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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.

LUTHERANS ALLOW HOMOSEXUAL PASTORS (Friday Church News Notes, August 28, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - On August 21, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to allow “gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy.” Moments after the vote, Mark Hanson, the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, pleaded for unity, saying, “It would be tragic if we walked away from one another” (“Lutheran Gay Clergy Vote,” AP, Aug. 22, 2009). In fact, it is tragic that those who claim to believe the Bible are yoked together in the same denomination with those who obviously do not (Romans 16:17). Many mainstream media reports depict the ELCA as a fairly conservative denomination, but in fact it has been riddled with theological modernism and unbelief since its inception. J. Kincaid Smith, an ELCA pastor who attended Hamma School of Theology in the Lutheran Church in America, one of the denominations that merged to form the ELCA in 1988, testified, “When I graduated in 1973, to the best of my knowledge, none of my classmates, nor I, believed in any of the miraculous element in the Bible, in anything supernatural, no six day creation, that Adam and Eve were real historical people, that God really spoke to people, the flood with Noah and the Ark, the Red Sea parting. We believed that no Old Testament Scriptures foretold of Jesus of Nazareth, that Jesus was not anticipated in the Old Testament. No virgin birth” (Christian News, April 29, 1985).

MASS MURDERER CHEERED IN LYBIA (Friday Church News Notes, August 28, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Islamic mass murderer who was found guilty of bombing Pan Am flight 103 in 1988, killing 270 people when it crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland, was given a hero’s welcome at the Tripoli airport in Libya when he arrived there on August 21 (“Lockerbie Bomber Release,” AOL News, Aug. 21, 2009). Thousands cheered Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who was released from prison in Scotland after only eight years on grounds of “compassion.” He is said to be dying with cancer. Libya’s president, Gadhafi, met with al-Megrahi personally and hugged him. It is obvious that many of Libya’s citizens believe that destroying a commercial jetliner full of people is a glorious Islamic act, worthy of the highest praise.

JUDGE REFUSES TO SEND TEEN CHRISTIAN GIRL BACK TO MUSLIM PARENTS (Friday Church News Notes, August 28, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Teen Christian Convert to Stay in Florida,” WorldNetDaily, Aug. 21, 2009: “A judge in Florida has determined arguments over a young Christian who ran away from her Muslim parents in Ohio when her father allegedly threatened her life will continue in Florida, and she will not be returned immediately as her parents wished. Fathima Rifqa Bary, 17, an honor student and cheerleader, was raised in a Muslim family in Columbus, Ohio. She became a Christian four years ago as a result of her interactions with children at school. But Bary, a native of Sri Lanka, hitchhiked to a bus station and ran away from home July 19 because she says her family will murder her in what is known as an ‘honor killing.’ [Her father has severely beat her many times.] In Islamic tradition, an honor killing is the killing of a person believed to have brought dishonor upon his or her family. ... In the Columbus area, where she lived, ‘There is a densely populated group of Muslims with connections with radical Islam and al-Qaida,’ said John Stemberg, an attorney representing the teen. ... Wafa Sultan, a Syrian-born psychiatrist, human rights activist and author, wrote on JihadWatch.org that the case ‘highlights the danger of creeping jihad in the Western world. This is not only because of the imminent danger the teenage girl may face right here in the U.S., had the court decided to have her return to her parents’ home, but also because of the mainstream media’s weak response to the severity of this case.’ ... Dr. Phyllis Chesler, author of ‘Are Honor Killings Simply Domestic Violence?’ told Fox News Bary’s life will be in danger if she is forced to return to her parents. ‘Anyone who converts from Islam is considered an apostate, and apostasy is a capital crime,’ she said. ‘If she is returned to her family, if she is lucky, they will isolate her, beat her, threaten her, and if she is not presuaded to return to Islam, they will kill her. They have no choice.’ Chesler continued, ‘She escaped from her family’s brutal tyranny and shamed her family further through public exposure. Muslim girls and women are killed for far less.’ ... The United Nations tabulates about 5,000 such ‘honor killings’ annually around the world, and they have been documented even in the United States. ... one of the more notorious recent cases came when a Muslim TV network founder was charged with beheading his wife.”

OBAMA PRAISES ISLAM’S ADVANCE OF JUSTICE, TOLERANCE, AND DIGNITY (Friday Church News Notes, August 28, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In his video greeting to Muslims on the occasion of Ramadan, President Barack Obama praised Islam’s “role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings” (“Obama Offers Wishes,” The Washington Times, Aug. 21, 2009). It would be interesting to know what non-Islamic history books back up this amazing claim. In our day, it is obvious that the greatest role that Islam is playing is to advance arbitrary violence, regression, intolerance, and indignity. Presidential praise of Islam got a big push on George W. Bush’s watch.

REBA MCENTIRE SAYS SHE DOESN’T JUDGE HOMOSEXUALS (Friday Church News Notes, August 28, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Country Music singer and actress Reba McEntire recently told Out.com, a homosexual website, that she doesn’t judge any type of behavior. “I just try not to judge. Don’t judge me, and I won’t judge you. And that’s what it says in the Bible -- ‘Don’t judge.’ Keep an open mind. That would be my voice. I have gay friends. I have a lot of straight friends. I don’t judge them. I take them for what they are. They’re my friends, and I can’t defend my feelings for them, other than I like ‘em” (“Reba McEntire Keeps on Loving Gay Fans,” TheBoot.com, Aug. 19, 2009). Reba’s authority is not the Bible; it is her “feelings.” Asked about homosexual marriage she replied, “Again, I can’t judge that. I have gay friends who have partners, and I see where they would want to get married. I understand why. So, I can’t judge that.” This is typical country-music “faith.” Live and think whatever you please, but spread a thin veneer of unregenerate Christianity over it. Jesus did not say that we are not to judge anyone or anything. He said we are not to judge hypocritically (Matthew 7:1-5). Elsewhere in the Bible we are commanded to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11).

