YOU and GOD

Mother, Mother, Mother Dear!

Built for us in God’s own heart,
She would love us from the start;
Watching o’er us like none other,
We would cherish our dear mother.

In her arms she drew us near,
There would chase away each fear.
Through her loving, soothing voice,
We knew we were hers by choice.

From her eyes there shone rare grace,
Love was written on her face.
With her hands she met each need,
All our calls and cares did heed.

She was our first loving teacher,
Doctor, nurse and even preacher;
Words of kindness she would say,
Coaching us along the way.

Her wise lessons were our rule,
Ere we set our foot in school.
She would teach us by her life,
How to cope with stress and strife.

One could see her angel eyes,
When we called with coos or cries;
She was ever quick to come,
Caring ‘til the day was done.

Lullabies and sweetest song,
We could listen all day long.
Darkest room with heaven’s light,
Mother’s presence would make bright.

With a word or touch we’d know,
All was peaceful here below.
In her warm and caring arms,
We were safe from fears and harm.

So on this her special day,
We would simply pause to say,
“Mother, Mother, Mother dear,
You have brought to us such cheer!

We thank and praise you for your love,
You’re a gift from heaven above!
From our earliest infant cry,
To the day that we shall die.

We’ll thank God for you forever;
Nothing from your heart will sever;
‘til we draw our life’s last breath,
We will cherish you ‘til death.”

We will honor our dear mother,
For she loved us like none other.
Built for us in God’s own heart,
She has loved us from the start!

Anthony Slutz

(Ellen joins me today in thanking God for the blessed memory of our mothers; and in wishing all mothers an abundant measure of His grace, mercy, and peace on this your special day!)

One of the great pleasures of pastoring for 50 years was the joy of entertaining evangelists in our church and home as they held meetings with us, or when they were crisscrossing the U.S. from one meeting to another and needed a place to stay for a night or two. I could mention many—such as Jerry Sivnksty, Gary Gillmore, Joe Mark, Monroe Parker, and others—but one of our favorites was Evangelist Phil Shuler and his beautiful wife, Marie.

I had seen Phil from a distance and made the mistake of judging him and Marie, an off-the-charts talented pianist, as more “glitz” than glory. That was a terrible miscall! Shuler was a Marine who had landed at Bob Jones University with some other GIs who were going to school on the GI Bill after an amphibian tour of the Far East in World War II, and they just about rattled BJU off its solid foundations with their shenanigans. I learned that Phil kept 12 weeks a year open so that he could hold revival meetings in churches of 50 or less, i.e., churches that were afraid to call an evangelist for help for fear they could not afford to pay their expenses and give them a love offering. Well, he made it a point to go to such churches at his own expense, and when I heard that, I figured he had to be a man of rare character. I was right. More about Phil and Marie in a later post. But in honor of Mother’s Day, coming next Sunday, I want to share with you an article Phil wrote about his mother. He posted it in one of his newsletters about 40 years ago. It read:

“On August the 4^th, my mother, Nelle Reeves Shuler, went home to be with Christ. She was 96 and passed away in her sleep. If I live to be a hundred I will never, in this world, meet another woman like her! Mother was reared in a well-to-do home in Jonesboro, Tennessee, went to ‘finishing school,’ and married my dad when she was 20. Out of the state of Tennessee dad got the ‘pick of the litter!’ Those who remember her as a young lady remark about that ‘beautiful Nelle Reeves!’ Mom took her place beside her raw-bones, fiery preacher-husband, and never once let him down! She was his mainstay! Dad got the credit for great exploits for Christ, but it was Mom who stood firmly by him, and steadied him along the path. She supplied him with most of his sermon texts and proof-read all his articles in THE METHODIST CHALLENGE. You never saw mother in the foreground, but quietly she would be off in the shadow, supporting her husband and his work. (Phil’s father, “Fightin’ Bob Shuler, pastored a large independent Methodist church in Los Angeles and always kept the Devil on his case) Her kind come along just now and then.

Mother raised seven children. She lost Dick at the age of 9 months. All seven of her children are bound for the Promised Land because of a mother who refused to see it otherwise, and stayed on her knees nightly to so convince her God! I can remember walking by her room on more than one occasion to hear her mention my name to God in prayer! She lived to see three of her boys enter the ministry, and one of those enter heaven! I can’t remember the number of her grandchildren; it keeps changing all the time. And great-grandchildren….forget it! But what a joy it was for mother to entertain them on visits! She was quite a lady!

God occasionally sends along a preacher like my dad, but never without a wife like my mother! As I reflect upon their influence on me, I determine in my heart to do my dead-level best to carry on the tradition. I certainly have the wife for it! And the opportunity is there! God give me strength! Yours for souls, Phil Shuler.”

