CHARISMATICS CALL IT HOLY LAUGHTER—Charismatics say laughter is a new demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit. People break out in raucous laughter during South African evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne's "laughing revivals." They roll on the floor and laugh hysterically. Some lie on the floor giggling uncontrollably for hours. Some "speak in tongues" when thus "slain in the Spirit." At Oral Roberts University at a recent Howard-Browne meeting, ORU Pres. Richard Roberts "ended up on the floor laughing." His father, Oral Roberts, said Howard-Browne's ministry signaled the arrival of another level in the Holy Spirit. The 8/94 Charisma said "no one doubts that having vast numbers of listeners convulsed in laughter can make whatever is being said from the pulpit irrelevant." Howard-Browne said: "One night I was preaching on hell, and [laughter] just hit the whole place. The more I told people what hell was like, the more they laughed." Hell is no joke. Demonism may be involved here. There is no biblical support for such mass swoonings.

MOODY'S BAD ADVICE ON ROCK MUSIC—The July-August Moody Monthly said secular rock stars such as Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, and Billy Joel "frequently record uplifting, if not spiritually insightful, songs" (p54). It favorably reviewed a country rock "gospel" album by Charlie Daniels, and said he "could certainly use our prayers as he embarks on an adventure of attracting his secular listeners to these new lyrics" (p. 36). An interview with Daniels in the 7/31 Huntsville Times quoted him using profanity. But Moody says: "For Christians to flatly dismiss musicians because they use four-letter words or sexual references, diminishes the likelihood that people will ever hear our message....We have to understand the world's view before we can effectively communicate our view; we have to relate to the people before we can preach to them" (p57). Sad!

HOUSTON'S WORLDLY SBC MEGACHURCHES—In the 8/1/91 CC we reported on the use of Hollywood movies and rock music to lure baby boomers to Dr. Ed Young's Second Baptist Church in Houston. Young just completed a two-year term as president of the SBC, and is scheduled to speak at Jerry Falwell's Super Conference in Oct. We now see that Houston's First Baptist Church had an Elvis Contest and Beatles music at a recent event in its Solid Rock Cafe. And its 6/17 paper warned that FBC's Sun. P.M. Service might be changed "if there is a sixth game between the Rockets and the Knicks."

ARE WE TRYING TO SAVE, OR DESTROY, HAITI?—The Congressional Black Caucus wants us to invade Haiti, and Pres. Clinton needs their votes to pass Health Care. But the man they want back in power is Rev. Jean Bertrand Aristide, a Marxist Roman Catholic Priest who teaches liberation theology and was moving to run all of the missionaries out of Haiti when he was ousted. (7/25 CVN). Reader's Digest (8/94) said Aristide's Catholic order expelled him, and that he brought neither peace nor democracy to Haiti. It said his movement murdered political opponents and burned religious buildings, that he seemed to favor "necklacing" opponents with gasoline-soaked tires and igniting them.

FBF RESOLUTION ON CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ASSOCIATIONS—The FBF believes that the Christian school movement is a positive influence for genuine Biblical Christianity in our nation, but warns local Christian schools and state and national associations of the danger of having on their education platforms those who are not firmly committed to the principles and practices of Biblical separation. We believe it is possible to have new evangelicalism slip in through the back door of our Christian education associations while guarding the front door of our churches from this danger.

WE ARE NOT ANTI-SEMITIC!—One of our readers complained about our reference in the last issue to Judge Breyer being "Jewish." This was how some mainline Jewish-owned papers/magazines referred to him, so we (thoughtlessly maybe) did the same. We intended no racial aspersion. We are not "anti" anyone's race, but are "anti" the Christ-rejecting Jewish religion and Breyer's liberalism

PERSONAL NOTE—We praise the Lord for the slow but sure progress in the healing of our bones. The doctor was very pleased with recent X-rays. There is still a minor problem with the eyes. Please continue to pray. We hope to resume our twice-monthly schedule with the next issue, Lord willing.

NRB '95 SPEAKERS—The 52nd Annual National Religious Broadcasters Convention is set for the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN for Feb. 11-14. Featured speakers for this ecumenical event include: Luis Palau (The "Billy Graham of Latin America"), Adrian Rogers (SBC), D. James Kennedy, and Elisabeth Elliot. Billy Graham, Dan Quayle, and Ricky Skaggs are also invited. Bill Gaither will host a Praise Celebration. John MacArthur, Greg Laurie and Fuller Seminary's Archibald Hart are to speak at an Aug. 28-30, 1994 Western Religious Broadcasters Conference in Costa Mesa, CA. To learn how charismatic and ecumenical the NRB really is, order Dr. Ralph Colas's NRB '94 first-hand report. The NRB is an arm of the NAE (Nat'l Assoc. of Evangelicals). The CC editor covered the NAE '94 convention. Both reports are available from the American Council of Christian Churches at: Box 19, Wallingford, PA 19086, $2 each, or both for $3.

