Dr. Robert Sumner passed away in December 2016. The Biblical Evangelist newspaper is no longer being published and the ministry of Biblical Evangelism has ceased operation.

The remaining inventory of his books and gospel tracts was transferred to The Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles and may be ordered here.


Off the Cuff - Part 6
Evangelist Robert L. Sumner

The folks in Minnesota decided they wanted a foul-mouthed comedian (Al Franken) as a senator. They elected him (well, maybe they did and maybe they didn’t, but that’s another story). Anyway, he introduced a bill the other day. When asked what his bill meant when it spoke of “bullying,” he didn’t know. So now, in addition to voting for a bill to see what is in it (Pelosi on ObamaCare), criticizing a bill before reading it (Attorney General Eric Holder and other key administration critics re Arizona’s immigration law), we now have a comedian senator who offers his own bill without knowing or understanding its contents. Is America a great place for phonies, or what!…

Immigration judge Rico Bartolomei granted the son of a prominent Hamas leader, Mosab Hassan Yousef, asylum in the United States. Yousef converted to Christ from Islam and wrote a book about it. He justly feared for his life if deported...

It was a rally in liberal Boston in liberal Massachusetts to tell Arizonians how bad they were with its new immigration law. (It was inspired by Governor Brewer being in town for a conference.) Sponsors said it would draw thousands. Less than 400 showed up – and some of them were counter-protesters. Even the liberal Boston Herald called it a flop…

Alliance Defense Fund attorney Nate Kellum says the last place a group of students would be told they couldn’t practice First Amendment rights would be on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet that’s where kids of the Wickenburg Christian Academy (AZ) were being quietly led in prayer by Teacher Maureen Rigo when court police told them what they were doing was “illegal” (based on a law about having parades). Kellum sent the court a friendly note explaining the facts of life and suggesting it inform its police to stop hindering “constitutionally protected prayer”…

According to the Associated Press, BP’s oil spill lasted 85 days, put an estimated 184 million gallons of crude into the Gulf, affected 572 miles of shoreline, and cost BP between $3 and $4 billion. What it proved was that the current administration has no idea what to do in an emergency…

Aston Kutcher, a “big” movie star, criticized Republicans for the Gulf Oil spill. While he tried to sound like a dedicated environmentalist, the actor actually drives a Navistar CXT, a 14,500-pound monster pick-up. It gets 7 miles to a gallon and requires a 70-gallon fuel tank. Our comment: typical Hollywood hypocrisy...

President Obama about the CEO of BP: “He wouldn’t be working for me.” While he may be too much of a gentleman to say so, the CEO is probably thinking of Obama, "He wouldn't be working for me"…

Investor’s Business Daily on National Security: “A Mexican cartel plots to blow up a dam – in Texas! Another pack of Mexican terrorists takes cash from Hugo Chavez. And what is Washington wringing its hands about? Why, racism in Arizona. If still more proof is needed that the border needs to be secured, the latest threats emerging from Mexico should do the trick. Together, they signal that the country's war could advance to a more savage stage ... As illegal armed groups plot to blow up infrastructure even in this country, Democrats in Congress are more concerned about an illegal immigrant getting his feelings hurt if a police officer in Arizona asks him to show some ID." And that only after he has broken another law!…

Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has introduced H.R. 1712 that would put Social Security back into its own special fund, not a piggy bank for pork purposes. Tell your representative to support it…

After months and months of begging and pleading, Obama sent National Guard troops to the border – a fraction of what was requested. They will be permitted to use guns only after being wounded (or killed). Obama’s order is explicit: fire only if fired upon (i.e., life is threatened)…

In May Pastor Tim Zerger was invited to give the invocation and the benediction at graduation exercises of Montana State University. The dummies at the ACLU filed a complaint and demanded an apology. It seems Zerger repeatedly referred to Jesus (horrors) as personal Savior. The MSU officials told the anti-god boys to go fly a kite (not an exact quote)…

The Associated Press reported a study showing that if teens are given an extra half-hour to start school, it “leads to more alertness in class, better moods, less tardiness, and even healthier breakfasts.” Big deal! Wouldn’t it work as well if the kids got to bed 30 minutes earlier?...

