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.

GLENN BECK’S DIVINE DESTINY MOVEMENT (Friday Church News Notes, August 27, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Mormon talk show host Glenn Beck is hosting an ecumenical political gathering tomorrow at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The Divine Destiny event is aimed to help “heal the soul” of America by overlooking religious differences to achieve a unity of “shared values and principles.” The event is intended to “unite” “pastors, ministers and clergy” of “all faiths.” Beck said he has reached out to “the biggest names in faith” and “asked them to help me put differences aside and to reach out with one another.” (He has not released a list of the names of the participants.) Beck even urges his followers to “prepare to witness mighty and powerful miracles.” The fact is that Beck’s Divine Destiny is part of America’s problem rather than the solution. The root of America’s ills are spiritual and moral. It is particularly the apostasy and compromise of the churches, and Beck’s program is just more of the same. Beck is urging professing Christians to unite with people “of faith” of any and all religious persuasions. This is a direct affront to God’s Word, which forbids true Christians to unite with unbelievers and heretics. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel”? (2 Corinthians 6:14-15). “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17). “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:5). “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed” (2 John 9-10). These Scriptures could not be plainer. Born again Christians are to separate from apostates and heretics, and Glenn Beck is a heretic. God’s people are forbidden to join hands with unbelievers for spiritual activities, and Beck’s Divine Destiny event is definitely billed as a spiritual activity. How can we possibly “heal our souls” by disobeying God’s Word? Glenn Beck is doubtless a sincere man who genuinely wants to help America, but spiritually he is the blind leading the blind. His movement is confusion of the highest order, and it will only lead to greater divine judgment on our nation.

AN EX-MORMON’S WARNING ABOUT GLENN BECK’S FALSE CHRISTIANITY (Friday Church News Notes, August 27, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Ed Decker Responds,” WorldviewWeekend.com, August 21, 2010: “Let’s cut to the chase here. Glenn Beck is a dedicated Temple Mormon who claims that 80% of the Mormon faith is built around the temple and the ‘Time and all eternity’ effects of the rituals there-in. According to LDS scripture and sacred instructions worthy Mormons receive in the temple, the god Beck serves is a physical, exalted man who lives with a harem of goddess wives on a planet near the great star Kolob. This god, Elohim, is the god of this one planet earth only. He is a man/god raised up from within this universe. The God of the Bible is the One who created the universes.  The Bible says that he is not a man, there were no gods before Him, none beside Him or after Him, and He knows not any.  This True God created all the heavens and was before all creation. He did not have to earn his godhood being obedient to some other god up the chain of command. Beyond that, As crazy as this may sound, understand that Glenn Beck learned all the secret/sacred signs, tokens and special handshakes he will need as he, hopefully, enters his own godhood, receives his own planet and goddess wives to help him populate it. Yes, Glenn Beck strives to become a god, himself. The Jesus Beck serves, is not God come in the flesh. He is a separate 'god' who was elected to be our savior by a council of other gods. The Jesus of Mormonism is the spirit brother and equal of Lucifer until the council voted in Jesus. This Jesus died on the cross so all mankind would be resurrected to be judged for their works, their obedience to the laws and ordinances of the [LDS] Gospel. ... Ed Decker, founder of Saints Alive, was a Mormon for 20 years of his adult life. He was a member of the Melchizedek priesthood, a Temple Mormon and active in many church positions. Through a crisis in his life, Ed met the real Jesus and his life was changed forever.”

NORTH KOREA EXECUTES THREE HOUSE CHURCH LEADERS (Friday Church News Notes, August 27, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from The Christian Post, Aug. 19, 2010: “North Korea executed three leaders of the underground church and jailed 20 other Christians, reported a news agency focused on Asia. Although the execution and imprisonment happened in mid-May, news only got out this month. According to AsiaNews, North Korean police raided a house in Kuwal-dong in Pyungsung county, Pyongan province, and arrested all 23 believers who were gathered there for religious activity. The leaders were sentenced to death and soon after executed. The other 20 were reportedly sent to the infamous prison labor camp No. 15 in Yodok. The 23 Christians had come to faith after some of them traveled to China on business and met with church members there. ... There are an estimated 400,000 Christians in North Korea who live under the constant threat of imprisonment, torture or public execution if authorities discover their Christian faith. Being a Christian in North Korea is considered one of the worst crimes by the oppressive government. All citizens are forced to adhere to a personality cult revolving around the worship of the current dictator and his deceased father.”

