Friday Church News Notes
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A Casting Crowns song was performed at Lancaster under the direction of their new music director in February 2012. The “real thing” can be heard being sung by Casting Crowns on YouTube. And last week, Lancaster featured a charismatic contemporary song by Chris Tomlin, a one-world-church builder with a close association with Rome. Tomlin is excited that “conservatives and charismatics can stand in one room, listening to the same music, worshiping the one true God; music unites.” (For documentation see The Directory of Contemporary Worship Musicians, which is available as a free eBook from Way of Life -- www.wayoflife.org.) Why does Paul Chappell want his church to be in communion with such dangerous people who are obviously following “another spirit”? Tomlin’s “real thing” version can be seen on YouTube as well as West Coast’s toned-down version [now removed] , performed in a darkened auditorium. In the report “Analyzing Adapted CCM Songs,” I document at least 14 cases in which Lancaster has used contemporary worship in the last couple of years. It’s their business if they want to do it, just as it’s my business to warn about it, but they need to stop pretending that they are opposed to CCM. It is obvious that they love the stuff; they are addicted to the soft rock sound of their “adapted versions” (and a great many of them doubtless listen to the “real thing”); it pleases the crowds; and they are not concerned in the least about the fact that they are building bridges to a very, very dangerous world and that many families and churches are following them onto this bridge. Lancaster can be perfectly candid about the matter now, because the adaptation of contemporary worship music has become the majority position among independent fundamental Baptists, and even the Ron Hamiltons of this generation are in favor of digging in the contemporary worship garbage can for some “goodies.” What will the next 20 years bring? (See Why Most Independent Baptists Will Be Emerging, a free eBook available from Way of Life.)
NASA’S CHRISTMAS EVE BROADCAST (Friday Church News Notes, August 31, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died last week at age 82. He spoke some of the most famous words of the space program. After piloting the Lunar Module in its cliffhanger of a landing, with only 25 seconds of fuel remaining upon set down, he said: “Houston: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” When he stepped onto the moon’s surface six hours later, on July 20, 1969, he said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” intending to say, “That’s one small step for a man.” ‘About three months shy of 20 years old at the time, I was watching the television broadcast with 600 million other people, nearly a fifth of the world’s population. I also recall that seven months earlier, on the first manned mission to the moon, NASA astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders read from the first chapter of Genesis when they entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968. Anders said, “For all the people on Earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you.” He then read Genesis 1:1-4, followed by Lovell reading verses 5-8, and Borman reading verses 9-10. Borman concluded, “And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you--all of you on the good Earth.” It wasn’t a gospel message by any means, and we don’t know to what extent they actually believed, or interpreted literally, what they were reading, but the fact remains that three NASA astronauts read from the first chapter of the King James Bible that memorable evening in an official global broadcast. That was only 44 years ago, but it was a different America and a different time. What will the next 44 years bring if Jesus’ tarries? Lift up your eyes, brethren, for the hour is very late!
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Daniel Nash, Prevailing Prince of Prayer
Yet this man saw revival twice in his pastorate, and then was a key figure in one of the greatest revivals in the history of the United States. In many ways he was to the U. S. what Praying Hyde was to India. He is known almost exclusively for his powerful prayer ministry.
The great evangelist, Charles Finney, left his itinerant ministry for the pastorate within three or four months after this man’s death. Finney never counted on his theology, messages, preaching style, logic, or methods to save souls. He looked rather to mighty prayer and the resulting powerful work of the Holy Spirit to sweep in with great conviction on his audience, that his conversions might be thorough. This may well explain why 80 per cent of those converted in his meetings stood the test of time. Years later Moody followed a similar pattern but without such a prayer warrior. He saw perhaps 50 per cent of his converts last. Today, a well-known evangelist (well-financed and highly organized) recently stated that he would be delighted if 20 per cent of his converts were genuinely converted. In this day of apostasy with many decisions but few true conversions, with many programs but little prayer, with much organizing but little agonizing, we would be wise to learn lessons from the past. One of our godly forefathers whose life can teach us such is Daniel Nash.
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The Treasury of Rare Dispensational Commentaries
The majority of commentaries that are readily available today are Reformed and Amillennial. They interpret prophecy by the false allegorical methodology and erroneously view the Church as Israel. Many of the best Dispensational and Premillennial commentaries are out of print.
I decided to create this collection when I realized that very few Premillennial commentaries are available in electronic edition for the computer. As a missionary who lives overseas and travels extensively, almost all of the commentaries I regularly use are on my computer.
