These appeared in New Life about 1999 … but
still appropriate !
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PROVE ALL THINGS (No.
1)
Have you ever come across the story
of Sankey’s song on Christmas Eve?
Ira D. Sankey was evangelist D.L. Moody’s soloist
and compiler of the famous “Sankey Sacred Songs and Solos” that was in regular
use up until a generation ago.
The story goes that on Christmas
Eve, 1875, as Sankey travelled by steamboat up the Delaware River, he was asked
by some fellow passengers if he would favour them with a song. He did.
And the song was :
Saviour, like a shepherd, lead us,
Much we need Thy tender care …
Having finished his solo “a man
with a rough weather-beaten face” approached Sankey and asked him if he had
ever been in the Union Army during the Civil War. To which Sankey replied that he had.
“Can you remember if you were doing
picket duty on a bright moonlight night in 1862?” asked the fellow
passenger. Again Sankey replied in the
affirmative.
It was then the man told the
amazing story. He had been in the
Confederate army – and “I saw you standing at your post,” he added. About to shoot, this man had heard Sankey begin
to sing … and it was the same song he had just rendered on the deck of this
steam-boat.
“Music, especially song, has always
had a wonderful power over me, and I took my finger off the trigger,” the man
explained. “My God-fearing mother had
sung that same song many times to me.”
Sankey, we read, “threw his arms
about the man who in the days of war had been his enemy … and the stranger
found Him Who was their common Saviour.”
Well, it’s a good story – and you
can find it in the “Biblical Fundamentalist” (December, 1979); “Our Daily Bread” (September 13, year unknown); “Bible Highways” by Ivor Powell (p.95); “Speakers Bible” (Psalms, Vol.2, p.45); “Wesleyan Methodist” (November 25, 1964,
p.3); “Home Mission Worker” (1909,
Vol.1, p.204); “Treasury of Hymns” by
Amos Wells, (p.53); “Streams in the
Desert” (Vol.2, December, 1924);
“Romance of Sacred Song” by D. Beattie;
“Sacred Stories” by Ruth Tucker (December 24); “A Mission Accomplished” by G. Burnham (pp.98-9); “Songs that Lift the Heart” by H. Garland
(p.143); etc., etc., etc.
I have collected variations of this
story in about 30 different magazines and books.
Notice I say ‘variations’. For example, in Bev. Shea’s book Sankey is on the Hudson River
singing “Jesus, Lover of my soul…” Amos
Wells also has “Jesus, Lover of my soul” as the song … but Sankey isn’t
mentioned in the account.
David Beattie tells the story –
with no mention of Sankey – and we are on the Potomac River!
H. Garland’s account has an unnamed
sentry singing “Abide with me …”
The “Speakers Bible” transports the
story to “a big Atlantic liner” – and the singer was the ex-Confederate
soldier. Nor is there anything about
Christmas Eve in most of the other accounts of this story.
To top it off I consulted Sankey’s
own autobiography – “My Life and the Story of the Gospel Hymns” (1906). And there is nothing here about his
so-called escape from the sniper’s bullet during sentry duty in 1862.
Whether this story ever happened to
someone else – who knows? But there is
no reason to believe it happened to Ira D. Sankey.
“Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 2)
“Michael, Michael, Why do you hate
Me?” was a best-seller in the
mid-1970’s.
Published by Logos International,
it was the autobiography of Michael
Esses, a
converted Rabbi.
Born into a strict orthodox Jewish
family that had emigrated to the United States, young Michael received a strict
Jewish education. Rabbinical training
followed, temporarily interrupted by World War II. For three years he served in the United States Air Force. He was ordained a Rabbi on June 30, 1950, in
New York City, and married Betty Neal a year later.
Then – in 1965 – a vision of Jesus
with outstretched nail-pierced hands, leads to his conversion (page 84).
Before long he is attending
Melodyland Christian Centre, a large charismatic church, where he is “baptised
in the Holy Spirit” (page 106).
Another best-seller comes from his
pen – “Next Visitor to Planet Earth” (1975).
By this time Pastor Ralph Wilkerson
of Melodyland had ordained Michael Esses and made him part of the Melodyland
pastoral team.
Until 1979 he was a popular speaker
at churches and conferences across America.
And then …
Betty Esses wrote her second
book. The first one “If I can, You can”
(1974), telling of her romance and marriage to this “hot-tempered, agnostic,
Jewish ex-rabbi” – and how God had changed him – “the Esses learned that He was
willing to work miracles for them time and time again.” So said the back cover.
But by 1983 Betty Esses had changed
her tune.
“Survivor of a Tarnished Ministry” hit
the bookshops. In it – with documented
evidence – she revealed that her husband (who had now deserted her for another
woman), was never an orthodox Jew, but was in fact a high-school drop-out who
only served 6 months in the Air Force – who had no rabbinical training – and
had left his first wife (with four children), when he married her. Nor was his divorce finalised until a year
after this second marriage.
She claimed that his so-called
vision of Jesus was a fake … his autobiography was a tissue of lies.
In 1979 he left her, running off to
Mexico with his latest girl-friend.
Thousands of Christians read
“Michael, Michael, Why do you hate Me?” and believed every word. We certainly do
need
to have a spirit of discernment … and to “Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians
5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 3)
One of the claims made by Michael
Esses – the so-called converted Rabbi … who turned out to be a bigamist and a
con-man (see “Prove All Things” No. 2) – is that vultures were multiplying in Israel! – “These vultures are
multiplying at three times the normal rate!” (‘Next Visitor to Planet Earth’,
p.67).
Wow! “This,” he adds, “is a sign of the end times.”
According to his understanding of
Bible prophecy, there will be so many bodies in the Valley of Armageddon –
where “the vultures are already circling” – God is preparing them for their
great feast! (Revelation 19:17).
