November 18, 2007

The Weekly Church News Notes is designed for use
in churches.

*STUDYING THE BIBLE WITH THE BEATLES AND THE
ROLLING STONES
*
Standard Publishing has a series of Bible studies entitled
"Tuning into God" that are based on songs from
the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and the Eagles.
The studies give the background to the raunchy
old songs and even encourage the Bible class to
play them. This is like digging in a garbage can
to learn nutrition. The blessed man refuses to
have anything to do with the wicked things of the
world, but there is no end to the idiocy that the
contemporary crowd will indulge in their
unabashed love for rock & roll. "Blessed is the
man that walketh not in the counsel of the
ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor
sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his
delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law
doth he meditate day and night" (Psalm 1:1). "And
have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness, but rather reprove them" (Ephesians
5:11). "Wherefore come out from among them, and
be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing; and I will receive you" (2
Corinthians 6:17).

*THE PAGAN-CATHOLIC LABYRINTH GROWING IN
POPULARITY *

On October 13, 2007, Eastern
Mennonite University in Harrisburg, Virginia,
dedicated its new labyrinth ("Following the Path
of Prayer," Mennonite Weekly Review, Oct. 24,
2007). This is only the latest example of how the
Pagan-Catholic labyrinth is gaining in popularity
among evangelicals. Bethany Mennonite Church,
Bridgewater Corners, Vermont, has a labyrinth in
its lawn. Simpson University in Redding,
California (Christian & Missionary Alliance), has
a labyrinth. The Weatherly Heights Baptist Church
(Southern Baptist) in Huntsville, Alabama, built
a labyrinth of stones on its grounds in 2004. The
labyrinth is a circular pattern with a path that
winds its way to the center and that is used as a
tool for prayer and meditation. Used by pagan
religions for thousands of years, the labyrinth
was borrowed from paganism and "Christianized" by
the Roman Catholic Church as part of its
desperate search for spirituality apart from the
Bible. The most famous labyrinth was built in
Chartres Cathedral in France in the 13th century.
It has been duplicated at the Riverside Church in
New York City and Grace Cathedral (Episcopal) in
San Francisco, both hotbeds of theological
liberalism and New Age philosophy. Lauren
Artress, a canon at Grace Cathedral, founded
Veriditas, The World-Wide Labyrinth Project,
"with the goal "to facilitate the transformation
of the Human Spirit." Observe that Human Spirit
is capitalized, testifying to the New Age view
that man finds divinity within himself. Artress
says that she discovered the labyrinth through
Jean Houston's Mystery School Network, a psychic
New Age organization. There is nothing like a
labyrinth in the New Testament Scriptures. When
Jesus taught His disciples how to pray in Matthew
6, He did not even hint at a labyrinth-type
prayer. God forbids His people to associate with
pagan things. "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the
way of the heathen..." (Jeremiah 10:2). "And what
concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part
hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what
agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for
ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath
said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing; and I will receive you" (2
Corinthians 6:15-17).

*ROBERT SCHULLER JR. SAYS WE SHOULDN'T FOCUS ON
THE SUFFERING OF CHRIST *

In an interview with the Christian Post dated Nov. 2,
2007, Robert A. Schuller, son of the self-esteem
guru who built the Crystal Cathedral in southern
California and the Hour of Power television
program, said we shouldn't focus on Christ's
suffering. He said: "I don't think God wants us
to focus on the suffering of Jesus Christ as much
as He wants us to focus on serving Jesus Christ.
... And to focus too much on the suffering of
Jesus Christ is to put emphasis on a small area
which is insignificant compared to the larger
area of serving Jesus Christ." To the contrary,
the apostle Paul continually preached the cross
of Jesus Christ and gloried in it. "But God
forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is
crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal.
6:14), and, "For I determined not to know any
thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him
crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). Without the preaching of
the death of Christ there is no gospel (1 Cor.
15:1-4), and "without shedding of blood is no
remission" (Heb. 9:22). Schuller took over as
senior pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in January
2006. His father heretically redefined the gospel
in terms of his self-esteem theology in the book
"Self-Esteem: The New Reformation." H.B. London
of Focus on the Family and Kay Warren are
scheduled to speak at Schuller's Rethinking
conference in January.

*ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISM GROWING AMONG PROFESSING
CHRISTIANS *

Activism for animal rights is
increasing among professing Christians and has
found a sympathetic ear even on the campus of
Liberty University. Karen Prior wrote an
editorial for the university journal claiming
that animal welfare should be an evangelical
agenda. In response, her approach was praised by
students and her pastor asked her to speak on the
topic at a Bible study ("Evangelizing for the
Animals," Los Angeles Times, Nov. 6, 2007). On
November 7 "clergy from 20 faith traditions,"
including Protestant, Pentecostal, and Roman
Catholic denominations, gathered in Washington
and signed a statement "declaring a moral duty to
treat animals with respect." The document calls
on "people of faith" to stop wearing fur, reduce
meat consumption, and buy only from farms with
"humane practices." The meeting was sponsored by
the Best Friends Animal Society. Many
evangelicals have jumped onto the
environmentalist bandwagon; they might as well
add animal rights to their cause since they
abandoned the Bible long ago. The Bible says that
"a righteous man regardeth the life of his beast"
(Proverbs 12:10), but the Bible gives no support
for the modern animal rights movement. The Bible
allows for domesticating of animals, eating them,
and using their skin, fur, bones, etc. for man's
benefit. John the Baptist "was clothed with
camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about
his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey"
(Mark 1:6). Israel's Passover featured the
killing and eating of lambs. Jesus ate both lamb
and fish (Lk. 22:15; 24:41-43), and He helped the
disciples catch two ships full of fish for human
consumption (Luke 5:4-7).
*
CONTEMPORARY CHURCHES GLORYING IN THEIR
WORLDLINESS *

