Jan 2009
January 30, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 5
30/01/09 07:23
FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
January 30, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 5
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. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
**********************************************************************************
Download and Print Friday News (Full Graphical Edition) for your church in
PDF format:
http://wayoflife.worthyofpraise.org/fridaynews/pdf/2009/20090130.pdf
**********************************************************************************
MORE EMERGING COOLNESS: THE PURPLE PEOPLE LEADER (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Pastor Steven Furtick (above) of Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, has announced a series of talks on leadership principles entitled “Purple People Leader.” Whatever can be said about these people, one thing is sure; they are worldly cool. The name is a take on the silly 1950s pop song “Purple People Eater.” Since it hit #1 on the Billboard chart in 1958, the song has sold one hundred million copies. It is about a “one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater” that comes to earth to play in a rock & roll band. Furtick says, “Rather than run from culture we have chosen to harness it...” (Elevation Church, “Basis Beliefs”). But the Bible warns that the devil is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4), and God’s people are not to be conformed to it (Rom. 12:2). We must carefully weigh the acceptability of anything we adapt from “culture.” The silly cannot be effectively used to represent the spiritually solemn, nor the ungodly the godly, nor the unclean the clean, nor the profane the holy. Furtick’s thinking reflects the misguided belief of Mark Driscoll and the Acts 29 church planting network. Driscoll claims to be “THEOLOGICALLY CONSERVATIVE AND CULTURALLY LIBERAL” (“Pastor Provocateur,” Christianity Today, Sept. 21, 2007). He criticizes “hardcore fundamentalism that throws rocks at culture.” He defines himself as “relevant,” “contextual,” and “cool” (“Conference examines the emerging church,” Baptist Press, Sept. 25, 2007). Mark Driscoll’s church sets up a “champagne bar” at its New Year’s Eve parties. They have “beer-brewing lessons” for men, show R-rated movies, and operate the Paradox Theater to host secular rock concerts. Scott Thomas, director of Acts 29, says, “We won’t water down our theology to reach more people and we won’t attack the culture in the name of Christianity” (http://www.acts29network.org/about/welcome/). These are contradictory statements. You can’t be faithful to the Bible (having rock-solid theology) if you “contextualize the gospel” and refuse to attack the sinful and satanic side of culture, which is a very large side of it in a world in which the devil is god! God’s Word commands, “And have NO fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, BUT RATHER REPROVE THEM” (Eph. 5:11). John the Baptist lost his head for rebuking a political leader for his immorality. Too bad he did not have one of Driscoll’s books to help him learn how to be culturally liberal. The emerging John would have been much, much cooler.
ROCK STAR KARAOKE AT SADDLEBACK CHURCH (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The latest edition of Saddleback Church’s publication “The Slice of Life” advertises “Rock Star Karaoke.” The announcement says, “Are you a single adult looking to blow off some steam and sing your heart out? Then join us for Rock Star Karaoke this Saturday, January 24 at 8:00 p.m. in Tent 2 and sing your favorite hits and watch others do the same! This is your chance to feel like a rock star, so bring your friends!” Church wasn’t nearly this fun in Paul’s day, but he was stuck in that old-fashioned “be not conformed to the world” mentality (Romans 12:2). That was a real drag, but the seeker churches have been liberated from such wearisome business.
OPRAH MINISTERS CLAIM THAT “GAY IS A GIFT FROM GOD” (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Two “ministers” who appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show earlier this month claimed that homosexuality is God’s gift. Ed Bacon of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, declared, “Being gay is a gift from God” (“Oprah Tackles New Issue,” WorldNetDaily, Jan. 19, 2009). Michael Beckwith, founder of Agape International Spiritual Center in Los Angeles, enthusiastically agreed, giving Bacon a high-five. Bacon said that his mail ran 30-1 in favor of his position, and he characterized the protests as “mean-spirited.” To the unrepentant rebel, it is mean-spirited and unloving to preach the Bible literally and to “reprove, rebuke, exhort” as God commands (2 Timothy 4:2). The Pharisees doubtless thought Jesus was mean-spirited when He rebuked them for their errors as recorded in Matthew 23. The rebel mistakes correction for persecution. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). In fact, preaching the truth of God’s Word in this dark world is a most compassionate thing. Southern California probably has the greatest number of religious kooks per square mile of any place on earth. When I visited Los Angeles in 1972 to worship at the headquarters of the Self-Realization Fellowship, even my drug-sotted, pagan-polluted mind was astounded at the vast number of “churches” and religious cults that were listed in the yellow pages.
POPE TO HAVE OWN GOOGLE CHANNEL (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Vatican has announced that it is collaborating with Google for the pope to have his own video channel. Texts and video of his speeches as well as papal news will be posted to the channel (“Pope to have Own Google Channel,” Yahoo.com, Jan. 17, 2009). Bible-believing pastor friends, try getting your own Google channel and see what happens! The late Pope John Paul II recognized the power of the internet and began using the web aggressively to broadcast his teaching. The Roman Catholic Church is not currently the power it was during former times, but she is still the seat of the age-old apostasy and wields great influence throughout the world. She is morphing into something new today, adapting herself to Protestantism, theological liberalism, Pentecostalism, evangelicalism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and the New Age. According to Bible prophecy, Rome will collaborate with the antichrist and be destroyed during the Great Tribulation (Revelation 17). She is not the only harlot Christian religion, but she is the Mother of Harlots.
ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FLAUNTING HOLY MATRIMONY (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The entertainment industry typically flaunts God’s holy law of marriage. Recently it was reported that popular actor Johnny Depp is planning to wed his “long-term partner” Vanessa Paradis. The two have lived together for years and have two children. Paradis “has frequently made it clear she isn’t a fan of traditional nuptials” (The Kathmandu Post, “City Post,” Jan. 19, 2009, p. 3). In October 2008 she told Elle magazine, “Maybe one day, but it’s something I can really do without.” The Bible says, “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4).
SEA ICE ENDS YEAR AT SAME LEVEL AS 1979 (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Michael Asher’s Blog, DailyTech.com, January 1, 2009: “Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close. Ice levels had been tracking lower throughout much of 2008, but rapidly recovered in the last quarter. In fact, the rate of increase from September onward is the fastest rate of change on record, either upwards or downwards. The data is being reported by the University of Illinois's Arctic Climate Research Center, and is derived from satellite observations of the Northern and Southern hemisphere polar regions. Each year, millions of square kilometers of sea ice melt and refreeze. However, the mean ice anomaly--defined as the seasonally-adjusted difference between the current value and the average from 1979-2000, varies much more slowly. That anomaly now stands at just under zero, a value identical to one recorded at the end of 1979, the year satellite record-keeping began. ... Earlier this year, predictions were rife that the North Pole could melt entirely in 2008. Instead, the Arctic ice saw a substantial recovery. ... In May, concerns over disappearing sea ice led the U.S. to officially list the polar bear a threatened species, over objections from experts who claimed the animal’s numbers were increasing.”
THE SHACK CONTINUES IN NO. 1 SPOT (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “The Shack” has held first place on the New York Times bestseller list for Paperback Trade Fiction for 33 weeks. Though its author, William Young, is not a member of a church and is even reticent to call himself a Christian and though its doctrine of God is grossly heretical, the novel is being touted as a helpful Christian book. “The Shack” has been endorsed by CCM artist Michael W. Smith, Eugene Peterson (Regent College professor and author of The Message), Mark Batterson (senior pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C.), and Gayle Erwin of Calvary Chapel, among many others. The gross error of this book was exposed in the report “The Shack: Father-goddess Rising,” Lighthouse Trails Research, April 23, 2008. Following is an excerpt: “With themes of overcoming loss, working through anger, and restored relationship between man and God, Young’s novel has excited many. ... Yet, in the midst of such enthusiasm, does The Shack glorify Jesus Christ--or contradict the Bible with a false image of the Lord our God? The novel’s main character, Mack Philips, has lost his daughter. She has been murdered, her bloodied dress found in an isolated shack. Four years later Mack receives an invitation from God to spend time with the Trinity in the very shack where the dress was found. Nowhere in the Bible do Father, Son, and Holy Spirit simultaneously assume physical forms on earth. The Shack, however, portrays Jesus as a carpenter, the Holy Spirit as an Asian woman, and God the Father as a large black woman named ... Papa. ... At one point the book’s version of Jesus praises the fictional Father-goddess, exclaiming, ‘Isn’t she great?’ Contrariwise, in the entire Bible there is not one single reference to Father, Son, or Holy Spirit--or to any of His angels--as female. ... There is an apparent dismissal of the importance of Scripture, which is reflected in slippery theology found throughout the novel. Young writes, ‘Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a book. Especially an expensive one bound in leather with gilt edges, or was that guilt edges?’ ... The Father-goddess of The Shack, it seems, is never about guilt or punishment. She benignly informs Mack, ‘I don’t need to punish people for sin.’ ... An excellent writer, Young plays to emotion and touches on legitimate hurts and concerns. The author excels at imbuing his deity with attributes of love, forgiveness, and mercy, and this is what many people have responded to. Increasingly in novels and movies the Lord is blithely used as one of the characters and given words from the mouth of man.”
COUNTRY MUSIC GARBAGE (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - We have often warned about the moral danger of country music. Recently we were informed of another example. Consider the lyrics to Toby Keith’s song “God Love Her”: “Just a girl born in Dixie, washed in the blood/ And raised on the banks of the Mississippi mud/ She always had a thing about fallin’ in love with a bad boy/ Yeah they could see it all comin’/ But her daddy never dreamed/ She’d grow up that fast, you know what I mean/ The way a girl gets when she turns seventeen, kinda crazy/ She’s a rebel child and a preacher’s daughter/ She was baptized in dirty water/ Her mama cried the first time they caught her with me/ They knew they couldn’t stop her/ She holds tight to me and the Bible/ On the back seat of my motorcycle/ Left her daddy standing there preaching to the choir, you see/ God love her Oh, me and God love her.” Only the Lord knows how many young people have been morally corrupted and spiritually ruined through the influence of this type of filthy music and the country music culture that has grown up around it. This song pretends that a girl can love the Lord and be “washed in the blood” and love wickedness, too, but the Bible says, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). Beware of country music. It is immorality wrapped in a thin veneer of vain religion. “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16).
MICRO MARVELS OF THE HUMAN EYE (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Creation Moments, http://www.creationmoments.com/radio/transcript.php?t=2294: “The tiny computer chip--the basis of modern computers--is a thin wafer of silicon only about 7 millimeters across--about one fourth of an inch. This tiny chip might have the equivalent of 100,000 transistors built into it. Despite its size, hundreds of connections might be attached to it. The design of the computer chip is a marvel surpassed only by the amazing technology that can build it. If you were to find a silicon chip lying in the silicon sand at the beach, you would never be able to convince even one engineer that the chip had formed through the chance movements of all that silicon based sand! Now consider the human eye. The retina at the back of the eye is a very thin membrane, much thinner than even the clingiest food wrap. This retina contains not transistors but much more sophisticated photo receptors, each of which is a high gain amplifier. The retina doesn’t have 100,000 of these, but rather it has 200,000 for each square millimeter of retina! But the greatest wonder of all is how any scientist can say that your miraculous eye is the result of unguided genetic mistakes that, just by chance, resulted in the eye. Indeed, God's fingerprints are all over the creation, just as our human work is seen in the computer chip. How can one who can design only the computer chip dare question the One who can design the eye--and so much more!”
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 list. To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE ADDRESSES go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.
January 30, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 5
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. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
**********************************************************************************
Download and Print Friday News (Full Graphical Edition) for your church in
PDF format:
http://wayoflife.worthyofpraise.org/fridaynews/pdf/2009/20090130.pdf
**********************************************************************************
MORE EMERGING COOLNESS: THE PURPLE PEOPLE LEADER (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Pastor Steven Furtick (above) of Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, has announced a series of talks on leadership principles entitled “Purple People Leader.” Whatever can be said about these people, one thing is sure; they are worldly cool. The name is a take on the silly 1950s pop song “Purple People Eater.” Since it hit #1 on the Billboard chart in 1958, the song has sold one hundred million copies. It is about a “one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater” that comes to earth to play in a rock & roll band. Furtick says, “Rather than run from culture we have chosen to harness it...” (Elevation Church, “Basis Beliefs”). But the Bible warns that the devil is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4), and God’s people are not to be conformed to it (Rom. 12:2). We must carefully weigh the acceptability of anything we adapt from “culture.” The silly cannot be effectively used to represent the spiritually solemn, nor the ungodly the godly, nor the unclean the clean, nor the profane the holy. Furtick’s thinking reflects the misguided belief of Mark Driscoll and the Acts 29 church planting network. Driscoll claims to be “THEOLOGICALLY CONSERVATIVE AND CULTURALLY LIBERAL” (“Pastor Provocateur,” Christianity Today, Sept. 21, 2007). He criticizes “hardcore fundamentalism that throws rocks at culture.” He defines himself as “relevant,” “contextual,” and “cool” (“Conference examines the emerging church,” Baptist Press, Sept. 25, 2007). Mark Driscoll’s church sets up a “champagne bar” at its New Year’s Eve parties. They have “beer-brewing lessons” for men, show R-rated movies, and operate the Paradox Theater to host secular rock concerts. Scott Thomas, director of Acts 29, says, “We won’t water down our theology to reach more people and we won’t attack the culture in the name of Christianity” (http://www.acts29network.org/about/welcome/). These are contradictory statements. You can’t be faithful to the Bible (having rock-solid theology) if you “contextualize the gospel” and refuse to attack the sinful and satanic side of culture, which is a very large side of it in a world in which the devil is god! God’s Word commands, “And have NO fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, BUT RATHER REPROVE THEM” (Eph. 5:11). John the Baptist lost his head for rebuking a political leader for his immorality. Too bad he did not have one of Driscoll’s books to help him learn how to be culturally liberal. The emerging John would have been much, much cooler.
