UNTO THE UTTERMOST PART OF THE EARTH Part 3 - by Elder Bob Dickerson - Editor, The Gospel Appeal, April 1997 What a comparison between the manner in which the Apostles and other preachers in the Bible went forth with the gospel, and those of the modern mission movement which has been lately introduced among our people. The preachers of the Bible went forth by faith; those today have gone only when sufficient funds were raised that they were given a prepaid round-trip ticket. The preachers of the Bible went to serve and to stay as long as that service was required to establish the new little flock(s) in the faith. Those associated with this movement have visited the Philippines for a week, ten days or two weeks at a time. The preachers of the Bible lived among the people where they were sent to preach, ate their food and shared their hospitality, whether small or great (Mt. 10:11). These modern preachers have stayed in hotels during their brief visits to the Philippines and have taken their own food with them. The preachers in the Bible contended for the truth and "knew nothing" among those they served "save Jesus Christ and him crucified" (I Cor 2:2). The modern elders have been dissatisfied with God's word and have sought to add methods of teaching not founded in the word of God. In Under the Shadow of the Almighty we are told (proudly) of the Bible Conference organized by Elder Harris in the Philippines (see pages 77-81); and on pages 73-76 of this same book we find the lesson schedule for the preacher-training school; a list of the ministers who attended; those who taught the classes and the subject of the classes. Of course, it is not called a preacher training school, but a "Minister's Conference". ("A rose by any other name ...".) How about it, Old Baptists? Has God Changed? Has His word changed? What is the difference in a seminary and a "Minister's Conference", other than the time period involved? Well, isn't it all right to do it for just a few days? Since when is wrong made right because it comes in small quantities? And since when do God's called ministers need to go to some man's school (Gal 1:17, 18)? When I was ordained (and a thousand other Primitive Baptist preachers can recount this same experience), I was handed the Bible and was told that it was to be "the man of my counsel". We have always believed that God calls and qualifies His servants. Sure, they are to study (II Tim 2:15), but not in man's school. Man made and/or taught preachers will preach man's doctrine. The Preachers of the Bible went forth preaching the truth and telling the truth - their failings and disappointments are listed as quickly in the Bible as their triumphs and joys. Yet, for several years we only heard glowing reports of what great numbers and been baptized and ordained in the Philippines, and we were never told of the more than 100 members who had left the churches there after being baptized, or of the moral problems that existed among the membership and among the ministry. Nor that of the 7 so hastily ordained on the initial trip, that only 3 remained. Eureka Church, in their letter to the Primitive Baptists, admit that they were silent about these problems, but state "our motives were simply to protect the peace and harmony of the churches in America". Brethren, how does the truth harm "the peace and harmony of the churches"? No, the truth won't harm the church, but instead will make it free (Jn 8:32). The preachers of the Bible did not glory in numbers, but gloried in that the gospel was preached and that God was praised (I Cor. 1:17; 9:17, 18). What a contrast with those of this modern movement whose glory seems to be found in the number of converts they have obtained. The hurry to baptize and ordain people they knew absolutely nothing about on their initial trip is proof in itself of this statement. But a quick look at the books they have published will reveal even more. In Under the Filipino Sun we have a listing of the 206 members who had been baptized in the Philippines as of that time. The writer (Elder Harris) did not have the names of the last 29 of these members, but carefully listed the numbers (178, 179, 180, on up to 206). Every trip brought forth a new book and new videos for sale, all stressing the numbers involved. And if you doubt this was an ego trip for the preachers involved, then please take a look at Under the Shadow of the Almighty. In this book are more than 85 pictures of the preachers (one or more of them all) who made this particular journey, and 12 pictures of banners or signs welcoming them to the Philippines with their names written on them in large letters. You might compare this with the Lord Jesus who "made himself of no reputation" (Phil 2:7) and the Apostle Paul who said he was "less than the least of all saints" (Eph 3:8). (And somehow I have a lot of trouble picturing the Apostle Paul selling books and videos of each of his preaching trips!). The preachers of the Bible sought carefully to teach the truth as it was given them by the Holy Spirit. The modern movement has come up with all manner of false teachings intended to further their work. Take a look at the literature used in the preacher-training schools in the Philippines. Under the heading of "The Church: Finances" we find this: "1. The