2000_01 by Uplook

CHRISTIAN EXPLORER’S CATALOG

UPLOOK JANUARY 2000

NEW YEAR DEAD AHEAD

MUST HAVE ITEMS FOR THE TRIP: • 7 PRAYERS FOR THE COMING YEAR • A MARRIAGE CHECK-UP • FIRST-CLASS GUIDE

WHAT A DAY!

EDITORIAL

WHAT A DAY! The lesson I learned was much more than child’s play.

rchitects must be in an impish mood when they design houses like ours. No doubt, sitting at their drawing tables (or computers) their minds wander back to the days of their childhood and they fondly recall some of their happiest memories. It’s the hour between supper and the call for bed— the sweetest hour of the day. Tummies are full with Mother’s cooking. Everyone is home. Darkness is falling outside but it’s unnoticed inside because of the warm glow of the lamps. Schoolwork for the younger ones is done. Ahead lie bedtime stories, hugs and kisses, sweet dreams. But right now it’s the last chance to expend some of the boundless energy with which little people come equipped. The architect smiles. He moves his pencil (or mouse) to redraw the house he is working on. Let’s see. It must have a central core, a center wall around which the course can be laid out. A sharp hairpin turn by the front door. A twist to the right around the stairway going to the second floor. Then the back stretch—preferably with some frictionless flooring surface ideal for stockinged feet to slide on. Now into the kitchen eating area and a hard left into the dining room. Blast into the straightaway, the long stretch through the living room that joins the first turn where the grandfather clock will stand. Ah, perfect! He gives a self-satisfied smile. Some people are appalled at the idea. Using the living room for, well, living? Preposterous! And children acting like children in broad daylight? Outrageous! But I recall those days with great fondness. The house filled with laughter and shouts of glee. Sometimes Dad would join in the fray; perhaps a tussle on the floor. At other times he would be Home Safe, the one place of security in our chaotic little world. Last night, sitting on the sofa, I became Home Safe for five-year-old Sara. She was in the lead position with her brother Dave hard on her heels. Peals of little girl laughter rippled through the house. Then, in a desperate lunge for freedom and the opportunity for a new lease on life, Sara flew toward

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me, David a step behind. She barely made contact with my outstretched arms and clung to me while her brother, three years her senior, playfully tugged at her legs. As she began to resemble more and more the rope in a tug-o’-war, she looked up at me, her face wreathed in a grin. “I’ve never had a day like this before!” she said. Isn’t that the truth! We never know what a day may bring forth (Prov. 27:1). And sometimes in life’s race, when we seem to be making as much progress as children racing around the house, we find ourselves in the clutches of circumstances far less friendly than a brother. It’s then we look up into the face of our Father and say, “I’ve never had a day like this before!” Recall the words of Scripture that record the following in the life of Job: “And there was a day…” (Job 1:13). It was a day so horrific that Job seemed to have had only two extreme alternatives: curse God or worship Him. Stretched to the limit, he looked into the face of the Father he trusted— “and worshiped” (v. 20). The year 2000 has arrived. Making our way through its twists and turns, we have no idea what lies around the corner. Some of those days will doubtless be recorded in our true biographies written in heaven as “evil” days. How we need to be fully equipped so we “…may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Eph. 6:13). No use bearing the burdens of yesterday or the worries of tomorrow: “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Mt. 6:34), said the Saviour. But He also promised: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). There will be such days in life (and such grace), “…until the Day dawn, and the Day Star arise in your hearts” (2 Pet. 1:19). Then we will look up into His face and say, “I’ve never had a day like this before!”

J. B. Nicholson, Jr.

CONTENTS

UPLOOK Volume 66

January 2000

Number 1

Features SEVEN INDISPENSIBLE PRAYERS H. A. Wooley

“THOU ART WITH ME” Robert McClurkin

WARNING: SHEEP BEWARE!

INTERVIEW WITH R. E. HARLOW

SPECIAL REPORT ON THE DICKINSON FAMILY Staff

REFLECTIONS ON BIBLICAL HEADSHIP Don Schonberg

DECISIONS Donald Norbie

HOW GOOD IS THE GOOD BOOK? Allen Bowman

CHRISTIAN EFFICIENCY A. C. Rose

UPLOOK ARTICLE INDEX

WHO LOVES MUSLIMS? Book Review

Departments EDITORIAL FRONT LINES WHAT’S GOING ON? LIVING ASSEMBLIES HEROES: The Covenanters Subscription Information: The Uplook magazine mailing list is maintained on a subscription basis. There is no charge for a subscription, however you must renew your subscription annual in order to continue receiving the magazine. An initial subscription is for six issues. Thereafter any time you renew, your subscription will be extended a further eleven issues. There are three ways to renew: 1) by using the envelope included with the January issue each year 2) by using the form on our webpage at: http://www.uplook.org/magazine_uplook/subscribe/ 3) by contacting our office at any time, by phone, fax, mail or e-mail. Please advise us of any address changes at least six weeks in advance and include your customer number from your mailing label.

2 7 11 16 19

UPLOOK Founded in 1927 as Look on the Fields, UPLOOK is published eleven times a year by Uplook Ministries, 813 North Ave., N.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49503. Phone: (616) 456-9166 Fax: (616) 456-5522 Website: http://www.uplook.org E-mail: uplook@uplook.org ISSN #1055-2642 Printed in USA. © Copyright 2000 Uplook Ministries UPLOOK magazine is intended to encourage the people of God in fidelity to His Word, fervency in intercessory prayer, labors more abundant, and love to the Lord. Believing in the practical Headship of Christ and the local autonomy of each assembly, this is not intended to be an official organ of any group or federation of local churches. The editor and authors take responsibility for materials published. For any blessing which accrues, to God be the glory. UPLOOK is copyrighted solely for the purpose of maintaining the integrity of the material. It is not intended to limit the proper use of articles contained in the magazine. Please include the words: “UPLOOK magazine, by permission” on photocopies made for personal use. For large quantities or other purposes, contact UPLOOK. Submissions Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope with all unsolicited material. News items must be submitted at least two months in advance of issue requested. Selected news items will be carried for two issues (if time permits). The editor reserves the right to determine those items best suited for the magazine. Editorial decisions are final. Photos accepted. Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for photos you wish returned. Postal Information US POSTMASTER: (USPS 620-640) Send address changes to UPLOOK, P. O. Box 3640, Grand Rapids, MI 49501-3640 Periodical postage paid at Grand Rapids, MI. CANADIAN POSTMASTER: Send address changes to UPLOOK, P.O. Box 427, St. Catharines, ON L2R 6V9 International Publication Mail Product (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement No. 1064363 BRITISH POSTMASTER: Send address changes to UPLOOK, P. O. Box 1163, Bristol BS39 4YA

Donation Information: Uplook Ministries is a tax-exempt corporation looking to the Lord to provide for the needs of this ministry. This magazine is sent freely to those who request it, but evidently is not freely produced. Donations may be made by check or money order denominated in US $, Canadian $ or £ sterling. All checks should be made payable to UPLOOK and sent to one of the above addresses. Donations may also be made by VISA, Mastercard/ACCESS or Discover in US dollars, either by mail or at our website: http://www./uplook.org/home/about_us/contributions.html We do not advise sending credit card numbers by e-mail. Please include your card number, expiry date and the amount in US dollars you wish to donate. Receipts are issued for all donations received and are valid for tax purposes in the US and Canada. Making a donation will automatically renew your Uplook subscription.

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IT’S AN OPEN LINE

H. A. WOOLEY

Seven indispensible prayers How could you face the coming days if you didn’t have direct access?

ll who have studied the Psalms must have noticed many prayers there which God’s children would do well to make their own for personal use. From these I select seven as being vitally important for every believer.

and will act in regard to all the perplexing problems around—and taught afresh His paths. Thus, grasping His purpose, seeing clearly the ultimate issue, we may walk steadily and confidently on in “the good way” He desires us to tread.

Psalm 17:5—“Hold up my goings in Thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.” Beset with snares and pitfalls, how easily does the foot slip. How quickly do our “goings” stray from “His paths’’ when one leaves the protecting atmosphere of private prayer! Let us set these words in order before our mind’s eye, having them ever ready at hand. For only as His Word abides in us shall we be able to stand in this evil day. “Lord, keep Me in Thy paths.”

Psalm 51:15—“O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise.” Not only on public occasions, but in private life,

Psalm 19:14—“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer.” This second petition centers around our words and meditations, and voices the desire of those to whom Christ is precious. What we say is largely the fruit of what we think. How necessary then that the inner self should be pleasing to Him. Only thus will our speech be worthy of those called to be saints of the living God. Psalm 25:4—“Show me Thy ways, O Lord; teach me Thy paths.” Though knowing something of God’s thoughts about things, we are very apt to turn again to our own point of view. We must come back to be shown His ways—how He is acting

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this is essential—lips opened by the Lord. If He but touch the lips they shall move to speak His praise, and tell of all His wondrous works. Psalm 119:18—“Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” Every time we read the Bible, when we ponder its pages, we need the Holy Spirit (the Divine Author) to give us a vision of Christ, taking of His things and showing them to us. Psalm 119:37—“Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken Thou me in Thy way.” Met at

every turn by this world’s glitter, how necessary to have our gaze taken from things temporal and transient and fastened more firmly on the (at present) unseen and eternal. Psalm 141:3 —“Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.” The seventh is perhaps the most needed prayer of all. The hasty word, the unguarded utterance, the foolish expression—how

easily spoken! If one so meek as Moses spoke unadvisedly with his lips, how necessary is it for every Christian to exercise greater watchfulness in this area. Daily, hourly, should the words be used, or the tongue (that small but unruly member) will certainly cause us trouble. Let us go over these seven petitions again. They all have to do with the everyday life; we cannot dispense with one. Let us frequently use them, not only when the need is apparent and pressing, but even before the first sign of danger. The only safe course is to cultivate the habit of “praying always.” Ý

ROBERT McCLURKIN

F I RS T •C L A S S G U I D E

“Thou art with me” You’ll need Him for the rough road ahead.

he title is the central verse and central thought of beautiful Psalm 23. It stands out in relation to six views of the Christian life which are given in the psalm: MY NEED AS A SINNER “I shall not want.” His work on the Cross is the pledge of my salvation. Green pastures and still waters speak of rest, security, and satisfaction—rest of conscience by the pardon He bestows, rest of heart by the peace which He gives, and the rest of assurance as the Spirit witnesses with our spirits that we are children of God. “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Mine by covenant, mine forever, Mine by oath and mine by blood, Mine—nor time the bond shall sever, Mine as an unchanging God, My Redeemer, my Redeemer, Oh, how sweet to call Thee mine! MY WEAKNESS AS A SAINT His advocacy is the pledge of my restoration. What mistakes we have made in the past; what failures we have been. So many of us have been vessels marred in the hand of the Potter, but let us take courage: “He restoreth my soul.” “He made it again; another vessel, as seemed good to the Potter to make it” (Jer. 18:4) Oh, to be like clay, passive in the hand of the Heavenly Potter, responsive to His gentle touch! If we will only let Him, He will fashion us according to His own blessed design. Poor, weak and worthless though I am, I have a rich, Almighty Friend: Jesus! the Saviour is His Name— He freely loves and without end.

