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.

NORWAY MASS MURDERER ACTUALLY A PAGAN DARWINIST (Friday Church News Notes, July 29, 2011, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Terrorist Proclaimed Himself Darwinian,” WorldNetDaily, July 24, 2011: “A review of Anders Behring Breivik’s 1,500-page manifesto shows the media’s quick characterization of the Norwegian terrorist as a ‘Christian’ may be as incorrect as it was to call Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh one. Breivik was arrested over the weekend, charged with a pair of brutal attacks in and near Oslo, Norway, including a bombing in the capital city that killed 7 and a shooting spree at a youth political retreat on the island of Utoya that killed nearly 80 victims. Piecing together Breivik’s various posts on the Internet, many media reports have characterized the terrorist--who says he was upset over the multiculturalist policies stemming from Norway’s Labour Party--as a ‘right-wing, Christian fundamentalist.’ Yet, while McVeigh rejected God altogether, Breivik writes in his manifesto that he is not religious, has doubts about God’s existence, does not pray, but does assert the primacy of Europe’s ‘Christian culture’ as well as his own pagan Nordic culture. Breivik instead hails Charles Darwin, whose evolutionary theories stand in contrast to the claims of the Bible, and affirms: ‘As for the Church and science, it is essential that science takes an undisputed precedence over biblical teachings. Europe has always been the cradle of science, and it must always continue to be that way. Regarding my personal relationship with God, I guess I’m not an excessively religious man. I am first and foremost a man of logic. However, I am a supporter of a monocultural Christian Europe.’ ... Over and over again, Breivik goes out of his way to make clear to readers of his manifesto that he is not motivated by Christian faith. ‘I’m not going to pretend I’m a very religious person, as that would be a lie,’ he says. ‘I’ve always been very pragmatic and influenced by my secular surroundings and environment...’”

The following is the testimony of Gary Parker, Ed.D. in biology/geology from Ball State University:

“I wasn’t just teaching evolution, I was preaching it. ‘It was millions of years of struggle and death that brought mankind and all the other animals and plants into being,’ I told my college students. I praised Darwin for being the first to understand how evolution worked. ... I let students freely express their religious beliefs, but would not let them use their personal faith to challenge what I considered the rock-hard science of evolution. I thought it was part of my duty as a science teacher to deliver my students from silly old superstitions, like taking the Bible literally and trying to refute evolution with ‘creation science.’

“The change began when Dr. Charles Signorino, a chemistry professor at the college where I was teaching biology, invited my wife and me to his home for Bible study. ... I started studying the Bible, primarily to criticize it more effectively. ...

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.

EVANGELICALS AND CATHOLICS TOGETHER FOR CHRISTIAN ROCK (Friday Church News Notes, July 22, 2011, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The 13th annual Lifest Christian rock festival in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, featured five days of rock & roll, complete with a Catholic mass and a message by well-known evangelical speaker Greg Laurie. Some 20,000 people gathered July 6-10 to hear Christian rock groups such as Hawk Nelson, Skillet, TobyMac, Lincoln Brewster, MercyMe, Superchick, Newsboys, and Kutless. Greg Laurie of International Harvest Crusades, spoke on the last day of the event, preceded by a Catholic mass led by bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay. Lifest founder Bob Lenz said, “We want to get al the flavors of the church” (“Green Bay Bishop David Ricken Leads Mass,” Green Bay Press Gazette, July 10, 2011). What Lenz is talking about is not a “church”; it is end-times apostasy and rebellion to God’s Word. “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17). Christian rock’s unscriptural ecumenical philosophy is one of the many reasons why we warn against it in no uncertain terms.

Republished July 20, 2011 (first published October 15, 2008) (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) -

The following is excerpted from our book Contemplative Mysticism: A Powerful Ecumenical Bond. $19.95

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The Bible repeatedly warns about the danger of spiritual delusion and exhorts believers to be very careful. Consider the following:

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15).

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:4-5).

“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24).

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4).

Republished July 19, 2011 (first published September 11, 2008) (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) -

The following is excerpted from our book Contemplative Mysticism: A Powerful Ecumenical Bond. $19.95

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Thomas Merton (1915-68), was a Roman Catholic Trappist monk whose writings are influential within Catholicism, the New Age movement, the peace movement, as well as the centering prayer movement that lies at the heart of the emerging church and that is permeating evangelicalism. Richard Foster quotes Merton at least 14 times in his popular book Celebration of Discipline.

Merton was a prolific author. Nearly 70 of his books were published during his lifetime or posthumously. His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, sold 600,000 hardbound copies in its first year and millions of copies since. It has been continually in print since 1948. His books have been translated into at least 29 languages.

