Jul 2008
25/07/08 13:11
MOSQUES, MOSQUES EVERYWHERE (Friday Church News Notes, July 25, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The number of Islamic mosques in the West is exploding. There are 1699 in England, 1625 in France, 1220 in America, 163 in Germany (with 184 new ones planned), 80 in Canada. Sixty percent of the mosques in America opened in the last 20 years. There are nine mosques in Orlando, Florida, the home of Disneyworld. In July 2008 the largest mosque in Canada opened for business in Calgary, Alberta. The $15 million mosque, called House of Divine Light, seats 1,500 and has 48,000 square feet of space. Prime Minister Steven Harper graced the opening. More people in Britain now attend mosques than the Church of England. In America the number of attendees has increased 75% in five years. The mosques are often built with funds from Islamic nations in the Middle East and are frequently sympathetic to terrorism. Some are terrorist training centers. In September 2008 The Times of London reported that “almost half of Britain’s mosques are under the control of a hardline Islamic sect whose leading preacher loathes Western values and has called on Muslims to ‘shed blood’ for Allah.” The word mosque (Arabic masjid) means “the place where men prostrate before Allah,” but a mosque is not just a religious meeting place. It is an Islamic outpost, a show of power, a sign of territorial expansion. Ursula Spuler-Stegemann, a religious scholar at Germany’s University of Marburg, says, “Where you can hear the call of the minaret, from a certain Muslim perspective, that’s Islamic ground” (“Domes and Minarets,” Spiegel, July 16, 2008). In 1997 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan said, “The minarets are our lances, the domes our helmets, the believers our army.” One Islamic group, Jamaat Ahmadiyya, which is building mosques throughout the world, says: “We will continue to build mosques to see the victory of Islam and the unity of mankind,” then quotes the Quran, “That He may cause it to prevail over all other religions” (Nasim Rehmatullah, “Building of Mosques Worldwide, a speech delivered at Jalsa Salana in the United States, June 2001).
COUNTRY MUSIC CONFUSION (Friday Church News Notes, July 25, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - We have warned many times about the moral danger of country music, and the reason is that so many of God’s people listen to this trash. Alan Jackson is a popular country music singer who published a CD of hymns called “Precious Memories.” Now he has come out with a trashy song called “Good Time.” The lyrics are about someone who has worked all week and is now ready to party down at some raunchy honky tonk. “Pig in the ground, beer on ice/ Just like ole Hank taught us about/ Singin' along, Bocephus songs/ Rowdy friends all night long/ Good time Lord, we’re having a good time/ ... Shot of Tequila, beer on tap/ Sweet southern woman set on my lap...” Beware of country music. It is of the world, the flesh, and the devil, but its thin veneer of “God and country” makes it palatable to some backslidden Christians. “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11).
WAS JOHN LENNON A FAN OF CHRIST? (Friday Church News Notes, July 25, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In 1969 John Lennon told a reporter that he was a fan of Jesus Christ. On July 13, 2008, BBC Radio aired the long-lost interview between John Lennon and Ken Seymour of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Referring to statement he had made in 1966, that Christianity would vanish and the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, Lennon said in the 1969 interview: “It’s just an expression meaning the Beatles seem to me to have more influence over youth than Christ. Now I wasn’t saying that was a good idea, 'cos I’m one of Christ’s biggest fans.” Lennon also said that the Beatles were always on the side of Christ. This, of course, is patent nonsense. The Beatles were opposed to everything Jesus Christ stands for, including absolute truth, salvation only through the Cross, holiness, and gospel preaching. In 1965 Lennon had published A Spaniard in the Works, calling Jesus Christ many wicked things that we refuse to repeat and blaspheming the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In 1970 Lennon sang: “I don’t believe in Bible. I don’t believe in Jesus. I just believe in me, Yoko and me, that’s reality” (“God”). In 1971 he sang: “Imagine there’s no heaven … No hell below us, above us only sky … no religion too/ You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one/ I hope some day you’ll join us, and the world will live as one” (“Imagine”). In 1977 Lennon corresponded with Oral Roberts and the 700 Club and told some friends that he was a born again Christian, but Yoko Ono soon talked him out of it and got him back on the path of occultism. In the unpublished song “You Saved My Soul,” Lennon boasted how that Yoko had saved him from falling for Christianity. The mythical Lennon was a “free soul,” but in reality he was a pathetic slave. Having rejected the true freedom found in Jesus Christ he was a slave to that cruel taskmaster the devil. At one point Lennon told John Green, his occult advisor, that he “felt like a hollow temple filled with many spirits, each one passing through me, each inhabiting me for a little time and then leaving to be replaced by another” (Steve Turner, The Gospel According to the Beatles). Lennon “couldn’t travel anywhere without advice from a directionalist, do deals with anyone without knowing their star sign, or make plans for the future without consulting the I Ching” (Turner). As we have documented elsewhere, many contemporary Christian musicians are fans of the Beatles, but the Beatles were definitely not fans of the Christ of the Bible.
