Heretics and Politics by Thomas A. Fudge

[Evang.Benincasa]

[Scott Pitta]

I read the book while doing some research on a different topic. All of it was "news" to me. The final part of Fisher's life was unexpected and sad.

If I recall, a few students from CBC ended up transferring to CLC when I was a student there. We never discussed CBC.

At CLC, we had considerable academic leeway. I had no idea it was a novel approach to higher Pentecostal education.

[votivesoul]

I wish I could say the whole sordid mess ended and everyone fell on each other's necks sobbing and asking for forgiveness. Unfortunately, many dozens of lives were impacted for the worse. Many of Fisher’s former students came away with their faith in God destroyed. Only the All-Knowing knows whether Fisher is to blame or his opponents in each individual case. The ugliness and lack of Christian charity shown by some of Fisher’s opponents soured many of the people in close proximity to the situation in that hubris-fueled struggle. My old friend Sabby’s observation in another post in this thread regarding the toxicity of the atmosphere of those times has a lot of truth to it. I know that only a tiny handful of Fisher’s former students still attend UPCI churches. I wish it had never happened. It unleashed forces that are still in play today to the detriment of the God’s kingdom.

I wasn't around when all of this happened, haven't read the book by Fudge, and don't really know much about any of it. However, in reading the above quote I am reminded of how easy it is, for whatever inescapable reason, to forget how much the Accuser of the Brethren is constantly looking for an in to disrupt and ruin the plans and intentions of God for His people.

Vigilance against the flesh and works of the devil must be maintained at all times. Imagine if everyone involved would have seen this for what it was, stopped themselves, and fasted their flesh into submission, and prayed against the evil influence of wickedness in high places.

[derAlte]

Originally Posted by votivesoul

I wasn't around when all of this happened, haven't read the book by Fudge, and don't really know much about any of it. However, in reading the above quote I am reminded of how easy it is, for whatever inescapable reason, to forget how much the Accuser of the Brethren is constantly looking for an in to disrupt and ruin the plans and intentions of God for His people.

Vigilance against the flesh and works of the devil must be maintained at all times. Imagine if everyone involved would have seen this for what it was, stopped themselves, and fasted their flesh into submission, and prayed against the evil influence of wickedness in high places.

This deserves a hearty "AMEN!" How right you are!

[returnman]

Originally Posted by derAlte

It seems that we in 2017, with our own life experiences and familiarity with the spirit of our own age, possibly come away with a distorted perception of the mindset and philosophy of men such as C.H. Yadon who lived in another era. When I was first exposed to Pentecost in a meaningful way in the mid-1970s, I was privileged to become acquainted with C.H. Yadon and his daughter Jewel Dillon who was my Sunday school teacher and a long-time member of the church where I was baptized in Jesus’ Name before her stint at JCM.

I have only fond memories of this family. When I knew them, Jewel Dillon and her father were fine, godly people. Jewel and her husband Gene were faithful supporters of our church and I have no doubt that they loved God with all their hearts and had a real relationship with Him. They were very kind to me and I will never forget how they help nurture me as a new convert. They are a part of the period in my life shortly after I received the Holy Ghost when I loved everybody and no one had any faults. I admit I may look back to those years through rose-colored glasses.

Our pastor taught the full Acts 2:38 message as the plan of salvation. Only once did Jewel share with me that there were some folks who believed that being born again of the water might mean something other than being baptized in Jesus’ Name. She told me that some folks believed it meant being naturally born. She didn’t tell me whether or not that is what she believed. Perhaps she did. But she did not cause disunity in our congregation by teaching us young people this alternate doctrine. As far as I know, she (and her father) truly believed the Oneness of God, that baptism was to be administered in Jesus’ Name and that the baptism of the Holy Ghost is a real experience. If they were “one-steppers,” we never knew it at the time. We later learned that many old Northwest folks believed in the Light Doctrine. Perhaps the Yadons believed it…I don’t know.

C. Haskell Yadon came and preached several times at our church. My impression of him was that he was an old Pacific Northwest type whose life experiences mirrored those of my own family in the first half of the twentieth century. He was kind, wise and real and ministered to me through his messages. Again, there was no whiff of divergence from what we knew as the truth that ever came out of his mouth while in the pulpit of our church. I loved the guy and found him easy to relate to. He had lived in the real world…not in the hermetically sealed environments found in some Pentecostal churches today and could relate to people. He was humble and non-judgmental. I also saw these same traits in such preachers as Voar Shoemake and Fred Kinzie who also visited our church.

When I came into Pentecost, I had been attending a Lutheran Church with my family. The other young people in the UPC who witnessed to me at our High School were thoroughly into Bible Study and doctrine. When I began attending the UPC, one friend of mine, who was a charismatic Lutheran, tried to convince me that what the Pentecostal Church taught was heresy. We dug into the Scriptures to see what it actually said and went at it. And after weighing the evidence by looking at what the Bible actually had to say, I came away convinced that the Bible plan of salvation was found in Acts 2:38. I also came away convinced of the Oneness of God. And in all the years since that happened when Gerald R. Ford was president, I haven’t changed my mind.

I wasn't a resident of Oregon at the time but my connection to the NW and beyond allowed me to be around CH Yadon, Wendell Gleason(not so much) and even more so with Ellis Scism. Very humble and gracious men.

[derAlte]

Originally Posted by returnman

I wasn't a resident of Oregon at the time but my connection to the NW and beyond allowed me to be around CH Yadon, Wendell Gleason(not so much) and even more so with Ellis Scism. Very humble and gracious men.

Weren't they? Wendell Gleason was one of the kindest gentlemen I've ever known and Ellis Scism was simply grand. True Christians! I miss them.

Do you remember Ellis Scism's quirky sense of humor? He would quote himself by saying, "As my wife's first husband says..."

[returnman]

Originally Posted by derAlte

Weren't they? Wendell Gleason was one of the kindest gentlemen I've ever known and Ellis Scism was simply grand. True Christians! I miss them.

Do you remember Ellis Scism's quirky sense of humor? He would quote himself by saying, "As my wife's first husband says..."

Absolutely. He lived in St Louis for a time. We chatted a few times before I moved to the NWest. We ran into each other at Oregon camp a few years later. He had declined in health somewhat but I'll always remember him looking at me and saying "I wondered what happen to you". I was honored to be recognized by such great man of God.