November 27, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 48
The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
TEMPLE INSTITUTE LOOKING FOR THE MESSIAH (Friday Church News Notes, November 27, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Temple Institute in Jerusalem has spent $27 million preparing for the coming of the Messiah. They have manufactured utensils including silver trumpets, golden candlesticks, harps, and garments for the High Priest woven from golden thread. When asked when the Messiah will come, Temple Institute director Yehuda Glick replies, “All that we know is that we are now living in the age of miracles and all of those miracles are predicted in the Book as happening on the eve of the end of days. It could well be tomorrow, but it might be another 100 years, or even 400 years” (“Jews Raise Millions to Be Ready for Coming of the Messiah,” Sydney Morning Herald, Nov. 14, 2009). The Institute has engaged two architects to design the Third Temple, “a modern building, with car parks and elevators, but which will look like the Second Temple.” Many “evangelicals” have contributed to the Temple Institute, but it is a donation to the cause of the Antichrist more than to the cause of Christ. It is the Antichrist that will use the temple built by Christ-rejecting Jews. The modern state of Israel is a fulfillment of the first half of the prophecy of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37. They have returned to the land, but there is “no breath in them” (Ezek. 37:8). They are still in rebellion to God’s Law. During the Great Tribulation, the Jews will be deceived by the Antichrist’s promise of peace and will make a covenant with him. The temple will be rebuilt, but it will become the Antichrist’s sanctuary when he presents himself as God (Dan. 9:27; Mat. 24:15; 2 Thess. 2:3-4).
TELEVISION CONTINUES ITS DESCENT INTO THE MORAL SEWER (Friday Church News Notes, November 27, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Since its inception, commercial cinema and television has pushed the moral envelope, and there is no end in sight. Man’s heart is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” and “the eyes of man are never satisfied” (Jer. 17:9; Prov. 27:20). The New York Times recently reported that profanity has increased 100 fold in prime time television in just four years. “Ever since George Carlin laid out the ‘Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television’ in 1972, television writers and broadcasters have been digging more deeply into the thesaurus, seizing on new ways to titillate, if not offend. ... As a result, words that previously were rarely heard on television suddenly turn up everywhere, while once unspeakable slurs become passé from overuse. ... It is not simply that the language is becoming more raw on broadcast networks but that the language, violence and sex that formerly was restricted to the 10 p.m. hour has migrated to earlier time slots” (“More Than Ever, You Can Say That on Television,” New York Times, Nov. 13, 2009). You would think that this testimony alone would be sufficient to warn Christian parents to toss the television, but too many are like the frog that stayed in the slowly-heating pot until it was too late to jump.
JESUS SEMINAR LOOKING FOR THE NEW AGE (Friday Church News Notes, November 27, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from the Australian Independent Baptist Newsletter,
WAS THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITTEN IN ARAMAIC? (Friday Church News Notes, November 27, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Recently I received the following question: “One of my friends claims that the New Testament was originally written in Aramaic and not Greek. He also says that most Jews at that time spoke Aramaic and none of them spoke Greek.” REPLY FROM BROTHER CLOUD: There is a lot of noise on the Internet about this “Aramaic supremacy,” but I consider this indefensible. It is true that Aramaic was spoken by Jews in Israel in Christ’s day, and Christ Himself spoke Aramaic and is quoted as such in some places (e.g., “Talitha cumi” in Mark 5:41 and “Ephphatha” in Mark 7:34). But the New Testament was written in Greek, because that was the international and commercial language of the Roman Empire. There are extant Greek manuscripts of portions of the N.T. dating to the first century, whereas the oldest extant Aramaic manuscripts are nowhere near that ancient (though we do know that the Aramaic Peshitta is an ancient translation). Jesus doubtless spoke Aramaic, Greek, and Hebrew. He read the Jewish Torah in the synagogue, which was written in Hebrew, and He spoke of jots and tittles (Mat. 5:18), which pertain to Hebrew. As for the claim that Jews did not speak Greek, that is not true. There were at least portions of the Old Testament in Greek before Christ was born. Greek and Latin were the official international languages of the Roman Empire of Christ’s day. Greek had become the trade and commerce language of the eastern Mediterranean region through the conquests of Alexander the Greek three centuries before Christ. The title on the cross was written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew (Lk. 23:38). Paul, who wrote a large portion of the New Testament, certainly spoke Greek (Acts 21:37).
CELLULAR PIT BULLS (Friday Church News Notes, November 27, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from What Darwin Didn’t Know by Geoffrey Simmons, M.D.: “Every cell has tiny packets of enzymes called lysosomes, which can be likened to vicious pit bulls living in cages inside your house. Because they can destroy most organic compounds, they can, if set loose, be very dangerous. At the cellular level, their cages are vesicles, and they are handled very carefully. Lysosomes have many uses; one purpose is defense. After a white cell has engulfed a bacterium, the germ is locked in a vesicle and taken to one of these pit bull cages, where it is torn apart limb by limb. The pieces are then placed in another vesicle and carried to the cell’s periphery to be dumped into the bloodstream. When a cell dies, the cages break open, and the same mechanism destroys the cell” (p. 51). I wonder if Richard Dawkins can tell us how the lysosomes came into existence by Darwinian processes?