David Webber, in his ‘Signs of the
Second Coming’ (p.7, 1977), quotes Esses’ claim and adds his bit – “great
swarms of buzzards are congregating over Megiddo …”
An article in the ‘Herald of Hope’
(June, 1997, pp.7-8), informed us that this information had been verified by a
tour leader in Israel – “Yes, he assured me, it IS true, very true indeed.”
Moreover, the article continued,
that whereas buzzards used to lay one egg at a time, “now they were laying
FOUR.”
A tract, “Why all the Vultures?”
published by the Gospel Tract Society, tells the same story. “Millions of copies” were distributed,
according to the tract’s author, Joel Darby
(‘Biblical Fundamentalist’).
England’s ‘Prophetic Witness’ (May, 1982, p.13), also ran the story.
However, as with many of these
stories that do the rounds of Christendom, the day came when the rumour … or
hoax … or lie … was laid to rest.
Multiplying three or four times as
fast as the normal rate, ever since Esses wrote the book … there would be so
many billions of vultures in Israel that one couldn’t walk without stepping on
them” (‘Biblical Fundamentalist’).
Dr F.A. Tatford tells that during a
trip to Belgium he was told they were laying five times as many as usual!
(‘Prophetic Witness’, July, 1980, p.6).
An article in ‘Pulpit Helps’
(April, 1985) tells how the author contacted “The Society for the Preservation
of Nature in Israel” – the head of which replied that he had received 30
queries concerning this subject. And
the answer was that these birds “are in high reduction” – there are only 60
mating pairs of these birds in all Israel (p.7).
Hart Armstrong – in his
‘Communicare’ magazine (July, 1981), also contacted Israeli authorities and
received the same reply (p.6).
Why would Michael Esses write what
he did in his book? I don’t know. But I do know that thousands of Christians
swallowed it as gospel truth … without “Proving ALL things” (I Thessalonians
5:21).
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 4)
It has been called “the most
colossal literary fraud in history” (‘Halley’s Bible Handbook’).
For hundreds of years these
documents were accepted as genuine by the church – and the repercussions they cause
continue unto our day.
Historians speak of them as the ‘Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals’ – a book that surfaced in the mid 9th
century. Likewise, the ‘Donation of
Constantine’ had just appeared – an ‘ancient’ document telling of how the Roman
Emperor had been cured of leprosy by the Bishop of Rome. In gratitude, so the document stated,
Constantine had bestowed upon the popes – “sovereignty over the western half of
the Empire” (‘The Church is History’ by B.K.
Kuiper, p 78).
The ‘Isidorian Decretals’ took this
a step further – stating that neither Bishops nor Popes were subject to civil
government.
Pope Nicholas I was delighted with
the revelations afforded by these ‘long lost’ documents. He used them to full effect. He even became the first Pope to wear a
crown!
It was not until some five
centuries later that Lorenzo Valla wrote a book revealing the fact that these
documents were forgeries. So did a
certain Nicolas of Cusa.
But the damage had been done and
the power of the papacy had been strengthened during those intervening
centuries to incredible heights.
Today Roman Catholics admit the
fraudulent nature of these documents.
They would argue that the authority of the papacy rests upon Scripture
and Tradition.
But in the Dark Ages thousands of Europeans
believed what these forgeries said.
“Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 5)
There are some stories that do the
rounds of Christendom … disappear for a year or two … and then bob up again in
another form.
The ‘Vanishing Hitchhiker’ story has been prevalent for many
years. This couple pick up a
hitchhiker, who gets in the back seat of their car, tells them that Jesus is
coming soon … and mysteriously disappears from the moving vehicle.
Don Stanton – in ‘Maranatha
Prophetic Alert’ No. 71, p.19, assures us “I have been in contact with several
people who claim they know first-hand witnesses.”
There it is … a friend of a friend
of a friend told me …
* * * * * * *
Here’s another one – “Snails are being found on the Mediterranean coast”, reports ‘News
from Israel’ (November, 1990, p.24).
Now these aren’t just any old snails.
No! These are snails that, when
crushed, give off “a blue colouring” for “certain religious items” in the
soon-to-be-rebuilt Temple.
Hence the whole thing is a sign of
the Last Days.
Mmmmm?
* * * * * * * *
And one more. Do you remember reading about the discovery
of Goliath’s skull in the Valley of Elah … with the
stone from David’s sling-shot still embedded therein?
The British Israel ‘Monthly Notes’
(August, 1994) ran the news item with great excitement, concluding – “Surely
this is another confirmation of the authenticity of the Bible!” ‘Fair Dinkum’
(Issue 35, p.15) ran a paragraph about this find – reprinted from ‘Prophetic
Alert’.
My Bible tells me that any skull
found in the Valley of Elah could not be Goliath’s – for David cut off the
giant’s head and took it to Jerusalem (I Samuel 17:54).
I notice – by way of interest –
that Ada Habershon in her ‘Hidden Pictures’ (p.145) writes that Goliath’s head
“was buried and a mound raised over it, and it is supposed that the name given
to this hill was gradually changed from Galgoliath to Golgotha, “the place of a
skull” – the skull of Israel’s great enemy in the time of David. And she goes on to point out how appropriate
it was at this very same place David’s Greater Son “crushed the head” of a far
greater enemy and wrought a far more important deliverance than David had done.
Which is a rather delightful
analogy …
*
* * * * * *
“Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 6)
Probably one of the most incredible
and persistent hoaxes perpetrated against Christians has to do with the “Sun standing still” in the days of Joshua.
All around the world – in the 1970’s
– Christian magazines and newspapers reported that computers had found proof of
the missing day.
