Nov 2008
28/11/08 13:10
GESTAPO TACTICS USED AGAINST CHRISTIAN MINISTRY IN ALABAMA (Friday Church News Notes, November 28, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Reclamation Ranch in Alabama, a ministry to troubled men, boys, and girls, was treated to American justice 21st century style on the early morning of November 22. The following is an excerpt from the report posted at the ministry’s website, http://www.reclamationranch.com/: “One of the boys who convinced his parent that he had been abused, went on to start a major ‘shake-up’ of Lighthouse Academy in producing false and misleading accusations upon which resulted in the police department from Blount County on Saturday, November 22, 2008, coming to our Lighthouse Academy dorm in true ‘swat’ style, breaking down the door with a battering ram, and entering with pistols and guns drawn! The Parkinson’s and their children were awakened with pistol drawn in their bedroom. They forced Bro. Parkinson onto the floor and cuffed him and then kept the guns on him and his family. ... After getting everyone out of bed, they would not let the staff see the boys nor the boys the staff. They then proceeded to interview the boys. After a search of the facilities they proceeded to take out miscellaneous items and then took all of the boys that are in the program and placed them in ‘state’ custody. ... Our homes take many young people off of the streets, out of abusive situations, out of gangs and away from video games, promiscuous activities, and quite often away from friends who are leading them in the wrong direction. ... Needless to say, if these children were not known for their lying, manipulations, etc., they would not have been in a situation where they had to come to one of our homes. We do not nor will we ever condone abuse to any young person whether it is in a Christian based facility such as ours or in a parent’s home. ... We are losing our freedoms when a police force can come into a home with guns and battering rams, handcuffing the superintendent, and scaring everyone. Please keep us in your fervent prayers.”
ATHEISTS ADVERTISE ON WASHINGTON, D.C. BUSES (Friday Church News Notes, November 28, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The American Humanist Association (AHA) is launching an atheistic advertising campaign in December on more than 200 Washington buses. The advertisements will say, “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake.” The British Humanist Association is funding a similar atheist campaign in London, England, with advertisements that say, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” They are following in the footsteps of Britain’s most famous atheist, John Lennon, who sang, “Imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try/ No hell below us, above only sky/ Imagine all the people living for today” (Imagine, 1971). Fred Edwords, president of the AHA, says, “Morality doesn’t come from religion” (LifeSiteNews, Nov. 13, 2008). In fact, if man follows his own heart and has no fear of God he is capable of any wicked thing. If there is no God and man is a mere evolutionary accident, there can be no basis for morality, because it simply does not matter what man does. Dogs and chickens are not subject to morality. Jesus Christ taught that the problem with this world is man’s fallen heart, and the only thing that can address that problem is the salvation that He purchased on the cross with His own blood. “And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness” (Mark 7:20-22). “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
MORE HOMOSEXUAL BULLYING (Friday Church News Notes, November 28, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Due to civil rights complains and lawsuits brought by homosexuals, the eHarmony online dating service has been forced to establish a same-sex division and pay heavy financial penalties. A settlement with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights requires the company to establish a matching service for homosexuals, give the first 10,000 registrants a free six-month subscription, advertise the new service, and pay $5,000 to the intolerant homosexual who brought the complaint and $50,000 to the state for legal expenses (Christian News, Nov. 19, 2008). This does not include the hundreds of thousands of dollars that the company has spent to defend itself against the unjust charges over a three-year period. You would think that the homosexuals would be satisfied, but that is far from the case. They want to bleed the company even more, and the judges in the state of California are their abettors. The Los Angeles Superior Court ruled on November 20 that a class action lawsuit against eHarmony can go forward. Thus, every “gay, lesbian, and bisexual individual” that has attempted to use eHarmony since May 2004 can seek damages, and Judge Victoria Chaney said they do not need to demonstrate actual injury. They only “have to assert that they visited the company’s web site to see a same-sex match and were turned away” (“Class Action Lawsuit,” Online Dating Magazine, Nov. 20, 2008). “But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed” (Luke 17:29-30).
CHARISMATIC SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCHES (Friday Church News Notes, November 28, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The charismatic movement is a part of the Southern Baptist Convention’s religious melting pot. Ron Phillips of Hixson, Tennessee, estimates that there are 500 charismatic SBC churches in his network (“Charismatic Southern Baptists See Themselves Open to Spiritual Gifts,” Associated Baptist Press, Nov. 20, 2008). Phillips, pastor of Abba’s House, had a charismatic experience in 1989 and spoke in “tongues” three years later. In 1998 he began hosting an annual charismatic “Fresh Oil, New Wine” conference which draws hundreds of Southern Baptist pastors and church members. The Fresh Oil & New Wine Conference for 2007 featured radical charismatic speakers such as John Kilpatrick, who led the “Brownsville Outpouring” in the 1990s as the pastor of the Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida. When the “outpouring” began in June 1995, Kilpatrick fell to the floor and lay there almost four hours. He said, “When I hit that floor, it felt like I weighed 10,000 pounds. I knew something supernatural was happening” (Charisma, June 1996). Supernatural, yes; Holy Spirit, no!!! Kilpatrick got so “drunk in the spirit” at times that men in the church had to haul him out of the church auditorium in a wheelchair, carry him home, and help inside the house. He told of trying to drive in this drunken condition and running into garbage cans and backing into another automobile. On one occasion Kilpatrick fell onto the platform and a woman from the “worship team” fell into his arms and they lay on the platform in a drunken stupor together. He laughingly tells this story on an audio cassette that I have. It is definitely not the Holy Spirit who causes that kind of moral temptation and confusion. “Spiritual jerking” was also a feature of the “Brownsville Outpouring.” The 2008 Southern Baptist Hymnal contains many songs written by charismatics and published by charismatic music companies such as Integrity, Maranatha, and Hillsong. For example, songs by David Ruis, Paul Baloche, and Darlene Zschech are included. These popular worship leaders are extreme charismatic ecumenists and contemporary Christian rockers. Ruis is one of the worship leaders at the Toronto Airport Church where people roll on the floor, bark like dogs, roar like lions, laugh hysterically, and get “drunk in the spirit” during their “revivals.” Ruis’s song “Break Dividing Walls” calls for ecumenical unity between all denominations. (For more about this see the article “Charismatic Southern Baptists” at the Way of Life web site.)