ROCK STAR KARAOKE AT SADDLEBACK CHURCH (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The latest edition of Saddleback Church’s publication “The Slice of Life” advertises “Rock Star Karaoke.” The announcement says, “Are you a single adult looking to blow off some steam and sing your heart out? Then join us for Rock Star Karaoke this Saturday, January 24 at 8:00 p.m. in Tent 2 and sing your favorite hits and watch others do the same! This is your chance to feel like a rock star, so bring your friends!” Church wasn’t nearly this fun in Paul’s day, but he was stuck in that old-fashioned “be not conformed to the world” mentality (Romans 12:2). That was a real drag, but the seeker churches have been liberated from such wearisome business.
OPRAH MINISTERS CLAIM THAT “GAY IS A GIFT FROM GOD” (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Two “ministers” who appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show earlier this month claimed that homosexuality is God’s gift. Ed Bacon of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, declared, “Being gay is a gift from God” (“Oprah Tackles New Issue,” WorldNetDaily, Jan. 19, 2009). Michael Beckwith, founder of Agape International Spiritual Center in Los Angeles, enthusiastically agreed, giving Bacon a high-five. Bacon said that his mail ran 30-1 in favor of his position, and he characterized the protests as “mean-spirited.” To the unrepentant rebel, it is mean-spirited and unloving to preach the Bible literally and to “reprove, rebuke, exhort” as God commands (2 Timothy 4:2). The Pharisees doubtless thought Jesus was mean-spirited when He rebuked them for their errors as recorded in Matthew 23. The rebel mistakes correction for persecution. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). In fact, preaching the truth of God’s Word in this dark world is a most compassionate thing. Southern California probably has the greatest number of religious kooks per square mile of any place on earth. When I visited Los Angeles in 1972 to worship at the headquarters of the Self-Realization Fellowship, even my drug-sotted, pagan-polluted mind was astounded at the vast number of “churches” and religious cults that were listed in the yellow pages.
POPE TO HAVE OWN GOOGLE CHANNEL (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Vatican has announced that it is collaborating with Google for the pope to have his own video channel. Texts and video of his speeches as well as papal news will be posted to the channel (“Pope to have Own Google Channel,” Yahoo.com, Jan. 17, 2009). Bible-believing pastor friends, try getting your own Google channel and see what happens! The late Pope John Paul II recognized the power of the internet and began using the web aggressively to broadcast his teaching. The Roman Catholic Church is not currently the power it was during former times, but she is still the seat of the age-old apostasy and wields great influence throughout the world. She is morphing into something new today, adapting herself to Protestantism, theological liberalism, Pentecostalism, evangelicalism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and the New Age. According to Bible prophecy, Rome will collaborate with the antichrist and be destroyed during the Great Tribulation (Revelation 17). She is not the only harlot Christian religion, but she is the Mother of Harlots.
ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FLAUNTING HOLY MATRIMONY (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The entertainment industry typically flaunts God’s holy law of marriage. Recently it was reported that popular actor Johnny Depp is planning to wed his “long-term partner” Vanessa Paradis. The two have lived together for years and have two children. Paradis “has frequently made it clear she isn’t a fan of traditional nuptials” (The Kathmandu Post, “City Post,” Jan. 19, 2009, p. 3). In October 2008 she told Elle magazine, “Maybe one day, but it’s something I can really do without.” The Bible says, “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4).
SEA ICE ENDS YEAR AT SAME LEVEL AS 1979 (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Michael Asher’s Blog, DailyTech.com, January 1, 2009: “Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close. Ice levels had been tracking lower throughout much of 2008, but rapidly recovered in the last quarter. In fact, the rate of increase from September onward is the fastest rate of change on record, either upwards or downwards. The data is being reported by the University of Illinois's Arctic Climate Research Center, and is derived from satellite observations of the Northern and Southern hemisphere polar regions. Each year, millions of square kilometers of sea ice melt and refreeze. However, the mean ice anomaly--defined as the seasonally-adjusted difference between the current value and the average from 1979-2000, varies much more slowly. That anomaly now stands at just under zero, a value identical to one recorded at the end of 1979, the year satellite record-keeping began. ... Earlier this year, predictions were rife that the North Pole could melt entirely in 2008. Instead, the Arctic ice saw a substantial recovery. ... In May, concerns over disappearing sea ice led the U.S. to officially list the polar bear a threatened species, over objections from experts who claimed the animal’s numbers were increasing.”
THE SHACK CONTINUES IN NO. 1 SPOT (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “The Shack” has held first place on the New York Times bestseller list for Paperback Trade Fiction for 33 weeks. Though its author, William Young, is not a member of a church and is even reticent to call himself a Christian and though its doctrine of God is grossly heretical, the novel is being touted as a helpful Christian book. “The Shack” has been endorsed by CCM artist Michael W. Smith, Eugene Peterson (Regent College professor and author of The Message), Mark Batterson (senior pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C.), and Gayle Erwin of Calvary Chapel, among many others. The gross error of this book was exposed in the report “The Shack: Father-goddess Rising,” Lighthouse Trails Research, April 23, 2008. Following is an excerpt: “With themes of overcoming loss, working through anger, and restored relationship between man and God, Young’s novel has excited many. ... Yet, in the midst of such enthusiasm, does The Shack glorify Jesus Christ--or contradict the Bible with a false image of the Lord our God? The novel’s main character, Mack Philips, has lost his daughter. She has been murdered, her bloodied dress found in an isolated shack. Four years later Mack receives an invitation from God to spend time with the Trinity in the very shack where the dress was found. Nowhere in the Bible do Father, Son, and Holy Spirit simultaneously assume physical forms on earth. The Shack, however, portrays Jesus as a carpenter, the Holy Spirit as an Asian woman, and God the Father as a large black woman named ... Papa. ... At one point the book’s version of Jesus praises the fictional Father-goddess, exclaiming, ‘Isn’t she great?’ Contrariwise, in the entire Bible there is not one single reference to Father, Son, or Holy Spirit--or to any of His angels--as female. ... There is an apparent dismissal of the importance of Scripture, which is reflected in slippery theology found throughout the novel. Young writes, ‘Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a book. Especially an expensive one bound in leather with gilt edges, or was that guilt edges?’ ... The Father-goddess of The Shack, it seems, is never about guilt or punishment. She benignly informs Mack, ‘I don’t need to punish people for sin.’ ... An excellent writer, Young plays to emotion and touches on legitimate hurts and concerns. The author excels at imbuing his deity with attributes of love, forgiveness, and mercy, and this is what many people have responded to. Increasingly in novels and movies the Lord is blithely used as one of the characters and given words from the mouth of man.”
MICRO MARVELS OF THE HUMAN EYE (Friday Church News Notes, January 30, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Creation Moments, http://www.creationmoments.com/radio/transcript.php?t=2294: “The tiny computer chip--the basis of modern computers--is a thin wafer of silicon only about 7 millimeters across--about one fourth of an inch. This tiny chip might have the equivalent of 100,000 transistors built into it. Despite its size, hundreds of connections might be attached to it. The design of the computer chip is a marvel surpassed only by the amazing technology that can build it. If you were to find a silicon chip lying in the silicon sand at the beach, you would never be able to convince even one engineer that the chip had formed through the chance movements of all that silicon based sand! Now consider the human eye. The retina at the back of the eye is a very thin membrane, much thinner than even the clingiest food wrap. This retina contains not transistors but much more sophisticated photo receptors, each of which is a high gain amplifier. The retina doesn’t have 100,000 of these, but rather it has 200,000 for each square millimeter of retina! But the greatest wonder of all is how any scientist can say that your miraculous eye is the result of unguided genetic mistakes that, just by chance, resulted in the eye. Indeed, God's fingerprints are all over the creation, just as our human work is seen in the computer chip. How can one who can design only the computer chip dare question the One who can design the eye--and so much more!”
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 list. To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE ADDRESSES go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.
January 23, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 4
23/01/09 07:17
FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
January 23, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 4
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. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
**********************************************************************************
Download and Print Friday News (Full Graphical Edition) for your church in
PDF format:
http://wayoflife.worthyofpraise.org/fridaynews/pdf/2009/20090123.pdf
**********************************************************************************
RICK WARREN PRAYS IN THE NAME OF A FALSE CHRIST (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Daniel Cordell, “Praying in the Name of Isa,” Loveforthetruth.com, Jan. 20, 2009: “Today, in his Presidential Inauguration prayer, Rick Warren prayed in the name of ‘Yeshua, Isa, and Jesus.’ It seems the three names Warren used were to imply the three ‘Abrahamic Faiths’ (as they are so-called), Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. What’s significant is the name ‘Isa’ being prayed by the ‘evangelical’ Warren. ‘Isa’ is strictly Koranic and used by Arab Muslims. Even Arab Christians don’t refer to ‘Isa,’ but to ‘Yesua.’ I’ve lived and studied Arabic in one of the same Muslim countries that Warren has visited, and I think he probably knows that the Arab Christian communities only refer to Jesus as ‘Yesua’ and not ‘Isa’ as the Muslims. ‘Isa’ was not Jewish, but Palestinian. ‘Isa’ did not die on the cross but instead had someone die in his place. ‘Isa’ is a Muslim prophet. ‘Isa’ is only found in the Koran. The name ‘Isa’ doesn’t have any Biblical support or any meaning found in Biblical scholarship. Yet, Rick prayed in the name of ‘Isa.’”
ENTERTAINERS AGOG OVER OBAMA (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The filthy entertainment industry is absolutely agog over President Barack Obama. Actor George Clooney said, “He walks into a room and YOU WANT TO FOLLOW HIM SOMEWHERE, ANYWHERE,” and actress Halle Berry agreed, “I’LL DO WHATEVER HE SAYS to do. I’ll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear” (Politico, Feb. 20, 2008). When New Age billionaire Oprah Winfrey introduced Obama on December 11, 2007, in Columbia, South Carolina, she called him “AN EVOLVED LEADER” and said, “We’re here to evolve to a higher plane.” She also said he is a “force for peace” who can break down everything that divides, including race and politics and religion. Pop singer/actress Jennifer Lopez gushed, “WASHINGTON NEVER HAD A BIGGER ROCK STAR AT THE HELM; he is just too good” (The Himalayan Times, Jan. 21, 2009, p. 14). She is right. Obama is a rock star because he represents moral relativism, corrupt Christianity and anti-Biblicism (he denies the infallibility of Scripture, hates dogma, rejects the doctrine of hell and salvation through Christ alone), and New Age mysticism (we can create a new world through our own divine-tinged initiative and the power of positive thinking). We are rushing on to the end of the age, but it is not time to hide in a hole and stockpile food; it’s not time to doubt and fear; it is time to awake out of spiritual lethargy, trust in God, walk in obedience and holiness, and try to win souls to Christ before it is too late. “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” (Romans 13:11-12).
EPISCOPAL BISHOP DENIES HELL, SAYS PEOPLE DON’T NEED TO BE BORN AGAIN (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Retired Episcopalian Bishop John Spong says that Hell is an invention of the church. In an interview with Keith Morrison of “Dateline NBC,” August 13, 2006, the deeply confused bishop said: “I don’t think Hell exists. I happen to believe in life after death, but I don’t think it has a thing to do with reward and punishment. Religion is always in the control business. ... The church doesn’t like for people to grow up, because you can’t control grownups. That’s why we talk about being born again. When you’re born again, you’re still a child. People don’t need to be born again; they need to grow up. They need to accept their responsibility for themselves and the world.” In his 1991 book “Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism,” Spong said: “Am I suggesting that these stories of the virgin birth are not literally true? The answer is a simple and direct ‘Yes.’ Of course these narratives are not literally true. Stars do not wander, angels do not sing, virgins do not give birth, magi do not travel to a distant land to present gifts to a baby, and shepherds do not go in search of a newborn savior.” A denomination that allows even one preacher to hold heresies and blasphemies like this without discipline doesn’t deserve to be called Christian, and the Episcopal Church in America has been allowing such things since the early twentieth century. No wonder they ordain homosexuals. A “church” that is liberal in theology will also be immoral in practice.
