Australian Independent Baptist Newsletter
MAY 2003
Dr. David C. Bennett, Editor (DCB)
PO Box 1241 - Dubbo - NSW 2830
Phone/Fax 02-6884-2846
Email: Bennett@BibleForToday.org
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.
Sermon Audio.com - Wednesday, April 16, 2003 - REPORT: MODERN CLERGY
'LACK KNOWLEDGE OF CHRISTIANITY' (Edited by DCB)
"Clergy training is facing a radical overhaul amid evidence that
curates have a poor grasp of theology and ‘biblical literacy’."
A top-level Church of England report said "that clergy should be
expected to reach degree level if they were to keep pace with other
professions." However, "a significant number of curates display ‘a clear
deficit’ in theological knowledge and skills, despite several years at
theological college."
"Quoting a study in the dioceses of Rochester and Canterbury, it said
that curates lacked awareness of the implications of different
interpretations of the Bible."
"The majority are, in general, less securely grounded in a knowledge of
the scriptures and the Church's tradition than previous generations," the
report said.
Editor’s Comment: God can and will use any man, learned or unlearned,
if that man knows Him and is willing to be used. Acts 4:13 "Now when they
saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned
and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that
they had been with Jesus."
Sermon Audio.com - Monday, April 14, 2003 - HALF OF BRITAIN BELIEVES IN
THE RESURRECTION (Edited by DCB)
"Nearly half of the population believes that Christ rose from the dead,
according to a survey.
The findings challenge the widespread view that an increasingly secular
society sees Easter as little more than an opportunity to indulge a taste
for chocolate - even though relatively few will go to church. More
surprisingly, the figures suggest that belief in the Resurrection may
actually be increasing."
Forty seven percent of those surveyed "said that they believed that
Christ rose from the dead" and "36 per cent, said they did not, and 15 per
cent said that they did not know."
Forty nine percent of the women surveyed believed "that Christ rose
from the dead compared with 43 per cent of men."
Editor’s Comment: Acts 23: 6, 7 "But when Paul perceived that the one
part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council,
Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and
resurrection of the dead I am called in question. And when he had so said,
there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the
multitude was divided."
Agape Press - PRO-LIFE 'CROSS' DISPLAY AT UMASS EVOKES PHYSICAL
THREATS, VANDALISM April 22, 2003 (Edited by DCB) "A pro-life display
erected by students on the University of Massachusetts campus has been
completely destroyed by vandals."
Two students spent almost $200 of their own money to set up the "160
white crosses, symbolizing the number of abortions performed every hour in
the U.S. One day after the display went up outside the student union,
several pro-life students monitoring it were verbally and physically
assaulted by individuals who were attempting to tear down the crosses in
broad daylight. One young woman monitoring the display was even threatened
with a hammer."
All the crosses were found two days later broken and many thrown in a
garbage can.
According to one of the students "the university has threatened to
punish him and his fellow pro-life advocates for their action -- but the
hammer-wielding attacker is only being charged by the police." The
university’s threat is due to the two students not going "through the
proper channels to put up" the display.
Editor’s Comment: One hundred and sixty abortions every hour! Is it not
sad when a nation goes to war to give others "freedom" and at the same
time murders millions of their own people through abortion?
Agape Press - PRO-FAMILY WARNING TO GOP LEADERS: BE WARY OF COURTING
HOMOSEXUAL VOTE April 22, 2003 (Edited by DCB) "The head of a major
pro-family group says when it comes to the issue of homosexuality, the
Republican Party has become a ‘house divided.’"
Family Research Council head Ken Connor said "the GOP has officially
endorsed pro-family and pro-marriage values and rejected the notion of
same-sex marriage and other causes promoted by the pro-homosexual crowd.
That is why, Connor says, he is having troubling figuring out why the
chairman of the Republican National Committee, Marc Racicot, recently met
with leaders of the Human Rights Campaign."
Connor said the HRC "is the chief protagonist of the homosexual
political agenda and contributes hundreds of thousands of dollars to
candidates who support that agenda -- most of them Democrats."
He believes there are some in the Republican Party seeking to make the
Party "more ‘gay friendly.’"
Editor’s Comment: The Republican Party is composed of men much like the
men of Keilah of whom God said to David "They will deliver thee up."
