WEEKLY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
Pastor Dale Morgan
January 28, 2007.
The Weekly Church News Notes is designed for use in churches
*DOOMSDAY CLOCK MOVED CLOSER TO MIDNIGHT
*
- The minute hand of the Doomsday Clock was moved ahead on January 17
to five minutes to midnight. The Clock, a creation of the Bulletin of
Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago symbolizing the
potential of world destruction from nuclear war, was first set at
seven minutes to midnight in 1947. The latest move of the Clock's
hand stems from the threat of a renewed nuclear arms race and the
"dire challenge" of "climate change." The Bulletin is a newsletter
which was founded in 1945 by former Manhattan Project physicists
concerned about the possibility of nuclear war and has grown into an
organization focused generally on manmade threats to human
civilization. The makers of the Doomsday Clock are right to be
concerned about the future of this world, but it will not end by any
manner that they envision. For all of the intellectual brilliance
represented among the scientists associated with this Bulletin
(contributors have included Albert Einstein and Wernher von Braun)
they don't know as much about the future of this world as the
humblest Bible believer. This present world will definitely end in
fiery destruction, but it will not be a nuclear holocaust or global
warming; it will be the hand of Almighty God who will destroy this
wicked world to make way for a new one wherein dwelleth
righteousness. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the
night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in
all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the
coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be
dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a
new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Peter 3:10-13).
*
BONO SAYS JESUS AND MOHAMMED ARE BOTH TRUE *
- Bono, frontman for the popular rock band U2, is held up as an idol
by many Christians. But while he does make a profession of faith in
Christ, he doesn't have a biblical testimony, doesn't attend church
with any regularity, and has lived the worldly rock & roll lifestyle
to the hilt. He is the ultimate "cool Christian," but is he really a
Christian? Recently I read the book "Bono on Bono: Conversations with
Michka Assayas" (Hodder & Stoughton, 2005), which contains an
interview with a music reporter that extended over a long period of
time. Nowhere in this 337-page book does Bono give a scriptural
testimony of having been born again, without which Jesus said no man
can see the kingdom of heaven. He says that he believes Jesus is the
Messiah and that He died on the cross for his sins and that he is
holding out for grace, but the Pope says that much. Bono's "grace" is
a grace that does not result in radical conversion and a new way of
life; it is a grace without repentance. Nowhere does he warn his
myriads of listeners to turn to Christ before it is too late and
before they pass out of this life into eternal hell. In fact, the
only thing he says about heaven or hell is that both are on earth. "I
think, rather like Hell, Heaven is on Earth. That's my prayer ...
that's where Heaven for me is..." (Bono on Bono, p. 254). It sounds
like Bono has been listening more to John Lennon than the Bible, and
in fact he says that when he was 11 years old he listened to Lennon's
album Imagine and it "really got under my skin, the blood of it" (p.
246). On this album Lennon sang, "Imagine there is no heaven above
and no hell below." As for church, Bono says that the older he gets
the more comfort he finds in Roman Catholicism. "Let's not get too
hard on the Holy Roman Church here. The Church has its problems, but
the older I get, the more comfort I find there. ... murmuring
prayers, stories told in stained-glass windows, the colors of
Catholicism--purple mauve, yellow, red--the burning incense. My
friend Gavin Friday says Catholicism is the glam-rock of religion"
(p. 201). Though he speaks positively of Romanism, Bono has nothing
good to say about "fundamentalism," falsely claiming that it is a
denial that God is love (p. 167) and calling it vile names (p. 147).
He praises singers who have produced some of the filthiest music,
such as Prince and Mick Jagger, insinuating that they are good people
who are only making innocent art (pp. 153, 156). He says his favorite
lyric in a song is Kris Kristofferson's immoral "Help Me Make It
through the Night" (p. 129). He admits that U2's music is "sexual"
