Truth Magazine

By John McCort

Recently I had an opportunity to worship with a group of Christians who employed some rather unorthodox methods of worship. During one of the Bible classes we all held hands during a prayer and all of the males engaged in what was called a chain prayer. The Bible class was not called a Bible class but a “sharing period,” where we all gathered in close together to make the conversations more intimate. This group often dims the lights during prayer, special songs, and the Lord’s Supper. To say the least the experience was rather unique.

After the worship period, I had some ambivalent feelings about the whole session. I could not figure out whether I was bothered by the worship period because the methods of worship were unfamiliar to me or whether they were worshiping unscripturally. Both my wife and I felt very hollow after the worship period. Something was missing that we could not quite put our finger on. We both finally concluded that nothing unscriptural had been practiced but that there was something strangely contrived about the whole session.

I keep wondering why those brethren have felt the need to radically depart from normal channels of worship. What spirituality can dimming the lights add to the worship of the Christian? What can holding hands during a prayer add to the fellowship and communion we all have in Christ Jesus? What can an informal Bible study period and worship assembly add to the worship of the Christian? Dimming the lights and other external stimuli are nothing more than a shallow, external attempt to infuse emotion, excitement, and intimacy into worship. Spirituality in worship should not depend on the externals. If we must have these externals to worship properly, then something is radically wrong with my spirituality to begin with. Some of these brethren feel like they are tuned in on a special spiritual wave-length because they have these special effects in worship: They look upon traditional channels of worship as being stale, structured, and basically dull. When we begin to have that attitude we need to do some basic realigning in our thinking.

I am not condemning these people nor am I trying to judge their motives. I am not saying that their worship was unscriptural. I am just saying that there was smoke and where there is smoke there is fire. Along with their unorthodox methods of worship, I heard some familiar Ketchersidian catch phrases such as, “We need to emphasize Jesus the man rather than the plan.” Most of them were contemptuous of the battles that have been fought over the grace-fellowship issue the last few years. Most of them dressed very casually. There seemed to be such a casual attitude toward the worship that it, almost bordered on irreverence. I believe in a relaxed atmosphere in our worship but I also believe in reverence and dignity.

We need to be tolerant of unorthodox methods of worship as long as they are scriptural. We cannot condemn a things just because we have not ever done it that way before. But neither should we introduce unorthodox modes of worship just for the sake of being different or to give the illusion of being an independent thinker.

Truth Magazine XXI: 45, pp. 716-717
November 17, 1977

By Lewis Willis

(Author’s Note: When this series was started, I lived in Amarillo, Texas. I have moved to Irving, Texas, where 1 am now working with the North Irving Church. This note is included because I am “changing my source material” for the most part. Some articles will still appear from newspaper articles I have clipped from the Amarillo Daily News. And, I also have a friend up there who is sending me articles. However, most material referred to in the future will be from the Dallas Morning News. As various articles have appeared, I have received related news items from brethren across the country. I appreciate this very much and some of this material adds force to what I already have. A Request: If you send a clipping to me, please include the name of the paper from whence it came and the date when it appeared. Thanks for the kind things you have had to say about this series.)

A Skunk in the Collection Plate

To most he is known as “Reverend.” To others, he is affectionately called “Doctor.” He, in the past, has been friend, advisor and confidant to Presidents. He is known and read by people from all parts of the earth. Multitudes gather to hear him speak no matter where he might be. However, to the Better Business Bureau BBB), he is an enigma. They know precious little about him. And, if he has his way, they will not learn anything more about him. I speak not of the Chairman of the Board of Exxon Corporation or Ace Vacuum Cleaner Company. In the very nature of the case these financial enterprises must be responsive to the BBB. But, this world-renowned personality has informed the BBB that his “Board refuses to cooperate.” He is none other than the great (?) Billy Graham!

You see, the good “Reverend” has concealed a fund which he has concealed from public view in the best way he could. Yes, he has mentioned it on an occasion or two and he has told the IRS about it. But, he has failed to supply pertinent information in which contributors to his evangelistic organization are interested. So, requests have been made of the BBB for more information-just as one is able to do with a vacuum cleaner company. The Dallas Morning News reported on September 28, 1977 that the BBB had made 20 specific requests for information (two of them by registered mail), all of which have been ignored. The “justification” for his refusal to respond is that his is a non-profit, religious organization which is not responsible to a non-legal entity such as the BBB. Say there, “Rev.,” it looks like you might be hiding something. And, such he is!

