Disclaimer: The newsletter that I am presenting here is written by a Fundamentalist Baptist Pastor, who is a missionary overseas. The posting of this newsletter should not be taken as an endorsement of his beliefs. I do agree with SOME of his beliefs, but not all of them. Full Disclosure: I am a Fundamentalist Christian, although not necessarily a Baptist; in doctrine, yes. But in tradition, No. Having said all of that, I present the Newsletter.
Fundamental Baptist Information Service April 2, 2010
FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
April 2, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 14
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.
NATIONAL WORSHIP LEADER CONFERENCE AND CALVARY CHAPEL HOST NEW AGE-EMERGENT MYSTIC (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The upcoming National Worship Leader Conference at Calvary Chapel in Albuquerque will feature “New Age sympathizer and emerging church leader” Leonard Sweet (Lighthouse Trails, March 26, 2010). The conference is sponsored by Worship Leader magazine, the chief editor for which is Chuck Fromm, Calvary Chapel founder Chuck Smith, Sr.’s nephew. Leonard Sweet is a United Methodist clergyman, E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Drew University, and founder and president of SpiritVenture Ministries. He promotes a New Age universalist spirituality that he calls New Light and “the Christ consciousness.” He describes it in terms of “the union of the human with the divine” which is the “center feature of all the world’s religions” (Quantum Spirituality, p. 235). He says it was experienced by Mohammed, Moses, and Krishna. Some of the “New Light leaders” that have led him into this new thinking are Matthew Fox, M. Scott Peck, Willis Harman, and Ken Wilber, all of whom believe in the divinity of man, plus the Catholic-Buddhist monk Thomas Merton. Sweet says humanity needs to learn the truth of Merton’s words, “We are already one” (Quantum Spirituality, p. 13). Sweet defines the New Light as “a structure of human becoming, a channeling of Christ energies through mindbody experience” (p. 70). Contemplative mysticism has been permeating evangelicalism for decades and it is one of the foundational elements of the emerging church (See the titles “The Emerging Church” and “Contemplative Mysticism,” which are available from Way of Life Literature in print and e-book editions.) Contemporary Worship Music (CWM) is mystical in itself. It focuses on an emotional experience, which is why rock & roll is the preferred form of music. CWM’s leaders and participants are “hooked on a feeling.” They are intoxicated with pop music and are led more by their emotions than by God’s holy Word. (Southern Baptist pastor Rick Warren has also promoted Leonard Sweet.)
MUSLIMS KILL PASTOR AND BURN ANOTHER CHRISTIAN ALIVE (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – Islamic “militants” murdered a pastor recently in Somalia and burned a Christian man nearly to death in Pakistan. Pastor Modabe Abdi was shot to death on March 15 in Somalia, after he was tracked down by an Islamic group called al Shabaab. He had escaped a kidnapping attempt less than two weeks earlier. The Muslims refused to allow Abdi’s body to be buried, ordering that it be left to the dogs (Voice of the Martyrs, March 24, 2010). In Pakistan, Muslim “extremists” set 38-year-old Arshed Masih on fire for refusing to convert to Islam. His wife was raped and the couple’s three children were forced to watch their parent’s brutalization (AsiaNews.it, March 22, 2010). Arshed is in intensive care with burns over 80% of his body and is not expected to live. The terrorist act occurred in front of a police station not far from Pakistan’s capital city.
JERUSALEM POSTERS CALL FOR THIRD TEMPLE (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – Posters calling for the building of the third temple have appeared on buses traveling eastern Jerusalem routes. The posters, sponsored by Our Land of Israel, feature a depiction of the temple (without the present mosque) and a Hebrew phrase that translates “May the Bais Hamikdosh [Jerusalem temple] be rebuilt speedily and within our days.” A leader of Our Land of Israel, Baruch Marzel, says, “We’re representing the truth, in front of everyone, and saying out loud what every Jew believes. That the Third Temple needs to be built immediately on the Temple Mount and that the mosque should not be there” (Jerusalem Post, May 29, 2010). The temple will be rebuilt, but it will not be occupied by Christ but by the antichrist, who will set himself up as god and demand worship from the entire world. “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:2-3). Peace will come to this troubled world when Christ returns, but not before it goes through the worst trouble it has ever experienced.
