The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.

RICK WARREN JOINS TONY BLAIR’S NEW AGE INTERFAITH EFFORT (Friday Church News Notes, March 26, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Southern Baptist pastor Rick Warren is on the advisory council of Tony Blair’s Faith Foundation, an organization that seeks interfaith dialogue and cooperation (“Blair Courts Controversial US Pastor,” The Observer, March 14, 2010). Warren will help Blair launch “a faith offensive across the United States over the next year, after building up relationships with a network of influential religious leaders and faith organisations.” Blair, who converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 2007, is a likable guy who is doubtless sincerely trying to do right, but he is following his own humanistic dream rather than the infallible Word of God. In a 1993 interview with Third Way Magazine, Blair described his Christian faith in terms of social consciousness as opposed to “some sort of special one-to-one relationship with a remote Being on high.” He and his wife have participated in a variety of New Age practices, including a “rebirthing ceremony” in Mexico. Blair’s vision is a New Age one of building world peace through interfaith harmony. (See our book The New Age Tower of Babel.) The Faith Foundation’s web site currently features a quote from Buddhist Zen master Joan Halifax who praises Blair’s objective and says, “At this time, it is an imperative that we nurture the best in each other, so that our children can meet a world that is sane and healthy.” In this context, the greatest “evil” is religious dogmatism and intolerance, because it hinders “world peace.” At the launch of the Faith Foundation in May 2008 at the headquarters of the mainstream media group Time Warner, Blair said that one of the organization’s goals is to “counter extremism in all six leading religious.” A dogmatic stand on the Bible as the sole authority and on Jesus Christ as the only Lord and Saviour is considered “extreme” and disruptive to human progress. Why, you say, would a Southern Baptist pastor sign on to this vision? The reason, of course, is that he shares it. Rick Warren has repeatedly lashed out at biblical fundamentalism. In 2006 he said that Christian fundamentalism will be “one of the big enemies of the 21st century” and lumped it in with “Muslim fundamentalism” and “secular fundamentalism” (“The Purpose-Driven Pastor,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 8, 2006). Thus the Christian fundamentalist who loves the Lord Jesus Christ and merely seeks to take God’s Word seriously and to live it and to preach it faithfully before his Heavenly Master is said to be as dangerous as a Muslim terrorist or a rabid atheist. Warren said that Christian fundamentalism is motivated by fear, but such a statement only demonstrates Warren’s ignorance. The Bible often speaks of fear in a positive manner. In fact, it says the fear of the Lord is the very beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). Noah was commended because he feared God’s warning (Heb. 11:7). We are to pass this earthly sojourn with fear (1 Pet. 1:17) and to save some by fear (Jude 23). Paul feared that the devil would deceive the believers through false gospels, false christs, and false spirits (2 Cor. 11:1-4). We should follow the apostle’s example and fear spiritual deception, both for ourselves and for others. The Bible says pastors who sin should be rebuked before all “that others also may fear” (1 Tim. 5:20). Would that the Southern Baptist Convention would take that verse seriously and rebuke Rick Warren publicly! Where are the “staunch conservative” or “nearly fundamentalist” Southern Baptist leaders who are exposing Rick Warren’s errors? They deride men like me for warning about errors within the Southern Baptist Convention, pretending that it is none of our business, but they don’t lift a voice of their own. Well, I think I will just keep on warning!

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.

ANOTHER VAIN ATTEMPT AT IMMORTALITY (Friday Church News Notes, March 19, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Men who die without Christ have been devising ways to speak from beyond the grave since ancient times. Harry Houdini promised his wife that he would try to communicate with her via spiritism and he left her a secret authentication code. More recently some have attempted to communicate from the grave via cell phones placed in the casket. So far none of those cell phones have made any calls before the batteries died. Now a company is marketing high-tech headstones that “let you speak from beyond the grave.” The “Personal RosettaStones,” marketed by Objecs, are iPod-sized stone tablets embedded with radio frequency ID tags that store 1,000 words and a picture. The information can be beamed to a properly equipped mobile phone in extreme close proximity to the headstone. Objecs claims the device can last up to 3,200 years. Christopher Hill, who plans to purchase the device, says, “I literally can speak to people forever; I can be seen forever” (“High-Tech Headstones,” ABC News/Technology, March 12, 2010). Jesus Christ said that every man will be raised from the dead, the saved to everlasting life, the unsaved to everlasting judgment. “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28-29).

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.

SADDLEBACK ROCKS OUT FOR EASTER (Friday Church News Notes, March 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Rick Warren has announced that The Jonas Brothers rock group will be performing at Saddleback Church’s Easter celebration at Angel Stadium on April 4. It is also the megachurch’s 30th anniversary. The Jonas Brothers is a boy band with a following of thousands of carnally-infatuated young girl fans. The band members are professing Christians, but their music is worldly. Their song “Burnin’ Up” says, “Baby, who turned the temperature hotter? Cause I’m burnin up, burnin up for your baby. ... I fell so fast/ Can’t hold myself back/ High heels, red dress/ All by yourself, gotta catch my breath.” There is nothing biblical or wholesome about that type of thing. The Bible forbids God’s people to be conformed to the world (Romans 12:2) and warns that “the friendship of the world is enmity with God” and “whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). Those powerful words are ignored in the average church today. The modern explosion of conformity of churches to the world has walked hand-in-hand with the progress of contemporary Christian music, beginning in the 1960s. It was then that A. W. Tozer stated: “For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was. For this she was abused roundly by the sons of this world. But of late she has become tired of the abuse and has given over the struggle. If she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment, she may as well join forces with him and make whatever use she can of his powers. So today we have the astonishing spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for the so-called sons of heaven. Religious persons now carry on ‘services’ so  carnal, so pagan that they can hardly be distinguished from the old vaudeville shows of earlier days. And for a preacher or writer to challenge this heresy is to invite ridicule and abuse from every quarter. When the Church joins up with the world, it is no longer the true church but a pitiful hybrid thing, an object of contempt to the world, and an abomination to the Lord. We must have a new reformation. There must come a violent break with that irresponsible, amusement-mad, paganized, pseudo-religion which passes today for the faith of Christ and which is being spread all over the world by unspiritual men employing unscriptural methods to achieve their ends.” If men of God were saying this 50 years ago, what should preachers be saying today!