OFFICIAL KILOGRAM LOSING OR GAINING WEIGHT, SCIENTISTS NOT SURE (Friday Church News Notes, August 28, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The official international kilogram prototype that is stored in a vault in Paris is either losing or gaining weight, scientists aren’t sure which. It was made in 1889 out of platinum and iridium to the most exacting science and declared the international standard, but compared with copies that were made the same year, either the prototype has lost weight or the copies have gained weight or both (“This Kilogram Has a Weight-Loss Problem,” National Public Radio, Aug. 20, 2009). This reminds me that modern science is both exceedingly fallible and exceedingly proud. Even though they can’t explain what has happened to these weights in a period of a mere century, they have the audacity to tell us that they can tell us what happened over the past billion years and that we are to believe them over the Bible. No thanks. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!

UNBELIEVING “JESUS SEMINAR” REVITALIZED (Friday Church News Notes, August 28, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Jesus Seminar, which claims that only a small part of the four Gospels contain authentic sayings of Jesus, has been revitalized in recent days. After the death of founder Robert Funk in 2005, the organization nearly went out of business. Now it is moving to Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and is receiving an influx of money to carry on its Satanic work of destroying people’s faith in God’s Word. Through the Jesus Seminar, the hiss of the slithering serpent can still be heard asking, “Hath God said?” In the 1980s, the Jesus Seminar boys cast ballots on the authenticity of Christ’s sayings in the four Gospels, using red balls to indicate that a saying was probably authentic, gray, that it was possibly authentic, and black, that its authenticity was improbable. Less than a third of Jesus’ sayings received red votes. In 1992, Marcus Borg, a participant in the Jesus Seminar, said, “It makes no historical sense to say, ‘Jesus was killed for the sins of the world.’ ... I am one of those Christians who does not believe in the virgin birth, nor in the star of Bethlehem, nor in the journeys of the wise men, nor in the shepherds coming to the manger, as facts of history” (Bible Review, December 1992). The Jesus Seminar is only one voice in a loud chorus of end-time unbelief that was supernaturally prophesied in the very Bible they so blindly denounce. “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13). “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1). “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts” (2 Peter 3:3).

GRAHAM’S ROCK FESTIVAL - SUBJECTIVE HOLINESS (Friday Church News Notes, August 28, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following report is excerpted from “Franklin Graham: Minister of Christ or Priest of Baal?” by Pastor Ralph Ovadal http://www.pccmonroe.org. “Rock the River [a series of four festivals held in cities on the Mississippi River] is the proud brainchild of BGEA president/CEO Franklin Graham, who also briefly preached the Graham gospel several times during each of the six- to seven-hour ‘Christian’ rock concerts. Mr. Graham was candid about his reason for making use of head-banging rock, hip-hop, and even a mosh pit set up by BGEA. ‘We’re just changing the lure. Kids today love rock music. We’re giving them the music they like and understand’ (Quad City Times, Aug. 9, 2009). ... What I want to very briefly address here is Franklin Graham’s notion of what is worship acceptable to the Lord. The Scriptures have much to say on that very issue, for instance, ‘Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness’ (Psa. 29:2) ... But apparently Mr. Graham holds the same philosophy as his rock-and-roll followers, including two young women I interviewed at the Rock the River event at which we ministered in Davenport on Saturday, August 8. After our time of preaching, passing out tracts, and holding signs, I assumed my Christian media identity and conducted an interview with two evangelical rockers. With pounding, ear-splitting music as the backdrop, I brought up that the Scriptures command that the Lord be worshiped with reverence and also ‘in the beauty of holiness.’ I asked them if Rock the River fits that description. The young women confidently explained to me that ‘it depends on who you are as a person. Like, some people love this. And you have to worship as you do, and they have to worship as they do.’ But I asked again, ‘Is this music reverent?’ Again, the god ‘I’ was put forward as the ultimate authority in such matters. ‘I think it’s awesome . . . I think it’s perfect . . . I think for them that’s reverent. For you it might be different . . . for them it’s how they get it all out.’ Reverence, I was told, is different for everyone. And what of holiness? ‘I think it’s how you view it.’ Such is the ignorance and such are the resulting beliefs that allow, and seduce, young evangelicals into the ‘Christian’ rock culture which is anything but Christian and into a worship of God which is really a frenzied, heathenish worship of another christ, with another gospel preached, and all of this by another spirit, not the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 11:4).”