AMERICANS ARE ABYSMALLY IGNORANT OF THEIR OWN HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT (Friday Church News Notes, November 28, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Americans Know ‘American Idol’ Star Better than American History,” CNSNews, Nov. 21, 2008. It is a very sad report, because ignorant people can be easily manipulated, as we witnessed in the recent presidential election: “More than twice as many Americans--56 percent--know that Paula Abdul is a judge on ‘American Idol’ as know that the phrase ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’ comes from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (21 percent) ... More than 2,000 people were administered a 33-question test this Spring on American history and our political and economic institutions. Of them, 71 percent--college and non-college educated alike--got a failing mark, ISI’s Josiah Bunting III said, presenting the study at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Thursday. ‘It can truly be said that we are suffering from an epidemic of civic ignorance,’ Bunting said. ‘The extent of failure is pervasive, cutting across every segment of the American population.’ ... The overall average score was 49 percent--an ‘F’ on any grading scale, he said. ... Less than half of Americans can name all three branches of government. Only 27 percent of Americans know that the Bill of Rights prohibits the government from establishing an official religion in the U.S. ... Darryl DeMarzio, an assistant professor in the education department at the University of Scranton, told CNSNews.com that many politically correct college campuses no longer teach ‘history’ classes, as most people remember. ‘One of the purposes of a history course now is not the acquisition of historical knowledge, but it’s a vague skill like “thinking historically,” or something like that,’ DeMarzio said. The culprit is that teachers are steeped in a philosophy called ‘constructivism.’ ‘That’s the idea that knowledge is not something that teachers possess and give to students or teach students. Rather, knowledge is a process in which students construct meaning for themselves. So a historical question in a history class today is not, “Who were the major political participants of World War II?” But it’s “What do you think of World War II?” or “What might we learn from World War II?” Think for yourself. Construct your own knowledge, your own meaning out of this.’”
RELIGIOUS HARMONY: BUILDING THE NEW TOWER OF BABEL (Friday Church News Notes, November 28, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Another New Age project to promote world peace through religious harmony has been launched. This one is called The Charter for Compassion. The centerpiece of the program is a web site where “people of all faiths” are invited to “contribute their words and stories.” These will be crafted into the final version of the Charter by a “council of sages” composed of New Agers such as the Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Catholic mystic nun Joan Chittister (who says we must get “in tune with the cosmic voice of God”), and Joan Brown Campbell, former general secretary of the National Council of Churches in America. The resulting Charter will then be signed by religious leaders of all faiths at an inaugural event. You can be sure that they will ignore any “stories” by born-again, Bible-believing Christians! The myriad of interfaith projects like the Charter for Compassion that are operating around the world are not harmless. Eventually they will bring persecution to Bible believers who are looked upon as harmful to the cause of world peace because of their “intolerance.”
OBESE PEOPLE HAVE “RIGHT” TO TWO AIRLINE SEATS (Friday Church News Notes, November 28, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that overweight people have the right to obtain two airline seats for the price of one (“Obese Have Right,” Reuters, Nov. 20, 2008). The weird ruling was first made by the Canadian Transportation Agency last year, but it was appealed by Canada’s airlines to the Federal Court of Appeal and finally to the Supreme Court. Both refused to overturn the decision, so the “one-person-one-fare” policy stands. This is one of those “too strange for comment” reports.
CREMATION GAINING IN FAVOR (Friday Church News Notes, November 28, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - An article in the Associated Baptist Press in 2001 observed that “as cremation becomes more popular in the United States, fewer people are asking serious theological questions about the practice.” The article cited Baptist ministers Bob Beck and Leroy Summers of the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area, who said they hear no theological objections to cremation these days. This reflects a dramatic change in American society. As recently as World War II, people were excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church for cremation. In 1913, the year the Cremation Association of America was formed, there were only 10,000 cremations. By 1999, the number had risen to 595,000 cremations or 25% of deaths, and by 2005 it was 778,000 or 31%. Our article “Cremation: What Does God Think” lists 10 biblical reasons to reject cremation: (1) Cremation has a heathen origin and purpose. (2) God’s people have always practiced burial (Gen. 23:1-4; 25:8-10; 35:19-20; 49:33; 50:26, etc.). (3) Even when burial was difficult God’s people practiced it (Gen. 50:24-25; Ex. 13:19; Josh. 24:32). (4) Burial looks forward to resurrection (Rom. 8:22-23; 1 Cor. 15:20-23, 51-57). (5) God practices burial (Deut. 34:5-6). (6) Cremation is a sign of God’s curse (Num. 16:35, etc.). (7) For a person not to have proper burial was a dishonor (1 Ki. 21:23-24; Psa. 83:9-10). (8) The Christian’s body belongs to God (1 Cor. 6:19-20). (9) God calls cremation wickedness (Amos 2:1). (10) Jesus was buried (Jn. 19:38-42). This article can be found at the Way of Life web site.
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)
21/11/08 20:11
The following is another installment of the Friday Church News Notes designed especially for use in churches. It is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
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HOMOSEXUALS ON THE RAMPAGE (Friday Church News Notes, November 21, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Following the approval of Proposition 8 in California that banned homosexual marriage, homosexuals have displayed their intolerant anti-Christian fervor. On November 16, there were demonstrations in 300 cities throughout America. Slanderously labeling Christian convictions against homosexuality as “hate,” protesters held up signs reading “Don’t Spread H8.” The protests have sometimes turned violent and have targeted Mormons, the Catholic Church, Evangelicals, Pentecostalism, and others that supported the ban. The homosexuals are claiming that theirs is a civil rights issue with slogans such as “Gay is the new black,” even though the majority of blacks and Hispanics supported California’s ban on same-sex “marriage.” Hundreds of hostile homosexual activists targeted Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church on November 9, even though he and his wife have gone out of their way to express “tolerance” of their moral perversion and willingness to work with them to build “the kingdom of God.” Cindy Gorman, a receptionist at the church, said that she received dozens of angry calls and threats. They said, “You’re in big trouble” (“Homosexuals Protest Warren’s Church,” CNSNews.com, Nov. 14, 2008). At a protest in Palm Springs, California, a 69-year-old woman who was carrying a Styrofoam cross was spit on and struck on the head. The cross was ripped from her hands and trampled to pieces. The incident was captured on videotape by KPSP-TV-Channel 2, the CBS affiliate in Palm Springs, and posted on YouTube (Ibid., CNSNews.com). She told the Desert Sun newspaper that “it was like a dog pack.” On November 14, hundreds of homosexuals assaulted a group of Christians in San Francisco’s Castro District, yelling profanities, dousing them with hot coffee, hitting one of them over the head with a Bible, kicking them, and threatening to kill them (“Sparks Fly as ‘Gay’ Activist Mob Swarms Christians,” WorldNetDaily, Nov. 17, 2008). The Christians were not even preaching; they were simply praying and singing hymns. On November 9, homosexual protesters affiliated with Bash Back disrupted a service at Mount Hope Church in Lansing, Michigan, which is affiliated with the Assemblies of God. Activists pulled a fire alarm, hang a banner from the balcony, threw fliers and condoms and confetti, yelled at church members, displayed an upside-down pink cross, and used a megaphone to shout slogans such as “Jesus was a homo” (“Gay Rights Protesters Disrupt Sunday Service,” Lansing State Journal, Nov. 12, 2008; “Gay Anarchist ‘Action’ Hits Church,” Lansing City Pulse, Nov. 11, 2008). Two lesbians stood on the platform by the pulpit and kissed. Other protesters, declaring themselves “fags,” ran down the aisles and across the pews. The fliers said, “We specialize in confronting homophobia, transphobia and every and all other forms of oppression.” The sheriff department responded, but in the kid-glove fashion that is becoming typical when it comes to homosexual lawlessness, they did not make any arrests or file any charges. If Christians had done that type of thing during a homosexual rally, you can be sure that they would have been arrested and charged with hate and the mainstream media would have paraded the deed before the public 24/7. In 2004, eleven Christians with Repent America were arrested and charged with a variety of crimes simply for protesting a homosexual “Outfest” in Philadelphia.
