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
Dr. Robert L. Sumner

Well, “Happy 232^nd Birthday,” America! We say that even as we wonder how much longer you will remain “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” Illegal immigration, free love, Sodomy enhancement, divorce and remarriage, polygamy, child abuse, drunkenness, illegal drug use, sins of every style are abounding, and socialistic programs are turning this country into a land our Founding Fathers would never recognize. Nor would they, we think, want to hang around very long.

As for full-blown socialism, our Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776 with a unanimous vote (not a single delegate opposing or abstaining), the second paragraph stated: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Note that third word from the end: pursuit! It does not say, contrary to what most Americans seem to think in our day, provision! It is not the government’s job – nor was it ever intended to be the government’s job – to provide happiness. Today’s politicians – and we are not just talking about candidates for the White House, although it makes its loudest noise there – get elected on the basis of which one makes the most promises about what entitlements he or she will provide the citizen if elected. It is pathetic.

And it is going to ruin this country. It is just a matter of ‘when’ it happens.

But ‘Happy Birthday’ anyway, America.

We have a good and interesting paper for you again this month.

The article by Jack MacArthur in our Bible Study Corner is thrilling evidence of divine inspiration. What a wonder this Book is, marvelously and divinely put together. Dr. MacArthur examines the Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by our Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry, highlighting especially those fulfilled in His crucifixion. You will be delighted!

The fact that Mitt Romney was a full-blown Mormon attracted a lot of attention and many good people wondered if Mormonism might not be a legitimate Christian religion. While he dropped out of the race months back (unless John McCain chooses him as his running mate), we felt that the message “5 Reasons Why I Cannot be a Mormon” by Tom A. Forehand and published by the Watchman’s Fellowship, a highly respected cult watcher organization, should be published for the benefit of our readers. Dr. James K. Walker, president of the Fellowship, kindly gave us permission. Be enlightened about this cult.

There is a brief message by Bill Compton, a pastor/evangelist who has long proclaimed the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. As an evangelist, he has preached in some of America’s largest (and smallest) churches. And he has been a popular conference speaker as well, especially in independent Baptist circles. His message relates to ‘illegal aliens’ not being the way to get to Heaven.

Everyone seems to want to issue a "manifesto" these days and one group has recently come out with an "Evangelical Manifesto." It identifies evangelicals as "Christians who define themselves, their faith, and their lives according to the Good News of Jesus of Nazareth."

While that sounds good, remembering that in the old days of what is now the National Council of Churches, loaded with liberals, all would sign a statement saying something like that, it doesn't especially impress us. In fact, we printed out the shorter statement of the Manifesto and planned to answer it, but Ergun Caner of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, here in Lynchburg, sent me his response with permission to print, so we are doing that instead. Richard Land is another Baptist leader who announced he will not sign it. And they are having to take Jerry Falwell’s name off the list, too (he never signed it and never would have signed it).

Be sure and read Caner’s statement.

Since a previous issue warned about Robert Schuller’s RETHINK conference, it seems fair to give you the excellent evaluation of it by Ralph G. Colas, the General Secretary of the American Council of Christian Churches. It is taken, with permission, from the ACCC’s “Special Report” for the Spring of 2008. That report also contained Dr. Colas’ evaluation of the liberal World Council of Churches’ 60^th Anniversary Celebration. If you would like a copy of this report, send a donation to cover the cost of printing and mailing to: ACCC, P. O. Box 5455, Bethlehem, PA 18015.

The editor’s offering this issue is a message on Felix, the Roman governor who played games with his soul – and lost! Don’t you make the same foolish mistake as did he. The editor also has a brief article lamenting current Sword of the Lord leadership’s positions that are contrary to those held by its founder and long editor, Dr. John R. Rice.

MEMORIALS

¶ He took part in the famous bombing raid on Tokyo during World War II, barely four months after Pearl Harbor when the participants knew they only had fuel to get them there, but not back – seemingly a suicide mission inspired by a patriotism not many possess today. It was the first attack on the Japanese homeland and was something the latter did not think possible. While 24 crews volunteered for “extremely hazardous” but unspecified duty only 16 were selected.

