Truth Magazine

By Steve Willis

Drug Use Among Eighth Graders

Drug use among America’s teens is on the increase. Newsweek Magazine (August 26, 1996, the “Heroin” cover) reported these statistics for “Eighth Graders Who Have Used Drugs in Their Lifetime” (in percent):

1991 1995 Percent

Crack 1.3 2.7 +108

Heroin 1.2 2.3 + 92

Marijuana 10.2 19.9 + 95

Cocaine 2.3 4.2 + 83

Hallucinogens 3.2 5.2 + 63

Stimulants 10.5 13.1 + 25

Tranquilizers 3.8 4.5 + 18

Cigarettes 44.0 46.4 + 5

Been drunk 26.7 25.3 – 5

The article mentioned many “stars” and music “heros” who have died from heroin overdoses, and tells of FBI Di-rector Louis Freeh’s hand-delivered memo to President Clinton, complaining about a lack of “any true leadership” in stemming the influx of heroin and cocaine.

SIDS Related to Tobacco Smoke

“Nearly two-thirds of Sudden Infant-Death Syndrome cases are linked to tobacco smoke, British scientists have concluded. Even if a baby is merely in a room where smoking has occurred, its risk of dying from SIDS can increase 800%” (quotes from Time, August 5, 1996).

Last Report from Statistics Canada on Marriage?

Statistics Canada gathered facts from Canada’s 1995 General Social Survey and reported that married couples with children living at home made up 44.5% of all families, a drop from 55% in 1981. This report was heralded in newspapers as the demise of the “traditional family” in Canada. The report said, “Diversity and change are the salient features of Canadian families in the ’90s,” and “These changes are the result of increases in divorce, separation, remarriage and cohabitation on the one hand and decreases in mortality, fertility and marriage on the other.” Lone parent families rose from 11.3% in 1981 to 13.8% in 1995. “Common-law” couples without children have grown from 3.7% to 6.7% over the same period. Statistics Canada at-tributed the “growing prevalence of common-law unions and the concomitant decline in marriage to the changing attitudes of Canadians toward the marital union” (quotes from the Alberta Report, July 8, 1996).

One wonders if this will be the last report on marriages from Statistics Canada. They recently announced they will no longer be gathering their own information on marriage statistics, but relying on information gleaned from the census. This may not be the last report on marriages by Statistics Canada, but it makes one wonder if they are trying to encourage marriage when they stop gathering information on it.

The “Religious,” Extra-Marital Sex,

Abortion and Inspiration

The Alberta Report cites information from Gene Edward Veith that seems to give “appalling statistics” for those who claim to be “Christian” or religious: “That 56% of single `fundamentalist’ Christians practise [sic] sex outside marriage, for example, almost the same percentage discovered for non-Christians. That 66% of single Roman Catholics are sexually active. That 67% of Americans accept ‘pre-marital sex,’ and 83% of Catholics accept it. That 49% of Protestants and 47% of Catholics declare themselves `pro-choice.’ Most bizarre of all, 70% of Americans say they believe the Bible to be `the written word of God, totally accurate in all it teaches,’ while 72% say they believe `there are no absolute values”‘ (quotes from the June 17, 1996 issue).

Tobacco, Alcohol And Your Health

In a Special Issue on “What You Need to Know About Cancer” (Scientific American, September 1996) different articles address old news about tobacco and the recent news that red wine may be good for heart disease. “What Causes Cancer?” tobacco smoke is the “top carcinogen” accounting for nearly 30% of cancer deaths. “Smoking, mainly of cigarettes, causes cancer of the lung, upper respiratory tract, esophagus, bladder and pancreas and probably the stomach, liver and kidney. Smoking is implicated in chronic myelocytic leukemia, and may also cause cancer of the colon and rectum and other organs.”

“Passive smoking, or inhalation of tobacco smoke in the environment, causes much less lung cancer than active smoking. Nevertheless, a few thousand people die every year in the U.S. from cancers attributable mainly to second-hand smoke. Thus, passive smoking is as much a killer as general outdoor air pollution or household exposure to the radioactive gas radon (which is emitted naturally from the earth in some areas.”