ROCK MUSICIANS AS MEDIUMS (Friday Church News Notes, November 27, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In the following statements, rock musicians testify of an outside power that has taken over them while writing and performing rock music.
JIMI HENDRIX’ girlfriend, Fayne Pridgon, said: “He used to always talk about some devil or something was in him, you know” (Heartbeat of the Dragon, p. 50). Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of LED ZEPPELIN claim that they don’t know who wrote their occultic song Stairway to Heaven. After Page wrote the chords, Plant said, “All of a sudden my hand was writing out words. I just sat there and looked at the words and then I almost leaped out of my seat” (Stephen Davis, Hammer of the Gods, p. 164). Bill Ward of BLACK SABBATH said, “I’ve always considered that there was some way where we were able to channel energy, and that energy was able to be, from another source, if you like, like a higher power or something, that was actually doing the work. I’ve often thought of us just being actually just the earthly beings that played the music because it was uncanny. Some of this music came out extremely uncanny” (Black Sabbath An Oral History, p. 7). Stevie Nicks of FLEETWOOD MAC said, “It’s amazing, ’cause sometimes when we’re on stage, I feel like somebody’s just moving the pieces. ... I’m just going, ‘God, we don’t have any control over this.’ And that’s magic” (Circus, April 14, 1971). Angus Young, lead guitarist for AC-DC, said, “... it’s like I’m on automatic pilot. By the time we’re halfway through the first number someone else is steering me. I’m just along for the ride. I become possessed when I get on stage” (Hit Parader, July 1985, p. 60). Keith Richards of ROLLING STONES said, “We receive our songs by inspiration, like at a séance” (Rolling Stone, May 5, 1977, p. 55). Richards said that he received the opening riff to the wicked song “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” in a dream. He woke up and sang it into a tape recorder. Marc Storace of KROKUS said, “You can’t describe it [playing rock music] except to say it’s like a mysterious energy that comes from the metaphysical plane and into my body. It’s almost like being a medium...” (Circus, January 31, 1984, p. 70). Yoko Ono said of THE BEATLES, “They were like mediums. They weren’t conscious of all they were saying, but it was coming through them” (The Playboy Interviews with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, 1982, p. 106.). CARLOS SANTANA “keeps a yellow legal pad handy to record the music when it comes to him ‘just like a fax machine’” (Rolling Stone, March 16, 2000, p. 41). (For more examples of this see the article “Rock Musicians as Mediums” 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). This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list. To SUBSCRIBE, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/wayoflife/subscribe.html. TO UNSUBSCRIBE OR CHANGE ADDRESSES, go to the very bottom of any email received from us and click "Manage My Subscription." Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.
November 20, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 47
The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
LEE STROBEL’S DANGEROUS ASSOCIATIONS (Friday Church News Notes, November 20, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Lee Strobel, the influential author of several widely-used apologetics books including The Case for Christ, is an “evangelical” whose associations with rank heretics sounds loud warnings. In January 2010 he is scheduled to speak at the Break Forth conference in Canada with William Paul Young, author of The Shack, and Leonard Sweet, a New Age contemplative. Lighthouse Trails observes, “[Though many have admired Strobel’s work in the past], it is really no surprise that he is attending Break Forth. With his sponsorship of his son’s very contemplative/emerging ministry Metamorpha, multiple appearances at Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral over the years, and his ongoing connections with Saddleback and Willow Creek, discernment is not something that Strobel appears to give much attention to” (“Why Are Joel Rosenberg and Frank Peretti Appearing with New Age/New Spirituality Sympathizers,” Lighthouse Trails, Nov. 9, 2009). Strobel’s fellow speaker Paul Young depicts God as a woman and claims that He/She does not judge sin or send anyone to hell. Leonard Sweet promotes a New Age universalist spirituality that he calls New Light and “the Christ consciousness.” He describes it in terms of “the union of the human with the divine” which is the “center feature of all the world’s religions” (Quantum Spirituality, p. 235). He says it was experienced by Mohammed, Moses, and Krishna. He promotes Matthew Fox, M. Scott Peck, and Ken Wilber, New Agers who believe in the divinity of man. Sweet says humanity needs to learn the truth of the words of the Buddhist-Catholic priest Thomas Merton, “We are already one” (Quantum Spirituality, p. 13). The Bible warns that it is impossible to join hands with such men in ministry without becoming partaker of their evil deeds (2 John 8-11).
RULES! LAWS! (Friday Church News Notes, November 20, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - When a high school gymnastics team recently lost a title competition because the coach broke the rules, the responses were telling. They ranged, in effect, from “we understand and accept the rule” to “we are special and shouldn’t be bound by such silly rules.” On the weekend of November 7-8, Northwest High School of Shawnee Mission, Kansas, slipped from first place to third after one of the coaches inappropriately questioned a scoring decision, costing the team a one-point penalty. The school’s athletic director, Richard Grinage, admitted that the coach acted contrary to the rules, saying, “It would be similar to a called ball or strike.” The coach in question, though, was unrepentant, saying, “We were the strongest team and had the highest score with 103.9 points, but, because of a ruling that has never been enforced in 30 years; we got a 102.9 and were third place” (“Sometimes It’s Better to Just Keep Your Mouth Shut,” Homeschool.rivals.com, Nov. 11, 2009). Discussing the purpose of the rule, Becky Oakes of the National Federation for State High Associations, said that “to allow a coach to always question an official could really interrupt the flow of events for the athletes and the competition.” That’s reasonable. Games must have rules. Life must have laws. And if laws are broken and there is no penalty, the law is destroyed and anarchy reigns. This is why the holy Creator God punishes infractions of His Law, and it means that we all deserve His just punishment, because we are all sinners. But in His great love He has provided a way of salvation for those who put their trust in the cross-work of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. The unfathomable love of God cannot be understood without a comprehension of His inflexible holiness. The Gospel cannot be understood apart from the Law.
