GIRLS’ FASHIONS AND DOLLS (Friday Church News Notes, June 6, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). This verse reminds us that training in modest attire best begins in childhood. The best time to teach a girl how to dress modestly is when she is a toddler. When she reaches teenage years she will be habituated to dressing in a feminine and modest manner and will not feel strange wearing a nice dress. Of course, the key is not merely dressing a child properly but teaching her why she is dressed that way, instilling in her biblical principles of modesty throughout her childhood, and praying that she will be saved and take these principles to heart because she wants to please the Lord. BEWARE OF THE GIRLS’ FASHION INDUSTRY. It is seeking to sexualize children from very early ages. The following warning is very timely: “It was a hot summer’s day in 2002 when I decided to buy sandals for our 4- and 6-year-old daughters. I never anticipated our retail excursion would prove to be so educational. ... But after going to eleven different stores I still couldn’t find anything even remotely suitable. Why? Because every pair of sandals I found--every single pair--had high heels. High heels for a 4-year-old? ... Apparently, girls’ sandals aren’t meant for running and jumping and playing. They’re meant to make little girls look like tarts. ... It amazes me that 40 years after the sexual revolution that was supposed to ‘free’ women from the ‘oppression’ of men, we find ourselves teaching our daughters that their only worth is in looking slutty. Boys don’t respect girls anymore because girls don’t require and demand it. And it all starts by buying 4-year-olds high-heeled sandals and Bratz dolls. ... I’ve heard some parents say they can’t stop pre-sexualization because kids will learn it in school or from peers. ... Hogwash. It’s parents who are permitting inappropriate clothing, toys, posters and music into their homes” (“Sexy Six Year Olds,” WorldNetDaily, May 31, 2008). IT IS EQUALLY IMPORTANT FOR PARENTS TO BEWARE OF THE TOY INDUSTRY. When our kids were growing up we never allowed Barbie Dolls or any other such thing in our house. Now there are Bratz Dolls (franchised by MGM) and a slew of other sexualized children’s toys. The following timely warning is from a concerned grandmother: “I attend a fundamental church but have noticed that some parents don’t seem to have any qualms about allowing their young daughters to play with Barbie dolls. And even Polly Pocket dolls are becoming more immodest in their clothing. Also the accessories for both Barbie and Polly Pocket dolls promote a worldly look and a worldly lifestyle. ... I believe that these kinds of dolls are too immodest for girls of any age to play with, much less little girls around the ages of 4 and 5. They definitely promote the wrong message and wrong focus in a young girl’s life.”

THOUSANDS OF EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS NOW CHILDLESS, THANKS TO CHINA’S ONE-CHILD POLICY (Friday Church News Notes, June 6, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Thousands of children are among the dead from the earthquake that struck central China last month, and most of the parents of those children are now childless, the victims of the communist government’s one-child policy. Many other parents have been left with a child that is crippled for life. “In Sichuan where the deadly force of nature killed thousands of children, the tragedy is amplified by the limitations imposed by the state policy. ... In response, the Chinese government announced that families that have lost a child are eligible to obtain a certificate granting permission for them to have another child (Antoaneta Bezlova, “Quake Shakes One-child Policy,” The Himalayan Times, May 30, 2008). The giving of children is God’s domain, and no government has the right to play God. “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward” (Psalm 127:3).

PREACHERS THREATENED BY POLICE FOR PREACHING IN ISLAMIC AREA IN ENGLAND (Friday Church News Notes, June 6, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Christian Preachers Face Arrest in Birmingham,” London Telegraph, June 1, 2008: “A police community support officer ordered two Christian preachers to stop handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham. Evangelists Arthur Cunningham and Jospeh Abraham say they were threatened with arrest for committing a ‘hate crime’ and were told they risked being beaten up if they returned. The incident will fuel fears that ‘no-go areas’ for Christians are emerging in British towns and cities, as the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed in The Sunday Telegraph this year. ... The preachers, both ministers in Birmingham, were handing out leaflets on Alum Rock Road in February when they started talking to four Asian youths. A police community support officer (PCSO) interrupted the conversation and began questioning the ministers about their beliefs. ‘He said we were in a Muslim area and were not allowed to spread our Christian message. He said we were committing a hate crime by telling the youths to leave Islam and said that he was going to take us to the police station.’ ... The ministers claim he also advised them not to return to the area. As he walked away, the PCSO said: ‘You have been warned. If you come back here and get beaten up, well, you have been warned.’”

TONY BLAIR WANTS TO BUILD NEW WORLD THROUGH INTERFAITH HARMONY (Friday Church News Notes, June 6, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister, has launched a new organization to help build a better world. It is called the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, and one of its tools is promoting interfaith harmony. Blair, who joined the Roman Catholic Church last December, says: “In an era of globalization, there is nothing more important than getting people of different faiths and cultures to understand each other better and live in peace and mutual respect; and to give faith itself its proper place in the future. ... By stressing the values of respect, justice and compassion which the great religions hold in common, he believes faith can help unite the world and shape its direction for the better” (Christian Post, May 30, 2008). Blair warns about religious people who are divisive, which would apply not only to Islamic terrorists but also to Bible-believing Christians who preach an exclusive faith through Jesus Christ. In the minds of New Agers, one of the greatest obstacles to world harmony is the Bible and those who take it seriously, and hate crimes laws are shaping up as an excellent tool to silence them.