THE IRONSIDE COLLECTION
The following 21 volumes are by the popular Brethren preacher H. A. Ironside 1876-1951) -- Joshua, Ezra, Nehemiah, Psalms, Proverbs, S. Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Minor Prophets, Matthew, Mark, John, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, Jude, Revelation
THE NUMERICAL BIBLE
The Numerical Bible is 6 volumes covering Genesis to Revelation. It was written by Frederick William Grant (1834-1902) and first published in 1932.
THE ANNOTATED BIBLE - GAEBELEIN COLLECTION
This collection consists of works by Arno C. Gaebelein (1880-1950). There is the 9-volume Annotated Bible, plus the following single volumes: As It Was--So Shall It Be, Conflict of the Ages, Daniel, Ezekiel, Gabriel and Michael the Archangel, Harmony of the Prophetic Word, Our Age and Its End, World Prospects.
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CCM Pioneer Bridge Builder Thomas Dorsey
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In 1999 CCM Magazine labeled Thomas Dorsey a major pioneer of contemporary Christian music. “It’s entirely arguable that Christian music would not exist if it were not for the Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey” (Thom Granger, “Say ‘Amen,’ Somebody, Thomas Dorsey Remembered,” CCM Magazine, July 1999, p. 12).
Dorsey was a pioneer in CCM in that he popularized the integration of sacred lyrics with sensual party music.
Dorsey was a filthy blues musician who performed under the name of Georgia Tom and joined hands with the likes of Tampa Red (Hudson Whitaker) and Ma Rainey. They enflamed the sinful passions of the patrons of juke joints, whorehouses, and gambling dens with vulgar lyrics set to a sensual, body-jerking backbeat blues rhythm.
“The two [Dorsey and Tampa Red] became so notorious for their cunningly erotic blues they coined a word for the style [hokum] and went on to name their duo after it, the Famous Hokum Boys” (We’ll Understand It Better By and By: Pioneering African American Gospel Composers, p. 180).
Pious blacks who took Jesus Christ and the Bible seriously and who were faithful to biblical churches, condemned the blues because of its intimate association with immorality and drunkenness and violence. This is clear from the histories that have been written of that time, such as the following:
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Friday Church News Notes
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NEW YORKERS: LET CHICK-FIL-A BUILD RESTAURANTS (Friday Church News Notes, August 24, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “NY Voters Poll,” Christian Post, Aug. 16, 2012: “Most New York City voters say Chick-fil-A should not be blocked from getting permits over its traditional stance on marriage, according to a new poll. Amid debate over Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy's statement last month against same-sex marriage, 82 percent said there should be no impact on the fast-food chain's ability to get permits, a Quinnipiac University poll revealed Wednesday. Also, 83 percent said elected officials should not try to discourage people from eating at Chick-fil-A. ‘New Yorkers may disagree with what you say, but they defend your right to sell chicken,’ said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a statement. The survey was conducted among 1,298 New York City voters. It follows comments by several mayors and other elected officials that they don't want Chick-fil-A in their cities.”
POPE SAYS MARY CAN HELP US LIVE WELL (Friday Church News Notes, August 24, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Speaking at a papal mass on August 15, Pope Benedict XVI said Mary’s intercession with God “can help us to live well and with hope” (“Mary’s assumption into heaven fosters hope on earth,” EWTN News, Aug. 15, 2012). The pope said Mary was taken “body and soul” into heaven, “intimately united with her Son,” “fully conformed to him,” and crowned Queen of Heaven. By going to heaven, he said, Mary “was not leaving behind the faithful on earth, but instead becoming closer to all.” Speaking at the 13th International Mariological Symposium in Rome on October 5, Cardinal Angelo Amato told attendees, “For conversion to Christ you must go to the Virgin Mary so that she leads us back to Him” (“If you get lost,” EWTN News, Oct. 5, 2012). What blasphemy! Where are the influential “evangelicals” and charismatics and contemporary Christian worship musicians who are rising up in condemnation of this heresy and calling for strict biblical separation from Rome? That we can’t name even one is irrefutable evidence of their spiritual blindness and apostasy.
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The World Council of Churches
The goal of the World Council was plainly stated at its convening Assembly in August 1948. Former General Secretary of the WCC, W.A. Visser ‘t Hooft, verbalized the sentiments of the ecumenists gathered for that historic occasion:
“Our name indicates our weakness and our shame before God, for there can be and there is finally only one Church of Christ on earth. Our plurality is a deep anomaly. But our name indicates also that we are aware of that situation, that we do not accept it passively, THAT WE WOULD MOVE FORWARD TOWARDS THE MANIFESTATION OF THE ONE HOLY CHURCH” (The Genesis and Formation of the World Council of Churches, p. 66).
