(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.)
12-step Programs Are Harmful--Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935 and the spread of its 12 Steps has been devastating. Thousands of groups and most codependency/recovery groups utilize the 12 Steps in some form. Tim Stafford (Chr. Today) says the 12 Steps are Christian yet they don't mention Christ. Bill Hybels' Willow Creek Church is one of thousands sponsoring 12 step programs (8/97 Berean Call). Dave Hunt says the 12 Steps of A.A. came by direct inspiration from the demonic world and open the door to the occult. He says: "...12-step programs are doing great harm by turning people away from the true God to a false higher power, and by denying the sufficiency of God's Word and robbing multitudes of its transforming power." Martin & Deidre Bobgan (4137 Primavera Rd., Santa Barbara, CA 93110) and Cathy Burns (212 E. 7th St., Mt. Carmel, PA 17851) have books on this.
Catholic Now Helps Direct PK--Mike Timmis, a Roman Catholic, is now serving on the Promise Keepers Board of Directors. He is scheduled to speak at the 1997 Catholic Men's Conference at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, a staunch Roman Catholic institution which holds annual conferences defending the RC doctrine of Mary as the sinless Queen of Heaven. The conference brochure also announces the "Mary, Mercy, and the Eucharist Conference," and a photo has a Catholic priest holding a rosary, a set of beads used to count ritualistic prayers to Mary. [July-Aug. 1997 Proclaiming the Gospel]
Habitat for Humanity Is about Money--Millard Fuller, President and Founder of Habit For Humanities Int'l (HFH) addressed the Plenary Session of Habitat II last June in Turkey. He ex pressed a kinship with the United Nations Habitat. "Sustainable" was the buzzword of this conference. Sustainable housing as a global human right is a goal. But HFH is also mainly about money. It sold 3,500 houses last year, just in the U.S. It sold 10,000 worldwide (7-8/97 Christian Conscience). In addition to mortgage interest payments per house, HFH gets government funded administrative expenses, free building materials/equipment, 12,000,000 free man-hours of carpenter labor, and much more. HFH's Church Relations Department says by the year 2000, Habitat "will have formed partnerships with half the churches in the U.S." Local churches will be expected to tithe 10% to help fill the HFH's ecumenical international collection plate.
United Religions Initiative 2000--Episcopal Bishop William Swing wants a United Religions to locate in San Francisco's Presidio. He envisions many satellite centers around the world. He says: "For the next four years, we will be meeting in the San Francisco Bay Area to write the charter, and in the year 2000, on June 26, we want people of all religions to walk down their village or their town or their city to be a walking symbol of the religions togetherand also to sign the charter...." (May/June Foundation) Dr. Marion Reynolds says: "Satan's scheme is to replace the Lord Jesus Christ, God's coming perfect Prince of Peace, with an ecumenical Tower of Babel. The United Religions Initiative is yet another vain attempt of man to bring unity and peace among men and religions apart from God's way as found only in the Bible."
National Baptist Convention Scandal--Funds from the National Baptist Convention USA, U.S.'s largest black denomination, reportedly went toward the down payment on a $700,000 Florida house that NBC president Rev. Henry Lyons bought with a woman who is not his wife. He had denied this, but his wife was arrested for setting fires there after she learned he owned it with Bernice Edwards, a convicted embezzler (8/15 H. Times). Other charges against Lyons relate to deception regarding his marriages, and his and Edwards' lavish spending.
Bible Is Communism's Main Enemy--Recently, Jiang Zhemin, pres. of China and head of the Communist Party, said, "Our enemy is not those with guns, but missionaries with Bibles." (WITW). Christians take note!
Tim Lee Speaks at SBC, N.E. BBF. & Independent Baptist Churches--The 1997 itinerary of evangelist Tim Lee as listed in his official publication contains a strange admixture of churches with ecclesiastical positions that vary from pro-ecumenical and Charismatic, to New Evangelical and professing Fundamentalist stances (July/Aug Fund. Digest). FD editor Dr. Don Jasmin lists many of these churches by name, some of which we have earlier mentioned also. Lee, a dynamic preacher, is a dangerous "bridge-builder" to some linked to apostasy.