UNITED NATIONS TRIES TO STOP THE EXECUTION OF A MURDERER IN TEXAS (Friday Church News Notes, July 25, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The pompous United Nations, which thinks that it knows what is best for all nations, is trying to stop the execution of a multiple murderer in Texas. Last week the UN’s World Court demanded that the execution of Jose Medellin and four other Mexicans who committed murders in Texas be halted. The office of Texas governor Rick Perry wisely replied: “The world court has no standing in Texas, and Texas is not bound by a ruling or edict from a foreign court. It is easy to get caught up in discussions of international law and justice and treaties. It’s very important to remember that these individuals are on death row for killing our citizens” (“Texas Still Intends to Execute Killer,” Houston Chronicle, July 17, 2008). Medellin was part of a gang that brutally raped and murdered two teenage girls. The idea that convicted murderers do not get justice in American courts is patently ridiculous. In fact, the appeal system, paid by taxpayer money, is ludicrous in its extent. Medellin is scheduled to be put to death on August 5, but he committed the horrible crimes 15 years ago. Under present U.S. law the UN has no power to do anything more than protest, but this could change quickly. The UN wants to destroy national sovereignty and impose its own will on nations. If the democrats gain control of the U.S. presidency and congress in November, it is likely that they will turn over more of America’s sovereignty to UN control and American citizens will be subject to its whims.
BETH MOORE ON THE CONTEMPLATIVE BANDWAGON (Friday Church News Notes, July 25, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Beth Moore, a Southern Baptist who is influential with a broad spectrum of evangelical women, has jumped on the contemplative bandwagon, joining Richard Foster and others on the Be Still DVD, which was published in April 2008. Shortly after it was released she issued a retraction of sorts, but she soon retracted her retraction. In a statement published on May 26, 2008, Moore’s Living Proof Ministries said: “We believe that once you view the Be Still video you will agree that there is no problem with its expression of Truth.” To the contrary, the very fact that it features Richard Foster is a serious problem! Lighthouse Trails issued the following discerning warning: “In the DVD, there are countless enticements, references and comments that clearly show its affinity with contemplative spirituality. For instance, Richard Foster says that anyone can practice contemplative prayer and become a ‘portable sanctuary’ for God. This panentheistic view of God is very typical for contemplatives. ... The underlying theme of the Be Still DVD is that we cannot truly know God or be intimate with Him without contemplative prayer and the state of silence that it produces. While the DVD is vague and lacking in actual instruction on word or phrase repetition (which lies at the heart of contemplative prayer), it is really quite misleading. What they don’t tell you in the DVD is that this state of stillness or silence is, for the most part, achieved through some method such as mantra-like meditation. THE PURPOSE OF THE DVD, IN ESSENCE, IS NOT TO INSTRUCT YOU IN CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER BUT RATHER TO MAKE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY HUNGRY FOR IT. The DVD even promises that practicing the silence will heal your family problems. ... THIS PROJECT IS AN INFOMERCIAL FOR CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE, and because of the huge advertising campaign that Fox Home Entertainment has launched, contemplative prayer could be potentially introduced into millions of homes around the world’ (http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/bethmoorethumbsup.htm). If Moore truly wants to disassociate herself from the contemplative movement, that would be a simple matter. Let her issue a statement renouncing Richard Foster and his Roman Catholic contemplative friends and unscriptural practices. But don’t hold your breath, dear readers! In her book When Godly People Do Ungodly Things (2002), Moore recommends Roman Catholics Brother Lawrence and Brennan Manning.
UNITED METHODISTS SUPPORT HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE (Friday Church News Notes, July 25, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - United Methodist regional assemblies in California have declared their support for the state Supreme Court’s ruling that overturned a ban on same-sex marriage. They urged pastors and congregations to “welcome, embrace and provide spiritual nurture” for homosexual couples (“Pastors Defy United Methodist Officials,” Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2008). The denomination’s Book of Discipline says the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching and forbids pastors to conduct homosexual weddings, but many are disobeying. UM pastors in many cities have already conducted same-sex “weddings” and 82 retired pastors have signed a resolution offering to perform such weddings on behalf of pastors who feel they can’t do so themselves. This is not surprising from a liberal denomination. Men and women who do not respect and obey the Bible as the infallible Word of God have no compunction to disobey and disrespect any other book.
CATHOLIC PRIEST MURDERED BY HINDUS IN NEPAL (Friday Church News Notes, July 25, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from Voice of Martyrs News & Prayer Update for July 18: “On July 1, Johnson Prakash Moyalan, a Roman Catholic priest from India, was killed by armed extremists in eastern Nepal. According to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts, ‘At approximately 1:00 a.m., the men broke into a building belonging to the Don Bosco Mission in the town of Sirsiya. They locked up the assistant priest and shot Moyalan in the stomach and chest. Reports also indicated that a bomb was detonated on the premises. The attackers left pamphlets on the scene identifying themselves as members of the Nepal Defense Army, a terrorist group that wants Hinduism restored as the state religion.’” The Maoists won a majority in the recent general elections and the king, who was worshipped by Hindus as a god, was kicked out of the palace.
