NEWS NOTES 11/05/2004

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.

Download and Print Friday News with Full Graphics for your church in
PDF format:
http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/fridaynews/pdf/2004/20041105.pdf

GRAHAM CRUSADE PROMISES NOT TO PROSELYTIZE CATHOLICS. Friday Church News Notes, November 5, 2004 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, fbns@wayoflife.org, http://www.wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Billy Graham organization preparing for the November crusade in Los Angeles has promised the Roman Catholic archdiocese that Catholics will not be “proselytized.” A letter from Cardinal Roger Mahony, dated October 6, 2004, and posted at the archdiocese web site, states: “When the Crusade was held in other locations, many Catholics responded to Dr. Graham’s message and came forward for Christ. Crusade officials expect the same for the Los Angeles area. These officials have assured me that, IN KEEPING WITH DR. GRAHAM’S BELIEF AND POLICY, THERE WILL BE NO PROSELYTIZING, AND THAT ANYONE IDENTIFYING HIM OR HERSELF AS CATHOLIC WILL BE REFERRED TO US for reintegration into the life of the Catholic Church. We must be ready to welcome them.” Indeed, this has been Graham’s working policy since the 1950s. The names of tens of thousands of Catholics have been turned over to Catholic Churches for “follow-up.” What could be more damnable, to turn seekers over to wolves in sheep’s clothing?

INTERNATIONAL BAPTIST NETWORK HOLDS INAUGURAL MEETING. Friday Church News Notes, November 5, 2004 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, fbns@wayoflife.org, http://www.wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The International Baptist Network (IBN) held its inaugural public meeting September 27-29 at Highland Park Baptist Church, Chattanooga, Tennessee, the home of Tennessee Temple University. The new organization has the objective of “networking” fundamental Baptist churches. The main participants at this point are the Baptist Bible Fellowship International, Southwide Baptist Fellowship, and World Baptist Fellowship; but these were joined by representatives of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC). Speakers and organizers include John Rawlings, Lee Roberson, Jerry Vines (SBC), Randy Ray, Rick Austin, Tim Lee, Bill Monroe (president of the BBFI), David Bouler, Jerry Prevo, David Bryant, Bo Moore, Dino Pedrone, and Wayne Martin. Paul Dixon, Chancellor of Cedarville College, which recently was approved by the SBC, attended and announced the meeting at Cedarville’s web site. The new organization calls itself the “Face of 21st Century Baptists.” One thing that unites most of the participants of the International Baptist Network is the shared conviction that things such as music, Bible versions, associations, and dress standards are largely non-issues that should not divide. They further hold the conviction that those who make issues of such things are hurtful to the cause of Christ today. Many of the men at the forefront of this new movement pastor contemporary or “progressive” churches. The lines are being drawn ever more sharply on both sides between independent Baptists who want to hold to the old paths and those who are casting their lot in the contemporary direction.

CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED IN AMERICA FOR PROTESTING THE “GAY AGENDA.” Friday Church News Notes, November 5, 2004 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, fbns@wayoflife.org, http://www.wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following by Lee Guigon is excerpted from the Culture and Family Institute web site: “In July the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. launched a multimillion-dollar ad campaign on cable TV to attract homosexual tourists to the city. In August the Philadelphia Phillies featured ‘Gay Day’ at the Citizens Bank Park. When Christians protested peacefully by displaying banners, they were ejected. On October 10, Philadelphia police arrested 11 Christians for committing the ‘hate crime’ and ‘riot’ of singing hymns near a homosexual ‘Outfest.’ The Christians have been charged with a laundry list of felonies, some of which carry prison penalties. Described by Philadelphia authorities as members of a ‘criminal conspiracy,’ the Christians sang the hymns to protest -- peacefully, nonviolently -- a city-sanctioned ‘Coming Out Day’ for homosexuals. Someday, sooner than you think, the whole country will have to choose. Biblical Christianity and Gay-topia cannot live under the same roof. If the one is right, the other must be wrong. Each of these worldviews excludes the other. These events in Philadelphia give us a foretaste of what that choice will look like -- Christians carted off in paddy wagons, punished for expressing their faith in public -- if America chooses to support the homosexual movement.”

