Missives

John Newton, the celebrated English preacher and hymn writer, realized that he was a trophy of divine grace. A while before his death, a brother minister came to have breakfast with him. Family prayers followed the meal. Mr. Newton’s sight had almost failed him, and he was unable to read. He sat and listened to his friend read the 15^th chapter of I Corinthians. When the tenth verse was read, By the grace of God I am what I am, Mr. Newton began to speak: “I am not what I ought to be. Ah! How imperfect and deficient! I am not what I wish to be. I abhor what is evil and I would cleave to what is good. I am not what I hope to be soon. Soon, I shall put off, with mortality all sin and imperfection. Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be; I truly say that I am not what I once was, a slave to sin and Satan; and I can heartily join with the Apostle, and acknowledge, by the grace of God I am what I am.”

John Newton could say that with great conviction and joy. What had he once been?  When he was seven years old, he lost his mother. A little later he went to sea with his dad and learned all the evils of the seaman’s life.  Still later, he was forced into the Navy. He deserted but was caught, stripped, and beaten until the blood flowed from his wounds. He had become a hardened infidel. He fell in with African slave traders. He went from bad to worse, until he himself was sold as a slave. It was a Negro woman who bought him, and she gloried in her power over him. She made him depend for his food on the crusts she tossed under the table. He had fallen to the depths of human degradation. And yet the grace of God found him, and saved him, and made him one of the greatest ministers of Christ, and a writer of hymns that have stirred the hearts of men the world over. Truly he could say, “I am not what once I was.” Truly he could say “By the grace of God I am what I am.”

 Knowing this, do you wonder at John Newton’s message in the grand old hymn:

 “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, //  that saved a wretch like me!

 I once was lost, but now am found,   //        was blind, but now I see.”

When we read this story of John Newton’s life, we can understand why he wrote nine verses (along with the regularly sung 5 verses) which are so seldom used today. We have gotten too busy that we do not have the time to sing all the verses of many of our grand old hymns, and many times we fail to get the message which the song writer meant to convey. This is certainly true of this great song.  

Read carefully the last nine “missing” verses of Amazing Grace:

In evil long I took delight,

Unawed by shame of fear;

Till a new object met my sight,

      And stopped my wild career.

I saw One hanging on a tree,

      In agonies and blood;

Who fixed His languid eyes on me.

      As near His cross I stood.

Sure, never till my latest breath,

      can I forget that look;

It seemed to charge me with His death,

      though not a word He spoke.

My conscience felt and owned the guilt,

      and plunged me in despair;

I saw my sins His blood had shed,

      and helped to nail Him there.

Alas, I knew not what I did,

      But all my tears were vain;

Where could my trembling soul be hid,

      For I the Lord had slam!

A second look He gave that said;

      I freely all forgive!

This blood is for thy ransom paid, 

      I died that thou mayest live.

The Lord has promised good to me,

      His Word my hope secures;

He will my shied and portion be,

      As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

      and mortal life shall cease;

I shall possess within the vial,

      a life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,

      the sun forbear to shine;

But God who called me here below

      shall be forever mine.

Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Vol.2, 1989

“The Word of Christ is, of course, the Word of God. The false teachers came to Colossae with man-made traditions, religious rules, and human philosophies. They tried to harmonize God's Word with their teachings, but they could not succeed. God's Word always magnifies Jesus Christ.

It was not the word of false teachers that brought salvation to the Colossians; it was the Word of the truth of the Gospel (Col. 1:5). This same Word gives us life and sustains and strengthens us (1 Peter 1:22-2:3).

The Word will transform our lives if we will but permit it to dwell in us richly. The word dwell means ‘to feel at home.’ If we have experienced the grace and peace of Christ, then the Word of Christ will feel at home in our hearts. We will discover how rich the Word is with spiritual treasures that give value to our lives.

However, we must not think that Paul wrote this only to individual Christians; for he directed it to the entire church body. ‘Let the Word of Christ dwell among you’ is a possible translation. As it dwells richly in each member of the church, it will dwell richly in the church fellowship.

