May 28, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 22
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.
POPE SAYS MARY “IS IN ALL PLACES AND TIMES” (Friday Church News Notes, May 28, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Speaking from the window of the papal apartment overlooking St. Peter’s Square on May 23, Pope Benedict XVI exalted Mary in divine terms. He said there is “no Pentecost without Mary” and claimed that “she is in all places and times” (“No Church without Pentecost, no Pentecost without Mary,” EWTN News, May 23, 2010). This blasphemous statement attributes omnipresence to a mere creature. The pope also prayed the Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven), asking God to grant “that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary we may lay hold of the joys of eternal life.” Not far from the Vatican is the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, one of the four papal basilicas, which hosts a 12-foot-tall crucifix with Mary hanging on the cross with Jesus. The fact that evangelicalism today does not condemn in no uncertain terms the Roman Catholic Church for its blasphemies and vile heresies, and for the multitudes of saints that she has tormented and killed, is irrefutable evidence of evangelicalism’s spiritual blindness and apostasy. This wretched condition is, among other things, the fruit of Billy Graham’s philosophy of ecumenical evangelism, and if the Southern Baptist Convention had any real spiritual life and conviction it would have renounced Graham decades ago instead of exalting him as a great man of God. The SBC today is Sardis. It has a name that it lives, but it is dead. And large numbers of independent Baptists are following rapidly in these compromising footsteps by toning down the reproof of error, downgrading the doctrine of separation, and hating the reprovers more than the compromisers.
MAJORITY OF ITALIANS SUPPORT MARRIAGE OF PRIESTS (Friday Church News Notes, May 28, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - According to a new poll, 66% of Italians are in favor of Catholic priests marrying. Support for the pope and his church has plummeted. In ten years, confidence iun the pope has dropped from 77% to 46.6%, and confidence in the Catholic Church has dropped from 60% to 47% (“Italians Say Priests Should Marry,” London Times, May 17, 2010). More than 80% believe the Catholic Church has not dealt with the problem of priestly sex abuse properly. There is a growing call from within the Catholic Church to discuss the issue of priestly celibacy. The latest push comes from bishops in Austria. Paul Iby, the bishop of Eisenstadt, told a newspaper, “It should be left up to every priest whether he wants to live a life of voluntary celibacy or in a family.” I suspect that the next pope will bring some change in this area. The Roman Catholic Church has been a chameleon since its inception, constantly adapting. It had no problem swallowing pagan rituals in the early centuries, and today it is swallowing charismaticism and evangelicalism.
WORSHIPPING FOOTBALL (Friday Church News Notes, May 28, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - One of the idols of modern society is professional sports, and this was demonstrated in the most vivid way recently by a German football club. An executive box at Millerntor Stadium in Hamburg features stained glass windows, candles, an altar to football, and depictions of the players as saints (“Worshipping the Beautiful Game,” orange.co.uk, May 18, 2010). The box is owned by the marketing firm Jung von Matt. They should get credit for admitting their idolatry. More football fans (both American football and soccer) would dig out the candles if they were this honest.
SCIENTISTS (UNWITTINGLY) PROVE THAT LIFE WAS INTELLIGENTLY DESIGNED (Friday Church News Notes, May 28, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Last week, Time.com ran an article entitled “Scientist Creates Life,” describing a recent breakthrough in genetics. A team led by J. Craig Venter “pieced together the entire genome of a bacterium and then inserted those genetic instructions into another bacterium” and “the cell booted up.” The article goes on to make the ridiculous claim that “life was created,” but in fact nothing was created. Not to detract from the difficulty of what this scientific team accomplished, the fact is that they only manipulated pre-existing life. They didn’t create even one protein or organelle, not to speak of a living cell. As career biology instructor Kenneth Poppe has observed, “Even constructing a vital organelle within a cell, such a mitochondrion, is unthinkable due to complexity of an unimaginable magnitude” (Reclaiming Science from Darwinism, 2006, p. 35). The truth is that Venter’s amazing breakthrough proves once again and conclusively that life was intelligently designed. It took this team of brilliant scientists decades, standing on the shoulders of thousands of other scientists before them, to accomplish this manipulation of bacterial DNA. If such great intelligence is necessary for such a relatively simple task, how much more is it necessary to design and build a living, self-replicating cell! Further, Venter and his team duplicated the complex programming of cellular DNA by use of powerful computers. This, too, points to Intelligent Design. Human DNA is far more complex than Windows 7 or Apple’s OS X, and who would say that these brilliant operating systems evolved by some blind evolutionary process? As the former atheist Anthony Flew says, “It now seems to me that the findings of more than 50 years of DNA research have provided materials for a new and enormously powerful argument to design.”
ANGLICAN PRIEST DEDICATES BREWERY (Friday Church News Notes, May 28, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - An Anglican priest recently blessed a new brewery in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The “Rev.” Neil Gordon, Dean of All Saints Cathedral, blessed both the building and the equipment (“Edmonton’s Newest Brewery Opens with a Blessing,” Edmonton Journal, May 20, 2010). Brewmaster Scott Harris said the tradition of blessing breweries is an ancient one. In fact, it goes back to the Roman Catholic Church, and the Protestants just kept their love of drink when they “left” Rome. The Roman Catholic Church is so fond of drink that she has to operate centers to “dry out” alcoholic priests. I recall a Catholic mass I witnessed in 1987 in New Orleans while attending an ecumenical conference with press credentials. The priests were drinking wine by the pitcher full. It is instructive that the description of the Harlot Church of Revelation 17:1-6 makes four mentions of drinking. After doing extensive research into the Emerging Church in 2008, I was impressed with the fact that they, too, love to drink. “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1).
