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 obviously 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.

COLUMBINE MAYHEM REVISITED (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Ten years ago this week, two high school seniors filled with occultic hatred murdered 12 of their fellow students and a 47-year-old teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, before taking their own lives. The shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, also wounded another 20 students. Witnesses reported that “they were just hooting and hollering, having the time of their lives.” They had planned to kill hundreds, but by God’s grace none of their larger bombs exploded. This carnage was perpetrated by self-centered, hateful,

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A WARNING ABOUT CALVINISTIC HOME SCHOOLING MATERIALS (Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - One of the ways that Reformed Calvinist theology is spreading through independent Baptist circles is home schooling curriculums. Consider three examples. These organizations hold to TULIP theology and reject the literal interpretation of prophecy and the pretribulational return of Jesus Christ. They hold to a heretical replacement position which sees the church as the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel. VISION FORUM’s statement of faith includes the following: “All who were chosen in Christ from eternity past are born again by the Holy Spirit, respond from their new hearts with repentance and faith in Jesus, are justified on the basis of the shed blood of Christ, become children of God, and are indwelt, sanctified, and sealed by the Holy Spirit until they are glorified at Christ’s return.” Vision Forum’s books include the following: John Calvin: Man of the Millennium, The Story of the English Puritans, The World’s Greatest Reformation History Library, The Geneva Bible Calvin Legacy Edition, Children’s Stories of the Reformation, Stories of the Covenanters in Scotland, Reformation Heroes, Famous Women of the Reformed Church, Puritan Fathers Classics Library, and Gill’s Body of Doctrinal Divinity (hyper, hyper Calvinism). VERITAS PRESS heavily promotes the writings of Douglas Wilson and R.C. Sproul. One lady wrote to me recently and said, “My husband has a cousin who now believes in infant baptism because they are using a curriculum [Veritas] based on classical education including Latin and Reform theology/doctrine that leans on the ‘early church fathers.’” CHRISTIAN LIBERTY PRESS is a ministry of the Church of Christian Liberty in Arlington Heights, Illinois, which subscribes to the Presbyterian Westminster Confession of Faith. They believe in the five points of TULIP, including “the sovereign unconditional election of God, the particular redemption wrought by the death of Jesus Christ, and the irresistible grace of God.” Christian Liberty supports the Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and the Middle East Reformed Fellowship. They also promote the writings of Reconstructionists/Dominionists Gary North and Gary DeMar. One reader wrote, “When we started homeschooling we used Christian Liberty Press. They have some good material, but they also come from a Reformed perspective.”

TONY BLAIR SAYS YOUNG EVANGELICALS ARE MORE RELAXED ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY (Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In an interview with the British homosexual magazine Attitude, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair observed that “younger evangelicals” are more relaxed in their position on homosexuality. He said, “I think, increasingly in America amongst the younger generation, even if they’re on the Republican right, even if they’re evangelical, I just don’t think the attitude of being anti-gay is of the same force as it was the previous generation” (ReligiousIntelligence.co.uk, April 8, 2009). Blair, who converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 2007, is doubtless correct in this observation. Since evangelicals in general renounced separatism a half century ago, the movement has gone from bad to worse. Since evangelicalism tends not to be separated from “culture,” it is influenced by culture and reflects the thinking of modern society rather than the teaching of the Bible. The emerging church element within evangelicalism has definitely renounced an “anti-gay” stance. For example, Brian McLaren says, “Frankly, many of us don’t know what we should think about homosexuality. ... We aren’t sure if or where lines are to be drawn, nor do we know how to enforce with fairness whatever lines are drawn. ... Perhaps we need a five-year moratorium on making pronouncements” (“Brian McLaren on the Homosexual Question,” Jan. 23, 2006, http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2006/01/brian_mclaren_o.html).

OBAMA’S EASTER MESSAGE: AMERICA ARROGANT, DERISIVE, DIVISIVE, AND NOT CHRISTIAN (Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Christian News Wire, April 10, 2009: “During his recent trip to Europe and the Muslim nation of Turkey, President Barack Obama told the Europeans that the U.S. has been ‘arrogant, derisive and divisive.’ During an address to the Turkish Parliament, President Obama also said, ‘We [Americans] do not consider ourselves a Christian nation.’ Jesse Lee Peterson, Founder and President of BOND Action, Inc., released the following statement responding to the President’s remarks: ‘President Obama is mischaracterizing America’s great history as a force for good which is a direct result of our nation’s Judeo-Christian values. ... Mr. President, your apology tour will not deter al-Qaeda. You are weakening this country and inviting our enemies to attack. ... It’s now clearly apparent that Obama’s mentors Jeremiah Wright, Saul Olinsky, and other godless American haters have profoundly influenced his opinion of this country. ... Barack Obama’s recent remarks coupled with his actions over the past two months leave no doubt that it is he who is arrogant and derisive, not the American people.’”

