The Ohio Bible Fellowship Visitor

During recess in elementary school a favorite activity of ours was a good, vigorous game of soccer. What made it vigorous, of course, was the lack of referees! This also made for an interesting and regularly occurring phenomenon: players that would, during the course of the game, defect to the other side! This definitely made the game more interesting, as one team would soon outnumber the other.The defection of loved ones, friends, and church members to Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Lutheranism has seemed to increase in recent years. The most recent, high-profile defection from evangelical ranks to Catholicism is Francis Beckwith, former president of the Evangelical Theological Society, a professional society of Bible scholars, teachers, and pastors. Additionally, much of evangelicalism has come to view adherents of these religious “traditions” as brothers and sisters in Christ.

What motivates professing believers to leave for these religious groups? Why is this a growing trend? Should those who now identify with Catholic, Orthodox, or possibly even Lutheran churches still be viewed as Christians? Is there anything fundamental churches can do about it?

Continue reading ‘Forsaking the Faith’

Since the beginning of Christianity, believers have been warned of enemies from both outside and inside the church (Acts 20:29–30). Fundamental churches have long been aware of attacks in the form of apostate teaching and the social gospel. As well, fundamentalism has responded to brethren who have refused to separate from unbelieving and disobedient believers and ministries.

In recent years, new dangers to Christ’s Bride have arisen, oftentimes noticed but sometimes even promoted by men and ministries who should know better. Amazingly some of these threats originate from the most unlikely of sources—the Christian home!

Continue reading ‘Dangers from the Home?’

Most fundamentalists have promoted and defended “the Book, the Blood, and the Blessed Hope.” Why is this? If someone does not hold to a certain end-time system does that disqualify him from being a genuine fundamentalist? Does one’s belief about the end times really matter?

Continue reading ‘Fundamentalism and the Pre-Tribulational Rapture of the Church’

For over a century Christians have wrangled over the issue of ecclesiastical separation, debating whether it is biblical, helpful, or even needed. We frequently hear “Why can’t we just get along? After all, we’re all really on the same team, right?” Questions like these have a ring of spirituality and can influence pastors, Christians, churches, and Christian organizations. Is ecclesiastical separation biblical? If so, why do so many reject it?

Continue reading ‘Ecclesiastical Separation’

During the business sessions of the Ohio Bible Fellowship’s quarterly meetings resolutions are read, considered, and acted upon by the Fellowship’s members and delegates. These resolutions are published in the Visitor, and depending on the particular subject matter, sometimes they are also read and addressed during church services. You may have wondered what exactly is a resolution, why the OBF considers and adopts them, or how they are composed and considered.
A resolution is simply a formal motion in written form. Through these formal, written motions, the OBF sets forth and conveys its opinion and position regarding important and significant issues. Resolutions are also written to influence others with regard to the particular subject being addressed. The basis by which the particular subject of a resolution is evaluated is the OBF’s constitution and commitment to militant, separatist fundamentalism.

Continue reading ‘The Ohio Bible Fellowship and Resolutions’

This past summer my wife and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. Each anniversary is a special occasion for us to celebrate another year together as a married couple. When a couple reaches their golden or 50th wedding anniversary, that’s something really special.
This month another anniversary will be celebrated, but of a different sort—for 50 years the magazine Christianity Today has been published. During this time it has served as the “voice” of new evangelicalism, opening a window into its soul. Anniversaries are supposed to be special times of celebration, but this one really provides nothing for Christ’s church to be happy about.

Continue reading ‘Happy Anniversary?’

Many people, myself included, went through school not having a great interest in history. Names, dates, events, and places of long ago were drudgingly memorized for tests and then soon forgotten. Yet during the last dozen years I have gained a greater love for history, specifically the history of fundamentalism. John E. Ashbrook, the editor of this paper for decades said, “When people understand where they came from it will help them see where they need to go.”

Continue reading ‘The Separatist Heritage of the Ohio Bible Fellowship’

Have you ever heard someone complain about “those fundamentalists” who were too strident, militant,and radical, when it came to fighting for the fundamentals of the faith? I have. Early in my ministry preparation it made me wonder, “What was it that made men fight the way they did?”

As I studied the movement called fundamentalism, I learned that the zeal of these individuals, churches, and Christian organizations was due to their belief in and commitment to the truth of the Word of God. They were willing to sacrifice all they had, often losing friends, pulpits, and pensions, because of their strident belief in the Bible.

But what caused the fracas that demanded so much of Bible-believing Christians? In a word, apostasy. We must know and understand what apostasy is, where it comes from, and how to successfully defend against it in order to faithfully serve the Lord today.

Continue reading ‘Apostasy’

Fundamentalism is distinguished from other “Christian” movements by three essential characteristics: the belief in certain core doctrines as essential to genuine Christianity, a militant spirit in spreading and defending those truths, and the doctrine and practice of ecclesiastical separation. These characteristics are essential for obedient Christian individuals and groups to honor God. When these characteristics are adjusted, tampered with, or removed, fundamentalism is abandoned and God is not honored through obedience.

Continue reading ‘The OARBC’s New Recipe’

On November 14, 2004, there was an “historic” occasion when four professed evangelicals, the Pastor General of the Worldwide Church of God, a Mormon author and BYU professor, and a contemporary Christian music singer spoke, preached, and sang with thousands of Mormons and evangelicals in the Mormon Tabernacle at Salt Lake City, Utah. This occasion was called “An Evening of Friendship.”The event was organized by a group of churches called Striving Together, represented by its director, Greg Johnson. Ravi Zacharias, a popular evangelical Christian apologist, preached for an hour. Before he spoke, however, President Richard Mouw of Fuller Theological Seminary provided the opening remarks, beginning with a forthright “apology” and admission of evangelicals’ “sinning” against Mormons through the last century and a half. He described the recent opportunities evangelicals and Mormons have engaged in: “important matters of public morality;” “dialogues” that are “frank but friendly exchanges about important faith topics;” and now their meeting together this night, evangelicals “experiencing the gracious hospitality of the LDS leadership, who have welcomed us all into this meeting place.”

Many evangelicals have responded to this “Evening of Friendship” by comparing it to Paul’s preaching of the gospel to the Athenians at the Areopagus in Acts 17. Such a comparison seems to give a biblical basis for evangelicals participating in this both ecumenical and inter-faith “event.” But is this a true comparison? Were Mouw and Zacharias really preaching the gospel in the same way Paul did? Are Mormons Christians after all? Can Christians work together with Mormons?

Continue reading ‘Trouble at the Tabernacle’