A few words before I cut and paste this newsletter here. As I have written on here many times; In 2004, I ended my tenure as a Pentecostal Christian. Mainly, I did it, because I was quite unhappy about where the movement, that being Pentecostalism and the entire Evangelical Christian movement was headed as a whole. That is not to say that Fundamentalist Christianity is perfect, case in point, the Fundamentalist Baptist Movement. When I left the ‘Signs and Wonders’ Crowd, I ended up going back to the Baptist belief system. Needless to say, I am deeply disappointed to report that the Fundamentalists here in America, especially here in Michigan, are cultist in nature. What was once a goodly movement based upon the Bible, has sadly devolved into a cult of personality, false doctrine and other nonsense. I know, I was royally ‘screwed over’ by a Baptist Pastor who was not interested in following the Bible, when it comes to matters of the Church.
Anyhow, I post this, because I happen to respect David Cloud greatly, it was his writings that brought me to the place of having to make a decision about the Pentecostal movement as a whole. I also do it, because David Cloud is one of the last remaining voices that are pushing back against the New Age, Feel Good, Rick Warren, Rock and Roll Christianity, Compromise garbage that permeates the modern day Church World. I do not agree with everything David Cloud writes, but I do enough of it to present it here.
Sadly I believe that America has basically come to the end of it’s “Christian Heritage”, and has chosen the path of least resistance and is bound for judgment. We are truly in the last days.
With that, I present this newsletter:
FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
February 12, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 7
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.
BILLY GRAHAM VOTED MOST INFLUENTIAL PREACHER (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – According to a new survey, Billy Graham has had the most influence on Protestant pastors of any living preacher. In addition to Graham, the list of top ten most influential preachers included Chuck Swindoll, Chuck Stanley, Rick Warren, David Jeremiah, and Mac Lucado. The survey was taken by LifeWay Research, an arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. Billy Graham has preached the gospel to more people than any other man in history, but he has also compromised the gospel as much as any man in history by pioneering the ecumenical evangelism philosophy that has torn down the biblical walls of separation between truth and error. He has turned hundreds of thousands of his “converts” over to Roman Catholic and liberal Protestant churches to be devoured by wolves in sheep’s clothing. (For documentation see “Billy Graham’s Sad Disobedience” at the Way of Life web site.)
RINGO STARR TURNS TO GOD (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – In a January interview, former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr said that the has turned to God. He said, “For me, God is in my life. I don’t hide from that” (“Ringo Starr is approaching more milestones,” Los Angeles Times, Jan. 26, 2010). But there is no evidence that Ringo’s God is the God revealed in Scripture. He said that the search for God is “all about finding yourself,” which it definitely is not. Rather it’s all about finding Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Last year Ringo appeared in a documentary entitled Oh My God, which presents the world’s religions as alternative paths to God. Ringo declared, “God is love,” and He is, but He is also holy and a judge of sin, and since all men are sinners, the only way of escape from God’s judgment is through the redemption purchased by Jesus.
ANOTHER LOTTERY CATASTROPHE (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – In the book Money for Nothing: One Man’s Journey through the Dark Side of Lottery Millions, Edward Ugle says the “broke or financially troubled lottery winners are the rule.” In fact, the consequences of winning the lottery are often more frightful than mere financial trouble. Abraham Shakespeare, a professing Christian who “knew his way around the Bible,” purchased a winning lottery ticket in November 2006 and received a $17 million payout after taxes. In a little over two years he had spent most of the money and was murdered by someone who was probably one of his newfound “friends.” His relatives said that he was “miserable early on from his newfound fortune” (“Trust was costly for Shakespeare,” The Tampa Tribune, Feb. 4, 2010). In January 2007 he purchased a million-dollar home and then sold it for a loss of $350,000 two years later to a woman who said that she wanted to write the story of his life. On January 28, 2010, Shakespeare’s body was found buried under a slab of concrete on that property. If he knew the Bible, Shakespeare should have known better than to gamble. The Bible exposes the lottery for the lie that it is. The lottery encourages covetousness, which the Bible condemns, and it mocks contentment, which the Bible exalts. The deceitful message of the lottery is that wealth can solve your problems, but the Bible says, “Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven” (Proverbs 23:5). It is a poor testimony for a Christian to trust in “Lady Luck.” “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Hebrews 13:5-6).
ANIMAL OWNERS BURIED WITH THEIR PETS (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – A growing trend in England is for animal lovers to be buried with their pets. The Telegraph of London reports that “an increasing number of pet owners [are] seeking burials with their favourite cats, dogs and horses” (“Owners pay to be buried with their pets,” Jan. 23, 2010). Some cemeteries are encouraging this practice. One operated by Penny Lally in Penwith, west Cornwall, has buried more than 30 people with their pets and has 120 “forward bookings.” The Egyptians and other idolatrous societies revered animals and buried them alongside their owners, but this is a pagan custom. There is no support for such a practice in Scripture. Burial looks forward to the bodily resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:42-44), but animals do not have living souls that survive death.
