Charismatic Chaos (Zondervan, 308 pp.; $17.99, hardcover); The Gospel According to Jesus (Zondervan, 253 pp.; $10.95, paper); Our Sufficiency in Christ (Word, 282 pp.; $15.99, hardcover); by John F. MacArthur, Jr. Reviewed by Robert W. Patterson, a minister of the Presbyterian Church in America, and former associate to the executive director, National Association of Evangelicals.

At the Evangelical Affirmations conference in Chicago three years ago, historian Nathan O. Hatch observed that evangelicalism is by nature decentralized, competitive, and driven by men who can build large and successful organizations. A prime example of what Hatch was talking about is John F. MacArthur, Jr., a well-known evangelical personality in Southern California. Since being graduated with honors from Talbot Theological Seminary in 1970, this Conservative Baptist-minister’s son has built not just an impressive 4,500-member congregation (the independent Grace Community Church in Sun Valley), but an entire ministry empire that includes the Master’s College (successor to the former Regular Baptist-related Los Angeles Baptist College), the Master’s Seminary, and his daily I radio program, “Grace to You.”

Unlike many evangelical personalities, MacArthur has not channeled his energy onto the television screen. Instead, he has devoted himself to theological inquiry and the printed page. Charismatic Chaos, The Gospel According to Jesus, and Our Sufficiency in Christ, books published in the last four years, demonstrate that devotion. They also reflect a man unhappy with many currents within the church—whether the Pentecostals and charismatics, the theology of Dallas Theological Seminary, or the popular “designer” church mentality. The books reflect the passion of a reformer seeking to set evangelicalism on the straight and narrow.

Fighting The Chaos

Charismatic Chaos, by far the most ambitious of the three titles, revises and expands MacArthur’s earlier critique, The Charismatics: A Doctrinal Perspective (Zondervan, 1978). Like the original, Chaos sounds the alarm over what he considers a great danger: the anti-intellectualism, heightened supernaturalism, and experience-centered faith of charismatics. But the revision articulates MacArthur’s concerns with even greater conviction and vigor, calling attention to the bizarre manifestations of charismatic life that surfaced in the 1980s: the Kansas City prophets, the signs and wonders movement, and the gospel of health, wealth, and prosperity. Make no mistake, the California cleric has not softened his attitude toward the charismatics, as is witnessed by the omission in the revision of the original concluding chapter, “What Can We Learn from the Charismatic Movement?”

MacArthur attempts to do what he claims charismatic leaders have failed to do: subject the various experiences and claims of their movement to the authority of Scripture. “Scripture is the rule against which we must measure all teaching,” he writes, “and my only desire is to turn the light of God’s Word on a movement that has taken the contemporary church by storm.”

He contrasts charismatics’ paranormal experiences with the supernatural activity in Scripture and finds the former deficient. Modern glossolalia is not the tongues (foreign languages) in the Book of Acts; contemporary accounts of healing are not the complete, organic healings performed by Jesus and the apostles; “words of prophecy” are not the true and tested words of God recorded in Scripture. MacArthur’s most helpful observation is the essentially private nature of charismatic faith and practice. Whereas supernatural activities in Scripture generally occurred in public, authenticating a very public revelation for the benefit of a people, the various charismatic phenomena highlight individual experience, whether tongues, visions, or healings.

While MacArthur should be commended for appealing to sola scriptura, the book vastly overstates the charismatic “threat.” MacArthur is all too willing to choose selectively the more extreme cases of charismatic activity to justify his argument, and at times he relies on second-hand sources to indict the defendants. Granted, the ambiguity of an unstructured, popular movement gives MacArthur a free hand, but the reader may wonder why the author fails to interact with evidence that might temper his judgment.

For instance, Edith Blumhofer of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals, a leading authority on Pentecostalism, has documented the declining number of charismatics and Pentecostals who speak in tongues. She contends that these communities have become more “evangelical” and less “Pentecostal” over the years. How this moderating trend fits into MacArthur’s claim of a movement out of control is unclear.

Perhaps the major flaw of the book is more attitudinal than methodological. In claiming to see things so clearly—so black and white—MacArthur falls into a restorationist mindset, identified by historian Mark Noll as “intellectual overconfidence, sectarian delusion, and a stunningly naïve confidence in the power of humans to extract themselves from the influences of history.”