Before me I have over 20 such
reports – from ‘The Christian Beacon’ (April 23, 1970); the Methodist ‘Spectator’ (July, 1975); ‘Floodtide’ (C.L.C. magazine) – reprinted
from Evangelical Press ‘News Service’;
‘Far Eastern Beacon’ Singapore (September, 1970); ‘Glad Tidings’ – the Christadelphian
magazine (p.191); ‘Christ for the
Nations’ (March, 1971); Newsletter from
St Mary the Virgin Church, Burghfield, U.K. – “Amazing Discovery by Space
Scientists … our God is rubbing their noses in His TRUTH! That’s right!” (May, 1970); ‘The Evangelist’ (Jimmy Swaggart’s magazine,
August, 1984). (Apparently he didn’t
have a word of knowledge …either!) - and so it goes.
Australian Christian Newspaper,
‘New Life’, ran an item in favour of this story (July 2, 1970) – later
retracted the factuality of the report (September 3, 1970), and ran the story
again (as it if were true!!) on October 5, 1989!!!
The story goes that Harold Hill –
whose testimony appeared in Oral Roberts’ magazine, ‘Abundant Life’ (May, 1964)
– ran a computer backwards from his day – and forwards from the date of
Creation (which should have made any intelligent Christian suspicious!) – and
found there was a missing day (Joshua 10:13).
Those who wrote to Harold Hill
requesting more information (as did my friend, Rev. Brian Stewart, Baptist
minister at Dubbo at that time) received a rather curt reply – a printed
brochure telling the correspondent to buy his book ‘How to Live Like a King’s
Kid’. The book was supposed to give all
the details.
The book is before me.
Harold Hill sticks to his story of
finding the missing day via computers – and how he has been invited to speak on
the subject “numerous” times “proving the Bible is true” (p.69).
But “I have misplaced details
regarding names and places, but will be glad to forward them to you when they
turn up…” (p.73).
The whole thing is a fraud.
It was an updated re-hash of
Professor Totten’s book, ‘Joshua’s Long Day’, first published in 1890. My copy – reprinted by the British
Israelites – is dated 1941. Likewise,
‘Destiny’, a British Israel magazine originating in America (11th
Issue, 1967), runs the same Professor Totten article.
Totten had worked it out –
astronomically … without a computer … that the Long Day took place 933,285 days
after Creation (‘Joshua’s Long Day’, p 18).
And in case you are interested – it
was a Tuesday!
Dr Harry Rimmer, a doughty old
fundamentalist of the Roarin’ 20’s, wrote ‘The Harmony of Science and
Scripture’. He, too, draws on Totten’s
calculations and informs us that it was Tuesday – July 22. Although he does not seem to know which
year!! (p.265).
Let me make it emphatically clear
that I am not doubting some miraculous event took place as recorded in Joshua
10. But I seriously question the
reliability of Harold Hill’s account … and that of others who claim to have
discovered the missing Day.
P.S. Here’s a question for armchair
theologians … Why is not this stupendous
miracle referred to again by later Scripture writers? Amos refers to an earthquake … and the
Exodus receives frequent mention. Why
is the “Sun standing still” overlooked as one of God’s outstanding miracles by
later writers??
“Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 7)
Hell has been discovered!
It sounds like an advertising blurb
for a Seventh Day Adventist Mission.
And when you attend you will be told that Hell is just Planet Earth that
will be destroyed by fire. I kid you
not.
But a few years ago some Christian
magazines featured the story of scientists in Siberia who “whilst drilling at
an unspecified site” reached a depth of nine miles … and heard the screams of
human voices. The microphone that was
let down into this pit apparently didn’t melt (!), despite the temperature
being 2000°F. “We could hear thousands,
perhaps millions, in the background of suffering souls screaming” (‘South East
Christian Witness’, October, 1990, p.6).
Other magazines to run the
ludicrous hoax were: ‘The Midnight Cry’
(July, 1990); ‘End Time News’
(September, 1990); ‘The Answer’ from
India, p.15 (December, 1993). By the
time this latter magazine had hold of the story a new element had been added –
“A fanged creature with huge evil eyes appeared in a gaseous cloud and shrieked
before it disappeared…” (p.15).
A journalist in ‘Christianity
Today’ (July 16, 1990) decided to investigate the origins of this weird story.
Firstly, he found that it did not
come from “a respected Finnish scientific journal” as so often reported – but
from “a letter from a reader”. “We
followed up on the letter and contacted its author, Age Rendelin, a school
teacher. I asked him if he had any way
of knowing whether any of it is true.
‘Yes, I do,’ Rendelin answered.
‘None of it is true. I
fabricated the letter, and the translation is fiction too’.” (p.29).
Why do people spread such
stories? I’m sure I don’t know.
And why do Christians swallow such
stories … and repeat them … especially when the Bible exhorts us to “Prove ALL
things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 8)
“Don’t use Camay soap”, the lady
said to me, “it’s made by a Satanist company!”
Which simply is not true. But Christians around the world were
inundated with accusations that Proctor
and Gamble were
linked with the Church of Satan.
“On March 1, 1990, the President of
Proctor and Gamble appeared on the Phil Donahue (T.V.) show. He announced that he was coming out of the
closet about his association with the Church of Satan.” And the handbill before me goes on to call
upon Christians to boycott Proctor and Gamble products.
“Inform other Christians,” says
another duplicated letter, “that if they buy any of these products they will be
contributing to the Church of Satan”.
Despite repeated denials the
vicious rumour continues to surface.
Phil Donahue has issued a statement
that the President of Proctor and Gamble has never been on his show
(Letter, August 2, 1991).
The Billy Graham Organization
writes: “Since 1981 a false rumour has
been circulating … concerning Proctor and Gamble’s connection with Satan
worship. Reliable evangelical leaders,
including Billy Graham, have investigated this rumour and are convinced it is
foundationless…” (Letter, April 23, 1990).
