Truth Magazine

By Bill Fling

Lewis W. Gillenson, Editor 
Coronet Magazine 
488 Madison Avenue 
New York 22, New York

In the August 1961 Coronet, David Boroff made several serious errors in the article, “Religion and Sex: A Changing Church View.”

He asserted: “Fundamentalists in a 11 parts of the country still regard sex as sinful and the body as something to be distrusted.” A fundamentalist is one who believes in the verbal plenary inspiration of the scriptures. He believes the Bible is God’s will in God’s Words. Fundamentalists, then, will regard sex to be precisely what God has revealed it to be in His word. The Scriptures do not “regard sex as sinful,” but to the contrary, honorable, when it is confined where God has confined it, to holy wedlock. “Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Heb. 13:4–ASV).

Mr. Boroff stated, and correctly so, “The Bible, the final authority in such matters, is quite explicit in its reference to sex.” However, Mr. Boroff is not as explicit as the Bible, for he misrepresents its teachings when he says: “Nor is there any explicit disapproval (in the Bible) of premarital sex. Only adultery is clearly denounced–and! even then it is defined as an act committed by a married woman and not by a married man.”

“Explict disapproval of premarital sex” IS found in Exodus 22:16-17; Deut. 22:2829. In the New Testament, the original Greek word for fornication was porneia, “illicit sexual intercourse in general.” It may include adultery, which is “unlawful intercourse with the spouse of another.” (Thayer-Grimm English-Greek Lexicon, and Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words).

This clearly means that whenever fornication is denounced, it includes pre-marital sex as well as adultery. Heb. 13:4 condemns both. ” Fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”

And as for adultery being “an act committed by a married woman and not a married man,” that is so erroneous as to be laughable. The recorded instances in the four Gospels when Christ speaks of adultery are nearly unanimous in connecting it with men: i.e., Matt, 5:28, 32; 19:9; Mark 10: 11; Luke 16:18. But, Mark 10:12 does speak of women committing adultery, as does Rom. 7:3 in the epistles.

Mr. Boroff’s statements could have a corrupting influence on national morals. They infer that there is no divine restraint on the unmarried or the male population whatsoever. Mr. Boroff should have let the Bible speak for itself, or else not speak at all.

Sincerely yours,

Bill Fling, Evangelist
Church of Christ
Anaheim, California

Truth Magazine, VI: 1 pp.7
October 1961

By Aude McKee

We left Plainfield, Ind. on June 4th with the understanding that our ship would sail on the 8th. However, after we arrived in New York we learned that the sailing had been delayed for ten days. The ship officials said they wrote us of the delay but the word failed to reach us. But our stay in the New York area was made pleasant and our expenses kept at a minimum due to the fine hospitality of Bro. and Sister Bill Echols of East Orange, N. J. and Bro. and Sister James Finney of Fairlawn, N. J. While in the New York area I spoke at East Orange, Fairlawn, and Newark, N. J.

We were on board ship one month and two days and the trip was very pleasant. The freighter stopped at a number of ports to load and unload freight but at only one place were we able to find the church. On other Lord’s Days we had our worship in our cabin aboard ship. In Halifax, Nova Scotia, we were cordially received by the brethren. There are only two churches in the whole of Nova Scotia, one in Halifax and one at Mill Village, about 50 miles away. The total membership perhaps would not exceed 40 people.

When our ship came into Freetown, Sierre Leone, we received a letter from the Sewell Halls telling us that the Leslie Diestelkamps were sailing the 30th of June and for us to look for them at Monrovia. In Freetown, however, our ship’s orders were changed and we did not stop at Monrovia.

We arrived in Lagos on Sunday morning’ July 16th, at about 9:00 a. m. When the ship was still some distance from the dock we could see Sewell and Canetta Hall and their children and one of the native preachers waving to us and it was impossible for us to keep back the tears. We had worked hard in order to come and many people had made sacrifices in order to send us, and now we were really here. From that hour to this I have not ceased to be thankful that we have been permitted to come.

These words seem quite inadequate, but the Leslie Diestelkamps did a very fine work in the Lagos area. They had the help of the Sewell Halls the last eight or nine months and both families have done a work that only eternity can measure. There are four churches in greater Lagos and all of them doing well. In addition, there are churches in three other cities in the Western Region.

I am preaching on the streets every night and thus far there have been people baptized at well over half of the services. We get them in the station wagon and go to the ocean or the river “for baptizing.” However, we are not stressing baptism because we are not interested in numbers but in conversions. And every night the local members of the church who attend the lectures, acquire the names and addresses of a number of people who are interested and they go to their homes that. week and teach them further. Then many of these people are baptized on Sunday.

