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1 1 Sunday, March 16, 2014 Grace Life Schl f Thelgy Grace Histry Prject Lessn 131 The Life and Ministry f C. Richard Jrdan, After the Bible Sciety Intrductin We have already seen that Richard Jrdan resigned frm the Berean Bible Sciety n August 29, In the immediate aftermath f his departure, Stam elected t engage in public discurse via the Berean Searchlight and his message at the 1988 Berean Bible Fellwship Cnference n the tpic f the King James Bible. We have spent the last three lessns dcumenting this discurse. While publicly Stam elected t fight the battle with Richard n the Bible issue, behind clsed drs, accrding t Jrdan, the Pauline Prayer subject was mre f an issue and pint f cntentin between t tw men. After leaving the Bible Sciety a variety f different accusatins against Richard and his guys were leveled by peple assciated with the Berean Bible Sciety (BBS). The mst cmmnly repeated ne is that Richard stle the Searchlight mailing list and/r the BBS dnr list. Richard addressed this accusatin directly during ur interview. Richard stated that the accusatin surfaced after he sent ut the first editin f The Grace Jurnal in December, 1987 since it was sent t many peple wh had been dnrs t the BBS. Nancy and Allen Leach had been running Berean Lighthuse Tapes since 1981 and had cmpiled a mailing list f peple wh had purchased audi and vide cassettes frm their ministry. Between 1981 and Richard s resignatin in 1987, the Leach s had cmpiled a mailing f list f between 2,800 and 2,900 addresses fr peple wh had rdered tapes frm their ministry. Accrding t Richard it was Allen Leach wh encuraged him t write the first issue f The Grace Jurnal in the first place because peple wanted t hear frm Richard what was ging n. In additin, Richard shared that eight t ten peple had als sent him lists cntaining the names and addresses f peple wh wanted t cntinue t receive updates and infrmatin abut Richard s ministry nce he left the BBS. Lastly, when Richard resigned he was rdered t clear ut his ffice and take all f his persnal belngings. Included within thse persnal belngs where all his crrespndence files frm his time at the BBS frm 1979 t The riginal mailing list fr the first issue f The Grace Jurnal was cmprised frm these three surces and nt a stlen mailing list frm the BBS. In any event, Richard said that the ntin that he stle the BBS mailing/dnr list is laughable in the first place. During the 1980s, the mailing list was still n steel print plates that filled almst an entire rm at the BBS. If he had stlen them, it wuld have been bvius they were missing. There was n printed master list at the time, accrding t Jrdan. Likewise, there was n dnr list. Dnatins were nted and catalged using a card catalgue type system where there was a card fr every dnr and when dnatins were received they were nted n the respective card. Again it wuld have been next t impssible fr Richard t have stlen the entire cabinet cntaining these cards. Pastr Bryan Rss

2 2 Pauline Prayer: Sme Final Thughts n the GADs We have already studied in Lessn 128 Stam s letter t the readership f the Searchlight dated September 1, 1987 in which he annunced that Richard wuld n lnger be wrking fr the Bible Sciety. Please recall that in the secnd half f that letter Stam attacked Richard n the subject f Pauline Prayer stating in part,... Pastr Jrdan began teaching anther far ut dctrine, utterly devid f Scriptural fundatin: the dctrine that Gd des nt heal the sick in answer t prayer during this dispensatin, and that ur prayers shuld be nly fr spiritual blessings, nt fr physical r tempral nes. During my interview with Richard he stated in n uncertain terms that his decisin t leave BBS had mre t d with the prayer issue than the King James Bible. By the time Jrdan left the Bible Sciety, Stam had taken t telling peple what Richard believed abut prayer. Richard recunted a bard meeting in which the subject came up. Stam was telling the BBS Bard that Richard did nt believe in prayer fr physical things. Richard challenged Stam t play the tape in the album he was hlding n the Philippians 4:6-7 because it was nt true. Stam f curse refused t d s. Richard said that ver the years at least 10,000 albums n Pauline Prayer have been prduced and sld. Richard stated during ur interview that O Hair kicked the religius idl f water baptism and lk what that gt him cntrversy and grief frm his fellw Fundamentalists. Likewise, Jrdan kicked the religius idl f prayer and lk what it gt him cntrversy and grief frm his fellw mid-acts Pauline Dispensatinalists. Richard said that thrugh the early discussins regarding the Grace Alternative Dctrines (GADs), he cntinued t ask the fllwing questins: 1) Hw Des It Wrk? 2) What D Yu Mean by That? The fllwing is a sample exchange regarding the relatinship between prayer and healing between Richard and Stam/BBS Bard. RJ: Will Gd heal yu in answer t prayer? Stam: If it is His will t d s. RJ: S, if yu dn t pray, will Gd heal yu anyway, if it s his will? Stam: N yu need t pray and ask fr healing. RJ: S then why is Gd healing smene, because it s His will r because the persn asked fr healing? In the inaugural issue f The Grace Jurnal frm December, 1987 Richard als addressed The Questin f Pauline Prayer in the secnd half f his editrial. Seeking t set the recrd straight abut what he actually believed regarding the matter, Richard wrte: Pastr Bryan Rss

