1

THEFAIRHAVENFUNDAMENTALISTPublished by

FAIRHAVEN BAPTIST CHURCH2012, Volume 2

86 East Oak Hill Road Chesterton, Indiana 46304 (219) 926-6636fundamentalist@fairhavenbaptist.org

Spring has arrived with our Preaching Conference, graduation, and weddings. The first major event of our spring is the Preaching Conference. We had 171 graduates gather for our annual alumni luncheon. How encouraging it was to hear of God’s blessing upon their families and ministries! Pastors also came here from California to Maine, and how hungry some of them were to fellowship and be encouraged with like-minded men. Of course, laymen were also in attendance from as far away as Alaska, Zambia, and Switzerland. The music was uplifting again this year; however, the main event, the preaching, was so powerful that it overshadowed all else.

Pastor Jonn Morrow started New Hope Baptist Church in the small community of Kennan, Wisconsin. He and his wife Angela have thoroughly touched their community through outreach ministries--including a Christian school. Already four of their young people have come to our Bible college.

Inclement weather forced our Alumni picnic inside, but we all still enjoyed grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken, besides a lot of laughter and good fellowship.

—Dr. Roger Voegtlin

It is always exciting to see our seniors walk across the platform to receive their diplomas and go out to serve the Lord. They are not only the fruit of our labors but the future of old-fashioned Baptists. Especially gratifying is seeing young people who were born here

and went through 13 or 17 years of our schools reach this milestone in their lives. Most of these have gone through battles in their lives when it looked like the devil might win. We had to fight with some to stay right,

but now they are on the path to victory. Our friend, Dr. Wayne Williams, preached a wonderful challenge to the graduates.

Then came the weddings. What could be more heartening than to see two young adults, having gone through the conflicts and temptations of youth, come together in holy matrimony determined to live for God and serve Him the rest of their lives. We are privileged to have dozens of young couples such as these raising their children for God here at Fairhaven along with a similar number all over the world.

2

What about bullying?by Pastor Steve Damron

You have probably noticed that this catch phrase sur-faced and remained in the news during the past year. As a church, we took notice even more after the defamatory CNN “exposé” of our church. Immediately following our story, we noticed a story about someone who was being “bullied.” Around the same time, Anderson Cooper’s mother appeared on his show to talk about the “bullying” that is occurring across America. What were these people talking about? Did they never attend a normal school or argue with siblings or participate in any sport events or activities? What they call “bullying” is a part of growing up.

An article in the Sunday May 13th edition of the Chicago Tribune, however, helped me understand what those who promote this anti-bullying policy are trying to accomplish. “People just have a better understanding and apprecia-tion about how much impact they can have,” said Church Wolfe, president of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which works to elect openly gay and lesbian officials. Its budget has increased nearly sixfold in the past decade. “They’re electing state legislators who can deal with marriage issues. They’re electing school board members who can talk about bullying.”

The campaign against “bullying” is a sodomite agenda, and they want to demonize anyone who is “coercing” children to think as a Christian. We as biblical Christians must be aware of the attacks against our children and families. We must not sit silently in our communities and churches and let wickedness rule. There has been a weakening across America in our churches and our youth over the past two decades. A few parents and pastors who knew of our work and service for the Lord questioned our validity and stand against CNN. Some thought we were extreme in our disci-pline and maybe a little “overboard,” thinking to themselves that CNN must have had some truth in their findings. Shame on pastors and parents who would side with a sodomite agenda against the church of God!

In the 40-year history of our Academy, we have never had a child or teen commit suicide. In the 40-year history of our Academy, we have never had to “shake down” a student with drug or alcohol paraphernalia. In the 40-year history of our Academy, we have never had a student come in and go on a shooting spree. I can go on and on about the things that are not present in our school, and it is because we have stayed on the old paths and the “strait” and “narrow” way. It may seem archaic, but we don’t have a daycare for our teen moms, metal detectors for the entryways, or drug-sniffing dogs to make sure our campus is clean.

Christians in America had better wake up and see who and what are trying to infiltrate our churches and families. We are treading on dangerous ground when we align ourselves with the sodomites and use their terms and ideology to attack fellow Christians and churches. Have you let the world influence your philosophy? How do you compare to the old-time fundamentalists? Are you “free thinking” or “emerging” in your philosophy? Our prayer for Fairhaven Baptist Church, Academy, and College is that we will stay on the “strait and narrow” path. We will not be “bullied” into letting down our standards. As Paul said in

I Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

graduates around the WorldMatt Crow had to fly in from Texas

to attend this May’s graduation ceremony. He had completed his courses in Decem-ber and gone directly to Beeville, Texas, to assist Pastor Tim Stowe at the Beeville Baptist Church. Matt spent last summer in an internship there and then returned to work with Pastor Stowe full-time on his staff.

Matt was saved at the age of seven as a result of riding the bus to church when he lived in Tennessee. His mom raised him, and he attended public school his entire life. Football was his love, and he had a real desire to play lineman in college after he finished high school.

Near the end of his high school years, he and his mom moved from Tennessee to Angola, Indiana, where they were introduced to Faith Baptist Church and Pastor J. Arnold Fair. Pastor Fair took Matt under his wing and encouraged him to go to Bible college for a year or two. He followed his pastor’s advice. After his second year of college, Matt transferred to Fairhaven, where he completed his Pastoral Theology degree.

Several things stand out to Matt from his years at Fairhaven. Developing the commitment to daily Bible reading changed his spiritual life. Seeing things done first class impressed him. He experienced rigorous academics, learning that if he did not do the work assigned, he would fail his courses. Matt learned even more from the people of Fairhaven. He loved Saturdays—visiting alongside his bus captain, getting into people’s homes, and seeing God change lives. He observed the members of Fairhaven as they gave sacrificially to God’s work. He enjoyed spending time in the houses of the members of Fairhaven Baptist Church, getting to see Christian homes firsthand.