OBAMA REJECTS BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF HELL (Friday Church News Notes, November 21, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a 2004 interview with Cathleen Falsani of the Chicago Sun Times, Barack Obama candidly expressed his religious views. He said that he doesn’t read the Bible or pray regularly. He is suspicious of dogma and certainty and thinks that “religion at its best comes with a big dose of doubt” (“Obama’s Fascinating Interview with Cathleen Falsani,” BeliefNet, Nov. 11, 2008). He believes that Jesus is a wonderful teacher, that sin is “being out of alignment with my values,” and that heaven might be “now or in the hereafter.” He doesn’t “presume to have knowledge of what happens after I die.” Though he claims to reject religious dogmatism, he dogmatically rejects the doctrine of hell. He rejects “the belief that people that haven’t embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior are going to hell.” He says, “I find it hard to believe that my God would consign four-fifths of the world to hell. I can’t imagine that my God would allow some little Hindu kid in India who never interacts with the Christian faith to somehow burn for all eternity. That’s just not part of my religious makeup.” Obama exalts the Hindu religious leader Gandhi as “a great example of a profoundly spiritual man” and says that FoxNews and talk radio are “dangerous sometimes.” Barack Obama is America’s first New Age president. This is why he got Oprah Winfrey’s support and why she was on a New Age high during his acceptance speech. He will doubtless further empower every anti-Christian movement, including homosexuality, environmentalism, feminism, abortionism, globalism, socialism, and Islam. His brand of “tolerance” embraces practically everyone but the Bible believer, and his dislike of dogmatism doesn’t extend to the dogmatism of rejecting the Bible’s teaching. (For documentation of the New Age infiltration of politics, see the book The New Age Tower of Babel, which is available from Way of Life Literature.)
OBAMA’S PASTORAL COUNSELLOR IS A HOMOSEXUAL EPISCOPAL BISHOP (Friday Church News Notes, November 21, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Will There Be an Activist Pastor to the Next President,” Virtueonline.org, Nov. 16, 2008: “A conservative Christian activist says it’s a sad omen for the Obama administration and the United States that Barack Obama has been seeking guidance from the Episcopal Church's first openly homosexual bishop. The Times of London reports that the president-elect sought out New Hampshire homosexual bishop Gene Robinson for advice three times during his presidential campaign. Robinson, whose ordination in the Episcopal Church has caused a deep rift within the Anglican Communion, was reportedly sought out by Obama to discuss what it feels like to be ‘first.’ Robinson notes in their three private conversations, Obama voiced his support for ‘equal civil rights’ for homosexuals and described the election as a ‘religious experience.’ Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, believes Obama’s consultations with Robinson show the true tenor of his upcoming administration. It looks like Billy Graham has been replaced by a gay bishop.”
MORE PARISHES LEAVE THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH (Friday Church News Notes, November 21, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - On November 16, the Diocese of Forth Worth, Texas, voted to leave the Episcopal Church in America, with 80% of the voters supporting the move. There are 50 parishes within the Fort Worth Diocese. This is the fourth entire diocese to make the costly move to depart from the exceedingly liberal denomination. The other three are Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Quincy, Illinois, and San Joaquin, California. Since 1977, hundreds of parishes and individual congregations have left the denomination, including major parishes such as Christ Church, Plano, Texas, which has more members than the entire Diocese of Nevada (“Who Belongs to Whom,” VirtueOnline.org, June 16, 2007). The 2003 consecration of a homosexual to the office of bishop in New Hampshire was the final straw that motivated the recent departures. Churches that leave face lawsuits over their property. Since they are willing to make this sacrifice, it is too bad that they don’t use the occasion to give up all of their manmade traditions that were borrowed from Rome, such as infant baptism, the episcopacy, the priesthood, and the eucharist, and obey the Bible in all matters. “I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 6:13-14).
ASIA’S BROWN CLOUDS (Friday Church News Notes, November 21, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - While the media has focused on the alleged sins of the West in creating global environmental havoc and wants to put the onus on the West (particularly America) to solve the problem, it has largely ignored the great strides that have been made there as well as the truly abysmal conditions that exist elsewhere. In fact, a majority of the world’s pollution is coming from the developing countries. “Brown clouds” more than a mile thick hang over Asia. These are caused by pollution from such things as atrocious vehicle exhaust (read billows of deadly black smoke belching out of countless vehicles), unregulated industry (the regulations that exist are typically ignored or bypassed through graft), and the burning of wood and cheap coal. Health problems associated with particulate pollution are linked to nearly 350,000 premature deaths annually in China and India alone (“Huge Brown Cloud over Asia Worsens Global Warming,” FoxNews, Nov. 14, 2008). The brown clouds dim the light as much as 25 percent in some places. At a practical level, the environmental impact of the developing economy is almost completely ignored in countries such as China, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In Kathmandu, Nepal, the pollution has gotten so bad that the snow-capped Himalayan mountain peaks, once the city’s chief glory, are clearly visible only a few days out of the year, whereas a decade ago they were visible nearly every day except during the monsoon. That problem was not created by America, England, or the Netherlands, and it won’t be solved by them. Most of Asia is a seething caldron of environmental calamity, baring a few shining exceptions such as Singapore and Japan and, to a lesser degree, South Korea and Taiwan.