OBAMA NOMINEE SAYS SOCIETY SHOULD NOT TOLERATE BELIEFS AGAINST HOMOSEXUALITY (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from “Obama’s EEOC Nominee,” CNSNews.com, Jan. 18, 2010: “Chai Feldblum, the Georgetown University law professor nominated by President Obama to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, has written that society should ‘not tolerate’ any ‘private beliefs,’ including religious beliefs, that may negatively affect homosexual ‘equality.’ Feldblum, whose nomination was advanced in a closed session of the Senate Health Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on December 12, published an article entitled ‘Moral Conflict and Liberty: Gay Rights and Religion’ in the Brooklyn Law Review in 2006. Feldblum’s admittedly ‘radical’ view is based on what she sees as a ‘zero-sum game’ between religious freedom and the homosexual agenda, where ‘a gain for one side necessarily entails a corresponding loss for the other side.’ Feldblum does recognize that elements of the homosexual agenda may infringe on Americans’ religious liberties. However, Feldblum argues that society should ‘come down on the side’ of homosexual equality at the expense of religious liberty. Because the conflict between the two is ‘irreconcilable,’ religious liberty — which she also calls ‘belief liberty’ — must be placed second to the ‘identity liberty’ of homosexuals.” CONCLUDING NOTE: Feldblum, who obviously despises both the Bible and the U.S. Constitution, is correct in that homosexual equality and religious liberty are irreconcilable and in that a gain for homosexual rights is a loss for the rights of Bible-believing Christians.
HOLLYWOOD DARLING, JULIA ROBERTS, TO PLAY IN MOVIE GLORIFYING NEW AGE MYSTICISM (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from Lighthouse Trails, Jan. 28, 2010: “This August a new film, starring one of Hollywood’s most popular actresses, Julia Roberts, will be released. The movie, Eat, Pray, Love, is based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoirs of the same name. Gilbert’s book hit the New York Times Best Seller list after becoming well known through Oprah’s ardent promotion, in which Oprah calls the book, the modern woman’s Bible. Oprah says that Gilbert is everybody’s guru. The book follows Gilbert in her spiritual journey, which takes her to an Indian Ashram and to a life of meditation. No doubt, with Julia Roberts playing Gilbert, actor Brad Pitt producing the film, and Oprah most certainly promoting the movie, tens of millions of viewers could be drawn toward Eastern religious outlook. Eat, Pray, Love is one of a number of films over the last few years that have had a strong eastern mystical content. A note of interest to illustrate the paradigm shift that organized Christianity is going through: Anne Lamott, who was just featured in Charles Stanley’s In Touch magazine, endorsed Eat, Pray, Love, the book, and has gone on speaking engagements with Elizabeth Gilbert, expressing her resonance with Gilbert’s spirituality, calling the book ‘rich in spiritual wisdom.’”
THE EVOLUTIONARY INQUISITION (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from William Dembski, The Design Revolution, pp. 304, 305: “As Michael Behe pointed out in an interview with the Harvard Political Review for a biologist to question Darwinism endangers one’s career. ‘There’s good reason to be afraid. Even if you’re not fired from your job, you will easily be passed over for promotions. I would strongly advise graduate students who are skeptical of Darwinian theory not to make their views known.’ … Doubting Darwinian orthodoxy is comparable to opposing the party line of a Stalinist regime. … Overzealous critics of intelligent design regard it as their moral duty to keep biology free from intelligent design, even if that means taking extreme measures. I’ve known such critics to contact design theorists’ employers and notify them of the ‘heretics’ in their midst. Once ‘outed,’ the design theorists themselves get harassed and harangued with e-mails. Next, the press does a story mentioning their unsavory intelligent design associations. (The day one such story appeared, a close friend and colleague of mine mentioned in the story was dismissed from his research position at a prestigious molecular biology laboratory. He had worked in that lab for ten years. … Welcome to the inquisition.”
NON-ESSENTIALS? (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is from the late H. A. Ironside’s commentary on Daniel: “I have heard Christians refer to certain precepts in the Scriptures as non-essentials. But we may rest assured there are no non-essentials in our Bibles. ‘The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.’ When people talk of non-essentials in regard to anything concerning which God has revealed His mind, it is well to ask, ‘Essential or non-essential to what?’ If it be a question of the soul’s salvation, undoubtedly the one great essential is faith in His blessed Son, whose finished work alone avails to put away sin and procure peace with God. But if it be a question of what is essential to the enjoyment of communion with God–essential to obtaining the Lord’s approval at the judgment-seat of Christ–then it is well to remember that in everything the believer is sanctified to the obedience of Christ.”
FOLLOWING THE CROWD: WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT THE MAJORITY (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The Lord Jesus Christ said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). This is a warning that the majority in this present world are on the wrong road. The crowd is not in the way of the truth. The majority is wrong. Jesus also said, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).
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.