Don’t blame me; Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN) said it: “[Nancy Pelosi is the] least democratic speaker in the history of the House of Representatives.” He said she has blocked “free and open debate” in Congress. Sadly, he is right…

Our Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) is headed by John Morton, the fellow who promised he might not process any of the illegals sent him from Arizona, and who has closed at least 50 detention facilities for illegals. Now he has promised (perhaps already in effect) to provide hanging plants in all cells (give a homey appearance); free e-mail and internet-based phone service; continental breakfasts; Bingo, movie nights and arts/crafts classes; plus canceling “lockdowns, lights-out, visitor screening and detention uniforms.” Welcome to the country clubs for illegals!...

When a reporter asked Harry Reid about illegals in Nevada taking high paying construction jobs from citizens, he said there weren’t any. When told a Pew Hispanic Center study showed 17% of all construction workers are in the United States illegally. His answer, “Not in Nevada!” Yet the latest numbers show Nevada has the highest percentage of illegals in its workforce of any state (12.2%). Even if Reid were right about Nevada, shouldn’t a United States senator be concerned about them anywhere?…

To our ‘tolerant’ friends we pass on this word of wisdom from noted writer, G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936): "Tolerance is the virtue of a man without convictions”…

Planned Parenthood is still at it in Iowa. Not just using pornography to teach teens, it is also using stuffed animals to recommend sexual positions. It also promoted Sodomy and self sexual gratification. At one school the principal said he was “mortified.” But the superintendent, Dick Profit (he sounds more like ‘loss’ to me), bragged he had as many calls in support of the foolishness, as against…

When the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) meets the reports confirm how many members have been lost the previous year, not gained. So now it is considering redefining marriage to include Sodomites (and its clergy to ‘perform’ Sodomite marriages). Cynthia Bolbach, the new moderator, supports it…

A squeaker in Spain. Lawmakers there voted 131 to 129 to forbid women from wearing the burqa or any other garment that hides the entire body (face). It is a security matter...

Here is our Justice Department, headed by Eric Holder, at work. Members of the New Black Panther Party, who openly advocate killing whites, including babies (according to NBPP “King” Samir Shabazz), arrested for obstructing voters rights in Philly: case dismissed (and this was after they were found guilty, but prior to sentencing). In the case of State of Arizona, trying to defend itself from Mexican thugs and drug war lords: Holder filed suit against Arizona…

Our DOJ, when it comes right down to it, is advocating “open borders.” If not, why not file suit against the sanctuary cities which are already in open defiance to federal law?

Or how about investigating the proposed Mexican mafia hit on Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu? Or doesn’t that bother our DOJ?...

Nine states filed “friend of the court” briefs in support of Arizona: Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Virginia. There should be 40 more…

Put this one in your “kook” file: Michael Dowd, a self-named “evolutionary evangelist," who also calls himself an evangelical Christian (talk about making new definitions for words), has now written a book saying you need to become an atheist (he calls them “modern day prophets”) to really understand God…

Senators John Barrasso (WY), Jim DeMint (SC), James Inhofe (OK), David Vitter (LA) and Roger Wicker (MS), along with 76 Congresspersons, filed briefs with the court supporting Arizona in Obama/Holder’s suit against the latter’s immigration law. The brief said Arizona’s law not only supports federal authority, but Congress encourages states to aid in enforcing its laws. Only one Democrat, Congressman Gene Taylor (MS), joined his Republican colleagues in the brief…

One thing Obama should be thankful for about his ineptness in the Gulf Oil Spill. It took attention away from his ineptness in the Tennessee flooding that killed 22 people…

The National Education Association (NEA) has probably done more to ruin American education in the past century than any other half-dozen groups. At its annual meeting in New Orleans in July it welcomed a new caucus, the NEA Drag Queen Caucus (NEA already had the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, [and] Transgender Caucus). The NEA is the largest professional organization and labor union in the country…

Sick and tired of AARP with all its lies/misrepresentations (in advertising) and liberalism (in practice)? There is an alternative group for seniors: the Association of Mature American Citizens. Check it out and see if it is for you. Currently AMAC only has about 100,000 members…

Legislators in Missouri passed a law mandating clinics to offer women seeking abortions ultrasound images and heartbeats of what is in their wombs. Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, was too chicken to sign it, but he was willing to let it become law without his signature. Chicken or not, we are glad for his action…

