March 26, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 11
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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 ME GENERATION DOES THEOLOGY (Friday Church News Notes, March 26, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Bible describes a “me generation” in the last days. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves...” (2 Timothy 3:1). The same prophecy warns that the me generation “will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:3). The “me generation” is upon us. It is the age of my politics (democracy), my music, my fashion, my space, my diet, an age with the theme song “I did it my way.” This has been the principle philosophy of rock & roll from its inception. “I’ve free to do what I want any old time” (Rolling Stones, 1965). Not surprisingly, it is also the age of “my church” and “my theology,” which is a good definition of the “emerging church.” This was evident in the recent “Theology After Google” conference at the Claremont School of Theology in California. Emerging leaders such as Tony Jones and Spencer Burke served up a philosophy guaranteed to tickle the ears of the me generation. They contrasted “Church 1.0” of the “old era” with “Church 2.0” of the Google era. Whereas Church 1.0 was “about top-down leadership, creeds, doctrines and literal objectives” (which sounds suspiciously like the church described in the New Testament), Church 2.0 encompasses “a bottom-up, wiki theology, subjective and ever-evolving culture” (“Emergent Christians Mull Theology in Google Era,” The Christian Post, March 16, 2010). The conference represented a movement called “Transforming Theology,” which aims to “transform and renew the Christian Church in and for the twenty-first century.” Philip Clayton, a professor at Claremont School of Theology and a leader of Transforming Theology, said that in this day “there are no strict criteria for what is acceptable or unacceptable theology.” Conference participant Bob Cornwall observed that the movement represents a “democratization” of theology. The Emerging Church is definitely a winning ticket for an apostate generation, and the fact that they have openly targeted the children and grandchildren of today’s fundamentalist Christ-loving, Grace-preaching, Bible-believing Christians should motivate us to double the locks and make sure that we reach and keep the heart of the next generation.
MILEY CYRUS ENJOYS “THE SHACK” KIND OF CHRISTIANITY (Friday Church News Notes, March 26, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Teen rock star Miley Cyrus told Parade magazine (March 2010) that she is a Christian but not the “old school” type. She doesn’t define her faith by “going to church every Sunday” and she particularly hates “judgmentalism by parents.” Her words for those who don’t like her immodest clothing and sleazy “pole dancing” (during her performance at last summer’s Teen Choice Awards) are “if you don’t like it, then change the channel” and “that’s so old-school.” Old-school, indeed. It’s as old as the Bible. Believers are forbidden to judge hypocritically (Matthew 7:1-5) or to judge in matters in which the Bible is silent (Romans 14:3), but we are commanded to “judge righteous judgment (John 7:24). In fact, the Bible says, “he that is spiritual judgeth all things” (1 Cor. 2:15). We are to judge sinning Christians (1 Cor. 5:12-13) and preaching (1 Cor. 14:29) and worldliness (James 4:4). As for every work of darkness, we are to judge it by reproving it (Ephesians 5:11). Perhaps if Miley’s Christianity were more “old school,” she would not say such foolish things. Miley Cyrus represents the type of Christianity promoted by rock & roll since its inception. It is a Christianity that “loves Jesus” but refuses to be bound by strict scriptural precepts. It’s a live pretty much as you please type of Christianity. In reality, they do not worship the God of the Bible, who is holy and demands holiness. His grace is great and lovely, purchased at unspeakable price on Calvary, but His grace demands repentance and always leads to obedience. This generation worships the new god presented in William Paul Young’s The Shack. Young’s god is cool, loves rock & roll, is non-judgmental, does not exercise wrath toward sin, does not send unbelievers to an eternal fiery hell, does not require repentance and the new birth, puts no obligations on people, and doesn’t like traditional Bible churches. The Shack god just wants people to “love Jesus,” be happy, and do their own thing. It’s the god of Elvis and Oprah and Bono. In one interview Young told of a woman who, after reading The Shack, determined to “divorce the old God and marry the new one.” That is what the majority of professing Christians have done since in the 1950s by heeding the sensual siren call of rock & roll. The Shack god is the god of end-time apostasy described in 2 Timothy 4:3-4.
PRIESTS SPEAK OUT AGAINST CELIBACY (Friday Church News Notes, March 26, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A growing number of present and former priests are speaking out against the Catholic Church’s dogma of celibacy. Recently Cardinal Christophy Schoenborn, one of the pope’s closest advisers, called for an examination of the issue of celibacy and has been “receptive to arguments that a celibate priesthood is increasingly problematic for the church” (“Priests with Love Lives Speak Out,” AP, March 17, 2010). Rome’s refusal to allow priests to marry is a sin against nature that has resulted in a massive amount of immorality through the centuries, and nothing has changed today. There is a Married Priests association in Belgium and a group called Light of Day in France that includes 150 women who live with priests. The director of the latter, Dominique Venturini, says, “When you bury human nature, it figures out how to express itself in another, perverted way.” The Catholic Church in America has spent more than a billion dollars defending itself from lawsuits stemming from the actions of pedophile priests. The aforementioned Associated Press report observed that “revelations about sexual abuse of children have convulsed Catholic leadership from the United States to Ireland to Australia and in recent weeks, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland.” Marriage was practiced by most of the Lord’s apostles, including Peter (1 Cor. 9:5), and it is a biblical requirement for pastors (Titus 1:5-6).