NEW PRESIDENT OF THE BAPTIST GENERAL CONVENTION OF TEXAS IS A “CONSERVATIVE” COMPROMISER (Friday Church News Notes, November 21, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - David Lowrie, the newly elected president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT), is labeled a “conservative” by the religious press but in reality he is a compromiser who is willing to associate with theological heretics in disobedience to God’s Word (e.g., Romans 16:17; 2 Corinthians 6:14), which is typical of Southern Baptist “conservatives.” Lowrie, pastor of First Baptist Church of Canyon, Texas, said that the convention needs to move beyond the old theological struggles to find unity in joint activities such as evangelism. He said, “I am now convinced that the greater challenge we face today has little to do with the theological and political struggles of the past...” (“New Texas Baptist Head Aims to Move Past Old Struggles,” Christian Post, Nov. 11, 2008). Lowrie’s predecessor was Joy Fenner, the first female president of the BGCT. The BGCT is so filled with liberalism that hundreds of SBC churches split from it to form the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention a decade ago. There is no clear separation, though, as the BGCT is still aligned with the Southern Baptist Convention, plus many Texas congregations are jointly aligned with the BGCT and the SBTC. This is the theological mess that exists at the state and local level within the Convention, with “conservatives” yoked together with “moderates” who deny the infallible inspiration of Scripture and other doctrines. The problem with the SBC is rampant “pan-indifferentism,” which is a sin that C. H. Spurgeon identified in his day. Consider the following entry in this week’s Friday Church News Notes.
SPURGEON’S WARNING AGAINST ANYTHINGARIANISM AND PAN-INDIFFERENTISM. (Friday Church News Notes, November 21, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from one of Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s warnings against “the downgrade” in doctrine and the deep evangelical compromise of his day, especially in the Baptist Union. The sermon was titled “Progressive Theology” and was published in the Sword and the Trowel, April 1888. Spurgeon labeled the mood of the hour “ANYTHINGARIANISM” and warned: “It is thought to be mere bigotry to protest against the mad spirit which is now loose among us. PAN-INDIFFERENTISM IS RISING LIKE THE TIDE; who can hinder it? WE ARE ALL TO BE AS ONE, EVEN THOUGH WE AGREE IN NEXT TO NOTHING. It is a breach of brotherly love to denounce error. Hail, holy charity! Black is white; and white is black. The false is true; the true is false; the true and the false are one. Let us join hands, and never again mention those barbarous, old-fashioned doctrines about which we are sure to differ. Let the good and sound men for liberty’s sake shield their ‘advanced brethren’; or, at least, GENTLY BLAME THEM IN A TONE WHICH MEANS APPROVAL. After all, there is no difference, except in the point of view from which we look at things: it is all in the eye, or, as the vulgar say, ‘it is all my eye’! In order to maintain an open union, let us fight as for dear life against any form of sound words, since it might restrain our liberty to deny the doctrines of the Word of God. ... THIS SPIRIT IS IN ALL THE CHURCHES, MORE OR LESS; INDEED, IT SEEMS TO BE IN THE AIR. The prince of the power of the air is loosed in an extraordinary manner for a season, misleading even the godly, and triumphing greatly in those whose willing minds yield full assent to his deceitful teachings.”
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)
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HOMOSEXUALS ON THE RAMPAGE (Friday Church News Notes, November 21, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Following the approval of Proposition 8 in California that banned homosexual marriage, homosexuals have displayed their intolerant anti-Christian fervor. On November 16, there were demonstrations in 300 cities throughout America. Slanderously labeling Christian convictions against homosexuality as “hate,” protesters held up signs reading “Don’t Spread H8.” The protests have sometimes turned violent and have targeted Mormons, the Catholic Church, Evangelicals, Pentecostalism, and others that supported the ban. The homosexuals are claiming that theirs is a civil rights issue with slogans such as “Gay is the new black,” even though the majority of blacks and Hispanics supported California’s ban on same-sex “marriage.” Hundreds of hostile homosexual activists targeted Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church on November 9, even though he and his wife have gone out of their way to express “tolerance” of their moral perversion and willingness to work with them to build “the kingdom of God.” Cindy Gorman, a receptionist at the church, said that she received dozens of angry calls and threats. They said, “You’re in big trouble” (“Homosexuals Protest Warren’s Church,” CNSNews.com, Nov. 14, 2008). At a protest in Palm Springs, California, a 69-year-old woman who was carrying a Styrofoam cross was spit on and struck on the head. The cross was ripped from her hands and trampled to pieces. The incident was captured on videotape by KPSP-TV-Channel 2, the CBS affiliate in Palm Springs, and posted on YouTube (Ibid., CNSNews.com). She told the Desert Sun newspaper that “it was like a dog pack.” On November 14, hundreds of homosexuals assaulted a group of Christians in San Francisco’s Castro District, yelling profanities, dousing them with hot coffee, hitting one of them over the head with a Bible, kicking them, and threatening to kill them (“Sparks Fly as ‘Gay’ Activist Mob Swarms Christians,” WorldNetDaily, Nov. 17, 2008). The Christians were not even preaching; they were simply praying and singing hymns. On November 9, homosexual protesters affiliated with Bash Back disrupted a service at Mount Hope Church in Lansing, Michigan, which is affiliated with the Assemblies of God. Activists pulled a fire alarm, hang a banner from the balcony, threw fliers and condoms and confetti, yelled at church members, displayed an upside-down pink cross, and used a megaphone to shout slogans such as “Jesus was a homo” (“Gay Rights Protesters Disrupt Sunday Service,” Lansing State Journal, Nov. 12, 2008; “Gay Anarchist ‘Action’ Hits Church,” Lansing City Pulse, Nov. 11, 2008). Two lesbians stood on the platform by the pulpit and kissed. Other protesters, declaring themselves “fags,” ran down the aisles and across the pews. The fliers said, “We specialize in confronting homophobia, transphobia and every and all other forms of oppression.” The sheriff department responded, but in the kid-glove fashion that is becoming typical when it comes to homosexual lawlessness, they did not make any arrests or file any charges. If Christians had done that type of thing during a homosexual rally, you can be sure that they would have been arrested and charged with hate and the mainstream media would have paraded the deed before the public 24/7. In 2004, eleven Christians with Repent America were arrested and charged with a variety of crimes simply for protesting a homosexual “Outfest” in Philadelphia.