GRAHAM’S ROCK FESTIVAL - MOSHING (Friday Church News Notes, August 28, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following report is excerpted from “Franklin Graham: Minister of Christ or Priest of Baal?” by Pastor Ralph Ovadal http://www.pccmonroe.org. “Consider Franklin Graham’s canned media comment, fed to reporters at Rock the River towns and posted on the BGEA website: ‘As we head up the Mississippi River . . . we will be going against the currents of secularism, postmodernism, and the godless culture in which we live.’ ... Rather than risk reader fatigue, I will not attempt to describe in depth the ungodly looking characters and music Graham made use of to fight those evils he just mentioned. ... Suffice it to say, I am of the opinion that long-haired, ear-ringed men--in some cases wearing eye makeup--and sexualized, screaming, even growling women pumping out ear-splitting, demonic-sounding music while gyrating, writhing, and slamming around in front of immodestly dressed, crowd surfing, moshing, screaming fans is hardly the antithesis of ‘the godless culture in which we live.’ ... Young people who wanted to mosh to the frenzied music were invited into the pit to enjoy themselves. Simply put, people mosh by physically slamming themselves into each other and trying to throw each other to the ground. A dictionary definition puts it this way: ‘to engage in a form of frenzied, violent dancing; slam-dance.’ ... [T]he music, the body surfing, and the moshing--were all said to be worshiping the Lord and praising Him!”

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.

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.

BEN STEIN PERSECUTED FOR HIS STAND FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH (Friday Church News Notes, August 21, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Ben Stein, who exposed the vicious intolerance of evolutionary scientists and educators in his brilliant documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, is getting a taste of that intolerance. The following is from Evolution News, August 2009: “Ben Stein probably thought he could do his work on the film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed and not himself endure the kind of personal attacks that, in the film, he defended Darwin critics against. In fact, what he found was that Darwinism is at the root of the worldview of the materialist Left and even the materialist Right. You can't say or do anything to offend them. You can't even advocate academic freedom. The people who demanded free speech in the 60s and shouted down figures of authority are now the tenured faculty and newsroom editors of the Establishment. And now they are disallowing any criticism at all. So, unlikely as it seems, Ben Stein became a martyr. Richard Dawkins intervened at the University of Vermont last spring to deny Stein a gig as Commencement Speaker. Now Ben has been disingenuously trashed by The New York Times. Typically, when firing Stein as a business columnist the Times couldn't give the actual reason--which is ideological--and instead had to insinuate that he had a ‘conflict of interest.’ That is a joke as well as an insult.”

BBC SPORTS ANNOUNCER REFUSES TO WORK ON SUNDAY (Friday Church News Notes, August 21, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Dan Walker, of BBC’s Football Focus, has refused to play sports on Sunday since he was a boy. He was first confronted with the issue at age 12 when he was asked to play for various teams because of his extraordinary height. He says, “The problem was all their games were on a Sunday. I had only recently become a Christian and this was the first time I was confronted with the issue of how I should be spending my Sundays” (“Christian BBC footie Host Who Refuses to Work on a Sunday,” The Sun, Aug. 11, 2009). He doesn’t even watch football on Sunday, saying, “I spend Sunday at church and with my family.” He has continued to be confronted with the issue and was told that he would never get anywhere in sports broadcasting. I don’t know what kind of church Walker attends, but the man is to be commended for standing by his convictions in a day when professional football (either American or soccer) is one of this world’s chief gods. There are multitudes of Christians, even fundamentalists, that neglect the Lord’s house for sports. At one of my recent Bible conferences, many young people and adults missed services to attend a softball playoff. That is the same priority that unsaved people have. If that is not lukewarm Christianity, I don’t know what is, and Jesus said that He hates it (Revelation 3:15-16).

BARACK OBAMA FURTHER DEGRADES THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM (Friday Church News Notes, August 21, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Barack Obama has taken the Presidential Medal of Freedom to new lows by awarding it to homosexual activists and socialists. On August 12, Obama awarded the nation’s highest civilian medal to 16 people, including Billie Jean King, Desmond Tutu, Harvey Milk, and Ted Kennedy. King is a lesbian tennis star and homosexual activist. Milk was a homosexual activist who “went after teenage boys” and lied about being discharged from the Navy for his homosexuality (“Presidential Medal Recipients,” OneNewsNow, Aug. 13, 2009). Tutu, Anglican Bishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa, supports the ordination of homosexuals. Kennedy has done probably more than any other man in this generation to turn America into a humanistic socialist state. This is not the first time that the Presidential Medal of Freedom has been bestowed on people who did not serve America’s best interest. Past recipients include Roger Baldwin (founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization that has done much to remove Biblical influence from American society), Rachel Carson (deluded environmentalist activist), Cesar Chavez (pro-communist activist), Jesse Jackson (black racist shake down artist), and Nelson Mandela (former leader of the African National Congress, a vicious communist organization that burned people alive). The Presidential Medal of Freedom has been used to honor a wide variety of people, including athletes (Jesse Owens), actors (James Cagney), comics (Bob Hope), singers (Aretha Franklin), musicians (Van Cliburn), generals (Wesley Clark), astronauts (Neil Armstrong), authors (James A. Michener), inventors (Edwin Land of the Polaroid Land Camera), presidents (Ronald Reagan), artists (Norman Rockwell), corporate founders (Sam Walton of Wal-Mart), journalists (Edward R. Murrow), ambassadors (Jean Kirkpatrick), activists (Helen Keller), historians (Will Durant), military heroes (Jimmy Doolittle), and economists (Milton Friedman).

