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News & Views, January 2003 - Edited By E. L. Bynum
42nd ANNUAL BIBLE MISSIONS CONFERENCE THEME:
Always Abounding in the Work of the Lord - By E. L. Bynum
Once Great Church Turn to Rock Opera - By E. L. Bynum
Roe vs. Wade Anniversary: 42 Million Dead - By Attorney David C. Gibbs, Jr.
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." (I Cor. 15:58)
The above headline will be the theme of our 42nd Annual Bible and Mission Conference, March 17-19, 2003. There are a number of reasons why we have chosen this theme for our Church and for the Conference this year. I preached on this theme the first Sunday in 2003, and attempted to challenge our Church to accept this goal for the coming year. Here are some of the reasons I presented in the sermon.
We see the TIME in relation to the context where it is found. Our text is found in relationship to the Second Coming of Christ and the Rapture. Without a doubt this is the greatest chapter in the Bible on the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus Christ and its relationship to the gospel is set forth in v. 1-34. Without the resurrection we would have no gospel to preach (I Cor. 15:1-4).
The glorious future resurrection of all the saved is taught in v. 35-50. It is there that we find a description of what the saved will be in our resurrection bodies.
Then we are presented with the thrilling information about the rapture of the living saved and the resurrection of the dead saints at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (v. 51-57).
It is after this we have v. 58 to challenge us. On the basis of the resurrection of Christ, the glory of our future resurrection body, and the possible soon coming of Christ in the rapture, we should be "...always abounding in the work of the Lord...."
We see the TIME in relation to the whole picture of prophecies. If we study God's Word, we can see that God's prophetic time clock is ticking.
In Daniel chapter two, we see the final form of the revived Roman Empire being fulfilled in the ten toes of the great image. The stone cut out of the mountain without hands (Christ) will come and crush the last form of Gentile power. It is evident that events are shaping up for the fulfillment of this prophecy. In Daniel 9:20-27, we have the prophecy of the seventy weeks of years. The 70th week will be the seven-year tribulation period and may well be just over the horizon. Before this last week begins, the rapture will take place. Surely these things are reason enough why we should be "...always abounding in the work of the Lord...."
Matt. 24, Luke 17 and 21 presents a vivid picture of what the last days will be like. Some of these dramatic events will take place before the rapture, and some will take place during the tribulation. Even the future events of the tribulation are casting their shadow before them.
In I Tim. 4:1 we are told "...that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." We see the evidence of this taking place on every hand, but space forbids to comment upon it here. The "perilous times" with all of the sins that go with it are revealed in II Tim. 3:1-13. We are told in II Tim. 4:3-4, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." Never before in the history of the world has there been spread so much false doctrine as it is today. By radio and television these false teachers spread their pernicious doctrines to almost every place on earth. With their tremendous publishing enterprises and the fast-growing super church movement, they are filling hearts and minds with religious error that makes it all but impossible for these poor victims to ever know the truth.
Jude 3 tells us of "certain men" who have "crept in unawares" doing great damage to the cause of truth. Many of them today are still creeping in, but it seems that many more are leaping in with their damnable doctrines. The scoffers are here, just as Peter predicted that they would come. "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts" (II Pet. 3:3).
Then we come to the prophecies found in the book of Revelation, and we see them casting their shadow ahead of them. Surely the fulfilling of prophecies should cause us to be "...always abounding in the work of the Lord...."
Let us also consider the TIME in relation to our on limited time on earth. The Bible speaks of our life being very brief. It is like a "tale that is told" (Psa. 90:9), and a "vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4:14). Soon our earthly life will end and the thing that will be important then is what we did for Christ. The wisest thing for the Christian, is to be "...always abounding in the work of the Lord...."
It is because we have been entrusted with the TRUTH that we have this duty. We have the right Bible, the trusted and true King James Bible. We are not deceived by the RSV, NIV, NEB, and all the other false versions on the market today. Most of the so-called Christian world does not even know which Bible is the word of God.
