June 25, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 26
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.
H. G. WELLS, DARWINIST, EUGENICIST, FATHER OF SCI-FI (Friday Church News Notes, June 25, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - H. G. Wells, author of such science fiction classics as The Time Machine, War of the Worlds, and The First Man on the Moon, was a prominent Darwinist and eugenicist. Wells converted from a “devout Christian” to Darwinism as a college student under the influence of Thomas Huxley (“Darwin’s Bulldog”) and spent the rest of his life preaching atheism and eugenics. Wells’ illegitimate son, Anthony West, said that after studying under Huxley, “Darwinian evolution inspired Wells’ writings forever after.” Wells embraced the modern culture of death, advocating sterilization, abortion, infanticide, suicide, and euthanasia for the “inferior,” who were defined as the diseased, the deformed, the mentally ill, the alcoholic, the criminal, even the “helpless.” Not only was Wells in favor of killing individuals that he considered inferior but entire races, as well. He said, “... there is only one sane and logical thing to be done with a really inferior race and that is to exterminate it” (Diane Paul, Controlling Human Heredity, 1995, p. 75). Wells urged society to have “no pity and less benevolence” toward the inferior. He wanted to create a master race through Darwinian survival of the fittest. He wasn’t without a conscience, though. He advocated administering opiates to those who were to be killed. In his later years he backed away from killing the unfit and inferior but he continued to call for their sterilization. Wells called the God of the Bible “absurd.” Not surprisingly, he was an early advocate of “free love” and lived a debauched moral life. He was a serial adulterer, even committing adultery with the daughters of his friends. One of his partners in adultery was fellow atheist and eugenist Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood. Wells tried to find a basis for morality and hope in Darwinian evolution, but in the end he realized this is an impossibility. He died an “infinitely frustrated” and broken man, with no hope for the future, neither for himself nor for the human race. Indeed, there is no hope apart from faith in Jesus Christ.
CURRENT DIVORCE LAWS ARE WRONG, MORALLY AND ECONOMICALLY (Friday Church News Notes, June 25, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Christopher Grey, “Profiting from Divorce Is Not a Family Value,” WorldNetDaily, June 3, 2010: “The more you look at divorce laws, the more obvious it is that they create incentives for bad behavior. ... In addition, they do not provide any incentives for people to be good to one another, not hurt each other, and do their best to stay together. This is all wrong, both morally and economically. A few simple changes to the divorce laws could dramatically improve the incentives for married couples. First, eliminate no-fault divorce unless both parties consent to it. Second, if the lower earning spouse is requesting the divorce, he or she would need to demonstrate that the other spouse was at fault because of some kind of abuse or habitually bad behavior in order to be awarded anything beyond basic living expenses and, if children are involved, basic child support if custody is given. No assets would be considered community property unless designated as such or jointly owned in some other way. Third, if the higher earning spouse is requesting the divorce, he or she would need to demonstrate that the other spouse was at fault because of abuse or habitually bad behavior or the assumption relating to community property would be reversed. All assets accumulated during the marriage would be considered community property unless designated otherwise. In addition, if both spouses cannot agree on a settlement, they would be required to undergo six months of counseling and then submit to binding arbitration for the settlement if they still cannot agree. No litigation would be allowed. Lawyers could be retained, but only to represent the spouses in the arbitration proceedings. Arbitration rulings could be appealed, but only once. If future financial circumstances change, ongoing spousal or child support could be revisited via arbitration as is allowed under our current system. The current system of divorce laws benefits dishonest, lazy spouses and greedy divorce lawyers. It harms traditional marriage and destroys trust between men and women who are married or are thinking about getting married. It harms children who are used as pawns in a chess game being played for money.”
EVOLUTION LOSING GROUND (Friday Church News Notes, June 25, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “A 2005 poll by the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Social and Religious Research found that 60% of American medical doctors reject Darwinism, stating that they do not believe humans evolved through natural processes alone. Thirty-eight percent of the American medical doctors polled agreed with the statement that ‘humans evolved naturally with no supernatural involvement.’ The study also reported that 1/3 of all medical doctors favor the theory of intelligent design over evolution. ... The prestigious science journal Science reported the following in 2006 concerning the United States: ‘The percentage of people in the country who accept the idea of evolution has declined from 45 in 1985 to 40 in 2005. Meanwhile the fraction of Americans unsure about evolution has soared from seven per cent in 1985 to 21 percent last year.’ In January 2006, the BBC reported concerning Britain: ‘Just under half of Britons accept the theory of evolution as the best description for the development of life, according to an opinion poll. Furthermore, more than 40% of those questioned believe that creationism or intelligent design (ID) should be taught in school science lessons’” (“Evolution,” Conservapedia).