PERPLEXITIES ON THE WAY “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” We need the unerring guidance of the Shepherd, and His presence is the pledge of that guidance. The Shepherd goes before the sheep and they follow Him (Jn. 10:4). Some He will lead into private paths of service, others into public paths, but it is always His to lead and ours to follow. In His life down here He left us a perfect pattern in His service. He sought all kinds of people in all sorts of places and saturated His whole life’s work by prayer. Paul cried, “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings” (Phil. 3:10). The paths of service into which the Shepherd leads the sheep holds trials and difficulties, but His unerring guidance and care is never denied. He always wins who sides with God; To him no chance is lost. God’s will is sweetest to him when It triumphs at his cost. TRIALS ALONG THE PATH “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” His priestly sympathy and power are the pledge of my comfort and succor. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous;” yet “in all their afflic-

tion He was afflicted” (Isa. 63:9). Hearts may be torn, crushed, and bleeding, and doubts may fill the mind as to why, yet behind the inscrutable wisdom which permitted it all, there is the gracious ministry of our Great High Priest. With what understanding and sympathy does He enter into the sorrows of His own! “Every” branch that bears fruit He purges, yet never is the husbandman so near the vine as when He is tending it. His loving aim is “more fruit”—fruit by union, more fruit by purging, much fruit by abiding (see Jn. 15). In the dark valley of trial “clouds and darkness round us press.” Like the disciples on the holy mount, we fear to enter the cloud. Its melancholy gloom frightens us, yet when the cloud is past we see “no man save Jesus only.” “Thou art with me.

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THOU ART WITH ME Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.” In the green pastures the psalmist talked about the Shepherd; but in the valley he talked to Him. Be still, my soul; the Sun of life divine Through palling clouds shall but more brightly shine. MY DAYS OF CONFLICT “The power of His might” (Eph. 6:10) is the pledge of my victory. A table spread in the presence of my enemies for divine satisfaction, derived from His fullness, is the pilgrim-warrior’s portion. Here, too, in the field of battle, and not in the green pastures, we find the anointed head and the overflowing cup, “for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Three times in Romans 8 the gauntlet is thrown down in the face of the enemy: by the Father (v. 33), by the Son (v. 34), and by the Spirit (v. 35)—no accusation, no condemnation, no separation. Three times in that grand chapter of victory we read “for us.” The Father is for us in justification (v. 32); the Son is for us in acceptance (v. 34)—“accepted in the Beloved”; the Spirit is for us in intercession (v. 26). No wonder the chapter closes with the triumphant doxology of the saints: “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loveth us” (v. 37). He who has never a conflict, Has never a victor’s palm; And only the toilers know The sweetness of rest and calm. THE DAY OF MY DEPARTURE His blessed promise is the assurance that the Father’s house becomes the home of the saints. “I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” Here is the end of our pilgrimage. No more wanderings. No more perplexities in our anxiety to discern the mind of the Lord. Our sorrows and trials will all be over for “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Our conflict with the forces of evil will then be at an end. The Father’s house becomes my heavenly home forever. It is guaranteed by our Saviour’s word on the Cross (Jn. 14:2) and confirmed by His own prayer in John 17:24, “Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory.” May we live in the light of the Cross and the glory “until the day break, and the shadows flee away” (Song of Sol. 4:6). Ý

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WARNING: Sheep,. .beware! . ’Twas a sheep, not a lamb, that strayed away In the parable Jesus told; A grown-up sheep that had gone astray From the ninety and nine in the fold. Out on the hillside, out in the cold, ’Twas a sheep the Good Shepherd sought; And back to the flock, safe in the fold, ’Twas a sheep the Good Shepherd brought. And why for the sheep should we earnestly long, And as earnestly hope and pray? Because there is danger if they go wrong, They will lead the lambs astray. For the lambs will follow the sheep, you know, Wherever the sheep may stray; When the sheep go wrong, it will not be long Till the lambs are as wrong as they. And so with the sheep we earnestly plead, For the sake of the lambs today: If the lambs are lost, what terrible cost Some sheep will have to pay!

FRONT LINES

Vessels in the House Another Vessels of Honor conference for young people is planned for Baldwin, KS.

conference for young people (18 years old and

Kansas. The

older) is being planned, in the

registra-

will of the Lord, for Memorial

tion fee

Day, May 26-29, 2000. Joe

is $125 if

Reese (ON), Art Auld (OH) and

you stay on

J. B. Nicholson, Jr. (MI) have

campus or $75 if you make

been invited to speak about the

your own housing arrange-

New Testament assembly and

ments. These prices are effec-

the individual believer’s part in

tive for registrations received

it. Seminar speakers include

before March 31, 2000. A late

John Heller (AR), Debbie Auld

fee will be applied after that

(OH), Warren Henderson (IL)

date.

and Jamie Hull (CO). The conference will be held at Baker University in Baldwin, WORD ALIVE WEEKENDS Assemblies in the Winnipeg, Manitoba area are looking forward to their monthly young people’s Bible study series: Feb. 25-27 Mike Attwood, GA March 24-26 To be confirmed Each weekend includes a Friday Word Alive Rally for youth and an all-day Saturday Word Alive Seminar. Visitors are welcome. Ron Hampton (204) 669-6026 rhampton@mb.sympatico.ca BIBLE STUDY PROGRAM The sixth year of the Bible Study Program, hosted by Hopedale Bible Chapel (Oakville, ON) is under way.

Jim Lindamood (918) 663-1121 jimlindamood@juno.com Classes run from 9 until 12 noon, including three 40-minute sessions with 15 minute breaks between each. February 19 Boyd Nicholson, ON March 18 Randy Amos, NY April 15 J. B. Nicholson, MI YOUNG ADULT SERIES The Brandywine Bible Chapel is planning to host a series of conferences for young adults. Each conference runs from 9:30 until 3:00, with breakfast and lunch served. February 19 Wade LeBlanc, NB March 18 Doug Kazen, WA April 15 Keith Keyser, PA Contact: Tim Bhatt (302) 425-0762 tim_bhatt@yahoo.com

PARK OF THE PALMS Park of the Palms is a Christian retirement community and Bible conference center. There are guest speakers every week throughout the winter, and a variety of activities and planned excursions. January 15-21 Steve Herzig January 22-28 Bernard Osborne Jan. 29-Feb. 4 David MacLeod February 5-11 J. Eddie Schwartz February 12-18 Roy Hill February 19-25 Daniel Smith Feb. 26-March 3 James Cochrane March 4-10 Dr. Paul Irwin Park of the Palms 706 Palms Circle Keystone Heights, FL 32656 (352) 473-4926 SINGLES’ SKI RETREAT A Singles’ Ski Retreat hosted by Calvary Bible Chapel is scheduled for February 18-20 in Alamosa, CO. The invited speaker is Richard Bishop. Singles over the age of 18 are invited to attend. Doyle Walstrom (719) 589-5718 CAMP IROQUINA Camp Iroquina in Hallstead, PA has a number of retreats planned for the winter and spring. February 4-6 Jr. High Retreat February 11-13 Sr. High Retreat February 19-21 Family Retreat February 25-27 Jr. High Retreat April 28-30 Men’s Retreat May 5-7 Women’s Retreat John MacPherson (570) 967-2432 Tom Freeman TFREEMAN3@juno.com SE WORKERS’ CONFERENCE The 2000 Southeastern Workers’ Conference is scheduled for Tuesday

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Front Lines and Wednesday, February 22 and 23, 2000 at the Shannon Hills Bible Chapel, 900 W. Vandalia Rd., Greensboro, NC. Speakers will include Steve Hulshizer, Alan Malchuk, T. S. Morgan, Ed Myers, Larry Reeves, Dr. Jon Reimer, Tom Taylor, and Rex Trogdon. Some inhome accommodations are available for the men. To register: Harvey Shelley 6305 Sable Lane Greensboro, NC 27406 (336) 674-3926 Questions: Warren Hylton (706) 868-8252 FLORIDA MISSIONARY CONF. The 49th Annual South Florida Missionary Class Conference is scheduled for February 25-27. The theme will be “What Do Missions Mean to Me in this Millennium?” The sessions are to be held at the Hollywood Bible Chapel (2300 Hollywood Blvd.) The speakers expected are Al Adams, Steve Hulshizer and Frank Burgess. Rahlyn Ramsaran is the new class chairman as Don Gustafson is retiring after some 40 years. Buddy Lowe 5011 Adams St. Hollywood, FL 33021 WINTER CONFERNCE Lord willing, the 13th Annual Winter Conference will be held at Galilean Bible Camp (ON) Feb. 2527, 2000. Harold Summers (BC) will be speaking, Lord willing. James Martin 1761 Rutherglen Cr. Sudbury, ON P3A 2K4 jrm@sympatico.ca www3.sympatico.ca/jrm/wc.htm GRAND RAPIDS CONFERENCE Northwest Gospel Hall (Grand Rapids, MI) plan to host their annual conference March 24-26 with invited

UPLOOK ¥ JANUARY 2000

speakers Mike Attwood and Patrick Long. The meetings will be held at the facilities of White Hills Bible Church (3900 E. Fulton, GR). Accommodations will be provided for out-of-town visitors. Contact: Tim Johnson (616) 791-4179 41st DALLAS AREA CONF. The Dallas area 41st conference is scheduled, DV, for April 14, 15 & 16, 2000. In the will of the Lord, brothers Joe Reese and Boyd Nicholson will be ministering the Word of God. For information, please call Robert Smith at (972) 298-6293. The meetings will be held at the Wheatland Bible Chapel, 1303 W. Wheatland Road, in Duncanville, TX 75116. TORONTO EASTER CONF. A Bible conference sponsored by seven Toronto and area assemblies of believers will be held, DV, at Martingrove Collegiate (Martingrove & Eglinton, Etobicoke, ON) on April 21 and 22. Meetings are scheduled for 2:30 and 6:30 both days, with a special young people’s meeting at 8:00 on Friday, April 21. Supper will be served at 4:30 both days and child care will be provided. The invited speakers are Don Welborn, Bill Yuille and Steve Burnett. Ted Willis (905) 845-0584 CHICAGO AREA CONFERENCE The Chicago area spring conference will be held, Lord willing, April 28-30 at the Palos Hills Christian Assembly (10600 S. 88th Ave., Palos Hills, IL). The speakers expected are Randy Amos, Keith Keiser, and Dr. Joe Mikhael. Special sessions are planned for the children. Contact: Robert Fiebig (708) 448-2552