A front-page article in the Dallas Morning News on June 27, 1977, written by reporter Helen Parmley, reports that this little fund only amounts to $23 million dollars! I think if I had duped a gullible public into giving me $23 million dollars I would probably prefer to keep quiet about it too. If he put this money in multi-year certificates, he would only make a mere $1.6 million per year interest, or approximately that amount. A reporter for a Minneapolis paper asked why he had not responded to the inquiries from the Council of BBB’s. His answer was he did not want to “waste the donor’s” money by replying. So, he doles out a few large sums from the fund occasionally, tells the IRS about it, and expects the American people to swallow this corrupt mess. I would suspect that he has a few more problems in front of him because of this $23 million he has accumulated from his well-known ministry.

Many will think that he pays for his campaign efforts from this fund. What they do not know about his campaigns would shock them. When he goes into an area, his organization goes before him and persuades churches in those areas to pay the bill. I have never been to one of his rallies and could not say if contributions were taken at them. So, I called a Baptist preacher located just up the street from me. He confirmed that they do take up collections at these rallies. These are used to pay the costs of the campaign, the funds are audited with reports being sent to contributing churches, and any excess “may be given to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Committee,” according to this local Baptist preacher. This is intriguing. I have never seen a collection being taken during any of these televised campaigns. But, I would like to see the size of the barrels used in gathering in this money from the thousands of emotionally-charged people who are present. Or, maybe the size of the trucks used to take it to the bank!

The Baptist preacher with whom I spoke knows “Billy” personally. He explained that Billy is a philanthropist, divesting himself of material things by giving them as gifts to his friends. Well, so did Elvis and he still had a fortune at his death. Somehow I suspect that Billy will end up that way too. If I had $23 million stashed away somewhere, I think I could give a friend an occasional car or set of golf clubs as Billy did, and for which he was praised by his local preaching buddy!

One has to suspect that Mr. Graham has some legal problems facing him. But, he is not alone in this. His fellow, nationally-known evangelist, Oral Roberts, has some legal problems of his own now. Perhaps Roberts and Graham will quietly establish a multi-million dollar, publicly funded foundation to handle the costs of their legal difficulties. Get this if you can fathom it! During the week of September 25, 1977, a Metroplex TV station reported that a suit had been filed against Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, charging discrimination against the handicapped in their admissions policy. For Roberts, this must be a very embarrassing thing. He is the fellow who has made a fortune by traversing this nation claiming to heal the sick and handicapped. He has milked millions from poor people who are racked with disease. His coffers were so enriched that he could build that great university. Forgive me for asking but, why did he not just heal

those handicapped students and let them go to school, instead of rejecting them?? He did not and could not, and today, he will have to go to court to answer the discrimination suit.

It just might be that the American people will one day see through the guise of these fellows and recognize them for what they really are. They are not bountiful reapers as a result of having sown bountifully (2 Cor. 9:6). Instead, “they with feigned words make merchandise” of their hearers (2 Pet. 2:3). “For filthy lucre’s sake” (Tit. 1:11), they have deceived many unwitting souls. Maybe they shall now be exposed as such.

The next time someone starts extolling the greatness of Billy Graham or Oral Roberts, just ask them about a $23 million dollar fund and a discrimination suit. Maybe your friend does not know about them. The Baptist preacher with whom I talked went to great lengths to explain that Billy did not try to answer all the scandalous charges raised against him. “He just loves and prays for” those who charge him. Financially, he can afford to do a lot of loving and praying, as the probate of his estate will one day show. Spiritually, he would be well-advised to spend some time repenting and being converted (Acts 3:19). Of course, many will say that this is written out of jealousy. No, it is written to remind those who read this not to believe every fellow who comes along and gets a great name for himself (1 Jno. 4:1). Instead of finding a “pig in a poke” you just might find a skunk in the collection plate!

Truth Magazine XXI: 45, pp. 713-714
November 17, 1977

By Roland Worth, Jr.