ATHEIST SAYS CHRISTIANS SHOULD ONLY BE ALLOWED TO EXPRESS THEIR FAITH IN PRIVATE (Friday Church News Notes, August 21, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Jerry Coyne on Francis Collins,” EvolutionNews.org, August 4, 2009: “Atheist Jerry Coyne has been ‘chewing over’ the President’s selection of Francis Collins as head of the National Institutes of Health. Collins, by consensus, is superbly qualified as a scientist and an administrator to run NIH. He’s a distinguished geneticist and directed the Human Genome Project. He’s also a Christian, and has no problem with publicly discussing his reasons and faith. For Coyne, that’s the rub. ... ‘[I] do want to emphasize again that the guy is deeply, deeply superstitious, to the point where, on his website BioLogos and his book The Language of God, he lets his faith contaminate his scientific views. So I can’t help but be a bit worried.’ So Coyne believes that faith ‘contaminates’ science. About his own contamination of science with fundamentalist atheism Coyne seems oblivious. Coyne [says further], ‘I expect Collins to resign from BioLogos if he wants to maintain any scientific credibility. ... Certainly, private expressions of faith are absolutely fine, but Collins has chosen to make his views public, and discuss their relationship to science....’ What arrogance. Collins’ membership in a perfectly mainstream Christian organization on his own time is no business whatsoever of Coyne’s. ... Regrettably Collins did in fact resign from BioLogos, giving in to the atheist thought police who seek to quench any expression of the intimate link between Christian faith and modern science.”

COPELAND AND GANG STILL PREACHING PROSPERITY GOSPEL (Friday Church News Notes, August 21, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Kenneth Copeland and his gang of Word-Faith buddies are still preaching an unabashed prosperity gospel. The recent Believers’ Convention in Fort Worth, Texas, featured five days of preaching by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Jesse Duplantis, and Jerry Savelle. The 9,000 attendees heard endless appeals to plant “seed faith” offerings in order to gain God’s blessing. Mrs. Copeland said, “God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you” (“Believers Invest in the Gospel of Getting Rich,” New York Times, Aug. 16, 2009). All you have to do to get that money rolling your way is to exercise faith in God and give generously to Pentecostal Word Faith ministries so they can live high on the hog. Savelle advised, “Any time a worried thought about money pops up in your mind, the next thing to do is sow in good ground [give money to their ministries]. Stop worrying, start sowing. That’s God’s stimulus package for you.” Edwige Ndoudi, one of the attendees, explained, “If God did it for them, he will do it for us.” The Copelands’ ministry takes in about $100 million annually.

HARRY POTTER STAR RAILS AGAINST PARENTS WHO OPPOSE HOMOSEXUAL SEX EDUCATION (Friday Church News Notes, August 21, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Harry Potter Star Blasts Parents,” LifeSiteNews, Aug. 13, 2009: “20-year-old Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has, in an interview with a homosexual magazine, expressed anger and intolerance for parents who oppose education about homosexual sex in the classroom. ‘Then there’s all this stuff at the moment, which is hateful, about people being up in arms about the idea of gay sex education in schools. Hello!?! Actually for the one or two gay kids in the class, it’s ******** vital! It really makes me angry,’ he said in an interview with Attitude. The magazine quotes Radcliffe continuing his tirade against pro-family parents saying: ‘I just loathe homophobia. It’s just disgusting and animal and stupid and it’s just thick people who can’t get their heads around it and are just scared.’”

SCHOOL OFFICIALS FACE JAIL TIME FOR MEAL-TIME PRAYERS (Friday Church News Notes, August 21, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from OneNewsNow, Aug. 11, 2009: “A principal and an athletic director are facing criminal charges for a lunch-time prayer. Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Pace High School in Santa Rosa County, Florida. The ACLU claimed some teachers and administrators were endorsing religion, but the school chose to give in to the ACLU's demands rather than fight them in court. According to the settlement, all school employees are banned from engaging in prayer or religious activities before, during, or after school hours. Now two school officials are facing criminal charges for offering meal-time prayers at an appreciation dinner for adults who had helped with a school field house project. Principal Frank Lay and athletic director Robert Freeman are scheduled to go on trial next month on criminal contempt charges. If convicted, both are subject to fines and imprisonment. Matt Staver is founder of Liberty Counsel, which will argue the court order prohibiting prayer at school-related events violated Lay's and Freeman's constitutional rights. ... Staver [says that] it is outrageous to punish a school official with potential jail time for simply praying.”

PAUL’S DOCTRINE OF REPENTANCE (Friday Church News Notes, August 21, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In Acts 26:13-20 the Apostle Paul recounted the ministry that Christ had given to him by revelation. He was sent to the Gentiles “to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God” by exhorting them “that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance” (Acts 26:18, 20). Consider three lessons from this. First, repentance was at the very heart of Paul’s ministry. His objective was not to get men merely to “believe” in Christ in a shallow sense, not just to get them to pray a “sinners prayer,” but to have them experience a radical turning by God’s power. Second, we see that repentance must issue in faith (Acts 26:18). Repentance alone does not save; it must be accompanied by faith. In Acts 20:21 Paul described salvation as “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Third, repentance results in a change of life (Acts 26:20). Paul preached the same thing as John the Baptist in this matter of repentance (Mat. 3:8). Some preachers today call this doctrine of repentance a lordship or works salvation, but it is not. How can it be wrong to follow Paul’s doctrine of repentance? Those who don’t like it need to examine their own faith and trade their man-made “quick prayerism” tradition for the pure Word of God. Biblical repentance is not works. It is not a change of life; it is a dramatic change of mind toward God that results in a change of life. Charles Spurgeon wisely commented, “Do you imagine that the gospel is magnified, or God glorified by going to the worldings and telling them that they may be saved at this moment by simply accepting Christ as their Saviour, while they are wedded to their idols and their hearts are still in love with sin? If I do so, I tell them a lie, pervert the gospel, insult Christ, and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness.”

