VOL. XXI  NO. 10    NEWS & VIEWS, NOTES & QUOTES, TO WARN & INFORM    October 2004

THE ROLE, PURPOSE & EFFECTS OF MUSIC—Foundation magazine offers a 65-page very informative booklet by Pastor David Moss for its July-August issue. There is a warning to heed: “Things done in the house of God are not acceptable to Him merely because they are done in the house of God. Neither are they acceptable to Him merely because they are done in the name of Christ.” [Matt. 7:21-23] Phone: 805/528-3534.

MOVIE RATINGS NOW LESS STRICT—Today's movies contain significantly more violence, sex and profanity on average than movies of the same rating a decade ago (9/16 Ala. Bapt.). A movie rated PG-13 today contains comparable content to an R-rated movie a decade ago, according to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health.

IS IT HATE SPEECH TO COLLECT BIBLE VERSES ON HOMOSEXUALITY?—Last year a Pentecostal pastor in Sweden was found guilty of offending homosexuals in a sermon and sentenced to one month in prison under a trial test of a law against a law against incitement (9/04 Chr. Today). He had described homosexuality as “abnormal,” and called homosexuals “perverts.” The prosecutor played an excerpt from the sermon, called it an attack, and said: “Collecting Bible [verses] on this topic as he does makes this hate speech.”

CHRISTIAN COALITION, CASINOS, CATHOLICISM—Ralph Reed, former head of the Christian Coalition (similar in many ways to Moral Majority), admits to accepting $1.23 million in consulting fees tied to Indian-run gambling casinos (9/9 Ala. Baptist), but he says he never advocated in favor of gambling. Meanwhile, Alabama Christian Coalition head, John Giles, has found his home in the Roman Catholic church. Dave Hunt comments on this: “The Catholic Church teaches that a person much be baptized and become good enough to enter heaven….But the Bible declares that no one can ever be good enough to merit heaven. Salvation is a gift of God….”

McCARTNEY MOVES FROM PK TO MESSIANICS—Promise Keepers founder Bill McCartney is joining a new effort to reach out to Messianic Jews aimed at linking evangelical Christians with Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah (9/13 C. News). A December 3 “gathering” is planned.

MUSLIM TERRORISM & AIDS—“Infidels” have “hijacked” the supposedly “peaceful” religion of Islam. Hurricanes and terrorism have taken a terrible recent toll. Yet: “HIV/AIDS globally is already the worst disaster in recorded human history.” (Record) In Africa, some 28 million have the AIDS virus. (7/24 World) Despite the U.S. record $15 billion initiative (more than all other countries combined!) to fight the global spread of HIV, we are disdainfully pilloried by AIDS activists.

PARLIAMENT OF THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS—This important meeting in Barcelona, Spain, July 7-13, of the Fourth Parliament of the World's Religions was covered by ACCC Exec. Sec'y Dr. Ralph Colas. His 6-page informative report is now available. Keynote speakers included: Swiss theologian Hans Kung, Deepak Chopra, and Dr. Jane Goodhall. More than 1,000 speakers led some 430 panels/workshops, plus large plenary sessions. A Catholic archbishop spoke. The Chinese government may have hindered the Dalai Lama from attending. Syncretism was very evident and those who disagreed were identified as a hindrance to world peace. At least 143,000 attended some part of the Parliament activities. Pluralism (all religions are the same) was emphasized. “Peace” was an oft-heard buzz word. Pagan religions (honoring the earth) were represented. An anti-American sentiment is evident and prevalent in countries like Spain. Dr. Colas spends a lot of time, effort, and travel costs in covering these meetings (with a press badge) NOTE: If these reports are a help to you, an offering to help with these costs would be appreciated. Send to: ACCC, P.O. Box 5455, Bethlehem, PA 18015. Phone: 610/865-3009.

MBI PRESIDENT TO RESIGN—Moody Bible Institute president Dr. Joseph Stowell plans to resign his post effective Feb. 2005 and pursue a ministry of teaching and preaching (9/16 Ala. Baptist). He had been at MBI since 1987 and had embraced ecumenism on several occasions. He served as the “Leadership Chair” for the 1996 Luis Palau “Say YES, Chicago” crusade. Stowell and Palau, “the Billy Graham of Latin America,” were Promise Keepers speakers and sometimes joined with Roman Catholics in ecumenical endeavors, such as the Chicago crusade. Moody Monthly is soon to cease publication—it had been on the decline in recent years and became increasingly new-evangelical. Speakers for the upcoming MBI Founder's Week conference (Jan. 1–Feb. 5) include: Stowell, Ralph Bell, Jim Cymbala, Howard Hendricks, Tony Evans, Ravi Zacharias, and Joni.

