Scott Bushey
Puritanboard Commissioner
I received this email last night from Sound of Grace discussion list. It is a beautiful tribute to Ernie Reisinger from his beloved brother John. Even though we of Puritan Board do not agree with NCT, it is things like this that bond us together; the love of Christ. Our deepest condolences John. You are correct in your assessment of Ernie and he will surely be Heavens gain and our loss.
SPB
[b:98e4dbfb61]A tribute to my brother Ernie[/b:98e4dbfb61]
by John G. Reisinger
Yesterday I attended my older brother's funeral. This is
the second of my two brothers that have gone home to be with the Lord. At the time of refreshments following the
funeral there was an opportunity for personal testimonies and nearly everyone who spoke had come to faith in
Christ through my brother Ernie's witness. On my drive back to New York I kept remembering things about both of my brothers. In some ways they were very much a like and in other ways radically different. At my brother Donald's funeral over half of the people spoke to me and said, "Your brother
Donald was the first person who ever told me the Gospel." An elderly Amish man said, "I knew a lot about Moses and works but not much about Jesus and grace until I met your brother." God used my brother Donald's funeral to bring Ernie's son Donald to a clear understanding sovereign
grace.
In some ways, my two brothers were two of the greatest Christians I have ever known. Ernest was by far the most famous. I used to say, "My only claim to fame is that I am Ernie Reisinger's brother"
since I was constantly introduced that way at conferences." Under God, I owe my soul to Ernie's witness to me. I also owe him for many other things over many years. As I said, he was in some ways one the greatest Christian I have
ever known. Let me share some things that I think made him the great Christian that he was. I would remind any who feel it is wrong to pay open tribute to a believer's faithfulness that Scripture says, "Honor to whom honor is
due."Scripture also gives us many examples of God Himself testifying to the faithfulness of some of His saints. Hebrews chapter eleven is only one example.
First of all, Ernie was never bitten with the love of
money. He
viewed his business as a ministry unto God and seriously treated it as
such.
The business could have made ten times more money than it did and he
would
not have been one penny richer. It was God's business and God's money.
He
paid himself a salary and put everything else into a Gospel foundation
to
help further the cause of Christ. He did not live in expensive homes or
drive "rich men's cars." He enjoyed the good things of life but never
allowed anything to possess him or his affections except the Savior.
"Love
neither the world nor the things of the world" was not a struggle with
Ernie
since his heart and life were occupied with something, or Someone, far
better.
Secondly, Ernie never did anything in a half hearted way or
with
a lukewarm attitude. Some may feel he did not always act as wisely as
he
could have but no one can ever question his zeal or his motive. He
could
have well answered any critics by saying, "I like the way I do it
better
than the way you don't do it." Let me give a few instances of what I
mean.
Not long after Ernie went into the construction business,
he
went to listen to John Rice preach. He, along with a another
businessman,
paid to have the Sword of the Lord, a paper John Rice edited, send for
three
months to every home with a Carlisle mailing address. During that three
month period there were Sword of the Lord's wrapped around telephone
poles,
laying in the gutter and doorways, sticking out of garbage cans, etc. I
do
not know if anyone got converted through that effort but I do know that
one
whole generation of people living in Carlisle, PA will never say, "No
one
ever loved me enough to put the Gospel in front of me." The whole town
of
Carlisle will be "without excuse" because of Ernie's and his friend's
effort.
Several years later Ernie went to hear Donald Barnhouse and
was
greatly impressed. He arranged to have every professional person,
doctors,
lawyers, dentists, teachers, college professors, etc. living in
Carlisle to
receive a subscription to Eternity, the magazine edited by Dr.
Barnhouse.
Again, I have no knowledge of the results of that effort but I do know
that
one generation of all the professional people in Carlisle had the
Gospel set
before them through the efforts one building contractor.
There is one instance where a nasty situation was created
quite
intentionally. Shortly after I went to Bible school I stopped to see
Ernie
and he gave a "great book" by a man named Andy Telford. It was on the
subject of predestination as it relates to personal salvation. I had
just
recently come to understand the doctrine of sovereign grace in
election. I
opened the book and the author gave his understanding of predestination
on
page one. He said, "The doctrine of predestination means that believers
are
'predestined' to get safely to heaven. It has nothing to with getting
saved.