RICK WARREN APPLAUDED OBAMA’S INVITATION TO HOMOSEXUAL BISHOP (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Rick Warren applauded Barack Obama’s invitation to homosexual Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson to pray at the presidential inauguration on Tuesday (Christianity Today Blog, Jan. 13, 2009). Warren said, “President-elect Obama has again demonstrated his genuine commitment to bringing all Americans of goodwill together in search of common ground. I applaud his desire to be the president of every citizen.” For his part, Robinson, who was more candid, said that the God that Warren prays to is “not the God that I know” and that he would pray in the name of an idol he calls “the God of our many understandings” (“All Things Considered,” National Public Radio, Jan. 13, 2009). This is further evidence of Rick Warren’s deep spiritual compromise. It might be Barack Obama’s job to “be the president of every citizen” (which tells me he shouldn’t have chosen one of the most polarizing men in America, a man who is helping to destroy an entire denomination, to lead in prayer), but as a preacher, Rick Warren’s job is to preach God’s Word in the midst of an evil and an adulterous generation, not to speak politically-correct gobbledygook. He should have spoken out plainly that V. Gene Robinson is not qualified to be a “bishop.” In fact, as an unrepentant moral pervert who broke his marriage vows to live carnally with a man, he isn’t qualified even to be a church member. The members of the church at Corinth had been all sorts of sinners before they were saved, but they had repented and been converted. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such WERE some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
HENRY KISSINGER CALLS ON OBAMA TO CREATE NEW WORLD ORDER (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Influential U.S. statesman Henry Kissinger is calling on Barack Obama to use the financial and “climate change” crises as an opportunity to help create a new world order. Kissinger, who served as national security adviser and secretary of state under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, says: “The alternative to a new international order is chaos. ... America and its potential partners have a unique opportunity to transform a moment of crisis into a vision of hope” (“The Chance for a New World Order,” International Herald Tribune, Jan. 12, 2009). Internationalism is a sign of the times. Under the antichrist there will be a one-world political system and religion. “... power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations” (Revelation 13:7). On pain of death, no one anywhere will be able to carry out commercial transactions without permission of the government (Revelation 13:16-17). The antichrist’s government will be the revived Roman Empire, but its reach will be even more extensive.
A WARNING ABOUT THE GROWTH OF CALVINISM (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from a reader in California: “I am thankful to our Lord for your distinct Biblical opposition to Calvinism. I am even now re-reading a piece of yours titled ‘Calvinism’s Proof Text Examined.’ I thought that you might appreciate any information which further confirms your views that Calvinism is a threat to Biblical churches. To whit, my family and I just left a church which we attended for a year having only recently discovered that it was Calvinist. The pastor at this church is from Master’s Seminary. Master’s is cranking out Calvinists faster than even the SBC. John MacArthur has become increasingly Reformed notwithstanding his eschatology, and more worldly I may add. I cite the ‘Resolved Conference’ for youth as evidence of both. The conference is hosted by Grace Community Church, in Palm Springs. It features Mr. MacArthur, John Piper and C.J. Mahaney, etc. Succinctly, it is a Reformed rock concert, a sanitized equivalent of your average collegiate spring break. ... It has a following of thousands of young, and not too young, people.”
OZZY OSBOURNE’S FAMILY TO GO BACK ON TELEVISION (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - An announcement about a new television show featuring rocker Ozzy Osbourne and his dysfunctional family says, “The family of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, who shocked and delighted audiences for four years on their Emmy-award winning MTV reality show ‘The Osbournes,’ are up to no good again in a variety-style show featuring skits, impersonations, audience games--and a liberal sprinkling of four-letter words” (Yahoo News, Jan. 14, 2009). There will even be a “pair of mini-Osbournes--child actors who dress, behave and talk as outrageously as Ozzy and wife Sharon themselves.” How rock & roll has coarsened and cheapened and corrupted modern society over the past half decade! To think that such a filthy, rebellious medium could be acceptable to a holy God is beyond my ability to comprehend. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).
THE MYSTICAL POWER OF ROCK & ROLL (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Rock & roll is not just music. It is a philosophy. It is a way of life. It is a religion. It is a mystical power that captures hearts and souls. It is the background music of end-time apostasy. The book Rock Facts, published by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, says that “rock and roll refers to an attitude, a feeling, a style, a way of life…” (Rock Facts, 1996, p. 7). I was reminded of this from an article called “Eight Commonly Misinterpreted Songs” by Vicki Santillano. The author gives examples of how listeners often misinterpret the message of pop songs, being so influenced by the powerful rhythm, the emotional impact, and the social context that they ignore the actual meaning of the words and in fact give the songs a meaning in their hearts that is the opposite of what the authors intended. She says, “Because many of us use music as an outlet for our deepest feelings, we are often shocked when the meanings that we have given to certain songs prove false. ... All too often, we find out that the songs we put on mix tapes for our crushes, or those we listen to on repeat in the midst of bad breakups, were written from a completely different view.” For example, the song “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen has often been used in patriotic contexts, but in reality it was a protest against the Vietnam War. The Police’s song “Every Breath You Take” and the Dave Matthews Band’s “Crash into Me” aren’t about romance; they’re about stalkers and peeping toms. Santillano says that pop music is “an outlet for our deepest feelings.” As B.J. Thomas sang in 1969, rock music is about being “hooked on a feeling.” To live by one’s feelings rather than objective truth is the heart of mysticism. It is also a recipe for spiritual deception. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
BAPTISTS DIALOGUING WITH MUSLIMS (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Representatives of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the American Baptist Churches USA, and other liberal groups conducted a dialogue with Muslims at the Islamic Center of Boston January 9-11. The participants wanted to correct the “false” thinking of Baptist leaders such as Franklin Graham who called Islam “an evil and wicked religion” and past SBC President Jerry Vines who called Mohammed “a demon-possessed pedophile” (Associated Baptist Press, Jan. 13, 2009). Sayyid Syeed, national interfaith director of the Islamic Society of North America said that “well-meaning Muslims and Baptists” can work together and “contribute to injustice and tyranny around the globe.” It is not those few who are preaching God’s Word faithfully that are giving Baptists a bad name. It is the unconverted compromisers who don’t have enough biblical conviction and personal salvation to care about the fact that Muslims and all others are going to hell if they die without Christ. If they preached that, you can be sure that their dialogue agenda would collapse. God has called His people to preach the light, not dialogue with darkness. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:14-16).
KEPT FROM THE HOUR OF TEMPTATION (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name” (Revelation 3:10-12).
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 list. To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE ADDRESSES go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.
January 23, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 4
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. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
**********************************************************************************
Download and Print Friday News (Full Graphical Edition) for your church in
PDF format:
http://wayoflife.worthyofpraise.org/fridaynews/pdf/2009/20090123.pdf
**********************************************************************************
RICK WARREN PRAYS IN THE NAME OF A FALSE CHRIST (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Daniel Cordell, “Praying in the Name of Isa,” Loveforthetruth.com, Jan. 20, 2009: “Today, in his Presidential Inauguration prayer, Rick Warren prayed in the name of ‘Yeshua, Isa, and Jesus.’ It seems the three names Warren used were to imply the three ‘Abrahamic Faiths’ (as they are so-called), Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. What’s significant is the name ‘Isa’ being prayed by the ‘evangelical’ Warren. ‘Isa’ is strictly Koranic and used by Arab Muslims. Even Arab Christians don’t refer to ‘Isa,’ but to ‘Yesua.’ I’ve lived and studied Arabic in one of the same Muslim countries that Warren has visited, and I think he probably knows that the Arab Christian communities only refer to Jesus as ‘Yesua’ and not ‘Isa’ as the Muslims. ‘Isa’ was not Jewish, but Palestinian. ‘Isa’ did not die on the cross but instead had someone die in his place. ‘Isa’ is a Muslim prophet. ‘Isa’ is only found in the Koran. The name ‘Isa’ doesn’t have any Biblical support or any meaning found in Biblical scholarship. Yet, Rick prayed in the name of ‘Isa.’”
ENTERTAINERS AGOG OVER OBAMA (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The filthy entertainment industry is absolutely agog over President Barack Obama. Actor George Clooney said, “He walks into a room and YOU WANT TO FOLLOW HIM SOMEWHERE, ANYWHERE,” and actress Halle Berry agreed, “I’LL DO WHATEVER HE SAYS to do. I’ll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear” (Politico, Feb. 20, 2008). When New Age billionaire Oprah Winfrey introduced Obama on December 11, 2007, in Columbia, South Carolina, she called him “AN EVOLVED LEADER” and said, “We’re here to evolve to a higher plane.” She also said he is a “force for peace” who can break down everything that divides, including race and politics and religion. Pop singer/actress Jennifer Lopez gushed, “WASHINGTON NEVER HAD A BIGGER ROCK STAR AT THE HELM; he is just too good” (The Himalayan Times, Jan. 21, 2009, p. 14). She is right. Obama is a rock star because he represents moral relativism, corrupt Christianity and anti-Biblicism (he denies the infallibility of Scripture, hates dogma, rejects the doctrine of hell and salvation through Christ alone), and New Age mysticism (we can create a new world through our own divine-tinged initiative and the power of positive thinking). We are rushing on to the end of the age, but it is not time to hide in a hole and stockpile food; it’s not time to doubt and fear; it is time to awake out of spiritual lethargy, trust in God, walk in obedience and holiness, and try to win souls to Christ before it is too late. “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” (Romans 13:11-12).
EPISCOPAL BISHOP DENIES HELL, SAYS PEOPLE DON’T NEED TO BE BORN AGAIN (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Retired Episcopalian Bishop John Spong says that Hell is an invention of the church. In an interview with Keith Morrison of “Dateline NBC,” August 13, 2006, the deeply confused bishop said: “I don’t think Hell exists. I happen to believe in life after death, but I don’t think it has a thing to do with reward and punishment. Religion is always in the control business. ... The church doesn’t like for people to grow up, because you can’t control grownups. That’s why we talk about being born again. When you’re born again, you’re still a child. People don’t need to be born again; they need to grow up. They need to accept their responsibility for themselves and the world.” In his 1991 book “Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism,” Spong said: “Am I suggesting that these stories of the virgin birth are not literally true? The answer is a simple and direct ‘Yes.’ Of course these narratives are not literally true. Stars do not wander, angels do not sing, virgins do not give birth, magi do not travel to a distant land to present gifts to a baby, and shepherds do not go in search of a newborn savior.” A denomination that allows even one preacher to hold heresies and blasphemies like this without discipline doesn’t deserve to be called Christian, and the Episcopal Church in America has been allowing such things since the early twentieth century. No wonder they ordain homosexuals. A “church” that is liberal in theology will also be immoral in practice.
RICK WARREN APPLAUDED OBAMA’S INVITATION TO HOMOSEXUAL BISHOP (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Rick Warren applauded Barack Obama’s invitation to homosexual Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson to pray at the presidential inauguration on Tuesday (Christianity Today Blog, Jan. 13, 2009). Warren said, “President-elect Obama has again demonstrated his genuine commitment to bringing all Americans of goodwill together in search of common ground. I applaud his desire to be the president of every citizen.” For his part, Robinson, who was more candid, said that the God that Warren prays to is “not the God that I know” and that he would pray in the name of an idol he calls “the God of our many understandings” (“All Things Considered,” National Public Radio, Jan. 13, 2009). This is further evidence of Rick Warren’s deep spiritual compromise. It might be Barack Obama’s job to “be the president of every citizen” (which tells me he shouldn’t have chosen one of the most polarizing men in America, a man who is helping to destroy an entire denomination, to lead in prayer), but as a preacher, Rick Warren’s job is to preach God’s Word in the midst of an evil and an adulterous generation, not to speak politically-correct gobbledygook. He should have spoken out plainly that V. Gene Robinson is not qualified to be a “bishop.” In fact, as an unrepentant moral pervert who broke his marriage vows to live carnally with a man, he isn’t qualified even to be a church member. The members of the church at Corinth had been all sorts of sinners before they were saved, but they had repented and been converted. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such WERE some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
HENRY KISSINGER CALLS ON OBAMA TO CREATE NEW WORLD ORDER (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Influential U.S. statesman Henry Kissinger is calling on Barack Obama to use the financial and “climate change” crises as an opportunity to help create a new world order. Kissinger, who served as national security adviser and secretary of state under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, says: “The alternative to a new international order is chaos. ... America and its potential partners have a unique opportunity to transform a moment of crisis into a vision of hope” (“The Chance for a New World Order,” International Herald Tribune, Jan. 12, 2009). Internationalism is a sign of the times. Under the antichrist there will be a one-world political system and religion. “... power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations” (Revelation 13:7). On pain of death, no one anywhere will be able to carry out commercial transactions without permission of the government (Revelation 13:16-17). The antichrist’s government will be the revived Roman Empire, but its reach will be even more extensive.
