposite. That doesn’t even remotely fit the case of Bill Bennett! He did nothing illegal. He did not break the law. At no time did he ever speak out against gambling as a sin. When he lost, he paid his debts. His gambling winning/losses were always reported to the IRS. He did nothing he had “preached” against (which is what a hypocrite is). In fact, gambling is something promoted and practiced heavily in his faith, the Roman Catholic religion.

Perhaps you’ve heard the old joke about someone being run over by a truck at a busy intersection. When it became obvious that the victim was dying the policeman at the scene asked, “Is there anyone present who can perform last rites for this gentleman?” When there was only silence for a moment or two, a man stepped to the front and said, “I’m not a priest nor even a Catholic, but I’ve lived next door to a Catholic Church for years and heard the priest perform it many times. I think I could do it.”

The officer responded, “Well, if there is no one else and no one objects, go ahead.” The gentleman put his hand on the dying victim’s head, closed his eyes, and softly intoned, with a pause between each, “B-5, F-36, C-14.....”

You get the point! The Roman Catholic churches themselves are often – let’s make that ‘usually’ – the biggest promoters of gambling in town, with regular Bingo parties each Monday, Wednesday or Friday; raffles on anything that will sell a ticket and they can get donated to the church; plus all the rest. Several times little children have come to my door from “Saint Whomsoever” and tried to sell me a ticket on an automobile raffle or some other form of gambling, attempting to raise money for their church. I kindly explain to the children that I do not gamble and that I could not, in good conscience, buy a ticket. They say, “Okay!” and scamper off to the house next door in search of their next sucker.

Bill Bennett was doing something he didn’t consider any more immoral than drinking a mug of hot chocolate before going to bed. Whatever you think about him, “hypocrite” is certainly not the proper word here.

This story broke while I was on the road traveling north through Georgia on my way to Ohio. One of the talk show hosts I was listening to at the time – not one of the big time boys, a Neal Something-or-other – was going on and on about Bennett’s hypocrisy. Then, to my surprise, he started talking about his own gambling. He boasted that he sometimes bet on a ball game, or played a little black jack at a casino, but never anything big. It was all “small stakes,” he assured us.

I thought that was incredible! Here he was, blasting Bennett for something he did himself – only the amount was different. It was akin to saying, “Joe Blow is an awful person, a hypocrite, because he is committing adultery with every available woman in town. I admit I commit adultery sometimes, but it is only with one or two women.” If it is wrong it is wrong; the quantity of the sin doesn’t change it.

The main sin of which Bill Bennett was guilty, at least in my judgment – apart from his obvious bad example to the youth of America – relates to the waste of money he was pouring into the pockets of wicked, immoral people, every penny of which could have been better placed into the hands of charity and helped reduce the suffering of hurting boys, girls, men and women.

To Bennett’s credit, when this story broke, he released a statement to the press, saying, “It is true that I have gambled large sums of money. I have also complied with all laws on reporting wins and losses. Nevertheless, I have done too much gambling, and this is not an example I wish to set. Therefore, my gambling days are over.” His wife, Elayne, added, “He is never going [to a casino] again.”

We are willing to take him at his word.

And, remember, gambling is wrong, wrong, wrong! It is trying to get something for nothing, something you did not earn nor deserve, and always at the expense of another individual or individuals! My dear mother called it stealing, and wouldn’t even let me play “keepers” when shooting marbles with the neighborhood kids. If she found out I had, she made me take the winnings back to the kid who lost them. If I had lost, that was my tough luck, a lesson to learn.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE EDITOR!

Oh, boy, what is the editor praising himself about now? Actually, this isn’t any thing for him to be proud about, unless one can be proud of an endurance contest. These “best wishes” and “many happy returns” of which we now speak are really just for existing, something like getting out of bed every morning. It was exactly 60 years ago this month (August) that your editor began his ministry.

As a kid preacher (that phrase doesn’t make me sound quite as old at the present as the “60 years” does), I launched my ministry on August 8th at the Fundamental Baptist Tabernacle (now the Calvary Baptist Church) in Pontiac, Illinois. I received the “call” by mail on my 21st birthday (which helped make it a happy time). There were two negative votes (the church clerk gave me all the details) and there was no mention of a salary – but that was purely incidental. Someone wanted me to preach to them and a 60-year career was started that has permitted me to preach in every State of the Union and around the world in many countries.

To say, “God has been good,” would be an understatement of the first magnitude! It has been a great journey and I have enjoyed every minute of it, the lows as well as the highs! I had no idea that He could use in His service such an ordinary, common kind of individual with absolutely no apparent gift for anything. But as I told a ministerial group just the other day, on my last preaching trip, “God is looking for nobodies to prove what He can do!” I certainly qualified for that “nobody” class.

