HUSBAND/WIFE FATHER/MOTHER ON THE ROPES (Friday Church News Notes, June 27, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The legalization of homosexuality is already beginning to destroy the biblical concept of father and mother, husband and wife. The new marriage licenses in California replace “husband and wife” with “Party A and Party B.” In Scotland, teachers in some major cities have banned Father’s Day cards this year so as not to offend students who live with single mothers and lesbians. The London Telegraph reports, “The politically correct policy was quietly adopted at schools ‘in the interests of sensitivity’ over the growing number of lone-parent and same-sex households” (“Father’s Day Cards Banned,” June 20, 2008). Last year Scotland’s National Health Service approved a policy for hospital workers mis-titled “Fair For All.” In fact, the policy is “fair” for no one, because it destroys the right of free speech and forbids the use of historic and biblical terms such as “mother” and “father” (some patients might have two mothers or two fathers) and “husband” and “wife,” labeling this “homophobic language.” Such terms must be replaced with “partner” or “they/them” (“There is only one acceptable way to talk about homosexuality -- SILENCE!” OneNewsNow.com, May 31, 2007). The policy is to be strictly enforced. In May 2007 the California state senate passed bill SB 777. If approved by the state assembly and signed by the governor, it will ban any speech in the public school system that “reflects or promotes bias against” homosexuality, transgenders, bisexuals, or those who “perceived” gender issues. The ban would apply even to discussions. Randy Thomasson of the Campaign for Children and Families warns that references to “mother” and “father” would probably be banned if this idiotic policy becomes law (“Lawmakers Pass Redefinition of ‘Sex,” The Berean Call, June 8, 2007).

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU LAUGH AT (Friday Church News Notes, June 27, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is by Brian Snider of Huntsville, Alabama: “Be careful what you laugh at. Laughter can make you do things, and accept things, you would not normally accept. George Carlin’s death this week is a good reminder of how much damage can be done through inappropriate laughter. Carlin was an American comedian and entertainer whose routines were filthy and blasphemous. Carlin made the kinds of statements that very few people would tolerate from a politician or teacher or television personality. But because he was a comedian and delivered his statements with a dose of laughter, people who would not normally enjoy a tirade against God would sit still and listen. Carlin was raised in a liberal Roman Catholic environment in New York and at a young age was a determined, anti-authoritarian misfit.  He dropped out of high school and was kicked out of the Air Force after facing court-martial three times. He began his entertainment career as a straight comedian, appearing on mainstream programs in the 60s, but later adopted a hippy look and lifestyle and sought a new audience. He was already on the rise professionally when he released the album Class Clown in 1972 which contained the routine, ‘Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.’ The language was filthy, but it was delivered in a comical manner and was therefore more palatable to large groups of people. That routine caused a stink with the FCC and was eventually reviewed by the US Supreme Court to determine whether or not the words were obscene, which they clearly were. The high court ruled that they were only ‘indecent.’ That incident brought Carlin more fame, or notoriety, and helped in a major way toward lowering the the standards for what is allowed on television and radio. While Americans were laughing at him, he was ripping apart the fabric of decent language and faith in God. Carlin took every opportunity to mock and degrade the name of God. The Bible says that the fool has said that there is no God. Not surprisingly, Carlin concocted a comedy routine entitled ‘There is No God.’ How many people became atheistic in their thinking after attending one of his comedy shows and laughing at him as he derided the name of God? God only knows. Be careful what you laugh at. It is a certainty that George Carlin is not laughing now. ‘Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness’ (2 Peter 3:17).”

COOPERATIVE BAPTIST FELLOWSHIP SPEAKER DENIES CHRIST’S DEITY (Friday Church News Notes, June 27, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A speaker at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s annual conference in Memphis denied the deity of Christ. John Killinger, in a workshop entitled “The Changing Shape of Our Salvation” (which is also the title of his 2007 book), said that Jesus did not conceive of Himself as the Saviour of the world and was probably not God incarnate. “Now we are reevaluating and we’re approaching everything with a humbler perspective and seeing God’s hand working in Christ, but not necessarily as the incarnate God in our midst” (“CBF Presenter Questions Christ’s Deity,” Baptist Press, June 19, 2008). Killinger, the pastor of Marble Collegiate Church in New York City, said that modern scholarship has taught us that Jesus did not actually say and do many of the things that are written in the Bible. This again demonstrates the apostasy of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The CBF’s 2001 conference in Atlanta featured prayers to “Mother God.” At their annual breakfast that year, the leaders of the Baptist Women in Ministry (BWIM, an auxiliary of the CBF), stated their discomfort at calling God “Father,” “Lord,” and “King.” Sally Burgess, BWIM treasurer, said she believed that more Southern Baptist women would be ordained to the pastorate “because I believe God is good, and She knows what She’s doing” (“Women Celebrate ‘Mother God’ as Moderate Baptists Gather,” Religion Today, July 2, 2001). In 2000, CFB coordinator Daniel Vestal told the press that there are congregations that support the CBF that ordain homosexuals and that he does not want anyone to leave over this issue (“CBF ‘welcoming but not affirming’ of homosexuals,” Associated Baptist Press, Oct. 23, 2000). CBF council member Dixie Lee Petrey said, “I don’t think we should limit the Spirit of God in the way that it moves. Do we really want to sit here and say God’s Spirit cannot call a homosexual to follow God’s call?”