BEWARE OF FALSE CHRISTS (Friday Church News Notes, June 25, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Lord Jesus and the Apostles warned of false Christs. Jesus prophesied that a multiplicity of false Christs would arise at the end of the age. “For there shall arise false Christs ... Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth; behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not” (Matthew 24:24, 26). We see the fulfillment of this amazing prophecy on every hand. There is the Catholic Christ who is dominated by his strong mother, the Mormon Christ who is brother to Satan, the Jehovah’s Witness Christ who is a spirit being, the Married Christ of the Da Vinci Code, the Revolutionary Christ of liberation theology, the Liberal Christ of the Jesus Seminar, the Mythical Christ who is merely another pagan myth like Mithras, the Ascetic Contemplative Christ of monasticism, the Homosexual Christ of the play Corpus Christie, the Hippie Christ of Jesus Christ Superstar, the Avatar Christ of Madame Blavatsky, the Eastern Guru Christ of The Aquarian Gospel, the Great Prophet Christ of Islam, the Gnostic Christ who revealed secret wisdom, the Confused Christ of the Gospel of Judas, and the Non-Judgmental Christ of The Shack. The true Christ is revealed in the Scripture, which is evidenced by “many infallible proofs,” and He can be known and proven personally, as well. The Apostle John wrote, “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself” (1 John 5:10).
CCM: A COUNTERFEIT SPIRITUALITY (Friday Church News Notes, June 25, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from the sermon “Real Answers for Fundamentalists” by Jim Van Gelderen, March 2005: “CCM is a counterfeit solution. It’s a human counterfeit. In other words, ‘The services are dead; let’s put a little beat in the music, man, and let’s liven it up.’ I want to ask you a question, is that Holy Spirit life? It sounds to me like a human counterfeit. Then there is a possibility of a satanic counterfeit. A focus on experience over objective truth opens the door for satanic counterfeit, which can always be identified with some inconsistency with God’s Word. An individual says, ‘My music makes me feel close to God.’ Immediately I try to ask that person some questions to see if he is really close to God. And you know what you find? He is not close to God! How do you treat our parents? ‘Oh, well, not very good.’ And, ‘Yeah, I shouldn’t watch that...” OK, here’s my point. If you’re not close to God and you listen to ‘Christian music that makes you feel close to God,’ and you have not dealt with your sin, you’re deceived. Think about it, folks. Here you are; you’re not right with God; and you go to these concerts and you come out saying, ‘Man, I feel so close to God.’ But you have not dealt with your sin. Do you think God’s in that? NO WAY! You see, it’s counterfeit through and through! One man told me that he was talking to his father about some charismatic theology he had gotten into and was showing him things in the Bible, when his father stood up and pointed to the Bible and said, ‘I don’t care what that book says; I know what I have experienced.’ That man is deceived. It’s that simple. Do I believe people are having spiritual experiences at CCM concerts? Can there be something spiritual or supernatural occurring? Sure, it’s possible, but that does not mean it’s from God. There are two supernatural spiritual beings. There has to be discernment there.”
TITHING BY FAITH (Friday Church News Notes, June 25, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The only way to practice tithing effectively is to practice it by faith. We must believe God’s promises even during times of difficulties. And we must remember that God tests faith to see if it is real and to make it grow stronger (James 1:2-4). Many times if a Christian decides to begin tithing, he will have some financial problem to test his decision. The late John R. Rice told about an evangelist named Kuykendahl in Texas in the early 20th century. He had a circuit riding ministry and the offerings were very small, so much so that his large family had a difficult time making ends meet. One year a wealthy businessman visited the area to share his testimony in several churches, and evangelist Kuykendahl was his host, carrying him from meeting to meeting in his buggy. Among other things, the businessman challenged the people to learn to tithe. As they were traveling along, the businessman asked the evangelist if he believed in tithing. He replied, “Yes, I would love to tithe, but I am very poor and must take care of my large family.” The businessman responded, “I will make you an offer. If you will tithe for an entire year, I will act as your guarantor. If at any time during the year you find that you can’t pay your bills and don’t know where to turn, just contact me and I will send you the necessary money. I am a wealthy man, and I am a man of my word.” Kuykendahl enthusiastically replied, “I will gladly take you up on this offer.” The evangelist kept his word and tithed faithfully, but he never had to contact the businessman. At the end of the 12 months, the evangelist was meditating on what had happened. God had richly blessed him that year and had met every need. People gave him more than ever, and the family experienced many special blessings. As he contemplated these things, his heart was suddenly smitten when he realized that he had readily trusted the word of a businessman but he had not been willing to trust the Word of the Living God, who had made even greater promises! “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38).
THE BIBLE’S CANDOR PROVES THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD (Friday Church News Notes, June 25, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - When men write biographies of their heroes, they commonly omit or whitewash their faults; but the Bible exhibits its divine quality by showing men as they are. Even the best of men in the Bible are described with all their faults. We are told plainly of Adam’s rebellion, Noah’s drunkenness, David’s adultery, Solomon’s apostasy, Jonah’s pity party, Peter’s disavowal of his Master, Paul and Barnabas’ strife, the disciples’ unbelief in the face of Christ’s resurrection, and the sins and errors of the early churches. The Bible was written by Jews, yet it candidly describes the faults of the Jewish people: their stubbornness and unbelief that caused them to have to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, their idolatry during the period of the judges, their rebellion that caused them to be evicted from the land and scattered throughout the earth for two millennia. Indeed, the Bible’s candor proves that it is the Word of the Living God.