THE NEW IRON CURTAIN (Friday Church News Notes, November 20, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “The Iron Curtain” by Paul Proctor, Nov. 10, 2009, Newswithviews.com, watchman@usa.com -- “On this 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, with America deteriorating like an old and obsolete relic of our patriotic past, I’m left to wonder if the event let freedom in or tyranny out. You see, as I write, the wall is being rebuilt--not with concrete, mortar or razor wire--but instead, with satellites, cameras, computers, databases and an array of impressive and oppressive technologies that can monitor, record and analyze the movements, expressions, words and even thoughts of an unsuspecting populace now evermore willing to exchange God-given liberties and freedoms for governmental guarantees of health, safety, security and prosperity. These are the new guard towers that cast long shadows from above that to many are far more intimating than they are comforting. ... I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the wall is indeed returning--and this time it extends around the world. When the powers that be are finished with it, there will be nowhere to run and hide. It won’t protect us from the evil without, but will only chain us electronically and spiritually to the wickedness within. It doesn’t matter how many guns are purchased or how much ammo one has stored away. Ultimately, this is a spiritual battle with eternal consequences and God Himself is the only One who can deliver us from what lies ahead. The sooner we fall to our knees, confess our sins, repent and cry out for a salvation that comes only by Jesus Christ, the sooner we will have ‘the peace of God which passeth all understanding’ and the wherewithal to carry on into the future, uncertain as it may be. ‘For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved’ (Romans 10:13). That’s real freedom, liberty and security--the kind the Apostle Paul sang about joyously while bound and imprisoned for his faith as told in the 16th chapter of Acts. Without it, there is no hope---not in this life or in the life to come.”
AL GORE’S FINANCIAL STAKE IN CAP AND TRADE (Friday Church News Notes, November 20, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Gore’s Gravy Train,” OneNewsNow, Nov. 4, 2009: “It seems Al Gore is playing both sides of the fence on the energy front. He has made millions of dollars in private energy ventures--and now, according to the New York Times, it seems he will profit significantly from the government energy policies for which he is lobbying. Marc Morano of ClimateDepot.com says Gore stands to reap huge profits from ‘cap-and-trade’ legislation that would mandate carbon trading. ... Morano notes that if Gore can get Washington to pass cap-and-trade legislation, he will be in a perfect position to become the world’s first ‘carbon billionaire.’ Currently, Gore’s net worth is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions.” (For more about this see the article “Carbon Trading: The Hypocrisy and the Foolishness” at the Way of Life web site.)
IRANIAN PRESIDENT SAYS OBAMA MUST CHOOSE ISRAEL OR IRAN (Friday Church News Notes, November 20, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 11, 2009: “Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the US to choose between Israel and Iran on Tuesday night, according to Iranian state media. Ahmadinejad said that for a real change in relations to take place, a choice must be made. Speaking in Istanbul at the 25th Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Iranian president said that it was up to US President Barack Obama to illustrate his motto of ‘Change.’ ‘The support of both Israel and Iran can’t go hand in hand,’ he was quoted as saying by IRNA. ‘No change is made unless great choices are made.’ Addressing the same conference a day earlier, Ahmadinejad said that capitalist excesses caused the global economic meltdown and are un-Islamic. ... Ahmadinejad did not mention Iran’s struggling economy.”
WORSHIP SERVICES FOR PETS (Friday Church News Notes, November 20, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Some churches in the U.S. are holding worship services for animals, believing that they have souls. Covenant Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles recently started a Canines service, which features a 30-minute service with doggie beds, dog treats, hymns about dogs, and prayers for dogs (both living and dead). Pastor Tom Eggebeen hopes it will “reinvigorate the church’s connection with the community, provide solace to elderly members, and possibly attract new worshippers who are crazy about their four-legged friends” (“Gone to the Dogs,” AP, Nov. 8, 2009). Eggebeen says that “when we love a dog and a dog loves us, that’s a part of God.” Laura Hobgood-Oster, religion professor at Southwestern University, found 500 churches that have blessings for animals and about six that hold pet worship services. One in a Boston suburb is called Woof ‘n Worship. One of the attendees at Eggebeen’s Canines service said, “I don’t have any kids, so my pets have always been my children.” In fact, though animals can be a blessing, because God made them for man, they are not children and they don’t have eternal souls. They have no consciousness of God, and when they die, they die.
