WEEKLY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
Pastor Dale Morgan
July 22, 2007.
The Weekly Church News Notes is designed for use
in churches.
*
PSYCHOLOGISTS LEARN THAT INFANTS LIE *
Psychologists have finally
learned that children begin to lie in infancy and
that by two years old they are sophisticated
liars. A report in the London Telegraph, July 1,
2007, was entitled "Babies Not as Innocent as
They Pretend." It said: "Behavioural experts have
found that infants begin to lie from as young as
six months. Simple fibs help to train them for
more complex deceptions in later life. Until now,
psychologists had thought the developing brains
were not capable of the difficult art of lying
until four years old. Following studies of more
than 50 children and interviews with parents, Dr.
Vasudevi Reddy, of the University of Portsmouth's
psychology department, says she has identified
seven categories of deception used between six
months and three-years-old. Infants quickly
learnt that using tactics such as fake crying and
pretend laughing could win them attention. By
eight months, more difficult deceptions became
apparent, such as concealing forbidden activities
or trying to distract parents' attention."
Practically any Bible believing parent could have
informed Dr. Reddy about this and saved her the
trouble of this experiment! There is more sound
information on children and child training in the
little book of Proverbs than in all of the child
psychology books that have ever been written. For
example, it says, "Foolishness is bound up in the
heart of a child; But the rod of correction shall
drive it far from him" (Prov. 22:15). Thus the
Bible informs us that the child's nature is
corrupt because of man's fall, and that only
through correct discipline can the child be
raised in the fear of God. "The wicked are
estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon
as they be born, speaking lies" (Psalm 58:3).
This also reminds us that there is no true wisdom
apart from the fear of the Lord. "The fear of the
LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the
knowledge of the holy is understanding" (Proverbs
9:10).
*
MUSLIMS CLOSING CHURCHES IN WEST JAVA *
The following is from Strategy
Page, June 4, 2007: "In West Java, Islamic
terrorists have forcibly closed another Christian
church. Typically, a mob of Islamic militants
will invade a church, during services, and
desecrate the place, drive the worshipers out,
and attack any clergy, all the time shouting
Islamic slogans. When the police investigate,
none of the known Islamic militant groups will
take credit for the attack. In the last three
years, at least 30 Christian churches have been
forced to close in West Java."
*
CHURCH OF ENGLAND DOCUMENT SAYS CALLING GOD "HE"
CAN LEAD TO WIFE ABUSE *
New Church of England guidelines for bishops and priests on the
subject of domestic abuse warn that calling God
"He" or "Lord" encourages men to beat their
wives. The goofy guidelines, issued by the
Archbishops' Council, urge pastors to make sure
that sermons and hymns don't contain "uncritical
use of masculine imagery." The document, which is
fully endorsed by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan
Williams, says: "Domestic abuse is fundamentally
an abuse of power, and many conceptions of God
derived from the Bible and the Christian
tradition have portrayed divine power in
unhealthy and potentially oppressive ways"
("Outcry," Daily Mail, Oct. 3, 2006). To blame
God the Father and the Bible for man's sin is
feminism and apostasy run wild. "The foolishness
of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth
against the LORD" (Proverbs 19:3).
*CATHOLIC DIOCESE SETTLES CLERGY ABUSE CLAIMS FOR
$666 MILLION *
The Catholic Archdiocese of Los
Angeles, California, has agreed to settle
hundreds of claims of clergy sex abuse for a
payout of $666 MILLION. This brings the total payout for
sex abuse by the Roman Catholic Church in America
to over $2 billion. The Los Angeles Archdiocese
will not have to sell its property, valued at $6
billion, as the settlement will be made in cash,
part provided by the archdiocese and part by
insurance companies. Earlier this year the San
Diego diocese became the fourth one to file for
bankruptcy protection against the sex abuse
lawsuits. A conservative Catholic organization
documented this wretched business in the
fall/winter 2002 issue of the magazine Ad Majorem
Dei Gloriam, observing: "Š the overwhelming
majority of sexual abuse cases in the Catholic
Church--about 90%--involve homosexual priests
preying on teenage boys. The major media and the
U.S. culture at large want to deny or spin the
homosexual factor out of the scandal." We would
also comment that the judicial system in America
is nearly as corrupt as the child-abusing
Catholic priests. If a religious "minister" of
whatever brand is guilty of a heinous crime, he
should be held liable and should pay for his
crime, and if a fellow "clergyman" is found to
have contributed to the crime by trying to cover
it up, then he, too, should be made to pay. But
an entire group of churches should not be
bankrupted by greedy lawyers as the present
system unjustly allows. The American judicial
system is no longer about justice for those who
have been wronged; it is about money, which it
drains from every victim that falls into its
uncaring clutches.
*
LUTHERAN CHURCH PRACTICES "GODDESS ROSARY" *
The following is from The Berean
Call, July 17 2007: "On Wednesdays at 7 p.m.,
Ebenezer [Lutheran Church of San Francisco,
California] opens its sanctuary for the
'Christian Goddess Rosary.' The church says it
offers 'Goddess Rosary Beads' and that 'prayers
and suggested meditations will be on hand as well
as incense, candles and bells.' The church's web
site says, 'The Goddess rosary is grounded in
traditions of the Christian Church and the
proclamation of the gospel which is a vision of
release from bondage for a new creation.'
Herchurch.org offers a 'Hail Goddess' prayer by
feminist theologian Carol Christ, formerly of
Harvard Divinity School but now director of the
Ariadne Institute for Myth and Ritual in Greece.
The prayer goes: 'Hail Goddess full of grace.
Blessed are you and blessed are all the fruits of
your womb. For you are the MOTHER of us all. Hear
us now and in all our needs. O blessed be, O
blessed be. Amen.' Dalyn Cook of Ebenezer's
Goddess Rosary wrote: 'I felt that I had stepped
into a Presence, like a mother's warm embrace.
The attendees were few in number, yet there was a
sense of fullness in this welcoming space. I
inhaled deeply the earthy scent of the incense,
sending up delicate tendrils of smoke which
curled around the altar in a nimbus visible
against the warm rays of the evening sun
filtering through the stained-glass windows...'"
*FERTILITY GODDESS PROSTITUTION ALIVE IN INDIA *
Tens of thousands of girls in
India are forced to prostitute themselves as
slaves to the goddess Yellama, a practice that is
thousands of years old. Though it was outlawed
more than 50 years ago, the practice continues,
and there are an estimated 25,000 of these
goddess slaves in the state of Karnataka alone.
The following is excerpted from "Slaves to the
Goddess of Fertility," BBC News, June 8, 2007:
"When girls dedicated to Yellama reach puberty
they are forced to sacrifice their virginity to
an older man. What follows is a life of sexual
slavery, they become sanctified prostitutes. The
money devadasis earn goes straight to their
parents who often act as pimps for their
daughters. ... Once girls are dedicated the
course of their lives is decided. They can never
marry, never have a family life. ... Life here on
the dry, harsh Deccan plateau has always been
tough, especially for girls, who are often seen
as a burden for poor families, expensive to marry
off. Recent years have been marked by droughts
and crop failures. The goddess of fertility is
seen as a powerful force. Many believe that
giving girls to Yellama will bring good fortune
on a family. It also means they don't have to
save for a dowry, and the daughter becomes a
bread-winner. ... Women already dedicated cannot
be freed. The power of belief is still so strong
here that she will always be a devadasi,
enslaved."
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).