Since she is in Wisconsin, we wonder if she is a charger member of the Freedom from Religion crowd. Ieshuh Griffin, a black running for the state assembly, wanted after her name on the ballot (Wisconsin law allows a five-word description) “NOT the ‘white man’s [deleted].’” She lost…

You hear a lot these days about an outfit called SIECUS [Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States], whose programs are wrecking havoc in our public schools. Saying who founded it may tell the story: the former medical director of Planned Parenthood

While she delayed to the last possible hour, we salute Hawaii governor Linda Lingle for vetoing the Legislature’s civil unions bill granting Sodomite and unmarried couples the same rights and benefits Hawaii provides married couples. Her reason? A small group of people ought not decide such a major issue…

Do you remember the Quichua tribe in Ecuador that murdered my friend Roger Youderian and his four missionary companions, including Jim Elliot? A total of 18 believers from the tribe have gone to a South Asian city as missionaries to assist a missionary couple there. The missionary they are to work with said, "... these young men want to be the first of many Quichua believers to go for the one true God and share Jesus." Is that a miracle, or what?...

Remember when Obama, Reid and Pelosi were trying to ram ObamaCare through Congress, the promises they made? They said costs for health care would go down, everyone could keep his or her own insurance if satisfied, instead of a budget deficit it would make money, it would not be a burden to small business owners. Lies, all lies, it turns out, which should surprise no one...

Again, when ObamaCare was being rammed through Congress without one Conservative vote, objection was made to the provision that mandated citizens purchase health care or pay a penalty. Opponents called it a tax. Supporters denied it. Now that it has gone to court, how is Obama defending it? By calling it “a tax”…

Lieutenant General William G. Boykin, Ret., recently gave an interview with Guns & Patriots. He served actively for 36 years and held the position of Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and in the interview he lamented, When our administration's analysis to law enforcement across the country that the future threats to America are right-wing Christian groups, pro-life groups, Second Amendment groups, and returning veterans; and never says, Islamic terrorists; then we have a fundamental problem of recognizing who the enemy is.” Since he is retired Obama can’t fire him, but do you suppose he can cut off his pension?...

Some 2½ million Muslims, upset that Facebook removed four pages popular with Muslims, are saying if the blog doesn’t apologize and put them back, they will quit Facebook. We are used to these crybabies whining. I say, let them quit! What say thou?...

Did you know that the Supreme Court decision justifying “racial preferences” for admissions in higher education institutions was decided by one Justice? It became the law of the land by the single opinion of Associate Justice Lewis Powell after the others on the court were deadlocked 4-4…

Mitt Romney noted [we admit he might have a dog in this fight, so just delete anything untrue you can find in his statement], "We have become accustomed to [Barack Obama's] management style – target a scapegoat, assign blame and go on the attack. To win health care legislation, he vilified insurance executives; to escape bankruptcy law for General Motors, he demonized senior lenders; to take the focus from the excesses of government, he castigated business meetings in Las Vegas; and to deflect responsibility for the deepening and lengthening downturn, he blames Wall Street and George W. Bush. But what may make good politics does not make good leadership. And when a crisis is upon us, America wants a leader, not a politician"…

Investor’s Business Daily put it well: “[M]illions of Americans would like to hear a reporter ask this president, 'Can you solve anything without asking for more government?'"…

Last July a radical Islamic group, Hizbut-Tahrir America (HTA), conducted (on American soil, a suburb of Chicago) its second annual "Global Campaign for Khilafah." Its purpose was to “call for an end to capitalism and to hype the virtues of an Islamic state ruled by strict sharia law.” The event was billed, "Emerging World Order: How the Khilafah Will Shape the World." In a Muslim nation, Americans could not even hold (or advertise) a prayer meeting…

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates the “net cost of illegal immigration to the American taxpayer is approximately $100 billion.” This tab of $1,117 per average American household (obviously much higher in states with a disproportionate number of illegals) is for service and benefits to illegals. The cost to Arizona alone (being sued by the feds for trying to protect itself) is $2.5 billion yearly…

The Russians beat the Americans again! This time it was in a spy swap where we released 10 Russian spy agents to them and they released a mere four to us (and many more Americans are locked up). But more than likely, the current administration was afraid some beans were going to be spilled; it was done in “a hurry”…

In case you missed Obama's first and only Oval Office address, here's the short version: "I've returned ... I assembled a team ... I'd like to lay out ... I've authorized ... I urge the governors ... I saw and heard ... I've talked ... I've seen ... I've talked ... I refuse ... I will meet ... I make ... I asked ... I approved ... I want to know ... I met with ... I've established ... I've issued ... I know ... I urge ... I expect ... I was a candidate ... I laid out ... I say ... I am happy ... I will not accept ... I will not settle..."…

Most of you know, probably, that the president of the United States serves as Honorary Chairman for the Boy Scouts of America. He is annually invited to speak. This year Mr. Obama turned down the opportunity so he could appear on “The View,” probably television’s most tasteless and insignificant production. We think the Scouts got off lucky!...