SOUTHERN BAPTIST SAYS WE CAN’T REACH THE WORLD TODAY WITHOUT ROCK MUSIC (Friday Church News Notes, August 27, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Speaking at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in 2007 in San Antonio, Texas, Rob Zinn said the denomination must be willing to change its methodology to reach this generation, and one of those changes includes music. He asked grandparents in the audience, “How many of you love those grandkids enough you’d be willing to change your music for them?” He then said: “[I]f we’re going to win [young people] to Jesus in this culture, we’re going to have to be willing to change our mindsets. ... Folks, what you did in the ’40s and what you did in the ’50s isn’t going to win this culture to Jesus” (“Wrap-up,” Baptist Press, June 15, 2007). Zinn, who is the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, Highland, California, has been brainwashed and led astray by the contemporary church growth philosophy and probably by fellow California Southern Baptist pastor Rick Warren. Zinn committed three errors in this one short statement. First, nowhere does the Bible say we are to win this culture to Jesus. Rather we are to win sinners to Jesus, and they are won today the same way they were won 2,000 years ago. They are won by the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the quickening power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Gospel that is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). Second, nowhere in the New Testament is music used in evangelism, so the subject of music is irrelevant to the subject of soul winning. Third, the rock music that Zinn is referring to is of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and cannot be properly used in the service of a thrice-holy God. I have grandchildren, and I love them enough to warn them not to be conformed to this world and also to warn them of confused Baptist pastors who will attempt to lead them astray from the Bible to a man-made philosophy and program.

SOUTHERN BAPTIST PRESIDENT SAYS “TERTIARY” DOCTRINES SHOULD BE LAID ASIDE FOR EVANGELISM AND UNITY (Friday Church News Notes, August 27, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Many speakers at the 2007 Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting said the denomination needs to lay aside “tertiary” doctrines for the sake of evangelism and unity. The theme was set by SBC president Frank Page, who was re-elected that year to his second term. He called for a passion of reaching the lost rather than infighting and finding faults with others (“Southern Baptists Hear a Call for Unity,” AP, June 12, 2007). He said that for “Jesus’ sake, and the sake of His kingdom on earth, we must not make every doctrinal issue a crusade” and “we have no right to judge others with whom we disagree about secondary and tertiary doctrines” (“Southern Baptists Urged to Overcome Factionalism to Win the Lost,” Christian Post, June 13, 2007). These “secondary” doctrines are things such as Calvinism and non-Calvinism, cessationism and non-cessationism of the apostolic gifts, views on Bible prophecy, and views on women in ministry. The New Testament’s doctrine of unity is much narrower than Page’s New Evangelical approach. Timothy was exhorted to allow “no other doctrine” (1 Timothy 1:3) and was instructed to “keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 6:14). The commandment that Timothy was to keep without spot is that which Paul had delivered to him in this particular epistle, the theme of which is church truth (1 Timothy 3:15). Paul had commanded Timothy about such things as the woman’s role in ministry (1 Timothy 2), the very type of thing that is considered “tertiary” among evangelicals today. But Timothy was instructed to keep all such things without spot, and to do so requires that we narrow our fellowship severely in these apostate, compromised times. There is no contradiction between holding to the Bible’s strict position on doctrine and having a zeal for evangelism. The Southern Baptist Convention’s failure to win people to Christ, which has been bemoaned often, is not due to divisions caused by “secondary” doctrine. That is a smokescreen. It is due, rather, to the worldliness and spiritual lukewarmness that is rampant in SBC congregations. I grew up in Convention churches, and the situation is much worse now than when I was young, and it was very bad then.

NON-ESSENTIALS? (Friday Church News Notes, August 27, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from the late H. A. Ironside’s commentary on Daniel: “I have heard Christians refer to certain precepts in the Scriptures as non-essentials. But we may rest assured there are no non-essentials in our Bibles. ‘The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.’ When people talk of non-essentials in regard to anything concerning which God has revealed His mind, it is well to ask, ‘Essential or non-essential to what?’ If it be a question of the soul’s salvation, undoubtedly the one great essential is faith in His blessed Son, whose finished work alone avails to put away sin and procure peace with God. But if it be a question of what is essential to the enjoyment of communion with God--essential to obtaining the Lord’s approval at the judgment-seat of Christ--then it is well to remember that in everything the believer is sanctified to the obedience of Christ.”

