WEEKLY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
Pastor Dale Morgan
August 19, 2007.
The Weekly Church News Notes is designed for use in churches.
*LUTHERANS VOTE NOT TO DISCIPLINE HOMOSEXUAL PASTORS*
The annual assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) passed a resolution urging bishops to refrain from disciplining
pastors who are in "faithful committed same-gender relationships"
(Reuters, August 11, 2007). The resolution, which was made by Chicago's
Bishop Paul Landahl and was passed by a margin of 538-431, is contrary
to the denomination's own laws, which forbid practicing homosexuals to
hold the office of a pastor. In typical liberal doublespeak, ELCA
Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson said, "I interpret that as a way to reflect
this journey of conversation, discussion, decision, seeking to be
faithful to the authority of Scripture, the interpretation of our
confession and mindful of the very context in which we are engaged in
God's mission" ("Lutherans Ask Bishops to Keep Gay Clergy," Chicago
Tribune, Aug. 12). He did not explain how it is possible to be faithful
to Scripture and to the denomination's confession by ignoring them or
how it is possible to engage in God's mission while disobeying His Word.
The ELCA, with a reputed 4.8 million members, is the largest Lutheran
denomination in America. "For when they speak great swelling words of
vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much
wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of
corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in
bondage" (2 Peter 2:18-19).
*MANY OLDER AMERICANS BELIEVE IN REINCARNATION *
According to a new survey 23% of Americans over 50 years old believe in
reincarnation. The study, which was funded by the American Association
of Retired Persons (AARP), also found that only 17% of older Americans
believe that those who do not trust in Jesus Christ will go to hell
("Most of America's Baby Boomers and Senior Citizens Believe in an
Afterlife," Christian Post, Aug. 7, 2007). While almost 90% said they
believe in heaven, half of these think heaven is merely a "state of
being." America's root problem is the apostasy of her churches.
*
FINE AGAINST STREET PREACHER UPHELD IN NORWAY*
A $1,500 fine that was levied against street preacher Petar Keseljevic
in Oslo, Norway, in June, has been upheld by an appeals court.
Keseljevic was preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ on June 30 when he
was arrested and given the heavy fine. Keseljevic said, "In these last
days it is important that someone takes a stand and do what the message
is meant for, share it" ("Preaching in Public Gets Minister Fined,"
WorldNetDaily, Aug. 10, 2007). The International Human Rights Group
(IHRG), based in Rome, Georgia, is assisting Keseljevic and plans to
appeal the conviction to the European Court of Human Rights. Joel
Thornton, president of the IHRG, said this case is not just a dispute
between a street preacher and a police officer. "It is about the right
of a Christian to share his faith in public without the fear of arrest.
It is about stopping the implementation of a police state where citizens
only have the rights granted to them by the local police department."
*WAKE FOREST DIVINITY SCHOOL PROFESSOR WARNS ABOUT NARROW MINDED
CHRISTIANS *
Charles Kimball, a professor at Wake Forest University Divinity School
in North Carolina, warned recently that religion is evil and dangerous
when it is "narrow" and refuses to appreciate different views. Speaking
at a Community Prayer Breakfast at Harborside Event Center in Fort
Myers, Florida, he also said that Christians and Muslims are "all
talking about the same God" ("Author Cites Need for Understanding," The
Berean Call, July 31, 2007). Wake Forest was founded in the first half
of the 19th century as a Baptist institution, but it has been
theologically liberal since the early 20th century. Under the presidency
of William Poteat (1905-1927) evolution began to be taught there and
since then the Baptist State Convention has supported the school's
"right to academic freedom." The convention continued to support the
school financially, even under the SBC's "conservative renaissance,"
until recently. Kimball spoke at the annual Cooperative Baptist
Fellowship convention in 2003 and said that Christians who say there is
only one way of salvation are potentially dangerous (Baptist Press, July
2, 2003). It is strange how that Liberals and New Evangelicals condemn
strict Biblicist preachers for "judgmentalism" but have no qualms about
judging strict Biblicist preachers in the severest manner.
