Open Controversy at Abilene
Kerry Duke

Don Morris was President of Abilene Christian Col-lege for 29 years, from 1940 to 1969. His work at the school is remembered in the biography Morris by Owen Cosgrove. One story in this book shows that Morris, unlike most Christian College presidents today, was not afraid to face controversy. The school had been criticized, and Morris offered over one hundred preachers the opportunity to express their concerns openly at the annual lectureship (1940).

One faculty member at the school, Charles H. Roberson, was accused in this open meeting of teaching premillennialism. Roberson denied the charge. That night Morris had Roberson to make a statement about what had happened earlier that day. The preacher who had accused him, J. L. Hines, also responded that evening to what Roberson said. Ultimately, President Morris wrote statements in several brotherhood periodicals repudiating premillennialism. He also persuaded Roberson to repudiate anything he had previously written that might be taken as premillennial. Morris’ action cleared up the matter, and the criticism subsided quickly.

How different is the situation at most Christian colleges today! The statements written by Roberson, which were taken by some to teach premillennialism, sound mild compared to the outright false teaching in these schools today! Yet the presidents of the schools refuse to face the facts. The school at which Morris was president, now Abilene Christian University, has been rightly criticized by many brethren for its liberal views. Why won’t Royce Money discuss these matters openly like his predecessor Morris did over sixty years ago? David Lipscomb University has been rightly criticized for harboring and promoting false teachers. But Steve Flatt just smiles at the criticism and tries to double-talk his way out. Why does he refuse to deal openly with the controversy? Freed-Hardeman University has been exposed in recent years for the views it has taught and for the fellowship it extends. Why does Milton Sewell refuse to deal with these problems? Why will he not do as Don Morris did and make a statement at the annual lectureship? No, he and others like him would rather play the politician and sweep problems under the rug. This refusal to deal with controversy on campus came through loud and clear at the FHU open forum in 1996. When a preacher in the audience at the open forum read a statement from a book written by one of the speakers at the lectureship, he was rebuked by Hardeman Nichols for giving the name of the speaker who wrote the book! This speaker was F. LaGard Smith. The attitude of the conductors of the open forum was a prelude to what happened later in the lectureship. On the closing night, Smith again taught his false doctrine (that unbaptized believers might by saved), and Ralph Gilmore of FHU commended his lesson. Dennis Jones of Heritage Christian University, David Burks of Harding University, Billy Hilyer of Faulkner University and numerous other men are presidents of schools that have been justly criticized. It would be a simple thing for these men to invite those with these criticisms to come to their campuses and discuss openly the problems. “But no good would come of such a meeting,” some of them might say. “All these people would do is argue.” Are these presidents that afraid of controversy? Don Morris was not, and he didn’t think such a meeting was unprofitable. If these presidents are not men enough to face the errors of the schools they preside over and to deal with them openly and honestly, then they are not worthy of their position as presidents.

All these presidents would have to do to clear the air is to openly repudiate the error their schools are involved in, and, of course, get rid of the teachers who are guilty. But they are afraid of the disturbance such would cause. Brother Morris had the courage to bring the issue to a head on a morning of the lectureship and again that night, and afterward he dealt personally with the teacher involved and even wrote statements of repudiation. When Christian college presidents today say that this action will do no good, they are wrong. They lack courage and conviction – it’s just that simple.

Brother Malcolm Hill years ago invited virtually every Christian college president to meet so that all interested people could come and openly ask questions of them. Most of the presidents did not even respond; none of them accepted the offer. Brother Hill is more than happy to defend what is taught at Tennessee Bible College. Why do these other presidents refuse to deal with the controversy surrounding their schools on such a platform? I believe most of these men know they cannot defend what is happening in their schools. They know they cannot scripturally defend the doctrine of women preachers, divided assemblies, no eternal punishment, fellowship with denominations, social drinking, elders having no authority, direct leadings of the Holy Spirit, and a host of other false teachings paraded on their campuses.

A sad picture is on the back of this biography. It is a picture of President Don Morris standing beside the cornerstone of an administration building at Abilene Christian. Engraved in stone next to him are these words:


How badly these words need to be heeded today.

Editorial

In Numbers 16:1-16 we have the story of Korah and company’s rebellion against Moses. Who were these rebels? Were they uneducated hippies of that day? Were they men of the lower class? Was their I.Q. low, and was it the case that they had been reared in poverty? Just what was their standing?

