WEEKLY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
Pastor Dale Morgan
July 29, 2007,
The Weekly Church News Notes is designed for use in churches.
*
HOMOSEXUAL WINS DISCRIMINATION CLAIM AGAINST THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND *
In a landmark case, a homosexual
man has won a job discrimination claim against the Church of England.
After John Reaney was turned down for a youth worker's post in
Cardiff, Wales, he complained to the government that he was being
unlawfully discriminated against on the basis of his sexual
orientation contrary to a new law. The employment tribunal has agreed
and will next set the amount of monetary compensation that the Church
of England must pay. Homosexual activists rejoiced at the ruling. One
said that the "church must learn that denying people jobs on the
ground of their sexuality is no longer acceptable" ("Gay Christian
Wins Job Tribunal against Church of England," Daily Mail, July 18,
2007). Reaney had the backing of Stonewall, an influential homosexual
rights organization. This shows the danger of the Hate Crimes
legislation that is currently moving through the U.S. Congress.
Homosexual activists will not be content until they shut down every
church that opposes their agenda.
*
NUMBER OF ORDAINED WOMEN IN BAPTIST CHURCHES INCREASES *
According to a new report the number of ordained
women among Baptist churches in the United States has increased 20%
since 2005. There are now 607 women serving as pastors, co-pastors,
interim pastors, and church planters in the American Baptist
Convention, the Alliance of Baptists, the Cooperative Baptist
Fellowship, and other groups. This is according to a report entitled
"State of Women in Baptist Life" issued by Baptist Women in Ministry.
"But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the
man, but to be in silence" (1 Timothy 2:12).
*HEAD OF ANGLICAN CHURCH IN IRELAND SAYS DIVISION IS GREATER SIN THAN
HERESY *
Alan Harper, Archbishop of Armagh
and "Primate of All Ireland," recently said that "division is a
greater sin even than heresy" (Christian Post, July 24, 2007). This
idea is based on a popular but bogus interpretation of John 17 and a
heretical doctrine of the church. The Anglican Church today is more
akin to the harlot of Revelation 17 than to the biblical church of
Jesus Christ. In the high priestly prayer of John 17 Jesus was not
praying for the unity of professing Christians or of those in any one
denomination; He was praying for the supernatural unity of all born
again Christians, and that prayer was answered. Further, Christ was
praying for those who keep the truth (John 17:6, 8, 14, 17, 19). He
was praying for those who love and obey the Word of God and keep its
sound doctrine. This is certainly not a prayer that envisions the
Church of England with its multitudes of unregenerate members,
rampant sin, theological modernism, and loads of heresies.
*
NO PREACHING AT SOUTHERN GOSPEL FESTIVAL*
The annual three-day Songfest, in Jackson, Tennessee, which draws
thousands of southern gospel listeners, features 20 music groups and
a comedian but no preaching. Event sponsor Frank Arnold said, "There
is no preaching at Songfest. We just let the songs carry the message,
and people listen to it. And that's what keeps us going. ... The
majority of the artists are age 40 or younger, singing positive
music" ("Thousands to Hear Southern Gospel Music," Christian Post,
July 19, 2007). One of the hallmarks of the Contemporary Christian
Music philosophy is a rejection of biblical preaching that is
characterized by reproof and rebuke (2 Timothy 4:2), and this has
bled over into contemporary Southern gospel circles. It is music that
entertains rather than convicts, that creates a smile rather than
repentance. "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 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" (2 Timothy 4:2-3).