Ellen and I will never forget the time that Phil and Marie were our houseguests and, while we were relaxing in our living room, Phil broke out into one of the lullabies that he used to hear his mother sing when he sat at her knee as a toddler. He sang as only Phil could, in his “sweet” tenor voice, and he must have sung those lullabies for half an hour, one after another; most of them were new to us, but all of them had been tucked away in Phil’s heart. And now, as an older man himself, those sweet verses sung from his mother’s heart, through her holy lips, came back to Phil like a flood, and we just sat there listening “in another world!” We have kicked ourselves a hundred times for not turning on something to record those musical masterpieces, but alas! We had no cell phones, and the recording equipment was not handy at that moment. It was one of those unforgettable moments that one would love to have frozen in time.

I hope you enjoy this memory of Phil and Marie, and of Phil’s extraordinary mother—one of many I could share if time permitted, such as the time Phil reenacted the funeral service at his Dad’s church in LA when his 9-month-old brother, Dick, had died and Nelle, in the middle of her husband’s message in an auditorium packed with people, broke out singing, “Safe in the Arms of Jesus.”

I hope you all, especially Mothers, have a blessed day this second Sunday of May, Mother’s Day.

“Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.” (Provs.31:28 )

*This post first appeared in “You and God” on May 3, 2021

Be of Good Cheer!

Solomon said that “A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance,” and “he that hath a merry heart hath a continual feast,” and “A merry heart doeth good like medicine.” (Provs. 15:13,15 and 17:22) In this world of ever-present conflict, confusion, war, sickness, natural disasters, and political bombshells almost daily, a person with a merry heart is increasingly rare.

When a couple got married in the Mosaic dispensation, God instructed (through Moses) that the husband was, for one year, not to go to war; not to engage in business; and, positively, he was to stay at home for the first year of the marriage to “cheer up” his wife. My guess is that about six months into that year, the wife was looking at her calendar wondering how long it would yet be before her husband would be getting out of the house and going to work! Anyway, interesting, isn’t it, that his main assignment for the first year of the marriage was to “cheer up” his bride! (Deut. 24:5)

In three or four New Testament snapshots of Jesus in action, He instructed persons to “be of good cheer.” These occasions are inspiring and instructive.

The first occurs and is recorded in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 9. The occasion is that of a paralytic who was carried to Jesus on his bed by four of his friends. The house in which Jesus was teaching was so packed with people that the sick man’s friends had to remove tile from the roof above where Christ was standing; then he was lowered down into the room to where Jesus was. Matthew tells us that Jesus, “seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee.” (Matt.9:2) There was no penance, no probation, no purgatory, just “thy sins be forgiven thee!” This is before Christ would later say to the bedridden man, “Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thy house.” Is there any greater reason to be cheerful than to know your sins are forgiven? The palsied man was sick, to be sure, but his greatest need was not for physical healing but for soul salvation, which, because Jesus saw his faith, he received first and foremost! “Gone, gone, gone, gone, yes my sins are gone; now my soul is free and in my heart’s a song! Buried in the deepest sea, yes, that’s good enough for me; I can sing eternally, praise God, my sins are gone!” (Helen Griggs) No wonder Jesus said, “Be of good cheer!”

Then, in Mark’s gospel, chapter 6, our Lord employed those words again. Just the day before He had fed thousands of men, plus women and children, with only a few fish and a couple loaves of bread. After a full day of teaching, with evening approaching, the Lord astounded His disciples by refusing to send the multitude home hungry; thus, the miracle of the “feeding of the 5,000.”

Immediately after that, Jesus told his apostles to get into a boat and go to the other side of the lake where He would meet them; He himself found a quiet place to pray on the mountain side, the crowd having gone to their homes for the night. As the disciples began to row toward their intended destination, a squall on the small lake suddenly met their rowing efforts with fierce opposition. Sometime between 3 and 6 a.m., getting nowhere on the lake, the apostles saw what appeared to be, and indeed was, Jesus walking on the water! He strode effortlessly toward the boat and said, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.” (Mark 6:50) And, as He got into the boat, the wind ceased. Mark gives us as a “footnote” that the disciples were “sore amazed…for they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.” (Mark 6:51,52) It had only been a few hours between the miracle of the feeding of the thousands and the incident on the lake; yet, in that short time, the men who were to become the foundation upon which His church would be built had allowed their hearts to hardened, all because of a storm on the lake! And, do we not do the same? From a miracle on a mountain, to a storm on the sea of life, we can so soon forget the promise of His presence: “Lo, I am with you alway.”

The third time Jesus said “be of good cheer” is recorded in John 16:33. It concludes His upper room teaching when, in a most intimate setting with the eleven, Jesus instructs and prepares His apostles for His going to the Father. He then prays the prayer that we read in John 17, during which He acknowledges that Christ’s followers would face tribulation in a world that would hate them. In this context, Jesus said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Paul would later affirm that this was a “peace that passeth all understanding.” (Phil. 4:7)

Three times in the gospels, then, Jesus said, “Be of good cheer.” Once, because of the pardon He gave to a sinner whose sins had just been forgiven; then to the disciples who were calmed by His presence in a storm in a rowboat on a lake; and the third time to His disciples as He prepared them for coming tribulation with the assurance of peace that would be theirs so that they could be of good cheer because He had overcome the world!

