Truth Magazine

By Dick Blackford

No fireworks! No Elvis impersonators! No antique car shows! No gimmicks!

All of these have been sponsored by churches in our area, but the church of Christ at 516 Rocky Point Road just wants to be a church after the New Testament order. All we offer is the gospel, without addition or subtraction. Our goal is to specialize in just being a church, not a club. Sometimes men mix the social gospel with the truth, thereby diluting it. There is a difference between the pure gospel and the modern social gospel, which is really another gospel (Gal. 1:6-10).

The Lord’s church was given a three-fold work to do. (1) Its primary mission is to evangelize. It is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15; 1 Thess. 1:8). (2) It also has the responsibility to teach and train its own members so they may grow to maturity (Eph. 4:12). (3) And it was given the work of benevolence (Acts 6:1-6).

Christ’s mission was to save souls for eternity. He made a clear distinction between the sacred (what came from heaven) and the secular (what came from men). If it came from men, it had no heavenly authority (Mark 11:30). The responsibility of recreation and entertainment was never given to the church. Men have so blended the sacred and the secular that it is difficult to distinguish them. Inspiration cautions us not to go beyond what is written (1 Cor. 4:6).

Do you feel insulted if a church thinks the only way they can keep you faithful to God is with food, entertainment, and recreation? Do you desire to associate with those who simply want to worship God because they love him and Jesus died for them?

It is refreshing to meet folks who want to go back to the Bible and just be the church Jesus built. That is our goal. We hope you will make it yours! Won’t you come and investigate?

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 24, p. 9
December 19, 1996

By Johnny and Nanette Stringer

On October 19, 1946, a teenaged couple were united in marriage at the Limestone County Courthouse, Athens, Alabama. O.C. and Frances had kept their intentions secret from all family members except O.C.’s brother Phares and Frances’ sister Connie, who were the only witnesses of the wedding.

Thus, this couple began to share a life of devoted service to the Lord. During the first years of their life together, they worked as sharecroppers raising cotton  once picking over 700 pounds in one day. In 1948 their first child, Nanette, was born. Their second, Gary, came along in 1952.

With the encouragement of A.J. Rollins, O.C. began preaching in 1953 for a little country church at Cool Springs, Tennessee. During the 30-45 minute drive to the assembly each Sunday, Frances, with Bible in hand, would help O.C. practice reciting passages so that he could quote them by memory in his sermon. This early practice was typical of the team approach they have always taken in meeting life’s challenges.

From 1954 to1956, O.C. preached for the churches at Cartwright and New Hope, Alabama, alternating between the two on Sundays, and having midweek services on Wednesday at one and Thursday at the other.

During the school year of 1955-56, O.C. drove the school bus from Rogersville to Athens Bible School, where he taught eighth-grade Bible. At the beginning of that year, Frances worked in the office at Athens Bible School. Then she suggested to brother Bennie Lee Fudge that O.C. could do her job as well as she could. Brother Fudge agreed, and this allowed her to stay home with Gary.

In 1956 the Birdwells left Alabama, moving to Marked Tree, Arkansas, where O.C. preached. To help make ends meet, they did odd jobs, including picking cotton and cleaning the church building. O.C. did some work in a dry goods store and Frances in a shirt factory. In addition, they gathered whatever was offered in other people’s gardens.

They moved to Alamo, Tennessee, in 1958. It was not long until O.C. was forced to take a firm stand against institutionalism, making it necessary to move to Lisbon, Ohio in 1959. From Lisbon they moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1960, where they remained until 1964. Their third child, Alan, was born in 1960.

After moving to Barberton, Ohio in 1964, the Birdwells agreed to do the mailing of Truth Magazine, which was edited by Cecil Willis. They moved a plate-making ma-chine, an Addressograph machine, and all the records into their basement. Frances did the bookkeeping, and the whole family worked making address plates and addressing the magazines.

It was soon determined that a mail-order bookstore would help support the magazine. O.C. built shelves, bought some books, and began managing Truth Magazine Bookstore in the Birdwell basement. This arrangement continued until 1967, when the Birdwells moved to Columbia, Tennessee, and Truth Magazine Book-store was moved to Indiana. The Birdwell’s fourth child, Lisa, was born in 1966. In 1972 they suffered the heart-breaking loss of Gary through an industrial accident.

The Birdwells spent 1972-80 in Cullman, Alabama and 1980-84 in Taylors, South Carolina. Then in 1984, the Guardian of Truth Foundation asked O.C. to become the company’s business manager. The bookstore that the Birdwells had begun in their basement was now moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, and they moved there to operate the store. Alan, being trained in accounting and finance, joined them in this work. While in Bowling Green, O.C. preached in Caneyville, Kentucky, then for the Three Springs Road church in Bowling Green.

Finally, in 1990, O.C. and Frances returned to their roots in North Alabama. After the Guardian of Truth Foundation purchased the CEI Bookstore in Athens, the Birdwells built a house on their farm near Rogersville and began operating the CEI store. O.C. continued to manage the Foundation’s business, working out of the Athens store.

