CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY SUPPORTING NON-CERTAINTY HERESY (Friday Church News Notes, April 4, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a series of three articles Raymond Bartholomew reports that Cedarville University is allowing the promotion of the emerging church heresy that truth cannot be known with certainty. According to the ASSURANCE-BUT-NOT-CERTAINTY (ABNOC) view, man can know the truth only with “assurance” but not with “certainty,” since God alone is omniscient. (How one can have assurance without certainty is a real magic trick, but, as is the case with most heresies, the feat is accomplished through linguistic gymnastics.) Cedarville professor David Mills defends this heresy in two publications. He says that “humans must function epistemologically with something less than a state of certainty.” He labels those who hold to the doctrine of certainty “arrogant” and “idolatrous.” Professors who do not share the ABNOC position have been fired or forced out. Former teacher Amy-Hope Guisleman said that students are becoming confused and doubtful under the ABNOC teaching. She described one student who said his professor asked them if they knew that the Bible is true. When most responded in the affirmative, “he proceeded to demonstrate to them that they did not in fact know it.” The managing editor of the campus newspaper, Bryce Bahler, called the debate “silly and useless.” He said, “A Christianity that is built upon proven facts is no Christianity at all. A faith without doubt or failure is no faith at all.” In fact, faith is based on the “many infallible proofs” that demonstrate to us the certainty of the Scripture (Acts 1:3), and a “faith” that doubts is no faith at all! Jesus rebuked Thomas for his doubting (John 20), and the Bible warns that “whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23). Peter exhibited the testimony of true saving faith when he said: “We believe AND ARE SURE that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:69). In November 22 Cedarville was formally approved for Southern Baptists by the Baptist Convention of Ohio. Bartholomew graduated from Cedarville in 1957 and later taught there. He reminds his readers that “small” things matter when it comes to doctrine. A balloon can be deflated with a pin prick. His report can be viewed at http://www.cedarvillesituation.com/article1.htm.

EXPERT SAYS NO CHURCHES IN SAUDI ARABIA UNLESS MOHAMMED RECOGNIZED (Friday Church News Notes, April 4, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Anwar Ashiqi, president of the Saudi Center for Middle East Strategic Studies, says that churches will not be allowed in Saudi Arabia unless they “recognize the prophet Mohammed” (“Saudi Arabia,” Pakistan Christian Post, March 29, 2008). It is against the law in this Muslim nation to hold non-Islamic religious gatherings or to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Supposedly it is lawful for expatriates to worship in their own homes, but in practice even this is not allowed. In June 2006 four African Christians were imprisoned in Jeddah. In November 2005 a Saudi Arabian court sentenced a teacher to 40 months in prison and 750 lashes in a public flogging for discussing the Bible and praising Jews. On June 20, 2005 BosNewsLife reported that 100 or more foreign Christians had recently been arrested. In April 2005 a Christian service was broken up and forty Filipino men, women, and children arrested in the capital. In June 2004 Brian Savio O’Connor, an Indian national, was arrested and tortured for “spreading Christianity.” His legs were chained and he was hung upside down for seven hours, and the soles of his feet were whipped with electrical wires. In early 2003 two African preachers were arrested and deported after being held in prison for many weeks. Witnesses testifying before the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in 2003 warned that “Saudi Arabia exports an intolerant, violence-producing form of Islam to other countries” (Baptist Press, Nov. 21, 2003). This is being done with the knowledge and approval of the royal family and by means of the nation’s oil wealth. Israel is not recognized as a sovereign state in Saudi Arabian textbooks and its name does not appear on any map. No Jews of any nationality are allowed into Saudi Arabia. The American military had to invent a category “Protestant B” and put this on the dog tags of Jewish soldiers who were stationed there.

BROTHER CLOUD’S MATERIALS IN RUSSIAN (Friday Church News Notes, April 4, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - We are pleased to announce that some of our articles have been translated into Russian and made available via the Missions2Ukraine website. Missionary John O’Brien in the Ukraine is overseeing this work. They are about 30% finished with the book Dressing for the Lord. The following articles are currently available: Baptist Martyrs, Biblical Fasting, Deacons: Servants or Rulers, Does Salvation Make a Difference? Liberty and Fun, Ministry of Reproof, Study the Bible Dispensationally, Seven Keys to Fruitful Church Membership, and Women Preachers. Some are also available into Ukrainian. I was told that 18 other articles have been translated and await final editing. See http://www.missions2ukraine.com/tracts.htm.