His pardon, His presence, His peace: all reasons to “Be of good cheer!”

There is, by the way, one other time Jesus bid an apostle to “be of good cheer.” Paul, the apostle born out of due time, had just about been torn to pieces before an angry mob when he had been detained while on his way to Jerusalem. Alone at night, he was probably wondering to himself if he should not have heeded the warning of his friends who had tried their best to dissuade him from going to Jerusalem. (Acts 21:10-13) But on that dark and lonely night, Jesus “stood by Him, and said, ‘Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.’” (Acts 23:11) His promise was all that the apostle needed to assure him that he would not be alone—ever.

His pardon, His presence, His peace and His promise—all cause for “good cheer,” then and even now. So, my friend, no matter how hard the winds of adversity blow; no matter how stiff the opposition becomes, or how dark and lonely the night in your corner of God’s world: “Be of good cheer.” He is with you, He has overcome the world, and “this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” (I John 5:4)

“In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: (the Septuagint rendering: “Be of good cheer”) and to Zion, Let not thy hands be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty: He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.” (Zeph.3:17)

Christ’s Great Commission

Bill Rice, who founded the Bill Rice Ranch ministry in the early 1950s, related a story of a girl going to China as a missionary. Once, when she was on deputation in a church, someone remarked to her, “You sure must love the Chinese people. The very fact that you would leave your homeland, your loved ones, and your family shows that you really do love them.” The young lady replied, “I do not know any Chinese people. I do not know if I love them or not, but I do love the Lord Jesus, and He has impressed upon my heart to go and help these needy people.”

After a number of years in China, she returned home to the same church. This time she could say, “I do, indeed, love the Chinese people. My love grows for them from year to year. I’m so glad the Lord sent me to these lovely people.”

Before the risen Christ ascended back to Heaven, He commanded His disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; then “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:18-20) This command was the bedrock of the Church that He had already promised the disciples He would establish, which promise was realized beginning on the Day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2. The Church would be built upon the foundation of Jesus and the Apostles, by the method of discipling peoples of all nations, one by one, until the end of this age, claiming His last promise: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matt.28:20) A critical component of the building of His Body, the Church, then, is “teaching all nations”—that is, making disciples of peoples everywhere and soul-winning, one by one.

H.C. Mears, one of the founders of the National Sunday School Association, said, “It is true that Christ alone can save the world, but Christ will not save the world alone.” He has chosen to enlist His followers, from the first day the Church was birthed until the present hour, to be His ambassadors in spreading the good news that “Jesus Saves.”

Evangelist D.L. Moody spoke of the privilege and responsibility of every follower of Christ to be a soul-winner: “This lost world will never be reached and brought back to loyalty to God until the children of God wake up to the fact that they have a mission in the world. If we are true Christians, we shall all be missionaries too. If we have no desire to see the world discipled, to see men brought back to God, there is something very wrong with our religion.”

Moody himself was brought to God because a Sunday School teacher, Ed Kimball, had a burden for his Sunday School class and sought to bring them one by one to Christ. After Moody was saved, in time he became an evangelist, striving first to win America, then England, to His Savior. When Moody was preaching in England, Pastor F. B. Meyer heard his message but at first was not stirred by it. One of Meyer’s Sunday School teachers, however, was so moved by Moody’s message that he came to Pastor Meyer and shared how he and the Sunday School class of girls that he taught had been mightily draw to repentance, confession, weeping, and prayer. Meyer was so affected by the testimony that he went off by himself and did some soul-searching, and God got a grip on his heart—so much so that his ministry began to open and spread until he received an invitation to preach in America.

Furman University in Greenville, SC , was his first preaching place in the states, and in the audience that day was a young ministerial student so discouraged that he was about ready to throw in the towel and return home. But the message F. B. Meyer preached lit a fire in the heart of R. G. Lee who, at the invitation, bowed his knee and rededicated his life to God, and to God’s calling upon him. In time, Lee became the renowned pastor of the Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN, and was known as a “peerless pulpiteer.” His sermon “Payday, Someday,” has blessed untold numbers of believers.

Meyer went on to preach at other locations on the east coast. In one of the services was a man by the name of J. Wilbur Chapman—who, because of Meyer’s message, was stirred to preach throughout the whole northeastern coast. Chapman was so used of God that his ministry expanded to city-wide crusades, and he realized he needed help to continue on with the expanding meetings. Someone suggested he get in touch with a young convert named Billy Sunday. Sunday, influenced by J. Wilbur Chapman—who had been set on fire through preaching of F. B. Meyer—went to Charlotte, NC, to hold a revival meeting. A group of laymen there caught the vision of evangelism and organized a committee to invite other evangelists to come to their city. One of them was Mordecai Ham of Louisville, KY.