A WARNING ABOUT THE GROWTH OF CALVINISM (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from a reader in California: “I am thankful to our Lord for your distinct Biblical opposition to Calvinism. I am even now re-reading a piece of yours titled ‘Calvinism’s Proof Text Examined.’ I thought that you might appreciate any information which further confirms your views that Calvinism is a threat to Biblical churches. To whit, my family and I just left a church which we attended for a year having only recently discovered that it was Calvinist. The pastor at this church is from Master’s Seminary. Master’s is cranking out Calvinists faster than even the SBC. John MacArthur has become increasingly Reformed notwithstanding his eschatology, and more worldly I may add. I cite the ‘Resolved Conference’ for youth as evidence of both. The conference is hosted by Grace Community Church, in Palm Springs. It features Mr. MacArthur, John Piper and C.J. Mahaney, etc. Succinctly, it is a Reformed rock concert, a sanitized equivalent of your average collegiate spring break. ... It has a following of thousands of young, and not too young, people.”
OZZY OSBOURNE’S FAMILY TO GO BACK ON TELEVISION (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - An announcement about a new television show featuring rocker Ozzy Osbourne and his dysfunctional family says, “The family of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, who shocked and delighted audiences for four years on their Emmy-award winning MTV reality show ‘The Osbournes,’ are up to no good again in a variety-style show featuring skits, impersonations, audience games--and a liberal sprinkling of four-letter words” (Yahoo News, Jan. 14, 2009). There will even be a “pair of mini-Osbournes--child actors who dress, behave and talk as outrageously as Ozzy and wife Sharon themselves.” How rock & roll has coarsened and cheapened and corrupted modern society over the past half decade! To think that such a filthy, rebellious medium could be acceptable to a holy God is beyond my ability to comprehend. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).
THE MYSTICAL POWER OF ROCK & ROLL (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Rock & roll is not just music. It is a philosophy. It is a way of life. It is a religion. It is a mystical power that captures hearts and souls. It is the background music of end-time apostasy. The book Rock Facts, published by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, says that “rock and roll refers to an attitude, a feeling, a style, a way of life…” (Rock Facts, 1996, p. 7). I was reminded of this from an article called “Eight Commonly Misinterpreted Songs” by Vicki Santillano. The author gives examples of how listeners often misinterpret the message of pop songs, being so influenced by the powerful rhythm, the emotional impact, and the social context that they ignore the actual meaning of the words and in fact give the songs a meaning in their hearts that is the opposite of what the authors intended. She says, “Because many of us use music as an outlet for our deepest feelings, we are often shocked when the meanings that we have given to certain songs prove false. ... All too often, we find out that the songs we put on mix tapes for our crushes, or those we listen to on repeat in the midst of bad breakups, were written from a completely different view.” For example, the song “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen has often been used in patriotic contexts, but in reality it was a protest against the Vietnam War. The Police’s song “Every Breath You Take” and the Dave Matthews Band’s “Crash into Me” aren’t about romance; they’re about stalkers and peeping toms. Santillano says that pop music is “an outlet for our deepest feelings.” As B.J. Thomas sang in 1969, rock music is about being “hooked on a feeling.” To live by one’s feelings rather than objective truth is the heart of mysticism. It is also a recipe for spiritual deception. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
BAPTISTS DIALOGUING WITH MUSLIMS (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Representatives of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the American Baptist Churches USA, and other liberal groups conducted a dialogue with Muslims at the Islamic Center of Boston January 9-11. The participants wanted to correct the “false” thinking of Baptist leaders such as Franklin Graham who called Islam “an evil and wicked religion” and past SBC President Jerry Vines who called Mohammed “a demon-possessed pedophile” (Associated Baptist Press, Jan. 13, 2009). Sayyid Syeed, national interfaith director of the Islamic Society of North America said that “well-meaning Muslims and Baptists” can work together and “contribute to injustice and tyranny around the globe.” It is not those few who are preaching God’s Word faithfully that are giving Baptists a bad name. It is the unconverted compromisers who don’t have enough biblical conviction and personal salvation to care about the fact that Muslims and all others are going to hell if they die without Christ. If they preached that, you can be sure that their dialogue agenda would collapse. God has called His people to preach the light, not dialogue with darkness. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:14-16).
KEPT FROM THE HOUR OF TEMPTATION (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name” (Revelation 3:10-12).
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 list. To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE ADDRESSES go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.
January 16, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 3
16/01/09 10:41
FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES January 16, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 3
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. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
Download and Print Friday News (Full Graphical Edition) for your church in
PDF format:
http://wayoflife.worthyofpraise.org/fridaynews/pdf/2009/20090116.pdf
INDIAN CRICKETER WORSHIPPED (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Fans of Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni are building a temple to worship him. The temple in Ranchi, in eastern India, will feature a white marble statue of the sports star and relief carvings of the player in action looking down on his disciples (“Temple Built to Cricketer,” Anaanova.com, Jan. 1, 2009). Jitendra Singh, president of Dhoni’s fan club, says, “Dhoni is God to cricket and we have decided to construct a temple; he will be worshipped like other gods are worshipped.” Indian cricket historian and Oxford scholar Boria Mazumdar said, “I think the act exemplifies what cricket means to India.” It is not only Indians who worship sports stars. This idolatry is committed by Americans and Canadians and British and Germans and French and South Africans, you name it. Professional sports is one of the gods of modern times. Can a born-again child of God commit idolatry? Indeed, otherwise why did John write, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21)? And why did James write, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4)? (Photo above: Sports worship in the USA.)
U.S. CONGRESS SUPPORTS ISRAEL (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - On January 9, the U.S. House of Representatives followed the Senate’s example by passing a resolution backing Israel’s battle against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The lawmakers voted 390-5 to “recognize Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza.” The United States has been Israel’s strongest supporter since President Harry Truman became the first head of state to recognize the newly formed nation in May 1948. He did that against the strongest recommendation of the State Department and the Department of Defense, both of which were counseling him not to anger the Arabs and endanger the flow of oil (David McCullough, “Truman,” pp. 601-620). In his history of the United Nations, Stanley Meisler says, “The American veto in the Security Council served as Israel’s only shield at the U.N.” (“United Nations: The First Fifty Years,” p. 183). In 1975, when the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution stating that “Zionism is racism,” Daniel Monynihan, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, delivered the following words of defiance: “The United States rises to declare before the General Assembly of the United Nations, and before the world, that it does not acknowledge, it will not abide by, it will never acquiesce in this infamous act” (Meisler, p. 215). After World War II, England abandoned Israel in her hour of need, but America did not. England lost her empire, and America gained hers. If you think that is a coincident, I suggest that you read God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3. “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” America has not supported Israel in all situations and has, indeed, tied Israel’s hands at times and pressured her into making foolish agreements with her enemies, but the fact remains that no nation has stood behind the modern state of Israel more effectually than America, diplomatically, militarily, and financially.
FOX NEWS LISTS FIVE WAYS THE WORLD COULD END (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - We were reminded of the complete secularization of the mainstream news media in a recent report on Fox News entitled “Five Ways the World Can End” (Jan. 7, 2009). The article begins by saying that the world will not end by global warming or global cooling. The rest describes five possible situations, preceded by this statement: “But at any given time, four of the five following scenarios really could cause the end of life on Earth--and the fifth almost certainly will.” The five are: massive asteroid impact, massive volcanic eruptions, nuclear war, black hole, and the expanding sun. Observe that Fox News, though considerably more conservative than most mainline media outlets, does not give even a moment’s thrift to the possibility that the Bible could be true and that the world could end as it predicts. Near the end of the report are these words: “Some scenarios say we’ve got only a billion good years left on this planet--rather gloomy, since life in some form has been around for about 3.7 billion years and this means we’re already close to the end.” What they don’t say is that if evolution is true, then it matters not one iota what happens to man, because he is just an accident and death is the end and there is absolutely no meaning to life. If evolution is true, what does it matter whether the earth ends tomorrow or a billion years from now? The fact is that men know in their heart of hearts that there is a holy creator God and that there is a judgment to come. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
JAPANESE GOVERNMENT CONTROLS CITIZEN’S WAISTELINES (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Universal Healthcare and the Waistline Police,” ABC News, Jan. 11, 2009: “Imagine a country where the government regularly checks the waistlines of citizens over age 40. Anyone deemed too fat would be required to undergo diet counseling. Those who fail to lose sufficient weight could face further "reeducation" and their communities subject to stiff fines. Is this some nightmarish dystopia? No, this is contemporary Japan. The Japanese government argues that it must regulate citizens’ lifestyles because it is paying their health costs. This highlights one of the greatly underappreciated dangers of ‘universal healthcare.’ ... Hence, Americans should beware that if we adopt universal healthcare, we also risk creating a ‘nanny state on steroids’ antithetical to core American principles. Other countries with universal healthcare are already restricting individual freedoms in the name of controlling health costs. For example, the British government has banned some television ads for eggs on the grounds that they were promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. This is a blatant infringement of egg sellers’ rights to advertise their products. In 2007, New Zealand banned Richie Trezise, a Welsh submarine cable specialist, from entering the country on the grounds that his obesity would ‘impose significant costs ... on New Zealand’s health or special education services.’ Richie later lost weight and was allowed to immigrate, but his wife had trouble slimming and was kept home. Germany has mounted an aggressive anti-obesity campaign in workplaces and schools to promote dieting and exercise. Citizens who fail to cooperate are branded as ‘antisocial’ for costing the government billions of euros in medical expenses. Of course healthy diet and exercise are good. But these are issues of personal--not government--responsibility. So long as they don’t harm others, adults should have the right to eat and drink what they wish--and the corresponding responsibility to enjoy (or suffer) the consequences of their choices. ... If we still value our freedoms, we must reject both the nanny state and universal healthcare. Otherwise, it won’t be long before the ‘Waistline Police’ come knocking on our doors.”
SCOTTISH RADIO ANNOUNCER FIRED FOR OFFENDING MUSLIMS (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Presenter Sacked for Supporting the Bible’s Teachings,” London Telegraph, Jan. 11, 2009: “The Rev Mahboob Masih, a Church minister, claims he was unfairly dismissed and that the action taken against him was a case of religious discrimination. He had been host of a regular Saturday morning show on Awaz FM, a community radio show in Glasgow, for six years before the row with the station's management blew up. ... The Rev Masih was accused of not being balanced enough on air. ... The Rev Masih and his co-presenter Afzal Umeed were discussing the views of a prominent Muslim speaker, Zakir Naik, who the Rev Masih accuses of belittling the Christian faith on Peace TV, a digital channel. The Rev Masih says that Mr Umeed asked Asif Mall, a Christian on-air guest, about Mr Naik’s remarks. Mr Mall said Mr Naik’s comments showed a lack of knowledge of the Bible and of the Koran. In particular, Mr Mall disputed a claim by Mr Naik that Jesus Christ was not the only prophet to be ‘the way, the truth and the life’. ... [In a letter of complaint to the station’s management] Masih said: ‘Our comments were directed to “insulting” and/or “controversial” remarks made by Mr. Naik in relation to Christianity. This was no more than religious debate under the general principles of British law and within the Ofcom Code. No intemperate language was used on our show.’”
U.S. GOVERNMENT CONSIDERING GLOBAL WARMING TAX ON COWS (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Government Considering Gas Tax on Cows,” WKYC TV, Cleveland, Ohio, Jan. 6, 2009: “Scientists say an average dairy cow can pass 50 to 100 gallons of gasses into the air daily. The federal EPA is considering a gas tax on dairy cattle and other farm animals. For dairy cows, the tax could be $175 for each animal per year. The American Farm Bureau Federation says that could cost a medium sized dairy farm $40,000 a year. ‘We won’t even make that in profit this year,’ said Brenda Hastings of Hastings Dairy in Burton. ... Hastings pointed out that Farm Bureau research shows dairy cattle emissions account for only 0.66 percent of greenhouse gasses. ‘More than two thirds of greenhouse gasses come from water vapor. Maybe they should tax Lake Erie instead,’ she said.”
ASTRONAUT OPPOSES GLOBAL WARMING FRENZY (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Astronaut Jack Schmitt Joins Skeptics,” The News Blaze, Folsom, Calif., Jan. 6, 2009: “American astronaut Dr. Jack Schmitt--the twelfth person to walk on the Moon, when he and Eugene Cernan were the last two to walk there--is the latest scientist to be added to the roster of more than 70 skeptics who will confront the subject of global warming at the second annual International Conference on Climate Change in New York City, March 8-10, 2009. The conference expects to draw 1,000 attendees including private-sector business people, state and federal legislators and officials, policy analysts, media, and students. Schmitt, who earned a PhD from Harvard in geology, wrote, ‘As a geologist, I love Earth observations. But, it is ridiculous to tie this objective to a “consensus” that humans are causing global warming when human experience, geologic data and history, and current cooling can argue otherwise. “Consensus,” as many have said, merely represents the absence of definitive science. You know as well as I, the “global warming scare” is being used as a political tool to increase government control over American lives, incomes and decision making...’ Schmitt will be joined by more than 70 other economists, public officials, legal experts, and climate specialists calling attention to new research that contradicts claims that Earth’s moderate warming during the 20th Century primarily was man-made and has reached crisis proportions. Joseph Bast, president of The Heartland Institute, producer of the event along with more than 30 co-sponsors, explained, ‘At the first conference last March, we proved that the skeptics in the debate over global warming constitute the center or mainstream of the scientific community while alarmists are on the fringe. Now in the past nine months, the science has grown even more convincing that global warming is not a crisis.’”
