Friday Church News Notes

80% BRITISH TEENS VIEW PORNOGRAPHY (Friday Church News Notes, June 18, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A survey in England has found that more than 80% of teens aged 14 to 16 “regularly access hardcore photographs and footage” on their home computers or mobile phones (“Third of Children,” Daily Mail, June 7, 2010). Further, one-third of children have accessed online pornography by age 10. The report states that parents appear to be unaware of the risk to their children and in many cases are unable to keep up with their computer-literate kids. The truth is that parents today are so often addicted to pornography themselves and are so hardened by sin that they don’t care what is happening to the children. (Today’s R-rated movies would have been deemed pornography just a few decades ago.) We wonder what the results would be if a similar survey could be taken in Bible-believing churches. I have no doubt that it would be much lower, but pornography is a major moral issue that has seeped into every sphere of life because of modern technology, and if parents are not extremely cautious about what they allow in their homes and if they are not extremely watchful of their children, they can easily fall to the devil’s wiles. All cellphone and computer usage by children and young people should be under strict parental control. Computers should only be used in a public family situation where parents can see what is being accessed. Filters and other controls should be in place. I have found Covenant Eyes to be very helpful. Husbands need to be accountable to their wives, and wives to their husbands, as a safeguard in this vile age. I have heard of many men falling to the sin of pornography and many women leaving their families after meeting men online. Don’t allow this to happen to you or your family. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

DIVORCE IS CONTAGIOUS (Friday Church News Notes, June 18, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Could You Be ‘Infected’ by Friend’s Divorce?” CNN, June 20, 1010: “Divorce is contagious in social networks, a new study says. The idea is based on the theory of social contagion, or the spread of behavior or emotion through a group. In this case, the heated feelings and actions of one person's divorce can be transferred like a virus, causing others to divorce, according to the study. Not only can the risk of divorce spread from one couple to their friends or family, it can also affect relationships at least two degrees of separation away from the original couple splitting up, said James H. Fowler, a professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego. Your decision to split from your spouse can influence whether your friend gets divorced. It also can sway your friend's friend, according to preliminary findings by Fowler and fellow researchers from Harvard and Brown Universities. The new findings may be troubling news for members of the Gore family, who have already announced two marital separations this month. Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, stunned the nation one week ago with their announcement that they were separating after 40 years of marriage. Then the couple’s eldest daughter, Karenna Gore Schiff, announced Wednesday that she is separating from her husband after 13 years of marriage. Gore Schiff, 36 and a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Law School, married Dr. Andrew Schiff in 1997, and they have three children together. ... Fowler’s research on divorce contagion didn’t examine whether the decision of parents to break up affects their children's relationships. But his study did analyze the effect of divorce on siblings. People with a divorced sibling are 22 percent more likely to get divorced than people who don't have divorced siblings. Gore Schiff isn't the first Gore child to face a marital breakup. Her younger sister Kristin Gore, a writer, filed for divorce from Paul Cusack a year ago. The youngest Gore daughter married businessman Bill Lee in 2007. The Gore's also have a son, Albert Gore III.”

APOLOGIST REPROVES THE GROSS IGNORANCE OF CHRISTIANS (Friday Church News Notes, June 18, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Most Christians Cannot Explain Their Faith,” Christian Post, June 3, 2010. Josh McDowell is New Evangelical in his philosophy, but he is right about reproving evangelicals for their gross ignorance and inability to defend the faith scripturally, and what he says is widely applicable to fundamentalists, as well. “The faith of most Christians, even that of many pastors, will not stand up to intellectual scrutiny, according to renowned apologist Josh McDowell. This is a concern because pastors’ inability to present biblical truth comprehensibly and relevantly has led to children from Christian families leaving the church, research has shown. In the United States, the age at which nearly all such children leave church has decreased to 18 years. ... During the past six years, he asked hundreds of Christians and leaders why they see themselves as Christians. Again no one gave him an ‘intelligent’ answer. In the past 17 years, he has asked over 4,000 pastors, leaders and parents why they believe the Bible is true. A mere six ‘came close to giving an intelligent answer,’ McDowell noted. ... Ninety-five percent of Christians gave disappointing responses when asked why they believe Jesus is the Son of God. Asked why the Bible is true and historically reliable, Christians replied that it was what they had been taught by their church or parents. A common response that most Christians gave to both questions was that it is ‘what I believe.’ McDowell responded: ‘That’s voodoo thinking. Where did we ever get that crazy idea that something is true just because we believe it? If that is true, then there will never be heresy. Everybody would be right.’ On one occasion, 13 youth pastors at a large convention were unable to reasonably answer the apologist’s question. Finally one young person stood up, walked toward him and told him he knew the answer. The young man promptly held up his Bible and said, ‘Because I believe it.’ And to McDowell’s dismay, all the youth pastors applauded him. McDowell said, ‘Young man, do you know the difference between you, me, and the majority of Christians in the world? ‘To you, it is true because you believe it. For me, I believe it because it is true.’