PAGAN MYSTICISM PERMEATING PUBLIC SCHOOLS (Friday Church News Notes, July 25, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Pagan mysticism has been infiltrating public schools in North America since the 1970s. Mindfulness training, which is akin to Buddhism, is the latest twist. The following is excerpted from “In the Classroom, a New Focus on Quieting the Mind,” New York Times, June 16, 2007: “As summer looms, students at dozens of schools across the country are trying hard to be in the present moment. This is what is known as mindfulness training, in which stress-reducing techniques drawn from Buddhist meditation are wedged between reading and spelling tests. Mindfulness, while common in hospitals, corporations, professional sports and even prisons, is relatively new in the education of squirming children. But a small but growing number of schools in places like Oakland and Lancaster, Pa., are slowly embracing the concept--as they did yoga five years ago--and institutions, like the psychology department at Stanford University and the Mindfulness Awareness Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, are trying to measure the effects. During a five-week pilot program at Piedmont Avenue Elementary, Miss Megan, the ‘mindful’ coach, visited every classroom twice a week, leading 15 minute sessions on how to have ‘gentle breaths and still bodies.’ The sound of the Tibetan bowl reverberated at the start and finish of each lesson. ... Susan Kaiser Greenland, the founder of the InnerKids Foundation, which trains schoolchildren and teachers in the Los Angeles area, calls mindfulness ‘the new ABC’s--learning and leading a balanced life.’ ... Asked their reactions to the sounds of the singing bowl, Yvette Solito, a third grader, wrote that it made her feel ‘calm, like something on Oprah.’ Her classmate Corey Jackson wrote that ‘it feels like when a bird cracks open its shell.’”
CONCLUSION: Friends in Christ, do not be discouraged by any of this. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. These things remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the coming of the Lord. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ day by day? “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).
18/07/08 13:10
PENTECOSTAL EVANGELIST’S HEALINGS NOT VERIFIABLE (Friday Church News Notes, July 18, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Todd Bentley, who is at the head of a Pentecostal healing “revival” in Lakeland, Florida, claims that multitudes have been healed and some raised from the dead. He slams people on the forehead, shoves them, and has even kicked an elderly lady in the face and banged a crippled woman’s legs on the platform. “Holy laughter,” spiritual drunkenness, violent shaking, and “falling under the power” are an integral part of the “revival.” The meeting has a sideshow feel with raucous music blaring and Bentley, who is covered with tattoos, crying out, “Come and get some,” and “[Miracles are] popping like popcorn.” He claims to know what is happening in the audience, calling out things like, “Someone’s getting a new spinal cord tonight.” The crusade began in April at Ignite Church and the crowds keep coming. Bentley’s healing claims have been spectacular, with one man even saying he can now see out of a glass eye. The Associated Press tried to follow up on a list of 15 names that were given by Bentley’s ministry that is supposed to represent healings that can be medically verified. “Yet two phone numbers given out by the ministry were wrong, six people did not return telephone messages and only two of the remainder, when reached by The Associated Press, said they had medical records as proof of their miracle cure. However, one woman would not make her physician available to confirm the findings, and the other’s doctor did not return calls despite the patient’s authorization” (“Controversial Revivals Draw Even Pentecostal Critics,” Christian Post, July 13, 2008). It seems to me that the ability to see out of a glass eye could be easily verified. Bentley could send the guy for an eye examination, and that would be that, but don’t hold your breath. Bentley claims to be following in the footsteps of the apostles and exhibiting “kingdom power,” but he is doing no such thing. The apostles did not conduct healing meetings. They didn’t call out psychic healings. They didn’t shake and laugh hysterically and stagger around like drunks and flop around on the floor. We believe in divine healing for today, but we don’t believe in Pentecostal showmen (see “I Believe in Miracles” http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/ibelievein-miracles.html). The devil is just as much in the business of religion today as God, and the only way we can discern the difference is by comparing all teaching and practice to the Bible. In The Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements: The History and the Error, we document the phoniness that has characterized the ministries of Kathryn Kuhlman, Aimee Semple McPherson, William Branham, A.A. Allen, Jack Coe, Oral Roberts, Derek Prince, Charles Price, John Wimber, Charles and Frances Hunter, Benny Hinn, and many others.
DRESS CODE AT CHRISTIAN ROCK FESTIVAL (Friday Church News Notes, July 18, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Creation Northeast, which was held last month in Pennsylvania, is one of the big Christian rock festivals that have been held annually since 1979. There was rock music galore and extreme sports and public baptisms and catchy T-shirts (e.g., “Caution: Unsocialized Home Schooler”) -- and a dress code. The Creation festival web site says: “MODESTY is the key word. While the style and fashion these days seems to be ‘less is best,’ we do not want to be guilty of causing another person to stumble. Girls: Bathing suits are NOT permitted, except in the showers. Tank tops are fine but bellies must be covered (even though the fashion now is to show it off). Shorts and/or skirts need to be long enough and shirts big enough.” We say more power to them for having any type of dress code in this day and time, but it doesn’t go far enough to be truly modest. They say they don’t want to be guilty of causing another person to stumble, and that is a fine biblical principle. But when we took a survey last year of men as to how they are affected by various types of female dress styles, they told us that “tight” is just as enticing as skimpy. Most of the men indicated that tight skirts and tight blouses and form-fitting jeans hold a “VERY great potential” for lust. One man said tight skirts are “very inviting and a potential for lust.” Another said, “You don’t even need to see skin; they provide all the curves.” Another: “I would say the number one problem is any garment that is form fitting ... anything that is tight, no matter how long it is, leaves nothing to the imagination, and that defeats the whole purpose of covering the skin in the first place!” Another said: “One thing I see in my church is tight clothing. Oh, it may very well be covering but it is revealing the shape in a woman. This can be even more tantalizing to a man.” Another wrote: “The point is that it is not the type of clothing that can trip a man up, rather it is the amount and the level of cling to the body.” (See “Survey of Christian Men on the Subject of Women’s Clothing,” http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/survey-christianmen-womensclothing.html.) In light of this fact we must argue that tank tops are NOT fine! And neither are tight pants and tight blouses and tight t-shirts, etc. One other comment I would make is that the Christian rock crowd loves to label us “legalistic” and “pharisaical” for maintaining a dress code, but this is grossly hypocritical on their part. As we see, they have their own dress code! The only difference is that we try to base ours solidly upon the Bible and not draw short of true modesty no matter how much it sets us apart from society, whereas they waffle a great deal and give in too much to worldly fashion and the youthful concept of cool.
