January 1998 News Archives
Distributed via e-mail by Christian News & Views. These articles may be used in any manner to the glory of God, and as an aid in the discernment of the times January 1998
[Andy Neckar PO Box J, Hico, TX 76457]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------1. Ambassador To Ireland Takes Protestant Communion
2. Baptist speaker Tony Campolo pulls no punches in Missouri
3. Charismatics teaching children
4. Church Turning to "World" to Solve Problems
5. Clinton retreats to his family, church for support
6. Gay and lesbian Christians plan to build US $25m. cathedral in Texas
7. Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic Youth Pray Together
8. Is Religious Revival breaking out all across America?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ambassador To Ireland Takes Protestant Communion
(Excerpts from Religion News Service 1/98)
U.S. Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith, the American envoy to Ireland and a Roman Catholic, took Holy Communion Dec. 21 in Dublin's oldest Anglican Protestant cathedral, ignoring strictures from the country's Roman Catholic hierarchy."Religion, after all, is about bringing people together," Smith told the Irish Times, a Dublin newspaper on Dec. 22. "We all have our own way of going to God."
Smith, appointed to the Irish post in 1993 by President Clinton, is the sister of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and a member of one of the most prominent Catholic families in the United States.
[Editor] No big deal that Roman Catholics believe this falsehood. They have always believed "their church" which teaches "another gospel". But mainstream Christianity is falling for this "different pathways" to God too.
Speaking of Christ, God’s Word tells us: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12 (KJV)
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (KJV)
End-times apostasy is upon us folks.
II Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (KJV)
I believe that never before in history has there ever been a greater falling away than there is at this present time. Read history. For 1,000 years before the Reformation, there were always groups of evangelical Christians outside the Catholic Church. There were the Vaudois, Albigenses, Waldenses and other early evangelicals and only one false church. The Roman Catholic Church Look at the situation now
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Baptist speaker Tony Campolo pulls no punches in Missouri
Campolo, an American Baptist minister and author of more than 20 books, spoke to Missouri political leaders at the annual governor’s prayer breakfast Jan. 9. The night before, he spoke to about 100 college students in a statewide forum on faith and values.At the student conference, Campolo described his reluctance to join "the relentless evangelical march towards condemnation of homosexuals" because, he said, it breeds hatred rather than love.
"You don’t have to approve of what a person does to defend that person’s dignity and rights," Campolo said.
In his speech at the governor’s prayer breakfast, Campolo said, "The purpose of our salvation is not to go to heaven when we die, but so that we might be better equipped to be instruments of God, to do his work here on earth."
(Associated Baptist Press 1/22/98)
(Editor) I suppose God’s condemnation of homosexuality bred hatred in God, Right? Wrong? God hates sin and condemns sinners who have not repented (turned from that sin) and believed the gospel of Christ. But those who do not believe Romans 1:26-27 do not believe Romans 1:16 either. If God is "only" a God of love, then what is hell for? One more time. God hates sin and sends unrepentant sinners to that hell—forever.
What dignity (dignified behavior, nobility of manner, honor) is manifest in this abomination before God (and godly men)?
Advocating what God condemns is what makes man better equipped to be instruments of the Anti-Christ, to do his work here on earth."
Let ME give you the purpose of our salvation. You’ll ready for this? OK.-- JOHN 3:16
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Charismatics teaching children
An article in "Religion Today" 1/15/98 says "Churches are finding that God can use children as much as adults. ‘"They are seeing that children are able to pray and that God can speak through them just like adults -- only better sometimes,"’ said Denise McClure of the Children's Global Prayer Movement. The West Palm Beach, Fla., ministry conducts seminars that teach children how to pray."
[Editor] Christ taught His disciples how to pray, but He ascended bodily into heaven and He sent the Conforter to teach us to pray.
Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (KJV)
The article continues by saying that "Children are eager to pray and practice what they have learned. "’They just want to do -- they want to lay hands on and pray for people and see what happens,"’ McClure said. Children can be more effective than adults sometimes because they are less contaminated by ‘"worldly thinking"’ and rely more on faith, she said.
[Editor] These children are not so much into prayer according to God’s will, they have been taught to be involved to see what "they" can do. They want to experience, experience. Let me put it this way. They are taught to pray to encounter feelings, happenings, adventures.
The article goes on to say "This year, children trained by the ministry will travel with Christians walking through European and Middle Eastern countries asking forgiveness for the sins committed by Christians during the Crusades."