WEATHER SCIENTISTS CAN’T PREDICT HURRICANES (Friday Church News Notes, June 6, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Associated Press reports that hurricane forecasts are “a lot like Groundhog Day--and the results are worth just about as much” (“Hurricane Season Outlooks of Little Use,” AP, June 1, 2008). In 2005 the forecast was for 8 hurricanes but in fact there were 15. In 2006 the forecast was for 9 but the actual number was 5. The question I have is this: If scientists can’t forecast major weather patterns five months ahead how can they forecast global warming patterns years ahead? They cannot. Their “computer models” can’t factor in every variable for the simple reason that they don’t know every variable.

GOSPEL OF JUDAS PROJECT MISLEADING (Friday Church News Notes, June 6, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Gospel of Judas Project May Have Misled Millions,” Baptist Press, May 29, 2008: “More than two years after National Geographic released a book and aired a documentary about the gospel of Judas asserting that the biblical traitor really was a hero, an increasing number of scholars are now casting doubts on the controversial claim. The latest criticism comes in the most recent issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education's magazine The Chronicle Review, where a lengthy 5,000-word story tells how the National Geographic project has divided longtime scholarly friends and co-workers, with dissenters saying the National Geographic team -- led by Marvin Meyer, a professor of religious studies at Chapman University--mistranslated the gospel of Judas so badly that it ended up saying the opposite of what a proper translation would have rendered. ... For instance, instead of Jesus saying to Judas, ‘O 13th spirit, why do you try so hard’ -- as National Geographic had it saying -- it should instead have read, ‘O 13th demon, why do you try so hard?’ ... One passage, according to National Geographic, says Judas ‘would ascend to the holy generation.’ Instead, it should include a negative and say he would not ascend to the holy generation. Another passage, according to National Geographic, says Judas was ‘set apart for the holy generation.’ It should, though, say ‘from.’ Both sides of the debate agree that the events in the gospel of Judas did not literally take place and are instead fiction, the magazine said.”

MARINE REMOVED FROM DUTY FOR DISTRIBUTING BIBLE COINS (Friday Church News Notes, June 6, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A U.S. Marine in Iraq was removed from duty for distributing coins imprinted with Bible verses at a military checkpoint. One had the question, “Where will you spend eternity?” on one side and John 3:16 on the other. Col. James Welsh, chief of staff of the Multi-National Force in Iraq said: “This has our full attention. We deeply value our relationship with the local citizens and share their concerns over this serious incident” (“Marine Removed,” CNN, May 29, 2008). Col. Bill Buckner added, “Regulations prohibit members of the coalition force from proselytizing any religion, faith or practices. Our troops are trained on those guidelines before they deploy.” That sounds like an unconstitutional regulation. While a soldier should keep his mind on his work when he is on duty, there should be no regulations preventing evangelism on his own time. Middle Eastern nations don’t hesitate to pour billions of dollars into building mosques in America and making every effort to win American citizens to Islam.

THE LION OF TRUTH (Friday Church News Notes, June 6, 2008, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is by Pastor Buddy Smith of Malenda, Queensland, Australia <smiletex@bigpond.net.au>: “Spurgeon once told of preaching in the dark when the gaslights in the Tabernacle failed. During the last hymn as he read over his sermon notes, he said, ‘from across the page a text leaped upon him like a lion from a thicket.’ So obvious were its truths, so pointed its message and so clear were the points of its outline that he took it to be the leading of the Lord that he should change his sermon and preach from the lionlike text. No sooner had he begun to speak than the lights in the auditorium went out, but he had no need of sermon notes. He knew the text by memory and the outline was fresh in his thoughts, so he calmed the people and preached with great power. In the dark. It is that saying of his that keeps coming back to me, ‘a text leaped upon me like a lion from a thicket!’ And I wonder how long has it been since I fell under the onslaught of a mighty text, torn limb from limb, rent in pieces by the ferocity of truth, helpless in its jaws? Not recently, I fear. In fact, I almost despair of seeing that blessed crushing of my stubborn will, of my hardened heart, that breaking of my arrogant pride any more. It is not that God has lost His power or that His Word is impotent. My world has conditioned me to avoid all thickets where lions may lurk. It has taught me that brokenness is a strange and foreign experience. I have learned from the experts how to bend slightly if the Lord puts enough pressure on me, but brokenness is thought to be out of date and politically incorrect. Let us hark back to the Spurgeon’s description of a text ‘leaping upon us like a lion from a thicket.’ Do you ever have that happen to you? Some of my dear preacher brethren have recently been used of the Lord to convict my heart of carelessness in the reading of the Word. I cannot boast of victory, but I can give thanks for some small progress, and one thing that is happening is that I am more often being mauled by the Lion of Truth. I suspect that the man who lays aside the armour of self will and pride and begins prowling among the thickets of Scripture will find many hungry lions there. May they leap upon us as they did upon Spurgeon!”