THE BELIEVER’S ETERNAL HOME (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof” (Revelation 21:16-23).
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 list. To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE ADDRESSES go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.
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. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
Download and Print Friday News (Full Graphical Edition) for your church in
PDF format:
http://wayoflife.worthyofpraise.org/fridaynews/pdf/2009/20090116.pdf
INDIAN CRICKETER WORSHIPPED (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Fans of Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni are building a temple to worship him. The temple in Ranchi, in eastern India, will feature a white marble statue of the sports star and relief carvings of the player in action looking down on his disciples (“Temple Built to Cricketer,” Anaanova.com, Jan. 1, 2009). Jitendra Singh, president of Dhoni’s fan club, says, “Dhoni is God to cricket and we have decided to construct a temple; he will be worshipped like other gods are worshipped.” Indian cricket historian and Oxford scholar Boria Mazumdar said, “I think the act exemplifies what cricket means to India.” It is not only Indians who worship sports stars. This idolatry is committed by Americans and Canadians and British and Germans and French and South Africans, you name it. Professional sports is one of the gods of modern times. Can a born-again child of God commit idolatry? Indeed, otherwise why did John write, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21)? And why did James write, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4)? (Photo above: Sports worship in the USA.)
U.S. CONGRESS SUPPORTS ISRAEL (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - On January 9, the U.S. House of Representatives followed the Senate’s example by passing a resolution backing Israel’s battle against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The lawmakers voted 390-5 to “recognize Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza.” The United States has been Israel’s strongest supporter since President Harry Truman became the first head of state to recognize the newly formed nation in May 1948. He did that against the strongest recommendation of the State Department and the Department of Defense, both of which were counseling him not to anger the Arabs and endanger the flow of oil (David McCullough, “Truman,” pp. 601-620). In his history of the United Nations, Stanley Meisler says, “The American veto in the Security Council served as Israel’s only shield at the U.N.” (“United Nations: The First Fifty Years,” p. 183). In 1975, when the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution stating that “Zionism is racism,” Daniel Monynihan, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, delivered the following words of defiance: “The United States rises to declare before the General Assembly of the United Nations, and before the world, that it does not acknowledge, it will not abide by, it will never acquiesce in this infamous act” (Meisler, p. 215). After World War II, England abandoned Israel in her hour of need, but America did not. England lost her empire, and America gained hers. If you think that is a coincident, I suggest that you read God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3. “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” America has not supported Israel in all situations and has, indeed, tied Israel’s hands at times and pressured her into making foolish agreements with her enemies, but the fact remains that no nation has stood behind the modern state of Israel more effectually than America, diplomatically, militarily, and financially.
FOX NEWS LISTS FIVE WAYS THE WORLD COULD END (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - We were reminded of the complete secularization of the mainstream news media in a recent report on Fox News entitled “Five Ways the World Can End” (Jan. 7, 2009). The article begins by saying that the world will not end by global warming or global cooling. The rest describes five possible situations, preceded by this statement: “But at any given time, four of the five following scenarios really could cause the end of life on Earth--and the fifth almost certainly will.” The five are: massive asteroid impact, massive volcanic eruptions, nuclear war, black hole, and the expanding sun. Observe that Fox News, though considerably more conservative than most mainline media outlets, does not give even a moment’s thrift to the possibility that the Bible could be true and that the world could end as it predicts. Near the end of the report are these words: “Some scenarios say we’ve got only a billion good years left on this planet--rather gloomy, since life in some form has been around for about 3.7 billion years and this means we’re already close to the end.” What they don’t say is that if evolution is true, then it matters not one iota what happens to man, because he is just an accident and death is the end and there is absolutely no meaning to life. If evolution is true, what does it matter whether the earth ends tomorrow or a billion years from now? The fact is that men know in their heart of hearts that there is a holy creator God and that there is a judgment to come. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
JAPANESE GOVERNMENT CONTROLS CITIZEN’S WAISTELINES (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Universal Healthcare and the Waistline Police,” ABC News, Jan. 11, 2009: “Imagine a country where the government regularly checks the waistlines of citizens over age 40. Anyone deemed too fat would be required to undergo diet counseling. Those who fail to lose sufficient weight could face further "reeducation" and their communities subject to stiff fines. Is this some nightmarish dystopia? No, this is contemporary Japan. The Japanese government argues that it must regulate citizens’ lifestyles because it is paying their health costs. This highlights one of the greatly underappreciated dangers of ‘universal healthcare.’ ... Hence, Americans should beware that if we adopt universal healthcare, we also risk creating a ‘nanny state on steroids’ antithetical to core American principles. Other countries with universal healthcare are already restricting individual freedoms in the name of controlling health costs. For example, the British government has banned some television ads for eggs on the grounds that they were promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. This is a blatant infringement of egg sellers’ rights to advertise their products. In 2007, New Zealand banned Richie Trezise, a Welsh submarine cable specialist, from entering the country on the grounds that his obesity would ‘impose significant costs ... on New Zealand’s health or special education services.’ Richie later lost weight and was allowed to immigrate, but his wife had trouble slimming and was kept home. Germany has mounted an aggressive anti-obesity campaign in workplaces and schools to promote dieting and exercise. Citizens who fail to cooperate are branded as ‘antisocial’ for costing the government billions of euros in medical expenses. Of course healthy diet and exercise are good. But these are issues of personal--not government--responsibility. So long as they don’t harm others, adults should have the right to eat and drink what they wish--and the corresponding responsibility to enjoy (or suffer) the consequences of their choices. ... If we still value our freedoms, we must reject both the nanny state and universal healthcare. Otherwise, it won’t be long before the ‘Waistline Police’ come knocking on our doors.”
SCOTTISH RADIO ANNOUNCER FIRED FOR OFFENDING MUSLIMS (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Presenter Sacked for Supporting the Bible’s Teachings,” London Telegraph, Jan. 11, 2009: “The Rev Mahboob Masih, a Church minister, claims he was unfairly dismissed and that the action taken against him was a case of religious discrimination. He had been host of a regular Saturday morning show on Awaz FM, a community radio show in Glasgow, for six years before the row with the station's management blew up. ... The Rev Masih was accused of not being balanced enough on air. ... The Rev Masih and his co-presenter Afzal Umeed were discussing the views of a prominent Muslim speaker, Zakir Naik, who the Rev Masih accuses of belittling the Christian faith on Peace TV, a digital channel. The Rev Masih says that Mr Umeed asked Asif Mall, a Christian on-air guest, about Mr Naik’s remarks. Mr Mall said Mr Naik’s comments showed a lack of knowledge of the Bible and of the Koran. In particular, Mr Mall disputed a claim by Mr Naik that Jesus Christ was not the only prophet to be ‘the way, the truth and the life’. ... [In a letter of complaint to the station’s management] Masih said: ‘Our comments were directed to “insulting” and/or “controversial” remarks made by Mr. Naik in relation to Christianity. This was no more than religious debate under the general principles of British law and within the Ofcom Code. No intemperate language was used on our show.’”
U.S. GOVERNMENT CONSIDERING GLOBAL WARMING TAX ON COWS (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Government Considering Gas Tax on Cows,” WKYC TV, Cleveland, Ohio, Jan. 6, 2009: “Scientists say an average dairy cow can pass 50 to 100 gallons of gasses into the air daily. The federal EPA is considering a gas tax on dairy cattle and other farm animals. For dairy cows, the tax could be $175 for each animal per year. The American Farm Bureau Federation says that could cost a medium sized dairy farm $40,000 a year. ‘We won’t even make that in profit this year,’ said Brenda Hastings of Hastings Dairy in Burton. ... Hastings pointed out that Farm Bureau research shows dairy cattle emissions account for only 0.66 percent of greenhouse gasses. ‘More than two thirds of greenhouse gasses come from water vapor. Maybe they should tax Lake Erie instead,’ she said.”
ASTRONAUT OPPOSES GLOBAL WARMING FRENZY (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Astronaut Jack Schmitt Joins Skeptics,” The News Blaze, Folsom, Calif., Jan. 6, 2009: “American astronaut Dr. Jack Schmitt--the twelfth person to walk on the Moon, when he and Eugene Cernan were the last two to walk there--is the latest scientist to be added to the roster of more than 70 skeptics who will confront the subject of global warming at the second annual International Conference on Climate Change in New York City, March 8-10, 2009. The conference expects to draw 1,000 attendees including private-sector business people, state and federal legislators and officials, policy analysts, media, and students. Schmitt, who earned a PhD from Harvard in geology, wrote, ‘As a geologist, I love Earth observations. But, it is ridiculous to tie this objective to a “consensus” that humans are causing global warming when human experience, geologic data and history, and current cooling can argue otherwise. “Consensus,” as many have said, merely represents the absence of definitive science. You know as well as I, the “global warming scare” is being used as a political tool to increase government control over American lives, incomes and decision making...’ Schmitt will be joined by more than 70 other economists, public officials, legal experts, and climate specialists calling attention to new research that contradicts claims that Earth’s moderate warming during the 20th Century primarily was man-made and has reached crisis proportions. Joseph Bast, president of The Heartland Institute, producer of the event along with more than 30 co-sponsors, explained, ‘At the first conference last March, we proved that the skeptics in the debate over global warming constitute the center or mainstream of the scientific community while alarmists are on the fringe. Now in the past nine months, the science has grown even more convincing that global warming is not a crisis.’”
THE BELIEVER’S ETERNAL HOME (Friday Church News Notes, January 16, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof” (Revelation 21:16-23).
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 list. To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE ADDRESSES go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.
January 9, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 2
09/01/09 10:41
FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES January 9, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 2
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. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
**********************************************************************************
Download and Print Friday News (Full Graphical Edition) for your church in
PDF format:
http://wayoflife.worthyofpraise.org/fridaynews/pdf/2009/20090109.pdf
**********************************************************************************
WIDELY-QUOTED REPORT CRITICAL OF VIRGINITY PLEDGES SAID TO BE BIASED (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Study Critical of Virginity Pledges,” CNSNews.com, Dec. 31, 2008: “A study in the January issue of Pediatrics that is critical of virginity pledges nonetheless reveals that teens who are more religious have their first sexual encounter at the average age of 21, or four years later than teens who are not as religious. The study [authored by Janice Rosenbaum], using data from the national Adolescent Health Survey, examines 934 teens with strong religious backgrounds, 289 of whom took abstinence pledges and 645 who did not. ... Robert Rector, senior research fellow on domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation, told CNSNews.com that he has conducted several studies based on the same adolescent health survey data used in the Pediatrics study and come to much different conclusions. ‘It was really quite extraordinary that you find in this survey that kids who took this very brief exposure to virginity pledges have dramatically better life outcomes compared to kids from the same socio-economic background,’ said Rector. This included ‘dramatically lower rates of teen births, abortion rates down, teen sex down, out of wedlock births down, number of sexual partners down a third to a half compared to kids from a similar socio-economic backgrounds. That’s extraordinary.’ ... ‘It’s not an abstinence versus non-abstinence message at all,’ Rector told CNSNews.com. ‘It’s very clear that these kids that have what I call pro-abstinence, anti-permissive sex attitudes do substantially better in life. They are much more likely to abstain from sex through high school and teens who have abstained from sex through high school are twice as likely to graduate from college.’ ... ‘What [Rosenbaum’s] really lobbying for is clearly an elimination of abstinence teaching,’ Rector said. ‘And so she’s saying, when you look at these kids that have pro-abstinence attitudes, those pro-abstinence attitudes provide dramatically positive results but they are not linked to the virginity pledge per se, therefore we should do away with those pro-abstinence attitudes. Somehow these kids sort of miraculously absorb those messages and values, so we should stop teaching those messages and values,’ Rector said, ‘even though her data shows that all those kids that have those pro-abstinence attitudes do much better in life.’”
