Sunday School a trip down memory lane 80s Christian

Sun Aug 13, 2023 6:42 pm

in the 70s and 80s when my TV looked like this



it had dials to change channel, you have to physically turn those dials with your hands



a rooftop antenna

there was a Christian channel free broadcast

some of the programming i saw, included

Charles Stanley In touch ministries



I found his sermons comforting for the most part.

I see

Born: September 25, 1932, Dry Fork, VA
Died: April 18, 2023, Atlanta, GA

he died just this year wow! that's very old.

I saw his sermon on homosexuality in the 80s.

He read from Romans 1

God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity

24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

he called that God's standard and that God doesn't call this "alternative lifestyle" he called it "shameful lusts" "unnatural" and "error"

I wonder how such a sermon would go over in today's world, esp with social media.

What would happen if a famous televangelist were to read this passage and make similar statements, again, homosexual activists are known to trash churches that are anti-gay, vandalize them.

He also spoke out against abortion calling it a grave sin and that God's judgment on America.

He was born in the 1930s and I saw his sermon on tv in the 80s where he spoke against homosexuality and abortion.

700 club

I saw some of the 700 club



I enjoyed listening to answered prayer stories they offered, back in the day

John Ankerberg



he had a debate format, usually between representatives of religions he didn't like, such as Mormons, Buddhists, etc, debating his guy John Warwick Montgomery who also published the book Kingdom of the Cults

he in one episode had John Shelby Spong and his book Living in Sin, where he argues that homosexuality is not a sin, which given what the Bible actually says, is absurd, if you are  a Christian. at the time homosexuality was mostly invisible. there were only rumors of gays, slander really. I saw these shows present the gay lifestyle of the 70s and how promiscuous gay men are and how they spread a then new disease AIDS.

I was still a teen at the time and I had never seen a homosexual couple nor heard of it, nor had I seen lesbian porn. You had to be 18 to be able to enter the adult section of the video store. I wondered how do lesbians have sex if neither has a penis? Do they use their fingers as penis?

John Ankerberg had a segment on Rock Music and he along with other Christians mentioned Allan Blooms The Closing of the American Mind



John Ankerberg segment on Rock Music he cited famous rock stars from Madonna and the Beattles, to Led Zeppelin and The Prince and George Michael, I remember thinking, someone needs to tell Madonna and The Prince and George Michael this show and that their drug use and sex is not living up to Christian standards of morality.

The John Ankerberg show asked for money, specifically, if you give them money they will give you books and VHS tapes on the topic in question.

they have books and VHS tapes on why Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah Witness, abortion, homosexuality etc are morally wrong.

The Ankerberg show in their abortion segment showed an actual abortion and boy was it bloody. John Ankerberg said Jesus is crying over every aborted fetus and its hard not to think he's right if you are a Christian.

He also had a series on Evolution and promoted Creationism.

Jack Van Impe show



This guy would quote the bible and then mention chapter and verse. He was a prophet of doom and that we are living in the end times.

I also saw

Fire by Nite



they dealt with topics for teens like suicide premarital sex homosexuality drugs.

there were also tv infomercials about how a ministry was helping Russian Jews leave the then Soviet Union to Israel.

They asked for your money, and with your money they will help settle Russian Jews into Israel in accordance with biblical prophesy

they cite the usual verses about how Israel is God's land for Jews only, and as Christians, Jesus said his people the Jews will return to Israel so we need to support Jews return to Israel. For a pledge of some money.

The Jews need to return to Israel, rebuild the Third Temple of Jerusalem and convert to Christianity in order for the Second Coming of Jesus and the rapture to occur.

I asked my mom if she wanted to donate and she said no, she would not. She needs the money.

I now understand her completely.

I have since rejected all this. But back then this was an important source of information for me.