“Consumption of large quantities of alcoholic beverages, particularly by smokers, increases the risk of cancer of the upper respiratory and digestive tracts, and alcoholic cirrhosis frequently leads to liver cancer. Although modest drinking does seem to reduce the risk of heart disease, con-verging data suggest that intake of as few as one or two drinks a day may contribute to breast cancer and perhaps colon and rectal cancer.” In another article, “Strategies for Minimizing Cancer Risk,” authors added: “Clearly, on many grounds, heavy alcohol consumption should be avoided. Anyone considering drinking moderately for the good of the heart should consult a physician and take into account any family history of alcoholism while weighing the risk of cancer against that of cardiovascular disease.”

Oh, yes, the prior article listed diet (animal  saturated  fat, salt, and very hot beverages, and skimping of some vegetables) as the second cause of cancer and cancer-related deaths. As to being over-weight, “For unknown reasons, obesity also appears to increase the risk for cancers of the colon, kidney and gallbladder.”

R U Ready for RU-486?

The French company Roussel-Uclaf markets mifepristone under the label “RU-486.” This drug is known to cause abortion of pregnancies, and is on the verge of legalization in the U.S. Here are some “facts” about the drug: “Administered in a doctor’s office, RU-486 functions as an antiprogesterone, blocking the hormone that sustains the fetus in the womb. But killing the unborn baby does not get rid of it in 20% to 40% of cases. A return visit must be scheduled 36 to 48 hours later, when a dose of the hormone prostaglandin is given to induce delivery. Then comes what the medical research describes as, ‘severe cramping, nausea, vomiting and bleeding.’ Half the subjects bleed `profusely’ for 12 to 42 days, with many needing transfusions. In British trials, 47% of women required narcotics for the abdominal pain. And in 6% to 15% of cases, the abortion remains incomplete at that stage, meaning the womb must be scraped out. RU-486 also increases the risk of birth defects in any babies who survive.

“The drug’s impact is so gruesome, and the risks of long-term heart and reproductive organ damage so great, that some pro-abortionists like Australian doctor Renate Klein oppose its use.” . . . “RU-486’s prize-winning inventor, Etienne Beaulieu, estimated in 1989 that his pill kills `around four or five of every 1,000 women’ in the absence of strict medical supervision” (quotes from the Alberta Report, August 12, 1996).

Yet, women have a new recommended means of “emergency” use (read aborticide) medicine. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration “plans to publish a notice in the Federal Register declaring that oral contraceptives can be used safely and effectively to avoid pregnancy as late as three days after intercourse.” The FDA’s move is short of an actual approval, but gives “unmistakable and official sanction to emergency use” where manufacturer were reluctant to make such claims in their own marketing  fearing law-suits, protests and boycotts. Planned Parenthood was “emboldened” by the decision, with president Gloria Feldt saying, “We’re delighted. We’ve been using this procedure for many years in our clinics but were not able to publicize it” with out the FDA sanction. The FDA’s decision was seen as a green-light, though drug makers are not likely to apply for formal approval. (quotes from Time, July 15, 1996).

Church of England Announces: No One In Hell

After announcing their considerations on a new doctrine of Hell earlier in the year, in July, the Church of England’s General Synod overwhelmingly approved the definition of Hell as a condition of total non-being, not everlasting torment. The Anglican Church now says that Hell is “the choosing of that which is opposed to God so absolutely that the only end is total non-being.” This would put them in agreement with the Jehovah’s Witnesses and a few other religious groups that deny eternal punishment in Hell. (quotes from the Alberta Report, July 29, 1996).

