First published by Christian Publications, Inc., 3825 Hartzdale Drive,Camp Hill, Pennsylvania 17011 Republished by www.kneillfoster.com in 2005. K. Neill Foster, Publisher. Paul L. King, Editor. A.W. Tozer, 1897-1963, Editorial Voice.
WELCOME TO:
#8 CLASSIC-CHRISTIANITY/THE E-ZINE
1) THE PUBLISHER'S FOREWARD TO THE BOOK "HISTORICAL DRIFT"
2) THE EDITOR ON "KEEPING ALIVE THE ORIGINAL SPIRIT"
3) A.W. TOZER ON "RUT, ROT OR REVIVAL"
4) ST. AUGUSTINE ON "THE NEXT GENERATION"
5) JOHN WESLEY ON "THE GREATEST WOUND OF THE CHURCH"
6) AN ANONYMOUS BISHOP ON "SCRAPPING CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATIONS"
7) RECOMMENDED READING: HISTORICAL DRIFT
8) G.K. CHESTERTON ON "KEEPING A FENCE POST WHITE"
9) CHARLES SPURGEON ON "THE CHASM OF COMPROMISE"
10) F.B. MEYER ON "DISCONNECTING FROM PENTECOST"
11) JOHN MACMILLAN ON "SUBSTITUTING FOR OLD TIME RELIGION"
12) OSWALD J. SMITH ON "CEASING TO BE EVANGELICAL"
13) RECOMMENDED READING: THE TOZER CD-ROM LIBRARY
14) RICHARD NIEBUHR ON "SUCCEEDING GENERATIONS"
15) FRANCIS SCHAEFFER ON "THE GREAT EVANGELICAL DISASTER"
16) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
17) INVITATION TO SUBSCRIBE
1) THE PUBLISHER'S FOREWARD TO THE BOOK "HISTORICAL DRIFT"
Arnold Cook and I have been lifelong friends. He stood up with me when my wife and I were married in 1959. In fact, I have known him for forty-six years. We graduated from Canadian Bible College together, and later in life, when I went back to school, he was my professor at the Canadian Theological Seminary. Now, I am his publisher. The term "historical drift" has been part of our mutual vocabulary and thinking for so long and has become so intertwined in our lives that I cannot remember when I first heard it.
Briefly stated, historical drift is "the inherent tendency of human organizations to depart over time from their original beliefs, purposes and practices, which in the Christian context results in the loss of spiritual vitality" (page 10).
The book concept has been at least ten years in the process. It now comes to us as a carefully considered and mature word to local church leaders and to the Church at large--the passionate heart-message of a missionary/churchman who deeply cares about Christ's kingdom. . . .
As I write, I am into the twelfth year of my tenure as Publisher here at Christian Publications, founded in 1883. Since we first published Tozer's THE PURSUIT OF GOD in 1948, HISTORICAL DRIFT is, in my opinion, the most significant book to be issued in the intervening years.
2) THE EDITOR ON "KEEPING ALIVE THE ORIGINAL SPIRIT"
The problem that each generation of Christians faces is keeping alive the original spirit of the preceding generations. Perhaps most denominations were founded in order to restore emphasis of some neglected or modified spiritual truth that occurred as a result of historical drift from the church's moorings. Yet those same denominations have often faltered from the foundations and visions of their founders.
In his new book, HISTORICAL DRIFT, Dr. Arnold Cook, President of The Christian and Missionary Alliance of Canada, notes William Barclay's accurate and appropriate translation of Hebrews 2:1: "Therefore, we must the more eagerly anchor our lives to the things that we have been taught lest the ship of life drift past the harbour and be wrecked" (p. 19). Today there are few anchors to hold us fast from drifting. The counsel of godly leaders from the past can show us the dangers of historical drift, and how we can remain steadfast, anchored in God's truth. "The LORD says, 'Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.'" (Jeremiah 6:16, NIV).
3) A.W. TOZER (1897-1963) ON "RUT, ROT OR REVIVAL"
When we make a decision to modify the truth, we bring the consequences of that choice upon ourselves. . . . One has been an absence of worship in the church. Many people do not even know what is meant by a spirit of worship. . . .
A second consequence is the absence of spiritual desire. How many people do you know who are all burnt up with spiritual desire and longing after God? . . .
Another result is coldness of heart . . . . The people of the Welsh revival had warmth of heart. But we do not have it because we have made the ignoble decision that we would rather compromise a little bit on truth and practice. . . .