MacArthur fails to acknowledge any element of solidarity with the movement he criticizes. While he calls charismatics brothers and sisters in Christ, he fails to explore the historical and theological connectedness of Pentecostalism to evangelicalism and does not see that some of his criticisms of charismatics in particular apply to evangelicals in general: both represent popular, democratic movements; both are organized around strong personalities; both foster an individualistic faith. Charismatic affinities with MacArthur’s particular theological orientation—dispensationalism—are even greater: both are ahistorical; both are preoccupied with prophecy; both advance a Keswick (“victorious living”) spirituality; both have little regard for the institutional church. If he were aware of these commonalities, MacArthur might have written Charismatic Chaos with greater sensitivity and humility—more as a pastor than as a preacher.

Reinventing The Reformation

Lest anyone think, however, that MacArthur is incapable of self-criticism, The Gospel According to Jesus shows that he is willing to turn the spotlight of Scripture onto his own theological grid. Unlike Chaos, this book carefully defines the problem. It claims that the gospel preached by fellow dispensationalists at Dallas Theological Seminary is not the gospel according to Jesus. This is a more serious charge than what is laid down in Charismatic Chaos.

The California preacher takes issue with Charles Ryrie and Zane Hodges, former Dallas professors who make a distinction between believing in Jesus as Savior and believing in Jesus as Lord. They claim that to tell prospective converts they must acknowledge Christ as Lord to become Christians is dangerous; anything more than acknowledging Jesus as Savior amounts to adding works to faith for salvation.

Reflecting the old Keswick distinction between “carnal” Christians and “spiritual” Christians, Ryrie and Hodges teach that submission to Christ as Lord comes after one becomes a Christian. But they would never question the eternal salvation of one who expressed faith yet never progressed to the next step or exhibited faithfulness. MacArthur says the distinction is artificial—that Jesus cannot save unless he is the Lord—and believes the church has every right to question the salvation of a “carnal Christian.” To him, the ongoing testimony of a Christian is far more important than any one-time decision.

While the disagreement may appear to be over semantics, the cleavage is essentially theological. MacArthur claims to be dispensational, but he has moved beyond the Dallas school by embracing a more Reformed understanding of salvation. To him, the gospel is not simply information about, or an offer of, salvation that humans can freely accept; instead, it is the power of God that irresistibly calls and regenerates sinners, enabling them to believe and obey. MacArthur thus calls in question “decisional regeneration”—that is, that the saving renewal of the heart by the Holy Spirit follows upon commitment to faith.

But many will not find MacArthur’s solution satisfactory. He seems more theologically confused than clear, particularly as he probes the relationship between faith and works. Rather than seeing the two as related elements in the order of salvation, the pastor seems to equate faith with obedience, raising doubts about his understanding of the Reformation doctrine of “faith alone.” Had MacArthur interacted with the past, particularly with the Reformers and New England Puritans who wrestled with the same issues, The Gospel According to Jesus might have avoided these ambiguities.

MacArthur does acknowledge the historical record in a helpful appendix, but the book as a whole does not reflect the mind of a seasoned theologian.

The Preacher’S Predicament

MacArthur’s third book, Our Sufficiency in Christ, is the weakest of the three. Whereas the other books center on single issues, this book goes after more than it can chew, tackling what MacArthur considers three fatal trends influencing the church today: psychology, pragmatism, and mysticism.

While MacArthur deals fully with the third topic in Charismatic Chaos, his assessment of the first two subjects adds to an understanding of the MacArthur agenda. He vents his concern with “godless” psychology, which he fears is crowding out the use of the Bible in church counseling, as well as with the “designer” church mentality, which he thinks is replacing biblical worship and preaching with worldly entertainment.

The book should have been titled The Sufficiency of the Scriptures, since MacArthur is specifically concerned that the written Word is losing out in evangelicalism. His concerns are indeed legitimate. Yet, in the section on psychology, MacArthur again overstates the problem. His church’s experience with a highly publicized clergy malpractice suit in the 1980s may have colored his thinking, but his blanket condemnation of the human discipline does not reflect a healthy understanding of nature and grace.

His assessment of the pragmatic nature of contemporary evangelical worship is more balanced, and his call for theocentric worship is indeed in order. But the designer-church phenomenon should not surprise the author. For more than a century, evangelical worship has been pragmatic; evangelicals have viewed the church as, in the words of liturgist James F. White, “merely an instrument in gaining citizens for the future kingdom rather than … as an essential part of life in the kingdom itself.”