RICK WARREN SAYS HE IS NOT “ANTI-GAY OR ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE ACTIVIST” (Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In his appearance on Larry King Live, April 6, 2009, Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church said he is not an “anti-gay marriage activist.” He told King: “During the whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a statement, never--never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop 8 was going. The week before the vote, somebody in my church said, Pastor Rick, what do you think about this? And I sent a note to my own members that said, I actually believe that marriage is--really should be defined, that that definition should be--say between a man and a woman. And then all of a sudden out of it, they made me, you know, something that I really wasn’t. ... I wrote to all my gay friends--the leaders that I knew--and actually apologized to them.” The pastor apologized to the homosexuals who are dead set on destroying America’s moral foundation! He should, rather, have rebuked them for their attempt to pervert the God-given institution of marriage. In an interview with Beliefnet in December 2008, Warren said divorce is a greater threat to the family than homosexual marriage and claimed that homosexuality is no worse than other sins, such as gossip. While it is true that every sin is wicked before God, and while it is true that any sin can be forgiven through repentance and faith in the blood of Jesus Christ, the Bible does not say that all sin is the same in its effect in this world. God did not pour out fire and brimstone upon Sodom because of its jealousy or covetousness or gossip or divorce. It was judged specifically because of homosexuality (Jude 1:7). Homosexuality is in a special category because it is a sin against nature itself. It destroys the very fabric of society, which is the family as defined biblically--a man and a woman united in holy matrimony. Homosexuality is “vile,” “against nature,” “unseemly,” and the product of a “reprobate mind” (Romans 1:26-28). When homosexual “marriage” is accepted, the institution of marriage will be destroyed, and preachers should be outspoken against all such things. In the same Larry King Live interview, Warren said that spoke at the memorial service of the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s death, that he keeps a picture of King and Gandhi in his office, and that King has “been a hero all of my life.” He forgot to mention that King was a multiple adulterer and a theological modernist who denied the faith that Warren claims to believe.

ATHEISM SPREADING IN CANADA (Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - According to a new religious poll, the number of Canadians who believe in God decreased from 84% in 2000 to 71% in 2008 (All Headline News, April 10, 2009). The poll by Ipsos Reid is based on a survey of 1,000 respondents last December. The percentage among males is only 63%, while among females it is 79%. According to the same poll, only 20% of Canadians believe in an afterlife.

BEWARE OF THE ANTI-FUNDAMENTALIST MESSAGE OF CCM (Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - One of the messages that permeates Contemporary Christian Music is its dislike of fundamentalist separatism and biblical preaching. This is a powerful warning to strong Bible-believing churches. When fundamentalist churches bring CCM into their midst, they are associating with people who are their avowed enemies and who will undermine a separatist position. Consider a few of quotes from our book Contemporary Christian Music under the Spotlight (the source of the quotes can be found in the book): The Chinese CCM group For You advertises their music as “spiritual but not preachy.” Steven Curtis Chapman says he tries to communicate a biblical world view in a way that will not be “abrasively preachy.” Morgan Cryar says his “songs deal with youth issues and situations without being preachy.” The lyrics to Donna Summer’s music is described as being “unpreachily as possible, the approach most likely to win the attention of an intelligent non-Christian audience.” Randy Stonehill says: “I don’t want to preach at people.” Michael W. Smith, one of the most popular Contemporary Christian Musicians, says. “My songs are not preachy -- at all.” In reviewing Steve Taylor’s music, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer noted that “there is little preaching in his songs.” CCM writer/performer Wayne Watson says: “I won’t write a song that says, ‘You better get right with God.’ From my own experience I find that way sometimes makes people defensive.” A reviewer observed that P.O.D. doesn’t “preach or try to ram their spirituality down anyone’s throat.” MusicLine Magazine describes Steve Camp’s music in these terms: “Though potent, the message never overwhelms or becomes preachy.” The group U2 is described by the Boston Globe as representing a “non-dogmatic Christianity.” The Chinese CCM group For You advertises their music as “spiritual but not preachy.”