CHRISTIANITY TODAY’S POSITIVE REVIEW OF SEX AND THE CITY (Friday Church News Notes, June 27, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Christianity Today recently published a positive review of the filthy Sex and the City movie based on the HBO television series. The reviewer admits that the movie contains filthy language, nudity, homosexual kissing, and “several graphic sex scenes,” but goes on to say that it “offers much that will resonate with singles--and yes, even Christians” and has “smart dialogue, interesting plots, and a ton of heart.” Our friend Jeff Royal got it right with this comment: “It’s unbelievable that C.T. would not try to steer Christians far away from this thrash, and that they would choose to review it in the first place. I can understand its popularity with the world, but for it to appeal to Bible-believing Christians must bring great reproach to an all holy God. ‘Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people’ (Proverbs 14:34). ‘Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death’ (James 1:15). ‘For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world’ (1 John 2:16).”

DISAPPEARING DAUGHTERS (Friday Church News Notes, June 27, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Disappearing Daughters: The Tragedy of Female Feoticide is the name of a 2007 book documenting the continuing decline in the ratio of girls to boys in India. Author Gita Aravamudan says: “Female infanticide is akin to serial killing. But female foeticide was more like a holocaust. A whole gender is getting exterminated.” The average worldwide ratio of girl births to boy births is 1050 to 1000, but in India it is about 925 to 1000 overall and in some places the ratio is as low as 300 to 1000. And it is steadily declining. In an interview with The Hindu magazine Aravamudan said: “I realised that infanticide happened not in pockets, [only] among the poor and disempowered but foeticide happened among the rich, the powerful, the educated; those who were aware of family planning” (“Targeting the Girl,” The Hindu, May 27, 2007). Though sex selection testing is illegal in India, it is widely practiced and attempts to stop it have been ineffectual. A UNICEF report says that 7,000 females are aborted EACH DAY in India. It is also not uncommon for females to be killed after they are born. In an interview with Agence France-Presse on July 20, 2007, Aravamudan said: “One of the most disturbing revelations came from a midwife who said she had killed hundreds of newborns. She had lost count.” In a Hindu society, parents typically must pay a dowry to marry off a female, who then becomes the servant to the husband’s family and is often abused.

SOUTHERN BAPTIST EMERGENT CONTRASTS HUMILITY WITH JUDGMENTAL PREACHING (Friday Church News Notes, June 27, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - J.D. Greear is a Southern Baptist preacher associated with the Acts 29 network. In 2002 Greear became senior pastor of Homestead Heights Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina. He led it to adopt the emergent philosophy, changed the name to Summit Church, and attendance has grown from 400 to 2,400. Mark Driscoll, head of Acts 29, claims to be “theologically conservative and culturally liberal.” Driscoll’s church in Seattle, Mars Hill, sponsors secular rock concerts, reviews R-rated movies, and hosts a New Years Eve dance party complete with a champagne bar. Greear says he strives for “humble orthodoxy” and contrasts this with the image of the Baptist preacher as “the angry guy with coifed hair and an out-of-style suit who likes to pick at things” (“Young Baptist Preachers Chart Different Courses,” Christian Post, June 20, 2008). Jesus Christ was humility incarnate, yet He was very bold and “judgmental” in his preaching. He preached more about hell than heaven, at least 14 times in the four Gospels, and He preached it red hot and terrible (e.g., Mark 9:42-48). Christ rebuked error in the severest terms (Mat. 23:13-33). He scalded the Pharisees because they perverted the way of the truth and corrupted the gospel of grace, calling them hypocrites, blind guides, fools and blind, serpents, generation of vipers. Roman Catholic priests and theologically liberal Protestant ministers corrupt the truth at least as much as the Pharisees did, yet the emerging church does not speak out against them after the fashion of Christ. He told the Pharisees that they were of their father the devil (John 8:44), and a more “judgmental” statement has never been made! After forgiving and healing people Christ warned them, “... sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:14). That is the type of thing that people in the “emerging culture” do not want to hear. They want to be forgiven and healed and encouraged, but they do not want to be told how to live and warned about what will happen if they don’t. Christ’s message cut against the grain of society in His day, and it still cuts against the grain of society, and the apostles preached after exactly the same fashion. One thing is certain. Christ’s type of preaching would not be at home in any branch of the emerging church.