Taken as a whole, Charismatic Chaos, The Gospel According to Jesus, and Our Sufficiency in Christ suffer from what could be called the preacher’s predicament. Like many books written by ministers, they are not carefully crafted, but appear to be (especially Sufficiency) collections of sermons. In addition, while MacArthur claims otherwise, his style does not reflect one speaking to a wide audience, but only to his “amen” corner. His less than irenic spirit and preachy tone will preclude a wide hearing. Rather than fostering the theological integrity he longs for, his books may serve to deepen existing divisions within the evangelical family.

Betrayed By Divorce

… And Marries Another: Divorce and Remarriage in the Teaching of the New Testament,by Craig S. Keener (Hendrickson, 276 pp.; $9.95, paper). Reviewed by Rodney Clapp, a writer living in Wheaton, Illinois.

In an odd way, it may be a testimony to the church’s continued faithfulness that Christians keep arguing over the legitimacy of divorce. After all, North American culture has clearly made up its mind: divorce and remarriage are no problem. But Christians, even if they divorce and remarry at almost the rate of the rest of society, continue to have unsettled consciences. In that sense, our chronic debate may be a real, if flickering, sign of hope.

Rigorism—no divorce at all; or if divorce, no remarriage; or if remarriage, then no church leadership role—has had its say very fully in recent years. What has been much needed is for fresh insights or information to break stale impasses, to brush away worn-out slogans. We now have that in Craig Keener’s … And Marries Another.

Keener, a young evangelical scholar, takes advantage of a recent trend in biblical studies, known as socio-historical exegesis. These interpreters pay exceedingly close attention to the Greek, Roman, and rabbinic literature of New Testament times, which often allows them to determine what sort of cultural concerns biblical writers were really trying to get at.

In this vein, Keener has a brief 120 pages of text but a full 72 pages of notes, drawing from a list of ancient sources that requires 16 pages to index. Keener’s approach pays dividends on his chosen subject, since so many of the New Testament texts about marriage and divorce come cloaked in customs and assumptions not at all transparent to the twentieth-century eye. (Think how many riddles are raised by 1 Corinthians 7 alone, for instance.)

Yet … And Marries Another is a pastoral book, not a work especially for scholars. Keener passionately believes the contemporary church is harming many of the divorced persons in its fold, and depriving itself of needed and worthy leadership, by assuming that both parties to a divorce are necessarily guilty. No-fault divorce, he insists, is the siren song of modernity, not of Scripture. “By judging all divorced people as if they had chosen their situation, we do not reflect the justice of the God who defends the oppressed, the God who stands up for the widows bereaved by their spouses’ death—and those of the divorced who have been betrayed by their spouses’ betrayal.”

Keener’s signal contribution is to recognize there is more than one kind of divorced person—in the modern as in the ancient world. With detailed readings of Matthew 5:32; 1 Corinthians 7:10–16, and 1 Timothy 3:2, he sorts out the differences and suggests what difference they should make for the church today.

His answer to the question drawn from 1 Timothy 3:2 (Can ministers be remarried?) is particularly interesting. The social context of this letter may have included a suspicion that the church, like other “cults,” was breaking up Roman families. So Paul’s concern would have been to have stable family men in leadership. Thus “this principle more readily excludes a pastor who spends all his or her time away from home than a pastor who had been divorced and remarried ten years before but has a current stable home life.”

As I say, it is a good thing that the argument about divorce and remarriage goes on. But it would be even better if it stopped just long enough for everyone in the debate to read this book.

Ray Miller and John Guy spent much of last summer knocking on doors in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, inviting residents to gospel meetings held in a small, rented building on U.S. 258. Though many people flatly turned them down, an estimated 60 men, women, and children attended special Friday and Sunday afternoon meetings, some coming from as far away as 50 miles. They became a church of sorts—a church with no formal name, no written church creed, no headquarters or real property, and no elected officials.

Yet a network of such house churches has spread across the U.S., and possibly worldwide. Numbers are hard to establish, but experts say there could be between 100,000 and 600,000 people affiliated with what is often called, “The No-name Fellowship.”

“Names are seen as divisions,” explains Miller. “There is no other name greater than the name of God.”

But cult researchers say the group is actually known by several names, including the “Nameless House Sect,” the “Two-by-Twos” (so named because their lay leaders always travel in pairs), “The Way” (not to be confused with The Way International), and “The Cooneyites” (from an early founder).