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FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
April 10, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 15

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 obviously 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.

PAUL MCCARTNEY SAYS TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION WILL TAKE OVER THE WORLD (Friday Church News Notes, April 10, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Performing at a “Change Begins Within” concert in New York City on April 5, Paul McCartney exalted Transcendental Meditation (TM). He said, “It started for us when we met the Maharishi in India and it’s going to get bigger and bigger and rule the world” (“McCartney and Starr Reunite for Meditation,” Reuters, April 5, 2009). The two surviving Beatles headlined the concert, which aimed to promote TM among one million children. The sponsoring organization, the David Lynch Foundation, is dedicated “consciousness-based education and world peace.” Joining Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney were Sheryl Crow, Donovan, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, and others. Though some deny it, TM is a Hindu practice and is based on the concept that the universe is God and man can tap into God through mysticism. The TM practitioner uses a mantra to put himself into an altered state of consciousness. One page of the David Lynch Foundation’s web site has a young girl saying, “It is quiet and comfortable and I feel connected to everything and everyone.” The practice was brought to America by the Hindu guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the 1950s and popularized by the Beatles when they visited his lectures in Wales in 1967 and his ashram in India the next year. Beatle George Harrison joined the Hare Krishnas and died in the Hindu faith. His ashes were scattered on the Ganges River. Maharishi developed TM from the Hindu Vedas. He called TM “a path to God” and “the spontaneous flow of knowledge.” The Beatles have influenced an entire generation to commune with demons, and it is a shameful thing for Contemporary Christian musicians to exalt the Beatles as they do. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

DEAN OF EPISOCPAL DIVINITY SCHOOL SAYS ABORTION IS A BLESSING (Friday Church News Notes, April 10, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a message in Birmingham, Alabama, on July 21, 2007, to the New Women All Women Health (abortion) Clinic, a lesbian leader in the Episcopal Church in America said that abortion is a blessing. In fact, she repeated these words seven times in one sermon, and also stated that those operate abortion clinics are “heroes” and “saints.” Katherine Ragsdale, Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said: “And when a woman becomes pregnant within a loving, supportive, respectful relationship; has every option open to her; decides she does not wish to bear a child; and has access to a safe, affordable abortion--there is not a tragedy in sight--only blessing. The ability to enjoy God's good gift of sexuality without compromising one’s education, life’s work, or ability to put to use God’s gifts and call is simply blessing” (“Abortion Is a Blessing,” blogs.telegraph.co.uk, April 2, 2009). “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21).

OUTPOURING OF HATRED TOWARD DISPENSATIONAL FUNDAMENTALISTS (Friday Church News Notes, April 10, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Evangelicals talk much about love and unity, but there is one group of Christians that are excluded from their compassion and that is biblical fundamentalists. Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren has likened Christian fundamentalism to Muslim fundamentalism and has called it “one of the big enemies of the 21st century” (“The Purpose-Driven Pastor,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 8, 2006). In his interview on Larry King Live on December 2, 2006, Warren said: “There are all kinds of fundamentalists, Larry, and they’re all based on fear.” In an appearance at the Pew Forum, Warren called fundamentalism “a very legalistic, narrow view of Christianity” (the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle conference on religion, politics and public life, May 23, 2005). Brian McLaren, a major voice in the emerging church, calls the theological battles fought by fundamentalists “misguided” and predicts that their children and grandchildren will reject fundamentalism (Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices, p. 133). Mark Driscoll of Mars Hills Church in Seattle likens fundamentalists to Pharisees, calling them “arrogant, self-righteous, and judgmental,” “mixed nuts,” and “old legalists who want to argue about the King James Bible” (The Radical Reformission, p. 140; The Relevant Church, p. 25). Those judgments pale, though, when compared to the following remarks on PlanetPreterist.com pertaining to my report “The Emerging Church Is Coming.” “Cloud is a blowhard clinging to the fundy Titanic as it sinks beneath the waves. The sooner they go down and lose their public influence [the better].” “It’s so encouraging and rewarding to see Dispensational fundamentalist Christianity fading away while kicking and screaming.” “Fundamentalism is anti-Christ.” Evangelicalism’s attack upon fundamentalism is an exercise in hypocrisy. They say that we shouldn’t use labels, but they are quick to label the fundamentalist. They say we shouldn’t be judgmental, but they are viciously judgmental of the fundamentalist. They claim to hold the high ground on Christian compassion, but they are anything but compassionate toward fundamentalists. They mock the fundamentalist’s standards and rules, but they have plenty of standards and rules of their own.