CHINA’S CHILD-TRAFFICKING EPIDEMIC (Friday Church News Notes, May 28, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “China’s Child-Trafficking,” Spiegel Online, May 21, 2010: “Stealing children is a common problem in the People’s Republic, which explains why grandparents or parents pick up children from school throughout the country. They are determined not to make it any easier for the human traffickers. It’s one of the saddest aspects of modern China. Experts estimate that between 30,000 and 60,000 babies, children and adolescents disappear each year. They are kidnapped and then sold, often ending up as slaves in workshops and brickworks, or being forced to work in brothels. ... On the way to the buyer, the human traffickers often sedate the kidnapped children to prevent them from screaming. Sometimes they don’t survive their ordeal, as evidenced by periodic media reports of dead children found on buses or trains. ... Sons are particularly important in the villages. It has long been a tradition in rural areas for male offspring and daughters-in-law to care for elderly parents. But buyers for stolen children can also be found in cities like Beijing or Shanghai. Many Chinese desperately want a baby but are unable to conceive a child of their own. Adoptions are complicated, and most of the children now being handed over to orphanages are disabled. ... The chances of tracking down an abducted child are miniscule. Family clans often control things in the villages, and ‘they are as thick as thieves,’ says shoemaker Li. Local officials are part of the system, including the representatives of women’s organizations, party leaders and local police officers. ‘Everyone knows when a new child has suddenly arrived in the village,’ says Li, ‘and no one asks any questions.’ And then there is the corruption, China’s fundamental flaw, without which human trafficking on such a large scale would not be possible. ... It is not just unscrupulous gangs that engage in human trafficking, as one might expect, but sometimes the parents themselves. Some farmers are so poor that they cannot or are unwilling to feed another mouth, and so they sell their newborns instead. Others view giving birth to and selling additional children as a source of income -- and more lucrative than toiling in the fields. There is a saying among farmers in the southwestern province of Yunnan: ‘If you want to make money, you should bear children instead of raising pigs.’”
NEW BOOK “BURNING DOWN THE SHACK” (Friday Church News Notes, May 28, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from ChristianNewsWire, May 6, 2010: “It’s the feel-good novel about faith that millions of people love. And its warm and fuzzy depiction of God the Father is cherished by millions of Evangelical Christians who’ve embraced it as though it were gospel. This mass adoration has helped seemingly cement William Paul Young’s The Shack to the stratosphere of numerous best-sellers list--where it's remained for more than 100 weeks--a claim no other book can make. Yet it is infused with counterfeit Christianity, says author James De Young in his new book, Burning Down ‘The Shack’: How the 'Christian' Bestseller is Deceiving Millions, and its depiction of God the Father as an African woman who bore the scars of Calvary with Jesus Christ is just one example of its many dangerous deceptions. De Young isn’t only a New Testament Language and Literature professor at Western Seminary in Portland, Ore., he’s also a former longtime colleague of Paul Young, and was his Portland-area neighbor when Young wrote The Shack. ... While writing The Shack, Young, a victim of child molestation, had recently embraced ‘universal reconciliation’-- belief identified as far back as the sixth century as heresy--which emphasizes that Jesus’ loving nature renders him incapable of eternally damning people. ... [De Young warns that the errors in The Shack] ‘strike a dagger into the heart of the gospel.’ ... ‘When I carefully read The Shack in January 2008, I was dismayed to find universalism still embedded, deeply and subtly, in it,’ De Young recalls. In Burning Down ‘The Shack,’ De Young delivers a chapter-by-chapter evaluation of more than 15 heresies within The Shack. Chief among the errors is what Young left out. ‘A familiar, but deceptive maneuver is to give an aspect of a theological issue, while ignoring an equally important aspect that qualifies or limits the first one,’ De Young writes to explain Young’s obvious exclusion of Satan and Hell.”
DALAI LAMA DRAWING BIG CROWDS IN AMERICA (Friday Church News Notes, May 28, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Recently the Dalai Lama, who has been called “a rock star in religion,” packed out the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The Tibetan Buddhist god-king has come a long way since he was an obscure religious figure in his native Tibet. Today he is a prominent figure in the New Age movement, promoting a syncretistic, mystical spirituality that renounces doctrinal dogmatism in favor of an individualistic approach to the truth. The theme of his current U.S. tour is “Toward a True Kinship of Faiths.” He says, “I’m Buddhist. According to my own practice, Buddhism is best. But ... each person has a different faith. So according to each person, their religion is best for them” (“The Dalai Lama Packs Radio City,” FoxNews.com, May 21, 2010). The main thing, according to the Dalai Lama, is that all religions be respected and that none make exclusive claims. He warns that “religious extremism” is destructive to world peace. In his foreword to the book Spiritual Politics, the Dalai Lama warned, “Narrow-mindedness and self-centered thinking may have served us well in the past, but today will only lead to disaster.” This would all be well and good if there were no such thing as one true God and if that God had not revealed Himself infallibly!