CLIMATE CHIEF HYPOCRITICALLY SAYS GIVE UP MEAT TO SAVE THE PLANET (Friday Church News Notes, November 20, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from the Australian Independent Baptist Newsletter,
THE INDEPENDENT BAPTIST MUTUAL ADMIRATION SOCIETY OF COMPROMISE (Friday Church News Notes, November 20, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following warning is edited from a sermon by Pastor Terry Coomer, founder and director of For Love of the Family ministries (P.O. Box 535, Elwood, IN 46036, 765-552-1973, tlcoomer@juno.com, http://www.churchpages.org/fortheloveofthefamily). “Quite frankly, I am just amazed when I talk to Christian leaders and pastors. I recently conversed with a man who talked about a Christian college where he is the leader. He told me about wanting to turn things around. He talked about right music, right dress, and right stand on the Bible, which are very admirable things. Yet the leaders and teachers in this school do all the things that he privately admitted to be wrong. I ask you, how can a man take a stand for dress standards when he has none? How can a man take a stand against Southern Gospel music when he allows it right in his church or allows those to come to speak that promote it? How can a man take a stand for the Bible when he believes all texts are okay? The answer is that he cannot, and he allows these things in his church because it appeals to the flesh. Romans 6:12 says, ‘Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.’ Revival can never come to a church or a nation as long as the leaders’ lives are dictated by the ‘lusts of the flesh.’ ... Folks, the real need today is not for more programs, but real Christian holy living. WE HAVE A MUTUAL ADMIRATION SOCIETY OF COMPROMISE TODAY. Our church takes a stand against the things mentioned above and will not compromise them. This does not mean that people need to be enemies, yet there are things I cannot and should not participate in and just call it a difference of opinion. If a person has a real desire to change and asks for help, we help them and provide information, but the idea that I should have compromisers preach in my church to try to help them or to be a political person is utter nonsense. Many do this under the guise that the people they invite do not understand the issues yet. No, my friend, they are Biblical compromisers, and if you invite them to speak or associate with them in the ministry you are participating in their ‘living for the lusts of the flesh’ lifestyle. It is a serious flaw that is killing the spiritual fervor of our churches, church people, Bible colleges, and children. We are teaching them it is okay to live for the lusts of the flesh and to live a compromising life. It is shameful and a direct violation of the Scripture and is willful sinful disobedience. We need to remember that someday, maybe today, we will stand before God and give an account for how we have lived our lives. Titus 2:11-12 says, ‘For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.’”
CONCLUSION: The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14). This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list. To SUBSCRIBE, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/wayoflife/subscribe.html. TO UNSUBSCRIBE OR CHANGE ADDRESSES, go to the very bottom of any email received from us and click "Manage My Subscription." Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.
November 13, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 46
The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
MASS MURDER ON U.S. MILITARY BASE WAS AN ACT OF ISLAMIC TERRORISM (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In spite of attempts on the part of some government officials and media personalities to blame something else, it is clear that Nidal Malik Hasan’s mass murder of 13 people and wounding of 31 others at Fort Hood Army Base in Texas was an act of Islamic terrorism. Hasan cried “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah Is the Greatest”) before opening fire, and one of his neighbors said that he gave her a Koran at 9am that morning before heading to the base and said, “I’m going to do good work for God” (“Fort Hood Gunman Had Told US Military Colleagues That Infidels Should Have Throats Cut,” Telegraph, London, Nov. 8, 2009). Hasan had told some of his colleagues that “infidels” should have their throats cut and that they should be set on fire. Earlier this summer he cheered the shooting death of a Little Rock Army recruiter by a Muslim (“The Military’s Blunders,” New York Post, Nov. 7, 2009). In a lecture at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (where he worked prior to being assigned to Fort Hood in July of this year) Hasan ranted that “non-believers should be beheaded and have boiling oil poured down their throats.” While stationed at Walter Reed, Hasan attended the Dar al-Hijrah mosque at the same time as two of the 9/11 terrorists (“Fort Hood Shooting: Texas Army Killer Linked to September 11 Terrorists,” The Telegraph, Nov. 7, 2009). The imam at that time was Anwar al-Awlaki, who now lives in Yemen. Charles Allen, former under-secretary for intelligence at the Department of Homeland Security, described him as “an al-Qaeda supporter who targets US Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks.” Val Finell, an Army doctor who studied with Hasan, said he and others questioned Hasan’s allegiance to the U.S. Constitution and his commitment to the defense of America (“Officials: U.S. Aware of Hasan Efforts to Contact al Qaeda,” ABC News, Nov. 9, 2009). Dr. Finnell said that most of the officers did not file complaints for “fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim solder” (“Fort Hood Gunman Had Told US Military Colleagues,” The Telegraph, Nov. 8). That exposes the foolish “political correctness” that has taken over the U.S. military, which is more zealous to please the feminists, environmentalists, Muslims, and lawyers, than it is to fulfill its obligation to protect America from all enemies. The root problem, though, is not the weakness of the military; the root problem is the apostasy and cowardliness of the nation’s preachers, which refuse to proclaim the fear of God boldly and without compromise. As a result, the nation has been robbed of its wisdom and power. The solution, therefore, from the Bible believer’s side is not to focus on politics and immerse himself in conservative talk radio; the solution is to focus on godliness, in our individual lives and in our churches. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