THE HEART OF SEPARATION (Friday Church News Notes, August 27, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” We see in 2 Timothy 2:22 that separation is not just a “negative” issue. Separation is a matter of spiritual and moral protection. Timothy was told to “flee youthful lusts.” That is the image of running from some great danger. God does not want to take pleasurable things away from His people. He is the Author of every good gift (James 1:17). When He made Adam and Eve, He put them in the loveliest Garden one could imagine. He designed it for them to provide every wonderful and pleasurable thing. God is not some cruel person who wants to harass people with meaningless laws. God is the most compassionate, giving Person in existence. His command to separate from the evil things of the world is designed to protect us from spiritual and moral destruction. It is designed to keep us out of the devil’s cruel clutches. In 2 Timothy 2:22 we are also reminded that separation is a heart matter. Timothy was instructed to pursue holiness “with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” If the heart is right, the believer will respond positively to the Lord’s command to separate from evil. Before I was saved, I grew my hair long as a flag of rebellion and pride. I refused to cut it for love or money, but after I was saved I cut it when I was challenged by an elderly woman that long hair was not befitting a young man who claims to be a follower of Christ. I cut it because my heart was right with God and I wanted to do His will instead of my own, and I did not want to offend people. We also see in 2 Timothy 2:22 that separation is a replacement matter. Timothy was instructed not only to flee from sinful things but also to “follow” godly things. It is not enough to give up sensual music and worldly fashions and friends that hinder one’s spiritual walk; the child of God must add godly friends and sacred music and edifying literature and wholesome activities and get busy in the service of Christ.

BEE BREAD (Friday Church News Notes, August 27, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from A Closer Look at the Evidence by Richard & Tina Kleiss. This daily devotional, which is packed with interesting scientific facts, is available in a KJV version from Bethel Print Ministry, www.bethelbaptist.ca. “Bee bread is a highly nutritional food made by bees from the pollen they gather. Young worker bees must eat bee bread in order for the glands to properly produce food needed by the queen and developing larvae. ... Scientists have discovered that even as bees collect pollen, they begin to work on the bee bread recipe. First they mix secretions from special glands with specific microorganisms, which in turn make enzymes known to release a number of important nutrients from the pollen. Other microbes are added to make antibiotics and fatty acids which keep the ‘bread’ from spoiling. At the same time unwanted microbes are being removed, the bees are adding honey as a binder to hold it all together. The bees’ recipe for bee bread involves the sophisticated use of three areas of science--microbiology, nutritional chemistry, and biochemistry. Does logic allow the conclusion that bees evolved by blind chance and all of these independent processes just fell into 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). This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list. To SUBSCRIBE, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/wayoflife/subscribe.html. TO UNSUBSCRIBE OR CHANGE ADDRESSES, go to the very bottom of any email received from us and click "Manage My Subscription." Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.

The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.

JACK SCHAAP MENTORS EMERGING RAPPER CHURCH (Friday Church News Notes, August 20, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Jack Schaap, pastor of First Baptist Church, Hammond, Indiana, recently praised a raunchy emerging rapper church and claimed to be its mentor. The church, the Richmond Outreach Center, is pastored by Geronimo Aguilar. Schaap said Aguilar has been attending Pastor’s School for 10 years and was preceded there by his street biker father, Phil Aguilar, who, according to Schaap, “followed Brother Hyles to a T.” Phil’s MySpace site features demonic-looking pictures of he and his friends decked out in their biker regalia, including Nazi helmet symbols. If there is such a thing as being “conformed to the world” (Romans 12:2), Phil has mastered it. Phil produces a line of clothing called SoldierMade, which is advertised with profanities and immodest models. Schaap says that Geronimo sought his counsel when founding the ROC in 2001 and meets with him every year for a day or two of private counsel. “He and I are very dear friends.” Schaap praises the ROC as the “sixth fastest growing church in America, running 4,000 every week.” Schaap told his congregation that Aguilar “knows where to find how to build a church.” That’s the bottom line for Schaap. His is an unscriptural, idolatrous pragmatism that worships “results.” The results can be obtained by side-show promotionalism or by CCM and the contemporary no-standards, judge-not philosophy. Apparently it’s all the same to Schaap. The worship leader at ROC is a rapper dude who goes by the moniker “Chill” Aguilar, and the “worship service” features raunchy performances by the congregation’s rap dancers. Chill’s web site praises filthy rockers such as Korn, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Prince, Morrissey, and Kid Rock. We are thankful for every soul at ROC that has truly been born again and set free of drugs and alcohol, but they have not given up their raunchy music and sensual dancing, their immodest, unisex clothing styles, or their “be cool, live and let live” philosophy, and the result is a worldly confusion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjVZGUWRJgA

CCM’S SLIPPERY SLOPE (Friday Church News Notes, August 20, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Graham West’s excellent presentation “The Rhythm of Rock,” which is available as an e-video download from Way of Life Literature. “Dan Lucarini, a former contemporary worship leader, warns that the rock rhythm affects us like a musical drug. ‘Though it may be subtly introduced, the listener soon develops a craving for it. The flesh demands more and more, just like an addict, and there is no turning back’ (Why I Left the Contemporary Christian Music Movement). This sets up an inevitable trend away from traditional church music. In chapter 17 of his book, Dan writes, ‘In reality, what happens over time is a steady slide down the slippery slope away from all traditional music into the latest, edgiest contemporary styles.’ I like Dan’s illustration of a slippery slope. I can remember when we were children. We had this particular park where we would go, and it had a very steep grassy slope. And we all had our pieces of cardboard, and with these we would slide down at our own risk. I was probably the littlest of all the kids, and for me it was a pretty scary thing. I remember when you first started off, if you really wanted to stop yourself you could. But if you didn’t stop yourself immediately, then pretty soon you would reach the point of no return, and like it or not you would wind up at the bottom of that hill. That’s exactly what it’s like when a conservative church once begins to dabble in CCM. Like it or not, they will wind up at the bottom of that hill, and they will get there at an alarming rate. Whether you understand it or not, once you begin listening to soft rock, immediately you begin sliding down that slippery slope to the more aggressive forms of rock. This is because the rock ballad begins to orientate the whole way of perceiving music: around rhythm and away from melody. Your musical interests will change. The hymns and songs of the past that seemed such excellent vehicles for worship will suddenly sound dull in comparison to your newly acquired tastes. It’s a progression I’ve seen over and over again in the lives of Christians. It’s like a downward spiral. It happens in to individuals; it happens to families; it happens to churches. The trend is really all that we would expect, because people are only following their CCM idols as they in turn faithfully follow the world and its trend of ever-increasing musical degradation. In the past 50 years in the West, as our culture has become progressively more fleshly, the musical focus of society has been increasingly dominated by complex, sensual rhythm. So here we are in the 21st century with rap, the world’s number-two-selling music format, almost completely devoid of any melody whatsoever. Over time the musical ear has become disorientated. Once it was attuned to melody, but the addictive, sensual rhythms of rock & roll have carried us swiftly down that slippery slope to the place where our ears are now tuned to rhythm. The church, sadly, has followed this same corrupt trend.”

U.N. CURRICULUM EXPANDING WITHIN U.S. PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM (Friday Church News Notes, August 20, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “U.N. Makes Its Move into Your School,” WorldNetDaily, August 10, 2010: “The agenda of the United-Nations-funded and -run International Baccalaureate Curriculum is making massive inroads into America's public schools, with operations already established in more than 1,000 locations. Worldview Weekend President and Founder Brannon Howse says the program is trying to train American students to embrace an anti-Christian worldview. ‘This U.N. curriculum is extremely hostile to Christians. It's hostile to American values and ideas and very big on humanism, redistribution of wealth, and very big on pluralism and that all religions are equal,’ Brannon Howse of Worldview Weekend told WND. Howse points to the program's objectives that say the entire curriculum is shaped by the U.N According to a report at EdNews.org, the program should overrule any ‘parochial’ values or beliefs, with a heavy focus on a social agenda throughout classes. ‘Math Studies curriculum explores problems concerning the weather, environmental protection, conservation and energy. … The statistics unit will examine a variety of problems from a global perspective, such as the disparity of wealth distribution between first- and third-world countries.’ The organization ‘not only teaches its own worldview, it simultaneously undermines the beliefs and values of the United States (also called the “American creed”),’ the report said. ... Recent evidence of federal involvement is seen in a 2008 position paper issued by the Obama-Biden campaign that openly promoted the International Baccalaureate program. ... Support for the program also comes from U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. In a May 2010 Council on Foreign Relations forum, Duncan advocated more international integration for U.S. schools.”

CAN VIOLENT JIHAD BE REFORMED OUT OF ISLAM? (Friday Church News Notes, August 20, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “An Invented Tale?” Frontpage magazine, July 27, 2010: “Every now and then you hear calls from critics of Islam for Islam to reform itself--for mosques and madrassas to teach against the Islamic doctrines that inspire terrorists. A dramatic example of this demand occurs in the film Fitna when Geert Wilders invites Muslims to tear the offending pages out of the Koran. ... The only trouble with this sort of recommendation is that it assumes that there is enough positive material in the Koran and other foundational documents to form the basics for a reformation. But is there? According to Moorthy Muthuswamy, an expert on political Islam, ‘61 percent of the Koran talks ill of unbelievers or calls for their violent conquest and subjugation, but only 2.6 percent talks about the overall good of humanity.’ ... It’s a similar story when you turn to the sira, the biographies of Muhammad. Take the earliest of these, the one written by Ibn Ishaq. ... According to a content analysis done by Bill Warner of the Center for the Study of Political Islam, at least 75% of the sira is about jihad. These are inconvenient facts for those who hope Islam can be reformed. No matter how reform-minded you may be, it is difficult to come up with a symbolic interpretation of the Koran’s numerous calls to make war on unbelievers, since that was literally what Muhammad did. So, rather than encourage Muslims to remove the violent and hateful parts of the Koran, it might make more sense to encourage them to renounce it in toto. ... Talking of reforming Islam by re-interpreting the Koran is like talking about reforming a marble statue. Some things don’t lend themselves to reformation.”