Korah’s company was made up of 250 leaders of the congregation. They represented the entire congregation, and they were “men of renown” (Num. 16:2). And what was their complaint? They did not like the way Moses and Aaron were leading. They had their gatherings to talk about this matter and to get the people excited in their rebellion. We might call them gang rulers. They would not move alone but moved in the gang. We have many like this today. They were moral cowards and must have others to stand with them before they would take a stand. I know of a member of the church, a civil judge, who is given to such activity. How can he think he is anywhere near a man and that his conduct is becoming to his office when he moves by gang rule? How would you like to be judged by him, or how would you like for your child to be judged by him? How can he sit on the bench with a pure conscience and dictate how others should live regardless the cost? All we can say about a man like this is, thou hypocrite!

Sometimes church members will get a gang composed of people in the congregation where they attend. And what do they do? They try to destroy faithful gospel preachers. Sometimes they will try to remove the eldership or try to completely destroy God’s arrangement in exchange for their own way. They do not want elders to rule because they want to rule, and an eldership would mean death to their devilish desires.

What was the complaint of Korah and company? Their complaint was that Moses and Aaron took on themselves too much authority. I have never seen a rebellious, ungodly church member yet that did not have this attitude. These rebels told Moses and Aaron, “Why then do you exalt yourselves above the congregation of the Lord” (Num. 16:3b)? Had Moses and Aaron done this? Were they seeking self-glory and power? Were they arrogant men filled with self-centeredness? Indeed not! God had appointed them to their position and they were meek and humble men (Num. 12:3). It makes little difference in the eyes of the rebellious against God who is speaking and what he is saying. It matters little how good he might be. The rebellious person is after his own will and his own way.

Moses argues the Lord’s doing with Korah and company (Num. 16:4-14). We can see from these verses that good, sound arguments do little good when men’s hearts are set on their own way and not the Lord’s. One can give many good arguments and sound arguments and can prove their point very clearly, but unless the heart or hearts of the other person or persons is open and receptive, such will do little good. The condition of one’s heart determines where his soul will spend eternity. Truth is not so greatly dependant on one’s education and knowledge nearly as much as the kind of heart he has. All of us need to ask ourselves the question: Is my heart right and ready to receive and act on God’s eternal truth?
What was God’s attitude toward Korah and company? Was it a small thing to God that they had done in rebelling against Moses and Aaron? If you will read Numbers 16:20-25, you will find that God dealt very severely with these rebels. When men refuse the message of God from the servants of God, they are in reality refusing God. When men teach and preach the word of God and the listeners become angry, they are not angry at men, but they are angry with God. Just because God does not deal exactly with men like this today does not mean that such sin is a small matter. Men who rebel against God’s way today will surely pay the price for it. The ground may not open up and swallow them immediately, but hell will open up and swallow them in the by and by.

Rebellion against God is one of the most horrible sins in the Bible (I Sam. 15:22-23). Many will be lost because of their disrespect for His Word. The way to heaven is the way of obedience (Matt. 7:21-28). We must learn obedience to the Lord (Heb. 5:8-9). We should be much more obedient to God at the end of life than at its beginning. God expects us to get better as the days go by, and getting better means that we read and follow His Holy Word. “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Rev. 22:14).
–Malcolm L. Hill, Editor

Nadab and Abihu
Glenn B. Ramsey

The Preacher said in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” God has always required obedience. “And Samuel said, “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (I Sam. 15:22). In the New Testament the writer of Hebrews said, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Heb. 5:8-9).

In Leviticus 10:1-2 we have recorded, “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.” The ONLY fire that God allowed to be used to burn the sacrificial offerings was the fire from the altar. This fire was never to go out. The requirement of the continual burning fire is described in Leviticus 6:12-13: “And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priests shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.”

There was a continuity represented by the fire of the altar that the Lord intended to be respected. Perhaps Nadab and Abihu reasoned that since fire is fire and all fire is alike, it makes no real difference how the fire for the sacrifices is obtained. But man’s reasoning is not like God’s! The consequences of the reasoning and action of these two men resulted in death. We ought to remember the words of Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

The example of the disobedience of Nadab and Abihu and the consequent punishment by death is one of the clearest examples in the Bible that God does mean what He says! But how often have men FOLLOWED the example of Nadab and Abihu rather than LEARNED from it.