We have the right gospel. Not the gospel of works, the gospel of baptism, or any of the other false gospels making their rounds to deceive today. We have the gospel of the grace of God, the one that Paul and the other Apostles preached, and it is the only one that will save the soul.
We have the right Church doctrine and the right Church ordinances. We are not confused by Rome, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Alexander Campbell, or the Charismatics. We know what the truth is and where to find it. If we don't spread the truth, who will? Because of this, we should be "...always abounding in the work of the Lord...."
Because of this, we are to be stedfast & unmovable in the TRUTH. "Stedfast" means "firm, immovable, steadfast." This means we are not to be blown about by every wind of doctrine. We are to mature and be built up in the truth and to never change or turn from it. "Unmovable" means "not to be moved from its place, unmoved and firmly persistent." We fear that too many Baptists, and yes, Independent Baptists are bedfast but not stedfast in the truth. Neither of these words discourages activity, work or service to the Lord. They refer to doctrine and truth in which we are to be "...always abounding in the work of the Lord...."
The TASK is set forth in the great commission to the church. Jesus told His church what their job was during this age. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen" (Matt. 28:19-20). Our task is the same today, and if what we are doing cannot be done in the framework of this commission, most likely we should not be doing it. Our work is not the social gospel. We are not to go into all the world and teach them how to grow plump chickens, lean pigs, and tender beef. Our job is the God-ordained task of giving out the gospel, baptizing the converts, organizing the churches, and teaching them to observe all things that He has commanded. If we are to please Him, we must be "...always abounding in the work of the Lord...."
Jesus Christ set us an example of always being busy about the TASK. So did Peter, James, John, Stephen, and Paul show us by example what we should be doing. The members of the Church at Jerusalem went daily from house to house, and the Lord added to the Church on a daily basis. When persecution arose, many of their members were scattered abroad, but that did not stop them from the TASK. It was not the apostles that were scattered, but these people were faithful as they went. "Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word" (Acts 8:4).
The glowing work through the Church at Ephesus is clearly declared. "And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks." (Acts 19:10). Paul gave a glowing report of the work of the church at Thessalonica. "For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing" (I Thess. 1:8).
The churches of the New Testament were not busy planning socials, sports, dinners, plays or dramas. They were too busy doing the work of the Lord for that. They were truly "...always abounding in the work of the Lord...." We read of the martyrs like Polycarp, the Waldensians, Anabaptists, and others who died horrible deaths, because they were abounding in the work of the Lord. We should be ashamed of ourselves for doing so little.
The vastness of the TASK should move us to abound in the work of the Lord. The population explosion in the world should move us to action. With 7 billion in the world, and growing in numbers every day, we have an incentive to redouble our efforts at home and abroad. With all the unreached nations and peoples, every true Church should be a headquarters for world wide missions. Where is the zeal and dedication among God's people today? We should be sounding the battle cry and lifting the standard high.
The Muslims, cults, Charismatics, Catholics, and pagan religions are multiplying like maggots in a dead carcass. They are leading souls down the road to destruction while God's true messengers are often at ease in Zion. When will the true churches be aroused to be "...always abounding in the work of the Lord..."?
We here refer to the reward and this will be our TRIUMPH. Listen to the words of our text, "...forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." No true labour for the Lord will be in vain. "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister" (Heb. 6:10). We might suffer down here if we are faithful to God, but what is that compared to the future? "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18).
Soul winning is a great part of our work, and it will not go unrewarded. "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise" (Prov. 11:30). "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever" (Dan. 12:3).
It is the will of God that we become fishers of men, and we will never be sorry if we do. There is coming a day of TRIUMPH for those who are faithful in so doing. "And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matt. 4:19). "And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together" (John 4:36).
We must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ to receive a reward according to the deeds done in the body. This is where obedient saints will TRIUMPH, because they will find that their labor has not been in vain. What a joy to hear HIM say, "well done."
It will not be in vain when we consider the satisfaction. I have never heard of anyone coming to the end of their life and saying, "I did too much for the Lord." On the other hand I have heard of many who said they did too little for Him and how they regretted it. It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.