Agape Press - CHRISTIAN GROUP IN MAINE CONFRONTING HOMOSEXUAL ACTIONS
IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS - April 22, 2003 (Edited by DCB) "All 186 state
legislators in Maine were a no-show for a recent pro-family gathering that
included a presentation on how public schools are promoting homosexuality
to children."
The event hosted by the Christian Civic League of Maine featured Peter
LaBarbera of the Culture and Family Institute as the keynote speaker.
Every legislator in the state of Maine received an invitation via
first-class mail and was also offered a free lunch. Not one lawmaker
attended.
Civic League president Michael Heath said he was not surprised at the
lack of interest by the lawmakers and that is was also "a busy time of
year for the legislators."
Heath went on to say what really disappoints him is how the taxpayers
dollars are being spent. He said he learned this when he attended the
"fifth statewide 'Civil Rights Team' conference put on by the attorney
general's office."
Heath said the conference was billed as "a seminar to teach public
school students ‘tolerance and respect for everyone.’" Instead "the
conference legitimized the homosexual lifestyle."
Heath said shortly before the conference "volunteers from the attorney
general's office discouraged school children from accepting pro-family
literature distributed by Heath and his supporters outside the Augusta
Civic Center."
Editor’s Comment: This just goes to show there continues to be
"…spiritual wickedness in high places." and that "evil men and seducers
shall wax worse and worse…"
Agape Press - METHODIST YOUTH PROGRAM OFFERS 'MENTAL IMAGING,'
ANTI-BUSH SPEAKER - April 21, 2003 – (Edited by DCB) "A longtime member of
the White House press corps notorious for her open condemnation of the
Bush Administration recently made some controversial remarks while
addressing a United Methodist youth conference."
Helen Thomas "told the audience at First United Methodist Church in
Dayton that she opposes the current war on terrorism, and believes the
Bush Administration should instead ‘search for the root causes of hatred
of the U.S.’"
Her comments were made at a fundraiser for "‘SpiritQuest’ -- a
Methodist outreach program for young people ages 8 to 18 that includes To
Shin Do Japanese martial arts and ‘positive mental imaging.’"
Editor’s Comment: Jer 9:3 "…they know not me, saith the LORD."
Email from Dr. Jerry Falwell: 19 April, 2003 - FALWELL CONFIDENTIAL -
RICK WARREN TO SPEARHEAD '40 DAYS OF PURPOSE' CAMPAIGN AT 2003 SUPER
CONFERENCE – (Edited by DCB) "Dr. Rick Warren, pastor of the great
Saddleback Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif., will utilize the
Thomas Road Baptist Church/Liberty University-sponsored 2003 Super
Conference (October 5-8) in Lynchburg, Va., to kick off his ‘40 Days of
Purpose’ national campaign.
More than 7,000 churches are expected to participate in Saddleback's
‘40 DOP’ fall campaign which launches October 11, the Sunday following the
Super Conference."
Rick Warren himself will lead the conference. He will be "speaking in
morning and evening sessions throughout the conference." His "progressive
messages" will communicate the goals of the campaign and "the principles
behind the campaign and the tools each church will use in the campaign."
Dr. Falwell said "Dr. Warren told me that, in a national pilot program
conducted last year, about 2,500 churches in all 50 states and ten nations
participated in this new revolutionary program to carry out the Great
Commission. The results were astounding! Thousands received Christ and
were baptized, many were equipped for personal ministry, troubled
marriages were healed and true revival broke out."
Warren began Saddleback Church in his home with his wife and one other
family. Today, Saddleback Church has an attendance of 16,000 each Sunday
and is one of the USA’s largest churches. "In the last seven years, more
than 9,200 new believers have been baptized at Saddleback. And 34
‘daughter churches’ have been started."
According to the email the "40 DOP" has been anointed of God. "Churches
that participated in this pilot program of ‘40 Days of Purpose’ report an
average growth of 22 percent in worship attendance, 79 percent increase in
Sunday School attendance and 22 percent growth in financial giving."
Falwell is inviting "nearly 300,000 pastors and church leaders" to
attend the "2003 Super Conference" so they can "hear-first hand how you
can multiply the ministry God has given you."
Editor’s Comment: I am not against soul winning and church growth when
it is the Lord adding "to the church daily such as should be saved." Acts
2:47
This conference will certainly be a mixed bag and surely the Lord would
be asking an independent Baptist as He did Elijah "What doest thou here?"
Yours against apostasy and for Biblical Truth,
David C. Bennett Titus 2:13
