The Bible For Today Update Yvonne Sanborn Waite, D. Hum. November - December 2001

THESE ARE PERILOUS TIMES!
CHRISTIANS MUST BE VIGILANT

Satan is out to destroy Christians and their families!  
Let us not be too proud to HUMBLE OURSELVES  Under the Mighty Hand of God!  

I Peter 5:6-11

FROM AFGHANISTAN TO BETHLEHEM

CAVES & CAVE MEN

OSAMA BIN LADEN & THE TALIBAN

As you know, one of the reasons that the Terrorists stationed in Afghanistan are hard to find is that they are "cave dwellers"!  OSAMA BIN LADEN and his buddies in the Taliban hide out in them.  They den themselves in tunnels and lairs conspiring and waiting to destroy the United States of America and her friends.  To them the USA is "The Great Satan," and other countries who think like she does are "Satans" to a lesser degree.

Bin Laden and his followers believe such attacks are divinely justified following the 1998 attack on the United States embassies in Africa, bin Laden was quoted as saying that "To kill Americans. . .is the duty for every Muslim." . . .Bin Laden is a well-educated Islamic fundamentalist who is fully prepared to die for his goal of turning the clock back 1,300 years to a time when Islam ruled the world.  Born 44 years ago as the 17th child and the 7th son of a Yemeni-born Saudi construction magnate, he inherited $300  million when his father died in 1968. . . .After the Soviets left Afghanistan in defeat, bin Laden used his great wealth to establish training camps for Islamics who would then conduct holy war.  Thus began his worldwide organization Al Qaeda "the base," which became the launch pad for a global Islamic crusade. Today, Al Qaeda cells operate in as many as 50 countries including the United States. (Lt Col. Robert L Maginnis [USA Ret'd],  "Washington WATCH," October 2001)

Haven't these cave men's postures captured our attention?  We are not the only ones who are baffled.  Listening to the news reports on television and radio, it is revealed that the miliary is amazed by such cavern camping and coping.  As in previous wars, it has been confirmed that the shelters which are dug into the rocks and rills of Afghanistan's rugged hills are almost impregnable.  As I write, such Terrorist safety zones are being pounded by bombs of immense power--bombs set for the destruction of the Taliban and bin Laden.  Our military seems confident that, with the help of ground forces, the bombs will do the job!  Time will tell--time and many deaths.   As we all know, Osama bin Laden and his cutthroats are only the arms, hands, and fingers of the giant terrorist octopus which will never die until its head be destroyed.  Only God knows if this will ever be accomplished in a civilized manner.  But whoever said that war was civilized?

In Afghanistan, the landscape itself rises up against invaders, its soft limestone caverns, stunning granite mountains and subterranean streams offering Afghan fighters countless underground places from which to elude and harass foreign armies.  From ancient irrigation systems [KAREZ] to caves that go on for miles, the country's underground labyrinths have confounded would-be conquerors since the days of Genghis Khan.  They helped Afghan guerrillas defeat British imperialists in the 19th century and drove out the Soviets in the 20th.  Now it's America's turn.  (Paul Wiseman, USA TODAY, November 6, 2001)

MORE CAVE TALK

All this "cave" talk got my mind a-whirling!  I remembered the people in the Bible who used caves in times of war and distress.   You see, "the chalky limestone of which the rocks of Syria and Palestine chiefly consist presents. . .a vast number of caverns and natural fissures, many of which have also been artificially enlarged and adapted to various purposes, both of shelter and defense." (New Ungers's Bible Dictionary, 1988)   I have an idea that must be how it is in Afghanistan.  I remember a question I asked when Dr. Waite and I were in Israel several years ago.  As we were bus-traveling home to our hotel on top of the Mount of Olives from one of the many excursions on our daily tour--I was tired; we all were tired.  I looked out the bus window at the sandy-brown hills and saw all the holes in the terrain standing like a giant hunk of Swiss cheese looking back at me.  I asked the guide (His name was Joseph), "Why are there so many holes in those hills?"  He, too, was tired.  His time was up for answering questions.  So his only answer was, "Why do you think this land is called the Holy Land?"  I had to conclude from other sightings of "holes" in the ground that they were "dens" and "caves" where soldiers could hide.