THE TRILOBITE’S DEFIANCE OF THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION (Friday Church News Notes, March 26, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The lowly trilobite is one of the many icons of evolution that defies evolution. The trilobite, which is found in the so-called Cambrian layer, at the earliest stages of life according to evolutionary thinking, is an amazing creature. The trilobite supposedly lived 570 million years ago, and it is considered one of the signature creatures of the Paleozoic Era. The trilobite was an anthropod, a hard-shelled, segmented creature that “lived in the Earth’s ancient seas.” Even some evolutionists admit that the trilobite “defies the theories of evolution” (“Trilobites,” Paleodirect.com). First, the trilobite defies evolution in that it was rapidly fossilized. The incredible detail of the fossils, even to the retention of microscopic detail in the compound eyes, proves that the creature was subject to a catastrophic process of fossilization as opposed to a uniformitarian one. The fossils depict living trilobites being fossilized so quickly they were still moving! Second, the trilobite defies evolution in that it appears suddenly in the fossil record with no evidence of having evolved from anything else. The evolutionists admit that it “appeared suddenly” in the “Cambrian explosion.” Third, the trilobite defies evolution in that it was a highly complex creature. The trilobite had antennae, multiple, jointed legs, and gill structures. It underwent a series of life stages. And it had a compound eye that gives every evidence of being a marvelous design. Some trilobite eyes had 15,000 lenses that worked in perfect harmony to provide exceptional vision for this creature, and each lens was also a doublet made up of two lenses. Scientific research has discovered that the lenses were shaped perfectly to avoid spherical aberration and the second lens was necessary for the eye to work properly under water. In spite of evolutionary claims that “trilobites developed one of the first sophisticated visual systems in the animal kingdom,” there is no evidence that the trilobite eye or any other eye evolved. The eye appears fully formed in countless sophisticated varieties of creatures, and there is absolutely no evidence that one type of eye evolved from another. Those who claim that the trilobite eye “evolved” provide no scientific method whereby such a miracle could occur by “blind” chance. Not only would the bewilderingly complex physical mechanism of the eye have had to evolve, but also the accompanying complex wiring in the brain with its mysterious ability to instantly receive and interpret visual signals. And all of this had to “evolve” at the DNA level. The mind-boggling complexity of creatures at every level of the fossil record disproves evolution. The trilobite not only defies evolution, it gives evidence for the Bible’s teaching of the universal Flood. It does this, first, because it has been found in mountains and deserts throughout the world, on every continent, including the Sahara Desert and mountains in Morocco and British Columbia. Trilobites have been found on land far from the sea in Nevada, Utah, Oklahoma, Indiana, New York, Ohio, Ontario, Australia, England Czechoslovakia, Germany, Spain, Russia, Siberia, and China, proving that the whole earth was once covered with the ocean like the Bible says! The trilobite gives evidence for the Flood, secondly, through its rapid fossilization, which we have already discussed. Only a worldwide catastrophe of biblical proportions can explain the trilobite fossils. In the trilobite God’s existence is indeed “clearly seen” (Romans 1:20).
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.
March 19, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 12
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.
ANOTHER VAIN ATTEMPT AT IMMORTALITY (Friday Church News Notes, March 19, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Men who die without Christ have been devising ways to speak from beyond the grave since ancient times. Harry Houdini promised his wife that he would try to communicate with her via spiritism and he left her a secret authentication code. More recently some have attempted to communicate from the grave via cell phones placed in the casket. So far none of those cell phones have made any calls before the batteries died. Now a company is marketing high-tech headstones that “let you speak from beyond the grave.” The “Personal RosettaStones,” marketed by Objecs, are iPod-sized stone tablets embedded with radio frequency ID tags that store 1,000 words and a picture. The information can be beamed to a properly equipped mobile phone in extreme close proximity to the headstone. Objecs claims the device can last up to 3,200 years. Christopher Hill, who plans to purchase the device, says, “I literally can speak to people forever; I can be seen forever” (“High-Tech Headstones,” ABC News/Technology, March 12, 2010). Jesus Christ said that every man will be raised from the dead, the saved to everlasting life, the unsaved to everlasting judgment. “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28-29).
COUNTRY MUSIC’S CHEAP GRACE (Friday Church News Notes, March 19, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Country music is very popular with many professing Christians, including some fundamentalists, but contemporary country music is nothing more than rock & roll covered with a veneer of cheap grace. The latest example of this is Billy Currington’s “People Are Crazy,” which received nominations at the annual Academy of Country Music Awards for Single of the Year and Song of the Year. It is about two men drinking in a bar and reminiscing about immoral escapades with women. They talk about “God’s grace” and raunchy living, then sing in the chorus, “God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy.” This is repeated five times, but the God of the Bible and filthy living don’t go together. God is great and His grace is wonderful, but Jesus didn’t pay the terrible price to die for man’s sins just so that we can continue to live as we please. That is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the cheap gospel of country western music, and it does not lead to a country western heaven but to the same eternal hell that is populated by every individual that dies without being born again. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11-14).
