WEEKLY CHURCH NEWS NOTES
Pastor Dale Morgan
October 21, 2007.
The Weekly Church News Notes is designed for use in churches.
*CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR SIGNS HOMOSEXUAL INDOCTRINATION LAW *
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a new bill (SB777)
into law that turns that state's schools into homosexual indoctrination
centers and forbids anything that could be interpreted as being negative
toward homosexuality, bisexuality, transexuality and other moral
perversions ("Schwarzenegger Signs Law Banning Anything Perceived as
Negative to 'Gays,'" WorldNetDaily, Oct. 13, 2007). The law will
doubtless affect public schools across America, because California is
the largest purchaser of textbooks and it is unlikely that publishers
will go to the expense of printing separate editions for other states.
It is now officially illegal for students or teachers in California to
say that homosexuality is a sin or that marriage is only for a man and a
woman or that people are born male or female (and not in between) or to
criticize cross-dressing, sex changes, or any other "alternative
lifestyle." The new law requires that students be allowed to use the
restroom and locker room of their choice. A boy can use the girls'
restroom as long as he "identifies" with the female sex. Another bill
signed by Schwarzenegger, AB14, prohibits state funding of any program
that does not support homosexual practices. This includes day care and
preschool centers, senior services, anti-gang programs, and even
hospitals. Schwarzenegger, a Hollywood movie star who has played in some
of the most trashy and violent movies, is a Republican, which reminds us
that politics is not the answer to America's moral crisis. The root of
the problem is the apostasy and compromise and worldliness in the
nation's churches, and until that is addressed and there is repentance
and revival among professing Christians and the fear of God is boldly
proclaimed from the pulpits, all of the political activity in the world
will not slow the moral slide to destruction. "Even as Sodom and
Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves
over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an
example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire" (Jude 7).
*MODERN LANGUAGE BIBLES HAVE NOT INCREASED BIBLICAL LITERACY *
A river of new "easy to read" Bibles has poured from the presses over
the past 50 years and yet biblical literacy has diminished dramatically
during this time. A recent article observed: "According to estimates,
never have so many Bibles been published and distributed, yet never has
biblical literacy been so low. (Americans know the names of the four
Beatles better than the four Gospels and more about the ingredients of a
Big Mac than the Ten Commandments.) Gone are the days when
Scripture--namely the King James Version--supplied a common vocabulary
for daily speech, public morality and national literature. Today,
hundreds of colorful translations and editions feed the market (a $600
million business, some say)..." ("Bible Would Still Be Life Guide Today
If People Actually Read It," The Tennessean, Oct. 6, 2007). The
multiplication of "easy to read" Bibles has been accompanied by the rise
of the "seeker friendly" church philosophy, but the result has been a
decrease in church attendance and Bible reading. When the old
"antiquated" King James Bible was the standard and when the churches
were "old-fashioned" and conservative in their approach to evangelism
and worship, the effect on society was much greater. "Thus saith the
LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is
the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.
But they said, We will not walk therein" (Jeremiah 6:16).
*AL GORE AWARDED NOBEL PEACE PRIZE IN SPITE OF PROVEN ERRORS IN HIS THEORY *
It was announced on October 12 Al Gore is the co-recipient of the Nobel
Peace Prize along with the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change "for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made
climate change and to lay the foundations for fighting it" ("Think Tank:
Withdraw Gore Film's Oscar," WorldNetDaily, Oct. 12, 2007). Two days
earlier British High Court judge Michael Burton ruled that Gore's
documentary on global warming ("An Inconvenient Truth") can only be
shown in British schools if the teachers point out 11 serious factual
errors in the film. The decision was made in response to a lawsuit by a
father, Stewart Dimmock, who claimed that the film contains "serious
scientific inaccuracies, political propaganda and sentimental mush" and
who protested the decision by Britain's Environment Secretary to send
Gore's film to all British schools. The judge sided with Dimmock and
required that teachers make it clear that the film is a political work
that promotes only one side of the argument and that they draw the
children's attention to 11 inaccuracies, such as saying that the melting
snows on Mount Kilimanjaro is proof of global warming, that polar bears
have drowned due to disappearing arctic ice, that global warming could
stop the Gulf Stream, that the Greenland ice covering could melt, that
the Antarctic ice covering is melting, that sea levels could rise by
seven meters, and that rising sea levels had caused the evacuation of
certain Pacific islands. Myths are rewarded in this present world
because it is dark and its god is the devil (2 Corinthians 4:4).
*
INFLUENTIAL METEOROLOGIST SAYS GLOBAL WARMING IS "FOOLISH" *
- Dr. William Gray, a pioneer in the science of hurricane forecasts,
says the current warming trend is cyclical and that humans are not
responsible for it. Speaking to a packed lecture hall at the University
of North Carolina Charlotte, Gray called global warming education
"brainwashing" and said the approach promoted by Al Gore's movie An
Inconvenient Truth is "ridiculous" and "foolish" ("Gore's Climate Theory
Savaged," Agence France-Presse, Oct. 12, 2007). Gray spoke at the
university on the same day that the announcement was made that Al Gore
was co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He said there is a natural
cycle of warming and cooling because of changes in the salinity of ocean
water and that "we'll look back on all of this in 10 or 15 years and
realise how foolish it was." He cited statistics, showing there were 101
hurricanes from 1900-1949, in a period of cooler global temperatures,
compared to 83 from 1957-2006, when the earth warmed. Gray's views have
made him an outsider in popular science, and he says that many
scientists are afraid to speak out against the global warming craze
because "they know that they'd never get any grants if they spoke out."