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.
June 18, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 25
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.
STEPHEN HAWKINS SAYS SCIENCE WILL WIN OVER RELIGION (Friday Church News Notes, June 18, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Stephen Hawkins, Cambridge professor of mathematics and best-selling author, says science will win out over religion. In an interview with Diane Sawyer of ABC World News, Hawkins was asked if there is a way to reconcile religion and science. He replied, “There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, [and] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works” (“Stephen Hawking on Religion: Science Will Win,” ABC World News, June 7, 2010). In fact, science doesn’t work at all when it comes to the big questions of life. In the same interview, Hawkins, who is supposed to “know more about the universe than almost any other person ever to walk the planet,” says, “I want to know why the universe exists.” Science can never answer that question or a thousand others. Is there a God and if so who is He, what is He like, and how can I know Him personally? Why does the universe follow precise laws that man can discover through science? What is man? Why is he so distinct from the animals from which he is supposed to have evolved? What is man’s soul? Where does it come from and what happens to it after death? Until his recent retirement, Hawking held the post at Cambridge once occupied by Sir Isaac Newton, but Newton was far ahead of Hawking in that he was not duped into thinking that science is capable of all-knowing. Newton, who discovered the law of gravity, said, “Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion.” This highlights the difference between Newton and Hawking. From the Sawyer interview, it appears that Hawking doesn’t understand the dramatic limitation of science. Newton believed in a Creator God and called atheism “senseless and odious.” He believed that the Bible is God’s revelation of Himself to man and devoted more time to studying the Bible than science. He said, “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent Being. ... This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as the Lord over all. ... The Supreme God is a Being eternal, infinite, and absolutely perfect.” It is this God that modern science has rejected, but the rejection is not based on scientific facts; it is based on willful enmity and is one of the countless proofs that the Bible is what it professed to be, the infallible Word of God (2 Peter 3:3-5).
80% BRITISH TEENS VIEW PORNOGRAPHY (Friday Church News Notes, June 18, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A survey in England has found that more than 80% of teens aged 14 to 16 “regularly access hardcore photographs and footage” on their home computers or mobile phones (“Third of Children,” Daily Mail, June 7, 2010). Further, one-third of children have accessed online pornography by age 10. The report states that parents appear to be unaware of the risk to their children and in many cases are unable to keep up with their computer-literate kids. The truth is that parents today are so often addicted to pornography themselves and are so hardened by sin that they don’t care what is happening to the children. (Today’s R-rated movies would have been deemed pornography just a few decades ago.) We wonder what the results would be if a similar survey could be taken in Bible-believing churches. I have no doubt that it would be much lower, but pornography is a major moral issue that has seeped into every sphere of life because of modern technology, and if parents are not extremely cautious about what they allow in their homes and if they are not extremely watchful of their children, they can easily fall to the devil’s wiles. All cellphone and computer usage by children and young people should be under strict parental control. Computers should only be used in a public family situation where parents can see what is being accessed. Filters and other controls should be in place. I have found Covenant Eyes to be very helpful. Husbands need to be accountable to their wives, and wives to their husbands, as a safeguard in this vile age. I have heard of many men falling to the sin of pornography and many women leaving their families after meeting men online. Don’t allow this to happen to you or your family. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
DIVORCE IS CONTAGIOUS (Friday Church News Notes, June 18, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Could You Be ‘Infected’ by Friend’s Divorce?” CNN, June 20, 1010: “Divorce is contagious in social networks, a new study says. The idea is based on the theory of social contagion, or the spread of behavior or emotion through a group. In this case, the heated feelings and actions of one person's divorce can be transferred like a virus, causing others to divorce, according to the study. Not only can the risk of divorce spread from one couple to their friends or family, it can also affect relationships at least two degrees of separation away from the original couple splitting up, said James H. Fowler, a professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego. Your decision to split from your spouse can influence whether your friend gets divorced. It also can sway your friend's friend, according to preliminary findings by Fowler and fellow researchers from Harvard and Brown Universities. The new findings may be troubling news for members of the Gore family, who have already announced two marital separations this month. Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, stunned the nation one week ago with their announcement that they were separating after 40 years of marriage. Then the couple’s eldest daughter, Karenna Gore Schiff, announced Wednesday that she is separating from her husband after 13 years of marriage. Gore Schiff, 36 and a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Law School, married Dr. Andrew Schiff in 1997, and they have three children together. ... Fowler’s research on divorce contagion didn’t examine whether the decision of parents to break up affects their children's relationships. But his study did analyze the effect of divorce on siblings. People with a divorced sibling are 22 percent more likely to get divorced than people who don't have divorced siblings. Gore Schiff isn't the first Gore child to face a marital breakup. Her younger sister Kristin Gore, a writer, filed for divorce from Paul Cusack a year ago. The youngest Gore daughter married businessman Bill Lee in 2007. The Gore's also have a son, Albert Gore III.”
