Hello. You have reached the office of the Center for Anytimechurching. All our lines are busy right now, but if you would care to hold, your call will be taken in turn.
We at the Center offer a wide variety of modern services not available at the local community church. The staff gears the programs for specific, homogeneous groups, but we also offer a mixed-group option. Every night of the week we have scheduled small group meetings, house Bible studies, or such fellowship parties as gourmet dinners or simple-lifestyle-arts-and-crafts get togethers. We run a school that goes from kindergarten through college, and our continuing education department offers courses ranging from how to grow house plants to conversational Chinese. We even teach lacquering.
When you join our center, you receive a plastic yeschurch card embossed with your personal church number. We enter it in our computer, which provides a printout profile of you and the programs for which you are registered. Registration must be done with this card. And as you enter the sanctuary you must insert the card in the time-saving worship terminal located in the vestibule. At that time you punch in the amount of your offering.
This card will also entitle you to use our new drive-up sermon service. If you miss one of our six, streamlined Sunday morning services, merely drive up to our video window, insert your card, and the small screen will show you the service you missed. We also have a twenty-four-hour pastoral counseling center. By using your card at the small mini-terminal and pushing the appropriate problem button—for example, alcoholism, marital problems, depression—you will receive an hour-long cassette counseling session. The counselor on the tape will insert encouraging phrases and understanding grunts and hums at scientifically determined places during the … Hello. This is 7499083×R2D2. May I help you?
EUTYCHUS IX
Danger Foreseen
Even after carefully considering Mr. Humphries’ article “Is Psychotherapy Unbiblical?” (Jan. 19), I still have a fundamental objection to psychotherapy. I believe it is one of our major functions as reborn persons to confront the world in love with our godly morality. The danger I see is using the process of psychotherapy to change behavior, not the moral standards of God. Appealing to the conscious mind of the “patient” will not result in conviction and change, because the mind is in itself fallen. Hebrews 4:12 says, “The Word of God is living and active … it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Psychotherapy would only have value then, to help us understand the processes by which men interact. But divorced from any absolute, it becomes merely one man’s soul dealing with another’s, not the Spirit of God dealing through any believer to those around him.
JIM AND JANICE WALLIS
St. Louis, Mo.
Uplifting Depression
Ironically, I found Virginia Stem Owens’s article on depression to be very uplifting. “Naming the Darkness” (Jan. 19) is timely in light of the widely held belief that all moods of depression are of Satan and that upon conversion, no Christian need ever fall from the pinnacle of joy. If this view is used as a witnessing device, imagine the new Christian’s confusion when he awakens to an unexplainable slump. I believe that real “victorious living” is that which faces the Slough of Despond head-on, and seeks to love God more desperately. Thank you for printing such a satisfying article.
GARY L. RODDY
Omaha, Neb.
Exceeding the Normal
Whenever the name of Thomas Howard appears on an article the reader knows that there will be presented good ideas well expressed. “The Touchstone” (Jan. 5) however, exceeded Dr. Howard’s usual high standard. In reading it, the realization came that here is a mind of much the same order as that of C. S. Lewis. Let us have more!
THE REV. JAMES MILLER
Holy Orthodox Church
Lexington, Ky.
I very much appreciate Thomas Howard for his thoughtful iconoclasm. I find him to be largely on-target. I have some difficulty, however, with his elevation of the structured over the unstructured in human life. To restate his own metaphor, he makes it abundantly clear that for him, structure is the paté of life, while the lack thereof is merely pubulum. It’s an unfortunate choice of words, for one must certainly question the assumption that paté is always preferable to pabulum. The former is certainly more fattening and esoteric than the latter, but is it better for you? Everyone knows by now that Tom Howard likes structure and ritual. He has provided a needed corrective for the “do-it-yourself’ mentality that sometimes pervades the contemporary church. However, let’s not let him rob the faith entirely of its spontaneous and intuitive dimensions. If unstructured freedom necessarily degenerates into chaos, so also must we realize that structure itself easily becomes a god that may be worshiped in place of the one true God, in whose nature is expressed that wondrous combination of spontaneity and structure.
PHILIP E. HAKANSON
Kenmore, N.Y.
Thank you for the entire January 5 issue, and particularly “The Touchstone.” I have often felt that Christians have been carried away either by wholehearted acceptance of the new and trendy or close-minded rejection. We certainly do need to remain skeptical, yes, even discriminating, toward any philosophy or movement which contradicts the clear teaching of Scripture. Thank God he still raises up his voices crying in the wilderness as Thomas Howard: “Don’t be too hasty. Accept only the new which opens and fulfills the old.”
THE REV. MICHAEL DOMINICK
Door Village United Methodist Church
La Porte, Ind.