FAMILY CAMP IN COLORADO Fellowship Family Camp had a good turnout for camp in August. George Farber from Iowa brought good Bible teaching daily. The camp is in a beautiful location at 9,000 feet set at the base of Long’s Peak (14,256 ft.). Camp dates for 2000 are August 13-17. Write: Fellowship Family Camp 2605 14th Ave. Court Greeley, CO 80631 MEETING IN LAND O’ LAKES Believers in Land O’ Lakes, FL (North Tampa area) have been praying about the need for an assembly. In November 1997, a door-to-door evangelistic outreach was held. During the outreach 1,000 homes were visited and hundreds of gospel tracts were distributed. The outreach stirred our hearts further concerning God’s will for an assembly. We were concerned that the assembly should be a work of God, not the result of our own doing. After continuing in prayer and Bible study, it was decided to begin to meet as an assembly. The schedule of meetings for the Land O’ Lakes Bible Chapel are as follows: Sunday—Breaking of Bread at 9:00 AM, Bible Hour at 10:30. Wednesday—Prayer and Bible Study at 7:00 PM. Contact David Dunlap at (813) 996-1053. FELLOWSHIP IN SOUTHPORT A few believers in the coastal area of Southport, NC, have been meeting in a home and would welcome visitors or those already living in the area. Southport is located 30 miles south of Wilmington, NC, and 40 miles north of Myrtle Beach, SC. They are near Boiling Spring Lakes and Oak Island. Contact: Cliff and Mamie Schaefer 1900 Raeford Rd. Southport, NC 28461 (910) 845-3522

Front Lines NEW CORRESPONDENT There is a new correspondent for the Washington (Georgia) Chapel: Peter H. Hoffman PO Box 627 Washington, GA 30673 (706) 678-7212 COMMENDATION Eric and Susanna Hall The saints in Grace Fellowship Bible Chapel in Union, Maine take pleasure in commending Eric and Susanna Hall and family to the Lord’s work. Eric, Susanna, Ethan, Elijah, Hannah, Joanna, Rebekah Sarah, and Malena served together in Papau New Guinea with New Tribes Mission until Eric’s health problems brought them home. The Lord is leading them to establish an orphanage on Cat Island in the Bahamas (Old Bight Mission). Supplies are being provided by the Lord’s people and construction is about to start. The Lord has bless their waiting period on the island with well attended Bible studies (3 meetings per week with the same people) plus Lord’s Day meetings. Billy Skelton The commendation given by Hiawassa Bible Chapel to Billy Skelton for work as director of Camp Horizon, Leesburg, FL, is no longer in effect. His intention at the time of the commendation was to return to secular work in three or four years. This he has done. We join other assemblies in Florida in thanking him for a job well done. He will still be active in summer programs at camp and directing youth work at Hiawassa Bible Chapel. Gerald St. Laurent Gerald has been involved in ministry to the local assembly for several years in both English and French. In recent years, the separating of

Gerald by the Holy Spirit to a work among smaller gatherings in Quebec and the Maritimes has become evident. The Christians gathered to the name of the Lord at Bethany Gospel Chapel (Dartmouth, NS) believe it to be God’s leading to commend him to the grace of God for this service. This does not affect his relationship with his local church, nor does it indicate a recognition of his evident commitment to the service of God. It recognizes a sphere of service to which God has called him, separate from this assembly. TRAVEL TO THE HOLY LAND Travel with believers from the midwest United States to Israel. The ten-day tour, with J. B. Nicholson, Jr. as teacher, is scheduled for March 413, 2000. The US$1995 cost will cover airfare from Chicago to Tel Aviv, double occupancy in first class hotels, two meals a day, tips and taxes. A $150 deposit will secure a registration. Contact: Steve Allan (573) 744-5843 sallank@juno.com ANOTHER HOLY LAND TRIP! Can’t make it at the beginning of March? Then travel with believers from the US and Canada with J. B. Nicholson, Jr. March 18-27, 2000. The US$2395 cost will cover airfare from Seattle to Tel Aviv, double occupancy in first class hotels, two meals a day, tips and taxes. A $150 deposit will secure a registration. Caroline Cairns (616) 456-9166 caroline@uplook.org IRELAND HERITAGE TOUR Mark Kolchin and Mike Attwood will be conducting an 11-day assembly heritage tour, Lord willing from July 3-13, 2000. Places to be visited significant to assembly heritage

include Powerscourt Estate, Trinity College, Dublin and Wicklow, where J. N. Darby ministered as well as other sites. Plans have also been made to meet with the assembly in Cork, plus two days at the Northfield conference in Newcastle, N. Ireland where Joe Reese (ON) is scheduled to speak. Meals and deluxe accommodations each day. Mark Kolchin P. O. Box 305 Lanoka Harbor, NJ 08734 mkolchin@juno.com SERVICE OPPORTUNITY The Chicago Missionary Guest Apartments in Glen Ellyn, Illinois are a ministry of the Chicago Missionary Study Class. The primary purposes of the apartments are to provide a home for Chicago area missionaries home on furlough, and a place to stay for other missionaries passing through the area. There is a current need for a couple to be livein managers of the CMGA. The managers handle hospitality, minor maintenance, yard work and reservations. In return, they occupy one of the four-room apartments, rent free. Anyone interested in more details concerning this opportunity, contact: Bob Marshall (847) 524-6675 or Bill Warke (708) 599-1389 HOMECALL Eleanor Humphrey was called to heaven Oct. 5, 1999. She was living in Straffordville, ON, formerly of Tillsonburg. Eleanor was the daughter of the late John McCormack. The memorial service was held Wednesday, Oct. 20 in Tillsonburg with Gord Naismith officiating. One of Eleanor’s delights in life was showing hospitality to the Lord’s people and many of the Lord’s servants have been blessed by visits to the Humphrey home through the years. Ý

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REPORT by KEVIN SHANTZ

TIME TO RENEW

Have you renewed recently? IMPORTANT! Read this page as if your UPLOOK depended on it! We ask every UPLOOK subscriber to renew their subscription once a year. If you have not done so recently, now is the time to do it. • How your UPLOOK subscription is handled. There is no subscription fee for UPLOOK. It is available free of charge. However for administrative purposes we use a subscription software program to maintain our mailing list. To keep receiving the magazine you need to “Renew” your subscription, reconfirming your desire to receive UPLOOK. When we hear from you, we will extend your subscription for another eleven issues. Each magazine you receive indicates the number of issues you have remaining. Look on the back cover of your magazine (on the mailing envelope if you are not in the USA or Canada). Above your name and address will be a line that reads as follows: 12345 5 Issues left The first number is your customer number. Following that is the number of issues left. If, instead of the above, it reads “Expired,” you are looking at your last issue until we hear from you. • How to Renew? Renewal is easy and there is a variety of ways to do it. The easiest way for you and for us is to use our website. Go to http://www.uplook.org/magazine_uplook/subscribe/

Follow the instructions there and you can be renewed in a few moments. You can also make a donation online, using your credit card if you so choose.

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UPLOOK Magazine Summary of Receipts and Expenditures year ended March 31, 1999 1999 Receipts: Donations received Expenditures: Editorial and pre-press Printing and production Mailing costs & postage Office and overhead Total expenditures Net deficit

1998

$106,746

$93,719

39,471 67,964 34,727 35,157 177,319 $(70,573)

21,744 44,553 22,927 32,235 121,459 $(27,740)

The deficit from UPLOOK is partially offset by a surpluses in other areas of the ministry. The deficit for the organization as a whole for the year ended March 31, 1999 was $22,780. A surplus is expected for the current fiscal year.

If you don’t have access to the web, you can renew by phone, fax, mail or e-mail at the addresses noted on page 3. In each case, be sure to quote your customer number. If you make a donation or place an order, we automatically renew your subscription to UPLOOK. • When to Renew? In the past, we asked all our readers to renew in January. An envelope was included with the January issue for that purpose. Now our reader’s subscriptions expire at dates staggered throughout the year. Thus there is no renewal envelope included with this issue as in the past. Instead you should renew when the number of issues remaining, as indicated on your label, is less than four. We will send out a letter warning you when your subscription is about to expire. It will include a return envelope to facilitate your reply.

• Financial Matters UPLOOK is available to all who request it, free of charge. However producing a monthly magazine is an expensive proposition. A financial summary for the magazine for our last two fiscal years is shown above. Increases in postal rates and the change to a full-color format have pushed costs up significantly. Thus donations are appreciated. We again express our thanks to each one who has contributed in the past year. Gifts above the cost of your magazine make it possible for us to send UPLOOK to prisoners, Christians in the Third World, and missionaries overseas. UPLOOK magazine is only one component of our many ministries. At present, sales from books and other publications help subsidize the magazine. A financial statement for the organization as a whole is available upon request. Ý

W H AT ’ S G O I N G O N ? Congregants dance during the Lord’s Supper, and all persons share in the Eucharist. Many divinities are invoked in the liturgy of St. Gregory. “But it’s one God talking to everyone,” says minister Richard Fabian. —Pulse

d TION on vote ESCRIP R P ssociati D A l a e ic GOO v d e pre nt erican M n intended to m A e th , rminallatio ember 8 gs to te ral legis u e r d d fe f o On Dec g es kin e bill thal dos nue bac ion in th is to conti ribing le v c o s r e p r p on shall .A from inistrati nt to die m a d doctors w ces A o t h n substan ceme nts w r e d ti e fo a ll n p o E l tr on ly il Drug atient scribe c that the ally ill p e to pre in s n m r e c specifies te li help a ’s Death doctor’s drugs to Oregon s e revoke a e and s in u m r n e d un in 1994 ysicia ld h s r p u o te e o w v th t y if Tha Act. roved b suicide. such an was app t h a commit it th w t c te nity A edicine. only sta with Dig tion of m 97—the la 9 u 1 g e r in l ed r federa reaffirm cern ove n o c is There

FROM www.bahai.com: In just over 100 years, the Bahá’í faith has grown from an obscure movement in the Middle East to the second-most widespread of the independent world religions. Embracing people from more than 2,100 ethnic, racial and tribal groups, it is quite likely the most diverse organized body of people on the planet. Its unity challenges prevailing theories about human nature and the prospects for a common future. The Bahá’í faith is an independent world religion. With more than five million adherents residing in over 124,000 localities, Bahá’í is established in 204 countries across the planet. The spiritual principles of Bahá’í affirm its overall purpose—to bring about the oneness of humanity. In cooperation with these same principles, Bahá’ís also believe that there is only one Creator and that the spiritual truth of all religions is the same. From a Bahá’í perspective, the Bahá’í belief is the most recent of the world’s great religions. Their tenets are: the oneness of God, mankind, and religion; the independent investigation of truth; the equality of women and men; har-

mony of science and religion; elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty; universal peace; a world commonwealth of nations; a universal auxiliary language; spiritual solutions to economic problems; and universal education. —www.bahai.com SPIRITUAL HASH While traditional churches in the US contemplate changes, liberal churches have aggressively responded to pluralistic trends. The call for cross-pollination of religion is embraced more by young professionals looking for organized religions that take a “broad view” of God—meaning pastors who marry people of different religions, and are not “straight and narrow.” The Unitarian Universalist Church, Unity and Science of the Mind have benefited. Unity congregations numbered 400 just 15 years ago; today, according to the Wall Street Journal, there are 1,000. In one non-traditional Episcopal Church, St. Gregory in San Francisco, the worship includes the sh’ma, an ancient Jewish prayer from Deuteronomy 6, quiet reflections, and the ringing of cymbals.