Editor] When the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray He teaches us to pray in "God’s will" . Man is teaching these children to pray for forgiveness of sins committed by the Roman Catholic Church (certainly not Christian) centuries ago. We cannot obtain pardon for others sins no more then we can pray one out of hell.. (or Catholicism’s purgatory)
The article states that "Children go through the city praying. Led by an adult or a teen-ager, the children pray at the church until they feel God has shown them what area of the city to visit. When they arrive, they begin praying "against negative spiritual forces" and asking God to bless the people living there."
[Editor] I may sound sarcastic to some, but truth is sometimes bitter to swallow for some. How does one pray "against negative spiritual forces"? Are they "binding" Satan? I wrote before that only Christ can bind Satan. The Charismatics are now involving the children in "mans gospel". They are teaching them to "lay hands" and "heal". By the way-God does not bless communities. He blesses His children. We become His children by believing the gospel of Christ. (Rom 1:16)
What is the gospel of Christ, you say? This is the gospel of Christ.
1 Cor 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; (KJV)
1 Cor 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. (KJV)
1 Cor 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; (KJV)
1 Cor 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (KJV)
Want to "hear" it? Listen to the real audio tapes on my web site by my pastor.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Church Turning to "World" to Solve Problems
According to a Ft. Worth Star Telegram Religious news article of 1/22/98, members of the Freedom Missionary Baptist Church of Odessa TX went to court to fire their pastor who refused to leave the pulpit after a 17-15 vote was taken by the congregation to fire him.The pastors attorney told the judge presiding in the case that it takes a 2/3 majority vote to remove a pastor according to the church’s constitution, and the judge ordered another vote.
Two lawyers, one representing the pastor, the other representing members who voted for the removal will decide who's eligible to vote and to count the votes.
[Editor] This church is comparable to many churches in America today who are turning to the world to solve affairs of the church. (1 Cor 5-6) Why is this happening? Because the professing Christian church is beginning to embrace the world and place her trust in the world’s judgments and her teachings. The vast majority of the world’s churches are no longer representation of Christianity.
Just as the Roman Church did centuries ago, the various denominational churches and in many cases independent churches that profess Christianity, are rejecting the teachings of Christ and turning to the opinions (teachings) of man. The next step is to reject Christ as Savior, or at best equate Him along with other means of salvation.
Maryology, Christology, Paganology, Enviormentalology, You-name-itology. The world can ogle all it wants. It won’t find salvation in none other than Jesus Christ. (Acts 4:12)
P.S. I know brother took brother to court in the Apostle Paul’s day, but all things happening in the churches combined are a great cause for concern.
Folks, if you are in a sound church, one that preaches the gospel of Christ and teaches the doctrine of Christ, support it and the pastor. You don’t need Promise Keepers to tell you that. Besides, they’ll tell you to support your pastor even if he is the devil himself.
The reason some folks can’t find a sound church is the same reason a burglar can’t find a cop.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Clinton retreats to his family, church for support
Bill Clinton sought solace Sunday from the crisis enveloping his presidency. Leaving the White House for the first time in days since allegations of adultery and perjury became public, the president and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton attended services at Foundry United Methodist Church, located several blocks from the White House.Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader and minister, spent the weekend with the Clintons. "I felt the need to be with them and to have prayer," said Jackson, a family friend.
Tony Campolo, one of the president's closest spiritual advisers, said he will not abandon the president regardless of whether allegations against him prove to be true. Campolo, is a professor of sociology at Eastern College in St. David's, Pa.,
There is no perfect person in this world. If you can only have perfect people in the White House, you can't have anyone in the White House -- or in the pulpit, for that matter," said television evangelist James Kennedy (Religion Today 1/26/98)
(Editor) J. Philip Wogaman, senior pastor of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, the church attended by President Clinton and his family, have signed a "statement of conscience" disagreeing with their denomination's ban against same-sex weddings and gay ordinations.
Yep! This homosexual advocating church is where the homosexual advocating Bill Clinton goes for solace, comfort, sympathy, and encouragement. But I know this. He will NOT receive blessings or solace from God, there, or anywhere for that matter.
James Kennedy (TV evangelist) is right when he says there are no perfect people. But God’s children do not habitually sin in a flagrant, despicable, reprehensible, scandalous, and any other deplorable word manner and advocate abominations before God as legitimate lifestyles.
Sociologist Campolo puts personal friendship before obedience to God. You know, there is such a thing as demonic spiritual advisers.