NURSES EUTHANIZING PATIENTS WITHOUT CONSENT (Friday Church News Notes, June 18, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a study of nurses in Belgium who have participated in “assisted suicides,” half admitted to researchers that they euthanized patients “without request or consent” (“Warning to Britain as Almost Half of Belgium’s Euthanasia Nurses Admit to Killing without Consent,” Daily Mail, July 10, 2010). Since it was legalized in 2002, euthanasia now accounts for two percent of deaths in Belgium (around 2,000 a year), but that is only the reported “legal” killings. In the modern culture of death, doctors and nurses have become murderers. Dr. Peter Saunders, director of the Care Not Killing campaign in Britain, rightly observed: “We should take a warning from this that wherever you draw the line, people will go up to it and beyond it. Once you have legalised voluntary euthanasia, involuntary euthanasia will inevitably follow.”

35,000 FORCED ABORTIONS A DAY IN CHINA (Friday Church News Notes, June 18, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Women Forced to Abort,” Washington Times, June 2, 2010: “Every 2.4 seconds, a woman in China undergoes a forced abortion because of the communist nation’s one-child policy, totaling about 35,000 abortions a day, a panel of four experts said Tuesday. ‘Over 400 million children are not living in China because of the one-child policy,’ said Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights Without Borders. ‘That’s more than the population of the United States.’ ... ‘Many people in America know about the one-child policy but don’t know it leads to forced abortions,’ Ms. Littlejohn said, describing how women in China are dragged to hospitals and strapped to beds for abortions. The panelists said they each have had personal contact with victims of forced abortion in China. Ms. Littlejohn used to be an attorney for Chinese refugees seeking help in the United States, many of whom shared their stories of forced abortions. ... other countries with population problems are considering copying China’s model because of the aid and credibility it gets from U.N. Population Fund, Mr. [Christopher Smith, New Jersey Republican] said.”

RALLYING AROUND THE TRUTH BUT NOT AROUND ISSUES (Friday Church News Notes, June 18, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from the sermon “Real Answers for Fundamentalists” by Jim Van Gelderen, March 2005: “[The young fundamentalists say they will rally around the truth but not around issues.] Well, how is this possible? [It is said that] ‘they have covenanted not to take away from the Word but also not to add to it.’ That sounds noble, but I will tell you, it is very dangerous. By saying they are not going to add to the Word simply means that they are not going to deal with issues that the Bible does not specifically address, like movie going, mixed swimming, smoking, [music] and social drinking. That’s what they mean. In other words, ‘Hey, I’m loyal to the words; God didn’t say anything is wrong with social drinking.’ What they are completely missing is that God’s Word deals with timeless principles, and the Spirit of God helps us deal very clearly with those principles. I’ll just give you an illustration. An evangelist told me this story. He was preaching at a Christian college, and just in passing he mentioned in a negative light tattoos and men wearing necklaces. It wasn’t a part of the message; it was just an illustration, but it absolutely caused an uproar. Two dormitory supervisors came to him livid. They were upset that he would possibly think that men wearing necklaces or Christians having tattoos were wrong. Now folks, that’s where we’re going [with the young fundamentalism]. Now I think you could make a pretty good Biblical case that tattoos are associated with the world. I think you could get up and preach a message on not being conformed to this world and make an application to tattoos, and be completely in line. I think you could preach a message on Deuteronomy 22:5 and deal with men wearing necklaces and be on line. You would be making a decent application of a biblical principle. I recognize some of these issues are controversial, but my point is that when those two Bible college dorm supervisors came to him, they were not upset by the student body’s rebellious response; they were upset at the preacher. You see, that’s where we are. And yet I want you to know that these guys would love the statement, ‘We’ve covenanted not to take away from the Word and also not to add to it.’ It sounds noble but actually it’s a huge smoke screen for not being willing to tackle issues in light of Biblical principles.”

CONCLUSION: 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 obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14). This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list. To SUBSCRIBE, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/wayoflife/subscribe.html. TO UNSUBSCRIBE OR CHANGE ADDRESSES, go to the very bottom of any email received from us and click "Manage My Subscription." Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.