THE U.S. MILITARY’S BLINDERS TOWARD THE DANGER OF ISLAM (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “The Military’s Blinders,” by Paul Sperry, New York Post, Nov. 7, 2009: “[Mass murderer and Islamic terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan’s] superiors put up blinders to many red flags because Hasan--who wore traditional Islamic robe and kufi and prayed five times a day--practiced the ‘religion of peace.’ And they’re not supposed to make a connection between that religion and terrorism, even as they prosecute a war on Islamic terrorism. The Pentagon has made well-publicized moves to show the military does not equate Islam with terror, and is making efforts to accommodate more Muslims in the military, whose ranks now exceed 15,000. It recently dedicated a new Muslim prayer center at Quantico, commissioned the first Muslim chaplain at the Air Force Academy and inaugurated the first Muslim prayer room at West Point. Good and decent Muslims certainly serve admirably. But how does the military know which Muslims will put allegiance to country ahead of allegiance to Allah as interpreted by radical Islam? A conflict obviously exists for soldiers like Hasan--and for Sgt. Hasan Akbar, the Muslim convert who in 2003 fragged commanding officers at a military camp outside Iraq, killing two and wounding 15 others. Akbar said at the time he did it out of loyalty to the ummah, the international community of Muslims. ... Within months of Akbar’s traitorous 2003 attacks, the Defense Intelligence Agency issued an internal report warning that Muslim soldiers pose a possible security threat--which the Pentagon by and large ignored. Then, in 2005, after the FBI broke up a Muslim spy ring at Gitmo that involved Muslim military personnel, the Pentagon’s counterspying unit, the Counterintelligence Field Activity, warned brass that Islamic legal doctrine was compromising devout Muslim soldiers’ loyalty. ... A couple of years ago, it became known that 10 of the 14 Muslim chaplains in the US military had trained at an Islamic school that the FBI raided after 9/11, a school still run by an unindicted terrorist co-conspirator. Members of Congress led by Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) last year asked the Pentagon to use the FBI to screen groups that certify chaplains. The Pentagon replied it would be ‘legally problematic’ to do so--even though some of these chaplains have been radicalizing soldiers. ... Last year, Hassan Abujihaad, a Navy signalman, was convicted of tipping off al Qaeda about battlegroup movements in the Persian Gulf, including disclosing classified documents detailing the group’s vulnerability to terror attack. ... Other terrorists are knocking on the recruiting-station door. One of the convicted Fort Dix terrorists said he wanted to join the Army so he could kill US soldiers from the ‘inside.’”
ECUMENISTS CELEBRATE ANNIVERSARY OF “JUSTIFICATION AGREEMENT” (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - On October 31, various liberal ecumenical churches observed the tenth anniversary of the signing of the “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.” Representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation signed it on October 31, 1999, and the World Methodist Council signed on in 2006. Many deluded “evangelicals” have praised the declaration, claiming that Rome now agrees with “Protestants” on this doctrine, but in fact Rome has given up nothing in this cleverly-worded declaration. The document defends the false Catholic sacramental gospel in every point, which is that justification is the IMPARTATION of new life to the sinner whereby he is enabled to know and seek God, and it is a PROCESS that begins with baptism and requires the doing of good works and participation in the church sacraments. Point number 11 of the Joint Declaration says, “Justification ... occurs in the reception of the Holy Spirit in baptism...” The Council of Trent cursed anyone who would dare to say that justification is by faith alone through grace alone by Christ’s completed atonement alone, and this ecumenical declaration does not draw back from that one iota. Consider the following statement from the sixth session of the Council of Trent: “If anyone says that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in divine mercy, which remits sins for Christ’s sake, or that it is this confidence alone that justifies us, LET HIM BE ANATHEMA” (Canons Concerning Justification, Canon 12). If the Roman Catholic Church were suddenly to agree with Bible-believing non-Catholics that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone by Christ’s complete and all-sufficient sacrifice alone WITHOUT WORKS OR SACRAMENTS OR BAPTISM OR PRIESTHOOD, it would bring the curses of its own infallible popes upon its head. For more on this see “Liberal Lutherans and Roman Catholics Agree to Deny the Gospel” and “How the Roman Catholic Church Denies Salvation by Grace Alone” at the Way of Life web site. There is a search engine.)
PARIS DIVORCE FAIR DRAWS THOUSANDS (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Paris was the site of France’s first ever divorce fair on November 7-8, and an estimated 4,000 attended. In France, nearly one of two marriages ends in divorce and the “New Start” trade fair was geared toward providing services to this large market. Attendees could consult lawyers and tarot card readers, visit makeover specialists, make an appointment with plastic surgeons, and have their confidence level pumped up by self-esteem coaches. Seminars ranged from “How to Re-seduce your partner using the Gestalt method” to “Meeting on the Web.” Brigitte Gaumet, the fair’s organizer, said she got the idea after French President Nicolas Sarkozy divorced his second wife soon after taking office. “For me,” she said, “that crystallized that divorce has lost its stigma and is really a commonplace thing” (“Paris New Fair Targets Divorce Market,” AP, Nov. 9, 2009). Divorce is always a tragedy, and though it is a reality in this sin-cursed world and sometimes unavoidable, it should never be encouraged or celebrated. The worldwide breakdown in marriage is a sign of the end times. “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us” (Psalms 2:1-3).
