FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
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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.
NEW TECHNOLOGY TO ALLOW MOTHERS TO HOLD MODELS OF UNBORN BABIES (Friday Church News Notes, July 31, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A new technology being tested in Brazil allows mothers to hold a life-sized model of their unborn children. The invention uses 3D printing technology to create plaster models with data converted from high-tech ultrasound and MRI scans. The technology is on exhibition at the Royal College of Art in London (“Invention Allows Pregnant Women,” London Times, June 26, 2009). Brazilian designer Jorge Lopes is developing simple software that doctors can use. By the 12th week of pregnancy, the baby’s arms and legs are formed and its vital organs are functioning. It can swallow, bend its arms, twist its wrists and elbows, clench and open its fists, and it tiny face is animated.
DAWKINS SPONSORS FIRST SUMMER CAMP FOR ATHEISM (Friday Church News Notes, July 31, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Richard Dawkins, author of “The God Delusion,” sponsored England’s first summer camp to promote atheism among children. The “It’s Beyond Belief” camp, which ran this week, was for children aged eight to 17, featured lessons in evolution and a sing-along to John Lennon’s song “Imagine,” which envisions no religion, no heaven, and no hell (“Dawkins Sets up Kids’ Camp to Groom Atheists,” The Sunday Times, June 28, 2009). Though most of the doctrine and practice that flies under the banner of religion in this world is mythical, there is a Creator God and there is a heaven and a hell. The Bible makes no attempt to prove the existence of God for the very reason that man knows instinctively that He exists. It is a fact that is written in nature and upon man’s very heart. The Bible says, further, that it is the fool that says there is no God (Psalm 14:1; 53:1).
HOW TO KILL A CHURCH
The following is by the late Davis Huckabee:
New Testament churches do not naturally die; they are so constituted that they cannot die a natural death. They may, however, be killed, but even in this, they can hardly be killed by outsiders except by the annihilation of the entire membership. Churches are most often killed from the inside; their own members kill them. A church is not just an organization; it is also an organism -- a living thing, and as such, it has the potential of either growing and thriving, or of languishing and dying. The Lord promised that His church, considered as an institution, would not die, (Matthew 16:18), but this only means that there will be a continuity of churches like the Jerusalem church until His return; it does not guarantee the continued existence of any individual church.
How then may a church be killed?
I. BY STAYING AWAY FROM IT
The Scriptures liken church members to the members of a physical body, (I Cor.12:12ff), and just as certain organs of the human body cannot be removed without death coming to the body, so it is with the church, the body of Christ. When the members of the church start staying away from it, this soon leads to its death. Read More...
MAGNITUDE DEPENDS ON SERVITUDE!
The following is by Pastor Buddy Smith, Malanda, Queensland < Buddy Smith
Someday I am going to write out a new set of questions for our church to ask pastoral candidates. I want to include one question on the list that will determine, more than any other, their fitness for leadership in the church.
It is a question the Lord Jesus raised for His disciples, but we no longer hear it asked. (It would be a good exercise in self control to stop reading at this point and review the list of questions you ask the man who wants to be pastor.)
Finished? Well, what did you come up with? Let me guess. You ask about his doctrinal soundness. And you ask about his educational qualifications. And you have a question or two about his experience in ministry. And you ask how many he has won to Christ, and how he goes about it. You want to know how he disciples his converts. And you want to know about his family, and about the people he fellowships with, and about his convictions, and which Bible he uses, and what he believes about separation from sin. And, if you are wise, you ask him if he has any skeletons in his closet. Good, good. Those are questions we SHOULD ask. But, if those are the ONLY questions, we are dropping the ball on the one yard line. We are failing to ask the one question we should ask, we are failing our people, and we may be sealing the fate of our churches.
FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
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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.
