Truth Magazine

By Derek Chambers

The phone call came late one night from one of the local brethren. “You should have seen it,” he said. “They were healing people with different afflictions.” “First they sang songs, then they preached a sermon, and then they healed people.”

So-called faith healers have been around for a long time in the United States. In eastern Europe however, they are quite a novelty. It was no surprise to me that this brother, who has been a Christian for just over a year now, was excited about what he saw. He knew from our previous studies that these things were not right but was fascinated by them just the same. Reluctantly, I decided to accompany my friend to the faith healers’ service the following evening. Earlier that day we studied the matter briefly. I wanted him to understand exactly what mendacity would be taking place.

Knowing the curiosity of Lithuanians and the mass advertising of the faith healers, I expected to find quite a crowd at the service. Instead there was only about 15 people. The service proceeded rather lethargically, with poor piano playing and little singing by the audience. The sermon was soft and empty with very few passages read. The American “pastor” ended his sermon by telling every-one to close his eyes, bow his head and pray. Then he offered an invitation. Anyone who wanted to be saved needed only to raise is hand. “Don’t worry, no one will see you,” he said. “Everyone’s eyes are closed.” About seven people raised their hands (my eyes weren’t closed). He called them forward and instructed them to hold hands and repeat a prayer. Then the “pastor” pronounced them saved Christians. The people themselves, however, didn’t seem much different. They didn’t seem joyful at all, only con-fused. They seemed to sense that something was missing in their “conversion.”

Then it was show time. There were going to be some real miracles they claimed. They spoke nobly of the previous night and all the healings that went on. They asked the family sitting next to me (whose son had been prayed for the night before) if their boy was any better. “No,” they said solemnly. Then the “pastor” asked the mother if she was better (as they had also laid their hands on her the previous night). “Not yet,” she said. “Well you’re looking better,” they claimed, “You’re smiling twice as much tonight.”

“Anyone who needs a healing, please come forward.” First forward was another man who had been there the night before. He had already been “healed” of having one leg shorter than the other (the oldest trick in the book). However, the real problem was that he had been in a car wreck and many bones had been broken. He walked with a terrible limp, a limp that was no better after their “healing.” He went forward for another “miracle” but nothing happened. “It will just take time,” they said.

The rest of the “afflictions” included nervous tension, stomach aches, weakness, cramps, another lady with one leg shorter than the other, and my friend who asked them to remove a mole. Naturally, all the problems were “cured,” except the mole. The following night another brother who attended their service informed me that they cured two more people with one leg shorter than the other, including the same lady I saw get healed of this same affliction the night before. (There seems to be a lot of people in Lithuania with one leg shorter than the other.)

The service finally came to a close and the small group in attendance left, seemingly disappointed and confused. It was not hard to see that the work of the faith healers had fallen flat. Ultimately, no one believed that any miracles had taken place and no one really thought they were saved. Fortunately I was able to talk to a few of these people and invite them to our worship and lectures. My Lithuanian brother who invited me to the service saw just what a farce the service was and did not return.

I would like to offer three suggestions of why the faith healers did not do well in Lithuania:

1. They preached a false plan of salvation. According to these men, all that is necessary for salvation is “accepting Jesus into your life.” Although repentance was hinted, it was not preached specifically and baptism was completely ignored. “Baptism is nothing,” one of the “pastor’s” wives was overhead saying. The people who were told they had been saved somehow didn’t seem to quite believe it. They had enough sense to know that raising one’s hand and repeating a prayer didn’t save one’s soul. Therefore they found no satisfaction in their salvation.” Acts 2:38: “And Peter said to them, Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the same of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

2. Their worship was false. Instrumental music was used and the preachers applauded each other and everything else that went on. The prayers were spoon fed to the audience to be repeated and it seemed that one of the men was trying to pray in “tongues.” These men were sickeningly pretentious and their worship was just as wrong as it could be. John 4:24: “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

3. The miracles were false. The men claimed that Jesus would work miracles through them, but there were none. There are some faith healers who can put on quite a show and fool you with parlor tricks but anyone could see that these men were all talk. Perhaps the people in the audience reflected upon the true miracles of Christ and his apostles in the New Testament  miracles which were certain, complete, and irrefutable. Jesus didn’t go around healing belly aches and moles. He restored sight to the blind, the lame were made to walk, the dead were raised. Matthew 11:5  “the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.”

This group of faith healers is but one of the many groups of “miracle workers” in Lithuania. All of these groups boast of Jesus and the Holy Spirit working miracles through them. They also claim to know the truth because God reveals it directly to them, yet there are major doctrinal differences between all of these groups. In light of 1 Corinthians 14:33, how can this be? In claiming to proclaim the praises of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, the faith healers deny both. They deny the true miraculous power of Deity and the true revelation of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures. If what these groups preach is true, then the Holy Spirit failed to reveal “all things” (Jn. 14:26; 16:13) the first time around.