Matt is busy in Beeville. Not only are they building a new church building, but also he is responsible for the youth group. He is looking forward to seeing God build both the new building and the lives for which he is now responsible.

Two of our students, Chem Sylvester, Grenada, and Roshad Johnson, Youngstown, Ohio, helping Eli Schrock with the renovation of the men’s dorm exterior.

3

HighlightsMorning & Evening Services

Special Split SessionsFun-Filled Activities

Boys’ WarGirls’ 5-on-5 Volleyball

Speech & Music Competition

Steve DamronYouth Pastor

Search Search Me,

O God20122012

November 12-15,2012November 12-15,2012

C. M. MosleyHaltom City, Texas

Eric RamosChesterton, Indiana

Courtney LewisChicago, Illinois

4

PRAYER – JEREMIAH STYlEDr. Roger Voegtlin

Please turn in your Bible to Mat-thew, chapter 7. Once you get that, then turn to our text in Jeremiah 33. I’m going to preach an old-fashioned sermon on prayer. Someone said, “He that stands best kneels most.” There’s a lot of truth in that. God does answer prayer. Prayer does move mountains, and in Matthew 7, starting in verse 7, Jesus says in this

well-known passage, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”

Notice the phrase, “…how much more…” In verses 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, it says, “Ask.” This is something I’d like to challenge you with right now. How much do you ask? Now Jeremiah 33, starting in verse 3, says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” I hope you believe what you just read.

The Babylonians were coming. The Babylonians were coming, and when they arrive, King Zedekiah is going to be carried away into captivity. You understand that our nation doesn’t like preaching on sin either, and if I were walking up and down the streets of Porter and saying that the Porter town board is going to be put into jail, I think they would try to put me in there also. That is just the reaction. The people of Israel were mad, and that is why Jeremiah was in jail. Now remember he was not the only man of God who was ever put in jail. Remember Joseph? Times don’t change much and sin doesn’t change too much. Thousands of years ago Joseph was working for a man, and the man’s wife made a play for Joseph. Joseph refused her, she got mad and said that he tried to attack or rape her. What happened to Joseph? He was put in prison. Things don’t change.

John the Baptist—why was he put in prison? Because he preached against the king who was living in adultery. That is what happens. Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, the king put him in prison and cut off his head. Peter went to jail because he spread the gospel. Paul and Silas were “jailbirds” among others.

One of my heroes was Lester Roloff. He preached in this pulpit many times before he died. He was put in prison because they told him he needed a license, and he wouldn’t take a license. And, by the way, I wouldn’t take a license either. There is to be nothing between God and us; and once the government gets in there, believe me, you’re in trouble. Lester Roloff had the finest boys and girls homes through his church in the state of Texas, and they said, “Take a license.” He said, “I got mine from God.” They said, “Take a license.” He said, “Render to Cæsar the things that are

Cæsar‘s and to God the things that are God’s.” And so Lester Roloff became a jailbird. Now today, so many would bend. “We’ve got to stay open.” No, determine that you’re not going to bend. I’m not going to bend. God doesn’t have to have me.

People say, “We have to change because my church needs me. Let’s not go crazy.” So many standards are changing. I was in a church recently—an independent fun-damental Baptist church with a graduate of an independent fundamental Baptist college—and he preached just like these neo-evangelicals. He had on a sports coat, open collar, and not sandals, but flip-flops. No church on Sunday night, no invitation. You say, “What are you getting at?” Times are changing people. Independent Baptists aren’t what they ought to be and what they used to be. Because of that, they want us to change also, and we’re not going to change.

Jeremiah was in jail for the Lord because he stood. The more I get into God’s Word and the longer I’m in the ministry, I believe the greatest sufferers are also the greatest produc-ers. You might think that those who go from conference to conference and shout, “Glory,” are the greatest producers. We just finished a conference for teenagers, and we have a preaching conference every spring. I really believe in having preaching meetings when you get together with those of like beliefs. But I find that those who work with God, who get the blessings from God, are also the ones who suffer. So if you are wanting something from God, get ready to suffer for Him and go through the baptism of fire. That is why we try to charge our students to be really strong for God, and, again, we get criticism for that also. We’re not just trying to train numbers, we’re trying to train soldiers. We’re trying to make soldiers for God because this world is not getting any softer—it’s getting really hard.

Fanny Crosby suffered. She served God totally blind for seventy years. But out of that darkness came a hymn-book of light. Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine. I like our hymnbook because it has the names and dates of authors. She wrote Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior, Draw me Nearer, Tell me the Story of Jesus. Sufferers are the greatest pro-ducers. They lean on Him. They go to Him. Our problem is that we have had it too easy. We were born into a Chris-tian nation, a nation that had freedom of religion. That is changing now, and we start feeling sorry for ourselves. But I’ll tell you something, you young guys who are going to be preachers, or anybody else, when it stops costing, it’s dead. Let it sink in. When it stops costing, it’s dead.

What people think of suffering today is nothing. Typical Christians today, if their car broke down and they were a mile or more from church, would stay home, and they would think they were justified. Yet in the good old days, people would literally walk ten miles one way to church—and love it. Through good weather and bad weather. Are you hearing me? If we didn’t have heat on this winter and it was cold, I guarantee that a bunch of you would stay home because it’s cold. And yet you read stories of Christians in Russia

5

who were left naked out in the cold to freeze to death, and they sang songs of praise to Jesus. We’d better get some strength. Our church has always been the healthiest when we’ve been attacked. When a powerful man in northwest Indiana said, “I’m going to bleed that church to death,” we became stronger and he’s been dead for decades. He didn’t bleed us to death.

