Wendell’s Early Years: An Encounter With 52 Warts

Wendell Martin Go Now! From the Innermost Parts of the Heart to the Uttermost Parts of the World plus Forty Stories of Faith

Chapter 01 – Early Years: Part One

I was born near Cleveland Ohio in the middle of July 1953, on a very hot and humid day. And a child could not have been born to more loving and caring parents than the ones I had. God was central in our home, and “spare the rod and spoil the child” was a gentle guide that established safe boundaries and a clear sense of right and wrong at an early age. While there was strict discipline in our home, I, along with my older brother and two younger sisters, learned foundational values that served as a moral and spiritual compass, guiding me through the twists and turns of life.

         At an early age, I learned that life was more than the years I would spend on earth. I discovered the choices I made on earth would determine my eternal destiny. Such a choice was initially an easy decision. At the tender age of six, a firm confidence in God rapidly expanded in my heart. But over time, uncontrollable circumstances, which shape and steer the course of our lives, gradually eroded that confidence. Thankfully, I was about to experience a real-life miracle that would always compellingly argue on behalf of God’s very existence and His love for me. This miracle, which happened very early in my life, stayed in my heart as a constant reminder of the truth through seasons of doubt and drifting.

         In those days, miracles were not common among the Christians I knew. We were taught that they really did happen, just that it was a long, long time ago. But for me, it all started with warts.

**********

         I stared in dismay at the embarrassing lumpy mass of warts covering my right knee. There were fifty-two of them! “One for every week of the year,” I muttered in disgust.

         Back when I was only eight years old and quite foolish, I had become friends with a toad. I had spent an afternoon studying its grumpy face, delighting in the feeling of its sticky toes as it crouched on my bare knees, in anticipation of a dramatic leap to freedom.

         Now, two years later, I was much wiser, having been informed by more knowledgeable neighborhood kids that – as everyone knows – toads were the cause of the warts! Regardless of whether they were right or wrong, I now knew that this conglomeration on my knee was the terrible debt I had to pay for my ignorance of such matters. Though I didn’t know it then, I had formally been enrolled in the proverbial School of Hard Knocks.

         “We’ll schedule an appointment with the doctor to have them burned off.” My mother announced, which caused me to lay awake at night, my imagination running wild.

         This ungodly solution horrified me. “The doctors might as well amputate my entire leg,” I groaned with a shudder.

         My life was coming to an end, and I was only ten.

**********     **********

“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life” (John 5:39-40 NLT).

TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW….

Daniel Kauffman Part B

By Dan Zimmerman July 2025 in The Sword and Trumpet

My Generation and Younger, Birthed & Reared In Anabaptist Communities Too Often Are Clueless of the Role Daniel Kauffman Played Historically… If you’ve not yet read yesterday’s post, Part A, I suggest you do that first...

In addition to doctrines, Daniel also defended Mennonite practices. He vigorously promoted what he called a “separated life,” by which he meant a lifestyle characterized by simplicity, plainness, commitment to church work, and the avoidance of the fashions and amusements of society. Daniel firmly believed that this kind of lifestyle had Scriptural support , and he used Bible verses to demonstrate this. He studded his sermons and books with Scriptural references, although he did little expository preaching or writing. Later generations of Mennonites criticized this, arguing that Daniel sometimes applied verses without due regard for Scriptural content. Certain key aspects of Mennonite thinking such as non-resistance, taught by Christ Himself in the Sermon on the Mount, seemed to be diminished in importance when placed in the company of matters such avoiding life insurance and membership in secret societies. Be that as it may, in his own time Daniel Kauffman gained the respect and approval of the Mennonites for his efforts to promote correct doctrines.

          As soon as he was ordained, Daniel Kauffman started to promote the idea of a General Conference. As a member of the small Missouri-Iowa Mennonite Conference, he saw a clear need for an organization to link the scattered Mennonite Conferences, to provide direction for missions and church organizations, and to provide the Mennonites with a unified voice. This idea gained traction in the midwestern states, and in November 1898, Daniel Kauffman presided at the inaugural Mennonite General Conference, held near Wakarusa, Indiana. He went to serve as conference moderator three more times and never missed a conference until 1941. The Mennonite General Conference soon established boards and committees to oversee missions, Mennonite colleges, and publications. Daniel showed himself a great committee man: he was organized, deliberate, gracious of opponents, and sought consensus. At one point, he sat on  twenty-two committees! Daniel saw the General Conference as a means to unify and equip the Church, and he poured his life into it. Fourteen regional conferences joined as members within ten years, much to Daniel’s satisfaction.       