TO FAIL TO CONTEND FOR THE FAITH IS TO BETRAY CHRIST (Friday Church News Notes, August 21, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “The church, in its conflict, may be compared to persons striving to ascend an agitated and rapid river, when the wind and the tide are both strong against them. They can advance only by hard rowing and the moment they intermit their efforts they fall down the stream. The church has to fight for every inch of ground; and whenever she ceases to contend for the truth, she ceases to advance. She may contend with an improper spirit. If she does this, it is her mistake and her sin. But to contend no more, is to disregard the command of her Master in heaven, and BETRAY HIS CAUSE TO THE ENEMY” (Prof. Samuel Miller, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1813-1849).

THE GIRAFFE’S WONDER NET (Friday Church News Notes, August 21, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from Creation Moments, http://www.creationmoments.net/radio/transcript.php?t=2210: “Did you ever stand up a little too quickly and get dizzy? It can happen because by standing, you may have temporarily lowered the blood pressure in your brain. Can you imagine what might happen when the giraffe swings its head from the ground to a treetop? The giraffe’s cardiovascular system is very different from ours and most other creatures. The giraffe’s heart pumps at twice the pressure expected for a creature of its size in order to get the blood all the way up that long neck. However, since the giraffe’s brain is very sensitive to high blood pressure there is a special structure that has been called the ‘wonder net’ where the blood supply enters its brain. Even if the giraffe quickly drops its head, from treetop to ground level the wonder net keeps the blood pressure in its head exactly where it should be. Furthermore, to prevent used blood from draining back into its brain when he lowers its head, the giraffe has a special set of one-way check valves in its neck.”

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.

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.

THE WOODSTOCK LEGACY (Friday Church News Notes, August 14, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Next week is the fortieth anniversary of the Woodstock Festival, and its legacy is celebrated by a wide swath of modern society. Nearly half a million hippies gathered on a farm about 100 miles north of New York City to immerse themselves in a Dionysian frenzy of sex, drugs, and rock & roll. Billed as “An Aquarian Exposition,” the event promoted the myth that we are entering the Age of Aquarius, a new age of peace and love and unity. This week the AFP news service called Woodstock “epoch-making,” and it was that. Building on 1950s rock, ’60s rock changed Western society in far-reaching ways, essentially tearing down every Biblical influence. 1960s rock was open rebellion against the holy God of the Bible and His moral laws. The theme was “I’m free to do what I want any old time” (Rolling Stones, 1965). I know this very well, because I bought into the rock & roll philosophy and lived the rock & roll lifestyle for many years. I was nineteen years old in 1969. The rock philosophy is all about ME, and is described in Bible prophecy. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves...” (2 Timothy 3:1-2). The legacy of Woodstock is immorality, drug addiction, drunkenness, rebellion, lawlessness, pride, blasphemy, disobedience to parents, unisexism, and spiritual delusion. Consider the bands and performers that entertained and manipulated the crowd. Dozens of the band members and associates died young of drug and alcohol abuse, including Jimi Hendrix; Janis Joplin; Alan Wilson of Canned Heat; Keith Moon of The Who; Ron McKernan, Brent Mydland, John Kahn, and Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead; Tim Hardin; Al Wilson and Bob Hite of Canned Heat; Greg Herbert of Blood, Sweat and Tears; Randy Hobbs of Johnny/Edgar Winter; Paul Butterfield of the Butterfield Blues Band; and Vinnie Taylor of Sha-Na-Na. (If you include the bands that were asked to play but didn’t--The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and the Byrds--we could add to this list Jim Morrison, John Bonham, and Gram Parsons.) Many others, such as Joe Cocker, Sly Stone, and David Crosby, came within a hair’s breadth of dying young from their addictions. Skip Spence of the Jefferson Airplane destroyed his mind with LSD and spent the last decades of his life in psychiatric institutions and living on the streets. Paul Kantner of the Jefferson Airplane almost died of a stroke before his 40th birthday, having consumed massive amounts of LSD. Tom Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival and Dan Hartman of the Edgar Winter Group died of AIDS complications. Felix Pappalardi of the rock group Mountain was shot to death by his wife in 1983 at age 43. Richard Hughes and Issac Sweat, who played for Johnny Winter, committed suicide. What peace! What love! What happiness!

THE WOODSTOCK LEGACY - THE WHO (Friday Church News Notes, August 14, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - One of the most influential rock bands at the 1969 Woodstock Festival was The Who, and at least four people associated with the band died young. Pete Meaden, manager, committed suicide in 1978 by an overdose of barbiturates. Drummer Keith Moon died in 1978 at age 31 from an overdose of the sedative Heminevrin combined with massive amounts of liquor. Moon, known as the madman of rock, was once paralyzed for days after ingesting an elephant tranquilizer. He frequently abused drugs to the point of blackout, and engaged in binge drinking contests with other rock musicians. Kit Lambert, The Who’s second manager, a chronic alcoholic and heroin addict, died from a fall down a flight of stairs in 1981. John Entwistle, bass player, died in June 2002 at age 57 of a heart attack allegedly caused by cocaine use. He was found dead in his hotel room in Las Vegas. What peace! What love! What happiness!