There is a danger today, as there was in Paul's day, that local churches minimize the Word of God. There seems to be a lack of Bible teaching in Sunday School classes and pulpits. Far more interest is shown in movies, musical performances, and various entertainments than in God's Word. Many saved people cannot honestly say God's Word dwells in their hearts richly because they don’t take time to read, study, and memorize it.

There is (according to Paul) a definite relationship between our know-ledge of the Bible and our expression of worship in song. One way we teach and encourage ourselves and others is through the singing of the Word of God. But if we do not know the Bible and understand it, we cannot honestly sing it from our hearts.

Perhaps this poverty of Scripture in our churches is one cause of the abundance of unbiblical songs that we have today. A singer has no more right to sing a lie than a preacher has to preach a lie!  The great songs of the faith were, for the most part, written by believers who knew the doctrines of the Word of God. Many so-called Christian songs today are written by people with little or no knowledge of God’s Word. It’s dangerous to separate the praise of God from the Word of God.

Psalms were, of course, songs taken from the Old Testament. For centuries, the churches in the English-speaking world sang only metrical versions of the Psalms. I am glad to see today a return to the singing of Scripture, especially the Psalms. Hymns were songs of praise to God written by believers but not taken from the Psalms. The church today has a rich heritage of hymnody which, I fear, is being neglected. Spiritual songs were expressions of Bible truth other than in psalms and hymns. When we sing a hymn, we address the Lord; when we sing a spiritual song, we address each other.

Paul described a local church worship service (1 Cor. 14:26; Col. 3:16). Note that the believer sings to himself as well as to the other believers and to the Lord. Our singing must be from our hearts and not just our lips. But if the Word of God is not in our hearts, we can’t sing from our hearts. This shows how important it is to know the Word of God. for it enriches our public and private worship of God.

Our singing must be with grace. This does not mean ‘singing in a gracious way,’ but singing because we have God's grace in our hearts. It takes grace to sing when we are in pain, or when circumstances seem to be against us. It certainly took grace for Paul and Silas to sing in that Philippian prison (Acts 16:22-25). Our singing must not be a display of fleshly talent; it must be a demonstration of the grace of God in our hearts.

Someone said that a successful Christian life involves attention to three books: God's Book, the Bible; the pocketbook; and the hymn book. I agree. I often use a hymnal in my devotional time, to help express my praise to God. As a believer grows in his knowledge of the Word, he will want to grow in his expression of praise. He will learn to appreciate the great hymns of the church, the Gospel songs, and the spiritual songs that teach spiritual truths. To sing only the elementary songs of the faith is to rob oneself of spiritual enrichment.

Before we leave this section, we should notice an important parallel with Ephesians 5:18-6:9. In Ephesians, Paul emphasized being filled with the Spirit; in Colossians, he emphasized being filled with the Word. But the evidences of this spiritual fullness are the same! How can we tell if a believer is filled with the Spirit? He is joyful, thankful, and submissive (Eph. 5:19- 21); all of this shows up in his relationships in the home and on the job (Eph. 5:22-6:9). How can we tell if a believer is filled with the Word of God? He is joyful, thankful, and submissive (Col. 3:16, 4:1).”

It’s hard to displace a Texan from Texas.  They are quite comfortable with all the largess their state affords them:  big skies, an international reputation, plenty of land, bright sunshine, warm people, great food descending from those having lived there under six different flags, 254 counties, mountains in the southwest, beaches along the Gulf of Mexico, large lakes, reasonable gun laws, generally conservative politics, lotsa oil money, no state income taxes – and don’t forget the great Bar-B-Que.

So getting my 86-year-old Texan mother to (gasp) leave the state and come up to Yankee territory (more gasps) would not be easy.  Sure, there would be a new apartment on the side of her son’s house, built just for her.  But senior citizens typically move from cold to warmer climates, not vice versa.  Her brothers are in Texas.  Her grandkids are in Texas.  Her new great-granddaughter is in Texas.  It would require quite the sales job, and it better be very convincing.  This transplanted Texan knew the challenges.