Ham preached in a Charlotte meeting attended by a young man named Billy Graham, who converted in that meeting and was called to preach the gospel. And Graham, of course, before he was called home to glory, preached to kings, presidents, and untold millions in mass crusades as a world-renowned evangelist. And it all started with a Sunday School teacher named Kimball who took soul-winning—one by one, as Christ commanded—seriously. Do you?

(Note: The stirring story I have related above was copied; I regret that I did not note the original source. I had read of most of the conversion stories separately but not as the connected chain described above.)

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise.” (Provs. 11:30)

Fundamentalism Today, Part 3: Corporate Worship

Again, “looking out my kitchen window,” here are a few more informal observations of my world, which (as I have noted in my previous “Fundamentalism Today” blogs) is the theology and practice of historic, Biblical fundamentalism. There have been some shifts that are undeniable. To pinpoint some of the obvious ones—with neither advocacy for nor criticism against—I share my view as a matter of discussion and “food for thought” rather than debate.

In this post, I want to talk about worship in our churches. I am painting with a broad brush, and none of my remarks will be true of every assembly. But there are, I believe, observable trends in what we call corporate worship. In his book Corporate Worship: How the Church Gathers as God’s People, Matt Merker defines it as “the gathering of God’s people by his grace, for his glory, for their good, and before a watching world.”

Here’s some of what is trending:

(1) Hymnals, the use of. The hymnal is being replaced by a visual display of a song’s words on an overhead screen that is easily read by anyone in the assembly. Most of the time, only the words (and not the notes) are displayed. Fewer people remove the hymnals from the racks in front of them, as there is really no need to read the words from a hymnal held in one’s hands.

One evangelist who visits scores of churches remarked that he cannot hear any harmony when a congregation is singing by words only. The music is just not there, so only if one knows the score of a song, musically, can he or she sing the harmony or a specific part. This may be an unintended consequence of making it easy for everyone to sing without holding onto and looking at a hymnal. And, despite the cost of installing the technology and equipment to project the words, it may prove cost-effective by saving a hefty sum of money to replace worn-out hymnals.

(2) Bibles in hand. Have you noticed that Bibles are carried by fewer people; or, at least, it seems they are used by fewer folk? Like songs, verses of scripture are often projected onto the overhead screen, making it possibly quicker and simpler for the worshippers to follow along as a passage is read or quoted. And some who do not carry a Bible to the worship service simply open their phone. With a couple of clicks, they can read any passage the speaker may be teaching or quoting from. Again, I am not advocating for or against this shift in worship ways. It is just an observable trend that characterizes corporate worship in this 21st century.

(3) Version Diversion. Speaking of Bibles, there is also a shift from what in the mid-20th century was an almost universal use of the King James translation to the use of multiple versions. Most older people in fundamental churches grew up memorizing from and reading the KJV translation. That was almost exclusive up until maybe the early 1980s. Then, other translations began to be used; and, gradually, versions such as the New KJV became more common—first in devotional books, then as an option in Awana, and finally in some pulpits. Today, with a plethora of versions on the market, a pastor may use, cite, and preach from a different translation than some in his congregation are reading from. Again, good or not so good? Each pastor, teacher, and church will make their own call; but it is, without question, what distinguishes some of what we know today as corporate worship in fundamentalism.

(4) Preaching and teaching. With modern technology available to any pastor or teacher, many lessons or sermons are delivered through a “Power Point” presentation. Some pastors and teachers use this medium exclusively, some less. It surely has its pros and cons. The audience can both hear and see the truths presented, which is certainly a plus. Maybe the negative is that one’s message tends to become a “lecture” rather than a soul-stirring sermon that appeals to the heart over the head.

(5) Invitations. Is it safe to say that fewer worship services end with an “invitation”? The “mourner’s bench” has been pretty much put into wraps for good; but even an appeal for hearers to “come to Christ”—or to make a decision for salvation or consecration—may be “old fashioned” to many. Dr. R.V. Clearwaters, former pastor of Fourth Baptist Church in Minneapolis, when I was a student in the seminary he founded, used to chide preachers who were hesitant to extend an invitation—for fear that no one would respond—with these words: “I stand here week after week with sometimes no one responding, but I will keep throwing out the life-line every service, leaving the results to God.” (That is not a direct quote but the essence of what I remember “the Doc” as saying.)

Many who read this will think of other trends common in today’s corporate worship, for better or worse. I have mentioned just a few. Please feel free to respond with your comments, for or against. Change is inevitable. The early church, meeting in rooms and sometimes caves, would surely be “taken aback” if they were to visit a service in any of our fundamental assemblies. It is a changing world to be sure. But what must never change in any of our worship services is what the “mother church” (at Jerusalem) established as the sine qua non of corporate worship: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42)

“Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.” (I Tim. 4:13)

The Blight of You Know What

What this post will speak to has no doubt claimed more lives than alcohol, tobacco, cancer, heart disease, war and automobile accidents—all put together.

