.WEEKLY CHURCH NEWS NOTES

[Pastor Dale Morgan]

.WEEKLY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
 
January 23, 2010

By David Cloud FBIS

The Weekly Church News Notes is designed for use in churches



POPE SAYS THE ULTIMATE AIM OF ECUMENISM IS FOR PROTESTANTS TO JOIN ROME

In defending his recent decision to expedite and simplify the process for Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI said that this, after all, the “ultimate aim” of ecumenism. He told the Vatican’s Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly called the Office of the Inquisition) that the objective is to bring about “full and visible communion” of all Christians (“Pope Defends Invitation to Anglicans,” AP via Richmond Times-Dispatch, Jan. 15, 2010). This “visible communion” is the one with the pope as its head, of course! That the “separated brethren” are perpetually surprised when Rome says that the pope is Chief Injun never ceases to amaze me. The Roman Catholic Church has never backed down from its claim to headship and supremacy. The Second Vatican Council stated, “the sole Church of Christ ... subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, chap. 1, 8, p. 329), and, “it is through Christ’s Catholic Church alone ... that the fulness of the means of salvation can be obtained” (Decree on Ecumenism, chap. 1, 3, p. 415), and, “the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ ... has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, chap. 3, 22, p. 344). Which part of “full” and “supreme” and “universal” do gullible ecumenists not understand?

RUNAWAY CHRISTIAN CONVERT ALLOWED TO LIVE APART FROM PARENTS

The following is excerpted from the Christian Post, Jan. 20, 2010: “A teenage girl from Ohio who ran away from home after she became Christian can remain free from her Muslim parents, according to the terms of a court settlement. Though Rifqa Bary’s parents have been fighting to regain custody of her since last August, under the agreement Tuesday, the 17-year-old teen can stay in a foster home under state custody in Columbus until she turns 18. After legally becoming an adult in August, Bary will be free to live where she chooses. ... Since last August, Bary has been involved in a legal battle with her parents, claiming that her father had said, ‘If you have this Jesus in your heart, you are dead to me!’ and also added some time later, ‘I will kill you!’ Last July, Bary ran away from her home near Columbus by boarding a Greyhound bus and heading to Orlando, where she was taken in by an evangelical pastor couple in Orlando that she met through a Facebook prayer group. Bary stayed with the pastors for two weeks until Florida authorities discovered her parents had filed her as missing. She has since been living in foster homes – first in Florida and later in Ohio, where judges from both states eventually agreed jurisdiction in the custody case belonged.”

SOUTHERN BAPTISTS USING THE EMERGING APPROACH TO MUSLIM EVANGELISM

 Southern Baptist missionary Kevin Greeson says that the way to reach Muslims is to sneak up on them by using the Koran rather than the Bible and to de-emphasize church. It is called the “camel method.” Greeson says, “Our generation can’t afford to be satisfied or happy with winning one lost person to Christ. There are so many lost people, we can’t be happy with that” (“Use the Quran,” Baptist Standard, Dec. 31, 2009). Any believer that is busy preaching the gospel wants to see more people saved rather than less, but the fact is that Jesus taught that the road to destruction is broad (Matthew 7:13-14). Greeson claims that many thousands of Muslims are converting on the Arab Peninsula and in Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Since Muslims don’t accept the Bible’s authority, “quoting Scripture is useless,” we are told, and the key is to use the Koran (even though it presents a false Christ). The camel method “doesn’t teach or lecture” and avoids trying to get the “converts” into churches. He says, “When you find a person of peace, don’t make him join your church, comb his hair different and make him like you. Don’t try to clean them up.” But Jesus commanded us to teach converts to “observe ALL things whatsoever I have taught you” (Matthew 28:18-20). And we are taught in God’s Word that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth and are warned not to neglect it (1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 10:25). Greeson’s reference to a “person of peace” is straight from Rick Warren’s P.E.A.C.E. program. Warren says, “When you find the man of peace, if he’s open and he’s willing to work with you, you bless him and you start your work there. ... The man of peace is open and influential. ... The man of peace does not have to be a Christian believer. Could be a Muslim. Could be Jewish” (Warren interview with Charlie Rose, Aug. 17, 2006). Warren’s ecumenical approach is forbidden by Holy Scripture (e.g., Romans 16:17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). We are commanded to preach the gospel, and the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ “according to the Scripture” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The Scripture is the quick and powerful Word of God that “works” regardless of whether someone accepts its authority. The devil doesn’t accept its authority, but the Lord Jesus quoted it to him anyway! The apostles didn’t try to sneak the gospel up on people by giving them the false impression that their false religions teach the truth. They didn’t try to start impressive “people’s movements” by means of half-converted, half-discipled, unchurched “men of peace.” The Southern Baptist Convention is heading pell-mell into the emerging church, and a lot of independent Baptists are so blind and ignorant and impressed with “success” that they are yoking together with them.