ELTON JOHN BLAMES CHRISTIANITY FOR SUICIDE OF FORMER “LOVER” (Friday Church News Notes, March 19, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Rock singer Elton John claims that a former homosexual partner committed suicide “because he could not reconcile his homosexuality with his Christian beliefs” (“Elton John’s lover committed suicide,” The Telegraph, March 13, 2010). David Furnish, who has been “married” to Elton John since 2005, said the man in question “was so tortured by the conflicting views between his sexuality and his strong religious beliefs that he chose to take his own life.” This public statement is all about pushing homosexual rights and criticizing “Christianity” for being judgmental. John and Furnish have produced a play entitled Next Fall to promote this agenda. The 62-year-old rocker said, “We all need love. We all have the same fears and insecurities. We should all be allowed to be free.” This has been the theme song of rock & roll from its inception. The love of God in Christ, on the other hand, requires repentance from self-worship and rejection of humanistic relativist “morality” and surrender to Almighty God and His holy ways. God offers man eternal salvation and that salvation was purchased at a great price, but man must receive it on God’s terms rather than his own terms. The average professing Christian, though, is nominal as opposed to genuine; he has never been born again through repentance and faith and thus does not have the power of God to live a changed life.
SCIENTISTS THEORIZE THAT WE ARE EVOLVING AWAY FROM BELIEF IN GOD (Friday Church News Notes, March 19, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The stupid prize of the week goes to seminar participants at Cambridge University who theorize that is God is a mere figment of human evolutionary processes. The annual Science and Religion seminar, sponsored by the Templeton Foundation, discussed the alleged evolution of morality and belief in God and considered the current status of such belief. Attendee Barbara Hagerty of National Public Radio asked, “Is God actually dying?” Michael Reiss, science professor at the Institute of Education University of London, replied that since human conceptions of God are different today than in the past, it would “not be surprising if they continued to change” (“‘Is God Dying?’ Questions on Morality, Evolution and the Mind,” USA Today, March 12, 2010). This crowd is following in the footsteps of Charles Darwin, who theorized that man’s fear of God is no different than a monkey’s fear of a snake. Well does the Bible say, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1), for the evidence for God is everywhere. This bewilderingly complex universe could not have come into existence by chance. The neo-Darwinian processes of mutation and natural selection explain absolutely nothing. The widespread unbelief in our day is further evidence that the Bible is true, for it was plainly prophesied in the pages of Scripture 2,000 years ago. “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4).
UZBEK BAPTIST GETS 10 YEARS IN JAIL (Friday Church News Notes, March 19, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Associated Baptist Press, March 11, 2010: “Uzbekistan has sentenced a Baptist arrested in January to 10 years in prison on drug charges that fellow Baptists insist are fabricated. Forum 18, a Norwegian news service that tracks stories about abuses of religious freedom, reported that Tohar Haydarov, 27, was sentenced March 9 for selling ‘large quantities’ of illicit drugs. He was arrested Jan. 18 in the region of Syrdarya in central Uzbekistan. Authorities accused him of producing and storing drugs. Fellow church members described Haydarov as ‘a man with a pure conscience and an honest Christian’ and claimed he was set up for arrest because of his religious convictions. Uzbekistan's 1998 religion law allows only registered religious organizations to worship. Haydarov belongs to the Baptist Council of Churches, a group that refuses to register its congregations within the former Soviet Union and advocates strict separation of church and state. Baptists who spoke to Forum 18 said after his arrest, Haydarov was taken to a police station and pressured to renounce his faith. When he refused, the Baptists said, police planted a matchbox containing drugs in his coat pocket and placed him under arrest. Church members reported that at his initial court appearance Haydarov's face appeared swollen as if he had been beaten and that he could hardly walk. Uzbekistan’s constitution officially guarantees religious freedom, but minority religious groups say the law has increasingly been used to suppress human rights and religious freedom in a country that is 84 percent Muslim, 15 percent non-religious and 1 percent Christian.”
CUSTODIAN OF U.S. MOSQUES PROMOTES SLAYING OF AMERICANS (Friday Church News Notes, March 19, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from WorldNetDaily, March 7, 2010: “The custodian of most of the major mosques in America acts as a front for the radical Muslim Brotherhood in America, and publishes and distributes Islamic literature that exhorts Muslims to ‘kill’ any Westerners who get in the way of spreading Islam, WND has learned. ‘No political system or material power should put hindrances in the way of preaching Islam. If someone does this, then it is the duty of Islam to fight him until either he is killed or until he declares his submission,’ asserts an Islamic publication distributed by the North American Islamic Trust. NAIT holds title to more than 300 mosques in America--including the large Islamic center outside Washington where the Fort Hood terrorist and some of the 9/11 hijackers worshipped. NAIT also owns and controls the mosque in Orange County, Calif., that converted al-Qaida spokesman Adam Gadahn to Islam. Gadahn in a video released Sunday exhorted Muslims serving in the U.S. military to follow in the footsteps of accused Fort Hood terrorist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. He also called for attacks on mass transportation, along with assassinations or kidnappings of key figures in the government, industry and media. The Justice Department recently blacklisted NAIT as an unindicted co-conspirator in a scheme to funnel millions of dollars to Palestinian terrorists. NAIT Trustee Gaddoor Saidi was individually listed as an unindicted co-conspirator, as well, in the Holy Land Foundation case--the largest terror finance trial in U.S. history, which ended in guilty verdicts on all 108 counts. In addition, the government identified NAIT as a front for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood in America. Hamas, which was designated a terrorist organization in 1995, has murdered 17 Americans and injured hundreds of other U.S. citizens.”
