Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

—Titus 1:9

This is part three in our series of articles on being a Berean. Tom McMahon wrote “Being a Berean,” an article that laid out who we are as a ministry. Tom and Dave started The Berean Call to help get God’s message out through newsletters written by Dave Hunt (and later by Tom, too). In part two, Dave wrote a newsletter entitled, “More on Being a Berean” that continued the theme of what our ministry stands for with examples of error being taught in our Lord’s name. This newsletter will continue on those themes and our desire to do God’s will out of love for Him.

We start with the very first commandment, which Jesus said is “…thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30). “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19), which the Lord demonstrated because “…while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8), “…was buried, and…rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4).

God saved us from an eternal punishment that we fully deserve, but He didn’t stop there. He has given us His Word, which He magnifies above His name (Psalm 138:2). In addition, Jesus promised that He would send from the Father (John 15:26) the Spirit of truth, who will guide us into all truth (John 16:13). With God’s Word and His indwelling Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16), He “…hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3).

1 Bob Jones III, BJU Tape God’s Barriers Between Men, January 15, 1982.

2 Bob Jones III, BJU Tape God’s Barriers Between Men, January 15, 1982.

3 At the turn of the century, BJU removed their ban on interracial relationships.

4 Dave Hunt, “Am I A Fundamentalist?”, TBC Newsletter August 1998.

5 Galatians 3:16, English Standard Version.

6 The latest revision of the NIV has moved up the text and has the bracket section stating [The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9–20.].

7 John MacArthur, ed, The MacArthur Study Bible, 2nd Edition, English Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 2021), 1366.

Originally Published February 1994

And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. —2 Timothy 3:15

The number of false beliefs being promoted and enthusiastically received among evangelicals is staggering and growing rapidly. Take for example a new book, Lonely No More, by Karen Mains of The Chapel of the Air. In it she tells of acquiring a personal spirit guide and making contact, through visualization, with what Carl Jung called "the idiot child within," whom she identifies as "Jesus Christ"! The depth and variety of delusions which evangelicals will embrace seem unlimited, especially if cloaked in psychological jargon.

There are three closely related statements by Christ to His disciples which have created much controversy over their interpretation: 1) "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19, 18:18); 2) "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching [concerning] any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 18:19); and 3) "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained" (John 20:23).

A few years ago, I was in a major supermarket and I was shocked by what I heard coming from the store's sound system. “Shocked” doesn't describe my reaction unless you can find abundant joy in the term. What I was hearing were words like these: "I need Thee; O, I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee! O bless me now, my Saviour, I come to Thee."

To my utter delight, that hymn was followed by other ones also glorifying Jesus. Wow! I wouldn't have been surprised to see the fruit and vegetables section "celebrating" His birth. After all, He's their Creator! I spent a good part of the morning that day listening to the hymns that I'm sure I heard dozens of times. But this time I couldn't help but focus on what the spiritual lyrics were teaching.

As you know, hymns, unless they are directly from the Scriptures, are not inspired (God-breathed). Nevertheless, they do teach biblical truth and comfort when they are indeed true to His Word. What the Lord put on my heart for this newsletter is to share with you some of my favorite hymns and I'm sure you'll be blessed by how they glorify our Savior.

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. —1 Timothy 4:1

In my two previous TBC articles this year (Mar and Apr ’06), I addressed the destructive influence psychological counseling is having on the evangelical church. Simply put, the church has turned from God’s Word to man’s bankrupt theories in attempting to resolve mental, emotional, and behavioral problems. The greater part of the church no longer believes what the Scriptures proclaim: that God, in His Word, has given us “all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3). The results, sadly, are what one might expect: there is often little statistical difference between those who profess to be Christians and those who do not, regarding the number of divorces, the reliance upon psychological counseling theories and methods, living together outside of marriage, illegitimate childbirth, pornography, sexual and physical abuse, and so forth.