The New “Christian Right” (What will happen now that the election is over?) (January 1981) – Now the election is over and the conservatives have swept into office, the questions is: What will become of the New Christian right political movement?…
Where There’s Smoke There’s Ire (Caution: Smoking around Jackie may be hazardous) (February 1981) – Nobody smokes around my wife. At least, not for long. Either she moves, or they do…
Who Defines ‘Correct Doctrine’? (Since we can’t decide, let’s quit backbiting each other’s ministries) (March 1981) -Cotton Mather, the 17th century Puritan leader in New England, told the story of the bees…
The USA and the ‘Old Lady’ (Will we sellout Israel for a barrel of oil?) (April 1981) – It’s one of those classic dramas. The rich old lady returns to her hometown and offers its inhabitants one billion dollars to murder her former lover…
‘Here Comes the Judge’ (There is a growing hostility to the Gospel, and the Gospel messenger) (May 1981) – In February the president of a national Christian fund-raising organization was convicted, along with two assistants, of conspiring to steal money from a widow…
Please Don’t Call Me Reverend (Titles are meaningless in the church) (June 1981) – Sooner or later Christians are going to have to face this business of titles. Either we are family — or we’re not. As a family we call each other by our first names….
Where Does Our Treasure Lie? (Is it in our traditions, or in God?) (July/August 1981) – Every family has some kind of family treasure. For some it may be a Christening gown, passed down from generation to generation. For others it may be a silver service, a piece of jewelry, or some family heirloom. Our family treasure was a $5 gold coin…
Freedom to Probe (Seeking the truth means looking beneath the surface of the story) (September 1981) – I sat in the meeting room of a large hotel with a number of men and women, all leaders in the charismatic renewal. It was one of those “Ask-me-anything-you-want” meetings…
The Real Power Runs Deep (Don’t confuse ‘spillway Christianity’ with the power of the Holy Spirit) (October 1981) – Not too long ago my family and I spent some time with our friends, Larry and Devi Titus, in Washington state. One afternoon Larry took me through one of those big dams on the Columbia River where so much of the electric power for the northwest is produced…
It’ll Never Sell in Peoria (Publisher analyzes Solomon’s Song of Songs) (November 1981) – Memo from: Holiness House Publishers, Jerusalem, Israel. Dear Sol: The Editorial Board has read your latest manuscript and asked me to respond…
A Christmas Gift for Daddy B (We wanted to give him something he couldn’t give away) (December 1981) – My father, whom we all call Daddy B, spent the first 61 years of his life accumulating things. He moved to Vero Beach, Florida, in early 1919 and entered the citrus fruit business. A frugal man, he never went into debt. To my knowledge, he never owed a mortgage all his life…