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The Mail Room Letters from Volume 12 Welcome to the Mail Room for Present Truth Magazine! This is where we post some of the interesting letters which we receive from our viewers. All of our viewers are invited to E-mail us your comments and views and we will post these views for all to consider! Appreciation for Dialogue I find myself in fairly constant disagreement with some of the positions which are taken in articles in your magazine. But I am grateful for it. Although I am not a Protestant theologian but an Anglican who is not altogether "reformed," so much of the writing in Present Truth Magazine does indicate a familiarity with the facts of history which is seldom seen anywhere else. Your most recent issue is a case in point, and I am grateful to you and your writers for a willingness to deal honestly with the great issues which Calvin and Luther confronted. Holiness Movement and Campus Crusade First, I appreciate the basic intent of the publication and find myself in agreement with the basic truth that God's Word teaches salvation by faith in Christ. Thank you for this emphasis. I have read the issue of Present Truth Magazine entitled "Justification by Faith and the Holiness Movement" and would like to comment. I wrote you previously expressing concern that you did not understand the holiness movement. This issue certainly confirms this in my mind. Are you also going to review Campus Crusade? Have you seen their two personal counseling books? Do you know that we agree about 99% with them in theology? Why not make the next issue one that attacks them, as few would associate them with us and thus do not realize the great error they are spreading? R. H. Free Methodist Minister Kansas Don't Rock the Boat I, as pastor of the First Baptist Church here, am not interested in the least in receiving your propaganda against the Holy Spirit and His work in our world today. We want to do a series of studies from the excellent articles published in the issue, "Justification by Faith and the Charismatic Movement." This subject has been and remains a relevant and problematic issue within our denomination and local church. Thank you for the clear warning, reasonably written, that you have provided. Serious and lasting damage has resulted from this radical form of religious experience. I believe God has gifted you editors and sponsors with a timely message. Please continue to publish the truth. H. W. H. Mennonite Minister Oregon I was thrilled at the clarity of expression and the overwhelming impact of the simple truth as presented in the special issue of Present Truth Magazine entitled "Justification by Faith and the Charismatic Movement." In an age when apostasy is more a matter of degree than "whether or no," it is exciting to read a publication that, throughout, rings in clear tones of Scriptural truth, undimmed by traditional or denominational shrouds. S. R. Your articles have helped in a great way to set some things and people straight on the gospel of the grace of God. These past two months have been the happiest two months of my ministry here. Let no man tell you that sola gratia, solo Christo, sola fide and things like that are dull and dry! G. C. B. Presbyterian Minister South Carolina Thank you for the tremendously helpful information in the issue on "Justification by Faith and the Charismatic Movement." This was very well presented and much needed. I agree with your editorial conclusion that this movement is erasing the difference between Reformation churches and the Roman church. If possible, I would like to have twelve copies of this issue for distribution to church leaders. R. G. Y. Baptist Minister Iowa I was given a copy yesterday and, starting at 8:00 p.m. last night, I read until 1:30 this morning; and when I got up, I read some more until I finished it. What a blessing! God has met some needs of my heart through reading Present Truth Magazine. J. G. Reformed Comment I don't know who gave you our names; but whoever it was, I thank him for it and you for sending us your new magazine. Lutherans Take Note! Your paper is exciting . . . far more than Christianity Today. I want to receive a copy of each issue. Non! I have examined at least two of your magazines during the past few months. I want this address removed from your mailing list. Revival Paper After reading your special "Justification by Faith and the Charismatic Movement" issue especially the part about John Wesley, I'll have to recant some of my "teasings." Because the Holy Spirit took of the things of Christ and showed them to me, satisfying me that Christ is sufficient, I had become critical of the way my brother was always quoting Wesley, as if Wesley should be adhered to rather than Christ. So I teasingly sang to him: Pentecostal Is Convinced
New Insight
Ammunition We have had access to a number of your articles, and because we have a "tongue speaking" minister (Christian Reformed), we are interested in spreading your excellent material among our church friends. Lutherans Pro and Con Voila! Two sample copies of the magazine arrived in my mail last week. I wondered, at first, what was coming next, but my fears were soon allayed. What a pleasure to read the magazines cover to cover and find a clear presentation of Biblical and Reformation theology! This is the kind of magazine for which I have been waiting. I am a Lutheran pastor, and I don't see your point. It sounds as if Lutheran doctrine and the charismatic movement are at swords' points, but this is not the case. The people who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in my church have become more balanced and better Lutherans. Maybe it has something to do with the way it is presented. H. J. H. Lutheran Minister Pennsylvania Please take us off your mailing list at once. I have enough negative ax-grinding around here without your help. You proclaim objectivity and are about as biased and subjective as any publication I have read. Please be open and look at the love around you in your Christian brethren. I. S. Lutheran Pastor, Maryland How I came to write to you I cannot remember, as I am constantly writing various sources for certain material. It was not with much enthusiasm that I requested your magazine; but upon receiving it and reading the "Justification by Faith" issue, I literally without letup read the four samples you sent me. My joy was unbounded and my faith greatly strengthened by your articles. I thank the Lord of heaven and earth that some men have discovered the heart of Christianity and intend to bring it to the attention of others. In studying the pros and cons of dispensational premillennialism, I find this to be another subject which either ignores, obscures or contradicts the central truth of justification by faith. No doubt you will get to this topic as time goes on. O. S. Lutheran Minister California Your material is like a fresh breeze dispelling the smog! R. A. R. Lutheran Minister California |