EPISCOPAL PRIEST DEFROCKED AFTER BECOMING A MUSLIM (Friday Church News Notes, April 10, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Ann Redding was defrocked last week as a priest in the Episcopal Church in America for claiming to be both a Muslim and a Christian. Three years ago Redding became a Muslim after attending an interfaith meeting in which an imam demonstrated Muslim chants and meditations. She said that she had a mystical experience in which she was overwhelmed with a conviction that she “needed to surrender to God and this was the form that my surrender needed to take” (“Episcopal Minister Defrocked,” CNN, April 2, 2009). She began saying the shahada, which is the Muslim declaration of belief in Allah and in Mohammad as his prophet. Though she believes that Christians and Muslims “are talking about the same God,” in fact, what Islam teaches about God and Jesus is irreconcilable with what the Bible teaches. The Muslim faith rejects the Trinity and denies that Jesus is God and only Saviour and that He died on the cross for man’s sins and rose from the dead. We would make two final observations about this news item. First, observe that it was interfaith ecumenism and mysticism that resulted in Redding’s conversion to Islam. The Bible warns that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). Those who flirt with heresy and false religion are flirting with the devil. Second, the Episcopal Church is hypocritical. Why defrock someone who becomes a Muslim but not someone who otherwise rejects the God of the Bible? There are many Episcopal priests who do this with impunity, including the retired bishop John Spong, who has said, “I would choose to loathe rather than to worship a deity who required the sacrifice of his son” (Christianity Today, June 15, 1998).

PROTESTANT DENOMINATION REFUSES TO DISCIPLINE ATHEIST PASTOR (Friday Church News Notes, April 10, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Protestant Church in the Netherlands has refused to discipline a self-proclaimed atheist pastor. Klaas Hendrikse published a book in November 2007 entitled “Believing in a God Who Does Not Exist: Manifesto of an Atheist Pastor.” In spite of this, his denomination said that disciplinary proceedings will not be pursued, because it would only be “a protracted discussion about the meanings of words that in the end will produce little clarity” (“Church Authorities Not to Discipline,” ENI, March 27, 2009). The Protestant Church in the Netherlands was formed in 2004 from a merger of Lutherans and Reformed.

NEW AGE PRACTICES SPREADING IN THE MEDICAL FIELD (Friday Church News Notes, April 10, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - According to the American Hospital Association, 37% of hospitals in the USA are using “alternative treatments,” including acupuncture, yoga, music and art therapy, and Reiki (“More Hospitals Offer Alternative Therapies,” USA Today, Sept. 15, 2008). This is an increase from 25% in 2005. Alternative treatments are a $19 billion a year industry. In 1992, only 2% of U.S. medical schools offered courses in alternative medicines, but by 2004 that figure had risen to 67% (“More Medical Schools Teaching Spirituality in Medicine,” Lighthouse Trails newsletter, March 4, 2008). The famous Mayo Clinic has a section at its web site on “complementary and alternative medicine,” dealing with touch therapy, yoga, tai chi, acupuncture, cupping, biofeedback, and hypnosis. (For an extensive study on alternative health care practices see the book “The New Age Tower of Babel,” available from Way of Life Literature.)

GENERATION DIVA (Friday Church News Notes, April 10, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Newsweek, March 30, 2009: “Girls today are salon vets before they enter elementary school. Forget having mom trim your bangs, fourth graders are in the market for lush $50 haircuts; by the time they hit high school, $150 highlights are standard. Five-year-olds have spa days and pedicure parties. And instead of shaving their legs the old-fashioned way--with a 99-cent drugstore razor--teens get laser hair removal, the most common cosmetic procedure of that age group. If these trends continue, by the time your tween hits the Botox years, she'll have spent thousands on the beauty treatments once reserved for the ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ set, not junior highs in Madison, Wisconsin. Reared on reality TV and celebrity makeovers, girls as young as two are using beauty products earlier, spending more and still feeling worse about themselves. Four years ago, a survey by the NPD Group showed that, on average, women began using beauty products at 17. Today, the average is 13--and that's got to be an overstatement. According to market-research firm Experian, 43 percent of 6- to 9-year-olds are already using lipstick or lip gloss; 38 percent use hairstyling products; and 12 percent use other cosmetics. ... According to a Newsweek examination of the most common beauty trends, by the time your 10-year-old is 50, she'll have spent nearly $300,000 on just her hair and face. ... A combination of new technology and the Web, is responsible—at least in part—for this transformation in attitudes. Ads for the latest fashions, makeup tips and grooming products are circulated with a speed and fury unique to this millennium—on millions of ads, message boards and Facebook pages.”

