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.
HOW THE POP CULTURE HAS DUMBED DOWN SOCIETY (Friday Church News Notes, June 5, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The rock & roll pop culture has been dumbing down society since its inception in the 1950s. The pop culture image of cool is the individual who excels in foolishness, the Elvis Presleys, the James Deans, the John Lennons, the rock & roll playboys, the Hollywood starlets. Influential pop culture movies such as “Blackboard Jungle,” “Rebel without a Cause,” and “The Wild One” emphasized irresponsibility, insubordination, free sex, and scholastic laziness. “The Blackboard Jungle” used a Bill Haley soundtrack to encourage young people to forget their studies and “rock around the clock.” In “Rebel without a Cause” James Dean exuded the essence of pop cool: unisex sensuality, narcissism, and rebellion to authority. “The Wild One,” played by the very cool Marlon Brando, glorified self-centered living and neglect of education. Chuck Berry’s hit “School Days” encouraged young people to exchange their boring studies for the glories of rock & roll partying: “Hail, hail rock and roll/ Deliver me from the days of old/ Long live rock and roll/ The beat of the drums, loud and bold/ Rock, rock, rock and roll/ The feelin’ is there, body and soul.” By the 1960s, the modern teenage culture was well established, with its own me-first attitude, Dionysian philosophy, oft ridiculous fashions (anything to differentiate the teenager from his elders), and particularly its own music. The modern teenager has always been driven by pop music. Rock stars set the tone. A serious education is downplayed for the sake of having “fun, fun, fun.” I was dramatically influenced by the pop culture from the time I arrived in junior high school in 1962. Though I had some God-given intelligence and love for reading, I soon realized that being a diligent student was not cool. I became far too busy being a proper pop culture teenager to give serious attention to my studies and as a result I was a mediocre to poor student. Nothing has changed since then. The term “nerd” comes from the climate of teenage cool. It defines a young person who is serious about scholarship and probably doesn’t fit in too well with the foolish but oh-so-cool crowd. I was reminded of this by a recent Associated Press report entitled “I Love Nerds” about the 2009 National Spelling Bee contestants. It observed that the bright students “stand out as a bit dorkey back home.” Jose Cabal of Miami said, “It’s like back home I’m a nerd. Up there, everyone else is a nerd.” The serious spellers have memorized tens of thousands of words and have sharpened their intellect and perfected their use of the English language, but they aren’t cool. The entire concept of the “nerd” exposes the vanity and foolishness of the pop culture. It is the “nerd” that is using his or her life sensibly, whereas the cool crowd is dedicated to vanity. The pop culture teenage philosophy typically leaves young people ignorant and deeply scarred with sin. But the power of teenage cool is enormous and the average young person is not wise enough to withstand its appeal. Many reports have been written on the decline in education in America. In 1994 the editor of Harper magazine characterized the national test scores as “a coroner’s report … [that] returned a finding of mortal ignorance.” But most studies on modern American education neglect one of the most powerful influences, which is the pop culture. When the Herman’s Hermits sang in the 1965, “Don’t know much about history/ Don’t know much biology/ Don’t know much about a science book,” they were expressing the philosophy of teenage cool.
BOMBING KILLS TWO AT CHURCH IN NEPAL (Friday Church News Notes, June 5, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – A Hindu organization took credit for a bombing on May 23 that killed two and wounded 15 others at a Catholic mass in Kathmandu, Nepal. An unidentified woman entered the church just before mass began and left the bomb behind in a bag. A second bomb was disarmed by police. The Nepal Defense Army took responsibility for the murders. This is a radical Hindu group with probable ties to extremist Hindus in India that have viciously persecuted Christians. It was formed in 2007 with the objective of reinstating a Hindu state in Nepal (hindujagruti.org, Sept. 13, 2007). The Nepal Defense Army has demanded that all Christians leave Nepal and has stated its intent to “fight against the foreign religious invaders” (telegraphnepal.com, May 30, 2009). The NDA murdered a priest in July 2008. They have also bombed a mosque and another church. Police have quietly visited the churches in Kathmandu and warned them to be on the outlook for suspicious packages.
CHUCH OF SCOTLAND APPROVES THE ORDINATION OF A HOMOSEXUAL PASTOR (Friday Church News Notes, June 5, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – On May 23, 2009, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland approved the appointment of a homosexual pastor. The vote was 326 in favor and 267 opposes. The homosexual pastor, Scott Rennie, was ordained the pastor of Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen in 2008, but his appointment was protested and brought before the denomination’s ruling body. Like Vickie Gene Robinson, who was ordained a bishop in the Episcopal Church of America in 2003, Rennie divorced his wife to live carnally with a man. This is a double sin. First, there is the sin of breaking one’s solemn marriage vows before Almighty God. Second, there is the sin of sodomy. Yet these men are so spiritually blind that they claim to hold the moral high ground! Following the vote, Desmond Tutu, Anglican Bishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa, voiced his approval saying that churches should not be discussing “who goes to bed with whom” (“Desmond Tutu Endorses Homosexual Ministers,” LifeSiteNews.com, May 29, 2009). Scotland’s Equality and Human Rights Commission commented that the Church of Scotland has proven itself to be “a modern church for a modern Scotland” (OneNewsNow.com, May 24, 2009). Indeed, it has, and it has also proven itself to be an apostate religious harlot that loves this present world more than Jesus Christ.
