(Editor's Note: In our New & Views column we quote from many different sources. Please understand that this does not necessarily mean that we approve of all of the publications from which we quote. Many of these items are taken from Calvary Contender.)

Handguns Banned in Britain - Brits must give up handguns or face jail. A total
ban on private ownership of handguns went into effect in Britain last month, the result of a public outcry over the 1996 massacre of 16 school children and their teacher by a crazed loner (2/9 USN&WR). Today, 95 percent of police officers in England and Wales never carry firearms. But career criminals remain armed!

Carman's "Holy Ghost Hop" - Pastor E. L. Bynum in his 9/96 Plains Baptist
Challenger ($5/yr., P.O. Box 3100, Lubbock, TX 79452) had an article titled, "Carman And His Dancers & Religious Entertainment." Now Rev. David Cloud (Fund. Baptist News Svc., 1701 Harns Road, Oak Harbor, WA 98277) last month sent a couple of e-mails containing words from CCM performer Carman's "Holy Ghost Hop" song from his "Addicted to Jesus" album. Another song mentioned "jam with the Lamb," and "rock with the flock." Yet Carman is alleged to be a serious Christian musician who has performed at Liberty University, etc. Bro. Cloud says of the Contemporary Christian Music movement: "How worldly, how sensuous, how dangerous, how unscriptural CCM is!" And how blasphemous some of it is!

Clinton's Religious Advisers - American Baptist sociologist Tony Campolo and Promise Keepers founder Bill McCartney have both said they are praying for Pres. Clinton in the latest sexual misconduct scandal. Clinton also reportedly is talking to his SBC pastor Rex Horne, Robert Schuller, Bill Hybels, Gordon MacDonald, and pro-homosexual Methodist pastor J. Philip Wogaman whose church the Clintons attend in Washington. Campolo, worried that other ministers might distance themselves from Clinton out of concern for their own reputations, said (2/2 Chr. News): "I follow a man who really didn't give a hoot about his reputation. As a matter of fact, I think Jesus had the worst reputation in Jerusalem." How can such blind, undiscerning leaders help our president?

Mother Teresa & Good Works - Good works are good.... However, good works can be one of the cleverest counterfeits Satan can use. Dr. James Dobson accepted the late Mother Teresa as a Christian because "she manifested the fruit of the Spirit in her life." Jack Van Impe scorns those who think this "sweet 90-pound lady" could possibly be lost (2/98 C.E.C. Journal). Bill Jackson continues: "While I have no desire to judge an individual's salvation, from her own lips come statements that indicate a darkness [as to] the state of her soul. She prayed for a soul to leave Purgatory every time she was photographed; she said she could not have Jesus were it not for the priest's blessing on the wafer; she openly urged the pope to name Mary `Co-Redeemer, Co-Mediatrix and Advocate of Christians.'"

Partnership on Social Reform Leads to Theological Unity of Evangelicals, Catholics - The Massachusetts Catholic Conference (representing the Catholic Church) and the Massachusetts Family Institute (associated with Focus on the Family) entered into a long-term partnership to try to reframe the entire social debate in Mass. around the concept of the critical importance of two-parent families. A 2/14 World article goes on to say: "The partnership does not deal with theological issues, but is founded on a belief that Catholics and Protestants can glorify God in our post-Christian culture by working alongside in the social debate. At the center of this partnership is a comprehensive legislative and cultural agenda, covering a wide range of social reforms, designed to encourage and strengthen two-parent families...." Matt Daniels, the writer, associated with Focus on the Family (James Dobson), concluded this article by saying: "Catholics and Protestants will need to recognize that they can glorify Jesus Christ by working side by side for the good of everyone in our society." So, ECT I leads to ECT II (see 1/1 CC), to Jesuit casuistry - the end justifies the means! The Jan-Feb Foundation had this perceptive quote: "They toiled together in the vineyards of the movements against abortion and pornography, and now leading Roman Catholics and Evangelicals are asking their flocks for a remarkable leap of faith: to finally accept each other as Christians."

Beware of `The Alpha Course' - Anglican priest Nicky Gumbel began teaching the Alpha course in 1990. It was originally intended for new Christians, but now is aimed at the unchurched. Its philosophy is New Age, and it leads to experiences rooted in the occult. It promotes humanism, ecumenism, and Charismaticism (tongues-speaking, Toronto Blessing, etc.). Conversion is mentioned but it is conversion to a Christian lifestyle, not conversion to Christ. [The above is based on lengthy reports in the 2/9 CT, the Australian Beacon, and The Burning Bush.] This is spreading like wildfire among Catholics, Baptists, and others, so Christians should be warned, be wise, beware!

