The following is another installment of the Friday Church News Notes designed especially for use in churches. It is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.

BLASPHEMOUS REMARKS ABOUT POPE JOHN PAUL II (Friday Church News Notes, April 13, 2007, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The blasphemous remarks about the late Pope John Paul II continue to flow from the Roman Catholic Church. At a papal mass on April 2 in honor of the second anniversary of John Paul II’s death, Pope Benedict XVI said the fragrance of the late pope’s love has “filled the St. Peter’s Square, filled the church and spread to the entire world” (“The Fragrant Love of John Paul II,” Catholic News Agency, April 2, 2007). This is blasphemy. Catholic nun Marie-Simon-Pierre claims that John Paul II healed her of Parkinson’s disease. She says that when the pope died in April 2005, “My entire world fell apart. I had lost the only friend who could understand me and give me strength to go forward. In those days I felt a great emptiness, but I also had the certainty of his living presence” (“The Nun Who Thanks John Paul II for Cure,” Zenit.com, April 1, 2007). She is speaking of a dead pope in terms that could only rightly be spoken of Jesus Christ. He is the friend that sticketh closer than a brother! He is the One who can be a living presence to every man and woman through His Holy Spirit. Pope John Paul II is on the fast track to Catholic sainthood, the very concept of which is blasphemous. Jesus Christ is the only Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5) and the only one who “ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). Yet a recent poll found that 56% of people in Poland have prayed for the pope’s intercession (“Pope John Paul II One Step Closer to Beatification,” Catholic World News, April 2, 2007). “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, FULL OF NAMES OF BLASPHEMY, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration” (Revelation 17:3-6).

THE ONE-HOUR MEN’S CHURCH (Friday Church News Notes, April 13, 2007, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The “Church for Men” in Daytona Beach, Florida, meets only once a month, on a Saturday evening, and guarantees that you will be in and out in one hour. The “church” features rock music, a clock to time the preacher’s message, and claims to be the solution to the fact that men are “bored stiff” in many churches today (“Florida Church for Men Features Rock Band,” FoxNews.com, April 7, 2007). Grove Community Church in Peoria, Illinois, doesn’t have a pastor; it has a coach who “integrates a healthy, life-giving masculine spirit throughout the entire church” (“Men Only Church,” Associated Press, April 7). The solution to “boring” and feminized churches is not to sell out to the world and to make church into a rock & roll sports club. The solution is to establish churches that are founded upon a bold stand for God’s Word. I have preached in about 500 churches, and men usually outnumber women. From the days of the first churches to this present time, men have responded to the challenge of an undiluted presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the uncompromising preaching of God’s Word.

ATTEMPT TO SACRIFICE LAMB ON TEMPLE MOUNT THWARTED AGAIN (Friday Church News Notes, April 13, 2007, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - For decades some groups of conservative Jews have been attempting to sacrifice a lamb on the Temple Mount during Passover, though unsuccessfully. This year the New Sanhedrin Council, which was formed in 2005 after a 1,600 year hiatus, petitioned the Israeli High Court of Justice for the right to perform the ritual, but they were turned down on the basis of the necessity of maintaining “public order and safety” (“Court Nixes Passover Lamb,” Haaretz.com, April 1, 2007). Various groups involved in the attempt include the Temple Mount Movement and the Temple Institute, which has been preparing the utensils for the Third Temple. In 1996 the “ultra right-wing” movement Kach unsuccessfully planned to infiltrate the Western Wall Plaza at dusk with a foldable altar and a lamb. Before that, the Temple Mount Movement unsuccessfully attempted to hire a helicopter to parachute an altar onto the Western Wall Plaza where a group of Jews would be waiting with the lamb. These crazy sounding attempts remind us that one day the Third Temple will most certainly be rebuilt and the Jewish sacrifices re-established, but it will not be to the glory of God. It will be to the glory of the Antichrist who will deceive the Jews with his “peace” program. The Third Temple is measured in Revelation 11 and the Two Witnesses will preach in Jerusalem during those days. “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth” (Revelation 11:1-3).