Moon Rises in Brazil

Sun Myung Moon is building a $100 million religious and agronomic showcase-site in a remote corner of western Brazil. This is the same “Rev. Moon” who married hundreds of “Moonies” in one public ceremony years ago. This is the same man whose ministry led him into prison and disrepute in the U.S. He with his wife present them-selves as the “True Father” and “True Mother,” and their mission is “nothing less than to rebuild the Garden of Eden, a paradise on earth.” The center of many acres of land-holdings is called the “New Hope Ranch.” To Brazilian Protestants and Catholics, the 76-year old Moon is guilty of numerous doctrinal heresies: “…that Christ’s mother, Mary, was not a virgin, and by arguing that he and his wife, the `True Parents,’ are on earth to finish the job Jesus failed to do.” One Catholic priest said, “We repudiate him be-cause he calls himself the Messiah and also because of his past record.”

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 22, p. 20-21
November 21, 1996

By Robert E Turner

Following a sermon in a small mid-western community, a man wished to be baptized. The candidate, preacher, and a few others drove through the night to a small park that bordered a river where they hoped to assist the man in his obedience. But the park and the entrance to the water were cluttered with young people with radios blaring  a party in full progress.

After some hesitancy, the preacher approached the revelers and pled his case. He told them that he had taught a man to love the Lord and to want to change his life and give himself to the service of the Lord. The man had repented of his past and now wanted to obey the Lord in baptism “for the remission of sins.” He said that he knew they had the prior right to the public park, but that there was no other access to the water immediately available. He asked if they would consent to a brief quiet recess in their party and allow him to baptize the man into Christ?

Something about the earnest plea, the man, or the message  or what is more likely, the scriptural combination of the three  got through to the young people. They quickly stopped the party and asked if they might be witnesses of what to them was a most unusual event.

Several cars turned so that their lights were upon the water. All were quiet and respectful as the preacher and the believing penitent “went down both in the water . . . and he baptized him” (Acts 8:30-39). When they came up out of the water, the young people crowded about, wanting to know more about this “death, burial, and resurrection to a new life.” Did the Bible really teach it like that? Why did not the traditional churches of which they knew  and had rejected  teach such things? How could they learn these matters? Some gave their names and addresses and said they would welcome a visit from the preacher, and further teaching.

This generation is wholly sensual and uninterested in spiritual things? Impossible to reach a bunch of “neckers”? Only politics and the social gospel are relevant? Hmmm!! Has it ever occurred to you that you and I may be the material ones who lack the faith and courage necessary to “tell it like it is” today?? (Reprint from Robert f. Turner, Stuff About Things, p. 74, by permission)

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 22, p. 15
November 21, 1996

By Dick Blackford

Are you tired of country clubs that masquerade as churches? Do you wish churches today were more spiritually minded and would get back to being what they are supposed to be?

We at the church of Christ try to specialize in being just a church, not a sports plex. The Bible is our only creed and is the source book for all our classes and sermons. We believe it to be the final answer to all matters of a religious and moral nature. The reasons? We are committed to its author. We believe truth is absolute since it is the only thing that can make us free (John 8:32). The Bible says those who have no love for truth will be damned (2 Thess. 2:10-12).

Many churches have merged the sacred and secular to the point that one can no longer distinguish the two. In such a time as this, we are trying to call men back to the Scriptures. The “social gospel” is another gospel from that taught by Christ and his apostles (Gal.1:6-9). Jesus made a distinction between earthly things and heavenly things  things which originated in the mind of God versus those which originated in the minds of mere men (John 3:12; Mark 11:30). So must we. That’s why we are trying to be just a church, after the New Testament pattern.

We welcome investigation and have nothing to hide. We may not be the church you’re looking for  but we hope we are!

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 22, p. 4
November 21, 1996

By Connie W. Adams

Disney and Homosexuality

Disney has come under fire recently over the issue of homosexuality. They have provided insurance coverage for homosexual domestic partners, have had homosexual celebrations at theme parks, and have a large number of known “gays” on the payroll. But that is not the end of it. The following is quoted from American Family Association Journal, September 1996:

Hollywood Supports is a pro-homosexual group whose focus is to promote the homosexual agenda in the workplace. Michael Eisner, Chairman of the Walt Disney Company; Michael Ovitz, President of the Walt Disney Company; and Joe Roth, Chairman of Walt Disney Motion Pictures, all serve as members of the Hollywood Supports Board of Trustees. The Disney-endorsed group aims to tell companies how to form homosexual employee groups and implement insurance plans to pay for live-in homosexual partners. It also provides seminars such as “Sexual Orientation in the Workplace.” The 90-minute seminars cover a variety of topics all sympathetic to the homosexual agenda. Among the information provided are statements claiming homosexuality is a genetic behavior, not a matter of choice.