HISTORIC CHANGE IN U.S. SUPREME COURT (Friday Church News Notes, June 4, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - If Elena Kagan is confirmed as the 112th Supreme Court Justice, it will be the first time in U.S. history that the court has been without a Protestant voice. We realize, of course, that Protestantism today, for the most part, is as dead as the mother she came from, but this nomination is significant for the symbolism is carries regarding America’s religious ideals. Kagan, who is Jewish, would join six Roman Catholics and two Jews on the court. Of the 111 justices that have served so far, 91 have been Protestant, but a sea change has taken place in this country--a change that many of our spiritual forebears warned about. Over the years, we have collected many old and rare volumes in which fearless Christian authors did not hesitate to identify the dangerous and stultifying influence of false religion taking over the reins of power in America, particularly the false religion of Rome. Much more than just a religion, Roman Catholicism is a fearful political machine that is not afraid to use any means at her disposal to achieve her desired ends of absolute power over people. America would have been wise to have heeded the warnings of Bible-believing Protestant authors of the last century as they prophesied of the dangers America would face of the country fell into the hands of Rome. We have released a new CD entitled “The Truth about Romanism” that contains 39 old and rare books which tell the awful history of the Roman Catholic Church. You can read for yourself the sort of things that the Roman Catholic religion is capable of in our new CD.
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.
May 21, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 21
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.
CHRISTIANITY TODAY REJOICES IN CHARISMATIC LEAVEN (Friday Church News Notes, May 21, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a recent article, David Neff, vice president of Christianity Today, writes positively about the Charismatic movement and likens it to leaven. “Some analysts say the mainline charismatic renewal fizzled. It is more accurate to describe it the way Jesus pictured the kingdom of God: like yeast that spreads through bread dough. You can hardly identify it as a movement anymore, but it has changed the way most churches worship. Repetitive choruses and raised hands are now common. Except in pockets of hardcore resistance, the fact that a fellow Christian may praise God in a private prayer language hardly elevates an eyebrow” (“Ardor and Order,” Christianity Today, May 12, 2010).Hughie Seaborne of Australia,
NETANYAHU SAYS JERUSALEM BELONGS TO ISRAEL (Friday Church News Notes, May 21, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited the Bible recently to prove that Jerusalem belongs to Israel. At a parliamentary session commemorating Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem in 1967, Netanyahu stated that Jerusalem and Zion appear 850 times in the Old Testament. He then said, “As to how many times Jerusalem is mentioned in the holy scriptures of other faiths, I recommend you check” (“Netanyahu Turns to Bible,” Reuters, May 12, 2010). The answer is none. Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Koran, for example. It is fascinating to see secular Jews like the thrice-married Netanyahu quoting the Bible, even though they don’t believe it or obey it. They are back in the land, but they don’t know how or why. They have fierce enemies, but they think this is just bad luck, not willing to recognize that the reason, as in days of old, is Israel’s own stubborn rebellion to Jehovah God and her vicious rejection of the Messiah 2,000 years ago. Israel is back in the land in wonderful fulfillment of prophecy, but she is spiritually dead according to Ezekiel 37:8. We are now waiting for the other prophetic shoe to drop, when the church-age saints will be Raptured, followed quickly by the Antichrist’s rise to power, Israel’s conversion after the “time of Jacob’s trouble,” and Christ’s glorious return. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT ACCUSED OF LYING (Friday Church News Notes, May 21, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Liberty U. to Investigate Alleged Untruths,” Associated Baptist Press, May 11, 2010: “Liberty University will investigate reports that its seminary president has misled the public in his testimony about converting from militant Islam to Christianity, officials of the school in Lynchburg, Va., announced May 10. Liberty Provost Ron Godwin is reportedly forming a committee to conduct a formal inquiry into questions surrounding Ergun Caner, president of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, that have circulated on blogs and more recently in media outlets including Christianity Today and Associated Baptist Press. ... The author of books including Unveiling Islam: An Insider’s Look at Muslim Life and Beliefs, which he co-wrote in 2002 with his brother, Caner has been quoted in Baptist and secular media as an expert on Islam. But discrepancies in biographical information he has provided in sermons--many recorded--preached over the years have caused some to question his credibility. Some are questioning even his basic testimony of converting to Christianity from a devout Sunni Muslim background--which has been held out by many Southern Baptist and other evangelical leaders in recent years as an illustration of Christ's power to save anyone. James White, director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, a Christian apologetics organization based in Phoenix, said he became suspicious after Caner claimed to have debated Shabir Ally, president of the Islamic Information and Dawah Centre International in Toronto. White, who has debated Ally in both the United States and United Kingdom, said he contacted Ally, a Muslim apologist who travels around the world to represent Islam. White said Ally informed him he never debated Caner and had no recollection of ever meeting him. ... Jason Smathers, a Christian website designer, found legal documents contradicting Caner’s claims of growing up in Turkey and being trained as a terrorist. Smathers says Caner actually grew up in Ohio in custody of his Lutheran mother after his parents divorced. Caner's father, a Muslim who remarried, broke off relations with all three sons from his first marriage after they accepted Christ as teenagers. Other websites showed that Caner changed his online resume after it was pointed out that it misstated he earned a Ph.D. instead of his actual Th.D. and included an honorary D.Min. from an unaccredited school.”
CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST STREET PREACHER ACCUSED OF SPEAKING AGAINST HOMOSEXUALITY (Friday Church News Notes, May 21, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The charges have been dropped against the street preacher in England who was arrested recently for telling a policeman that homosexuality is a sin. The Crown Prosecution Service decided not to pursue the charges (“Charges Dropped,” Daily Mail, May 16, 2010). The preacher, Dale Mcalpine, said, “This is a victory for freedom of speech. I hope we are not going down the road towards a police state and the thought police. I can’t wait to get out on to the streets again and preach the Word of God.” We say more power to him! The charge against Mcalpine was pressed by a homosexual police community support officer named Sam Adams who claimed that the preacher was making “homophobic remarks” by quoting the Bible’s teaching against homosexuality. Mcalpine was arrested like a common criminal and spent seven hours in a jail cell. After the case was reported in the Daily Mail, there was an outcry against the authorities. Even gay-rights campaigner Peter Tatchell called on the Home Secretary to instruct police not to arrest people for expressing their views “in a non-threatening and non-aggressive manner.”
ROBOT PERFORMS WEDDING IN JAPAN (Friday Church News Notes, May 21, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In another slam at the holiness of Holy Matrimony, a recent wedding in Japan was conducted by a robot named I-Fairy. The four-foot-tall robot pronounced the couple “husband and wife” in a tinny robotic voice. The new husband remarked, “It would be nice if the robot was a bit more clever” (“I-Fairy Robot Weds Tokyo Couple,” AP, May 16, 2010). The robot, which sells for $68,000, is fine for some things, but not for conducting weddings. Marriage is called “holy matrimony” because it is an institution established by God at the dawn of man’s history, and biblically it is an occasion when a bride and groom make a solemn, lifelong vow before God and man. In this age of end-time rebellion, marriage is under great attack by no-fault divorce, the sexual revolution, and same-sex marriage. Others make a mockery of it through trite innovations.
FATHER OF CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC JUSTIFIES USE OF ROCK (Friday Church News Notes, May 21, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a recent interview, Ralph Carmichael, who has been called “the Father of Contemporary Christian Music,” was asked how he justified using rock and other forms of pop music. He replied, “In the 1700s and 1800s, poets wrote many of our traditional hymns, combining the unchanging message with popular secular melodies. And they were sternly criticized. The musical “pop” style of the 1800s is what we now call traditional, though it did not come from within the church” (“He Started the Revolution in Christian Music,” AssistNews.net, May 8, 2010). It is wrong to compare the use of an innocent secular tune in Christian music to the use of the world’s filthy party music. Just because a tune is “secular” does not make it wrong. What is wrong about using rock music in the Lord’s service is that it was designed from its inception to flaunt God’s laws. It is irredeemably sensual. The book Rock Facts, which is published by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, admits that rock is not just a type of music, IT IS A LIFESTYLE. “… rock and roll has truly become a universal language … rock and roll also refers to an attitude, a feeling, a style, a way of life…” (Rock Facts, 1996, p. 7). In his interviews with Playboy, John Lennon said, “The whole Beatles idea was to do what you want.” The philosophy of rock & roll was encapsulated in hits in the 1960s by the groups such as the Rolling Stones (“I’m free to do what I want any old time”), the Animals (“It’s my life and I’ll do what I want”), the Mamas and the Papas (“You got to go where you want to go/ do what you want to do”), and the Isley Brothers (“It’s your thing/ do what you want to do”). To take such music, which by its very rhythm preaches licentiousness and rebellion, and to use it in the service of Christ is confusion and apostasy. Carmichael’s music is popular across all denominational lines in the most apostate hour of church history, and if that doesn’t convince you that it is not spiritual music you are beyond convincing. CCM is music to scratch the itching ears of those who live by their lusts. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
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.
May 14, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 20
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.
BALANCED PREACHING (Friday Church News Notes, May 14, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Through the years, many individuals have written to me to express their concern that I might not be “balanced” in my preaching, but balance has a lot to do with the particular circumstance in which a preacher finds himself. Was Noah balanced when he “preached righteousness” for 120 years as the ark was being constructed. Was Jeremiah balanced in his constant negativity toward Israel? What about John the Baptist? He lived out in the wilderness and preached repentance, repentance, repentance. Was he balanced? You see the same thing in the New Testament epistles. The message to a particular church or group of churches depended upon their condition at that particular time. What Jesus preached to the church at Philadelphia was entirely different from what He preached to the church at Laodicea. If a church or a region or a nation is becoming worldly and carnal and is in a moral tailspin, should a preacher ignore this and strive for “balance”? In 1962 Independent Baptist preacher Oliver B. Greene preached a series of 25 radio messages on the wrath of God. Twenty-five! Wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath. Was that balanced preaching? Who cares! The fact is that it was exactly what America needed in 1962, and it is exactly what America needs today. What we need is some preachers who will be less concerned about “balance” and more concerned about truth and righteousness! We don’t need more balance, we need more unmitigated zeal for the truth!!!!! A generation of intellectually “balanced” preaching has given us a generation of backslidden Christians. By the way, I have no sympathy for for hobby horsing or lack of study that results in the preacher saying the same thing every time he preaches. I’m not talking about ignorance or laziness. We don’t need that any more than we need New Evangelical “balance”!