Afghan rebels started building them [the underground bunkers] in the 1980s, under granite thousands of feet inside mountains.  They can be more than 2 stories high and wide enough to park 18-wheelers inside.  "Even if they bombed us, we wouldn't even know it because we were down so deep," Qaumi says.  "We weren't even afraid of an atom bomb." . . .Bin Laden and his Arab followers occupied and expanded these compounds, sealing them with steel doors and reinforcing the interiors with concrete. . . .The larger underground bunkers give fighters a place to store more and bigger weaponry and to hide more people for longer periods, allowing them to survive bombing raids in relative comfort. . . .Mujahedin rebels had built an underground mosque with an ornate brick facade; a hospital with an ultrasound machine; a grease pit occupied by a T-34 tank; a library stocked with books in English and Farsi; and a subterranean hotel furnished with comfy chairs and plush carpets.  The compound had 41 spacious caves and tunnels the length of six football fields.  (Wiseman, USA TODAY November 6, 2001)

CAVES I KNOW

ADULLAM

Many years ago, I wrote a piece for THE BIBLE FOR TODAY NEWSREPORT.  (It is seldom published anymore as my husband's hands are full in other areas of writing and composition--plus it is expensive!)  The article was called, "Parents are Worth It!" Pictured at the top of the page were my husband's parents, Virgil and Helen Waite--the year was 1985--along with his sister, Dorothy, and her husband, Hank.  Their care of Mom and Dad was outstanding, in my opinion.

The main character in the article was David from I Samuel 22:3 and his parents.  If you remember, David was fleeing from King Saul who really put the squeeze on him for death!  David fled to the CAVE at Adullam.  His friends followed him there.  So did his brethren.  So did his parents.  I was very touched at the warrior's concern for his parents.  I could picture them all hiding out in that CAVE.  The HOLD was not a pleasant place for anyone--especially for the elderly.  I was very touched that soon David, who shouldered the responsibility for his parents, took them from the cave and put them in the care of the king of Moab in Mizpeh, an unlikely refuge for followers of the TRUE GOD!

THE MOUNTAINS OF ZOAR

Frightened at the God's wrath and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his girls fled to the "little" city of Zoar (Genesis 19:30).   Those three had seen God's anger fall in fire and brimstone.  They had watched their wife and mother turn her back upon them, only to see her frozen salt-like statue gazing at the burning ruins of her home.  The remaining three were too frightened to stay in Zoar!  So, it was to a CAVE outside the town  that Lot fled with his two unmarried daughters.    It was in that CAVE that Lot committed incest with them and bore the shame of having such a deed recorded for you and for me to read.  It was probably  from that very cave that the cries of his bastard children announced their birth to the world!  Moab and Ammon were born to continue the conflict with Uncle Abraham for centuries to come.  The wages of sin, you know!

THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH

The tender devotion of Abraham for his beloved Sarah is felt by all who read Genesis 23.  One can feel the brokenness of his heart as the Prince sought for a permanent burial place for his beloved wife.  She, who had traveled wherever he had traveled, ceased her journey and left her husband weeping and alone.  That soundless, breathless empty stillness is the hallmark of death.  It was no different then at the death of  the beautiful matriarch who passed away one hundred and twenty-seven years after her birth.   Most of her life's span was spent in Abraham's tent.  With family pride, Abraham--the Friend of God--purchased the family plot.  Soon it would be known as the CAVE OF MACHPELAH.  It was within that Hebron cave that the grieving husband placed the body of God's  Princess.  Later, he would be laid in that same tomb.  The bodies of  Isaac, Rebekah, and Jacob with his wife, Leah, would find their final resting place there also.