“Very little has been written about this obscure worldwide church,” says Westmont College professor and cult expert Ronald Enroth in his new book, Churches that Abuse. But Enroth says the group has gained a reputation for potentially aberrant Christian behavior. “The Two-by-Two’s impose a restrictive and rigorous lifestyle on the membership,” Enroth says. Children are physically disciplined from the time they are a few months old; women shun makeup and dress modestly; only the King James Version of the Bible is accepted.

Historical information traces the group to Scotsman William Irvine, who came to Ireland in 1896 and founded a movement named “Tramp Preachers.” He was later joined by Edward Cooney, whose fiery style and popularity earned the group the name Cooneyites.

Currently the No-name Fellowship meets on a larger, more organized scale, holding annual state conventions, which top 1,000 in attendance. The gatherings are held on large farms that have a river or farm pond nearby, which is used to baptize members.

By Jody R. Snider.

A year ago, Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia had a problem. Cited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools for the absence of women on its board of directors, the seminary faced the possible loss of its regional accreditation. Westminster’s defense of its board was based on religious liberty: the seminary requires that its board be composed of ruling and teaching elders from supporting churches; its conservative theology opposes the ordination of women.

In March, Westminster’s problem was solved when Middle States backed down, perhaps bowing to pressure from the U.S. Department of Education, which took the seminary’s side in the dispute. While Middle States revised its requirements to accommodate Westminster, the seminary moved to place nonordained men and women on advisory committees of the board.

But even as Westminster in Philadelphia celebrated its victory, its sister institution, Westminster Theological Seminary in California (Escondido), faced probation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). Dennis Johnson, academic dean at Westminster in California, said its case is more complex than that of the East Coast institution, and it involved seven problems cited by Western Association.

However, one of the issues was the seminary’s doctrinal statement, which Western Association said conflicted with principles of academic freedom. Johnson said there have been indications from the agency that a school’s mission statement alone would not be sufficient grounds for denial of accreditation. But he said he is disturbed by “a new direction in WASC’s latest handbook. Whereas WASC used to acknowledge an institution’s mission statement and evaluate only how the school was accomplishing its mission, now it is applying its own external standards to the mission statement.” Johnson added that, even though he was pleased with the outcome of Westminster-Philadelphia’s case, he regarded the Department of Education’s intervention there as a disturbing and potentially dangerous trend, one that could create problems for religious schools under a less-friendly administration.

Johnson’s concerns were shared by others at the April 6–8 conference “Church and State in American Higher Education.” Religious expression faces increasingly tough sailing in public universities, according to Steven McFarland, director of the Christian Legal Society’s Center for Law and Religious Freedom. He pointed to problems that Campus Crusade for Christ chapters have encountered at the University of Washington and Oregon State University as examples of the “growing intolerance in our broader society for the religious expression of absolutes.”

At those schools, Crusade representatives were asked to sign forms that would have required them to open leadership of their parachurch organizations to all students, regardless of religious creed or sexual orientation. Ministry leaders refused and are currently trying to settle their differences with university officials before the cases end up in court.

“Any student is welcome to come to meetings. But to control the leadership is to control the message and direction of the group,” said McFarland, who has been retained by the Crusade chapter in Washington.

By Randy Frame in Philadelphia.

Japanese Americans

Most of the attention recently paid to the Japanese has focused on their economic might. But for a small group of Christian leaders, it is the spiritual need of Japanese living in the U.S. and Japanese Americans that has captured their interest. “Over 95 percent of this community still do not know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. And only 185 Japanese-American churches and a handful of Asian-American churches exist nationwide,” says Stan Inouye, president of Iwa (Japanese for “rock”).

To promote leadership development within the Japanese-American church community, Inouye huddled with a select group of 84 other evangelical Japanese-American pastors and leaders last March in San Bernardino, California. Most came from the West Coast, but conferees also came from Chicago, New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. Leaders from parachurch organizations such as InterVarsity, Navigators, Campus Crusade for Christ, and Asian-American Christian Fellowship also took part in learning new strategies and connecting with others in ministry to Japanese Americans.

“There’s never been a conference like this before for Asian Americans,” said Wayne Ogimachi, pastor of Christian Layman Church in Berkeley, California. “We’ll all go away with a broader understanding of how God is working with Asian Americans across the country.”

Native Americans

Aboriginal Christians gathered recently near Santa Fe, New Mexico, to challenge themselves—and others—to a bigger, clearer view of the needs of native Americans. Some 500 North American Indian leaders gathered in mid-March for SONRISE ’92, an “International Native American Congress on Evangelism, Discipleship and Church Growth” sponsored by CHIEF (Christian Hope Indian Eskimo Fellowship) of Phoenix.