BATTLE FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN CALIFORNIA (Friday Church News Notes, March 19, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from OneNewsNow, March 16, 2010: “A move is under way in California to protect the free-speech rights of Christians. According to Pastor Allan Esses of Yes Jesus Christ Is Lord Ministries, the amendments will allow Christians (1) to freely share their faith and (2) to publicly take a stand on issues of the day without fear of retribution from authorities. ‘I just pray that God’s people would see that there is a great spiritual battle before us,’ says the ministry spokesman. ‘That our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said we should gird up our loins and be ready for the soon return of Jesus Christ for his church. And we need to understand the battle that is before us [and] the attack upon God's Word and Jesus Christ.’ Esses says the secretary of state's office must receive 694,000 signatures by the middle of April in order to get the initiatives on the ballot.”
LEGAL EUTHANASIA’S POTENTIAL FOR ABUSE (Friday Church News Notes, March 19, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from OneNewsNow, March 16, 2010: “Assisted suicide has been legal for a year in Washington, and the state health department has issued its first report. During the first year, 63 people requested and received lethal prescriptions to kill themselves. 47 have since died, while 36 are confirmed to have used the poison to accomplish it. Although 79 percent suffered from cancer, few cited pain as the reason for seeking end of life treatment as the main concern was the cost for alternate treatment. ‘What is and has been the reality of this [is] that when you transform assisted suicide into a medical treatment, it makes it just like every other medical treatment, except it's lots cheaper. And people begin to see it as a benefit for the family,’ comments Rita Marker, attorney and president of the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. ... The report shows there are too many unknowns, and the possibility of murder is an example. ... There is an open chance for elder abuse, but no way to track it or prosecute those responsible since the law requires prosecutors to treat the death as natural.” NOTE FROM THE EDITOR OF FRIDAY NEWS: My wife and I know of a case in which some Christians starved their father to death to make his passing more convenient for their schedules. The old boy just wasn’t dying quickly enough! We know of another case in which a woman pressured her elderly mother to die rather than agree to a simple medical procedure that promised to prolong her life. As it turned out, another of the woman’s children urged her to have the procedure and she lived many more years. In fact, she outlived the daughter who urged her to die. Because of mankind’s selfish fallen nature there is indeed great potential for abuse with legal euthanasia.
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.
March 12, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 11
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.
SADDLEBACK ROCKS OUT FOR EASTER (Friday Church News Notes, March 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Rick Warren has announced that The Jonas Brothers rock group will be performing at Saddleback Church’s Easter celebration at Angel Stadium on April 4. It is also the megachurch’s 30th anniversary. The Jonas Brothers is a boy band with a following of thousands of carnally-infatuated young girl fans. The band members are professing Christians, but their music is worldly. Their song “Burnin’ Up” says, “Baby, who turned the temperature hotter? Cause I’m burnin up, burnin up for your baby. ... I fell so fast/ Can’t hold myself back/ High heels, red dress/ All by yourself, gotta catch my breath.” There is nothing biblical or wholesome about that type of thing. The Bible forbids God’s people to be conformed to the world (Romans 12:2) and warns that “the friendship of the world is enmity with God” and “whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). Those powerful words are ignored in the average church today. The modern explosion of conformity of churches to the world has walked hand-in-hand with the progress of contemporary Christian music, beginning in the 1960s. It was then that A. W. Tozer stated: “For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was. For this she was abused roundly by the sons of this world. But of late she has become tired of the abuse and has given over the struggle. If she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment, she may as well join forces with him and make whatever use she can of his powers. So today we have the astonishing spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for the so-called sons of heaven. Religious persons now carry on ‘services’ so carnal, so pagan that they can hardly be distinguished from the old vaudeville shows of earlier days. And for a preacher or writer to challenge this heresy is to invite ridicule and abuse from every quarter. When the Church joins up with the world, it is no longer the true church but a pitiful hybrid thing, an object of contempt to the world, and an abomination to the Lord. We must have a new reformation. There must come a violent break with that irresponsible, amusement-mad, paganized, pseudo-religion which passes today for the faith of Christ and which is being spread all over the world by unspiritual men employing unscriptural methods to achieve their ends.” If men of God were saying this 50 years ago, what should preachers be saying today!