RAVI ZACHARIAS’S PROGRAM DROPPED BY VCY AMERICA (Friday Church News Notes, July 18, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from the announcement by VCY America radio of the discontinuation of Ravi Zacharias’s Let My People Think program. “Since September 5, 1993 VCY America has aired ‘Let My People Think’ (LMPT) from Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). ... VCY’s concern with RZIM first surfaced in September 2004 when it was learned that Ravi was to speak at an ‘Evening of Friendship’ with Evangelicals and Latter-day Saints (Mormons) coming together at the Salt Lake Tabernacle on November 14, 2004. ... In listening to the message Ravi Zacharias preached at the Salt Lake Tabernacle, one could not object to anything he said. However, there was concern over what was not said that became troubling. Speaking at the Tabernacle, Ravi refused to address the core doctrinal issues that demanded addressing, namely the false Christology of the Mormon church and their false revelation from Joseph Smith. The Apostle Paul warned about false christs and a false gospel, but this was never uttered from Ravi. ... On April 23, 2008, VCY America received a call from a concerned listener stating that Ravi Zacharias was the 2008 Honorary Chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force and that his prayer for the nation was not offered in the name of Jesus. She contacted RZIM and learned that this it was deliberate not to mention Jesus’ name in that Jews would be participating in the event and they did not want to cause offense. ... VCY staff contacted RZIM which confirmed that Ravi would not be praying in the name of Jesus. ... VCY found it appalling that Dr. Zacharias was willing to capitulate to the un-Scriptural interfaith ecumenism and discard the name of Jesus. We are not here as Christians to appease those of other world religions. We cannot come to God except through His Son’s righteous merits. ... Zacharias’ prayer stands in stark contrast to the first prayer of the Continental Congress, which was delivered on September 7, 1774, by Reverend Jacob Duché. That distinctly Christian prayer ended with the words: ‘All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior. Amen.’”
TRINITY COLLEGE AND CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC (Friday Church News Notes, July 18, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - We received the following notice from a reader recently: “I have written to you a number of times and appreciate the strong stand you take. I wanted to give a heads up on Trinity Baptist Church and College in Jacksonville, Florida. I was called into the ministry some years ago and have been faithfully serving at my local church. I feel that God would have me get an advanced degree, so while I was researching it I was leaning toward Trinity. My reasons were because they are accredited which I felt would be something of importance for my ministry. A few days ago I was checking in on Trinity’s web site and saw that they are having a group named Calling Levi in their 10am service. They had a link to this group’s web site and when I clicked on it I had to turn down my speaker because out came contemporary Christian music. This group formed while they were students at Liberty University and on their endorsements page they are endorsed by the late Jerry Falwell as well as Assembly of God and Community Church pastors. I knew that they were going the way of progressivism and was hoping that I could stick it out while I was there, but having folks such as these in their services is just too much. I know you did a Friday notes segment on them in 2005 but you might want to put out an update, just in case people are thinking about this. I am saddened by this because I thought Trinity was a good school.”
DOES THE BIBLE SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE STYLE OF CHRISTIAN MUSIC? (Friday Church News Notes, July 18, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - It is widely believed today that the Bible doesn’t say anything about the style of Christian music; therefore, we are free to use any style we please as long as the lyrics are sound. This is the philosophy that lies at the heart of Contemporary Christian Music, but it is false. The Bible gives some simple and clear-cut principles about music that can be adapted to any culture in any part of the world. We have used them in South Asia since 1979. I refer to principles such as these: (1) Christian music must be spiritual and therefore not fleshly (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; Gal. 5:16-17). (2) Christian music must not be conformed to the world (Rom. 12:2; Jam. 4:4; 1 John 2:15-16). (3) Christian music must not be associated with darkness and idolatry (Eph. 5:11; 1 Cor. 10:21; 1 John 5:21). The music we use in the Bible-believing churches in South Asia in a pagan Hindu culture fits these Bible principles. It is largely indigenous, meaning that most of the songs and hymns in our hymnbook were written by national believers, but the music doesn’t sound like the pop music on the FM radio stations or the soundtracks to the popular movies or the music at the Hindu festivals. It is spiritual, separated, and distinctively different from the realm of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Within the Bible’s principles about music there is a large liberty but there are also clear and distinct boundaries. I thank God for it. He took away my old worldly song 35 years ago and gave me a new song.