3 3 Prayer is an inter-dispensatinal principle in that all men in all ages are exhrted and privileged t pray. It is, hwever, als a dispensatinal issue that they d nt all pray fr the same reasns nr have cause t expect the same results. All men in all dispensatins pray but they d s in accrdance with the instructins given t them fr their particular dispensatin. Once again, speaking fr myself, I d nt believe that in the present dispensatin the believer is t pray nly fr spiritual things. In pint f fact, I am nt even sure what that is suppsed t mean. T the cntrary: Paul s epistles clearly shw that in the age f grace Gd Himself is vitally interested in every detail f ur lives and invites us t bring them all t Him and leave them there, knwing that He will d His best fr us because He has already dne His best fr us: in Christ Jesus! Thus, ur prblems becme prductive and actually wrk fr us, as II Crinthians 4:16-18 says. In line with the nature f what Gd is ding tday (i.e., frming a spiritual bdy f believers called the Bdy f Christ), Pauline Prayer naturally fcuses n spiritual issues but it never verlks physical circumstances, situatins and/r needs. Rather it prvides empwerment fr the believer t prperly respnd t these felt needs and handle every detail f life fr the glry f Gd. Rmans 8:26-27 is clear that the indwelling Hly Spirit mtivates and energizes by His pwer an effective prayer ministry that penetrates the deepest levels f human need. There are definitive results spiritual, emtinal and physical which cme as a respnse t this wnderful divine perating asset f praying in the Spirit. Thus, the writer feels that anyne wh tells yu that yu cannt pray fr everything that is n yur heart is shrt-changing yu just as surely as the ne wh tells yu that Gd will give yu anything yu pray fr is hlding ut false hpes and expectatins t yu. The fllwing, frm the pen f Sir Rbert Andersn, expresses ur view n prayer s fully, we simply reprduced it here with ur hearty Amen attached: It is a slemn thing t make uncnditined demands upn Gd. T the recrd f such prayers may ften be added the slemn wrds: He gave them their request, but sent leanness unt their sul. Hezekiah prayed in this way. He claimed a prlngatin f his life and Gd granted his petitin; and the added years gave him his sn Manasseh, and the cnsequences f Manasseh s sin (that Gd wuld nt pardn ) still rests as blight and a curse upn that natin! Such a prayer, I make bld t say, is unfitting t the Christian. Hw different the teaching f the Divine Spirit. Hw different the teaching f the Divine Spirit! It may be the life f husband r wife, r parent r child that is in the balance: what then shall be the Pastr Bryan Rss

4 4 believer s attitude? T claim it, as Hezekiah did, and chance the awful risks which the answer may entail? Or by prayer and supplicatin with thanksgiving, t leave the request with Gd; and having thus left it all with Him, t trust His lve and wisdm with the issue? It was thus the apstle prayed when he sught relief frm that mysterius hindrance t his ministry; and the denial f this request, instead f bringing bitterness f sul, nly served t teach him mre f the the pwer f Christ. The prayer f the Pentecstal ages was like drawing cheques t be paid in cin ver the cunter. The prayer f the Christian dispensatin that f the life f faith is t make knwn ur requests t Gd and t be at peace (The Silence f Gd, ). Cncerning the healing f the sick: If Gd des heal a sick ne, des He d s because we pray r des He d s because it is His will t d s in the utwrking f His purpses? It seems t me that in light f Philippians 4:6-7, the fundamental purpse f Pauline Prayer is nt simply t make life easier fr the believer but rather t set us at peace with His will, whatever it may be. This is smething far better with which ur heavenly Father has replaced the healing prgram f frmer days. (The Grace Jurnal, Here I Stand ), (2-3) As early as the April, 1988 issue f the Berean Searchlight, articles started t appear addressing the subject f Pauline Prayer. Paul Sadler s article, Paul s Prayer Life characterized the GAD view f prayer as an Arminian view f man and a Deistic view f Gd. Sadler wrte: What a cntrversial subject the prayer life f the believer has becme in recent days!... Recently, we spke with ne f ur yunger Grace pastrs wh was quick t infrm us that while we pray abut everything, Gd isn t really interested in the physical and material cncerns f ur lives. Statements that are all t cmmn alng these lines are: It is nt Gd s plicy t heal the sick tday in answer t prayer; There s n need t pray abut that new hme Gd isn t dealing in real estate; Gd desn t grant us traveling grace in answer t ur prayers. We are tld t pray abut everything, but in the end, Gd will respnd nly t ur spiritual needs. They say He will never intervene in ther areas f ur lives t either help us r supply ur needs. T us this view n prayer is ne f the mst discuraging and disheartening teachings we have heard in recent times. It als brders n an Arminian view f man and a Deistic view f Gd. A great evil lurks here, in that many believers are being influenced t live the Christian life in their wn strength while Gd just idly lks n frm heaven, as it were... Fur pillars that seem t stand tall in the minds f sme these days are: a limited prayer life; n chastisement by Gd; n need t ask Gd fr parental frgiveness; and n Judgment Seat f Christ t cme. (37) Pastr Bryan Rss

5 5 Thrughut the 1990s, articles appeared in the Searchlight criticizing varius aspects f the GADs. Sme examples include the fllwing: Cnsecrated Fr the Service f Christ by Paul Sadler in the August 1995 Berean Searchlight. This article addressed the subject f the spiritual gifts and thse wh viewed pastr and teacher as merely ffices, nt direct supernatural empwering. Gd s Gifts t His Church by Paul Sadler in the May, 1996 Berean Searchlight ffered a fuller criticism f the GAD psitin n the spiritual gifts. Please nte that this is abut the time that Richard released his eight vlume tape set titled The Grace Alternatives. Richard shared during ur interview that, as a general rule, he has elected nt t respnd t critical articles such as these, electing instead t fcus n his wn ministry. We have seen this firsthand thrugh ur wn bservatins f Richard s life and cnduct. Wrks Cited Jrdan, Richard C. Here I Stand in The Grace Jurnal. December, Sadler, Paul. Paul s Prayer Life in The Berean Searchlight. April, Pastr Bryan Rss