Nothing attracts like a constant drip of good news. On a regular basis, starting from my time at the drawing board, I sent her plans, promises and pictures giving proof of daily construction progress.  She particularly liked the pictures of a sweaty son, swinging hammers or slogging in the mud.  Nothing says “love” as much as a dirty boy, all done for dear ‘ol mom.  Pictures kept coming:  the foundation, then the floor joists and subfloor, then walls, roof, siding, flooring, kitchen, paint, fixtures, concrete ramps and walkways.  As these pictures poured in daily, she got more and more excited to the point that she was ready to move.  She could see herself living there, ready and able to enjoy her custom-built home.

Likewise, God our Father gives us many plans, promises and pictures of our custom-built heavenly home.  He tells us through Jeremiah I know the thoughts (plans, purposes) that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. He speaks of the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord … in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will: that we should be to the praise of His glory.  So great is our inheritance of the saints in light that we sometimes fail to grasp just how wonderful it is. What we need, therefore, are many pictures.

So, God gave us an entire book full of pictures typifying the grand work of redemption, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.  The law [had] a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things. Jesus spoke in parables, teaching truths about the kingdom of heaven in earthly terms.  Saints are likened unto five wise virgins; a good tree bearing fruit; grains of wheat, not tares; an householder bringing forth treasures old and new; a pearl of great price (for indeed, we were very expensive, and the Savior sold all to purchase us!); good fish from the sea caught in a net; and so on.  The Apostle Paul likens us, in our future spiritual body, to stars differing in glory.  He reminds us of our throne, reigning with Him forever, in a new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. We shall not inherit corruption, but incorruption; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.  So great is our future that believers are compared to earth’s very best: Mount Zion (Ps. 125:1-2), Lebanon (Hos. 14:5-7), jewels (Mal. 3:17), gold (Job 23:10), stones of a crown (Zec. 9:16), lions (Pr. 28:1), eagles (Isa. 40:31), unfailing springs (Isa. 58:11), good figs (Jer. 24:2-7), trees planted beside rivers (Ps. 1:3), and green olive trees (Ps. 52:8).

In addition, God gives us many exceeding great and precious promises. He has called thee by thy name; thou art mine.  He has loved thee with an everlasting love.  He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will joy over thee with singing.  They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts … and I will spare them.  They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. They shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.  He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.  Are you looking forward to your new home?

Borrowed Tools.  Over the years I have been collecting tools using a decision process when I first became a homeowner:  if I can buy the tool for less than the cost of any minor repair job, I will buy the tool and learn to do it myself. Over time, I collect both the knowledge and the tools needed for various home repair tasks.  It has served me well.

This tool collection apparently was coveted by the various tradesmen who came to work with their shoddy old beat-up tools.  At first, I didn’t mind loaning my better tool for their use; after all, it was for the benefit of my addition. What I quickly learned was the reason why their tools were so beat up, yet mine stayed in good shape.  They didn’t know how to use them properly.  I must have lost over $400 worth of tools while on loan, either due to outright breakage, or unexplained disappearances (i.e., theft).

God is smart.  In the gospel, no unbeliever is permitted to use His main tool, the preaching of His word. For instance, a damsel possessed with a spirit of divination … followed Paul, crying, ‘These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation’.  She had the right message; yet though the content was correct, she was an unfit vessel since unbelievers can’t be evangelists.  The Apostle Paul was grieved, rebuked the devilish spirit out of her, and she became quiet.  Another man in the synagogue saw Jesus and cried out, I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.  What a testimony! Surely we might want this fellow on our evangelism team.  Yet Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit in him, saying Hold thy peace, and come out of him. Even after Jesus healed a great many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; yet He suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew Him. That’s curious. The Bible’s clear record is that these devils knew Christ, yet it was not in God’s good pleasure, purpose or plan for devils to be heralds.  Luke notes Jesus’ same restrictions as he saw devils coming out of those whom the Lord healed, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And He rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that He was Christ. 