COUPLE LET OWN CHILD DIE WHILE RAISING A VIRTUAL REALITY CHILD (Friday Church News Notes, March 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In South Korea, a couple allowed their three-month-old infant to starve to death while they raised a “virtual reality child” on the web. The baby was left to fend for itself while they played a fantasy role-playing game called Prius Online in marathon stretches at an Internet cafe (“Baby Dies While Couple Raises Virtual Child,” CNN, March 7, 2010). The report says that Prius is a “game in which players nurture an online companion, Anima, a young girl with mysterious powers who grows and increases her skills as the game progresses.” South Korea is a high-tech country with one of the world’s fastest broadband networks, and 24-hour gaming Internet cafes known as PC Bangs “dot every urban neighborhood.” Online gaming is huge all over Asia, and young people have died in marathon gaming sessions. Technology as a major phenomena of the end-times was prophesied in Daniel 12. It can be used for good or for evil, but since this world currently belongs to the Devil (the “god of this world,” 2 Corinthians 4:4) and since the “mystery of iniquity” is working powerfully these days, evil is an ever-lurking danger. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
MACARTHUR CALLS FOR “SEPARATION” BUT MOCKS SEPARATISTS (Friday Church News Notes, March 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a message to thousands of pastors at the recent Shepherds’ Conference, John MacArthur called for separation from the world but also used the occasion to malign fundamentalists. He said, “The church, if it is to be anything, it is to be absolutely distinct from culture, absolutely distinct from the world, absolutely distinct from unbelievers. ... Paul demands a total break. ... You can’t marry the church to the culture. Don’t fornicate with the world” (“MacArthur Tells Christians: Don’t fornicate with the World,” Christian Post, March 5, 2010). That’s a great challenge as far as it goes. The problem is that MacArthur undermines it by countenancing worldly Christian rock and refusing to draw clear lines in such things as dress and entertainment and by yoking together with compromisers. He has long participated in the deeply ecumenical National Religious Broadcasters and has spoken on the same platform with Roman Catholics. He has spoken in meetings with Billy Graham and Luis Palau and has not reproved their ecumenical evangelism heresy whereby they have turned thousands of “converts” over to the Roman Catholic Church. In other words, he talks about separation but refuses to practice it. He is so worried that someone will identify him as a fundamentalist that he cannot preach and practice separatism in a strict fashion. He has to fudge. In the same message he labeled fundamentalism as “cruel and unbiblical” because it builds “high walls in terms of conduct and relationships” and vilifies those who cross the walls. Building walls of conduct and relationships is exactly what the Bible demands when it calls for separation (e.g., Romans 12:2; 16:17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Ephesians 5:21; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; 2 Timothy 3:5; 1 John 2:15-17), but as for vilifying those who cross the walls, that is a gross mischaracterization. For example, I don’t vilify ecumenical evangelists or Christian rockers; I biblically reprove them, and there is nothing cruel about that! Warning of sin and error is not cruel! MacArthur said, “I’m not by nature this narrow-minded kind of separatist who wants to chew up and spit out everybody who crosses the lines that I draw.” Good, neither am I! I have been a fundamentalist for 36 years, and the vast majority of fundamentalist preachers I know do not fit that description. It is a vicious straw man, and I deeply resent it. Sure, separatist preachers are just men and some are more spiritual than others, but in my experience the majority are simply trying to obey the Bible and please the Lord that saved them, which is exactly what MacArthur claims to be doing. If anyone is vilifying anyone, it is MacArthur vilifying fundamentalists. The man has taken some good stands in the midst of his compromise (e.g., warning against the charismatic movement and the emerging church), and he should stop vilifying fundamentalists and rather humble himself to learn from them.
CLIMATEGATE CORRUPTION, STENCH “OVERWHELMING” (Friday Church News Notes, March 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from OneNewsNow, March 4, 2010: “A Republican senator from Oklahoma is going on the offensive against global warming. Senator Jim Inhofe, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, recently released the committee’s investigation into the ‘ClimateGate’ scandal. On his Senate website, Inhofe says he knew global-warming alarmists were "cooking the science to support the flawed U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change agenda." He also claims he was right in 2003 when he said blaming global warming on carbon dioxide and other manmade gases is the ‘greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.’ Climate Depot executive editor Mark Morano comments that Inhofe’s report is very comprehensive. ‘Senator Inhofe has alleged criminal activity on the parties,’ Morano notes. ‘He's calling for the head of the U.N. to testify, [and] he’s calling for Al Gore to come back and defend his climate claims. This is a huge development because this is going to turn into testimony. You're going to have congressional hearings on this, investigations. It’s going to keep it in the public eye.’ The journalist finds it amazing how the mighty have fallen. ‘This was an insular industry that didn’t answer to anyone,’ he comments, ‘and now they’ve been cracked open like an egg--and the corruption and the stench is overwhelming.’ According to Morano, more global-warming scandals could develop as a result of Inhofe’s Senate committee report.”
CANADA CHURCH LOSES CHARITY STATUS OVER MORAL STAND (Friday Church News Notes, March 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from LifeSiteNews, Jan. 21, 2010: “The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has revoked the charitable status of Kings Glory Fellowship (KGF), a Christian church in Calgary. CRA cites a number of issues with KGF’s application, but the decision is based, in part, on the ground that certain KGF Board members have spoken out strongly against abortion, and other moral issues. ‘The members of the Board of Directors espouse strong negative views about sensitive and controversial issues, which may also be viewed as political, such as abortion, homosexuality, divorce, etc.,’ wrote CRA agent Dian Prodanov in an October 29th letter. These ‘political’ views make the church ineligible because, according to the agent, a registered charity ‘may only engage in non-partisan political activities as long as it devotes substantially all (usually 90% or more) of its resources to charitable activities.’ KGF’s pastor, Artur Pawlowski, is also the founder and pastor of Street Church Ministries, which has made headlines because of its battle with the city of Calgary to uphold its right to preach to and serve the city’s poor. In December, a provincial court judge sided with Pawlowski and SCM, striking down several city infractions against them. Further, the judge found that ‘the City’s attempts ... to limit the scope of the efforts by the accused to minister to his congregants, fall precariously close to being excessive and, to any reasonable observer, an abuse of power.’ Prodanov cited numerous problems with KGF’s application, such as a lack of detail about various expenditures, but Pawlowski called these other reasons ‘smoke screens.’ ‘The main point is that they don’t like my opinions about different controversial issues, and I speak about them openly on radio, in paper, and on TV,’ he said. ‘So that's what happens when you express your views as a pastor. They want to muzzle us up.’”