          He also poured his life into another work: in 1905 he agreed to take the job of editor of a new Mennonite periodical, the Gospel Witness, based in Scottdale Pennsylvania. Three years later, this became part of the Mennonite Publishing House. The periodical was renamed the Gospel Herald after the Mennonite Publishing House bought John F Funk’s periodical, Herald of Truth. A steady stream of editorial articles flowed from Daniel Kaufman’s typewriter, shaping Mennonite thought and opinion for decades. In addition, he continued to write books, some of which grew out of his articles, about doctrinal matters, the Christian life, contemporary challenges, and Mennonite history. Daniel was undoubtedly the most prolific Mennonite writer of his time.

          In the midst of all these time-consuming but rewarding labors, Daniel found time to begin family life again. On February 6, 1902, he married Mary (“Mollie”) Shank, a young lady from Missouri. Fourteen years younger than Daniel, Mollie had once been his student in school. Six children arrived between 1903 and 1917: Homer, Eunice, Paul, Alice, Fannie, and John Mark. In 1909, Daniel and Mollie moved their family to Scottdale, PA, so Daniel could more easily oversee the Gospel Herald. They lived in Scottdale until 1942.

          Tragedies and trials continued to mark Daniel’s personal life. In 1905, his daughter Eunice died suddenly when eight months old. In 1917, his son John Mark died when less than three months old. In December 1922, his son Paul died just days after turning sixteen, when he fell through the ice while skating near Goshen, Indiana. And in 1933, his eldest son James died unexpectedly at the age of forty-five from a rare form of blood poisoning. Daniel also suffered debilitating illnesses repeatedly. His back was severely injured in an automobile accident in 1941. Despite these trials, he continued to work for his Lord and the church.

          In 1943, he finally retired from his responsibilities as editor of the Gospel Herald, and he and Mollie moved to Parnell, Iowa, to live with their daughter Alice Gingerich and her family. During the fall, he began to feel weak and ill. On Sunday, January 2, 1944, he preached the morning sermon at West Union Mennonite Church, where Alice and her husband were members. That afternoon he felt very unwell, and his health declined rapidly. On January 6, 1944, he died at the age of seventy-eight. His wife Mollie, their son Homer, and their daughter Alice and Fannie survived him, as well as ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Funeral services were held in both Parnell, Iowa and Scottdale, Pennsylvania.

          Daniel Kauffman’s influence on the Mennonite church from 1896 to 1944 was immense. His work in building up the church through the General Conference made a lasting impact on the Mennonite church. His efforts to clarify and promote correct Biblical doctrines in word and print shaped and molded the thinking of the entire Mennonite church. His conservative approach to beliefs and practices, codified in Doctrines of the Bible, though abandoned by mainstream Mennonites, continues to guide many conservative Mennonites today.   

NEXT UP:

DANIEL KAUFFMAN  1865-1944 Part A

By Dan Zimmerman July 2025 in The Sword and Trumpet

My Generation and Younger, Birthed & Reared In Anabaptist Communities Too Often Are Clueless of the Role Daniel Kauffman Played Historically…

Daniel Kauffman was without question the most prominent Mennonite church leader during the first three decades of the twentieth century. His efforts to define biblical doctrines, both in word and print, and his work to organize a General Conference for the Mennonite Church had immense consequences that remain to this day.

          Daniel Kauffman was born to David and Elizabeth (Winey) Kauffman on June 20, 1865,in Richfield, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, their seventh child. Daniel was born into a family living under a load of grief. In the late fall of 1862, four out of five children in the family caught diptheria, and three of them died within a month: John (age eleven), Susannah (age ten) and Hannah (age five). Daniel’s sister Mary Ann, then age eight, survived her illness, and her brother Jacob, then age two, did not get sick. Elizabeth gave birth to another son, Samuel, about a month after the third funeral. Thus Daniel had three living siblings when he arrived in 1865. Three younger siblings came over the next decade.

          When Daniel was nine months old, in March 1866, his family moved to Elkhart County, Indiana, seeking better farmland. In April 1869, the family moved again, this time to Morgan County Missouri. Daniel grew up near Versailles, Missouri, where the local Mennonite congregation called his father David to be a minister in 1871, then to be a bishop in 1875. David wanted Daniel to become a farmer, but Daniel was interested in education. After sustaining a broken leg in a riding accident 1879, which healed poorly, Daniel was permitted to pursue his interest.