FAMOUS ATHEIST SAYS THE WORLD MIGHT HAVE BEEN DESIGNED BY ALIENS (Friday Church News Notes, July 25, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In an interview with Ben Stein in the documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, the self-proclaimed atheist Richard Dawkins admits that there might be “intelligent design.” Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, is an atheist on a ridiculous rampage against the Almighty. He calls the God of the Bible “the most unpleasant character in all fiction” and a “capriciously malevolent bully.” Ben Stein asked Dawkins, “Who did create the heavens and the earth? How did it start?” Dawkins replied, “No one knows how it started. We know the kind of event it must have been for the origin of life. It was the origin of the first self-replicating molecule.” Stein asked, “What do you think is the possibility that intelligent design might turn out to be the answer to some issues in genetics?” To this Dawkins gave the following amazing reply: “It could be that at some earlier time somewhere in the universe a civilization evolved by, probably some kind of Darwinian means, to a very, very high level of technology and designed the form of life they seeded on to this planet. That is a possibility and an intriguing possibility, and I suppose it is possible that you might find evidence for that if you look at the details of biochemistry and molecular biology you might find a signature of some sort of designer. And that designer could well be a higher intelligence from elsewhere in the universe. That higher intelligence would itself have had to have come about by some ultimately explicable process. It couldn’t have just jumped into existence spontaneously.” So Richard Dawkins admits that life couldn’t have just jumped into existence, that there is evidence for an intelligent designer, but since he has rejected the God of the Bible, he launches out into the never-never land of “aliens.” And this is the same man that mocks those who believe in God. No man is blinder than he who will not see. “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts” (2 Peter 3:3).
BART EHRMAN’S PROBLEM IS GOD
Ehrman holds the chair of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he is busy destroying any Christian faith his students might possess, and he has published many books tearing down the Bible for a wider audience.
FROM FUNDAMENTALIST TO AGNOSTIC
In his book Misquoting Jesus, Ehrman describes his conversion from belief to unbelief. He was raised in the Episcopal Church but made a profession of faith in Christ at age 15 through a charismatic youth group. He memorized “entire sections” of Scripture and was convinced that the Bible is “God’s words.” He told “everyone about Christ” and even influenced his parents to leave the Episcopal Church for a more conservative evangelical faith. (His mother, brother, and sister have remained in that faith and have not followed Bart’s example. He says, “My mom is a strong evangelical; we talk basketball; we don’t talk religion.”) He “became a gung-ho Christian, a fundamentalist who believed the Bible contained no mistakes” (“Agnostic Author Bart Ehrman Picks Apart the Gospels,” Washington Post, March 5, 2006). Read More...
THE CHARACTER AND PHILOSOPHY OF ROCK & ROLL MUSIC
When I was converted in 1973 from a life of foolish rebellion, one of the first things the Lord dealt with me about was my music. I began listening to rock in 1959 and had lived and breathed it for many years. I started on 50s rock and country rock-a-billy and journeyed through 60s rock and part way through 70s rock before I was saved. When the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, I was in the 9th grade. The year I graduated from high school was “the summer of love.” When I was drafted into the Army two years later, the Woodstock movie was sweeping the land. During the year and a half I spent in Vietnam, I was stationed at Tan Son Nhut Airbase outside of Saigon. I was a clerk in a military police unit attached to MACV headquarters, the control center for the entire South Vietnam U.S. military operation. We lived at the R&R out-processing center, and the unit’s job was to keep drugs from leaving the country on soldiers bound for R&R and in personnel containers being shipped to the States. We had access to every conceivable luxury, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, tennis courts, racket ball, gym, movie theater, photo processing labs, you name it. I even had almost full-time use of a jeep for trips to Saigon. (Yes, it was rough duty but someone had to do it!) One of the facilities I used extensively was the reel-to-reel recording studio. The Army had a massive library of music, and soldiers who lived at or visited MACV headquarters could record as much as they wanted. I spent countless hours there recording rock music. I also utilized the PX system to purchase a sophisticated stereo system. By the time I was discharged from the Army, I was all set to stock my first hippie pad in Hollywood, Florida, with wall-to-wall rock music. My hippie heaven didn't last long, though. My buddies and I were buying and selling drugs, and two of us were arrested for possession of illegal drugs and public drunkenness. Though I got off lightly because it was my first arrest, I began to live in constant fear of being caught again and going to jail for a long time. I started to drift around. On one trip, I hitchhiked all the way to northern California and back to central Florida. Returning from California, I met some young people from India who introduced me to reincarnation and the Self Realization Fellowship Society. I began to practice meditation and study eastern religion, and I excitedly made another trip to California to visit the headquarters of the Self Realization Fellowship Society in Los Angeles. On the way there I won roughly $70 in a slot machine in Las Vegas and I thought it was an answer to my prayers!
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LOTTERY FEVER
Nearly one-third of multimillion dollar lottery winners are bankrupt just a few years later.
Edward Ugle, in “Money for Nothing: One Man’s Journey through the Dark Side of Lottery Millions, which was published in September 2007, says “broke lottery winners or financially troubled lottery winners are the rule.”
