GRAHAM & FALWELL—Sword of the Lord editor Dr. Shelton Smith says of Drs. Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell: "Both began as fundamentalists! Both achieved great success and were catapulted into the international spotlight! Both shifted the moorings of their ministries from their fundamentalist base to a wider circle of evangelicals. Standards and principles of separation vanished! Compromise became the norm! The ecumenicism adopted by Graham (in the 1950s) is now the established game plan at Liberty University. In such an environment truth and error freely mix. Sound doctrine is shelved for the sake of fellowship. Where once the strong voice of biblical authority was present, now the spirit of accommodation and expediency prevails."

WHO WILL EVANGELIZE CATHOLICS?—Who will take the Gospel to Roman Catholics today? Many mission agencies and parachurch groups now work jointly with Catholics to evangelize the world with a compromised, powerless gospel. The 6/97 Proclaiming the Gospel reported: "The Catholic Church is now participating [it has for decades] in Billy Graham's crusades. In exchange for promoting the crusade and using Catholic counselors, Graham promises the local bishop to send all the Catholics who come forward making a profession of faith, back home to their Catholic churches." These babes in Christ are thus fed to wolves who condemn the biblical Gospel and those who proclaim it. Charles Colson, Bill Bright, J.I. Packer, and other evangelicals more committed to unity than evangelism in 1994 signed the Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT) accord with Catholics, essentially agreeing not to "proselytize" one another's flocks. So, many evangelicals will stop evangelizing Catholics, opting instead to work with them as partners. But faithful Christians will resist the "urge to merge" and the "race to Rome," and will continue trying to reach Catholics and others with the true Gospel of Christ.

NAE ACCEPTS 'FORMER' ARMSTRONG CULT—National Association of Evangelicals board members recently voted to accept the Worldwide Church of God as its 49th denominational member (5/19 Chr. News). Dr. Ralph Colas recently warned of WCG's weak doctrinal statement and of NAE's impending and imprudent move in his NRB report (see 3/15 CC; also see 10/1 CC article).

GRAHAM, WOMEN PREACHERS, HELL—We saw part of David Frost's interview of Dr. Billy Graham (5/30, PBS) where Graham responded to a question about women preachers: "I'm equally at home in a Baptist church, Anglican church, or Roman Catholic church." He then indicated that he favors women preachers if that is the custom of a given church/denomination, and it was noted that his daughter Anne is a preacher. He reiterated his long-held belief that Hell is [merely] "separation from God" no mention of fire or torment.

PENTECOSTAL PANDEMONIUM AT PENSACOLA—For two years, charismatics and others have flocked to Pensacola's Brownsville Assembly of God church to witness the "outpouring." The pastor says "God sent pandemonium in the church." John Milton coined the word "pandemonium" in 1667 as "the capital of Hell." The word literally means "place of all the demons," or "any place of wild disorder, noise or confusion." A Mar-Apr Foundation article said "the spirit at Brownsville is the same spirit that manifests itself to followers of voodoo and pagan religions." It quoted a Washington Post writer: "If it weren't for the cross and stained glass behind the altar, you might think you were at a rock-and-roll show." The 6/97 Nat'l Lib. Journal had an ad for a video with examples of young girls shaking violently, Beatles music that alters consciousness, and guided imagery praying.

ONENESS GROUP PERFORMED AT NRB—Oneness Pentecostals have been called heretics for many years based on their beliefs concerning the Godhead. The 6/97 Charisma said: "The contemporary Christian recording group Phillips, Craig and Dean is composed of three Oneness ministers." This group was featured at the recent National Religious Broadcasters convention, and performed at a local SBC church (Whitesburg) March 22.

FEMINIST VERSION OF NIV SHELVED FOR NOW—The gender-neutral translation of the New International Version of the Bible has been temporarily put on hold. Southern Baptists and others objected to the "capitulation to feminism and political correctness" by plans to change "men" to "human beings," etc. (see 4/15 CC). The International Bible Society and Zondervan announced last month that they will continue to publish the current NIV but plan to possibly publish an "updated" edition (presumably with gender changes) after 2001 (6/7 World). A British publisher has a 1996 "inclusive language" NIV, and a simplified New International Reader's Version (NIrV) a unisex translation is sold in the U.S. by the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board.

PORNOGRAPHY AT BETHEL COLLEGE?—Bethel College, a Baptist General Conference school (Minneapolis) has tolerated modernistic teachings for decades and has stood to the left of most BGC churches. Its current president is George Brushaber who is also Chairman of Christianity Today's Senior Editors. A student recently filed suit against the school charging that some of her professors used vulgar language, and said some students were asked to read books and watch films that contained hard-core violence and profanity, and explicit, illicit sex (5/24 World). Brushaber defended the use of the material, though he promised that one film and one class would be dropped. The suit charged that Bethel violated its own handbook by showing pornography which students are forbidden to possess on campus.

CHURCH WITHDRAWS FROM IFCA—The Middletown Bible Church (CT) voted unanimously last year to withdraw from the Independent Fundamental Churches of America, primarily over the latter's "denial of the eternal Sonship of Christ." It said, in a letter to IFCA Nat'l Exec. Dir. Dr.Richard Gregory: "We will continue, by God's grace, to uphold the historic IFCA position and doctrinal platform. We have not moved from where we have always stood. It is sadly ironic that in seeking to defend an organization's doctrinal statement, we are forced to leave the organization whose doctrinal statement it is." [This church has an updated list of over one hundred excellent books, tracts, and other literature items (many written by George Zeller), on various subjects. Available at cost, from Middletown BC, 349 East Street, Middletown, CT 06457. Write for free list.]

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