          In 1883, after gaining his certificate, he served as superintendent of the Morgan County public schools from 1887 to 1890. He also married Ota Bowlin, a local Baptist girl, in 1887, and they had a son James, born in1888. Tragedy struck in early 1890, when Ota sickened and died after giving birth to a daughter, (who also died). Later in the year, John S. Coffman arrived to preach for three weeks of evangelistic meetings. Daniel attended, and on the last evening, surrendered his life to Christ. He was baptized several weeks later. The Mt Zion Mennonite congregation recognized his abilities and called him to the ministry in October 1892. Dan preached like he taught school: he organized his thoughts carefully and spoke clearly and plainly. In August 1896, David Kauffman died and Daniel replaced him as a bishop the following month, at the age of thirty-one.

          As a preacher, Daniel traveled widely. He aligned himself with the “Quickening” movement among the Mennonites, advocating for what he called “aggressive Christian work”: evangelistic meetings, Sunday Schools, and missions. Although he spoke Pennsylvania German from childhood, he preached in English. As a young bishop, he keenly felt the need for sound books explaining the doctrines of the Bible. Unfortunately, he found nothing in that line written by Mennonites. He decided to write one himself. He stopped teaching school in 1897 and went to live with his mother on the family farm. The following year, he published A Manuel of Bible Doctrine, the first in a series of versions which culminated in Doctrines of the Bible in 1928.

          Daniel wanted to shore up the doctrinal foundations of the Mennonite Church. At this time, controversies raged among many Protestant churches over doctrinal matters. The liberals or modernists denied the accuracy and inspiration of the Bible, while the conservatives (many of whom were later called fundamentalists ) defended both. Daniel identified himself as a conservative in these matters, taking historic Christian positions that the Bible is inspired by God and trustworthy in its accounts. He preached about doctrines, which was unusual among Mennonites at the time, demonstrating the Scriptural basis for the teachings of the church. He spoke at Bible conferences.

To Be Continued Tomorrow:

SO, WHERE ARE THE OTHER NINE?

Practicing A Great Attitude While Prepping This Morning For Corporate Worship

Paul Brubaker

Winston Churchill used to tell the story about a sailor living in Britain’s westernmost principal city of Plymouth. One day the sailor plunged into Plymouth Harbor and successfully rescued a small boy from drowning. Several days later the gallant hero met the boy walking with his mother on the streets of Plymouth. Upon seeing the man who saved his life, the youngster nudged his mother. She thought the sailor vaguely familiar, and thus asked, “Are you the man who pulled my son out of the water the other day?” The sailor’s face lit up. He grinned, saluted and answered briskly. “Yes, ma’am.” Already in the back of his mind he was figuring how to best respond to her gratitude. But she saved him the trouble. With eyes narrowed and pursed lips, she snapped, “Then where’s his CAP?”

          The Bible has a lot to say about gratitude…. as well as the lack of it! Regarding unregenerate humans, Paul wrote to the young Christians at Rome: “Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Romans 1:21) Well said Paul. We can relate. But we’re learning, for as long as we remain faithful to God, we retain a sensitivity to His presence.

          Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers gives us an example of how highly God values gratitude. On the way to Jerusalem one day, as Jesus was traveling along the border between Samaria and Galilee, ten leprous men – nine Jew and one Samaritan – called from afar, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” (Luke 17:13NIV). And Jesus did have pity on them, and thus instructed the lepers to go show themselves to the priests. And miraculously as they went, all ten were healed! But only one of the lepers, a despisde Samaritan, returned to the Great Healer to pour out his heart in thankfulness and gratitude. It was then that Jesus asked three questions: “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:17-18, NIV). Jesus’ heart was indeed saddened by the ingratitude of the other nine – the vast majority of the lepers that day!

BOTTOM LINE:

          So, what’s the lesson for us today? While the world’s masses, and possibly at times, even some of us in the church, may defiantly snub God and disregard His continual blessings day after day, hopefully you and I will never be found guilty of the sin of ingratitude. May our praises ever ascend to the One from whom all blessings flow, starting this morning now, or perhaps corporately, in a few hours! Originally published in BRF Witness. Republished in July 2025 by The Sword and Trumpet, founder 1929.

Next Up:

My Generation and Younger, Birthed & Reared In Anabaptist Communities Generally Have No Idea the Role Daniel Kauffman Played Historically… Mon Part A, Tues Part B. Then Wed thru Sat, featuring Wendell Martin’s Miracle at Age Ten when plagued with 52 warts.