VATICAN KNEW PRIEST MOLESTED 200 DEAF BOYS (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is from Christian News Report, March 25, 2010: “Some 200 deaf boys were molested by a priest who was never defrocked by the Catholic Church. The New York Times reports that Vatican officials, including Pope Benedict XVI were a part of the decision. The situation become public because of a lawsuit that revealed correspondence between Wisconsin Bishops and the future pope Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Five men are suing the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The letters show Ratzinger was more concerned about protecting the church from scandal than the welfare of the children. He and other officials did not alert the authorities or even discipline the priests involved in sexual abuse while he served as the Vatican’s chief doctrinal enforcer. American priest Lawrence C. Murphy served at Wisconsin’s St. John’s School for the Deaf from 1950 to 1974. He first taught classes and became effective at raising money for deaf causes and was eventually promoted to run the school in 1963–even though church officials already knew he sexually abused children. A group of deaf former students spent decades trying to get something changed, even handing out fliers outside the Milwaukee cathedral. Eventually, an internal investigation of Murphy showed he was not remorseful and he appealed to Ratzinger for leniency. Murphy died at the age of 72, buried in his priestly garments.”
WHERE ARE THE VOICES? (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following statement by Pastor Bobby Mitchell (pastor@midcoastbaptistchurch.com) of Brunswick, Maine, is a comment about the arrest this week of a strange “Christian” cult in America. The tiny group (nine members have been indicted so far) calling itself the Hutaree (Christian warrior) believe that the Bible teaches that Christians should wage violent war against the Antichrist, Jews, and Muslims. They are said to have been plotting a war against the U.S. government and to murder law enforcement officials. If true, they are a bunch of cultish nuts, because the Bible gives no support for such a thing. The Lord Jesus Christ said that He has no army in this present world, and the apostles were men of peace who went forth and preached the gospel to every creature. Pastor Mitchell comments on the way this event has been reported in the mainstream media: “I have twice heard on CBS radio today that a ‘Christian fundamentalist militia group’ that gets their ideas of violence ‘from the Bible’ has been busted up by federal agents who are accusing them of seeking to kill policemen. I’m wondering why I haven’t heard a single political leader say something like: ‘Christianity is a beautiful religion. Please don’t think that these would-be murderers represent Christianity. They have perverted and hi-jacked a wonderful way of faith. Please don’t lash out at Christians…’ I’m also wondering why I have never heard a CBS newsperson, when reporting on an attack by an Islamo-fascist, say something like, ‘They base their violence on passages from the Koran.’ If these people were plotting to kill policemen then they need to be stopped and I’ll be among the first to condemn their ideas and plans. However, I find it interesting that the media has no problem claiming them as Christians while continually seeking to downplay the religious beliefs of Islamo-fascists who have killed only-God-knows-how-many in the name of their god, Allah, and his prophet Muhammed.”