PICKERING REPLIES TO SWINDOLL—In a new 35-page booklet, "Are Fundamentalists Legalists?", Dr. Ernest Pickering ably responds to Dallas Seminary president Dr. Charles Swindoll's Grace Awakening book. Swindoll's book took the doctrine of grace and liberty to an unscriptural extreme, where Christians are free from "taboos" such as prohibitions against movies, dancing, etc. It left the impression that rules or restrictions upon the believer steal from him the exuberance and joy of the Christian life and relegate him to a morbid and dreary existence. All "rules," according to Swindoll, should be self-imposed and not imposed by others. Dr. Pickering gives the scriptural case for godly living and exposes Swindoll's "legalism vs. liberty" error. Order from Baptist World Mission, P.O. Box 1463, Decatur, AL 35602 ($1, plus $1 postage for one copy, 25 cents for additional.)

FURTHER INDICATIONS OF GARBC DRIFT—The speakers at the June 63rd Annual Conference of the General Association of Regular Baptists included Lehman Strauss and ABWE's Wendell Kempton. These men platform-share with evangelicals. It gets even worse for next year--the ecumenical Warren Wiersbe is a featured speaker. Mark Albertson of the Center for Conflict Management was scheduled to lead a four half-day seminar at GARBC-approved Northwest Baptist Seminary in June, after leading similar events for a cult-affiliated university, a Friends church, etc. A GARBC church was a 1993 CCM "contributor." Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary professor David Turner has questioned the literalness of heaven in similar fashion to the way Michael Van Horn did a year or so ago (Van Horn also questioned the "literal fire" of hell.) Over 100 churches left the GARBC in 1990. Thirty-seven left this year, four new ones joined, leaving a total of 1,472. Dr. Clay Nuttall says most all of the leading conservative churches have left. He sees no hope for the GARBC and says it will never return to its foundation and standard even though it denies it has left it.

TODAY'S EVANGELICALS EMBRACING ROMAN CATHOLICS—This is the title of a new 73 page book by Wilson Ewin (except he rightly called Roman Catholicism "the World's Deadliest Cult".) Perhaps more significantly than its exposure of the evils of Romanism, the book reveals the traitorous shift of new-evangelical affiliation with the papal system. Ewin pointed out that evangelicals working together with Roman Catholics are, almost without exception, involved with the NAE. Get this timely book from Bro. Ewin at: PO Box 180, Norton, VT 05907, $4.30 incl. postage.

FALWELL & FRIENDS—Dr. Jerry Falwell continues to fraternize with Southern Baptist leaders, and was featured again as a speaker at a June SBC-related event in Orlando. His Super Conference XIII, Oct. 9-12, features Ed Young, O.S. Hawkins, and Bailey Smith. Dallas Seminary pres. Chuck Swindoll is "tentatively scheduled."(5/6 Liberty Flame). Gary Smalley is scheduled to speak at Falwell's church, Aug. 26-27 (8/94 F. On The F.). Yet for all his new-evangelical associations, Dr. Falwell is praised and often welcomed as a speaker at a leading Southwide Baptist Fellowship church--Northside Baptist in Charlotte (host church for Oct. SBF Meeting!).

RBP CATALOG BOOK PROMOTES GRAHAM, LIBERALS—The 1993 Regular Baptist Press (GARBC) catalog has a book by Sherwood Wirt, I Don't Know What Old Is, But Old Is Older Than Me. Wirt is editor-emeritus of Billy Graham's Decision Magazine. He approvingly quotes, with no warning, liberals, neo-orthodox, etc., such as Soren Kierkegaard, John Mott, C.S. Lewis, J. B. Phillips, and John Stott. He says of Graham: "Billy Graham...is setting an example for elderly people everywhere. He [is]...still winning souls in the magnificent world-wide ministry that God has given him. What a man!"(p. 144). This is but another example of why we can no longer trust the GARBC's Regular Baptist Press (James 3:11).

PETER WAGNER, CHURCH GROWTH GURU—C. Peter Wagner joined the faculty of pro-charismatic Fuller Seminary in 1971 and studied under church growth specialist Donald McGavran. He later designed and taught, with John Wimber, the controversial "Signs and Wonders" course, and coined the term "third wave." Wagner, a prominent leader of the Church Growth movement which continues to draw closer to the charismatics, now claims to have the power to heal, including the lengthening of legs. (7/25 Chr. News).

RACISM A MAIN THEME AT PROMISE KEEPERS EVENTS—Racial reconciliation was a central theme at all six regional Promise Keepers (see 7/1 CC) events this summer, per the 8/94 Charisma. The article was entitled, "Promise Keepers Targets Racism". (Racism was also a recurring theme at the 3/94 NAE conference in Dallas.) E.V. Hill and Tony Evans were two of many ecumenical speakers at the events. Others included Campus Crusade's Bill Bright, Bill Hybels, and Moody Bible Institute president Joseph Stowell. (The latter may not be an "ecumenical" but he sadly seems headed that way!) Hybels said many men vastly overrate how good they are in the eyes of a holy God. "But ask yourself," he said, "how you stack up against Mother Teresa and Billy Graham..." (6/21 Ind. Bapt.) Charismatics are featured as speakers, and will publish PK's new men's magazine. Promise Keepers hopes 1 million men will descend on Washington, DC in 1996.

