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 2 of 4)

CHRISTIANITY DECLINING!

Apparently the trend in churches toward no visitation programs, no public invitations, no evangelistic/revival meetings, no buses bringing in the poor, few evangelistic sermons, and counting on God to have made all the decisions in eternity past is not working. According to the Pew Research Center, “Christianity” has dropped nearly 8% in just the past seven years! And while part of the blame could go to the pro-Muslim, anti-Christian rhetoric coming from the White House, such is easily not even a major share of the problem.

The number of Americans claiming to be Christian is now down to 71% and USA Today says the trend is true no matter the race, gender, education or geographic dimensions. While Christianity remains today’s dominant religious identity in America, it is much weaker than it was formerly.

In fact, according to Pew’s director of religion research, Alan Cooperman, "The country is becoming less religious as a whole, and it's happening across the board." Americans “unaffiliated” with any religious group has also been growing over the same period, from 16% to approximately 23% of the population. In fact, there are now more “unaffiliated” (25%) than Roman Catholics (21%) or Protestants (21%).

Tragically, in the unaffiliated group the number of atheists, agnostics and those who have no particular religious convictions has grown to 31% of that classification. More and more Americans are saying “religion is just not important” to them. As an indication of the latter, the number of mixed marriages has grown from 19% to 39% (more than doubled) since 1960.

Read the first sentence of this editorial again. Anyone out there in favor of “the old-time religion” before we go under completely?

OPEN LETTER TO

BRUCE JENNER!

Dear Bruce,

I see/hear you had a sex change operation because you wanted to be happy.

No one becomes happy spitting in the face of God. He made you a man and you are now defying what He created. How can you be happy with such rebellion? I use “happy” since that is the word you used, but happiness depends on circumstances (if they are good, you are happy; if not, you are miserable). What you really need is JOY, which doesn’t depend at all on outward circumstances.

Spitting in the face of God? But perhaps you don’t believe in God. He is there whether you believe in Him, acknowledge Him, or just flat out reject Him. Face it, you can’t escape from Him. King David, who wrote about half of all the 150 Psalms approximately 3,000 years ago (including the beloved Psalm 23, read or recited at almost every funeral), penned these words: “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” (Psalm139:7-14).

You see, Bruce, you cannot hide from your Creator no matter where you go. I went a verse or two past David’s declaration about not being able to hide from God because I wanted you to see the 14th verse. Let me emphasize it for you: “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”

You see, my friend, God created you a man and He says He did it “marvelously and wonderfully.” You cannot improve on what He did and you especially cannot be happy if you are, as I called it above, “spitting in His face” regarding how He created you.

I’ll not mention the physical problems that will probably be coming your way – will you enjoy (be happy) with them? They happen to men and women who tinker with the way God made them, as any knowledgeable medical scientist could tell you – if you are interested, that is.

Like the country music fellow who sang about looking for love in all the wrong places, you are looking for happiness in all the wrong places. Years ago we used to sing a little Gospel chorus:

If you want joy, real joy, wonderful joy,

Let Jesus come into your heart.

If you want joy, real joy, wonderful joy,

Let Jesus come into your heart.

Your sins He’ll wash away,

Your night He’ll turn to day,

Your life He’ll make it over anew.

If you want JOY, real JOY, wonderful JOY

Let Jesus come into your heart.

     – Words and music by Joseph D Carlson

        ©1939 by Joseph D. Carlson

In short, first of all you need to get saved. There is no happiness in the world like knowing your eternal destiny is settled and you have God’s Word that Heaven will be your home forever! Real happiness doesn’t start before salvation. After that, there is joy aplenty in serving and worshiping Him. For example:

John 15:10, 11: “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

Acts 20:24, “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”

Galatians 5:22-24, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”

I’m sorry that all your accomplishments and successes in life haven’t made you happy. The wisest man who ever lived, King David’s son King Solomon, discovered the same thing. Here is his pathetic story as he recorded it:

I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it? I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done. Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool. Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity. Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun. For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil. For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity” (Ecclesiastes 2:1-23).

If I could help you spiritually in any way, please feel free to contact me. There will be no charge.

Dr. Robert L. Sumner, Editor

The Biblical Evangelist

P.S. One does not have proof that she is a woman until she can produce babies (physically, not via adoption). When you have your first born, let me know so I can congratulate you and him/her.

ADVICE FOR DUMMIES!

This editorial is in the tradition of all those “advice for dummies” books.

If you are impressed with titles – and for those of this type you probably should be – Dr. Paul R. McHugh is the former psychiatrist-in-chief for Johns Hopkins Hospital and currently JHH’s Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry. Discussing recently the popular current sex change operation such as Jenner had, he said it was a “mental disorder” that needed treatment, not surgery.

He noted that changing one’s sex was “biologically impossible.” He described those undergoing such surgeries as merely becoming “feminized men or masculinized women.” Not only so, but physicians or anyone else promoting such surgery he accused of “collaborating with and promoting a mental disorder.”

Wow! Did you get that ABC, NBC, CBS, The New York Times and all the other involved in the media frenzy, including the sleazy magazine that put the “new” Jenner on its cover.

Oh, is McHugh a back alley shyster physician with no credibility? Not exactly! He has written six books and a minimum of “125 peer-reviewed medical articles.” And his comments on this subject appeared in the Wall Street Journal, not the New York Times.

And what about the little kiddies who think they are of another gender than birthed and Mama tries to make the public school let them use the “other gender” rest room? Doc McHugh said studies taken by our Vanderbilt University and England’s London Portman Clinic report that, as they grow older, 70% to 80% “spontaneously lost those feelings.”