Sixteen North American B-25B Mitchell, each with a five man crew, eventually took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet with Lt. Col. James “Jimmy” Doolittle in charge. All 16 planes were lost – 15 crashing or being ditched in China and one in Russia (where the crew was held captive until 1943) – and 11 crewmembers were killed or captured.

One of the captured, Jacob DeShazer, a lowly corporal serving as bombardier for the team flying on “Bat Out of Hell” that Lt. William Farrow piloted and which crashed at Ningpo, went to be with Christ early this year. His story is unusual and worth retelling.

DeShazer’s crew fell into the hands of the Japanese and he was starved, beaten, tortured and held captive for 40 months, 34 of them in solitary confinement. His pilot, Lt. Farrow, and the crew’s engineer-gunner, Sgt. Harold Spatz were executed by a firing squad. After V-J Day and his liberation, DeShazer went to Seattle Pacific College (now University) and earned a degree in Biblical literature, then, in 1948, went back as a missionary to the country where he was so horribly treated to tell them of God’s forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ. He served there for three decades. As I recall, the late Dr. John R. Rice supplied him with all the What Must I Do to Be Saved? tracts he could use and I believe Dr. Ford Porter did the same with his God’s Simple Plan of Salvation.

What a marvelous story of grace DeShazer portrayed. Even the Wall Street Journal said in editorializing on his decease, “It is one of life’s safer bets that he is resting in peace.” For DeShazer it was not a bet, a gamble, but a certainty.

¶ Again, like some before, this memorial relates to a patriotic American, not necessarily an evangelical Christian (we know nothing about his spiritual condition – and playing Moses in a Hollywood film counts for nothing in gaining Heaven). Anyway, Charlton Heston was a patriot of the first order. He believed in American and said so (including fighting in WW II). He believed in the Constitution, and said so! A strong advocate of the Second Amendment, he was elected president of the NRA and held that post for a half-dozen years. It was because of these things that Jerry Falwell had him speak at a Liberty University 4^th of July spectacular in 2001.

As indicated above, he was Moses in Cecil B. DeMill’s epic film, “The Ten Commandments,” and also starred in the religious epic, “Ben Hur” (for which he garnered an Academy Award).

A victim of Alzheimer’s Disease, he died in early April at age 84. I was in Southern California at the time and it was big, big news out there.

¶ He served as an evangelist, and he served as a pastor, but Max Helton was best known as a man ministering to speed demons who raced around the ovals. After a meeting with Darrell Waltrip and his wife Stevie, he felt God leading him into a ministry in auto racing, so he founded Motor Racing Outreach and headed for the tracks. He became, probably, the best known preacher among the racing elite, and they knew him as one who preached – and lived – the Bible uncompromisingly and believed it with a passion, from Genesis through Revelation.

When he died in late March at age 67, it wasn't surprising that a memorial service in his honor was conducted in pre-race ceremonies prior to the races at the Texas Motor Speedway the first Sunday following his promotion to Heaven. Speedway President Eddie Gossage, who also serves on the World-Span board of directors Helton launched after leaving Outreach, noted, "Max aided so many people in auto racing and you would often see him with some of the sport's top drivers, offering a quiet prayer just before the start of a race. He very personally counseled me through the years and was a great influence on my life."

Helton worked at leading Bible study with drivers and crew members in that sport, conducted chapel service at race tracks each weekend, and had personal counseling sessions with those who requested it. Later he formed World-Span Ministries (Outreach was limited by its charter to NASCAR) and followed the very same concept to racing events around the world, traveling internationally as he spread the message.

He was a friend of my pastor son, Dick, dating back to their college days at what is now Tennessee Temple University. Diagnosed with brain cancer last August, Max is survived by his wife, Jean, four daughters, nine grandchildren, and a host of friends. His death is a great loss to auto racing and he will be sorely missed.

¶ One of our contributors (we printed a prophetic message of his in our September-October 2006 issue), a scholar who taught at several seminaries, Bernard Northrup, went to be with Christ in mid-April. He earned both a Master and a Doctor in Theology at the Dallas Theological Seminary.

During his teaching career he taught Hebrew and Old Testament at San Francisco Baptist Theological Seminary, Baptist Bible Seminary in Clark’s Summit (PA), and Central Seminary in Minneapolis. His final professional ministry was at Shasta Bible College (CA) where he served as dean.