PRAISE FOR HEROIC LANDING GIVEN TO JESUS CHRIST

 “Whatever else he might have been thinking of in the moment of crisis, United Airlines Captain Dale Nordausen said that many Scriptures have come to mind since making a treacherous landing in Newark on January 10th. He said that he has thought about Psalm 107, ‘Then they cried unto THE LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.’ And James 1:17, ‘Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.’ And he’s thought much about the 52 lives that were in his care that morning. Nordhausen became something of a hero January 10th when he safely landed United Flight 634 with only two of the three sets of wheels down. According to the New Jersey Real Time News website (www.nj.com), ‘Some of the passengers on the flight from Chicago compared Nordhausen to Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who was able to splash land a distressed Airbus A320 in the Hudson River a year ago tomorrow. In the incident, Nordhausen landed the jet on only its nose and left landing gear. The right engine provided the third landing point, and slid along the runway until the jet came to a stop. Passengers said afterward that the touchdown was smoother than landings they’ve had at Newark when all of the landing gear deployed. Because of the efforts of Captain Nordhausen, First Officer Eskuri and the crew of Flight 634, none of the 48 passengers or five crew members were seriously injured,’ the United Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association in Illinois said in a statement. We’ve taken a particular interest in this hero because Capt. Nordhausen is also Brother Nordhausen, a friend and supporter of Way of Life Literature. Nordhausen is a faithful member of a Bible-believing church and has recently been leading a men’s Bible using  Advanced Bible Study materials. We would like to congratulate Capt. Nordhausen on the quick-thinking response that put his malfunctioning aircraft safely on the ground, but Nordhausen says that thanks have to go higher than him. ‘All the glory for the outcome of the landing goes to the grace of my Captain Jesus Christ; The King of kings and Lord of lords.’”

APOSTATE PRESBYTERIANS DON’T BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS ONLY WAY OF SALVATION

A new survey has found that only about one-third of the pastors in the Presbyterian Church USA believe that Jesus is the only way of salvation. When confronted with the statement “only followers of Jesus Christ can be saved,” only 35% of pastors and 39% of church members agreed (Christian Post, Jan. 13, 2010). The survey, “Religious and Demographic Profile of Presbyterians,” was taken by the denomination itself. This is evidence of wretched apostasy. There should not be even one pastor or church member that would hesitate to agree with that simple statement. Apostasy is discouraging in one sense, but it is evidence of the truth of the Bible and reminds us that time is short and Jesus is coming! “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 Timothy 4:3-4).

DUTCH LAWMAKER MUST GO TO TRIAL FOR HATE SPEECH AGAINST MUSLIMS

 The following is excerpted from “Dutch Lawmaker Fails to Avoid Hate Speech Charges,” OneNewsNow.com, Jan. 14, 2010: “Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders has failed in his bid to have judges drop or reduce charges of criminal incitement against him, despite arguing that his anti-Islam message falls within the boundaries of freedom of speech. Wilders, one of the Netherlands’ most popular politicians, is due to go on trial in March for allegedly insulting Muslims as a group and inciting hatred and discrimination against them. The charges stem from Wilders' 2008 short film ‘Fitna,’ which offended many Muslims by juxtaposing Quranic verses with images of terrorism by Islamic radicals.”

