`WEEKLY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
Pastor Dale Morgan
July 01, 2007.
The weekly Church News Notes is designed for use
in churches.
*BAPTIST MEGACHURCH CALLS FEMALE PASTOR *
First Baptist Church of Decatur,
Georgia, in the very heart of the "Bible Belt" in
America, called Julie Pennington-Russell as
pastor on June 17. Of the 500 members present for
the vote, only "five hands of dissent were
visible at most" ("Baptist Megachurch Makes
History," Christian Post, June 19, 2007). (The
church claims to have 2,700 members, but it
appears that the vast majority aren't very
active, to say the least.) First Baptist Church
is associated with the very liberal Cooperative
Baptist Fellowship as well as the Southern
Baptist Convention. Pennington-Russell has
pastored two other churches, Nineteenth Avenue
Baptist in San Francisco from 1984-1992 and
Calvary Baptist in Waco, Texas, since 1998. Of
the latter she says, "They were writing a fresh
chapter for Baptists." Indeed, they were, and it
is a chapter in presumptuous disobedience to
Scripture. Al Mohler, president of the Southern
Baptist Theological Seminary, observed that not
only does First Baptist's call of
Pennington-Russell set a precedent for women in
major pulpits but the church itself is in the
heart of the South and "has a proud place in the
history of the Southern Baptist Convention."
Pennington-Russell, who is scheduled to speak at
the January 2008 meeting of Jimmy Carter's very
liberal New Baptist Covenant conference in
Atlanta, said that she is "for anything that
brings people together rather than divides them,"
but the Bible that she allegedly preaches is a
very divisive book. It divides those who worship
God from those who worship idols, those who
believe Jesus Christ is the only Saviour from
those who don't, those who are born again from
those who aren't, theological conservatism from
theological liberalism, sound preachers from
heretics, and those who take the Bible seriously
from those who don't. "But I suffer not a woman
to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man,
but to be in silence. ... I give thee charge in
the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and
before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate
witnessed a good confession; that thou keep this
commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the
appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Timothy
2:12; 6:13-14).
*
ACTOR WARNS SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTORS OF THE
SEEKER SENSITIVE PHILOSOPHY *
Television and movie actor Kirk Cameron, who was converted
in about 1990 and today is a partner with Ray
Comfort in The Way of the Master evangelism
ministry, delivered a message by radio via the
FamilyNet booth at the Southern Baptist
Convention's recent meeting in San Antonio. We
don't know much about Cameron, but we do know
that he hit the nail on the head in this message.
"Can I speak to you from my heart for a moment? I
realize that, theologically, I'm not worthy to
wash your socks. But imagine this scenario with
me, if you will: Imagine I'm a 'seeker' -- I'm a
non-Christian, sitting in your church week after
week after week listening to you. Am I ever going
to hear the message that will save my soul from
Hell? Will you ever tell me the truth clearly
enough so that I realize that my sin has made me
an enemy of God: that I am currently on the path
that leads to destruction, with the wrath of God
dwelling upon me, and that unless I repent and
put my faith in the Savior, I will perish? Or
have you decided that it's better to simply
entertain me, and on Sundays I can come to have
my 'felt needs' met with good music and good
advice? Pastor, while I would appreciate that,
it's the ultimate betrayal of my trust in you if
you don't tell me the truth. Will I ever hear the
words 'repent,' 'surrender,' 'turn to the
Savior,' 'be born again'? If you don't tell me
those things, how will I ever know to do it?
Please don't leave it up to the Wednesday night
small-group leader. They're taking their cues
from you. You're leading the flock. And now I
speak to you as a Christian. If you and I fail to
teach the whole counsel of God, and we don't warn
sinners to flee from the wrath to come, and run
to the love of Christ on the Cross to save their
soul, we make a terrible mistake. It doesn't
matter how happy a person is -- how much a sinner
is enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season --
without the righteousness of Christ, he'll perish
on the Day of Judgment. The Bible says, 'Riches
profit not on the Day of Wrath, but righteousness
delivers from death.' You see, that's how Kirk
Cameron realized he needed a Savior. I had
riches, but I knew that it was the righteousness
of God that I needed in order to be saved from my
sin."
*
BOYCOTTING FORD? WHY NOT MICROSOFT, APPLE, INTEL,
AND SUN? *
Each year the Human Rights
Campaign publishes a list of companies that meet
its standards for supporting the "gay rights"
agenda. In 2006 there were 138 U.S. companies
that made that sad list. Ford Motor Company is
one of them, and I have often wondered why Ford
has been singled out for a boycott. I am not a
fan of Ford, but the fact is that it has never
been a righteous company! The founder was not a
godly man and did not run the company by Bible
standards, to say the least! Three other major
car manufacturers are on the same list: Daimler
Chrysler, General Motors, and Volkswagen of
America. It seems to me that those on the boycott
bandwagon should be consistent. Consider if we
were to stop buying and using products from just
these 138 companies (and these are certainly not
the only unrighteous companies in business
today). It would be difficult to compute, for one
thing, because Apple, Microsoft, Intel, and Sun
Microsystems are on the list. And we wouldn't be
able to fly much, because Boeing is on the list.