The TRAGEDY of people bringing no glory to God. Every sinner and his sin is an insult to God. The sinful corruption is doing untold harm to others. It is horrible when we consider all the pain and suffering of men and women in this life because of sin in their lives. We need to consider the suffering of children because of sin in families. Our society is corrupted because of the ravages of sin in the lives of people, and something worse when we see that this is repeated in generation after generation.
The TRAGEDY of souls going to hell. Not only does sin cause untold misery in this life, but those who continue in it will end up in hell. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psa. 9:17). "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:15). "And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh" (Jude 22-23). Hell is a real place and Jesus told us exactly what it would be like. "And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom" (Luke 16:23).
The TRAGEDY of uncaring Christians. We have experienced the love of God and the salvation of the Lord, and we ought to be interested in others having the same joy. We have the gift of eternal life, and our destiny has been changed forever. The man who was robbed and wounded on the road to Jericho is an example of the condition of every sinner. He desperately needed help, but the priest and the Levite passed on the other side and gave him no help. A certain Samaritan came by and bound up his wounds, took him to an inn and provided for his need. (Luke 10:25-35.) Every sinner needs such spiritual help today, but unfortunately most Christians are passing by on the other side. What will you do in the days ahead of 2003? Will you be a soul winner, or will you just pass by on the other side?
Let me challenge you to obey our text for 2003. Will you be different in witnessing this year? Will you seriously strive to win souls this year? We have a large tract ministry here at Tabernacle Baptist Church, but we are slack in using our own tracts. Fill your pockets or your purse with salvation tracts, and give them out to every clerk, checker, salesman, and person you meet. Yes, give a verbal witness every time you can, but always leave a tract that has the truth of salvation in it. "The Way of Salvation" tract contains an excellent message on salvation, and we recommend that you distribute them. Use them for Christ's sake and for the sake of souls. Let us determine that for 2003, we will be "...always abounding in the work of the Lord...."
The Ashland Ave. Baptist Church of Lexington, KY, was once a great church with wide influence among Independent Baptists. They have been on the slippery slope of compromise for a number of years, and they have found no place to turn around or to stop. In the May 2000 issue of the Plains Baptist Challenger, we published two articles that described their rapid departure from the truth. Then in another issue of the PBC, we detailed their leap into the arms of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Why do we publish such things so often? It is not to gossip about the wrong doing of churches, but to sound a clear warning to pastors and members of sound churches. They need to see where compromising with the world leads.
Now Ashland Ave. Baptist has turned to a rock opera to help them get a crowd. The story in the program begins and ends in a tavern. And an angel is sent to earth to witness acts of kindness and ends up in a bar. The angel witnesses the bartender giving money to a person in need. It would seem that the message is, if you want to witness deeds of kindness go to a bar. Just what they will have to do next, only the Lord in heaven knows what it will be. We received the following letter from a Baptist pastor in Lexington.
Dear Bro Bynum: Just thought you might be interested to [know] the new depths to which a formerly great church has dropped. Ashland Avenue Baptist is struggling to recover from the disasters of recent years and is now turning to a Christmas "rock opera." Ashland was our mother church in 1954 . . . but now unfortunately, our church Pleasant Ridge Baptist is ashamed to acknowledge the fact. Our church orders your paper for distribution to our members and are thankful for such a valuable source of inspiration and help. Pastor Earl W. Thomas, Lexington, Ky.
The following appeared in this mornings paper, and was posted on Fri, Dec. 13, 2002
Forget about Christmas oratorios and cantatas. Ashland Avenue Baptist Church is tackling a new musical genre for the holidays: the rock opera.
Performing the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's best-selling Christmas Eve and Other Stories is a bold move to attract visitors, undertaken by a congregation that has survived a church split and plummeting attendance in recent years.
"You can't reach out and touch today's society with yesterday's methods. It just doesn't work," says music minister John Wesley Brett.
So the church is putting on its biggest show ever, complete with snow and fog machines, video footage of Lexington from the air, stage lighting, a 15-piece orchestra, a 50-voice choir, three keyboardists and guitarists from an ear-splitting alternative rock band.
