It is to my great grief that I find most men who have gone to seminary emerge as proponents of neo-orthodoxy --not as you might first suspect in the realm of doctrine, but in Practice.

In doctrine, the Neo-orthodox re-defines Biblical doctrines. For instance, a Neo-orthodox would declare: to believe in the Virgin Birth of Christ but would re-define "virgin" to mean a "young woman." in Practice, the Neo-orthodox: redefines Biblical guidelines in the area of Conduct. Instead of well-defined lines of Conduct, the Neo-orthodox is unwilling to be dogmatic about anything. His unwillingness to take a stand on issues is the result of a softened conscience.

Woe be unto the seminaries of our land that quiet the voice of conscience instead of sharpening it -- instead of instilling Biblical Principles as well as Biblical Doctrines.

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO

May 10-13 --Ebenezer Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Wrens, Ga.-Personal Eschatology

May 13 --Trinity Baptist Church, Wrens, Ga.

May 22 --St. James United Methodist Church, Men’s Fellowship, Augusta, Ga. -Holiness of God

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-Ebenezer Erskine --an Excerpt-

...There are (two) things, any one of which will amount to this capital crime (of unbelief):

1. A denial of the truth of the Gospel; looking upon the Word of God, contained in the Scriptures, as a fiction, or a cunningly devised fable. I am very suspicious there are unbelievers of this stamp among those who are called by the name of Christians --men pretending to be great masters of reason who --because their weak and depraved minds cannot grasp the unsearchable mysteries of our holy religion --do, therefore, turn infidels, and reject the whole as an incredible paradox. This very thing upon which they stumble proves it to be of a divine original. The unsearchable wisdom that appears in every one of the works of God proves them indeed to be His works, and not the works of any created being. And shall it be imagined that there is less wisdom in His words than in His works, when they are the more immediate product picture of His infinite understanding, which can never be searched out? Here, if anywhere, we may expect the "deep things of God; the wisdom of God in a mystery, which none of the princes of this world knew."

2. A doubting or wavering uncertainty of mind about the truths of the Gospel will amount to this crime of unbelief pointed at in my text. There are some who, though they do not go to the length of denying flatly that the Bible is the Word of God, or that the Gospel is of a divine original, yet they waver, and are in suspense about it; like the worshipers of Baal, they "halt between two opinions," they neither believe, nor disbelieve it; but are like the scales of an even balance, ready to turn either to this or the other side. Such are unbelievers, in Christ’s reckoning; for "he that is not with me," says He, "is against me." ...

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JUNE

1, 1679 --Scotland. The Covenanters defeat the Royalist forces in the Battle at Drumclog.

3, 1098 --Turkey. Antioch falls to the crusaders. On June 28, it will be successfully defended against the Sultan of Mosul.

5, 755 --Germany. Boniface, having labored here among the Germans, is martyred. An Englishman, originally known as Winfrid, he began his labor in Thuringia and Hessia, easternmost lands of the Franks. Here he found pagans as well as Christians who both knew nothing of the ecclesiology of Rome, nor did they want to learn anything of it. Laboring under the protection of Charles Martel, he has expelled anti-Roman priests.

Tonight his camp is attacked and Boniface with his company are killed and eaten. The Fries, having witnessed his singing and praying in the midst of torture are converted as a result.

9, 1826 --Connecticut. At Hew Haven, Jedidiah Horse dies. He is the editor of the Panoplist with which he has united Congregationalists against the in-roads of Unitarianism. He is one of the founders of Andover Theological Seminary, and the New England Tract Society, and the American Bible Society. His eldest son, Samuel will invent the telegraph.

11, 1559 --Scotland. John Knox has made known his intention of preaching today in the cathedral of St. Andrews, and Archbishop Hamilton is aghast knowing the oratorical abilities of the reformer. Therefore, yesterday he hurried from Falkland, twenty miles away with 300 armed men boasting that most of the cannon balls will alight on Knox’s very nose. The reformer is warned by friends to abandon his intentions, but today, the man of God appears, and despite his military aid, the Archbishop beats a hasty retreat.

11, 1760 --Pennsylvania. Augustus A. Spangenberg, the Moravian bishop of America from Bethlehem writes, " ...More than 220 persons have taken refuge with the Brethren, fleeing from the terrible hand of the wild men (Indians). They are living among the Brethren but in separate houses and huts. The Gospel is diligently proclaimed to them, and not without results. We were not attacked by the wild men while I was there, but the roads are very unsafe."

Soon after the arrival of John Wesley in Georgia, Mr. Spangenberg asked him, "Do you know Jesus Christ?" Mr. Wesley answered, "I know He is the Saviour of the world." "True," responded Mr. Spangenberg, "but do you know He has saved you?" For three years Mr. Wesley will be plagued with this question before he is finally converted.

13, 1714 --England. Matthew Henry preaches on the text, "There remaineth a rest for the people of God" (Hebrews 4:9). Nine days will pass and Mr. Henry will enter into rest. He has lived to complete only so far as the book of Acts in the commentaries that bear his name. The New Testament will be completed by other non-conformists from his notes. Mr. George Whitefield will read it through four times, the last time on his knees, and Charles Spurgeon said all his students should read them through at least once.

15, 1215 --England. King John is forced to sign the Magna Carta for the English barons. The king has formerly signed England away to the Roman Pontiff, and the barons burdened under oppressive taxes and diminishing freedoms force the king at sword-point to deliver the country into the hands of the English barons.

"For this Melchisedec ...first being by interpretation King of Righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is King of Peace ..." (Hebrews 7:1a,2b) Before a person can know the Lord Jesus Christ here represented by Melchisedec, but better a priest than he, Christ must be first acknowledged to be the King of Righteousness before He can be known as King of Peace.