O TIMOTHY MAGAZINE ONLINE EDITION
We are pleased to announce that there is now an online subscription option for O Timothy magazine. You can subscribe to a graphical PDF edition for half the price of receiving it by mail and you can retrieve it as soon as it is published each month. You are also welcome to make as many copies as you want for free distribution.
O Timothy is a monthly magazine geared toward exhorting God’s people to stand for the truth and to resist error. The magazine began its 26th year of publication in 2009. It is a large format, 24-page publication and is packed with color pictures and graphics.
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The title, taken from 1 Timothy 6:20, describes the burden of the magazine, which is to urge men in these last days to keep the faith once delivered to the saints and to avoid the error which is on every hand. Paul’s burden for Timothy was that he keep to the old paths and avoid all error. That is our burden through O Timothy magazine. The aim is to help protect churches from end-time apostasy through doctrinal preaching and carefully documented research. Read More...
THE EUROPEAN UNION, ROME, AND MARY
July 2, 2009 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
“Although the European Union’s proposed constitution makes no mention of any faith, a close examination of the religious leanings of its founding fathers and some current leaders reveals that there could be an underlying, although informal, religious influence between the European Union and the Roman Catholic Church. ...
“Looking to the religious background of the European Union’s ‘official’ founding fathers, all were Roman Catholics. Alcide de Gasperi, Robert Shuman, and Konrad Adenauer are being considered for Roman Catholic sainthood as a ‘reward for founding the European Community ‘on Roman Catholic principles.’ ...
“Perhaps the European Union’s flag, its prime symbol, reflects these principles. ... The flag is described as having a blue background, portraying the sky over the western world, and upon this ‘sky’ is a ‘circle of gold stars [which] represents solidarity and harmony between the peoples of Europe. ... With no relationship between the number of stars and the number of states, interpretation of the meaning of the stars is left to individual imagination. ... a spokesman for the European Union ‘pointed out that the circle of twelve stars was a Christian symbol representing the Virgin Mary’s halo.’ ... Leon Marchal offered an understanding of the twelve stars when he said that they symbolized ‘the woman of the Apocalypse’ of Revelation 12. When the flag’s designer, Arsene Heitz of Strasbourg, was questioned regarding the interpretation of the flag’s design, he indicated that he based his design upon the iconography of the image of the Immaculate Conception of Mary as seen in Paris’ Rue du Bac. Read More...
THE BLIND EYE AND THE DEAF EAR
The following is excerpted from Charles Spurgeon’s Lectures to My Students:
A part of my meaning is expressed in plain language by Solomon, in the book of Ecclesiastes (7:21): "Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee." The margin says, "Give not thy heart to all words that are spoken"--do not take them to heart or let them weigh with you, do not notice them, or act as if you heard them.
You cannot stop people's tongues, and therefore the best thing is to stop your own ears and never mind what is spoken. There is a world of idle chit- chat abroad, and he who takes note of it will have enough to do. He will find that even those who live with him are not always singing his praises, and that when he has displeased his most faithful servants, they have, in the heat of the moment, spoken fierce words which it would be better for him not to have heard. Who has not, under temporary irritation, said that of another which he has afterwards regretted? Read More...
FIFTY YEARS OF ANGLICAN LIBERALISM
The worldwide Anglican Communion is composed of some 77 million Anglicans in 164 countries, including the “mother church,” the Church of England, and the Episcopal Church in America. It is permeated with theological modernism at every level.
Consider some examples:
In 1953, Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple, in his book Nature and God, said, “... there is no such thing as revealed truth.”
In 1961, Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey said, “... heaven is not a place for Christians only. ... I expect to see many present day atheists there” (London Daily Mail, Oct. 2, 1961). That same year, Bishop James Pike called the virgin birth of Christ a “primitive myth” and said that Joseph was probably Jesus’ real father (Redbook magazine, August 1961). He also said that Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, heaven, and hell are myths. (Billy Graham invited Ramsey to the platform during his 1975 crusade in Brazil and allowed him to speak to the crowd. Fundamental Evangelistic Association News & Views, May-June 1975) Read More...
FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
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The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.
LIFEWAY WANTS IT BOTH WAYS WITH “THE SHACK” (Friday Church News Notes, June 26, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Lifeway Christian Stores, which are affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, are selling “The Shack,” a novel that depicts God as a woman who doesn’t judge people. The Lifeway bookstore in Huntsville, Alabama, has a notice that says, “This book may contain thoughts, ideas, or concepts that could be considered inconsistent with historical evangelical theology. Therefore, we encourage you to read it with extra discernment.” By means of this disclaimer, Lifeway intends to make money from this popular book while avoiding responsibility for its heresies, but it won’t work. The Bible warns that if we do not disassociate strictly from those who preach false christs, we become partakers of their evil deeds (2 John 7-11). Lifeway is not only associating with William Young and his heresies by selling the book, but they are actually putting funds into his coffers to enable him to promote his wretched heresies. The Lifeway warning says the book “MAY contain” thoughts contrary to sound theology and urges readers to use discernment, but they don’t identify any particular heresies and a large percentage of their customers doubtless lack the Bible knowledge and spiritual discernment required to discern truth from error. This is like serving up a dish contaminated with poison to children and warning them to eat with caution! The Lifeway bookstores are filled to the brim with psychology, self-help, self-esteem, romance novels, ecumenical and charismatic literature, undependable Bible versions, and all sorts of “Christian” rock music. On a visit to a Lifeway store in Huntsville last year I found that they had many titles by emerging church authors, including Rob Bell (Velvet Elvis), Brennan Manning (The Ragamuffin Gospel), Erwin McManus (The Barbarian Way), Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz), and Shane Claiborne (The Irresistible Revolution). Lifeway will stand accountable before God for polluting the minds and hearts of their customers with unscriptural material and for refusing to carry sound material from fundamentalist Bible-based publishers that they could and should be stocking but which they refuse to stock because it is “controversial.” (For more information see the reports “What Is the Emerging Church” and “The Shack’s Cool God” at the Way of Life web site.)
HILDEGARD OF BINGEN
June 25, 2009 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
Since 1979 her works have enjoyed a revival through the contemplative movement. She is promoted by Richard Foster, who includes an entire chapter by her in his book Spiritual Classics. She is also promoted by Matthew Fox, the New Age priest who was ordained as an Episcopalian after being forced out of the Catholic priesthood.
She was put in a Benedictine monastery at age eight to be educated by Jutta von Spanheim, the abbess of the monastery who was an anchoress and practiced silent contemplation. As part of her asceticism an anchoress was devoted to live in a little cell next to a church for her entire life. There was only one door and a little window through which her food and other necessities were passed. The door was commonly locked from the outside, with only one or two people having a key and visitation privileges. They were even called prisons.
“Anchors of both sexes, though from most accounts they seem to be largely women, led an ascetic life, shut off from the world inside a small room, usually built adjacent to a church so that they could follow the services, with only a small window acting as their link to the rest of humanity. Food would be passed through this window and refuse taken out. Most of the time would be spent in prayer, contemplation, or solitary handworking activities, like stitching and embroidering. Because they would become essentially dead to the world, anchors would receive their last rights from the bishop before their confinement in the anchorage. This macabre ceremony was a complete burial ceremony with the anchor laid out on a bier” (“The Life and Works of Hildegard,” http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/hildegarde.html). Read More...