MAKKEDAH & THE FIVE BAD KINGS

The people of Gibeon had every right to fear Joshua.  As Captain of the hosts of Israel, he had defeated Jericho and Ai.  So Gibeon's leaders made peace with Joshua.  A wise military move indeed.  Yet, there was the fear of no lasting peace for the city of Gibeon as five kings of the Amorites got wind of the peace pact.  Those royal mountain dwellers decided to capture the city and foil Joshua's leadership.  Soon the Amorites  encamped against the place and made war.  Joshua was summoned!  "Save us!" was the battle cry.  Joshua and his troops chased them all the way to Makkedah.  Better still: as the enemy fled the LORD from Heaven peppered them with great hailstones, custom-made for their destruction!  If it had not been so serious, it would have been comical.  To top off the day's confusion, the LORD made the sun stand still in the midst of Gibeon while the moon had a longer night in the Valley of Aijalon.  Oh, did those five kings ever scurry away from such Holy Wrath!  I wish I had been there!  In fear, they hid in the CAVE of MAKKEDAH.  When Joshua discovered their hiding place, he ordered big boulders to block the mouth of the cave.  Can you imagine the uproar in that dark den that day?  After the battle had ceased and the sun and moon returned to their usual orbits, Joshua and his men pulled those screaming and kicking Amorites out of that cave.  They were roughly thrown to the ground in submission; and all Joshua's triumphant men put their feet on the necks of those humiliated rulers in victory.  Immediately the guilty kings were executed.  As proof that they were actually dead, their bodies were hung on five separate trees for all to view.  Finally the sun set on that longest day that ever was, and the kings--all five of them--were buried in the CAVE of  MAKKEDAH where they had previously sought refuge (Joshua 10:27).  Sometimes we choose our own burying grounds.  They did.

PITS, DENS, & CAVES

The Midianites prevailed.  Israel couldn't take it.  She was oppressed and scared and hungry (Judges 6:2).   With their bare hands and meager tools, the Israelites dug dens to hide themselves and their families in the mountains--anything to escape the terrorism behind them.  Oh, how the caves were a welcomed relief from the murdering marauders whose camels and live stock were like grasshoppers overtaking Israel's lands.  Life was hopeless--until Gideon.

Contrary to popular opinion, there's nothing wrong with being scared.  It's what you do with that fear that counts.  Jonathan was a brave warrior.  He smote a whole garrison of Philistines in Geba.  His father, Saul, had clobbered a regiment of the Philistines, too.  With a show of might and power, the Philistine army, with all its military might, came at Israel.  The Philistines considered Israel to be an abomination.  The Bible says that Israel was distressed--in fact she panicked.  The perplexed people ran into the thickets, climbed high onto the rocks, hid in dark caves, and slid down into the pits for safety  (I Samuel 13:6).   Immediately following such fear and intimidation, foolish and confused King Saul took matters into his own hands and offered a burnt offering to God (1 Samuel 13: 9).  How sad!  He was the wrong man doing a right thing at a wrong time.  Do you know anyone like that?

ENGEDI

Of all things!--after running, David rescued the southern city of Keilah from the robbing Philistine thugs, those ungrateful people determined to turn him over to pursuing King Saul.  What was David to do?  After consulting a priest and his ephod, David saw that his "goose was cooked" if he hung around with the ungrateful Keilahthites.  So, David and his six hundred vagabonds escaped further south to hunker down in the wilderness mountains strongholds near the city of Ziph (1 Samuel 23:13-14).  Soon the Ziphites, loyal subjects to the King reported  that scoundrel David was lurking outside their environs.  Even though David's best friend, Jonathan, had assured him that David would live and someday be king, David took no chances and pushed his rag-tag men on to Maon's wastelands (1 Samuel 23:14).  It seemed as if David was always one step ahead of his pursuer.  David took a brief breather when Saul had to retreat his pursuit for the former shepherd to stalk some bothersome Philistine invading the land.

It was then that David took advantage of Saul's pause to head towards the Dead Sea and the cooling palm trees of green ENGEDI.   Immediately David felt a home within "The Rocks of the Wild Goats" (1 Samuel  23:29).  With drinking water from the mountain's steam, he and his ragamuffin men could settle down for many moons.  Hiding deep within the caves was a safe retreat much different from the former days of scratching for food and running from Saul.   One day as he and his troop were deep within their cave, who should come by but Saul and his three-thousand chosen men.  Wouldn't you know it!  As Saul entered the CAVE OF ENGEDI, David watched.  He hushed his men from capturing the King and stealthfully cut a piece from Saul's garment.   Leaving  the sheep shed, Saul was more than surprised.  For as he turned his head to see what was the source of the shouting behind him, he spied his arch enemy waving a piece of  frayed remnant while bowing and crying out, "My lord, the King!"