Mission Methods
Recently, I have noticed an increase of mission related articles. One such article, “Evangelizing Muslims: Are There Ways?” (Jan. 5), is an exceptionally well-written text. I rejoice to see traditional methodology being replaced by the indigenous culture while retaining biblical truth. I am optimistically looking forward to other missions making use of this method that Phil Parshall has introduced to us. Thank you CHRISTIANITY TODAY for printing it. I am praying that God will lead you to publish the articles that we need to help us grow spiritually.
WALLACE MORTON
Franklinville, N.C.
Appealing Menu
May I say amen to your editorial “What’s on the Menu?” (Jan. 5). The lead article “Church Priorities for ’79” has opened wide the door to the real Kingdom if your readers do not object too strenuously. The follow-up action question may be “How shall the Body of Christ be led into battle against the foe: How shall the church be tested?” In trying to summarize the opinions obtained by John Maust I found denominational labels easily applied.… In the thirty-six responses I hear a confessional cry not only for themselves but also for ourselves as well. Is this not mute evidence that every pastor, seminary teacher, Bible teacher, professional, and lay person alike is at least a part of the problem? Who can show church members how to live an active role for Christ? How we deal with this can determine how much impact we can have on diminishing the … problem. Christian Growth
JOHN MCINTIRE
Winchester, Va.
Cross Section Questioned
It seems somewhat inconsistent that the “cross section of opinion” news assistant John Maust presented in “Church Priorities for ’79” (Jan. 5) included only three responses from women out of a total of thirty-six. If, indeed, Maust sought response from “persons at all levels of church ministry,” how could he have missed a significant number of women in ministry and Christian publishing? World-Wide Missions
GAIL A. HOWARD
Pasadena, Calif.
A Matter Of Rebellion
Clark H. Pinnock’s article on theological method was very informative (“An Evangelical Theology: Conservative and Contemporary,” Jan. 5). However, he fails to see the problem of both liberalism and formalism as one of sinful rebellion rather than just one of emphasis, and therefore can say nothing about their sinful presuppositions. He then is in the unsavory position of trying to “balance” two anti-Christian principles to form a Christian perspective. The remedy for sin is found only in the gospel. The “creative proposals” we should seek is the call for repentance.
THOMAS E. CAMPBELL
Cape Elizabeth, Me.
Preparation For Death
I am writing regarding your advertisement in the December 15 issue for the book. Beyond Death’s Door. Such statements as “All through recorded history people have predicted life after death. But only now with modern resuscitation methods are we beginning to see beyond death’s door” (from the book’s front cover), and “Best seller with new evidence of the existence of heaven and hell …” (from the advertisement) certainly don’t indicate much confidence in the Bible’s authority on such matters. Christ had much to say regarding eternity. The vivid account of Lazarus and the rich man, Christ’s reply to the Sadducee’s “marriage trap” (Luke 20:34–38), what Christ is preparing for us in John 14, and the judgment that awaits those who ignore God (Matt. 25:41–46) explain to us all we need to know to prepare ourselves and help others prepare for death and judgment (Heb. 9:27). And yet Christ never used the experiences of those he brought back to life to validate his teaching. The reason he didn’t seems apparent in Luke 16:31: “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” … Resorting to subjective, out-of-body experiences puts us on … unbiblical ground.
JIM MOFFIT
Milton, Fla.
Rooftop Quality
I have never responded to a periodical before, but I feel compelled to. Dr. Koop’s article on medical ethics (“Medical Ethics and the Stewardship of Life,” Dec. 15) was extremely helpful and well-timed, as I am just now “wading through” my first year of medical school. Even though I was raised in a Christian environment, I am beginning to see how easily the “prevailing values” concerning issues such as abortion, birth control, and euthanasia can be inculcated into my thinking. Koop’s comments were so specific and practical. I only wish I had an evening with him for further discussion. To say these areas are not emphasized in the standard medical school curriculum is an understatement.… There was barely time to ask the right questions, much less ponder the answers.
MARK C. HOLLAND
Davis, Calif.
Dr. Koop’s fine Christian opinion on abortion and medical ethics should be shouted from the rooftops!
JACK R. COX, M.D.
Teague, Tex.
Complex Systems
I appreciated Dr. Paul Brand’s reminder of the wonderful complexity of the natural system—that the creative process has to be considered “difficult” (“God’s Astounding Laws of Nature,” Dec. 1). By viewing the natural world as something that came about “by a wave of a magic wand” I was failing to appreciate the greatness of God’s power. However, I cringed a bit at some of the words Dr. Brand used in describing God’s conception of creation. Though he convincingly points out that creation was not a thoughtless act on God’s part, his use of the words “planning” and “forethought” makes God’s thought appear to be a process. Though creation itself is obviously a process, its conception in God’s eternally all-knowing mind could not have been. Here I feel Dr. Brand’s concept of God is too anthropomorphic.
VIRGINIA JAQUES
Seebe, Alberta