Sixty-five tribes were represented, including Alaskan Eskimos, Seminoles of Florida, Canada’s Crees, the Cherokees of Oklahoma, Mohawks, Sioux, and the Navajo Nation. Special guests from as far away as Guatemala, Panama, Peru, Mongolia, and New Zealand also attended.

One goal, according to conference chairman Tom Claus, president of CHIEF, was to encourage networking among native American churches and missions agencies. Of special concern were the problems of syncretism and lack of growth among native American churches. “I believe that if our native churches are really going to grow after 500 years of the gospel,” Claus said, referring to Columbus’s arrival in America, “we’re going to have to work together.”

The conference also commissioned a group of 12 Indian leaders to represent the native American church on a trip to Israel, where they met with that country’s president and prime minister. At the invitation of the Israeli government, CHIEF organized a group of native pastors representing North and South America and Asia. According to Claus, CHIEF has invitations to send representatives to China, Korea, and New Zealand.

By Chuck McDonald in San Bernardino, and Jim Uttley in Sante Fe.

Evangelical leaders in Peru strongly criticized their nation’s president, Alberto Fujimori, for his action last month to dissolve Congress and suspend the Constitution. In a televised speech at the onset of the April 5 “self-coup,” Fujimori said political corruption and infiltration, supposedly by subversive elements, had pervaded “all levels and rulings of the judicial power.” His move, which was backed by the military, was strongly condemned by the Organization of American States and the United States.

A pronouncement issued April 9 by the Evangelical Council of Peru (CONEP) called for a return to democratic government. “Immorality, corruption and injustice at all levels” are clearly present in Peruvian society, the document stated. “These evils are also present as much in the Legislative and Judicial [branches], as in the Executive [branch], the Armed Forces and the National Police.” Nevertheless, it called for a return to fundamental values within a constitutional framework.

Many observers attributed Fujimori’s 1990 presidential victory to strong support from Peru’s 1 million evangelicals, who represent about 5 percent of the nation’s population. Twenty-two Protestants were voted into national office as deputies and senators, including Second Vice-president Carlos García.

In the past year, however, practically all the Protestant legislators elected to the Congress under Fujimori’s Cambio 90 party were ejected from the party or chose to leave voluntarily. Second Vice-president García, a Baptist pastor and attorney, was largely sidelined from power and influence.

Shortly after Fujimori’s announcement, which suspended the democratic process, García publicly denounced the move in a radio interview, according to a report by the Reuters news agency. And in a secret meeting held by more than half of Peru’s dissolved Congress on April 9, legislators elected Garcia to replace Fujimori temporarily. Garcia eventually took refuge in the Argentine embassy, although he has since returned home under heavy guard.

As of April 21, García gave up his duties as acting president, upon the swearing in of First Vice-president Maximo San Roman, who was out of the country at the time of the coup. So Peru, in effect, now has two presidents. Fujimori has called for a plebiscite later this summer.

The action that led Fujimori to assume near dictatorial powers has as much to do with corruption and economic blight as it does with a violent insurgency intent on overthrowing the government in favor of a radical, Maoist regime promoted by an organization known as the Shining Path. In an interview with the New York Times, a Shining Path revolutionary affirmed, “The 1990s will be the decade of victory.” She said Peruvians who did not embrace Maoism would face three choices: emigration, re-education camps, or what she described as “popular justice.” To date, more than 500 pastors and layworkers have died in the 12-year conflict.

Peruvians have adopted a wait-and-see attitude toward Fujimori. Four major surveys carried out after April 7 indicated that most people understand Fujimori’s action, yet had reservations over the suspension of constitutional guarantees.

Saving Democracy

Evangelical leaders have for the most part been disillusioned by the Congress, although generally supportive of Fujimori despite the fact that he has largely turned his back on his evangelical supporters. According to a knowledgeable source with close ties to García and congressional deputy Guillermo Yoishikawa, the Protestant legislators are in agreement with Fujimori that there are serious problems in Peru today. However, “Fujimori is not the only one who can solve the problems,” he said. “We believe that you cannot kill democracy to save democracy.” The legislators said they hope to find a face-saving way for Fujimori to leave office and are willing to discuss a negotiated end to his administration.