PASTORS AND CHURCHES ATTACKED IN INDIA (Friday Church News Notes, July 18, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from Voice of the Martyrs News and Prayer Update, June 10, 2008: “On May 27, Pastor Rampal Kori was beaten by two Hindu militants in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, India. According to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts, ‘The militants repeatedly struck the pastor, who was returning from prayer meetings, with an iron rod and accused him of forcibly converting villagers to Christianity. They also robbed him of 3000 Rupees (US $70). Pastor Kori sustained serious injuries that required stitches in his head.’ Meanwhile on May 26, in an unrelated incident, militants demolished a thatched church in the district of Adilabad, Andhra Pradesh. On June 1, another group attacked the Masihi Mandir Church in the district of Oriya Para, Chhattisgarh state, during a morning church service. VOM sources added, ‘At approximately 11:00 a.m., the militants barged into the church building and destroyed the facility's furniture. The attackers accused the believers present of forcibly converting people, and threatened them with dire consequences if they continued to worship Christ.’”
CHRISTIANS ARRESTED IN IRAN (Friday Church News Notes, July 18, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - More than 35 Christians who converted from Islam have been arrested in Iran since the beginning of the year (May 28, 2008, Adnkronos.com). The Iranian parliament is discussing a new law that would make it a capital offense for anyone born to a Muslim father to convert to another faith. Some have been put to death in the past even without such a law. At the same time, Muslims come to Western democracies and brashly demand the right to proselytize people into their faith.
CONCLUSION: Friends in Christ, do not be discouraged by any of this. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. These things remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the coming of the Lord. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ day by day? “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).
11/07/08 13:10
TENNESSEE TEMPLE BEING APPROVED AS SBC SCHOOL (Friday Church News Notes, July 11, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Tennessee Temple University, my alma mater, is being approved as a Southern Baptist school. This is the information that was published in the Chattanooga Times Free Press for June 14, 2008, in an article entitled “Highland Park Baptist Returns to SBC, Renovates Massive Auditorium.” It begins, “Highland Park Baptist Church is returning to its historic roots and looking to the future at the same time.” The 118-year-old church left the SBC 60 years ago under the leadership of Lee Roberson and built a Bible College specifically with the goal of training preachers. It conducted an aggressive independent missionary thrust, directly supporting independent Baptist church planters throughout North America and other parts of the world. When I was a student at Tennessee Temple in the mid 1970s, Highland Park was a huge church, running several thousand on any given Sunday, and it gave half of its income to missions. The annual mission conferences were spectacular, hosting one hundred and more missionaries. The school was also huge. It seems that there were three to five thousand students in the ‘70s. It was unabashedly fundamentalist, with high dress standards, no contemporary Christian music, and no ecumenical affiliations. Under the leadership of David Bouler the movement has been in reverse. The church and school are just shells of their former selves. When I visited there on a Sunday morning a few years ago the auditorium appeared to be about one-tenth full. It was a sad sight for someone who was there in its glory days. That is doubtless why they recently remodeled it to decrease the size and put classrooms, a coffee/café area, a bookstore, and a grand lobby where auditorium seating once existed. The 5,700-seat auditorium, which was completed in 1981, now seats 2,000, and even that is far too large for the crowds. But hey, they serve a good cup of coffee! David Bouler has the audacity to tell the local newspaper that though they have gone back into the SBC, “our message will never change.” Could he be that ill-informed, or is the man just lying? Mr. Bouler, please tell me the last time that the following messages were preached at Highland Park Baptist Church or Tennessee Temple University: Billy Graham is a compromiser who has led multitudes astray with his ecumenical evangelism; Contemporary Christian Music is of the world, the flesh, and the devil; Christian women should not wear pants because it is an immodest unisex fashion; long hair on men is a shame; the SBC Cooperative Program is unscriptural; the New Evangelical philosophy of judge not and be positive is of the devil; God demands separation from false teachers and compromisers, including from compromising evangelicals. I will answer my own question. The last time was at least two decades ago.
DARLENE ZSCHECH AND HILLSONG TO PERFORM FOR THE POPE (Friday Church News Notes, July 11, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The heretical face of Hillsong, the popular CCM group, is again evident in that they are planning to perform for the Roman Catholic World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, July 18. Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to be present and will conduct a papal mass on the last day of the extravaganza. The mass is a supposed continuation of Christ’s sacrifice. The consecrated host is thought to become Christ himself and is worshiped as such when placed in the monstrance and eventually in its own little tabernacle. Hillsong, led by Darlene Zschech, will perform after the Stations of the Cross. The 14 Stations allegedly depict Christ’s trial and crucifixion, but beyond the fact that this is not faith but sight and the pictures of Jesus are fictional and are forbidden by Scripture, several of the Stations are purely legendary. Jesus supposedly falls down three times, meets Mary on the way to the cross, has His face wiped by a woman named Veronica, and is taken down from the cross and laid in Mary’s arms. None of this is supported by Scripture. The pope has promised a plenary indulgence to anyone who participates in World Youth Day. This is the forgiveness of the temporal penalty (referring to a penalty owed either on earth or in purgatory) due for certain sins. Contemporary Christian Music is one of the glues of the ecumenical movement. Not only is it permeated with charismatic error and exceedingly worldly, its musicians discount purity of doctrine for the sake of a broad fellowship, which is nowhere supported by Scripture. “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17).