This supposed “one holy church,” this longed for world church, is a figment of a heretical imagination. The Bible does not tell us that there should be a world church. Quite the opposite. The Bible repeatedly warns that “Christendom” will become increasingly apostate as the time of Christ’s return draws near, and true Bible churches are commanded to remain separate from this wickedness. God is not fulfilling the Great Commission through a church, singular, but through churchES, plural.
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P.O.D. - A Popular "Christian" Rock Band
The band members wear tattoos, earrings and other piercings, and flaunt long dreadlocks in direct disobedience to God’s Word in an attempt to be as closely conformed to the world as possible (Romans 12:2). P.O.D. tours with vile rock bands such as Korn and has performed multiple times at Ozzy Osbourn’s Ozzyfest.
The band claims they play concerts with secular groups and record on a secular label “to be heard by the lost people.” Note the following statement by Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D.
“A secular label will help us be heard by the lost people. … if they hear the music first, people will not be as quick to judge the Gospel being preached through the lyrics. That way, they can hear that not all Christian music is cheesy” (Sonny, POD, HM magazine, May-June 1998, p. 48).
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Friday Church News Notes
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BARTON’S BOOK PULLED BY PUBLISHER (Friday Church News Notes, August 17, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Thomas Nelson has ceased publication of David Barton’s book The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You’ve Always Believed about Thomas Jefferson, because it has “lost confidence in the book’s details” (“Lost Confidence,” World magazine, Aug. 9, 2012). I rarely agree with Thomas Nelson, but in this case they are probably right in that Barton twists historical facts out of context in order to support his view that the vast majority of the America’s founders were “orthodox, evangelical Christians,” which simply was not the case. Many of the founders were skeptics who rejected the fall of man, the infallible inspiration of Scripture, and the necessity of Christ’s blood atonement for salvation. According to my own research, these include Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, John Adams, and Ethan Allen. It should be sufficient warning that Barton is a staunch supporter of the New Age Mormon Glenn Beck and his misguided Divine Destiny campaign, as we have documented. Most recently, Barton joined Beck (plus Word-faith heretics Kenneth and Gloria Copeland and Catholic priests Jonathan Morris and Frank Pavone, among others) at the “Under God: Indivisible” event at High Point Church in Arlington, Texas, in July. If Mr. Barton doesn’t have the wisdom to discern things that are before his very eyes, how can he be a dependable witness of things past?
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Rock & Roll and Mysticism
I begin with rock & roll because I believe it is the most effective form of mysticism operating in modern society. It is the sound track for end-time apostasy and Mystery Babylon.
Rock & roll is all about being “hooked on a feeling.” The lyrics have never been the most important element. Rock is not so much about thinking as it is about emoting. It is enjoyed more with the body than the mind.
As Ozzy Osbourne said, “If it tickles my spine, I listen. When I’m writing, if the hair on my arm stands up, I think, oh, it’s good. I don’t work it out mathematically” (“Osbourne Spins a Case for Vinyl on Record Store Day,” USA Today, April 15, 2011, p. 6D).
Bob Pitman, founder of MTV, said: “The strongest appeal you can make is emotionally. If you can get their emotions going, make them forget their logic, you’ve got ‘em” (“MV Is Rock Around the Clock,” Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 3, 1982).
Modern music is responded to emotionally, mystically, more than through the thought processes. It is common to hear rockers say, “I followed my heart rather than my brain.”
The U2 song “Vertigo” says, “A feeling is so much stronger than a thought.” Bono quoted this in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, and it summarizes rock & roll’s blind mysticism. The Bible says we are to live by God’s Word, but rock & roll says, “Live by your feelings.” The Bible says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, but rock & roll says, “Just follow your heart.” The Bible says we can only know God through the sound doctrine of His revelation in the Bible, through right thinking that comes by the right understanding of God’s Word, but rock & roll says, “Feelings are more important than thoughts.”
Dr. Richard Pellegrino, a brain specialist, says:a
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The Rock Group U2
But U2 is much more than a popular rock band. U2 has a great influence in the emerging church and the contemporary worship movement. U2’s lead singer Bono is praised almost universally among contemporary and emerging Christians. Phil Johnson observes that “Bono seems to be the chief theologian of the Emerging Church Movement” (Absolutely Not! Exposing the Post-modern Errors of the Emerging Church, p. 9).