LUTHERANS REINSTATE HOMOSEXUAL “CLERGY” (Friday Church News Notes, May 14, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has reinstated a homosexual who was “defrocked” three years ago. The decision by the ELCA Southeastern Synod was made in light of new revisions to its ministry policy which allows those who are “publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships’ to serve as “clergy” (“ELCA Reinstates Partnered Gay Ministers,” Christian Post, May 4, 2010). Bradley Schmeling, the homosexual who was reinstated,, said, “The Holy Spirit is alive in the church in a profound and new way.” Schmeling pastors St. John’s Lutheran Church in Atlanta. His homosexual partner, Darin Easler, was also defrocked, but he subsequently transferred to the even more liberal United Church of Christ. Schmeling is following “another spirit” (2 Corinthians 11:1-4). The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1 John 4:6), is the Author of the Bible, and the Bible condemns homosexuality in no uncertain terms from the first to the last book. No other type of marriage is known in the pages of Scripture, other than that between a man and a woman. This was established at the dawn’s of man’s history in the Garden of Eden. The Bible says that a sexual relationship apart from marriage is sin and God will judge it (Hebrews 13:4). Since there is no possibility of a biblical same-sex marriage, there is no possibility of a God-ordained same-sex relationship. In the New Testament, homosexuality is called “vile affections,” “against nature,” “unseemly,” “error,” and “reprobate” (Romans 1:26-28). Any sin can be forgiven, but it must be confessed, which means that I must agree with God that it is sin. I must agree with God’s Word against my actions. That is what I did once-for-all 37 years ago for salvation, and that is what I have been doing day-by-day since then for fellowship with the Saviour (1 John 1:9).
STUDY FINDS THAT BABIES KNOW DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL (Friday Church News Notes, May 14, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - An extensive study led by Yale University professor Paul Bloom has found that even babies know the difference between good and evil. In one experiment, researchers had babies up to one year watch a play in which a toy dog tried to open a box, while one teddy bear helped him and another stubbornly sat on the box. The babies invariably favored the helpful teddy bear. Bloom says, “A growing body of evidence suggests that humans do have a rudimentary moral sense from the very start of life. With the help of well designed experiments, you can see glimmers of moral thought, moral judgment and moral feeling even in the first year of life. Some sense of good and evil seems to be bred in the bones” (“Babies Know the Difference,” Daily Mail, May 10, 2010). Actually, the morality isn’t in the bones; it is in the heart. Man is made in God’s image, and even though he is fallen and estranged from God, the moral image remains, though corrupted. The Bible says that men “shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another” (Romans 2:15). This moral conscience is not perfect and it can be hardened, but it is enough to prove that there is a God and that men are accountable to Him. The fact that babies know good from evil also reminds us that child training must begin very early. This fact led the late J.B. Buffington to preach a message entitled “How to Lose Your Child Before He is Five Years Old.” (It is available at the Way of Life web site.)
LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR FELLOWSHIP (Friday Church News Notes, May 14, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is part of an e-mail that Pastor Buddy Smith of Malanda, Queensland
CCM STAR QUESTIONS WHETHER BIBLE SPEAKS AGAINST HOMOSEXUALITY (Friday Church News Notes, May 14, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Jennifer Knapp, a hard-rocking Contemporary Christian musician who recently came “out of the closet” with her lesbianism, said on Larry King Live (April 23) that the Bible’s teaching against homosexuality is based on faulty translation and interpretation. When asked if she thinks the Bible speaks against homosexuality she replied, “Well, I think there is plenty of evidence in my exploration of my faith through the sacred text of the Holy Bible that I have definitely recognized that we are somewhat at the handicap of our own interpretation against homosexuality. In the long run I don’t have the greatest deal of problems with it because I’m not the only person in the universe that has ever looked at a different interpretation.” Let’s see if this thinking works. Leviticus 20:13 says, “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination...” There is no problem with the translation, and the interpretation looks straightforward to me. Let’s try another passage, this time in the New Testament. “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” (Romans 1:26-27). The problem that a homosexual or any other sinner has with the Bible is not its translation and interpretation; it is its authority. As the famous agnostic Mark Twain reputedly said, ‘It is not the things that in the Bible that I don’t understand that trouble me; it’s the things that I do understand.” Elsewhere Knapp called the verses against homosexuality “clobber verses.” Indeed, the Bible is full of verses that clobber our sin, and the reason is that God is a holy but compassionate God who wants us to repent and be saved (Romans 3:19-22)! Homosexuality is a growing trend within the CCM and Southern Gospel movements. It is not a new thing, but formerly it was fairly hidden. In 1998 Kirk Franklin said that “homosexuality ... is a problem today in gospel music--a major concern--and everybody knows it” (Church Boy, pp. 49, 50).
