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Transcript of Weldon E. Warnock’s Radio Program (4-4-04) …Lot of good comments about our broadcast, people are enjoying it. We got a big listening audience in Southern West Virginia and some even listen down in Virginia. Now week before last, I was in Memphis, Tennessee area in a gospel meeting. And when I got home, I couldn’t pick up the mail, had it held at the post office until last Monday. And last Monday, when I got the mail at the post office, I received a letter from a brother in Southern WV who is a gospel preacher and we’ve been having some exchanges and discussions about marriage, divorce and remarriage. And he sent me some material and a letter and some debate propositions, and he wanted to debate through a couple religious journals. And I’d be willing to do that providing we can have a public discussion in Beckley. I’ve wrote him back and told him that and he may have gotten it Saturday, might not get it until tomorrow, but that’d be fine with me to have a written discussion in a couple religious journals, or maybe we could even get more than that to carry the exchange, but that’s after we have a public, oral debate or discussion on marriage, divorce and remarriage in Beckley, WV. And I pointed out that the propositions would have to be rephrased to include pre-divorce fornication. Now he has post-divorce fornication, the proposition, but this brother believes, ladies and gentlemen, that if an innocent spouse is put away by a fornicating mate or spouse, and he or she, the innocent spouse doesn’t go to the courthouse and contest it, or file herself or himself and becomes then, the put away, that the innocent may never remarry. And to me that’s an extreme position. The Bible doesn’t teach that, not at all. If it does, then that would eliminate all the Jewish women of the first century and some several years thereafter because the Jewish women didn’t put away their husbands, the husbands always gave the wives the bill of divorcement. And so, she was always the put away, but the Lord allows the innocent party to remarry, who puts away her fornicating husband, she may remarry. Or if he puts her away and then goes and marries somebody else, he’s guilty of fornication. I’m talking about an innocent person, now. I’m not talking about two who decide they don’t want to live together anymore, get a divorce and one waits on the other to commit fornication in order then to remarry. I’m talking about an innocent person who’s been put away by a man or a woman, who’s been put away, and then later, goes out and remarries, may have his eye on (laughs) somebody when the divorce takes place, the innocent party may remarry on the basis fornication. I’d be happy to debate that publicly and I’ll do it in Beckley, and we can have a discussion, study the Bible and it’ll be an honorable discussion indeed, and then we can have a written exchange. Now here’s something interesting that happened. When I got back and got the mail, this brother in Southern WV gave me the name of a roommate of mine, who said that he was disappointed in me, and he said that Weldon’s gone on to greater things, like Solomon. Now, I don’t know what in the world he meant by that. Solomon went into idolatry. Is he implying that I was going into idolatry, and that would be a greater thing? And then he said that he was sad and he had cried, but when I was in Memphis, I didn’t know who the brother was, I just know that he stated this on his website and didn’t give his name. When I went to Memphis, I called up this brother, I’ve known him since 19 and 50, along in there. And we were roommates the first year, as I recall. And I’ve talked to him once, as I remember in all these years, back some time ago. But I called him, and he said, “Well, why in the world you staying in a motel?” Brethren want to stay in the motel and that happens sometimes in meetings, he said, “Why are you staying in a motel?,” said “we’ve got an apartment, you ought to come over here, stay, said it’s stocked with food, and stay here in our house, in this house we have,” and in the biggest way. And then he’s the one (laughs). He’s the one who writes this brother in Southern WV and said how sad he is and cried over these, I don’t know that he literally cried about my position and then he invites me to come over, my wife and I, and stay in his apartment while I hold a gospel meeting in the Memphis, TN area, and just as friendly and cordial as could be. Now, you make this out, ladies and gentlemen. Here he stabs me in the back to a man I don’t know whether he knows or not, who has this website in Southern WV and then eats me up in my face. It’s just strange. Well, when I learned that, I called him I think last Monday, and talked to him for a moment and he said, “yeah, I wrote that,” and then I offered an argument and he said, “I don’t know how to answer that.” So, here’s the way it goes and it’s disappointing indeed, but anyway, we’ll have the discussion in Beckley, if this brother’s willing to do it, and then a written exchange, and we hope this will come about. And I’m in a meeting here in Middlebourne, WV, as I said a while ago, staying in the home of John and Rosetta Underwood, whom I have known for many years, he preaches at Reno, down in coast of Marietta, on Sunday morning, teaches the Bible class on Wednesday night. Things are going well there, in the congregation now, and it’s just good to be in their home and enjoy this meeting and good to be on this broadcast tonight. Now, we’re going to have another song, and then we’re going to get into our lesson on the person work of Jesus, study of Colossians, chapter 1, the few verses there. Hope you can stay with us, but now, let’s listen to this beautiful hymn… |
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