It is more dangerous than a raging river that is out of its banks, or a lightning bolt that is not grounded, or a hungry lion out of its cage.

It will, if not corrected, not only vex your soul but destroy your body.

I am talking about bitterness, and I believe unbelievers and believers alike are guilty of nursing this pet sin.

It not only works from within; it finally destroys that which is without. It starts in the heart and mind—then affects the eyes, the lips, the tongue, and the hands and feet. Its scars are sometimes visible, but as likely as not they are invisible.

Its side effects are anger, hatred, murder, separation, loneliness, and, not seldom, suicide.

Its symptoms are physical and mental; arthritis, pains of all sorts, heart disorders, nervousness, and many other maladies are common among its victims.

“Let all bitterness be put away,” Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, just before he warned them not to grieve the Holy Spirit. (Eph. 4:31) Bitterness in all of its guises:

Because of bad business relationships;
Because of unfulfilled expectations;
Because of hurt over what someone said or did not say, did or did not do;
Because of unkind or untrue words spoken about us, or about a loved one;
Because of unpaid loans, or unrequited kindness.

The Companions of bitterness (Hebrews 12:14-17)

Failing of the grace of God.
Failing to go on to perfection and run with patience the race set before us.
A soul troubled by grief, by sorrow, by broken relationships, and by a smitten conscience.
A defiled mind, which is manifest in a loss of the ability to reason and discern.
A degraded body, too often given in the last stages to fornication (such as Esau) because of harbored bitterness, which weakens one’s moral defenses and erases one’s rational decisiveness. There is a high cost to pay for “getting even,” and it is often the emaciated state of what was once a sound mind and body.

The Curse of bitterness

A loss of reward. Esau sacrificed the permanent on the altar of the temporary. He forfeited spiritual blessings (birthright blessings) for that which was material.
A loss of repentance: Esau “found no place of repentance.” (Hebs. 12:17)

The Correction of bitterness

Follow after peace with all men (Hebs. 12:14)
Do not let the sun go down upon your wrath (Eph. 4:26)
Be kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another (Eph. 4:31)
Honor all men. Love the brotherhood (I Pet.2:1)
All of you be subject one to another (I Pet.5:5)

Dr. S.I. McMillan, in his book None of These Diseases, says “it might be written on many thousands of death certificates that the victim died of ‘grudgitis.’” He went on to say that “the moment I start hating a man, I become his slave. I cannot enjoy my work anymore because he even controls my thoughts. My resentments produce too many stress hormones in my body; I become fatigued after only a few hours of work.”

Some years ago “Reader’s Digest” published an account of a woman who had been bitten by a dog and was advised by her doctor to write out her last wishes, as she would likely die of hydrophobia. She spent a long time with the pencil and paper, and finally the doctor said something about the length of her will. “Will!” she exclaimed. “I’m writing out a list of the people I’m going to bite!”

Follow after holiness, without which no man will see God. (Hebs. 12:14) Pursue and perfect holiness. (II Cor. 7:1) Be done with self-pity; ingratitude; sarcasm; hoping retribution will fall upon someone; and extreme negativism against a person or organization. As the hymn exhorts us: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face; and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” (Helen Lemmel)

The antidote for all bitterness!

“But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you. Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” (Luke 6:27,28)

“Time Out”

Today marks the fourth year since I began posting this blog series, “You and God.” This is post #416. I have covered a wide range of topics bearing upon Christian living and am gratified that a few hundred readers follow these posts and read them regularly.

It was a little over two years ago that I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM), a cancer of the blood that attacks one’s bone structure. There is no known cause for this disease, nor is there yet any known cure; but with proper treatments, it often goes into remission for a time. It is treated with chemotherapy in pill form, along with monthly injections of some other high-powered and very expensive therapy. Thankfully, through insurance and other available programs, the cost of this medicine is covered. Insurance coverage and generous grants from non-profit foundations have enabled us to keep our heads above water, so to speak, financially, for which we give God all the glory, thanksgiving, and praise.

I want to take a “time out” in this installment of “You and God” to thank all of you who have faithfully prayed for Ellen and myself during this time. And when I mention Ellen, it is by design, for she has been a caregiver “par excellence!” Those of you who have suffered with, or are suffering with, a prolonged illness know full-well that the caregiver is placed under extraordinary stress, with demands that are life-altering on his/her time and attention.

Everyone with MM deals with different symptoms and side effects. It generally leaves one weak, especially in the extremities. I have not had a great deal of pain other than weakness in my legs, along with neuropathy. I do not have much energy, and my balance is pretty shaky. I have been blessed not only with an amazing caregiver here at home but with a team of superb Indianapolis doctors at both the St. Francis cancer center and the Indiana University Hospital, both within 15 minutes of our home. We are blessed with a devoted family; a caring church and pastor; and a cadre of praying friends hither and yon, some of whom assure us that they are praying daily for us.