A CAVE IN SAMARIA

Way up North in the hills of Samaria were caves in abundance.  Perhaps it was to one such CAVE that the governor of  Ahab's house hid one hundred prophets of the true God (I Kings 18:4).  Can't you see Obadiah as he sought out the men of God, divided them into two groups of fifty each, and instructed them as to the secrecy of their mission?  First he had to find all the prophets he could from every end of the kingdom.  Then he had to persuade them to cooperate with his plan.  Queen Jezebel had injected them with fear!   Had not she "cut off" the prophets of the Lord?  Maybe there had been a great slaughter with the blood of innocent believers flowing in the streets of Jezreel. Not only were those men frightened, they were hungry.  The famine of Samaria affected them also.  Obadiah had a heart for those men.  He  cared about them.  He cared about their God.  So, probably in the dead of night--for fear of the ungodly queen's wrath--the group walked to a hideout-cave where Obadiah not only promised them protection but gave them bread and water for sustenance.  In all this searching and protecting of one hundred unnamed prophets, Obadiah kept searching for the elusive Elijah.  Where could he be?

HOREB

Elijah kept his promise!  Obadiah was glad!  Jezebel was sad!  Her dinner guests had been murdered.  Elijah had made a fool of her Baal religion.  She had lost face with her public and he'd ridiculed her spiritual leaders on top of Mount Carmel.  Not only that,  Elijah had pushed all of her four-hundred-and-fifty prophets to the Kishon Brook and killed every last one of them.  What a fiery preacher he was.  He had predicted rain.  It came.  He ran in the rain-showers in front of King Ahab's chariot.  The day had been long, the day had been exhilarating, the day had been exhausting; and Jezebel frightened him with death threats.   He walked and walked and walked for one whole day to get away from that wicked woman.  Then suddenly as Elijah found himself alone, far  from the spotlight of the unbelieving heathen, he felt low in spirit and hungry.   He wanted to die!  In such a frame of mind, he sat under the shade of a tree too despondent and depressed to help himself.  It was then that an Angel came to him.  The Angel left him food and drink, and encouragement to keep keeping on (1 Kings 18).

It was in this condition that Elijah found strength from the angel's food and drink to endure the forty days journey to the Mount of God.  As he lodged in a cave at Sinai,  God spoke to the prophet as he had to Moses many years before.  Elijah reviewed for God all he had done--as if the LORD was not mindful of it all.   Feeling sorry for himself, he told the LORD how he alone had stood for Him.  He related,"I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away."  Following the holy instructions, the forlorn prophet obeyed God  stepping out of the cave.  That day, he squarely faced the rugged elements of Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:9).  A mighty wind shook the mountain.  Huge rocks broke in pieces about his feet.  An earthquake convulsed, trembling the earth beneath him.  Fire flamed.  What was the LORD saying?  Strange as it may seem (but why is it strange?), God did not speak in such confusion.  All became quiet.  In fear, Elijah started for the cave again.  The air was still!   No sound!  Nothing!  As he stood in the cave's mouth, an unusual thing happened.  The LORD GOD spoke--not with the voice of thunder but with a still small voice.  In such a holy hush,  Elijah learned of his future.  He also discovered that he'd been mistaken, for there were  seven thousand others who had not bowed their knee to Baal.  Sometimes we would not do the work God has for us to do, if we thought somebody else would do it.  If so, we would lose the blessing of  "the still small Voice"!

THE CAVE OF LAZARUS

The family was weeping, their friends were weeping, and Jesus wept, too.  Lazarus had died.  This friend of Jesus and brother to Mary and Martha had been dead for four days.  The opinion in the family was that if Jesus had been there, Lazarus would not be dead.  In fact, both sisters had expressed openly such bitterness to Jesus directly.  The feeling was, "If only Jesus had been ‘on time,' Lazarus would be alive!"  He  would be laughing and talking of his recovery.  Instead, the stench of death had overcome his body.  Everyone knew that inside the CAVE was the putrefying odor of decaying human flesh--Lazarus's flesh (John 11:38).  No one wanted to smell it.  Not then.  Not ever!  Especially not when their grief was so fresh!  As Jesus commanded the great stone to be rolled from the mouth of that rock-hewn sepulcher, practical Martha reminded him of the stench permeating Lazarus's  tomb.  Could the sisters bear the tomb being opened that day?

With Holy determination, Jesus thanked His Father in Heaven for hearing him; and with a loud voice called resurrected Lazarus by name.  >From the inner recesses of the tomb, the uncanny noise of a man struggling to stand in the antechamber of the cave was heard.  Suddenly the watching crowd, not only heard him, they saw him!  Mary and Martha saw him, too.  There was Lazarus! There he was, walking with an awkward gate from his burial bier to see the sunshine once more.  As soon as the strips of linen  grave clothes were removed from his restricted arms and legs, the beloved brother was loosed.  He was ambulatory again.  He was alive!  He was smiling!  It were as if Lazarus had never been dead--had never been sick.  What a miracle (John 11:25-26)!!  Who could ever doubt that Jesus was the Son of God?  Some did!   Do you?