In God’s good providence, He hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. The tools of this sacred job aren’t entertainment, a worldly lit-up music stage with a kickin’ band, a profanely dressed worship leader (i.e., a feel good stage performer), or vain promises of economic prosperity, political freedom, and personal health.  It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. May we joyfully use God’s tool to His glory, thanking Him for this privilege.

The Servant.  I grew weary of contractors coming through and causing rework. It seems patching or re-painting was required every week.  The biggest offender was the plumber.  There was a single water connection left, and a simple one at that.  He just needed to attach the supply line to the toilet.  This was a 3-minute job at most. After connecting it, the toilet wouldn’t fill up, just a tiny drip, drip, drip.  He took the hose off, and even cut the valve off the wall, still no pressure.  He tore several holes in the finished wall before finding the culprit: a pipe he filled with too much glue which blocked the flow.  A 3-minute job became a 3-day delay. I looked forward to their departure.

Even so, the Lord has servants in His house who provide a measure of value but won’t be there forever.  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.  Jesus said to some unbelieving Jews, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. The day will come when all the servants are gone, and only family members are allowed.  Glorious day!

Completed Plans.  The end of the job finishes with the archival process. There were many printed plans and permits, and it was time to discard some and store others away for future reference. Blueprints were no longer needed because the house was built. Even so, when Christ came to fulfill the OT, it was put away.  The first tabernacle … was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience. But Christ being come … a greater and more perfect tabernacle … by His own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. All the OT prototypes and figures no longer serve their purpose.  The Son is here!

In God’s good providence and timing, and for purposes and reasons known only to Him, my construction project began precisely when material prices went sky high. Lumber in particular ran three times the normal cost. Shortages of commonly used parts introduced incredibly lengthy delays, in some cases up to four months. So naturally, as an ever-industrial engineer seeking ways to contain costs to have some hope of remaining in budget, I sought to reuse old parts.

The first attempt was to re-use my old exterior heat pump located where mother’s bedroom would be located. To me, the cheaper solution was to simply relocate it to the other side of the house. I had meticulously maintained my Trane unit over the years and was confident it would keep running and providing me good service for more to come. However, all the contractors who looked at it said, no, if you move this, we can’t guarantee that we can start it up after a disconnect. So, I ended up buying a new one, which turned out to be a good move. Little did I realize, the air handler in the attic was full of mold and contributed to some lingering health problems I had at night with breathing. It definitely was time to go.

In the end, the only thing that got reused was an old fan in my office, which went to the bedroom after removing the light kit. It, too, was a headache, and probably would have been better if I had ditched it and simply bought a new unit. It would’ve saved me a lot of time.

To me, the gospel parallels couldn’t be sharper. The Lord Jesus spoke specifically about trying to reuse old parts in parables.  In Matthew 9, Jesus said no man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. I remember foolishly thinking that I could fix the knee hole in my jeans with a sew-on patch; after all, we’ve progressed in our technology since the 1^st century. I learned that some things never change, including Jesus’ eternal words.

Spiritually speaking, what is the old that can’t be reused in the new?  When we think of the phrases “old” and “new”, the word “covenant” should come to mind – as in, Old Testament (covenant) and New Testament.  Simply put, the old covenant, also known as the Mosaic covenant, consisted of types, shadows, and figures which served only to reflect the realities fulfilled in the New Testament church.  Once the concrete is poured and hardened, you don’t leave the forms laying around.  Once the wedding is over, you don’t keep sending out the wedding invitations.

Hebrews chapter 9 so aptly describes this stark contrast between old and new.  Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. … Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. … It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.  Hallelujah that the New Testament church is built out of all new parts!