One of my doctors told me more than a year ago that I would die of something other than MM. Well, I suppose that is a safe bet seeing that I am now 81 and it is certain that my normally allotted days upon this earth are soon to expire, one way or another! I have not achieved remission and may never, but for several months the doctors have said that I am “stable,” and they encourage me to “stay the course.” I have had the strength to preach a few times a month when called upon; and my desire to write has not diminished; so I feel blessed above measure. This summer, Ellen and I will celebrate 59 years of marriage, most all of which have afforded us good health, wonderful friends, fruitful ministries, and children who have always been loving, supportive, and caring. We would not have dared to pray for more than the blessings we have enjoyed!

So, since I generally do not like to make my health a topic of discussion—but am aware that most of you know of my health issues—I thought it appropriate on this four-year anniversary of “You and God” to take a “time out” to bring you up to date on what’s happening at our house, health-wise. Ellen is diabetic and has been able to keep that in check with medications and with meals that are recommended for diabetics. (That kind of diet is good for me, too!)

Again, thank you to all who assure us of your prayers! We do not have words for how much we deeply appreciate you all. Thank you for reading these bi-weekly posts and for occasionally replying with a comment. Life is good for us, and we surely have no complaints. Without a doubt, His mercies are new every morning; His love is matchless; His grace is all-sufficient; His Word is ever comforting, and His Spirit is a constant guide. His church is amazing, great hymns of the faith are inspiring, and our family is never far away—and always right here when needed. Yes, God is good.

“The Lord bless thee and keep thee: The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” (Num. 6:24-26)

FYI: All of the 416 posts are archived and at your fingertips. Here’s how to access them. Scroll to the bottom of this post until you read the words, “Read in Browser.” Click on that and you will get another posting of today’s blog. Scroll all the way to the bottom and past until, after the “Comments” box, you will see April 2024, March 2024, etc. You can find any month, all the way back to April 2020. Click on any one of those months and you will get a listing of the posts for that month with the titles. When you click “continue reading,” the entire post will come up and you can then read, copy, or send it.

Special thanks to my son Theo for proofing and doing some minor editing on my posts, and to my daughter Sandy Wagner who dresses each post up with some attractive design/artwork!

“Father of Mercies, God of all Comfort”

It was a typically cold winter morning, that first week of February, 1981. The children were all settled into their classrooms, and moms and dads were at their workplaces. That’s about where the word typical will have to cease in describing that fatal February morning.

At my desk in the office at Thompson Road Baptist Church, I received a call that Gerald “Butch” Doss, one of the deacons of our church, working on railroad tracks as an employee of Conrail, had been tragically and instantly killed as he and a fellow worker, dressed in warm winter parkas, had been cutting railroad ties on a track that was supposed to have been “dormant.” Butch had a huge chain saw in his hands as he was working a section of the track, and he never saw or heard the speeding train that swept by the two men, killing the young father of two.

It suddenly became a day of shock, weeping, and for a time stunned silence. Ellen and I immediately went to visit Butch’s wife, Brenda, who then lived just a few minutes from our church. There were no words—just hugs, tears, and pain. Butch and Brenda had taken our family in when we had moved to Indianapolis in the fall of 1979 to assume the pastorate here; as we were trying to find housing, they graciously kept our three children for I think two or three weeks, giving us time to find a house and get moved in.

Butch was the kind of deacon any pastor would love to serve alongside of! He was an encourager and a vibrant, growing believer who modeled godliness. Both he and Brenda soaked up the Word of God. Butch began a ministry of taping the services at our church, and his ministry was not limited to our local church; he had expanded it, making duplicated messages available to a wider audience. Back then, as I recall, the cassette-tape ministry was just starting to replace the old, cumbersome reel-to-reel tapes. Butch was zealous about sharing God’s Word with whomever would want to hear a taped version of the services.

My last memory of this good deacon was of the service he attended just before being called to glory. His face was beaming; he was excited about what God was doing in our church and was hopeful about what he believed God was going to do. His enthusiasm shone through with a big smile and a caring pat on his preacher’s back. He would not long thereafter be looking into the face of His living, loving Savior.

Having received the call that shattered our morning, and in a real sense our lives, Ellen and I made our way to the Doss home, where I would leave Ellen while I made my way to the school where the two Doss children, Sonnie and Eric, were in their classes. I conveyed to the principal what my mission was, and the children were quickly dismissed to my care. I drew deeply upon God’s grace and strength in sharing with them that their daddy had been killed by a train that morning. It was one of those moments you would have hoped would never come; one that you could never blot from your memory. I could not even imagine what was going through the hearts of those precious little ones.