The Bible teaches that all who disobey God will be punished by the fire of hell. In Revelation 21:8 we learn, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremonger, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

We conclude that, if men do not believe God’s instructions and presume to go their own way, they will be punished in the fire of hell. This is what the Word of God teaches!

What of men who substitute the “strange fire” of instrumental music in worship for the proper worship in song? What of men who substitute the doctrine of “faith only” and/or “grace only” for the obedience Jesus commands (Matt. 7:21-23)? What of men who fellowship false teachers and by their participation with them bid them God speed in spite of the teachings of Romans 16:17 and II John 9-11? What of men who offer the “strange fire” of allowing divorce and remarriage for causes other than the one that is mentioned by the Lord in Matthew 19:9? What of men who offer the “strange fire” of compromised preaching for the preaching of the Word as required of faithful Gospel preachers (II Tim. 4:1-4)? What of all the other substitutions that men do today, both in and outside of the body of Christ?

Do men today think they will be overlooked by God even if they choose to go against His divine Will?

What kind of “fire” are you offering to the Lord? The fire that will save you is the fire that the Lord commands you to use. Any other kind of fire will turn and destroy you!

King Saul and the Amalekites
Ronald D. Gilbert

“And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (I Sam. 15:22). Obeying God is very important. Many throughout history have learned this lesson the hard way. Some feel that obeying God in the “big things” is very important but the “little things” are not that important! Clearly, in I Samuel 15 Saul disobeyed God, but let’s go back and see some things that led up to this occasion.

In I Samuel 13 we are told that after Saul reigned two years he chose men to fight the Philistines. Samuel had appointed that Saul wait seven days. At the end of the seven days when Samuel did not show up at Gilgal, Saul offered a peace offering and burnt offering. Saul was not a priest; he disregarded what the word of God said and offered the sacrifice himself. After all, Samuel was not there to do this act.
After the deed was done, Samuel arrived and asked, “What hast thou done?” (I Sam. 13:11). Notice Saul’s attitude. Was it one of repentance because he had disobeyed? No. He said, “Because I saw the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; Therefore said I, the Philistines will come down now upon me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering” (I Sam. 13:11-12). Saul gave what he thought was sufficient justification for his actions. He gave several reasons for his actions. Notice, however, Samuel’s reply: “Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God” (I Sam. 13:13).

Saul’s attempt to justify himself was, “I forced myself.” As if to say, this was my only choice; I had to do this! Notice, however, I Samuel 13:10 – as soon as Saul did this unauthorized deed, Samuel showed up on the seventh day, just as he said he would. Saul’s disobedience cost him the kingdom.

Now, consider I Samuel 15. In verse one, Samuel calls Saul to hearken to the voice of the Lord. Notice also the word of the Lord from Samuel to Saul concerning Agag and the Amalekites. “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass” (I Sam. 15:3). If God had wanted Agag and the Amalekites and all their animals killed, how would He have worded such an order? This is so clear! What part of God’s word concerning Agag and the Amalekites needed to be clarified? In verse eight Saul takes Agag alive. In verse nine, the best of the sheep, oxen, and lambs are taken alive. When Samuel meets Saul, notice what Saul said: “I have performed the commandment of the Lord” (I Sam. 15:13). Saul did things his way, not the Lord’s way. Obeying God was not that important to Saul.

Samuel told Saul that he had not obeyed the word of the Lord. Samuel said he heard sheep and oxen. Their noise was testimony to the fact that Saul had not obeyed God. Dead animals do not make such noises! Again, after being confronted with his disobedience, Saul attempts to justify his disobedience. Samuel got to the heart of Saul’s problem when he said, “And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel?” (I Sam. 15:17). I Samuel 9:21 shows Saul’s humble spirit when he was appointed king, but not so now. In I Samuel 15:23 Samuel declared Saul’s problem: “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

Men who are filled with pride will not see the importance of obeying God. These men also after disobeying God often do not see the seriousness of their sin. Many times these men will even give reasons why they have disobeyed God.
If one only obeys God when he agrees with God, he is in rebellion to God. When men like Saul cease to be “little in their own sight,” they become prideful and self-centered, which leads to rebellion and disobedience.
We need to be humble, recognizing who we are and who God is. It is very important that we seek God’s will and obey God. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (I Sam. 15:22).