Homosexuals Can Rent Student Housing - The University of Washington Board of Regents has voted unanimously to allow same-sex couples to rent family student housing. The couple must be registered as a domestic partnership with the city of Seattle to qualify. [What In The World, Church Bulletin insert, $2/yr., BJU, Greenville, SC 29614, current news items without comment]

NAE President Argue Resigns - Assembly of God minister Dr. Don Argue has unexpectedly resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals, effective April 15 (2/9 Chr. Today). He becomes president of Northwest College (AOG) in Kirkland, Wash. He had tried to revitalize NAE membership, calling it "too old, too white, and too male." He made strides in racial reconciliation and was a bridge-builder to charismatics and liberals. The NAE should actually be called the NAEC (Nat'l Assoc. of Evangelicals & Charismatics), given the growing preponderance of charismatics in its constituency. And, for the first time since its creation in 1942, the NAE's top leader (Argue, and a Muslim leader) addressed the general assembly of the liberal National Council of Churches (2/1/97 CC). NCC general secretary Joan Brown Campbell said regular meetings with Argue and other meetings with him involving the chairman of the Roman Catholic bishops' ecumenical committee show that increased cooperation between the NAE and NCC is occurring. She said this cooperation is being accepted by the NAE board and not by Argue alone, since he spoke at the NCC in 1996 with the NAE board's approval (Jan-Feb Foundation). The NAE (and Promise Keepers, and other new-evangelicals) are building bridges (ecumenism) into the enemy's camp instead of building walls (separation) to protect the sheep from ravenous wolves in sheep's garb.

Separatism: the Leftward Slide - Evang. John Van Gelderen writes (Jan-Mar Preach the Word, P.O. Box 5614, Woodridge, IL 60517, $12.95/yr., free to pastors): "My father, Wayne Van Gelderen Sr., often spoke of the battles of the Conservative Baptist Association which took place in the early 1960s. He pastored in Durango, CO in the early '60s, and Colorado played a major role in the C.B.A. fight. Two schools of thought formed the battle lines: the hard core and the soft core. (Each group claimed the terminology used.) The soft core eventually became part of the `new evangelicalism.' Now, three decades later, the path of the new-evangelicals has taken them farther to the left than their founders ever planned to go. Not long before my father's home going [3/9/97], he stated that, generally speaking, the fundamentalists of today are weaker than the new-evangelicals of the C.B.A. days. This is an alarming thought indicating that the present-day left-wing fundamentalists have perhaps moved off the legitimate scope of funda mentalism. Also, right-wing fundamentalists today, in light of history, may not be as far to the right as they think. If you compare modern fundamentalism to modern new-evangelicalism, there is still a gap. But if you compare modern fundamentalism to early new-evangelicalism, the similarities are alarming. I believe that many are not realizing that the whole gamut of funda mentalism is moving left-ward...." [The CBA today is new-evangelical and a member of the NAE.]

Boice Is Speaker at Cedarville - Dr. James Montgomery Boice was listed in the Feb. Baptist Bulletin as the Staley Foundation lecturer at Cedarville College, a GARBC-approved school. Boice is pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, speaker for the "Bible Study Hour," and currently chairs the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals and a conference on Reformed Theology. He chaired the 1977-1987 International Council on Biblical Inerrancy whose final event, Congress on the Bible II, was chaired by pro-Catholicism Chuck Colson (11/1/87 CC).This ICBI ecumenical congress featured such speakers as William Buckley (Catholic), leftist Ron Sider, E.V. Hill, and Art Simon (liberal Lutheran). It is sad when a GARBC-approved school features a supposed inerrancy-defending new-evangelical who features inerrancy deniers as speakers at his meetings. GARBC's Greening seems to dislike "who speaks where" being reported. [Rock-oriented vocalist Steve Camp is listed for a Cedarville concert.]

Patterson to be SBC Nominee - Dr. Paige Patterson who helped engineer a conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention will be nominated to succeed Tom Elliff as the SBC's next president (2/12 Ala. Bapt.). He is currently the president of Southeastern Seminary and was formerly president of Criswell College.