Since Mission Bible Church began, we have made the financial support to both home and foreign missions a mandatory budget item.  As has been said, if the church doesn’t evangelize, we will fossilize.  That’s a poignant reminder and a good illustration.

As of this writing, we have collected $2,815 for this year’s thank offering drive.  This is wonderful news!  Our level of support varies depending on how closely they align to our position over several core doctrines, such as: a strong stand on the Textus Receptus as the canonical Bible; salvation explained by the doctrines of grace; and an unwavering belief in six-day creation.  The ministries we intend to support are:

Berean Bible Church, Martinsburg, WV (Brothers Vidal Moreta and Charles Jackson, Pastors-in-training; BereanBibleChurchWV.com)

Fern Evangelical Methodist Church, Cambridge Jamaica (Pas. Meggie Scott)

Trinitarian Bible Society, with offices in the United Kingdom, USA, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and New Zealand (TBSbibles.org)

Creation Ministries International, with two (2) dozen scientists employed in the US, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and in Europe (creation.com)

Institute for Creation Research, Dallas TX (icr.org)

Christian Law Association, Mason, Ohio (ChristianLaw.org.)

In addition to your financial support, please pray that these ministries continue to serve our Lord at an ever-increasing level of faithfulness.

Pastor Meggie Scott and his wife Barbara have faithfully served at the Fern Evangelical Methodist Church (EMC) in Cambridge, Jamaica, for over 30 years.  The Fern EM Church is high in the mountains, deep in the interior of the Island.  The Fern district has little industry and is a very poor area.  Pastor Meggie supplements the family's income by farming crops and livestock. Pastor Meggie grew up in the Fern congregation and was very active in the youth group.  As a teenager, he was known throughout the community for his testimony for Christ.  He began preaching as a young man when the elderly pastor of the church became ill and has continued unto this day.  In addition to the ministry at Fern, Pastor Meggie also conducts worship services and Sunday School at the Smithfield Evangelical Methodist Church. Covid has devastated the entire island of Jamaica, particularly the churches, due to mandatory closures and quarantine. Meggie and Barbara have two children, a daughter Soleil who is in college studying Education, and a son Sunil who is in ninth grade.  This family would be greatly blessed by your support.

Pas. Welfred "Meggie" Scott, daughter Soliel, son Sunil, and wife Barbara. Everyone in Jamaica has a nickname.

Picture of the Fern Evangelical Methodist Church, Fern District, Cambridge, Jamaica.

Pas. Meggie preaches at the Crowder Evangelical Methodist church.  MBC’s Pas. Joe McKnight sits on the platform in the back, next to Pas. Dalbert Thomlinson.

Conservative fundamental churches confessed the Scriptures to be infallible in the past, meaning they cannot fail.  That word has been replaced with inerrant or ‘without error,’ yet this conveys the sad unspoken amendment of ‘without error in the original manuscripts.’  This leaves room for a bible that has been corrupted over time, recovered by the purportedly wise scholars who continue to “fix” the text.  An onslaught of errors and counterfeit bibles have flooded Christian pulpits.  Thankfully, an international alarm bell still rings in the Trinitarian Bible Society (TBS).  They provide this week’s self-explanation from their About page, found at TBSbibles.org/page/about (quoted, below).

The Trinitarian Bible Society was founded in 1831 with the principal aim of promoting the glory of God and the increase of His kingdom through the circulation of Protestant or uncorrupted versions of the Word of God. Today, we still carry forward that vision, which is so well expressed in our motto, ‘The Word of God Among All Nations’.

The principal purpose of this society is to promote the Glory of God and the salvation of men, by circulating, both at home and abroad, in dependence on the Divine blessing, the Holy Scriptures, which are given by inspiration of God, and are able to make men wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. This emphasis is clearly shown in our aims as given below.

