December 30, 2007.

The Weekly Church News Notes is designed for use in churches.
*
ITALIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND EVIDENCE THAT DECEMBER 25 CHRISTMAS TIED TO
PAGANISM *

The following is excerpted from an Associated Press article "First
December 25 Xmas Tied to Pagan Shrine," dated Dec. 22, 2007: "The church
where the tradition of celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25 may have begun
was built near a pagan shrine as part of an effort to spread
Christianity, a leading Italian scholar says. Italian archaeologists
last month unveiled an underground grotto that they believe ancient
Romans revered as the place where a wolf nursed Rome's legendary founder
Romulus and his twin brother Remus. A few feet from the grotto, or
'Lupercale,' the Emperor Constantine built the Basilica of St.
Anastasia, where some believe Christmas was first celebrated on Dec. 25.
... In 325, Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea, which fixed the
dates of important Christian festivals. It opted to mark Christmas, then
celebrated at varying dates, on Dec. 25 to coincide with the Roman
festival celebrating the birth of the sun god, Andrea Carandini, a
professor of archaeology at Rome's La Sapienza University, told
reporters Friday. The Basilica of St. Anastasia was built as soon as a
year after the Nicaean Council. It probably was where Christmas was
first marked on Dec. 25, part of broader efforts to link pagan practices
to Christian celebrations in the early days of the new religion,
Carandini said. 'The church was built to Christianize these pagan places
of worship,' he said. 'It was normal to put a church near these places
to try to save them.'" CONCLUDING NOTE : I have visited Rome three times
and on each occasion I have been more strongly impressed by the fact
that Roman Catholicism is Christianized paganism.
 The Protestants kept too many of Rome's practices, and Baptists have
adopted too many things from the Protestants. If someone wants to
meditate on Jesus' birth at this time of the year, that is their
business as far as I am concerned, but we must not deceive ourselves by
thinking that Christmas is a biblical institution. It has far more to do
with Romanism and paganism than biblicism. One thing wise Christians can
do with Christmas is use it as an evangelistic opportunity. It is a
great opportunity to explain who Jesus is and why He came.

*LIFE'S SHORT, HAVE FUN *

"Life's Short, Have Fun" is the theme of a sermon series at Element
Church, Chesterfield, Missouri. It is described like this: "There are
some who say living for God is boring. 'Did you know that God is the
creator of fun? Living for God can be the most fulfilling, satisfying
kind of fun that you'll experience (with no side effects the next day).
Sure, life can be challenging, but God has the ultimate plan of fun for
your life if you'll just take the time to discover it." My friends,
though there are great blessings in the Christian life, there is no
emphasis upon "fun" in the Bible. The emphasis is upon repentance,
faith, obedience, the fear of God, surrender, self-denial, spiritual
vigilance, and spotless separation from the world. Sadly, those who are
crying for liberty and fun today are described in 2 Timothy 4:3-4. They
want a new kind of "fun" Christianity and they search out preachers that
will preach a non-judgment message and that will encourage them in their
idolatry of "fun" and their yearnings for carnal "liberty." The only
time they turn really judgmental is when someone tries to expose their
error. "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."