HOMOSEXUALS CAN PARTICIPATE IN DISNEY’S FAIRY TALE WEDDING PACKAGES (Friday Church News Notes, April 13, 2007, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Walt Disney Co. recently announced that it will allow homosexual couples to participate in its Fairy Tale Wedding program. Donn Walker, Disney Parks and Resorts spokesman, said, “This is consistent with our policy of creating a welcoming, respectful and inclusive environment for all of our guests. We believe our guests will understand that we’re not making judgments about people” (“Gays Can Now Marry Fairy-Tale-Style,” Playfuls.com, April 7, 2007). In fact, by allowing homosexual weddings Disney is making a judgment against the Creator, who established marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman. This decision is all about money, of course. A typical Fairy Tale Wedding package costs $28,000. In 2005 the American Family Association (AFA) ended its boycott against the Walt Disney Corporation. Other organizations that had joined the boycott independently, such as the Assemblies of God and the Southern Baptist Convention, also ended their boycotts. Tim Wildmon of the AFA said at the time, “... it is harder than ever before to find evidence of new missteps by Disney.” That was a ridiculous statement. The problem with Disney is not only its promotion of the homosexual agenda or the increasing immorality of its movies. The heart of the problem for a Bible believer is Disney’s damnable New Age Gospel and this was a large part of its fare long before it got involved with the edgier type of movies through its partners Miramax and Touchstone. Walt Disney was an atheist and his cartoons prepared generations of children to think that witches are innocent fun and that there is such a thing as “white magic” and “good sorcery.” Recent examples of Disney movies that preach a New Age Gospel are the Lion King, Pocahontas, and Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale. The latter preaches a humanistic, new age lie that all men are children of the same God and that no one is lost. Men need only to act upon the goodness that is within them and follow their hearts and there will be peace on earth. The solution to the Disney problem is simply the exercise of wisdom on the part of believing parents who understand that nothing truly good for their children’s spiritual well-being is going to come out of Hollywood and who therefore jealously and lovingly filter what comes into their homes and who educate their children in the biblical principles for judging entertainment. My advice to Christian parents is to get rid of the television altogether. I have never met a parent that regrets having done so, but I know many who regret that they didn’t.

HANK HANEGRAAFF SAYS CALLING THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH THE WHORE OF BABYLON IS “REPREHENSIBLE” (Friday Church News Notes, April 13, 2007, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Hank Hanegraaff, the voice for the Bible Answer Man radio program and the head of the Christian Research Institute, has said at least two times on his radio show that to call the Roman Catholic Church the great whore of Revelation 17 is to “slander an already vulnerable target” and is “absolutely reprehensible.” He said this in the context of being asked what he thinks of Dave Hunt, the author of the 550-page book “A Woman Rides the Beast: The Roman Catholic Church and the Last Days” (Harvest House Publishers, 1994). Hunt replied to this as follows in the April 2007 issue of The Berean Call: “Whenever Hank is asked about me, this is his standard response. It is slanderous. I gave a more detailed response 11 years ago (TBC Q&A May 1996). The Roman Catholic Church is the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful institution in history and the world today. Yet Hank describes it as a ‘vulnerable target.’ What?! I’m slandering it by identifying it as the whore in Revelation 17-18? The angel gives to John fourteen identifying characteristics that fit the Vatican (and nothing else) perfectly. This is how Luther and the Reformers and the thousands of true Christians down through history whom the RCC slaughtered (including even some Roman Catholic leaders) have always identified the ‘whore.’ Of these martyrs, the great historian, Will Durant, wrote, ‘The Roman Church, they were sure, was the Whore of Babylon.’ Einerius, an inquisitor appointed by Pope Innocent III 350 years before the Reformation, said of the Waldensian Christians, whom the RCC was attempting to exterminate, ‘They claim [that] the Roman Church is the whore described in John's Revelation.’ Even St. Bonaventure, cardinal and general of the Franciscans, in his Commentary on the Apocalypse, 300 years before the Reformation, called Rome ‘the harlot who makes kings and nations drunk with the wine of her whoredoms.’ D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, ‘I would not hesitate with the Reformers...to [say that the RCC] is, as the Scripture puts it, the whore.’ When I tried to explain this to Hank and his staff many years ago, they accused me of inventing a new idea unknown in history. Their guffaws nearly drove me out of Hank’s office.” Hanegraaff also criticizes Hunt’s Dispensational view of prophecy, claiming that “he errs quite consistently in his interpretation of scripture” and “he gets it wrong more often than not.” While we are not pleased with Hunt’s close association with the Calvary Chapel movement and disagree with him on a few matters, as well, the most dangerous man in this particular debate, by far, is Hank Hanegraaff. The day will come when he will deeply regret promoting himself as the “Bible Answer Man” and leading many astray through his false doctrine and lack of spiritual discernment in these end times.

THE PRICE OF COMPROMISE IS ALWAYS MORE COMPROMISE (Friday Church News Notes, April 13, 2007, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from the book The Fall and Rise of Christian Standards by David Kidd (Xulonpress.com or 866-909-2665): “In the 1960s the sexual revolution and the rock-n-roll culture unleashed a formidable assault upon traditional and biblical principles of morality, modesty and gender distinction. Christians, rather than drawing a line in the sand for biblical standards, adapted too many of these new, bold and daring trends. Fads seemed passing and harmless. Women put on pants, or shortened their skirts. Men grew their hair long. The direction of influence was backward. The culture was infiltrating the church and the Christian home. It still is. Tattooed and pierced Christians are evidence of the startling truth. The price of compromise is always more compromise. Where do we draw the line? … Like a cancer that grows so slowly it is hardly noticed, the church of Jesus Christ is looking more and more like those it once sent missionaries out to save. Satan is feverishly working to infect the bride of Christ with the pathogens of a polluted culture. If he cannot possess the church, at least he can pollute it with the appearance of those whom he does possess.”