But what about these psychiatrists and other “experts” who give “puberty-delaying hormones” to help the confused kiddies? He called such action “close to child abuse” and the perpetrators “misguided.” He warned that those drugs stunt the growth and risk causing sterility in the children so treated. By the way, he also noted folks who undergo sex-change surgery have a suicide rate 20 times higher than normal people.

Since our fearless president, Mr. Obama, called and congratulated Jenner for “courage” in the surgery, according to those in the know (see five paragraphs above), he is guilty of “collaborating with and promoting a mental disorder.” That is not exactly what he was elected and reelected to do. But then, again, he has done very little of what he was elected to do, so it is just another matter with him of SNAFU.

Doc McHugh said at Hopkins they stopped doing “sex-reassignment surgery, since producing a ‘satisfied’ but still troubled patient seemed an inadequate reason for surgically amputating normal organs.”

Indeed!

Perhaps some of Jenner’s depression relates to killing a woman on the old Pacific Coast Highway early this year. While he/she/it Jenner walked away uninjured, 60-year-old Kimberly Howe, died in the crash. Her estate is now suing he/she/it Jenner for “wrongful death” and charging “negligence” on his/her/its part.

It seems his Cadillac Escalade SUV plowed into the back of her Lexus at sufficient speed that propelled “her vehicle into the opposite lanes of traffic” and head-on into an oncoming Hummer, resulting in a deadly four-vehicle accident and killing her.

Jenner’s “career” punishment for all this? He/she/it recently debuted a new show honoring his stupidity and being named “I Am Cait.” E! Entertainment Television brass are the morons producing it and they will reward him handsomely with filthy lucre for just showing up for the show’s taping. Obviously, we think it deserves an early death.

Strangely, about half of the promo video features Jenner in vehicles, including one showing him/her/it applying cosmetics while hurtling down the highway. Obviously a great example for teen drivers (and others)!

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED

TO ME ON THE WAY . . .

While getting this copy ready for the printer in July, Mrs. Sumner and I had to do some shopping and then had lunch at an inexpensive Mexican restaurant. It is my policy to witness to every server and has been for many, many years. When I am at a Hispanic emporium, I give the servers my Heaven Can Be Yours! in Spanish and they love it. Imagine a Gringo giving them a booklet in their own language!

As usual, my server was thrilled to get it; in fact, he took the extra Spanish copies I had with me to give to his fellow servers at the restaurant.

However, there was a party of eight fairly young folk at the table across from us and one of the young men was wearing a Liberty University Tee Shirt (it was not far from the Liberty campus). On my way to the exit I stopped and thanked him for wearing the LU shirt and said, “Young man, you have won the Good Manners award of the day. Here is a copy of the booklet I wrote, The Wonder of the Word of God.”

He shocked me by saying he didn’t want it and wouldn’t accept it. I thought he was afraid I might be a cultist so I gave him some of my Liberty fundamentalist credentials. He still didn’t want it. I offered it to others at the table. None would accept it so I went on out. At the door waiting for a table were three people and one was wearing Liberty identification. I offered it to him and he grabbed it.

There are any number of explanations why the young man (and his friends) would refuse it, but that would be speculation. Since there are any number of places in town where he could buy Liberty tee shirts (and Harvard, and Virginia Tech, etc.) it could easily be he wasn’t a student.

Oh, yes, the last time anyone ever refused my literature was years ago here in Lynchburg at the Olive Garden. He said he was an atheist and knew more about the Bible that I did; he was an ex-Church of Christ preacher.

Will I stop witnessing? Not on a bird’s eye. Believe me, folks, it is very, very very rare to have someone reject a Gospel witness, even in this day of Mickey Weinsteins and the Freedom From Religion crowd! So go to it! The fields are white unto harvest, even if some seed does fall on stony ground.

DR. JOHN RICE & KJVONLY

Some time ago, during a KJVOnly discussion, I made mention  of the fact that Dr. John R. Rice had his board members sign a Statement of Faith annually that limited the inspiration and inerrancy of the Word of God to the original manuscripts. Someone asked for a copy and I couldn’t find one in my files. The other day, while looking through his longtime secretary’s semi-biography, John R. Rice: “The Captain of Our Team,” I saw where she printed it out in reporting our1965 annual meeting (on pages 251-252 of Captain).

Here is the first point, dealing with inspiration, inerrancy:

I BELIEVE

1. In the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures and the absolute reliability and authority, without error, in the original manuscripts.

That was what Dr. Rice believed and what he insisted those associated with him believe. Note carefully those words: in the original manuscripts! It was not in the KJV, the NIV, the NASB, or any of the other versions/translations/paraphrases of the day. It was “absolute reliability,” “authority,” and “without error” in the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. That was it; and that alone!

Signing that year, as Miss Viola reported it in her book, in the order she reported it, was Dr. John R. Rice, president; Dr. Bill Rice; Dr. Jack Hyles; Dr. R. L. Sumner; Dr. Tom Malone, Al Byers, Evangelist Bud Lyles; Rev. Paul Raker; Mrs. John R. Rice; Miss Fairy Shappard; “and I, Viola Walden.”

It is interesting that Jack Hyles, who announced he was KJVOnly before Rice’s body had time to turn to dust, signed that statement! And it is also interesting that the public position of The Sword of the Lord today is KJVOnly – very definitely not in the tradition of Dr. John R. Rice – or the original position of The Sword of the Lord.

Times change; but Truth doesn’t!