KANSAS DID NOT BAN EVOLUTION—Time and U.S. News got it wrong when they declared that evolution had been expunged from Kansas public schools' curriculum (9/13 CN). What the board decided was that it would not test students at the state level on evolution but local districts could do it. The state won't mandate teaching of origins but instructors may teach evolution if they choose.

DISNEY BETRAYED—Disney: The Mouse Betrayed tells an unsavory story of how Disney has been subverted in recent years. It exposes Disney's promotion of pay-per-view porn; its underwriting of movies (via its Miramax subsidiary) with themes of violence and sexual perversion, or with a militantly anti-Christian bias; its recording company that pushes rock songs with violent, Satanic, pro-suicide, pro-drug, sex-saturated lyrics; its unprincipled arrangements with Communist China to market its products; and its courting of the homosexual "community." (9/27 New Amer.) The book also discloses shocking facts of rampant pedophilia and other child abuse--and adult sexual abuse rife at its theme parks.

ANIMAL RIGHTS RADICAL SINGER AT PRINCETON—Peter Singer was recently appointed to an endowed chair in bioethics at Princeton University (7/1 CC). To him, a newborn has no greater right to life than pigs, cows, and dogs. He would give patients and doctors the right to kill (not just withhold treatment) newborns with Spina Bifida, hemophilia, etc. (9/27 NA). Per the 10/99 Reader's Digest, he says "killing a disabled infant is not morally equivalent to killing a person. Very often it is not wrong at all."

GAMBLING HURTS POOR MORE—Gamblers with household incomes under $10,000 wagered nearly three times more than those with household incomes over $50,000 (9/11 World). Gambling takes from losers money they can't afford to lose. It hits hardest those with the least ability to pay. It produces a subliminal conscience of covetousness, greed, pride, despair, and a false sense of pleasure. No winners in gambling—eventually all are losers!

CC WEB ADDRESS: http://home.hiwaay.net/~contendr

CATHOLIC TO HEAD HARVARD DIVINITY SCHOOL—Bryan Hehir is the new head of Harvard Divinity School, the first Roman Catholic priest at this post (9/13 C. News). He succeeds Ronald Thiemann (ELCA) who recently resigned after computer technicians found thousands of porn sites on his personal computer at his university residence after he requested technical assistance (7/1 CC).

CATHOLICS SPEND $1 BILLION IN SEXUAL MISCONDUCT CASES—Three times in a little over a year, sex scandals have driven high-ranking members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy from office, costing U.S. dioceses an estimated $1 billion in payments to victims (Proclaiming the Gospel). A Santa Rosa, CA bishop (1999) became the eighth of his rank or higher to leave office this decade over sexual misconduct. Others were a Santa Fe, NM archbishop (1993) and an Austrian cardinal (1998).

GLAAD DEMANDS MORE PRIME TIME TV FOR HOMOSEXUALS—The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has complained that TV entertainment is too straight, even with the 28 homosexual, bisexual, or "transgender" characters in the fall lineup (9/27 New Am.). GLAAD wants a glamorized, politically useful portrayal of homosexuality instead of a realistic portrayal which would require immersion in its pathologies—disease, violence, relentless promiscuity, and premature death.

POPE DESCRIBES PURGATORY AS A PROCESS—Pope John Paul II recently rejected the reality of hell being a literal physical place of eternal torment (9/1 CC). Then a few days later (Aug. 4) he described purgatory not as a place but a "process of purification" that removes man's earthly imperfections so he may enter God's kingdom (9/13 Chr. News). He said purgatory, like heaven and hell, is not a place but a spiritual state of being. He added: "But before we enter into God's kingdom every trace of sin within us must be eliminated; every imperfection in our soul must be corrected [in purgatory]"

FFBC RESOLUTIONS—The Fellowship of Fundamental Bible Churches met in annual session August 16-20 in Montague, NJ and passed good resolutions on the following issues: Gender-Neutral Paraphrases (Zondervan, IBS, NIV); The Scarlet Woman: One World Religion (United Religions); False Pride- The President again openly endorsing perversion by proclaiming June as "Gay and Lesbian Pride Month" in an attempt to pay off the political debt he owes the homosexual lobby; Remembering Our Heritage- The 60th Anniversary of the FFBC; Hate Crimes Legislation- Since Cain murdered Abel, all crimes of violence have been "Hate Crimes."

WCC IS WOOING CATHOLICS & EVANGELICALS—[Dr. Ralph Colas, executive secretary of the American Council of Christian Churches, attended the August 26 - September 3 50^th Meeting of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland. Below are a few excerpts from the first draft of his Special Report, available soon from: ACCC, P.O. Box 5455, Bethlehem, PA 18015.] The WCC continues it's "courting process" to bring "people of other faiths" under its umbrella. Its ecumenical machine is in high gear as it embraces gullible evangelicals and their entities. George Vandervelde, a leader in the World Evangelical Fellowship, was a major speaker at the WCC's 50th Assembly, Dec. 1998, in Harare, Zimbabwe, Africa. It appears his participation has been rewarded by being given a position serving on WCC's Commission on World Missions and Evangelism. (The WEF claims to represent 200 million evangelicals in 600,000 churches.) The WCC leadership also extended an "olive branch" to Rev. Kurt Bangert of the Lutheran Church in Germany, World Vision's official representative at this WCC's Geneva meeting. (WV is an EFMA member with a relief ministry in over 90 countries.) Bangert said he had an unusual private meeting with the WCC's Gen. Sec'y, Dr. Konrad Raiser. Numerous Roman Catholic leaders are serving on various WCC Commissions and Committees and the WCC is opening up to the Roman Catholic Church as well as developing further relationships with Pentecostal and Evangelical groups with a new dynamos of dialogue.