As a young man, I would visit someone in the hospital. Can you imagine being a brand-new pastor and going to visit somebody that the doctor says has no hope? I can remember as a young man thinking, “Wow, what am I going to say to comfort these people?” But, you know, if they were good Christians, what I found was that they were always a comfort to me. They knew their situation, they would be prayed up, and I would always leave with a blessing. Hard times make good Christians.

See John Bunyan rotting in that old sleazy Bedford jail, but out of it comes Pilgrim’s Progress. Sufferers are producers. See great men—not only Baptists, but Luther. The Catholics tried to kill him. People who were used to build great ministries for God were sufferers, believe me, and that is what makes great people. Sufferers are the people who see the blessings of God, who feel the nearness of God.

So we see Jeremiah suffering in Zedekiah’s prison, and out of it comes one of the greatest verses in all the Bible. I’m sure many of you, when you were having real problems, put your finger on Jeremiah 33:3 as a promise from God. “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” This verse was penned in affliction. It is one of those passages clothed in blood. Don’t be afraid of problems if you’re right with God. Don’t be afraid of sacrifice if you’re right with God. Now I know some of you wonder, “What is he saying?” Don’t be afraid of suffering. Don’t bend. Don’t question God. He promises this. We’ve just had it too easy. You’ll never know prayer the way you should until all your worldly options are gone.

You trust God, and that’s how you see miracles. If you’re always trying to get yourself out of trouble in the wrong way, you’re never going to see miracles. “Call unto me,…” but you will never call like you should until you give in to God and you stop fighting some of the hard times.

Marriages are not what they ought to be because people compromise. Finances are not what they ought to be because people compromise instead of depending on God. The same thing could be said for children and churches and bus ministries and Sunday school classes. We never give in to God and let Him mold us His way. We’ve always got our way. We have the Pentecostal idea that if it hurts, it can’t be from God. We never allow ourselves to get into a fix in order for God to perform miracles.

Let me use just a simple illustration. Let’s say you’re having a hard time financially, and God really lays upon your heart to give $500 to Him. You say, “I can’t. I can’t make ends meet as it is. You know, I just can’t do it.” Why don’t we just get on praying ground with God? Why don’t we just believe him? I’m not asking anyone to give $500, but why not let Him send it from Heaven? Why not let Him perform a miracle? Why not trust Him with your wife and your children instead of playing games? You play games so long, and

you’re going to lose them. You’re going to lose everything you’re trying to keep together. Why not allow Him to build a great ministry? George Müller prayed in millions of dollars for his orphans without asking one person. He said that, more than for the kids, he wanted to see God bring in the money to stop the mouths of the scoffers. Why don’t you try God? I believe God needs this today. We don’t need seminars on finances. We don’t need psychology books on the home. We need to trust God.

Now, Jeremiah 33:3, first of all, makes prayer a direct command of God. It’s an order. “Call unto me.” He’s not counseling us to call. He’s not recommending us to call, or hoping, or begging. He’s not leaving the choice up to us. He’s not giving you an alternative. He orders us call. Have you called today? It’s Sunday—if ever you should have called, it’s today. Now put it down. You may never have missed a church service, you may put in your offering every week, you may be a faithful Sunday School teacher, but God is not pleased with you if you don’t really pray, and I think you know what I mean by really pray.

Prayer is not a luxury—it is a necessity. Prayer is not “if we have time.” Prayer is not Coca-Cola—it’s water. We’ve got to pray when we want to and when we don’t want to. We are ordered to pray if we feel like it or if we don’t feel like it—whether the circumstances are right or wrong. Why? Because we’re disobedient if we don’t. Your life will be a mess if you don’t really know how to pray.

“Pray without ceasing.” Now, of course that doesn’t mean you’re on your knees 24 hours a day, but you walk through life praying. Whenever there is a need, you’re pray-ing. We either pray, or we die spiritually. We either pray, or we go back on God. “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

Now, it seems that we as His children would want to pray—that we would want to talk to Him. He shed His blood for us. He created us, if you know your Bible, for fellowship. My kids don’t live in my house now, but I really love talking to them. It’s a natural thing. Yet God has to order us to pray, and most disobey. Why?

I think, first of all, because we are creatures with a tendency toward worldliness. It’s because our flesh doesn’t like to pray, and the wicked Adamic nature inside of us wants us to do anything but pray. It doesn’t like the Bible, it doesn’t want you to win souls; but more than anything else, the devil tries to keep us from really praying. You’re going to have to really fight it. You don’t have to fight to eat. I don’t think most of us do. We don’t have to fight to sleep. We don’t have to be reminded of a game we like, but it is strange we forget to pray.

Prayer gives direction. Prayer gives power. It’s not accidental. The old flesh will give you any excuse. “Well, you got up too late. You have to go to work, you have to eat, you have to mow the grass.” The flesh will get you to do anything to keep you from praying.

But also God orders us to pray because of the dis-couragement that Satan brings. Revelation 12:1 calls Satan the accuser of the brethren. Satan fights me about prayer, I think, more than anything else. “Well, I’m going

Continued on p. 6

6

to pray,” and Satan will whisper, “He’s not going to answer that prayer. Who do you think you are? Remember you prayed yesterday, and you didn’t see the answer yet.” So God has to order us, and what I’m encouraging you to do is obey. If you really obey, it will change your life. You’ll never be the Christian you should be without a real prayer life. It will change your life.