In an age where couch potatoes outnumber pew sitters, churches are going to great lengths to attract visitors during the holiday season.
For many people, Christmas and Easter are the only times when they go to church or visit a new congregation.
These days, it takes more than a few bathrobe-clad Wise Men and kids with tinsel-covered halos to attract a crowd.
Other churches also stage elaborate undertakings. At Parkway Baptist Church in Lexington, for example, the congregation dresses up in Middle Eastern garb and sets up a drive-through mini- Bethlehem, complete with an overbooked inn, a pottery shop, a basket shop, a well, a tax collector's tent, a living Nativity scene, a pen full of barnyard animals and a camel named Zeke. The animals alone cost $1,500 to rent.
Churches in Louisville and Evansville, Ind., are staging "living Christmas trees" giant tree-shaped metallic structures big enough to hold entire choirs.
And Christ Life Sanctuary in Kettering, Ohio, promises "earth-shaking sound effects" and "explosive pyrotechnics."
But few Christmas programs are more ambitious than Ashland Avenue's, which opened yesterday and runs through Sunday. (Emphasis ours, ELB).
Brett, a former Lexington TV news personality, has been working on the program since February. He wrote the orchestration for the piece and recruited singers, musicians, set-builders and stage people even a pilot to fly a cameraman over Lexington's landmarks at night, taking pictures for the play. About 90 people are involved in the production.
As is the case with most church Christmas programs, Brett relies heavily on volunteer talent and donated materials. The total cost for the performance is expected to be less than $1,000.
Brett, 43, opened the program to non-churchgoers, welcoming anyone who shares his enthusiasm for the music and its message.
The church has recently suffered through a pastor's resignation and has seen its average weekly attendance plunge from 1,000 to about 300.
Brett says he hopes the program will unify the congregation and give it something positive to work on together.
The first Sunday he summoned volunteers, about 90 people showed up. Since then, support for the musical has remained strong, despite its unorthodox delivery.
"The church has come together in a great way. We've got a better spirit of unity than we've had in five or six years," says interim pastor LaVerne Butler. "Barring a December blizzard, we expect this to be the largest production ever produced by the church."
Unlike most Christmas stories, this one begins and ends at a tavern.
The play is the story of an angel sent to Earth by God on Christmas Eve to find "the one thing that best represents everything good that has been done in the name of this day."
The angel ends up at a bar and witnesses an act of kindness by an unnamed bartender. The barkeep, a modern-day Good Samaritan, scoops all of the cash out of his till and gives the money to a stranded young stranger a latter-day prodigal daughter so she can fly home for the holidays.
"The program's controversial in the fact that it's not normally what you'd see at church," said Brett.
But participants say the message is well-told and theologically sound.
"It's a beautiful story," said Larry Butler, a member of the chorus.
A former Hyatt Regency bartender, Mitch Kirchner, plays the Good Samaritan.
In the script, the men are drinking whiskey. In reality, his on-stage bar is stocked with empty IBC root beer bottles and Torani Italian syrups.
Kirchner, a church member, says he was impressed with the script the first time he saw it.
"I just felt like it told what is a good story in a different way," Kirchner said. "Maybe it'll touch somebody's heart."
With opening day less than a week away, the stage still had sawdust on it. Two tape measures sat atop the fake fireplace, and a power drill leaned against the bar's wall.
But participants were confident the program would come together.
"We've done a lot of Christmas programs, but this is going to be totally different," said drummer Alan Moore, an Ashland Avenue member for 10 years. "It's going to be a rockin' evening."
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book
all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as
yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:16
More than 42 million unborn babies have lost their lives since the United States Supreme Court decided on January 22, 1973, that women have a constitutionally protected right to have an abortion. According to the 2000 census, this number equals the current population of 19 different states: Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia. The number 42 million also equals the combined populations of California and Georgia.