In recent days Proctor and Gamble
have sued some people for continuing to spread this constantly recurring lie.
“Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 9)
Aha! The Beast has arrived! It’s a Computer in Brussels. “This is where 666 will rear its ugly head
as the system that belongs to that dictator …” (‘Your Tomorrow’, June, 1990,
p.3).
This gigantic Computer – occupying
three floors “involves a digital numbering system for every human on
earth… This computer will assign each
citizen of the world a number to use for all buying and selling… The number would be invisibly tattooed on
the forehead or the back of the hand” (‘Moody Monthly’ … reprinted in ‘New
Life’, January 22, 1976).
And the Computer has actually been
called – “The Beast”!
Prophetic pundits were
jubilant. Revelation 13 was about to be
fulfilled before their eyes.
Sensational sermons were all the rage.
Dr F.A. Tatford, Brethren scholar
and Editor of their magazine, contacted the authorities – “the story is
completely untrue,” he writes. “We now
learn the origin was a fictionalised tabloid prepared by David Wilkerson. It was never intended to be taken as a serious
report...” (‘Prophetic Witness’, March, 1996).
Thomas N. Foster also wrote to the
Chief Analyst of the E.E.C. in Brussels, Belgium, and received a reply that the
story was fictitious (‘New Day’, p.24.
No date!!!)
Before me is a 48 page paperback,
‘The Three Great Conspiracies’ by Paul Peterson (1975).
Notice the classic way in which
conspiracy theories are spread:
“I phoned the Belgian Embassy and
talked to an official whose name I will not reveal…” (p.4).
“The E.E.C. was called. Those who answered the phone spoke in broken
English…” (p.5).
Ooooh!
“I went to the American Embassy … I
was told they do have a giant computer there…” (p.5). (It would be an odd kind of organisation if they didn’t have a computer there!)
“He admitted there is such a
computer which the people themselves call the ‘Beast’.” (p.5).
I guess there are a lot of computer
owners who have called their machine worst names than that…
In any case, the whole ‘Beast
Computer’ hoax seems to be a thing of the past. I haven’t heard a prophetic preacher mention it for 20 years!
* * * * * * *
A similar version of this hoax
appeared in ‘Facts for Today No. 3’ – under the heading “You and Your
Cash”; ‘Christian Herald (U.K.); ‘Prophetic Witness’ (U.K.); and ‘Sunday-School Times’ (U.S.A.) … to
mention just the ones of which I know.
“If you buy a pair of shoes in
Common Market countries there is a stamp on them … under the line is 666.” And Social Security cheques were mailed by
mistake in 1973 (they were not to be issued until 1984!!), and then they could
only be cashed by the recipient who had a mark in his right hand or on his
forehead! Oooooh!!
The story cropped up in a few ‘pop
prophecy’ magazines of the 1970’s – but by 1985 the ‘Herald of Hope’ (February,
1985), reported that their previous article on this subject was “not true”
(p.7).
* * * * * * *
“Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 10)
Charles Trombley is a healing evangelist.
His book, ‘Kicked out of the
Kingdom’ was published by Whitaker House in 1974. The Foreword is by Don Basham, well known in charismatic circles.
The book takes its title from the
days when Charles Trombley was a Jehovah’s Witness. Once he began to teach that Jesus heals today just the same as He
did in the days of His earthly pilgrimage – and that He always has done so – he
found himself “kicked out” of the Kingdom Halls.
The book continues with lots of
stories of miraculous healings … and on page 162 we are introduced to the story
of his son’s motor-bike accident. News
comes to the parents – “Dave’s had a wreck … they just took him to Sarasota
Memorial Hospital and called in a neuro-surgeon” (p.163).
Let me add that in books of this
kind it is a rare thing to have the name of the hospital actually given.
A rather gory description of Dave’s
injuries follow, and a Dr Wallace performs a 3½ hour operation.
By page 172 “Dave is still in a
coma”.
Page 174 – “for 10 days he had
cheated death …”
A few more days pass. Charles Trombley tells us that he has been
reading Kenyon’s ‘Jesus the Healer’, and “standing on God’s Word regardless of
the circumstances” (p.174).
Page 177 … and the desperate father
at his son’s bedside is saying – “You’re not going to die, Dave. Jesus has healed you.”
The following Sunday arrives and
“God had completely healed him” (p.180).
More than that, Dave is discharged from hospital, and instead of going
straight home … they go to church on the way (p.181).
End of book.
So I wrote to the Sarasota Memorial
Hospital, Florida, and enquired concerning this miraculous recovery.
The reply, dated May 1, 1975, is before
me, written by H.J. Floyd, Executive Director.
Dave, it seems, was re-admitted
another four times for further treatment!
Which is far-removed from the “God had completely healed him” claim made
by his father.
“If the boy today is not
handicapped because of his head injury, and he is able to live a normal life,
then I feel a great deal of credit must be given to medical science, and the
physician involved. However, I would
never deny the providential will and purpose of Almighty God…”
Well said! Even if it does contradict the statement on
page 180 of “Kicked out of the Kingdom”.
And even if it sheds some doubts on
the other miraculous claims made by the same author …
“Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 11)
Did you hear the one about Charles Darwin’s death-bed confession?
James Moore tells us in his book
that he has collected the story in “over one hundred” books and magazines –
“including eleven original sources” (‘The Darwin Legend’, p.25. Baker Book House, 218 pages).
The story goes that a certain Lady
Hope visited him shortly before his death – “during a glorious autumn
afternoon” and the propagator of the Evolutionary theory was reading the Book
of Hebrews. He confessed to Lady Hope
the error of his earlier teachings and requested his visitor to speak on the
morrow to “the servants and tenants and neighbours”. “What shall I speak about?” Lady Hope asked. “Christ Jesus and His salvation,” came
Darwin’s reply. “Is not that the best
theme?”
