In Christ Jesus begotten through the gospel By: Chris McCann 1 Corinthians 4:14 I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. 15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. After a few years of preparation, the Lord led me to the ministry of Family Radio in January of 1987. I soon heard the voice of Mr. Camping over the radio teaching a daily Bible study and answering questions on the Open Forum program. A few months later, in July of 1987 my father died. Looking back upon things now, I see that I lost one father but gained another that same year. My father taught me some things about this world. And Im thankful to God for him for that. But Mr. Camping would go on to teach me not only about the true nature of this world but to teach me a great many things concerning the kingdom of God. It wasnt long after listening (maybe 6 months or so) that I heard Mr. Camping talking about marriage and divorce. A topic I knew nothing about and had no idea of what was right concerning it. But as I listened I heard Scriptures referred to and quickly realized that yes, it was true that once married always married. That there was not to be divorce for any reason. I had never heard that taught anywhere else in my life. But there were the Bible verses plainly stating it. I kept listening, not a church goer at the time, but I heard Mr. Camping speak again and again about finding a reasonably faithful church. So after a while, I started looking around and eventually ended up at 10th Presbyterian church in Philadelphia (a church whose pastor, Dr. Boice was often heard on Family Radio on Sunday mornings) A few years later, it would be in that church that I would meet the woman that would become my wife. While listening to Mr. Campings Open Forum program I heard people call in and try to tell him that God was still communicating with us today through the act of speaking in tongues. I listened with interest because I had known a man in the Navy that had invited me to his church, and once there everyone began to speak in tongues. They lifted up their hands and began babbling. I had the distinct impression as I looked around at them that they were all looking at me while they were doing it. I felt like these people were very strange and never returned to that church ever again. But now I was hearing Mr. Camping shoot down caller after caller by telling them that tongues was not for us today. That once God completed the Bible in the 1st century A.D., that was it. He would never again break the barrier of the supernatural to bring divine revelation to mankind. If we wanted to hear divine revelation we had to pick up our Bibles and read them. I knew right way (as I look back I recognize it was only by Gods grace that I was given understanding of these things) that what I was hearing from Mr. Camping was the truth. Tongues were not for us today. Those churches involved with tongues were involved with another gospel altogether. I kept listening and soon learned something that would be invaluable over the course of my Christian life, and that was Mr. Campings emphasis upon the Bible, and only the Bible, 66 books from Genesis to Revelation, being the Word of God. Nothing added and nothing subtracted from it. That is Gods communication to us and nothing else. Revelation 22:18,19 were quoted again and again: 18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. What a wonderful protection learning this has been. At a time when church after church has gone astray going after signs and wonders. Going after speaking in tongues, after dreams and visions. After their church creed or confession, or simply following their denomination stance. And yet, I learned from Mr. Camping that no, none of those things determine the gospel of God. The gospel is determined by the Word of God and only the Word of God. Nothing else. I learned many doctrines from Mr. Campings teaching of the Bible. But perhaps the greatest doctrine of all that protects all the rest, is the teaching that in order to discover biblical truth we are to use the Bible in the Bibles own prescribed manner. That is, God has laid down His own methodology for coming to truth. These verses were drilled into my mind and will never leave: 1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which mans wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. In the Scriptures mentioned above we have the key that unlocks the hidden mysteries of the Bible. It will require much time, and diligent effort (which Mr. Camping personally demonstrated for many years) but in order to discover what the Bible actually was saying on any matter we must compare Scripture with Scripture. Looking up each word in our verse and carefully checking everywhere else that word is used. And then even more carefully taking the time to harmonize our conclusions with the entirety of the Word of God. Once this methodology was properly followed, we could then say that this is what the Bible teaches on a given subject. Yes, I learned doctrines of the Bible from Mr. Camping, and most people might think, oh, thats nice. But really that isnt a big deal is it? Actually it is. Because doctrine learned from the Bible is invaluable in life. For instance, as I listened as a young man in my twenties to Mr. Campings Open Forum program, and as I learned that there was not to be divorce for any reason whatsoever. This taught me a huge lesson desperately needed for anyone prior to entering into marriage. And that lesson was that marriage is a very serious thing. Once entered into they is no backing out. Therefore, this doctrine prepared me for all the down times that come along when people are married for any length of time. By Gods grace, through the hearing of the Bibles teaching through Mr. Camping I always had the thought firmly in place, that no matter what, we stay married. Ive now been married going on 22 years. Who can say what would have happened in my life, in my marriage relationship if I had not had the Bibles truth that there was to be no divorce for any reason drilled into me? I also learned from Mr. Camping that the Bible taught God was in charge of the whole birthing issue. A child of God trusted God and did not seek to interfere with the process of having children. I saw how, yes, this was so. The Bible does want us to trust God in all matters. God is the One that must create the baby in the womb, and if God creates a baby then it is His will to give us that baby. My wife and I trusted God in having children. We did not take birth control (we never did) and God blessed us with 9 pregnancies, and 4 healthy children. If I had taken a different path, a worldly path, the path that many churches presently trod, and if I had believed the worlds wisdom concerning the need to exercise birth control, then perhaps we would not have all of the children that God has graciously given to us. Doctrine most definitely influences our lives. It impacts the things we do and dont do. I thank God that I had learned to trust Him and leave whether or not we have to children to His will. I learned this through the teaching of Mr. Camping. I didnt learn only that I had a wife til death, and I was to leave the process of child baring to the will of God; but I also learned that the Bible tells me how to treat my wife: Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; And how to raise my children: Ephesians 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Believe me, the