Dr. Northrup also traveled as a translation consultant with Bibles International, “checking the accuracy of translation work done by nationals in more than 20 different languages in India, the Philippines, and Africa.” He is alleged to have been the first to recognize that Job has much to say about “earth’s fifth great cataclysm, the biblical icy catastrophe.”

He died at Redding, California at the age of 85.

¶ While we were never much into the Bill Gaither music ministry (although we certainly never opposed that style and often enjoyed it), those who have been will be saddened that one of its stars, Dottie Rambo, lost her life in a motor accident when on her way to perform at a Mother's Day event in the Dallas-Fort Worth area last May. Her tour bus veered off I-44 near Mount Vernon (MO) and hit an embankment. The seven others on the bus suffered "severe or moderate injuries" and were hospitalized in Springfield.

Rambo wrote her first song at eight (an age most of us were stealing cookies out of cookie jars) and she was signed to a music contract by the ‘unique’ governor of Louisiana, Jimmy Davis, while still a teenager. She won a Grammy in 1968 and went on to write an estimated 2,500 songs, including the popular "We Shall Behold Him" and "Behold the Lamb." George Beverly Shea, Steve Greene, Bill Gaither, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, and even Elvis Presley recorded her songs.

She had been inducted in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame, and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Whitney Houston sang her "I Go to the Rock" in the film "The Preacher's Wife."

Mrs. Sumner appreciated her music and was saddened at the news. We are confident that grief will be shared by  literally thousands of other gospel music fans.

In the same venue, Maria Chapman, the little 5-year-old daughter of Christian singer/songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth, was accidentally struck and killed in their driveway by a car her brother was driving at the time. Maria was the youngest of three little daughters the Chapmans had adopted from China. We offer our sincere sympathy.

Earth lost a fervent missionary-evangelist when C. Raymond Buck went to Heaven earlier this year. Leaving the pastorate in 1954, he and his wife Catherine were accepted by Baptist Mid-Missions and went to French Equatorial Africa (later, Central African Republic). Since he had earned six degrees – three master’s and one doctorate – he worked diligently in training nationals for positions of leadership in national churches, doing a fantastic job.

When health problems forced them back to the States, Buck briefly served a Kansas pastorate and then accepted a position with his sending mission as Northern Deputation Secretary. Three years later he was named Foreign Secretary for Africa and Europe; then, in 1978, he became the BM-M Vice President. After our friend Dr. Allen E. Lewis retired in 1978, Buck was named president, a post he served with distinction from 1983 to 1989. Under his leadership it grew to over 1,200 missionaries and opened numerous new fields around the world. It was also under his direction that the mission office moved from downtown Cleveland to the suburbs.

In 1989 he had reached the ‘magical’ retirement of age of 65, but such an idea wasn’t in his blood. He went to the Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Minneapolis and served for more than a decade as chairman of its missions and evangelism department. In 1970 we printed one of his messages, “The Reality of Untold Millions.”

We warmly concur with current BM-M president, Dr. Gary Anderson, “Praise the Lord for a life well lived, right to the very end.” He was 83 at the time of his Homegoing. Of Heaven it may now be said, “The Buck stops here!” He and Catherine had four children: Charles, Cheryl, Christina and Richard.

MILESTONES

¶ We salute, as mentioned above, the birthday of our country. Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, was strongly opposed to the Spanish-American War, although it lasted barely three months (109 days) and Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam became U.S. possessions as a result. (Kids today, thinking they have discovered something new in opposing war, are more than naïve.) We also got a great President from the notoriety and fame Teddy Roosevelt received from leading his “Rough Riders” up San Juan Hill.

Although this war was in the 19^th century (April-August 1898), it was not until early in the 20^th century (the calendar year 1905-06) that Twain wrote in his diary, referring to it and saying there are two kinds of patriotism, “monarchical” and “republican.” He identified the former as “the king can do no wrong” (changed to, for Americans, “our country, right or wrong”). And before his entry was over, he concluded patriotism was a "grotesque and laughable word." We do not agree.