• To publish and distribute the Holy Scriptures throughout the world in many languages.
• To promote Bible translations which are accurate and trustworthy, conforming to the Hebrew Masoretic Text of the Old Testament, and the Greek Textus Receptus of the New Testament, upon which texts the English Authorized Version is based.
• To be instrumental in bringing light and life, through the Gospel of Christ, to those who are lost in sin and in the darkness of false religion and unbelief.
• To uphold the doctrines of reformed Christianity, bearing witness to the equal and eternal deity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, One God in three Persons.
• To uphold the Bible as the inspired, inerrant Word of God.
• For the Glory of God and the Increase of His Kingdom through the circulation of uncorrupted versions of the Word of God

As the guiding principle of its work and witness, the Society acknowledges the whole Bible as the inspired, inerrant Word of God, the sole, supreme and infallible rule of faith and practice, providentially preserved by God and able to make men wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. More information on our beliefs and stand can be found under Our Basis.

On 7 December 1831, over two thousand people gathered at Exeter Hall, London, England, for the inaugural meeting of a new Bible society. It was agreed ‘that this Society be designated as the Trinitarian Bible Society’. Over the many years which have elapsed since that time, the Society has seen God’s hand upon the work, and has been enabled to expand the work as the account of Our History relates.

The Society’s work is, first and foremost, in providing people throughout the world with accurate and trustworthy editions of the Holy Scriptures, translated from the best Biblical language texts. Please see more under Our Work.

The Society has published Bibles, New Testaments and Gospels in many different languages. This is the result of many years of faithful and diligent translation work. A brief account of some of the languages that the Society has published Scriptures or Scripture portions can be under Our Translations.

Over the years we have been able to expand our work beyond the UK by forming Branches in Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. We are also working in a number of Spanish-speaking countries, and run a Spanish-language website sponsored by our USA Branch. In addition, we work closely with our sister society in the Netherlands, Gereformeerde Bijbelstichting (GBS). Contact details can be found under Our Branches.

Ken Ham’s book, Already Gone, reports that a high percentage of youth raised in a Christian environment – such as those who regularly attended their church, Sunday school, and enrolled in a Christian school - depart from the faith when they take their first biology class in college. The dispassionate academic professor appears to have all the answers for the origin of life while undermining faith in the Bible’s true and accurate account of the world’s beginning.  Why believe the Bible when you can’t trust the opening chapter?

Science as we know it today is not neutral. Worldly professor and self-proclaimed Marxist Richard Lewontin famously wrote, “Our willingness to accept scientific claims that are against common sense is the key to an understanding of the real struggle between science and the supernatural. We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism.”

Lewontin continues: “It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a-priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door” [1] (underlines, mine).

This most serious error is not only recognized by the scientific community but is somehow tolerated by parents who take out huge loans to send their children to worship at the feet of the high priests of academia.  The truth is desperately needed, and there are several ministries who valiantly provide it and make good observational science available to the public.  We at MBC seek to support those creation-based ministries.  We list two of our favorites here who still use the KJV or NKJV.

Creation Ministries International (CMI; at creation.com) employ over two dozen scientists in the US, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and in Europe to research and proclaim God’s truths in the fields of plant science, geology, molecular biology, chemistry, fluvial geomorphology, nuclear physics, computational mathematics, zoology, physical chemistry, marine biology and atmospheric science. My personal favorite is Dr. Jonathan Sarfati who is an exceptionally clear researcher.  His logical presentations are insightful and backed by KJV Scripture yet written at a level reachable by the average layman.  If I have any unusual question, such as how to counter the flat earth theory, their website offers exceptionally deep and rich material.

The Institute for Creation Research (ICR, at icr.org) has long held a special place in my personal conversion.  I graduated a theistic evolutionist from the Univ. of TX Austin.  It took only one trip to their small museum in El Cajon, CA to destroy my professors’ teachings of uniformitarianism (which is the belief that, in the words of God through Peter, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation).  An ICR exhibit showed sandstone with a Chevrolet key poking out. That obviously didn’t occur 1 million years ago.  It immediately clicked:  the conditions present during Noah’s flood easily accounted for all the major geologic formations we see.  I read The Genesis Flood by founder Henry Morris and John Whitcomb and was amazed at the overwhelming amount of evidence for the flood.  As God said, they hold [suppress] the truth in unrighteousness. 