If I were the devil …

If I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness. And I’d have a third of its real estate, and four-fifths of its population, but I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree — Thee. So, I’d set about however necessary to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first — I’d begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: ‘Do as you please.’

To the young, I would whisper that ‘The Bible is a myth.’ I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what’s bad is good, and what’s good is ‘square.’ And the older, I would teach them to pray, after me, ‘Our Father, which art in Washington…’

And then I’d get organized. I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting, so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I’d threaten TV with dirtier movies and vice versa. I’d pedal narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest with pills.

If I were the devil, I’d soon have families at war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves; until each in its turn was consumed. And with promises of higher ratings I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames. If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellects, but neglect to discipline emotions — just let those run wild, until before you knew it, you’d have to have drug sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door.

Within a decade I’d have prisons overflowing, I’d have judges promoting pornography — soon I could evict God from the courthouse, then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress. And in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion, and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls, and church money. If I were the devil, I’d make the symbols of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle.

If I were the devil I’d take from those who have, and give to those who want until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious.

And what do you bet I could get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich? I would caution against extremes and hard work in Patriotism, in moral conduct. I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you see on the TV is the way to be. And thus, I could undress you in public, and I could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure. In other words, if I were the devil I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing.”

Paul Harvey, Good Day!

I presume by now most of we oldsters have seen this frequently since its debut in 1965. I do find it amazing how 60 years ago Paul Harvey so accurately “predicted” the future spiritual condition of the United States. At that time, many of his statements were considered ridiculously outlandish in our culture. What has happened here? Consider Mission Drift: The Unspoken Crisis Facing Leaders, Charities, and Churches by Chris Horst, Peter Greer, George W Sarris as featured earlier in the seven consecutive posts beginning Jun 30, if you missed them.

Next Up:

So, Where Are The Other Nine? Sunday morning worship warm-up?

SCROLLING OURSELVES TO DEATH

Reclaiming Life in a Digital Age

Edited by Brett McCracken and Ivan Mesa Publisher: Crossway, 2025; 243pp.

Book Review by Rosalind Byler Reprinted courtesy of The Sword and Trumpet, July 2025.

If the title of this book sounds familiar, it should be. Forty years ago, Neil Postman wrote Amusing Ourselves to Death, proposing that media as entertainment (at that time, television) weakened viewers’ capacity for deep thinking and discourse. A media analyst, educator, and a cultural critic, Postman observed that a society’s behavior and thought patterns are shaped by its communications media – and his prophetic cautions are proving correct. Scrolling Ourselves to Death assembles fourteen Christian thinkers to interpret and apply not only Postman’s wisdom but gospel principles to today’s digital media.

The book consists of three sections summarizing and updating Postman’s conclusions describing problems modern Christian communicators face, and focusing on the church’s opportunities to use technology wisely in a counter-cultural lifestyle. Questions at the end of each chapter aid further thought or discussion.

Postman was an unbeliever, but his Jewish background helped to shape his perspectives. He concluded that that far from being neutral, technologies naturally moved users toward secularization. While his concern was amusement, smartphones now act as “digital syringe[s]… to a lifelong, brain-altering, relationship – destroying addiction” to dopamine (21). More time spent in a disembodied environment leads to increasingly unnatural perspectives on gender, community, and relationships.

In addition, a growing and vocal individualism prioritizes the self’s inward desires over religious authority or cultural propriety. Proponents depict this as inner integrity and argue that it exposes injustice; yet its path to authoritarianism is clear. Religious individualism insists that its self-selected church, community, theology, practice, etc., make sense on the individual’s own terms. (Ouch!)The shift from “being instructed to expressing ourselves” has led to a “post-truth” world (Chapters 3 and 4).

This crisis of authority poses new difficulties for Christian leaders and communicators. Congregants who have spent the week affirming their belief systems in algorithmically designed media feeds will listen with skepticism to gospel truth on Sunday. The discipline of apologetics becomes even more challenging in a world of “meager reasoning skills, fleeting attention, and continual distraction” (115). Superficial and fragmented disinformation replaces shared narratives that agree with reality. Submersion in social media increases our tendency to be gullible, making us more receptive to conspiracy theories and divisive fragments of “news.”

Throughout the book, the authors counter these depressing scenarios with sound and simple advice. Preach the Word (non-preachers, immerse yourself in it). Use real Bibles. Review long-past history. Tell and retell the best story, embodying it in baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and historic Christian practices. Stock church libraries; offer teaching on church history. Live in local communities and invest. Believers’ online posts should “add to the net amount of truth, goodness, and beauty” in cyberspace rather than giving more coverage to the partially true, sensational, and ugly (127).

