1. Change of story
The same person that said this in 1999:
“When you preach who is really saved: that you gotta have faith, you gotta repent, you gotta become a true disciple of Jesus, and then you gotta be water immersed for the forgiveness of sins received through the Holy Spirit, that excludes all other denominations, . . . everybody else that’s out there.”
and said this in Restoration through Revolution I :
I have never believed or taught that anyone has to be baptized into the Boston Church of Christ to be saved. The Scriptures clearly teach you must be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and then, the Lord adds you to his church (Acts 2:36-47; Romans 6:3,4; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Acts 2:41,42). However, I do not know of any other church, group or movement that teaches and practices what we teach as Jesus taught in Acts 2:41,42: one must make the decision to be a disciple, then be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins to be saved and receive the Holy Spirit. When one is born again at baptism (Titus 3:5), one must have Jesus’ heart and attitude to do anything, go anywhere and give up everything for God. After baptism each disciple is taught to obey all the commands of Jesus as one grows and goes making disciples. If this is what God teaches in the Bible, then we are God’s movement.
said this today:
Some have criticized the ICOC saying we believe that the “ICOC” are the only ones saved, that one must be baptized by the ICOC to be a Christian. This is emphatically wrong! (Though I have come to understand that some ministers taught this.) We do believe that to become a true Christian, one must hear the message, repent of sins (become a disciple) and then be baptized for the remission of sins. (Acts 2:36-41) This is a narrow path!
2. Change of Numbers
Today, the following numbers were used to discuss the success of Boston from 1979 – 1989:
In the next twelve months, the 30 uncommitted members left one by one but were replaced by 103 fired up committed baptized disciples, mostly off such campuses as Harvard, MIT, Boston University, Boston College and the University of Massachusetts!… In the ensuing years with this foundation of only disciples, unheard of multiplication occurred! In 1981, 170 were baptized; in 1982, 250 were baptized; 1983 – 322 baptisms; 1984 – 402 baptisms; 1985 – 594 baptisms; 1986 – 703 baptisms; 1987 – 818 baptisms; 1988 – 1227 baptisms; etc…
In Restoration through Revolution I on the same website:
God’s power was unleashed and he gave us 103 baptisms the first year… In our second year, we witnessed 200 baptisms; 256 our third; 368 in the fourth; 457 in the fifth; 679 in the sixth; 735 in the seventh; 947 in the eighth; 1424 in the ninth; and in our tenth year, l621 were baptized into Christ and our Sunday attendance was approaching 5000 as we were meeting in the Boston Garden.
All of this in an article entitled “Spiritual Amnesia”. Sadly ironic.