GOD’S WORK IN ISRAEL Pray for the House of Hope, a home and school for the blind and handicapped in Bethlehem. The director, Michael David, went home to be with the Lord on November 24. Pray for his wife, Rhoda, and their four children. Rhoda will need strength and wisdom from the Lord as she plans to take over the responsibility for the ministry. In Nazareth, George and Ros Khalil, who run Emmaus Bible School and Book Center report that there has been tension and violence in their town over a land dispute. INDIA’S YOUTH In 15 years, India’s youth (those under the age of 20), will make up 55 percent of the population. These young people are less interested in the ins and outs of politics. They are comfortable with their Indian heritage and with Western ways. The Internet is a big force, observers say. The youths love MTV and are more materialistic and globally informed. While largely nationalistic, some disdain the old, austere values. They have a strong desire to uplift themselves and their families. HANG TEN An Alabama judge who spent four years fighting to keep a plaque of the Ten Commandments in his courtroom now wants to be chief justice of the state Supreme Court. Ray Moore, 52, a two-term circuit judge, kicked off his campaign in his courtroom where his homemade plaque hangs. If elected, he’ll take the plaque to Montgomery. Ý

www.uplook.org ¥ JANUARY 2000

SPECIAL REPORT

Pray for the Dickinsons This Texas family needs intercessory help right now.

d and Despina Dickinson and their family fellowship at Garland Bible Chapel, near Dallas, TX. In September, after a sicknessfilled third trimester, Despina gave birth to their ninth child—a little daughter, Samantha. The delivery was accompanied by devastating news: 36-year-old Despina learned that she had an advanced, aggressive form of cancer that had spread from a lung to her lymph nodes. No operation could help. The doctors gave her six months to live. The Dickinsons’ faith that “this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it” has been a strong testimony in their community and to their friends. It even received media attention from the Dallas Morning News which ran the story on their front cover on Sunday, December 5. The headline read, “A Family’s Faith: Household of 11 Believes Miracle Will Cure Mom’s Inoperable Disease.” The diagnosis, of course, came as a shock. “I don’t think I really comprehended it,” Despina told the newspaper reporter. “It had spread so fast.” Ed agreed that the first shock was the cancer and the next shock was that it was so far advanced. When the Dickinsons first told the children the news of Despina’s disease, one of the boys became angry, kicking the table and yelling, “That’s not fair, that’s not fair.” But the older ones seem to have adopted the faith they have witnessed in their

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Ed and Despina (Nedelcu) Dickinson with their children Crissy (13), Daniel (11), Michael (10), Stephanie (9), Sarah (6), Rachael (5), Thomas (4), Jonathan (2) and Samantha (4 months). parents’ lives. “I know she’s going to get better,” 9-year-old Stephanie assured Mark Wrolstad from the Morning News. Life has changed dramatically for the family since September. Ed has been on family leave from his job since September. With no income, they are relying on the Lord to provide for all of their needs. Folks from Garland Bible Chapel have been sending an unending stream of meals. Despina’s former co-workers bought her an over-stuffed recliner when she was in too much pain to lie down; a corporate donation allowed them to lease a Suburban for a year when the family van gave out; and money from a company familyassistance fund covered a shopping spree and mortgage payments. The community organized a fund-raiser

to help raise money for the children’s education. The source of the Dickinsons’ strength is the Lord and He is receiving the glory from their testimony. Ed says, “There’s a reason for everything God does, and there is a verse we’ve gotten a lot of comfort from: ’All things work together for good for those who love God.’’’ Despina told a friend, “I’m not afraid to die. I know I’m going to a better place. I worry about the children.” Her illness has made her realize how short life is—but they continue to wait for a miracle from the Lord. You may contact the Dickinsons through: Garland Bible Chapel 1420 W Avenue B, Garland, TX 75042 Ý

DON SCHONBERG

MARRIAGE CHECK-UP

Reflections on biblical headship Biblical headship places a premium on companionship.

rs. Edith Schaeffer was once asked how she could stand being married to the same man for 40 years. She answered, “He’s not the same man that I married.” After fifty-two years of marriage, my wife says the same thing about her husband. Both of us, in fact, have changed. One of the areas of change involves our understanding of “headship”—the biblical teaching that the husband is the head of the wife. A young husband once came to me in frustration saying that his bride expected him to be her spiritual leader and teacher. “How can I do that when she knows the Bible better than I do and is qualified to lead and teach me? Yet the Bible says that I am the head of my wife?” (Eph. 5:23) His question leads to several more: Should a mature Christian girl with a good knowledge of the Bible marry only someone she considers to be her spiritual superior? Should a man seek to marry a girl less mature than himself so he can lead and teach her? How can a woman seeking to obey the instruction in 1 Corinthians 14:35 trust the judgment of someone who may know less than she does? Does the teaching about headship even apply today? These questions reflect some of the uncertainty and frustration surrounding the biblical teaching of headship. Over the years I have become increasingly convinced that the proper understanding and practice of headship within marriage is indeed relevant for today and that it does not lead to frustration—but to

peace, harmony, fulfillment, and wonderful flexibility. Biblical headship places a premium on companionship. In the opening pages of the Bible we find the Lord God saying, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (Gen. 2:18, NIV). In the closing pages of the Old Testament, God describes a man’s wife as his companion (Mal. 2:14). A helping companion is a partner, not a servant. This beautiful partnership is illustrated in the New Testament by Aquila and Priscilla. Under the word “Priscilla” my concordance states: “See Aquila.” There is not a single reference in the Bible where they are not mentioned together. We find them making a living together (Acts 18:2-3). They went out as missionaries together (Acts 18:18-19). In a private setting they taught the Word of God together (Acts 18:26). Together they hosted a church that met in their home (1 Cor. 16:19). And together they risked their

lives—“laid down their own necks” to save the life of the Apostle Paul (Rom. 16:3-4). One of the keys to biblical headship is delegated authority. Back in World War II the ship I was on approached a harbor that was unfamiliar to our captain. A small boat came out from the port and a local man offered to guide us in. The captain wisely accepted and this man took over as our pilot, guiding the ship safely into the harbor. Who was in charge of our ship while the local pilot was at the helm? Was it the pilot or the captain? The captain was in charge. Not for a moment did he relinquish his position as head-of-the-ship (headship). He was always responsible for it and would be accountable if anything went wrong. But in his humility and wisdom he delegated authority to one more qualified in a particular area for the welfare of all. Both the Old Testament and New Testament suggest that the frustrated young husband tell his new bride something like this: “Honey, the Bible teaches that I am to function as the captain in our relationship, but we both know that in some areas you have more understanding than I do. You understand the Bible better than I do. You have been a Christian longer than I have. Moreover, you have many natural talents that I lack. As my helper and companion, I want you to teach and assist me in every way you can.” If she comes to him with a question that he cannot answer, he could say, “I don’t know the answer. Will you help me find it? If we can’t find it by ourselves, then

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BIBLICAL HEADSHIP let’s ask someone who does know.” A husband has not given up his headship by asking his wife for help any more than the captain gave up his authority when he received help from the pilot. Are you a young woman entertaining thoughts of marriage? Look for a humble man. Humility is more important than knowledge. No man knows all that he needs to know, but a humble man is willing to learn. Are you a young man thinking about marriage? Seek the most godly, mature partner possible. If God gives you a companion and a helper, let her function as your companion and helper. Do not lord it over her or take advantage of her, but draw her out to become all that

Listen: submission should be the last resort. she can possibly be. Are you a married man who realizes that you have not practiced biblical headship the way you should have practiced it? We cannot undo the past. What is done, is done. Let us humble ourselves before our wives, confessing our faults and resolving with God’s help to do it right from now on. Christ is our head, but He has delegated a great deal of authority to His body, the church. As Christ encourages us to use our gifts and talents to the fullest potential for His kingdom and glory, so we should encourage our wives to use their gifts and talents to the fullest potential within God’s will. We have benefited from this principle of delegated authority in areas that involve the household. One of the requirements for elders and deacons as taught in 1 Timothy 3 is that they rule their households well. However, in 1 Timothy 5:14 the Apostle Paul desires that the women rule their house. This seems to indicate delegated authority with the wife given much freedom in her God-given sphere of the home. In our home my wife is more disciplined than her husband. He recognized this long ago and is very thankful for it. We had family devotions following the evening meal. The new nature in the husband wanted to be regular in this good habit, but sometimes the flesh was weak, maybe tired or forgetful. He encouraged her to help him. When she handed him the Bible it would get him back on track. So between the two, our children, some of them grandparents today, had their

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regular devotions and were blessed. There were times when there was strife between husband and wife. He had the ability to put it out of his mind and go to sleep. She would be laying there wide awake, troubled, thinking of God’s command, “Do not let the sun go down upon your wrath.” So in obedience to the command from a higher authority, she would wake him up to see the trouble resolved. What a helper she has been! The headship of the man was established with creation (1 Cor. 11:3, 8-9). In Genesis 3:16, God states, “Your husband shall rule over you.” This statement was not given to Adam but to Eve. It seems to be a prediction of the subjection that wives would endure as a consequence of the fall. Man’s carnal nature would raise its selfish head and wives would suffer for it. This prediction has been fulfilled throughout the sad history of mankind up to the present day. This treatment of women should not characterize the relationship of husbands and wives who have become new creatures in Christ, who have a new Spirit and a new nature. Our wives are our companions, helpers, and sisters in Christ. In Titus 2:5, Paul instructed the older women to teach the younger women to be obedient to their husbands. A man who wants a female servant might use this verse to lash his wife into servitude, but what does that do to companionship and the sense of being co-workers? Two things need to be said regarding Titus 2:5. First of all, men have no business teaching women to be obedient to their husbands.That is a job for the older women. Secondly, the word for obedience in Titus 2:5 is different from the word used in Ephesians 6:1 where children are instructed to obey their parents. Parents can command their children to do something and discipline them if they don’t, but that is not God’s plan for a husband and wife. The word in Titus 2:5 is the word for submission that occurs in Ephesians 5:22 where wives are told to submit to their husbands. Godly submission is the willing choice to defer to another. Obedience is an act; submission is an attitude. Husbands have no authority to command submission. Only God has that authority. We cannot even refer our wives to Ephesians 5:22 without being reminded of Ephesians 5:21 which commands all of us to submit to one another. The only leverage biblical headship has is the leverage of love. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church, and gave Himself for it” (Eph. 5:25). One of the first things we learn by observing Jesus is that He Himself recognized the divine order and submitted to it. He acknowledged the headship of His heavenly