An editorial cartoon in the very liberal and humanistic Toronto Globe
and Mail a few days ago depicted a man asking, "But what about all of
the scientists who doubt global warming," and a very cool and modern
young woman replying, "Name one." The point was that no reputable
scientist doubts Al Gorism. Well, Dr. Gray is one who does and we have
listed many others in previous editions of the Friday Church News Notes.
*
EUROPEAN COUNCIL WARNS ABOUT CREATIONISM *
On October 4 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passed
a resolution entitled "The Dangers of Creationism in Education," urging
governments to "firmly oppose" creationism ("Europe's Resolution on
Creationism Indicative of Secularized Society," Christian Post, Oct. 10,
2007). The resolution warned that creationism is promoted by religious
extremists who want "to impose religious dogma" on children. In fact, it
is the secular humanists that are imposing their religious dogma on
children every day in the public school systems. Evolution is not a
science; it is a faith. To say that our complex universe is the product
of an explosion combined with mere chance is the blindest sort of faith.
The resolution stated: "... the Parliamentary Assembly is worried about
the possible ill-effects of the spread of creationist ideas within our
education systems and about the consequences for our democracies. If we
are not careful, creationism could become a threat to human rights which
are a key concern of the Council of Europe." They did not give any
examples of creationists that are trying to overthrow democracy or that
have threatened human rights. This is a non-existent boogeyman invented
for the purpose of making people afraid of Bible-believing Christians.
MUSLIMS TORTURE AND MURDER CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE OWNER (Friday Church News
Notes, October 19, 2007, www.wayoflife.org fb...@wayoflife.org,
866-295-4143) - On the weekend of October 6-7 Muslims kidnapped the
owner of a Christian bookstore in Gaza, publicly tortured him, and then
stabbed and shot him to death. The victim, Rami Ayyad, who left behind a
pregnant wife and two young children, was the Baptist manager of the
only Christian bookstore in Gaza ("Baptist Publicly Tortured for
'Spreading Christianity,'" WorldNetDaily, Oct. 10, 2007). The bookstore
was firebombed in April and Ayyad had received numerous death threats.
Witnesses saw Ayyad murdered by men who were shouting accusations that
he was spreading Christianity. Since Hamas seized control of the Gaza
Strip in June, attacks upon Christians have increased.
*
THE AMAZING SPLASH FISH *
There is an interesting fish that lives in South America called the
splash tetra (Copella arnoldi). It is a small elongated fish about 3
inches long and lives near the banks of slow-moving rivers with heavy
vegetation. The male finds a suitable leaf hanging over the water and
waits for a female to join him. They then position themselves side by
side and leap out of the water at exactly the same time and stick to the
leaf. The female lays 6 to 8 eggs and the male fertilizes them, and they
drop back into the water. This process continues until they have laid
and fertilized about 200 eggs. The female then leaves, but the male
stays there for three days using his tail to splash water onto the eggs
every 10 or 15 minutes so they won't dry out. He does this until the fry
hatch and fall into the water. There is only one fish in the world that
does this neat trick. I would like someone to explain how this amazing
process could have evolved. First of all you would have to evolve a male
and female tetra fish with the amazing capabilities of breathing
underwater and reproducing offspring and such, all of the incredible
complexity of the fish at the genetic level. Then you would have to
evolve the splashing business. Assuming one fish learned to jump out of
the water and stick to a leaf, how did two of them learn this at exactly
the same time? It would have been necessary that they perfect the trick
the very first time or it would have been meaningless. If only the male
jumped or if only the female jumped or if they both jumped but did not
lay eggs and fertilize them or if they jumped and laid and fertilized
eggs but the male didn't keep them wet -- nothing would have happened.
And how did that incredibly clever and gymnastic pair then pass this
amazing process along to their offspring who were not around to observe it?
*
CCM ARTIST SAYS BEATLES INFLUENCED NEW ALBUM *
In an interview published on CMCentral.com, September 27, 2007, the
interviewer of John Ellis of Tree63 commented that their new album
(Sunday and Everyday) has a psychedelic feel to it and some tracks are
reminiscent of John Lennon. Ellis replied: "Did you say psychedelic?
It's funny, I've been doing a lot of reading recently about the 40th
anniversary of Monterrey, and the Summer of Love this year. So I've been
reading a lot about Sgt. Pepper, the whole psychedelic culture of 40
years ago. My dad brought me up on the Beatles and by the time I was
twelve I was a complete Beatle addict. I have a lot of deep roots in
that culture, and most of the music I buy these days is 40 years old." I
believe it is unconscionable for Christian musicians to encourage an
appetite for Beatles' music in young people. No rock group has had a
more spiritually destructive influence than the Beatles. They were
certainly controlled by demons as they captured the affection of an
entire generation with their "magical mystery" music and carried
millions of people along on their journey to eastern religion, atheism,
drug abuse, and rebellion against established order. Lennon's extremely
popular song "Imagine" (1971) promotes atheism. The lyrics say: "Imagine
there's no heaven Š No hell below us, above us only sky Š no religion
too..." The Beatles continue to exercise a vast influence, and young
people need to be warned to stay away from them and from the world of
licentious rock and roll that they helped to create. "And have no
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove
them" (Ephesians 5:11).
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).