The bum they called ‘the Barefoot Bandit,’ 19-year-old Colton Harris-Moore, given wide publicity for stealing (and wrecking) cars, boats, airplanes and breaking into residences, was caught (aren’t they all, eventually). His mother bragged on him for his brilliance, only a couple of points, she said, below Einstein in IQ (isn’t there a thin line between genius and insanity?)...

Pastor George Saeg came to America from the Sudan, largely because of our freedom of religion. He lives in Dearborn (where approximately 30,000 of the 100,000 population is Muslim) and each year passes out tracts at the Arab Festival. A federal judge issued an order forbidding him to do so this year (apparently we have at least one protected religion in America!), but an appeals court granted an “emergency motion” allowing him to do so. …

David Axelrod boasted that this summer Obama’s ‘recovery’ ministry will be at a peak. He said there would be “thousands of highly visible road, bridge, water and other infrastructure projects breaking ground across the country." Here’s a sample: $1.25 million to build bridges for 250 rare red squirrels, financing 41 "canopy tunnel crossings." Don’t worry, the tunnels will only cost $400,000 – and then there is $160,000 for cameras to monitor the traffic. Personally, I worry more about the squirrels in Washington

In the final Rasmussen poll before the Kagan Supreme Court Vote, 36% of Americans supported it, 22% were undecided, and a full 42% opposed it!...

The pastor of the Berean Baptist Church in Winston-Salem (NC), Dr. Ron Baity, was invited to open the NC House of Representatives in prayer. He was dis-invited when he refused to delete “In Jesus’ Name” from his prayer. He is asking for an apology and another opportunity (although we have no idea why he would want the latter)…

The figure $2,034 is the average tax hike that will hit 17 million seniors if the Obama crew allows the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 to expire, as they plan. The figure $3,637 is the tax increase some 26 million small business owners will face if they expire. Figures supplied by the Heritage Foundation…

A black pastor in Sacramento, whom we have mentioned favorably before, is irate that the California chapter of the NAACP has endorsed the November ballot initiative there that would legalize recreational use of marijuana. Dr. Ron Allen, who heads up the International Faith-Based Coalition representing 3,600 congregations spoke out strongly. The NAACP response: so many blacks are getting arrested for using the illegal substance, let’s legalize it…

Tom Strode, Washington bureau chief of Baptist Press, reports that “adult stem cells have restored sight to more than three-fourths of patients blinded by chemical burns to their eyes.” There was full success in 77% of the cases, partial success in 13% and failure in only 10%. Stems cells from aborted babies still show zippo success in anything!...

First, let me note that I am the grandfather of a man who is a U.S. citizen by being born in this country; he is now a medical doctor. Second, those wanting to stop this silly method of citizenship by birth location are right. Third, Senator Harry Reid said of folks pushing the idea (referring to Republicans), "They've either taken leave of their senses or their principles." Fourth, Harry Reid, back in 1993, introduced legislation to end the practice. Is he out of his mind or a hypocrite who has abandoned his principles?...

President Obama’s sister (actually, stepsister), Holiyah Soetoro Sobah (or, “Lia,” as she was called), died earlier this year in Indonesia. The obituary said she had been adopted by Lolo Soetoro (Obama’s stepdad) and Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro (Obama’s mother). You didn’t know he had a sister in Indonesia? There’s a lot you don’t know about this man…

Know before you vote: It has been revealed that Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy of Ohio’s 15th District (Columbus area) is a longtime member of the Democratic Socialists of America (yes, Marxist). She helped write the Wall Street reform bill, a monstrosity recently rammed through Congress…

Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam sponsoring the Muslim Mosque at Ground Zero, is the fellow who blamed the United States' foreign policy for 9/11 and who refuses to call Hamas a terrorist organization. Did you know you and other taxpayers are funding his latest trip to the Middle East "to discuss Muslim life in America and religious tolerance." The Washington Times editorially described it as "simply a taxpayer-funded fundraising jaunt to underwrite his reviled project"...