BIBLICAL HEADSHIP Father. Even as God the Father is the head of Christ, and Christ is the head of man, so man is the head of the woman (1 Cor. 11:3). Man is the head of woman by divine appointment. Headship has nothing to do with intelligence, gift, ability, or maturity. It does not originate with culture but with creation (1 Cor. 11:8). It has to do with being a man. Man is not more free to abandon his post than a woman is to usurp it. The divine order is not our choice. That is one of the first things that Jesus teaches us about headship, and that we must embrace when we become His followers. God’s order, if followed, will eliminate all quarreling, fighting and bitterness. It is a way to resolve all differences when husband and wife have exhausted all avenues for agreement. What are these avenues? 1. Pray together. 2. Respect each other’s intelligence. 3. Honestly listen to each other and each be satisfied they have been heard and understood. If after all this, communication has been kindly and humbly practiced, and there is still no agreement, the husband must make the decision and assume the responsibility. The wife then needs to submit and by faith trust God for the results. If time proves him wrong he will be a little more ready to trust his helper in the future. Regardless of what time reveals, each partner did their part and each has a clear conscience. Listen: submission should be the last resort. What should a godly husband be like? Would you not agree

that if he were just like our Lord Jesus Christ he’d be the perfect head of wife and family? Husbands, should we not regularly ask ourselves, “Am I now considering and dealing with my wife as Jesus would?” To be like the Lord Jesus is so general. It covers so much. How can I get a handle on that ocean of goodness? We could remember His unselfishness, courteousness, helpfulness, kindness, etc. Yet, what characteristic above all others may cover it all in relation to the husband’s headship? As our Lord Jesus came near to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the ancient prophecy from Zechariah was fulfilled, “Behold, your king is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey…” On another occasion He said, “Come unto Me…learn of Me…for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest for your souls” (Mt. 11:28-30). The one spiritual attribute above all that should characterize headship is humility. Humility is also the key to the women’s role of submission. Yes, we have changed in more than 50 years together. We have learned more about companionship and being helpers together. The husband has come to appreciate his wife’s abilities. He can delegate responsibility without giving up his role as head of the wife, but most of all, his wife’s input and concerns are encouraged and considered in decisions. She has peace in knowing she has been heard. Having a better understanding of biblical headship earlier in life could have saved us many tears and regrets. Experience has taught that marriage can be one of companionship and peace, resulting in blessing in the home and honor to God. Ý Don and his wife make their home in Lawrence, KS. He is an elder in the Lawrence Bible Chapel there.

HAVE YOUR CAKE… AND EAT IT, TOO! “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too,” means that you can either find present enjoyment by consuming a temporal blessing or defer that enjoyment and leave the savoring only to your imagination. It’s certainly less fattening that way. But the Christian life gives us both: “Whether…the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours” (1 Cor. 3:22). As Samuel Rutherford said, “Christ possessed by faith here is young heaven and glory in the bud.” www.uplook.org ¥ JANUARY 2000

LIVING ASSEMBLIES

THE SECRET OF THE CHURCH Form follows function in everything God does.

he church is God’s idea. We can’t help but notice the forceful and determined words of the Lord Himself in Matthew 16:18, “I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew has already shown the increasing hostility against Israel’s Messiah. It is at this point we hear of the Lord’s plan that was greater than even His plan with Israel. While not abandoning that nation, He discloses a bigger picture, which the apostles would learn and communicate to us in more detail at a later date. We learn, for instance, that the Church would display the purposes of God (Eph. 3:10-11). There is nothing quite like it in heaven and earth. She would have a scope greater than Israel in that “all the nations of the earth” would be invited to become part of her. Picture after picture is used to help us understand the extent and brilliance of God’s great plan. The Church would be a body—His body, no less! A body with interdependent members all functioning at the direction of the Head, for His glory and in harmony with each other. Paul and Peter show us that the Church is a building composed of something called living stones. The building grows. But the stones grow also. Each stone, fitted together, yet growing and changing more and more like the Headstone and resting on the Cornerstone for a sure foundation (1 Pet. 2:5-7). But the church is not only a body and building. There is the great love factor. This Church is the Bride of Christ. She is the object of His love. Although composed of individuals who see their own defilement and flaws, He has done a work that will finally result in Him presenting a chaste virgin Bride on that glorious wedding day (Rev. 19:6-9). This body is a family as well (Eph. 3:15). Human relations are put to the test. Does the grace of God work in practical ways in human interaction? The Church provides the means of displaying this. They will know we are Christians by our love. The Church is a sanctuary as well (Eph. 2:22). Not a room in a building, but a living reality where the members recognize the need for holiness. Where individuals

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watch and keep themselves separate from the contamination of the world. They would do it by His power. The Church is a field bearing fruit, yielding up the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit in the lives of obedient saints. This field is for God and brings to God what He was entitled from Israel, but did not receive. No wonder Paul prays: “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints…” (Eph. 1:17-18). Undoubtedly saints of other ages will be anxious to know what it was like living in this unprecedented era. They will not be interested in our computers or our cars. They will want to know, “What was it like to have the whole Word of God in your possession, in your own language, and the freedom to read it?” They might ask, “What was it like to be able to offer to all the gospel of grace that they might be saved?” Others will inquire, “What was it like to have the privileges of a priestly ministry? To offer spiritual sacrifices? To offer yourself?” “What was it like,” they will ask, “to enjoy the fellowship, joys and sorrows of fellow believers as you looked for the Lord to return?” Well, what is it like? Do I really have any idea of what God is doing in the local assembly? Or am I distracted by minor irritants of human behavior (that incidentally I display pretty easily myself)? Have I allowed the world’s paltry agenda to take over my life so there is nothing left for the Church? What a privilege to be part of God’s assembly! May the apostle’s prayer be answered in our lives—that we may have the “spirit of wisdom and revelation” to enter into God’s thoughts about this. Our Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of our willing participation in His great idea!

Brian Gunning

DONALD L. NORBIE

NEED A GOOD MAP?

Decisions! How do you find your way from Moab to Bethlehem? from earth to glory?

hat guides your decisions in life? Are you swept along merely by circumstances, or do you find direction in God’s truth? Bethlehem was going through lean times. Bethlehem (“the house of bread”) was held in the grip of a severe drought. It was too dry for the barley and wheat to germinate. The food supply was running low. Sheep and cattle were dying. Elimelech decided to move, along with his wife Naomi and two sons. Moab to the east was having abundant rain and the crops were good. It seemed the logical place to consider. It was, no doubt, difficult to leave friends and relatives and the land where they had worshiped the true and living God. But one had to be practical. Things did not turn out well for the family, however. In Moab Naomi first lost her husband and later both her sons through death. After her bereavement Naomi decided to go to Bethlehem, a broken, discouraged woman. As she entered her hometown, she told her friends, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty” (Ruth 1:20-21, NIV). But her daughter-in-law, Ruth, was committed to her, accompanying her to Bethlehem. Once again Naomi was home in a land where the true and living God was worshiped. Now God could bless her again in the land. God had told Israel that this land they were to inherit was unlike

Egypt. In Egypt they watered their fields from the Nile by irrigation. They could control the flow of water (Deut. 11:10). But, said God, “The land you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water of the rain of heaven: a land for which the Lord your God cares…” (Deut. 11:11-12). Then followed a warning: “And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God, serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season…” (vv. 13-14). A drought would indicate God’s displeasure with the people; it would be an obvious act of His discipline.

What should God’s people do at such a time of drought? The Lord told Solomon, “When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:13-14). Israel was not to leave the land, seeking to avoid the discipline of God. They were to allow the difficulties of life to exercise their hearts toward repentance. David later wrote, “Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and feed on

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DECISIONS! His faithfulness” (Ps. 37:3). There is a lesson here for God’s people today. Are things lean and barren in your local fellowship? Is it a time of spiritual drought? Are few souls being saved? Be careful about leaving the gathering of God’s people. Instead of leaving the assembly, turn to God in earnest prayer. Confess any sins and right any wrongs that you can. Be sure to do all you can to see there is a spirit of love and harmony among the Christians. This is vital if we want to enjoy God’s blessing (see Ps. 133). Then begin again to witness fervently for the Lord

Jesus. God is able once more to send showers of blessing. Beware of leaving Bethlehem for Moab. Remember the costly choice made by Elimelech. And remember Boaz. He stayed and submitted to the chastening hand of God. When Naomi returned to Judah, he was the richest man in the countryside. Ý Donald Norbie and his wife make their home in Greeley, Colorado. Don is involved in writing, preaching, prison work, and in the local church.

Just how good is the Good

Book?

od’s Word is indestructible. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away” (Mt. 24:35). Every conceivable effort has been made to destroy the Bible. Copies have been burned in huge bonfires; edicts have been issued against circulating it and reading it; critics have tried to pick flaws on virtually every page of it. Yet with each passing year it circulates more widely. The number of languages in which one or more of its books has been published has now passed the 2,000 mark.

he Bible is invincible. “My word…shall not return unto Me void” (Isa. 55:11). Its message is for all of mankind without regard to race or region, class or culture. Multitudes will continue to resist it because they will not give up their sinful ways, but it will continue to work its miracles of grace in the lives of that growing host of people who accept it. The Bible has never disappointed anyone who trusted in it: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth…” (Rom. 1:16).

H A

is Book is also indispensable. “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (Jn. 6:63). The Bible alone opens the way to God. The emptiness and frustration of men who reject it is eloquent testimony to that fact. Even unbelievers prove the Bible to be true!

nd it is inexhaustible. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” (Rom. 11:33). Devout scholars who have given their lives to the study of the Bible find it still yielding nuggets of truth as rich as those they found when they began. The saints of all ages have read and reread the Bible with increasing profit to themselves and to those whom they influenced (see 1 Tim. 4:15-16). —ALLEN BOWMAN

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HEROES

THE COVENANTERS Rugged minstrels of the martyr’s song.

o country was so transformed by the Reformation as was Scotland. Before the mid-1500s, Roman Catholicism was the official church there. Two years before John Knox returned from Geneva, certain men did “band thame selfis” to maintain “the trew preaching of the Evangell of Jesus Christ.” Scotland’s long, hard struggle with England in the 1500s and 1600s produced the Scottish patriot-believers known as Covenanters. Admittedly, some of their concerns were nationalistic, but they also voiced issues that touched foundation truths of Christianity. Their covenants were pledges to recognize no supreme ruler of the Church but Christ, to reject popery, and to resist any form of church government but elder rule. In 1567, Mary of Scots, a Catholic, was forced to give up the Scottish throne in favor of her infant son, James VI. She fled to England but was captured and imprisoned. In 1581, the first important covenant was signed, opposing efforts to restore Roman Catholicism to Scotland. Elizabeth I had Mary executed in 1587. When Elizabeth died in 1603, her cousin, James VI of Scotland, inherited the English throne. He moved to London, took the title of James I (of King James Version fame), and ruled Scotland and England. James had been raised as a Protestant, and so the Presbyterian Church was given recognition during his reign. James’ son, Charles I, ascended the throne in 1625. He restored the same policies as Elizabeth, trying to force the Episcopacy on the Scots. In reaction to this, a group of Scotsmen drew up the National Covenant of 1638, pledging to keep the Church of Scotland separate from the State. A majority of the people pledged themselves to support Presbyterian church government. In 1642, English Puritans led by Oliver Cromwell turned against Charles, and civil war broke out in England. The Scottish Covenanters supported Cromwell and the Puritans. In 1643, the Church of Scotland and the English Parliament signed The Solemn League and Covenant, establishing religious freedom in Scotland, England, and Ireland. When the tide turned in favor of the Puritans, Charles fled to Scotland. The Covenanters

captured him and turned him over to the Puritans, who beheaded Charles in 1649, making Cromwell England’s supreme ruler. After the death of Charles, the Scots persuaded his fugitive son (later Charles II), to agree to the National Covenant. They then defied Cromwell and declared Charles II king. But Cromwell defeated Charles’ forces in the Battle of Dunbar in 1650. Cromwell’s death cleared the way for the restoration of the monarchy. Charles II became king in 1660. But in 1661, Charles repudiated the Covenant. James Guthrie was arrested for adhering to it. Guthrie’s two children, Sophia and William, came to see him in The death of jail. He propped his five-year-old on his John Brown lap and said, “Willie, the day will come when they will cast up to you that your father was hanged. But be not thou ashamed, lad. It is in a good cause.” After the execution, they severed his head and impaled it on a pike above the Netherbow in Edinburgh where the throngs would see it. In the coming years many more of the Lord’s own would be added to the honor roll of martyrs whose heads and hands were displayed there. They have set his head on the Netherbow, To scorch in the summer air; And months go by, and the winter’s snow Falls white on its thin, grey hair. And still that same look that in death he wore Is sealed on the solemn brow— A look as of one who had travailed sore, But whose pangs were ended now. —H. Stuart Menteith, Lays of the Kirk and Covenant Willie often saw that skull. It was there for 27 years until a young Covenanter, Sandie Hamilton, imperiled his life to climb up and take it away for a proper burial. That same year Samuel Rutherford’s book, Lex Rex (The Law is Over the King), was publicly burned and he was summoned to appear in court. But he died before being arrested. Had he lived, the probable outcome would have been execution. Rutherford is chiefly remembered for his letters, about 365 being in print. Some of his most memorable lines were woven into the www.uplook.org ¥ JANUARY 2000

