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.
YOUTH MINISTRY SAYS THAT THE COOL PARTY JESUS WOULD LOVE “THE BEATLES” VIDEO GAME (Friday Church News Notes, November 6, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – Lane Palmer, of Dare 2 Share, an interdenominational youth ministry, claims that Jesus would like the new video game “The Beatles: Rock Band.” Palmer rejoices that by this means “thousands, if not millions, of teens are being introduced to the Beatles magic,” and he can envision “Jesus and the disciples laughing it up over a video game if they had a 1st Century PS3” (“Would Jesus Love “The Beatles: Rock Band?” Dare2Share.org, Oct. 28, 2009). Palmer bases this on a gross misreading of Jesus’ actions at the wedding in Cana as described in John 2. In emerging church fashion, Palmer thinks that Jesus turned water into alcoholic wine and thereby pumped up the wedding party’s level of intoxication-driven fun. He says, “[Jesus] was hanging out at social events that seriously offended the stuffy stuck up religious folks. They weren’t mad because He went to parties; they were ticked because He had such a great time at them … the reason Jesus went to parties and hung out with ‘sinners’ was not to judge or condemn them.” The emerging church looks upon this fallen world as a party to be enjoyed and participates freely in the world’s music, art, fashion, movies, etc. It “communicates with” the world’s culture rather than condemning it and has created Jesus in its own image, but the emerging church’s party Jesus is a figment of human imagination. Though Christ was a friend of sinners in that He came to seek and to save them (Luke 19:10) and was involved socially with sinners, attending their weddings and feasts, He was not a “party animal.” He lived and preached righteousness in every situation. He was a friend of sinners even while being “separate from sinners” (Heb. 7:26) because of His absolute holiness. Matthew 11:19 says that Christ was “a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners,” but this was what His enemies said about Him. In fact, He was neither gluttonous nor a winebibber. He was a friend of publicans and sinners not in that He partied with them but in that He loved them and sought to save them. Christ was not “non-judgmental.” He reproved sin. He exposed the rich young ruler’s covetousness (Mat. 19:16-22) and the woman at the well’s fornication (John 4:16-18). Christ often warned about eternal, fiery hell (e.g., Mat. 5:22, 29, 30, 7:19; 10:28; 11:23; 13:40, 42, 50; 23:33; Mark 9:43-48; John 3:36). His very first message was “repent” (Mat. 4:17), and He warned that those who do not repent will perish (Luke 13:3; John 3:36). He called people evil (Mat. 7:11; 12:34). He looked upon people with anger for their hardness of heart (Mark 3:5). He warned people to stop sinning (John 5:14; 8:11). None of this sounds very “cool” in a worldly sense, nor would it be an effective way to keep a worldly party hopping!
IS FOX NEWS A FRIEND OF THE TRUTH? (Friday Church News Notes, November 6, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – In last week’s edition of the Friday Church News Notes, we published a report entitled “CNN Last Place among U.S. Cable News Networks.” In conclusion I wrote, “FOX News is more conservative, somewhat less a voice for big government, and more patriotic than CNN (which is not saying much). That said, FOX News is no friend of the truth, and its objective is more to entertain and make money than it is to provide substantive news.” I was surprised to receive several e-mails from readers asking if I really meant what I said. My answer is an emphatic yes. FOX News is owned by Rupert Murdock, one of the biggest purveyors of filth entertainment on earth. Sure, FOX is more “conservative” than CNN, but it is not a friend of Jesus Christ or the Bible, and that is the definition of the truth (John 14:6; 17:17). Not even FOX’s most conservative people, such as Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck, are friends of God’s infallible Word. If you watch FOX much you will hear every sort of sorry humanistic philosophy. With very few exceptions, they push the same moral relativism that CNN pushes. Do they plainly oppose the homosexual agenda on biblical moral grounds? Do they expose the godless lies of Darwinism? Those are two of the greatest enemies that Bible believers face today, but FOX is essentially mute in the face of this vicious onslaught. If you watch FOX News you will also be bombarded with the filthy pop culture. On that line they worship Hollywood and Nashville as fervently as CNN or MSNBC. One of my readers recently wrote, “It was only on deputation when we had more access to TV’s and found when we turned them on, hours would easily be wasted, even just watching FOX News. Not to mention having to continually turn the commercials off. It got so annoying you either wanted to just leave it alone and not turn it off or miss something if you did turn it off. Unfortunately, leaving it on would win, and being aware of this we solidified in our minds we would not have a TV in our home, or cable for that matter. Both the programming and the commercials are written by non-Christians who are trying to influence others with their pagan humanistic philosophies and lifestyles. Cheating, illicit sex, drugs, homosexuality, teens in adult situations, Darwinism, cussing, and all kinds of things Christians shouldn’t be setting before their eyes. Numerous times, even on ‘conservative’ FOX News, they had a story on prostitutes and actually showed a video of pole dancers.” That reader has it right.