“Bono played a far more significant role on the formative years on those who became emergent than anyone else, from a human standpoint. Bono, in the 1980s, was, if not worshipped, then absolutely adored by millions of Christian youth who were hanging on his every word. They saw his cool kind of Christianity. He helped lead people into what eventually became the emerging church. Bono has led people into a version of Christianity that is so slippery, so undefinable, so liberal, yet he is considered the main icon of the emerging church” (Joseph Schimmel, The Submerging Church, DVD, 2012).
Eugene Peterson, author of The Message, says U2 has a prophetic voice to the world and says Bono is a prophet like John the Baptist (foreword to Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog).
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Should Homosexuals Be Put to Death?
HOMOSEXUALS AGAINST JESUS. It is popular among homosexual activists to claim that Jesus didn’t say anything against homosexuality, but this is pure nonsense. Jesus upheld the law of Moses, saying: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-19). The law of Moses forbad homosexual activity in the strongest terms. In fact, it was a capital offense. “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death” (Leviticus 20:13). Those are the words of the very law that Jesus came to fulfill, which He did by living a perfectly righteous life in our stead and dying to pay the price demanded by the law for man’s sins. Further, Jesus upheld the original marriage covenant of Genesis 2. When asked about His position on divorce, Jesus replied: “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:4-6). Thus, Jesus plainly upheld “traditional” one man/one woman marriage. Homosexual activists aren’t just opposed to a few “hard-nosed” Christians, they are opposed to Jesus Himself, at whose name “every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and ... every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10).
In response to this I received the following accusation:Continue reading this article……
The Schaap Case - Troubling to This Preacher
The following is republished by permission of Pastor Bobby Mitchell, Jr., Mid-coast Baptist Church, Brunswick, Maine, bobbymjr@gmail.com
www.midcoastbaptistchurch.com
www.apurechurch.com
TROUBLING TO THIS PREACHER
August 6, 2012
I want to go on record with preacher friends and acquaintances concerning what I find most troubling about the wickedness of Jack Schaap. First, it is troubling that many are writing about his "fall" as if he were a man of God that sinned. Matt Olson and Paul Chappell are two that have weighed in on this and referred to this as a "fall.”
The truth is that Schaap didn't fall from anything. A cursory glance at his doctrine and deeds over the last eleven years would have revealed to any discerning Christian that he was a false prophet, a wolf, a viper, a dog, and an evil worker. Those are Biblical words. It is sad that he used the name Baptist but he was no more a Baptist than was Balaam. It is sad that he hurt many people and has misrepresented Christianity, but his preaching and practice plainly evinced that he was never what he claimed to be.
Second, it is troubling that so many refuse to acknowledge the obvious fact that Schaap was the product of the belief and behavior of his father in law. If Scripture is our authority then we must agree with it in its condemnation of the preaching and practice of Jack Hyles. If you don't know what I'm writing of, then it is time to do your research for Hyles has been a major influence in leavening Baptist churches. You have no excuse for remaining in ignorance if you have read Matthew 7, Acts 20, Philippians 3, I and II Timothy, Titus, 2 Peter 2, I, II, III John, and Jude.
Friday Church News Notes
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IRANIAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR ANNIHILATION OF ISRAEL (Friday Church News Notes, August 3, 2012, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The president of Iran has again called for the annihilation of Israel. Speaking to ambassadors from Islamic countries ahead of the annual anti-Israel Qods Day (Jerusalem Day), Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said “the ultimate goal of world forces must be the annihilation of Israel” (“Ahmadinejad,” Jerusalem Post, Aug. 2, 2012). He claims that “Zionists” have been controlling the world “for about 400 years,” which probably comes as a great surprise to the Jews themselves. He held forth the liberation of “Palestine” as the “key for solving the world’s problems.” We don’t have to guess about how all of this will turn out. Iran is modern-day Persia and her fate is described plainly in Bible prophecy. She will join Gog and Magog in the ill-fated attack on Israel described in Ezekiel 38-39 and suffer a stunning, world-shaking defeat on Israel’s hills. “And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet. ... And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 38:3-5, 22-23).
Continue reading this article……Calvary Chapel and Maranatha Music
(first published January 3, 2012)
The following is excerpted from the DIRECTORY OF CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP MUSICIANS, which is available as a free eBook from the Way of Life web site -- wayoflife.org
Founded in 1971, Maranatha Music was one of the first contemporary Christian music publishing companies. It was founded by Chuck Smith, Sr., of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California, to publish the music of the early Jesus hippies.