THE COVENANTERS hymn, “Immanuel’s Land” by Anne Ross Cousin. He called himself “a man often borne down and hungry, and waiting for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.” By 1663, the Ejectment Act prohibited about 400 preachers from freely proclaiming the truth. Some preachers resorted to secret conventicles—preaching meetings in the open air. The attempt to limit these conventicles commenced a period of severe persecution. The first armed resistance, the Pentland Rising, came in 1666. While attempting to wring fines out of an old man by torture, the soldiers were seized and disarmed. The leaders found popular support in the south but when they moved toward Edinburgh, that support disappeared. They were defeated at Rullion Green. Those captured were hanged. But some government leaders sympathized with the movement. An indulgence was issued in 1669 and the persecution almost ceased. But in 1670 “field meetings” were again denounced as treasonous acts and preaching at such a meeting became a capital offense. Archbishop James Sharp was the most conspicuous persecutor of his time until his assassination in 1679. Then Graham of Claverhouse stepped in to suppress the resisters. In a skirmish at Drumclog, “Bloody Clavers” fled in defeat. But soon after, at the battle of Bothwell Brig, 15,000 government troops utterly routed four thousand Covenanters. In 1680, a band of Covenanters was attacked and defeated at Ayrsmoss. Seeing the dragoons coming, Richard Cameron, the “Lion of the Covenant,” prayed God to “spare the green and take the ripe.” Cameron and John Fowler were slain. Some prisoners were taken to Edinburgh and executed. In July of 1681, Donald Cargill and four others were hanged from one gibbet at the Edinburgh Cross. Their heads were added above the Netherbow. His story and many others can be read with profit in Fair Sunshine by Jock Purves (available from Gospel Folio, see inside back page for ordering information). Strictly speaking, 1684 and 1685 were the “Killing Times” when the hottest persecutions occurred. Charles II died in 1685 and James II ascended the throne. The slaughter continued. In May 1685, at point-blank range, Claverhouse executed John Brown in the presence of John’s two children and young wife, Isabel. When asked by the heartless Clavers what she thought of her husband now, Isabel replied, “I ever thought much good of him, and more than ever now.” That April in Wigtown, Margaret MacLachlan, aged seventy, and Margaret Wilson, aged eighteen, were sentenced to drown. They were tied to stakes at low tide in the Solway Firth by the mouth of the Blednoch Burn

UPLOOK ¥ JANUARY 2000

which fills from the sea when the tide comes in. After watching Margaret MacLachlan drown, the younger Margaret was heard singing the metrical Psalm 25. That December, John Nisbet stood on the gallows in Edinburgh Grassmarket and preached to his audience from Romans 8, prayed before them, and then sang the first six verses of Psalm 34. He then died for his Lord. After 23 years of wandering mountains and moors as a fugitive, Alexander Peden, one of the great preachers of the Covenant, eluded the hangman and died in his bed in 1868. James Renwick was the last covenanter to be publicly executed. An anonymous biographer wrote, “His martyrdom was at the Grassmarket of Edinburgh on 17 February 1688. He was then twenty-six years old. He was lovely and pleasant in his life, and he obtained such a good report at his death as will make his memory sweet and savoury to the generations of the righteous while sun and moon endure.” In 1689, William III of Orange landed in England, heralding religious freedom for the Scottish kirk. Two great issues concerned the Covenanters. First, was the earthly sovereign head of the Church, or was Jesus Christ? The Covenanters saw that the Church of England had openly divested the Son of God of His headship. A small thing? Men suffered the thumbscrew, iron boot, and chopping block over these words. Second, they would not submit to using the Church of England’s prayer book when they detected the scent of papal doctrines in it. Some Covenanters felt justified in bearing arms in that grim day, but not all. What carnal weapons could not do, the spiritual weapons of prayer and the Word did, to the pulling down of strongholds. We honor these sturdy saints who maintained their profession in the face of such persecutions. In that small land, 672 Scots Covenanters suffered martyrdom. Thousands more were tortured, imprisoned, and banished. They lived unknown Till persecution dragged them into fame, And chased them up to heaven. John Bjorlie MATERIAL FOR THIS ARTICLE TAKEN FROM: Gilfillan, George, Martyrs and Heroes of the Scottish Covenant, 1852 Howie, John, The Scots Worthies, 1848 M’Gavin, William, The Dying Testimonies of Scots Worthies Purves, Jock, Fair Sunshine, 1968 Smellie, Alexander, Men of the Covenant, 1911 Walker, Patrick, Six Saints of the Covenants, 2 vols., 1724-32

A. C. ROSE

DARE TO THINK

CHRISTIAN EFFICIENCY Need power and light for the days ahead?

aul, writing to Philemon, wished that the communication of his friend’s faith might become efficient by the full knowledge of every good thing that was in him in Christ Jesus (v. 6). There was evidently a danger of inefficiency, through ignorance of his spiritual inheritance. This incident gives rise to the question: Is efficiency the characteristic of our lives and of our assemblies? It will be agreed that, with an enthroned Saviour, an indwelling Spirit, and an inspired Scripture, we are without excuse. An analogy may be found in the dismal state of affairs prevailing in Haggai’s day, when there were abundant sowings, but scanty harvests; great feasts, but no satisfaction; much clothing, but little warmth; and hard-earned wages disappeared into a hole-ridden bag. We are the heirs of the ages of experience, but have we possessed our possessions or learned our simple line-upon-line lessons? The strenuous nature of our earthly occupations is increasingly apparent. Haphazard business methods have given place to systems of ruthless efficiency in view of the inevitable statement of profit and loss. Since this need is felt among mere shadows cast on the shifting state of time, how much more urgent should it be with us who deal in the realities of eternity! Do we not sanction practices in our assembly which we would count disgraceful in our business, practices which must result in shame and loss at the judgment? We have taken high ground and inherited noble traditions, but these rare gifts must dissolve into dust and ashes unless a living faith keeps them clean and virile. The suggestion is ventured that a faulty faith is responsible, with the consequent failure to appropriate personally all that has been so dearly secured to us by the past and present work of our Lord Jesus Christ. In short, the righteous have not lived by faith, they have merely existed. The initial process of regeneration has not developed into an abiding principle. Infancy has not given place to adolescence, much less to full-statured manhood. The history of the Christ, cramped by unbelief at Capernaum, is paralleled by the mystery of the Spirit hindered by the same fatal tendency in our midst. What is the remedy? A revival of a deep-rooted, quiet faith, faith daring but pre-eminently enduring.

Faith resting, not even on the best apologetics, but in the reality of an efficient, expectant Lord. Faith nourished by the effectual Word, exercised by effectual prayer. The result? Lives devoted and developing from faith to faith, from strength to strength, from glory to glory. We may go to the New Testament for our principles and to the Old for our pictures. In the Ephesian letter the discerning eye looks into the very springs of divine efficiency. The word chosen by the Holy Spirit as the channel of His thought is that from which we derive our word “energy” (energees). The modern physicist’s unit of work is the erg. In Ephesians 1:11, we are taken back to the eternal councils, to His presence who “effectually works all things according to the council of His own will,” and that will decreed that the ruined potsherds of the earth should be to the praise of His glory. Then a tremendous step lands us, from the light unapproachable into the twilight dawn of a human day to witness “the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe according to the energy of the strength of His might which He effectually wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead…And you who were dead…quickened, together with Christ…raised up together…made to sit together” (Eph. 1:18-20; 2:1-6, Newberry). The standard of heavenly energy is forever established when the Man who sank under the world-weight of sin is raised from dishonored death to the throne of sovereign glory. This standard abides today, and has its trustee in every saved soul. But nothing less than the limitless energy of the Father would serve to empty the grave and fill the throne; nothing less would suffice for the digging of one sinner from the horrible pit to be accepted in the Beloved and sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise. Nor has anything less been provided for our pilgrim needs. The same exhaustless stream invites our priestly vessels for cleansing and overflow. What shall we then say to these things in view of the present distress? What shall we do in view of coming www.uplook.org ¥ JANUARY 2000

CHRISTIAN EFFICIENCY judgment by the supreme standards of grace? The expression of His regnant purpose and the exhibition of His resurrection power at the commencement of the letter are followed by an example in the person of the inspired penman himself, as he explains his position as guardian of the sacred secrets which he risked life to share with his friends. “I was made a minister according to the grace of God given unto me according to the effectual working of His power, unto me who am less than the least of all saints” (Eph. 3:7-8). The divine energy had short-circuited the persecutor’s path and transformed the high caste Pharisee into the menial servant of the Man of Galilee. His task henceforth: the honoring of the Head and the edifying of the body. Ours is a slow, sure resurrection, not from vicarious death and an uncorrupt sepulcher all fragrant with spices, but Lazarus-like from repulsive graves where death had reigned so long, unchallenged—the king of terrors. To be stripped of grave clothes, taught the manners of the Heavenlies, conformed to the likeness of the Head, and enabled for witness—these were pressing needs at Ephesus, as now with us. Nothing but a continuance of the original energy will do it. Specious substitutes abounded, making a fair show in the flesh and demanding a witness blended with warning against all secondary sources. The supremacy and sufficiency of the risen Lord was the double secret of efficiency. “Grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of each one part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4:15-16). Here is the ideal of the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, and therefore the ideal for every believer. This model of efficiency in all its unspoiled beauty, does it not challenge us? How it humbles us, “till we all attain unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). All this is graphically set out in the experiences of Ezekiel. The Voice He Heard (Ezek. 1:24): The sound of wings like the noise of great waters accompanying a display of angelic majesty left him amazed yet unbowed. But when the restless wheels and wings were stilled, see Ezekiel on his face, for the succeeding silence was broken by a voice of human speech proceeding from the sapphire throne, the throne of the Eternal, occupied by the appearance of a Man in radiant apparel. Then the lowly servant learned how inscrutable wisdom had passed by sinless cherubim, the acme of