*CHINA EXPELLING MISSIONARIES
*
The following is excerpted from "China Sweeping Christians Out,"
WorldNetDaily, July 14: "More than 100 foreign Christians in China
have been accused of being involved in illegal activities and have
been expelled in just a 90-day period, the biggest assault on the
presence of Christianity in China since 1954, according to a new
report from the Voice of the Martyrs. Most of those who have been
expelled are from the United States, South Korea, Singapore, Canada,
Australia or Israel, and had been working in or visiting Zinjiang,
Beijing, Tibet and Shandong, according to the VOM report. A Christian
who had worked in Xinjiang for 10 years told a VOM source that more
than 60 foreign religious workers, many who had served people in the
area for more than 15 years, were expelled from Zinjiang alone. As
WND reported a week earlier, officials also are reporting an increase
in arrests of Chinese house-church pastors and leaders, who have been
accused of being 'suspects using evil cults to obstruct the
enforcement of the law.' VOM reported that the campaign against
Christians is called Typhoon No. 5, and 'is part of the Chinese
government's efforts to prevent foreign Christians from engaging in
mission activities before the Beijing Olympics in 2008.' ... 'This is
the largest expulsion of foreign missionaries since 1954 when the
Chinese Communist government expelled all foreign religious workers
after taking power in 1949,' reported a VOM source. 'At least five
different mission agencies and sources within the Chinese government
report that in February, the government launched a massive expulsion
campaign against foreign Christians. In spite of the public face of
religious freedom the Chinese government tries to convey through its
state run system, the arrests of Chinese Christians, and now the
expulsion of active Christian visitors is a demonstration of their
true nature,' said Tom White, executive director for Voice of the
Martyrs."*
MUSIC EXPERT DEBUNKS MYTH THAT WESLEYS USED DRINKING SONGS *
The following is excerpted from
the United Methodist News Service, August 13, 2002: "An oft-heard
myth about the Methodist tradition is that founders John and Charles
Wesley used drinking and tavern songs as the melodies for hymns. 'The
Wesleys did no such thing,' says Dean McIntyre, director of music
resources at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship in Nashville,
Tenn. 'Given their aesthetic and theological sense, it would (have
been) unthinkable for them to do so.' ... McIntyre decided to set the
record straight after returning from this summer's jurisdictional and
chapter convocations of the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music
and Worship Arts. At each event, someone referred to the 'long-held
and oft-repeated untruth that John and Charles Wesley made use of
tavern or drinking songs as tunes for their texts,' he says. He adds
that some people have used the myth as an excuse for importing
secular influences into worship. McIntyre says the legend began when
a seminary or music student became confused over the musical term
'bar tune' or 'bar form'--a medieval pattern for poetry consisting of
three or more stanzas--which became the pattern for songwriting.
Someone with no knowledge of medieval poetry heard 'bar form' in
connection with John Wesley, and the songs became tavern songs, he
says. ... 'In no hymn book or other publication of the Wesleys can
there be found any example of or encouragement to use drinking songs
to sing hymns,' he says. ... 'Rather, the issue is why Wesley did not
use them.' Noting that Wesley found drinking songs unacceptable, he
asks if worshippers today should use music from the local bar for
worship. 'If Wesley's reasoning for the Methodists of his time
remains valid for our own, then the answer is no.' He suggests that
those who 'justify' the use of secular culture and influences in
United Methodist worship by repeating the Wesley legend 'should be
called to account.'"
*
FARRAKHAN SAYS HE BELIEVES BOTH THE BIBLE AND THE QURAN *
Former Nation of Islam leader
Louis Farrakhan, speaking at a Catholic church in Chicago, said he
believes both the Bible and the Quran. Appearing at the St. Sabina
Catholic Church on May 25, Farrakhan preached from the Bible and
said: "I hate the division ... between people who believe in God. I
love the Bible, I love the Quran and I don't know how I can come in a
Christian church with a Christian pastor and not speak from the book
that Christians believe in, because I believe in it as well" ("Former
Nation of Islam Leader Speaks," Associated Press, May 28, 2007). In
fact, Farrakhan believes neither the Bible nor the Quran. Following
is an overview of his strange beliefs: "The Nation of Islam, which
has mosques or temples in 120 American cities, was founded in Detroit
by Wallace D. Fard in 1930. Farrakhan became its leader in 1975 upon
the death of Elijah Muhammad, the man followers believed to have been
the most recent 'messenger from Allah.' In the 1960s the movement
came to public attention through the conversion of the world
heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay (who consequently changed
his name to Muhammad Ali) and the assassination in Harlem of its
spokesman, Malcolm X. ... Farrakhan's speeches, published in a volume
titled Back Where We Belong, are an alarming mix of bogus
scholarship, black racism and Islamic fundamentalism. He teaches that
the white race was created six thousand years ago by a black
scientist called Yakub in order to test the mettle of the black race.
The white race won, and ever since then the black race has been in
bondage. The time has come, Farrakhan says, for blacks to escape from
captivity and become the master race again. The Jews, the World Bank
and the Club of Rome are among the enemies he singles out" (Steve
Turner, Hungry for Heaven, 1995 ed., pp. 199-202).
*
MARRIAGE IS THE MOTHER OF THE WORLD*
The following is from David Thomas's commentary on Proverbs, 1885,
quoting Jeremy Taylor: "Marriage has in it less of beauty, but more
of safety than the single life: it hath not more ease, but less
danger: it is more merry and more sad: it is fuller of sorrows and
fuller of joys: it lies under more burdens, but is supported by all
the strengths of love and charity: and those burdens are delightful.
Marriage is the mother of the world, and preserves kingdoms, and
fills cities and churches, and heaven itself. Celibacy, like the fly
in the heart of an apple, dwells in perpetual sweetness, but sits
alone and is confined and dies in singularity: but marriage, like the
useful bee, builds a house, and gathers sweetness from every flower,
and labours and unites into societies and republics, and sends out
colonies, and feeds the world with delicacies, and obeys their kings
and keeps order, and exercises many virtues, and promotes the
interest of mankind, and is that state of good to which God hath
designed the present constitution of the world."