And we have not yet mentioned the myriad of
products made by Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cisco,
Clorex, Corning, Cummins, DuPont, Dow Chemical,
Eli Lilly, Honeywell, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft,
Lucent, Motorola, Owens Corning, PG&E, etc. We
live in a wicked world, and I'm glad this is not
my home. I am also glad that I don't have to try
to go out of the world while I am traveling
through it. "I wrote unto you in an epistle not
to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether
with the fornicators of this world, or with the
covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for
then must ye needs go out of the world. ... For
what have I to do to judge them also that are
without? do not ye judge them that are within?
But them that are without God judgeth" (1
Corinthians 5:9-10, 12-13).
*MUSLIMS EXPECTING ISLAMIC MESSIAH TO RETURN WITH
JESUS *
Many Muslims are expecting the
Islamic messiah, called the 12th Imam or the Imam
Mahdi, to return and establish Allah's kingdom on
earth, establishing Islamic rule and law
throughout the world, and that Jesus will
accompany him. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president
of Iran, believes in the coming of the 12th Imam
and Iranian radio has broadcast prophecies of his
coming. Consider the following excerpt: "In
short, when he reappears, peace, justice and
security will overcome oppression and deceit and
one global government, the most perfect ever,
will be established. ... Another beautiful moment
of the Savior's appearance is the coming down of
Prophet Jesus (PBUH) from heaven. Hazrat Mahdi
receives him courteously and asks him to lead the
prayers. But Jesus says you are more qualified
for this than me. We read in the book Tazkarat
ol-Olia, 'the Mahdi will come with Jesus son of
Mary accompanying him.' This indicates that these
two great men complement each other. Imam Mahdi
will be the leader while Prophet Jesus will act
as his lieutenant in the struggle against
oppression and establishment of justice in the
world. Jesus had himself given the tidings of the
coming of God's last messenger and will see
Mohammad's ideals materialize in the time of the
Mahdi. ... Be joyous, my heart, miracles of the
Messiah will soon be here. ... Grieve not of
sorrow and melancholy, as assured I was Š last
night that a Savior will come, it's clear"
("Police Storm Home," WorldNetDaily, June 23,
2007). We see that Jesus is given a subordinate
position in these prophecies to that of the 12th
Imam, who is alleged to be a direct descendant of
Mohammed. The Muslims as such are not referred to
in Bible prophecy (though the Muslim nations
surrounding Israel are described and their future
is given), so we don't know exactly how all of
this will play itself out. We do know that the
Antichrist will rule the whole world and his
prophet will do miracles to deceive the nations
(Revelation 13; 2 Thessalonians 2). And we know
that the next event on God's calendar is the
Rapture of New Testament saints and that we need
to be ready for this imminent event (1
Thessalonians 4:13 - 5:9).
*INFANTICIDE, ABORTION RESPONSIBLE FOR 60 MILLION
GIRLS MISSING IN ASIA *
The following is excerpted from a FoxNews report, June 13,
2007: "There is a little-known battle for
survival going in some parts of the world. Those
at risk are baby girls, and the casualties are in
the millions each year. The weapons being used
against them are prenatal sex selection, abortion
and female infanticide--the systematic killing of
girls soon after they are born. According to a
recent United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
State of the World Population Report, these
practices, combined with neglect, have resulted
in at least 60 million 'missing' girls in Asia,
creating gender imbalances and other serious
problems that experts say will have far reaching
consequences for years to come. ... Steven
Mosher, the first American social scientist
allowed into China, puts much of the blame on
Beijing's one-child policy, which took effect in
1979. Female infanticide was the result, he said.
... In India, where the child sex ratio is
calculated as the number of girls per 1,000 boys
in the 0-6 years age group, the problem is
severe. ... In certain parts of the country there
are now fewer than 800 girls for every 1,000
boys. ... Like China, there is a strong son
preference for various socio-economic reasons,
such as the son being responsible for carrying on
the family name and support in old age. ...
Complicating matters even further in India is the
dowry system, where families pay large sums in
order to marry off their daughters."
*
CHILDREN BAD FOR PLANET *
The following is from The Berean Call, May 7, 2007, "Having
large families should be frowned upon as an
environmental misdemeanor in the same way as
frequent long-haul flights, driving a big car and
failing to reuse plastic bags, says a report to
be published today by a green think tank. The
paper by the Optimum Population Trust will say
that if couples had two children instead of three
they could cut their family's carbon dioxide
output by the equivalent of 620 return flights a
year between London and New York. John
Guillebaud, co-chairman of OPT and emeritus
professor of family planning at University
College London, said: 'The effect on the planet
of having one child less is an order of magnitude
greater than all these other things we might do,
such as switching off lights. The greatest thing
anyone in Britain could do to help the future of
the planet would be to have one less child.' In
his latest comments, the academic says that when
couples are planning a family they should be
encouraged to think about the environmental
consequences. 'The decision to have children
should be seen as a very big one and one that
should take the environment into account.' ...
Several countries have already implemented these
suggestions. Muslim extremists delight in
pointing out that to take over much of Europe all
that is needed is to let the Europeans simply die
off. Numerous reports have shown that countries
such as France have passed the point of no
return. They simply do not have enough children
to even keep their population stable and despite
financial inducements, potential parents have no
desire to perpetuate their nation." "Lo, children
are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the
womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of
a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy
is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak
with the enemies in the gate" (Psalm 127:3-5).
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).