AMERICA’S DECLINING AFFAIR WITH MARRIAGE (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from The Washington Post, Nov. 9, 2009: “The institution of marriage in the United States has steadily declined in strength over the past four decades, according to a report released last month by a panel of scholars and advocates. The U.S. Marriage Index, the brainchild of David Blankenhorn, president of the Institute for American Values, seeks to quantify the health of marriage in the United States in the same way economists use leading indicators to parse the state of the country’s economy. ... The index combined five statistics--the percentage of adults between the ages of 20 and 54 who are married, the percentage of adults who reported being a ‘very happy’ with their marriages, the percentage of first marriages intact, the percentage of births to married parents and the percentage of children living with their own married parents--to reach a composite score illustrating the state of America’s nuptial unions. In 1970, that score totaled 76.2; by 2008 it had dropped to 60.3. Almost 90 percent of children were born to married parents in 1970; last year it was 60 percent. Of adults between ages 20 and 54, 78.6 percent were married in 1970, compared with 57.2 percent in 2008. The portion of first marriages that remained intact dropped from 77.4 percent in 1970 to 61.2 percent last year. ... Blankenhorn points to statistics showing that kids who grow up in homes where their parents are married to each other are, on average, less likely to live in poverty, to have emotional or behavioral problems, to engage in premature sexual activity, to use drugs or commit suicide. ‘Every single pathology or problem or difficulty a child can experience--every single one--growing up outside of a married-couple home elevates the risk,’ he says.”
MOVIE STAR RIPS LEVITICUS 18:22 OUT OF BIBLES (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Ian McKellen, a popular British movie start who played the wizard Galdalf in “Lord of the Rings,” said in an interview with Detail magazine that he tears Leviticus 18 out of Bibles in hotel rooms. McKellen, a homosexual, says, “I’m not proudly defacing the book, but it’s a choice between removing that page and throwing away the whole Bible” (“Ian McKellen Rips Leviticus,” Popeater.com, Nov. 2, 2009). In fact, the whole Bible condemns homosexuality. This begins in the Bible’s first book, with the establishment of marriage between one man and one woman as the divinely-ordained context for the sexual relationship. God did not make a Steve for Adam; He made an Eve. The last book of the Bible continues to condemn homosexuality. John says that those who have their part in the lake of fire include “the abominable” (Rev. 21:8), and homosexuality is one of the things called an abomination in Scripture. A glorious way of redemption has been provided and offered to mankind through the sacrifice of God’s own Son, but those who rip pages out of God’s Word and thus deny the holiness and just judgment of God upon sin have no part in His grace and mercy. You cannot be saved unless you acknowledge that you are a sinner in need of salvation.
PLANNED PARENTHOOD DIRECTOR HAS CHANGE OF HEART (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Abby Johnson stepped down as the director of the Planned Parenthood office in Bryan, Texas, because of a change of heart after watching an ultrasound of an abortion. She said, “I just thought I can’t do this any more, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that’s it” (“Planned Parenthood Leader Resigns,” KBTX News 3, Nov. 2, 2009). Johnson, who worked for Planned Parenthood for eight years, says, “I feel so pure in heart. I don’t have this guilt. I don’t have this burden on me anymore. And that’s how I know that this conversion was a spiritual conversion.” Johnson says that Planned Parenthood has focused on “getting more abortions in the door.” She now supports the Coalition for Life and prays for volunteers outside the Planned Parenthood facility. The organization has sued Johnson and Coalition for Life, claiming that they “would be irreparably harmed by the disclosure of certain information.” Indeed, the truth hurts!
CONCLUSION: The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14). This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list. To SUBSCRIBE, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/wayoflife/subscribe.html. TO UNSUBSCRIBE OR CHANGE ADDRESSES, go to the very bottom of any email received from us and click "Manage My Subscription." Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.
November 6, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 45
The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
YOUTH MINISTRY LEADER SAYS THAT THE COOL PARTY JESUS WOULD LOVE “THE BEATLES” VIDEO GAME (Friday Church News Notes, November 6, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Lane Palmer, of Dare 2 Share, an interdenominational youth ministry, claims that Jesus would like the new video game “The Beatles: Rock Band.” Palmer rejoices that by this means “thousands, if not millions, of teens are being introduced to the Beatles magic,” and he can envision “Jesus and the disciples laughing it up over a video game if they had a 1st Century PS3” (“Would Jesus Love “The Beatles: Rock Band?” Dare2Share.org, Oct. 28, 2009). Palmer bases this on a gross misreading of Jesus’ actions at the wedding in Cana as described in John 2. In emerging church fashion, Palmer thinks that Jesus turned water into alcoholic wine and thereby pumped up the wedding party’s level of intoxication-driven fun. He says, “[Jesus[ was hanging out at social events that seriously offended the stuffy stuck up religious folks. They weren’t mad because He went to parties; they were ticked because He had such a great time at them ... the reason Jesus went to parties and hung out with ‘sinners’ was not to judge or condemn them.” The emerging church looks upon this fallen world as a party to be enjoyed and participates freely in the world’s music, art, fashion, movies, etc. It “communicates with” the world’s culture rather than condemning it and has created Jesus in its own image, but the emerging church’s party Jesus is a figment of human imagination. Though Christ was a friend of sinners in that He came to seek and to save them (Luke 19:10) and was involved socially with sinners, attending their weddings and feasts, He was not a “party animal.” He lived and preached righteousness in every situation. He was a friend of sinners even while being “separate from sinners” (Heb. 7:26) because of His absolute holiness. Matthew 11:19 says that Christ was “a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners,” but this was what His enemies said about Him. In fact, He was neither gluttonous nor a winebibber. He was a friend of publicans and sinners not in that He partied with them but in that He loved them and sought to save them. Christ was not “non-judgmental.” He reproved sin. He exposed the rich young ruler’s covetousness (Mat. 19:16-22) and the woman at the well’s fornication (John 4:16-18). Christ often warned about eternal, fiery hell (e.g., Mat. 5:22, 29, 30, 7:19; 10:28; 11:23; 13:40, 42, 50; 23:33; Mark 9:43-48; John 3:36). His very first message was “repent” (Mat. 4:17), and He warned that those who do not repent will perish (Luke 13:3; John 3:36). He called people evil (Mat. 7:11; 12:34). He looked upon people with anger for their hardness of heart (Mark 3:5). He warned people to stop sinning (John 5:14; 8:11). None of this sounds very “cool” in a worldly sense, nor would it be an effective way to keep a worldly party hopping!