Just Last night we baptized a man from Jebba, a town some two or three hundred miles north’ of Lagos. He is well educated, intelligent and has been preaching for some denomination in Jebba. His conversion came about in an unusual way. Bro. Hall and I were both out of the city preaching last Sunday and Verna and Sister Hall attended services at the Surulere church. Sis. Hall had to take her baby out and a man was passing the building and she invited him in. The sermon aroused his interest and he asked Bro. Williams to talk more with him. After their private discussion Bro. Williams urged him to attend the leclure on the street last night. After his baptism he, said to me, “In the providence of God I was permitted to learn the truth.” He had planned to return to Jebba today but he delayed going one day so that we might spend this afternoon teaching him more. If he is as sincere as I now believe him to be, I plan to go to Jebba in the near future and work with Lim in establishing the Lord’s church in that city. This one story will reveal to a small degree the wonderful opportunities and fearful responsibilities that face us in this land.

The Thomas Bldv. church in Port Arthur, Texas will begin providing the major part of our support the first of September. They will also supply the rent, so most of the amount for rent in the report will be replaced in the fund. Just before we arrived the Halls were able to find two houses for rent side by side. The rent on the new house is $40.00 per month cheaper but some extra furniture was necessary since the house Bro. Diestelkamp lived in was partially furnished. Our new address is listed at the top of the report. Please continue to remember this work in your prayers.

Truth Magazine, VI: 1 pp. 1,21-22
October 1961

By Leslie Diestelkamp

Has prayer become just a burden to you? Is it just a custom–a ritual to be performed and a matter of very little concern, either with regard to its frequency, its regularity or its urgency? Or have you learned the secret of the preciousness of prayer–that it is indeed a great opportunity and not just an obligation. James wrote, “Ye receive not because ye ask not”, and it is probably not possible for man to understand now how truly great God’s blessings would undoubtedly be if his people would fervently and effectually ask according to his will. Indeed God would surely open the windows of heaven and pour us out blessings almost beyond our comprehension if all the mighty host of faithful, consecrated people who have the absolute right to call him “Father” would utilize to the fullest extent the great opportunity of prayer.

The real urgency of prayer can only be fully realized when we recognize the perfect wisdom of God and his supreme power, and when we comprehend our insignificance and our weakness. There are perhaps three attitudes that often prevail to hinder proper prayer and to rob us of the advantages of God’s full storehouse of blessings:

First there are those who rebel against prayer. It is actually offensive to them. To engage in prayer with fervency and regularity is to them a sign of weakness. Or in many cases it may be a sense of shame and embarrassment that causes them to revolt against the idea of expressing petitions to an unseen God.

Second, some decline prayer because of their feeling of sufficiency. They think that they “Can get this job done all by themselves.” The help of a supreme being is not needed according to their ideals. Confidence in their present health, wealth or credit rating surpasses their comprehension of dependence upon God.

Third, many of us probably neglect prayer just because we are completely unconcerned about it. We are neither for it nor against it. We would certainly not consciously oppose it, nor would we intentionally deny its value, but we just get busy with tasks, which seem more pressing, and, without deliberately renouncing prayer, we nevertheless join the ranks of those who simply do not pray. Perhaps for most of us this is the most dangerous attitude, and it is certainly most easily adopted. While we even stoutly advocate the right of the Christian to pray, while we fully understand in our mind the need for prayer and while we even fully intend to “continue in prayer”, (or, if we recognize that we have neglected it, we may definitely plan to resume it) yet we may be sucked into that vacuum caused by worldly concerns and ambitious desires, and therein we may soon find no place or time for prayer.

The seriousness of this situation may be observed many times in public prayers. By rote and by ritual prayers are said and the urgent demands of the very present time are forgotten while the same old phraseology of another decade is piously phrased. (By this I do not mean that it is wrong to pray for the same things day after day and even year after year, but it is wrong to just “say the same prayers” because we have learned them years ago and because we are too lazy or too unconcerned to be alert to the needs of this moment). Recently I was present when prayer regarding a certain urgent situation was requested and yet the one who led the closing prayer just went through that same old ritual: “Bless us as we separate to go to our separate places of abode, and if we have been faithful, give us a home in heaven when life on earth is done,” and he forgot entirely the urgent request that had been made not more than two or three minutes earlier! One time I had just closed a lesson in which I showed that the blood of Christ was not spilled at all, but that it was deliberately poured out for our redemption. Immediately a bright young man prayed, approximately, “Bless this cup which represents the blood of Jesus that was spilled for us”. Such carelessness indicates our lack of deep concern for the preciousness of prayer.

Perhaps it would be astonishing if we could take a secret ballot and find out how many Christians really pray at all except as they concur in the public prayers. Six days go by, filled with cares and concerns for the things of this world, but nothing has actually been said to God. Morning comes and we awaken to the urgency of work. Evening arrives and our mind is filled with concerns for play, for fun and for social contacts. Night closes its dark shadows about us and rest is needed so badly. Slumber closes our eyes and prayer was forgotten or at least postponed.