DR. PARKER HOME WITH THE LORD—Baptist World Mission General Director Dr. Monroe Parker died July 17 at age 85. As an evangelist, he had conducted over 1,500 campaigns in 46 states. He served on the board of the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship. He was president of Pillsbury Baptist Bible College for eight years, and was president of the Minnesota Baptist Convention for four years. Dr. Fred Moritz, as Executive Director, will now head BWM. Dr. Ernest Pickering is Deputation Director, and Dr. Ron Brooks is Field Director. In addition to these three, Drs. Bob Jones Jr., Ed Nelson, and Wayne Van Gelderen also participated in the funeral service. Many fundamentalist leaders attended.

IBFNA RESOLUTION ON CATHOLIC-EVANGELICAL PACT—"WHEREAS ecumenicism continues to be advanced by both the National and World Council of Churches, causing Baptists and Protestants to be drawn into the Roman Catholic fold; and WHEREAS Evangelicalism and Neo-Evangelicalism increasingly undermine the authority and trustworthiness of Scripture and its mandate to separate from compromising brethren as well as apostates; and WHEREAS representatives of the National Association of Evangelicals, the Southern Baptist Convention, Campus Crusade, Christian Coalition and Int'l Prison Fellowship, including Pat Robertson, Chuck Colson, John White (NAE), Richard Land (SBC), as well as Roman Catholic representatives such as Archbishop Francis Stafford, Bishop Carlos Sevilla, and Fr. Richard Neuhaus have signed Evangelicals and Catholics Together..., whereby all parties acknowledge each other as Christians and agree not to proselytize from each other's congregations...BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that we, the members of the Independent Baptist Fellowship of North America [Merrillville, IN, June 21-23] do hereby denounce this pact and the Ecumenicism it represents as an unholy alliance clearly condemned by the Word of God...[W]e condemn any endorsement of the Roman Catholic Church as Christian, either in doctrine or practice..."

WATCHMAN NEE THE MYSTIC—Watchman Nee's writings have profoundly influenced many evangelicals of our day. Nee died in 1972 in a communist prison camp in China. He insisted that none but his "little flock" churches were authentic, and that more than one congregation in any given area is unbiblical. He blended evangelical and liberal views of revelation and Scripture (5/9/75 CT). In a recent Moody Press book, Faith Misguided: Exposing the dangers of Mysticism, Arthur Johnson says Nee's theological position is "deeply mystical." Johnson suggests Nee's writings should be carefully scrutinized for "major errors."(p. 90). He says Nee insists on a secondary place for doctrine, and shows Nee's influence on the modern charismatic movement. He says A.W. Tozer, Pat Robertson, Richard Foster and many others have shown philosophical affinity for Nee's mysticism.

FOSTER DRAWS MATERIAL FROM CATHOLIC MYSTICS—Richard Foster, founder and president of Renovare, has a Quaker heritage. The Spring '94 Mainstream (England) comments on Foster's book entitled Prayer thusly: "[Foster] draws his material from the Catholic mystics, quoting sources such as Julian of Norwich, Thomas Merton, Bernard of Clairvaux, Madame Guyon and... Teresa of Avila. He even draws from St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits..." Denver Seminary (CBA) professors, meeting with Dave Hunt in 1990, admitted to possibly being overzealous in promoting books by Foster and other mysticism advocates (9/15/90 CC).

SOME MISUSE MATT. 18 TO SILENCE 'CONTENDERS'—Why is it that when a "fundamentalist" leader is to speak on a new-evangelical platform, he doesn't seem to mind at all if the new evangelicals publicize the matter in their papers. But, on the other hand, if a fundamentalist paper informs fundamentalists of the scheduled event, he goes ballistic. Just to merely report the engagement can bring a charge of, "You attacked me," or, "You should have followed the Matt. 18:15-17 procedure." But this passage deals with personal offenses, not compromise. And, besides, whose church would you take it to? We do sometimes need to call first, especially when necessary to verify facts. Comments by Jay Adams may help here (see 9/1/92 CC): "Some think that if one Christian differs with the writings or public statements of another Christian on a point of doctrine [e.g., separation], without rancor or any problem between them as persons, he is wrong for stating the differences publicly before going privately to the brother with whom he disagrees. That is a misconception. First of all, there is no unreconciled condition between them; they simply differ. Secondly, therefore, there is no matter of church discipline involved. Thirdly, even if this were a matter of discipline, the first party wrote or spoke publicly--he put it before the church or the world; he did not speak privately. For that reason it is as appropriate for the second brother to write or speak as publicly as the first did in refuting what he thinks is a wrong [action, or] interpretation of the Scriptures and which, therefore, he believes may hurt the church if he doesn't." The propagation of error, and compromising fellowships, require a public warning to the unwary.

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