Enlarged March 8, 2010 (first published July 2, 2000) (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) -

From time to time I am asked if I follow the guidelines of Matthew 18 before I publish a report.

For example, when I published an open challenge to Clarence Sexton about the Friendship Conferences, I received the following:

“I am deeply upset at the private letter you posted on your website to Dr Sexton. Thanks for shooting your own and not calling Pastor Sexton personally to get all of the facts. I guess you don't read Matthew 18 all that often.”

The fact is that I did contact Pastor Sexton personally months before the publication of the article. As for Matthew 18, as we will see, it has nothing to do with the issue.

Enlarged March 8, 2010 (first published June 30, 2000) (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) –

Through the years, I have frequently heard the accusation that preachers who give warnings about Christian leaders are guilty of “shooting their own wounded.”

Recently I received the following e-mail that charged me with doing this in regard to an open exhortation I published about Clarence Sexton’s Friendship Conferences.

“I am deeply upset at the private letter you posted on your website to Dr Sexton. Thanks for shooting your own and not calling Pastor Sexton personally to get all of the facts. I guess you don't read Matthew 18 all that often.”

The fact is that I sent that letter to Dr. Sexton via his own website months before I published it, and I received no reply. He says that he doesn’t use e-mail, and that is fine, but he could have dictated a reply to one of his co-workers or secretaries. As for Matthew 18, it has nothing to do with the issue. Dr. Sexton has not sinned against me personally and I am not a member of his church and could not therefore follow the procedure proscribed in Matthew 18. The issue of the Friendship Conference is not a private matter; it is a very public matter because Dr. Sexton has made it so via his public influence. Public stances should be critiqued publicly, or those concerned will not hear the challenge. What I had to say by way of warning was not just for Dr. Sexton. It is for all independent Baptists. I have nothing against Dr. Sexton personally and I have no animosity toward him. Why can’t men understand this very simple principle? I am convinced that it is because they don’t want to understand it. I have been an independent Baptist for 36 years, and one of the besetting sins of this movement in my estimation is the over exaltation of man. As a movement, it is more man-centered than Christ-centered, and that is idolatry.

Updated March 9, 2010 (first published via the FBIS January 10, 1998) (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) –

In a book on the subject of Christian funerals, a writer gives the following advice regarding cremation:

“Personally, the minister may or may not approve of such proceedings. Privately, he is free to hold any opinion that he will. But officially he should keep an open mind. In the Christian religion there is nothing that frowns upon cremation or requires burial.”

Is this sound advice? Is cremation a matter of Christian liberty? In certain places land space is so crowded that burial plots are very expensive and in some cases there are efforts by the governments to discourage burial in preference to cremation. That this problem has become acute in Singapore is referred to in the following official statement made by the Bible Presbyterian Church of Singapore in May, 1987--

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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.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH USA APPROVES ORDINATION OF HOMOSEXUAL (Friday Church News Notes, March 5, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - On February 20 a presbytery in Wisconsin approved the ordination of Scott Anderson who was disqualified 20 years ago. Anderson pastored Bethany Presbyterian Church of Sacramento, California, from 1983 until 1990, when he was forced to step down because of his homosexuality, since the constitution of the Presbyterian Church USA requires that pastors “live in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness.” In 2006 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA “reinterpreted” this to allow the ordination of homosexuals tif approved by a regional ordaining body. It is obvious that words mean nothing to these people, not the words of the Bible and not the words of their own constitutions. Anderson’s new ordination was approved by his apostate peers by a margin of 81-25.

Many disagree with me on this and argue that since the child has a free will, the church and family can do everything right and a child might still turn out wrong.

Indeed, I understand very well that every child has a free will and this is a very important truth that must not be forgotten. It is on that we will come back to it, but God has given some exhortations and promises in His Word that have greatly encouraged (and frightened) me through the 33 years of my marriage, and I want to stand on these promises.

Consider the following Scripture that promises that we can see our children come to Christ.

“Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell” (Proverbs 23:13-14).

This is not only a wonderful promise; it is an amazing one. To think that parents can discipline their children in such a way that they will be saved and escape hell is a most incredible thought, and this is exactly what this Proverb promises. Of course, we know that salvation is an individual matter and it is a supernatural thing. The new birth cannot be inherited or caught, but godly discipline prepares the way for salvation by teaching the child the holiness of God, the seriousness of God’s Law, and the reality of his own sinful nature, and thus emphasizing to his heart his lost condition and urgent need of a Saviour. This provides fertile soil on which the Holy Spirit can work.

Consider another promise.

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

March 3, 2010 (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 a slightly expanded edition of a letter that I sent to Dr. Clarence Sexton on October 20, 2009. Since I did not receive a reply, I decided to publish it. I believe that there are still some Independent Baptist preachers that will have an ear to hear this warning instead of mischaracterizing it as “unnecessarily divisive.”

Hello, Dr. Sexton,

I trust that things are going well in your life and ministry. I want you to know that I thank the Lord for your desire to believe God and to step out to do something significant for the cause of Christ in this day and time.

You don’t know me personally, but I believe you might be aware of some of my writings. I am a missionary church planter in Nepal and the director of Way of Life Literature.