THE WOODSTOCK LEGACY - THE GRATEFUL DEAD (Friday Church News Notes, August 14, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Another of the influential rock bands that graced the 1969 Woodstock Festival was The Grateful Dead. Many musicians and intimate associates of the band died young, some of drug and alcohol abuse. We will mention only six of them here. Ron “Pigpen” McKernan died in 1973 at age 27 of alcohol abuse. Keith Godchaux died in 1980 at age 32 in a car crash. David Torbert, founding member of the Grateful Dead offshoot group The New Riders of the Purple Sage, died in 1982 at age 34 of a heart attack. Brent Mydland died in 1990 at age 37 from an overdose of cocaine and heroin. Jerry Garcia died in 1995 just seven days after his 53rd birthday of heart or liver failure brought on by years of drug abuse. He died in a drug treatment center where he was battling a heroin addiction. John Kahn, bass guitarist who backed Garcia on his live albums, died in 1996 at age 48 of a drug overdose. The Grateful Dead glorified drug abuse from its inception in 1965 as the house band for Ken Kelsey’s Acid Test, a series of public LSD parties. LSD chemist Owsley Stanley bankrolled the rock group for awhile. In 1971, members of the Grateful Dead were accused of distributing LSD-laced apple juice to an unwitting audience. Police shut down the concert and rushed 36 people to a nearby Crisis Clinic for treatment. What peace! What love! What happiness!

CHURCH DISCIPLINE A DYING PRACTICE (Friday Church News Notes, August 14, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Church discipline is a dying practice in most denominations. “Experts” estimate that only 10 to 15% of “Protestant evangelical” churches in America practice discipline (“Banned from Church,” Wall Street Journal, Jan. 18, 2008), but I suspect that this figure is quite high. In a report on church discipline last year, the Wall Street Journal claimed that there is “a growing movement” to bring back church discipline, but we have seen no evidence of this. The report mentioned First Baptist Church of Muscle Shoals, Alabama (Southern Baptist), which expels five to seven members a year for “blatant, undeniable patterns of willful sin,” but this is a rare exception. Dean Register, former president of the Mississippi Baptist Convention, said: “It’s very unusual for Southern Baptist churches to take disciplinary action against an individual” (The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Mississippi, Sept. 13, 1998). There can be no doubt that this observation was accurate then, and we have seen no evidence that anything has changed. Across the land, there are unrepentant moral reprobates and heretics on the rolls of Southern Baptist churches. Famous Southern Baptists like Billy Graham (who denies the literal fire of hell and has turned countless of his converts over to spiritual wolves) and Bill Clinton (a serial adulterer) are not disciplined. More than a million Freemasons, who are yoked together with a pagan organization in disobedience to 2 Corinthians 6, are members of Southern Baptist congregations. In my experience, many Independent Baptist churches do practice discipline, but large numbers do not. I do not know what the percentage would be, but I do know that God’s Word requires churches to exercise discipline toward sinning and heretical church members (1 Corinthians 5; Titus 3).

MUSLIC CLERIC SAYS THEIR GOAL IS ISLAMIC OCCUPATION OF ENTIRE WORLD (Friday Church News Notes, August 14, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, an Islamic cleric in Pakistan, said in February of this year, “We hate democracy. We want the occupation of Islam in the entire world. Islam does not permit democracy or election” (“Double Standards in Pakistan’s Anti-terror Campaign,” Hinduonnet.com, Aug. 5, 2009). Saeed called Pakistan’s leaders “the agents of Jews.” Another Pakistan-based Islamic cleric, Maulana Mohammad, agreed with Saeed, saying that there “is no room for democracy in Islam.”

JEWISH SANHEDRIN CALLS FOR REBUILDING OF THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE (Friday Church News Notes, August 14, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Jewish Sanhedrin, which was re-established in 2004 after a hiatus of 1,600 years, is calling for the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple as the way to world peace and religious harmony. “Out of a sense of collective responsibility for world peace and for all humanity we have found it timely to call to the World and exclaim that there is a way out for all peoples. It is etched in a call to all humanity: We are all the sons of one father, the descendants of Adam, and all humanity is but a single family. Peace among Nations will be achieved through building the House of G-d, where all peoples will serve as foreseen by King Solomon in his prayers at the dedication of the First Holy Temple. ... He surely does not want the blood of His creations spilled, but prefers love and peace among all mankind” (“Sanhedrin Rabbis Meet with Adnan Oktar,” July 1, 2009, thesanhedrin.org). The occasion of this statement was the Sanhedrin’s meeting with influential Muslim writer Adnan Oktar, also known as Harun Yahya. Oktar, who also wants to see the Jewish temple rebuilt, says that it could be rebuilt in just one year. That is probably what will happen. Early in the first three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, the temple will be rebuilt. It will then be desecrated by the Antichrist’s idolatry and the Great Tribulation will ensue. No doubt, the Antichrist will bring great excitement to the world when he launches his peace program, but it will be a delusion. “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

