The following is another installment of the Friday Church News Notes:

U.S. ELECTIONS 2002. Friday Church News Notes, November 8, 2002 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - In the U.S. 2002 elections, the Republicans kept control of the House of Representatives and gained control of the Senate, giving Republican President George Bush a majority in Congress. It was a large victory that was not foreseen by most pollsters and political pundits. This should enable the President to clear the logjam that the Democrats had erected on the confirmation of judges and the passing of a Homeland Security measure, among other things. Homosexual activist groups bemoaned the loss of power by the Democrats, because the homosexual agenda is most consistently supported by that party. The Human Rights Campaign, for example, called it a "significant defeat" of their agenda. Homosexuals continued to make gains, though, in this election. Three openly homosexual members of Congress (Barney Frank in Mass., Jim Kolbe in Ariz., and Tammy Baldwin in Wis.) won re-election by landslides. Open homosexuals also won office in Providence, Rhode Island (the mayor); Arizona's House of Representatives; the New York Assembly; Maryland's General Assembly; the Massachusetts Senate; Oklahoma City (county commissioner); and the California legislator. Voters in four states (Nevada, Arizona, South Dakota, and Ohio) rejected initiatives that would have legalized the use of marijuana or lessened the penalty for its possession. The measures were funded by three wealthy men -- George Soros, John Sperling, and Peter Lewis -- who desire to reduce the government's war on drugs (Baptist Press, Nov. 6, 2002). Marijuana is a consciousness-altering drug that should never be legalized. Its usage led me to stronger drugs before I was saved. Florida voters passed a "pig's rights" initiative that requires pig farmers to keep pregnant pigs in larger pens. Oklahoma voters passed an initiative banning cock fighting and placing extremely heavy penalties on it. Nevada voters passed an amendment to their state constitution specifying that a marriage can be comprised only of a man and a woman, which is aimed at thwarting the homosexual agenda. Gambling initiatives were approved in five states, Tennessee, North Dakota, Iowa, and Arizona. Tennessee was one of only three states that previously had no form of legalized gambling. The newly-elected Democratic governor of Oklahoma has made the passing of a state lottery his number one priority. At best, the lottery is a tax on those who are not good at math.

ANOTHER RAPPER IS MURDERED. Friday Church News Notes, November 8, 2002 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell), rapper with the popular group Run-DMC, was shot to death in his recording studio on October 30, 2002, at age 37 by an unknown assailant. This is the latest in a long string of violence associated with rappers, who produce a style of music that is infamously violent in nature.

PERSECUTION IN SRI LANKA. Friday Church News Notes, November 8, 2002 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - Buddhists in Sri Lanka are targeting Christians for persecution. Buddhist leaders are lobbying the government to ban conversions to Christianity (World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Conference, Nov. 8, 2002). The country is more than 70% Buddhist, but the number of Christians is growing quickly with an estimated 23,000 conversions per year. At a conference in July 2001, activist Buddhists warned about "the fundamentalist evangelists who are unethically converting Buddhists to Christianity" and labeled this "one of the main threats to Buddhism." The Buddhist group called the Society for the Preservation of Buddhism aims to set up branches in every district "to monitor the growth of Christianity and prevent conversions." There have been several brutal assaults on pastors and churches and some church buildings have been burned down. On September 15, for example, a mob of about 100 people led by a monk, attacked a church in Padukka, beating the pastor and some of the church members, including women and children, and destroying church property.

CATHOLIC SPEAKER AT WHEATON. Friday Church News Notes, November 8, 2002 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - The following is from The Fundamentalist Digest, Sept.-Oct. 2002: "Roman Catholic Cardinal Francis George, head of the Archdiocese of Chicago, was a slated speaker at Wheaton College's 11th annual Theology Conference, April 11-13, 2002. [Ed. We could say "Goodbye Wheaton," but it has been scripturally gone for a long time!]"

TIMOTHY GEORGE ON BOARD OF CATHOLIC MAGAZINE. Friday Church News Notes, November 8, 2002 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - The following is from The Fundamentalist Digest, Sept.-Oct. 2002: "Dr. Timothy George, the Dean of Beeson Divinity School (BDS) in Birmingham, Alabama, has 'joined the editorial board' of Roman Catholic priest John Neuhaus's First Things magazine. George is a prominent SBC theologian. BDS is an [independent] division of Samford University, a Southern Baptist-related school. [Ed. This is another one of those so-called 'conservative' Southern Baptists compromising with ecumenists.]"

PRESBYTERIANS SUPPORT HOMOSEXUAL ORDINATIONS AND MARRIAGES. Friday Church News Notes, November 8, 2002 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - On October 27, representatives from congregations of the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) met at the South Presbyterian Church in Dobbs Ferry, New York, to declare their support for homosexual ordination. A sodomite men's chorus provided special music. Kris Kliemann, chairwoman of South Church's "church-in-the-world committee" [what an appropriate title!], said, "Our message to the rest of the world is that this is a church where you can go and worship and lead, regardless of your sexual orientation." The PCUSA formally forbids ordination of homosexuals, but in typical liberal fashion, it allows its own rules to be ignored. Nothing is more disgusting than ecclesiastical politics, whereby preachers, who are commissioned by Almighty God to proclaim His Word without compromise, become crafty politicians. South Presbyterian Church was taken to trial in 2000 by the PCUSA's highest court, but instead of spewing the church out of the denomination for its abominations, the court determined that same-sex union ceremonies could continue if they are different from traditional marriage ceremonies! Fifteen other churches in the Hudson River Presbytery alone have promised to ignore the denomination's "ban" against ordaining "sexually active" homosexuals, and that is only one small sector of the denomination. Joseph Gilmore, senior pastor at South Church, said, "We want a church reformed to move as close as possible to the hospitality of God, which means that no one, no one, can be excluded." This confused man is talking about a different god than the holy God of the Bible who requires spiritual and moral conversion of those who would join His churches.

NEW ISLAMIC TERRORIST WEB MAGAZINE TARGETS CHILDREN. Friday Church News Notes, November 8, 2002 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - A new Web magazine established by Hamas encourages children to hate Israel and to become martyrs for the Islamic faith. The magazine is called Al-Fateh, meaning The Conqueror, and features a cartoon character boy on horseback wielding a sword. The site includes photos of Palestinian children firing guns. What kind of strange religion is this that sends its children out against the enemy? (Iraqi President Saddam Hussein demonstrates his vicious hatred of Israel by giving $10,000 to the family of each suicide bomber.)