A CALL TO ABANDON THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Christians Called to Abandon Public Education,” WorldNetDaily, Dec. 28, 2008: “some people are fed up with public school treatment of Christianity and have launched a campaign calling for a rescue of kids from government education programs--a ‘Call to Dunkirk.’ The name Dunkirk is famous for the hundreds of thousands of World War II allies saved in May 1940 when a flotilla of pleasure boats, fishing craft and others rescued the soldiers from the beaches near Dunkirk, France, where they were trapped by an advancing German army. ... Bruce Shortt, the author of The Harsh Truth about Public Schools, said, ‘culture is shaped by how we’re educated. Why should we be surprised we’re losing culturally and politically when we continue to offer up our children as living sacrifices to the Molech of government schools?’ he said. ... Voddie Baucham, Jr., author of Family Driven Faith, noted children spend about 14,000 hours in public schools. ‘Whoever controls those 14,000 hours controls our children’s worldview,’ he said, citing Charles Francis Potter, a signer of the Humanist Manifesto. He wrote, ‘What can theistic Sunday school meeting for an hour once a week do to stem the tide of a five day program of humanist teaching? The left knows that whoever controls the children owns the future. That’s why so many ‘60s radicals like Bill Ayers went into education. Now they effectively control the government school system and its curriculum. But worse, we give them our children,’ Shortt said.” CONCLUDING NOTE BY BRO. CLOUD: I have been preaching this for 35 years. The public school system was one of the most spiritually-negative influences in my life. It helped set me on a course of rebellion that didn’t end until many years later when I was converted at age 23. Opponents of home schooling complain about the lack of “socialization,” but it was precisely the socialization that destroyed my faith and developed in me an appetite for the world. The Bible warns, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Corinthians 15:33). I give home schooling much of the credit for the fact that all of our grown children know and serve the Lord, that they are raising their children for Christ, and that two of them are missionaries.
CHRISTMAS CRACKDOWN ON CHRISTIANS IN CHINA (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “China Launches Christmas Crackdown,” BosNewsLife, Dec. 26, 2008: “Christians in several parts of China were behind bars on Christmas Day after a police crackdown on worship services and Bible study, a Christian advocacy group said Thursday, December 25. In one of the latest incidents, officials of the country’s main law enforcement agency, the Public Security Bureau (PSB), raided a house church Christmas party in Yucheng county of Henan province on Christmas Eve, detaining nine Christian women, said US-based China Aid Association (CAA), which has close contacts with the believers. ... The raid came after authorities in Anhui province reportedly seized a house church building and a related school in Dianlong village providing Bible studies the previous day. Tensions in began December 22 when security forces of several agencies and Religious Affairs officials interrupted a Bible training gathering affiliated with the house church in Dianlong village , arresting 19 students and two pastors, CAA said. ... Government officials also announced that they would demolish or sell the building used for the Bible training. ... ‘The County Bureau of Religion posted sealing tape to shut off the house church building,’ CAA explained. Both church leaders reportedly expect to be summoned by local police soon. ... Earlier in on December 21, a house church in Yili city in China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region, was reportedly banned. Pastor Xie Xianhua, who leads the church, was warned he could face arrest if he continued his house church service.”
BUDDHISTS CAPTURING CHRISTIANS AND FORCING THEM TO CONVERT (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Buddhist Clerics Take Christians Captive,” Worthy News, Dec. 22, 2008: “Buddhist clerics and local council officials are holding 13 newly converted Christians captive in a pagoda in a southeastern mountainous district of Bangladesh in an attempt to forcibly return them to Buddhism. A spokesman for the Parbatta Adivasi (Hill Tract) Christian Church told Compass on condition of anonymity that ‘the plight of the Christians is horrifying.’ Local government council officials in Jorachuri sub-district in Rangamati district, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Dhaka, are helping the Buddhist monks to hold the Christians against their will, he said. ‘The 13 tribal Christians were taken forcefully to a pagoda on Dec. 10 to accept Buddhism against their will,’ he said. ‘They will be kept in a pagoda for 10 days to perform the rituals to be Buddhists--their heads were shaved, and they were given yellow saffron robes to dress in.’ All the captive Christians are men between 28 and 52 years old, he said. They became Christians around four months ago ... ‘The chairman threatened to beat the Christians unless they change their faith to Buddhism,’ he said. ‘The chairman also threatened, ‘If you become Christian again, we will not keep you alive.’”
HOME SCHOOLERS TAKEN TO COURT IN BRAZIL (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from OneNewsNow, Jan. 5, 2009: “A Brazilian family has been charged with intellectual abandonment for choosing to home school their children. Cleber and Bernadeth Nunes of Brazil decided to home school their children three years ago despite the fact it is against the law in their country. Cleber says they made the decision because it was in the best interest of their children. ‘It’s well-known the fact that education here in Brazil is a failure,’ the father says. ‘The statistics show that more than 70 percent of teenagers from 15- to 19-years-old [are] illiterate.’ He also adds that violence in school is rampant with more than 80 percent of teachers suffering some form of violence from students. ... As part of the trial involving the Nunes family, the children were tested by 16 teachers in a variety of subjects. Cleber says they passed with very high scores and then were ordered to undergo a mental examination. ‘The psychologist reported that they are mentally healthy,’ he says. Yet despite the growing evidence against the charges, the judges refused to drop the case. One of the judges ruled that the test scores should not even be considered because the quality of public schooling versus home schooling was not on trial, and that home schooling can never replace public school. According to Cleber, that decision proves that the court is ignoring the welfare of the children, and that the real goal is to indoctrinate children in order to be controlled by the state. The Nunes plan to appeal the decision.”
CHRISTIAN ROCK EVANGELISM (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Defenders of Christian rock claim that it is a necessary tool for evangelism. The book Reaching a Generation for Christ, edited by Richard Dunn and Mark Senter, describes this philosophy: “Contemporary music is still one of the best tools to build bridges with Christian kids and one of the best hooks to go fishing for the unsaved.” I have been investigating Contemporary Christian Music off and on for 30 years. I have listened to and read the lyrics to hundreds of songs, visited at least 300 web sites produced by CCM musicians and their fans, listened to CCM radio stations in various parts of the country, etc. While there is some gospel preaching done by CCM artists, this is definitely not the main emphasis. In fact, evangelism comes across as a very low priority. Consider the SONGS themselves. Only a very tiny percentage of present a clear gospel message. Furthermore, in a large number of cases, the message, whatever it might be, is drowned out by the raucous music. The large majority of WEBSITES produced by CCM artists or fans do not contain a gospel message or a challenge to the unsaved. Most BIOGRAPHIES or interviews of CCM artists do not contain a clear testimony of salvation or any challenge to the unsaved. Consider, finally, the CONCERTS. It is rare for a clear gospel message to be given at Christian rock concerts. In reality, it’s all about the sensual music. The bottom line is that CCMers are in love with rock & roll.
THE WORLD’S SMALLEST COMPUTER (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Creation Moments, http://www.creationmoments.net/radio/transcript.php?t=2271: “The cells of all living things are filled with highly detailed information. The incredible system that is used for storing this information makes our best computer information systems look like a child’s simple slate board! Believe it or not, it takes more information to make a complete human being than can be stored in the average city library. And all of this information is stored in less than a few thousand millionths of a gram of material within each of our cells. You have literally billions of copies of it! Our most sophisticated computer system cannot even come close to being able to store information like that. It is estimated that one billion species of plants and animals have existed since creation. The information storage system within the cell is so compact that all of the information to make every one of those one billion species could be held in a teaspoon--with room left over to hold all the books ever written if they, too, were stored with the same efficient system. Even more amazing is that this information storage system is not only able to store information like a computer but, unlike a computer, it can also copy itself and correct errors if any creep into the information! How could anyone believe that this brilliant information storage, copying and correction system could have come about by chance? To believe that this could be created by no one is certainly an act of faith. But it is clearly the wrong faith! And that highlights what the origins debate is really all about.”
FRET NOT THYSELF BECAUSE OF EVIL DOERS (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked” (Psalms 37:1-16).
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 list. To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE ADDRESSES go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.
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. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
**********************************************************************************
Download and Print Friday News (Full Graphical Edition) for your church in
PDF format:
http://wayoflife.worthyofpraise.org/fridaynews/pdf/2009/20090109.pdf
**********************************************************************************
WIDELY-QUOTED REPORT CRITICAL OF VIRGINITY PLEDGES SAID TO BE BIASED (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Study Critical of Virginity Pledges,” CNSNews.com, Dec. 31, 2008: “A study in the January issue of Pediatrics that is critical of virginity pledges nonetheless reveals that teens who are more religious have their first sexual encounter at the average age of 21, or four years later than teens who are not as religious. The study [authored by Janice Rosenbaum], using data from the national Adolescent Health Survey, examines 934 teens with strong religious backgrounds, 289 of whom took abstinence pledges and 645 who did not. ... Robert Rector, senior research fellow on domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation, told CNSNews.com that he has conducted several studies based on the same adolescent health survey data used in the Pediatrics study and come to much different conclusions. ‘It was really quite extraordinary that you find in this survey that kids who took this very brief exposure to virginity pledges have dramatically better life outcomes compared to kids from the same socio-economic background,’ said Rector. This included ‘dramatically lower rates of teen births, abortion rates down, teen sex down, out of wedlock births down, number of sexual partners down a third to a half compared to kids from a similar socio-economic backgrounds. That’s extraordinary.’ ... ‘It’s not an abstinence versus non-abstinence message at all,’ Rector told CNSNews.com. ‘It’s very clear that these kids that have what I call pro-abstinence, anti-permissive sex attitudes do substantially better in life. They are much more likely to abstain from sex through high school and teens who have abstained from sex through high school are twice as likely to graduate from college.’ ... ‘What [Rosenbaum’s] really lobbying for is clearly an elimination of abstinence teaching,’ Rector said. ‘And so she’s saying, when you look at these kids that have pro-abstinence attitudes, those pro-abstinence attitudes provide dramatically positive results but they are not linked to the virginity pledge per se, therefore we should do away with those pro-abstinence attitudes. Somehow these kids sort of miraculously absorb those messages and values, so we should stop teaching those messages and values,’ Rector said, ‘even though her data shows that all those kids that have those pro-abstinence attitudes do much better in life.’”
A CALL TO ABANDON THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Christians Called to Abandon Public Education,” WorldNetDaily, Dec. 28, 2008: “some people are fed up with public school treatment of Christianity and have launched a campaign calling for a rescue of kids from government education programs--a ‘Call to Dunkirk.’ The name Dunkirk is famous for the hundreds of thousands of World War II allies saved in May 1940 when a flotilla of pleasure boats, fishing craft and others rescued the soldiers from the beaches near Dunkirk, France, where they were trapped by an advancing German army. ... Bruce Shortt, the author of The Harsh Truth about Public Schools, said, ‘culture is shaped by how we’re educated. Why should we be surprised we’re losing culturally and politically when we continue to offer up our children as living sacrifices to the Molech of government schools?’ he said. ... Voddie Baucham, Jr., author of Family Driven Faith, noted children spend about 14,000 hours in public schools. ‘Whoever controls those 14,000 hours controls our children’s worldview,’ he said, citing Charles Francis Potter, a signer of the Humanist Manifesto. He wrote, ‘What can theistic Sunday school meeting for an hour once a week do to stem the tide of a five day program of humanist teaching? The left knows that whoever controls the children owns the future. That’s why so many ‘60s radicals like Bill Ayers went into education. Now they effectively control the government school system and its curriculum. But worse, we give them our children,’ Shortt said.” CONCLUDING NOTE BY BRO. CLOUD: I have been preaching this for 35 years. The public school system was one of the most spiritually-negative influences in my life. It helped set me on a course of rebellion that didn’t end until many years later when I was converted at age 23. Opponents of home schooling complain about the lack of “socialization,” but it was precisely the socialization that destroyed my faith and developed in me an appetite for the world. The Bible warns, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Corinthians 15:33). I give home schooling much of the credit for the fact that all of our grown children know and serve the Lord, that they are raising their children for Christ, and that two of them are missionaries.
CHRISTMAS CRACKDOWN ON CHRISTIANS IN CHINA (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “China Launches Christmas Crackdown,” BosNewsLife, Dec. 26, 2008: “Christians in several parts of China were behind bars on Christmas Day after a police crackdown on worship services and Bible study, a Christian advocacy group said Thursday, December 25. In one of the latest incidents, officials of the country’s main law enforcement agency, the Public Security Bureau (PSB), raided a house church Christmas party in Yucheng county of Henan province on Christmas Eve, detaining nine Christian women, said US-based China Aid Association (CAA), which has close contacts with the believers. ... The raid came after authorities in Anhui province reportedly seized a house church building and a related school in Dianlong village providing Bible studies the previous day. Tensions in began December 22 when security forces of several agencies and Religious Affairs officials interrupted a Bible training gathering affiliated with the house church in Dianlong village , arresting 19 students and two pastors, CAA said. ... Government officials also announced that they would demolish or sell the building used for the Bible training. ... ‘The County Bureau of Religion posted sealing tape to shut off the house church building,’ CAA explained. Both church leaders reportedly expect to be summoned by local police soon. ... Earlier in on December 21, a house church in Yili city in China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region, was reportedly banned. Pastor Xie Xianhua, who leads the church, was warned he could face arrest if he continued his house church service.”