Now, thirdly, I believe God orders prayer throughout His Word in order to stop the natural spiritual decline among Christians. Prayer will keep you from backsliding. As you pray and ask, the Holy Spirit will deal with you. The Bible uses terms like supplication and meditation. I don’t claim to be any kind of expert, but when you get alone with God, you read the Bible, you pray, you meditate—supplication, time. You allow God to deal with your heart. Now we can’t expect an answer when we’re cheating or robbing God; but when we’re praying, God molds us and deals with our lives through meditation and supplication. He’ll deal with our lives and say, “This is wrong, and this is right.”

“Men ought always to pray, and not to faint,” the Bible says. In Matthew 26:41, Jesus says, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation...” Now you know this is true, “...the flesh is weak.” Can anybody here say your flesh isn’t weak? You would be a fool to think that. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The day you fall will be the day you’re not having regular prayer. The day you “go back” is the day you don’t have regular prayer. If you start drinking again, it will be the day you didn’t pray, I guarantee you. In Luke 22:32 Jesus said, “I’m praying for you, Peter, that your flesh fail not.” The flesh is weak. That is why we need to pray. That is one of the reasons. Behind every backslider is a prayerless Christian. You better pray or you’re a “goner.” You better pray or you’re going to be “put on the shelf.” Jeremiah 33:3 makes prayer a definite command, and we’re in sin if we don’t obey. It’s not just, “Now I lay me down to sleep.” It’s talking about a prayer life.

Now, secondly, the purpose for this verse is to build our confidence in prayer. I’m not saying you will have great answers to prayer all the time. I certainly don’t—not every day, not every week. You don’t have to have great prayer answers all of the time. But when you have your prayers answered, it sure does give you confidence. I think back to when we were starting our Christian school, and, of course, we had prayed about it. God led us to hire seven school-teachers, six of them coming from outside our church. I felt a great responsibility—seven teachers coming for a job here. I don’t have it right in front of me, but it was only two or three weeks before school was going to start, and we had ten students. I said, “I’d better call some of the teachers and tell them not to come.” But when I prayed, God said, “No, let them come. I’ll take care of it.” And we started with ten times ten. We started with plenty to pay the teachers.

Now, I give these true illustrations to encourage you not to just do what you think you ought to do, but to walk with God, and to know His will, and to do what He wants you to do. That’s the way you raise good kids, that’s the way your finances are right, and I could go right down the line. It builds our confidence. It’s abnormal, it’s unnatural for a child

of God not to see his or her prayers answered. But I think we cut corners. Again Jeremiah 33:3, “…and I will answer thee…” Not perhaps, not I might, but I will. That’s a direct promise from God. “Ask and ye shall receive.”

The Bible talks about meditation, supplication—it gives this idea of time. You will be praying, and God will say, “You know, you’re wrong here. You need to change this.” That’s how He can answer your prayers. You say, “I prayed for a fifth of whiskey, and I didn’t get it.” No, and I don’t think you will. You’re praying for the wrong thing. That’s why we need prayer and meditation and supplication. Because as we really pray, God molds us, God teaches us, God shows us, and that’s when we see the prayers answered.

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avail- eth much.”

“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.” Anything according to His will, He heareth us.

“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”

Prayer is not maybe so. It’s not hope so, but shall, know, and will. God must answer the prayer of His faithful child. We look around and see sickness and burdens. God must answer your prayers, first, because of His character. He is a God of love. He is a God of mercy, a God of sym-pathy. Aren’t you glad for His mercy?

I love my children and I want what’s best for them, just like you do. The Bible teaches that if we want what is best, how much more does God know what is best and want what is best? Matthew 7:9, “Or what man is there of you…how much more?” Basically, He is saying, who do you think you are? If you want the best for your children, God more so wants the best for His children. Sometimes we make mistakes, but God never makes mistakes. God must answer prayer because it literally betrays His nature if He doesn’t.

But look over in Romans 8:32. God must answer prayer, secondly, because of His cross. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Go outside the Damascus gate over to Golgotha and think about that death. Think about the spikes, the spear in His side, and so forth. Think about it. If God would do that for us, He will do anything for us. If He wouldn’t spare His Son for us, He will do anything that is right. His wounds are my guarantee that He loves me enough to answer my prayer. He must answer our prayers because of His character and because of His cross.

But, thirdly, God answers prayer because of His contract. Titus says God cannot lie. He cannot lie. That makes Jeremiah 33:3 truth. “Every promise in the Book is mine—every chapter, every verse, every line.” God cannot lie. Now you say, “I believe all this, but I don’t really see any answers.” Then one of three things is wrong in your life. It might be that you’re living with persistent sin. That happens especially in young people’s lives. “I’m not giving it up. I don’t care what the preacher preaches about, I’m not giving it up.” Well, you’re going to go on with that dirty wicked thing and you won’t get answers. An example of this is in I Peter 3:7. When there are problems in the home

Sermon...from page 5

7

and the home is not right, the Bible says your prayers will be hindered.

Turn to Mark 11. Others don’t see answers to prayer because they harbor an unforgiving spirit. Starting with verse 24, Jesus says, “Therefore I say unto you, What things so-ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Look at Stephen. They’re stoning him, a horrible death. He said, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge,” and God heard Stephen. Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do,” and we know God heard Him. It just amazes me how some people get bitter, and usually they’re wrong. They get all bitter about something. “I deserve to be bitter.” Why don’t you just take that bitterness and dig a hole behind your house, throw it in the hole, spit on it, and never look at it again. You don’t help anybody, and you hurt yourself—bitterness. Nobody is more miserable than someone who is carrying around a grudge. You hear about answers to prayer and you say you never get them. You never will as long as you’re bitter.