Presently, they stay busy, working three days a week in the business and the rest of the time on the farm they love  raising registered Santa Gertrudas cattle, gardening, and taking care of their land. They derive much joy from five grandchildren: Cynthia (Stringer) Brewer, Ronald Stringer, Evan Crim, Alissa Crim, and Emily Birdwell. And there is another Crim on the way.

Through the years, O.C. and Frances Birdwell have been an example and an inspiration to all who know them, especially their children. They have demonstrated unwavering love and commitment to each other. Their children (including children-in-law) have learned from them and appreciate them for their love, generosity, and unfailing support.

This husband and wife are as devoted to each other as two people could be. We know that they are thankful for the 50 years they have had together, for they have been a blessing to each other; but many others are also thankful, for they have been a blessing to us also.

Fifty years is just a milestone that is passed as the marriage continues. The marriage will endure as long as they live, and we trust that will be for many more years.

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 24, p. 8-9
December 19, 1996

By Bill Crews

One morning in April of this year I listened to an interesting radio program. It was on one of the stations with an all-religious format. It was also a regular daily broad-cast by Jimmy Swaggart. A panel of three, Jimmy Swaggart, his wife, and one of Mr. Swaggart’s staff ministers, were discussing the subject of marriage, divorce, and remarriage.

(For those who have been wondering, yes Jimmy Swaggart is still active, but only at a small percentage of what he was before the fall of his vast religious empire. He was, a few years back, the most successful of all the famous “televangelists,” taking in the greatest amount of monetary donations. His fall came about when his carnal escapades with prostitutes were publicly exposed. Expelled from the “Assemblies of God,” he operates as an independent now. His Bible college has only a handful of students, whereas it once had about 1500 and was growing every semester. His “Family Worship Center,” with a seating capacity of 10,000 and once nearly full for every service, still has services conducted by himself, but with fewer services and far smaller audiences. Other religious bodies use it also, and it is rented for other functions. One large dormitory building, of about ten stories stands unfinished and decaying. Other buildings are leased out or empty. He still has some radio broadcasts and TV telecasts. Only a few flags fly on the flag poles that were once filled  one for every nation where he had radio and TV programs aired. Many lawsuits against him have been filed and settled; others are pending. His own home and the other two on the palatial grounds where they stand have been up for sale for some time. A shop-ping mall is going up on property he once owned. Yes he still solicits and receives donations, but he will never have a great religious empire again.)

Now, back to that radio program. Here are some of the views given or positions taken on it. (1) Matthew 19:3-9 gives fornication” (unlawful sexual intercourse) as a grounds for divorcing a guilty mate and then remarrying, but it does not apply to those who are not Christians. It only applies to those who have become Christians, and it only applies to their current marriage at the time oftheir conversion. (2) 1 Corinthians 7:15 provides some Christians with a second grounds for divorcing a mate and remarrying, namely, desertion by a mate who is not a Christian who leaves the Christian because of his/her religious profession and practice. (3) People out of Christ may marry, divorce, and remarry any number of times, but when they become Christians, then they are allowed no divorce and remarriage except according to the above two grounds. (4) And then they found a way to get around the restriction which they said Matthew 19:3-9 imposes on two Christians in a marriage. They “reasoned” that when a marriage between two Christians has been broken up for some other grounds, and both parties marry someone else, surely the new marriages in all cases (some of which may have gone on for years and involve new children) would not have to be dissolved. Yes, the parties have committed sin, but surely they could repent of their sins and be forgiven by God with-out having to dissolve their current marriages. A hypothetical case was given (which turned out to be quite common and real) of a married man and a married woman, both in the church choir, having an affair, divorcing their mates and marrying each other. They decided that after it was all done, the two could repent and be forgiven without having to separate. But they thought it best that they attend another church so as not to embarrass their former mates and make for an awkward situation in that church.

This shows how men and women can rationalize, and get around the word of God, and make it suit their purposes. But the most disturbing thing is that many who profess to be New Testament Christians, members of the Lord’s church, have reached all of these same conclusions. Reader friend, Matthew 19:3-9, which emphasizes what was God’s will “from the beginning,” still applies to all marriages and gives the only grounds that God recognizes for divorce and re-marriage. And 1 Corinthians 7:15 is not even addressing the subject of divorce and remarriage. Of course the Bible allows those whose mates have died to marry again (Rom. 7:2-3; 1 Cor. 7:39).

Rather than rationalizing and rendering meaningless some clear Bible passages, let’s get serious about informing the human race about the existence and sovereignty of God, his right to regulate the divine origin of marriage, and the divine regulations that govern marriage. With so many convinced that marriage is merely a social arrangement developed by the human race, having many forms, and properly subject to change, we have our work cut out for us. With so many thinking that it is all right for any man or woman to live together intimately without being married, that in many cases it might be a wise prelude to being married, that it’s perfectly permissible to get out of a marriage if you become dissatisfied with it, and that “same-sex marriages” (a ridiculous contradiction of terms) should be permitted, we certainly have our work cut out for us!