Christians are uniquely taught and Holy Spirit-equipped to do justice and love mercy. Yet it is easy to follow the crowd of noisy public justice lovers (for other people, at least!) into dubious and damaging mercies. The final chapters show positive ways the church can nurture real, abundant life in modern believers. Among the authors’ recommendations are using creativity but caution with new media; reconnecting information with action to help prevent anxiety, anger, or apathetic detachment; and living out God’s historic mission for the church by building strong families, working to bring order out of chaos, loving our neighbors, caring for the needy, and spreading the gospel.

BOTTOM LINE:

Brett McCracken’s introduction will make smartphone users cringe, and the book does not minimize unsettling statistics. Yet Scrolling Ourselves to Death has so much more than gloomy assessments, blistering reproofs, or even wise rules for technology use. The editors’ aim is to help Christians think carefully about how technology changes our thinking. Multiple contributors result in more factors considered, both in the magnitude of the problem and in hope-filled practices. Engagingly written and accessible, this book is a must-read for everyone, beginning with yourself, before considering it for your Christmas gift list. Thriftbooks has it for $16. I contacted Choice Books to carry it as well. We’ll see.

NEXT UP:

Paul Harvey post from 1965…

Counseling the Conspiracy Theorist, Part B continued

Written by Daniel Szczesniak, July 2025 The Sword and Trumpet, Pg 19, originally published by ACBC at biblicalcounseling.com

If you missed Part A, you’d be advised to read that first!

2. Confirmation Bias vs Renewal of the Mind

Confirmation bias is a fancy, technical-sounding way of saying that we hear what we want to hear. People love to hear the things that “suit their own passions,” and thus “turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” 2 Timothy 4:3-4). Conspiracy theories have enough truth sprinkled in to plausibly conform what we already think – wish? hope? – to be true.

          Challenge your counselee with this passage, then study Romans 12:1-2, where Paul calls for believers to be transformed in our thinking as an act of worship. Teach them to think biblically and help them grow in discernment as they learn to love what is “good and acceptable and perfect.”

  • 3. Blame Shifting vs Taking Responsibility

As difficult as it for us to change our minds, it may be even more difficult to change our habits. Myths allow us to avoid responsibilities for how we spend our time by placing the blame on someone else: Them!!

Every conspiracy involves a “they.” After all, it is far easier to believe that a shadowy cabal of elites has intentionally compromised our food supply than it is to change our diet and begin exercising.

A subtler form of blame-shifting, and one that is perhaps more common, is for your counselee to focus their efforts on exposing and fighting “them” in chat rooms and social media debates instead of prioritizing God’s instructions for their lives. The lie is that they are pursuing noble causes (Truth! Justice!). But the reality is that they are surfing the internet instead of fulfilling their duties to God and neighbor (Matt 22:27-40).

Help your counselee see these things with the classic illustration of the “circle of concern” and “circle of responsibility.” Draw a circle and label it “circle of responsibility.” Inside, write down the God-given responsibilities they’ve been neglecting in their pursuit of so-called “truth.”

Next, draw a wider circle around the first one, and label it “circle of concern.” Write down things that they may be concerned about, but are not necessarily their responsibility. Help them think through where things like “civic duty” and “current events” fall, and what that should look like in their life.

  • 4. Self-Centered Narrative vs the Story of Redemption

Conspiracy theories provide a framework for us to make sense of the world around us. Like Asaph in Psalm 73, we see the prosperity of the wicked and wonder why they succeed while we struggle. A good conspiracy theory explains our struggle by placing us within an epic story of good versus evil, the global elites plotting against regular folks such as ourselves.

Yet the structure of the narrative is itself the problem. As Carl Trueman has said, “Conspiracy theories… make us feel more important in the grand scheme of things than we are. If someone is going to all this trouble to con us into believing in something, then we have to be worth conning.” In the end, conspiracy theories are about US!

BOTTOM LINE:

          But there is a much better story!

          It’s the story of God’s beautiful creation and our purpose to reflect His glory. It’s a story in which we are are the ones who conspire against our Creator, turning from him to seek our own glory and pleasure. Yet in this story, God sent His own Son to save us from the trouble we inflicted upon ourselves by forgiving our rebellion, giving us new hearts, calling us to walk in His ways, and promising us a glorious future.