HOME SCHOOLING FATHERS THROWN IN JAIL IN GERMANY. Friday Church News Notes, November 5, 2004 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, fbns@wayoflife.org, http://www.wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from WorldNetDaily, Oct. 28: “Seven home schooling fathers in Germany spent several days in jail for refusing to pay fines that were imposed on them for failing to send their children to government schools. The fathers, who are part of the Twelve Tribes Community in Klosterzimmern, Germany, were forced to spend between six and 16 days in what the group's website translates as ‘coercive jail.’ ... Said the released home schooling dad: ‘The prison sentence wasn’t easy but it did nothing to change our convictions. Wrong will not always remain wrong. To act according to the dictates of our conscience is right. Conscientious objectors are also granted the freedom of conscience. The “wrong” of the members of the resistance in the Third Reich is being praised today, the members are being esteemed as heroes. Our conscience resists the one-sided education of the state with the values of a consumption and achievement-oriented society. How far have we fallen, if any kind of perverse way of life is being applauded, but a sincere education according to the Bible is being punished? Where are the citizens of this country who will stand up against injustice?’”

MORE EVOLUTIONARY NONSENSE. Friday Church News Notes, November 5, 2004 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, fbns@wayoflife.org, http://www.wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The front page of the Sydney Morning Herald for October 28 featured “an artist’s impression” of “a previously unknown species of miniature human barely a metre tall.” The drawing depicts a small man walking erect with a slightly ape-like head. (The artist’s impression of “homo floresiensis” is no more accurate than that of “Jesus” in Mel Gibson’s misguided movie.) Evolutionists claim this is a different “species” and they are calling it “homo floresiensis.” The remains were discovered in a cave on the remote Indonesian island of Flores. An accompanying photo from Nature magazine shows the small skull of “homo floresiensis” alongside that of a “modern man.” The skulls have identical characteristics; the only difference is the size. If not viewed through the thick glasses of evolution, it is a simple matter to understand that “homo floresiensis” was not another species at all, but was a tribe of small people who became isolated on Flores. There are small people alive today. I have seen full-grown women in Nepal who are only about four and a half feet tall. The females of some groups of Mbutsi pygmies of Zaire average only 4.1 feet in height.

EPISCOPALIANS WORSHIP QUEEN OF HEAVEN. Friday Church News Notes, November 5, 2004 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, fbns@wayoflife.org, http://www.wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Episcopal Church USA’s Office of Women’s Ministries is promoting worship of the Old Testament idol, the Queen of Heaven. The “Women’s Eucharist: A Celebration of the Divine Feminine” is based on a rite from Tuatha de Brighid, “a clan of modern Druids ... who believe in interconnectedness of all faiths” (“Episcopal Church Officially Promotes Idol Worship,” Christianity Today weblog, week of October 25). The Women’s Eucharist proclaims: “Mother God, our ancient sisters called you Queen of Heaven and baked these cakes in your honor in defiance of their brothers and husbands who would not see your feminine face. ... We offer these cakes and enjoy them too. ... May we also be signs of your love and abundance.” See Jeremiah 7:18 and 44:15-19. This is not new. In 1984 the World Council of Churches (of which the Episcopal Church is a member) published a liturgy titled “No Longer Strangers,” which called God by the following names: Lady of peace, Lady of wisdom, Lady of love, Lady of birth, Mother, Bakerwoman, Presence, Essence, Simplicity.

MOST AUSTRALIANS BELIEVE SCIENCE OVER BIBLE. Friday Church News Notes, November 5, 2004 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, fbns@wayoflife.org, http://www.wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - According to a new survey, Australians, by a wide margin, prefer science to the Bible in explaining the origins of life. The poll by UMR Research found that only 28% of Australians believe the Bible holds the answer. Further, only 3% polled thought they would go to hell when they died, while 27% thought they would go neither to heaven nor to hell. In contrast, polls in America have found that 50% believe the Bible and only 15% believe in evolution.

CONCLUSION: Friends in Christ, do not be discouraged by any of this. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. These things remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the coming of the Lord. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ day by day? Are you in the perfect will of God for your life and bearing fruit for His glory? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14).