Why Christians Can't Remain Catholics--The July-Aug. Proclaiming the Gospel lists and discusses six good reasons why Christians cannot remain in the Roman Catholic Church. 1) Its worship is idolatrous. 2) Its dogmas condemn Christians. 3) Its rituals are rooted in paganism. 4) Its authority is not divine. 5) Its doctrines are demonic. 6) Its teachings deny Christ.
Schuller Punished---Televangelist Robert Schuller pleaded innocent to an assault charge of "shoving a male flight attendant" (see 8/15 CC). Prosecutors will drop those charges if he completes six months of federal supervision. He agrees to this and to pay a fine of $1,100 to the FAA.
Falwell Leads Many in BBF to Compromise--Dr. Jerry Falwell, a Baptist Bible College (Springfield) grad, has long boasted membership in the Baptist Bible Fellowship. It is difficult to tell whether he is Southern Baptist, Interdenominational, Charismatic, or BBF. He associates with them all, and his church is now affiliated with the So. Baptist Convention. Pastor E. L. Bynum, editor of Plains Baptist Challenger (Tabernacle Baptist Church, P.O. Box 3100, Lubbock, TX 79452, $5/yr.) says Falwell is also listed in the directory as a BBF member, and says quite a few in the BBF are following Falwell.
Denver Seminary, CBA, Cults--Denver Seminary is a member of the Conservative Baptist Association which is a member of the NAE (National Association of Evangelicals). Both Denver and CBA have become increasingly ecumenical, and strongly new-evangelical (e.g., see 9/1/91 CC). But more recently both seem to have a weak stance concerning cults. Denver has promoted books by Quaker "mystic/New Ager" Richard Foster, and its Focal Point (Sum.'97) said of new professor of Old Testament Dr. Richard Hess that he is a member of the Catholic Biblical Association. A book by Conservative Baptist minister Richard Allen Farmer was published by Seventh-day Adventists (9-10/96 Fund. Digest). Farmer is listed as a major participant at a Church Development Conference on "Waging Spiritual Warfare" Nov. 9-10 in Dallas, along with John MacArthur, Tony Evans, and Howard Hendricks (7-8/97 Fund. Digest). These are sad signs of a growing apostasy!
NCC Official Endorses PP Sex-Ed Video---A new Planned Parenthood sex-education video ("Talking About Sex") carries the enthusiastic endorsement of American Baptist minister Rev. Joe Leonard, a senior official from the National Council of Churches who is responsible for this ecumenical group's Christian education (8/22 Human Events). The PP video kit calls abortion "safe" and homosexuality "fulfilling," and seems to ok unmarried sex.
Euthanasia Slippery Slope--The Netherlands has moved from euthanasia for the terminally ill to euthanasia for the chronically ill, from euthanasia for physical illness to euthanasia for psychological distress, and from voluntary to involuntary euthanasia (9/97 Reader's Digest). Once killing is allowed in some cases, it's easier for doctors to cross the line into ever grayer areas. A patient's "right to die" subtly becomes a "duty to die" and a doctor's "license to kill." Jack Kevorkian"Dr. Death"has assisted in at least 45 "suicides." Many were not terminally ill and a few showed no signs of disease. The media legitimize Kevorkian's activities by calling him a doctor, but they don't tell that his medical license was suspended in 1991.
Mormonism Big, But A False Cult--Mormonism is one of the fastest growing religions in the world. It claims to be Christian, but is not. Mormons believe in another Jesus, a different spirit, and a false gospel (9/97 Moody). Their founder/Prophet Joseph Smith was involved in the occult. Of 112 revelations he claimed to receive, 88 pertained to fiscal matters (8/4 Time). Mormonism is confusing because it uses Bible words but with different meanings. No Mormon cities in the Book of Mormon have been found. No Hebrew inscriptions have been found in Indian ruins. No ancient copies of transcripts or manuscripts (or pieces) of the Book of Mormon have ever been found. Historical facts contradict the Book of Mormon. A former Mormon says polygamy is alive and growing in Utah and the West (7/14 Chr. News). Mormons own the top beef ranch in the worldthe 312,000-acre Deseret Cattle & Citrus Ranch outside Orlando, Fla. Its AgReserves in Salt Lake City is the largest producer of nuts in America.