A fourth consequence is the lack of the spirit of prayer. No child is born until there is labor. . . .
Fifth . . . is that there is no sense of God's presence in the average church. . . . almost no answers to prayer and almost no divine manifestations. This leads to the deadliest consequence of all: the absence of saintliness. There are few saints around who are so sold out to God that you could not keep them still. . . .
How did we get into this fix? Well, evangelicals usually follow a trend. It is dangerous to follow a trend unless your eyes are open and you know where the trend is going.
A.W. Tozer, RUT, ROT OR REVIVAL (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1992), 167-170, 172, 174.
4) ST. AUGUSTINE (354-430) ON "THE NEXT GENERATION"
Every generation must stand on the shoulders of the previous generation and reach higher.
St. Augustine, cited in Arnold Cook, HISTORICAL DRIFT (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 2000), 9.
5) JOHN WESLEY (1703-1791) ON "THE GREATEST WOUND OF THE CHURCH"
The greatest [wound] it [the church] ever received, the grand blow which was struck at the root of that humble, gentle, patient love, which is the fulfilling of the Christian law, the whole essence of Christian living, was struck in the fourth century by Constantine the Great, when he called himself a Christian, and poured in a flood of riches, honor, and power, upon the Christians; more especially upon the Clergy. . . . Just so, when the fear of persecution was removed, and wealth and honor attended the Christian profession, the Christians "did not gradually sink, but rushed headlong into all manner of vices." Then "the mystery of iniquity" was no more hid, but stalked abroad in the face of the sun. Then, not the golden age but the iron age of the church commenced. . . .
And this is the event that most Christian expositors mention with such triumph! Yes, which some of them suppose to be typified in the Revelation, by the "new Jerusalem coming down from heaven." Rather say, it was the coming of Satan and all his legions, from the bottomless pit: seeing from the very time he hath set up his throne over the face of the whole earth, and reigned over the Christian as well as the Pagan world with hardly any control! . . . Such has been the deplorable state of the Christian church, from the time of Constantine to the Reformation.
John Wesley, quoted by Howard A. Snyder, in THE RADICAL WESLEY AND PATTERNS FOR CHURCH RENEWAL (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980), 80-81.
6) AN ANONYMOUS BISHOP ON "SCRAPPING CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATIONS"
All Christian organizations should be scrapped every 100 years and started over, except for the women's missionary prayer circle.
Anonymous bishop, cited in Arnold Cook, HISTORICAL DRIFT (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 2000), 4.
7) RECOMMENDED READING: HISTORICAL DRIFT
Dr. Ralph Winter--"No Christian leader can pass this by!"
HISTORICAL DRIFT:
Must My Church Die?
by
Dr. Arnold L. Cook
President of The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada
......................................................................
Dr. Erwin Lutzer--"Let's heed [Dr. Cook's] warning and reverse the moral
and spiritual decay of our times."
Order from Christian Publications by calling 1-800-233-4443 (in North America) or fax 1-717-761-7273 or web: www.christianpublications.com.
8) G.K. CHESTERTON (1874-1936) ON "KEEPING A FENCE POST WHITE"
If you leave a thing alone, you leave it to a torrent of changes. If you leave a white (fence) post alone, it will soon be a black post. If you particularly want it to be white, you must be always painting it again. Briefly, if you want the old white post, you must have a new white post.
G.K. Chesterton, quoted in "Finding the 'Grace Gates'," LEADERSHIP 20, no. 2 (Spring 1999), 24.
9) CHARLES SPURGEON (1834-1892) ON "THE CHASM OF COMPROMISE"
A chasm is opening between the men who believe their Bibles and the men who are prepared for an advance upon Scripture. Inspiration and speculation cannot long abide in peace. Compromise there can be none. We cannot hold the inspiration of the Word, and yet reject it; we cannot believe in the atonement and deny it; we cannot hold the doctrine of the fall and yet talk of the evolution of spiritual life from human nature; we cannot recognize the punishment of the impenitent and yet indulge the "larger hope." One way or the other we must go. Decision is the virtue of the hour.
Charles Spurgeon, "Another Word Concerning the Down-Grade," THE SWORD AND TROWEL, August 1888, 399.