IS FOX NEWS A FRIEND OF THE TRUTH? (Friday Church News Notes, November 6, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In last week’s edition of the Friday Church News Notes, we published a report entitled “CNN Last Place among U.S. Cable News Networks.” In conclusion I wrote, “FOX News is more conservative, somewhat less a voice for big government, and more patriotic than CNN (which is not saying much). That said, FOX News is no friend of the truth, and its objective is more to entertain and make money than it is to provide substantive news.” I was surprised to receive several e-mails from readers asking if I really meant what I said. My answer is an emphatic yes. FOX News is owned by Rupert Murdock, one of the biggest purveyors of filth entertainment on earth. Sure, FOX is more “conservative” than CNN, but it is not a friend of Jesus Christ or the Bible, and that is the definition of the truth (John 14:6; 17:17). Not even FOX’s most conservative people, such as Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck, are friends of God’s infallible Word. If you watch FOX much you will hear every sort of sorry humanistic philosophy. With very few exceptions, they push the same moral relativism that CNN pushes. Do they plainly oppose the homosexual agenda on biblical moral grounds? Do they expose the godless lies of Darwinism? Those are two of the greatest enemies that Bible believers face today, but FOX is essentially mute in the face of this vicious onslaught. If you watch FOX News you will also be bombarded with the filthy pop culture. On that line they worship Hollywood and Nashville as fervently as CNN or MSNBC. One of my readers recently wrote, “It was only on deputation when we had more access to TV’s and found when we turned them on, hours would easily be wasted, even just watching FOX News. Not to mention having to continually turn the commercials off. It got so annoying you either wanted to just leave it alone and not turn it off or miss something if you did turn it off. Unfortunately, leaving it on would win, and being aware of this we solidified in our minds we would not have a TV in our home, or cable for that matter. Both the programming and the commercials are written by non-Christians who are trying to influence others with their pagan humanistic philosophies and lifestyles. Cheating, illicit sex, drugs, homosexuality, teens in adult situations, Darwinism, cussing, and all kinds of things Christians shouldn’t be setting before their eyes. Numerous times, even on ‘conservative’ FOX News, they had a story on prostitutes and actually showed a video of pole dancers.” That reader has it right.
DAWKINS: THE BLIND BOOKMAKER (Friday Church News Notes, November 6, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Richard Dawkins, the atheistic author of The Blind Watchmaker, claims that there is no evidence for intelligent design in nature. He ridicules the argument from design, claiming that design in the world, though “apparent,” is not real, because Darwinian naturalism can explain everything. He says that atheists should be proud about their position because it is superior to and more reasonable than the doctrine of a Creator God. The Bible says, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world ARE CLEARLY SEEN, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). If the invisible things of God are clearly seen in creation, why can’t Richard Dawkins see them? The answer is that he is spiritually blind. I have a blind preacher friend who lives in the Himalayan Mountains and has preached in our church in Kathmandu. If he were to say to me, “Brother Cloud, I have heard that there are beautiful snow-covered mountains nearby, but I don’t believe it because I haven’t seen them,” I would say to him, “Prem, you can’t see them because you are blind. I can describe them to you, but you still wouldn’t be able to see them.” Prem won’t be able to see until he has his resurrection body, and Dawkins won’t be able to see unless he humbles himself before the Almighty Creator God, admits his fallen condition and rebellion against God’s Law and God’s just judgment, and casts himself upon God’s mercy in Jesus Christ. Dawkins has nothing to be proud of; he is the poor blind bookmaker. Before the watchmaker argument, he can only huff and puff with Darwinian myths, but he cannot refute it. In fact, it is irrefutable. The mindboggling complexity and design we find in nature--the wing, the eye, the heart, the brain, the butterfly, DNA, pollination, human intelligence--cannot be explained by “natural selection” or “chance mutations, nor can it be refuted by Darwinian “just so” stories.
