Dear__________:

In an age that is permeated with Humanism it is a joy to greet you in the Name greater than our own, the Lord Jesus Christ.

It has been some time since I have heard from you. In recent days you have been upon my heart especially since I have indirectly received word of your possible attendance to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. At first I could not believe that such a move would be made until I was able to confirm it. Yet, when acknowledged the matter to be true my heart increased with grief. And now, I have been compelled in conscience before the Lord to write you and express my deep burden for you in this matter presupposing there is a lack of knowledge as to this infamous Seminary which has aided in the destruction of the Southern Baptist Convention. I trust God the Holy Ghost will accompany my words as they spring forth from a heart that loves truth and desires to save any young man from the subtle but powerful forces of the apostasy.

A number of concerns flood my thoughts at this time which produce great questionableness of such a life-altering move, especially in the light of your professing to be called to the ministry. I believe I am correct in observing the fact that your dear father left the Southern Baptist Church some years ago. Even since his departure the Southern Baptist Convention has drifted into the quicksand of open apostasy. There may be (for the public image sake) a "pseudo" battle going on within the Convention between "liberals" and so-called "conservatives" yet that is all it is: a "pseudo" battle to pacify the compromising moderates of their own failures. Your dear father should be able to tell you of this. The true Fundamental heart, along with biblical separation, are gone from the Southern Baptist Convention. Though the presidency of the Convention seems to swing back and forth annually, you must understand that the term "conservatism" (a rather semantical term) used by them in their conversations is a thoroughgoing Neo-Evangelicalism. Even the Reverend Charles Stanley from Atlanta, Georgia, who is "viewed" as a conservative, is as thoroughgoing a Neo-Evangelical as is Chuck Swindoll, the Moody Bible Institute group, the Promise Keepers, and the list is ever growing. If a Christian has done his homework on the American Christianity scene he will have seen the clear evidence of this. In the years of your dear father's Bible studies, I am confident he has seen this, as he has Roman Catholicism, and warned his flock in his preaching. For a son to return to what his father left is a "selling out" of a birthright and a capitulation to the enemy. I see NO spiritual hope for the Southern Baptist Convention; the die has been cast, and what "conservative" tag is used is simply to ease the conscience of a few who are liberals in heart and practice in actuality. As for Louisville Seminary, I spent a FULL day on its campus in June 1995. I traveled some 5,200 miles in 23 days to visit a number of Bible Colleges and Seminaries with the purpose of researching their archives as to their beginnings and the changes that have come in their history. At Louisville I interviewed the archivist and several leading members of their faculty. They all admitted that the Seminary has changed. But in the interviews I realized they had no way of measuring the extremity of the change because they personally were thoroughgoing Neo-Evangelicals. You must keep in mind that THIS Seminary is the home of the Billy Graham School of Evangelism. Dare we say it: Billy Graham has done more to destroy true Christianity in the world than any other man of our century? The reason why Billy Graham chose THIS seminary of the SBC (of which he is a member) is because of its diversification of doctrine in the classes. And it must also be stated: The Bible in the Louisville Seminary is taught from a Neo-Orthodox position (existentialism). And what so-called "conservatism" is there is the Billy Graham persuasion (which the mixing of truth and error is the greater enemy to Scripture than just plain error). The SBC Seminary does NOT believe in the inerrancy of Scripture! It has not believed in this for a number of years. Oh, yes, they mentioned to me of a new president coming in the Fall of '95 a so-called "moderate" who was against abortion, communism, and sodomy. Well, so are the Roman Catholics! So is Pat Robertson, so is Jimmy Swaggart! So is Jerry Falwell! This is simply a smoke-screen, again I say, to pacify the compromising conscience of the moderate liberals (yet there are truly no degrees in the denotation term of liberalism; a liberal is a liberal). The hermeneutical classes at Louisville still hold to the Bultmannian interpretation and the various mutating facets of Neo-Orthodoxy. Pragmatism is the norm of its policies; this was overt in their presentations; principle is not regarded as a premium. There are NO standards as to their dress and religious preference of students. The Charismatic movement is openly accepted as are other apostate movements. Modern, contemporary music is the norm of their music classes and worship. And these few observations of mine are not the full compendium of the heartaches that permeate this bastion of the apostasy of the SBC. I do not know of any young man in the past 15 years who has graduated from that school who was not sucked into the vortex of its paralyzing betrayal of truth, who left this harlot of the Baptist legacy not being a compromiser of truth in his own ministry.

My dear brother, the thing I cannot understand is that in the light of all your dear father speaks of the glory of Christ and the uplifting of the message of the Puritans, how can you attend a school that is bent on the destruction of that very message?! It would be better for a young man never to enter the ministry than for his teachings and preparation for that ministry be found in the camp of Bible enemies. For such a young man's ministry will be a deterrrent to righeousness and godliness rather than an assistance to it.

This may be the last time you will allow my voice to be heard in your presence. But my heart is clear before God in the matter of my soul and calling. I do trust your dear father is pleading with you not to cast your lot with the American, apostate Christianity of our times. You may say, "I am strong enough to withstand their subtle wares;" but dear friend, the very intellectual approach they will take to enter your mind and heart will be so smooth that by the time you detect it the damage will have already been done. We are called upon not only to preach Christ, but to preach Christ in the light of our apostate age. We must fight against the falling away with all our might; but if we do not, we are NOT honoring Christ! Preaching the "Glory of Christ" WITHOUT taking a stand against the apostasy is a mere sham. I give the words of the great Reformer Martin Luther:

If I profess with loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the Devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.

I plead with you dear brother in Christ! You are "preparing" for the ministry of the Christ of Scripture. Why go to Goliath's camp to learn the ways and ministry of God? Check your step before the choice is executed! For it may be a path from which you will never return. And if such a choice is made, there may come a day we both will find ourselves on the battlefield, on opposite sides, facing one another. God forbid that it should happen.

Please, dear brother, I write this letter today as a friend. I warn you of the path that is ahead. Some young men have convinced themselves (or allowed others to convince them) that it is alright to go to ANY seminary, including a state college or university and take their classes on "religion" or "theology." But this cannot be. For the enemy has a way of manipulating an entrance into the mind and heart with its contemporary philosphy and ideology. I am forty-seven years old at the time of this letter: if I had a son going into the ministry, and he chose to go to such a seminary as Louisville Seminary I could NOT bid him God speed, assist him financially, or help him in any way. For the Louisville Seminary is an academic and spiritual contributor to the American Apostate Christianity.

I have written this letter in Christian Love, desiring the Spirit of Scripture to accompany it. The Lord has placed a deep love in my heart for you, your family, your dear father and mother. Because of this I cannot sit idly by without "warning the righteous" of what I know to be the truth. If you have chosen The Louisville Seminary in ignorance, may God use this feeble, but honorable defense to draw you back to a path of right. Yes, may God help you to see where this decision will take you and what will be its conclusion.

June 27, 1996

In Christian Love,

In His Majesty's Service,

Dr. H.T. Spence