BRIAN MCLAREN PROPOSES 12 STEP PROGRAMS TO DEPROGRAM FUNDAMENTALISTS (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – In his book A New Kind of Christianity, emerging church leader Brian McLaren proposes 12 Step programs to “deprogram” Biblical fundamentalists from their old way of thinking. “Even for those of us on this quest, breaking out of centuries-old habits won’t be easy. … No wonder those of us who want and need to change our approach may need to form twelve-step groups to deprogram our thinking” (pp. 85, 86). He uses the genteel pronouns “us” and “our,” but McLaren is doubtless thinking of die-hards who take the Bible seriously and interpret it literally and are opposed to his “new reformation” agenda toward a church that is “less rigid.” He has targeted the children and grandchildren of fundamentalists. In other books, McLaren likens fundamentalists to Pharisees. He says, “the exclusive hell-oriented gospel is not the way forward” (A Generous Orthodoxy, p. 120, f. 48). He thinks salvation might be a process rather than an event (p. 229) and says that the practice of “accepting Jesus as their personal Savior” is not getting “the gospel right” (“The Emergent Mystique,” Christianity Today, Nov. 2004). He calls the literal, imminent return of Christ “pop-Evangelical eschatology” (A Generous Orthodoxy, p. 267). He says that we cannot “prognosticate the eternal destinies of anyone else” and that pagan religions are “not the enemy of the gospel” (pp. 92, 63). He rejects the substitutionary atonement of Christ, the infallibility of the Bible, and the eternal judgment of hell. These are the types of “centuries-old habits” that McLaren wants Christians to break out of through psychology and group therapy, but his emerging Christianity was prophesied in Scripture 2,000 years ago, and wise men will not be deceived. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
LIQUOR A DESTRUCTIVE INFLUENCE IN RUSSIAN SOCIETY (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – Vodka consumption in Russia is an epidemic. The average Russian drinks from 15 to 18 liters of hard liquor annually, which reduces the average life expectancy by a decade. For Russian men, the life expectancy is just 61.8 years. Various initiatives have been launched to reduce alcoholic consumption in Russia, but they “have proved unpopular among the Russian population” (“Vodka Drinking Is Top Killer,” BreitBart.com, March 23, 2010). What they need is the preaching of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Those who receive Christ have the indwelling Holy Spirit to resist the sins of the flesh, and those who believe the Bible know that “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1). The Emerging Church loves to drink. They ought to forget about corrupting the children of today’s fundamentalists and move to Russia and enjoy themselves, instead.
NEW AVIAN SPEED CHAMPION (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is from Creation Moments, http://www.creationmoments.com/radio/transcript.php?t=2889: “A peregrine falcon diving toward its prey reaches a relative speed of 200 body-lengths per second. This is close to the 207 body-lengths that the space shuttle travels as it enters our atmosphere. Thus, the peregrine falcon was thought to easily be the fastest dare-devil bird on Earth. Scientists have now discovered that a little pink male hummingbird called Anna’s Hummingbird is the real Top Gun among the birds. As part of its mating ritual, a male hummingbird will try to impress a female with his speed and acrobatics. First, the male will fly up to about 90 feet above the ground. Then, he begins a power dive. As he nears the female, he pulls up, ascending again. During that near-miss pull-up he experiences more than nine times the force of gravity. His relative speed during descent is 385 body-lengths per second. That’s almost twice the peregrine falcon’s relative speed, it’s faster than the space shuttle entering the Earth’s atmosphere and is more than twice the relative speed of a jet fighter running with afterburners! The wonders of God’s creation are still being discovered, and Creation Moments still loves to make them known to our listeners. But God’s greatest wonder is His love for us though His Son, Jesus Christ. We are thankful that this wonder is revealed to us in the Bible.”
SCIENTISTS FIND NATURALISTIC EXPLANATION FOR BIBLICAL PLAGUES (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – Like clockwork, one of God’s enemies in the mainstream media uses Christmas and Easter to trot out an attack on the Bible. This time National Geographic is the culprit with an Easter broadcast giving “compelling evidence that offers new explanations for the Biblical plagues.” Climatologists who have been studying stalagmites in Egyptian caves and other ancient weather-related events think they have figured out the real scenario. A drought produced a sort of “red tide” to the River Nile. The same bacterium that brought this phenomenon produced an abundance of frogs, which then resulted in an increase in flies and lice. That resulted in diseased livestock and boils. Then a volcano eruption brought hail, locusts, and darkness. Finally a fungus that poisoned the grain supplies killed the first born males. Why, just them, you ask? Because “male first born would have had first pickings and so been first to fall victim.” There you have it. National Geographic’s “scientific” take on the book of Exodus. And if you believe it, you have far more blind faith in pseudo-science than it takes to believe God’s holy Word. “And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go” (Exodus 3:20).
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).