.WEEKLY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
Pastor Dale Morgan
May 11, 2008
The Weekly Church News Notes is designed for use
in churches.
*IRAN'S LEADER CLAIMS THE IMAM MAHDI IS LEADING
HIM *
In a speech last month the
president of Iran said the mystical Twelfth Imam
or Imam Madhi is leading him in the direction of
the country. In a speech to theology students
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: "The Imam Mahdi is in
charge of the world and we see his hand directing
all the affairs of the country. We must solve
Iran's internal problems as quickly as possible.
Time is lacking. A movement has started for us to
occupy ourselves with our global
responsibilities, which are arriving with great
speed" ("Iran Clerics Rebuke Ahmadinejad,"
Breitbart.com, May 7, 2008). The Imam Mahdi is
expected to return to earth and establish Allah's
kingdom, and it is thought that Jesus will
accompany him. The Imam Mahdi, believed by
Shiites to have disappeared as a child in A.D.
941, is supposed to return and reign on earth for
seven years before bringing about a final
judgment and the end of the world ("Jesus, Mahdi
Both Coming, Says Iran's Ahmadinejad,"
WorldNetDaily, Dec. 19, 2006). In 2007
Ahmadinejad said that the Imam Mahdi will bring
peace and justice and establish a perfect "one
global government" ("Police Storm Home,"
WorldNetDaily, June 23, 2007). According to the
Bible, the next event on God's calendar is the
Catching Away of church age saints (1
Thessalonians 4:13 - 5:5), followed by the
appearance of the Antichrist as a man of peace
and a prophet that will accompany him (2 Thess.
2:3-12; Revelation 13). Doubtless one or the
other of these men will be accepted by the Jews
as their Messiah and by apostate Christians as
theirs and by the Muslims as theirs. Mankind will
rejoice that the Middle East problem has been
solved and the long-awaited "Age of Aquarius" has
arrived, but the peace party will be short-lived
and the Antichrist will show his true colors,
setting himself up in Israel's temple as god and
requiring the world's worship at the point of
death.
*DELIRIUM LEADS ANOTHER PHONEY CHARISMATIC "REVIVAL" *
Some charismatics are calling the current Delirious frenzy at
Ignite Church in Lakeland, Florida, a "revival"
in the lineage of the "Toronto Blessing" and the
"Pensacola Outpouring." The meetings, which are
led by Todd Bentley, have been running nightly
since April 2. The Ignite Church meets in a
reconditioned building supply store and is
pastored by Steve Strader, son of Karl Strader,
former pastor of the defunct Carpenter's Home
Church in Lakeland. It was at Carpenter's Home in
May 1993 that another "revival" broke out under
the ministry of Rodney Howard-Browne, who calls
himself the "Holy Ghost Bartender." People
laughed hysterically and staggered around like
drunks and charismatics travelled from far and
wide to participate in this nonsense. The church
grew phenomenally for awhile, but eventually it
went belly up. Another of Strader's sons, Daniel,
was found guilty of swindling investors,
including church members, out of their money.
Daniel went to prison, and in 2005 Carpenter's
Home Church sold its property. Todd Bentley wears
metal studs in his ears and eyebrow and is
covered with tattoos. Spirit slaying and
"healings" are a big part of his ministry. He
lays his hands on people's heads and yells,
"Bam!" and they often fall down. After an elderly
woman fell at one Lakeland meeting he told the
crowd, "She doesn't know why she fell down," but
the women laughed and said, "Because you pushed
me!" After he prayed for her three more times,
she said she could hear "better" (Charisma
Online, April 23, 2008). This is not the
miraculous healing we see in the ministry of
Jesus Christ and the apostles. Charismatic
prophets are prophesying that this is the
beginning of a national revival and that entire
cities will be "shut down." The
Pentecostal-Charismatic movement has been
lurching from one strange unscriptural thing to
another for more than 100 years. An important
milepost was passed in the 1960s when the
Pentecostal experiences spread through the
denominations and Roman Catholics were accepted
as Spirit-filled brethren regardless of whether
they pray to Mary and love the Mass and exalt the
Pope. With each passing decade the movement
becomes more unscriptural and less concerned
about Bible truth. Beware!
*
QUAKER PAGANS
*
The following is an excerpt from
"Are the Quakers Going Pagan," Religion News
Service, April 28, 2008: "[There is] a small but
growing movement of Quakers who also identify as
pagan--a trend that may or may not exist in other
Christian traditions, but certainly not in such
an organized, public fashion. Across the board,
the number of Quakers is dwindling, to roughly
100,000 in the U.S. But if Quakerism continues to
catch on among the estimated half million pagans
in the U.S., those who embrace both traditions
predict that could reverse the Quakers' downward
trend. ... In the last decade, this dual faith
has sprung up around the country, including
Quaker-pagan gatherings, seminars, an extensive
presence on the Internet, and even explicitly
Quaker-pagan congregations. There may be only
several hundred Quaker pagans, but among American
Quakers, their presence can be distinctly felt.
'It seems that now, in most liberal meetings at
least, you can always find a few members that
identify as pagan,' says Stasa Morgan-Appel of
Ann Arbor, Mich., who has facilitated a Quaker
pagan interest group since 2002.
Quakers--officially the Religious Society of
Friends--are divided into four main branches,
three of which are explicitly Christian. Pagans
have been generally joining the liberal fourth
branch, the Friends General Conference, which
counts 30,000 members in North America, including
Morgan-Appel. Liberal Quakers are less tied to
the Christianity and instead hold established
Quaker practices, such as unprogrammed
pastor-less meetings, as the basis of their
faith. Because of that flexibility, many liberal
Quakers no longer see Jesus as divine, and some
don't believe in God at all. Paganism generally
refers to nature-based religions that pre-date
both Christianity and Judaism. Think witches,
druids, pentacles, Wicca. ... people adoring
goddess and nature..."