APOLOGIST REPROVES THE GROSS IGNORANCE OF CHRISTIANS (Friday Church News Notes, June 18, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Most Christians Cannot Explain Their Faith,” Christian Post, June 3, 2010. Josh McDowell is New Evangelical in his philosophy, but he is right about reproving evangelicals for their gross ignorance and inability to defend the faith scripturally, and what he says is widely applicable to fundamentalists, as well. “The faith of most Christians, even that of many pastors, will not stand up to intellectual scrutiny, according to renowned apologist Josh McDowell. This is a concern because pastors’ inability to present biblical truth comprehensibly and relevantly has led to children from Christian families leaving the church, research has shown. In the United States, the age at which nearly all such children leave church has decreased to 18 years. ... During the past six years, he asked hundreds of Christians and leaders why they see themselves as Christians. Again no one gave him an ‘intelligent’ answer. In the past 17 years, he has asked over 4,000 pastors, leaders and parents why they believe the Bible is true. A mere six ‘came close to giving an intelligent answer,’ McDowell noted. ... Ninety-five percent of Christians gave disappointing responses when asked why they believe Jesus is the Son of God. Asked why the Bible is true and historically reliable, Christians replied that it was what they had been taught by their church or parents. A common response that most Christians gave to both questions was that it is ‘what I believe.’ McDowell responded: ‘That’s voodoo thinking. Where did we ever get that crazy idea that something is true just because we believe it? If that is true, then there will never be heresy. Everybody would be right.’ On one occasion, 13 youth pastors at a large convention were unable to reasonably answer the apologist’s question. Finally one young person stood up, walked toward him and told him he knew the answer. The young man promptly held up his Bible and said, ‘Because I believe it.’ And to McDowell’s dismay, all the youth pastors applauded him. McDowell said, ‘Young man, do you know the difference between you, me, and the majority of Christians in the world? ‘To you, it is true because you believe it. For me, I believe it because it is true.’”
NURSES EUTHANIZING PATIENTS WITHOUT CONSENT (Friday Church News Notes, June 18, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a study of nurses in Belgium who have participated in “assisted suicides,” half admitted to researchers that they euthanized patients “without request or consent” (“Warning to Britain as Almost Half of Belgium’s Euthanasia Nurses Admit to Killing without Consent,” Daily Mail, July 10, 2010). Since it was legalized in 2002, euthanasia now accounts for two percent of deaths in Belgium (around 2,000 a year), but that is only the reported “legal” killings. In the modern culture of death, doctors and nurses have become murderers. Dr. Peter Saunders, director of the Care Not Killing campaign in Britain, rightly observed: “We should take a warning from this that wherever you draw the line, people will go up to it and beyond it. Once you have legalised voluntary euthanasia, involuntary euthanasia will inevitably follow.”
35,000 FORCED ABORTIONS A DAY IN CHINA (Friday Church News Notes, June 18, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Women Forced to Abort,” Washington Times, June 2, 2010: “Every 2.4 seconds, a woman in China undergoes a forced abortion because of the communist nation’s one-child policy, totaling about 35,000 abortions a day, a panel of four experts said Tuesday. ‘Over 400 million children are not living in China because of the one-child policy,’ said Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights Without Borders. ‘That’s more than the population of the United States.’ ... ‘Many people in America know about the one-child policy but don’t know it leads to forced abortions,’ Ms. Littlejohn said, describing how women in China are dragged to hospitals and strapped to beds for abortions. The panelists said they each have had personal contact with victims of forced abortion in China. Ms. Littlejohn used to be an attorney for Chinese refugees seeking help in the United States, many of whom shared their stories of forced abortions. ... other countries with population problems are considering copying China’s model because of the aid and credibility it gets from U.N. Population Fund, Mr. [Christopher Smith, New Jersey Republican] said.”
RALLYING AROUND THE TRUTH BUT NOT AROUND ISSUES (Friday Church News Notes, June 18, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from the sermon “Real Answers for Fundamentalists” by Jim Van Gelderen, March 2005: “[The young fundamentalists say they will rally around the truth but not around issues.] Well, how is this possible? [It is said that] ‘they have covenanted not to take away from the Word but also not to add to it.’ That sounds noble, but I will tell you, it is very dangerous. By saying they are not going to add to the Word simply means that they are not going to deal with issues that the Bible does not specifically address, like movie going, mixed swimming, smoking, [music] and social drinking. That’s what they mean. In other words, ‘Hey, I’m loyal to the words; God didn’t say anything is wrong with social drinking.’ What they are completely missing is that God’s Word deals with timeless principles, and the Spirit of God helps us deal very clearly with those principles. I’ll just give you an illustration. An evangelist told me this story. He was preaching at a Christian college, and just in passing he mentioned in a negative light tattoos and men wearing necklaces. It wasn’t a part of the message; it was just an illustration, but it absolutely caused an uproar. Two dormitory supervisors came to him livid. They were upset that he would possibly think that men wearing necklaces or Christians having tattoos were wrong. Now folks, that’s where we’re going [with the young fundamentalism]. Now I think you could make a pretty good Biblical case that tattoos are associated with the world. I think you could get up and preach a message on not being conformed to this world and make an application to tattoos, and be completely in line. I think you could preach a message on Deuteronomy 22:5 and deal with men wearing necklaces and be on line. You would be making a decent application of a biblical principle. I recognize some of these issues are controversial, but my point is that when those two Bible college dorm supervisors came to him, they were not upset by the student body’s rebellious response; they were upset at the preacher. You see, that’s where we are. And yet I want you to know that these guys would love the statement, ‘We’ve covenanted not to take away from the Word and also not to add to it.’ It sounds noble but actually it’s a huge smoke screen for not being willing to tackle issues in light of Biblical principles.”
