Letters    

ON BECOMING ENTANGLED WITH THE AFFAIRS OF THIS LIFE

Dear G. T.                                                                                                   October 25, 1991

     I was glad to read your analysis of Bro. P's message. ...He seems to have been absorbed into the political scene, now that he is a member of the World Market. If he exerts an evangelical voice there, it may be for the better for us all, but I am wary of becoming so involved with such corrupt men, and of becoming too "entangled with the affairs of this life." It is a pitfall we all must avoid. ...

TO A GRACIOUS LADY

 Dear P. S.                                                                                                       January 4, 1988

      Americans are highly privileged to have their own "Iron Lady." What Margaret Thatcher is to Britain, you are to America. In the midst of mortal conflict with the forces of wickedness, you have lost neither your charm, nor your feminine graces.

    This generation does not appreciate you for your righteous stands. The Word of God itself speaks of them who garnish the tombs of the prophets but who are themselves the children of them who persecuted the prophets.

     History reveals that people rarely appreciate living masters of art, music, or literature. Most often they wait until they must "resurrect the dead" before they show their respect. I want to take this opportunity to encourage you. I am one of those who does appreciate your stand in the battle for righteousness. I am one who praises God for you. Thank you for bearing each slander, and for suffering each moment of discouragement.

     As a Baptist minister, and you a Roman Catholic, we would differ greatly in theology, but my hat is tipped in respect for a lady to whom God has given great insights; for a lady who is an uncompromising defender of that which is right.

     It is my earnest prayer, that God, if He has not already done so, would be pleased to reveal to you that in the matter of salvation, righteousness must be inward. It must be a righteousness of believing, a righteousness of the heart. While the righteousness that men acknowledge is external, and is a righteousness of doing, it is the former that is the righteousness God acknowledges. "Salvation is of the Lord," said Jonah (2:9), and we will all want to stand clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ in the great and notable day of the Lord. "May God Smile On You" —Bach.

TO ONE NEEDING TO BE RECONCILED TO HIS BROTHER

 Dear R. G.                                                                                                 October 26, 1983

    We have never met. ...(but) I have a brother in Christ here who believes he has something against you. For the sake of the testimony of our Lord Jesus, you should know the serious-ness of it, for we are told in Scripture that if our brother has anything against us, reconciliation takes precedence over our praying, and our giving (Matthew 5:23,24). In order "that your prayers be not hindered" you certainly should try to straighten out this matter.

     The fact that Mr. I. B. holds some views that neither you nor I share is irrelevant. He does exhibit a sincere love for the Lord Jesus, and should be treated with all the dignity and respect owed to a Christian brother.

    Mr. B. is of the opinion you have "flim-flammed" him, and that you have no intention of paying him the $7000 you owe him. It would be hard to believe that someone who is interested in his children attending a place like Bob Jones University would be a man without honor, and "full of all subtlety and mischief, a child of the Devil." What is more reasonable is that you have fallen upon difficult times.

    Take the initiative to telephone Mr. B., or write him. Confirm to him that you are not an "enemy of all righteousness," and that you have no intention of perverting the "right ways of the Lord."

    "First be reconciled to thy brother." Give it priority: deny sleep to your eyes, and food to your stomach.

ON NATURAL HEALING

Dear J. Z.                                                                                                  September 22, 1987

      ...God gave "herbs for the service of man" (Psalm 104:14b). I believe we have become slaves to a pharmaceutical system that has been conjured up by men. A man has to be fully persuaded in his own mind, but if I become gravely ill, let me seek the face of God, and the means He has provided, and if I die, I die.

ON VEGETARIANISM

Dear J. P.                                                                                                     December 3, 1993

     ...(In the material you sent me), the ideal diet would not include fish. I ask, "Have ye here any meat" and they gave to the Lord a piece of broiled fish and part of a honeycomb (Luke 24:41,42). Was this a bad example? or, did God give men flesh to eat? I note also, that the ideal diet does not allow dairy products, or sweets, yet one evidence of the coming Messiah was "Butter and honey shall he eat" (Isaiah 7:15).

     Now, I know we must be careful what we eat, but I believe vegetarianism is not natural. Back in the 1970's, Bill Rice wrote an article in The Branding Iron how the meat-eating Plains Indians easily conquered the nut and root-eating tribes.

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