and even pretends that "erotic love can turn into something much
higher," admitting that he seems "to segue very easily between the
two" (p. 120). The truth is that Bono's Christianity is a heretical
mixture of Bible (the smallest part) and rock & roll philosophy (the
largest part). He is a study in contradictions. On one hand he says
that Jesus is the Messiah who died on the cross for man's sins, while
on the other hand making statements by his mouth and lifestyle that
blatantly deny the Jesus of the Bible. In fact, he says that Jesus
and Mohammed are both true. At U2's Madison Square Garden concert in
2005 Bono led the crowd in the chant "Jesus, Jew, Mohammed--all true.
Jesus, Jew, Mohammed--all true" Tara Cobble, who attended the
concert, testified that this chant destroyed her ill-placed devotion
to Bono. "He repeated the words like a mantra. Was Bono, my supposed
brother in Christ, preaching some kind of universalism? As I looked
around, I saw all the people standing and chanting with him--it was
disgusting ... When he stated that lie so boldly, it devastated me.
It was, without question, the most disturbing experience of my life;
I felt like I'd been covered in bile. The reality is that Bono held
too high a place in my heart. And I don't think I'm alone there. I've
wrongly held him up as the heroic ideal--the cool representative for
Christianity; he may have been my 'Christian idol', but he was my
idol nonetheless" (Tara Leigh Cobble, "How to Dismantle an Idolized
Bono," Relevant magazine, Dec. 19, 2005). We appreciate her candor,
but from a biblical standpoint there is no such thing as a cool
representative of Christianity. If a man takes the Bible seriously,
all of it, he will not be cool by any worldly standard! In fact, he
will be some sort of despised fundamentalist!
*
RICK WARREN JOINS CHUCK COLSON IN A NEW VIDEO PRESENTATION *
Southern Baptist pastor Rick Warren of Purpose Driven Life fame has
joined Chuck Colson in a new
video presentation entitled "Wide Angle: Framing Your Worldview." The
two "tackle some of the key issues of our day: truth vs. relativism,
creationism vs. Darwinism, tolerance, terrorism, etc." Chuck Colson
is one of the most radical ecumenists of our generation. He is the
founder of Prison Fellowship, of which more than 70% of the chaplains
are Roman Catholic. In his foreword to Roman Catholic Keith
Fournier's dangerous book entitled Evangelical Catholics, Colson
said, "But at root those who are called of God, whether Catholic or
Protestant, are part of the same Body. ... It's high time that all of
us who are Christians come together regardless of the difference of
our confessions and our traditions." In his book The Body, Colson
wrote, "The body of Christ, in all its diversity, is created with
Baptist feet, Charismatic hands, and Catholic ears--all with their
eyes on Jesus." On March 29, 1994, Colson joined Catholic priest
Richard John Neuhaus and other Protestants and Roman Catholics as
originators of a statement called "Evangelicals and Catholics
Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium." The
document stated: "We together, Evangelicals and Catholics, confess
our sins against the unity that Christ intends for all his
disciples." After meeting Pope John Paul II in 1995, Colson described
him as a friend of Christian orthodoxy. What blindness! The only
orthodoxy the late Pope stood for was the heretical orthodoxy of
Roman Catholicism. Pope John Paul II had "Totally Yours" in Latin
embroidered on his papal robes, testifying of his complete devotion
not to Jesus Christ but to Mary! A large M was inscribed on the
Pope's coffin. When is the allegedly biblically conservative Southern
Baptist Convention going to rise up and demand that Rick Warren leave
the denomination? I would like to see it, but I am not holding my
breath.
*
CASUAL SEX IS A CON: WOMEN JUST AREN'T LIKE MEN *
The title of an article in The Sunday Times of London
for January 14 was "Casual Sex Is a Con: Women Just Aren't like Men."
It was written by Dawn Eden, a rock music historian and former
"groupie" who lived the immoral rock & roll lifestyle and the
feminist philosophy to the hilt and was left feeling that she had
been cheated out of something very precious. Note the following
excerpts: "The Sixties generation thought everything should be free.
But only a few decades later the hippies were selling water at rock
festivals for $5 a bottle. But for me the price of "free love" was
even higher. I sacrificed what should have been the best years of my
life for the black lie of free love. All the sex I ever had--and I
had more than my fair share--far from bringing me the lasting
relationship I sought, only made marriage a more distant prospect.