ATHEIST SAYS HE WON’T TURN TO GOD “WHILE LUCID” (Friday Church News Notes, August 20, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Christopher Hitchens, author of God is Not Great, says that he will not turn to God as long as he is lucid. In an interview with Anderson Cooper of CNN two months after being diagnosed with esophageal cancer, Hitchens called turning to God “a pathetic thing” and prayer “meaningless” (“Hitchens Certain He Won’t Turn to God,” Christian Post, Aug. 7, 2010). He claims to distrust anything that “contradicts science or outrages reason,” but there is nothing unscientific or illogical about faith in God. The evidence for Him is everywhere, and if Hitchens can’t see it, that is only because he is willfully blind. Hitchens mocks Biblical faith, but his atheistic faith is a massive leap into the darkest night. He has faith that there is no God, though he could not possibly know that this is true. He believes that everything created itself from nothing. He believes that life and consciousness arose from inanimate matter and that intelligence arose from non-intelligence. He believes that the incredible, everywhere-present design of life is an accident. THAT is blind faith indeed! The Bible describes the atheist and identifies his problem. He loves sin so much and is such a rebel that he refuses to acknowledge God’s rule over his life. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good” (Psalm 14:1). Christ died for Hitchens’ sins and he could be saved, but God demands that men repent and acknowledge their sin against Him and personally receive Christ as Lord and Saviour.

POP MUSIC MOGUL BLASTS THE “SOFT PORN” POP CULTURE (Friday Church News Notes, August 20, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Pop Moguls Mike Stock,” Christian Today, Aug. 11, 2010: “He is the songwriting genius behind most of the hits that gave Kylie Minogue her career, but even Mike Stock says today’s pop culture has ‘gone too far’. The record producer–one third of the Stock, Aitken and Waterman songwriting powerhouse–told the Daily Mail that he didn’t think he could sit down to watch pop stars like Britney Spears or Lady Gaga with his mum or children. He warned that children were being ‘sexualised’ by modern pop culture. ‘The music industry has gone too far. It’s not about me being old fashioned. It’s about keeping values that are important in the modern world.’”

THE MOVIE AVATAR PREACHING SHAMANISM (Friday Church News Notes, August 20, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “The Avatar Gospel,” TheBereanCall.org: “Shamanism is the religion of nature and spirits and is the most widespread of all the religions in the world. ... Avatar is a spectacular platform for preaching shamanism. The story line is neither unique nor complicated. A distant moon planet called Pandora is colonized by a corporation that is mining a metal of great value for the earth, which has been ravaged by the exploitation of its own natural resources. The enterprise, however, is hampered by a tribe of indigenous humanoids called Na'vi, whose village and land cover the main core of the precious metal. Diplomatic attempts to persuade the Na'vi to resettle elsewhere have ended in failure, primarily because of the Na'vi's religion of shamanism. They worship Eywa, a goddess akin to what the Greeks called Gaia, or Mother Earth. Eywa appears to be an impersonal, godlike force that is responsible for maintaining the balance of all life. Everything in Pandora is linked to Eywa mystically and biologically. The biological emphasis amplifies the critical nature of preserving the planet's physical ecological system for future survival. Demonstrating the connectedness of all life forms, the spirits of animals that are killed for food or in self-defense are addressed by the Na'vi either in thanksgiving or apologetically. ... Director and writer James Cameron makes his theological (and ecological) bent quite clear in nearly every frame of the film. The movie's title and image of the Na'vi are derived from the Hindu god Krishna, a blue-skinned incarnated avatar of the god Vishnu. Hinduism teaches that throughout history avatars have manifested in human and/or animal forms to restore the balance of good and evil. The emphasis on trees in the movie is consistent in all shamanism. The huge Hometree that housed the Na'vi clan and is destroyed in the attack by the humans is representative of Eywa providing for the Na'vi through "Mother" nature. The luminescent Tree of Souls, which provides direct communication with Eywa, is also a power center that can transfer souls to other bodies. In traditional shamanism, the tree is a universal communication medium for such cultures to connect with deceased shamans, ancestors, and the spirits themselves. ... After reading dozens and dozens of comments by young people enamored with the theology in Avatar, it is apparent that its false gospel is finding fertile soil worldwide as it introduces and attracts millions of moviegoers to shamanism. James Cameron has presented what the Bible calls the "doctrine of devils" promoted by Satan, the father of lies, and taught directly by demons. Cameron's pagan beliefs are diametrically opposed to what the Bible teaches. Furthermore, his idealistic view of the natural purity of an indigenous tribe such as the Na'vi is pure propaganda...”