DAWKINS: THE BLIND BOOKMAKER (Friday Church News Notes, November 6, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – Richard Dawkins, the atheistic author of The Blind Watchmaker, claims that there is no evidence for intelligent design in nature. He ridicules the argument from design, claiming that design in the world, though “apparent,” is not real, because Darwinian naturalism can explain everything. He says that atheists should be proud about their position because it is superior to and more reasonable than the doctrine of a Creator God. The Bible says, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world ARE CLEARLY SEEN, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). If the invisible things of God are clearly seen in creation, why can’t Richard Dawkins see them? The answer is that he is spiritually blind. I have a blind preacher friend who lives in the Himalayan Mountains and has preached in our church in Kathmandu. If he were to say to me, “Brother Cloud, I have heard that there are beautiful snow-covered mountains nearby, but I don’t believe it because I haven’t seen them,” I would say to him, “Prem, you can’t see them because you are blind. I can describe them to you, but you still wouldn’t be able to see them.” Prem won’t be able to see until he has his resurrection body, and Dawkins won’t be able to see unless he humbles himself before the Almighty Creator God, admits his fallen condition and rebellion against God’s Law and God’s just judgment, and casts himself upon God’s mercy in Jesus Christ. Dawkins has nothing to be proud of; he is the poor blind bookmaker. Before the watchmaker argument, he can only huff and puff with Darwinian myths, but he cannot refute it. In fact, it is irrefutable. The mindboggling complexity and design we find in nature–the wing, the eye, the heart, the brain, the butterfly, DNA, pollination, human intelligence–cannot be explained by “natural selection” or “chance mutations, nor can it be refuted by Darwinian “just so” stories.
VICTIM OF ISLAMIC HONOR KILLING IN ARIZONA DIES (Friday Church News Notes, November 6, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – Noor Faleh Almaleki, who was run over by her father in Arizona two weeks ago, died on November 2. After fleeing to England, her father was arrested and brought back to America to face trial. County prosecutor Stephanie Low told the media, “By his own admission, this was an intentional act and the reason was that his daughter had brought shame on him and his family. This was an attempt at an honor killing” (“‘Westernized Woman’ Allegedly Hit by Dad’s Car Dies,” AP, Nov. 3, 2009). The Human Rights Watch defines honor killings as “acts of violence, usually murder, committed by male family members against female family members, who are held to have brought dishonor upon the family.” These are very common in the Middle East and Turkey. According to the United Nations, 5,000 females are murdered every year (“Murder in the Family,” Fox News, July 26, 2008). The perpetrators usually get off scot free or with a light sentence. Islamic apologists pretend that honor killings are “cultural” rather than a product of Islam, but Jihad Watch reports that in 2003 the Jordanian Parliament voted down ON ISLAMIC GROUNDS a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings, and Al-Jazeera reported that “Islamists and conservatives said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values” (“Muslim Ran Down Daughter,” Jihad Watch, Oct. 22, 2009). As we documented in last week’s Friday Church News Notes, honor killings are increasing in the United States.