EMERGING CHURCH LEADER WANTS TO PROSELYTIZE YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN (Friday Church News Notes, July 11, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Emerging church leaders have the objective of proselytizing our children and grandchildren. In his 2008 book Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices, Brian McLaren describes his plan to infiltrate churches and Christian institutions that are currently rejecting the emerging church. He says: ‘But over time, what they reject will find or create safe space outside their borders and become a resource so that many if not most of the grandchildren of today’s fundamentalists will learn and grow and move on from the misguided battles of their forebears’ (p. 133). McLaren is saying that emerging church teachers will infiltrate Biblicist churches from without through “resources” such as books, videos, and web sites. That is exactly how New Evangelicalism has so deeply infiltrated fundamental Baptist churches over the past two decades and it is doubtless how the more radical emerging church doctrines will infiltrate over the coming decades. It is more imperative than ever that pastors train their people to discern the error of these heresies and that they exhort them to avoid the writings of false teachers. It is imperative that fundamentalist Bible Colleges and Institutes prepare their students to resist this tide of error. Too often it can be said of Bible-believing churches today what was said of Israel of old, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). The average member of a fundamentalist Bible-believing church is not equipped to deal effectively with the spiritual dangers that lurk on the shelves of the typical Christian bookstore and on the airwaves of the typical Christian radio station. The average church member receives little practical warning from his pastors and teachers and has no interest in building a library of material that can help protect him from spiritual dangers. If this situation is not rectified, the Brian McLarens of this world will doubtless devour many of our children and grandchildren. (See also “Beware of Brian McLaren” at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/beware-newkind-christian.html.)
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL TURNS COOL (Friday Church News Notes, July 11, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Associated Press ran a story on July 3 entitled “Vacation Bible Schools Adapt to Changing Times.” VBS started in the late 19th century and VBS materials began to be published in 1922. The basic program was largely unchanged through most of the 20th century. It consisted of enthusiastic songs, simple Bible lessons, memory verses, craft projects, missionary stories, and refreshments. I always enjoyed VBS when I was growing up and I made a profession of faith at one when I was about 10 years old (though there was no evidence that I was born again), but today’s VBS isn’t the VBS of my childhood! Today tens of thousands of churches use slick packages to “reach children who have grown up on TVs and computers.” Power Lab, by Group Publishing, is one example. Following is the description of this program as used by a church in Birmingham, Alabama. “At Mountain Brook Community Church, volunteer John Byrd pulls on a black wig, puts on a long white coat and gyrates at the front of the chapel for his role as a professor in this year’s ‘Power Lab’ VBS, a curriculum produced by the Colorado-based Group Publishing Inc. Jumping around with a keyboard slung around his neck, he lip syncs a song with about the power of Jesus--the most powerful thing there is, the lyrics say.” I don’t care if the whole world disagrees with me I am convinced that this type of thing is foolish, worldly, heretical, and blasphemous. Rock music is all about the power of the world, the flesh, and the devil. To use it to preach about the power of Jesus Christ, who is “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26), is a great confusion. Such things might draw a crowd, but “what you win them with is what you win them to.” “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).
PAGAN MYSTICISM PERMEATING PUBLIC SCHOOLS (Friday Church News Notes, July 11, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Pagan mysticism has been infiltrating public schools in North America since the 1970s. Mindfulness training, which is akin to Buddhism, is the latest twist. The following is excerpted from “In the Classroom, a New Focus on Quieting the Mind,” New York Times, June 16, 2007: “As summer looms, students at dozens of schools across the country are trying hard to be in the present moment. This is what is known as mindfulness training, in which stress-reducing techniques drawn from Buddhist meditation are wedged between reading and spelling tests. Mindfulness, while common in hospitals, corporations, professional sports and even prisons, is relatively new in the education of squirming children. But a small but growing number of schools in places like Oakland and Lancaster, Pa., are slowly embracing the concept--as they did yoga five years ago--and institutions, like the psychology department at Stanford University and the Mindfulness Awareness Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, are trying to measure the effects. During a five-week pilot program at Piedmont Avenue Elementary, Miss Megan, the ‘mindful’ coach, visited every classroom twice a week, leading 15 minute sessions on how to have ‘gentle breaths and still bodies.’ The sound of the Tibetan bowl reverberated at the start and finish of each lesson. ... Susan Kaiser Greenland, the founder of the InnerKids Foundation, which trains schoolchildren and teachers in the Los Angeles area, calls mindfulness ‘the new ABC’s--learning and leading a balanced life.’ ... Asked their reactions to the sounds of the singing bowl, Yvette Solito, a third grader, wrote that it made her feel ‘calm, like something on Oprah.’ Her classmate Corey Jackson wrote that ‘it feels like when a bird cracks open its shell.’”