Neither will God answer the prayer of the stingy Christian. I’m just going to touch on this. See Mom and Dad always fussing about bills. Or, you walk around like you have holes in your pockets. “How can I tithe when I can’t make ends meet now?” Proverbs 21:13 says, “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry [pray] himself, but shall not be heard.” If you’re not a tither, you’re not a giver. You say, “I’m okay.” No, not if you’re not doing exactly what God wants. You’re tight-fisted. “This is mine, and that is His.” No, it’s all His. I’m about through, but turn to James, chapter four. At the end of verse two, James says, “…yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

One last thing, “...which thou knowest not.” Jeremiah can’t be talking about anything else here except for miracles. Israel saw the Red Sea part. Israel saw the sun stand still. The disciples saw withered hands being made whole and blind men seeing. Jeremiah is saying, “Pray, and see mira-cles.” When was the last time you ever saw a miracle?

I talk about the things that God has done in our church because I think some of them were miracles. If you think things are bad now, we’re dealing with about one half of one percent of the lies that were going around back when we were a little church of four years old. Of course, we went to court and ended up in jail for a time. You think there are lies now? Back then I would say, “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.” They would quote me as saying, “God loves a bruised and bloody body.” Nobody wanted to come to church. That’s when the old Indiana Supreme Court Justice said, “I’m going to bleed you people to death,” and that’s when he sued us.

What happened? Well, in one year we grew from 200 to 1100. We as a church prayed and prayed. There were different aspects of the case, but we prayed and prayed that our judge would be honest because of the power of this Supreme Court Justice. I don’t know if he was putting on an act, but I saw the young judge who would hear our case fall on his knees in his robes before me and beg, “Pray for me. I don’t want to hurt the cause of God.”

God doesn’t do things like that all the time, but He does it when He needs to do it. He’ll show Himself in a very real way. I wouldn’t be in this pulpit if I didn’t believe in a miracle-producing God. I would be all concerned about what is happening today if I didn’t believe in a miracle-producing God. I don’t know what the end result will be, but I do know we serve a mighty God and He’s real.

In closing, look at chapter 32 of Jeremiah, verse 17. “Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee...” Jeremiah was in jail when he said that. Look at verse 27. “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?”

Let me ask you, “Is there anything too hard for the Lord?” Respond as you honestly feel. Is there anything too hard? Some of you parents have slipped and slid with your kids, and you’re ready to lose them. And I want to tell you that we’re not going to put up with them. We’re not go-ing to let the kids that you haven’t raised right destroy our younger kids. You say, “God doesn’t work.” No, you don’t work. You. You, Dad, haven’t taken the lead. Again, the Bible says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

That means your kids can grow up and live for God. That means you can get your finances in shape. I could go on and on. But it won’t happen until you get right with God. You’ve got to be right with God. You’ve got to be sold out and stop using psychology books. Stop using your great wisdom, and follow the Bible. Do you have “smart-mouth” kids? Do you have a troubled marriage? Do you need to be a better soulwinner? Do you want revival in your life? The great need of our day is prayer. More regular prayer, more time in prayer, more faith as we pray—the great need of today is prayer.

Eli and Mari-lyn, missionaries to Siem Reap, Cambodia, are enjoying a much deserved and long-awaited furlough. While here, they have both volunteered for much work and help in our ministries. Eli is heading up the work of replacing the exterior siding of our men’s dormitory.

8

genetic entropy:Is the human race evolvIng, or could the opposIte be true?

by Mr. Jeremiah Mitchell Part I

Genetic entropy—now there are some fancy words, but what do they mean? Let’s start by examining each word separately. “Genetics” deals with:

• the molecular structure and function of genes, • gene behavior in the context of a cell or organism, • patterns of inheritance from parent to offspring, • gene distribution, variation, and change in popula- tions.

“Entropy” is akin to the second law of thermodynamics which says basically that “there exists a universal principle of change in nature which is downhill, not uphill” or that “things left to themselves tend to deteriorate.” Now we are ready to answer the question, “What is genetic entropy?”

John C. Sanford has written a book entitled Genetic Entropy & the Mystery of the Genome (2005) in which he claims that the genome is deteriorating and, therefore, could not have evolved in the way specified by modern evolution-ary theories. Mr. Sanford goes into much detail to prove that the DNA of the human race is slowly unraveling and that we are NOT EVOLVING.

As parents pass genetic information along to their offspring, a tiny bit of that information is lost with each generation. Evolutionists would have us believe that our DNA is growing more advanced from one generation to the next, but that is simply not the case. With each generation a tiny bit of genetic information is lost and slight mutations are added. These mutations are never an improvement on the original.

A junkyard can provide a useful illustration. Cars of today are complex. They roar to life when we turn the key. What would we do without them? Like cars, junkyards of today are complex, too, but they are not functioning. A car is complex in a way that is very specific, which is why it works. It requires a host of very intelligent engineers to specify its complexity, so that it is a functional whole.

Which direction does this process work? Are the nice cars we see on the road today the product of piles of scrap, slowly evolving into functioning vehicles? Of course not! They were painstakingly developed by intelligent designers. We know that the cars around us slowly deteriorate and find themselves in the junkyard to make room for the next model. We are very aware of the cycle. Intelligent designers build a nice car. The nice car gets old and eventually ends up in the junk yard. Intelligent designers again build a nice car. The direction of this process is called entropy.