Falwell to Keep Speaking at Moon Events - Jerry Falwell's Liberty University recently disclosed that insurance tycoon A. L. Williams is the unnamed benefactor who provided $15 million to settle Liberty debts (2/9 C. Today). The announcement came in part to counter rumors that self-proclaimed messiah Sun Myung Moon had been the anonymous benefactor. Liberty has received financial support from Moon-related enterprises, and Falwell says he addressed several events where Moon has been in attendance, including a Uruguay meeting in 1995. He said: "I preach for the Moonies, the Mormons, the Catholics, the Jews, the Buddhists," and "I'll preach in hell if they promise to let me out." He says he does not compromise truth, and added: "I go a lot of places other preachers won't go as long as I don't have to restrict my message." This
sounds like Billy Graham as he embarked on the apostasy path. [Beverly LaHaye, Robert Schuller, Gary Bauer, and Ralph Reed spoke at a 1996 Moon-sponsored Family Federation for World Peace event.]

New Evangelical Sincere but Wrong - The compromising new evangelical thinks he is doing right, and doesn't think himself to be a diabolical deceiver scheming the destruction of the church. Jack Stephens (Ohio Bible F'ship Visitor) says: "I think I can understand the new evangelical's mind set. He is concerned with reaching the world with the Gospel, and the sooner the better. And he will sacrifice almost everything else to do it. But in so doing, he gives up far too much and destroys the very thing he seeks to promote. He has outward success and truly does seem to flourish. He is very sincere. He thinks he is right. He is a brother. But he is very wrong."

Canada Church Leader Phipps a Liberal - Rev. Bill Phipps, the new moderator of the United Church of Canada, says "I don't believe Jesus was God," and "I don't believe He rose from the dead." He says he "has no idea" if there is a heaven or hell. The Nov-Dec Canadian Revivalist, edited by Dr. Frank McClelland and printed by Britannia Printers (138 Main St., To ronto, Ontario M4E 2V8, $10/yr.), has an excellent 8-page article discussing the modernist Phipps and the apostate UCC.

King's College to Be Resurrected? - The King's College, which closed over three years ago (CC, 12/15/94), has emerged from bankruptcy under Campus Crusade ownership and hopes to open a campus in NY's Empire State Building (2/9 CT). King's steering committee cochair is also cochair of the local Promise Keepers. King's was founded in 1938 by radio youth evangelist Percy B. Crawford, and long led by Dr. Robert A. Cook.

Creation '98 - The 19th annual Creation '98 is billed as "The Nation's Largest Christian Festival." It seems to be closely akin to a Rock Festival. Featured speakers and performers include: Greg Laurie, Buster Soaries, Ron Hutchcraft, Bart Campolo, and Mike Silva (CBA/PK). Jars of Clay, Petra and other "rock" groups are featured.

RBP Kits Include Jewish Holidays - Someone sent us a copy of an ad for Regular Baptist Press' Childrens Church materials. A "Special Days" section listed Christmas, Easter, etc., but also included Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Hanukkah. These kits are "to guide four to eight-year-olds in worship, study...." Seems a bit strange to see Jewish religious days included.

Steve Camp Blasts CCM Industry - Veteran Contemporary Christian Music singer Steve Camp says CCM has lost its soul, and calls for reform in the $1 billion-per-year industry. He has issued a poster with 107 theses (modeled after Luther's list) and complains that Christian music "yodels of a Christless, watered-down, pabulum-based, positive alternative, aura-fluff, cream of wheat, mush-kind-of-syrupy, God-as-my-girlfriend kind of thing." (2/21 Dallas Morn. News). Camp laments that record labels pressure CCM artists to omit words like "Jesus," "God," "sin," etc. He says CCM "has committed a spiritual adultery in joining itself with the wayward world." But CCM defenders such as Carman say if Christian music were limited to exclusively Christian outlets, we would lose a whole generation. One said Camp may be frustrated with the his own stagnant career. The 2/95 Moody, reviewing Camp's last album, said until that album, his genre had been rock musicand that that album had several rock-oriented tunes. He has sung Beatles songs in concert, praised John Lennon, and been affiliated with Tony Campolo. Camp said within a month, he'll announce a new label that promises to produce only songs with lyrics supported by Scripture. But nowhere in the long DMN article did Camp criticize CCM's rock beat, just the lyrics.

