Saturday Song, University of the Air theme

What would appeal to a ten-year-old child in a broadcast for university students? The CTV Network had a show called University of the Air. Beginning each show, they played the most incredible and awesome music I ever heard.

Listen to the show's theme music here.Electronic music, created with Moog and ARP synthesizers, was a new thing back then. I instantly fell in love with this spacey music. It appealed to my nerdish nature.

Ever since the summer of 1967, I have had a passion for electronic music. It was hard to find at first. Apart from a few novelty songs, no radio station played this futuristic music.

Eventually, rock bands began using synthesizers in their songs. Some groups later went on to use these endlessly-flexible  instruments exclusively.

In the same way, I had a passion for apologetics. I gave my life to Christ in 1969 but nobody mentored me. The only teaching I found was on the radio. And since I had some bad church experiences, I didn't attend any of them.

But not all Bible teaching is correct. I became hooked on Garner Ted Armstrong's "World Tomorrow" program. What I thought was deep teaching was actually blasphemy.

Getting back to electronic music, what do you think of it? Please leave me a comment in the box below. Have a wonderful weekend too.

My next post will be about charismatic believers and their misunderstanding of what faith is. It certainly isn't some mystical power we can harnace for our own ends, that's for sure.

Why is Discipleship so Important?

This sounds like such a silly and unnecessary question for any believer to ask. We know that Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19-20 (KJV), "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

But for some newborn Christians, they were never mentored. Like motherless lambs, they search for sustenance wherever they can find it. Cults seek after such easy prey. These naive followers of Christ are told that they can find deeper knowledge, secrets, power, and other enticing things at their particular gathering place. Little do they know that they're in a cult and getting out of it will take courage and determination.

I was one such stray lamb. When I gave my life to Christ in 1969, the vacation Bible School teacher dismissed us without giving each of us a Bible. Neither did she personally encourage us to go to church but just assumed we'd know where to go. Consequently, I turned to radio preachers for spiritual sustenance.

One of those men was Garner Ted Armstrong. His World Tomorrow program sounded so much more advanced than what I heard from the other preachers. I knew about salvation but only he gave me what I thought was discipleship.

While boarding with a family, I was introduced to a cultic house church. The doctrines taught by their charismatic leader were the same sort which I had heard from Mr. Armstrong. Additionally, he taught heretical lies such as God not being omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He even claimed that we were once space aliens and that we were born here so we could get uncontaminated bodies to live in. Revelation 12:7, according to him, was an ancient nuclear war.

I wrote about how the Lord eventually rescued me from their baleful influence in a book called How I Was Razed. Read more about this awesome testimony at Amazon.

PASTORS, FEED THOSE LAMBS!

One tragic mistake some vacation Bible school organizers make is to let their students go without following them up. Just as newborn animals and humans need milk, so do new believers need the basic nourishment of the gospel. Sadly, many children wander from Christianity or get sucked into cults because they aren't established in their new faith.

VBS was always an enjoyable time for me when I was young. We heard Bible stories, made crafts, and had lots of cookies to eat as well as Kool-Aid to wash them down. The Lutheran church kept us entertained but there was something important continually left out from the curriculum.

I found out what was missing in 1969. Having been kicked out of VBS the previous year for not being able to read the microscopic print in the Bibles, which the paster handed out, I went to a different one. It was organized by a local lady and she taught it in the basement of her home. When my sister's friend invited her and she invited me, I accepted.

Along with the Bible stories and goodies, Mrs Blacklock explained the gospel to us. I'd never heard about how I could have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The Anglican and Lutheran churches mentioned nothing about this. When she asked us to give our hearts and lives to Jesus, I obeyed. After all, I was eager to be a good Christian and I didn't want to go to hell.

Sadly, nobody followed up with me regarding my commitment of my life to the Lord. Because church had been boring in the past, I felt reluctant to go. I also didn't know what to make of all those denominations who claimed their church was the best one. As a result of lacking discipleship, I got my theology fix from radio programs. One of those was The World Tomorrow, hosted by Garner Ted Armstrong. He seemed to know deeper truths in the Bible which other programs never taught. They seemed immature whereas The World Tomorrow appeared more advanced.

Because of this errant program's unbiblical doctrines, I easily became seduced by the cultic teachings of a rogue minister. For fifteen and a half years, I told others about his supposedly advanced teachings. And what was my reward for my devotion? The cult's elders continuous harping on my supposed lack of faith to be healed finally drove me away from them and God.

I wrote about how the heavenly Father led me to the truth about his nature and doctrine in How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. Read more about this amazing testimony of his wondrous guidance at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm Publishers.

WHY IS DISCIPLESHIP IMPORTANT?

Christians consider proclaiming the gospel to be a vital part of their faith, and rightly so. Yet there is another aspect that must be addressed, namely discipleship. One of the last things Christ said in Matthew 28:20b was, "Teaching them (disciples) to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.... " Therefore, making disciples is just as important as proclaiming the good news of salvation.

What a pity that so many new believers are left to seek spiritual nourishment from whichever source presents it. From the research I've done and my own experience, I discovered that cults attract mainly seekers of truth. Hardened atheists and devotees to various religions have no use for cults as they are secure in their own beliefs. New Christians, as I was in the early seventies, have no discernment skills so they fall for any lie that masquerades as truth.