person I was before hearing the truths of the Bible would have had little interest in doing things Gods way concerning how to treat my wife or raise my children. Learning sound doctrine through the teaching of Mr. Camping did far more than teach me interesting things about the Bible. But those things taught me how to live a life that would be a happier life. By Gods grace I continued to listen, and I continued to learn. I learned that Sunday was the sabbath day. Not a day for football or sports of any kind. Sunday was not a day for us to do our own pleasure or seek our own will (which was quite a shock to me considering the way I was raised). But Sunday was the Lords day. A day to be involved in spiritual activities. I dont think I can relay how much a blessing this has particular doctrine has been to me in the many years since Ive learned it. How often God has used Sunday as a means of interrupting that weekly cycle especially after an awful week. What if I had never learned to turn the focus of my attention away from the things of this world and to focus my attention on spiritual things. The awful week may have then turned into two awful weeks, or three, of worse. But instead, by Gods grace (I say that a lot in connection with learning things through Mr. Campings teaching), I was able to stop the cycle. Thoughts were turned away from my troubles of work, or finances, or whatever, and put on hold while I picked up my Bible on the Lords day and concentrated upon the Scriptures. Mr. Camping would not allow the tremendous pressures being applied to the Christian world to allow the worlds music in, to enter into the music library of Family Radio. So I stopped listening to Rock and roll (in my twenties) and soon was listening again and again to the unparalleled beautiful glorious music of Gods kingdom. I learned about the true nature of Christmas. Of which, prior to listening to Family Radio I was basically ignorant. I also learned of the true nature of Easter. And the true nature of Halloween. The gaining of knowledge concerning these things also influenced the way I would live my life. I could go on for quite a while longer. But everywhere I look in my life, I see doctrines that were taught to me, taught by the sound biblical hermeneutic of comparing Scripture with Scripture, taught with the additional admonition that the one teaching them (Mr. Camping) was not to be trusted himself; but everything he was saying that the Bible said had to be checked out and verified by the listener with the Word of God. I see the doctrines taught to me, and I see how the understanding of these doctrines influenced the course of my life. And I see that each of these doctrines was the true doctrine of God. And that this has resulted in a better life for myself than I otherwise would have had without the knowledge of these things. A father teaches his children the things that he knows. My father was not a believer. I never saw him with a Bible in his hands. Mr. Camping was used of God to help me in this area that I greatly lacked in. All I can say is, that in a time when the church has fallen away (all churches without exception), and their falling away means that their teaching cannot be trusted. That God, in His goodness, opened up the understanding of Mr. Camping to a great many biblical truths. And not only that, but God also moved within Mr. Camping in a great way, to will and do of Gods good pleasure. God gets the glory, all the glory. And that is something else Mr. Camping was always the first to acknowledge. He also (rightfully so) deflected any praise to himself and directed it where he knew it belonged, on the God of the Bible. There is no doubt to anyone that heard him and knew him that Mr. Camping was a man of God. And perhaps there is no better evidence of that than the fact that when reviled he would not revile back again. Mr. Camping was given a wonderful ability to graciously receive phone calls from irate individuals, and always, throughout the call he maintained his composure. Always thanked the caller for calling and sharing. And always wasnt even the slightest bit ruffled by the exchange. Mr. Camping was the best I had ever saw at following the Lords example of what to do when someone speaks evil against you: 1 Peter 2:23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Of course with the declaration of May 21, 2011, Judgment Day to the world, he became a target of not only the churches (of which he was long a target due to his teaching from the Bible that God had abandoned all churches and that the church age was over); but now also from the world. The worlds revilings never would have bothered Mr. Camping. You can be sure that he would not waste even a precious second (a second that could be used in pondering the Word of God) on the attacks that the world would bring against him. I have written a lot trying to communicate really only one thing---and that is that I loved Mr. Camping a great deal. I loved him because he loved the Lord. I loved him because he dared to speak the truth when just about everyone else was not speaking the truth. I loved him because of the way God used him in my life to bring me countless blessings. I loved him because God used him to bring the light of the gospel into the darkness of my life. I thank God for Mr. Campings life of teaching the Bible. As it was used to bless me, I also know that God raised up Mr. Camping and the ministry of Family Radio for over 50 years to be a means of blessing to a great many others all over the world. Beginning in 1993, my wife and I use to attend the yearly Family Radio Bible conference on the east coast. The most exciting part for me (and for many others) was hearing the series of Bible studies Mr. Camping would give. Just about every year there was a series of studies that had you on the edge of your seat. It was always a wonderful blessing to sit with my Bible, and to listen to the teaching, and to learn things I had never previously understood. Some of my greatest joys were found there (I know that type of joy of learning truth is foreign to the carnal mind, but the child of God understands very well what I am saying). And every year, of course, the conference would come to a close. The last day would arrive. And Mr. Camping would teach that final morning. And then all would go to lunch and each one on their way back home. It was always a sad time leaving the Family Radio conference. We had a long drive home and I would be sorry that the in depth Bible studies given at the conference had come to a close. But I would think to myself, its over now, but Im glad that we had that opportunity to learn all those many things that we learned over those few days. I thanked God for the blessing of having spent that time wisely in learning truth from the Bible. The long in depth Bible conference Mr. Camping gave to us all, on air, is now over. He has traveled home, finally, to his heavenly home. We continue our temporal journey here on earth. But I think its a good time for us, to thank God for all the things we have learned. And for allowing us to have spent our time wisely in listening to the humble and diligent Bible teacher that the Lord raised up to bring blessings to us, the one named Harold Camping. The one that would say of himself, he was just a hey there and a nobody.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 12:47:11 +0000
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