Friday Church News Notes
VOLUME 13 ISSUE 4
The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
SPACE TELESCOPES AND THE GLORY OF GOD (Friday Church News Notes, January 27, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Psalmist said the heavens declare the glory of God, and that has never been more true than in the age of modern science. The evidence for God has never been greater, and the skepticism has never been deeper. If it weren’t for Bible prophecies such as Psalm 2 and 2 Peter 3, it would be an unfathomable situation. The age of space telescopes began in 1990 with NASA’s Hubble, which was placed in orbit by a U.S. space shuttle. NASA also launched the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory in 1991, the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 1999, and the Spitzer Space Telescope in 2003. These space telescopes were joined by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Herschel Space Observatory and Planck Space Observatory in 2009. With no need to pierce the planet’s atmosphere, unprecedented telescopic power and multi-spectrum capabilities, space telescopes have captured never-before-seen images of the heavens. The most iconic is “Pillars of Creation,” composed of columns of interstellar gas and dust from the Eagle Nebula captured by Hubble in 1995. Knowing the willful skepticism that predominates within the American space program, it probably wasn’t named that in honor of the Creator, but it should have been. A more recent example is a new view of the Eagle Nebula created from combined multi-spectrum images from the ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory and x-ray readings from the XMM-Newton space probe. If men don’t want to believe in God, that is their business, but what a joy it is to know the Almighty Saviour God through Jesus Christ and to learn of Him by His incredible creation. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard” (Psalms 19:1-3).
Temple Denial Vs. Archaeology
The following is excerpted from The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City by Dore Gold (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 2007):
“[T]he Palestinians’ battle for Jerusalem incorporates more than just the frontal, military assault of the intifada. Its first stages entailed a campaign by Arafat to completely delegitimize the Israeli claim to the city. This began on the ninth day of the Camp David summit [in the year 2000], when Arafat subjected Clinton to a lecture of staggering historical revisionism. His central argument was that the biblical temple never existed on the Temple Mount or even in Jerusalem. Arafat baldly asserted that ‘There is nothing there [i.e., no trace of a temple on the Temple Mount],’ further insisting that ‘Solomon’s Temple was not in Jerusalem, but Nablus.’ ...
[This] doctrine of ‘Temple Denial’ quickly became a new Palestinian dogma that was even repeated, with the firmest conviction, by Western-educated Palestinian officials who are assiduously courted by the international media. ...
Arafat’s eventual successor, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), also embraced Temple Denial. ... Temple Denial spread across the Middle East like wildfire from the editorial pages of al-Jazirah in Saudi Arabia to well-funded international seminars in the United Arab Emirates. It even subtly slipped into the writing of Middle East-based Western reporters. Thus Time magazine’s Romesh Ratnesar in October 2003 described the Temple Mount as a place ‘where Jews believe Solomon and Herod built the first and Second Temples.’ In three years, Arafat’s campaign had convinced a leading U.S. weekly to relate the existence of Jerusalem’s biblical temples as a debatable matter of religious belief rather than historical fact. Arafat had moved the goalposts of historical truth. Read More...
Beth Moore's Ecumenical Philosophy
Beth Moore is one of the most popular female Christian speakers and authors. Her Bible-study books have sold more than 4.5 million copies. Her Living Proof Live conferences, hosted by LifeWay (Southern Baptist), draw thousands of attendees. Christian Reader magazine called her “America’s Bible Teacher.”
In disobedience to 1 Timothy 2:12, she teaches a co-ed Sunday School class at First Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. The Scripture says, “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” According to this verse, women in the churches are forbidden to do two things. They are forbidden to teach men and they are forbidden to usurp authority over men. Many of the popular speakers today, such as Beth Moore and Billy Graham’s daughter Anne Lotz, though they are not pastors, disobey the Scriptures by teaching mixed groups of men and women.
Moore’s meetings are attended by people from “every denomination,” because she “doesn’t get caught up in divisive doctrinal issues” and “steers clear of topics that could widen existing rifts between different streams in the body of Christ” (Charisma, June 2003).