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.
June 11, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 24
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.
EDINBURGH 2010: A FALSE UNITY (Friday Church News Notes, June 11, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Last week’s Edinburgh 2010 was an ecumenical celebration of the 100th anniversary of the World Missionary Conference. It was a celebration of a false unity and is more about the building of the Harlot Church of Revelation 17 than the true church of Jesus Christ. Edinburgh 2010 brought together a hodgepodge of Evangelicals, Modernists, Roman Catholics, Orthodox, and Pentecostals. There were Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodists, Anglicans, Baptists, you name it. Olav Tveit, general secretary of the wretchedly apostate World Council of Churches, said, “Mission and unity belong together” (“Evangelicals, Ecumenicals,” Christian Post, June 3, 2010). Geoff Tunnicliffe, international director of the World Evangelical Alliance, said that though Christians can’t agree on doctrine, they should “build bridges rather than create chasms.” The conference concluded with “a Common Call to Christians.” In John 17:21, Jesus did not call for any sort of ecumenical unity. John 17 is a prayer that Jesus prayed to God the Father, not a command that He gave to Christians. By the context, it is obvious that Jesus was not describing the “unity in diversity” of modern ecumenism (including “evangelical” ecumenism). Jesus was describing those who keep God’s Word (John 17:6). That is definitely not a description of the crowd at Edinburgh, with their wholesale rejection of the infallible inspiration of Scripture, acceptance of evolution, infant baptism, prayers to Mary, replacement theology, liberation theology, interfaith dialogue, social gospel, private prayer language, and a host of other heresies. If God is so big on unity, why did He demand that His people earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3)? Why did He demand that we keep the truth without spot (1 Timothy 6:14)? The participation of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism and other “evangelical” organizations in Edinburgh 2010 is clear evidence of the apostasy of evangelicalism today. Where are the prominent evangelicals who are lifting their voices against this rebellion? This is a loud warning to those fundamentalists who are footsying with the evangelicals.
LIMBAUGH’S FOURTH MARRIAGE (Friday Church News Notes, June 11, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) -Talk Radio phenomenon Rush Limbaugh married for the fourth time last weekend. The new bride, Kathryn Rogers, is half Limbaugh’s age, and the lavish wedding party was headlined by the Elton John, who earlier this year blamed Christianity for the suicide of his former homosexual partner (“Elton John’s lover committed suicide,” The Telegraph, March 13, 2010). Limbaugh paid the rocker $1 million to perform. It is amazing that so many Bible-believing Christians are infatuated with Limbaugh and consider him a great conservative. WorldNetDaily advertises a book about Limbaugh with the words, “Aren’t you glad Rush is on your side?” Well, Limbaugh might be on the side of Republicanism or some sort of political conservativism, but he is not on the side of Jesus Christ and the Bible and biblical morality. Limbaugh’s morality is informed more by rock & roll than the Bible, and rock & roll is one of the most destructive influences in America. If God’s people would turn off the loud-mouthed talk radio and the rock & roll and the foolish professional sports and the hundreds of other things that steal our time and fill our minds with vanity, and would get serious about being disciples of Christ, maybe our churches would have a spiritual revival that would bring some genuine help to America. Beyond this, there is no hope.
VATICAN COMPLAINS ABOUT “ISRAEL’S OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE” (Friday Church News Notes, June 11, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A new Vatican document complains about “certain Christian fundamentalist theologies [that] use Sacred Scripture to justify Israel’s occupation of Palestine.” The document, “The Catholic Church in the Middle East,” which was published on June 6, will serve as a working document for an October meeting at the Vatican about the Mideast” (“Vatican Takes on Christian Fundamentalists,” liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com, June 6, 2010). The news here isn’t the Vatican’s cheap shot at fundamentalists; it is the Vatican’s description of Israel as an occupying force in Palestine. This is same terminology used recently by White House reporter Helen Thomas, terminology that resulted in her resignation. She said that Israel should quit occupying Palestine and “return home” to Germany, Poland, and elsewhere. For centuries the Roman Catholic Church persecuted Jews. When Catholic crusaders fought in the “Holy Land,” they killed Jews as well as Muslims, thus proving themselves to be wolves rather than sheep. “Palestine” belongs to Israel. It belonged to her long before the Muslim nations existed. The title deed is recorded in infallible Scripture. If it wasn’t for her sin and apostasy in the past, she would not have been forced to leave it, and if it wasn’t for her sin and apostasy today she wouldn’t have to live in constant fear of losing it.