I am no longer worried about the Christians here in Lithuania being carried away by the doctrines and tricks of faith healers. With some very basic teaching anyone can understand how terribly erroneous these men are. Their efforts will continue with some minor success, but their works will be revealed in the last day. Rom. 16:18: “For such men are slaves, no to four Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.”

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 13, p. 8-9
July 7, 1994

By Randy Blackaby

The good reception given the preaching of the gospel in Kaunas, Lithuania this spring nearly demands a longer term effort and, ideally, the commitment of a preacher to a year or more of full-time evangelism in this city of 430,000 people.

As the accompanying article already has indicated, crowds at the Sunday lectures were steadily increasing as interested people returned week after week and additional students were convinced to attend.

Imagine getting 30 or more people to attend a meeting in this country by simply handing out tiny printed invitations in front of a local grocery store. That’s what is happening in Lithuania. These people will listen to an hour or more of lectures and then ask questions for two or more hours. The type of questions asked reflect both the confusion caused by centuries of Catholic tradition and an eagerness to learn more about what the Bible teaches.

After Bill Bynum and I left Kaunas May 3, Brother Thomas Bunting of Bergen, Norway took over the work. His son was to join him a week later. Recently, I have learned that Derek Chambers and Ivan Valdez will continue this spring’s effort through the end of June.

Steve Wallace already is planning to return this September and we are hoping more brethren from the United States will commit to three or four weeks each to keep the evangelism of this city alive well into the fall.

But beyond these initial forays into this once closed country, there is a critical need for a longer term effort, similar to the work being done in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, by brother Chambers and Jay Horsley. Are there brethren ready to accept such a challenge?

If there are conversions in Kaunas in the next few months there must be someone there to help these new Christians grow in the faith.

One thing we observed is that the window of opportunity doesn’t stay wide open long in these former communist countries. Already the denominations are beginning to flood into the region. We saw evidence of strong efforts by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists and Pentecostal groups. If the truth can be widely and repeatedly taught before the errors of these groups take a major hold, the cause of Christ will be greatly enhanced.

At present, evangelistic endeavors in Lithuania can be carried out inexpensively. For about $1,500 to $1,700 a preacher can spend an entire month preaching there. This includes air fare, hotel accommodations, transportation, meals, advertising, translators and rental of lecture rooms. This economy makes it possible for even smaller congregations to underwrite the shorter term efforts.

Eastern Europe is full to opportunities to preach the gospel. And, as quickly as things are changing in this part of the world, we don’t really know how long those opportunities will be present.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 12, p. 11
June 16, 1994

By Archie E. Proctor

And David the king was much moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept: and as he went, thus he said, 0 my son Absalom! My son, my Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, 0 Absalom, my son, my son! (2 Sam. 18:33)

Nothing in this world can tear at the heart of a parent who is a faithful Christian more than the spiritual death of a child. It is even more tragic when that child trapped in sin is caught into eternity by death in that condition. All the years of careful, patient teaching, nurturing in the Lord, the many times that precious soul was taken to the assembly of the church to hear the gospel preached and the Bible taught seem to be as nothing. Those patient, faithful lives of mother and father lived as best as they could, giving an example of how one should be a Christian, seem to have no meaning or effect.

David knew that feeling many times in his life. The death of Absalom was one occasion. Going up to that upper chamber, he must have recalled the prophet’s words; “Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and! will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.” This was spoken after he had confessed to the sin of adultery with Bathsheba.

Now the consequences of that awful sin had come fully home. The death of an infant son, the murder of his son Amnon by Absalom, and finally, the slaying of Absalom by his general, Joab, all resulted as a consequence of his fall into sin.

Too often, however, parents of wayward children have done nothing to bring about such loss of a child, either in sinning themselves or failing properly to teach the child how he should live his life. Yet, many times, the guilt that David felt seems to come crashing down on the shoulders of godly parents who have seen that child go astray. To add to the burden, it seems Christians and friends, who should know better, assume that it must have been some failure of character or teaching that let the child go off, and that there surely was something that could have been done if the parents had done this or that.

Parents in this situation spend many hours in fervent prayer asking for strength, help, and the opportunity to say or do that one more thing that might reach the child before it is eternally too late. Night after night, sleep fades as the parents play the “what if ” game in their minds. (What if I did or said this or that instead of what I did say.) Tears are shed without measure in regret and remorse. The sinning child can never know the burden he places on the heart of that loving mother and father by his actions.

What words of comfort can we bring to parents in this condition? First of all, we need to recognize that Proverbs 22:6 is not an absolute. Children can be properly trained and still go astray.