Scripture asks, if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?  God often hands out His business card as Creator of the Universe when confronting a spiritually darkened people, as often noted throughout the major prophets.  When men don’t see God as their Creator, they have no accountability, and thus no fear of God before their eyes.  These are worthy matters to address, and both CMI and ICR stand well equipped as our thank offering partner in ministry.

A ministry we support through our annual Thank offering is the Christian Law Association (CLA), where Dr. David Gibbs, Jr. and other attorneys labor on behalf of our church and many others.  They provide free legal services unique to Christian churches. CLA was helpful to us this year with timely legal guidelines concerning vaccine exemptions.

CLA’s founder and President wrote that “[over] 40 years ago, the ministry of the Christian Law Association effectively began with a phone call from a pastor in Ohio. As a young attorney, David C. Gibbs, Jr. could hardly believe his ears as the pastor relayed how his church was being sued by the state for operating its ministry. When he reviewed the legal documents, Dr. Gibbs was astonished that such a thing could happen in modern America. From that very first case through the present day, God has blessed Dr. Gibbs’s commitment to legally help churches, pastors, and Christians free of charge. The ministry has grown substantially through God’s blessing over the last 40 years as attorneys, legal assistants, and other ministry workers have joined our team of ‘legal missionaries.’”

I have been impressed with CLA’s responsiveness to our inquiries posted using either the phone, their website (www.christianLaw.org) or email (info@christianLaw.org). Their combined experience brings over 500 years of documented legal challenges to churches, offering real-world glimpses into how the devil attacks both God’s sheep and the shepherds in ways you wouldn’t dream of.  Samplings of such are published monthly in their colorful flyer, The Legal Alert. 

Their website’s About Us page states, “Since 1969, CLA has been providing free legal assistance to Bible-believing churches and Christians who are having trouble in practicing their religious faith because of governmental regulation, intrusion, or prohibition in one form or another.  CLA receives more than 100,000 phone calls annually [and] thousands of pieces of correspondence. … These cases involve Christians arrested for witnessing to others in public, public school students being told they do not have the right to read their Bibles at school, churches being excluded from communities, Christians being fired for sharing their faith at work, and thousands of other shocking assaults on our religious freedoms.”

As we’ve all seen, government overreach due to the pandemic brought many churches into legal grey zones, and CLA truly helped in these situations.  They note, “The Christian Law Association has received hundreds of calls each day concerning the right of churches to hold their services across America. We have legally dealt with a large number of state officials concerning their shutdown of church services because they have declared that church services are ‘non-essential.’  We vehemently disagree with this position. Church services are always essential, and at a time when this virus is ravaging America, even more so.”

They continue, “Many of the authorities we have dealt with, including Riverside County, CA, have changed their shutdown position for [worship on] Sundays, and for that we are truly thankful to the Lord for His grace and help. … Some churches are facing very critical legal complications including authorities giving church attendees citations of a criminal nature for showing up at church. Pastors and leadership have been threatened with arrest.”

Their request isn’t for finances; it is to beseech the throne of grace as they remind us of His almighty power through God’s Word (in KJV, no less).  They write, “Once again, please pray. We desperately need God’s hand of blessing on our nation to protect our churches, pastors, and members in this hour. In my personal experience of defending churches and Christians for 50 years, I have never seen anything like this in America. PLEASE PRAY!  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God (Philippians 4:6). And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive (Matthew 21:22). Ye have not, because ye ask not (James 4:2b).”

Their humble servant mindset is befitting an exemplary Christian organization.  CLA remains available for help 24/7 to assist any church or Christian having issues with these and other difficulties.  You should consider signing up for their monthly flyer if you’re interested in reading their succinct executive summaries concerning impacts of legal code changes upon conservative ministries.