OBAMA REJECTS BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF HELL (Friday Church News Notes, November 21, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a 2004 interview with Cathleen Falsani of the Chicago Sun Times, Barack Obama candidly expressed his religious views. He said that he doesn’t read the Bible or pray regularly. He is suspicious of dogma and certainty and thinks that “religion at its best comes with a big dose of doubt” (“Obama’s Fascinating Interview with Cathleen Falsani,” BeliefNet, Nov. 11, 2008). He believes that Jesus is a wonderful teacher, that sin is “being out of alignment with my values,” and that heaven might be “now or in the hereafter.” He doesn’t “presume to have knowledge of what happens after I die.” Though he claims to reject religious dogmatism, he dogmatically rejects the doctrine of hell. He rejects “the belief that people that haven’t embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior are going to hell.” He says, “I find it hard to believe that my God would consign four-fifths of the world to hell. I can’t imagine that my God would allow some little Hindu kid in India who never interacts with the Christian faith to somehow burn for all eternity. That’s just not part of my religious makeup.” Obama exalts the Hindu religious leader Gandhi as “a great example of a profoundly spiritual man” and says that FoxNews and talk radio are “dangerous sometimes.” Barack Obama is America’s first New Age president. This is why he got Oprah Winfrey’s support and why she was on a New Age high during his acceptance speech. He will doubtless further empower every anti-Christian movement, including homosexuality, environmentalism, feminism, abortionism, globalism, socialism, and Islam. His brand of “tolerance” embraces practically everyone but the Bible believer, and his dislike of dogmatism doesn’t extend to the dogmatism of rejecting the Bible’s teaching. (For documentation of the New Age infiltration of politics, see the book The New Age Tower of Babel, which is available from Way of Life Literature.)
OBAMA’S PASTORAL COUNSELLOR IS A HOMOSEXUAL EPISCOPAL BISHOP (Friday Church News Notes, November 21, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Will There Be an Activist Pastor to the Next President,” Virtueonline.org, Nov. 16, 2008: “A conservative Christian activist says it’s a sad omen for the Obama administration and the United States that Barack Obama has been seeking guidance from the Episcopal Church's first openly homosexual bishop. The Times of London reports that the president-elect sought out New Hampshire homosexual bishop Gene Robinson for advice three times during his presidential campaign. Robinson, whose ordination in the Episcopal Church has caused a deep rift within the Anglican Communion, was reportedly sought out by Obama to discuss what it feels like to be ‘first.’ Robinson notes in their three private conversations, Obama voiced his support for ‘equal civil rights’ for homosexuals and described the election as a ‘religious experience.’ Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, believes Obama’s consultations with Robinson show the true tenor of his upcoming administration. It looks like Billy Graham has been replaced by a gay bishop.”
MORE PARISHES LEAVE THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH (Friday Church News Notes, November 21, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - On November 16, the Diocese of Forth Worth, Texas, voted to leave the Episcopal Church in America, with 80% of the voters supporting the move. There are 50 parishes within the Fort Worth Diocese. This is the fourth entire diocese to make the costly move to depart from the exceedingly liberal denomination. The other three are Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Quincy, Illinois, and San Joaquin, California. Since 1977, hundreds of parishes and individual congregations have left the denomination, including major parishes such as Christ Church, Plano, Texas, which has more members than the entire Diocese of Nevada (“Who Belongs to Whom,” VirtueOnline.org, June 16, 2007). The 2003 consecration of a homosexual to the office of bishop in New Hampshire was the final straw that motivated the recent departures. Churches that leave face lawsuits over their property. Since they are willing to make this sacrifice, it is too bad that they don’t use the occasion to give up all of their manmade traditions that were borrowed from Rome, such as infant baptism, the episcopacy, the priesthood, and the eucharist, and obey the Bible in all matters. “I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 6:13-14).
ASIA’S BROWN CLOUDS (Friday Church News Notes, November 21, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - While the media has focused on the alleged sins of the West in creating global environmental havoc and wants to put the onus on the West (particularly America) to solve the problem, it has largely ignored the great strides that have been made there as well as the truly abysmal conditions that exist elsewhere. In fact, a majority of the world’s pollution is coming from the developing countries. “Brown clouds” more than a mile thick hang over Asia. These are caused by pollution from such things as atrocious vehicle exhaust (read billows of deadly black smoke belching out of countless vehicles), unregulated industry (the regulations that exist are typically ignored or bypassed through graft), and the burning of wood and cheap coal. Health problems associated with particulate pollution are linked to nearly 350,000 premature deaths annually in China and India alone (“Huge Brown Cloud over Asia Worsens Global Warming,” FoxNews, Nov. 14, 2008). The brown clouds dim the light as much as 25 percent in some places. At a practical level, the environmental impact of the developing economy is almost completely ignored in countries such as China, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In Kathmandu, Nepal, the pollution has gotten so bad that the snow-capped Himalayan mountain peaks, once the city’s chief glory, are clearly visible only a few days out of the year, whereas a decade ago they were visible nearly every day except during the monsoon. That problem was not created by America, England, or the Netherlands, and it won’t be solved by them. Most of Asia is a seething caldron of environmental calamity, baring a few shining exceptions such as Singapore and Japan and, to a lesser degree, South Korea and Taiwan.
NEW PRESIDENT OF THE BAPTIST GENERAL CONVENTION OF TEXAS IS A “CONSERVATIVE” COMPROMISER (Friday Church News Notes, November 21, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - David Lowrie, the newly elected president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT), is labeled a “conservative” by the religious press but in reality he is a compromiser who is willing to associate with theological heretics in disobedience to God’s Word (e.g., Romans 16:17; 2 Corinthians 6:14), which is typical of Southern Baptist “conservatives.” Lowrie, pastor of First Baptist Church of Canyon, Texas, said that the convention needs to move beyond the old theological struggles to find unity in joint activities such as evangelism. He said, “I am now convinced that the greater challenge we face today has little to do with the theological and political struggles of the past...” (“New Texas Baptist Head Aims to Move Past Old Struggles,” Christian Post, Nov. 11, 2008). Lowrie’s predecessor was Joy Fenner, the first female president of the BGCT. The BGCT is so filled with liberalism that hundreds of SBC churches split from it to form the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention a decade ago. There is no clear separation, though, as the BGCT is still aligned with the Southern Baptist Convention, plus many Texas congregations are jointly aligned with the BGCT and the SBTC. This is the theological mess that exists at the state and local level within the Convention, with “conservatives” yoked together with “moderates” who deny the infallible inspiration of Scripture and other doctrines. The problem with the SBC is rampant “pan-indifferentism,” which is a sin that C. H. Spurgeon identified in his day. Consider the following entry in this week’s Friday Church News Notes.