Merton was involved with the peace movement during the Vietnam War. He was closely associated with the pacifist anti-Americans Daniel and Philip Berrigan and Dorothy Day. The Thomas Merton Center for Peace and Justice carries on this philosophy.

Merton has been called “the most influential proponent of traditional monasticism in American history” (Ursula King, Christian Mystics, p. 229).

Ray Yungen says:

“What Martin Luther King was to the civil rights movement and what Henry Ford was to the automobile, Thomas Merton is to contemplative prayer. Although this prayer movement existed centuries before he came along, Merton took it out of its monastic setting and made it available to and popular with the masses” (A Time of Departing, p. 58).

GRAPHICAL PDF VERSION

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.

EMERGING PASTOR AGREES WITH INDEPENDENT BAPTIST LEADERS (Friday Church News Notes, July 15, 2011, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Emerging pastor Mark Batterson, who has spoken in conferences with Paul Young of The Shack, agrees with many independent Baptist leaders who are against public criticism on the basis of the “non-essentials.” In a blog entitled “Let’s stop Throwing Stones,” Batterson says: “... few things bother me more than sideways energy in the kingdom of God. We end up infighting and forget who our very real enemy is. I can’t help but wonder what would happen if we stopped throwing stones at each other. ... If something is heretical, that’s one thing. But we quibble over far too many things. ... I’m all for holding the fort of orthodoxy, but that strikes me as misidentifying the enemy. ... I’ve always subscribed to something Rupertus Meldenius said: ‘In the essentials, unity. In the non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.’ Obviously, it’s hard to know where to draw the line between essential and non-essentials. But let’s not major in minors.” Batterson’s statement reminds me of IBaptist leader Charles Keen’s book Thinking Outside the Box, in which he says, “I finally realized that not all truth is of equal value. ... Let’s decide who the enemies of the cross are and divide from them. Then let’s decide who the friends of grace are and tolerate them.” Batterson’s statement reminds me of Kevin Bauder, president of Central Baptist Seminary in Minnesota, who praises “conservative evangelicals” and promotes the “non-essential” philosophy (In the Nick of Time, Bauder’s blog, March 2010). Batterson’s statement reminds me of Calvary Baptist Seminary of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, which says, “We should grant each other the freedom to hold differing viewpoints and to refrain from caustic letter-writing campaigns to or about those with whom one might differ. ... in our zeal to earnestly contend for the faith, fundamentalism became more concerned about minor issues and less concerned about what the Bible clearly presents as the majors” (alumni mailing, Aug. 25, 2010). Calvary Baptist Seminary identifies “minor issues” as such things as which English translation to use, dress standards, musical styles, election, and baptism. We are told that such things should not determine fellowship. Batterson’s statement also reminds me of Clayton Reed, who co-authored Church Still Works with Paul Chappell. In his blog entitled “Ecclesiastical Separation,” Reed says, “... we ought to join every willing, warm-hearted Christian in advancing our Lord’s kingdom while it is day.” He says we should not separate over “non-fundamentals” and refers to John R. Rice’s principle that we should work with those who disagree with us on baptism, tongues, prophecy, election, and association with the Southern Baptist Convention. Those who hold the “in essentials unity; in non-essentials liberty” doctrine cannot show us where this principle was taught by Christ or Paul or any of the apostles. They cannot show from the clear teaching of Scripture how to identify a “non-essential” doctrine, nor can they show how a list of “non-essentials” can keep from growing larger with each generation as it has everywhere this principle has been accepted. At first only things like “music” or “dress” or “Bible versions” are considered “non-essentials,” but after awhile the list includes things like a woman’s call to preach and the interpretation of prophecy and the definition of God’s sovereignty in election and ecumenical evangelism and definitions of the atonement. And the list just keeps growing. The biblical way is to reject the “essentials/non-essentials” philosophy and to respect the whole counsel of the New Testament faith (Jude 3). This does not mean that we consider all doctrine of equal importance. There are damnable heresies (2 Peter 2:1-2), which only the unregenerate hold, and lesser heresies, which even born again believers hold (1 Cor. 11:19). But every clearly-taught teaching of the Word of God should be honored and none despised. And we should be willing to defend whatever doctrine happens to be under attack at any given time.

“Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).

“But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance” (Acts 26:20).