J. Gresham Machen, who thought it ill for a minister to do battle, was nonetheless a frontline YMCA volunteer during World War I. He insisted the sacrifices of our fighting men "deserve not less but more honor than they are receiving from their fellow citizens." He felt that true liberty and true patriotism went together like ham and eggs, although he, too, warned of a patriotism that led to a “pagan idolatry,” which would probably be Twain’s “my country, right or wrong.”

Yet Machen feared even more the “modern paganism” that had entrenched itself in the church. He warned of a loyalty to a denomination instead of to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was concerned about "liberty under the law of God" as the one way to preserve both a free society and a free church.

The Patriot, from which we gleaned some of these comments, concluded its much longer editorial: “Patriotism, liberty and God's moral order: These ideas are utterly inseparable, together forming the foundation of our nation. Patriotism cannot be separated from liberty, just as liberty cannot be separated from God's law and justice, lest both become perverted, meaningless or even dangerous.”

¶ Last May the tiny nation of Israel (7,000,000 population) celebrated its 60^th ‘modern times’ birthday. In that time it has fought seven wars against amazing odds – her enemies among the Arab nations want her annihilated and make no bones about it. She has, as Nile Gardiner noted, “… survived in the face of insurmountable odds, international hostility and massive intimidation, a tribute to the strength of the human spirit and the willingness of Israelis to fight to defend their freedom.”

The Jews are back in their land in unbelief, but it is a start. Prophetic students are quick to point out that her final return to the Land of Promise starts in a state of unbelief. As for me and my house, we want to claim the promise of Genesis 12:2, 3, “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

¶ Our friend, R. L. Hymers, Jr., celebrated the 50^th anniversary of his call to preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in April. The church he founded in downtown Los Angeles over two decades ago, the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle, honored him with a week-long, 9-day Bible conference that started on Saturday and went through Sunday the following week, featuring many of his ministerial friends and associates over the years.

Among those highlighted with testimonies or sermons included Dr. Clarence Sexton, Dr. Johnny Pope, Dr. Kreighton L. Chan (prominent medical doctor and UCLA medical school professor, a member of the church), Dr. Murphy Lum (First Chinese Baptist Church, L.A.), Dr. Arthur Houk, Dr. David Innes, Dr. Neal Weaver, Dr. Timothy Lin, and his longtime Associate Pastor, Dr. Christopher Cagan. A number of speakers were ministers formerly associated with the church or with Dr. Hymers.

Music was provided by the church soloist, Ben Griffith, who specializes in singing the songs of the late John R. Rice and who sang in each session, and Dave Shook. The night your editor preached Griffith sang one of my favorite Rice songs, “The Price of Revival.”

When other fundamental and/or evangelical churches were fleeing downtown Los Angeles like it was headquarters for the bubonic plague, Dr. Hymers went in and started what is now the Tabernacle. We first preached for him over two decades ago, when the church was meeting in the Ambassador Hotel (where Robert Kennedy was murdered). He has done a phenomenal job and dope heads, prostitutes, Sodomites, criminals – as well as folks from outlying areas – have come to know Jesus Christ and be built up in the Faith once delivered.

We trust God will spare him for many more years of ministry. The web site featuring his sermons has millions of hits from all over the world each month. It is amazing.

¶ Your editor has a milestone of sorts as well in August, recognizing 65 years in the gospel ministry. This count is from the start of his first day as pastor of the Fundamental Baptist Tabernacle (now Calvary Baptist Church) in Pontiac, Illinois. He had preached a few times earlier, but because of his work schedule while in seminary (7 p.m. to 7 a.m. ‘slinging hash’ at a diner) he did not have many opportunities prior to his graduation.

The editor, who had been burdened about evangelism from the start, held his first crusade at Meadowdale, West Virginia from October 1-15 in 1944 with a seminary classmate, Pelton Vandercoy. He resigned the Pontiac church in 1945 and conducted his first meeting as a full-time evangelist at Bethalto, Illinois (in the St. Louis area) from April 29-May 13; moving on to Hoisington, Kansas (just north of Great Bend), from May 15-27; and then to Hewittville, Illinois June 3-10. A lot of water has rolled over the dam and under the bridge since then!