Meanwhile, Ellen was with Brenda, and they were in each other’s arms. In a recent prayer meeting, our Pastor, Joel Stevens, taught a lesson from II Corinthians 1 about “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.” Ellen shared a testimony that when she arrived at the Doss home that morning, Brenda told her that God had already been preparing her for this day, as early that very morning she had just been reading this passage in II Corinthians. Brenda’s words 43 years ago—words from God’s Word at the darkest moment of her life—still ring in Ellen’s heart and memory as words of comfort, yet reminders that He is one ”Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” (II Cor. 1:4). God’s Word, first and last, really does work, and it works for a lifetime.

This is not to say that there was not anguished suffering; there was! Physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual agonies of body, mind and soul were to assault Brenda and her family for an indefinite period of time. The aftershocks will never fully fade away this side of glory; but neither will God’s sustaining grace and comforting consolations.

Brenda taught English in a local Christian academy for several decades after Butch’s homegoing. For more than 50 years, she has faithfully attended and served her Lord at Thompson Road Baptist Church in many capacities including church secretary, women’s Sunday School class teacher, and member of the choir. In time, God gave her a wonderful husband in the person of Donald Harris—a Vietnam veteran who, saved out of a religious background that majored on works, has been a caring and devoted husband and, for 47 years now, a stalwart and faithful servant of God here at TRBC.

Some near-crippling physical issues have taken a toll on Brenda, so that mobility challenges now limit her church attendance. But no one who knows her doubts that when the church gathers for worship, she is in their midst, either in body and spirit or in spirit—singing, praising, bowing in her Savior’s presence, all the while looking forward to that day when our faith will be made sight; and that grand reunion of the church, the rapture, will be called at the sound of the trumpet to summon our meeting with the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord.

“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (I Thess. 4:17,18)

Fundamentalism Today (Part 2)

Continuing my “table talk” discussion of the landscape of fundamentalism today, as seen through the eyes of this aged pastor who has been privileged to serve churches in the latter part of the 20th century and the first couple of decades of the 21st century, I want to speak to a few other subjects that are significant in any discussion of the subject.

Cultural considerations: Of course, over a period of 60 years there are bound to be many cultural drifts, some gradual, some not so subtle. When I was a young pastor in the early 70’s, long hair on men and short skirts on women began to surface, and for people who had grown up in the 1940’s and 50’s, these outward breaks with past norms were problematic. Standards that were not negotiable in fundamental churches became issues to debate. Women would never wear “pants” or slacks to church in the 60’s, or some even in the 70’s. Today, in almost any independent Baptist church, most of those externals have been pretty much laid to rest and one might see any or all of the above in any assembly on any given Lord’s day. No longer are they “issues.” Cycling through those years with changes that people had decided opinions on was a challenge to most pastors. Some who majored on the theme of “grace” were considered not to be fundamental, and others who homed in on the old standards were considered to be legalistic. Today these old battles have been for the most part put to rest, but at the apex of the evolving attitudes, there was a climate that sometimes was unattractive in our fundamental circles.

Versions and translations: Also, the past half-century has witnessed debate and division amongst those who are known as fundamentalists over issues surrounding the plethora of modern Bible versions and translations. When I was a child, I remember in our home there was a copy of the “Amplified” version of the Bible. No thought was given to the idea that it was not a legitimate copy of God’s Word. But today, beginning in the early 70’s with Kenneth Taylor’s paraphrase The Living Bible, the market has been flooded with all sorts of translations and versions of the Holy writ. Of course, there have been sometimes raging debates over the validity of the newer translations, as opposed to the “authorized” King James (TR) Version that was first published in 1611. The debate is not roiling as much today, but it still simmers, and there are those both for and against new versions that would go to the stake defending their position. People have called those who differ with them all sorts of bad names, written them off as unbelievers, severed any kind of fellowship with them and considered them anathema. It was, at times, ugly. But it is part of the history of fundamentalism today and cannot be ignored.

Pastoral/Ministry Ethics. I have witnessed an erosion of basic ministerial ethics in the course of the time that I have pastored. Like divorce, moving from one Bible-preaching church to another used to be rare. Not so much now. As one member once said, with no accompanying explanation following a Sunday morning service, “We’ll be moving on now”— meaning it would be his last Sunday at the church. Many leave at the drop of a hat, over any issue or no issue. In our city, you can drive 10 minutes from our church and pass by more than one fundamental church. The options are almost limitless; thus the “musical church hopping.” What’s more depressing: Many pastors seem not to discourage it and fail to even initiate a courtesy call to the pastor of the visitors who are “church hopping.”

Sectarianism in fundamentalism. To be honest, the landscape of what we call fundamentalism is so broken up that “tip-toeing through the tulips” has taken on new meaning. A missionary, evangelist, or pastoral candidate has to line up squarely with the right version of scripture, the right Bible college, the right dress standard, the right song book, the right mission board—ad nauseum—if he is to be accepted. Independent churches and pastors too often have become “islands” to themselves and their flock, all in the name of biblical separation, “bless God!” It is a 21st century scandal in ministry, and it answers the question: “Why do we not experience revival today?”

