25 Years Ago
How much has changed in 25 years? In order to find out, let's see what your congenial editor considered important enough to write about in 1997. The year began with a book endorsed as recommended reading. The selection was The New Absolutes, which remains pertinent to today's culture. Other books recommended that year were Denominational Doctrines (still a valuable asset) by Jerry Moffitt, Slouching Toward Gomorrah (about our eroding culture) by Robert Bork (who could not survive vicious attacks, as Clarence Thomas and, more recently, Brett Kavanaugh did), Balanced Christianity (a lectureship book from the Shenandoah congregation in San Antonio), Leadership (always a timely topic) produced by the Bellview Church of Christ in Pensacola, Florida, and Dangerous 'Ism's (a tremendous Power lectureship book, published by the Southaven, Mississippi church). All of these are still worth owning and studying through.
Five articles had to do with Max Lucado; they were written at a time when some brethren had not quite caught on that he had surrendered to the enemy and was compromising the truth. I wrote one with the title, "Baptist Lucado and Loyalty," which sought to show where he actually stood on salvation. Below is a portion of that article.
…there is a transcript of a Lucado message from a program aired in December of last year, which is currently being circulated through the brotherhood. Max concludes his main message by encouraging his listeners to pray with these words:
"Father, I give my heart to you. I give you my sins. I give you my tears. I give you my fears. I give you my whole life. I accept the gift of your Son on the cross for my sins. And I ask you Father to receive me as your child. Through Jesus I pray. Amen"
Can one of Max's devotees explain what is different between that "invitation" and one used by Billy Graham or any other Baptist or denominationalist on radio or television? Following a brief commercial message, the announcer states: "Now, Max Lucado returns with a special word for those who received the gift of salvation just moments ago in prayer." So, yes, the prayer was intended to be one that brought salvation. Saul of Tarsus could not be saved by prayer only, nor Cornelius. But apparently Max thinks that his listeners can be saved by just saying those words. He continues:
"Today is the first day you've ever prayed a prayer like that. Could you do me a favor? Could you write me a letter? I don't have anything I am going to ask from you. I do have a letter I would like to send to you. I'd like to give you a word about the next step or two. I want to encourage you to find a church. I want to encourage you to be baptized. I want to encourage you to read your Bible. But I don't want you to do any of that so that you will be saved. I want you to do all of that because you are saved. You see, your father has a great life planned for you, and I want to tell you about it. Give us a call, or drop me a note. And, thanks my friend, for making the greatest decision of your life.
Do these words sound like any Gospel preacher you have ever heard? Obviously Lucado was compromising with the "faith only" crowd. First, he assures his audience they can be saved by uttering "a sinner's prayer"; notice that baptism comes after salvation—not during it. And then he tells them to find a church. How different than Philip who preached "the things concerning the kingdom of God" before he baptized those in Samaria (Acts 8:12)!
The Equality of Men and Women
A three-part series examined and took issue with Riane Eisler's book, The Chalice and the Blade. Most may have never heard of the book, but it was highly praised by evolutionist Ashley Montague as "the most important book since Darwin's On the Origin of Species." The book is both "anti-Biblical and anti-Christianity." Some of my introductory comments were:
In a nutshell, Eisler believes that in prehistoric times, men and women lived in relationships in which they shared work and responsibilities, worshiped "the Goddess," and experienced peace, all of which are symbolized by the chalice. Then the blade was invented; men began to worship its power (xvii), and women became dominated (which has continued until this century).
The author wants no misunderstanding; she is not one of those feminist man-haters. She concedes (oh, so graciously) that the problem is not men as a sex.
"The root of the problem lies in a social system in which the power of the Blade is idealized—in which both men and women are taught to equate true masculinity with violence and dominance…" (xviii).
As I said then, "Shame on Rambo!" These articles deal with many of the criticisms still being brought against the Scriptures and are worth reviewing.