CONCLUSION: The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14). This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list. To SUBSCRIBE, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/wayoflife/subscribe.html. TO UNSUBSCRIBE OR CHANGE ADDRESSES, go to the very bottom of any email received from us and click "Manage My Subscription." Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.

The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.

The 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.

JACK SCHAAP’S THREE-RING CIRCUS (Friday Church News Notes, August 6, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The late Jack Hyles, pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, was one of the founders of evangelistic promotionalism. Taught through his books, tapes, and the annual Pastor School, this methodology spread far and wide among independent Baptists and beyond. I witnessed it personally as a student at Tennessee Temple in the 1970s. When I arrived in Chattanooga in 1973, I spent the first several weeks working in Highland Park Baptist Church’s massive bus ministry, learning the Hyles’ program. Basically, the objective was to get a crowd using practically any means possible. Swallow goldfish, hide money under bus seats, put the preacher into a clown suit, give away bicycles, bring in a fighter or a wrestler to challenge the neighborhood toughs, put on a judo contest, bring in the “flaming evangelist” (a preacher who lit himself on fire), whatever you could think of. The associate pastor of Highland Park in those days described promotionalism as “keeping it pumped up.” Once you attract a crowd with a three-ring circus, you have to keep the show going. After Hyles died in 2001, his son-in-law Jack Schaap took over as director of the circus, and he has proven himself adept at keeping it pumped up. In their Fall Campaign they got a big crowd by giving away a series of prizes worth $250 each. Schaap had a television game show-like spinning wheel brought onto the church platform and the five men who brought the most visitors got to spin the wheel before the congregation. There were $250 gift certificates from Ziggie’s Funland, Best Buy, Elmer’s Jewelers, Alberts, and Cabela’s. As the wheel was spinning, Schaap did some figuring and blurted out, “That’s $12.50 per visitor. Not bad!” Not bad, indeed, if you care deeply about meaningless numbers. (He claims that thousands upon thousands are saved every year, but the church itself doesn’t grow by thousands, to say the least. Most of those “saved” people are nowhere to be found.) Not bad unless you consider the fact that you have turned the house of God into a three-ring circus and a trivial television game show. I thank the Lord for many things I learned at Tennessee Temple in the 1970s, but this type of thing sickened my soul then and it sickens my soul today. I was only one year old in the Lord when I went off to Bible School, but I had read the Bible through a couple of times by then and I knew that what I was seeing was not New Testament Christianity. I understand that many men who have bought into promotionalism are sincere in their desire to reach the lost, but we don’t have the authority to do anything contrary to God’s Word. I cannot in my wildest imagination conceive of the apostle Paul dressing up in a clown suit or giving away gift certificates to Ziggie’s Funland in order to draw a crowd. God’s Word forbids us to adopt the way of the heathen or to conform to the world (Jeremiah 10:2; Romans 12:2), and a wheel of fortune is nothing if not worldly. Further, what do the unsaved think when they learn that they were invited to church by someone who is in a position to win a big prize? I remember when I was invited to a Jack Van Impe crusade in Tampa, Florida, before I was saved. One of my hippie buddy’s sisters was an Independent Baptist and she had talked us into attending. When I saw Van Impe give away prizes to those who brought the most visitors that night, I thought to myself, “Well, that is why they asked us to come.” That wasn’t true, but it is how the lost person thinks, and this type of nonsense plays right into it.