MAN SELLS HIS SOUL TO HELL PIZZA (Friday Church News Notes, July 11, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A New Zealand man has sold his soul to a pizza chain called Hell Pizza. Twenty-four-year-old Walter Scott first put his soul up for auction on TradeMe, but the bidding site cancelled the auction after receiving an “overwhelming number of complaints.” Scott said he didn’t find his soul of much value, since he “can’t see it, touch it or feel it.” After the auction was shut down, Hell Pizza stepped in and purchased his soul for $3,800 (“New Zealand Man,” AP, July 3, 2008). Men who look lightly upon the matter of the soul should listen to Jesus Christ: “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire” (Mark 9:43-47). Jesus warned about the reality of eternal hell fire and exhorted His listeners to avoid it. He was not suggesting that the sinner literally pluck out the eye and cut off the hand, because that would not stop the sinner from sinning and would not keep him out of hell. It is not our hands, feet, and eyes that are the core problem; it is the heart that drives them and the sin that is rooted in the heart (Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:20-23). In this sermon Christ was trying to make men understand how serious sin is and how real hell is and how impossible it is for a man to cleanse himself from sin and escape hell by his own power. Christ was using the Law for its intended purpose, which is to show men their lost, sinful condition and lead them to salvation through the grace of God (Rom. 3:19; Gal. 3:23). “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” (Romans 3:19). “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24).
CONCLUSION: Friends in Christ, do not be discouraged by any of this. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. These things remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the coming of the Lord. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ day by day? “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).
04/07/08 13:10
APES GRANTED RIGHT TO LIFE AND FREEDOM (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - On June 25 Spain’s parliament voiced support for the Great Apes Project that grants apes rights formerly reserved for humans, and the sentiment is expected to become law. It will then be illegal to use apes in experiments, to keep them for circuses, or to use them in television commercials or movies (“Spanish Parliament to Extend Rights to Apes,” Reuters, June 25). It will be legal to keep apes in zoos, but their living conditions will have to be improved dramatically. The Great Ape Project (GAP) was founded in 1993 with the objective of giving apes the right to life, freedom, and protection. We wonder why apes are not given the right to express their will in this business. Who are these Great Apes Project folk to think that they can speak for all apes? What if an ape wants to run away with a circus or star in a movie? How can GAP say that Cheeta didn’t enjoy being the star of Tarzan? He’s still alive, by the way. He retired from movies in 1968 and has been living ever since at a primate sanctuary in Palm Springs, watching television, banging on a piano, and making abstract paintings. He even watches his old movies with his grandson, Jeeter (“Cheeta,” Wikipedia). The 76-year-old chimpanzee’s ghost-written autobiography is scheduled for publication in October. Now if Jeeter moves to Spain he will have to hire a lawyer just to get a job, not to speak of book rights. We are living in ridiculous times. In reality, if evolution is true, there is no such thing as rights, neither for monkeys nor for humans. Blind chance does not produce rights.
MANY EVANGELICALS EXCHANGING SOUL WINNING FOR KINGDOM BUILDING (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - There is a widespread move among evangelical Protestants and Baptists to exchange soul winning for kingdom building. This is one of the hallmarks of the so-called emerging church. Christianity Today recently published a positive review of the Christian Vision Project and its “Big Story” approach to evangelism. It was developed by James Choung of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and is used by World Vision and others. Choung explains the Big Story like this: “The world, our relationships, and each of us were designed for good, but all of it was damaged by evil because of our self-centeredness and inclination to seek our own good above others. But God loved the world too much to leave it that way, so he came as Jesus. He took everything evil with him to death on the cross, and through his resurrection, all of it was restored for better. In the end of time, all will be fully restored, but until then, THE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS ARE SENT TOGETHER TO HEAL PEOPLE, RELATIONSHIPS, AND THE SYSTEMS OF THE WORLD” (“Christian Vision Project,” Christianity Today, June 27, 2008). Choung says that the overriding spiritual question is, “What will really help the planet be a better place?” and claims that “our faith better have an answer for it to be relevant today.” We beg to differ. This is NOT the question that is raised and answered in the New Testament. The apostle Paul said: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). The Great Commission that Christ gave to the disciples following His resurrection does not say anything about making the planet a better place (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; Acts 1:8). And nowhere in the book of Acts do we see the disciples pursuing a kingdom-building program that involved grandiose social-justice projects. When supposed Christians have the same world-saving agenda as unbelievers, there is something deeply wrong with their Christianity. The preaching of the apostles and prophets of the early churches had a great sense of urgency. They preached that today is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2) and were aware that Christ could come at any time (1 Peter 4:7). They did not see themselves as world architects but as ambassadors. “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). For more about the error of kingdom-building, see http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/kingdom-of-god.html.
GERMAN PARENTS SENTENCED TO JAIL FOR HOMESCHOOLING (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Parents Sent to Jail for Homeschooling,” WorldNetDaily, June 18, 2008: “A mother and father who have been homeschooling their children each have been ordered by a German judge to serve three-month prison terms after a prosecutor said he was unhappy with fines the family paid and he wanted the parents jailed. The sentences for Juergen and Rosemarie Dudek were announced in Germany’s equivalent of a district court today in the state of Hesse, according to a staff attorney for the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). The group, the premier homeschooling advocacy organization in the world, has been monitoring and helping in the Dudeks’ case since before a federal prosecutor announced his intention more than a year ago to see the parents behind bars. ... It was just a year ago when WND reported the prosecutor, Herwig Muller, appealed a lower court’s imposition of fines against the Dudeks. The prosecutor said at the time he would demand jail sentences of three months each for the parents. Muller also said he would not permit the case to be resolved with probation for the parents. A newspaper reporter in Hesse, Harald Sagawe, said the parents previously paid fines because ‘they did not send their children to school, for religious reasons.’ He continued, ‘The parents, Christians who closely follow the Bible, teach their children themselves.’ ... [H]omeschooling has been stamped on since the Nazi era, critics say. Practical Homeschool Magazine has noted one of the first acts by Hitler when he moved into power was to create the governmental Ministry of Education and give it control of all schools and school-related issues. ... HSLDA officials estimate there are some 400 homeschool families in Germany, virtually all of them either forced into hiding or facing court actions.”