Evelyn Adams, who won the New Jersey lottery in 1985 and 1986 for a total of $5.4 million, gambled and gave away all her winnings and by 2001 was poor and living in a trailer.
Teresa Brunnings, who won $1.3 million in a lottery in 1985, says that she had a party then, but, “Of all the people who came, not one speaks to me now.”
Michael Carroll, who won about $17 million in a lottery in England in 2003, said he only had $3 million left in early 2006. He told the press, “I regret ever winning the lottery. I’ve spent $2 million on drugs and given $7 million to friends and family.”
Karen Cohen, who won $1 million in the Illinois state lottery in 1984, filed for bankruptcy in 2000 and in 2006 was sentenced to 22 months in jail for lying to federal bankruptcy court. Read More...
FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
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.
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THE MYTH OF SCHOLARLY NEUTRALITY
[The following is excerpted from “What Difference Does It Make” by Wilbur N. Pickering. This is published as an appendix in Unholy Hands on the Bible, Volume II, edited by Jay Green, Sr. (Sovereign Grace Publishers, Lafayette, IN 47903, 765-429-4122, sales@sovgracepub.com, http://www.sovgracepub.com/). In this article, Pickering exposes the myth that there is no doctrinal issue involved with the modern Bible versions and he exposes the error of modern textual criticism.]
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We need to lay to rest the myth of neutrality and scholarly objectivity. Anyone who has been inside the academic community knows that it is liberally sprinkled with bias, party lines, fads, vendettas, personal ambition, spite and just plain old ordinary meanness--quite apart from a satanic hatred of the Truth. Neutrality and objectivity should never be assumed, and most especially when dealing with God’s Truth--because in this area neither God nor Satan will permit neutrality. In Matthew 12:30 the Lord Jesus said: “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad.” God declares that neutrality is impossible; you are either for Him or against Him. Jesus claims to be God. Faced with such a claim we have only two options, to accept or to reject. (“Agnosticism” is really a passive rejection.) The Bible claims to be God’s Word. Again our options are but two. It follows that when dealing with the text of Scripture neutrality is impossible! The Bible is clear about satanic interference in the minds of human beings, and most especially when they are considering God’s Truth. 2 Corinthians 4:4 states plainly that the god of this age/world blinds the minds of unbelievers when they are confronted with the Gospel. The Lord Jesus said the same thing when He explained the parable of the sower. “….when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts” (Mk. 4:15; Lk. 8:12).
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GOD’S BLESSING ON MISSIONARY GIVING
Churches that desire God’s richest blessing must get 100% involved in missionary work. That is the Lord’s heartbeat. He emphasized this by repeating the Great Commission five different times in the Gospels and the book of Acts (Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15; Lk. 24:44-48; Jn. 20:21; Acts 1:8). According to the Acts 1:8 church is to seek to reach its own city, its own region, and the world with the gospel. Such a great task cannot be accomplished in our own might or through our own resources; it can only be accomplished by faith in God. One evangelist challenges the churches with these words: What will God give through you that He will not give to you? That summarizes the attitude that we must have in fulfilling the Great Commission. When we step out in obedience, we can expect God’s blessing and provision.
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38).
Churches that take steps of faith in going, praying, and giving experience God’s blessing. Let me give some examples.
Harold B. Sightler pastored the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina, from 1952 until his death in 1995. He came out of the Southern Baptist Convention just prior to establishing Tabernacle. It was only the fourth independent Baptist church in that county. He testified that while he was in the Convention he never met a missionary. Tabernacle Baptist Church learned to operate its own missionary program, and by 1979 the church was giving 70% of its large income to missions, while operating the local ministry on 30%. Tabernacle sent out 36 of its own members as missionaries and was sending monthly support to about 280 others.
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DREAD OF CONTROVERSY
The following was written by Robert Haldane in 1874 --
FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
July 10, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 28
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.