SPURGEON’S WARNING AGAINST ANYTHINGARIANISM AND PAN-INDIFFERENTISM. (Friday Church News Notes, November 21, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from one of Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s warnings against “the downgrade” in doctrine and the deep evangelical compromise of his day, especially in the Baptist Union. The sermon was titled “Progressive Theology” and was published in the Sword and the Trowel, April 1888. Spurgeon labeled the mood of the hour “ANYTHINGARIANISM” and warned: “It is thought to be mere bigotry to protest against the mad spirit which is now loose among us. PAN-INDIFFERENTISM IS RISING LIKE THE TIDE; who can hinder it? WE ARE ALL TO BE AS ONE, EVEN THOUGH WE AGREE IN NEXT TO NOTHING. It is a breach of brotherly love to denounce error. Hail, holy charity! Black is white; and white is black. The false is true; the true is false; the true and the false are one. Let us join hands, and never again mention those barbarous, old-fashioned doctrines about which we are sure to differ. Let the good and sound men for liberty’s sake shield their ‘advanced brethren’; or, at least, GENTLY BLAME THEM IN A TONE WHICH MEANS APPROVAL. After all, there is no difference, except in the point of view from which we look at things: it is all in the eye, or, as the vulgar say, ‘it is all my eye’! In order to maintain an open union, let us fight as for dear life against any form of sound words, since it might restrain our liberty to deny the doctrines of the Word of God. ... THIS SPIRIT IS IN ALL THE CHURCHES, MORE OR LESS; INDEED, IT SEEMS TO BE IN THE AIR. The prince of the power of the air is loosed in an extraordinary manner for a season, misleading even the godly, and triumphing greatly in those whose willing minds yield full assent to his deceitful teachings.”
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)
14/11/08 13:11
AMY GRANT SAYS SHE IS “NO PREACHY CHURCH LADY” (Friday Church News Notes, November 14, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Amy Grant, one of the most popular and influential contemporary Christian singers with more than 30 million albums sold, is on her 20th anniversary tour. She has five children from two marriages (she divorced her first husband in 1999), and the interviewer asked, “Now that you’re the mom of a couple of young adults, how has your spiritual advice or practices changed?” Grant replied, “I find I say less the older I get. ... Mostly, I try to be encouraging. Life is the greatest teacher. At this point, it’s not going to be mom’s words. ... I heard Bruce Springsteen once say, ‘Great enlightenment is always preceded by -------- up.’ I don’t talk that way, but it was a quote. It’s life. The things in heaven and things on earth are so articulated by Bruce and God. That’s the way I’ve raised my kids. I’m not preachy Church Lady” (“Faith, Family, Music,” Houston Chronicle, Nov. 8, 2008, p. F1). This is a dangerous and wrong-headed mixture of truth and error. While it is true that life is a teacher and there are times when sympathizing is more helpful than moralizing, it is also true that God has called parents to teach their children and that responsibility doesn’t cease when they are older. The apostle Paul instructed the aged women to “teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children” (Titus 2:3-4). Contemporary Christian musicians often express their dislike for preaching. (See “CCM against Preaching,” http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/ccm-againstpreaching.html). This is a powerful warning to strong Biblicist churches. It is not only the sensual rhythm that is the danger with CCM, it also the unscriptural message and the charismatic-ecumenical associations. When fundamentalist churches bring CCM into their midst, they are associating with people who are their avowed enemies and who will undermine a strong Bible-believing position. Observe, too, that Grant quotes from a filthy-mouthed rock and roller, which reminds us that there is no separation between contemporary Christian music and secular rock. Amy Grant follows her emotions and personal philosophy and pop psychology more than the unchanging Word of God, and that is typical of Contemporary Christian Music. In March 1999, Grant filed for divorce from her husband of 16 years, Gary Chapman, citing “irreconcilable differences.” Although she claims that she did not commit adultery, Grant began dating country singer Vince Gill even before her divorce was finalized, and she admits that she had a close emotional relationship with him for a long time. In an interview with CCM Magazine, Chapman testified that Amy came to him in late 1994 and said: “I don’t love you anymore You’re the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. ... I’ve given my heart to another man” (CCM Magazine, January 2000, p. 36). It was not until three years later that Gill divorced his wife. Chapman said that Amy’s relationship with Gill was the primary cause of the divorce.
PALESTINIAN LEADER DENIES JEWISH TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM (Friday Church News Notes, November 14, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Ahmed Qurei, the Palestinian Authority official leading all peace talks with Israel, has denied that the Jewish temple ever existed in Jerusalem. He said, “There was no so-called Jewish Temple. It’s imaginary. Jerusalem is 100 percent Muslim” (WorldNetDaily, Nov. 6, 2008). The Temple Denial campaign began in 2000 when Arafat told President Bill Clinton that “Solomon’s Temple was not in Jerusalem but Nablus...” Temple Denial “spread across the Middle East like wildfire” (Dore Gold, The Fight for Jerusalem, 2007). In the article “Temple Denial vs. Archaeology,” we give many extra-biblical evidences for the Jewish temple. These include the testimony of the historian Josephus, the Arch of Titus in Rome, and various artifacts that have been recovered from the second temple, including clay seals, plaques, coins, and stone carvings. In fact, even the most extreme Muslim organizations acknowledged the temple’s existence until recent times. For example, a guide to the Temple Mount published in 1935 by the Supreme Muslim Council stated without equivocation that “its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute.”