In my case, I had given my life to Christ at a vacation Bible school held in the basement of my sister's friend's mother's home. I went there expecting the usual stories and treats that I'd had at the Lutheran church. But Mrs. Blacklock taught something I'd never heard before. She said that everybody was headed for hell but those who accepted Jesus into their hearts and asked forgiveness of their sins would be saved from that terrible fate. I pondered this new teaching for five days, then decided to surrender myself to the Lord.

I don't blame Mrs. Blacklock for not personally inviting me to her church but I wish she had. As far as I know, nobody came to my family's home to invite Diane and I. Mom doesn't remember either. When I was sent back to Jericho Hill School for the Deaf and Blind in September, I returned to the same Anglican church I had attended for the previous five years.

I became spiritually hungry during the summer of 1970 but nobody had told me why church attendance was important. Consequently, I sought spiritual nourishment from radio preachers. Most of them spoke of basic things which I had already learned but one voice stood out among the rest. When I heard The World Tomorrow, I became captivated with Garner Ted Armstrong's persuasive doctrines and analysis of world news events. This was so different from the "Jesus loves me" preaching I'd heard that I faithfully followed his program.

Then a friend invited me to his house church in November of 1971. Far from the usual Bible study topics, the lay minister spoke of the same sort of things Armstrong preached. I became so captivated by Brother Herald that I joined what I thought of as Thee Church.

As I attended the Wednesday evening meetings, I soaked up everything Brother Herald taught as if it was gospel. Here was somebody who refused to paddle around in the shallow end of the scriptural pool. My desire to know more about God was satiated by his biblical interpretations and I saw no danger in what I learned.

I realize now that Thee Church was a cult and that Brother Herald set himself up as God's mouthpiece. Had I been mentored in apologetics, I would have spotted Brother Herald for the blasphemer he was.

This is why I wrote How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. People need to know the truth so they can spot a counterfeit gospel immediately. Read more about this testimony of God's providential guidance at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Virtual Bookworm Publishers.

THE GREAT FAMINE OF 1975.

I'm ashamed to admit that I fell for the false prophecy that there would be a massive famine in 1975. So concerned were my mother and I that she began hoarding food. From my forthcoming How I Was Razed memoir, here's an excerpt showing how deceived we were. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Mom stripped the sheets from our beds, I noticed that somebody pulled one of them away from the wall. A large cardboard box, half filled with canned goods, sat wedged behind its headboard. "What's all this for?" I asked her. "There's going to be a famine next year and I want to be ready for it." My jaw dropped. "Where did you find this out?" "It was in one of those Awake magazines." "Wow! So the Jehovah's Witnesses know about this too?" "Yes. They've been telling people about the coming famine for years." "Garner Ted Armstrong's been doing that too. It really must be serious then. Brother Herald warned us about the same thing." "I hope I can save enough to last. We've got to set aside enough money to buy extra food before the stores run out." After Mom carried the dirty bed clothes into the laundry room, I held my right hand over our stockpile. "Lord, please bless and multiply this food like you did the loaves and fishes," I prayed. "Thanks too that Mom understands at least one advanced truth." Though she didn't mention what we discussed after that day, I congratulated myself for doing well. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity will be in print and e-book form soon. Meanwhile, have a look at my two previous memoirs on the left hand side of this page.

LIKE A LAM TO THE SLAUGHTER.

It happens all the time. Some charismatic preacher sets up a church and claims to have direct revelations from God Almighty. Instead of targeting unbelievers, these wolves dressed in shepherd costumes prey upon naive converts.

Forty years ago, I was one of those wandering sheep. No mature Christian discipled me so I had no idea of what was true or false. This excerpt from my How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity memoir shows how I was seduced by a false teacher.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Three people looked me over as they sat at a rickety, brown card table in front of the pulpit.

"This is Sister Roberta and Sister Eileen," Jay said as he gestured toward a silver-haired woman wearing a flower print dress and her brunette daughter in a beige blouse and slacks. "And this is our minister, Brother Herald," he gestured toward a short, bullet-shaped man at the head of the table who sat with his back to the pulpit. He wore gold wire-rimmed glasses, a brown dress shirt, and grey suspenders with matching dress pants. His greyish-brown hair and moustache made him appear younger than his sixty-six years.

"We're about to start the meeting," Sister Roberta announced. "You better pull up a chair and sit down."

At first, Brother Herald's teaching style perturbed me. He spoke in a low monotonous rumble for many minutes, then his voice abruptly rose in volume and pitch as he pounded the table for effect. After startling us all, his voice dropped back to its normal level. This, and his laboured breathing, made listening a challenge in the beginning but I soon adjusted to his mannerisms.

By the end of the meeting, this man's preaching captivated me. I can't remember the subject of that particular lesson but I recall thinking that he explained arcane mysteries which ordinary ministers never preached. Only Garner Ted and Herbert W. Armstrong taught such revelatory doctrines on their radio and television programs called The World Tomorrow. Like Christ's audience when he finished preaching the "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew 7:28 and 29, a sense of awe gripped me.

Though I gave my life to Christ at a Vacation Bible School in 1969, nobody discipled me until that evening. This was Thee Church, and my spiritual home, as I came to think of it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

How I Was Razed is my testimony of how charismatic house church elders misled me for more than fifteen years. After leaving that congregation and turning my back on God for almost a decade, due to the lies that the cult taught about him, he revealed his true nature to me. I now realize how blasphemous that house church's doctrines were.

Check out my previous memoirs here. You're also welcome to contact me directly for more information.