Until that moment arrives, counselors to the Protestant politicians are urging them to maintain their Christian testimony, refrain from political polarization, and make room for a ministry of reconciliation. Most of those legislators are political neophytes, with limited experience in government.

Uppermost in everyone’s mind, however, is the fear that the OAS may impose severe economic sanctions that could cripple Peru. While sanctions may be effective in evicting Fujimori from office, they could also give the Shining Path insurgency an opportunity to make significant and irretractable advances in its own bid to establish a new order. Said one source, “The sanctions would push Shining Path to the forefront.”

By Chris Woehr, News Network International.

Evangelist Billy Graham became the first foreign Christian minister to preach in North Korea since that nation’s formation in 1948, in an unprecedented five-day trip to the East Asian communist country March 31 to April 4.

During his visit to the capital city of Pyongyang, Graham was received by North Korean President Kim Il Sung at his residential palace. Graham presented the 80-year-old socialist strongman with a Bible and a copy of his book Peace with God, and briefly discussed views on religion and philosophy.

“I found him to be a vigorous and magnetic leader,” Graham later told reporters at a news conference in Hong Kong. Graham would not disclose the details of his discussions with Kim, but he said the North Korean leader expressed an interest in improving relations with other countries, including the United States. The evangelist told reporters he had also conveyed “verbal” greetings to Kim from U.S. President George Bush and a special message from Pope John Paul II. Neither the U.S. nor the Vatican currently has diplomatic relations with North Korea.

Graham confirmed that Kim had entrusted him with a return message for the Pope, but he would not reveal the contents of the Vatican-North Korean dialogue. However, he later described Kim’s communique to the Vatican as “positive.” He also held private discussions with the minister of foreign affairs, Kim Yong Nam.

Church Crowds

Graham told reporters that he had traveled to North Korea not as a diplomat but as a “minister of the gospel.” He preached in the country’s only two official churches, Pyongyang’s Catholic Changchung Church and the Protestant Bongsu Church. Both buildings were filled to capacity while he spoke. He also met separately with pastors, seminarians, and other church leaders who had gathered from several parts of the country for his meetings.

Prior to World War II, the Korean peninsula had one of the largest Christian communities in Asia. However, most churches in North Korea were destroyed in the Korean War, and hundreds of thousands of Christians were killed or fled. Today the country is considered to be one of the most nonreligious countries in the world. Christians are estimated to make up less than 1 percent of the country’s 22 million people.

“I expressed the hope that they will grow spiritually and in numbers in years to come,” Graham said. “They live in a society which does not encourage religion, and where it is not advantageous to be a Christian. They have much to teach those of us from other parts of the world.”

Graham was also invited to address students at Kim Il Sung University, a first for any U.S. citizen. Over 400 students gathered to hear his lecture on the influence of religion on American society and the fundamental values of the Christian faith. “They were taking notes and were listening very carefully,” Graham said. “I felt that what I was saying was being digested in both their minds and their hearts.”

‘Impossible’ Visit

Graham visited North Korea under the auspices of the government-sanctioned Korean Christian Federation (KCF) and the Korean Catholic Association (KCA). “The invitation to come to North Korea was in some ways a surprise to me,” he told reporters in Hong Kong. “I had always assumed that it would be impossible for me to ever visit.”

Responding to allegations that the KCF and the KCA are being used by Kim Il Sung as political tools in his drive toward reunification with South Korea, Graham said he has heard such allegations in practically every socialist country he has visited. “I pay no attention to them because I’m going to preach the gospel.”

Christians in North Korea face a brighter prospect for the future, Graham said. But he added that he could not say there is true religious freedom in the country. “I would like to see freedom [for North Koreans] to buy Bibles, to read the Bible, and to be able to preach the Gospel.”

By Andrew Wark, News Network International, in Hong Kong.

Southern Baptists

Agencies Boycott Moderate Meeting

National agencies and institutions of the Southern Baptist Convention declined to promote their products and services at a meeting of the denomination’s moderates that was held recently. The Sunday School Board (including Holman Bible Publishers, Broadman Press, and Genevox Music), the Radio and Television Commission, Brotherhood Commission, the Annuity Board, and four of the six Southern Baptist seminaries all withdrew their exhibits before the start of the general assembly meeting of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, held April 30–May 2 in Fort Worth.

Agency leaders expressed concerns that the fellowship has abandoned the denomination and is competing with its major financial campaign, the Cooperative Program, according to a Religious News Service report.