EMERGING CHURCH LEADER BRIAN MCLAREN PROMOTING “HOMOSPIRITUALITY” (Friday Church News Notes, March 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Brian McLaren’s New Book, A New Kind of Christianity--Assaulting Truth with a Vengeance,” John Lanagan, Lighthouse Trails, March 7, 2010: “In Brian McLaren’s latest book, A New Kind of Christianity, the reader is cordially invited to join the author in a heretical assault upon God and the Bible. Indeed, as McLaren enthusiastically demonstrates, it is not possible to attack one without attacking the other. Acknowledging the work of fellow emergent travelers such as Phyllis Tickle, Tony Jones, and Doug Pagitt, McLaren tells us ‘something is trying to be born among those of us who follow Jesus Christ’ (pg. 13). In fact, writes McLaren, ‘what is trying to be born today echoes the Great Reformation in many ways’ (pg. 257). ... What does McLaren’s ‘reformation’ offer? An errant eschatology. A New Age ‘christ.’ The ascent of homospirituality into the temple. (2 Kings 23:7). All made possible, of course, through creative misinterpretation of God’s Word. The author has brought us his Great Deformation, a theology that plays to the flesh even while being portrayed as a spiritual journey. One of the major themes in A New Kind of Christianity, homosexuality, cleverly defines Christians who speak out against the homosexual lifestyle as suffering from ‘fundasexuality’ (pg. 174-5). However, you are only a ‘fundasexualist’ if you speak out loudly against this sin. McLaren decrees, ‘The term does not apply to the quiet, pious, respectful fundamentalism of straightforward, sincere people, but rather to the organizing, angry, dominating fundamentalism that declares war on those who differ’ (pg. 174-5). In other words, when it comes to homosexuality, a good Christian is a silent Christian. ‘Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter’ (Isaiah 5:20). As my wife and I have both repented of this particular sin, it is difficult to comprehend Brian McLaren’s smiley-faced rebellion. But make no mistake: McLaren and others are being used to facilitate homospirituality, which may even assume an elevated, even sacred, status.”
BRIAN MCLAREN REJECTS THE DOCTRINE OF HELL (Friday Church News Notes, March 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a recent interview, emerging church leader Brian McLaren blatantly rejected the doctrine of hell. He said, “On hell, here’s the issue. That six-line narrative I talk about in the book, as interpreted by many people, suggests that every person who does not say the sinner’s prayer, personally accept Christ as their savior will spend eternity--which means absolutely forever without ever any abatement or termination--in conscious torment. So every second will be like they’re burning in fire, every second they’ll be in absolute agony, every second. And so a lot of us find that is not something you can just lightly swallow. ... You think about someone who went through the Holocaust. They were so horribly treated by the Nazis and then the Nazis kill them and then they go to something even worse just because they weren’t Christians. A lot of us say, when we read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and really when we read most of the Bible, the image of God that we see does not seem like an eternal torturer. ... We’re asking that because we get a vision of God in Jesus Christ that just doesn’t seem to match with that” (“Interview: Brian McLaren on Sin, Hell, New Kind of Christianity,” Christian Post, March 8, 2010). The fact is that the Jesus presented in the Gospels preached the doctrine of eternal hell for unbelievers in no uncertain terms. It was one of the major themes of Christ’s preaching! But when a man is willfully blind and has rejected the gospel that his own godly grandfathers preached (McLaren’s paternal grandfather was a Plymouth Brethren missionary in Angola and his maternal grandfather was a faithful member of a Brethren assembly in New York), he can read the Bible all day long and never understand it. That is the frightful truth about Brian McLaren and his buddies in the emerging church that have “divorced the old God and married the new,” to use the words of a follower of The Shack.
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.
March 5, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 10
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.
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EPISCOPAL BISHOP SAYS PAUL DID NOT CONDEMN HOMOSEXUALITY (Friday Church News Notes, March 5, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - V. Gene Robinson, the first “openly gay bishop” in the Episcopal Church in America, claims that Paul did not condemn homosexuality in Romans 1:26-27, which reads as follows. “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.” Robinson says, “St. Paul was talking about people that he understood to be heterosexual engaging in same-sex acts. It never occurred to anyone in ancient times that a certain minority of us would be born being affectionally oriented to people of the same sex. So it did seem like against their nature to be doing so” (“First Openly Gay Episcopal Bishop,” CNSNews.com, Feb. 4, 2010). This is nonsense. Paul condemned homosexual acts in a wholesale manner, which is in conformity to the teaching of the entire Bible. God established the first marriage between a man and a woman and ordained that all sexual relationships outside of holy matrimony are sinful (Hebrew 13:4). Robinson broke his marriage vows two decades ago when he left his wife and two young daughters and moved in with his male partner. In a speech in April 29, 2000, Robinson said: “... we are worthy to hold our heads high as gay folk--NOT because we’ve merely decided we are worthy, but because God has proclaimed it so. That we are loved beyond our wildest imagining by a God who made us the way we are and proclaimed it good.” This is solid evidence of the divine inspiration of the Bible, because it is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy (e.g., 2 Peter 2).