*HEAD OF ANGLICAN CHURCH SAYS VIRGIN BIRTH NOT NECESSARY TO CHRISTIAN
FAITH *

 Speaking on BBC Radio Five, Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury,
said that although he "believes" in the virgin birth of Christ he
advised that new Christians need not fear that they had to leap over the
"hurdle" of belief in the Virgin Birth before they could be "signed up"
("It's All a Christmas Tall Story," The Times, Dec. 20, 2007). In fact,
it is difficult to know in what sense Williams himself "believes" in the
virgin birth, because The Times reported: "He hinted that decades ago he
was not 'too fussed' with the literal truth of the doctrine of the
Virgin Birth. But as time went on, he developed a 'deeper sense' of what
the Virgin Birth was all about." Theological liberals have this amazing
way of believing that biblical statements are true even when they
(allegedly) aren't historical facts. It is an abuse of language, of
course, but it is part of the deception of heresy. Anyway, it is certain
that the Archbishop claims that belief in the virgin birth is not a
necessary part of the Christian faith, and that is a gross error. If
Jesus was not literally virgin born He was a mere sinner just like the
rest of us, and he was not therefore the eternal Son of God, and he
could not have made atonement for our sin by his sacrifice. Further, if
Christ was not virgin born the Bible is a lie. The virgin birth of
Christ is at the very heart of the biblical Christian faith, and it is
no "hurdle" to those who believe in Almighty God. If one believes that
Genesis 1 is true, then Matthew 1 follows easily. "Now the birth of
Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to
Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy
Ghost" (Matthew 1:18).

*SECRET DOCUMENT REVEALS CHINESE GOVERNMENT'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST
UNREGISTERED CHURCHES *

 The following is excerpted from a report by the Christian Aid
Association dated November 13, 2007: "CAA recently received a secret
document from a reliable government source showing the Chinese
government has been launching a nationwide campaign against unregistered
Christian churches since July of this year. The 'confidential' (jimi)
document was issued on July 24, 2007, by Duodao District Committee
Office of Jingmen Municipality of the Communist Party of China, Hubei
province. ... The document ... was issued to all township and
neighborhood Party committees, all people's governments, neighborhood
offices, and relevant work units. ... Though this document was issued in
a local level, it does reveal that the central government has directed a
national campaign specifically against unregistered Christian House
churches. ... By urging the government-sanctioned patriotic Christian
organizations to work closely with the public security agents, the aim
of the campaign is to establish 'a socialized mechanism of management of
religious affairs.' ... for unauthorized churches that were found
preaching 'heresies, religious fanaticism, feudal superstition, or harm
the physical and mental health of the people, and violate the laws of
the state,' the public security agencies are urged to 'resolutely crack
down on them and abolish them on the basis of sufficient evidence.' ...
Finally the whole campaign was asked to be carried out in super secrecy.
... 'This campaign is another clear example of absolute violation of the
relevant international human rights covenants and China's own
Constitution on protection of citizen's religious freedom,' said Bob Fu,
'We urge the Chinese government to stop this kind of illegal secret
practice if China intends to be a true respected responsible stakeholder
in the international community.'" CONCLUDING NOTE : In 2005 evangelist
Luis Palau said Chinese churches should register with the government in
order to "receive greater freedom and blessings from the government"
("Luis Palau Says Chinese Churches Should Register," Christian Post,
Nov. 21, 2005).  He said the Christian "faith should not be used as a
pretense to defy the law" and "believers should live in the open." In
fact, the Bible says that if there is a conflict between man's law and
God's, we must obey God, and the Chinese government puts severe
restrictions upon registered churches and does not allow them to freely
fulfill Christ's Great Commission by preaching the gospel to every
person and nation and thoroughly discipling those that believe (Matthew
28:18-20; Mark 16:15). Palau said, "In the past, pastors have been
restricted and arrested. Today, you don't get arrested unless you break
the law." The callous ignorance of that statement is shocking. Palau
needs to apologize to the courageous believers in China who refuse to
bow the knee to Caesar. He visited there briefly and saw no persecution;
he should rather live there for a few years and spend time with the
persecuted brethren, or at least those knowledgeable of them, before
opening his mouth on such an important issue. "Then Peter and the other
apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts
5:29).

