Australian Independent Baptist Newsletter

DECEMBER 2003 Issue 2

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.

If you desire not to receive the AIB Newsletter reply with the subject "remove".

Sydney Morning Herald (SMH Hereafter) 4 December 2003 VICTIM LET ME EAT HIM, SAYS ACCUSED CANNIBAL – Kassel, Germany: "A self-declared cannibal told a German court in chilling detail today how he killed and ate a man he says consented to be dissected and consumed in front of a running video camera."

The cannibal told the court "how an obsession with cannibalism developed as a child and eventually led him to kill and eat a fellow human being." He went on to say "I had the fantasy, and in the end I fulfilled it." It was said that "Horror films and seeing animals slaughtered fuelled his imagination."

Editor’s Comment: It was hard to read the entire article for it went into some detail concerning this murder. Jeremiah 17: 9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

SMH 3 December 2003 ABORTION OVER CLEFT PALATE PUTS LAW TO TEST- London "Two of Britain's leading judges have paved the way for an important high court test case to examine the criteria necessary for an abortion to go ahead. In a decision that focuses on the human rights of foetuses and could undermine a law its supporters insist has served women well for 35 years, Lord Justice Rose and Mr Justice Jackson gave a Church of England curate permission to challenge a decision by police not to prosecute doctors who carried out an abortion on a foetus that had a cleft lip and palate."

Editor’s Comment: Psalm 139:14 "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made..."

SMH 6 December LATHAM'S PITCH FOR LOST ALP VOTERS - Australia "Mark Latham has promised a more compassionate approach on asylum seekers and will put gay rights and the environment back on the agenda to lure back Labor's lost voters." This typical socialistic thinking so should not surprise a conservative. The Opposition leader then went on to "put himself at odds with the Prime Minister, John Howard, on the nexus between religion and politics in defining the family." Latham according to the SMH describes himself as an "agnostic" and does not "think love in relationships is defined on religious grounds. As a general proposition, the basic ingredient of a good, successful relationship is love and care. Whether it is a same-sex or different-sex relationship - I don't draw a distinction."

Editor’s Comment: It isn’t a hard decision as to whom not to vote for in the next election!

Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS Hereafter) 9 DECEMBER 2003 AUSTRALIAN PRIMATE TO CO-CHAIR ANGLICAN ROMAN CATHOLIC DIALOGUE - The Archbishop of Canterbury asked the Primate of Australia, Peter Carnley "to fill the post of co-chair of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC)."

Editor’s Comment: Carnley is an apostate. Carnley said he has been involved with the "completion of ARCIC's latest document on the place of the Blessed Virgin Mary in our shared tradition of faith and spirituality." The Anglican Media Sydney web site quotes Carnley saying that "Buddha and Mohammed offer equally valid paths to salvation as Christ."

"In a special Easter article in Australia's leading current affairs magazine, The Bulletin, Archbishop Carnley wrote that St Luke's point in Acts 4:12, 'has been used as the basis for making fiercely exclusive Christian claims: only through Christ does salvation come, not through Buddhism, or eastern mysticism, not through Mohammed, or the Rajneesh, or any other form of religious adherence, whether ancient or new age'."

Carnley is wrote that if Luke "...had a vague idea of the existence of India at the fringes of his world, he probably had no idea of the existence of China at all, let alone of the teachings of the Buddha or Confucius. Mohammed was, of course, yet unborn. The modern questions of 'other religions' was for Luke miles away, centuries off."

How could any lover of the Gospel stay in the Anglican Communion?

ACNS 10 DECEMBER 2003 THE INTER ANGLICAN STANDING COMMISSION ON ECUMENICAL RELATIONS- USA - One of the items this ecumenical gathering looked at was "....to the completion of the work of the Anglican Communion - Baptist World Alliance International Conversations, due to report in 2004..." "It also welcomed the approval and signing of the Covenant between the Church of England and the Methodist Church of Great Britain, and the signing of the Covenant between the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches in Papua New Guinea."

Editor’s Comment: The Australian Baptist Union and the Southern Baptist Convention (USA) are members of the apostate Baptist World Alliance. This is spiritual adultery!

Des Moines Register Career Section (DMR Hereafter) USA - 12 December "DIRECTOR OF WORSHIP ARTS ANKENY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, a vibrant, 375-member congregation, near a rapidly growing metro area (Des Moines, IA) seeks a person with a strong commitment and enthusiasm to Christ and the church for a full time position with benefits. The person will direct, plan, and coordinate a new worship service incorporating multimedia presentations, live drama, and contemporary music."

Editor’s Comment: Martin Luther said "preaching was the most important part of congregational worship." Sadly many including Baptists do not believe the same today!

DMR 12 December 2003 'DE-STRESS DAYS' SLATED AT UNI - Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA – "The University of Northern Iowa will hold ‘De-Stress Days’ for students, faculty and staff…" "The event …is designed to alleviate the stress of finals and semester's end. Activities …will include free mini-massages, kittens and puppies from the Humane Society to pet, and a large labyrinth that deals with spiritual health."

Editor’s Comment: Proverbs 3: 5 - 8 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones."

FULLER SEMINARY NEWS AND EVENTS 20 November USA - MUSLIM PUBLIC AFFAIRS REPRESENTATIVES TO SPEAK AT FULLER – "As part of Fuller Seminary’s focus on the Muslim celebration of Ramadan, Aslam Abdullah, the editor of The Minaret and Sireen Sawaaf, Hate Crimes Prevention Coordinator at Muslim Public Affairs, will be speaking on Fuller’s Pasadena campus…" Abdullah spoke on "the similarities between Islam, Christianity and Judaism."

Editor’s Comment: From an Islamic web site: Appendix 22 of the Authorized English translation of the Quran by Dr. Rashad Khalifa we read "The Quran, informs us that Jesus was a human messenger of God whose sole mission was to deliver God's message; he never possessed any power, and is now dead (4:171, 5:75, 117). Those who consider Jesus to be God, or Son of God, or part of a trinity are "pagans" (5:17, 72, 73)." Fuller Seminary is apostate and Bible believing people should have nothing to do with it.

Yours against apostasy and for Biblical truth,

David C. Bennett, Titus 2:13