22 UPLOOK ¥ JANUARY 2000

heavenly efficiency, to choose him as the messenger of a forlorn hope. So the missionary received his marching orders and entered upon that war in which there is no discharge, his very name publishing his personal weakness, and his sure sufficiency—“God will strengthen.” If we should be moved to envy such a commission, recall that never in the highest reaches of his prophetic flight could he have attained to what has become almost commonplace with us—herald of a coming King; that his Man of the throne should be our Man of the Cross; those high glories exchanged for the dreadful glooms of Golgotha; that private glimpse and awe-struck worship for the derisive stare and scorn of the mob; the word of power for the exceeding bitter cry of One tasting death for all. The days of despair, the dawn of hope and the Easter music of the same voice saying, “As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.” The Victim He Became (Chs. 4, 24): Called with such a calling, Ezekiel is henceforth a man under authority. Time and again he is on his face in the place of subjection and victory. The apparent whim of his Master is his rigid law as he becomes a living warning and entreaty to his people. There is his body, refused the common decencies of manhood, laid in the insanitary dust of an Eastern city. His household stuff is claimed, and men look on the messenger of the Lord of hosts playing the porter and mason. It was not enough that his body should be afflicted to prove his humility, or that his goods should be taken to prove his sincerity. The wife of his heart was taken with a stroke, and he was refused the mere comfort of tears. So he moved among the people with dry eyes and unfaltering lip, bearing the sign of his God. Are such victims needed today to pay the uttermost farthing of the price of efficiency? “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God...” The Vision He Saw (Ezek. 47): Ezekiel saw waters from under the threshold of the house, flowing past the south side of the altar, and out towards the sunrising, picture and pledge of the boundless purposes of God for Ezekiel and all who follow in his train. What a contrast to the insignificant Chebar which was probably only a man-made canal, long since erased by the desert’s drifting sand. “Oh, that thou hadst hearkened unto Me! Then had thy peace been like a river and thy righteousness as the mighty waves of the sea.” Deeper and ever deeper and wider flowed the healing flood, in its beauty, fruitfulness, and healing properties—the model of spiritual efficiency. “And everything whithersoever the rivers shall come shall live ... because their waters issued out of the holy place” (Ezek. 37:9-12). “Out of his inner-Ý

FOR 1998-1999

Uplook article index With our appreciation to the writers, and our thanks to the Lord. 127 Years Ago A Bite at My Heart A Brief Church History at a Glance A Hard Lesson to Learn A Hunger for Souls A Look at the West A Man of Substance A Non-Evangelist on Evangelism A Picture Gallery Par Excellence A Reasoned Response A Song for the King A Sweet Aroma A Window of Opportunity Age of Ages Agreement, The Am I Teachable? Anointed to Serve As It Happened At Hell’s Gates Aunt Elsie and the Gederite Awful Choice, The Baptism: a Matter of Obedience Be Informed Be Subtle. Like a Trumpet. Beautiful Feet Beholding Him Being Received into Fellowship Big Question, The Body’s Sacrifice Bone of His Bone Book and a Tract, The Born by the Railroad Tracks Born on the Mission Field Building on Tradition Buildings But God… But It Was Just a Seed! C. F. Hogg C. J. Baker Campus Outreach Can the Lord Use...Me? Carpenter’s Workshop, The Changing Face of Missions, The Christ’s Impeccability Christ-Centered Ministry Christ: the Believer’s Rule of Life Christ the Perfect Man Church Truth in the Dock Cities to Weep and Pray Over Civic Gospel? The Code Name: Confusion Compassion for the Lost Complement or Competition? Complete Deliverance from Sin Conference Notes Congratulations, You’re a Father! Connecting the Dots Consider the Lilies Construction Area Construction of a Sheepfold Corban Corpus Christi Countdown to Reality Cuba: The Last Bastion Cultural War, The Danger! David: the Youngest Death of Art Farstad Devil’s Trapline, The Diminutives Discipline in the Local Church Dislocated Saints Dispensations in Church History Distinguishing Things that Differ

Nicholson Nicholson Compiled Laidlaw Harvey Norbie Anderson Abigail Nicholson Shantz Rainey Landis Brown Dunlap Watson Kolchin Jennings Cairns Nicholson Wesley Gunning Bjorlie Anonymous Brown Meyer Gunning Thomas Anonymous Nicholson Bowles Nicholson Nicholson Norbie Anderson Anonymous Anonymous Bjorlie Bjorlie Soderling Anonymous Heller Robinson Martin Martin Dunlap Mackintosh Martin Staff Report Anonymous Hunt Anonymous Bjorlie Mackintosh Compiled Gunning Fitzhugh Landis Price Aceti Bjorlie Nicholson Nicholson Adams Dunlap Gunning Funston Anonymous Nicholson Willis Gunning Gustafson Dunlap MacDonald

J. B., Jr. J. B., Jr. John Shannon Donald L. Stephen Shawn J. B., Jr. Kevin Les John Robert T. David Derek Mark F.C. Caroline J. Boyd, Sr. Charles Brian John Robert F. B. Brian Michael J. B., Jr., Mike J. B., Jr., J. B., Jr. Donald L. Colin F. John A. John A. Peter John Samuel E. James James David C. H. James David John A. C. H. Brian Michael John Steve Dr. Peter John A. J. B., Jr. J. B., Jr. John David Brian Craig J. B., Jr. G. C. Brian William H. David William

Feb-Mar June October November August December May April April June July January December December July November February August June May November June January August August September December August May June June October December October Feb-Mar May May September April November May August December November June July-Aug April January April May Feb-Mar December December November Feb-Mar July January September December Feb-Mar January June April April August October May October November May November November July-Aug July-Aug

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Divine Appointments Divine Healing Do You Have a Sweet Tooth? Doctrinal Preaching Donald Munro Donald Ross Double Trouble Ears to Hear Edward Perronet Emblems of Immanuel End of the World, The Eternity of God, The Evangelical Revivals/Lord’s Supper Evangelism and the Local Church Evangelize Expanding Our Horizons Expository Preaching Failure Should Breed Compassion Father’s House, The Fear Not, Little Flock Fellowship with the Father Final Checklist, The Firstborn Fishing with a Giant Net For Love of a Soul For the Birds Forgiven Much Found in an Old Book Four Mysteries Geometry of a Circle, The Get It Straight Giving a Hand...to Whom? Giving Away the Bride God of All Comfort, The God Spoke to Michel God Works in Grand Forks God’s Great Idea God’s Sovereignty in Action God’s World Gospel Meeting in Istanbul? Grand Forks at the Crossroads Grave New World? Great Expectations? Greening of Eire, The Growing up in the Sault Health Food Heart of the Gospel Heaven’s Lovely Man Henry Moorhouse Hidden Years of Christ, The His Story His Times, Our Times Honduras Aid Update Hoodlums Spread the Gospel House of God: A Metaphor House of God: in Reality How are They Doing in Little Rock How Big are the Little Things? How God Puts our Sins Away How God Treats Sin Human Body Hurley Dixon I Don’t Care For Daisies, Either I Know My Redeemer Lives If God is Our Father If You Are Going, Lord Willing Illuminating Living Immanuel: the Virgin’s Son Impact Toronto Imported China Dolls In His Thoughts In Praise of Learning In the Birthing Room Indispensable Factors

Henderson Warren Torrey R. A. Anonymous Dunlap David Bjorlie John A. Bjorlie John A. Compiled Fitzhugh Michael Bjorlie John A. Watts Isaac Miller Andrew Dunlap David Dunlap David Gunning Brian Compiled Nicholson J. B., Jr. Yuille William Norbie Donald L. Boston Globe Rainey W. Ross Nicholson J. Boyd, Sr. Gunning Brian Boyd John Tan Ernie Nicholson J. B., Jr. Havner Vance Stone Samuel John Cordle Richard Nicholson J. B. Jr. Nicholson J. B. Jr. Gall James Bible Nicholson J. B., Jr. Gustafson Bill Walker Dennis Clark Gary Gunning Brian Nicholson J. B., Jr. Harlow R. E. Bristow George Clark Gary Nicholson J. B., Jr. Nicholson J. B., Jr. Burnett W. H. Anonymous Gunning Brian Burnett W. H. Compiled Bjorlie John Anderson Stephen L. Compiled Short A. Rendle Staff Tan Ernie Gustafson William Price Larry Heller John Kolchin Mark M’Kendrick James Mawson J. T. Compiled Dixon Hurley Nicholson J. B., Jr. Armstrong Jonathan Smith H.W. Anonymous Nicholson J. B., Jr. Martin Alfred Cuthill Shawn Henderson Warren Finlay Dawn Norbie Donald L. Barinowski Joyce Showers Renald

August May June September July June March November October February October January April August August September Feb-Mar September July June July January September December August July November January May April October March October July January October January October April May September December December December February April October Feb-Mar April June October February January February June June November May October November May August November September July April June February September December May November August July-Aug

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1998 1999 1998 1998 1998 1998 1999 1999 1999 1999 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 1999 1998 1998 1998 1999 1998 1998 1999 1999 1998 1998 1998 1998 1999 1998 1999 1999 1998 1998 1999 1998 1999 1999 1999 1999 1998 1999 1999 1999 1999 1999 1999 1998 1999 1998 1998 1999 1999 1999 1999 1999 1998 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 1999 1998 1998 1999 1999 1998 1998 1999 1999 1998 1999

UPLOOK INDEX

Inter-Assembly Co-operation Is It Worth Praying for the Lost? Is There a Pattern? Is There an Eternal Hell? Isaiah: Salvation of Yahweh Isaiah: the Historical Backdrop Isaiah: the Old Testament Evangelist It’s Free J. G. Bellet Jesus Celebrated Hannukah John Foxe John Hambleton John Spreeman Kite and its String, The Knock, Knock Lamp, The Learn of Me Let Me Explain Let the Little Children Come Life of Christ Lingering on the Brink Little Babe at Bethlehem Little but Wise Little is Much When God is in it Little People? Little Rock Update Living Bread, The Lonely Voices Crying in the City Long Range Weather Predictions Lordian Feast, The Love Love and the Local Church Love by Association Love in Transit Love is... Loyal Love Major Investment Opportunity Maldives, The Man on the Center Tree Masterful Charge Messiah on Display Midwest Report Miracles of Christ Mitch Devastates Honduras More Campus Outreach More than a Prophet Most Lovely Life Multiple Names & Titles of the Lord Murder of Graham Staines My Brother’s Keeper My Father’s House New Testament Life News from Northfield Nicodemus: a Case Study Ninety and Nine Nobody’s Interested, Are They? Now What? O, India O-O! The Humbling of Man On Time One Man, One Vote Origin of Sin, The Origins of the Scofield Bible Other John Smith, The Other Publisher, The Our Place in History Our Standing in Christ Outreach in Ocala, FL Panic Attack 2000 Parables of Christ Peacemakers Penalty of Sin, The Pillar Power Poets Dilemma, The Portraits of the Church Practical Matters of Worship Praise the Father Progressive Dispensationalism Project Jamaica Ravaged by Hurricane Georges Raymund Lull Real Snake Handling...