Naaman the Leper: A Definition of Obedience
David Hill

In Romans 15:4 the apostle Paul says that the Old Testament was written for our learning. It is far too often the case that the Old Testament is used in storybook form and the implication of the teaching is never made to us today. It was written for our learning, not as a pretty story, but as very useful historic information. Have you considered the importance of the apostle Paul’s words? One of the very important learning opportunities comes from II Kings 5 in what is commonly referred to as the story of Naaman the leper. Obedience as God requires is actually defined in this great Bible account.

Naaman was a “great man,” the “captain of the host of the king of Syria.” He was an “honorable” man, and through him God gave deliverance to Syria. But the Bible records that he was a leper. Leprosy was a most dreaded and hideous disease of Bible times. It was a scourge on any infected family. Terrible indeed was one’s suffering with leprosy, and though Naaman was a great and powerful man, he could not do one iota to remove the disease from his body. I’m sure that he consulted the best physicians that Syria had to offer, but no relief was found. You know as I do that he had servants around the clock to do his bidding; yet he was a leper.

Fortunately, Naaman had a Hebrew maid assisting his wife. A maid who remains nameless through all Scriptures, she had the words of life for Naaman. She said, “Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! For he would recover him of his leprosy.” Life-saving words out of the mouth of a “little maid.” Though the Bible speaks of her as a “little maid” she stands as a giant because of her faith in God. Notice, dear friend! Her name was never called, yet she lives thousands of years later as a hero of the faith. She knew the power of God and where to find God’s prophet Elisha. Have you been paying attention lately? There are a lot of folks claiming to be spokesmen for God just as there were then; do you know where God’s true servant can be found? This little Hebrew maid did, and what an example she is to us. She spoke up though she was a maid. She was not afraid to point a Syrian in the direction of God’s prophet. How about you? What if the Lord’s church were full of individuals with the faith of this little maid? The world would notice the difference.

Well, the powerful Syrian tried what most all people in power try; he had the king make a request of the king of Israel. He even had great wealth available to pay for treatment, but neither would accomplish what he wished nor touch the power of the Lord. The King of Israel recognized this fact and rent his royal clothing over the request, but when word came to Elisha the prophet of God, he knew where the power was and what would be necessary for this Syrian captain to do for cleansing from the awful disease of leprosy. To make the situation even clearer, Elisha didn’t even go out to greet this great man of valor but sent a servant out with the instructions from the Lord. Certainly, Elisha failed in worldly protocol. Was he so backward that he failed to recognize how great Naaman was and the importance of foreign diplomacy? Or could it be that he was serving one higher than the heavens and he would not be distracted by the ways of man? Yes, I think the latter is it. Elisha was serving the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Naaman felt the pressure of being treated as a common man. Why, it probably hadn’t happened to him in years and he was “wroth,” but he had been given the truth. What would he do with it? The truth did not come to him as he had envisioned, and I suspect God’s word seldom ever does (Is. 55:8-9). It is the truth nonetheless, and everyone has the option of acting on it or not acting at all. The word of the Lord said for this great man to dip in the muddy Jordan River seven times and he would be made whole. It must have been that the Abana and Pharpar rivers were much more picturesque to the eye of man, but they did not figure into God’s plan on this occasion. Maybe the people of Israel were just waterdogs! Was the power in the water? No, but it took water to contact the power of God. Inconsistent reasoning? No, obedience required Naaman to get down in the water and dip seven times. When he obeyed God, he was made whole. In fact, his skin was restored to a better condition than it was to start with for it was “like unto the flesh of a little child.” When one believes the words of the Lord (Rom. 10:17), repents of every sin (Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30), confesses Jesus Christ as Lord (Rom. 10:10), and is baptized in water (Heb. 10:22; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; Gal. 3:27), then and only then has the heart and conscience been made clean through the body of Christ. There is power in the blood – the power of the Lord. It is contacted through the water just as the cleansing power of God was contacted in the waters of the river Jordan by Naaman by and through his obedience.

True obedience to God requires a man/woman to take God at His word. When people obey God to the best of their ability, they may put on the robe made white through the washing of the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14). No amount of money, power, prestige, or any earthly influence will wash one sin away. A letter from the President of the United States will have no effect on your standing with God. Why water baptism? Because that is what God said to do! Why not holy water, royal priestly robes and fancy titles? Because God said nothing about such in His word.