Some vehicles are able to last a long time. Recently I read about a Volvo that might make it to three million miles. Everyone knows that this can only happen if two things are true. The car must have an owner who puts great care into maintaining his vehicle, and the vehicle must have had a good designer in the first place. Human beings are the result

of intelligent design. Man sinned, though, and that began the process of entropy. Why isn’t our race worn out and in the “junkyard?” Why doesn’t God build a new race to push humanity out of the way? We are still here for the same two reasons. Our “Owner” loves us and cares for us and our “Designer” “marvelously made” us in the first place.

Think of “smart-phones” for a moment. I imagine there are laboratories out there with all the components needed to build the next generation of smart-phone; however, that cannot and will not happen unless intelligent people put the components together after countless hours of study and many thousands, if not millions, of dollars in research and development. External intelligence is required for these things to improve. If there were no intelligence involved, the cars in the junkyard would continue to fall apart and the components in the lab would begin to break down. So it is with all machines, biological or otherwise.

Evolution says just the opposite, “Everything is getting better.” While this doesn’t make sense (evolutionists steer clear of geneticists), the theory of evolution is extremely ap-pealing to mankind. I believe that a clear understanding of what makes evolution so attractive to humanity will reveal a great deal about its predominance in the mainstream.

We (humanity) come from a long line of rebels. The father and mother of our race rebelled, and that spirit of rebellion has been passed along to all of us. Paul said in Romans 3:11, “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” We naturally want to pursue our own will. If I build a shed someone might rightly ask, “What do you intend to do with it?” I wouldn’t express shock that someone would assume that I have intentions for my “creation.” To admit I have a Creator is to admit that that Creator has intentions for me and I should be concerned with His will for me. But that simply isn’t convenient to the natural man.

Not only does a rebel wish to do his own thing, but he wishes to prove to everyone that he is better off for having rebelled. This is natural for our race, even from birth. If I send my daughter to stand in the corner for disobeying, she starts sending out little signals to anyone who cares (of course, she targets her brother mainly) that of all places she could be, there in the corner is the most enjoyable. In reality she is saying, “I chose my own way, and I am so much happier.”

An atheist once commented that before he learned about evolution he had to say that there was no God, but he lacked “intellectual fulfillment” in saying so. Evolution provided him the intellectual fulfillment. He wanted to be a rebel, but he was glad he could pretend that it was actually an intellectual thing. Man’s sin brought consequences, but he is desperate to say he is better for it; and evolution sati-ates that desperation.

So what was it that Eve did that was so bad? She was the first humanistic scientist. She pitted her observational skills and mental reasoning against God’s. Genesis 3:6 says, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” She saw the tree God had spoken about. She

9

drew her conclusions from her observational skills rather than trusting the Word of God.

Many in this world are backward when they speak of having to choose science or trust God’s Word. The “science” they are speaking of is sometimes no more than theory (as in the case of evolution). Even when the “science” is more concrete due to honest observation, arrogant man conve-niently forgets to admit that his powers of observation are limited. Knowing Someone whose powers of observation aren’t limited turns the mind upward upon God Himself. He is the ultimate Scientist!

Think with me for a moment about the scientific method. There are various parts to it.

• Number one is the observation and description of a phenomenon or group of phenomena. (Again, only God can observe all phenomena perfectly.) • Number two is the formulation of an hypothesis to explain the phenomena. (Man has to make an edu- cated guess as to why something behaves like it does. God doesn’t. He knows why it behaves the way it does because He told it to behave that way.) • Number three is the use of the hypothesis to predict the existence of other phenomena, or to predict quan- titatively the results of new observations. (Man tries to ask himself what all will be affected by this and how it will be affected.) • Number four is the performance of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experiment- ers and properly performed experiments. (God al ready knows the related relationships. He created them.)

It is literally impossible to choose the Bible but not science—they are one and the same.

Evolution is an affront to God. God said He made everything good, and man says that things are getting bet-ter all the time! In Genesis 1:10, 12, 18, 21 and 25, God looked at all that He had just made and said it was good. Then in Genesis 1:31, God looked at “every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” If God said that it was good, then there is no room for improvement. But is that not exactly the opposite of what evolution says—that everything is getting better? It doesn’t get any better than God’s “good.” It is simple rebellion to say that it does.

Don’t be fooled—creationism vs. evolution is a spiritual matter. Consider Colossians 1:16-17, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, vis-ible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” God’s creation understands intuitively that if all things were made by Him, then they were also made for Him. That is why man wants another explanation for his existence.

Now consider Jeremiah 31:35-37, “Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith

the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.” God is saying that there are some things about His creation that we will never know this side of glory. A Christian however has a unique understanding of how things work—an advantage, if you will.

Consider Hebrews 11:6 and then verse 3, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Now verse three, “through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” With our eyes of faith we can see what our human eyes cannot observe—the truth about our beginning.

Again, evolution is a manifestation of the rebellion of mankind against its Creator. God said that death follows sin, and man says, “We did our own thing, and we’re better for it.” Evolution is a Tower of Babel—man attempting to show God that he can reach heaven on his own. Natural man hates creationism. We see this so clearly in the world around us.

On January 15, 2009, Louisiana passed a “Creation-ism Act” which prevented any teaching of evolution in public schools unless the course was also accompanied by the teaching of biblical creationism. Now understand this, evolutionists are not content to believe evolution. They are violently antagonistic towards creation science.

In the Chicago Tribune on July 24, there appeared a cartoon that illustrates the scornful attitude toward God’s Word that is wired into the being of the natural man. A public school teacher is addressing his class saying, “So all the evidence massively supports a theory of evolution that knits together everything we know about biology. However, as high school students in the state of Louisiana, you are en-titled to learn an alternative theory supported by no scientific evidence whatsoever! It goes like this, 5700 years ago a male deity created the heavens and earth and all life on it in six days. Unfortunately he didn’t like his handiwork so he created genocide and drowned everyone on earth except the family of Noah, a 600-year-old man who was charged with saving the animals.” At this point a child interrupted, “Mr. Stiller?” “Yes?” “Please stop. I’d like to get into a good college.” The teacher continued, “Almost done…so Noah took two of everything including the microbes but forgot the dinosaurs.”