EL SHADDAI HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH A FEMININE ASPECT OF GOD (Friday Church News Notes, April 10, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - William Young, author of The Shack, claims that it is proper to depict God as a woman because the Bible allegedly describes God in feminine terms. He cites the name El Shaddai as an example, claiming that it describes God as “the breasted one.” In fact, the Old Testament Hebrew word “shaddai,” is translated “Almighty” in the King James Bible and it has nothing to do with breasts. It is derived from “shadad,” which means “to be burly, i.e. (figuratively) powerful (passively, impregnable)” (Strong). The following is from George Pember: “In order to corroborate the doctrine (of sex in deity) just mentioned, certain Theosophists have invented a new derivation for the Hebrew Shaddai, which in our versions is correctly rendered ‘Almighty.’ They suppose it to be connected with a word shad, which signifies a woman’s breast. But such a derivation is impossible, and, so far as we are aware, has never been proposed by an unbiased scholar. More than one Christian scholar has taken up this Theosophical derivation of Shaddai, and explained the word as meaning first ‘full-breasted,’ and then ‘bountiful.’ The irreverent use of one of the grandest titles of the Most High should have checked them” (The Church, the Churches, and the Mysteries).

ANT MATHEMATICS (Friday Church News Notes, April 10, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from Creation Moments, http://www.creationmoments.net/radio/transcript.php?t=2183: “Can ants count? It seems so! When a scout ant finds an item of food too big to carry, but especially good, the scout will return to the nest to get help. Scientists have discovered that ants apparently size up the task ahead so that they can return with just sufficient help. One scientist cut a dead grasshopper into three pieces. The second piece was twice as big as the first, and the third was twice as big the second. He then left the pieces in different locations where ants could find them. He watched as each was discovered by a scout, inspected, and each scout returned to the nest for help. When the scout returned with help, the scientist counted the number of ants working at each piece of grasshopper. The smallest piece had 28 ants and the piece that was twice its size had 44 ants working on it, almost twice as many as the smallest piece. And how many ants do you think were working on the piece that was twice the size of the second? If you doubled that 44 to 88 you would be within one of being right. Yes, there were 89 ants working to return the biggest piece to the nest!”

CONCLUSION: 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 obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. 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. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “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). This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list. To SUBSCRIBE, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/wayoflife/subscribe.html. TO UNSUBSCRIBE OR CHANGE ADDRESSES, go to the very bottom of any email received from us and click "Manage My Subscription." Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.

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FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
April 3, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 14

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 obviously 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.

THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY’S UNBELIEF (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, claims that God will not intervene to save the world. After describing possible doomsday scenarios caused by such things as global warming or bioterrorism, the head of the global Anglican Communion said that “to suggest that God might intervene to protect us from the corporate folly of our practices is as un-Christian and un-biblical as to suggest that he protects us from the results of our individual folly or sin” (“God Won’t Rescue World from Stupidity,” USA Today, March 27, 2009). The spiritually blind church leader added that there “will not be a safety net that guarantees us a happy ending in this world.” In fact, we do not know anything about the future for certain except what God has revealed in Scripture, and there we find that the world will not end by any man-made catastrophe. Rather, Jesus Christ will return in power and glory and establish the global kingdom of God, ruling over it with a rod of iron. “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4).