Former New York City Mayor Rudolf Giuliani described the nearly 3,000 lost in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, as "more than we can bear." On a daily basis, abortion takes more lives than were lost in the September 11th tragedy. On average 3,836 pre-born babies have been routinely eliminated every day for thirty years. Since 1973, unwanted pre-born babies have had their lives ended at an average rate of 2.5 per minute, 160 an hour, and 1,400,000 a year! President Roosevelt said the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor that killed 2,403 Americans was "a date that would live in infamy." January 22, 1973, the date on which United States Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, is another such date that must live in infamy.
Americans are evenly divided on the question of whether abortion is morally wrong: 42% now say abortion is morally acceptable, while 45% believe abortion is morally wrong. According to a Christian polling group, this divide is primarily explained by differences in religious beliefs. Among people who read the Bible on their own, two-thirds call themselves pro-life and three-quarters oppose abortion in all but a few special circumstances. On the flip side, almost three-quarters of nonreligious people believe abortion should be legal in most, or all circumstances; and most of these people call themselves pro-choice.
For the past five years, about 45% of Americans have called themselves pro-choice while 45% label themselves pro-life, with 10% not accepting either label. Where the pro-life and pro-choice positions divide most dramatically is over the issue of first trimester abortions and over the reasons that make having an abortion acceptable. For example, 90% of pro-choice Americans approve of first trimester abortions, while 58% who call themselves pro-life think it should be illegal. Overall, the scale still tips in favor of first trimester abortions with 62% of Americans supporting them.
Unlike pro-lifers, pro-choice supporters tend to favor abortion for financial reasons, for reasons of physical or mental impairment, and for the mental as well as the physical health of the woman. Pro-choicers also support use of the abortion pill known as RU-486.
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: Deut.30:19
Happily, since 1990 there has been a continuing downward trend in the national abortion rate. For example, the rate fell from 24 abortions per thousand women of childbearing age in 1994 to 21 per thousand by the year 2000. In 1998, there was a 2% decrease from the number of legally induced abortions performed in 1997.
The reasons for this continuing decline are varied and complicated. One factor that cannot be overlooked is the shift in the public's attitude towards abortion. Prior to 1996, Americans were much more likely to call themselves pro-choice than they are today. Twenty percent of Americans now say they are less in favor of abortion today than they were a decade ago.
The following circumstances may also account for this change in attitude:
The horrors of the partial birth abortion procedure
New ultrasound technology that allows the public to clearly see life in the womb
The post-abortion syndrome experienced by many of those who have had abortions
The trend to delay childbearing, which results in older couples having problems with conception and developing a greater appreciation for life
All of this information translates into good news for the pro-life movement. More Americans now hold pro-life views: 30% would not permit abortion at all and 37% want tighter restrictions on abortion. Only 31% of Americans now believe abortion should be generally available. In addition, one-third of those aged 18 to 29 said abortion should never be legal.
Sixty-three percent of the American people would vote for a law banning partial birth abortion. Even the American Medical Association calls it "bad medicine" to kill a baby after it is already partially born. Doctors know that this procedure also endangers the woman's health. For one thing, it affects the woman's ability to carry future pregnancies to term.
Thirty-one states have passed laws banning partial-birth abortion. However, these laws were rendered unconstitutional on June 28, 2000, when the United States Supreme Court struck down Nebraska's partial birth abortion law in the case of Stenberg v. Carhart. The Court ruled the law lacked a sufficiently broad health exception for the mother. At the same time, the Court believed the law was unconstitutional because its language was broad enough to also ban more com-monly used abortion methods.
For seven years Congress has been working to pass a constitutional law banning partial birth abortion. Former President Clinton vetoed two earlier versions of this bill that had passed both in the House and Senate. A 2002 version of the bill attempted to answer the constitutional issues raised by the Supreme Court in Stenberg. Although the House voted for the bill 274-151, it died in the Senate at the close of the 107th Congress without ever being put to a vote.
The outcome of the 2002 elections provides some hope for passage of a partial birth abortion ban in the 108th Congress. President Bush has said he will sign such a ban. Christians look forward to the day when the 5,000-6,000 babies who die this brutal death each and every year will be saved.
Adapted from The Legal Alert, "From my Briefcase"