The Bible gives many examples of this. Perhaps the best known is Solomon. He was so faithful in his youth; he asked the Lord for wisdom over wealth or fame or other things. But in his maturity, he let other wives turn his heart away from God.

Faithful Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, yet only one was the son of promise and followed the Lord. Ishmael was never known as a servant of God, and his descendants became the enemies of Israel. Lot is called a righteous and vexed man, yet he lost all of his household to sin, even though he kept himself to serve the Lord. We need to realize that all men must stand before God and make their choice to obey him. Being raised in the Lord’s church is a tremendous advantage, but only if the opportunity is used and not wasted. Many times the most faithful elders, preachers and Bible teachers are men and women who do not learn of the gospel and its power until well into their adult lives. Often they must obey the gospel under some personal sacrifice, losing contact with friends and family. Others, with the advantage of being raised by godly parents, may never come to their full potential, but drift along year after year, having no real root and becoming easy prey for the first false teacher to come along. This is the reason good and faithful congregations go off into error over the period of a generation.

When parents have a child gone into error, rather than waste effort and time in regret, they should ask themselves the following questions:

1. Did he understand the terms of the gospel while he was under our care?

2. Was he exposed to sound gospel preaching, or did he get “sermonettes” while he was under our care?

3. Did we have caring thoughtful Bible study at home on a regular basis while he was under our care?

4. Was he disciplined when it was needful?

5. Regardless of how much he did or did not want to come, did I insist on his attendance at every service of the Lord’s church?

6. Did I attend myself at all times possible?

7. If the elders applied discipline to the case of my child’s unfaithfulness, did I approve and do what I could to reinforce the lesson in the child’s mind? Did the child know beyond a doubt that I would do so if his behavior required such discipline?

8. Do I continue to try to talk to my child about his unfaithfulness, and continue to encourage him to serve the Lord, and pray for him always?

Parents who can answer in the affirmative to these questions may take some comfort in knowing that they did all that was possible to teach this child, and must accept the fact that when he is an adult, he must stand before God and give account of his life. Nothing we do or fail to do at that point will cause him to save or lose his soul; it is between him and his God.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 12, p. 21-22
June 16, 1994

By Bobby Witherington

In June, 1965 my family and I moved to Louisville, KY to labor with the Haldeman Avenue church (now the Birchwood church of Christ). This congregation at that time had had a long and rich history, and had repeatedly provided the nucleus for the formation of various new congregations in the Louisville area. Of course, a major reason for the past good work of that congregation was the fact that different members, including “Miss Sarah,” had been so actively involved in the work of the Lord.

Her name was Sarah Scoggins. She was a re-tired teacher. We affectionately called her “Miss Sarah” because she had never been married. As she put it, shortly after our arrival in Louisville, she was “an unclaimed blessing.” And that, she was! “By reason of strength” (Psa. 90:10), she had lived beyond her “fourscore years.” She was short of stature, had a very noticeable bend in her up-per back and neck (in fact, it almost hurt to look at one whose frame was so unnaturally bent), yet she had a twinkle in her eyes, a smile on her face, and a word of encouragement for everyone (especially new converts) who were trying to faithfully serve the Lord. “Miss Sarah” was a person who one simply could not forget or ignore. She was advanced in years, but she was not living in the past, maintained a very positive attitude, and was determined to do what she could to further the cause of Christ.

The Lord’s day did not catch “Miss Sarah” unprepared. She kept up with her Bible studies. Saturday afternoon was a time for making preparation for Sun-day. On a particular Saturday night she and her equally faithful sister (“Miss Lydia,” with whom she lived) were in the process of laying out their clothing for Sunday a.m. worship. They lived in a two-story, red-brick home in which the bedrooms were located upstairs. Somehow “Miss Sarah,” as she was arranging her attire for Sunday a.m., fell backwards and rolled down the steps. Amazingly, she suffered no broken bones, but she was badly shaken up, and for the rest of her life she suffered a constant ringing in her ears. However, now withstanding her enfeebled state of health, not-withstanding the constant ringing in her ears, “Miss Sarah” managed to come to worship. She took He-brews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,” very seriously.

