January 22, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 4

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.

NEANDERTHAL JEWELRY (Friday Church News Notes, January 22, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Neanderthal fossils have long been used to bolster the evolutionary myth, but a new discovery should finally put the lid on the idea that Neanderthals were sub-human half-wits. Painted, perforated shells have been found in Neanderthal sites in southern Spain. The jewelry, which likely adorned the necks of Neanderthals, features red, yellow, orange, and black pigments composed of “complex recipes.” The expedition, which was led by Professor Joao Zilhao of Bristol University in the UK, concluded that the find buries “the view of Neanderthals as half-wits” (“Neanderthal ‘Make-up’ Containers,” BBC News, Jan. 9, 2010). Some of the shells are also thought to have been containers for make-up. An editorial in The Guardian said, “It seems we have all been guilty of defaming Neanderthal man” (“In Praise of ... Neanderthal Man,” Jan. 13, 2010). That is an understatement. After the discovery in 1908 of a nearly complete Neanderthal skeleton in La Chapell-aux-Saints in France, French paleontologist Marcellin Boule declared it Homo neanderthalensis, a supposed ancestor to modern man. Boule reported to the Academy of Sciences that Neanderthal was ape-like in many characteristics, including the skull and “a divergent great toe.” He believed that Neanderthal did not walk erect but pigeon-toed like an ape and with a bent-knee gait. It was also supposed that the Neanderthal Man couldn’t speak, but only grunted. In 1930, Frederick Blaschke modeled a Neanderthal family in a cave setting based on Boule’s interpretation. They were stooped, half-clothed, clutching bones, and had very unintelligent expressions. This was set up as a permanent display in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and was copied in countless textbooks, encyclopedias, journals, popular magazines and newspapers, and museums. In 1919 H.G. Wells wrote, “[Neanderthal] was, indeed, not quite of the human species” (The Outline of History). This is the myth that prevailed for nearly half a century and was disseminated to the ends of the earth by the evolutionary propaganda machine. It has since been admitted that Neanderthals made tools and weapons, buried their dead, used fire, constructed complex shelters, skinned animals, made musical instruments, talked, and left other evidence of being “real” human beings. It should have been obvious from the beginning that these were not dumb ape-men, because there were “stone age” tribes during the first half of the twentieth century that lived primitive lives but were obviously fully human, and there were living humans that looked like Neanderthals in stature and in the structure of the skull. The fact is that the paleoanthropologists involved were blinded by their evolutionary zeal. They saw what they wanted to see.

POPE SAYS THE ULTIMATE AIM OF ECUMENISM IS FOR PROTESTANTS TO JOIN ROME (Friday Church News Notes, January 22, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In defending his recent decision to expedite and simplify the process for Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI said that this, after all, the “ultimate aim” of ecumenism. He told the Vatican’s Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly called the Office of the Inquisition) that the objective is to bring about “full and visible communion” of all Christians (“Pope Defends Invitation to Anglicans,” AP via Richmond Times-Dispatch, Jan. 15, 2010). This “visible communion” is the one with the pope as its head, of course! That the “separated brethren” are perpetually surprised when Rome says that the pope is Chief Injun never ceases to amaze me. The Roman Catholic Church has never backed down from its claim to headship and supremacy. The Second Vatican Council stated, “the sole Church of Christ ... subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, chap. 1, 8, p. 329), and, “it is through Christ’s Catholic Church alone ... that the fulness of the means of salvation can be obtained” (Decree on Ecumenism, chap. 1, 3, p. 415), and, “the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ ... has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, chap. 3, 22, p. 344). Which part of “full” and “supreme” and “universal” do gullible ecumenists not understand?

RUNAWAY CHRISTIAN CONVERT ALLOWED TO LIVE APART FROM PARENTS (Friday Church News Notes, January 22, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from the Christian Post, Jan. 20, 2010: “A teenage girl from Ohio who ran away from home after she became Christian can remain free from her Muslim parents, according to the terms of a court settlement. Though Rifqa Bary’s parents have been fighting to regain custody of her since last August, under the agreement Tuesday, the 17-year-old teen can stay in a foster home under state custody in Columbus until she turns 18. After legally becoming an adult in August, Bary will be free to live where she chooses. ... Since last August, Bary has been involved in a legal battle with her parents, claiming that her father had said, ‘If you have this Jesus in your heart, you are dead to me!’ and also added some time later, ‘I will kill you!’ Last July, Bary ran away from her home near Columbus by boarding a Greyhound bus and heading to Orlando, where she was taken in by an evangelical pastor couple in Orlando that she met through a Facebook prayer group. Bary stayed with the pastors for two weeks until Florida authorities discovered her parents had filed her as missing. She has since been living in foster homes – first in Florida and later in Ohio, where judges from both states eventually agreed jurisdiction in the custody case belonged.”