BATTLE OF GOG AND MAGOG (Friday Church News Notes, June 11, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Rabbinical Council of Judea and Samaria (the New Sanhedrin) has issued a statement that the current crisis in Israel over Gaza blockade could be the beginning of the battle of Gog and Magog (“Israeli Rabbis: Flotilla Clash Heralds Gog and Magog,” Israel National News, June 3, 2010). In fact, the battle of Gog and Magog, described in Ezekiel 38-39 cannot occur at this time for the following three reasons. First, Gog and Magog will occur when Israel dwells safely (Eze. 38:11). Today Israel is armed to the teeth and its citizen soldiers can be called together in hours. When will the time of safety described in Ezekiel occur? It could be when the Antichrist makes the peace pact with Israel described in Daniel 9:27 and 8:25. Israel will be deceived into thinking that this guarantees them safety, and possibly one of the Antichrist’s requirements will be disarmament. This is a major policy of the United Nations today. But we believe it is more likely than Ezekiel 38:11 describes the time after Armageddon when Christ’s reign has begun and Israel feels no need of armaments of any kind. Second, Gog and Magog will occur when Israel has seven months to bury their enemy’s bones (Ezek. 39:12). This also points to the beginning of the Millennium. If the battle of Gog and Magog occurred at the beginning of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, Israel would not have seven years of peace to carry out this task. Third, it will occur when the heathen nations will acknowledge God (Ezek. 39:21). This, too, points to the beginning of the Millennium. The heathen nations certainly will not acknowledge God prior to the Rapture or anytime during the Tribulation. We conclude that the battle of Gog and Magog can’t take place before the end of the Tribulation, which leaves only two possibilities. Either it will occur at about the same time as the Battle of Armageddon, or it will occur afterwards at the beginning of the Millennium. We deal with both of these in our new book Israel: Past, Present, and Future, which is scheduled for publication in a few weeks.
DRUG SIMULATION THROUGH MUSIC (Friday Church News Notes, June 11, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Electronic Music or Electronic Dance Music is synthesized music used in clubs and discos. Encompassing a wide variety of styles, including hip hop, techno, reggae, and rave, it features an extremely heavy back beat and an intensive, hypnotic repetition. Like 60s rock, Electronic Music is music for drugs and music as a drug. Kevin Martin, a member of King Midas Sound, says, “Electronic music is about drug simulation through music. It’s about trying to achieve altered states -- which the best rock and jazz music does, too -- but it’s really amplified by the latest developments in technology” (“Montreal’s Electronic Music Scene under Fire,” Spinner, June 3, 2010). This reminds us of how wrong it is to think that rock can be sanctified for the service of a holy God. Martin is not talking about the words of the music; he is talking about the music itself, the rhythm, the character of the sound itself. It is hypnotic. It produces altered states. It is addictive like a drug. And Martin is right in observing that this has always been the effect of “the best rock and jazz.” The reason that Charismatics have led the way in using such music is that they are searching for an experience. They use contemporary worship to experience an altered state of mind, but Bible believers have more wisdom than this. We know that we must be sober and vigilant, which is the opposite of being controlled by drugs or music or any other foreign influence. We know that there are two “spiritual” worlds, the one pertaining to Almighty God and the one pertaining to the “god of this world,” the one pertaining to genuine light and the one pertaining to the angel of light that only imitates genuine light.
TED HAGGARD STARTS NEW CHURCH (Friday Church News Notes, June 11, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Ted Haggard, who in 2006 was forced to resign as pastor of the New Life megachurch in Colorado Springs and as head of the National Association of Evangelicals, is starting a new church called St. James. Haggard was caught having a homosexual relationship with a male prostitute. Now, Haggard says his new church, which is located not far from New Life Church, is a place for broken people, for sinners, for those who have hit rock bottom, and will be open to “gays, straights, tall, short, addicts and recovering addicts” (“Church Will Open Arms,” Denver Post, June 2, 2010). Haggard claims that because of his own moral downfall and the “judgmental” way he was treated by some, he is able to understand and help others, but he is failing to distinguish properly between sympathy for sinners and acceptance of sin. Every sound, Christ-centered church is sympathetic toward sinners. On any given week at the main service of our church, for example, we have adulterers, fornicators, liars, idolators, and probably homosexuals in attendance. We always have three or four dozen Hindus. They receive a warm welcome and often come back. But there is a major difference between welcoming every type of sinner to attend church and allowing unrepentant, unconverted sinners to be members of the church. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 the apostle Paul described the members of the church at Corinth. They had been fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, and drunkards, but Paul described those traits in the past tense, because they had been converted and changed. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” We thank God for the His mercy in Jesus Christ, and apart from that mercy we know that we are nothing. But Ted Haggard has brought terrible, irreparable reproach upon the name and cause of Jesus Christ, and in my opinion he should shut his mouth and stop having press conferences and prove his repentance by quiet humility. For his own soul’s sake, he should also renounce the psychobabble of his restoration process. (Does every person that goes through psycho-counseling today discover that he was molested as a child?)