Here is obvious disdain for the Biblical creation and flood accounts. Evolution is not an independent theory—it is a shot in the dark by those who desperately want to escape their obligation to the One Who gave them life.

Here’s the reality, Romans 8:22-23 tells us that, “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” Sin is destroying our planet. Even our own

Continued on p. 11

10

For many years fundamental churches have been dis-mayed at so-called Bible translations by the Wycliffe Bible Translators organization. Under the influence of Eugene Nida (1914-2011), Wycliffe adopted a method of dynamic equivalence (rejecting the idea of literal translations) that now is facing criticism from neo-evangelicals and even some liberal churches.

The Associated Press reports, “Last month, Wycliffe agreed to an independent review of its policies by the World Evangelical Alliance, which plans to appoint a panel of ex-perts to determine whether Wycliffe and affiliated groups are improperly replacing the terms ‘Son of God’ and ‘God

Wycliffe translations “unraveling scripture”

meet a fairhaven studentDerek Renshaw came to Fairhaven

Baptist College three years ago from a small town near Greenville, South Caro-lina. Being raised in a Christian home gave him a solid foundation for his future. Alongside his father, he learned how to construct their home and other buildings on their property. A church member em-ployed him in his lawn irrigation business.

His pastor kept him busy working in ministries and preaching as opportunities allowed.

When the time came to select a Bible college, Derek took the decision seriously. He knew that he was called to preach, and he knew that he wanted two things from the col-lege he would attend: a firm stand on the King James Bible and a commitment to Baptist distinctives. Although he had learned of Fairhaven online, his interest in the college was piqued when he met Eric Ramos representing Fairhaven at a gathering of Christian school students in South Carolina. After prayer and much counsel, Derek decided to leave the south and head to Indiana for his Bible college training.

As a student, Derek has enjoyed the practicality of Fairhaven’s Bible classes. In addition to the instruction on Biblical doctrine, he is learning also how to use his beliefs in a world that needs God. He learned in Cults class not just the doctrinal aberrations of particular cults but also how to speak to the people trapped in that error, showing them the Saviour. He has learned the operation of children’s ministries through involvement in the bus route and Master’s Club. Assisting in area rest homes has further broadened his ministry experience.

Derek is investing this summer in an internship with Pastor Dave Bottrell (a graduate of Fairhaven) at the Hunt Valley Baptist Church in Hunt Valley, Maryland. His sum-mer will be filled with service and ministry responsibilities such as: helping in junior church, assisting as a teen camp counselor, working on church building renovations, teaching the midweek teen class, and working on the bus route.

After graduation, Derek would like to be an assistant pastor and then eventually start a church. He realizes that many battles lie ahead, so he is taking his preparation seri-ously. Please pray for Derek, as well as all of our students, as they prepare to serve God with their lives.

the Father.’ The decision comes after a growing number of critics decried the materials as attempts to avoid controversy that fundamentally altered Christian theology. The dispute moved from Internet forums and online petitions to concern from large Christian bodies. The Assemblies of God—one of the largest Pentecostal fellowships, with more than 60 million members in affiliated churches worldwide—announced it would review its long-standing relationship with Wycliffe.”

Even John Harrower, Anglican bishop of Tasmania, was an early signer of an online petition for review of Wycliffe translation policies. He argues that these inaccu-rate translations make missionary work more difficult in the very communities where they’re used. Critics specifically are pointing to Wycliffe’s translations in Muslim countries, which take out the terms God the Father and God the Son and replace them with Lord and Messiah, thus distorting the doctrine of the Trinity, which Muslims reject.

In defense of their work, Wycliffe CEO Bob Creson said, “Translation is a very laborious process, because you have to understand the culture of the community, and you don’t understand that overnight... If you’ve got a culture that doesn’t have sheep, and you want to translate the word ‘sheep,’ you either explain sheep or you find an equivalent term.” Of course, this philosophy has led to Bible “transla-tions” in Papua New Guinea that describe our Lord Jesus as the “pig of God,” instead of the “Lamb of God.” Regardless of the esteem a Papuan tribe may ascribe to a pig, even a secular person can see the denigration of our Lord in the use of this despicable term.

Eugene Nida did not believe in the inerrant Word of God. Although some have claimed that his theology was more “conservative” in his early years (The History of the Reina-Valera 1960 Spanish Bible, Calvin George, 2004); the real facts are simple and straightforward.

In 1943, Nida received his doctorate in linguistics at the University of Michigan while working with the Wycliffe Bible Translators, and for four decades he was the principal spokesman on translation theory and practice. In 1943 he joined the staff of the American Bible Society and in 1946 at a conference in England, he found “common ground” with H.C. Rutgers, the General Secretary of the Nether-lands Bible Society, regarding translation methods. Both felt that the British and Foreign Bible Society method was “too dependent upon purely literal translation of the original text.... [T]ogether they designed ways of improving Bible translation procedures. It was clear that their intention was not merely to modify or gently reform existing procedures, but to undertake a revolutionary change.” (Taking the Word to the World, Edwin H. Robinson, 1995)

In 1954, Nida put the stranglehold of cultural relevancy on the Bible translation movement through his book, Cus-toms and Culture. In this book, Nida defends tribal practices, such as burying the sick alive, female infanticide, multiple wives, suicide of old people, adultery, and other sexual sins, as having merit based on the individual culture’s purpose for practicing these customs. He states, “Biblical relativ-ism is not a matter of inconsistency, but a recognition of the different cultural factors which influence standards and actions.”