WCC: MARXIST & ECUMENICAL—During the 1970s and 1980s the World Council of Churches' Special Fund to Combat Racism made grants totaling some $4 million to armed insurgent forces in southern Africa that were Marxist-Leninist or heavily influenced by Communism (8/99 Schwarz Report). South Africa's African National Congress government (headed by Mandela's successor, Thabo Mbeki) is run by Marxists, strongly affiliated with the South African Communist Party but presented by our media as moderates. Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe addressed/praised (12/8/98) the WCC Assembly in Harare for having supported his armed [Marxist] revolution. The WCC hypocritically says it opposes violence. It meets in Atlanta Dec. 9-11 on a theme of reconciliation, with Archbishop Desmond Tutu as a major speaker. Rev. Kathryn Bannister, 29, one of the WCC's eight presidents, will be installed as moderator of the U.S. conference. Ecumenical worship and prayer are planned.

PREACHING TO A DYING NATION is the title of a new 250-page book by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr. and his associate Dr. Christopher Cagan. [This book is free to pastors and deacons, and available to others at $7 postpaid, from Dr. Hymers at P.O. Box 15308, Los Angeles, CA 90015, phone 818/352-0452.] Chapter 1 is entitled, "The Barbarians are Coming." Issues discussed include homosexuality, TV, abortion, Internet porn, and other signs that our pagan nation needs revival: "Western culture is rapidly declining into uncivilized savagery," our speech is becoming "crude and coarse," and "over 3,500 churches close each year." The book attributes much of the blame for all this on sham conversions resulting from Charles G. Finney's "decisionism" teachings (and later by Billy Graham). It calls for a "violent break" with this, and also faults Dr. John MacArthur's "Lordship salvation" and some of his other teachings. It lists Graham's "six [contradictory] ways to be saved." This is a thought-provoking book, and you may not agree with all that is said. Some will disagree that "Certainly no New Testament Christian can commit murder…" [p98, context is David's sin], e.g., countering that our old fleshly sinful nature is capable of any sin. But get this book, read it, it is well-worth the $7.

BWA LEADER WANTS NEW ATTITUDE TOWARD CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT—Baptist World Alliance Gen. Sec'y Denton Lotz urged Baptists to change their attitudes about the Charismatic Movement, during an address at Prague's Int'l Bapt. Theol. Seminary. He said: "We need to get over our hang-up of the use of the word 'charismatic'…" Lotz's two reasons for calling on Baptists to begin to accept the Charismatic Movement were its "sheer number" [over "500 million"] and its "rediscovery of the power and work of the Holy Spirit" (Foundation). The SBC is a major member of the apostate BWA.

MacARTHUR'S CONFUSING TEACHINGS ON 'LORDSHIP' & BLOOD—The following is taken from Preaching to a Dying Nation, a new 250-page book by Drs. R.L. Hymers and Christopher Cagan, available free to preachers, $7 to others, by phone 818/352-0452. Popular teacher Dr. John MacArthur is quoted: "Saving faith is a commitment to leave sin and follow Jesus at all costs." "Salvation is for those who are willing to forsake everything." Hymers says this is "pure Romanism" and concludes: "Much of today's preaching does not emphasize the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4) simply because the gospel is not needed if man can save himself by making a Lordship decision, as advocated by MacArthur and his followers." [We have found that MacArthur confuses justification and sanctification, and salvation and discipleship (see 1/15/89 CC) –ed.]. MacArthur has said "The blood of Jesus could not save" and "the blood of Christ is a metonym for His death." In his Study Bible he wrote: "Blood is used as a substitute for death." But Cagan uses Rev. 1:5, "He has washed us from our sins in His own blood," and says we could not have been washed in His death. He uses the Lord's Supper as proof that MacArthur is wrong on the Blood, and says: "Why not just take the bread, if the Blood is nothing more than a metonym for the death? Why do we need two separate elements?"

ROCK MUSIC AT BISAGNO'S SBC CHURCH—Dr. John Bisagno's First Baptist Church (SBC) in Houston (TX) had an Elvis contest and Beatles music at a 1994 event in its Solid Rock Café (8/15/94 CC). Dr. R.L. Hymers, Jr. relates the following in his new 250-page Preaching To A Dying Nation book (available free to preachers, $7 to others, at P.O. Box 15308, Los Angeles, CA 90015): "A short time ago I was driving through Houston on a trip with my family. It was Sunday, so we dropped into the First Baptist Church…since we knew of no independent church in the downtown area. I can only describe this evening service as fully charismatic. The pulsating music went on at a deafening level for nearly an hour. The sermon, by…Louie Giglio, was replete with charismatic ideas, punctuated by waves of people holding their arms in the air. The ushers were men dressed in shorts and caps with rings in their ears….We felt as out of place as we would have if we had entered a night club, a rock concert, or an opium den!…It is considered one of the conservative churches in the Southern Baptist Convention."

UCC APOSTASY—When the United Church of Christ was formed in 1958 it adopted a non-Trinitarian statement of Faith which Unitarians find acceptable. The UCC officially ordains practicing lesbians and homosexuals (the first major denom. to do so). It supports abortion, euthanasia—and suicide in various situations. (9/13 C N)

SBC SEMINARY PRESIDENT FIRED OVER ANGER—Midwestern Seminary Pres. Mark Coppenger confessed "misappropriation of anger" to trustee leaders July 30 after reports that he became enraged and used profanity with seminary employees. He was fired last month after trustees determined his temper imperiled his leadership.

Send comments to ccemail2015@gmail.com