ADRIAN ROGERS TO RETIRE—Former SBC president Dr. Adrian Rogers recently announced his plans to retire as pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church near Memphis, set for the spring of 2005. He will remain in Memphis but felt Bellevue needed a younger pastor. He had recent heart surgery but said health was not a factor in his decision. He will continue his worldwide radio and television ministry known as Love Worth Finding, and his pastor training institute. Bellevue had 9,000 members when he came there; today it claims 29,000. Note: Even though Bellevue was my dad's church in later life, and Dr. Rogers was a skilled expositor of the Word, I still felt it necessary to lovingly warn my dad of Rogers' unequal yoke with liberals in SBC colleges, etc.

WORD FAITH DANGER—Word Faith is the fastest growing movement within the professed Christian church. Two closely [related] factions are involved. The first is the Norman Vincent Peale (“positive thinking,”) Robert Schuller (“possibility thinking”) with their roots in the Hagin, Copeland positive confession. Here you run across such names as E.W. Kenyon and Wm. Branham (Faith & Freedom). Kenneth Copeland denies Christ achieved our salvation on the Cross. In his magazine he denies the deity of Christ and says “that every Christian is guaranteed physical healing and financial prosperity.”

FUNDAMENTALISM IS NOT NEW—It is a mistake often made by educated persons who happen to have but little knowledge of historical theology to suppose that fundamentalism is a new and strange form of thought. It is nothing of the kind; it is the partial and uneducated survival of a theology which was once universally held by all Christians. How many were there, for instance, in Christian churches in the 18th century who doubted the inspiration of all Scripture? A few, perhaps, but very few. No, the fundamentalist may be wrong; I think that he is. But it is we who have departed from the tradition, not he, and I am sorry for the fate of anyone who tries to argue with a fundamentalist on the basis of authority. The Bible and the corpus theologicum of the Church is on the fundamentalist side. —Kirsop Lake, via Frontline

ISLAM 101: Contrasts Between Islam and Christianity is the title of a new glossy finish 8-page pamphlet by Dr. Gene Gurganus. He has served 53 years as an evangelist, pastor, and missionary church planter in a Muslim country. We reviewed his book Peril of Islam in the July CC. This much-needed pamphlet deserves widespread distribution and is available from: Truth Publishers, P.O. Box 1525, Taylors, SC 29687, or visit Web site at: www.perilofislam.com 10 copies $3, 100 for $12, postpaid.

NEW EVANGELICALISM—[This is one of 22 Terms to Know in the 21st Century, by Matt Costella, FEA, Box 6278, Los Osos, CA 93412] “A theological position that attempts to bridge the gap between Biblical fundamentalism (or traditional evangelicalism) and religious liberalism and neo-orthodoxy in an effort to gain intellectual and cultural respectability. Harold Ockenga, who coined the term 'New Evangelicalism' in 1948, said this new movement emphasizes infiltration rather than separation from error, the advancement of the social gospel and a willingness to re-examine certain Biblical teachings embraced by fundamentalists (such as, the nature of Scripture, the origin of man, the universality of the flood, etc.). The March 1956 issue of Christian Life elaborated upon the tenets of New Evangelicalism in the article 'Is Evangelical Theology Changing.' The article noted the characteristics of the New Evangelicalism: 1) A friendly attitude toward science, 2) a willingness to re-examine beliefs concerning the work of the Holy Spirit, 3) a more tolerant attitude toward varying views on eschatology, 4) a shift away from so-called extreme dispensationalism, 5) an increased emphasis on scholarship, 6) a more definite recognition of social responsibility, 7) a re-opening of the subject of Biblical inspiration and 8) a growing willingness of evangelical theologians to converse with liberal theologians. Today, New Evangelicalism is often manifested as a mood or attitude of disdain toward Biblical fundamentalism as well as a ministerial philosophy which encourages ecumenical cooperation and emphasizes 'love' at the expense of sound doctrine.”

CLINTON AT NOTORIOUS LIBERAL CHURCH—On the very eve of the Republican National Convention, former Pres. Bill Clinton took the pulpit of one of NY's most famous churches—Riverside Church. He delivered a message to mobilize religious liberals. The church, founded in 1927, was built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. Its founding pastor was the notorious Harry Emerson Fosdick. Fosdick, a Baptist, had formerly served as preaching minister at New York's First Presby. Church but was forced out after controversy arose when he denied Christian doctrines from the pulpit. Fosdick and Rockefeller founded Riverside as a bastion of progressive thought, mixed with theological and political liberalism (A. Mohler, 9-14-04 BP). [Note: We visited the Riverside complex in 1988—Union Seminary, NCC, Riverside, etc. There was ample evidence to support Dr. G.A. Weniger's charge that Riverside was “the No. 1 pulpit of modernism.” Speakers: Ortega, Tutu, Ting, e.g.]

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