Don’t send me any cards or gifts! If you would like to honor my ministry in some way, send a financial gift to our Raleigh office to keep this paper going out. Since it relates to 60 years, $60 would be nice. Some of you could make it $600 without a bit of trouble and a few might be able to go $6,000. This is an especially difficult time of the year for us right now, financially, and any help you could give would be greatly appreciated.

August is also the occasion of my Mama producing me, but I won’t give out those years and I can’t claim any credit for that anyway. (If you are able to add 2 and 2 and get 4, you already know my age from what I wrote above.) Actually, August was a very good month for me. I was born in August, I married in August, my first child was born in August, I began my public ministry in August – and many, many other good things happened then, too.

OUR “TAX” STATE!

As the ex-Senate Majority Leader from Mississippi, Trent Lott, pointed out: “When you wake up in the morning and drink that first cup of coffee, you pay a sales tax. When you start your car, you pay an automobile tax. Drive to work, you pay a gas tax. At work, you pay an income tax – and a payroll tax. You get home at night, and you pay a property tax. Flip on the light – you’re paying an electricity tax. Turn on the TV – you pay a cable tax. Make a telephone call, you pay a utility tax. Brush your teeth, you’ll pay a water tax. Even when you die, you pay a death tax. We are an overtaxed nation and hard-working Americans deserve a break.” Amen, brother!

And speaking of ‘ex’s and taxes, how about this one from ex-President Ronald Reagan: “We need true tax reform that will at least make a start toward restoring for our children the American Dream that wealth is denied to no one, that each individual has the right to fly as high as his strength and ability will take him.... But we cannot have such reform while our tax policy is engineered by people who view the tax as a means of achieving changes in our social structure….”

Who is really to blame for “the mess we is in”? We nominate Franklin D. Roosevelt for the dishonor. While many of his programs were eventually ruled unconstitutional – angering him no end and causing him to try to “stack” the court – he explained it: “Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.” No, FDR, that is the Communist/Socialist principle. As Karl Marx, credited with being one of the founders of the Communist Party, expressed it, “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.”

And speaking of what our taxes have funded, The Federalist, from which we gleaned the above, commented: “It would be interesting to tally all things in Iraq named after Saddam and see if they exceed buildings, places, bridges, roads, etc., named after Senator Byrd in West Virginia. I think not.” Yet he is one of the biggest critics of government spending in Washington.

POOR TOM! EVEN HIS OWN CHURCH REJECTS HIM!

It’s clear: even the Roman Catholics don’t want him! Bishop Robert Carlson of the Sioux Falls (ND) diocese sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle ordering him to stop referring to himself as a Catholic and to delete all such references from his campaign materials and the Congressional biography in Washington. (It has been nearly two decades since Daschle was even permitted to “take communion,” so this is merely adding insult to injury and means the church is ashamed to have him identified with it.)

It seems the Catholic leaders are disgusted with his immoral positions on moral issues such as abortion.

At the same time, Rome seems ready to go after all Roman Catholic politicians who try to hide behind the smokescreen, “I’m personally against abortion, but this is the law” (long known as Cuomoism, in honor [?] of New York’s ex-governor, a wall behind which many others have tried to hide since he had such success using it). We trust so. Some suggested targets for Rome include the House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, Ted “Chappa-quiddick” Kennedy, and several of the announced candidates for President on the Democrat ticket.

As J. Bottum, an editor in the Weekly Standard from whom we gleaned this information, put it: “This isn’t a matter of favoring Republicans or Democrats. Regardless of their party, public figures who aren’t going to oppose abortion shouldn’t call themselves Catholic anymore.” That ought to be for “Protestants,” too; they shouldn’t call themselves Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist – or whatever their denominational label might be. Pro-abortion is unChristian! All murder is, of course.

By the way, both Daschle and Carlson indignantly protested the publicizing of what they called private, personal correspondence (Daschle complaining it happened during “holy week!”); neither, incidentally, denied its reality.

MORE ON TOM’S CHURCH

Pope John Paul II recently announced he had “canonized” five new “saints.” Listing them by order of birth, they were: Angela de la Cruz (1846-1932), the founding nun of Sisters of the Company of the Cross; Jose Maria Rubio, a priest who promoted living a simple life for God, the Opus Dei; Genoveva Torres (1870-1956), another founding nun, this one the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Holy Angels; Pedro Poeda, a priest murdered at the start of the Spanish Civil War; and Maravillas de Jesus (1891-1974), still another founding nun, this one the Order of Barefoot (Discalced) Carmelites.