THE CAVE OF BETHLEHEM

How did the shepherds know where to find the newly-born Messiah?  What sixth sense told them to go to that exact place in Bethlehem?  The Angels only announced Christ's birth, not his birthplace.  They were told only of the manger and municipality not the exact street address.  Perhaps the shepherds asked themselves, "Where in the City of David would a birth take place?"  Not being women who think differently from men when it comes to childbirth, probably their minds turned to the birthing places they were used to--perhaps the CAVE or laborer's sheltering hut at the edge of town or to a stone sheep-fold (CAVE)  near the shepherds' field.  Isn't that where their ewes birthed their wee Passover lambs?  Many scholars feel that Jesus, who was the Lamb of God, was born in the location where the temple's sacrificial lambs came forth.

When Bethlehem tourists travel to the Church of the Nativity, they are ushered  beneath the cathedral and  shown the traditional birth place of Jesus.  What do  they see?  They see a small CAVE.   They see a small decorated place with candles all about and a big star where they are told Jesus was born.  Often outside of the inns of that day was a CAVE where animals stayed, protected from  the weather.  Sometimes the overflow crowd would find themselves sleeping in that humble stall.  Can we not conclude that in a hut--probably a cave naturally dug out of stone--the shepherds fell to their knees and worshiped the Christ Child?  There Mary and Joseph used a rough-stone feeding trough in which to lay the Holy Child.  We call it a manger.  (Luke 2:7)   Thirty-three years later, after a horrible sin-cursed death, the Son of God was placed in another CAVE in another town, for another reason.  (Matthew 27:60)  He didn't stay long in that cave either.  Aren't you glad?

(Of whom the world was not worthy:)
They wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in     Dens and caves of the earth.
Hebrews 11:38
 *

DEAR BIBLE FOR TODAY FRIEND

Just a few personal words to you before the end of the year.  I can't believe that I'm talking about the end of another year!  Well anyhow--the Lord has filled our hands with GOOD THINGS so far; and I have no idea that the rest of the year will not be "GOOD."  I have learned--sometimes the hard way--that God is G-O-O-D, even during the "difficult" and in between the "ugly."  Have you learned this necessary lesson of life?

A PERSONAL "CAVE" EXPERIENCE

As I write this UPDATE--and I hope you didn't mind my writing to you about CAVES.  I just got interested in them when I heard all about the OSOMA BIN LADEN & the TALIBAN living in them.  The most I have known personally about caves is visiting WALT WHITMAN'S tomb nearby which is a mausoleum dug into a hill.  Also one time when I was a little girl, my parents took me to some caverns.  I can't remember where.  Maybe it was Crystal Caves someplace in Ohio or maybe it was Pennsylvania.  (I'm an Ohio girl you know--but haven't lived there for over forty years.)  Anyhow, I remember going down, down, down--probably it was in an elevator.  We were taken into a black space which was darker than dark.  The guide wanted us to just stand there and take it all in.  I remember the void & frightening feeling of the blackness.  I wondered if that was what it was like in Hell for there will be utter darkness there, you know.   Some people think Hell is just a swear word.  It is a PLACE prepared for the DEVIL and his angels.  Some day the sinners, who have never received JESUS CHRIST as Saviour, will be dumped into HELL with them.  How awful!--to be a roommate with Satan!  GETTING BACK TO THE CAVES--Then the lights were turned on and we were standing in utter beauty.  I can still see in my memory-mind, the stalactites and stalagnites were like giant icicles hanging from the far upward reaches of the cave and sprouting up from some unknown depth below.  I think I remember a big pool of water before us somewhere in the center. T'was awesome!

DR. WAITE ANSWERS CENTRAL SEMINARY'S BOOK

My husband is putting together his radio program comments on the book ONE BIBLE ONLY? That book is compiled by some professors at Central Seminary in Minnesota.  He is making umpteen overhead transparencies for his lectures at THE EMMANUEL BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY in Newington, CT.  We are leaving by car the Tuesday coming up.  DR. & MRS. EDWARD SMITH from the Seminary are coming to get us.  Hope my husband's back is feeling better.  He hurt it slightly when lifting a new Panasonic copy machine over a bump in a rug yesterday. He has had a history of his back going out ever since he fell on his motor scooter years ago in Okinawa.  Those were part of his Navy Chaplain days' memories.