People seem willing to tolerate just about anything so long as it results in growth. In the business world everyone will recognize this attitude at work. “X million can’t be wrong,” was one of the classic examples, used to great effect by a cigarette company a few years back. I wonder if the spawners of that idiotic statement lived in Germany during the birth of Fascism? Or in China during the Great Cultural Revolution? Millions upon millions supported these movements yet no one in this Nation would count them right by virtue by that fact alone.

Sexual double-entendre blossoms, especially in the advertising of certain airlines. The quality of the product is secondary to the “image” that is sold the people. Profits are the name of the game and the “sexy image” sells the product. Does anyone really believe that if marijuana were legalized that the major cigarette companies would not soon be grinding them out by the millions, loudly boasting of their great virtues?

Most people are realistic enough to recognize these evils in the business world yet many seem incredibly blind when the same “numbers game” is played in regard to religion. If we may go into the denominational world for an example, we should note the explanation of one Liberal as to why he supported the revivals of the Fundamentalist Billy Sunday, “Why, my dear sir,” he wrote, “the man has trampled all over me and my theology. He has kicked my teachings up and down that

platform like a football. He has outraged every ideal I have had regarding my sacred profession. But what does that count against the results he has accomplished? My congregation will be increased by hundreds” (quoted by William G. McLoughlin, Jr., Modern Revivalism: Charles Grandison Finney To Billy Braham, Ronald Press Company, New York: 1959, pp 419-420).

We would not expect such an attitude among genuine Christians. Yet was not a key argument in promoting the unscriptural innovations among us how many people could be converted? Wasn’t it the same old “numbers game” at work? Brethren became so obsessed with numerical growth that they forgot to make sure that the organizations they were using were authorized by .scripture. What they forgot is that numbers alone should never be our goal. If numbers were our goal, the better way of achieving it would be by abolishing our emphasis on immersion, the purpose of baptism and the lack of instrumental music. But we would never to that. That would be abolishing our claim to go strictly by a “Thus saith the Lord.” Brethren would instinctively react against such a down-grading of doctrine. Yet they would readily compromise the organization and work of the church, as also prescribed in scripture. The same God that revealed the purpose of baptism also revealed the proper work of the church. His will is defied just as much when we change or add to the work of the church as when we change the purpose and act of baptism.

Once again it took a division to make brethren realize that numbers alone are not enough-that scriptural authority must always be paramount. But for how long will we remember our lesson?

Truth Magazine XXI 45, p. 712
November 17, 1977

By Carol R. Lumpkin

The baptismal measure of the Holy Spirit is misunderstood by many people in the religious world. It will be my purpose to present a short study of this important subject as presented in God’s word. The prophet Joel said, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions” (Joel 2:28).

Jesus said, “For John (that is, John the Baptist) truly baptized with water; but ye (apostles) shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence” (Acts 1:5). “But ye (apostles) shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judean, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (Jn. 14:26). The apostles were instructed to tarry in Jerusalem until they received this power of the Holy Spirit (Lk. 24:49).

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were ail with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them, And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4). The apostles were the only ones who received the baptismal measure of the Holy Spirit on the Pentecost day. This power came upon them to enable them to speak in tongues, thus to proclaim the gospel of Christ. The power was not for the purpose to save anyone. Peter declared that the Holy Spirit which was poured out upon them was that which was spoken by Joel (Acts 2:16-17). Since the prophecy said, the power would be poured out upon all flesh; we must look for a second case of this baptism upon the Gentiles.

The second, and only other case, of this measure of the Holy Spirit came upon the household of Cornelius, as recorded in Acts 10. “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the work. And they (Jews) of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God” (Acts 10,44-46). The purpose for the Holy Spirit falling upon the Gentiles was to convince the Jews that the Gentiles were to have the gospel preached to them. The purpose could not have been to save them, for Peter said, “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Spirit as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. . .” (Acts 10:47-48).

Peter said that which fell upon the house of Cornelius was like that which fell on them (apostles) in the beginning (Acts 11:15). There is no one going to receive the baptismal measure of the Holy Spirit today. No one has received it since Cornelius and household received it. Truly, the prophesy of Joel was fulfilled in Acts 2 and Acts 10.

Truth Magazine XXI: 45, pp. 711-712
November 17, 1977