Calvary Chapel played a major role in the birth of the Jesus People movement. Mesmerized by a charismatic Jesus hippie named Lonnie Frisbee, Chuck Smith baptized massive numbers of hippies who had professed Christ, many of them “led to the Lord” by Frisbee. By accepting the young people pretty much as they were even for Christian service--long hair, immodest clothing, rock & roll, culturally liberal thinking--Calvary Chapel exploded in growth from one small church to a mega-church and beyond to a large association of churches.
“With his long brown hair, long craggily beard, dusty clothing, scent of Mary Jane [marijuana] and glint of his last LSD trip in his eyes, Frisbee showed up out of nowhere ... literally on Chuck Smith’s doorstep” (Matt Coker, Orange County Weekly, March 2005).
Frisbee was “commissioned” by Chuck Smith Sr., after Smith’s wife, Kay, received a “prophecy.”
“The Spirit of God came through a prophecy with Kay Smith and said, ‘Because of your praise and adoration before My throne tonight, I’m gonna bless the whole coast of California.’ And when we started to receive the word as from God, the Spirit of the Lord fell upon us and we began to weep and the Lord began to give people visions of that prophecy and then the Lord continued on to say that it was going to move across the United States and then go to different parts of the world” (David DiSabatino, Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippy Preacher).
Maranatha Music was built upon this unscriptural spiritual foundation. In those days, at least, Calvary Chapel was quick to accept the flimsiest “profession” and wasn’t careful to try to ascertain whether the hippies were truly born again. They encouraged the newest babes in Christ (assuming they were even saved) to perform music. Take the members of Love Song, one of the first and most influential of the Calvary Chapel Christian rock bands. Band member Chuck Girard said in 1997:
“It was early 1970 when three of my buddies and I walked into a church called Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa to play some songs for the pastor at the suggestion of a young hippie preacher named Lonnie Frisbee. We were hippies who had turned our lives over to the Lord only days before, yet we had a few songs that we had written before we met the Lord that were about God and Jesus. The pastor thought the songs were of God, invited us to play at one of the weekly Bible studies and we accepted the invitation. ... We didn’t know much about what people called ‘gospel music,’ we were just writing the same kind of songs we would write if we weren’t Christians but now we had Jesus to sing about” (Girard, foreword to History of the Jesus Movement by David DiSabatino, One-way.org/jesusmusic).
Hyles' Daughter Exposes the Cult
August 8, 2012 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article)
Recently I watched a very sad testimony by the daughter of the late Jack Hyles. Today her name is Linda Murphrey and it appears from this testimony that she has rejected biblical Christianity because of the hypocrisy she witnessed growing up in the home of the man who said God had given him “the steering wheel of fundamentalism” and who boasted that his church “was the greatest church in the history of Christianity.”
In her life story Linda mentions God only once and entirely leaves out Jesus Christ, the Bible, the new birth, and salvation through the cross.
Rejection of the truth of the Bible is oftentimes the fruit of a “Christian” cult, but it doesn’t have to be. Everyone growing up in a Christian home sees some type of hypocrisy and witnesses some level of less-than-perfect Christian living, because at his or her best the Bible-believing Christian is only a sinner saved by God’s grace. That’s not an excuse, but it is a fact. The apostle John said, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” (1 John 1:8). The apostle Paul, who in my estimation was the greatest Christian who ever lived, called himself the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15) and said, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18).
Darby on the Judgment Seat of Christ
The following is from J. N. Darby’s (1800-82) Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, which was written between 1857-1862. Darby’s five-volume Synopsis with the complete index volume is available as part of the Treasure of Dispensational Commentaries in the Fundamental Baptist Digital Library from Way of Life Literature:
We must all be manifested before the tribunal of Christ, in order that each may receive according to that which he shall have done in the body, be it good or evil. A happy and precious thought, after all, solemn as it may be; for, if we have really understood grace, if we are standing in grace, if we know what God is, all love for us, all light for us, we shall like to be in the full light. It is a blessed deliverance to be in it. It is a burden, an encumbrance, to have anything concealed, and although we have had much sin in us that no one knows (perhaps even some that we have committed, and which it would be no profit for any one to know), it is a comfort--if we know the perfect love of God--that all should be in perfect light since He is there. This is the case by faith and for faith, wherever there is solid peace: we are before God as He is, and as we are--all sin in ourselves alas! except so far as He has wrought in us by quickening us; and He is all love in this light in which we are placed; for God is light, and He reveals Himself. Without the knowledge of grace, we fear the light: it cannot be otherwise. But knowing grace, knowing that sin has been put away as regards the glory of God, and that the offence is no longer before His eyes, we like to be in the light, it is joy to us, it is that which the heart needs, without which it cannot be satisfied, when there is the life of the new man. Its nature is to love the light, to love purity in all that perfection which does not admit the evil of darkness, which shuts out all that is not itself. Now to be thus in the light, and to be manifested, is the same thing, for the light makes everything manifest.