CHAPLAINS WARN AGAINST REVERSING “DON’T ASK” (Friday Church News Notes, May 14, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from the Baptist Press, April 28, 2010: “The careers of many if not most military chaplains will end if the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy against open homosexual service is overturned, more than 40 retired military chaplains contend in an April 28 letter to President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The letter warned that reversing the policy will negatively impact religious freedom and could even affect military readiness and troop levels because the military would be marginalizing ‘deeply held’ religious beliefs. ‘Marginalizing a large group of chaplains, then, will unavoidably harm readiness by diminishing morale,’ the letter said. ‘Similarly, making orthodox Christians--both chaplains and servicemen--into second-class Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, or Marines whose sincerely held religious beliefs are comparable to racism cannot help recruitment or retention.‘ Obama and Gates have stated their support for overturning Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but at least half of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have expressed reservations about its possible reversal, which would require action by Congress. Changing the policy, the letter said, could influence everything in the chaplaincy, from what a chaplain can say in a sermon to what he can say in a counseling session. The retired chaplains, the letter said, are ‘deeply concerned’ that the changes would threaten the religious liberty of chaplains and service members.”
BEWARE OF DAVE CROWDER (Friday Church News Notes, May 14, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Dave Crowder is one of the most popular and influential of contemporary worship leaders. His hard-rocking band has produced seven albums. Not only is his music flesh-pleasingly sensual, his theology is heretical and his associations exceedingly dangerous. Crowder started his praise and worship career as a student at the liberal Baylor University, where theological modernism and evolution are taught. In 1995 Crowder founded University Baptist Church together with emerging church leader Chris Seay, who denies the infallible inspiration of Scripture. (See our book What Is the Emerging Church.) In typical CCM fashion, Crowder is radically ecumenical. He recently granted an interview with the Roman Catholic Life Teen magazine, ignoring the fact that the magazine advertises itself as “100% Catholic” and “obedient to the Magisterium” (the pope and his cohorts) and has dedicated itself “to the Blessed Virgin Mary” (“David Crowder’s Crowded Theology,” Feb. 28, 2010, DefendingContending.com). Crowder not only associates with Catholic error, he is sympathetic to it. He told Life Teen magazine, “Much of the Catholic traditions and writings have been influential in my formation of faith...” He said that he particularly appreciates “St. Francis” of Assisi. He even sings a prayer of St. Francis on his Illuminate album. Crowder has indeed been deeply influenced by Romanism, and the chief conduit is the contemplative movement. Crowder has authored a contemplative book entitled Praise Habit. In this he promotes “lectio divina” and other Catholic practices. He also uses The Message, which is no more the Word of God than C.S. Lewis’s fairy tales. The contemplative movement, which has spread throughout evangelicalism over the past two decades, produces an attitude of tolerance toward error and a sympathy toward Rome and often leads to religious syncretism and pantheism, as in the case of Thomas Merton. We have documented this in our books “Contemplative Mysticism: A Powerful Ecumenical Bond” and “What Is the Emerging Church.”
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.
May 7, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 19
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 WORST PROBLEM WITH IB FRIENDS INTERNATIONAL (Friday Church News Notes, May 7, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In my estimation, the worst problem with Clarence Sexton’s Independent Baptist Friends International movement is that it has circled the wagons against “criticism.” The reason I joined an Independent Baptist church in 1973 not long after I was converted was the separated Christian living, the willingness to take the whole Bible seriously, even “fanatically,” and the bold defense of the faith. I had grown up in Billy Graham’s denomination, the king of non-judgmentalism and the chief enemy of Biblical separation in our generation. Being convinced that the Graham philosophy is unscriptural, I joined the Independent Baptists. It was in the early 1990s that I first saw signs of a bold rejection of separation among Independent Baptists and the spread of the damnable New Evangelical “judge not” philosophy. This occurred in conjunction with the rapid growth of Contemporary Christian Music and its contemporary Southern Gospel counterpart. Widespread love for carnal music accelerated the spread of the non-judgmental philosophy among Independent Baptists. Music, we are told, is an inconsequential issue. The Promise Keepers movement was another catalyst for the non-judgmental philosophy. When I exposed the ecumenism of Promise Keepers, I was rebuked and mocked by the some IB leaders. They argued that the good outweighed the bad and that we should be glad that men were being taught to assume their spiritual responsibilities. This is the theme-song of Independent Baptist Friends International. When I wrote a lengthy e-mail to Pastor Sexton, a gracious and respectful e-mail expressing my concerns, he did not even acknowledge its receipt. He knows of me and my ministry; he has preached in my home church and has talked with my pastor on several occasions. I have heard from several other men who have tried to communicate with Sexton about this matter and have been ignored, some of whom consider him a personal friend and all of whom appreciate him as a brother in the Lord and a fellow soldier for Christ. I am not talking about ignoring warnings from a man’s hateful enemies; I am talking about ignoring warnings from friends. And not just ignoring the warnings, but even treating the warners as troublemakers. I have received angry e-mails from several men rebuking me for speaking out against IB Friends. They say that I should shut up and just focus on the “big issues.” Well, I’m not going to shut up. Big problems usually grow from small ones. God has instructed me to prove ALL things, to preach with rebuke and reproof, to earnestly contend for the faith. Without judging and reproof, there is no mechanism of correction and error can grow apace. Sexton urges all of us to be friends, and I am all for it. God’s Word tells me that the wounds of a friend are faithful (Prov. 27:6). Paul was a friend when he rebuked Peter’s “small” hypocrisy. He was a friend when he reproved the church at Corinth for their errors, including such “small” things as the sin of misusing the Lord’s supper and taking one another to court. I urge Clarence Sexton to stop stonewalling reproof, to stop pretending that criticism of IB Friends is some sort of carnal persecution. I urge him to publicly acknowledge that his friends have every biblical right and responsibility to criticize what he is doing. I have a suspicion that his critics in this matter are the best friends that he has.