I hope that you order those radio tapes--unless, of course, you are hearing him on radio (BFT #185/1-4 @ $12 + $2 S&H).   Anyhow, he has been answering KEVIN BAUDER and his coeditors for several broadcasts.  They teach at CENTRAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY--maybe one has left.  I'll let you know about the Emmanuel Baptist Seminary tapes the first of the year.  Oh, I've been asked to speak to the women, too.  I wonder what I'll say!

TWO NEW PANASONIC COPY MACHINES INSTALLED

Speaking about new copy machines--we had two perfectly good ones--Mitas--at least we liked them.  But the service man prevailed upon my husband and PASTOR DAN & DON, JR. to get two new ones.  We lease those machines.  One Mita is actually ours after years of paying on it.  The service man--his name is Bob Ross.  We have been dealing with him for years--anyhow, he was going to charge us more for the machine service.  We print off about 30,000 copies a month!  So now, we're not going to pay any more a month for these two new PANASONIC DIGITAL COPY MACHINES for service than we have been paying.  At least that is what "they" say--ha!!  If I have it right, we are paying $750 monthly for this leasing business--that doesn't include service.  Maybe it does.  ANYHOW, IF YOU WANT TO HELP US FINANCIALLY WITH THESE MONTHLY PAYMENTS, WE'D BE THRILLED. We would consider it a gift from the Lord and you could get a income-tax credit, too.  What more could you ask?

PASTOR WAITE'S NEW BOOK
First Peter--Preaching Verse by Verse

Why not be one of the first to get First Peter--Preaching Verse by Verse  (BFT # 2945 @ $10 + $4 S&H)  This is the first of what we hope will be many  small hard-back-books of the teaching and preaching that Dr. Waite has been doing in our Bible For Today Baptist Church at ten o'clock Sunday mornings in our HOUSE-CHURCH here in Collingswood, New Jersey.  He takes an half a chapter a week for a synthesis view of the Word. I think you'll like it.  First Peter--Preaching Verse by Verse is an 176-page dark-blue book, with yellow and red letters, that takes one through the book verse by verse.  He touches every verse of I Peter.  My husband uses the Greek language--he was trained well in that, you know; but he doesn't push it down your throat so you are bewildered.  In fact, instead of using the Greek characters, he transliterates the Greek word so you can pronounce the words yourself.  How about that?   The goal of this book is to help the lay person, as well as the pastors, to understand the Scriptures and not get bogged down with an over-kill of verbiage.  My husband wants his readers to UNDERSTAND & APPLY the Words of God to their own lives.  A very interesting, unusual feature in the work is that whenever there is a textual problems, Dr. Waite handles it.  He tells when those words are left out in the new Bible versions and why they are in the King James Bible and the Hebrew & Greek  texts that underlie that Bible.  This feature is worth the price of the book itself.  Another good feature is that most of the Scripture verses that my husband refers to are written out in full so that the reader has them before his eyes.  You'll notice that we used a different picture of him for the back on the cover.

Let me quote you some of the back cover:

Like many of us, Peter began well.  It was not long, however, before he became a disappointment to himself and to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Peter's boldness of speech did not match his boldness of action.  In many ways, he was just talk.  He seemed to have some proper words, but his actions did not back up those words. . . . The Lord Jesus did not discard Peter, but when he returned to His side on the day of Pentecost, He saw fit to use him mightily.  The book of First Peter is a testimony to God's giving a second and even a third chance to one who had failed Him.  The book is rich in God's eternal truth.  If he can use Peter, he can use any of us!

I want to tell you about a wonderful provision of the Lord in regard to the printing & publishing First Peter--Preaching Verse by Verse (BFT # 2945 @ $10 + $4  S&H).  We were wondering exactly how we were going to pay for the publishing of First Peter--Preaching Verse by Verse~~~HOPE YOU GET IT!  We knew that a big truck would be coming with 2,000 of them near the first week in November.  So one day, a letter came from one of our video people.  (If you recall, anyone who wants to can get the church videos regularly. Right now Pastor Waite is teaching 2 Corinthians.  They  are only for a gift of $15.00 for four sermons--plus postage, of course.)  Well, one of our video people from California sent a letter and a check.  Now that is not unusual, for we hear regularly from these people.  So when I looked at the check, I had to do a double take!   I was sure that I was reading wrong.  I looked again.  It said $5,000!!!!  Praise the Lord!  We could use it to pay for First Peter--Preaching Verse by Verse (BFT # 2945 ).