`The Apostle' Features CCM Stars - The new movie "The Apostle" is about a Pentecostal preacher (an adulterer) who kills the youth pastor his wife is sleeping with, then is deposed from his church, but rebaptizes himself and flees to rural Louisiana to start a new church (2/21 World). Yet Charisma says: "This groundbreaking film is the first to show a Pentecostal preacher in a positive light." CCM stars Steven Curtis Chapman, Dino, Gary Chapman, and the Bill Gaither Vocal Band are featured. We say again: "Nothing good, comes out of Hollywood."

Dangers for Christians (Israel, `Hate Crimes') - Orthodox Jews in Israel have proposed a new law that would make it a criminal offense for anyone to persuade another person to change religionsor even to possess proselytizing materials (3/98 Charisma). *** Atty. General Janet Reno and Pres. Clinton want Congress to expand the definition of federal "hate crimes" to include crimes based on sexual orientation, gender or disabilities (2/26 Ala. Bapt.). This might make it a "hate crime" to call homosexuality a sin. The FBI says 8,759 hate crimes were reported in 1996.

New CWA Leader - Beverly LaHaye's handpicked successor to lead the 20-year-old Concerned Women for America, which claims a constituency of 600,000, is Carmen Pate (2/28 World). She will co-host with LaHaye the CWA's radio show. CWA is conservative, pro-life, but ecumenical.

CCM Industry: Serve God and Mammon? - The new-evangelical Christianity Today (3/2) reacted strongly to CCM singer Steve Camp's criticism of CCM's weak lyrics, calling it "naïve come-outism." CT seems to like the "new era when Jars of Clay can appear on Late Show with David Letterman and Christian singers are entertaining and witnessing in a broader context." However, the CT editorial did mention Michael English's affair and Sandi Patty's divorce, and said: "Sadder but wiser artists have learned the hard way that they need to focus quality time on their families and home congregations. Singing in other people's churches every weekend has proved to be a great way to lose your own soul." We see no criticism by Camp of the rock music of much CCM, but that newer music lyrics "doesn't have much Christ," and that it is simply marketing technique and money. The CCM industry in trying to serve both God and mammon, serves mammon!

TBN's `Health & Wealth' Theology - Trinity Broadcasting Network, run by Paul and Jan Crouch, is the world's largest "Christian" television network. It features an unholy hodgepodge of televangelists and CCM/rock music. The Crouches preach a "success" theology in which they contend Christ and the Apostles were actually wealthy merchants. Viewers are told that if they give money, God will reward them with health and wealth. (2/28 H. Times). This "health and wealth," "name it and claim it," "blab it and grab it" prosperity gospel of some charismatics is a distortion of Scripture and a disgrace. Yet with its worldly glitz and glamour it lures some of the biggest stars in religious broadcasting. One, Benny Hinn, has even hired a veteran entertainment publicist whose other clients include Bill Cosby, Loretta Lynn and Amy Grant. Charismatics downplay the importance of doctrine. Crouch himself a few years ago said (see 8/1/91 CC): "I don't care about your doctrines as long as you name the name of Jesus."

Homosexuals Lose in Maine - Maine voters repealed a law that would have allowed for punitive damages ranging from $10,000 to $300,000 levied against even first-time violators. No exceptions were added for religious groups, so churches and private schools could have been taken to court and fined for refusing to hire homosexuals (2/21 World). Some other states (Calif., Hawaii, Minn., NJ, Wisc., and DC) have "homosexual rights" laws.

Witch Joins Ministerial Group - The Bakersfield (CA) Interfaith Ministerial Association voted last month to allow a practicing witch to join its ranks (2/19 B'field Californian). This happened also in Salem, MA in 1993. An Episcopal priest said nobody in the clergy group could think of a compelling reason to forbid a witch from joining!

Promise Keepers Cuts Back - Promise Keepers is laying off all 345 paid employees and will rely on volunteers, partly a result of its decision to quit charging admission fees. Last year, 40 percent fewer men attended conferences than in 1996. PK's budget was a record $117 million, but income fell shy of $70 million (2/28 World). PK founder and president Bill McCartney makes the absurd claim that God told him to ask America's churches to send $1,000 to save the PK ministry. He opens PK's 1998 regional clergy conferences to women, noting "We have learned that 13 percent of our churches are pastored by ladies (2/16 C. News). PK is a most dangerous and unscriptural, ecumenical tool of Satan in our day.