We have commented on this farce of “making saints” previously. No pope, even if he were the representative of Christ on earth (which he is not), has such power. Saints are made by God when a poor sinner puts his or her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and is born again. They need no recommendations, they are not required to have performed at least “two miracles,” or any other such feat. Sainthood is a position in Christ that a believer receives upon salvation. He or she may not act very saintly at times. The “saints” at Corinth (see I Corinthians 1:2 for a declaration of their standing before God) certainly didn’t. See some of their unsaintly acts in I Corinthians 3:1-4; 5:1-6, 13; 6:1-8; et cetera. The same was true with many of the other New Testament churches.

Are you a saint? You are if you have trusted Christ and been saved. Now, act like it!

Rome has the order reversed. It says if someone lives a good life he or she has the right to become a saint. God says one becomes a saint and then is expected to live a good life, honoring the One who saved him.

I became a saint, incidentally, on July 9, 1940 – and it didn’t take the edict of a pope to make me one!

HEAVENLY MUSIC!

We didn’t see the report of it when it happened, but our friend and ministry supporter, Dr. Merrill Dunlop, “entered the Gloryland” on June 15th” last year, going to sleep at night and waking in Heaven. We learned of it when his widow, Lenore, dropped us a note to thank us for the Christmas greetings we had sent them. She said, “Merrill enjoyed the wonders, the music, the beauty, and the heavenly family right there on the spot” last Christmas. Indeed, he did!

In his last letter to me (full page, typewritten with numerous errors because he couldn’t see what he was typing) he said, “I have always loved THE BIBLICAL EVANGELIST,” then went on to explain that his poor eyesight now prevented him from reading it. In fact, his wife added a handwritten note at the bottom: “My husband has asked me to add a few words. His eyesight is now very poor. He is able to read headlines of the newspaper with the help of the magnifier. He still plays at church because he has memorized so much over the years. The Biblical Evangelist has been a great blessing to him and he deeply regrets that he can no longer read it, but would like to make a helpful donation of $50 to enable the publication to continue the blessing to others.” That was typical of him.

In 1990 he wrote a beautiful gospel song inspired by the editor’s booklet, Heaven Can Be Yours! and so titled. Two verses and a chorus in length, the final ending was, “Heaven SHALL be yours!” The emphasis “SHALL” is in the song, now under copyright by his publisher, The Benson Company (actually, his publishing arrangement was with Singspiration Music, which later became a part of Benson). We had Benson’s permission to print it in The Biblical Evangelist and did so on December 1, 1990 (if you have a back copy; check it out – our permission was for one insertion only).

Dr. Dunlop was the composer of hundreds of wonderful gospel songs and hymns, along with numerous choruses that were very popular in the 20th century. My favorite, which ranks right up there in second place under James M. Gray’s “Only a Sinner, Saved by Grace,” is, “My Sins Are Blotted Out, I Know.” I hope both are sung, perhaps along with “Heaven Can Be Yours,” at my memorial service –if the coming of Christ doesn’t eliminate its necessity. And my favorite among his choruses – which I went around singing in my home, church and automobile – was, “I Believe the Answer’s on the Way!”

Some of his better known songs were, “He Put a Song in My Heart,” “Lord, Make Calvary Real to Me,” “You’d Better Get on that Road,” “Opened for Me,” “Who Is that Movin’ My Heart.” At the same time he sent me his “Heaven Can Be Yours!” song, he added a copy of a beautiful new song he had penned at Christmas that year, “Appreciation.” We assume Benson has that one now, too.

Not only did he write hundreds of complete songs, both lyrics and music, he also composed the music for some of the other great poets. By way of example, he did so for Avis B. Christiansen (“Only One Life to Offer”), Thomas O. Chisholm (“Christ Is Risen from the Dead,” and, “He Was Wounded for Our Transgressions”), and Paul Rader (“No Heavy Crosses”).

Here, obviously, was a talent not wasted. It was used fully and joyfully for the honor and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ! I understand completely Mrs. Dunlop’s word to me, “I miss him terribly, but am comforted in knowing that he is ‘far better’.” We need a new generation of Fanny Crosbys, John Petersons, and Merrill Dunlops who will write serious gospel music for use in the 21st century.

IS SIN OKAY IF DONE IN HIGH ENOUGH PLACES?

That President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was a whoremonger has long been common knowledge. In fact, as bad as President William Jefferson Clinton behaved, he apparently wasn’t as bad as Kennedy (based on what we currently know, at least). Recently it was disclosed that JFK groveled in the same gutter with Clinton, carrying on an extended sexual liaison with a teen-age intern. In fact, it lasted approximately a year and a half and was terminated only when they young girl got engaged to a banker (a union that ended in divorce) shortly before JFK’s assassination.