IN ESSENTIALS UNITY; IN NON-ESSENTIALS LIBERTY; IN ALL THINGS CHARITY (Friday Church News Notes, November 6, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The New Evangelical philosophy is often stated by the dictum, “In essentials unity; in non-essentials liberty; in all things charity,” (commonly attributed to Augustine, but actually first stated by the 17th-century Lutheran Rupertus Meldenius (a.k.a. Peter Meiderlin). This became the rallying cry of the Moravians, who did many good things but refused to reject the heresy of infant baptism and promoted unity above the absolute truth of God’s Word. The same dictum has been heartily adopted by modern New Evangelicals. They might stand for ten or twenty or thirty “cardinals,” but they refuse to make an issue of the WHOLE counsel of God. In contrast, Paul exemplified exactly what they neglect to do (Acts 20:27), and in this, he was merely following in His Master’s footsteps. Jesus commanded His disciples to teach converts “to observe ALL things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Mat. 28:20). Paul instructed Timothy to keep the truth “without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Tim. 6:14). A spot is a small, seemingly insignificant thing. I challenge anyone to show me where the Scripture encourages the believer to “stand for the cardinal truth and downplay the peripherals.” Jude instructed every believer to “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). As Jude didn’t delineate what part of the faith is to be defended, the obvious meaning is that whatever aspect of the faith is under attack, God’s people should rally to its defense rather than pretending that it is a “non-essential.”
CHRISTIAN MAN FIRED FOR STATING HIS BELIEF IN TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE (Friday Church News Notes, November 6, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – In August, Peter Vadala was fired by the Brookstone Corporation for telling a lesbian co-worker that his Christian faith did not accept same-sex marriage. This occurred at his job as deputy manager of the Brookstone store at Boston’s Logan Airport, after he had been badgered by the co-worker throughout the day. She was flaunting the fact that she was getting “married.” The lesbian contacted the Human Resources department, and two days later Vadala’s job was terminated (“Massachusetts man Fired from Corporation over Christian Belief in Traditional Marriage,” MassResistance.org, Oct. 30, 2009). The company told Peter that “in the State of Massachusetts, same-sex marriage is legal” and his actions were deemed to be “inappropriate” and “harassment.” He was even accused of “imposing his beliefs upon others.” So much for homosexual tolerance.
MORE DANGEROUS HINDU GROUPS EMERGE IN INDIA (Friday Church News Notes, November 6, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from CompassDirect.org, Oct. 29: “After more than a decade of severe persecution, India’s Christian minority is growing increasingly concerned over the mushrooming of newer and deadlier Hindu extremist groups. … Claiming to be breakaway factions of the RSS (the most influential Hindu extremist organization), new groups with even more extreme ideology are surfacing. The Abhinav Bharat (Pride of India), the Rashtriya Jagran Manch (National Revival Forum), the Sri Ram Sene (Army of god Rama), the Hindu Dharam Sena (Army for Hindu Religion) and the Sanatan Sanstha (Eternal Organization) have launched numerous violent attacks on Christian and Muslim minorities. The Sri Ram Sene was one of the most active groups that launched a series of attacks on Christians and their property in and around Mangalore city in the southern state of Karnataka in August-September 2008. In Jabalpur city in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, suspected extremists from the Abhinav Bharat attacked the Rhema Gospel Church on Sept. 28, according to the Global Council of Indian Christians. They had earlier attacked Pastor Sam Oommen and his family in the same city on Aug. 3. The Hindu Dharam Sena has become especially terrifying for Christians in Jabalpur. Between 2006 and 2008, Jabalpur was plagued by at least three anti-Christian attacks every month, according to The Caravan magazine. In the western state of Gujarat and other parts of the country, the Rashtriya Jagran Manch has also violently attacked Christians, according to news website Counter Currents.”
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