*RETIRED NASA ENGINEER BELIEVES GENESIS ACCOUNT OF CREATION *
The following is excerpted from "Former NASA Engineer Touts
Creationism," Galveston Daily News, August 4, 2007: "Tom Henderson is
not much of a watchmaker. He shakes a small glass jar containing a tiny
metallic gear, a brass bezel, a scarred watch crystal and dozens of
other nearly microscopic, shiny objects. But, no watch. He vigorously
rattles the container again. Still, no watch. For Henderson, a retired
NASA engineer and creationist speaker, that is the point. No
watchmaker--no watch. He's carried the somewhat-out-of favor message of
special creation to nine foreign countries in the past several decades
because he is convinced that how we believe the world came to be it is
important. ... He has degrees in math, physics and science education and
worked at the Johnson Space Center for 37 years. ... Why should the
average person in the pew care? Henderson argues that societal decay,
theological erosion and moral bankruptcy will ensue if the evolutionary
model is embraced. 'The basis for all Christian doctrines is found in
the first 11 chapters of Genesis,' he said. 'If it is not true, then
what is our basis for morality?' He also said that the evidences he has
found for creationism could remove barriers to faith. 'For some people,
evolution is a barrier to the good news of Jesus. They feel if evolution
is true, Christianity can't be--and they are right,' he said. 'But if
evolution is a myth, then they can take that step to faith.' ... Now
retired from NASA, Henderson coordinates the Web site
www.creationsuperlibrary.com from his home, where he answers questions
from both believers, skeptics and the merely curious."
*CHINA'S MIND CONTROL *
The following is excerpted from "Former Office: China's Perception
Management Agenda Controls All Media," WorldTribune.com, August 10,
2007: "China's government controls virtually all media outlets to
exercise 'mind control' and manipulate public opinion, according to
testimony by a former state propagandist at a hearing of the U.S-China
Economic Security Review Commission last week. ... China's information
control is carried out through controlling editors and reporters. All
Chinese media, including newspapers, periodicals, news agencies, TV
stations, broadcasting, the movie industry and art performances, are
categorized and managed as 'mouthpieces' of the ruling Communist Party.
'As part of China's political institutions, information and mind control
has been conducted for more than half century since the Chinese
Communist Party took power in 1949,' said Qinglian He, a former Chinese
government propagandist and now a senior researcher at Human Rights in
China. 'Mind control' includes 'indoctrination from kindergarten to
college through officially compiled textbooks, as all teachers are
categorized as educators of CCP.' These controls are exercised by the
Party's Central Department of Propaganda, she said. The government
disinformation themes include that the United States is a 'key enemy of
China,' that the U.S. intervenes and restrains China and backs
independence forces in Taiwan and Tibet, she said. ... 'Economic reform
and Opening Policy from 1979 have never shaken or changed mechanism of
the control,' she said. Information control is crucial to communist rule
and has been used by Beijing to 'to mislead Chinese population from
values of human rights and democracy, and from truth as well,' she said."
*SAUDI ARABIA FORBIDS BIBLES *
Saudi Arabia prohibits Christians from bringing Bibles into the
country. The Saudi Arabian Airlines website declares: "Items and
articles belonging to religions other than Islam are also prohibited.
These may include Bibles, crucifixes, statues, carvings, items with
religious symbols such as the Star of David, and others" ("Traveling
Americans Threatened with Bible Confiscation," WorldNetDaily, August 9,
2007). Muslims demand the liberty to practice their religion in
non-Islamic nations, but they do not grant liberty to Christians in
their own nations.
*WARNING ABOUT HAROLD CAMPING *
The following is excerpted from The Berean Call, April 2007: "Harold
Camping is a confused man who is leading many astray. He owns and
controls everything that is said on Family Radio Network (40 + stations
and 100 + translators). His unbiblical teaching goes out in 23 languages
by short wave. Very little outside ministry is aired on his network. He
believes that the church replaced Israel and that the Church Age ended
in 1988; God is done with organized churches, we are to worship only in
our homes, listen to Family Radio, and follow Camping. In these
fellowships there is no authority except Camping's teachings, no
baptism, no breaking of bread. In 1992 he wrote and self-published
1994?, which predicted that the world would end September 6, 1994. When
that didn't happen, he decided .... that the date was right but the
interpretation wrong. Then, in 2002, Camping published The End of the
Church Age...and After. He says the Bible's meaning is progressively
revealed, and much that was previously unknown is now being revealed
through him. The 'end of the world' will now be 2011. So says his 2005
book titled Time Has an End: A Biblical History of the World, 11,013 BC
- 2011 AD. He's way off on the 'BC' also. His background is Dutch
Reformed and his Calvinism dominates the booklet aforementioned.
According to Camping, you can't know whether you are one of the elect
for whom Christ died; you can hope you are, but there is nothing one can
do about it. He says: 'God ... can save an elect individual at any
time... The only requirement is [to] be under the hearing of the Bible.
At the moment of salvation, God gives that individual spiritual ears and
a new eternal soul. Thus, a baby [as Calvin said] can be saved as
readily as a mature adult. ... Under the heading on page 17, 'What Must
I Do to Become Saved?' he responds: 'I cannot do anything ... I must
patiently wait upon the mercy of God. ... It is entirely possible that
I, too ... could be one of those who are chosen by God to become saved.'
He says that verses such as, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved,' don't tell the sinner how to get saved, because, 'When
God is speaking to unsaved people, He is speaking to spiritual corpses.'"
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)