THE PAGAN REVIVAL (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - According to the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, the number of neopagans is doubling every 18 months. Neopaganism is a freewheeling label akin to New Age that encompasses a wide range of ancient heathen forms of “spirituality,” including Wiccan, druidism, goddess worship, Gaia (earth worship), astrology, and Asatru (the worship of Odin and other Norse gods). The drawing card is paganism’s lack of authoritative dogma and non-judgmental philosophy. It is a bold rejection of the God of the Bible and salvation through Jesus Christ alone. The Wiccan law is, “As long as it harms none, do what you will.” Carridwen Brennan, a Wiccan who lives in Denver, says: “In Wicca, there is no ‘you have to’ and ‘you can’t.’ There is no orthodoxy” (“Neopaganism Growing Rapidly,” The Denver Post, June 26, 2008). Kantis Walter, who along with her husband Jesse owns the Witches Brew coffee shop in Denver, says it was the nonjudgmentalism that drew her to paganism. J.J. Steelman says, “Being a pagan means I’m free.” “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6), and, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).
BARACK OBAMA PRESENTED WITH MONKEY GOD (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - After learning that a “prominent American politician carries a miniature Hanuman idol in his pocket for luck,” the All-India Congress party decided to present Barack Obama with a larger edition of the Hindu monkey god (“11-day Prayer for Obama’s Success,” The Hindu, June 25, 2008). Hoping to assist Obama in his presidential campaign, the Indian party organized an 11-day Hindu ceremony. The first day featured pranapratishta, which is a ritual performed by a dozen Hindu priests “to infuse divine life” into the two foot high, 33-pound, gold-plated idol. Carolyn Sauvage-Mar, chairperson of Democrats Abroad-India, accepted the idol for Obama and promised to ensure that it reaches him by August 24, a day before the Democratic National Convention (“Obama to Get Hamuman Idol,” Times of India, June 24). We wonder why a professing Christian would carry a Hindu idol in his pocket for “luck”? “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils” (1 Corinthians 10:20).
CONSERVATIVE ANGLICANS FORM NEW GLOBAL NETWORK (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Conservative Anglicans meeting in Jerusalem formed a new global network that challenges the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The new network could represent one-half of the world’s Anglicans (The Guardian, June 29, 2008). Called the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, the network intends to sever ties with liberal Anglicans in the USA and Canada. It will return to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, train its own priests, and require theological orthodoxy of its member churches. The final straw for these schismatic Anglicans was the ordination of homosexual V. Gene Robinson as the Episcopalian bishop of New Hampshire in 2003. The participants at the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem included 300 bishops and archbishops. Though they denied that they are splitting from the Anglican Communion, they plan to have their own “primates council” and do not intend to submit to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Peter Jensen, Anglican archbishop of Sydney, said: “The consequences have been unfolding over the last five years, now their church is divided; it looks as though there will be permanent division, one way or the other. All around the world the sleeping giant that is evangelical Anglicanism and orthodox Anglicanism has been aroused by what happened in Canada and the United States of America. It was an act of folly.”
AIDS: THE POLITICALLY CORRECT DISEASE (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “HIV ‘Is a Gay Disease,’” Baptist Press, June 20, 2008: “The Centers for Disease Control estimates there are 50,000 new cases of HIV infection reported each year. Currently 1.1 million people in the United States are believed to be infected with HIV. All HIV infections are a result of someone’s behavior. According to the CDC, in 2006 59 percent of new HIV infections were caused solely by male-to-male sexual contact, and 7 percent by both male-to-male contact and drug use. That means that homosexual men, who comprise approximately 2 percent of the population, accounted for 66 percent of new HIV cases two years ago. Of the remaining HIV cases, 17 percent were transmitted by high-risk heterosexual contact and 16 percent solely by drug use. The one thing that all the HIV infections have in common is they are a direct result of behavior. For years homosexual activists insisted that HIV was not a homosexual disease. That has changed. Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, told the organization national conference in February, ‘Folks, with 70 percent of the people in this country living with HIV being gay or bisexual, we cannot deny that HIV is a gay disease. We have to own that and face up to that.’ Foreman acknowledged what many of us have known for decades: HIV and its companion disease AIDS is dramatically disproportionate among male homosexuals. ... What I find utterly amazing is that while STDs, including HIV, are spread solely on the basis of behavior, society continues to send a message of safety rather than abstinence. And homosexual sex continues to be portrayed as some civil right rather than an incubator for a deadly disease.”
CONCLUSION: Friends in Christ, do not be discouraged by any of this. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. These things remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the coming of the Lord. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ day by day? “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).