CONCLUSION: The Weekly Church News Notes is designed for use in churche. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. 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. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “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]

.WEEKLY CHURCH NEWS NOTES

January 30, 2010

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

AVERAGE AGE OF CHURCH OF ENGLAND ATTENDEES IS 61

According to a new study, the average age of attendees in the Church of England is 61. That’s the average! Lyda Barley, head of research and statistics for the Anglican Church, blamed the situation on general societal trends (“Average age of churchgoer now 61,” The Telegraph, Jan. 22, 2010). The real problem is wretched apostasy. Why should people attend “church” when even the leaders don’t believe their own Scriptures and are confused about the most basic tenets of the Christian faith? When I was in London in 1982, I read an interview by John Mortiner of the Sunday Times with Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie. It was Easter, and the interviewer asked Runcie if he understood why Christ had to suffer. The Archbishop replied, “As to that I am an agnostic.” He did not know why Christ died on the cross! The interviewer asked, “Is God a judge?” Runcie was more dogmatic on that one. He replied, “No.” The interviewer then said, “So you don’t see God as celestial Lord Chief Justice?” Runcie answered, “Not at all. I had an old landlady when we were at Oxford. And when we got into any sort of trouble, she’d say: ‘There’s one above who seeth all’. I can’t think of God like that.” Runcie’s wretched unbelief is typical of the Church of England today. (For evidence see “Fifty Years of Anglican Liberalism” at the Way of Life web site. There is a search engine.)

VISITING EVANGELICALS SILENT ON CHINA’S PERSECUTED HOUSE CHURCHES

The following is excerpted from Christian Newswire, January 14, 2010: “The Institute on Religion & Democracy (IRD) is dismayed at the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA)'s having ignored religious persecution in China during its recent visit. Instead, it spoke only of cooperation with the government-registered church while disregarding restrictions by the communist regime on unofficial churches. The vast majority of Chinese Christians, conservatively estimated at 80 million in number, worship in unregistered congregations that meet in homes and other settings. In the past week alone, leaders of the Chinese House Church Alliance were detained by the authorities in Hebei province according to China Aid. House churches in both Beijing and Shanghai have also been closed recently by the police. In Shanxi province, authorities demolished the Fushan House Church's building, giving church leaders long prison sentences. In December, a Ugyhur Christian convert from Islam was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for his faith.”

BRITISH METEORIGICAL OFFICE PREDICTED MILD WINTER

The British Met (formerly called Meteorological) Office’s prediction for a mild winter was grossly wrong. In fact, it has been bitterly cold, with temperatures plunging to as low as -22C in places. A BBC weatherman, Paul Hudson, suggested that the Met Office’s computer simulations might have “developed a warm bias” that caused the wrong forecast. (“Met Office computer accused of ‘warm bias,’” Daily Mail, Jan. 17, 2010). Be that as it may, one thing is certain, and that is that modern scientists cannot predict the weather three months from now, not to speak of three years or three decades. (The Met Office’s prediction of a “barbeque summer” last year was just as wrong as its winter forecast.) The “computer models” that are used to predict long-term global warming are a joke. Man, even with his vaunted modern scientific expertise, simply does not have enough knowledge to make such predictions accurately. Pompous ignorance seasoned with a good measure of outright deception and a heaping dose of greed are the ingredients of the man-made global warming stew.

MUSIC AT TRINITY BAPTIST, JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA

 The following is by Jeff Royal <jeffr...@bellsouth.net> -- “I visited Trinity Baptist Church in Jacksonville several weeks ago where Pastor Tom Messer is pastor. What concerned me was the music. They opened with a jazzed up version of ‘To God Be the Glory’ and I could not follow the worship leader Jason Cross although I tried. It was sung very fast and choppy and had a whole new chorus inserted in the song that supposedly made it more meaningful. They next led with the celebration choir and worship team in ‘Let the Worshippers Arise’ by the Pentecostal group Philips, Craig, and Dean. They followed that with ‘Lord, I Offer My Life to You’ by Don Moen of Integrity music. In my opinion, Trinity has succumbed to and completely bought into CCM as part of their worship services. Of course, this change has been going on for several years now. They just didn’t decide a few weeks ago to embrace CCM. The people in general are very friendly at Trinity. Something I’m sad to say is lacking at many fundamental IB churches today. Please pray for Pastor Messer and the leadership at Trinity Baptist. In my opinion, they are headed down a dangerous road. While introducing a choir performance, Jason Cross mentioned Lou Giglio in no less than glowing terms. Giglio in my opinion is from the ‘emerging’ church camp and Pastor Messer should know better even if his worship leader doesn’t. I’m reminded of the wise words of the late evangelist Gordon Sears who said, ‘When the standard of music is lowered, then the standard of dress is also lowered. When the standard of dress is lowered, then the standard of conduct is also lowered. When the standard of conduct is lowered, then the sense of value in God’s truth is lowered’ (Songfest newsletter, April 2001).”