This was not an occasional 10-minute diddly in the Oval Office, but the young lady actually traveled with Kennedy just to service him on overseas junkets. When the story first broke it was only revealed that the girl was known as “Mimi.” Later she was identified as Marion Fahnestock (her married name). Perhaps more astounding – and incredible – she now serves as church administrator at New York City’s historic Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church where some of history’s finest orthodox and Bible-believing, Bible-preaching pulpiteers have ministered in days gone by.

Do you say, “Hey, everybody has a past and conversion wipes it out.” True, but in Mimi’s case there is not even the slightest evidence of any remorse, any repentance, or anything else. In her statement to reporters there was only an expression of relief that the secret was out and she could now move on with her life (a favorite expression of those not wanting to face the music).

What is the conclusion of all this? Apparently, for the public at least, immorality and flaunting of marital vows is perfectly all right. Doesn’t every one do it?

No, everyone does not do it and the Word of God still stands inflexible and adamant: “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14), “But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul” (Proverbs 6:32), “Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 19:18,19).

The sad thing about all this is that most Americans think the revelation is a joke and something to be accepted as a fact of life. If so, maybe we need revival in America more than we thought we did.

CONFIRMATION OF WHAT WE’VE BEEN SAYING!

For a long time we have been insisting that America’s main religion is the god Sports, the stadiums and arenas are its temples, and the athletes have reached a state of worship by the American public. The public packs its houses of worship every Sunday and much of the time during the week. We saw it confirmed by one of the leading participants and voices the other day in an article in USA TODAY, the complimentary newspaper given at many motels weekday mornings (as far as we can remember we’ve never purchased a copy).

Written by Kelly Whiteside, the bold headline on the cover story screamed, “Through scandal after scandal, Alabama’s faith remains firm.” The subheading was, State’s devotion to football helps Crimson Tide program endure. Alabama, of course, had hired Mike Price to head the Tide, still searching for a savior to bring the team back to its glory days under Bear Bryant. It was a bad choice and before he could led the team onto the gridiron for its first conflict, his immorality surfaced and he was fired for conduct unbecoming to the sport and to the university.

Whiteside, in his article, quoted a former ‘Bama coach, Bill Curry, who is now an ESPN analyst. Listen to what Curry said:

“In the State of Alabama, football is the dominant thing in the culture…. It virtually has all the characteristics of a church, a religious state. If you define religion as a process in which you search for all the answers in life, many people in the State of Alabama view football in that way.”

I rest my case!

Meanwhile, at another “sports’ church,” this one in the basketball denomination, Iowa State’s “pastor,” Coach Larry Eustachy, got “voted out” for alcohol problems and improper action with co-eds. In both of these cases, the students, athletes and general public overwhelmingly opposed and protested the firings.

By the way, the editorial cartoon in the same USA TODAY issue headlining the Price firing, showed a shot of William Jefferson Clinton puffing on a stogie and wife Hillary, reading a newspaper headlined ‘Bama Coach Fired for Lewd Behavior,’ is saying to Bill, “Good thing you were only a President.”

While this is beside the point, perhaps, the star quarterback of the Tennessee Titans, Steve McNair, was recently arrested on charges of drunk driving and illegal possession of a handgun (a 9 mm). The “board of deacons” – Coach Jeff Fisher, general manager Floyd Reese, and president Jeff Diamond – all declared they were standing behind him. Of course; it would be rough for this “church” to lose its #1 attraction for bringing in “worshipers.”

LOVE (?) BY BEING UNTRUTHFUL?

The New York Times reported with unrestrained glee a meeting of the National Association of Evangelicals, co-sponsored by the Institute on Religion and Democracy, when that body released a 3-page statement titled, “Guidelines for Christian-Muslim Dialogue” (why would saints want to dialogue with devils? See I Corinthians 10:20), telling its followers to “cool it” with talk about the Islam faith. It used the occasion to take slaps at leaders like Jerry Vines, Franklin Graham and Jerry Falwell for making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammad and the religion he invented.

The “guidelines” were written by Alan F. H. Wisdom, who is vice-president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy. Dr. Ted Haggard, president of the NAE, observed, “Since we are in a global community, no doubt about it, we must temper our speech and we must communicate primarily through actions.” Alas, it is difficult to temper your speech when talking about such a rogue as Mohammad, or discussing his anti-Christian teachings.

Paul Marshall, who heads something called Center for Religious Freedom, argued that “anti-Islam comments” (i.e., telling the truth about the religion) merely boost the ego of the one doing the exposing. Quite frankly, we doubt Vine, Graham or Falwell had such in mind for a moment. I know that is not our intent.

How in