We are in the light by faith when the conscience is in the presence of God. We shall be according to the perfection of that light when we appear before the tribunal of Christ. I have said that it i a solemn thing--and so it is, for everything is judged according to that light; but it is that which the heart loves, because--thanks to our God!--we are light in Christ.
Chick-Fil-A Day Changes Nothing
At one level this is encouraging to see. It’s a “feel good” thing for Bible believers. It feels like we have really “pushed back,” but we must understand that nothing of substance has changed.
Homosexual activists have demonstrated that they are not seeking “equal rights.” They are seeking to silence all publicly-stated opposition to their “lifestyle,” and they will not settle for anything less.
They are winning significant battles toward this objective and unless there is a massive spiritual revival in the churches, they will eventually win the war (in this present place and time, though certainly not in eternity). A genuine, deep-seated, far-reaching revival is the only hope, since the fundamental cause of the nation’s moral pollution is apostasy, worldliness, and spiritual compromise in the churches.
Homosexual activists don’t care if there are multitudes who still believe in traditional marriage. They don’t care if the lines to Chick-fil-A drive-up windows run around the block. The great show of support for Chick-fil-A didn’t cow them one bit and didn’t slow down their agenda one iota.Continue reading this article……
Friday Church News Notes
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THE LATEST IN THE SAGA OF “THE TWO JACKS” (Friday Church News Notes, Aug 3, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Earlier this year I published The Two Jacks, documenting the life and ministry of Jack Hyles, who pastored First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, for 42 years, and Jack Schaap, who took over the pastorate of the church when his father-in-law died in 2001. But the book is not merely about two men. It is a warning about a cultic model of ministry that has spread very far. Hyles set the pattern for errors that are still rampant. Most importantly, the book is a positive call to build biblical churches. A major motivation in writing the book was to challenge young preachers not to be man followers and man pleasers, to walk in the fear of God rather than the fear of man, to be serious Bible students and Bereans, to be passionate for Christ and Truth, and to reject pragmatism: whether it be contemporary church growth pragmatism or emerging pragmatism or Independent Fundamental Baptist pragmatism. The book is a warning about Quick Prayerism, promotionalism, numbers-ism, the abuse of pastoral authority, blind loyalty to man, cover-up and deception and rampant immorality, the neglect of church discipline, and unrepentant heresy. Now we can add to the section on “rampant immorality” the fact that Jack Schaap has been dismissed from the pastorate because of his “physically improper” relationship with a 16-year-old girl. The Hammond Community Net reports that “the First Baptist Church of Hammond has dismissed Jack Schaap as its pastor in the wake of a Lake County police investigation.” That occurred on Tuesday, July 31. Continue reading this article……Brother Cloud's Messages on Sermonaudio
(first published November 7, 2001)
More than 80 of Brother Cloud’s sermons are on the Sermonaudio web site. Several of these have been in the top ten of Sermonaudio downloads, and about 258,000 have been downloaded, plus 13,000 of the videos.
SermonAudio iPhone Edition allows you to browse and search through the library of MP3 sermons from thousands of different speakers and listen to any of them immediately on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Additionally, you can watch sermon videos (MP4) and read sermon transcripts (PDF) -- all without a PC and 100% wirelessly! This new service is completely free for all SermonAudio broadcasters and listeners.
Brother Cloud’s sermons can be found HERE
NEW SERMONS
• Three Great Prophecies of the End Times
• The Unifying Doctrine of the End Times
• Introduction to the Bible Version Issue
• How to Build a Good Marriage Before You Are Married
• The Kingdom of God
• How God Called Me to a Warning Ministry
• The Resurrection of Christ
• Preparing for Christ’s Kingdom
• Why Most Independent Baptist Churches Will Be Emerging
• The Doctrinal Superiority of the King James Bible