The contemporary seeker-sensitive
church movement was described in God's Word 2,000
years ago. "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" (2 Tim. 4:3-4). This prophecy
describes a generation of professing Christians
that will reject the old strict Bible paths and
itch for a new kind of Christianity. They don't
want restrictions on how they dress or what music
they listen to or what movies they watch or their
associations. Separation is a dirty word. They
want a positive, "life-affirming" message. (The
Emerging Church movement is taking this rebellion
even a step farther than the seeker-sensitive
churches, openly rejecting the Bible as the
infallible, only-authoritative Word of God and
lusting after everything new.) One of the fables
of the seeker-sensitive movement is the doctrine
that you can have Christ and the world, too. We
have given many examples of this in the Friday
Church News Notes. Consider the Crosspoint
Community Church of Decatur, Alabama. Their
services attempt to reproduce a "rock concert
atmosphere." They encourage attendees to wear
shorts or "whatever you'd like." Their August 9
"Jammin" worship session featured a song by the
secular rock band Linkin Park. And the pastor,
Dave Anderson, said on his blog for November 9
that he loves the immoral television program
Desperate Housewives. Crosspoint is affiliated
with the Willow Creek Association of Churches.
"And be not conformed to this world..." (Romans
12:2).
*
FOUNDER OF WEATHER CHANNEL CALLS GLOBAL WARMING
"GREATEST SCAM IN HISTORY" *

- John Coleman
was the founder of the Weather Channel. Currently
he is the meteorologist for KUSI television in
San Diego, California. The following is an
excerpt from his blog dated Nov. 7, 2007, posted
on the ICECAP web site (International Climate and
Environmental Change Assessment Project). "It is
the greatest scam in history. I am amazed,
appalled and highly offended by it. Global
Warming; it is a SCAM. Some dastardly scientists
with environmental and political motives
manipulated long term scientific data to create
an illusion of rapid global warming. Other
scientists of the same environmental whacko type
jumped into the circle to support and broaden the
'research' to further enhance the totally
slanted, bogus global warming claims. Their
friends in government steered huge research
grants their way to keep the movement going. Soon
they claimed to be a consensus. Environmental
extremists, notable politicians among them, then
teamed up with movie, media and other liberal,
environmentalist journalists to create this wild
'scientific' scenario of the civilization
threatening environmental consequences from
Global Warming unless we adhere to their radical
agenda. Now their ridiculous manipulated science
has been accepted as fact and become a
cornerstone issue for CNN, CBS, NBC, the
Democratic Political Party, the Governor of
California, school teachers and, in many cases,
well informed but very gullible environmentally
conscientious citizens. ... I do not oppose
environmentalism. I do not oppose the political
positions of either party. However, Global
Warming, i.e. Climate Change, is not about
environmentalism or politics. It is not a
religion. ... I have read dozens of scientific
papers. I have talked with numerous scientists. I
have studied. I have thought about it. I know I
am correct. There is no run away climate change.
The impact of humans on climate is not
catastrophic. Our planet is not in peril."

*COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT RESTRICTS BIBLE DISTRIBUTION *

The following is excerpted from
"China Denounces Report of Bible Ban,"
WorldNetDaily, Nov. 8, 2007: "Todd Nettleton, a
spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs, whose Bibles
Unbound program offers American citizens the
opportunity of mailing Bibles into China, said
it's not illegal for an individual to own a Bible
in China. But he said the government there
controls access to Bibles by restricting imports
and controlling the actual printing of Bibles
within China. ... Nettleton said a recent report
noted the Chinese press has been trumpeting the
fact that China government-controlled Bible
printer, Nanjing Amity Printing Co., had printed
43 million Bibles between 1981 and 2006, about
1.7 million a year. 'Now 43 million sounds like a
large number. But remember that there are more
than 100 million Christians in China. That means
that, over a 25-year period, the government
didn't even print enough Bibles for half the
Christians to have one!' A VOM blog posting noted
few Christians in China have computers or
Internet access to read the Bible, and even
though they are available, they often are not
accessible in areas where people want them. The
posting also said police often follow people home
and arrest them if they try to purchase any
significant number of Bibles. The VOM blog by
Nettleton then continued: 'Friends, you will read
much in the months between now and the Beijing
Olympics about how FREE it is in China, how
oppression and persecution have gone into the
past and how our brothers and sisters are living
and worshipping in freedom and ease.
Unfortunately, at times you will read such
stories even from reputable Christian sources.
Our friends in the unregistered churches Š and in
Chinese prisons Š have a very different story to
tell. Do not forget them.'"

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).