THE QUIBBLING OF EVOLUTIONARY SCIENCE

- To quibble means “to evade the truth or importance of an issue by raising trivial distinctions and objections, to find fault or criticize for petty reasons.” That is exactly how evolutionists typically treat the arguments for creation and intelligent design. For example, when I referred to Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan as “evolutionary scientists” in a report about atheistic evolution’s influence on the field of science fiction, many berated me mercilessly because of my “gross mistake” in applying “evolutionary scientist” to anyone other than a biologist. This is a quibble. Evolution has permeated every field of “science” and the term “evolutionary science” is used today to reflect this fact. A quick search of the Internet will demonstrate this. By using the term “evolutionary scientist” I was simply describing them as scientists committed to Darwinian evolution. That was the only point, and it was accurate. Evolutionists quibble because they cannot prove their theories with scientific facts; they cannot answer the substantive arguments leveled against them. They quibble because they have no truth. The quibble might be some mistake in documentation, some minor error in logic, some outdated figure, some perceived less than ideal use of a term, the failure to cite the very latest research. Typically, evolutionists do not engage the creationist’s major arguments. Every man makes mistakes, of course, but a mistake does not necessarily disprove his arguments. In a topic as complicated, far-reaching, and quickly changing as the evolution-creation-intelligent design debate, mistakes will be made on all sides. When someone purports to give a reply to a man’s substantive arguments but actually ignores the arguments and quibbles about minor things, he is dodging the truth.

738 PROFESSIONS OF FAITH AND 25 BAPTISMS

 The following is excerpted and slightly adapted from The Technique Catastrophe: An Explanation of the Multitudes of False Professions in the Independent Baptist Movement by Bob Creel (865-712-4537): “When numbers become so important to us that they outweigh the truth, it’s time that we admit to a crisis! When we receive missionary reports similar to the one recently sent to the church where I am now attending, it’s time we take stock of our methodology. This missionary brother was rejoicing over the results that he had experienced in his first full year on the mission field. He boasted of 738 professions of faith with 25 following in believer’s baptism. How could you even pen those words without asking yourself if there isn’t something wrong with that picture? I seem to remember 3,000 saved at Pentecost, and 3,000 baptized! The most refreshing missionary that I have heard in a long time gave his update to our church recently. He has been in Poland for 14 years and to date knows of only five people who have been saved under his ministry. Just like at Pentecost, he only counts the ones who have been saved, baptized, and are in the church. Most of our ‘one, two, three, pray after me’ fellows would have dropped his support a long time ago! Myself, I would drop the guy with 738 saved and 25 baptized and shift the support to the fellow from Poland!”

PARENTS SHOULD FILL THE HOME WITH SPIRITUAL MUSIC

The late Pastor J.B. Buffington said, “Worldly music produces a worldly environment and creates worldly attitudes. On the other hand, you can program temperament and stability and peace and quietness in your home if you get good sacred Christian music. You can play Bible stories in a room where a little baby is sleeping, and you are programming Bible stories into his little mind. Kids don’t have to learn things formally; you just put it there and they are like a blotter. They absorb it. Put soothing, Christ-honoring, soul-stirring Christian music on and just let it play in your home, and you are programming something of security and tranquility and peace into the children’s hearts” (“How to Lose a Child Before He Is Five Years Old”). An extensive list of “Suggested Sacred Music Recordings” can be found at the Way of Life Literature web site.

CONCLUSION: The Weekly Church News Notes is designed for use in churches. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. 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. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “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).