Kubler-Ross, Prophet of Death --Psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's 1969 book On Death and Dying helped launch the hospice movement in America. She became involved in the 1970s with a New Age cult, "spirit guides," and practiced "out of body" experiences (1/15/91 CC). Her husband divorced her. She now, incapacitated by strokes, sits home in Arizona "smoking cigarettes, watching TV and waiting to die." (Dr. Hugh Pyle, 8/22 Sword). She says: "...I don't give a hoot about the afterlife, reincarnation or anything. I'm finished, and I'm not coming back."
Pagan Revival in Christian America--This is the sub-title of a big new book by evangelical scholar Dr. Peter Jones (Westminster Seminary) entitled Spirit Wars. It is chock-full of vital documentation on New Agers, radical feminists, the homosexual agenda, witchcraft and goddess worship, and Gnosticism. It names and gives quotations. People like Mollenkott, Fox, Jung, Bultmann, Ruether, Daly, and many more. The 5-page index enhances its value as a reference book. Jones depicts the collision of two world views: pagan monism and theismthe earth goddess and the God who made heaven and earth. "Monism teaches people to `look for god within you,' while theism seeks to direct man's eyes outward and upward toward God." Order the book from Main Entry Editions, P.O. Box 952, Siloam Springs, AR 72761 (1-800-574-2978).
New Bible for Global Religion--Episcopal Bishop William Swing and comrades are trying to establish a UR (United Religions) and Global Ethic to harness religions to serve a world church and government. Former Soviet ruler Gorbachev, as a self-appointed environmental messiah, is framing an Earth Charter to fuse socialism and mysticism into a UN-approved new world religion (8/18 New Amer.). Dr. Peter Jones' new book warns of a proposed new World Bible to "provide theological foundations for the New Age gospel of egalitarian feminism, sexual androgyny in all its perverse forms, the unity of all religions, the denial of sin, the rejection of the atonement, in a word, the extreme paganization of the Christian faith."
Mollenkott a Homosexual --Virginia Mollenkott, a "deconstructed" evangelical, is actually a pro-abortion feminist New Ager (11/1/93 CC), and "a practicing lesbian who promotes adultery and repudiates the Christian faith" (11/25 Chr. News). She is quoted as follows in the pro-gay Evangelicals Concerned's Spring 1997 Record concerning Ellen's recent "coming out": "I came of age in the 1940s and 1950s, discovering my own sexuality at a time when only negative information was available to me...I was one of the many gay teenagers who have attempted suicide, because we cannot fit inone of those to whom Ellen dedicated her dual coming-out. When the show ended, I sat thinking about the parties...all over the country...I thought of the many gay women and men celebrating perhaps the most public affirmation we had ever received." (ELB: Virginia Mollenkott helped produce the New International Version of the Bible. No wonder that "sodomite" is not found in the NIV).
Catholics Appeal Sexual-Abuse Judgment--A Dallas jury recently ordered the Catholic diocese there to pay a record $119.6 million for covering up for an ex-priest accused of molesting altar boys. Rudy Kos' sexual-abuse victims were as young as nine when he began, yet his superior tries to shift blame to the parents and kids.
Ed Dobson & Homosexuals--Dr. Ed Dobson pastors Calvary Church (Grand Rapids), the old M. R. DeHaan church. It hosted the 1988 IFCA convention. Dobson, an Advisory Editor of Christianity Today, seems to be headed in an ever more leftward course. His "Saturday Night" services feature rock music. In the 5/20/96 CT Dobson says: "Our church is on a journey of discovering the social implications of the gospel." He has had an intensive ministry with/to homosexuals, and including the pro-homosexual Metropolitan Community Church (8/1/93 CC). Dobson said, "If our church gets overrun with homosexuals, that will be terrific." His attitude-toward-AIDS message has traveled as far as the World Council of Churches, which invited him to sit on an HIV consulting group the past two and a half years (8/11 CT). He seemingly has strayed far from where he was over a decade ago when he, as a Falwell associate, claimed to be a Fundamentalist. But, as many warned, he was already headed in a new-evangelical direction.