And I am not alone. Count me among the dissatisfied daughters of the
sexual revolution, a new counterculture of women who are realising
that casual sex is a con and are choosing to remain chaste instead. I
am 37, and like millions of other girls, was born into a world which
encouraged young women to explore their sexuality. It was almost
presented to us as a feminist act. ... Whatever [feminist Germaine]
Greer and her ilk might say I've tried their philosophy--that a woman
can [have casual sex] like a man--and it doesn't work. We're not
built like that. Women are built for bonding. We are vessels and we
seek to be filled. For that reason, however much we try and convince
ourselves that it isn't so, sex will always leave us feeling empty
unless we are certain that we are loved, that the act is part of a
bigger picture that we are loved for our whole selves not just our
bodies. ... Our culture--both in the media via programmes such as Sex
and the City and in everyday interactions--relentlessly puts forth
the idea that lust is a way station on the road to love. It isn't.
... The misguided, hedonistic philosophy which urges young women into
this kind of behaviour harms both men and women; but it is
particularly damaging to women, as it pressures them to subvert their
deepest emotional desires. The champions of the sexual revolution are
cynical. They know in their tin hearts that casual sex doesn't make
women happy. That's why they feel the need continually to promote it."
*
MERCY'S DAY WILL SOON BE GONE *
The following is from H.A. Ironside's commentary on Revelation: "I would
remind my hearers that time for us is flying by quickly. If any of
you is unsaved, it is well for you to remember that mercy's day is
quickly gone. Gospel light already seems to be vanishing from the
earth; the darkening apostasy is making rapid strides; a famine for
hearing the Word of the Lord will soon be here. Oh, that now, in this
day of grace, men would heed the testimony of the Scripture of truth,
receive the virgin-born Son of God as Saviour and Lord, and spurn the
lies of every Antichrist."
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
February 4, 2007.
The Weekly Church News Notes is designed for use in churches .
*BAPTIST CHURCHES HOSTING SUPER BOWL SERVICES*
Many Baptist congregations are turning their churches
over to football, one of America's real Gods, on Super Bowl Sunday,
February 4. Pastor Luis Acosta of Pines Baptist Church, Pembroke
Pines, Florida, says, "It's a way of showing people we're regular
Joes like they are" ("Churches Gear Up for Super Bowl Sabbath,"
Christian Post, Jan. 27, 2007). Believers are not supposed to be
regular Joes; they are supposed to be "a peculiar people, zealous of
good works" (Titus 2:14). Acosta says there won't be as much as a
prayer at the Super Bowl Sunday event at Pines Baptist because he
doesn't like the "heavy handed approach" to evangelism. I wonder what
the bold apostle Paul would think of this? At Carrollwood Baptist
Church in Tampa, Florida, some attendees bring their recliners from
home to the Super Bowl gathering. Jim Waters, associate pastor at
First Baptist Church in Milton, Florida, says they have the choice of
hosting a Super Bowl event or holding church, but if they do the
latter, "no one's going to come." That's a fearful reflection on the
worldliness and nominalism of this congregation. Instead of hosting a
Super Bowl event this church should be on its knees confessing its
sin and seeking revival. William Baker, who has written books about
sports and religion, says sports, religion, and patriotism form the
"American trinity." He says that a visitor from Mars on Super Bowl
Sunday would say, "These people believe, MAYBE in God ... BUT MOST
SURELY they believe in sports." The Lord Jesus Christ did not exalt
sports, but He did exalt the church, saying, "I will build my church;
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).
James 4:4-5 says God is jealous over the affections of His people and
calls "friendship of the world" spiritual adultery. It is carnal
folly to think that God would be pleased with a church that replaces
or supplements the preaching and worship of Jesus Christ with the
carnality and hero worship that surrounds a Super Bowl football game.
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him"
(Matthew 17:5). "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John
5:21).