10) F.B. MEYER (1847-1929) ON "DISCONNECTING FROM PENTECOST"
Would it not be the height of folly if Tasmania were to resolve to cut the supply of power from that mountain lake and to substitute handpower? Would not the factories soon close down, and the incipient harvest of prosperity suddenly wither? Yet it often seems as though the modern Church were in danger of making a similar mistake. In scores of cases she is disconnecting herself from the dynamic of Pentecost, and is endeavoring to find compensation for her loss of spiritual power in brilliance of intellect in the pulpit, in highly organized and expensive machinery, and by calling to her aid incidental accessories, which are borrowed from the world; and which, even where they may be comparatively
innocent, are totally unfit to secure the great ends for which she was called into being, according to the purpose and plan of her great Architect.
F.B. Meyer, "The Dynamic of Pentecost," 20 CENTURIES OF GREAT PREACHING (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1971), 6:400-401.
11) JOHN MACMILLAN (1873-1956) ON "SUBSTITUTING FOR OLD TIME RELIGION"
We would err seriously in substituting a stately modernism for the heart religion of the past. Sentiment has a real part in the setting forth of our relationship to God. The church from which emotionalism has vanished is already moribund. When "amens" and "hallelujahs" are no longer heard in our assemblies, we may write "Ichabod" over our doors, for the glory of the Holy One has departed.
John A. MacMillan, "Modern Hymns," THE ALLIANCE WEEKLY, February 24,
1940, 115.
12) OSWALD J. SMITH (1889-1986) ON "CEASING TO BE EVANGELICAL"
The church that ceases to be evangelistic will soon cease to be evangelical.
Oswald J. Smith, cited in Lois Neely, "Dr. Oswald J. Smith: Beloved of
Canada, Owned by the World," FAITH TODAY, Toronto: March/April 1986, 12.
13) RECOMMENDED READING: THE TOZER CD-ROM LIBRARY
THE TOZER CD-ROM LIBRARY
What could be more useful or spiritually invigorating than a Tozer CD
which contains over fifty works (books and booklets) of A.W. Tozer plus
several books by A.B. Simpson? Includes Parsons Quick Verse LibraryTM and
is STEP compatible. Platform: WindowsR 95/98
Version 3.0, boxed package shrink-wrapped
0-87509-868-1 $49.99
Order from Christian Publications by calling 1-800-233-4443 (in North America) or fax 1-717-761-7273 or web: www.christianpublications.com.
14) RICHARD NIEBUHR (1894-1964) ON "SUCCEEDING GENERATIONS"
The second generation holds its convictions less fervently than pioneers of the sects. . . . With each succeeding generation, isolation from the world becomes more difficult.
Richard Niebuhr, THE SOCIAL SCIENCES OF DENOMINATIONALISM (New York, NY: New American Library, 1957), 19-21.
15) FRANCIS SCHAEFFER (1912-1984) ON "THE GREAT EVANGELICAL DISASTER"
Here is the great evangelical disaster--the failure of the evangelical world to stand for truth as truth. There is only one word for this--namely ACCOMMODATION. The evangelical church has accommodated to the world spirit of the age. First, there has been accommodation on Scripture, so that many who call themselves evangelicals hold a weakened view of the Bible and no longer affirm the truth of all the Bible teaches. . . .
This accommodation has been costly, first in destroying the power of the Scriptures to confront the spirit of our age; second, in allowing the further slide of our culture.
Francis Schaeffer, THE GREAT EVANGELICAL DISASTER (Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1984), 37-38.
16) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
I would like to say that I have enjoyed getting the Classic Christianity e-mail. I have been wonderfully blessed over the years by the writings of A.W. Tozer and we sell his books in our bookstore. . . . Thanks again for the information you send.
--Rolland C. Starr, Pastor, Cornerstone Baptist Church, Belmont, Maine
Thank you for your e-zine service. I especially enjoy reading A.W. Tozer's comments.
--Ross Nixon
I would like to suggest a topic for discussion. That is, the condition of the church today, with its many denominations and preferences. Is this what Jesus came to proclaim? How did it ever come about that people "go to church" when Christ's followers are the church? The church's condition is really our condition. And we aren't looking much different from the world around us.
--Patty Hankey
Editor's Note: This is a broad topic, but important. This issue addresses some of your questions. We may look at historical drift more in the future.
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VOL. II, ISSUE 3, June 1, 2000. Published every other month 4/1;
6/1;8/1; 10/1; 12/1; 2/1. Archives on www.kneillfoster.com.
Copyright © 2002, Christian Publications, Inc.
Republished by www.kneillfoster.com 2005.