You don’t think there are people ministering to (promoting-assisting) demonic spirits? Those deceived by the "angel of light" are of their father the Devil and promote his scheme. This encompasses the vast majority of mankind. The Lord gets only a remnant you know.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Gay and lesbian Christians plan to build US$25m. cathedral in Texas
New York (ENI). The city of Dallas, in the state of Texas, conjures images of cowboys, cattle, a once famous soap opera and the infamous 1963 Kennedy assassination. In a few years the city, the seventh-biggest in the US, will also be home to the US$25 million Cathedral of Hope being planned by the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches - a group serving gay, lesbian,bisexual and transgendered Christians, and their supporters.[ENI-98-0037, 682 words]
(Editor) These homosexuals have money, don’t they? To bad they don’t have eternal life. I wonder what a homosexual does in his church.? I guess he AIDS others like him in aiding Satan in his battle against Christ.
Hey—the President has a church he can attend when he comes to Dallas. He supports them, don’t he?
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic Youth Pray Together
Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic youth gathered for a five-day prayer meeting in Vienna, Austria, to mark the new year. The 80,000 young people came to Exposition Park for the 20th annual vigil organized by the French Taize community. The gospel is a positive force that does not condemn people but gives them a sense of joy, Taize leader Brother Robert told the youth. He urged the youth to help people who live in the "invisible death" of rejection and hopelessness. The meetings included a prayer translated into 20 languages and greetings from Pope John Paul II, the Patriarch of Constantinople, and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The youth stayed in thousands of Austrian homes and some 300 parish churches in Vienna, according to news reports. (Religion Today 1/7/98)[Editor] The gospel of Christ "is" good news, but the Orthodox, and Catholic religions do not offer this gospel. Neither does George L Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the Church of England.. I know all Protestants are not Christian, but I’ll bet some of this Protestant youth are, and God will not hear the prayers of the heretic, or of those who join in prayer with them. Folks, ecumenism is the movement that will usher in the Anti-Christ.]
For more information on George Carey write to: ALAN MORRISON, diakrisis@msn.com Diakrisis U.K.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------Is Religious Revival breaking out all across America?
A poll commissioned by the Pew Research Center, which was released Sunday, reported that 71 percent of respondents say they never doubt the existence of God. In 1987, the figure was 60 percent.The poll also found that 61 percent of Americans believe miracles come from the power of God - this is up from 47% ten years ago. And 53 percent said prayer is important to daily life. In 1987, it was 41 percent.
Touched by an Angel ranks among TV's highest-rated shows. Books on angels, miracles and spirituality, in general, line bookstore shelves.
But at the same time, radio talk show host Laura Schlessinger affirmed Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press that the United States is in the middle of a morality crisis: Americans lack "a moral framework," she said.
If there is a crisis, former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo said on the same program, the governing system is playing a role in it by backing away from what until recently were accepted obligations of the well-off to help the helpless.
"Our government philosophy is moving away from Judeo-Christian principles," Mr. Cuomo said. More and more the government says, "You're on your own," he said.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., agreed and said more government involvement is necessary to increase jobs and take other steps to help strengthen and stabilize the American family.
But the Rev. Jerry Falwell, also appearing on the NBC discussion of morals, countered: "Money is not the cure. More taxes is not the cure. More welfare is not the answer. We've got to preach biblical morality." (Excerpts from "The Dallas Morning News" 12/22/97 Associated Press )
[Editor] America is showing signs of getting "religion" but religion does not save one from eternal damnation.. The "gospel of Christ" not "religion" is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth....(Rom 1:16)
53 percent of American may say that prayer is important to daily life. But folks, 53 percent of Americans are not saved Therefore God does not hear the prayers of "all" who pray. Religious TV shows, and books on spiritually are "not" indicators of "true revival". America’s lack of a "moral framework" will testify to that.
Mario Cuomo is wrong. Judeo-Christian principles in our government is not the answer.
Jesse Jackson is wrong. The government "cannot" strengthen and/or stabilize the American family.
Jerry Falwell is wrong. Preaching biblical morality is not the answer. It is impossible for the natural man to behave in a moral manner
1 Cor 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (KJV)
Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (KJV)
God is right. Preaching the gospel of Christ is the "only" thing that can strengthen and stabilize and moralize the American family. Those who believe this gospel will be forever saved from hell, being "born again" with a regenerate heart. (spirit)
Eph 6:6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; (KJV) Return to top of Page