*RICK WARREN TEAMS UP WITH ALPHA INTERNATIONAL *
Southern Baptist pastor Rick Warren, of Saddleback
Church in California, has teamed up with Alpha International and the
Billy Graham Association in the My Hope India project. The Alpha
International Newsletter, published December 4, 2006, contains
Warren's high recommendation of Alpha. He calls it "one of the most
effective evangelism tools for the 21st century" and says that you
can use it to win the lost and "revitalize your church." He says his
40 Days of Purpose and Alpha "fit together like hand in glove,"
claiming that both programs are "inspired by the Holy Spirit to
deepen and develop the Church." He concludes, "I, Rick Warren, want
to tell you that Alpha has my 100% endorsement." This exposes the
radical nature of Warren's ecumenical philosophy. The Alpha program
was birthed out of the "Toronto Blessing" that broke spread from
Canada to the Holy Trinity Brompton Anglican parish in London in the
early 1990s. I visited a service at Holy Trinity in March 1997 and
witnessed firsthand their charismatic error, including "spirit
slaying" and "holy shaking." The Alpha program consists of 15
sessions and runs for ten weeks, covering some of the basic teachings
of the gospel and Christian living. Its broad denominational appeal
is the product of its doctrinal shallowness and charismatic
orientation. It refers to the points of the gospel in such a general
way that false doctrine is not refuted. It says salvation is by
grace, for instance, but it does not say that salvation is by grace
ALONE by faith ALONE through the blood of Christ ALONE without works
or sacraments. It refers to the Bible as God's Word in a general
sense, but it does not explain that the Bible is God's inerrant,
infallible, supernatural Word, the SOLE authority for faith and
practice. Alpha refers to man's need, but it does not describe man as
a depraved sinner by nature. If Alpha were that specific, it is
certain it would not be ecumenically popular in this apostate hour.
The reason Rick Warren recommends this shallow approach 100% is
because it mirrors his own, which a quick reading of The Purpose
Driven Life will prove. About half-way through the 10-week Alpha
program, the leaders conduct "Holy Spirit Day" or even have a "Holy
Spirit Weekend Away." The leader "takes them through the experience
of receiving the Holy Spirit." Those who take the courses are urged
to open themselves to the "slaying in the spirit" and other
unscriptural experiences. The participants are taught that "tongues
speaking" can be learned. They are taught to expect extra-biblical
revelations from God through dreams and "words of knowledge." THE
ALPHA PROGRAM HAS BEEN USED WIDELY IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH SINCE
THE 1990s. In fact, there is a Roman Catholic division of Alpha. In
the latest edition of the Alpha International Newsletter, the one
containing Warren's 100% endorsement, Catholic priests praise Alpha
after the same fashion. There is a report on the activities of "Alpha
for Catholics" in various parts of Asia and South America. Alpha
founder Nicky Gumbel, who Warren calls his "friend," spoke in Rome in
May 2006 at the Catholic Charismatic Renewal's 40th anniversary. Rick
Warren has been called "America's pastor," and it is for good reason.
He is so shallow in his teaching, so positive in his approach, so
slighting of repentance, so neglecting of unpopular doctrines such as
hell and judgment, so tolerant of heresies, so enthusiastic of rock
music, so soft-spoken on that nasty subject of worldliness, that
apostate America can't help but love him.
*
CHURCH OF ENGLAND HOSTS U2-CHARIST *
- A Church of England bishop will preside over a U2-charist, a
communion service featuring music from the rock band U2 instead of
hymns ("Hymns Replaced by Bono," London Telegraph, Jan. 29, 2007).
"In what is more rock concert than Book of Common Prayer, a live band
will belt out U2 classics such as Mysterious Ways and Beautiful Day
as worshippers sing along with the lyrics, which will appear on
screens. The atmosphere will be further enhanced by a sophisticated
lighting system that will pulse with the beat..." The U2-charist is
scheduled for May at St. Swithin's parish church in Lincoln. Bishop
Timothy Ellis, who will preside, said, "Rock music can be a vehicle
of immense spirituality" ("U2 Service Brings Rock to Religion,"
BreitBart.com, Jan. 29, 2007). He is right, but there are spirits in
this world other than the Holy Spirit. Rock & rollers have long
described their music in religious terms. Craig Chaquico, guitarist
for Jefferson Airplane, said, "Rock concerts are the churches of
today. Music puts them on a spiritual plane" (Why Knock Rock, p. 96).