The editor also has a birthday in August and it reminds him of some words Wendell Loveless printed in his newsletter that a friend sent him on his 75^th birthday. Loveless, a gifted musician and Bible teacher long associated with Moody Bible Institute, offered, “Life Begins at 80?” (no author given):

“I have good news for you – the first 80 years are the hardest; the second 80, so far as my experience goes, is a series of birthday parties. Everybody wants to carry your baggage and help you up the steps. If you forget your name, or anybody else’s, you need only explain that you are 80.

“If you put things away, then forget where you put them and have to search for hours to find them – or forget what you went to the store to buy – it’s all right because you are 80. If you repeat a story two or three times in one evening, everyone expects it, for you are 80. If you act silly, it's your second childhood; everyone is looking for symptoms of softening of the brain. At 65 or 70 they expect you to retire to a little house in Hawaii and become a discontented, grumbling, limping has-been. But if you survive until you are 80, everyone is surprised that you are alive, surprised that you can walk, surprised that you can drive a car, surprised that there are lucid intervals.

“At 70 people are mad at you for everything. At 80 they forgive you for anything. If you ask me, life begins at 80!”

So 86 won’t be too bad, I reckon.

¶ The editor’s pastor at the Timberlake Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA, Brian Ferrell, received his Doctor of Ministry from The Master’s Seminary in Sun Valley (CA) on May 11^th. The Master’s schools were originally the Los Angeles Baptist College & Theological Seminary, but during difficult days in 1974, Dr. John MacArthur and his mega Grace Community Church took over the college (renaming it The Master’s College in 1985), and the seminary was moved to Tacoma, WA and renamed the Northwest Baptist Seminary (where TBE columnist Dr. Mark Wagner is now president). Then, in 1986, Dr. MacArthur added The Master’s Seminary to his ministries in Southern California.

We congratulate Dr. Ferrell on his accomplishment, the fruit of hard labor and diligent work. His Master of Theology was earned at the Liberty Baptist Seminary in Lynchburg. Prior work was done before his conversion at Marshall University in West Virginia and he was a highly successful in the business world before trusting Christ and eventually surrendering to the gospel ministry.

A good, noble man, he will do a good work in the days to come, if Jesus doesn’t return first.

P.P. AND TITLE X

Should our tax dollars continue funding Planned Parenthood through Title X? Baptist Press recently noted the following:

-- A Kansas Planned Parenthood affiliate is facing 107 criminal charges after allegedly performing late-term abortions, refusing to report child abuse, failing to comply with parental consent requirements and not enforcing the 24-waiting period, Focus on the Family's CitizenLink reported.

-- California Planned Parenthood clinics are being sued after allegedly overcharging the state and federal governments $180 million.

-- An investigation by UCLA students uncovered several Planned Parenthood affiliates accepting racist-motivated donations, most recently in Oklahoma and New Mexico.

-- Allegations that Planned Parenthood affiliates fail to report the sexual abuse and statutory rape of underage girls have mounted in recent years.

-- An affiliate in Aurora, IL, falsified city permit documents in order to build a mega-abortion center in that town.

To top it all off, Planned Parenthood has announced plans to spend $10 million during this election cycle to build support among elected officials. Its "One Million Strong" effort will attempt to recruit 1 million people to vote for pro-abortion candidates, according to CitizenLink.

Focus on the Family and nearly 60 other pro-life organizations have sent a letter urging Congress to suspend Planned Parenthood funding. The Family Research Council sent out a petition April 1 that will be delivered to President Bush, asking him to approve new Title X rules that prevent funds from going to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.

By the way, this is incredible. Planned Parenthood, this organization of baby killers that has kept more women from become mothers than any other in recorded history, had a big "Mother's Day" promotion! It asked for donations from folks on May 11 to honor their mothers. Obviously, these mothers didn't kill their babies – or they wouldn't be around to honor them. Strange, isn't it?

These professional baby killers reaped over a billion bloody bucks in its 2006-07 fiscal year ($1,000,017,000). The previous high was $972,000,000. It made a profit of $112,000,000, but still bellies up to the government bars with both hands out for your tax money! It also murdered 289,750 helpless infants in their mothers' wombs, up nearly 25,000 from the previous year.

In light of the above, Indiana Congressman Mike Pence is introducing another bill to keep PP's hands out of our tax pockets via Title X. It failed last year, but he's going for it again.