This is the unscriptural “positive-only” ecumenical philosophy that is so helpful in furthering end time apostasy and building the apostate one-world church. Paul exhorted Timothy not to allow any other doctrine, but Mrs. Moore knows better than to be so intolerant and narrow-minded (1 Tim. 1:3).
Moore’s worship leader, Travis Cottrell, “has a uniquely fresh approach to worship that brings the church together,” an approach “that permeates every denominational wall” (LifeWay Christian Resources web site).
John MacArthur and Cultural Liberalism
John MacArthur hosts a youth conference which is called the "Resolved Conference." Thousands of young people attend and listen to Christian lyrics sung to the heavy drum beat of rock music. There is no question that rock music is accepted and approved by John MacArthur and his church. This can be verified by going to the "Resolved" website [http://www.resolved.org/].
Peter Masters, Pastor of London’s famous Metropolitan Tabernacle, where Spurgeon preached, wrote an article entitled, "The Merger of Calvinism with Worldliness." An excerpt from this article follows:
“When I was a youngster and newly saved, it seemed as if the chief goal of all zealous Christians, whether Calvinistic or Arminian, was consecration. Sermons, books and conferences stressed this in the spirit of Romans 12.1-2, where the beseeching apostle calls believers to present their bodies a living sacrifice, and not to be conformed to this world. The heart was challenged and stirred. Christ was to be Lord of one’s life, and self must be surrendered on the altar of service for him.
“But now, it appears, there is a new Calvinism, with new Calvinists, which has swept the old objectives aside. A recent book, Young, Restless, Reformed, by Collin Hansen tells the story of how a so-called Calvinistic resurgence has captured the imaginations of thousands of young people in the USA, and this book has been reviewed with great enthusiasm in well-known magazines in the UK, such as Banner of Truth, Evangelical Times, and Reformation Today.This writer, however, was very deeply saddened to read it, because it describes a seriously distorted Calvinism falling far, far short of an authentic life of obedience to a sovereign God. If this kind of Calvinism prospers, then genuine biblical piety will be under attack as never before.The author of the book is a young man (around 26 when he wrote it) who grew up in a Christian family and trained in secular journalism. We are indebted to him for the readable and wide-reaching survey he gives of this new phenomenon, but the scene is certainly not a happy one.
Read More...
Friday Church News Notes
VOLUME 13, ISSUE 3
The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement.
EVANGELICALS PROMOTING NECROMANCY - A REVIEW OF “HAVE HEART” (Friday Church News Notes, January 27, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is a review of Have Heart: Bridging the Gulf between Heaven and Hell by Steve and Sarah Berger, which is about the death of a child. The following is excerpted from a review by T.A. McMahon of The Berean Call. Have Heart is recommended by Chuck Missler, Greg Laurie, James Robison, and others. “The first part of the Bergers’ book [contains] wonderful comfort and some sound biblical counsel. ... Sadly, however, midway through Hake Heart, the Bergers take leave of their statements regarding the objective Word of God and begin introducing their subjective experiences involving their deceased son, Josiah. Dreams become a vehicle of communication between Josiah and his family and friends. ... Communication through dreams featuring a deceased loved one quickly led to direct communication: ‘Only two weeks after Josiah went to Heaven, I (Sarah) made it a habit to talk to Josiah. ... I would then be in instant conversation with Jesus and Siah [Josiah]’ (p. 82). Sarah declared to her son that she needed ‘to be involved with your life even now’ (p. 82). ... The authors introduce many things that are allegedly taking place in heaven that are not specifically taught in the Bible. ... They offer support for the legitimacy of their view experientially by adding that ‘several people in our family and inner circle of friends have experienced similar meetings with Josiah,’ including their pastor. The latter declares, ‘The next thing I knew, Josiah came into [the church] sanctuary ... and he got down on one knee and bent to speak into my ear’ (pp. 99-100). Much of what the Bergers hold for their hope in heaven is not stated in the Bible. ... They transfer things they love about their temporal life into the eternal realm, particularly their family relationships, and they see that relationship continuing with their deceased son: ‘We want all of us to continue to have relationship with Siah right up until the day that we are face-to-face in Heaven with him’ (p. 103). Just because someone wants it doesn’t make it so.