          Train your counselee to view the world through this priceless act of redemption. Teach them the beautiful truths about Christ, help them renew their minds in the Word, prepare them to value and live out their God-given responsibilities, and help them locate their life in the Bible’s narrative of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation.

NEXT UP:

Book Review: Released in ’25; Scrolling Ourselves to Death: Reclaiming Life in a Digital Age edited by Brett McCracken & Ivan Mesa

COUNSELING The CONSPIRACY THEORIST, Part A.

Written by Daniel Szczesniak, July 2025 The Sword and Trumpet, Pg 19, originally published by ACBC at biblicalcounseling.com

Sorry readers, but I’ve been looking for writings in these veins for years to no avail! Where are today’s practical living spiritual/scriptural interpreters on such ignored hot topics? If you are aware of other such attempts, please, please inform me… merlin

THERE’S JUST SOMETHING ABOUT CONSPIRACY THEORIES THAT ATTRACT US.

The deep state, Russiagate, birther, Epstein, QAnon, and the New World Order are terms that have entered the public consciousness over the past few years. The grassy knoll, flat earth, chemtrails, and the moon landing have been popular subjects for years. There are endless debates about vaccines, voter fraud, the pandemic, and no doubt there will be many still to come about the recent Pennsylvania assassination attempt.

Such theories capture our imagination while attempting to explain the inexplicable. In doing so, they provide structure to the chaos of the world around us. As Christians, we love to seek out truth, and we believe that God is ordering history according to his will. So, what is the problem?

The Problem with Conspiracy Theories

The issue isn’t conspiracy. We know that powerful people do evil things, and we know that they often try to conceal dealings or spin the narrative. Proverbs 17:23 tells us, “A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back to pervert the ways of justice.” This explains why so many conspiracies have a ring of truth to them. According to the Bible, wicked people do exchange bribes and favors to twist the law or work the system to their favor.

No, the real issue is stewardship. It’s a matter of what we do with the truths with which we’ve entrusted. Paul put it this way: “Charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is faith” (1 Timothy1:3-4)

Instead of faithfully living out the Christian life, the conspiracy theorist engages in speculation and does it to such a degree that it can only be described as deviation. At the root of this deviation to speculation is a different doctrine. It’s a different doctrine because it doesn’t center on Christ (1 Timothy 1:11). To help a counselee caught in a love of speculation, you must help expose this wayward devotion as sin and point them to the truth of the Gospel.

Understanding and Counseling the Conspiracy Theorist

Let’s take a look at four areas the conspiracy theorist might find attractive, comparing each to the greater truths God gives us in His Word.

  1. Secret Knowledge vs. Biblical Truth

Grocery checkout lines are known for displaying two types of products: Candy and gossip magazines. Twice the book of Proverbs identifies these as the same basic urge: “The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels, they go down into the inner parts of the body” (18:8, 26:22).

Like chocolate or the juicy news of who is cheating on whom, conspiracy theories provide an indulgent thrill of pleasure. It may be masked as a search for truth, a love for learning, being prepared for the future, or staying up to date on current affairs. But at its root, the allure of secret knowledge is a love of pleasure.

Jesus said, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God” (Mark 4:11). Show your counselee that the greatest and most satisfying secrets are revealed in Christ, and everything they need for life and godliness comes through knowing Him (2 Peter 1:3).

TO BE CONTINUED:

Menno Simons Part B continued…

Menno had faults like any man, but he deserves his place in history with the other Reformers of that age, maybe even deserving a higher ranking than the others. Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli accomplished their roles in conjunction with the state’s political power. In contrast, Menno Simons played his part by obeying the Scriptures, bearing the cross of Christ, and enduring the shame of persecution. He traveled, he preached, debated, and wrote many treatises and letters, many of which are available today. A volume of The Complete Writings of Menno Simons has 1092 pages. His influence on the Mennonite church, which bears his name, is incalculable.

What message did Menno preach in his day that we need to be reminded of today? The following quotes are all from his own writings:

True religion must bear sanctified and holy fruit. The state churches did not call their members to be born again as a prerequisite for membership. You were basically born into the church by being baptized into it as an infant. The Anabaptists insisted on membership by choice, and the standard was the New Birth. This made their way of life straight and narrow. The state churches left it broad and open.

Such a repentance we teach and no other, namely, that no one can or piously glory in the grace of God, the forgiveness of sins, the merit of Christ, unless he has truly repented.