To illustrate “Miss Sarah’s” determination to be in worship, I mention the particular Sunday when her sister, “Miss Lydia” (a sister in the flesh, and in Christ), learned that the men were giving consideration to changing the time of services to an earlier hour. By this point in time “Miss Sarah,” for health reasons, had been forced to miss Sunday a.m. Bible Study and arrive at 11:00 a.m. for worship. But we were thinking about changing the Bible Study hour to 9:00 a.m. and the worship time to 10:00 a.m. How-ever, “Miss Lydia” approached me and asked that we reconsider the plans out of consideration for “Miss Sarah.” She further explained, saying, “Sarah now has to get up at 5:00 a.m. on Sundays in order to make it to services by 11:00 a.m. Her state of health was of such nature that she should spend a few minutes dressing, then spend time resting, resume her efforts to get dressed, rest some more, etc., and finally, after a terrific struggle, be present in time for the 11:00 a.m. worship service. Of course, one of the brethren would leave in time to drive the two blocks to her house, and then transport them to worship. Yes, this dear sister in Christ would struggle for six hours on Sunday a.m. so she could assemble with others of like precious faith and worship her heavenly Father! Her faithfulness amid adversity served to illustrate just how flimsy were the excuses of some others who deliberately sought opportunity to be “providentially hindered” from worship.

But “Miss Sarah’s” health continued to deteriorate. Perhaps it was hastened by the sudden and unexpected passing of her younger sister, “Miss Lydia” (if I recall correctly, “Miss Lydia” was 82 when she died). Within a few months following the departure of “Miss Lydia,” it became necessary for “Miss Sarah” to enter a local nursing home. However, the church continued to publish the weekly bulletin, and on the back page of each week’s bulletin was a listing of who would be leading singing, serving at the Lord’s table, reading Scriptures, etc. Also, the Scriptures to be read in the Sunday a.m. assembly were listed on the weekly bulletin. So even though she was now confined to a nursing home, she kept up with what was going on. She would read the weekly bulletin at the time of the worship hour. She knew when the Lord’s supper was being served, and she focused her mind upon the death and the return of Christ. She made it a point to read the particular Scripture selection which she knew was being read in the worship assembly. Though she was completely unable to be present in body, no one doubted that she was present in spirit.

There are many things I can recall about “Miss Sarah”  how she would commend each person who made an earnest effort to serve the Lord  how she paid so much attention to young people, how she would ask some to speak louder when they prayed because she wanted to be able to silently “say amen” to their giving thanks (cf. 1 Cor. 14:16). One particular occasion which this writer cannot forget was that Sunday (some years earlier when she managed to be present for every service), when she approached me after the Sunday a.m. Bible class. She reminded me of a wedding to be conducted at 2:00 p.m. in the meeting house that day. The groom was a young man who had “grown up” in that congregation and had shown so much promise as a Christian. She was planning to be at that wedding. But she approached me, and said, “Brother Witherington, it is difficult for some of us older folks to get home, eat, and get back by 2:00 p.m., so would you please shorten the sermon a bit.” Frankly, that request was not overly appreciated. In my judgment, she was putting the emphasis in the wrong place. However, in my reply I tried to be as polite as I could, and then I waxed eloquent  or so I thought! I reminded “Miss Sarah” of the time when “Raccoon

John Smith” rode a horse to Mt. Sterling, KY and heard Alexander Campbell preach. When brother Campbell completed his sermon, Smith was indignant. He said “I have ridden this horse all this distance to hear this man, and he only preached 30 minutes.” Then someone said, “Brother Smith, look at your watch; you have been here two hours and a half!” I then told “Miss Sarah” that we, like “Raccoon John Smith, ought to be so interested in hearing the gospel that we would be oblivious to the time.” At this point “Miss Sarah” smiled sweetly and replied, “I have heard preachers who could do that to me, too.” And I am sure she had! I am virtually certain that as I told the story about “Raccoon John Smith” listening to Alexander Campbell that “Miss Sarah” began to remember that long line of very able preachers she had heard in her life time, and how that she was so eager to hear every word. Before physical infirmity took its toll, she did not tire of hearing the gospel preached. Anyway, upon hearing her reply I shut up. She had the last word, and all I could do was to try to “grin and bear it.”

“Miss Sarah” has long since departed this world. But you can be sure her influence lives on. She was one among many who did the work, made the sacrifices, stood her ground for the Lord, and helped pave the way for those of us who came later. As I recall “Miss Sarah’s” example, I am made to realize that my aches and pains are minor compared to what she endured. But without complaint, or hesitation, she pressed on. She was a former school teacher whose diction was flawless, yet she encouraged me even though I slaughtered “the king’s English.” She hurt, but she retained her smile and never lost her charm. In retrospect, I think I have discovered the reason why she remained such a beautiful person  it was worded by the apostle Paul like this: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). I am thankful that my life has been enriched by such people who, like faithful Abel, “being dead yet speaketh” (Heb. 11:4).

“… this dear sister in Christ would struggle for six hours on Sunday a.m. so she could assemble with others of like precious faith and worship her heavenly Father! Her faithfulness amid adversity served to illustrate just how flimsy were the excuses of some others who deliberately sought opportunity to be `providentially hindered’ from worship.”

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 12, p. 16-17
June 16, 1994