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE JEWS (Friday Church News Notes, November 14, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - There is a lot of confusion about the relationship between the Christian and the Jewish people and the nation Israel, and I believe that William Newell got it right in the following statement from his commentary on Revelation: “Believers today need to be faithfully warned regarding their attitude to the Jews. (1) They should not join at all in that Gentile envy and hate lying at the root of ‘anti-semitism.’ (2) They should not give special place to Jews, even Jewish believers, as such. (3) They should glorify God for the ‘remnant according to the election of grace,’ among them, now being saved. (4) They should remember that the most of the nation is to be cut off as apostate before the Millennium sets in. (5) They should believe that God’s words in Romans 3:22-23 and 10:12 are true today: ‘there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,’ and, ‘there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.’ Jewish sinners, Irish sinners, American sinners, Hottentot sinners. Hindu sinners, English sinners, Scotch sinners; no difference at all! Just sinners, all! (6) They should understand that the nation Israel has not changed. It remains in spiritual death and blindness and enmity toward God. When the opportunity offers, the majority of the Jews will go over openly to Antichrist, as we well know from Daniel 9:27, Isaiah 28:14-15, and many other plain prophecies. We do well to have ‘great sorrow’ for them as did Paul in Romans 9; to remember that nationally they are ‘beloved for the fathers’ sake’; and to labor to reach them. But it is folly to close our eyes to their blinded, deadly state! The nation that crucified Christ, stoned Stephen, and most bitterly hated and opposed the gospel of grace preached by Paul, remains unchanged. The fountain for sin and for uncleanness is not yet open for them nationally, nor will it be until ‘that day’ of Zechariah 12:10 to 13:1, when, beleaguered by all the hostile nations of earth, and in despair, they at last ‘look upon him whom they pierced,’ and fall into such mourning as has never been known! They will not believe until they see” (William Newell, Revelation Chapter-by-Chapter).
ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION STUDY BIBLE ENJOYS HIGH SALES (Friday Church News Notes, November 14, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The new English Standard Version Study Bible is selling briskly. More than 111,000 copies have been purchased since its release in mid-October. The manager of Westminster Bookstore’s online sales said the ESV Study Bible is “by far the fastest selling new product in the history of our store” (Christian Post, Nov. 3, 2008). The ESV, which was published in 2001, is based on the 1971 edition of the Revised Standard Version, which was translated by theological modernists and is owned by the National Council of Churches. It therefore follows the critical Greek New Testament that removes nearly 3,000 words (230 entire or partial verses) from the text that underlies the Reformation Bibles such as the English King James and the German Luther and introduces significant doctrinal changes such as omitting “which is in heaven” from John 3:13” and “God” from 1 Timothy 3:16 and Jude 4. The critical text is based on Greek manuscripts that were produced in Egypt during the early centuries after the apostles and that were discarded by the churches for 1500 years of church history until their recovery by modern textual critics in the nineteenth century. The ESV was produced by 95 “evangelical” scholars representing 20 denominations, with J.I. Packer as the theological editor. Many New Evangelicals have promoted the ESV, including John Piper, whose books are popular among “younger fundamentalists.” (For more about the critical text underlying the modern versions see the books Answering the Myths on the Bible Version Debate and Why We Hold to the King James Bible, available from Way of Life Literature.)
A WARNING AGAINST NEW EVANGELICALISM (Friday Church News Notes, November 14, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Are We Fundamentalists” by Dr. Peter Masters: “The new evangelical virtually worships at the feet of unbelieving scholarship. He submits himself to liberal study courses, consults liberal commentators, quotes liberal writers, and allows them to shape and condition his views. In fairness, it must be said that he disagrees with the most offensive pronouncements of liberals, and even takes issue with them. But he nevertheless borrows and absorbs a massive amount of their poison, and this is so because the new evangelical wants to be accepted in the academic world dominated by liberals. He wants to shine, to gain a good reputation and position, and be counted as a good member of the comprehensive world of theological scholarship. ... New evangelicals invent and use an unending stream of human innovations and gimmicks, being wholly dissatisfied with the methods and means ordained by God. They employ worldly forms of music, and ‘showbiz’ presentations of entertainment and drama. Their church growth experts study, not the Scriptures, but numerically successful churches, no matter what their theology (including Catholic and cult churches), to find methods and procedures they can imitate. All over the world new evangelicals have thrown out the old emphasis on witness and preaching, and substituted fleshly, worldly and manipulative approaches.”
SPURGEON’S WARNING AGAINST THE FALSE VIEW OF CHARITY THAT RENOUNCES SEPARATISM (Friday Church News Notes, November 14, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from Charles Spurgeon’s battle against “the downgrade” of doctrine in his day. It is from the “Notes” section that was added to his article “Restoration of Truth and Revival,” from the Sword and the Trowel, December 1887: “The barefaced manner in which certain persons assert that to separate from men who hold vital errors is contrary to the mind of Christ, would be amusing if it were not saddening. They write as if such a Book as the New Testament were not in existence: they evidently decide what the mind of Christ ought to be, without referring to such poor creatures as the apostles. As for us, we think more of Paul and John than of the whole body of modern thinkers. What saith the Scriptures? ‘If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds’ (2 John 10, 11). ‘But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed’ (Gal. 1:8, 9). The spirit of Scripture is one, and therefore we may be sure that decision for truth, and separation from the erring, are in full consistency with the charity of 1 Corinthians 13, to which we are so continually pointed. It is true charity to those who err to refuse to aid and abet them in their errors. ‘Charity’ sounds very prettily in the mouths of those who wish to screen themselves, but, if they had exercised it in the past, they might not have driven us out from among the people, to whom we naturally belong.” [In this last sentence, Spurgeon refers to his departure from the Baptist Union because of its doctrinal compromise.]
ROMANISM, A MIXTURE OF HEATHENISM, CHRISTIANITY, JUDAISM (Friday Church News Notes, November 14, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from Harry Ironside’s commentary on Revelation: “Jezebel was adept in the art of mixing. She undertook to unite the religion of Israel and the religion of Phoenicia. That is just what Romanism is--a mixture of heathenism, Christianity, and Judaism. It is not Christianity--yet there is in it quite a bit that is Christian. From where did its superstition and image worship come? It was all taken from heathenism under the plea that it would help to convert the pagans. The church became very accommodating. In the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries, we find the church compromising with heathen rites and heathen ceremonies to such a degree that, by the seventh century, one could hardly tell heathen from Christian temples. The amalgamation is such that it is almost impossible to separate the one from the other. ... And, in our day, we have a lot of foolish Protestants who believe that the old Rome is now a harmless old pussycat sitting on the banks of the Tiber; she purrs so contentedly. They say, ‘We never understood Rome. What a pity we ever had that Reformation at all.’ And so efforts are being made to reunite the various great bodies of Christendom in one vast society headed by the pope. This is the avowed purpose of many leaders in the larger Protestant bodies. What foolish people these Protestants are!--Protestants who have long ceased to protest against evil doctrine, forgetting the millions of lives that were sacrificed for the precious truth. ... But Protestant leaders are dazzled with the thought of a great united church and are hurrying us toward a union with Rome that Scripture shows clearly enough will yet take place.”