So the story goes.
It first surfaced in 1915,
thirty-three years after Darwin’s death.
James Moore investigated this story
for over 20 years (p.25). ‘The Darwin
Legend’ contains his findings that the story is a hoax.
Likewise, Wilbur Rusch and John
Klotz in their book, ‘Did Charles Darwin become a Christian?’ (published by
Creation Research Society, U.S.A., 1988, 38 pages).
This book was reviewed in ‘Ex
Nihlo’ – the Creation Science magazine (September, 1990, p.45), in which they
state: “If you have been circulating
pamphlets (claiming Darwin was converted later in life) you should do your
homework and investigate closely the claims entailed. Did Darwin become a Christian?
We don’t know – it’s between him and God. We just have to be careful to get our bit right.”
Certainly there is no evidence that
he ever made his peace with God, despite the hoax story that continues to
circulate.
“Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 12)
Mike Warnke is a funny fellow.
With his third wife, Rose, he issued some humorous Christian cassettes.
He tells us that before his
conversion he was a U.S. marine, wounded twice in Vietnam, a heart specialist
with the U.S. Navy, and a Satanist High Priest – with 1,500 followers!!
At least, so he claimed in his
best-selling paper-back, ‘The Satan Seller’ (1972). (3 million copies sold in 20 years). Over 1 million of his records and cassettes were sold. And June 29, 1988, was declared “Mike Warnke
Day” by the Governor of Tennessee!! He
appeared on the Oprah Winfrey and Larry King T.V. Shows. His love-offerings, in 1986 alone, brought
in over $1 million.
As Jon Trott writes – “a whole
generation of Christians learned about Satanism from Warnke’s books.”
And what they learned was often
wrong!
Warnke was a fraud.
‘Cornerstone’ magazine (June 27,
1993) ran an excellent piece of investigative journalism on this character –
checking army records, university year books, interviewing those who knew him …
including his first wife … and the result was a devastating exposure of
Warnke’s fraudulent claims (July, 1992).
Initially Warnke slammed his
critics – calling them ‘Satanists’ because they were “out to get him”. His counter-attack appeared in ‘Christianity
Today’ (November 9, 1992). But the
evidence against him continued to mount.
By May the following year he was forced to admit what he called his
“embellishment and exaggeration”.
He wasn’t going to admit that it
was plain old-fashioned lying.
But Word Inc. stopped selling his
products. The Internal Revenue Service
revoked his tax exempt status.
Attendances at his packed meetings dropped to a handful.
He still claimed to have had some
occult involvement … but admitted he had never been a Satanist High Priest with
1,500 followers. Just a slight exaggeration
there!
Yet thousands of young Christians
had read the largely fictitious ‘The Satan Seller’, and believed it as gospel
truth.
Let this be a warning – “Prove ALL
things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 13)
Remember John Todd? He caused
quite a stir in some Christian circles back in 1978-9.
The Chick Comic ‘Spellbound’ spread
the remarkable story that this ex-Grand-Druid Priest had been converted and was
now an evangelist. Before long he was
speaking at packed churches in the United States. He claimed that he had been a member of a secret society – the
Illuminati – that was planning a world takeover.
He had been a member of the
“Council of 13”, and that the Illuminati had once gotten him out of jail and
destroyed his military records.
President Jimmy Carter was the
Anti-Christ … he said … who takes his orders directly from the Illuminati!
He even claimed Demos Shakarian,
founder of the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship, was a high-ranking member
of this subversive secret society.
Other wild and unproven allegations were made.
‘Christianity Today’ reported,
“Incredible as it all seems, thousands of church members, including a number of
pastors, have apparently accepted all or most of Todd’s message as gospel truth…”
(February 2, 1979, p.38).
The whole fiasco was finally
exploded with an excellent piece of investigation – “The Todd Phenomenon” by D.
Hicks and D. Lewis (1979, 160 pages).
Todd had experienced an unhappy and unloved childhood and he was prone
to fantasies (p.96). Photocopies of his
military discharge papers are reproduced – twice he had been given psychiatric
examination, and the medical report states that he had a “severe personality
disturbance” (p.55).
His claims are continually shown by
these investigators to be contrary to fact.
I seem to recall reading – but
cannot find the article now – that when last heard of John Todd was running an
occult bookstore somewhere in America.
He blazed upon the scene – gullible
folk believed him … instead of “Proving ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 14)
Hey! … pssst … did you hear that Madalyn Murray O’Hair – she’s the atheist who had prayer
banned in American school-rooms – is not petitioning the Federal Communication
Commission (F.C.C.) in America to ban religious broadcasting?
The F.C.C. has received 30,000,000
(yes, thirty million!!) pieces of mail on the subject (‘Charisma’, April, 1998,
p.70). And, on top of this, “200 to 300
phone calls a month.”
And the whole thing is a hoax. And has been for 15 years (‘Charisma’, p.70; ‘Christianity Today’, July 16, 1990, p.29).
* * * * * * * *
Then there is the rumour concerning
the making of an R-rated movie – about the Lord Jesus.
The Attorney-General of Illinois –
where this travesty of truth is supposed to be filmed – has received “hundreds
of thousands of petitions” from Christians, protesting against such a film
(‘Christianity Today’, p.28).
Yet the author of the article has
checked the story thoroughly and finds no basis in fact.
Duplicated fliers circulate among
churches – are copied and re-copied – and thousands of Christians get all fired
up concerning something that was never planned in the first place.
* * * * * * *
“Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 15)
Betty Malz died and went to Heaven. But 28 minutes later her father prayed for her and back she
came. The story is told in ‘My Glimpse
of Eternity’ (Flemming Revel, 125 pages).