Well, I think I have said (maybe more than) enough. That’s how I see things as I look out on today’s fundamentalism. Who’s to blame? No one (except Satan). It’s a sign of the times, and so much the more as we see the day approaching. So, be encouraged. Keep on keeping on. Practice brotherly kindness and charity. (II Pet.1: 7) And, look up, for our redemption draweth nigh!

(Comments, pro and con, of course are welcomed. I do not pretend to “know it all” or even to have the best perspective on the subject. Share your thoughts if you care to. I may do a part 3, and if so it will focus on corporate worship and a few doctrinal issues. Stay tuned.)

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude, v. 3)

Fundamentalism Today

I write this post and the next in a bit of a different mode; consider it “table talk” over a cup of coffee as an old preacher, not far from glory’s shore, shares some candid thoughts.

I’ve given considerable thought of late to “fundamentalism.” It is, after all, a movement with which I have identified all of my life as a student, then as a pastor, and now as a “retired” pastor who lives every day with an incurable disease. I have, then, no axe to grind and nothing to prove, but merely some observations to share.

I was saved as a youngster, not yet 10 years of age, under the preaching of Pastor Harold Day, who labored over the flock of God that met weekly on North Court street in Ottumwa, Iowa, known as the North Court Baptist Church. It was affiliated with the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches. Pastor Day was an unashamed fundamentalist, warning his flock of the apostacy which he saw then, in the mid-1950s, gaining ground through such organs as the National Council of Churches. He was a dispensationalist, and about the only Bible college that I remember him speaking of was the Omaha Baptist Bible Baptist Institute (today known as Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa).

When I was a teenager, my parents joined a church on Ottumwa’s south side, pastored by Rev. Keith Knauss, a good Bible teacher/pastor who pastored the Calvary Baptist Church, then affiliated with the Conservative Baptist Association of Churches. Pastor Keith channeled all the young people he could to Pillsbury Baptist Bible College in Owatonna, Minnesota, a fundamental Bible college then led by Evangelist Monroe Parker.

Also on the south side of our city was the Ottumwa Baptist Temple, a church that lined up with the Bible Baptist Fellowship. The pastor, A.D. Pringle, favored the then newly formed Baptist Bible College of Springfield, Missouri, where my oldest sister attended as a classmate of a student from Virginia who would become quite well-known, Jerry Falwell.

So, my background, when I enrolled at Bob Jones University in 1962 was in Bible-preaching, fundamental, dispensational churches. Upon completion of my training for ministry, I accepted a call to pastor Gideon Baptist Church of Wichita, Kansas, an independent church with a history of lining up with the Bible Baptist Fellowship, as several other churches in the greater Wichita area did at that time. In 1979, I accepted a call to pastor the Thompson Road Baptist Church to succeed Pastor Fred Moritz, a former seminary classmate of mine who resigned the Indianapolis church to go into full-time evangelism. He later became assistant director, under the leadership of Dr. Monroe Parker, of Baptist World Mission—and would eventually become its executive director, a job he so ably discharged for more than two decades.

When I settled into the pastorate of Thompson Road Baptist Church (TRBC) in the fall of 1979, I soon learned of the Indiana Fundamental Baptist Fellowship of Churches (IFBF) and would be a member of this strong state body of independent Baptists for the duration of my ministry as a senior pastor. So, from the time I became a believer through faith in Christ, through the years of my training and then pastoring, I have always been in the fundamentalist camp, specifically in the Independent Baptist branch of fundamentalism. I have encouraged young people to attend a Christian college that believed the fundamentals of the faith; and I have recommended to the churches that I have pastored missionaries sent out by churches of like faith, serving under the auspices of mission boards that were known as conservative, independent, and fundamental. I always have been, therefore—and am to this day—a fundamentalist without apology. So, looking at the landscape of the movement I have been identified with for more than half a century in ministry, what do I see?

Schools/Colleges. Many of the colleges that I could recommend to young people early in my ministry are no longer in existence. Some that are struggle to maintain open doors. The mood of many of today’s youth is career focused, and the colleges that once trained hundreds of preachers have shrunken ministerial classes that are dwarfed in size compared to the classes of yesteryear. Schools that once trained missionaries that had hearts burning to reach lost souls and cities in fields far and near no longer specialize in the training of vocational missionaries. Some few schools still major in missions and ministry, but most are not large schools, though one can and should be thankful that there are some who are “staying by the stuff” in this lukewarm spiritual climate.

Fellowships/Associations. Many of the fellowships and associations of churches that were once ablaze in banding together for revival, missions, and church planting are no longer true to their original mission. Compromise on the basics, sectarianism, isolationism, and other trends have gutted their once hard-core militant stand on the fundamentals of the faith, so that they are today a shell of their original founding body.

(to be continued)