Other Reviews
Another review concerned the popular book, The Celestine Prophecy. It may be that folks today have not heard of it, but it was well-known in 1997. As of May 4th of that year, this book had "been on the New York Times' Best Sellers' List for 160 weeks, which is more than three years. For most of those weeks it was one of the top ten books being sold in America." It was a New Age work that was told as an adventure story and contained certain New Age principles, such as, "There are no such things as accidents."
James A. Melton published a criticism of the churches of Christ, which merited five articles by way of response. Discussed are "the thief on the cross," Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Acts 10, 1 Peter 3:21, and other verses. The reader of these articles will notice that in 25 years, not a whole lot has changed.
Disney
Believe it or not, two articles in 1997 had to do with the Disney Corporation. Below is the way the first article began.
For quite a while now the American Family Association Journal has been warning about the Walt Disney Company under the leadership of its president, Michael Eisner. According to the brochure on the bulletin board from Florida's American Family Association:
Gay Day patrons have demonstrated and promoted same-sex behavior to a captive audience of over 100,000 children at Disney World of Florida over the past six years. Disney allows and assists over ten thousand homosexuals to hold a "coming out party" in the midst of tens of thousands of children each year during the first week of June. Homosexuals are promoting Gay Day at Disney for June 1997.
Disney protests that they have nothing to do with this event, but the evidence indicates otherwise. Disney owns ABC. Is it just coincidence that they are airing Two Mothers for Zachary, a movie about two women falling in love, starring Valerie Bertinelli and Vanessa Redgrave? And what about all the hype about Ellen DeGenerate, whoops, Degeneres coming out of the closet on her ABC television sitcom? ABC also does the controversial NYPD Blue, which features a homosexual secretary.
And is it a further coincidence that Disney's Children's Book Division is publishing Let It All Hang Out by RuPaul and Growing Up Gay by three homosexual comedians? It seems pretty obvious that Disney has committed themselves to a homosexual agenda. [It seems even more obvious in 2022, GWS.]
"Some Days Are Diamonds"
This article was written after the death of John Denver. The world does not have enough inspiring people. A few sentences explain the loss.
Our ears and minds are assaulted daily with accounts of sordid and heinous acts. Sometimes a person cannot help but wonder how much more depraved human beings can become before the final judgment, but then along comes a song like "Calypso," and our minds are focused on the positive achievements of mankind. There remains a thirst for knowledge, inventiveness, advancement, a living up to the potential God created us with.
Many of Denver's songs highlighted the good things in life: friendship ("Rocky Mountain High"), nature ("Sunshine on My Shoulders"), and love ("Back Home Again"). His loss was certainly a day of stone.
"Rapture" Insurance
This idea was actually suggested by a member in Columbia City, Indiana. Those who are confident that Jesus will return every day need to buy "rapture" insurance for loved ones left behind. Some Christians are downright insistent that the rapture will occur any day. And yet, in 25 years we have not sold a single policy. What gives? It would be irresponsible to leave this earth with no financial plans made for one's relatives. "Rapture" enthusiasts need to purchase this insurance now before the rates go up.
Throwing Out Paul
But what about 25 years exactly? The Sundays that year fell on the 6th and the 13th. The latter date was a fundamental article about the Lord's Supper. The earlier one concerned came from a statement as Morning News. P.D. Sterling had written on June 22nd:
I find that the most important part of the Bible to me is the Gospels. Arcane texts pulled from prophets and epistles are clearly the work of human hands to me. In simplicity, I turn to Matthew 22:37-40, which says, in paraphrase, "Love God completely and love your neighbor as yourself." This rule leaves little room for weighing the value of others in society (4J).
We could not help wondering if he agrees with that simple text of Matthew 7:13-14, in which Jesus warned that the majority of people would be lost. It follows immediately that text we call the Golden Rule. Despite all the high-sounding verbiage, the fact is that he accepts what he wants and rejects what he doesn't like. He is no different than those described in Judges 21:25: "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Not much has changed philosophically in the last 3,000 years—and certainly not in the last 25. The battles must be fought again in every generation.