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).
Pastor Dale Morgan
August 5, 2007
By: David Cloud [FBIS]
The Weekly Church News Notes is designed for use
in churches.
*THE SIMPSONS MOVIE'S POPULARITY DEMONSTRATES
AMERICA'S REBELLION AGAINST GOD *
The Simpsons Movie, a spinoff of the Simpsons sitcom, grossed
$72 million in its first weekend. The Simpsons
animated sitcom, the longest running sitcom in
U.S. television history, is scheduled to begin
its 19th season this fall. Time magazine has
named it the 20th century's best television
series, and in 2000 it was awarded a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame. The movie has been
promoted heavily by 7-Eleven and Burger King. The
Simpsons mocks the traditional family and
religion. Consider a few quotes from Homer, the
movie's star and the head of the Simpson family
clan: "If the Bible has taught us nothing else,
and it hasn't, it's that girls should stick to
girls sports, such as hot oil wrestling and foxy
boxing and such and such." "I'm not a bad guy! I
work hard, and I love my kids. So why should I
spend half my Sunday hearing about how I'm going
to Hell?" "I'm normally not a praying man, but if
you're up there, please save me Superman."
"Here's to alcohol, the cause of--and solution
to--all life's problems." "Son, when you
participate in sporting events, it's not whether
you win or lose: it's how drunk you get." The
Simpson's is not mere entertainment. It is a
reflection of America's rebellion against God.
The world is in open defiance to Almighty God,
but this defiance will end in eternal disaster.
It is described in Psalm 2:1-5 -- "Why do the
heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain
thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and
the rulers take counsel together, against the
LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us
break their bands asunder, and cast away their
cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in
derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his
wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure." God
will have the last laugh and the final derision.
*
POPE CALLS FOR END TO WARS *
Speaking in Lorenzago di Cardore, where he was on vacation,
Pope Benedict XVI renewed the call of his
predecessors to end wars ("Benedict XVI: Never
Again, War," Vatican Information Service, July
22, 2006). The call was first made by Pope
Benedict XV in August 1917 during World War I. He
spoke of establishing a "just and lasting peace"
on earth. Pope Paul VI called for the end of war
in his speech before the United Nations, and John
Paul II called for peace on earth in the
International Prayer for Peace which was founded
in 1986 in Assisi, Italy. The inaugural meeting
brought together representatives of 32 Christian
denominations and 11 non-Christian religions,
including Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Judaism, Muslim,
Animist, Shino, Zoroastrian, Bahai, and North
America Indians. The Dalai Lama was one of the
speakers. Animists from Africa prayed to the
Great Thumb and North American Indians prayed to
Mother Earth. In spite of the addition of chants
and bells and incense and smoke and fire, the
papal prayers have gone unanswered for the simple
reason that there will be no peace in this sinful
earth until the Prince of Peace comes. "But of
the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no
need that I write unto you. For yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a
thief in the night. For when they shall say,
Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh
upon them, as travail upon a woman with child;
and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are
not in darkness, that that day should overtake
you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light,
and the children of the day: we are not of the
night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not
sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be
sober" (1 Thess. 5:1-6).
*
GERMAN CHURCH HOSTS "EROTIC SERVICE" *
The church of the Carthusians in
Cologne, Germany, hosted an Erotic Church Service
earlier this year. The service, which was
attended by 400 people with 600 being turned away
for lack of space, featured a female dancer
dressed in a skin colored stocking. Above the
entrance of the church was the caption, "A warm
welcome to the Vineyard of Love," and wine and
rose leaves were strewn on the people from the
ceiling. The barefoot "vicar," Armin Beuscher,
announced that eroticism and lust are not taboo
areas and that "lust has to be lived out"
("Hundreds queue for Erotic Church Service," The
Times, June 12, 2007, from a report that appeared
on German television). The members of the
congregation were asked to massage one another on
the forehead and hands. In conclusion the vicar
said, "Praise God with your body, your lust and
tenderness." The service was organized under the
auspices of the German Protestant Kirchentag, one
of the largest Christian festivals in Europe. It
is affiliated with the Evangelical Church in
Germany, which is the Lutheran state church. The
Carthusians is a monastic order within the Roman
Catholic Church and was founded in the 11th
century. Their monasteries are called
Charterhouses.
*STUDY FINDS THAT MARIJUANA USE INCREASES RISK OF
PSYCHOSIS *
A massive study funded by the
British Health Department found that even
infrequent use of marijuana can increase the risk
of psychosis by 40 percent. The research was
published July 27 in the medical Journal The
Lancet. Dr. Stanely Zammit, one of the study's
authors, said, "The available evidence now
suggests that cannabis is not as harmless as many
people think" ("Even Infrequent Use of Marijuana
Increases Risk of Psychosis," FoxNews.com, July
27, 2007). Dr. Robin Murray of King's College
said: "We've reached the end of the road with
these kinds of studies. Experts are now agreed
on the connection between cannabis and psychoses.