The Southern Baptist Convention asked their members to boycott Disney because of this. The Texas Catholic newspaper which serves 46,000 homes in the Catholic Diocese of Dallas has also called for a boycott of Disney. So far, Disney has been contemptuous of criticism of their stance.

“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet” (Rom. 1:26-27). If this problem is genetic, then why does the Lord call it “vile affection,” say it is “against nature” and refer to the practice as “error”?

Much Work  Too Few Workers

A recent trip to Utah, Idaho, and Montana reminded us once again of how scarce faithful churches are in those states and adjoining states as well. The church at Kaysville, Utah is growing. They now have 75-80 on Sundays and their building is crowded. Thought is being given to expanding. After twelve years there Joe Price has moved to Washington state. Lonnie Garrison has just moved to Kaysville to preach. The only other sound work in the state is at Ogden and they are few. We spent a Sunday with the church at Blackfoot, Idaho. They number about 35 but are in the process of appointing elders. Dan Thompson preaches there. There are only a few churches scattered over this whole state, none of them large. The situation in Montana is discouraging. There are only a few churches and only one with any size or strength. The once active up for sale. We could not find anyone in Helena, though a congregation is listed in the Guardian of Truth directory. We found the address but nobody there. We met on a Lord’s day with a small group meeting in a home at Belgrade, Montana, about ten miles west of Bozeman. There are six adults and two children. If any reader has contacts in that area of Montana, please get in touch with: Jay and Rachel Pierson, 917B Colorado St., Belgrade, MT 59714. Phone (406) 388-0740.

Brethren are also scarce in North and South Dakota. It would help if a couple of good, dedicated families whose work could be done there as well as where they now live, could move to one of these places and help build the work. Churches would do well to send preachers for short or long term work. Time’s ‘a wasting.

Faith and the Faith

During a meeting a few months ago, I read again the book of sermons which Roy E. Cogdill delivered in San Antonio, Texas years ago. It is entitled Faith and the Faith. What a thrill it was to read these simple, yet profound sermons as they were actually delivered. The material was practical, instructive, put together in an interesting way, challenging and faith building. They were rich in scriptural content. Passages came alive as they were capably ex-pounded. Much of today’s preaching is pretty anemic in comparison. Brother Cogdill was a master at taking a pas-sage, putting it in context and then coming straight at the audience with application. If you have not read Faith and the Faith why not call 1-800-428-0121 and order it. Why not order a copy for a young preacher you want to encourage. It will embolden him to “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

Where Could I Go but to the Lord?

In a time when many are growing weary in well doing and some are falling by the wayside it is in order to consider the admonition of Barnabas when he came to Antioch. “When he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord” (Acts 11:23). The word “cleave” here means to abide with and is translated “continue with” in some translations. I have seen people in the greatest crises of life abandon the Lord. When a family is falling apart, or serious illness overtakes some, or death invades the family circle, or when emergencies exhaust resources, that is no time to turn away from the only source of true help. Why would one want to wander in the barren desert of despair and hopelessness bereft of the calm assurance “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee” and the hopeful promise “the eyes of the Lord are over the righteousness and his ears are open to their prayers.” Money, fame, overly inflated self-esteem can never substitute for cleaving to the Lord. Indeed, where could I go but to the Lord?

Who is in Charge?

In the year of presidential and congressional elections it might help us all to remember what the Psalmist said. “For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is the governor among the nations” (Ps. 22:28). It might also help to remember that the One who rules in the kingdoms of men looks for preserving salt in nations. Jesus called for his people to be “the salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13). When there is not enough salt left to preserve a nation it will rot and the “Governor among the nations” will visit it with certain justice.

Guardian of Truth XL: No. 22, p. 3-4
November 21, 1996