STUDY LINKS VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES TO VIOLENT THOUGHT, ACTION (Friday Church News Notes, March 5, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from The Washington Post, March 1, 2010: “A study in the March issue of Psychological Bulletin, a journal of the American Psychological Association, shows that playing violent video games increases violent thinking, attitudes and behaviors among players. And it does nothing to promote positive social behaviors. Psychologist Craig Anderson of Iowa State University and his team analyzed existing studies of 130,000 people from the U.S., Europe and Japan. His findings held for players in Western and Eastern cultures, for male and female players and for players of various ages. ... the new research found that exposure to violent video games was associated with aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition and aggressive ‘affect.’ It desensitizes users and is associated with lack of empathy and a lack of ‘prosocial’ behavior.”
RAP’S WELL-TRAVELED PATH TO PRISON (Friday Church News Notes, March 5, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Rap or Hip Hop music is lawless, violent music, and it is not surprising that it is accompanied by lawlessness and violence. An Associated Press report entitled “Rap’s well-traveled path to prison” bears this out. “It’s a ritual that seems to play out at least once a year in the rap community. A top star faces a criminal charge, and more often than not, is locked up at the height of their wealth and fame. Lil Wayne is the latest example. On Tuesday, he is to be sentenced on a weapons charge and will likely face one year behind bars. Besides his scheduled court date in New York, he is also scheduled for trial in Arizona on March 30 on felony drug possession and weapons charges. ... Lil Wayne joins a group of rappers with legal woes over the past year, from Gucci Mane to Soulja Boy to popular music producer Shawty Reed, who faces a charge of murder in Georgia. T. I., another one of rap’s top sellers, reported to a federal prison in 2009 for his conviction on weapons charges. In the history of hip-hop, other popular rappers such as Slick Rick, Shakur, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Remy Ma, Beanie Sigel, Shyne, Mystikal and C-Murder have spent a few months to several years in prison” (“Rap’s well-traveled path,” AP, Feb. 25, 2010). Jeff Royal observes, “The only hope for rap music stars and anyone else is the redemption found in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Their re-hab speeches at schools are for the most part ineffective. While some may warn about the dangers associated with fame, the warnings in my opinion simply go unheeded because they are seen at the next concert glamorizing money, immorality, and the rapper lifestyle. The lyrics of most of the current rappers are some of the most vile that you could ever imagine. What these kids so desperately need is the clear, unvarnished gospel that can save their souls and deliver them from the ravages of sin. Jesus Christ is their ONLY hope!”
EVANGELICAL INTERFAITH DIALOGUE CONTINUES TO SPREAD (Friday Church News Notes, March 5, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Interfaith dialogue continues to spread among “evangelicals.” The March 2010 edition of Lausanne World Pulse features an article entitled “Interfaith Interface with Buddhists” by Chandler Im. The author is director of Ethnic Ministries at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College and professor of missions at Faith Evangelical Seminary in Tacoma, Washington. Chandler Im favorably quotes Lesslie Newbigin, saying, “I strongly concur with Newbigin’s claim that until one has felt in one’s soul the dynamic power and influence of a great religion, one has not heard or understood the message of it.” This is heresy. Nowhere does the Bible teach God’s people to study pagan religions in order to “feel” their dynamic power. To the contrary, the Bible says that the power behind pagan religion is the devil and warns us in strongest terms to stay away from it. “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? ... Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,” (2 Corinthians 6:14, 15, 17). Newbigin, a favorite author of emerging church proponents, was Associate General Secretary in the radically heretical World Council of Churches. In The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, Newbigin denied that the Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God and said the 18th century defenders of the faith were in error when they taught that the Bible is “a set of timeless truths.” Further, Newbigin said, “All so-called facts are interpreted facts. ... What we see as facts depends on the theory we bring to the observation” (p. 21). This is a liberal emerging church principle, that all interpretations of the Bible are imperfect. Newbigin taught that there is the possibility of salvation apart from personal faith in Christ. The March issue of Lausanne World Pulse also features an article promoting the heresy that Hindus do not have to be baptized or identify with a church after “accepting Christ.” This article, “Sharing Christ in Hindu Contexts,” is by Lalsangkima Pachuau of the Asbury Theological Seminary. Pachuau reports approvingly that some “believers” in India “find being labeled ‘Christian’ unnecessary and unhelpful as it isolates them from their native (Hindu) community.” Modern evangelicalism is shot through and through with dangerous heretical thinking.