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)
07/11/08 13:11
WHAT HASN’T CHANGED SINCE ELECTION NIGHT (Friday Church News Notes, November 7, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The U.S. presidential election was a sad occasion for Bible-believing people who know the character and philosophy of Barack Obama and who grieve for the moral downfall of America, but when the born again child of God awoke on Wednesday the truly important things hadn’t changed. First, our citizenship is still in heaven, and that is where we must set our affection. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:1-2). That is a better country and a holy one, and the wicked don’t win elections there. Second, the Bible is true. We have a solid foundation, an absolute authority, a perfect comfort in every situation, and it is more valuable to study the Bible than politics. Third, the church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15). The church is at the center of God’s program in this present age, and the best thing we can do for our country and our children and grandchildren is to keep our churches pure and keep our focus on fulfilling the Great Commission. Fourth, God is still on His throne. We know the last chapter. The hour is very late and we need to be busy fulfilling His will while there is day. “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way” (1 Thess. 2:7).
VATICAN TO HOLD CONFERENCE HONORING CHARLES DARWIN (Friday Church News Notes, November 7, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Vatican has announced that it plans to hold a conference in March 2009 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species (“Scientists, Theologians Gather,” Christian Post, Nov. 1, 2008). The announcement was made at the recent five-day gathering themed “Scientific Insights into the Evolution of the Universe and Life.” Pope Benedict XVI told the meeting that the theory of evolution is compatible with the Bible. The pope, a “theistic evolutionist,” rejects the teaching of Genesis, believing that God used evolution to create the universe over a period of millions of years. If Genesis 1-2 is not literal history, then the fall is a fable and the cross of Christ is meaningless. In fact, though, it is the papacy that is the fable.
VAMPIRE AUTHOR’S FICTIONALIZED JESUS PROMOTED BY JAMES DOBSON (Friday Church News Notes, November 7, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is by Brian Snider
SWEDISH PASTOR WARNS CHRISTIANS TO STAND UP AGAINST THE HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA (Friday Church News Notes, November 7, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “A Swedish Perspective on California’s Gay Marriage Debate,” Crosswalk, Oct. 31, 2008: “If passed, Proposition 8 would ban same-sex marriage in California, effectively overturning the court ruling that legalized it. Pastor Ake Green, who flew from Sweden to California to support Proposition 8, has already glimpsed the potential consequences if the measure fails. In 2002, Sweden’s acceptance of the gay lifestyle led to a new speech law protecting homosexuals from expressions of ‘disrespect’ and ‘offense,’ with a penalty of up to two years in prison. ... In July 2003, Green preached a sermon detailing the Bible’s stance against homosexuality--along with its message of grace and redemption. He was convicted of ‘disrespect’ and sentenced to one month in prison. Ironically, the law under which Green was convicted violated existing laws on freedom of religion and speech. He maintains that the law succeeded because Christians did not voice a strong opinion against it. ‘This unwillingness to speak up made it possible for the homosexual forces and organizations to force their will on our people. Whether this situation is a parallel or a contrast to the present situation in California remains to be seen.’ ... The homosexual agenda has increasingly crept into Sweden’s schools, he said. ... ‘We have seen time and time again how the homolobby works overtime (and over time) to gradually and systematically gain more influence to indoctrinate our vulnerable children, especially in our schools,’ he said. ‘They want access to our vulnerable children in order to introduce gender confusion into their minds.’”
ELIMINATING IMPERFECT HUMANS (Friday Church News Notes, November 7, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from “Genetic Testing in a Petri Dish Could Eliminate Imperfect Humans,” CNSNews, Oct. 29, 2008: “Genetic testing is changing modern medicine to detect, treat, and even prevent diseases, but one procedure allows scientists to test embryos developed in the laboratory so that only ‘healthy’ embryos are implanted into the womb, experts said at the National Press Club on Tuesday. ‘Pre-implantation’ screening is done by egg fertilization in a Petri dish and then the embryos are screened so that those with genetic disorders can be eliminated, said panelist Sherri Bale, a medical geneticist and co-founder of GeneDx, a company that offers molecular diagnoses of hereditary disorders. Bale explained the benefits of ‘pre-implantation’ screening, in one scenario, by describing how genetic testing can be used for families that have a child who has the most common form of muscular dystrophy, which she described as a ‘constitutional’ gene ‘mutation’ that is present at the time of conception. ... When asked by CNSNews.com whether genetic testing will allow parents to only have what they consider perfect children, panel members did not answer the question directly but instead praised the decision-making of patients and clients.”
ANOTHER STUDY CONFIRMS DESTRUCTIVE MORAL INFLUENCE OF TELEVISION (Friday Church News Notes, November 7, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A three-year study by the RAND research organization has demonstrated that young people who watch sexy television programs are much more likely to engage in immoral behavior. Anita Chandra, a behavioral scientist who led the study, said: “Our findings suggest that television may play a significant role in the high rates of teenage pregnancy in the United States. ... The television content we see very rarely highlights the negative aspects of sex or the risks and responsibilities. Television is just one part of a teenager’s media diet that helps to influence their behavior. We should also look at the roles that magazines, the Internet and music play...” (“Study Links Teen Pregnancy to Sexy TV Shows,” Reuters, Nov. 3, 2008). The study involved more than 700 young people aged 12 to 17 and focused on 23 television programs that are popular among teenagers. The Bible says, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Corinthians 15:33).
ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHES TO COME (Friday Church News Notes, November 7, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Though we believe that God has put man in the world to use it and not abuse it, and though we are glad for clean air and water and support reasonable environmental laws (having lived for 17 years in a third world country), environmentalism should not be the focus of the child of God. One can read the New Testament from beginning to end and not see as much as a hint of support for environmentalism. The focus of the Christian life and the emphasis of the Lord’s Great Commission is on preaching the gospel and thus snatching sinners from the judgment to come before it is eternally too late, and the New Testament presents this judgment as imminent and therefore as a motivation to be diligent in the task that Christ has left us (Mat. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8). The last book of the Bible describes in great detail the judgment to come, and it will be a total environmental disaster, but one that God Himself will produce. “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise” (Rev. 8:7-12). “And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. ... And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory” (Rev. 16:3-4, 8-9). “... and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. ... And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent [between 110-130 pounds]: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great” (Rev. 16:18, 20-21).
DEFECTIVE VISION (Friday Church News Notes, November 7, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is by Pastor Buddy Smith of Malenda, Queensland, Australia
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)