PREACHER ARRESTED IN ENGLAND FOR SAYING HOMOSEXUALITY IS A SIN (Friday Church News Notes, May 7, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from “Christian Preacher on Hooligan Charge,” Daily Mail, May 1, 2010: “A Christian street preacher has been arrested and charged with a public-order offence after saying that homosexuality was sinful. Dale Mcalpine was handing out leaflets to shoppers when he told a passer-by and a gay police community support officer that, as a Christian, he believed homosexuality was one of a number of sins that go against the word of God. Mr. Mcalpine said that he did not repeat his remarks on homosexuality when he preached from the top of a stepladder after his leafleting. But he has been told that police officers are alleging they heard him making his remarks to a member of the public in a loud voice that could be overheard by others. Mr. Mcalpine, 42, who earns about £40,000 a year in the energy industry, was arrested and taken to the local police station in the back of a police van after preaching in the Cumbrian town of Workington on April 20. After seven hours locked up in a cell, he was charged with using abusive or insulting words or behaviour contrary to the Public Order Act 1986. Mr. Mcalpine--who has delivered open-air sermons and handed out leaflets in Workington for years, and has never been in trouble with the police--said the incident was one of the worst moments of his life. ‘I felt deeply shocked and humiliated that I had been arrested in my own town and treated like a common criminal in front of people I know,’ he said. ‘My freedom was taken away on the hearsay of someone who disliked what I said, and I was charged under a law that doesn’t apply.’ ... Mr Adams [the officer who had Mcalpine arrested] has been a member of Cumbria police’s LGBT staff association and last year represented the force at the Gay Pride festival in Manchester ... On the social networking site MySpace, he describes his orientation as gay and his religion as atheist. ... Shoppers in Workington were bemused by what had happened to Mr. Mcalpine. Rob Logan, the assistant manager of the O2 mobile phone store near where Mr Mcalpine preached, said he had no complaints. ‘He hands out leaflets, he says his piece and then he leaves,’ said Mr. Logan. ‘He is not aggressive or threatening. He is gentle.’ The Rev. Arthur Bentley-Taylor, 68, vicar of the Emmanuel evangelical church where Mr. Mcalpine worships, said: ‘As far as I am concerned, this is about free speech. If we arrested everybody who said something we found offensive, everyone would be in prison.’ The Public Order Act 1986 has been used by the police in a number of similar cases.”
NOAH’S ARK FIND PROBABLY A HOAX (Friday Church News Notes, May 7, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from “Latest Noah’s Ark ‘Just Wood Planted on Ararat,” WorldNetDaily, April 28, 2010: “Has the real Noah's Ark spoken of in the Bible truly been found? At least two seasoned archaeologists who have made numerous expeditions to Mount Ararat in search of Noah’s Ark are throwing cold water on this week’s claim the Old Testament vessel has finally been discovered, saying it’s a hoax involving wood hauled in from the Black Sea region. ‘To make a long story short: this is all reported to be a fake,’ said Randall Price, director of Judaic Studies at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. [Price thinks the wood was brought to the site from near the Black Sea.] ‘This is not Noah’s Ark,’ adds Bob Cornuke of the Bible Archaeology Search and Exploration Institute. ‘This is a fake. It’s a fraud and it’s of the highest caliber according to what I can assess from the evidence and talking to eyewitnesses and people from Turkey.’ WND reported yesterday that Chinese and Turkish explorers with Noah’s Ark Ministries International said they were ‘99.9 percent sure’ they found the remnants of the legendary biblical vessel high up on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey. The 15-member team claims it recovered wooden specimens from a structure at an altitude of 13,000 feet and that carbon dating suggested it was 4,800 years old. ... Another ark-hunter, Richard Rives of Tennessee-based Wyatt Archaeological Research ... noted that the wood reportedly discovered appeared in excellent condition. ‘The wood’s in too good a shape to be that old,’ he said. Regarding some of the photos published online, Cornuke told American Family Radio, ‘There are cobwebs up in the beams. You’re not going to have wood at 14,000 feet in a glacier to have cobwebs in it. It’s impossible to have that situation.’”