It is not enough that in appearance a man speaks much of the Word of the Lord. It must also be verified by devout and unblameable conduct as the Scriptures teach.

For true evangelical faith is of such a nature that it cannot lay dormant; but manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love; it dies unto flesh and blood; destroys all forbidden lusts and desires; cordially seeks, serves and fears God; clothes the naked; feeds the hungry; consoles the afflicted, shelters the miserable, aids and consoles all the oppressed; returns good for evil; serves those that injure it; prays for those that persecute it; teaches, admonishes and reproves with the Word of the Lord; seeks that which is lost, binds up that is wounded; and heals that which is diseased and saves that which is sound.

The Church is a Brotherhood. The state churches who persecuted the Anabaptists were made up of citizens of their local city/state. They were there by birth, not by choice. Mennonites are members of a Brotherhood because they willingly submit their lives to the body and care for one another.

Menno Simons had much to say about the life of preachers. This may be because of his own experience in the priesthood, and also because the loose living and depravity of church leaders was rampant. Speaking of the state churches he says:

“Under these splendid trappings (crosses, belts, organs, masses) may plainly be seen the slily, crouching wolf, the earthly, sensual mind, the antichristian seductions and bloody abominations; for they seek nothing but the favor of men, honor, splendor, venery, idleness, self, gold, silver, gluttony, and suffer themselves to be called spiritual doctors, teachers, lords, abbots, guardians, fathers and priors.”

Speaking of true preachers, he says,

These are they who gather with Christ what has been scattered, bind up the wounded, and heal the sick, for they are influenced by the Spirit of the Lord and urged by unfeigned love. They are vigilant and assiduous in the discharge of entrusted duties. They fight daily with the weapon of obedience. They tear down, break, and destroy all that which is against the word of God, not by external power, with sword and spear, but by the preaching of the holy word, in power and spirit, with the word of the Lord. They till, sow, water, and plant. They cut down what is ripe. They gather their grain and sheaves, and carry them into the Lord’s barn and their fruits will abide unto eternal life.

Shunning Babylon (the world) 

We further teach and admonish from the word of God, that all true children of God, who are regenerated from the incorruptible living seed of the divine word, who have separated themselves, according to the Scriptures, from the idolatrous generation, and yielded to the yoke and cross of Christ, and who are able to judge between true and false doctrines, between Christ and antichrist, must shun according to scripture, all seducing and idolatrous preachers and their doctrines, sacraments and worship. They must avoid all, of every doctrine, faith, sect, creed and name, who are not found in the pure doctrine of Christ, and in the scripture usage of his sacraments, because they have neither calling, doctrine, nor life, according to the word of of God, but are sent by antichrist, and ordained in his employment and service.

Menno was a voluminous writer. Only small samples can be given here. One thing that shines through and through was his “divine enthusiasm” for the work of Christ in the heart of the true believer. Here is a quote from him:

“Behold, worthy reader, all those who sincerely believe in this glorious love of God , this abundant great blessing of grace in Christ Jesus, manifested toward us, are more and more renewed through such a faith; their hearts overflow with joy and peace; they break forth with joyful hearts, in all manner of thanksgiving, they praise and glorify God with all their hearts, because they, with a good conscience have received the Spirit; they believe and know that the Father loved us, so that he gave us poor, wretched sinners, his own and Eternal Son, with his merits, as a gift and an eternal ransom, as Paul says, “The grace and love of God, our Savior, appeared not on account of the works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

After a busy and fruitful life, Menno Simons died of natural causes on January 31, 1561. God used him mightily to stabilize and bless the Anabaptist movement. God is calling men and women to Kingdom work today. May we be faithful and take courage to step forward in faith and answer His call.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12:1-2)

Originally published in the March 2025 issue of Pilgrim Witness. More recently published in July 2025 The Sword and the Trumpet.

NEXT UP:

FINALLY! How to Counsel A Conspiracy Theorist!

MENNO SIMONS Part A

PILGRIM WITNESS / 500 YEAR ANABAPTIST ANNIVERSARY SERIES David Sweigart

Good Week Morning Readers!