BUDDHISTS CAPTURING CHRISTIANS AND FORCING THEM TO CONVERT (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Buddhist Clerics Take Christians Captive,” Worthy News, Dec. 22, 2008: “Buddhist clerics and local council officials are holding 13 newly converted Christians captive in a pagoda in a southeastern mountainous district of Bangladesh in an attempt to forcibly return them to Buddhism. A spokesman for the Parbatta Adivasi (Hill Tract) Christian Church told Compass on condition of anonymity that ‘the plight of the Christians is horrifying.’ Local government council officials in Jorachuri sub-district in Rangamati district, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Dhaka, are helping the Buddhist monks to hold the Christians against their will, he said. ‘The 13 tribal Christians were taken forcefully to a pagoda on Dec. 10 to accept Buddhism against their will,’ he said. ‘They will be kept in a pagoda for 10 days to perform the rituals to be Buddhists--their heads were shaved, and they were given yellow saffron robes to dress in.’ All the captive Christians are men between 28 and 52 years old, he said. They became Christians around four months ago ... ‘The chairman threatened to beat the Christians unless they change their faith to Buddhism,’ he said. ‘The chairman also threatened, ‘If you become Christian again, we will not keep you alive.’”
HOME SCHOOLERS TAKEN TO COURT IN BRAZIL (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from OneNewsNow, Jan. 5, 2009: “A Brazilian family has been charged with intellectual abandonment for choosing to home school their children. Cleber and Bernadeth Nunes of Brazil decided to home school their children three years ago despite the fact it is against the law in their country. Cleber says they made the decision because it was in the best interest of their children. ‘It’s well-known the fact that education here in Brazil is a failure,’ the father says. ‘The statistics show that more than 70 percent of teenagers from 15- to 19-years-old [are] illiterate.’ He also adds that violence in school is rampant with more than 80 percent of teachers suffering some form of violence from students. ... As part of the trial involving the Nunes family, the children were tested by 16 teachers in a variety of subjects. Cleber says they passed with very high scores and then were ordered to undergo a mental examination. ‘The psychologist reported that they are mentally healthy,’ he says. Yet despite the growing evidence against the charges, the judges refused to drop the case. One of the judges ruled that the test scores should not even be considered because the quality of public schooling versus home schooling was not on trial, and that home schooling can never replace public school. According to Cleber, that decision proves that the court is ignoring the welfare of the children, and that the real goal is to indoctrinate children in order to be controlled by the state. The Nunes plan to appeal the decision.”
CHRISTIAN ROCK EVANGELISM (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Defenders of Christian rock claim that it is a necessary tool for evangelism. The book Reaching a Generation for Christ, edited by Richard Dunn and Mark Senter, describes this philosophy: “Contemporary music is still one of the best tools to build bridges with Christian kids and one of the best hooks to go fishing for the unsaved.” I have been investigating Contemporary Christian Music off and on for 30 years. I have listened to and read the lyrics to hundreds of songs, visited at least 300 web sites produced by CCM musicians and their fans, listened to CCM radio stations in various parts of the country, etc. While there is some gospel preaching done by CCM artists, this is definitely not the main emphasis. In fact, evangelism comes across as a very low priority. Consider the SONGS themselves. Only a very tiny percentage of present a clear gospel message. Furthermore, in a large number of cases, the message, whatever it might be, is drowned out by the raucous music. The large majority of WEBSITES produced by CCM artists or fans do not contain a gospel message or a challenge to the unsaved. Most BIOGRAPHIES or interviews of CCM artists do not contain a clear testimony of salvation or any challenge to the unsaved. Consider, finally, the CONCERTS. It is rare for a clear gospel message to be given at Christian rock concerts. In reality, it’s all about the sensual music. The bottom line is that CCMers are in love with rock & roll.
THE WORLD’S SMALLEST COMPUTER (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Creation Moments, http://www.creationmoments.net/radio/transcript.php?t=2271: “The cells of all living things are filled with highly detailed information. The incredible system that is used for storing this information makes our best computer information systems look like a child’s simple slate board! Believe it or not, it takes more information to make a complete human being than can be stored in the average city library. And all of this information is stored in less than a few thousand millionths of a gram of material within each of our cells. You have literally billions of copies of it! Our most sophisticated computer system cannot even come close to being able to store information like that. It is estimated that one billion species of plants and animals have existed since creation. The information storage system within the cell is so compact that all of the information to make every one of those one billion species could be held in a teaspoon--with room left over to hold all the books ever written if they, too, were stored with the same efficient system. Even more amazing is that this information storage system is not only able to store information like a computer but, unlike a computer, it can also copy itself and correct errors if any creep into the information! How could anyone believe that this brilliant information storage, copying and correction system could have come about by chance? To believe that this could be created by no one is certainly an act of faith. But it is clearly the wrong faith! And that highlights what the origins debate is really all about.”
FRET NOT THYSELF BECAUSE OF EVIL DOERS (Friday Church News Notes, January 9, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked” (Psalms 37:1-16).
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 list. To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE ADDRESSES go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.
January 2, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 1
02/01/09 10:41
FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES January 2, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 1
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. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
Download and Print Friday News (Full Graphical Edition) for your church in
PDF format:
http://wayoflife.worthyofpraise.org/fridaynews/pdf/2008/20090102.pdf
**********************************************************************************
CHARISMATIC SONGS AND THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST HYMNAL (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The 2008 Southern Baptist Hymnal contains many songs written by charismatics and published by charismatic music companies such as Integrity, Maranatha, and Hillsong. About 75 of the top 100 contemporary worship songs are included. For example, songs by Jack Hayford, David Ruis, Paul Baloche, and Darlene Zschech are included. These popular worship leaders are extreme charismatic ecumenists and contemporary Christian rockers. Hayford believes that God told him he must not criticize the Roman Catholic Church. Ruis is a worship leader at the Toronto Airport Church where people roll on the floor, bark like dogs, roar like lions, laugh hysterically, and get “drunk in the spirit” during their “revivals.” Ruis’s song “Break Dividing Walls” calls for an unscriptural ecumenical unity between all denominations. Paul Baloche is worship leader at the Community Christian Fellowship of Lindale, Texas. Their 2002 Leadership Summit featured Ricky Paris, who calls himself an apostle. Baloche’s Offering of Worship album was recorded at Regent University, which was founded by the radical charismatic ecumenist Pat Robertson. As far back as 1985, Robertson said that he “worked for harmony and reconciliation between Protestants and Catholics” (Christian News, July 22, 1985). According to Frontline magazine, May-June 2000, a Catholic mass is held on Regent’s campus every week. Darlene Zschech and her Hillsong worship band recently performed for the Catholic Youth Day in Sydney, with the pope in attendance. The charismatic movement is not in submission to the Word of God and does not care one way or the other that these associations are contrary to Scripture, but shame on Baptists who follow in these presumptuous and disobedient footsteps. Shame on Lifeway for giving charismatics a powerful forum to influence Baptist churches, and shame on the Southern Baptist Convention for allowing Lifeway to do these things. Because the SBC refuses to deal with error consistently, the leaven will spread. The Bible warns that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” This is true for sin (1 Cor. 5:6) as well as for false doctrine (Gal. 5:9). For more information see The Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements: History and Doctrine (book) and Dangers of Contemporary Worship Music (DVD), which are available from Way of Life Literature.
BILLY GRAHAM JOINS SBC CONGREGATION IN SOUTH CAROLINA (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Billy Graham has moved his membership from the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, to First Baptist of Spartanburg, South Carolina, near his retirement home (“Graham Moves Dallas Membership,” AP, Dec. 30, 2008). Graham joined First Baptist of Dallas in 1953, and the Southern Baptist Convention has never condemned his unscriptural evangelism. Even a “conservative” like Albert Mohler, Jr., head of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, supports it. He was the chairman of Graham’s crusade in Louisville in 2001. The Baptist Press reported that “hundreds of Southern students prepared for the Graham crusade.” Mohler said, “Nothing else has brought together the kind of ethnic and racial and denominational inclusivity as is represented in this crusade...” (Baptist Press, May 3, 2001). Southern Baptist churches, colleges, and seminaries do not warn that Billy Graham has turned thousands of converts over to Roman Catholic and modernistic churches. For example, at the Vancouver, British Columbia crusade in 1984, the vice-chairman of the organizing committee, David Cline, said, “If Catholics step forward THERE WILL BE NO ATTEMPT TO CONVERT THEM and their names will be given to the Catholic church nearest their homes” (Vancouver Sun, Oct. 5, 1984). SBC bookstores do not carry books in that warn about wretched ecumenical ventures such as this and that document other New Evangelical compromises. (For more about this see “Billy Graham’s Sad Disobedience” at the Way of Life web site.)
TOTALITARIAN DICTATOR STALIN POPULAR IN RUSSIA (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Josef Stalin, the totalitarian dictator who murdered multiplied millions of his fellow citizens, is the third most popular historical figure in Russia today according to a recent survey. The poll was taken by Rossiya, a state television channel. He received almost the same percentage of votes as Alexander Nevsky, who defeated German invaders in the 13th century, and Pyotr Stolypin, a 20th century prime minister. Human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov told Reuters, “The younger generation is fed with myths about Stalin. It knows nothing about the millions who died in Gulag camps but well knows he was a strong leader who defeated (Nazi) Germany” (“Dictator Stalin Strong Contender,” Reuters, Dec. 28, 2008). The average young person in North America is also brainwashed in mythology. According to Bible prophecy, Russia and her allies will attack Israel during the Great Tribulation and their armies will be destroyed (Ezekiel 38-39). Anti-semitism has long been rampant in Russia.
EUROPEAN UNION PUSHING FOR WORLDWIDE HOMOSEXUAL RIGHTS (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Under the leadership of France, the European Union (EU) is pushing for worldwide homosexual rights through the United Nations. In December, France, which headed the EU in 2008, attempted to get the UN to approve a resolution decriminalizing homosexuality. The resolution received support from 66 of the 192 member nations, with all of the EU countries voting for it (“Conservatives Expect U.N. Battle over Homosexuality,” CNSNews.com, Dec. 24, 2008). The United States voted against it, but that will probably change once Barack Obama comes to power this month. U.N. analyst Thomas Jacobson said, “I would fully expect that France and the European Union will push for ‘LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) rights’ and ‘gender-identity rights’ and collaborate heavily with the Obama administration, beginning in the first quarter of 2009.”
SNOWZILLA AND EVOLUTION (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Snowzilla is a 25-foot snowman in Anchorage, Alaska, that is said to have appeared mysteriously just before Christmas. It was first built on Billy Powers property in a 16-foot incarnation in 2005, but after the city forbade him to build the giant snowman again this year, it appeared overnight larger than ever and Powers said that it must be “magic” and that he doesn’t know how it got there (“Revenge of Snowzilla,” Anchorage Daily News, Dec. 24, 2008). That a 25-foot snowman with wooden arms and cans for eyes, a scarf around its neck, and a hat on its head would just happen makes as much sense as evolution. Design doesn’t happen without a designer. The Bible doesn’t waste time trying to prove the existence of God, because His existence is evident in the very creation. The Bible’s opening words state solemnly and majestically, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Men are held accountable for knowing that there is a God and will be judged on that basis. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20).
GLOBAL WARMING ROPE-A-DOPE (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Dr. Walter Williams’ syndicated column for December 23, 2008: “Americans have been rope-a-doped into believing that global warming is going to destroy our planet. Scientists who have been skeptical about manmade global warming have been called traitors or handmaidens of big oil. ... U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said it was ‘criminally irresponsible’ to ignore the urgency of global warming. U.N. special climate envoy Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland on May 10, 2007 declared the climate debate ‘over’ and added ‘it’s completely immoral, even, to question’ the U.N.’s scientific ‘consensus.’ In July 23, 2007, CNN’s Miles O’Brien said, ‘The scientific debate is over.’ ... The global warming scare has provided a field day for politicians and others who wish to control our lives. After all, only the imagination limits the kind of laws and restrictions that can be written in the name of saving the planet. Recently, more and more scientists are summoning up the courage to speak out and present evidence against the global warming rope-a-dope. Atmospheric scientist Stanley B. Goldenberg of the Hurricane Research Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, ‘It is a blatant lie put forth in the media that makes it seem there is only a fringe of scientists who don’t buy into anthropogenic global warming.’ Dr. Goldenberg has the company of at least 650 noted scientists documented in the recently released U.S. Senate Minority Report: ‘More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent over Man-Made Global Warming Claims: Scientists Continue to Debunk “Consensus” in 2008.’ The scientists, not environmental activists, include Ivar Giaever, Nobel Laureate in physics, who said, ‘I am a skeptic … Global warming has become a new religion.’ Dr. Kiminori Itoh, an environmental physical chemist, said warming fears are the ‘worst scientific scandal in the history … When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists.’”
UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL WARMING HYPOCRISY (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The United Nations is a ridiculous and hypocritical organization. It is ridiculous because its main stated objective is world peace, but it has no more ability to bring that about than it has to change the course of the sun. As for hypocrisy, we will give but one example. It is leading the global frenzy to save the world from global warming, but what it says and what it does is contradictory in the extreme. In Nepal, for example, the United Nations Mission, which helped put Maoists into power in a sham election in 2008, owns a fleet of gas-guzzling, pollution-producing SUVs which rarely if ever venture outside of the capital city.
