Lesson 10. “God calls some to leave, and some to stay, and I am not the Holy Spirit.”

In January of 1979, I returned to a Bible-believing faith in Christianity and Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. My denomination’s teachings began to turn me away from trusting the Bible and my common sense as I was leaving high school and began attending the university. After graduating from seminary in 1973, I struggled to conduct ministry in three different churches without the Bible-believing faith that I had been raised to rely on in serving God and others.

Francis Schaeffer’s discussions and finally his film series How Should We Then Live? (enabled by the Holy Spirit) led me to a saving, biblical faith in January of 1979. Afterwards, I discussed with Dr. Schaeffer whether or not I should stay in my liberal denomination or leave. He said to me, “God calls some to leave (these liberal denominations), and some to stay in them (where they must continue to remain faithful), and I am not the Holy Spirit.” He also went on to say that if he had stayed in his liberal denomination that he would not have been able to be as creative as he had been. He also insisted that if I stayed in that I would need to remain faithful to Christ and stand up and speak up regarding my faith and the Bible’s teachings. Another statement he made I found to be true in my subsequent experiences staying in the liberal denomination. He said, “The theological liberals would rather destroy the church than have it go conservative.”

The first thing I did in early 1979, was tell my congregation that I had now become a Bible-believing Christian and what that meant and how that differed from what my denomination taught. Three families wanted me to leave the church after I told the congregation that from now on I was going to be preaching the Bible as the true word of God. These three families called in the regional minister of my denomination who in a congregational meeting wanted me to resign from the church, but I refused. I continued to serve that church, and it grew, for another 9 years before moving from Rochester, MN back to Edmond, OK. I believe I followed the Holy Spirit in staying, in continuing to learn from Francis and Edith Schaeffer as I stayed in Rochester, and in returning to Oklahoma. The liberals finally killed that congregation about 20 years after I left, and it no longer exists in Rochester, MN.

As I conclude the 10 Lessons I learned from Francis Schaeffer, I will add a more humorous note, with serious consequences. After becoming a Bible-believing Christian in 1979, I remember telling Fran that I would need to re-learn everything, and I asked him how I was going to do it. He replied, “I don’t know.” What God did do, as I became teachable, was lead me to read all I could of Fran and Edith’s works as well as the works of Charles G. Finney. In April of 1979, I was reading Finney’s Lectures on Revivals of Religion and I believe the Holy Spirit inspired me to compile and edit Finney’s Principles of Prayer from that book.

Later, as I continued to learn, I compiled and edited 16 volumes of Finney’s works. Most recently, I have begun a new Finney’s Principles Series of Finney’s lectures and sermons on Romans, the first being, Principles of Righteousness.

So, even though Fran did not know how I was going to re-learn everything, the Holy Spirit did know and I have continued to learn ever since.

You might also like to learn more about Francis Schaeffer from two of his biographies, now online for you to read for free at http://www.labri.net .
 
Copyright 2009 by L.G. Parkhurst, Jr.
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A Psalm and A Prayer