Australian Independent
Baptist Newsletter
JANUARY 2003
Dr. David C. Bennett, Editor (DCB)
PO Box 1241 - Dubbo - NSW 2830
Phone/Fax 02-6884-2846
Email: aussiedubbo@yahoo.com
Permission is given to forward material contained in the AIB
Newsletter.
Purpose: To inform and warn God's people of religious, social, and
political events in today's world.
Editorial: Last month I printed an article from the 19 December, 2002
Sydney Morning Herald concerning the Department of Community Services
(DOCS). I received an email from an Australian pastor referencing his and
others involvement with DOCS. With his permission I have edited his email.
"No amount of money will solve the problems of the Department of
Community Services. Several people have shared with me their experiences
with DOCS."
One person spent over $50,000 to defend their daughter against false
allegations by DOCS. One man’s wife left him taking their children
with her. She then lived with "19 different men over a period of twelve
months." There was a natural concern for the children living in such a
situation so DOCS was informed. DOCS told the person concerned that "It is
none of our business, and it is none of yours."
This pastor went on to relate information regarding the Muslim
situation here in Australia and the Philippines. He said a conservative
State Parliamentarian "said at a public meeting that a Baptist Church in
Sydney regularly gets stoned by Muslims. He is certain that the Muslims
have set 2020 as the date when they will take over Australia."
The pastor went on to say that he "recently spent a month in the
Philippines. In the town where I was staying the town council will not
issue permits to Muslims to open a business in the town."
Editor’s Comment: This isn’t the first time I have heard unbelievable
stories about DOCS. I have read articles in the newspaper concerning DOCS
that are unbelievable. One I remember is where DOCS left children in the
home of parents who were heavy drug users but DOCS had some reason for
doing such.
As to the Muslims stoning the Baptist Church in Sydney it is not a
story the mainline papers would print or be heard on the nightly
Television newscast. According to most news commentators the violence is
only performed by the radical Islamic minority. In the Sydney Morning
Herald 3 January 03 there was a Jerusalem Post article CATCHING THE EYE OF
THE GODLESS BLINDS THE WISE MEN IN THEIR WAR OF WORDS by Mark Steyn. Steyn
wrote "on Christmas Day in Pakistan, three little girls died and many more
were injured when burqa-clad terrorists launched a grenade attack on their
church. These girls died because they were Christian. They were not alone.
In the past year from Nigeria to the Sudan to Pakistan to Indonesia,
hundreds of Christians have been killed because of their faith – and the
A-list archbishops have nothing to say." and neither does the mainline
news!
WorldNet Daily.com 31 December 2002
THE POWER TO DESTROY BIG BROTHER EYES TAXES BY THE MILE
"State considers space-based technology to collect revenue.
The state of Oregon is considering the use of satellite technology to
charge taxes based on how much mileage you drive your car.
The Road User Fee Task Force set up by lawmakers last year plans to ask
the 2003 session to authorize testing of a vehicle-mileage tax, reports
the Associated Press.
Oregon was the first state back in 1919 to adopt a gas tax, and today
officials expect revenues to flatten as gas mileage improves and more
hybrid cars come on line.
Jim Whitty, the task force administrator, says his group is looking at
a per-mile charge of up to 1.25 cents to generate funds comparable to the
current gas tax.
The device in each car would be linked to a Global Positioning
Satellite system, or GPS, which allows pinpoint navigation by bouncing
signals off satellites."
If Oregon lawmakers approve the proposal there would then be an
evaluation period of one year to see if the system works.
"There are several options for actually collecting fees. One is to send
vehicle owners a monthly bill, another is to outfit gas stations so they
can read vehicle transponders and collect the tax at fueling stops.
A final decision on the proposal is not expected to come until the 2005
legislative session at the earliest."
Editor’s Comment: Have you ever heard the saying "at least the air we
breathe is free." Is it?
Australian Victorian Council of Churches Web page, October 2002
"History was made at a worship service held at the Karingal Uniting
Church on the afternoon of Sunday, 20 October, when the Rev. Peter
Ghaliniyi commenced his ministry in cooperating local congregations of the
Lutheran Church in Australia and the Uniting Church in Australia. This was
the first time in Australia that LCA and UCA congregations had entered
into such a local sharing of worship, mission, and ministry. The Karingal
UCA congregation and the Lutheran congregation of St. Peter’s, Frankston,
now worship together on a weekly basis."