HERESIES OF WESTCOTT & HORT REPUBLISHED

AN OLD BOOK WITH A NEW LOOK

I can't tell you how many people call for the book, HERESIES OF WESTCOTT & HORT (BFT #595 @ $5 + $4 S&H).  It's been out of print for months!!  Now we have a new look for the old book.  Wait till you see the beautiful black cover!  It looks like fire is burning the Bible.  The word "Heresies" is written in spooky letters--for "heresies" are rather spooky.  This is an 118-page-book with an excellent Table of Contents and Index.  If you know my husband, he likes a good index in a book.   Let me quote from the back cover:

The Bible versions that a growing majority of believers are using have been translated into English from a corrupted Greek Text.  It also appears this same majority is totally unaware of this liberal attack on God's Word.  Among fundamentalist and others, there is a strong disagreement as to whether or not the 19th century Church of England leaders, Bishop Westcott and Professor Hort, should be classified as theologian heretics.  In 1881, Bishop Westcott and Professor Hort were the prime agents in convincing the Church of England and many other churches and individuals to replace the New Testament Received Greek text underlying the King Jams Bible with their own Revised Greek text.  In view of this, it is important to examine their theological credentials.  Were they orthodox, or were they heretics?

RICHMOND'S GOOD SAMARITAN INN

Oh, there is so much to tell you, but I must close at the end of this page.  I want to mention the wonderful five days we spent in Richmond, Virginia in October.   My husband had been invited to give his KING JAMES BIBLE SEMINAR to the biracial COMMUNITY BAPTIST CHURCH there on 1900 Everett Street in the heart of the black neighborhood in Richmond.  Although I didn't go to the day-seminars--except for Saturday afternoon, I did attend the evening-preaching meetings.  My husband preached one night from Philippians One.  I thought he was good--in fact a blessing.  Other men from the mission spoke, as well as, PASTOR MIKE McCLARY.  He's a good preacher.  Pastor McClary was a drunk from the age of thirteen, when he ran away from home, until he was 33 years old.  A man who was going to give him a ride to someplace the following morning dropped him off at a Newport News mission to pick him up on the morning.  Well, the man never came back by and Pastor McClary was stuck at the mission and stayed stuck.  He got saved!  The Lord changed his life so that he never had another drink in his life.  I asked him how he managed that, and he confessed that he had to say Scripture verses over and over in his head and out loud when temptation came, as well as singing as loudly as he could, JESUS LOVES ME THIS I KNOW, when he passed by a saloon!

To make a long story short--PASTOR MIKE and his wife, JAN, were burdened to start a rescue mission in the city of Richmond.  And this they did.  It is called THE GOOD SAMARITAN INN and it is 15-years old.  I am impressed with the results from this mission.  They do not feed and preach to the men only, and put them out on the streets during the day--no!  They nurture those men, get them off their habits and addictions, give them work and rehabilitate them to the best of their ability.  Of course, the men have to want to change.  (The rehabilitation program is a year long in duration.)  They have SAM'S GARAGE where men are taught the mechanics trade--a work placement opportunity--training right there in carpentry work, etc.  They are  refurbishing an  old drug-infested-apartments complex which is now their property.  I saw their HUGE second-hand store like the Good Will stores we have in our neighborhood.  I met the men at church and listened to them sing.  In fact, I played the piano!  It was fun.  I also taught the women's class on Sunday morning--a blessing for me.  If you ever want to support a worthy work, think about THE GOOD SAMARITAN MINISTRIES on Hull Street.

Well, I must run.  Tomorrow night we have A TRIBUTE TO FANNY CROSBY in one of the Philadelphia suburbs or someplace.   I'm so busy I don't know which end is "up."  A few weeks ago, we had one in a South Jersey restaurant to a group of people.  I have no room to tell you about my  Just For Women radio tapes on "Thoughts on 9-11 Terrorist Tragedy" and another, "Islam Massacres & Martyrs". They are each for a gift of $4.00+S&H.  Click on www.biblefortoday.org sermonaudio.com.  See you!

I'm under God's care--are you?
Yvonne Sanborn Waite
1 Peter 5:6-11