Friday Church News Notes
Feb/05/10 06:46
February 5, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 6
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The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
LATE POPE WHIPPED HIMSELF (Friday Church News Notes, February 5, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a pathetic attempt to draw close to God and complete his salvation by emulating Christ’s suffering, the late Pope John Paul II whipped himself. This is one of the remnants of Rome’s “monastic spirituality.” Her “saints” invented many ascetic and contemplative practices as a means to salvation and spirituality. These are being resurrected today by the emerging church. The pope’s flagellation (also called mortification) was revealed in a new book entitled Why a Saint? by Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the cardinal in charge of the pope’s canonization process. The pope whipped himself from the time he lived in Poland before moving to the Vatican, but there is no basis for self-flagellation in the Bible. It is part of Rome’s desperate search for spirituality apart from know-so personal salvation and the indwelling Holy Spirit. The late Mother Teresa pursued a path of asceticism similar to that of John Paul II, and she called herself the “saint of darkness” because her spiritual life was so desperately empty. Thank God, the only whipping that the believer needs to be concerned about is the one that took place in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Read More...
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LATE POPE WHIPPED HIMSELF (Friday Church News Notes, February 5, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a pathetic attempt to draw close to God and complete his salvation by emulating Christ’s suffering, the late Pope John Paul II whipped himself. This is one of the remnants of Rome’s “monastic spirituality.” Her “saints” invented many ascetic and contemplative practices as a means to salvation and spirituality. These are being resurrected today by the emerging church. The pope’s flagellation (also called mortification) was revealed in a new book entitled Why a Saint? by Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the cardinal in charge of the pope’s canonization process. The pope whipped himself from the time he lived in Poland before moving to the Vatican, but there is no basis for self-flagellation in the Bible. It is part of Rome’s desperate search for spirituality apart from know-so personal salvation and the indwelling Holy Spirit. The late Mother Teresa pursued a path of asceticism similar to that of John Paul II, and she called herself the “saint of darkness” because her spiritual life was so desperately empty. Thank God, the only whipping that the believer needs to be concerned about is the one that took place in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Read More...
The Feminization of Christian Music
Feb/04/10 08:26 Filed in: Music
Republished February 9, 2010 (first published March 26, 1999) (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) -
Christian music doesn’t have to have a backbeat to be problematic. In my preaching meetings over the last couple of years, I have become increasingly concerned about the “sweetness” and “softness” of the Christian music that is being sung as choir numbers and specials. It is a problem that is not easy to describe, not easy to nail down. It involves a backing away from the bold, dogmatic, militant sound that characterizes the best of the old hymns. The music is sweeter, more pleasant -- too pleasant, I believe. I am convinced that the new soft sound ministers not to the spirit but to the soul. It is soulish. It doesn’t bring spiritual conviction. It doesn’t change lives. It is pleasant, entertaining, appealing, but not powerfully godly.
The following important warning is from Confronting Contemporary Christian Music by Dr. H.Talmadge Spence:
"In 1973 a Neo-Evangelical movement swept across America called 'Key '73.' Many of the evangelical denominations, including the Pentecostals, joined this movement, believing it would be the strongest evangelistic thrust to date in our country. An extensive invitation was sent out for new music to be written that promoted the message of 'Key '73' with several stipulations: the words righteousness, judgment, holiness, repentance, and several other biblical terms were not allowed to be used, and THE LYRICS WERE TO BE OF A POSITIVE NATURE. There was an intentional effort made to write NON-OFFENSIVE songs. A number of these were produced that year through this evangelical effort, strengthening the move away from biblical, doctrinal standards in the music.
Read More...
The following important warning is from Confronting Contemporary Christian Music by Dr. H.Talmadge Spence:
"In 1973 a Neo-Evangelical movement swept across America called 'Key '73.' Many of the evangelical denominations, including the Pentecostals, joined this movement, believing it would be the strongest evangelistic thrust to date in our country. An extensive invitation was sent out for new music to be written that promoted the message of 'Key '73' with several stipulations: the words righteousness, judgment, holiness, repentance, and several other biblical terms were not allowed to be used, and THE LYRICS WERE TO BE OF A POSITIVE NATURE. There was an intentional effort made to write NON-OFFENSIVE songs. A number of these were produced that year through this evangelical effort, strengthening the move away from biblical, doctrinal standards in the music.
Read More...
Early Baptists Required Faithful Church Attendance
Feb/03/10 18:54 Filed in: Church
Republished February 4, 2010 (first published July 10, 2001) (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) -
Church members today often display an amazingly cavalier attitude toward church attendance. It is not uncommon for churches that run 200 in attendance on Sunday mornings to have only half of that number back on Sunday night and even fewer for the mid-week service. Church membership was treated much more seriously in Baptist churches four hundred years ago.
The following is from Adam Taylor’s The History of the English General Baptists [London: 1818], Volume I:
The general Baptists of the 16th and 17th centuries so respected the nature and importance of assemblies for public worship that the wilful neglect of them was considered as disorderly conduct, which called for the censure of the church. A constant inspection was exercised over the attendance of the members: persons were appointed to take down the names of the absentees, and report them to the elders; and nothing but reasons of obvious importance were admitted as a sufficient apology for their non-attendance. Read More...
Dressing for the Lord on Sale This Week
Feb/03/10 18:50
Book: $7.50 (regularly $9.95)
Video: $16.95 (regularly $19.95)
Both: $21.95 (best value)
Friday Church News Notes
Jan/29/10 08:13
January 29, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 5
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AVERAGE AGE OF CHURCH OF ENGLAND ATTENDEES IS 61 (Friday Church News Notes, January 29, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - According to a new study, the average age of attendees in the Church of England is 61. That’s the average! Lyda Barley, head of research and statistics for the Anglican Church, blamed the situation on general societal trends (“Average age of churchgoer now 61,” The Telegraph, Jan. 22, 2010). The real problem is wretched apostasy. Why should people attend “church” when even the leaders don’t believe their own Scriptures and are confused about the most basic tenets of the Christian faith? When I was in London in 1982, I read an interview by John Mortiner of the Sunday Times with Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie. It was Easter, and the interviewer asked Runcie if he understood why Christ had to suffer. The Archbishop replied, “As to that I am an agnostic.” He did not know why Christ died on the cross! The interviewer asked, “Is God a judge?” Runcie was more dogmatic on that one. He replied, “No.” The interviewer then said, “So you don’t see God as celestial Lord Chief Justice?” Runcie answered, “Not at all. I had an old landlady when we were at Oxford. And when we got into any sort of trouble, she’d say: ‘There’s one above who seeth all’. I can’t think of God like that.” Runcie’s wretched unbelief is typical of the Church of England today. (For evidence see “Fifty Years of Anglican Liberalism” at the Way of Life web site. There is a search engine.) Read More...
PDF VERSION
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.
New Video Release: Why We Hold to the King James Bible
Jan/28/10 10:38
We have just released a brand new version of "Why We Hold to the King James Bible."
7 Messages on 3 DVDs, $29.95
ALSO AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD
Read More...