We spend a lot of money to conduct a gospel meeting or a vacation Bible school, and we put in a lot of time and energy to make such a success, but many times we fail to reach out and ask for the help that only the Lord can give. We wonder when we seem to have failed, when interest seems low, when few are converted, but we often need to realize that our failures are the result of negligence in prayer. Have you prayed lately for the man who breaks the bread of life to you and to others? Have you sincerely asked the Lord to so bless that “The word of the Lord may have free course?” Have you exercised your privilege of praying for those who “Watch for your soul? ” Have you asked God to give you wisdom so that you can know the truth more perfectly? Perhaps one of the most significant blessings we have is the opportunity to pray in secret–to pour out our requests to one who can hear us from the most remote corner of the world, and who will certainly hear us in time of joy or in time of sorrow, in time of tranquility and in time of turmoil. Let us be thankful that we can pray together in the assemblies of God’s people, but even more grateful should we be that we don’t have to wait for others to assemble with us, nor do we have to wait for a public place to become available for us. Alone with God, we can indeed have the closest contact with him.

To be “on praying terms with God” is truly the most precious privilege, and it is reserved for the true Christian. Let us all make it our own privilege, and then let us utilize it to the very fullest extent. (I intend to follow this with an article, “Prayer That Is Proper and Profitable.”

Truth Magazine, VI: 1 pp. 12-13
October 1961

By Earl Fly

I understand that the Firm Foundation editorial of August 29, 1961 says that Gospel Press does not solicit funds from churches and that those who had written and spoken about it “did not know what they were talking about relative to the activities of Gospel Press.”

Inasmuch as I was one of those who talked and wrote about its activities, I publish the following to set the record straight. I have the two original letters from Gospel Press, Inc., signed by Vice-President Paul Hunton.

When the Belmont Heights church in Tampa, Florida, received a letter from Gospel Press signed by Paul Hunton, postmarked Sept. 26, 1960, asking for a contribution from the church to Gospel Press, the brethren considered it in a business meeting conducted October 3, 1960. They instructed me to write the following letter, which was read and approved in a special meeting October 5, 1960.

“Mr. Paul Hunton 
Gospel Press, Inc. 
3813 Hillsboro Road 
Nashville 12, Tennessee

Dear brother Hunton:

“The Belmont Heights church received your letter postmarked Sept. 26, 1960, in which you request the fifth Sunday contribution in October for Gospel Press. The letter was read and discussed Monday night, October 3, in the regular business meeting of the church and the decision was made that I be authorized to write this letter to you, which was read and approved in a special called business meeting, Wednesday night, October 5.

“Some of the brethren here, Wendel Strickland, John Langford, Gerstle Slatton and others, remembered favorably your preaching in this area, and an interest was expressed to hear what you might have to say further about some questions regarding Gospel Press.

“The brethren here have always rejected and opposed church contributions to the Missionary Society to enable it to preach the gospel on the grounds that there is no Bible authority for it, that the church is sufficient to preach the gospel without contributing to and consequently working through human organizations. We believe that Gospel Press, with its Board and Chairman, President, Vice” President, is an exact parallel with this missionary society of yesteryear, which alienated brethren, divided churches, and resulted in a new denomination being born, namely, the Christian Church. For this reason the decision was made not to support Gospel Press in any way.

“We understand that Gospel Press publicly stated in its beginning that it would not solicit or accept church contributions. The brethren are interested to know the grounds for the change. It is also requested that you give Bible authority for church contributions to Gospel Press.

“The brethren here sincerely request your reply to these matters, which will be read to the brethren for consideration in a called business meeting.

Yours sincerely,

BELMONT HEIGHTS CHURCH OF CHRIST, By Earl Fly, Evangelist.”

The following letter, dated October 18, 1960, was signed and sent by Paul Hunton, via air-mail, to the Belmont Heights Church.

“Dear Brethren:

“When we mailed out the letter requesting contributions from the churches we assumed that everyone had read of the revised position of the Board of Directors of the Gospel Press. Contributions are now solicited from churches if the check is specifically for the advertising, tracts to be mailed out, or answering the inquiries. We never have and we do not now solicit funds from churches for salaries or other necessary expenses involved. These expenses are paid by individual contributions. It has been stated in our gospel papers that all contributions raised east of the Mississippi will be used only for the ads, tracts and answering inquiries. I should have stated this again in my letter to you.

“I hope this answers your questions and you will encourage the church to send a sizable contribution in October.

Yours very truly,

(signed) Paul Hunton,

Vice President.”

The reader will please notice that the second letter reaffirmed the intentions of the first to solicit contributions from churches, and I was personally asked to encourage the church to “send a sizable contribution in October.” Surely the Vice-President knew the policy of Gospel Press and the position of its board. If they have now ceased their solicitations for church contributions they owe us an explanation. What are their reasons for the newly revised position to not solicit churches, if this be their latest position when this article is published?

The indisputable facts in this article are published to keep the record straight.

Truth Magazine VI: 2, pp. 1, 24
November 1961