POPULAR CCM SONG PROMOTES ECUMENICAL UNITY (Friday Church News Notes, March 5, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The song “Why Can’t All God’s Children Get Along,” which promotes ecumenical unity, is up for the Dove Awards’ “Song of the Year.” The lyrics proclaim: “Why can’t all God’s children get along/ We can’t all be right/ we can’t all be wrong/ We’re just different singers in the same old song/ Why can’t all God’s children get along?” The popularity of this song, which is from Karen Peck’s CD “No Worries,” is not surprising, since this has been one of the unscriptural theme songs of the Contemporary Christian Music movement from its inception. (It has also become one of the theme songs of contemporary Southern Gospel, and it is telling that Bill Gaither and Mark Lowry have lauded “Why Can’t All God’s Children Get Along.”) Contemporary Christian Music is ecumenical music. In fact, Contemporary Christian Music is one of the glues holding together the end-times ecumenical movement. The same music is popular with theological modernists, Roman Catholics, Charismatics, and New Evangelicals. Not one CCM musician that I know of stands against ecumenism and for the whole counsel of Bible doctrine, ecclesiastical separation, personal separation from the world, etc. They have replaced the commandments of God’s Word to separate from error with a feel-good philosophy of unity. The answer to the question “Why can’t all God’s children get along” is found in the Bible. Jesus and the apostles warned repeatedly that many false teachers would arise and that nominal Christians would increase as the church age progresses (e.g., Mat. 7:15, 21-23; 24:11, 24; 2 Tim. 3:13; 4:3-4). God’s people are instructed to earnestly contend for the one true faith (Jude 3) and to mark and avoid those who err (Romans 16:17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 2 Timothy 3:5). This is not an optional part of the Christian faith. The fact that the Contemporary Christian Music movement despises biblical separation and rejects the Bible’s warnings about end-time apostasy is plain evidence that it is not of God. It is a movement that has made an idol of pop music.
UNIFORMITARIANISM AND A BURNING CANDLE (Friday Church News Notes, March 5, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The evidence for evolution is always dependent on evolutionary assumptions. Remove the assumptions, and the “evidence” vanishes. The following example is excerpted from The World That Perished by John Whitcomb: “Many scientists claim to have nearly infallible methods for determining the age of the earth and its various formations. But all of these methods are built upon two basic and unprovable assumptions: (1) the assumption of starting point or original condition and (2) the assumption of a uniform rate of change from that starting point to the present. Consider a burning candle in an abandoned house. It is now burning at the rate of one inch an hour. Question: How long has it been burning and, thus, how long ago was the house abandoned? Answer: No one can know until it can be shown how high the candle was when it was last lit and how fast it was burning originally! Question: How old is the earth? Answer: No one can know unless it can be shown what it was like when it began and how rapidly it has changed since then!”
NEW AGE INVADING HEALTH CARE (Friday Church News Notes, March 5, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The New Age is invading the field of health care. A study done by David Eisenberg of Beth Israel Hospital in 1990 found that Americans were spending $14 billion a year on alternative health care, including practices such as meditation, touch therapy (including reiki), positive confession, guided imagery, polarity therapy, aromatherapy, sound therapy, gemstone healing, magnetic therapy, spiritual healing, biofeedback, reflexology, iridology, urotherapy, homeopathy, emotional freedom techniques (EFT), hypnosis, and acupuncture. That figure has grown dramatically since then. According to a report in the U.S. News & World Report for January 21, 2008, alternative medicine has gone “mainstream.” In 1992 only 2% of U.S. medical schools offered courses in alternative medicines, but by 2004 that figure had risen to 67% (“More Medical Schools Teaching Spirituality in Medicine,” Lighthouse Trails newsletter, March 4, 2008). Dr. Christina Puchalski, founder of the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the George Washington School of Medicine, was the recipient of the John Templeton Spirituality and Medicine Award in 1996. The famous Mayo Clinic has a section at its web site on “complementary and alternative medicine” dealing with touch therapy, yoga, tai chi, acupuncture, cupping, biofeedback, and hypnosis. A friend who read a pre-publication edition of our book The New Age Tower of Babel observed, “Going into a health food store is like going into a New Age chapel.” God’s people need to be careful. It is certainly not wrong to want to live in a healthy manner and some “natural” remedies are effective and legitimate, but when a practice enters into the realm of the occult, it is forbidden by God’s Word. One example is the idea that there is a metaphysical life force energy that permeates everything and that flows through and/or around the body and affects the health. This is foundational to the Eastern approach, which aims to manipulate the flow or balance of life energy to restore and maintain health. Hindus call it prana; Chinese call it chi (pronounced chee); Japanese call it ki. Terms with similar meaning are kia, huna, mana, ordic, and orgone. It is purely occultic, with no biblical or biological basis, and lies at the heart of yoga, eastern massage, reiki, feng shui, tai chi, qi gong, acupuncture, acupressure, polarity therapy, magnetic therapy, biofeedback, reflexology, iridology, ayurveda, and homeopathy. Another example is the idea of humors. It is based on the ancient Greek cosmology that there are four elements--fire, air, water, and earth--and these have four corresponding humors in the body: choler (yellow bile), blood, phlegm, and melancholy (black bile). An imbalance of the humors supposedly results in sickness, and humor practitioners prescribe remedies to control and balance the humors, but it is pure hocus pocus! The book The New Age Tower of Babel deals extensively with this subject.
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.