Before God every accountable human being has the responsibility of living a sexually pure life, of viewing all sex outside the context of a lawful marriage as sinful, and, if he chooses to marry, of selecting a marriage partner with the mutual determination to love, honor, and cherish until death separates them. The only step in life more serious than that of marriage is that of becoming a Christian.

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 24, p. 5
December 19, 1996

By Andy Alexander

The Child Unborn

God cares for all the children who never see the light,

Who never experience sadness or feel the dark of night,

Who never smell the flowers or climb trees great and small,

Who never see the sun set or gaze at towers tall,

Who never feel the chilly wind or tread on snowy hill,

Who never hear the birds sing like other children will,

But they’ll see heaven’s glory the streets all paved in gold.

They will feel peace forever just like we all were told.

They’ll be there long before we will,

They’ll never feel the scorn.

These are the little souls of God who never will be born.

-Leah McJunkins

There has been a concerted effort among many of the politicians of our land to ban an abortion procedure called partial birth abortion. The abortionists call it an intact dilation and evacuation (IDE). The object that is intact is a baby. The baby is delivered alive, except for the head, then a pair of blunt scissors are inserted into the back of the baby’s skull and opened to expose the brain; then a high-powered suction tube is inserted into the baby’s skull and its brains are sucked out. If the baby’s head were to be moved just a matter of inches (just outside the birth canal), the legal procedure known as an abortion would be the criminal act of murder. Those supporting abortion insist that life does not begin until the actual birth of the child; therefore they reason that as long as the baby is in the womb it is not murder to kill it and remove it. However, in partial birth abortions, the baby is partially delivered, then murdered. Again, if the same procedure were carried out two or three inches from where it now occurs, it would be classified murder. It used to be, “if you can’t see it, it’s not murder!” Now, the idea is changed to “if you can’t see all of it, then it’s not murder!”

It’s a sad time in the history of a nation when discussion of such a topic is even taking place. This is the result of the hedonistic lifestyle that many Americans have chosen to lead. We do not want to accept responsibility for our actions or we want to eliminate the consequences of our sinful ways.

The Bible plainly teaches that the babe in the womb is a living being and recognized by God as an individual person. David said in Psalm 139:12-16:

For thou didst form my inward parts: Thou didst cover me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks unto thee; For I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Wonderful are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well. My frame was not hidden from thee, When I was made in secret, And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

To the prophet Jeremiah, God said, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jer. 1:4-5). Language could not be plainer, the babe in the womb is a living human being known by God and to willfully destroy it is murder. “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: For in the image of God made he man” (Gen. 9:6).

It is not just the wholesale slaughter of babies that is taking place. The present administration lifted a ban on fetal tissue research which Presidents Reagan and Bush both signed and up-held. This lifting of the ban has increased the pressure to perform partial birth abortions, because the older the aborted baby, the more value it is to those in research (“Cures From The Womb,” Article on Fetal Tissue Re-search, Newsweek Magazine, 2-22-93; 49-54). The number of these partial birth abortions during the last year of record was 17,000, a far cry from the number (300 to 400) that some politicians report.

Experiments on human beings takes place by those who do not believe in God or believe the fact that man is made in the image of God. Secular humanists and atheists pro-mote this type research as a means of making life better for those who are living. Baby tissue is particularly valuable to those in research who are looking for the elusive fountain of youth. Cell growth in babies is much more rapid than in adults and researchers are running experiments on aborted babies in an effort to discover why. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out why they want to know this secret.

Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, the world’s largest abortion promoter and provider, learned her humanistic ways from German philosophers in the early 1900s. These same philosophers likely had an influence on Adolph Hitler, one of the cruelest men that ever lived. Sanger, like Hitler, believed the way to achieve a utopian society was by weeding out the un-desirable, the poor and certain races deemed as unnecessary and a burden on society. (Grand Illusions: The Legacy of Planned Parenthood, a book by George Grant, contains much documentation.) It is not difficult to understand why abortionists do not want this type of information being distributed.

The gruesome and inhumane methods of murder they use to destroy life, and the use they make of the remains is enough to turn most people against such an evil. However, many Americans, and not a few Christians, are isolated from the carnage that takes place and believe that what they do not know cannot hurt them. But, God’s word teaches differently. Nations that destroy the innocent and do not up-hold the rights of the poor and less fortunate are headed for destruction. Ancient Israel was destroyed, not be-cause of a poor economy, but because of the innocent people who were abused and killed (2 Kgs. 21:16; Jer. 5:28-34).

Let us awake from sleep, get off our beds of ease, and teach those around us the principles of righteousness that can save the soul and preserve the nation (Eph. 5:14; Amos 6:1; Prov. 14:34).

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 24, p. 6-7
December 19, 1996