RICK WARREN’S TRAITOROUS ECUMENISM (Friday Church News Notes, July 10, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in southern California, recently took his radical ecumenical agenda before the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America. He urged Muslims to join him in “interfaith projects.” Though Warren told his church that he was imitating Jesus by speaking to the Muslim convention, in fact he became a traitor to Jesus. In a letter to the “Saddleback family,” Warren said, “If you want to have a Christ-like ministry, you have to associate with the people Jesus did--unbelievers!” It is true that Jesus associated with unbelievers, for He “came to seek and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus ate with sinners and dinned with Pharisees, but He didn’t appear before a conference of Pharisees and Sadducees or pagan religionists and call upon them to join Him and His followers in a joint ministry of social works. Rather, Christ proclaimed that He is the only way of salvation and warned that those who tried to come to God by another way are thieves and robbers (John 14:6; 10:1-11). He preached repentance and reproved men for not repenting (Mark 1:15; Luke 13:1-5; 10:13; 11:32). He warned constantly of eternal hellfire (e.g. Mat. 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 11:23; 13:40-42; 23:33; 25:41; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 10:15; 16:23). Rick Warren is not following in Christ’s footsteps, because he refrains to preach like Christ preached. If Warren were walking in Jesus’ shoes, he would not be invited repeatedly to speak at major world forums. Jesus was only popular with the crowds until they heard His message (John 6:60-66); after that they called for His crucifixion! Rick Warren complains frequently that he is persecuted by “fundamentalists” who oppose his contemporary, ecumenical philosophy, but like compromisers everywhere, he confuses godly reproof with persecution. In the recent pastoral letter, Warren said, “Every time I speak to any non-Christian group, I get criticized by well-meaning believers who don’t really understand how much Jesus loves lost people. They are more concerned with their own perceived purity than the salvation of those Jesus died for.” This is slanderous. Warren’s conservative Christian critics understand how much Jesus loves lost people, but they also understand that lost people are not going to be saved by an ecumenical social agenda but by the preaching of the gospel, and the fact is that Rick Warren did not preach the gospel to the Islamic Society of North America.
HAROLD OCKENGA AND THE NEW EVANGELICAL MOVEMENT HE FOUNDED
The following is a review of the book The Surprising Work of God: Harold John Ockenga, Billy Graham, and the Rebirth of Evangelicalism by Garth M. Rosell (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008). Rosell is the son of Merv Rosell, an evangelist who associated with Ockenga, Graham, and other leaders of the New Evangelical movement.
OCKENGA WAS THE FOUNDER OF THE NEW EVANGELICAL MOVEMENT AND ENUNCIATED THAT MOVEMENT’S REJECTION OF SEPARATION
Harold Ockenga (1905-85) was possibly the most influential evangelical leader of the 20th century. He was pastor of the prominent Park Street Church in Boston, founder of the National Association of Evangelicals, co-founder and first president of Fuller Theological Seminary, first president of the World Evangelical Fellowship, president of Gordon College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a director of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and chairman of the board and one-time editor of Christianity Today.
In the 1950s Ockenga helped found the New Evangelical movement that rejected separatism and aimed at a more positive and pragmatic philosophy as opposed to the negativism and isolation of fundamentalism.
In a speech he gave in 1947 at the founding of Fuller Seminary, Ockenga said:
“We repudiate the ‘Come-outist’ movement which brands all Denominations as apostate. We expect to be positive in our emphasis, except where error so exists that it is necessary for us to point it out in order to declare the truth. The positive emphasis will be on the broad doctrinal basis of a low Calvinism” (p. 176).
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THE CREATION MUSEUM: MANY INFALLIBLE PROOFS
The impressive facility was completed three years ago at the cost of $40 million and was visited by 400,000 people in its first year. The 70,000 square foot facility consists of a large museum, a planetarium, three theaters, lecture rooms, and four cafes. There are also botanical gardens and a petting zoo. The facility has been so successful that Answers in Genesis is in the process of expanding it with a new 600-seat auditorium and other things.
The Creation Museum is the center for serious education. In addition to the museum itself, there are ongoing lectures, seminars, and courses for adults and children. The museum also operates a large bookstore stocked with hundreds of books and DVDs. Read More...
SALE ON “FOR LOVE OF THE BIBLE”
25% DISCOUNT THIS WEEK ONLY July 7-10, 2009
We are pleased to announce the publication of the fifth edition of FOR LOVE OF THE BIBLE: THE BATTLE FOR THE KING JAMES VERSION AND THE RECEIVED TEXT FROM 1800 TO PRESENT
This book traces the history of the defense of the KJV and the Received Text from 1800 to present.
The book includes hundreds of testimonies and biographies; sketches of churches, schools, and organizations that have defended the KJV; a digest of reviews and condensations of major books and articles written in defense of the KJV in the past 200 years; excerpts from rare books on this subject which are no longer available; a comprehensive overview of the varied arguments in favor of the KJV. Read More...
THE FEMINIZATION OF CHRISTIAN MUSIC
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.
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JULY O TIMOTHY OUT NOW
FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
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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.