DOES ETERNAL SECURITY MEAN “BELIEVNG” MASS MURDERERS ARE SAVED (Friday Church News Notes, August 14, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In his blogs, mass murderer George Sodini claimed that he was taught in church that “you can commit mass murder then still go to heaven” (“LA Fitness shooter once attended Plum’s Tetelestai church,” Tarentum Valley News Dispatch, Pittsburgh, August 6, 2009). On August 4 Sodini opened fire on women in a fitness center, killing three and wounding nine before turning the gun on himself. He claimed to have attended Tetelestai Christian Church in Pittsburgh for 13 years. The senior pastor of this church, Alan Rick Knapp, was ordained by R.B. Thieme, Jr., retired pastor of Berachah Church of Houston, Texas. Thieme taught many unique heretical doctrines, including that believers cannot understand the Bible on their own and that it is a waste of time to study the Bible without a teacher. Thieme does not emphasize properly the fact that genuine salvation is a life-changing event and that those who do not give biblical evidence thereof are not true believers. One of Thieme’s doctrines is “Rebound.” A former member of his church observes, “Rebound, at its core, is a completely false notion. ‘Rebound and keep moving’ gave thousands of Berachans free reign to have affairs, take the Lord’s name in vain, and sin with wild abandon. Confess it in the morning, get back in the club, and move on...” (“Interesting Former Thiemite Testimony, July 23, 2008, http://thiemite.blogspot.com). I have read Thieme’s sermon on “Rebound” and, unlike the apostle Paul, nowhere does Thieme say that professing believers who are living in sin should examine themselves “whether ye be in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:12). Jack Rickard, a deacon at Tetelestai church, told the press that Sodini is in heaven because “professing a faith in Jesus as Saviour means you will have complete eternal salvation” (“Once Saved, Always Saved,” Valley News Dispatch, Aug. 8, 2009). Rickard is wrong. While the Bible does teach that the true believer in Christ has eternal life, it also warns frequently that many who profess Christ are not genuinely saved. There is a serious difference between profession and possession. “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16). That is a fitting epitaph for George Sodini, whose blog was filled with cursing, moral filthiness, bitter rage, and murderous hatred.

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.

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.

REVEREND IKE, APOSTATE BAPTIST PREACHER, DIES (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Frederick Eikerenkoetter II, better known as Reverend Ike, died on July 28 at age 74. He founded the United Church Science of Living Institute headquartered in New York City and built a multi-million dollar empire through his unabashed prosperity message, which he called “positive self-image psychology,” “Science of Living,” or “Thinkonomics.” At the height of his success in the 1970s, he reached an audience of 2.5 million (“Reverend Ike,” New York Times, July 29, 2009). In the 1980s someone sent us a video cassette of one of Reverend Ike’s television programs, and it was truly amazing. That particular program featured a fire walker, and after the man demonstrated his ability, Reverend Ike excitedly proclaimed, “This man walks on fire; Jesus walked on water; Reverend Ike walks on MONEY!!!!!” At the end of the program he had his son manning the phone while he flipped a coin that had “good luck” inscribed on one side and “blessing” on the other. As he flipped the coin he urged his listeners to call in with their donations so they could be blessed, saying, “You can’t lose with the stuff I use!” The saddest part about Reverend Ike is that his father was a Baptist pastor and he was his father’s assistant in his teenage years. Somewhere along the way, though, he rejected the biblical gospel of salvation through the blood of Christ and he rejected the path of self-sacrificial Christian service, “finding the traditional Christian message constricting,” and determined to make it big with his own twist on the prosperity gospel. He succeeded in becoming wealthy, but as Jesus said, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26). (Much of Reverend Ike’s doctrine appears to have been adapted from Norman Vincent Peale. See “Norman Vincent Peale: The Apostle of Self-Esteem” at the Way of Life web site and the book The New Age Tower of Babel, available from Way of Life.)

JEWS IN AMERICA INCREASINGLY IRRELIGIOUS (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - According to a new survey, 35% of Jews in America identify themselves as nonreligious or secular, an increase of 15% since 1990 (“Jews Drift from Faith,” The Washington Times, Aug. 5, 2009). In contrast, only 6% of Americans in general identify themselves as nonreligious. Since the 1970s the percentage of Jews marrying non-Jews has risen dramatically, from 13% to 50%. If it were not for Bible prophecy, one would assume that the Jewish people would eventually die out. In fact, they should have died out long ago! This is the only group of people that has survived with a national identity and language after being scattered throughout the world for thousands of years. There is only one reason for this, and that reason is God. Over 3,400 years ago, before Israel entered her Promised Land, God described her entire history before it happened! This prophecy is in the book of Deuteronomy. In chapter 28 verses 15-67, God warned that if Israel disobeyed His Law she would be removed from the land and scattered throughout the world. “And the LORD shall scatter you among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shall you find no ease, neither shall the sole of your foot have rest: but the LORD shall give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind” (Deuteronomy 28:64-65). The prophecy does not end there. God promised to restore Israel to her land and bless her. “That then the LORD your God will return you from captivity, and have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all the nations, where the LORD your God has scattered you. ... And the LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and he will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers” (Deuteronomy 30:3, 5). This began to be fulfilled when Israel announced her statehood in 1948, but she remains spiritually dead. During the Great Tribulation described in many biblical prophecies, the remnant of Israel will repent of her disobedience and unbelief and will be restored.

CHINA’S COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT SAYS IT WILL NOT BACK DOWN ON ITS ONE-CHILD POLICY (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Following recent reports that some couples are being urged to have two children in China’s largest city, Shanghai, the communist government has publicly reiterated its intention to enforce its draconian “one-child” policy “as a means of controlling births for decades to come” (“China Says,” CNSNews, July 30, 2009). The one-child policy was initiated in 1979 and has resulted in the murder of millions of unborn babies. There are forced abortions, involuntary sterilizations, and if an “illegal” baby someone slips through the ruthless system, the parents are fined many times the average per capita income. Apparently this doesn’t happen often. An estimated 97% of parents in Shanghai have only one child. The reported annual abortion rate in China is 13 million, but that does not include unreported abortions and medication-induced abortions (10 million abortion-inducing pills are sold annually). In spite of its boasting, the Chinese government must come to terms with its rapidly aging population. By 2020, a whopping 34% of the population will be over 60 years old, and the pressure on the social security system will be immense. It has been estimated that even by 2015 China will have 200 million people over 60. Of course, the government could solve this problem by a euthanasia program. Those who kill unborn babies and think that they have the power of God over people’s lives would doubtless not blanch at killing old people.