SOUTHERN BAPTISTS USING THE EMERGING APPROACH TO MUSLIM EVANGELISM (Friday Church News Notes, January 22, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Southern Baptist missionary Kevin Greeson says that the way to reach Muslims is to sneak up on them by using the Koran rather than the Bible and to de-emphasize church. It is called the “camel method.” Greeson says, “Our generation can’t afford to be satisfied or happy with winning one lost person to Christ. There are so many lost people, we can’t be happy with that” (“Use the Quran,” Baptist Standard, Dec. 31, 2009). Any believer that is busy preaching the gospel wants to see more people saved rather than less, but the fact is that Jesus taught that the road to destruction is broad (Matthew 7:13-14). Greeson claims that many thousands of Muslims are converting on the Arab Peninsula and in Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Since Muslims don’t accept the Bible’s authority, “quoting Scripture is useless,” we are told, and the key is to use the Koran (even though it presents a false Christ). The camel method “doesn’t teach or lecture” and avoids trying to get the “converts” into churches. He says, “When you find a person of peace, don’t make him join your church, comb his hair different and make him like you. Don’t try to clean them up.” But Jesus commanded us to teach converts to “observe ALL things whatsoever I have taught you” (Matthew 28:18-20). And we are taught in God’s Word that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth and are warned not to neglect it (1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 10:25). Greeson’s reference to a “person of peace” is straight from Rick Warren’s P.E.A.C.E. program. Warren says, “When you find the man of peace, if he’s open and he’s willing to work with you, you bless him and you start your work there. ... The man of peace is open and influential. ... The man of peace does not have to be a Christian believer. Could be a Muslim. Could be Jewish” (Warren interview with Charlie Rose, Aug. 17, 2006). Warren’s ecumenical approach is forbidden by Holy Scripture (e.g., Romans 16:17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). We are commanded to preach the gospel, and the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ “according to the Scripture” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The Scripture is the quick and powerful Word of God that “works” regardless of whether someone accepts its authority. The devil doesn’t accept its authority, but the Lord Jesus quoted it to him anyway! The apostles didn’t try to sneak the gospel up on people by giving them the false impression that their false religions teach the truth. They didn’t try to start impressive “people’s movements” by means of half-converted, half-discipled, unchurched “men of peace.” The Southern Baptist Convention is heading pell-mell into the emerging church, and a lot of independent Baptists are so blind and ignorant and impressed with “success” that they are yoking together with them.

PRAISE FOR HEROIC LANDING GIVEN TO JESUS CHRIST (Friday Church News Notes, January 22, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is by Brian Snider -- “Whatever else he might have been thinking of in the moment of crisis, United Airlines Captain Dale Nordausen said that many Scriptures have come to mind since making a treacherous landing in Newark on January 10th. He said that he has thought about Psalm 107, ‘Then they cried unto THE LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.’ And James 1:17, ‘Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.’ And he’s thought much about the 52 lives that were in his care that morning. Nordhausen became something of a hero January 10th when he safely landed United Flight 634 with only two of the three sets of wheels down. According to the New Jersey Real Time News website (www.nj.com), ‘Some of the passengers on the flight from Chicago compared Nordhausen to Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who was able to splash land a distressed Airbus A320 in the Hudson River a year ago tomorrow. In the incident, Nordhausen landed the jet on only its nose and left landing gear. The right engine provided the third landing point, and slid along the runway until the jet came to a stop. Passengers said afterward that the touchdown was smoother than landings they’ve had at Newark when all of the landing gear deployed. Because of the efforts of Captain Nordhausen, First Officer Eskuri and the crew of Flight 634, none of the 48 passengers or five crew members were seriously injured,’ the United Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association in Illinois said in a statement. We’ve taken a particular interest in this hero because Capt. Nordhausen is also Brother Nordhausen, a friend and supporter of Way of Life Literature. Nordhausen is a faithful member of a Bible-believing church and has recently been leading a men’s Bible using Way of Life Literature’s Advanced Bible Study materials. We would like to congratulate Capt. Nordhausen on the quick-thinking response that put his malfunctioning aircraft safely on the ground, but Nordhausen says that thanks have to go higher than him. ‘All the glory for the outcome of the landing goes to the grace of my Captain Jesus Christ; The King of kings and Lord of lords.’”

APOSTATE PRESBYTERIANS DON’T BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS ONLY WAY OF SALVATION (Friday Church News Notes, January 22, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A new survey has found that only about one-third of the pastors in the Presbyterian Church USA believe that Jesus is the only way of salvation. When confronted with the statement “only followers of Jesus Christ can be saved,” only 35% of pastors and 39% of church members agreed (Christian Post, Jan. 13, 2010). The survey, “Religious and Demographic Profile of Presbyterians,” was taken by the denomination itself. This is evidence of wretched apostasy. There should not be even one pastor or church member that would hesitate to agree with that simple statement. Apostasy is discouraging in one sense, but it is evidence of the truth of the Bible and reminds us that time is short and Jesus is coming! “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).

DUTCH LAWMAKER MUST GO TO TRIAL FOR HATE SPEECH AGAINST MUSLIMS (Friday Church News Notes, January 22, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Dutch Lawmaker Fails to Avoid Hate Speech Charges,” OneNewsNow.com, Jan. 14, 2010: “Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders has failed in his bid to have judges drop or reduce charges of criminal incitement against him, despite arguing that his anti-Islam message falls within the boundaries of freedom of speech. Wilders, one of the Netherlands’ most popular politicians, is due to go on trial in March for allegedly insulting Muslims as a group and inciting hatred and discrimination against them. The charges stem from Wilders' 2008 short film ‘Fitna,’ which offended many Muslims by juxtaposing Quranic verses with images of terrorism by Islamic radicals.”

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.