Jimi Hendrix said, "The music is a spiritual thing of its own" (Life,
Oct. 3, 1969), and, "We're making the music into electric church
music, a new kind of Bible you can carry in your hearts" (Crosstown
Traffic, p. 161). Grateful Dead concerts have been described as "a
place to worship" (Not Fade Away: the Online World Remembers Jerry
Garcia, p. 42). Jim Morrison of the Doors said, "I feel spiritual up
there performing" (Newsweek, Nov. 6, 1967), and Doors' guitarist
Robbie Kreiger said, "[We] wanted our audience to undergo a religious
experience" (Break on Through--the Life and Death of Jim Morrison, p.
190). The religious experience and the spirit at a Doors concert or
an Anglican U2-charist is the same.
*CHRISTIAN IDOL - IMITATING THE WORLD *
- In light of the worldliness of today's churches it is no surprise
that a Christianized version of American Idol aired on January 26.
Called "Gifted," the two-hour special was the conclusion of a talent
search that involved 16,000 contestants. The host was Brian Littrell
of the morally filthy Backstreet Boys rock group. Littrell claims to
have been a Christian since he was eight years old, but his music and
influence have been anything but Christian. The Backstreet Boys, who
have sold more than 55 million albums in their 10-year career, have
polluted the hearts and minds of countless young people.
Entertainment Weekly described them as an adolescent "sexual
awakening" and many of their songs call upon youth to "do what feels
good" regardless of its morality or legality. Their song "I Need You
Tonight" says, "I know, deep within my heart/ It doesn't matter of
its wrong or right." The judges of Gifted are Michael Sweet, Eddie
DeGarmo, and Andrae Crouch. Gifted was produced by Trinity
Broadcasting Network through an alliance of Johnny Wright of Wright
Entertainment Group and Matthew Crouch, son of Paul and Jan Crouch.
Wright Entertainment's roster has included such morally debauched
artists as Janet Jackson. Our friend Jeff Royal observed: "Littrell
still tours with the Backstreet Boys. I wonder if one of the Gifted
contestants will have the nerve to sing the Backstreet Boys' song
'Get Yourself a Bad Boy'?"
*
ROBERT SCHULLER'S ECUMENICAL BABEL *
- On January 22-24 Robert Schuller hosted a grossly mis-named Faith
Forward Forum that brought together 34 speakers. The meeting was
otherwise titled "The Robert Harold Schuller Forum for Possibility
Thinking Leadership." The objective was "to bring the classical,
contemporary, and emerging churches together." Advertised as "the
broadest group of thinkers ever brought together," the speakers
definitely formed a diverse group, including Pentecostal Brian
Houston of Hillsong Church in Sydney; Southern Baptist Pastor Ed
Young, Jr.; Emerging Church leader Chris Seay; Todd Hunter, president
of Alpha USA and former president of the National Association of
Vineyard Churches; Fuller Seminary professor Eddie Gibbs; female
pastor Judah Smith of Seattle; United Church pastor Michael Ward of
Calgary; Catholic priest C. Lou Martin of Baltimore; and Kevin
Mannoia, former president of the National Association of
Evangelicals. This is clear evidence of the widespread apostasy
within evangelicalism today, but you will wait in vain to hear a
clear warning from the syndicated radio speakers and authors such as
Chuck Swindoll or Max Lucado. Robert Schuller is a dangerous heretic
who has redefined the gospel to fit his Norman Vincent Peale-inspired
theology. He put this theology into print for all to see in his 1982
book "Self Esteem: The New Reformation," a book he has never
repudiated. To Schuller, sin is "any act or thought that robs me of
self-esteem." He says it is insulting to define sin as rebellion
against God. His Christ is a psycho-savior who "was self-esteem
incarnate." To be born again is to "be changed from a negative to a
positive self-image." Hell "is the loss of pride that naturally
follows separation from God." In Christianity Today, October 5, 1984,
Schuller said, "I don't think anything has been done in the name of
Christ and under the banner of Christianity that has proven more
destructive to human personality and, hence, counterproductive to the
evangelism enterprise than the often crude, uncouth, and unchristian
strategy of attempting to make people aware of their lost and sinful
condition." If Robert Schuller is not a false teacher and heretic,
under the curse of Galatians 1, there is no such thing. But
evangelicalism today, for the most part, considers heresy an
interesting intellectual problem rather than damnable error.