While we are objecting to the Ground Zero mosque, did you know that taxpayers have been financing Muslim schools abroad for years? The Baptist Press quoted Daniel Pipes, "a Middle East commentator [who] has been following the use of taxpayer dollars to rebuild or refurbish mosques since early 2004," as saying, "the United States government is providing $157 million over a five-year period to build schools in Indonesia, including one called Madrassah Tanjungpura, an Islamic religious school less than two hours from Jakarta"…

The London Telegraph said, "The American government is also paying for the refurbishment of mosques in the area, in the hope of winning over religious leaders" and that "work has started on two 'super-madrassas' in Paktika, which borders Pakistan, and more are planned." The key word there seems to be “hope”…

An American officer in Afghanistan was quoted by the Times as explaining, "In Afghan terms it is a madrassa, but those words have baggage and if word gets back to a Western public that we are building madrassas, that is a bad thing. It is a religious school, but it is not a religious education. The governor is trying to ensure that there is some sort of control over the curriculum.”  The key words there seem to be "trying ... to ensure that radical Islam is not being fomented through these schools"…

By the way, Pipes correctly summed this Obama mess up: “The policy of building madrassas and refurbishing mosques in Afghanistan is madness. It is also unconstitutional … American taxes are being used to favor, abroad, a religion, and far worse, one religion over others. Where is the constitutional challenge to this?" Yes, where? Is the ACLU on a hiatus? Or does it just object to Christianity?...

Mr. Obama not only once again proclaimed the month of June 2010 as "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month," this time he used the occasion to call for repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. He also boasted that openly Sodomite folks were "serving at every level" in his administration. Never in the history of this country have we had such an anti-“biblical marriage” man in the White House...

David Noebel, whom we highly respect, noted, “… a fellow lecturer told me of his recent trip to Cuba where ‘social justice’ reigns supreme. Everyone in Cuba works for the government and receives $15 a month (doctors receive $18) which barely buys beans and rice and a little cooking oil. The 500 pastors he taught for a week said that Cuba today is an island prison and no one can escape. People are starving even though their waters are alive with fish, but no fishing boats are allowed since they would be used to escape from paradise to the evil United States. This is the Cuba that the Rev. Jim Wallis and his Sojourners crowd hold up as an example of ‘social justice’”…

No, we’ll not do it! Have you noticed that almost every publisher now has its own translation of the Bible on the market. Baker Books is the latest with God’s Word. Biblical Evangelism Press has no intention of joining the mob (but, then, we are not a major publisher, either)…

Columnist George Will noted: "The fact is, Mexico has two big exports: Oil, and their second biggest export is poverty to the United States – from which, in remittances sent back to Mexico, they get $21 billion a year. [It] has a stake in illegal immigration to our country”…

In the state of Washington an illegal immigrant was “caught in the act” of raping a woman. Later authorities discovered he had been arrested and deported nine different times…

Ah, soccer. Ah, Cana-dah! Believe it or not, the Canadian youth soccer league introduced a new rule: any team winning a game by more than five goals loses by default! Apparently it introduces socialism to sports; you know, share/spread the glory!...

As you know via the media, the unions have been pouring unlimited funds into our elections, trying to control who serves ($10 million in one losing cause). Now a senator (Bob Casey, D-PA) has introduced a bill to bail out troubled union pensions. If passed (which seems likely in current culture), it could cost taxpayers another $165 billion…

Heather Mercer, who was held captive 105 days by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, commenting on the murder of the 10 in August by the same group there (she knew personally two of the victims who were working with Shelter Now Ministries, Tom Little and Dan Terry) said, "God is at work in significant ways in the Muslim world amid the spiritual darkness”…

In mid-August “official” figures were released showing unemployment fell from 9.9 percent in July (good news) and full employment dropped 495,000 during the same period – almost 4/10ths of 1 percent (bad news). How could both be dropping at the same time? Is someone cooking the books?...

The most qualified man ever to be nominated to the Supreme Court and miss it, Robert Bork (nominated by President Reagan, 1987), publicly came out swinging against Obama’s nominee, Elena Kagan. He abhors her abortion position…