In the June 10, 2011, issue of the Sword of the Lord, the paper’s editor, Shelton Smith, published a reply to my warning about the Sword’s position on repentance. His response was to the following brief report that appeared in the Friday Church News Notes last December:

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SWORD OF THE LORD OMITS REPENTANCE FROM SPURGEON SERMON (Friday Church News Notes, December 17, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Recently I received the following e-mail from Jim Koenig: “Last night we watched your video ‘How to Avoid False Professions’ for the second time and the segment on repentance was even more enlightening this time around. Over the years we have noticed that the Sword of the Lord has shifted away from the doctrine of repentance and cunningly led their readers in that direction. A good example is the Charles Spurgeon sermon ‘Only Trust Him’ in the November 26, 2010 issue. They have left out what he said about repentance. The original sermon can be found at www.spurgeongems.org/sermons.htm (sermon #1635) and the omitted part is on page three of the sermon, the 6th full paragraph down. Years ago my wife and I graduated from the Sword Soul Winning Director’s College, taught personally by Bro. Smith, Bro. Norris Belcher, and the late Bro. Larry Staner. At no time, never, was the word ‘repent’ mentioned or implied during the three day course. I am not anti-Sword, but they are 100% wrong on repentance and have influenced thousands of young preachers to spread their one-two-three repeat after me prayers.” COMMENT BY BROTHER CLOUD: I could not agree more. The Sword of the Lord truly has a problem with repentance, and this is not a new thing. While the founder of the Sword, John R. Rice, taught that repentance is “a change of mind toward God and toward sin” and “to turn from your sin” (What Must I Do to Be Saved, 1940), Rice’s successor, Curtis Hutson, changed the biblical definition of repentance. He did this in his influential 1986 booklet Repentance: What Does the Bible Teach? Hutson denied that repentance means to turn from sin (p. 4), that repentance is sorrow for sin (p. 8), and that repentance means “a change of mind that leads to a change of action” (p. 16). He claimed that repentance simply is “to change one’s mind.” Hutson quoted Scripture that appears to support his position but he ignored the many Scriptures that plainly contradict it. He misquoted the writings of men like his predecessor John R. Rice and mixed in a heavy dose of human reasoning. (See our book Repentance and Soul Winning for documentation of this.) Under Hutson’s watch, the Sword also removed repentance from some of the hymns in the 1989 edition of the Soul Stirring Hymns. For example, the lyrics of “The Old Account Was Settled” were changed from “O sinner, seek the Lord, repent of your sin” to “O sinner, trust the Lord, be cleansed of all your sin.” (They also did this with the lyrics to “Almost” and “Give Me Thy Heart.”) I am thankful for many things that the Sword has stood for through the years, but the issue of repentance is not a light matter. The Sword has been at the forefront of the downgrading of this doctrine and of the promotion of the heretical practice of “Quick Prayerism” whereby psychological manipulation, human salesmanship, and an empty “sinner’s prayer” have too often replaced Holy Spirit conviction and miraculous regeneration. I refuse to join hands in ministry with men who are guilty of this serious error. (The Sword has also been at the forefront of exalting men far beyond scriptural bounds.)

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.