CANADA’S PARLIAMENT PONDERS LEGAL EUTHANASIA (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from OneNewsNow, August 5, 2009: “Canada’s Parliament is considering a bill to legalize euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide. Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition tells OneNewsNow it is being treated as a very serious issue in Canada. ‘And on top of it now, the Quebec College of Physicians, they have now suggested that they are looking at asking Canada to legalize euthanasia also,’ he explains. He suggests that when a group of doctors is recommending euthanasia, it is cause for concern. ... Schadenberg expects the vote to be a cliff hanger.” (For more on this subject see “Do We Have the Right to Die” at the Way of Life web site.)

HOMOSEXUALS NOMINATED FOR OFFICE OF BISHOP IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A homosexual and a lesbian are among the six nominees for the office of bishop in the Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, California. John Kirkley of San Francisco and Mary Glasspoll of Baltimore, who were nominated on August 2, will face election in December, when two of the six nominees will be chosen. J. Bruno, bishop of the Los Angeles diocese, said, “I affirm each and every one of these candidates, and I am pleased with the wide diversity they offer this diocese” (“Gay, Lesbian Priests among Bishop Nominees,” Los Angeles Times, Aug. 3, 2009). Not to be left out in the race to discard God’s Word, the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota has also nominated a lesbian to its list of three candidates for bishop. Jude said, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was necessary for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into licentiousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:3-4).

PROMISE KEEPERS STILL CALLING FOR UNITY (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Bill McCartney, who founded Promise Keepers 20 years ago, is trying to revive the organization from the slow death it has been dying over the past decade. McCartney resigned in 2003, but he came back on board this year, and in early August the Promise Keepers stadium event in Boulder, Colorado, drew 10,000. McCartney claims that he has “received a clarion call from God to relaunch this ministry” (“Promise Keepers Returns,” Christian Post, Aug. 3, 2009), and he is still pushing “the unity of the church.” In Boulder, McCartney prayed, “Lord, you’re not coming back for a divided church. You’re coming back for a church where everybody’s hearts are knit together.” This ignores the Bible’s own prophecies about the course of the church age. The apostles warned that “evil men and seducers shall grow worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13). The course of the church age is that of increasing apostasy. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they draw to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). It is impossible to be faithful to the truth of God’s Word while at the same time creating a unity of all professing Christians in these apostate times. The Lord Jesus said, “I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). The biblical answer is “not much”!

OBAMA’S SCIENCE ADVISER ENDORSED GIVING TREES LEGAL STANDING TO SUE IN COURT (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from CNSNews.com, July 30, 2009: “Since the 1970s, some radical environmentalists have argued that trees have legal rights and should be allowed to go to court to protect those rights. The idea has been endorsed by John P. Holdren, the man who now advises President Barack Obama on science and technology issues. Giving ‘natural objects’ -- like trees -- standing to sue in a court of law would have a ‘most salubrious’ effect on the environment. ... Holdren, who is the new director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and President Obama’s top science advisor, made the comments in the 1977 book ‘Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment’ [which he co-wrote with Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich].”

SEPARATION AND CHILD TRAINING (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Training Your Children to Turn out Right, an excellent book by David Sorenson (Northstar Ministries, 1820 W. Morgan St., Duluth, MN 55811, 218-726-0209, www.northstarministries.com, dhs.northstar@charter.net) -- “The closer the Christian family gets to the world, the greater the chances are of the world getting your children. You are playing with fire, and the worst losers will be your children. You see, the world is the devil’s system. It may be defined as the society and culture of the ungodly. ... Many Christian parents may claim to distance themselves from the world, but they still like to flirt with the things that are in the world. The things in the world are the bait that Satan uses to catch your children. Beware! ... For years, I dutifully accepted the principle of separation in a perfunctory fashion. I knew the Bible taught we were supposed to be holy. Growing up in a fundamental Baptist pastor’s home, I knew all of the standard ‘can’t do this and can’t do that’s, ‘cuz they’re worldly.’ However, little by little the Lord opened my eyes to the practicality and love of God in the principle of separation. When I became a parent, I became aware of a whole new spectrum--how practical the principle of separation was in rearing my children. ... In Deuteronomy 5:29 Jehovah God spoke directly through Moses to Israel. ‘O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!’ I began to understand that the principles and commandments in God’s Word for His people were not just arbitrary ‘Thou shalt nots.’ They were for our good and particularly the good of our children” (Training Your Children to Turn Out Right, 1995, pp. 91, 94).

BIASED MEDIA (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “A Harley rider is passing the zoo, when he sees a little girl leaning into the lion's cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the cuff of her jacket and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents. The biker jumps off his bike, runs to the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch. Whimpering from the pain the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly. A New York Times reporter has watched the whole event. The reporter says, ‘Sir, this was the most gallant and brave thing I saw a man do in my whole life.’ The biker replies, ‘Why, it was nothing, really, the lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger, and acted as it felt right.’ The reporter said, ‘Well, I’m a journalist from the New York Times, and tomorrow’s paper will have this story on the front page.... So, what do you do for a living and what is your political affiliation?’ The biker replies, ‘I’m a U.S. Marine and a Republican.’ The following morning blazoned on the front page of the New York Times are the words, U.S. MARINE ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH.”

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.