Henry Digby emailed the following comment and asked me to post it: 

(also, in case you hadn’t already figured it out, you’re going to start getting a lot of pictures from me. just wait until I find a reason to break into my Evangeline Lilly folder.)

I began attending Bible Temple in 1970 and left in 1985 when I moved to another state.

I often think of the Old Bible Temple that I loved so much.  The intensity of the out loud worship was something that I will never forget!  I have never found it anywhere else in any other church and I mourn for its passing away.

I remember that, years ago, the Lord told us at Bible Temple that we were a “Philadelphia” church.  The Philadelphia church was the only one of the seven churches in the book of Revelation for which the Lord had only good things to say.  It was a church deeply involved in its first love for its Lord.  Unfortunately, it seems that most churches that find themselves in this category don’t stay there very long.  Satan hates a Philadelphia church because of its threat to his plans and purposes.

As the years went by, it seemed to me that Bible Temple slowly drifted away from being a “Philadelphia” church and gradually became an “Ephesus” church, and I feared for Bible Temple’s possible fate, for an Ephesian church is only a short step away from becoming a Laodicean church.  You may recall that the Lord’s observation about the Ephesian church was that it had lost its first love and He admonished it to “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent” (Rev. 2:5).

As the years went by, I often wondered how Bible Temple was doing.  I recently returned to Oregon and have had the opportunity to attend several services at Bible Temple, now City Bible.  It seems to me that City Bible is no longer an Ephesian church, although it may not completely have become a Laodicean church yet, but it seems to be on its way, and it hurts me very much to say that!  Something that really makes me feel uncomfortable is that I cannot see that any of the leadership there seem to be aware that anything is wrong at all!

I remember more than one sermon given at Bible Temple years ago declaring that Satan has one major weapon, and that is deception.  And one of the outstanding characteristics of deception is that you are not aware of it for, if you ARE aware of it, you are not deceived!  I keep hoping that I am wrong about City Bible, but I suspect that my impression is not very far from the truth.  How I wish it were not true.  It seems to me that, not only may God have removed Bible Temple’s candlestick “out of his place”,  but that He also, in His providence, has removed it’s name.  I am afraid, personally, that City Bible is no longer a “Bible” temple!

I have been in mourning for the late Bible Temple for a long time now and wish it could be brought back again.

Sincerely,

Henry A. Digby

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