*CALVINISM ON RISE IN SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION *

A new study shows that Calvinism is on the rise in the Southern Baptist
Convention and is especially prominent among recent seminary graduates.
Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research, says that nearly 30% of recent
graduates now serving as pastors are Calvinists ("Calvinism on the
Rise," Christian Post, Nov. 29, 2007). Roughly 10% of SBC pastors at
large define themselves as Calvinists, but that includes only those who
hold to all five points of TULIP theology and not those who hold to
sovereign or unconditional election but not necessarily to all other
points of Calvinism. LifeWay Research limits their surveys to a narrow
definition of Calvinism, and I suspect it might not want to report the
true influence of Calvinism in the convention. A chief culprit in the
growth of Calvinism is literature. The writings of men such as John
Piper and John MacArthur are popular among fundamentalists. The writings
of the Puritans and of Charles Spurgeon, who, by his own testimony, was
deeply influenced by the Puritans, also contribute to the growth of
Calvinism. I admire a great many things about Spurgeon and the Puritans,
and about many modern-day Calvinists, as well, but I vehemently disagree
with Reformed theology regardless of who teaches it and how much I might
agree with them on other matters. I must make an issue of it, because
they make an issue of it! I reject the popular Quick Prayerism doctrine
just as vehemently, and I have no doubt that the unscripturalness of
this misguided evangelistic program and the doctrinal shallowness of
many independent Baptist churches and schools has caused some to fall
into the arms of Calvinism and its more intellectual approach. Having
studied the Bible earnestly and prayerfully for 34 years and having
studied both sides of this issue, I am convinced that neither Calvinism
nor Quick Prayerism is Scriptural. I have no ill will toward those who
differ, and I thank the Lord for every good thing in them; but here I
must stand, and I believe it is an issue worth standing for.

*A NEW BREED OF SHEEPDOGS *

The following is by Buddy Smith, Malanda, Queensland
<smile...@bigpond.net.au> -- The old breed is almost gone. Border
collies, Kelpies, Blue Heelers, and "Bitsers" (bits of this and bits of
that) are seldom seen among the sheep any more. Instead of Old Blue
guarding the flock, we see a new breed that is part poodle and part
Basenji. Basenji can't bark, but they can yodel and howl. Isaiah 56:9-12
is the only text in the Bible on sheepdogs. It describes "dumb dogs
(that) cannot bark, sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber... greedy
dogs which can never have enough, that cannot understand, they all look
to their own way, every one for his gain." A better description of
toothless, spineless, voiceless shepherds of God's flock could hardly be
found. We hear from them no warning growl to alert the flock of
approaching apostasy. We hear no bark of authority from the pulpit. We
see in them no fierce defenders of the lambs. Gone are the fangs, and
the lightning attacks on ravening lions and wolves in sheep's clothing.
How long has it been since we saw a pastor with backbone and grit who
was set for the defence of the gospel? We might as well admit it; most
of them have been pensioned off and replaced by a poodle/Basenji cross.
They can't bark, but they can put on a good show. They go to the
hairdresser to be permed and perfumed, petted and pampered. They have
been trained how to pirouette and beg and roll over and play dead. But
barking is no longer part of the course. Christianity Today recently
printed an article on the "Attack Dogs of Christendom." The article was
supposed to be an expose' of the good men who still know how to bark.
When I read it I thought I heard a "basenjipoodle" yelp because of a
well aimed stone. Is it possible that Old Blue nipped a lapdog in the
pocketbook? Or wakened it from its nap? Did someone rebuke a cute and
cuddly clergyperson for welcoming a unitarian wolf into his flock? Did
Fido eat Fifi's beefsteak? It might pay, the next time you hear one of
the Pope's lapdogs howl to ask why? If we listen to Christian radio
stations and TV broadcasts, we will soon hear the yodel of a
"basenjipoodle." It is a whiny sound that appeals to the megachurch
crowd, and fits right in with the beat of CCM. But it has no resemblance
whatsoever to the songs of the redeemed. It isn't easy to find an old
dog who still knows how to bark, but there are still a few around. If
you come across one, hold on to him. They know how to obey the Good
Shepherd, and will die for the sheep in order to protect them. Just like
their Master.

CONCLUSION: Friends in Christ, do not be discouraged by any of this. 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. These things remind us
that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the coming of
the Lord. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for
Christ day by day? "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).