It sold over 1 million copies and
placed this 62 year-old Assembly of God lady into the limelight. Conferences, churches and Christian T.V.
shows clamoured to hear her story.
But Dr Henry Bopp, who performed
surgery on her, says this: “She did not
die. She may have dreamt she did, but
she did not die in the hospital.”
The anesthetist says: “I’ll flat out guarantee you this didn’t
happen.”
‘Christianity Today’ gives numerous
quotes from reliable medical personnel refuting the Betty Malz claim (July 22,
1991).
Just one of the sentences in her
book should have made readers cautious.
On page 88 she meets Jesus, Who
invites her into Heaven. “This time the
jewelled wall was on my left and the angel walked on my right. Then I saw the sun coming up over the wall…”
Hey! What about Revelation 22:5? There is “no need of the sun” up in
Heaven!!
* * * * * * *
A similar book is ‘Embraced by the
Light’ by Betty Eadie (Gold Leaf Press, 147 pages).
In 1973, she says, she spent 5
hours in Heaven.
Sales rocketed to over 1 million
copies. Bantam Books paid $1.5 million
for paperback rights. For 40 weeks this
volume was on the ‘New York Times’ best-seller list.
Even the Salvation Army ‘War Cry’
(Australia) recommended it (July 9, 1994).
But despite the Christian veneer
around this book, the author is a Mormon.
“Jesus seems to be relegated to the role of a happy tour guide”, says
one reviewer, “not the Saviour of the world Who died on the Cross.”
(‘Christianity Today’, March 7, 1994).
Subsequently the Mormons have since
“basically forsaken” her because she refused to declare her allegiance to
them. Such would have influenced sales
and T.V. appearances. So she “is now
touring and getting a great following in the New Age community” (‘On Being”,
September, 1995).
The book smacks of Universalism –
“Jesus is the door through which we will all return. Whether we learn of him here or while in the
spirit we must eventually accept him…” (p.85).
* * * * * * *
Don’t be gullible … “Prove ALL
things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 16)
The world of hymnology is not
without its apocryphal stories.
How many times have we heard – or
read – of George Matheson’s
fiancée
breaking off the engagement because she heard he was going blind? And he did.
So he sat down and wrote:
O Love, that wilt not let me go …
It’s a good story … but the problem
is that Dr George Matheson himself tells us that he wrote the hymn on June 6,
1882 – by which time he was 60 years of age.
It was “the day of his sister’s
marriage”, he writes, and it may be memories of a long-ago broken
friendship came flooding back. But
Matheson does not tell us. “Something
had happened to me which was known only to myself …” is all he is willing to
say concerning the writing of his great hymn.
* * * * * * *
Then there is the story of Augustus Toplady being caught in a storm and taking
shelter in a cleft in the rock …
Finding a playing card at his feet
he picked it up and wrote on it:
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee…
One book before me even includes a
photo of the cleft rock where Toplady sheltered (‘Romance of Sacred Song’ by D.
Beattie, p.66), and another relates that the card is “still preserved in
America” (‘Sing with Understanding’ by G. Balleine, p.116). If so – adds the author – “the card is a
fake palmed off on innocent transatlantic tourists by fraudulent curio-dealers”
(p.116).
And so for the hymn being written
in the ‘cleft rock’ in Barrington Combe, U.K. – the same author tells us that
taxi drivers make a fortune from taking tourists to this spot. But “the story was invented about 1850”
(about 80 years after the hymn was written).
A curious sidelight to “Rock of
Ages” is that Charles Wesley had written some 30 years previous, “Rock of
Israel, cleft for me …” According to A.
Bailey in ‘The Gospel in Hymns’, Toplady’s hymn “is Christian plagiarism of the
first order!” (p.120).
And this, despite the fact that he
accused the Wesleys of “Satanic shamelessness!” John Wesley was a “lurking, sly assassin” Toplady wrote (ibid,
p.118).
* * * * * * *
Oh, dear, there are some curious
stories in the history of Christendom!!
“Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 17)
‘Crying Wind’ was
published by Moody Press in 1977.
It told the story of an Indian lass raised among the Kickapoo tribe by
her grandmother.
Little ‘Crying Wind’ faced
prejudice as she grew up … eventually got converted … and was soon giving her
testimony in churches and conferences across America. Dressed, of course, in Indian garb.
Moody Press found they had a
best-seller, issued a sequel, ‘My Searching Heart’, and had a third volume by
this author reading to publish when the hoax was exposed.
‘Crying Wind’ was Linda Davison
Stafford. She had not grown up on a
reservation. For that matter, she was not
even an Indian!
The ‘testimony’ was a fraud.
Moody Press withdrew the books from
publication – and Harvest House published them in 1989 as “exciting true
stories!” (‘Fakes, Frauds and Other Malarkey’ by K. Lindskoog, p.103, Zondervan
Pub.).
* * * * * * *
A similar story involves Lauren Stratford’s book ‘Satan’s Underground’ (Harvest
House Pub., 1988).
The writer claims she was deeply
involved in occult activity – much of which is described in graphic
detail. But deliverance came in the
form of Joanna Michelson, who writes the Foreword to this volume. She is also Hal Lindsey’s sister-in-law.
Eventually, ‘Cornerstone’ reporters
did an in-depth investigation of Lauren Stratford’s claims. The result – the book was a hoax.
The evidence was so overwhelming
even Harvest House discontinued promoting and publishing her books.
But Hal Lindsey Ministries
continued to distribute them (‘Cornerstone’, Vol. 18, Issue 91).
* * * * * * *
“Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 18)
When Eoanthropus Dawsoni was revealed to the scientific
world in 1913, their joy knew no bounds.
The ‘missing link’ between man and ape had been discovered.
At least, so said Arthur Smith
Woodward, Head of the British Museum’s Geology Department.