A WORLDLY BIBLE FOR THE CHRISTIAN ROCK GENERATION (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Bible Illuminated is a worldly Bible fitting for the Christian rock generation. Released in English for the holiday season, The Illuminated Bible is a glossy magazine format that features pictures of rappers in indecent poses, immodestly clad models, Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, Hollywood movie star Angelina Jolie, atheist rocker John Lennon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Princess Diana, Bono, Muhammad Ali, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Andy Warhol in homosexual cross-dressing attire. The Illuminated Bible was the brainchild of Dag Soderberg of Sweden and was created by a group of secular advertising and corporate executives. It first appeared in Swedish in 2007 in an even “sexier” version than the English incarnation. Soderberg, who is “not a practicing Christian” and “not very religious,” hopes The Illuminated Bible “will generate more religious tolerance” (“Repackaging the Bible,” CNN, Dec. 24, 2008). The text for The Illuminated Bible is the Today’s English Version, which uses the dynamic equivalency method of translation to rob the readers of God’s Words, changes “blood” to “death” and corrupts practically every passage touching on the Deity of Jesus Christ. It is true in Christianity in our day as it was in Israel of old, “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean...” (Ezekiel 22:26).
THE CYANIDE DEFENSE (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Creation Moments, http://www.creationmoments.com/radio/transcript.php?t=2179: “Wouldn’t it be amazing if a creature developed a chemical defense that is deadly to practically every other creature but itself--especially if that defense meant exposing itself and its enemy to deadly cyanide? Yet there is a species of millipede called Apheloria that does just this. Apheloria has, on each segment of its body, special glands that produce the chemical needed for defense. When the millipede is attacked by an enemy, it mixes this chemical with a catalyst. The result is a chemical that is a mild irritant plus hydrogen cyanide gas--the same lethal chemical used in the gas chamber. In this defense, the millipede as well as his enemies, are engulfed in a cloud of deadly cyanide gas. His attacker dies, but the millipede simply walks away unharmed. This truly amazing defense clearly has a purpose. Even more amazing, if evolution is right, the millipede developed this remarkable defense quite accidentally, and at the same time he became immune to deadly cyanide gas! This defense is completely unlikely to develop without a planner. The millipede’s immunity to cyanide makes sense if there was a planner, and it makes no sense at all if there wasn’t. God’s fingerprints are all over the creation as He seeks to draw us all to Himself.”
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 list. To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE ADDRESSES go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.
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. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
Download and Print Friday News (Full Graphical Edition) for your church in
PDF format:
http://wayoflife.worthyofpraise.org/fridaynews/pdf/2008/20090102.pdf
**********************************************************************************
CHARISMATIC SONGS AND THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST HYMNAL (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The 2008 Southern Baptist Hymnal contains many songs written by charismatics and published by charismatic music companies such as Integrity, Maranatha, and Hillsong. About 75 of the top 100 contemporary worship songs are included. For example, songs by Jack Hayford, David Ruis, Paul Baloche, and Darlene Zschech are included. These popular worship leaders are extreme charismatic ecumenists and contemporary Christian rockers. Hayford believes that God told him he must not criticize the Roman Catholic Church. Ruis is a worship leader at the Toronto Airport Church where people roll on the floor, bark like dogs, roar like lions, laugh hysterically, and get “drunk in the spirit” during their “revivals.” Ruis’s song “Break Dividing Walls” calls for an unscriptural ecumenical unity between all denominations. Paul Baloche is worship leader at the Community Christian Fellowship of Lindale, Texas. Their 2002 Leadership Summit featured Ricky Paris, who calls himself an apostle. Baloche’s Offering of Worship album was recorded at Regent University, which was founded by the radical charismatic ecumenist Pat Robertson. As far back as 1985, Robertson said that he “worked for harmony and reconciliation between Protestants and Catholics” (Christian News, July 22, 1985). According to Frontline magazine, May-June 2000, a Catholic mass is held on Regent’s campus every week. Darlene Zschech and her Hillsong worship band recently performed for the Catholic Youth Day in Sydney, with the pope in attendance. The charismatic movement is not in submission to the Word of God and does not care one way or the other that these associations are contrary to Scripture, but shame on Baptists who follow in these presumptuous and disobedient footsteps. Shame on Lifeway for giving charismatics a powerful forum to influence Baptist churches, and shame on the Southern Baptist Convention for allowing Lifeway to do these things. Because the SBC refuses to deal with error consistently, the leaven will spread. The Bible warns that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” This is true for sin (1 Cor. 5:6) as well as for false doctrine (Gal. 5:9). For more information see The Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements: History and Doctrine (book) and Dangers of Contemporary Worship Music (DVD), which are available from Way of Life Literature.
BILLY GRAHAM JOINS SBC CONGREGATION IN SOUTH CAROLINA (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Billy Graham has moved his membership from the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, to First Baptist of Spartanburg, South Carolina, near his retirement home (“Graham Moves Dallas Membership,” AP, Dec. 30, 2008). Graham joined First Baptist of Dallas in 1953, and the Southern Baptist Convention has never condemned his unscriptural evangelism. Even a “conservative” like Albert Mohler, Jr., head of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, supports it. He was the chairman of Graham’s crusade in Louisville in 2001. The Baptist Press reported that “hundreds of Southern students prepared for the Graham crusade.” Mohler said, “Nothing else has brought together the kind of ethnic and racial and denominational inclusivity as is represented in this crusade...” (Baptist Press, May 3, 2001). Southern Baptist churches, colleges, and seminaries do not warn that Billy Graham has turned thousands of converts over to Roman Catholic and modernistic churches. For example, at the Vancouver, British Columbia crusade in 1984, the vice-chairman of the organizing committee, David Cline, said, “If Catholics step forward THERE WILL BE NO ATTEMPT TO CONVERT THEM and their names will be given to the Catholic church nearest their homes” (Vancouver Sun, Oct. 5, 1984). SBC bookstores do not carry books in that warn about wretched ecumenical ventures such as this and that document other New Evangelical compromises. (For more about this see “Billy Graham’s Sad Disobedience” at the Way of Life web site.)
TOTALITARIAN DICTATOR STALIN POPULAR IN RUSSIA (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Josef Stalin, the totalitarian dictator who murdered multiplied millions of his fellow citizens, is the third most popular historical figure in Russia today according to a recent survey. The poll was taken by Rossiya, a state television channel. He received almost the same percentage of votes as Alexander Nevsky, who defeated German invaders in the 13th century, and Pyotr Stolypin, a 20th century prime minister. Human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov told Reuters, “The younger generation is fed with myths about Stalin. It knows nothing about the millions who died in Gulag camps but well knows he was a strong leader who defeated (Nazi) Germany” (“Dictator Stalin Strong Contender,” Reuters, Dec. 28, 2008). The average young person in North America is also brainwashed in mythology. According to Bible prophecy, Russia and her allies will attack Israel during the Great Tribulation and their armies will be destroyed (Ezekiel 38-39). Anti-semitism has long been rampant in Russia.
EUROPEAN UNION PUSHING FOR WORLDWIDE HOMOSEXUAL RIGHTS (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Under the leadership of France, the European Union (EU) is pushing for worldwide homosexual rights through the United Nations. In December, France, which headed the EU in 2008, attempted to get the UN to approve a resolution decriminalizing homosexuality. The resolution received support from 66 of the 192 member nations, with all of the EU countries voting for it (“Conservatives Expect U.N. Battle over Homosexuality,” CNSNews.com, Dec. 24, 2008). The United States voted against it, but that will probably change once Barack Obama comes to power this month. U.N. analyst Thomas Jacobson said, “I would fully expect that France and the European Union will push for ‘LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) rights’ and ‘gender-identity rights’ and collaborate heavily with the Obama administration, beginning in the first quarter of 2009.”
SNOWZILLA AND EVOLUTION (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Snowzilla is a 25-foot snowman in Anchorage, Alaska, that is said to have appeared mysteriously just before Christmas. It was first built on Billy Powers property in a 16-foot incarnation in 2005, but after the city forbade him to build the giant snowman again this year, it appeared overnight larger than ever and Powers said that it must be “magic” and that he doesn’t know how it got there (“Revenge of Snowzilla,” Anchorage Daily News, Dec. 24, 2008). That a 25-foot snowman with wooden arms and cans for eyes, a scarf around its neck, and a hat on its head would just happen makes as much sense as evolution. Design doesn’t happen without a designer. The Bible doesn’t waste time trying to prove the existence of God, because His existence is evident in the very creation. The Bible’s opening words state solemnly and majestically, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Men are held accountable for knowing that there is a God and will be judged on that basis. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20).
GLOBAL WARMING ROPE-A-DOPE (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Dr. Walter Williams’ syndicated column for December 23, 2008: “Americans have been rope-a-doped into believing that global warming is going to destroy our planet. Scientists who have been skeptical about manmade global warming have been called traitors or handmaidens of big oil. ... U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said it was ‘criminally irresponsible’ to ignore the urgency of global warming. U.N. special climate envoy Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland on May 10, 2007 declared the climate debate ‘over’ and added ‘it’s completely immoral, even, to question’ the U.N.’s scientific ‘consensus.’ In July 23, 2007, CNN’s Miles O’Brien said, ‘The scientific debate is over.’ ... The global warming scare has provided a field day for politicians and others who wish to control our lives. After all, only the imagination limits the kind of laws and restrictions that can be written in the name of saving the planet. Recently, more and more scientists are summoning up the courage to speak out and present evidence against the global warming rope-a-dope. Atmospheric scientist Stanley B. Goldenberg of the Hurricane Research Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, ‘It is a blatant lie put forth in the media that makes it seem there is only a fringe of scientists who don’t buy into anthropogenic global warming.’ Dr. Goldenberg has the company of at least 650 noted scientists documented in the recently released U.S. Senate Minority Report: ‘More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent over Man-Made Global Warming Claims: Scientists Continue to Debunk “Consensus” in 2008.’ The scientists, not environmental activists, include Ivar Giaever, Nobel Laureate in physics, who said, ‘I am a skeptic … Global warming has become a new religion.’ Dr. Kiminori Itoh, an environmental physical chemist, said warming fears are the ‘worst scientific scandal in the history … When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists.’”
UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL WARMING HYPOCRISY (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The United Nations is a ridiculous and hypocritical organization. It is ridiculous because its main stated objective is world peace, but it has no more ability to bring that about than it has to change the course of the sun. As for hypocrisy, we will give but one example. It is leading the global frenzy to save the world from global warming, but what it says and what it does is contradictory in the extreme. In Nepal, for example, the United Nations Mission, which helped put Maoists into power in a sham election in 2008, owns a fleet of gas-guzzling, pollution-producing SUVs which rarely if ever venture outside of the capital city.
A WORLDLY BIBLE FOR THE CHRISTIAN ROCK GENERATION (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Bible Illuminated is a worldly Bible fitting for the Christian rock generation. Released in English for the holiday season, The Illuminated Bible is a glossy magazine format that features pictures of rappers in indecent poses, immodestly clad models, Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, Hollywood movie star Angelina Jolie, atheist rocker John Lennon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Princess Diana, Bono, Muhammad Ali, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Andy Warhol in homosexual cross-dressing attire. The Illuminated Bible was the brainchild of Dag Soderberg of Sweden and was created by a group of secular advertising and corporate executives. It first appeared in Swedish in 2007 in an even “sexier” version than the English incarnation. Soderberg, who is “not a practicing Christian” and “not very religious,” hopes The Illuminated Bible “will generate more religious tolerance” (“Repackaging the Bible,” CNN, Dec. 24, 2008). The text for The Illuminated Bible is the Today’s English Version, which uses the dynamic equivalency method of translation to rob the readers of God’s Words, changes “blood” to “death” and corrupts practically every passage touching on the Deity of Jesus Christ. It is true in Christianity in our day as it was in Israel of old, “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean...” (Ezekiel 22:26).
THE CYANIDE DEFENSE (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Creation Moments, http://www.creationmoments.com/radio/transcript.php?t=2179: “Wouldn’t it be amazing if a creature developed a chemical defense that is deadly to practically every other creature but itself--especially if that defense meant exposing itself and its enemy to deadly cyanide? Yet there is a species of millipede called Apheloria that does just this. Apheloria has, on each segment of its body, special glands that produce the chemical needed for defense. When the millipede is attacked by an enemy, it mixes this chemical with a catalyst. The result is a chemical that is a mild irritant plus hydrogen cyanide gas--the same lethal chemical used in the gas chamber. In this defense, the millipede as well as his enemies, are engulfed in a cloud of deadly cyanide gas. His attacker dies, but the millipede simply walks away unharmed. This truly amazing defense clearly has a purpose. Even more amazing, if evolution is right, the millipede developed this remarkable defense quite accidentally, and at the same time he became immune to deadly cyanide gas! This defense is completely unlikely to develop without a planner. The millipede’s immunity to cyanide makes sense if there was a planner, and it makes no sense at all if there wasn’t. God’s fingerprints are all over the creation as He seeks to draw us all to Himself.”
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 list. To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE ADDRESSES go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.