Southern Baptist MIAs - Over half of the 15.7 million members carried on the rolls of Southern Baptist Convention congregations (America's largest Protestant denomination) are inactive, a SBC Sunday School Board study found (2/28 World). The figures show 20.7 percent of church members are listed as "resident inactives," which means they stopped attending, and 31.8 percent as "non-resident," which means they moved away but remain on the local church's rolls. Some of the latter may also be on the active rolls of churches to which they've moved, which means total membership could be somewhat inflated.

SBC Not Leaving BWA, Increases Funding - A committee investigating charges of liberalism in the Baptist World Alliance says the Southern Baptist Convention will not pull out of it, and recommended an increase in its funding (2/26 Ala. Baptist). *** The SBC Executive Committee recommends a $155 million unified budget to be presented at the SBC's annual meeting in Salt Lake City, June 9-11. It also recommends shortening the SBC from two-and-a-half days to a two-day format.

Jeremiah with Southern Baptists - The Bailey Smith Ministries ad lists as speakers three former and the current SBC president as speakers, along with Jerry Falwell and David Jeremiah (3/98 NLJ). Jeremiah is a popular author and Bible teacher and is a product of the GARBC. He was listed as a 1992 speaker at the Billy Graham Training Center and Moody Bible Institute. He seems to have a penchant for favorably quoting liberals.

Pentecostalism Booming - Pentecostal author- historian and ecumenical leader Vinson Synan says Pentecostals (most are Charismatics) are the "second largest" family of Christians in the world, and can now be called a major Christian tradition alongside the Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Reformation/Protestant traditions (3/98 Charisma). He said: "When I did my research on Pentecostalism around 1965, there were barely 50 million Pentecostals in the world.that number has grown to 463 million in 1995." His new book (update of his 1971 book) is The Pentecostal-Holiness Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century.

Van Impe a Pope-Praiser - Jack Van Impe is sadly lacking in spiritual discernment and has joined with those who praise Pope John Paul II. The 3/2 Chr. Today says he recently spent his entire broadcast defending the pope as a man of God. He warned that the next pope could be the false prophet of Revelation, and said, "We've got to stick together as brothers and sisters in Christ."

Colson's Prison Fellowship Honors RC Priest Neuhaus - Catholic priest Richard John Neuhaus (former liberal Lutheran) has been honored with the Wilberforce Award from Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship (2/23 Chr. News). Neuhaus and Colson are co-editors of "Evangelicals and Catholics Together" (ECT), which fostered dialogue between Catholics and evangelicals.

WCC Tries to Soothe Orthodox - World Council of Churches general secretary Konrad Raiser hopes a recent visit to Moscow by WCC officials will defuse tensions between WCC and Russian Orthodox leaders. There is pressure for the ROC (largest church in WCC) to withdraw from the WCC due to its hosting of "pagan" rituals, and of being too tolerant toward homosexuality and women priests (2/14 Dallas Morn.News). WCC member churches take a variety of stances on these issues.

National Baptist Leader Lyons Indicted - Dr. Henry Lyons, president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, is charged with racketeering and theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars. E.V. Hill (who speaks at PK, MBI, Dallas, and Libertyand is praised by evangelical leaders) has been a chief supporter of Lyons (11/15 CC). The NBC claims 8.5 million members and 33,000 churches, but an affidavit said it actually has 500,000 to 1 million members and 4,800 churches.

Hagee Raises $1 Million to Resettle Jews - Texas pastor and author John Hagee has raised over $1 million to help Jews from the former Soviet Union move to Israel (2/23 Chr. News). Hagee boldly denounces sin and moral evils of our day, much like Jimmy Swaggart used to do. (See 2/15/97 & 6/15/94 CCs concerning his "heretical two-covenant" teaching, and links with Charismatics.)

The (New) Evangelical Experiment - That's the title of a new 75-page book by Rolland Starr, and it's a sequel to his earlier book, The New Evangelicalism: The Deadliest Ism of All. He cites Dr. Charles Woodbridge's 1961 warning of changes in Evangelical/Fundamentalist circles: "First, he noted that there was a new mood among them. It was a mood of compromise and accommodation. Then, there was a new methodin evangelism: ecumenical evangelism which Billy Graham had entered into some five years previously. Lastly, he warned that there would follow a new message." Sadly, Woodbridge's warnings have all proven true. Order this book from: Cornerstone Baptist Church, Box 438, Belmont, MA 02178, $3.30 postpaid.