http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--obit-metzger0214feb14,0,2607775.story? coll=ny-region-apnewjersey%29 BRUCE METZGER, AUTHORITY ON BIBLICAL MANUSCRIPTS, DIES AT 93 (Edited by DCB) PRINCETON, N.J. – "Bruce Manning Metzger, professor emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary and an authority on Greek manuscripts of the Bible" died of natural causes at the age of 93. . Dr. Metzger was "involved with committees in the production of three new editions of the Scriptures: the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament (1966), the Reader's Digest condensed Bible (1982) and the New Revised Standard Version (1990)."

Editor’s Comment: Dr. Metzger has a lot to answer for, I believe. Sadly many professors and pastors in fundamental and conservative schools and churches use the United Bible Societies (UBS) Greek New Testament (1966) or one of its relatives, of which Dr. Metzger played a part. The UBS 2nd Edition was the Greek Text used in the college I attended. In the Preface of the UBS Second Edition the word "variant" is used 6 times. The word "variants" is used 6 times and "variation" and "variations" once each. Synonyms for "variant" are alternative, deviation, modification, departure, and option. These are not words of assurance. The last sentence of the Preface says "It is the intention of the Committee from time to time to revise its work in order to take into account new discoveries and fresh evidence." These men do not believe in Bible preservation and therefore their Bible is not yet settled! God said "All scripture is given by inspiration of God". As Dr. Floyd Nolan Jones says in THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT page 10 "UNTIL THIS MATTER IS SETTLED IN FAVOR OF ‘PRESERVATION,’ THE WORKER WILL ALWAYS HAVE A ‘TENTATIVE’ BIBLE" (Emphasis added by DCB). Dr. Metzger and the others who continue to change the Greek New Testament are what Dr. Jones calls a "restorationist". On page 10 Dr. Jones continues by saying that these restorationists "will always be wondering if some new archaeological discovery or Greek/Hebrew grammatical nuance will not altar his raw data and he will be left with maximum uncertainty as to the precision of his final product." Dr. Jones then says that "By stark contrast that person who simply puts his/her faith in God’s promise to preserve His Word (Jer. 1:12; Ps. 12: 6-7; Isa. 40: 8; Mark 13: 31) concludes that God has done so and that it is to be found where he originally deposited it, namely in the Hebrew Masorectic Text. It is likewise faithfully preserved in the English translation of the 1611 King James Bible. This person is left with maximum certainty, with peace of heart and peace of mind. Such is a true Biblicist." CHURCH, WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT? The following is from http://www.firstbaptist.org/ pastors_welcome.htm. "Once you are done checking us out on the web, we'd love for you to come be our guest in person. I promise that you'll be glad you did. When you get on campus, come by the Welcome Center and let our folks help you get connected. Enjoy a cup of coffee on the house at the Connection Cafe. Have fun while you're here and then come back again next week (underlining is Editor’s)."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml%3Bjsessionid%3D4DCAUIAV2I42LQFIQMFSFFWAVCBQ0IV0?xml= /news/2007/03/04/nfune04.xml RISE OF THE FUNERALS THAT LEAVE OUT GOD 4 March 2007 (Edited by DCB) "More than 30,000 funerals in Britain last year were nonreligious, as families turn increasingly to ‘celebration-of-life’ ceremonies rather than church services, according to new figures." According to the article this is "attributed to people's growing willingness to admit that they are non-believers, and to their desire to avoid ‘hypocrisy’." It was only ten years ago that "a funeral without a minister of religion and reference to God was virtually unheard of but increasingly, services are presided over by a ‘celebrant’ and involve poems instead of psalms, while mourners are often asked to wear something bright rather than black." According to the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD), one in 20 families now rejects a church service "…in favour of a celebration of life…" Surprisingly or not "Most of those choosing non-religious funerals were brought up as Anglicans or Presbyterians but have stopped going to church and no longer believe in God" a spokesperson for the NAFD said. "Part of the appeal of non-religious services may also be the increased cost of conventional funerals. Britons spent £1.3 billion on funerals last year and the average cost has risen by 61 per cent from £2,048 in 2000 to £3,307 last year. A celebrant from the British Humanist Association charges an average £130, about the same fee as an average clergyman." A Pentecostal minister said that "Most church ministers" he knows "will happily have music the deceased liked and will not insist on hymns." He went on to say that "We need to get the message out to people that the church has come a long way."

Editor’s Comment: One web site for non-religious funeral celebrants here in Australia says "Today's celebrant is becoming all inclusive. As time goes on, ceremony, ritual and human interaction changes. A funeral ceremony is a very special ceremony that celebrates a life, rather than mourns a death." It is customary now to see funerals, religious and non-religious, where balloons are released into the air or a number of candles are lit in remembrance of the deceased. I am personally finding more and more people who do not have any fear at all of death. It is as though they think that if there is a Heaven everyone will be there except for Hitler and those like him. It is certainly true that "…the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them" 2Corinthians 4:4.