The ‘Piltdown Man’ as it was
popularly called, was a jawbone and a few pieces of skull … and some tools, “an
elephant bone shaped like a cricket bat” – and the investigators hailed this
find as being 500,000 years old.
Piltdown was in Sussex, England,
and an amateur archaeologist named Charles Dawson had uncovered these
fragments.
Before long “Eoanthropus Dawsoni”
(which sounds more scientific than the ‘Piltdown Man’) was “in text books and
museums around the world” (‘The World’s Great Hoaxes’ by R. Saunders, p.186).
Mixed with plaster of paris and a
vivid imagination, scientists had constructed a full-size ape-man from the
pieces Dawson had discovered, and this idol of the evolutionary theory was
displayed in museums around the world.
In 1936 a monument was erected at Piltdown to honour Charles Dawson.
But in 1950 new scientific testing
equipment was available. Now it was
decided that the bones were only 50,000 years old.
Three years later the hoax
exploded. The teeth had actually been
filed “and were quire modern”. The
skull had been made to look old “using a dye of iron and cromate” (‘Forgers’ by
L. Salway, p.47).
The bones were actually less than
50 years old!!
That ‘proof’ of evolution which had
stood unchallenged as the ‘missing link’ in the British Museum for 40 years was
now removed.
“Eoanthropus Dawsoni” disappeared
from the school textbooks.
Who was responsible for this hoax
that fooled the scientific community for a generation?
Numerous suggestions have been
forthcoming: Arthur Conan Doyle, author
of the Sherlock Holmes stories, is sometimes accused. So, too, has been Sir Arthur Keith, famous British
scientist; or the Jesuit, Teillhard de
Chardin. Others have suggested that
Charles Dawson was responsible…
What we do know is that ‘Piltdown
Man’ was no more than a piece of skull-duggery that fooled the scientists – and
led thousands … maybe that should be millions … to abandon the biblical account
of Creation.
“Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 19)
Two more hymn stories that have
grown with the telling – but have no basis in fact - are before us.
Charles Wesley, we are sometimes told, sat at his
open window watching a hawk chase a dove.
Or it may have been a seagull in a storm … depending upon which book you
read!!
In any case, the story goes, the
little bird flew through the window and nestled inside Wesley’s jacket. So he wrote:
Jesus, Lover of my soul,
Let me to Thy bosom fly ….
It’s a cute story … but there is no
evidence of its historicity.
* * * * * * *
Likewise …
In the Cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o’er the wrecks of time …
Sometimes we are confronted with
the story that this was written when Sir John Bowring saw the cross atop a ruined church in Macao, 35 miles up
river from Hong Kong.
But history reveals that the hymn
appeared in print in 1825 – some 30 years before he ever visited Macao.
It was in 1854 he was appointed
Governor of Hong Kong … only to become “the most hated Governor Hong Kong ever
had.”
His high-handed policy and his
insolence in dealing with the Chinese brought on the Second Opium War.
A poison attempt was made on his
life – arsenic was put in his bread.
His wife died as a result, and his
health was impaired (‘Gospel in Hymns’ by A. Bailey, p.172).
But his hymn lives on … and
sometimes the apocryphal story of its origin is still told.
* * * * * * *
“Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 20)
Been to Heaven lately? If you do not do so soon you’ll become one
of the minority!!
Around me are a dozen accounts of
folk who claim to have been to Heaven (and some to Hell!) – and returned to
tell the story. Problem number one is
that most of them tell different stories!!
Take Roberts Liardon, for example, in ‘I saw Heaven’.
He is taken on a tour by Jesus …
watches a woman “walk into a store” and walk out “with a book” (p 8). “I can’t tell you what the name of the book
was, because I’m not allowed to” (p 9).
He saw street signs … “we turned
right up a dirt path …” (p.9). “You never
have to mow the grass in Heaven” (p.12).
Some of the saints “wore jewelry” (p.13). Some angels have wings “and some do not …” (p.13).
And after a “water fight” in the
River of Life – where “Jesus dunked me” - the author tells us he is taken to a
storage house full of spare body parts!!
“Legs hung on the wall … there were shelves filled with neat little
packages of eyes, green ones, brown ones, blue ones, etc.” (p.19). Jesus explained that these were ready for
people on earth (who have lost a leg or arm or eye …) to claim by faith! “Just ask God to do supernatural surgery”
(p.19).
Enough of this incredible story
telling. But Roberts Liardon is a
respected charismatic pastor and author.
( Well … he WAS a respected
charismatic pastor . Charisma magazine reported his homosexual relationship …
and being stood down from his church !)
( Dec. 2001) But in July 2003 he
returned to his pulpiut ministry.
* * * * * * *
Here’s a volume by H.A. Baker – ‘Visions Beyond the Veil’ – that tells us Heaven
is on the slope of a pyramid (pp.52-3).
(How come Roberts Liardon didn’t mention that?)
* * * * * * *
Elizabeth Bossert (‘My Visit to Heaven’, pp.16-17)
tells us that when she crossed the River – eight feet wide – the water was
warm. And Father Abraham looked “young
and beautiful” (p.20).
She didn’t get to see the store-house …
* * * * * * *
Dr Percy Collett – whose testimony was vouched for
by Jimmy Swaggart – tells us that Heaven is a giant cube – he got in “the Holy
Ghost Elevator” (p.3), and travelled up 700 miles from the ground floor to get
to his mansion.
“There is no earth or dirt, but
there is life …” he told Dr Mary Relfe.
That’s funny. Roberts Liardon saw dirt …
Anyway – “dogs do not bark” in
Heaven, and “you can go to the Banqueting House and eat all you want and no
plumbing is needed” (p.4).
All this is on a 12 cassette tape
set!