principle of tithing was given before the law and is the guide for the New Testament Church" and "3. The greatest financial need of the church is the financial support of her pastor" (read "salary"). Consider with this small example all that has been allowed to take place in the church services there, including the dedication of infants and the use of Ace courses as teaching tools, and you may well wonder how "primitive" these so-called Primitive Baptist Churches are. We could go on and on with more examples - ad infinitum and ad nauseam - but this should be sufficient to make our point. God's pattern was ignored and man's methods were substituted, and it is no wonder that immoral men were hurriedly ordained and great confusion has resulted. I would now like to examine some of the claims made by the leaders of this movement. In Under the Shadow of the Almighty (page 9) we are told that they have a scriptural precedent for their quick journeys and brief stays - that it is in the establishment of the church at Thessalonica (Acts 17:2), and this "was a close parallel" to their experience, since Paul only stayed "approximately two weeks". If you read this claim you would think Paul was able to go into Thessalonica, establish a church, baptize hundreds, ordain ministers and accomplish all of this in two weeks time. But if you take the time to read the Scripture you will find that because of great persecution "the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea" (Acts 17:10). Now, if Paul's entire time at Thessalonica was only a total of two weeks, then please explain how the Filipino brethren could have had time to send "once and again" "even in Thessalonica" to help his needs in his ministry (Phil 4:l6). Considering the slow means of communication in that day, it is obvious that to have done so more than once ("and again"), he must have been there for a long period of time. Another claim the authors of this movement have made is that it is scriptural because it was operated by an individual church. (Have you ever seen individual churches do things that weren't scriptural?). They have claimed that since there was no mission board, then everything was all right. But in essence there was a mission board. The deacons of Eureka Church constituted that board as all funds were sent to them and were disbursed by them (except those which Elder Harter collected with which to build buildings.) Since none of the deacons of Eureka Church have ever made a trip to the Philippines, they actually had no idea what was going on over there, except by taking the word of their pastor. Thus Elder Harris was in the position of determining all things concerning this work - who would be paid and who would be cut off; who would be retained in membership and who would be excluded! A dictatorship is just as foreign to the Scriptures as a mission board. One strange consequence of all this is that there were at one time l6l people in the Philippines who were listed as members of Eureka Church in Chula, Ga. The Pulaski Association minutes, 1994, lists 96 members for Eureka Church, and then on the next line lists another l6l members in the Philippines. (NOTE: Eureka church has recently withdrawn from the Pulaski Association.) None of these l6l members had ever attended (still haven't) a single service at Eureka Church; or have ever been seen by any member of Eureka except the pastor. Some of these members were excluded from time to time. How does the church judge a situation 12,000 miles away from them with members they have never seen or known? How can you rise in conference and vote to exclude a member you have never seen and know nothing about him or the charges against him except by hearsay? Incidentally, Elders Ricardo Tabanyag, Sr., Ricardo Tabanyag, Jr., who were ordained on the initial trip to the Philippines in January l994, and who are pastors of the "Primitive Baptist" Church in Davao City, have now declared themselves to be "the Philippine Mission of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church". How can they be Primitive Baptists and Missionary Baptists at the same time? It seems there is some valuable church property in the name of "The Philippine Mission of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church" which was purchased by contributions from the Missionary Baptists of America and Japan, and by adopting this name the Tabanyags are trying to claim this property for themselves. I don't know what they call this in the Philippines, but in America we call it stealing. The true owners of this property are planning to file suit against these "Primitive Baptist" preachers concerning this. Next month we hope to look further at the true pattern of the spread of the church from the Bible and from History. (Incidentally, in June 1996, Elder Harvey Fulmer of Atlanta, Ga., spent one month in the Philippines preaching among the churches. He ate with the people there and sought to identify with them in their lives and needs. He did not even take a video camera with him, and has not published any books boasting of his journey. This is a breath of fresh air compared with the trips that preceded his journey; certainly a small step in the right direction.) (Continued in Part Four) ..................Elder Bob Dickerson, April 1997 |