AMERICAN EMBASSIES CELEBRATING HOMOSEXUALITY (Friday Church News Notes, June 5, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from “American Decadence Invades Baghdad,” OneNewsNow.com, May 30, 2009: “A U.S. Embassy in a Muslim country has sponsored an event to celebrate the homosexual lifestyle. Last night the U.S. Embassy in Iraq held a ‘Gay Pride Theme Party’ at a pub called Baghdaddy’s. Embassy employees were encouraged to attend the Baghdad event dressed in drag or as a homosexual icon. Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, says homosexual activism at U.S. embassies was prevalent during the Bush administration, but it has gone a step further under the Obama administration.” Concluding note from Brother Cloud: The U.S. military recently destroyed copies of the Bible in Afghanistan so as not to offend Muslims, but the U.S. government doesn’t mind flaunting the homosexual lifestyle regardless of who it offends.
JERUSALEM RABBI QUOTES EZEKIEL’S VISION OF DRY BONES (Friday Church News Notes, June 5, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – During the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Jerusalem, Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar said, “Who would have imagined, in the wake of the Holocaust, that our nation would not only return to its land, but also begin to fulfill the mitzvot [commandments] given to them from God. We, those who merit living here today, see this happening to us. Our nation is standing on its feet, like the dry bones, taking on ‘skin and sinews,’ with the banner of Torah and Judaism waving above it” (“Vatican to Stop Missionizing Jews,” The Jerusalem Post, May 12, 2009). This Jewish leader thus recognizes that Ezekiel’s prophecy of the dry bones is being fulfilled, but what he fails to see is that though the Jews are back from their captivity and have a place in their ancient land, they are spiritually blind and dead. Amar referenced Ezekiel 37:8, which says, “And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.” The prophecy in Ezekiel 37 is fulfilled in two stages, first Israel will return to the land but in a condition of spiritual death, and then she will be converted and come alive. The second stage is yet future and will occur during the Great Tribulation, which is called the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7). Before Israel is converted, the majority will be purged (Ezek. 20:37-38; Zech. 13:8-9) and only a remnant will enter into the conversion described in Zechariah 12:10-14.
CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP MUSIC WEAKENS THE FUNDAMENTALIST STANCE OF A CHURCH (Friday Church News Notes, June 5, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – When Contemporary Worship Music comes into a fundamentalist church it weakens the church’s stance and results in a gradual lowering of standards of morality and doctrine. The late Gordon Sears, who had an evangelistic music ministry for many years and ministered with Rudy Atwood, was saddened before his death by the dramatic change that was occurring in many fundamental Baptist churches. He warned: “When the standard of music is lowered, then the standard of dress is also lowered. When the standard of dress is lowered, then the standard of conduct is also lowered. When the standard of conduct is lowered, then the sense of value in God’s truth is lowered” (Sears, Songfest newsletter, April 2001). Dr. Frank Garlock of Majesty Music warns, “If a church starts using CCM it will eventually lose all other standards” (Bob Jones University, chapel, March 12, 2001). The late fundamentalist leader Dr. Ernest Pickering gave a similar warning: “Perhaps nothing precipitates a slide toward New Evangelicalism more than the introduction of Contemporary Christian Music. This inevitably leads toward a gradual slide in other areas as well until the entire church is infiltrated by ideas and programs alien to the original position of the church” (The Tragedy of Compromise: The Origin and Impact of the New Evangelicalism, Bob Jones University Press, 1994). Victor Sears called CCW the Trojan horse of the ecumenical movement. “Fundamental Baptists and others that refuse the teachings of the charismatic crowd concerning tongues, signs, miracles, and so forth are now singing their music in our churches and preparing our people for the world, the flesh and the Devil. It is the new Trojan horse move … to deaden our churches to spiritual truth” (Victor Sears, Baptist Bible Tribune, 1981). We can see this happening on every hand today, and the reason is that so many pastors and music directors lack spiritual discernment and wisdom and are willing to give people what they like rather than what they need.
OUT OF WEDLOCK BIRTHS HIT RECORD LEVEL IN AMERICA (Friday Church News Notes, June 5, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – In 2007, the percentage of out-of-wedlock births in America hit 40%. That is double what it was in 1980 and eight times what it was in 1950. This is a reflection of the destruction of the institution of marriage through socialism, no-fault divorce laws, and the pop culture’s “new morality.” America is following closely on the heels of Europe’s pathetic example. In Iceland, 66% of births are to unmarried women; in Sweden, 55%; in Norway, 54%; in Denmark, 46%. The Word of God warns, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
LIBERAL REFORMED GROUPS MERGING (Friday Church News Notes, June 5, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) are in the process of merging. The new organization, which is expected to be approved in 2010, will be known as the World Communion of Reformed Churches. The two groups claim to have 87 million members, but in reality, that figure includes multitudes of people that were merely baptized as infants but are not even active members of churches, let alone born again. The WARC and REC are liberal, ecumenical ecclesiastical bodies that are members of the World Council of Churches. Their leaders claim that the merger “is a fitting tribute to Calvin by his modern day heirs” (“Reformed Bodies to Plan Merger,” Christian Post, May 19, 2009). While we are not fans of John Calvin, there is no doubt that he believed strongly in doctrinal purity as he saw it, in direct contrast to these modern outfits.
THE FIERY TRIAL (Friday Church News Notes, June 5, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:12-19).
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 mailing list. To SUBSCRIBE, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/wayoflife/subscribe.html. TO UNSUBSCRIBE OR CHANGE ADDRESSES, go to the very bottom of any email received from us and click “Manage My Subscription.” Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.
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