VICTIM OF ISLAMIC HONOR KILLING IN ARIZONA DIES (Friday Church News Notes, November 6, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Noor Faleh Almaleki, who was run over by her father in Arizona two weeks ago, died on November 2. After fleeing to England, her father was arrested and brought back to America to face trial. County prosecutor Stephanie Low told the media, “By his own admission, this was an intentional act and the reason was that his daughter had brought shame on him and his family. This was an attempt at an honor killing” (“‘Westernized Woman’ Allegedly Hit by Dad’s Car Dies,” AP, Nov. 3, 2009). The Human Rights Watch defines honor killings as “acts of violence, usually murder, committed by male family members against female family members, who are held to have brought dishonor upon the family.” These are very common in the Middle East and Turkey. According to the United Nations, 5,000 females are murdered every year (“Murder in the Family,” Fox News, July 26, 2008). The perpetrators usually get off scot free or with a light sentence. Islamic apologists pretend that honor killings are “cultural” rather than a product of Islam, but Jihad Watch reports that in 2003 the Jordanian Parliament voted down ON ISLAMIC GROUNDS a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings, and Al-Jazeera reported that “Islamists and conservatives said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values” (“Muslim Ran Down Daughter,” Jihad Watch, Oct. 22, 2009). As we documented in last week’s Friday Church News Notes, honor killings are increasing in the United States.
IN ESSENTIALS UNITY; IN NON-ESSENTIALS LIBERTY; IN ALL THINGS CHARITY (Friday Church News Notes, November 6, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The New Evangelical philosophy is often stated by the dictum, “In essentials unity; in non-essentials liberty; in all things charity,” (commonly attributed to Augustine, but actually first stated by the 17th-century Lutheran Rupertus Meldenius (a.k.a. Peter Meiderlin). This became the rallying cry of the Moravians, who did many good things but refused to reject the heresy of infant baptism and promoted unity above the absolute truth of God’s Word. The same dictum has been heartily adopted by modern New Evangelicals. They might stand for ten or twenty or thirty “cardinals,” but they refuse to make an issue of the WHOLE counsel of God. In contrast, Paul exemplified exactly what they neglect to do (Acts 20:27), and in this, he was merely following in His Master’s footsteps. Jesus commanded His disciples to teach converts “to observe ALL things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Mat. 28:20). Paul instructed Timothy to keep the truth “without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Tim. 6:14). A spot is a small, seemingly insignificant thing. I challenge anyone to show me where the Scripture encourages the believer to “stand for the cardinal truth and downplay the peripherals.” Jude instructed every believer to “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). As Jude didn’t delineate what part of the faith is to be defended, the obvious meaning is that whatever aspect of the faith is under attack, God’s people should rally to its defense rather than pretending that it is a “non-essential.”
CHRISTIAN MAN FIRED FOR STATING HIS BELIEF IN TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE (Friday Church News Notes, November 6, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In August, Peter Vadala was fired by the Brookstone Corporation for telling a lesbian co-worker that his Christian faith did not accept same-sex marriage. This occurred at his job as deputy manager of the Brookstone store at Boston’s Logan Airport, after he had been badgered by the co-worker throughout the day. She was flaunting the fact that she was getting “married.” The lesbian contacted the Human Resources department, and two days later Vadala’s job was terminated (“Massachusetts man Fired from Corporation over Christian Belief in Traditional Marriage,” MassResistance.org, Oct. 30, 2009). The company told Peter that “in the State of Massachusetts, same-sex marriage is legal” and his actions were deemed to be “inappropriate” and “harassment.” He was even accused of “imposing his beliefs upon others.” So much for homosexual tolerance.
MORE DANGEROUS HINDU GROUPS EMERGE IN INDIA (Friday Church News Notes, November 6, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from CompassDirect.org, Oct. 29: “After more than a decade of severe persecution, India’s Christian minority is growing increasingly concerned over the mushrooming of newer and deadlier Hindu extremist groups. ... Claiming to be breakaway factions of the RSS (the most influential Hindu extremist organization), new groups with even more extreme ideology are surfacing. The Abhinav Bharat (Pride of India), the Rashtriya Jagran Manch (National Revival Forum), the Sri Ram Sene (Army of god Rama), the Hindu Dharam Sena (Army for Hindu Religion) and the Sanatan Sanstha (Eternal Organization) have launched numerous violent attacks on Christian and Muslim minorities. The Sri Ram Sene was one of the most active groups that launched a series of attacks on Christians and their property in and around Mangalore city in the southern state of Karnataka in August-September 2008. In Jabalpur city in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, suspected extremists from the Abhinav Bharat attacked the Rhema Gospel Church on Sept. 28, according to the Global Council of Indian Christians. They had earlier attacked Pastor Sam Oommen and his family in the same city on Aug. 3. The Hindu Dharam Sena has become especially terrifying for Christians in Jabalpur. Between 2006 and 2008, Jabalpur was plagued by at least three anti-Christian attacks every month, according to The Caravan magazine. In the western state of Gujarat and other parts of the country, the Rashtriya Jagran Manch has also violently attacked Christians, according to news website Counter Currents.”
CONCLUSION: The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14). This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list. To SUBSCRIBE, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/wayoflife/subscribe.html. TO UNSUBSCRIBE OR CHANGE ADDRESSES, go to the very bottom of any email received from us and click "Manage My Subscription." Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.