Editor’s Comment: This is the result of ecumenism and the direction
toward a one world church.
The following is an edited message to the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE
LOCAL ECUMENISM COMMISSION of the Victorian Council of Churches 18 May,
2002. Emphasis has been added throughout the article by the Editor (DCB).
"I sensed a call to ministry and was ordained as a Baptist Minister in
1973. My first appointment was to the Mordialloc church.
I found great acceptance in the Interchurch Council. The
Catholics at Mordialloc were far more gracious to the
Baptists than the Baptists were to the Catholics. We Baptists were more
than a little tentative but we were won over by grace. I am
happy to say that there is a strong ecumenical spirit in that congregation
today.
From Mordialloc I went to be the Youth Minister at Blackburn. Ecumenism
was more difficult there. However we were able to do some good things with
the Uniting Church through a Youth Refuge and Accommodation Service we had
established.
In 1980 I moved to the western suburbs to become one of the pastors of
what was to become the Westgate Baptist Community. It is much easier to
foster ecumenism in a smaller struggling church. We know we need each
other and we have less to protect or lose.
I dived into the ecumenical scene in Yarraville because I needed it for
my own nurture and survival. Some of the clergy I met in those years
were extremely helpful to me.
Ernie Smith was the assistant priest at St Augustine’s
and was establishing a parish based mission community in Yarraville.
He had the beautiful photo of the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury
kneeling together in prayer. I commented on it. He said something like,"
The people of Yarraville couldn’t care less if the Pope and the Archbishop
of Canterbury kneel down to pray together but they are very interested to
know that the local Catholic priest and the local Baptist pastor have
lunch together."
Randall Deasy was the Anglican priest at St Pauls and St Lukes.
The Baptist Community took Randall to their hearts and made him an
honorary member.
The Baptist Union of Victoria can be characterized by a few…
words or phrases.
We are diverse.
"We have conservative, fundamentalist churches ….We
have churches which I think would fit more comfortably with
the Pentecostal denominations…We have churches with a radical social
justice agenda."
Editor’s Comment: John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,
and they follow me" which would be out of the Victorian Baptist Union and
the Victorian Council of Churches!
Sydney Morning Herald (SMH hereafter) WAS MARY A TEENAGE MUM? December
24 2002
"A BBC program that suggested the Virgin Mary might have been 13 when
she gave birth to Jesus has prompted more than 500 complaints.
The program, called Virgin Mary, speculated that she was probably just
13 when she gave birth. It also considered, before rejecting, the
possibility that the Virgin Mary became pregnant after being raped by a
Roman soldier.
The show also raised doubts about the birth of Jesus in a Bethlehem
stable and the presence of the Three Wise Men.
Before the show was broadcast, the Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth,
Crispian Hollis, expressed his displeasure in a statement.
He said: ‘To include, within a historical examination of her life,
confused and unfounded guesswork, which carries with it crude and
offensive speculation, is not only unscholarly but runs the risk of
undermining the very integrity of the project itself.’
But a BBC spokeswoman said today that Bishop Hollis was commenting
before the program was aired and was basing his views on ‘misleading
reports’ that the show suggested Mary had been raped.
‘The program made it quite clear that this was anti-Christian slander
circulated about 100 years after Jesus's death,’ the spokeswoman said.
Alan Bookbinder, the producer of the program, argued last night the
show had ‘respect for the special place Mary has in the hearts of
believers’ and ‘gave a sense of wonder at her miraculous story’.
Speaking on BBC Radio Five Live, Bookbinder said the BBC had shown
plenty of traditional Christmas services that remained inside the ‘comfort
zone’ of believers.
But the corporation also had a responsibility to make more
thought-provoking religious programming, he said.
The prime time program was watched by 3.3 million viewers."
Editor’s Comment: Really, what do we expect the world to do with those
things which relate to our Lord? I did not see the show but from the
article it is blasphemous and sadly was watched by so many people. This
isn’t about the "comfort zone" of believers but "sound doctrine" from the
Word of God. This show without doubt did not have "sound doctrine" and
therefore was false and to be rejected!
Spurgeon - HOW CAN YOU SAVE SOULS WITHOUT A COMMITTEE? "Don't you know
that without a committee you can do nothing? O for apostolical simplicity,
going everywhere preaching the word, and consecrating the labor of every
believer to soul winning!"
Yours against apostasy and for Biblical truth, David C. Bennett