*
BEWARE OF THE SHACK*
The following
is excerpted from "The Shack: Father-goddess
Rising," Lighthouse Trails Research, April 23,
2008: "Many are crediting The Shack, the novel by
William P. Young, with revolutionizing their
faith. With themes of overcoming loss, working
through anger, and restored relationship between
man and God, Young's novel has excited many
within the Body of Christ. Young has appeared on
CBN, and has garnered fans across the country.
The Shack, continues to sell briskly. Yet, in the
midst of such enthusiasm, does The Shack glorify
Jesus Christ--or contradict the Bible with a
false image of the Lord our God? The novel's main
character, Mack Philips, has lost his daughter.
She has been murdered, her bloodied dress found
in an isolated shack. Four years later Mack
receives an invitation from God to spend time
with the Trinity in the very shack where the
dress was found. Nowhere in the Bible do Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit simultaneously assume
physical forms on earth. The Shack, however,
portrays Jesus as a carpenter, the Holy Spirit as
an Asian woman, and God the Father as a large
black woman named ... Papa. ... At one point the
book's version of Jesus praises the fictional
Father-goddess, exclaiming, 'Isn't she great?' In
the entire Bible there is not one single
reference to Father, Son, or Holy Spirit--or to
any of His angels--as female. ... There is an
apparent dismissal of the importance of
Scripture, which is reflected in slippery
theology found throughout the novel. Young
writes, 'Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a
book. Especially an expensive one bound in
leather with gilt edges, or was that guilt
edges?' ... The Father-goddess of The Shack, it
seems, is never about guilt or punishment. She
benignly informs Mack, 'I don't need to punish
people for sin.' ... An excellent writer, Young
plays to emotion and touches on legitimate hurts
and concerns. The author excels at imbuing his
deity with attributes of love, forgiveness, and
mercy, and this is what many people have
responded to. Increasingly in novels and movies
the Lord is blithely used as one of the
characters and given words from the mouth of man."
*
DIDN'T GOD CREATE ALL MUSIC? *
Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California says: "God
loves all kinds of music because he invented it
all--fast and slow, loud and soft, old and new.
You probably don't like it all, but God does!"
(Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, p. 65). ANSWER:
God did create music and He created man with a
capability to create and enjoy it, but the world
is no longer in the pristine spiritual condition
it was when God made it. Man has sinned against
God and has created a world in rebellion against
Him and against His laws. The devil is called
"the god of this world" (2 Cor. 11:4) and "the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that
now worketh in the children of disobedience"
(Ephesians 2:2). Music is one of the powerful
influences in modern society, and there can be no
doubt that the god of this world is intimately
involved in helping wicked men create music that
will satisfy their illicit lusts. The apostle
John taught, "And we know that we are of God, and
the whole world lieth in wickedness" (1 Jn.
5:19). If the whole world lieth in wickedness,
what does that say about the world's music?
Obviously man's wickedness has corrupted the
field of music as it has every other thing.
*PSALM 1 AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS *
The following is excerpted from Training Your Children to Turn
out Right, an excellent book by David Sorenson
(Northstar Ministries, 1820 W. Morgan St.,
Duluth, MN 55811, 218-726-0209,
www.northstarministries.com,
dhs.no...@charter.net) -- "I know of no
greater passage of Scripture dealing with the
matter of Christian education than Psalm 1. There
probably is no institution in this country that
more embodies the counsel of the ungodly, the way
of sinners, and the seat of the scornful than the
national public education establishment. With its
systemic teaching of evolution which mocks
creation, it certainly occupies the seat of the
scornful. With its institutionalized sex
education (that is little more than sex
encouragement), it certainly is in the way of
sinners. As it tacitly ignores the things of God
under the guise of separation of church and
state, it certainly is the counsel of the
ungodly. The outcome of Psalm 1:1 is to get our
families out of the world and to get the world
out of our families" (Training Your Children to
Turn Out Right, 1995, pp. 92, 93).
*BEWARE OF MODERN TEXTUAL CRITICISM *
The modern Bible versions are built upon the foundation of
modern textual criticism, which is the
application of modern theories to the recovery of
ancient documents. With very few exceptions, the
fathers and architects of this "science falsely
so called" have denied the infallible inspiration
of the very Scripture they handle. That was true
in the 19th and 20th centuries and it is still
true today. The editors of the United Bible
Societies Greek New Testament fall into this
category, including Bruce Metzger, Matthew Black,
Allen Wikgren, Kurt Aland, Barbara Aland,
Johannes Karavidopoulos, and Roman Catholic
Cardinal Carlo Martini. According to Metzger, for
example, Jonah is a "popular legend" and Job is
"an ancient folktale" (Metzger and May, The New
Oxford Annotated Bible). The UBS Greek New
Testament, in turn, is built upon the foundation
laid by men such as Eberhard Nestle (1851-1913),
editor of an influential Greek New Testament of
1898, author of Introduction to the Textual
Criticism of the Greek New Testament (1901), and
co-editor with Kurt Aland of the Novum
Testamentum Graece. Nestle unhesitatingly denied
biblical infallibility. In his Introduction to
textual criticism he claimed that it is possible
that the authors of the New Testament did not
write what they "thought or intended to be read"
(p. 23). This is a complete and bold denial of
divine inspiration. Like most other fathers of
modern textual criticism, Nestle believed the
Bible was to be treated like any other book.
"Šthe task and the method [of textual criticism]
are the same for all literary productions."
Beware of modern textual criticism.
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).