May God help us to have the heart of the “little maid” from Israel who stood as bold as a lion to proclaim the saving message of God even in a strange land.

Our Face is Set
Malcolm L. Hill

In Luke 9:51 the Bible says that Christ’s face was set to go to Jerusalem. His mind had been made up, and there would be no change. My mind is made up, and I do not foresee a change in it unless something becomes so obvious that any sensible man would change his mind.

In 1978 we hired a number of men to come to Tennessee Bible College and work with us in the school. I do not hold anyone responsible for what happened but myself. I let different ones do my thinking for me in a number of different things and in hiring a number of different trouble-makers. I feel sure that those who advised me were doing what they were doing in a good conscience, and they thought what was going on as well as those who were hired was the right thing to do.

Some of the men hired at that time were nothing more than trouble-makers and money-minded. They definitely had no respect for the authority of the Bible when it teaches Christians should be subject to their leaders (Eph. 6:5-8). David Lipe, Bill Collins, David Hanson, and Burt Thompson created a gang within the school, which almost destroyed the institution. These men were not necessarily my choice but the choice of someone else. I should have gone on my own thinking instead of someone else’s. I made a commitment in 1980 that I would never go against what I thought was best after having done sufficient research and counseling. In the early 1980’s I was left with a school that was financially broke and virtually wrecked. I had to pick up part-time teachers until I could put together a fragmented full-time faculty again. Slowly but surely we were able to put things back together until now we have a great faculty and a wonderful operation. The school is out of debt. We have managed to barely run in the black since 1989. With the Bible as my guide I have been running Tennessee Bible College for years and editing Living Oracles as a monthly journal.

Of late a few have been trying to get me the message that I should stop calling certain names and forget the issue of Christian fellowship. Where is such advice coming from? Is it coming from Abilene Christian University? No, because they have reached a place to where they could care less what the Bible teaches. Is it coming from Pepperdine? Certainly not, because they are just like Abilene Christian University. Is it coming form Harding University? No, because they are in the same mindset as Abilene and Pepperdine. We feel sure that if these universities had their way, they would like for any opposition to them and their liberal work to cease.

Almost all of the opposition to our calling names and writing about unchristian fellowship is coming from the fence-straddlers. Some of these men are more accountable and some less. Men like William Woodson, Bill Flatt, Cecil May, Jr., Basil Overton, Billy Hilyer, Ralph Gilmore, Milton Sewell, Rex Turner, Jr., B.J. Clarke, Dan Jenkins, Wayne Jackson, Tom Holland, Earl Edwards, Mack Lyon, Paul Rogers, James Maxwell, James Watkins, Jack Lewis, Glenn Colley, Dan Winkler, Wendell Winkler, Kent Bailey, and others like them. And why are they talking more these days about name-calling and the cessation of writing on Christian fellowship? Because brethren are beginning to wake up about the seriousness of what is going on in our brotherhood. There is not a one of the above mentioned men who will meet us in a public discussion on Christian fellowship. Wonder why?

We will not stop calling names when necessary, and we will not stop writing on Christian fellowship. Some have not liked it because I have challenged many to debate this issue. Why? Because it exposes them for what they are. Some have said we do not know where the line of God’s fellowship starts and stops. If this is so, then why does not someone teach us who does know? I do not get a joy out of asking someone to meet me in a public debate, but I certainly want them to know that I believe what I write and preach and am willing to stand up for it in public or private.

Some have said my credibility is at stake if I keep on standing up for Christian fellowship and calling names. If I state the facts and can prove what I say is true, how on earth could my credibility be at stake? It would seem to me that honest people would stand with me in such situations and who could care about the intentionally dishonest and what they think and say. I wish they would forsake their sin and make things right with God, but I have my questions about this taking place. I intend to keep on preaching and standing for the Bible and I will let my credibility take care of itself.

What do I plan to do in the future, the Lord willing? Write as I see the need after careful and prayerful consideration of that which lies ahead. Let the Bible be my one and only guide. Restrain from being partial in my work as a Christian soldier. Always make sure I have the facts in all things. I shall do my best to glorify God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, in word and in deed. May God help me to stay clear of politics and a desire to be popular. May God help me to seek the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth without fear or favor.