To further explain Biblical relativism, Nida states in the footnote, “The only absolute in Christianity is the triune

11

destruction of the african american population through birth control and abortion

God. Anything which involves man, who is finite and limited, must of necessity be limited, and hence relative. Biblical cultural relativism is an obligatory feature of our incarnational religion, for without it we would either absolutize human institutions or relativize God.”

Apparently, now, not even the triune God in the form of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is an absolute—particularly if you are in a culture that would take offense at that doc-trine.

sin nature is weighing us down. Paul said in Romans 7:15 “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.” We look forward to setting this sinful body aside for a new one. We have eternal perfection awaiting us—but not aside from God. The world thinks that perfection can be ours without God. This is the difference between the two positions.

Once you have the proper view about everything, truth comes into focus. Psalm 19:1 tells us plainly, “The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.” Why can’t people see it? Hebrews 2:6-9 tells us, “But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjec-tion under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”

It takes honesty to admit that all things are no longer under man. In the person of the father of our race, Adam, we “messed up.” We have a second chance through Jesus Christ, the second Adam.

—to be continued

greece pays pedophilesAccording to a new report by the New York City Depart-

ment of Health, 59.8 percent of African-American pregnan-cies in 2009 ended in abortion. A whopping 60 percent of black babies in “Christian” America are brutally murdered in the womb! What has brought this terrible situation about? For one, it is the fruit of apostate churches. A majority of black Americans are professing Christians, but obviously this Christianity has no biblical substance, because even while professing to “love Jesus” it is typical to shamelessly indulge in every wicked thing, and the same is true for white Christians and every color of Christians in these evil days. And no surprise when we are plagued with adulterous “rever-ends” like Jesse Jackson. How many blacks have stood up to condemn the gross hypocrisy of these “men of the cloth”? Multitudes of churches today are moral cesspools.

Another thing that has destroyed morality among American blacks is the modern Welfare State, which has turned millions of people into perpetual slaves living on the dole and which has helped destroy the family. Of those who are not killed in the womb, a large majority are raised by single-parent mothers.

Many other things could be mentioned, but another major cause of the massacre of African-American blacks through abortion is the Darwinian eugenics movement. This movement and philosophy, which flourished prior to World War II, is based on Darwinian natural selection. Founded by Charles Darwin’s cousin, Francis Galton, eugenics was built upon the idea that the white race is superior and should be kept pure from intermixture with other “races.” In Germany the eugenics movement was called “race hygiene.” Founder Alfred Ploetz said that his ideas about eugenics were drawn from Darwinism, and he praised Darwin’s disciple Ernst Haeckel as a key influence (Richard Wiekart, From Darwin to Hitler, p. 15).

Henry Fairfield Osborn, head of the American Museum of Natural History and president of the Second International Congress of Eugenics in 1921, praised the work of German racists Jon Mioen and Hermann Lundborg for giving men “a new appreciation of the spiritual, moral and physical value of the Nordic [white] race” (Edwin Black, War Against the Weak, p. 244). Eugenics sought to purify the human race by culling it of the “inferior” through birth control, abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia.

Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger referred to “inferior” humans as “weeds,” complaining that “nature eliminates the weeds, but we turn them into parasites and allow them to reproduce” (Black, War Against the Weak, p. 133). Sanger called large families “immoral.” She was on the cutting edge of the modern Culture of Death. In her book Woman and the New Race, she said, “The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.”

Eugenics went out of popularity after Hitler took the program to its logical conclusion, but the Darwinian eugen-ics philosophy is alive and well and has spread throughout society. This philosophy has resulted in the elimination of multitudes of people, and black babies have suffered more than those of any other group.

—Dr. David Cloud, Friday Church News Notes

Greece has designated pedophilia (child molestation) as an infirmity making them qualify for government disability funds. Now pedophiles will be able to apply for disability for their attraction to and molestation of children.

Genetic Entropy...from page 9

—copied

12

OUR SCHEDUlE

SUNDAY SCHOOL .................. 9:45 a.m.PREACHING SERVICE ........ 10:45 a.m.EVENING SERVICE ................ 5:30 p.m.THURSDAY SERVICE ............ 7:00 p.m.

From FaIrhaven’s pulpIt

“Living Water”“The Devastating Disease of Backsliding”“The Sin of the Great Transgression” — Evangelist Gary Gillmore

“Out a Little”“Making Full Proof of Your Ministry” — Dr. R. B. Ouellette

“Results of Saying ‘No’ to God”“The Words of God”— Dr. Wilbert Unger

“Cleansing the Temple”“Battling for the Hill of Beans” — Dr. Don Strange

86 EAST OAK HIll ROADCHESTERTON, INDIANA 46304-1399

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Preaching Conference is always a highlight of our year when friends from across the country gather for old-fash-ioned preaching and Christian fellowship. This year was no exception; and in a day when many churches in America have changed their music and their message, we’re sure you will be blessed and challenged by the sermons preached here during this special week.

“What the Bible Says about Speaking in Tongues” — Pastor Randy Starr

“When Peter Saw It”“Prayer – Jeremiah Style” — Pastor Roger Voegtlin

Sermons are available on CD for $3 each through our bookstore. The entire collection of our Preaching Conference sermons on CD is available for $20 or MP3 format for $10.

If you are interested in receiving the Fairhaven Fundamentalist in electronic format, please sign up by navigating to the following link in your browser:http://signup.fairhavenbaptist.org