It means "pre" and 'destination.' The train company predestines or
guarantees that a certain train will take you to Chicago. If you will
use
your free will and get on the train, the train company guarantees that,
because of "pre" - "destination" you will arrive safely in Chicago." I
am
sure it was not even close to the wisest way to say it, but I blurted
out,
"The man does not know what he is talking about." A very nasty
discussion
followed. What I did not know at the time was that Ernie had gone to
hear
Mr. Telford and true to form, he had bought 500 copies of his book. All
of
you who know Ernie will know that he changed his mind about
predestination.
Thirdly, Ernie knew how to see the big picture and always
keep
it in view. He had that rare ability to be a 100% idealist and 100%
realist
at he same time. It was this gift that enabled him to accomplish many
things
that the pure idealist would never touch with a ten foot pole and the
100%
realist would say it was neither practical nor possible. Ernie was
chided
for going into the Southern Baptist. He was called a compromiser
because he
bent over backwards to take people where they were and slowly teach
them "a
better way." Few, if any, Reformed Baptists could have started or
developed
the Founders Ministries in the Southern Baptist. I personally think the
work
Ernie did in publishing books by early Southern Baptist leaders, along
with
helping to establish the Founder's movement, were Ernie's greatest
accomplishments even though Ernie's association with the Southern
Baptist,
along with his disagreement with the view of Eldership practiced by men
like
Al Martin, created one of the splits within Reformed Baptist circles
that
exists to this day. I should add that I personally feel that Ernie was
more
than justified in his attitude and the split.
During the last fifty years Ernie and I differed on more
than
one subject. It would be dishonest with history and a dishonor to both
my
brother and myself to gloss over the obvious. On nearly all of our
differences over the years we ultimately reached agreement, the one
exception being the morality of the Sabbath commandment and Law and
Grace in
general. Of all our theological differences over the years, this is the
only
one that he refused to discuss with me even though he wrote quite
extensively on the subject. He sincerely believed and stated, "There is
nothing to discuss, the creeds have said it all." I would feel that
Ernie
did not really understand what I believed. I was often asked, "How do
you
feel about your brother Ernie's strong disagreement with you over law
and
grace?" I would reply, "If I believed what Ernie thinks I believe, I
would
be more upset than he is. Given what he thinks I believe, he would be a
hypocrite if he were not upset. He was more than justified in opposing
me as
long as he misunderstood convictions." It would be both unfair and
untrue
for anyone to say, "Ernie worshipped the creeds." He did not. He was
committed to the theology of the Westminster Confession of Faith only
because he sincerely believed it was the true expression of what
Scripture
taught. This is why I could honestly respect his convictions and
sincerely
love him as a Godly Christian. I can understand exactly why at one
point he
could most conscientiously regard me as being on the border line of
heresy.
I think in later life he modified that to mean I was "grievously
wrong."
However, his attitude was based 100% on what he believed the Scriptures
taught and what he misunderstood me to be teaching.
Ernie's body will lie silently in the grave until the
resurrection but we will still hear him speak. Though he is dead his
voice
will be heard for a long time. We will see his foot prints in a lot of
places and in a lot lives for many years to come. Ernie's death
coincided
with Ronald Reagan's death. As I listened to the many changes that had
taken
place in the world of politics because of Reagan's vision and
influence, I
thought of Ernie. I heard Reagan list a few of the things that he and
his
philosophy had changed and then he said, "Not bad, not bad at all." I
thought of a ninth grade drop out well on the way to being an alcoholic
being rescued by sovereign grace and then having the unbelievable
effect on
so many lives and the well being of the Church of God at large and I
thought, "Not bad! Not bad at all!"
Before he was converted Ernie had never read a single book.
He
did not even read the funny papers. His conversion filled him with a
thirst
for knowledge and truth that made him wiser than his peers. Despite his
lack
of education his greatest influence was with professional people. God
took a
nobody and really made him a somebody. He took a drunken carpenter and
made
him a Prince in the House of Israel. Again we can rightly say, "Not
bad, not
bad at all."