ANNE RICE BREAKS UP WITH CHRISTIANITY (Friday Church News Notes, August 6, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Anne Rice, best-selling author of erotic and vampire/witchcraft novels, has “left Christianity.” In 1998, after many years of professing atheism, Rice returned to the Catholic Church. She has since published books about Jesus, but it is a Jesus of her own imagination. The first one, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, “depicts Jesus as a seven-year-old boy who gets the things he wishes for, like the death of another young boy who annoys him.” In the sequel, Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, Jesus falls in love with a beautiful woman and “struggles with a sense of restlessness of purpose.” On July 28, Rice posted on her Facebook page, “In the name of Christ I quit Christianity and being Christian.” She said that she refuses to be anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-secular humanism, and anti-science, among other things. She claims that she loves Christ but not Christianity. While Jesus is not the founder of the Roman Catholic Church or of false Christianity, He is the Author, by His Spirit, of Holy Scripture, and a true Christian submits to God’s Word and does not pick and choose what he or she will believe. Jesus said, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me...” (John 14:21). Jesus’ apostle, John, wrote, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3-4). What Rice apparently doesn’t know is that her beliefs would be acceptable in the many churches that worship The Shack god. This was proven when emerging leader Dan Kimball encouraged Rice to check out his church recommendations (“Pastor to Anne Rice: We Are the Church,” The Christian Post, Aug. 3, 2010). In October 2008, Rice was interviewed on James Dobson’s Focus on the Family program in conjunction with the publication of her autobiography Called Out of Darkness. Dobson gave her a warm, non-judgmental reception and presented her to the millions in his audience as a genuine Christian, no questions asked. In light of the many warnings in God’s Word about the possibility of spiritual deception and the multiplication of false christs and false spirits in the end times (e.g., Matthew 24:4-5, 11; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 13; 4:3-4; 1 Peter 5:8,; 2 Peter 2:1-2; 1 John 2:18; 4:1; Jude 3-4) this was an act of great foolishness and spiritual disobedience. In the strongest terms possible we would urge our readers to beware of the compromise of modern evangelicalism.


VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL PANDAMONIUM (Friday Church News Notes, August 6, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The latest example of a ridiculous, carnal, apostate VBS program is “PandaMonium” by Group Publishing. Intended for the 2011 Vacation Bible School season, PandaMonium is so named because, they say, VBS is supposed to be “crazy, fun, high-energy.” The word “pandemonium” means “wild uproar or unrestrained disorder.” The packaging features a lovable-looking cartoon panda bear, arms opened invitingly, above the words, “PandaMonium: Where God is Wild about YOU!” (When the publisher was informed that the term also referred to the alleged headquarters of hell in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, they decided to change the name to “PandaMania.”) The concept of “pandemonium” for a VBS program is ridiculous and carnal no matter how you look at it. No wonder most kids leave such churches when they reach adolescence. God is presented as a goofy cartoon figure and the gospel is a man-centered “God is wild about you.” If God is wild about me, accepts me just as I am with no demand for repentance, is non-judgmental, and has no rules, as the wildly-popular novel The Shack says, why not live as I please? This generation is in for a very rude awakening. There is an eternal hell, but it is not the one described in Milton’s fictional account. It is the one described in the Bible, and it is far more fearful, and it can be escaped only through the new birth. Pandemonium is an apt description of the apostasy in the churches. Having rejected the truth and living according to their own lusts (2 Timothy 4:3-4), they have turned the church of Jesus Christ into a worldly party.

RAY BRADBURY’S RELIGIOUS VIEWS (Friday Church News Notes, August 6, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a recent interview with CNN, science fiction legend Ray Bradbury described his views on God and religion. Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451 and the Martian Chronicles, grew up in a Baptist home, but he describes himself as “delicatessen religionist.” He is particularly enamored with Buddhism and Eastern religion, even calling himself a “Zen Buddhist.” He is a pantheist and an evolutionist. He considers Jesus a wise prophet, like Buddha and Confucius, a man who became Christ through self effort. “Jesus is a remarkable person. He was on his way to becoming Christ, and he made it” (“Sci-fi Legend Ray Bradbury on God,” CNN, August 2, 1010). He claims that when it comes to God, “none of us know anything.” He says that man must leave earth for salvation. “We must move into the universe. Mankind must save itself. We must escape the danger of war and politics. We must become astronauts and go out into the universe and discover the God in ourselves.” Sci-fi arose in the late 19th and early 20th century as a product of an evolutionary worldview that denies the Almighty Creator. Science fiction takes the reader into a strange world without God. Oh, there might be “a god,” a “force,” but it is definitely not the God of the Bible, and the prominent names in this field are atheists. (For more on this subject see “Beware of Science Fiction” at the Way of Life web site.)

ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVER GOLIATH’S HOMETOWN (Friday Church News Notes, August 6, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Though most archaeologists are unbelievers and the field is rife with bias against the Bible, their work has continually confirmed the Bible’s accuracy. Renowned Jewish archaeologist Nelson Glueck said, “It may be stated categorically that no archeological discovery has ever controverted a single biblical reference. Scores of archeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible” (Rivers in the Desert, 1960, p. 31). Archaeology has found evidence for the existence of practically all of the kings of Israel, including David and Solomon, of Solomon’s palace and stables at Megiddo, of Ahab and Jezebel’s ivory palace at Samaria, Israel’s temples, the walls built by Nehemiah, and a thousand other things. Among the most recent cases are the discovery of Gath, Goliath’s hometown, and Shaaraim, a city in the valley of Elah where David fought Goliath. These places are mentioned in 1 Samuel 17:19, 52. Aren Maeir, director of the excavations at Tel Tzafit (Gath), says that Philistine names have been found which are similar to “Goliath” and that they have found evidence that Gath was a major city at that time (“Archaeologists Uncover Goliath’s Hometown,” Arutz Sheva, July 13, 2010). Shaaraim means “two gates” and the second gate to the ancient fortress there was recently found (“Digging Through the Bible,” Arutz Sheva, July 20, 2009).

DOOMSDAY SHELTERS (Friday Church News Notes, August 6, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - USA Today says, “There are signs that underground shelters, almost-forgotten relics of the Cold War, are making a comeback” (“Doomsday Shelters,” July 28, 2010). Several companies are building them locally in various parts of America, and at least one company, Vivos, is planning a nationwide system. They come in various sizes to accommodate and support from 10 to 2,000 adults for one to five years. Vivos calls its shelters “the life assurance solution for you and your family to survive the next earth devastating catastrophe.” The shelters are co-opts which are owned by a group of people who are promised access in case of emergency. They are advertised as the solution for earthquakes, asteroid strikes, tsunamis, nuclear attacks, bio terrorism, and social anarchy. (Of course, if there was a social anarchy situation severe enough to require one to go underground for a year or more, the anarchists would probably find your hole and doubtless would not honor your co-opt receipt!) The Bible tells us that a Great Tribulation is coming on this earth, a time far more destructive than any the world has ever witnessed, but it cannot be survived in an underground shelter. The Bible says the Antichrist will rule for seven years with conditions growing progressively worse, far longer than any shelter stockpile will last. Further, no one will be able to buy or sell without his mark. He is no ordinary man, and he will be supported by Satan and his hoards of demons. Holdouts will be found! A far better solution is to put one’s faith in Jesus Christ and be washed in His blood and serve in His great harvest field while you wait for the imminent Rapture. That is not a fictional scenario; it is the promise of a God who cannot lie. “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief” (1 Thessalonians 5:4).

THE DIGITAL PASTOR (Friday Church News Notes, August 6, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - According to a new report, thousands of churches in America are using a digital pastor. For example, the four satellite churches associated with Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, receive their Sunday morning sermons via a high-definition image of Pastor Ed Young, which is broadcast from the “mother church.” Fellowship Church is a very (worldly) cool emerging church which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. (The radically ecumenical, Pentecostal, hard-rocking, contemporary praise group Hillsong, which associates with the Roman Catholic Church, is scheduled to perform there on July 30.) Geoff Surratt, author of The Multi-site Church Revolution, claims that at least 3,000 churches listen to messages from a digital pastor. Some even use a hologram whereby the preacher floats in the air like a ghost! These “churches” are largely entertainment centers, and it is more entertaining to have a “super-preacher” broadcasted digitally than a “regular” preacher in person.

APPLE AS RELIGION: A FULFILLMENT OF BIBLE PROPHECY (Friday Church News Notes, August 6, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Two thousand years ago, the apostle Paul wrote by divine inspiration, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, LOVERS OF PLEASURES MORE THAN LOVERS OF GOD” (2 Timothy 3:1-4). One of the multitudes of proofs that the Bible is indeed the divinely-inspired Revelation from God is the fact that its statements are true. Even statements written 4,000 years ago, are true. For people to treat a dead piece of technology, that has a shelf life not much more than that of a butterfly, with all of the zeal of religious zealots must be evidence that they are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Consider the cult-like status of Steve Jobs, the wild enthusiasm that greats each new Apple gadget, the buyers parked in snaking lines in front of Apple stores to buy those gadgets. Leander Kahney, editor of the tech blog Cult of Mac, says: “If you’re joining a church, you’re joining a community. ... Just as new church members learn the myths, rites and values, new Apple users start to learn the myths and rituals supported by other ‘believers’” (“Looking for a New Religion: Apple Gives Dose of the Divine” ABCNews, Aug. 2, 2010). I like Apple products. They usually work well and they are interesting, but what a poor substitute for God is Apple or the Beatles or the Dallas Cowboys or money or a beautiful woman or a cool guy or anything whatsoever.

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.