MICHAEL JACKSON’S LEGACY (Friday Church News Notes, July 3, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop,” died last week of a probable drug-induced heart attack at age 50. Like Elvis Presley and many other rock gods, Jackson was addicted to a variety of drugs and his narcissism would not allow him to submit to any authority outside of himself. Jackson’s influence was great. His music videos helped vault MTV into popularity in the early 1980s. His 1982 hit “Thriller” is either the first or second best-selling U.S. album of all time. His quirky and often filthy dance moves helped spawn hop-hop and have been imitated endlessly in contemporary dance. Choreographer Kenny Ortega called him “the world’s greatest performer.” Guinness World Records dubbed him “the most successful entertainer of all time.” The incredible fascination with Jackson’s life and death is indicative of the moral downfall of Western culture. Major websites such as Facebook, MySpace, Google, and Twitter, slowed following the announcement of his death because of the dramatic increase in traffic. USA Today, America’s largest daily newspaper, dedicated nearly the entire front page to the pop icon’s death. Major news media outlets ran 24-hour coverage on every aspect of the man’s life and death. Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble and other major distributers sold out of Jackson music CDs and videos within an hour of the announcement of his passing. In an attempt to explain this, Bill Carr, vice president for music and video at Amazon, said, “They love him, he’s a legend, and they’re anxious to make sure they have his music in their collections.” Jackson is an icon of the rock & roll culture, and his legacy was to carry modern society to a new level of debauchery and vanity. He was self-centered, lacked self-control, had no moral boundaries, was enslaved to fashion, and consumed with appearance. He squandered a fortune. Though he sold 750 million albums, he reportedly died with a debt of $400 million, because he lived so far beyond his means. Jackson’s life further normalized weirdness and perversion in modern society. As Jane Fonda said in an interview with CNN about Jackson’s life, “Who are we to judge?” The rebellion against God and His Word grows apace, but it will come to a shocking end (Psalm 2). The ranch that the King of Pop purchased in the 1980s was called Neverland; and that was not only the place where Michael Jackson lived, it is also the place where the modern pop culture dwells.
O TIMOTHY MAGAZINE ONLINE EDITION
We are pleased to announce that there is now an online subscription option for O Timothy magazine. You can subscribe to a graphical PDF edition for half the price of receiving it by mail and you can retrieve it as soon as it is published each month. You are also welcome to make as many copies as you want for free distribution.
O Timothy is a monthly magazine geared toward exhorting God’s people to stand for the truth and to resist error. The magazine began its 26th year of publication in 2009. It is a large format, 24-page publication and is packed with color pictures and graphics.
SUBSCRIBE NOW!
The title, taken from 1 Timothy 6:20, describes the burden of the magazine, which is to urge men in these last days to keep the faith once delivered to the saints and to avoid the error which is on every hand. Paul’s burden for Timothy was that he keep to the old paths and avoid all error. That is our burden through O Timothy magazine. The aim is to help protect churches from end-time apostasy through doctrinal preaching and carefully documented research. Read More...
THE EUROPEAN UNION, ROME, AND MARY
July 2, 2009 (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) -
“Although the European Union’s proposed constitution makes no mention of any faith, a close examination of the religious leanings of its founding fathers and some current leaders reveals that there could be an underlying, although informal, religious influence between the European Union and the Roman Catholic Church. ...
“Looking to the religious background of the European Union’s ‘official’ founding fathers, all were Roman Catholics. Alcide de Gasperi, Robert Shuman, and Konrad Adenauer are being considered for Roman Catholic sainthood as a ‘reward for founding the European Community ‘on Roman Catholic principles.’ ...
“Perhaps the European Union’s flag, its prime symbol, reflects these principles. ... The flag is described as having a blue background, portraying the sky over the western world, and upon this ‘sky’ is a ‘circle of gold stars [which] represents solidarity and harmony between the peoples of Europe. ... With no relationship between the number of stars and the number of states, interpretation of the meaning of the stars is left to individual imagination. ... a spokesman for the European Union ‘pointed out that the circle of twelve stars was a Christian symbol representing the Virgin Mary’s halo.’ ... Leon Marchal offered an understanding of the twelve stars when he said that they symbolized ‘the woman of the Apocalypse’ of Revelation 12. When the flag’s designer, Arsene Heitz of Strasbourg, was questioned regarding the interpretation of the flag’s design, he indicated that he based his design upon the iconography of the image of the Immaculate Conception of Mary as seen in Paris’ Rue du Bac. Read More...