Ernie will be both remembered and missed
[Edited on 6-14-2004 by Scott Bushey]
SPB
[b:98e4dbfb61]A tribute to my brother Ernie[/b:98e4dbfb61]
by John G. Reisinger
Yesterday I attended my older brother's funeral. This is
the second of my two brothers that have gone home to be with the Lord. At the time of refreshments following the
funeral there was an opportunity for personal testimonies and nearly everyone who spoke had come to faith in
Christ through my brother Ernie's witness. On my drive back to New York I kept remembering things about both of my brothers. In some ways they were very much a like and in other ways radically different. At my brother Donald's funeral over half of the people spoke to me and said, "Your brother
Donald was the first person who ever told me the Gospel." An elderly Amish man said, "I knew a lot about Moses and works but not much about Jesus and grace until I met your brother." God used my brother Donald's funeral to bring Ernie's son Donald to a clear understanding sovereign
grace.
In some ways, my two brothers were two of the greatest Christians I have ever known. Ernest was by far the most famous. I used to say, "My only claim to fame is that I am Ernie Reisinger's brother"
since I was constantly introduced that way at conferences." Under God, I owe my soul to Ernie's witness to me. I also owe him for many other things over many years. As I said, he was in some ways one the greatest Christian I have
ever known. Let me share some things that I think made him the great Christian that he was. I would remind any who feel it is wrong to pay open tribute to a believer's faithfulness that Scripture says, "Honor to whom honor is
due."Scripture also gives us many examples of God Himself testifying to the faithfulness of some of His saints. Hebrews chapter eleven is only one example.
First of all, Ernie was never bitten with the love of
money. He
viewed his business as a ministry unto God and seriously treated it as
such.
The business could have made ten times more money than it did and he
would
not have been one penny richer. It was God's business and God's money.
He
paid himself a salary and put everything else into a Gospel foundation
to
help further the cause of Christ. He did not live in expensive homes or
drive "rich men's cars." He enjoyed the good things of life but never
allowed anything to possess him or his affections except the Savior.
"Love
neither the world nor the things of the world" was not a struggle with
Ernie
since his heart and life were occupied with something, or Someone, far
better.
Secondly, Ernie never did anything in a half hearted way or
with
a lukewarm attitude. Some may feel he did not always act as wisely as
he
could have but no one can ever question his zeal or his motive. He
could
have well answered any critics by saying, "I like the way I do it
better
than the way you don't do it." Let me give a few instances of what I
mean.
Not long after Ernie went into the construction business,
he
went to listen to John Rice preach. He, along with a another
businessman,
paid to have the Sword of the Lord, a paper John Rice edited, send for
three
months to every home with a Carlisle mailing address. During that three
month period there were Sword of the Lord's wrapped around telephone
poles,
laying in the gutter and doorways, sticking out of garbage cans, etc. I
do
not know if anyone got converted through that effort but I do know that
one
whole generation of people living in Carlisle, PA will never say, "No
one
ever loved me enough to put the Gospel in front of me." The whole town
of
Carlisle will be "without excuse" because of Ernie's and his friend's
effort.
Several years later Ernie went to hear Donald Barnhouse and
was
greatly impressed. He arranged to have every professional person,
doctors,
lawyers, dentists, teachers, college professors, etc. living in
Carlisle to
receive a subscription to Eternity, the magazine edited by Dr.
Barnhouse.
Again, I have no knowledge of the results of that effort but I do know
that
one generation of all the professional people in Carlisle had the
Gospel set
before them through the efforts one building contractor.
There is one instance where a nasty situation was created
quite
intentionally. Shortly after I went to Bible school I stopped to see
Ernie
and he gave a "great book" by a man named Andy Telford. It was on the
subject of predestination as it relates to personal salvation. I had
just
recently come to understand the doctrine of sovereign grace in
election. I
opened the book and the author gave his understanding of predestination
on
page one. He said, "The doctrine of predestination means that believers
are
'predestined' to get safely to heaven. It has nothing to with getting
saved.