I came across a historical sketch of Menno Simons which I’m including strictly FYI. Those Protestant swaths forthcoming from their Reformation & Anabaptist roots are wide when you include all the Baptist and similar offshoots, whereas the Menno Simon’s variety would be declining worldwide if it were not for the conservative Mennonite & Amish higher birthrates and their stand against doctrinal error which compromises faith and leads to apostasy. merlin

It is important to understand that the Anabaptist movement began in two separate areas in Western Europe – Switzerland and the Netherlands. In Switzerland, they were known as the Swiss Brethren. Several years after the beginnings of the Anabaptist movement in Switzerland, the movement reached the Netherlands through the influence of a wandering preacher with a Lutheran background named Melchior Hoffman. Hoffman had fanatical notions about the earthly kingdom of God, which bore fruit and culminated in what became known as the Munster tragedy. Two men influenced by Hoffman, John of Leiden and John Matthys, established their “kingdom” in the city of Munster. They instituted a reign of terror for about a year until the opposing forces annihilated them and the few holdouts with them. While they could be called Anabaptists because they were re-baptized at the beginning of this saga, they obviously did not stay true to other Anabaptist principles.

Among the many baptized by Hoffman or his followers, a pair of brothers became very significant: Obbe and Dirk Phillips. These two brothers and their followers, who opposed the violence and fanaticism of the Munsterites, became known as the Obbenites, who are rightfully considered the founders of the Dutch Mennonite movement.

Even today, any new movement must come to terms with its fringe elements and tendencies. The aforementioned Munster incident was one of those divisive elements. Some held to hyper-literal interpretations of the Gospel. The fledgling Anabaptist movement needed a leader to stabilize and unify the cause.

In 1536, it had been traditionally accepted that Obbe Phillips baptized a former Roman Catholic priest named Menno Simons, who was born in 1496 in the Dutch town of Witmarsun. Menno was ordained a priest in 1524 but was not serious about life. He involved himself in partying, cards, drinking, etc. However, events in his life led him to begin to question the Catholic practices of transubstantiation. “… during the first year (as priest) he was suddenly frightened. While he was administering the Mass he began to doubt whether the bread and the wine were actually being changed into the flesh and blood of Christ. First he considered these thoughts the whisperings of Satan; but he was unable to free himself through ‘sighings, prayers, and confessings.’”

He struggled with his doubts for two years. Finally, picking up a Bible and beginning to read, he discovered that the teachings of the Catholic church were incorrect. Several events also were instrumental in bringing him to a crossroads of faith. News of a public beheading reached him and disturbed him because the reason fro the beheading was rebaptism. A second baptism seemed a strange doctrine to him. He had never doubted infant baptism. In his hometown of Witmarsum about 300 Muensterites took over a monastery and tried to defend themselves against the governor, but all were killed, probably including his own brother. The news of Muenster and the Hoffman/Muensterite prophets’ influence prompted him to speak out publicly against these fanatical excesses.

Finally, in January of 1536, he made the break – closing the door to a priestly career and a life of ease and pleasure and instead embracing the cross of Christ, a wanderer with a price on his head. “I voluntarily renounced all my worldly honor and reputation, my unchristian conduct, masses, infant baptisms, and my unprofitable life, and at once willingly submitted to distress and poverty, and the cross of Christ.” He spent a year in seclusion studying Scripture, and around 1537, Obbe Phillips ordained him.

He was a hunted man with enemies everywhere – Roman Catholic traditionalists and other Reformers on one side and fanatics on the other. But he had a burden for the souls of men, the common people who found themselves caught in the middle of the swirling winds of change. “Thus reflecting upon these things my soul was so grieved that I could no longer endure it. I thought to myself – I, miserable man, what shall I do? If I continue in this way , and live not agreeably to the word of the Lord, according to the knowledge of truth which I have obtained; if I do not rebuke to the best of limited ability the hypocrisy, the impenitent, carnal life, the perverted baptism, the Lord’s supper and the false worship of God, which the learned teach; if I , through bodily fear, do not show them the true foundation of the truth, neither use all my powers to direct the wandering flock, who would gladly do their duty if they knew it, to the true pastures of Christ – Oh, how shall their shed blood, though shed in error, rise against me at the judgment of the Almighty, and pronounce sentence against my poor miserable soul.”

BOTTOM LINE:

Menno Simons was a humble servant of the Lord, willing to serve but painfully aware of his inadequacies. As he reflected on the needs of the poor, straying flock who as a sheep without a shepherd, he wrote, “My heart trembled in my body. I prayed to God with sighs and tears, that He would give to me, a troubled sinner, the gift of his grace, and create a clean heart within me, that through the merits of the crimson blood of Christ, He would graciously forgive my unclean walk and unprofitable life, and bestow upon me, wisdom, Spirit, candor and fortitude, that I might preach his exalted and adorable name and holy word un-perverted, and make manifest his truth to his praise.”

TO BE CONTINUED IN Part B