THE WRATH OF GOD (Friday Church News Notes, April 4, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In 1962 independent Baptist radio preacher Oliver B. Greene preached a series of 25 messages on “The Wrath of God” (http://www.thegospelhour.org). Twenty-five messages on God’s judgment! My, how preaching has changed! This is what America needs: twenty-five messages on God’s wrath from every Bible-believing pulpit in the land. Following is an excerpt from Green’s first message: “I have preached love, grace, justification, and salvation, but I must not be a one-sided preacher; I must preach it all. Consider Deuteronomy 32. ‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. ... If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me” (Deut. 32:39, 41). Now beloved, I’m not hateful and I’m not sarcastic, but that doesn’t sound like the liberal and the modernist of today. I heard a fellow on the radio the other day saying, ‘God is good.’ Yes, God is good, but let’s also tell them that God is a consuming fire. God has a real sword that he uses in judgment against those that hate him. You say, ‘I don’t hate God.’ You can’t serve two masters. You are either for God or you are against him. There is no neutrality. My friends, I love you, but I can’t compromise the Word of God to keep your friendship. I can’t sell my message for your support. I’d rather go off the radio tomorrow than to sell the gospel down the drain for fame or fortune. In Deuteronomy 32 we have a vivid description of a God that can be angry, that can use the sword, that can use arrows drunk with blood, a God that in His own words said, ‘I kill’ and ‘none can deliver out of my hand.’ I warn you. God is a consuming fire. God is angry with the wicked every day, and the wages of sin is death. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. Why don’t you fall into the arms of Jesus right now? There is no refuge from God’s wrath but in Jesus Christ.”

WHAT IS INDEPENDENT BAPTIST? (Friday Church News Notes, April 4, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - From time to time people write to ask, “What exactly is an independent Baptist church?” In answer to that I would say first that the Ind. Baptist movement is large and diverse. There are many thousands of Ind. Baptist churches. There are more in North America than anywhere else, but they are located throughout the world. There is no way to know exactly how many Ind. Baptist churches exist, because they have no headquarters and no centralized statistics are kept. At the root, independent Baptist simply describes Baptist churches that are not affiliated with denominational structures such as the Southern Baptist Convention, the American Baptist Church, and the General Association of Regular Baptists. For the most part Ind. Baptists are very committed to sound Baptist doctrine; they are separatistic; they are conservative in issues of dress and music; they are committed to the King James Bible; they are aggressively evangelistic and missions oriented (meaning church planting). The Ind. Baptist churches support thousands of missionaries, and they support them directly rather than through a denominational machine. The Ind. Baptist churches know their missionaries personally and each congregation chooses which ones to support, receives their missionary reports and prays for them. Ind. Baptist churches operate many Bible schools, colleges, and seminaries. Most are small institutions, running from 25 to 200 students, but some, such as Crown College in Powell, Tennessee, and West Coast Baptist College in Lancaster, California, are fairly large. Ind. Baptist churches also frequently operate their own Bible institutes. Some pastors write their own materials, while others use published curriculums such as Bible Baptist Publications, Way of Life Literature, Crown Publications, and Landmark Baptist Publications. Ind. Baptists typically avoid the public school system and train their children either through private church schools or home schools. There is considerable variety in doctrine and practice among Ind. Baptists. There are debates and differences in such matters as music, dress standards, the Bible version-text issue, Calvinism, Baptist briderism, the practice of communion, alien immersion, repentance and evangelistic practices, church growth practices, and ecclesiastical separation; but there are no debates on theological liberalism, the infallibility of the Bible, female preachers, homosexuality, charismaticism, evolution, or abortion. The bottom line is that Ind. Baptists are independent! Each gives account to its one head Jesus Christ. Ind. Baptists fellowship with other likeminded churches but they are not yoked together in any organizational sense with other Ind. Baptists who might hold a different doctrine or practice. 

PARENTS WHO CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR CHILDREN’S DELINQUENCY BY INEFFECTIVE DISCIPLINE (Friday Church News Notes, April 4, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Training Your Children to Turn out Right, an excellent book by David Sorenson (Northstar Ministries, 1820 W. Morgan St., Duluth, MN 55811, 218-726-0209, http://www.northstarministries.com, dhs.northstar@charter.net) -- “As a pastor, I have visited in thousands of homes. I have witnessed the following scenario played out numerous times. ... Mom (or, sometimes Dad) would say to Junior. ‘It’s time to go to bed.’ (Or some other parental directive.) Junior ignored his mother and continued to watch TV. ... After a few moments, she would say, ‘Junior, I told you to go and get ready for bed.’ He replied, ‘Awe, I don’t want to.’ Mom let that go by. A few moments later, Mom became a little hot about the matter. She raised the volume of her voice and said, ‘I TOLD YOU TO GET READY FOR BED.’ Junior replied, ‘But Mom, I want to watch my program.’ Mom tolerated that counter for a few more moments. She then announced, ‘THIS IS THE LAST TIME I AM GOING TO TELL YOU. GO AND GET READY FOR BED!’ Junior, by now himself getting exasperated at being shouted at, shouts back, ‘I TOLD YOU, I DON’T WANT TO!’ Finally, Mom shouts, ‘I’M WARNING YOU. MARCH RIGHT NOW, OR I AM GOING TO WHIP YOU.’ Variations of that scene go on by the thousands every single day in America. The real culprit was not Junior. He knew from considerable experience that Mom could be ignored. Mom was too lazy to get up and deal with the situation. she, in fact, was in her own way contributing to the delinquency of Junior. ... One might say, ‘If I handled the situation described above as recommended, there would be a pitched battle.’ Well, you had better get on with the battle and win the war while it can still be won. The day is coming when you will not be able to win the battle or the war” (Training Your Children to Turn Out Right, 1995, pp. 69, 70).