It means "pre" and 'destination.' The train company predestines or
guarantees that a certain train will take you to Chicago. If you will
use
your free will and get on the train, the train company guarantees that,
because of "pre" - "destination" you will arrive safely in Chicago." I
am
sure it was not even close to the wisest way to say it, but I blurted
out,
"The man does not know what he is talking about." A very nasty
discussion
followed. What I did not know at the time was that Ernie had gone to
hear
Mr. Telford and true to form, he had bought 500 copies of his book. All
of
you who know Ernie will know that he changed his mind about
predestination.
Thirdly, Ernie knew how to see the big picture and always
keep
it in view. He had that rare ability to be a 100% idealist and 100%
realist
at he same time. It was this gift that enabled him to accomplish many
things
that the pure idealist would never touch with a ten foot pole and the
100%
realist would say it was neither practical nor possible. Ernie was
chided
for going into the Southern Baptist. He was called a compromiser
because he
bent over backwards to take people where they were and slowly teach
them "a
better way." Few, if any, Reformed Baptists could have started or
developed
the Founders Ministries in the Southern Baptist. I personally think the
work
Ernie did in publishing books by early Southern Baptist leaders, along
with
helping to establish the Founder's movement, were Ernie's greatest
accomplishments even though Ernie's association with the Southern
Baptist,
along with his disagreement with the view of Eldership practiced by men
like
Al Martin, created one of the splits within Reformed Baptist circles
that
exists to this day. I should add that I personally feel that Ernie was
more
than justified in his attitude and the split.
During the last fifty years Ernie and I differed on more
than
one subject. It would be dishonest with history and a dishonor to both
my
brother and myself to gloss over the obvious. On nearly all of our
differences over the years we ultimately reached agreement, the one
exception being the morality of the Sabbath commandment and Law and
Grace in
general. Of all our theological differences over the years, this is the
only
one that he refused to discuss with me even though he wrote quite
extensively on the subject. He sincerely believed and stated, "There is
nothing to discuss, the creeds have said it all." I would feel that
Ernie
did not really understand what I believed. I was often asked, "How do
you
feel about your brother Ernie's strong disagreement with you over law
and
grace?" I would reply, "If I believed what Ernie thinks I believe, I
would
be more upset than he is. Given what he thinks I believe, he would be a
hypocrite if he were not upset. He was more than justified in opposing
me as
long as he misunderstood convictions." It would be both unfair and
untrue
for anyone to say, "Ernie worshipped the creeds." He did not. He was
committed to the theology of the Westminster Confession of Faith only
because he sincerely believed it was the true expression of what
Scripture
taught. This is why I could honestly respect his convictions and
sincerely
love him as a Godly Christian. I can understand exactly why at one
point he
could most conscientiously regard me as being on the border line of
heresy.
I think in later life he modified that to mean I was "grievously
wrong."
However, his attitude was based 100% on what he believed the Scriptures
taught and what he misunderstood me to be teaching.
Ernie's body will lie silently in the grave until the
resurrection but we will still hear him speak. Though he is dead his
voice
will be heard for a long time. We will see his foot prints in a lot of
places and in a lot lives for many years to come. Ernie's death
coincided
with Ronald Reagan's death. As I listened to the many changes that had
taken
place in the world of politics because of Reagan's vision and
influence, I
thought of Ernie. I heard Reagan list a few of the things that he and
his
philosophy had changed and then he said, "Not bad, not bad at all." I
thought of a ninth grade drop out well on the way to being an alcoholic
being rescued by sovereign grace and then having the unbelievable
effect on
so many lives and the well being of the Church of God at large and I
thought, "Not bad! Not bad at all!"
Before he was converted Ernie had never read a single book.
He
did not even read the funny papers. His conversion filled him with a
thirst
for knowledge and truth that made him wiser than his peers. Despite his
lack
of education his greatest influence was with professional people. God
took a
nobody and really made him a somebody. He took a drunken carpenter and
made
him a Prince in the House of Israel. Again we can rightly say, "Not
bad, not
bad at all."
Ernie will be both remembered and missed
[Edited on 6-14-2004 by Scott Bushey]