BAPTISTS AND CATHOLICS TOGETHER FOR MOVIE MAKING (Friday Church News Notes, July 8, 2011, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Sherwood Baptist Church, maker of the movies Flywheel, Facing the Giants, and Fireproof, promotes unity with the Roman Catholic Church for the purpose of bringing America back to God. Sherwood Baptist is located in Albany, Georgia, in the midst of the Bible belt, but Pastor Michael Catt doesn’t believe what the Bible says about separation from heresy (Romans 16:17; 2 Corinthians 6:14; 2 Timothy 3:5). The church is aggressively seeking Roman Catholic participation in the promotion of its new movie Courageous. We understand that “Catholics will be sent to the Sherwood Baptist Church’s Courageous Resources site for Catholics,” and as one friend observed, “Those who call themselves Christians will see this Catholic Resources page and be led to believe that Catholics and Christians are Brothers and Sisters in Christ.” Sherwood Baptist invited the National Catholic Register to view the filming of the movie and Pastor Catt gave the reporter, Matthew Warner, a warn, positive ecumenical interview which was published on the Catholic publication’s web site June 20, 2010. Catt made the following statement in this interview: “When we go across the country and do these screenings, we meet people from every denomination you can imagine, and we instantly have a fellowship and a brotherhood because we have one thing we know that we have in common: we’re family. We’re family members because we are brother and sisters in Christ, and it doesn’t matter what labels we put on.” This confused Southern Baptist pastor obviously doesn’t believe Jesus’ warning about the coming of many false teachers who will teach error in such a subtle manner that even the elect will be deceived if that were possible (Matthew 7:15; 24:11, 24). Catt doesn’t seem to believe Jesus’ statement that many who profess Christ as “Lord, Lord” are actually lost (Matthew 7:21-23). Catt doesn’t seem to believe what Paul through the Holy Spirit warned about false christs and false gospels and false spirits (2 Corinthians 11:1-3) and the great falling away from the truth in the end times (2 Timothy 3:5; 4:3-4). Pastor Catt might protest that he does believe these things, but if so he certainly does not know how to act on them in any practical manner. Billy Atwell, another Catholic blogger who was invited to view the filming of Courageous, said that for Baptists and Catholics to work together “we just need a common orthodox Christian framework, and to agree on the issue at hand” (“From Fireproof to Courageous,” Catholic Online, June 18, 2010). To imply that Baptists and Roman Catholics share a common orthodox framework, is a gross error. Bible-believing Baptists and Catholics don’t share the same view of the gospel, for example, which is certainly a fundamental aspect of Christian orthodoxy. The Bible teaches that salvation is by grace alone through faith in Christ alone without works or sacraments, whereas at the Council of Trent Rome actually cursed those who believe this gospel. (See “How Rome Denies Salvation by Grace Alone” at the Way of Life web site.) When Atwell refers to the “issue at hand” he is referring to the theme of Courageous, which is fatherhood. Thus we are told that it is fine for Baptists and Catholics to unite for fatherhood. But good fatherhood defined biblically requires that fathers lead their children to Christ, which requires a sound gospel. Further, good fatherhood requires that fathers lead their families in obedience to the “whole counsel of God” and teach their children to “observe ALL things” that Christ has commanded us in Scripture (Matthew 28:19-20). Good fatherhood, therefore, requires raising one’s family in a thorough-going Biblicist church, and it does not allow Bible-believing fathers to yoke together in ministry and spiritual fellowship with those who teach false gospels and gross heresies (e.g., the papacy, mariolatry, sacramentalism, baptismal regeneration, the priesthood, monasticism, enforced celibacy, reverence of relics, purgatory, Rome as the head of all churches). Sherwood Baptist is doubtless sincerely trying to help America with its movies, but it is blind to the fact that it represents the very type of shallow, worldly, lukewarm Christianity that has gotten the country into the mess that it is in.

Rob Bell’s new book Love Wins has stirred up something of a hornet’s nest of controversy, which we find puzzling. The man has been denying eternal hell and teaching a universalistic faith for a long time.

In a 2005 interview with Beliefnet, Bell said “the church must stop thinking about everybody primarily in categories of in or out, saved or not, believer or nonbeliever.”

In his influential book Velvet Elvis, which is popular with a great many Southern Baptists, he described a marriage that he conducted for two pagan unbelievers who told him that “they didn’t want any Jesus or God or Bible or religion to be talked about” but they did want him to “make it really spiritual (p. 76). Bell agreed with this ridiculous request and said that his pagan friends “are resonating with Jesus, whether they acknowledge it or not” (p. 92).

Love Wins is just more of the same. Not only does he preach near-universalism, he preaches a false god, a false christ, a false gospel, a false heaven, a false hell, you name it. He is a master of taking Scripture out of context and shoehorning his heresies into a text.

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.

THE WILD GOOSE OR THE SLICK SERPENT (Friday Church News Notes, July 1, 2011, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Brian McLaren and his emergent heretic buddies met last weekend in North Carolina for the Wild Goose Festival. It is “an attempt to reimagine Christianity for the 21st century under a bigger, wider, more inclusive tent.” Described as ‘a festival of justice, spirituality, music, and the arts,” there was a heavy dose of “embracing of gays and lesbians” (“Left-Leaning Wild Goose Festival,” Christian Post, June 25, 2011). One tent was dedicated to “beer and praise.” Speakers included Brian McLaren, Tony Campolo, Shane Claiborne, Ed Dobson, Lynn Hybels, Phyllis Tickle, Joy Wallis (first woman ordained as a priest in the Church of England), and Jim Wallis of Sojourners. McLaren told the crowd that Jesus did not come “to be a cleaver that divided people into a heaven bin or a hell bin” (“Progressive Christians Flock,” Associated Baptist Press, June 27, 2011). McLaren criticized spiritual “guard dogs.” Garreth Higgins, executive director of the Wild Goose organization, said, “Our goal is not to convince anyone of anything, but if we all have dignity the world will be a better place.” They don’t preach because they have traded the soul-saving gospel of Christ for a pathetic social gospel. The Wild Goose is supposedly a Celtic metaphor for the Holy Spirit, who is thought to be unpredictable. The festival web site says the Holy Spirit is “the Wild Goose who wanders where she will,” so we should all “embark on a Wild Goose Chase.” This is blasphemous. The Holy Spirit is not wild and never acts contrary to the Holy Scriptures. The church of Jesus Christ doesn’t need to be reimagined. It needs to be spiritually revived and recommitted to the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3), the absolute Standard for every century until Christ returns.