THEOLOGY ON TAP (Friday Church News Notes, June 11, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Drinking is a big part of the emerging church, as we have reported previously. The latest example is from St. John’s Church in Fort Smith, Arkansas, which hosts “On Tap Theology” every Saturday at a local bar (such as Papa’s Pub). The clinking of beer mugs is accompanied by such things as a discussion on “the relationship between secular music and religion” and the viewing of Rob Bell’s Nooma videos, which are always cool and clever, but never scripturally sound.
AL AND TIPPER’S SORRY EXAMPLE (Friday Church News Notes, June 11, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A news headline last week announced “Al and Tipper Gore, Married 40 Years, to Separate.” The Associated Press report, quoting “close associates and family friends,” said “there was no affair involved” and that they have simply “grown apart.” This is a pathetic excuse for a divorce and is a truly sorry example for the nation and the world. At one time the Gores were Southern Baptists; I don’t know what they are today; but they are professing Christians and should therefore submit themselves to the authority of the Bible, which says that God hates “putting away” (Malachi 2:14-16). The Lord Jesus said, “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. ... Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery” (Matthew 19:5-6, 8-9). The only just cause for divorce, according to Jesus, is fornication, and even that does not have to result in divorce. If the Gores have grown apart, they need to grow back together. They made a solemn vow before God and man to love and cherish one another until death, and they aren’t dead yet! “No fault divorce” is legal, but it is not righteous.
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.
June 4, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 23
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.
JOHN HAGEE AND CHRISTIANS UNITED FOR ISRAEL DISAVOW CONVERTING JEWS (Friday Church News Notes, June 4, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel, disavows attempts to convert Jews. He says, “The first rule adopted by Christians United for Israel was that there would be no proselytizing at our events. CUFI exists only to honor and support the Jewish people, never to convert them” (Hagee, “Why Christian Zionists Really Support Israel,” May 13, 2010). This is not the objective the apostle Paul had 2,000 years ago. He was not afraid of condemning Israel for her stiff-necked rebellion against God and her rejection of the Messiah, and he certainly did not draw back from trying to convert his fellow Jews to Jesus. “... Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles” (Acts 18:5-6). We believe in blessing and not cursing Israel, according to Genesis 12:3, but to bless Israel does not mean to ignore her sin and need of salvation. Indeed, the best way to bless Israel is to preach the blessed Gospel.
THE EERIE SILENCE (Friday Church News Notes, June 4, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Eerie Silence is the title of Paul Davies’ new book summarizing the first 50 years of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). More than $130 million has been spent scanning the universe for extra-terrestrial life, and the result has been “an eerie silence.” It is described as “eerie” only because SETI is based on evolutionary assumptions that life must have evolved on other planets. This problem is known as the “Fermi Paradox.” In 1950 Enrico Fermi, an atomic scientist, was discussing the question of why evidence for a multitude of advanced civilizations has failed to turn up. He asked, “Where is everybody?” The answer has been in the Bible all along, and it is a Book that is scientifically accurate in all points. Whereas there is no observable evidence for Darwinian evolution, there is nothing but observable evidence for the Bible. Simple predictions based on its teachings are either true or false and are therefore easily falsifiable. For example, the Bible says that all of life was created to reproduce after its own kind (Genesis 1). For thousands of years men have planted vegetables and raised animals, and it is an established law that life reproduces after its own kind. If corn turned into strawberries or dogs became bears, the Bible would be disproven, but this has never happened. Likewise, the Bible says that the earth was created for man and the stars were created as lights and signs for the earth. Thus, the Bible predicts that there will not be life elsewhere in the universe (except in Heaven). And this is exactly what modern science has discovered. The “eerie silence” disproves evolution and proves the Bible. Of course, diehard evolutionists are forever hopeful of discovering evidence for their delusions, and they have never allowed scientific facts to get in their way.
IMPATIENCE WITH PATIENTS WHO WON’T DIE (Friday Church News Notes, June 4, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Rebecca Hagelin, “Impatience with Patients,” Washington Times, May 24, 2010: “One night I received a call from my family in Florida that Dad was dying. I was told that I should get there fast. My husband and children and I quickly made the trip for what we feared would be our final goodbyes. Dad was in very bad shape. He suffered from severe heart problems, failing kidneys and a damaged liver. From the first moments of arriving at the hospital, a nurse pulled me aside and said I should sign a ‘do not resuscitate order.’ ‘If his heart stops,’ she said, ‘it would be cruel and painful to try and resuscitate him in his condition.’ I told her in no uncertain terms that I would not sign the order. The nurse also approached my sister with the same intensity. I soon discovered that a family friend had been cornered in the hallway and told she should persuade a family member to sign the order. ... I’ll never forget how my father looked up at me with worried eyes as he told me he had been approached numerous times by the staff to sign the order. ... My father was released several days later to be with his family. He was expected by the medical staff to die at any moment. But they were wrong. ... He began recovering: His kidney function doubled, his liver returned to a healthy state, and his heart grew strong enough to have a pacemaker implanted that gave him a new lease on life. Because we were firm in our belief that life is precious, that medical professionals should not withhold basic procedures that can save lives, Dad had the opportunity to live. My father was a physician for nearly 45 years. During his practice, he watched in disbelief as medicine began to change from a ‘healing art’ that focused on ‘the good of the patient’ to a ‘science’ that works for the ‘good of society.’ ... I originally shared this story about my dad several years ago, but it is incredibly relevant to what is happening today. The euthanasia movement has infiltrated the medical community for many years, and with the new government-run health care program that is killing freedom and insurance and care choices, it is certain that the elderly and very ill will be the primary victims of medical care rationing.”