BRITISH JUDGE SAYS CHRISTIAN BELIEFS HAVE NO PROTECTION UNDER LAW (Friday Church News Notes, May 7, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “British Judge: Christian Beliefs Have No Legal Standing,” The Huffington Post, May 1, 2010: “A top British judge has ruled that Christian beliefs have no standing under secular law because they lack evidence and cannot be proven. Lord Justice John Grant McKenzie Laws made the declaration on Thursday (April 29) in throwing out a defamation suit by Christian relationship counselor who refused to offer sex therapy to gay couples. Gary McFarlane protested that he was fired because offering sex therapy to same-gender couples violates his Christian principles. But Laws said ‘religious faith is necessarily subjective, being incommunicable by any kind of proof or evidence.’ He added that to use the law to protect ‘a position held purely on religious grounds cannot therefore be justified.’ No religious belief, said the judge, can be protected under the law ‘however long its tradition, however rich its culture.’” This foolish decision bodes evil for religious liberty in Great Britain.
MORMON GLENN BECK ADDRESSES LIBERTY UNIVERSITY GRADUATION (Friday Church News Notes, May 7, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Conservative talk show personality Glenn Beck was one of two commencement speakers scheduled to speak at Liberty University on May 15. The school, founded by Jerry Falwell and led today by his son, praised Beck as “one of the few courageous voices in the national media standing up for the principles upon which this nation was founded.” The other speaker was Paige Patterson, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s seminary in Texas. Beck is politically conservative, but he is a Mormon and thus worships a false christ. God forbids His people to yoke together with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) and associate with heretics (Romans 16:17; 2 John 8-11), but Liberty stopped caring about separation decades ago when Falwell formed the misguided Moral Majority and then moved from independent Baptist to the more “broadminded” Southern Baptist fold. The root problem in America is not politics, and America will not be saved by conservative talk show personalities. The root problem is the compromise and apostasy in the churches, and the source of that is the ignorance, heresy, and cowardice in the pulpits. In light of that, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, et al, are more a part of the problem than the solution. America does not fear God because the fear of God is not being preached in its churches. In spite of the massive amount of conservative political activity of the last 40 years, including that done by conservative Baptists, American slide into moral filth has been unabated. If all of that political activity and fussing and fretting had been channeled into repentance and prayer, the nation would probably have been saved. (See also “Jerry Falwell: The Billy Graham of Independent Baptists” at the Way of Life web site.)
HUGH HEFNER SAVES HOLLYWOOD SIGN (Friday Church News Notes, May 7, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Playboy founder Hugh Hefner has helped save the famous Hollywood sign by donating nearly one million dollars to purchase the land as a public trust. By raising $12 million the Trust for Public Land purchased the Cahuenga Peak area where the sign sits, saving it from investors who planed to build luxury estates there. The pornography mogul said, “My childhood dreams and fantasies came from the movies, and the images created in Hollywood had a major influence on my life and Playboy.” We have no doubt that this is true. Hollywood is a symbol for decadence and the flaunting of God’s laws and has had a incalculable influence for evil in modern society throughout the world, encouraging people to live in a fantasy world without God. Hollywood actor and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said the sign is “a symbol of dreams and opportunity.” Indeed it is, but the dream is the one that John Lennon sang about, the vain dream that there is no heaven or hell, particularly the latter.
SAMARITANS STILL FOLLOW A MIXED RELIGION (Friday Church News Notes, May 7, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Samaritan religion is a corrupt mixture of paganism and Judaism which began with the transportation of pagans into the region by the king of Assyria (2 Kings 17:24-41). Amazingly it is still alive today. The Samaritans observe the sabbath and have an annual sacrifice called Pessah which is partly based on the Passover, but their holy mountain is Mt. Girizim (today called Grizim) instead of Mt. Moriah. Girizim was the mountain that the Woman at the Well alluded to in her conversation with Jesus (John 4:20). At Pessah each family sacrifices and eats a sheep without breaking a bone and they eat it hurriedly with a staff in hand as if leaving Egypt, like the Passover. But the accompanying bread, called maza, is not unleavened; it is soft and round like pita. And there are other differences. This year the Samaritan festival was observed on April 28 and 7,000 attended, most of whom were non-participating observers. The Jews pride themselves in being People of the Book and look down on the Samaritans, but in reality neither are people of the book today. In fact, in one way the Samaritan feast is more like the biblical Passover than what the Jews observe today, because at least they shed the blood of a lamb which the Bible requires, though they don’t have the slightest idea what the lamb signifies. The typical Jewish Passover today focuses not on the lamb but on the unleavened bread, called matzo. The focus of the Passover for religious Jews is the Seder, which is a ritualistic meal that has little to do with the true Passover. It is preceded by the painstaking removal of all leaven (chametz), but the definition of leaven has been greatly enlarged by vain Jewish tradition. For Orthodox Jews it consists of anything made from grain that has not been completely cooked within 18 minutes after coming into contact with water, plus all rice, corn, peanuts, and beans. In fact, such things cannot even be fed to one’s pets or cattle and must be either destroyed or sold to non-Jews. The main things that are eaten at the Jewish Seder are unleavened bread and bitter herbs, but also eaten are such things as fish, roast chicken or turkey, and beef brisket. But no lamb! The rest consists of washing hands, drinking wine (four cups), various blessings, and reading of Scripture and Jewish tradition. The Scripture says that “it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Lev. 17:11). John the Baptist testified that the Passover Lamb pictures Jesus the Messiah (John 1:29). But “blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Romans 11:25).
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.