What we need now is for 14-year-olds to know it."
Surveys in the Britain have shown that about 20%
of young adults use marijuana regularly. There is
no doubt that marijuana is a dangerous drug. I
used it heavily for about 3 years before I was
converted, beginning with my tour of military
duty in Vietnam, and it had a dramatic and
negative impact upon me.
*MORE COUNTRY MUSIC TRASH *
I have often warned about the spiritual and moral danger of
America's country music. It is as wicked as rock
& roll, pop, or rap, but it is often considered
safer because of its thin veneer of God and
country, and it is therefore not uncommon for
professing Christians, even those who claim to
take the Bible seriously, to listen to it. But it
has the same addictive and sensual back beat as
rock & roll (a back beat that the rock & rollers
themselves call "sexy") and the lyrics are just
as wicked. The themes of country music are
drinking, complaining, drinking, quitting your
job, drinking, quitting your marriage, drinking,
dancing, drinking, loneliness, drinking..... I
think you get the idea. Only the Lord knows the
true extent of the evil fruit of country music,
how many men and women have become drunks, how
many marriages broken, how many babies born out
of wedlock, how many fights, how many terrible
accidents caused by drinking and driving, how
many suicides, not to speak of the eternal
consequences. A new song by Brad Paisley
illustrates the moral danger of this music.
Entitled "Bigger Fish to Fry," it says: "I cuss,
And I smoke, I laugh at dirty jokes./ The minor
vices, man I know 'em well./ I've closed down
bars. I've lusted in my heart./ My exes think I
oughta burn in hell./ But the devil, he won't
notice when I die./ Yeah, don't you figure he's
got bigger fish to fry?/ Politicians taking pork
barrel bribes. Crooked CEOs are getting off with
no time. ... Yeah there's gonna be bonfire
burning, An everlasting barbecue/ But with all
the bad stuff going on, There ain't gonna be room
for me and you." This song foolishly claims that
only the worst sinners go to hell and that God
will overlook "the minor vices." Beware of
country music and its damnable philosophy that
you can have the world and Christ, too, and that
immorality and drinking and rebel-rousing are
things that God winks at. "But fornication, and
all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be
once named among you, as becometh saints; neither
filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting,
which are not convenient: but rather giving of
thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger,
nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an
idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of
Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with
vain words: for because of these things cometh
the wrath of God upon the children of
disobedience" (Ephesians. 5:3-6). Music is a
powerful thing, and it behooves God's people to
be exceedingly careful about the music in their
homes, cars, personal music players, and churches.
*CHURCH OF ENGLAND PREACHING HARRY POTTER'S
MESSAGE
*
The Church of England has
published a guide advising youth workers how to
use Harry Potter to discuss Christian themes
("Church Preparing to Preach Potter's Message,"
The Times, July 18, 2007). The guide, entitled
"Mixing It up with Harry Potter," was published
by Church House Publishing. John Pritchard, the
Bishop of Oxford, said, "There's nothing better
than a good story to make people think, and
there's plenty in the Harry Potter books to make
young people think about the choices they make in
their everyday lives and their place in the
world." The hero of the Harry Potter story is a
young wizard who uses alleged good magic to make
his way in the world and to overcome his enemies.
Biblically speaking, there is no such thing as
good magic or a good wizard, witch, or sorcerer.
All of these things are condemned in the
strongest terms. "There shall not be found among
you any one that maketh his son or his daughter
to pass through the fire, or that useth
divination, or an observer of times, or an
enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a
consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or
a necromancer. For all that do these things are
an abomination unto the LORD: and because of
these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive
them out from before thee" (Deut. 18:9-12). God
warns His people in the clearest terms, "Š have
no fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness, but rather reprove them" (Eph. 5:11),
and, "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and
the cup of devils" (1 Cor. 10:21).
*
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST HOSTS "BOSSY BINGO" *
The St. John's United Church of
Christ in Minier, Illinois, is hosting "Bossy
Bingo" for the community. The occasion is the
annual Corn Daze festival on August 4-5, 2007.
Following is the description from the church's
mail-out: "Bossy Bingo will be set up on the
north side of the park where a plot will be
divided into 400 squares. You choose the square
you think Bossy will pick. Bossy will be let
loose on the plat to do what cows do. If Bossy
chooses to land a pie in your square--you win.
The winner splits the pot 50/50 with the St.
John's Youth. In the past the winner's share has
been between two and six hundred dollars." The
church's Saturday evening service for August 4
features reading of poems and a violin special
but no Bible preaching.