Australian Independent Baptist Newsletter

www.Bennett.BibleForToday.org

December, 2005

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.

CARDINAL KEELER ASSURES NCC GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF POPE BENEDICT'S COMMITMENT TO ECUMENISM – National Council of Churches USA – 9 November 2005 (Edited by DCB) "Hunt Valley, Md. Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore welcomed the annual General Assembly of the National Council of Churches USA to his archdiocese Tuesday and reassured delegates that the Roman Catholic Church -- and the Pope -- are firmly ecumenical." Keeler told the NCC delegates that "I've known him for 22 years and I know his commitment to work for unity within the church of Jesus Christ is a sincere one."

Editor’s Comment: Revelation 19:2 "For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand."

Apostasy Alert 21 November 2005 SPARROW'S DEATH SHOCKS A NATION (Edited by DCB) "Dutch animal lovers are mourning a sparrow that was shot dead after it fluttered into an exhibition hall and knocked over thousands of dominoes set up in preparation for a world record attempt. The sparrow will be commemorated in a live television broadcast of the domino-toppling attempt later today, after a wave of national outrage at the shooting. Hundreds of condolence messages have been posted on a website for the sparrow and has already attracted 200,000 hits."

Editor’s Comment: Romans 1: 22, 23 "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to…birds…"

News.Telegraph 11 November 2005 PILGRIMS FLOCK TO SEE 'BUDDHA BOY' SAID TO HAVE FASTED SIX MONTHS (Edited by DCB) "Thousands of pilgrims are pouring into the dense jungle of southern Nepal to worship a 15-year-old boy who has been hailed as a new Buddha. Devotees claim that Ram Bomjon, who is silently meditating beneath a tree, has not eaten or drunk anything since he sat down at his chosen spot six months ago. Witnesses say they have seen light emanating from the teenager's forehead." One may purchase a photograph of Ram for five rupees. "The popularity of the phenomenon is partly because it resembles an episode in the life of the historical Buddha, who was born 160 miles away around 543 BC. The Buddha achieved enlightenment when he meditated beneath a sacred pipal tree for 49 days. Ram Bomjon is also sitting beneath a pipal tree, in the same posture as the Buddha is depicted, but his vigil has already taken longer."

Editor’s Comment: Romans 1:21 "…and their foolish heart was darkened."

Heraldsun.new.com.au 20 November 2005 ARREST OVER GIRLS’ BEHEADINGS (Edited by DCB) "INDONESIAN police have arrested a 23-year-old man on suspicion of involvement in the beheading of three teenage Christian girls in the religiously divided district of Poso. Machete-wielding attackers ambushed the three high school students on their way home on October 29, killing three and wounding the fourth, police said. Two of the victims' heads were found near a police post while the third was discovered outside a Christian church."

Editor’s Comment: John 15:18 "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you." 2 Timothy 3: 1 "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come."

WorldNetDaily.com PLOT TO BURN CHRISTIANS THWARTED EXTREMISTS GAVE ULTIMATUM TO NEW CONVERTS November 24, 2005 (Edited by DCB) "Police in northern India thwarted a plot by Hindu extremists who threatened to burn to death more than 60 Christian converts if they refused to return to Hinduism by Sunday. Members of a Christian movement called Believers Church met peacefully Sunday in the state of Himachal Pradesh, according to Compass Direct, a news service that monitors persecution of Christians. "‘We were able to meet without incident,’ said Ramish Masih Battih, the son of Pastor Feroz Masih." Gospel for Asia’s K.P. Yohannan said "many of the new Christians testified that they had accepted Christ of their own free will – often because they had been healed of their diseases."

Editor’s Comment: I trust these are genuine conversions but when I read something like what Yohannan said I think of John 6:2"And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased." Then we do not go very far and read that "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him" John 6:66.

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1163287.ece NO BAN ON GRACE November 17 2005 (Edited by DCB) "Minister of Knowledge Øystein Djupedal reassured parliament Wednesday that his concerns about grace being an undesirable type of preaching in schools did not spell an assault on Norway's Christian heritage. Djupedal said that he had never intended a blanket ban on grace in schools, and that another of his controversial remarks praising day care centers compared to parents, did not mean he intended for centers to take over child rearing duties." He told the parliament that "The word ban has never been in my thoughts, but I have tried to make a clear division between grace as a religious activity and grace as education. Daily grace can easily be perceived as preaching but I don't believe this is a major problem. What is preaching and what is teaching is probably best judged by the individual teacher." The Muslim leader of the Islamic Association, Basim Ghozlan, said that if Djupedal "…had asked me if someone could sing ‘Oh, You who feed small birds, bless our food, Oh God’ before students eat, I would have answered that this is a fine arrangement. Because then Jews, Muslims and Christians thank God." But "…the situation would be different if the verses equated Jesus as God. But since the religions had a shared experience when speaking of 'God', Ghozlan felt that a ban on universal prayers of thanks would be mistaken."

Editor’s Comment: These "…are the enemies of the cross of Christ." As to the Deity of Jesus Christ what saith the Scriptures? John 1: 1, 14 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." First Timothy 3: 16 "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh…"

Yours against apostasy and for Biblical Truth, David C. Bennett, D. Min., Titus 2:13