SELF-ESTEEM MADNESS CREATING A GENERATION OF EGOTISTS (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Praising Obsession Creates Generation of Egotistical Students,” London Telegraph, March 15, 2009: “An obsession with children’s self esteem is breeding narcissism, says Dr. Carol Craig, chief executive of the centre for confidence and wellbeing in Glasgow. ... School staff and parents feel they cannot criticise their children for fear of upsetting them, according to Dr. Craig, leaving them with an “all about me” mentality. Mothers and fathers now often tell teachers that it is ‘bad for his self-esteem’ if their son fails a spelling test, or that their daughter is left ‘unhappy’ by missing out on a part in the school pantomime, she claimed. Dr Craig called the self-esteem agenda, which has been imported from the United States, a ‘fashionable idea’ that has gone too far and urged schools to reclaim their role as educators, not psychologists. She said an obsession with children’s self esteem was breeding narcissism. Speaking at the Association of School and College Leaders conference in Birmingham, Dr. Craig said: ‘Narcissists make terrible relationship partners, parents and employees. It’s not a positive characteristic. We are in danger of encouraging this.’ ... The conference heard how a math teacher in one school had corrected a pupil who had placed a zero in the wrong place. The pupil replied: ‘Thank you, but I prefer it my way.’”

CATHOLIC NUN DESCRIBES RAMPANT IMMORALITY AMONG PRIESTS AND NUNS (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Catholic Church Stung by Autobiography,” The Independent, London, Feb. 20, 2009: “A former nun's tell-all story which details illicit relationships, sexual harassment and bullying in the convent where she spent three decades is causing ructions in the Catholic Church in the south Indian state of Kerala. In ‘Amen--an Autobiography of a Nun,’ Sister Jesme says when she became a nun she discovered priests were forcing novices to have sex with them. There were also secret homosexual relationships among the nuns and at one point she was forced into such a relationship by another nun who told her she preferred this kind of arrangement as it ruled out the possibility of pregnancy. ‘I want to express my feelings and to explain what happened to me... I want people to know how I have suffered,’ she told The Independent last night, speaking from the town of Kozhikode. ... Sister Jesme, who quit last year as the principal of a Catholic college in Thrissur, alleges senior nuns tried to have her committed to a mental institution after she spoke out against them. ... Last night, a spokesman for the Syro-Malabar order of the Catholic Church, Dr Paul Thelakkat, dismissed Sister Jesme’s allegations as a ‘book of trivialities.’ ‘It’s her experiences, but these are things that might creep into a society of communal living,’ he said. Asked if the church would be shocked by the allegations, he replied: ‘Absolutely not. The church knows about these things.’”

RACIST VIEWS OF EARLY EVOLUTIONISTS (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Charles Darwin and other fathers of the theory of evolution were racists. Indeed, if evolution is true, racism is a proper conclusion, because it would mean that some types of men are more advanced than others, just as man is more advanced than his (alleged) ape ancestors. Darwin said: “At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world. ... The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilized state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the negro or Australian [aborigine] and the gorilla” (The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, 1871, pp. 241-42). Ernst Haeckl said, “The Caucasian, or Mediterranean man (Homo Mediterraneus), has from time immemorial been placed at the head of all races of men, as the most highly developed and perfect” (The History of Creation, 1868, vol. 2, p. 321). Darwin’s friend Thomas Huxley said, “No rational man, cognizant of the facts, believes that the average negro is the equal, still less the superior, of the white man” (Lectures and Lay Sermons, 1871, p. 115). To claim that man evolved and yet that all men are equal and that there is purpose to life are impossible contradictions.

AUTHOR OF THE SHACK DENIES SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT AND HELL FIRE (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In an interview on March 13 with Kendall Adams of KAYP radio, William Young, author of The Shack, denied substitutionary atonement and hell fire, two cardinal doctrines of the biblical Christian faith. When asked, “I take it that you wouldn’t agree that the cross was a place of punishment for sin,” Young replied, “No. I don’t; I [don’t hold] a penal substitution point of view.” Young also said, “I don’t think that hell is physical fire and that kind of stuff and it is not an issue of separation from God.” The Shack is very popular among emerging type churches, but it presents a false god. For more on this see “The Shack’s Cool God” at the Way of Life web site.

ECUMENISM MATURING ON CUE (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from Hughie Seaborn of Cairns, Queensland, Australia, : “Well friends, it’s all happening here in Oz. I was watching the news on the informer (my TV) tonight when I saw the most amazing thing. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane, John Bathersby and Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Phillip Aspinal, sharing a joint ecumenical service yesterday (Friday, March 27) before a packed congregation at St. John's Cathedral. I was scratching around in Google and actually found a web page announcing the event and have copied the link below so you can get the whole story of what these two great and godly leaders are up to. They’ve been smooching up to each other for years but this is the first time they actually shared the ‘pulpit’ together. I caught a bit of the message from the TV news item where one of them was talking about the horrible division that has existed between the two churches and the term ‘self-righteousness’ was mentioned. Obviously a reference to those who at least had the courage to oppose the Pope and split from Rome all those years ago. The joint announcement can be seen at the following address: http://www.stritasparish.org/JointLentMsg.html. Money crashing globally, major apostate denominations loving up to each other, socialist governments gaining power--also globally. It’s enough to make you suspect the Lord is about to do something substantial. Look up! Lift up your heads! Our redeemer draweth nigh!”