Graham's Methodology--In his review of Billy Graham's "book of the century," Just As I Am, Columbia International University president emeritus Robertson McQuilkin writes (8/11 CT) "It is clear...that Billy's approach is open and warm to everyoneCatholic, Orthodox, liberal. Everyone but fundamentalists. His unswerving commitment to ecumenical inclusivism is a central theme. So his theological blood brothers, the fundamentalists, won't follow him. It is disingenuous to say that they are alienated from Graham because fundamentalists as a class are more hypocritical and unloving than others. Nor is it fair to say they should not be so rigid about methodology. For them it's not method; it's doctrine. They believe it sinful disobedience to cooperate with unbelievers in spiritual ministry....Billy studiously disregards many doctrines that divide Christendom and majors on what unites...[H]is emphasis is on the unity of the faith more than the purity of it...His ministry is evangelism. [He defines] racism as a moral issue (to be pursued) and abortion a political issue (to be avoided)...Billy consciously avoids/downplays theological distinctions. It's clear [?] that he adheres to the fundamentals of the faith because he says so....''[!]
Pluralism, Relativism, No Absolute Truth--The message of pluralism is that all truth is relative and that all religious beliefs even those that flatly contradict each otherdeserve equal respect. Researcher George Barna says: "Among born-again' Christians, 2 out of 3 say there is no absolute truth. That's pretty frightening." He added: "Forty-five percent believe that Jesus was a sinner." (9/97 Moody). Pluralism tracer Mark Albrecht says: "At the turn of the century, between 1 and 2 percent of [Americans] believed in reincarnation. Today, between 28 and 30 percent...believes in reincarna tion."
SBC-Catholic Dialogue --In 1989 a Southern Baptist - Roman Catholic dialogue group issued a 163-page joint report of basic agreement on what it means to be followers of Christ (12/1/90 CC). We received a flyer last month advertising a national conference on cults and the occult to be held at SBC's Beeson Divinity School (Samford University), Sept. 19-21, sponsored by Beeson, Watchman Fellowship, and Evangelical Ministries to New Religions. The flyer listed the speakers as: Norman Geisler, Wayne House, Ronald Enroth, Timothy George, and Mark Coppenger. It said of the latter, who is president of the SBC's Midwestern Seminary: "Dr. Coppenger is also a participant in the annual SBC/National Council of Catholic Bishops dialogue." With a speaker engaged in dialogue with a most flagrant cult (Romanism), we can hardly expect this cult to be considered a cult at this national conference on cults.
Lutheran Overtures to Catholics--The ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) approved a plan to share clergy and Communion with three major Reformed churches, but fell six votes shy of linking with Episcopalians. The ELCA, America's largest and most liberal Lutheran Church, also at its August meeting, declared the battle was over in the centuries-long division with CATHOLICS and voted 958 to 25 to approve a statement declaring that past condemnations no longer apply.
Episcopalians & Homosexuals--Episcopalians, severely divided over homosexuality, apologized to "gays" and lesbians at their July convention. They voted to study blessing same-sex unions, extend insurance benefits to domestic partners, voted down attempts to prohibit sexually active gay clergy, and elected a new liberal presiding bishop sympathetic to homosexual concerns. They have 7 female bishops and some 1,500 female priests.
Is Separation Still Important?--Rev. John E. Ashbrook has a new 4-page pamphlet with this title in the 8/97 Ohio Baptist Fellowship Visitor. He said: "The cutting edge of separation was removed from the Voice magazine and the [Independent Fundamental Churches of America] moved from fundamental to new evangelical in a short period of time. Silence will always lead to the weaker position, not the stronger one." He said of the appeal of new evangelicalism: "The original new evangelicals were fundamentalists who thought they were adding some improvements to their position." He called new evangelicalism the easy, intellectual, and glamorous road, and warned: "If fundamentalists of the past were tempted to lapse into the easier road of new evangelicalism we would be fools to think that the temptation no longer exists." Ashbrook said separation is the biblical doctrine which produced the fundamental church and said "every fundamental school should include a one-semester course in biblical separation..." Get this feature article from: OBF, 3865 No. High St., Columbus, OH 43214, 10/$3.50.
Witness Lee--Witness Lee died last June. He worked with Watchman Nee in China before moving to the U.S. in 1962. He led the Local Church movement. Nee's later writings were "deeply mystical" and had doctrinal errors (11/1/94 CC), and Lee took them further into heresy. Ads for Nee's books have recently appeared in Christianity Today. Lee said each city should have only one church.