WHEN SCIENCE ERRS (Friday Church News Notes, June 4, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from Daryl Witmer, ChristianAnswers.net: “On July 1, 1818, a little boy was born in Budapest, Hungary. His mother named him Ignaz. As the boy grew, so did his interest in medicine and the sciences. Eventually, he became a doctor. In his work at the Vienna General Hospital, Ignaz saw many victims of the highly contagious and often deadly puerperal fever. Slowly he began to suspect an increased risk for anyone having contact with fever victims. In time his tentative suspicions became firm convictions. Reasoning that physicians in the hospital were somehow carrying the disease from the autopsy room and transmitting it to women in the maternity ward, Ignaz ordered all of the physicians in his service to wash their hands thoroughly in a solution of chlorinated lime before examining patients. This was a radical and controversial move, and it resulted in big trouble for the young doctor. Keep in mind that Ignaz took this stand years before Louis Pasteur, with his microscope, ever scientifically documented the danger of infectious bacteria. To say the least, at the time in which Ignaz lived, such a radical position was just not politically-scientifically correct. As a result, great pressure was to brought to bear on the young man. He was ridiculed, hounded, and even viciously attacked. His character was smeared mercilessly. ‘Crazy old Ignaz’ was the growing sentiment of young and old that seemed to follow him everywhere he went. Yet he stood his ground, entirely alone--one man against the entire scientific establishment of his day. No one--absolutely no one--agreed with him. He was universally regarded as a nut. In the end, although he never gave ground scientifically, the incredible, relentless, pressure got to him. Ignaz lapsed into insanity. His death followed on August 1, 1865. At the age of 47, Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis was just as right as he could be, though the entire world and all of the scientific experts thought otherwise. Shortly thereafter, Joseph Lister performed his first antiseptic operation and Semmelweis, dead less than a year, was on his way to a full vindication” (When Science Errors: The Oft Times Lonely Stand for Truth,” http://aiia.christiananswers.net/resources/thoughtletters/27/).
TRUE GOD-CENTERED THEOLOGY (Friday Church News Notes, June 4, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from the sermon “Real Answers for Fundamentalists” by Jim Van Gelderen, March 2005: “True transformation on the inside always affects the outside. ... We are after inward transformation that produces outward transformation, which is true God-centered theology. The emphasis today on God-centered theology is not innately spiritual; it is intellectual. Intellectual God-centered theology will [bring you to the place where] you will actually not be God-centered. God doesn’t bypass the brain but what we are after is spiritual theology. In other words, we recognize that God works spiritually. Obviously God uses our minds, but the direct issue of communication is with our spirit. To be spiritually-minded is life; they are wed together. We need to see that. Today there is a great emphasis on the ivory tower, an emphasis on intellectualism. A God-centered theology that does not feed your soul or bring you to reality cannot be God-centered. True God-centered theology means you interact with grace, you interact with a divine being; there is reality there and you will never be the same. True God-centered theology is revival!”
THE YOUNG FUNDAMENTALIST’S NEW LEGALISM (Friday Church News Notes, June 4, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from the sermon “Real Answers for Fundamentalists” by Jim Van Gelderen, March 2005: “There is the possibility of a new legalism. Sometimes people say, ‘You just need the spirit of the law.’ Actually, the spirit of God’s commandments takes us farther then the letter does. God said not to commit adultery, and Christ came along and said, ‘Let me tell you what that means; don’t even think about it.” The spirit of God’s commandment not to commit adultery is to not even entertain it, not even think about it. The spirit of the law takes us farther in its application then the letter does. The Pharisees were masters at getting at the letter so they wouldn’t have to obey the spirit. That’s called ‘legalism.’ Let me illustrate it. I had a guy in my van who told me that he absolutely got a kick at seeing how many rules at his Christian college he could break without getting caught. He would tell me, ‘I break light bell, and I do this and I do this, and I do this,’ and he just thought it was a game. I said, ‘O.K., what do you do with Romans chapter 13, Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God?’ He replied, ‘That’s not talking about my Christian college; that’s talking about government.’ I said to him, “You’re a legalist.” In other words, he was so letter-of-the-lawish--so ‘it’s only talking about secular government’--that he missed the spirit of it. The spirit of it is that God’s people ought to submit to God-ordained authorities in their lives, period. If you resist God-ordained authorities in your life, you’re resisting God Almighty! Listen, how many of you have kids in the Christian school? Would it make any difference to you if I told you that God wrote the rule book for your Christian school? Would it make any difference in how you approach the rule book? It shouldn’t, because in a sense, God did write it. His Word says that whosoever resisteth the authority, resisteth the ordinance of God. In other words, God backs up His authorities, even with imperfections. That’s what it says. But the new legalist will say, ‘No, that’s just talking about government.’”
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.