JUDGE ORDERS THAT MORNING AFTER PILLS BE GIVEN TO 17-YEAR-OLD GIRLS WITHOUT PRESCRIPTION (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from CNSnews.com, March 24, 2009: “A federal court in New York on Monday expanded teenagers’ access to Plan B--also known as the morning-after pill or emergency contraception. The court gave the Food and Drug Administration 30 days to make Plan B available over the counter to 17 year olds. Right now, the pill is available over the county only to those 18 years and up. Pro-life groups are dismayed that 17-year-old girls will now have unrestricted access to a drug that can produce abortion by preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. But abortion rights groups celebrated the ruling, saying it takes politics out of science. ... Pro-life groups said the Plan B ruling means 17-year-old minor girls will be able to get the pill without visiting a doctor or talking to their parents first. This ruling jeopardizes girls' health and the ability of parents to care for their daughters' physical and emotional well-being,” said Chris Gacek of the Family Research Council.”

JAPANESE SCIENTISTS SKEPTICAL OF GLOBAL WARMING (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Japan Boffins: Global Warming Isn’t Man-made,” Andrew Orlowski, The Register, Feb. 25, 2009: “Exclusive Japanese scientists have made a dramatic break with the UN and Western-backed hypothesis of climate change in a new report from its Energy Commission. Three of the five researchers disagree with the UN’s IPCC view that recent warming is primarily the consequence of man-made industrial emissions of greenhouse gases. Remarkably, the subtle and nuanced language typical in such reports has been set aside. One of the five contributors compares computer climate modelling to ancient astrology. Others castigate the paucity of the US ground temperature data set used to support the hypothesis, and declare that the unambiguous warming trend from the mid-part of the 20th Century has ceased. The report by Japan Society of Energy and Resources (JSER) is astonishing rebuke to international pressure, and a vote of confidence in Japan's native marine and astronomical research. Publicly-funded science in the West uniformly backs the hypothesis that industrial influence is primarily responsible for climate change, although fissures have appeared recently. Only one of the five top Japanese scientists commissioned here concurs with the man-made global warming hypothesis.”

HARRY TRUMAN: THE BUCK STOPS HERE PRESIDENT (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Recently I finished the 1000-page biography of Harry Truman, president of the United States, by David McCullough, and it was well worth it. Truman’s Baptist faith was on the Southern Baptist side, so it is not very surprising that he drank, cussed, gambled, married an Episcopalian, and was a Mason. He did have some strong moral fiber, though, especially compared to some recent presidents, He was honest. He was not a womanizer and he believed that every man should be a one-woman man. He was courageous in the face of tremendous opposition. He was a blunt, no-nonsense kind of guy who stood up for what he believed and took responsibility for his failures. He had a plaque on his desk that said, “The Buck Stops Here.” There are other presidents that could say more honestly that the buck stopped in their pockets or that the buck stops anywhere but here! Truman’s presidency encompassed one of the most interesting eras in American history. He was the president during the surrender of Germany and Japan. He witnessed the fall of the Iron Curtain over Eastern Europe and the Bamboo Curtain over China and other parts of Eastern Asia. He made the decision to drop the atomic bomb, to create the United Nations, to establish NATO, to pursue the Marshall Plan, to continue Roosevelt’s socialistic New Deal, to desegregate the U.S. military, to recognize the modern state of Israel, to carry out the Berlin Airlift, to fight North Korea, and to fire the brilliant, fiercely proud, hugely popular but insubordinate General Douglas MacArthur.

WHEN THE PRIDE OF MAN SHALL BE HUMBLED (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low. ... And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” (Isaiah 2:10-22).

CONCLUSION: 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 obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. 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. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “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). This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list. To SUBSCRIBE, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/wayoflife/subscribe.html. TO UNSUBSCRIBE OR CHANGE ADDRESSES, go to the very bottom of any email received from us and click "Manage My Subscription." Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.