* * * * * * *
Doug Duble – in ‘The Morning Star’ – edited by Rick Joyner –
tells of his vision of Heaven, “where I saw the King Himself” (p.40).At the
back of the great hall “some dancing ladies appeared. Each had a tambourine in her hand and wore a full length dress …”
Then he saw snakes slithering
across the floor … and the dancers “crushing them beneath their feet.” And
dinosaurs in the Throne room !!!
Ooooh!
* * * * * * *
Dr Jerry Savelle, who often speaks at Kenneth
Copeland rallies, has his trip to Heaven message on video. And so does some fellow who was stung by a
poisonous jellyfish while swimming in South East Asia. I’ve seen it, but forget his name.
* * * * * * *
They may all differ in their
stories. But one thing they have in
common. They write a book about it for
gullible Christians to buy and they get invited to join the lecture circuit to
tell the tale to incredulous listeners.
“Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 21)
Hank Hanegraaff , President of
Christian Research Institute and author of some best-selling and controversial
books, has recently written “The
Millennium Bug Debugged”(Bethany House Publishers, Paper, 142 pages).
And a review of this work is worthy
of inclusion in our “Prove All Things” segment.
Certainly the fear of what would
happen to Planet Earth when the minutes tick over into the 21st
century became the key topic in many American books and talk-shows. And leading this paranoia are Christian “conspiracy theorists” with
their “fear mongering tactics”.
Spreading panic!!
But even reputable Bible teachers
such as R.C. Sproul have expressed their feelings concerning the Y2K bug and
its repercussions in mind-boggling sermons ... “we may possibly see the
meltdown of civilization with one billion fatalities – the end of the world as
we know it” (quoted by Hanegraaff, p.38).
Well-known preachers are advocating
the storing of food and water ... and even “some ammunition” … to cope with the
inevitable crisis. Hanegraaff quotes
extensively from Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, James Kennedy and others, who are
warning their congregations to prepare for global catastrophe.
Investigative journalism
These good men of God have all
referred to the case of a 104 year-old woman in Minnesota who received a letter
from the government telling her it was time to enroll for kindergarten (pp.25,
30, 32, 37). And this is when our author decided it was time to “prove all
things...”
The story was originally found in
Michael Hyatt’s book, ‘The Millennium Bug’.
Chuck Missler repeated it on the John Ankenberg Show. But Hyatt said the lady was from Kansas ...
not Minnesota as Dr James Kennedy told it later. And Grant Jeffrey’s version was that the letter came from the
school board, not the government. And
that the lady lived in Michigan.
Tracking down the centenarian was
relatively easy ...there are not that many around! ... and Hank Hanegraaff
tells how he found the lady in question ... in Minnesota. He spoke to Betty Mullen, parish secretary
of the R.C. school that had inadvertently forwarded the letter to Mary Bandar
... and discovered that it “was due to human error” ... nothing to do with the
Y2K bug! (pp.50-51). Yet the story
persists in being told as an indication of the confusion that will exist when
we reach the appointed hour of midnight 2000.
Then there is the oft-told story
how prison doors will swing open and convicts will escape as a result of this
forthcoming computer glitch. Grant
Jeffrey even tells how “dozens of criminals” have already escaped in Canada due to such problems, and Michael Hyatt
assures his readers that prisoners were suddenly freed from their cells in
Pennsylvania for the same reason (p.53).
Again Hanegraaff indulges in some excellent investigative journalism,
contacting numerous prison authorities to verify the story. There was no
verification. “And,” he adds, “when I
contacted some of the Christian leaders circulating this story I discovered
that they couldn’t tell me the names or numbers of prisoners allegedly
released, where the prisons are located, and when the prison releases allegedly
occurred” (p.54).
There’s more.
Our author investigates thoroughly Chuck
Missler’s claim that bank vaults will swing open, due to malfunctioning computer chips (p.57), and
Michael Hyatt’s story of the
destruction of “tons of corned beef”, because the computer print-out
said the product was 100 years old! (p.52).
“Neither is to be believed”, our author says.
I read this book at one sitting.
Actually it finishes at page 99; what
follows are 42 pages of references,
indexes, bibliography, web sites ...
etc!
This is a sensible, rather than
sensational, look at the Y2K issue.
“Prove ALL things!” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
=========================================================================
PROVE ALL THINGS (No. 22)
There recently came my way the
bulletin from a local church.
The first page contained an article
concerning the value of witnessing. The
substance of the article was that Edward Kimball, “a shoe clerk and a
Sunday-School teacher in Chicago”, led D.L. Moody to Christ in 1858. Moody became a famous preacher.
In 1879 Moody “won to the Lord F.B.
Meyer, who also became a preacher”.
The article continues that: “Meyer won a young man by the name of J.W.
Chapman to Christ”. He became a
preacher, and “brought the message of Christ to a baseball player named Billy
Sunday”. Billy Sunday’s revival meetings
in North Carolina “were so successful that another evangelist, by the name of
Mordecai Hamm, was invited to also hold meetings”, and it was while Hamm was
preaching that Billy Graham was converted.
“It all began with the winning of a
child to Jesus.”
However,
the facts of the matter are:
Moody was hardly a child at the
time – he was 17 years of age. And he was the shoe clerk, not Edward
Kimball! Nor did Moody win F.B. Meyer
to the Lord – he was already a converted Baptist minister when Moody first met
him in 1884!
Evangelist Wilbur Chapman was
led to Christ by a visiting
Sunday-School speaker, not F.B. Meyer.
Billy Sunday was not converted
under the ministry of Wilbur Chapman, but at the Pacific Garden City Mission in
1886.
And Mordecai Ham (not Hamm!) was
invited to North Carolina some ten years after Billy Sunday had preached in the
same place!
But it is true that during that crusade Billy
Graham gave his life to Jesus!!
“Prove ALL things” (I Thessalonians 5:21)
=========================================================================