Gunning Brian Jordan Joyce Dunlap David Norbie Donald L. Compiled Short A. Rendle Compiled Legros Craig Bjorlie John A. Franz Gordon Bjorlie John A. Bjorlie John A. Anonymous Newton John Dunlap David Anonymous Henderson Warren Anonymous Schwertfeger Dr. Ruth Maps LeBlanc Dennis Clarke Anne Van Ryn August Anonymous Nicholson J. B., Jr. Anonymous Bernard of Clairvaux Schroeder Chris Harlow R. E. Sheridan Liddon Compiled Gunning Brian Compiled Anonymous Rae B. Allen Norbie Donald L. Compiled Anonymous Nicholson J. B., Jr. Dunlap David Nicholson J. B., Jr. Bjorlie John A. Chart Anonymous Bjorlie John A. Shoyombo Jammy Anonymous Nicholson J. B., Jr. Staff Report Gunning Brian Nicholson J. B. Jr. Gunning Brian Nicholson J. B., Jr. Mackintosh C. H. Anonymous Nicholson J. B., Jr. Anonymous Varghese Sam Nicholson J. B., Jr. Milton John Gunning Brian Dunlap David Dunlap David Nicholson J. B., Jr. Staff Report Gunning Brian Dunlap David Dunlap David Nicholson J. B. Jr. Chart Carter E. J. Millar David Nicholson J. B., Jr. Nicholson J. Boyd, Sr. Fleming Peter J. Gunning Brian Cockburn-Campbell, M. Dunlap David Anonymous Anonymous Bjorlie John A. Nicholson J. B., Jr.

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February September January November February February February August July-Aug October November May January November April June September April August September March May May May May April June April December April September September September April September July Feb-Mar October May July-Aug February December September December December June September Feb-Mar March November July July-Aug September November July December August April January October April November July-Aug July October October October June January September Feb-Mar November June January June June April July-Aug November November March November

1999 1998 1998 1998 1999 1999 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 1999 1998 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1998 1999 1999 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 1999 1999 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 1999 1999 1999 1998 1999 1998 1998 1999 1999 1998 1999 1999 1998 1999 1999 1999 1998 1998 1998 1999 1999 1998 1998 1998 1999 1998 1998 1998 1999 1999 1999 1999 1998 1998 1999 1999 1999 1998 1998 1999 1998 1998 1999 1998

Rebuilding Grand Forks Religious Ritual Remember Renew or be Blue Renew! Report from L.A. Reproaches of Christ Revelation Revive Us Again Rizpah Romance, a Rent Lion and a Riddle Salvation is of the Lord Saved...From What? Saviours, The Search for God’s Design, The Secret of Power, The Secret of the Broken Box Seen from the Outside Seven Keys to Wise Investing Silence of God Sin and its Solution So Great Salvation Some Prayer Closet Sparks in Kentucky Standing on Their Shoulders Storm the Ramparts! Strategy of the Enemy, The Stundists Suffering Church Today Supping with Him Sweet Water Spring Swept away in a Moment Taking You for a Ride Teen Challenge Testimonies Today Testimony That’s Impossible There is One Body This is My Father This Was No Game Tick Talk Time and Then Eternity Time Management Time of Great Trouble To the Jew First To Walk with God To What Church Do You Belong? Tools of the Trade Toronto Blessing Tree, The Two Crews: On which Crew are You? Two Meals a Week Ultra Dispensationalism Unforgettable Unique Uniqueness of Christ, The Unknown, Yet Well Known Vessels of Honor Victor and the Vanquished. The Vindicated at Last We Only Have Today Weep for the Balkans Again Whachyagointadoaboudit? What Does the Father Do…? What Will it Matter? What’s Wrong With This Picture? Who Cares When Saints Suffer? Who Really Writes Church History? Who Were the Fathers? Why He Came the First Time Why the Tribulation? Why? Will the Church Go Through It? Witnessing to Catholics Wonderfully Made Work in Quebec, The World-wide Search, The Y2K Bug Explained Y2K-Is This the Time? Y2KAOS? How Do We Respond? Young People Testify Your Father

Anonymous Dunlap Gunning Staff Report Staff Report Yarrall Dunlap Chart Compiled Waller Rainey Smith Norbie Waller Rogers Westwood Zwall Mace Burnett Anderson Compiled Chart Poe Sparks Bjorlie Anonymous Kolchin Bjorlie Staff Report Compiled Nicholson Anonymous Bjorlie Howell Gaynier Ford Tozer Compiled Harlow McIntee Gunning Compiled Gordon Thiessen Anonymous Nicholson Anderson Nicholson Cuthill Nicholson Gunning Anonymous Ironside McKinney Nicholson Fitzhugh Bjorlie Staff Report Macduff Meyer Dickenson Compiled Nicholson Nicholson Anonymous Nicholson Nicholson Nicholson Rainey Scripture Harlow McCheyne Atkins Attwood Brand Cox Smith Shantz MacDonald Shantz Compiled Anonymous

David Brian Richard David C. H. W. Ross John Donald L. C. H. Jeff Tom Ruth Gibbs Alfred W. H. Sir Robert Jim Jim John A. Mark John A. J. B., Jr. John A. William Vickie Brook A. W. R. E. Ross Brian Fred Henry J. Boyd, Sr. J. S. J. B., Jr. Shawn J. B., Jr. Brian H. A. Kay J. B., Jr. Mike John A. J. R. F. B. Mary Lowe J. B., Jr. J. B., Jr. J. B., Jr. J. B., Jr. J. B., Jr. W. Ross R. E. Robert M. A. J. Mike Dr. Paul Donald Daniel Kevin William Kevin

July May May January January June March December April September June July October June January May September April January May November October January January December June November February March April April September January October August August April January July October December January January March August July January August November September Feb-Mar Feb-Mar July-Aug August September December October July-Aug June February January May Feb-Mar July May June March October October December March November March December May December April January December January October July

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LO O K AT B O O KS

Who loves Muslims? The Lord does, of course. And you?

ven if you don’t know the actual statistics, you see the trend. Islam, religion of the False Prophet, is on the rise around the world. It has inundated Indonesia, stirred the passions of thirty or more nations in the Middle East, is flooding into Western Europe, and may be constructing a mosque in your neighborhood at this very moment. Paul and Carol Bramsen love Muslims, and have served the Lord among the Muslim Wolof people in Senegal, West Africa, since 1991. One of their more effective and widespread ministries has been through radio. One of the fruits of that labor, free for the plucking by others with a heart for Muslims, is the recently released book, The Way of Righteousness. This substantial 544page volume is attractively produced with a full-color cover. But it’s what is inside that counts. As Paul writes: The Way of Righteousness (TWOR) is an English translation of one hundred 15-minute radio programs which I first wrote in the Wolof language for the Muslims of Senegal, West Africa. With Islam’s perspective of God, man, and salvation in mind, TWOR chronologically presents the key stories and central message of God’s prophets. All one hundred programs are interconnected, yet each stands alone— challenging the listener to consider God’s way of righteousness. Several lessons are adapted from Trevor McIlwain’s effective chronological series, Firm Foundations.

The author suggests that the book has a two-fold purpose: first, for Muslim readers, written simply, biblically, lovingly, and wisely for a reader of this faith; second, for translation into other languages for radio (or video) broadcast. I would add a third. I’m reading the book to get a better grasp of the Muslim mindset (I meet Muslims all the time, and you probably do, too) and to find a more effective way of communicating the gospel to them. The Way of Righteousness, after an introductory chapter entitled “God Has Spoken,” launches into a simple survey of the whole Bible. Covering everything from “What is God Like?” (Gen. 1) to two chapters concluding the book called “What Do You Think About Jesus?” the book could actually be used as a teacher’s (or parent’s) guide to teach young people right through the Word of God. It would also be great for the large Muslim prison population in the US. This book has as many uses as a Swiss Army knife. There are four helpful appendixes to the book. Appendix A gives a scheme for putting all 100 messages on 20 cassette tapes. Appendix B gives a list of 16 enlightening Wolof proverbs and their gospel applications, a reminder that one of the most effective means of communication (as modeled by our Lord) is through story-telling. Appendix C introduces the chronological method of Bible teaching and its premises for those not familiar with it. Appendix D, “Insights into Islam,” is worth the price of the book. By the way, you can contact the

author via email at: tworbook@iname.com You can also view the lessons on the internet at: http://injil.org/TWOR/ Paul Bramsen has done the Church a great service with this book. But as he writes: “I cannot claim originality for this series any more than one who arranges a bouquet can take credit for the fragrant aroma and exquisite beauty of the flowers. These lessons are a simple arrangement of the glorious Word of God and a display of the One who is —J. B. N., Jr. ’altogether lovely.’” AVAILABLE FROM: Gospel Folio Press, PO Box 2041, Grand Rapids, MI 49501-2041 Order line: 1-800-952-2382 $11.99 US or $17.99 Cdn. Other ordering information on following pages.

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THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS lthough this magazine been published THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKShas THANKS THANKS under THANKS THANKS THANKS various names since 1927, we began producing this full-size THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS format in January of 1991. With this issue we begin a new THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS design,THANKS a new year, a newTHANKS decade, aTHANKS new century, andTHANKS celeTHANKS THANKS THANKS THANKSInTHANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS brate aTHANKS new millennium. the January 1991 issue, we spoke THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS of Leonard Sheldrake, Dr. THANKS H. A. Cameron, BillTHANKS and PeterTHANKS Pell, THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS and others whoTHANKS were instrumental in producing Uplook in THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS the past. We wrote: “As the future opens before us until our Lord returns, it isTHANKS the desire of the magazine to press on THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKSstaff THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS along the trail blazed by these men of God.” THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS ThisTHANKS we haveTHANKS endeavored to do, THANKS often in much weakness, THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS but the Lord has seen us through. Now the edition you hold THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS is the one hundredth issue since that time. I want to take THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS this opportunity to say, “Many thanks!” to theTHANKS editorialTHANKS staff, THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS proofreaders, circulation department, graphic artists, press THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS men, shipping staff, columnists, writers, financial contribuTHANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS tors, prayer warriors and encouragers along the way. Special THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS thanksTHANKS to our families who often have sacrificed to give us THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS those late night THANKS hours to meet deadlines. THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS I wrote in theTHANKS January THANKS ’91 UplookTHANKS that theyTHANKS were “days of THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS pressing need and unlimited opportunities.” I believed it then; ITHANKS believe itTHANKS now. God help usTHANKS to carry THANKS on well till the THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS uplook THANKS becomes THANKS the uplift and we’reTHANKS Home atTHANKS last. THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS Editor THANKS THANKS THANKS —J. B. Nicholson, THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS