O Timothy April 2011 - Way of Life Literature

W A Y O F L I F E L I T E R A T U R E
right miracles, showed the right fervency
for God’s law and the right compassion
for the souls of men, died the right way,
and rose from the dead the right way.
There is more and better evidence that
Jesus rose from the dead than there is for
any event in ancient history, and His
resurrection proved beyond doubt that He
was who He said He was, and that is the
eternal Son of God, the Creator, the only
Lord and Saviour. The Jews definitely
crucified Christ, but not only the Jews.
The Roman Empire crucified Christ in the
person of Pilate and the Roman soldiers,
but even more than that, the whole world
crucified Christ, because it was for every
man’s sin that He died. It was in
fulfillment of the great prophecy of Isaiah
53. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and
carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem
him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted. But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace
was upon him; and with his stripes we are
healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5). The words “we”
and “our” here refer both to the Jews and
also to the sinners of the whole world.
THE FASTEST FLOWER IN THE
FOREST (Friday Church News Notes,
March 18, 2011, www.wayoflife.org
fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The
following is from Creation Moments,
February 4, 2011: “The peace and serenity
of North America's spruce forests is
occasionally broken by little other than
the rustle of a deer passing by. At least
that's what most people think. In truth,
there are things going on which would
cause us profound wonder. The
bunchberry dogwood flower stands only
about one-tenth of an inch tall. Scientists
knew that the flowers opened explosively.
The flowers do this to propel their pollen
further. The scientists decided to find out
precisely how fast the flowers really
opened. So they decided to tape a flower
opening with a high speed camera that is
capable of taking 1,000 pictures a second.
But the camera proved to be too slow. It
was only with a camera that takes 10,000
pictures a second that they could clearly
see what was going on. They saw that the
petals opened, and in a separate action,
the stamens unfold so fast that they
catapult pollen into the air. All of this
happens in four tenths of a thousandth of
a second. That's more than a hundred
times faster than a chameleon's tongue
captures lunch. The stamens unfold so
fast that they subject the pollen to 2,400
times the force of gravity. There are no
limits to the wonders God can conceive
and create. His greatest wonder is His
mercy which resulted in forgiveness and
salvation.”
EVANGELICALS AND MORMONS
TOGETHER (Friday Church News
N o t e s , M a r c h 1 8 , 2 0 1 1 ,
www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org,
866-295-4143) - Prominent “evangelical”
leaders are meeting with Mormons in Salt
Lake City for a “dialogue” in search of
better understanding. The evangelicals
include Leith Anderson, president of the
National Association of Evangelicals;
Richard Mouw, president of Fuller
Seminary; and David Neff, editor-in-chief
of Christianity Today. Anderson said, “We
hope this time of dialogue with LDS
leaders will deepen our understanding of
the Mormon faith and contribute to the
ongoing work of evangelicals in
Utah” (“Evangelicals, Mormon,”
Christian Post, March 10, 2011). This is a
continuation of something that began
several years ago. In November 2004, an
“Evening of Friendship” at the Salt Lake
Mormon Tabernacle featured some
e v a n g e l i c a l s s e e k i n g a b e t t e r
understanding of and relationship with
Mormons. Ravi Zacharias, the main
speaker, was joined by Richard Mouw,
Craig Hazen (a professor at Biola), Joseph
Tkach, Jr., head of the World Wide
Church of God, and CCM musician
Michael Card. In the Deseret Morning
News, Card was quoted as saying that “he
doesn’t see Mormonism and evangelical
Christianity as opposed to each other;
they are more like the two ends of a long
thread -- part of the same thing.”
Mouthing the CCM ecumenical
philosophy he said, “The older I get, I
guess the more I want to integrate
everything. I think it’s more important to
be faithful than right” (Nov. 16, 2004).
The 2004 event and the most recently
dialogue were sponsored by Standing
Together Ministries, which was formed in
2001 by “evangelical” preacher Greg
Johnson, who has conducted “dialogues”
with Mormon professor Robert Millet.
Johnson is a radical ecumenist. His web
site says, “We affirm that there is one
Church in Utah that meets in various
locations,” and, “Unprecedented unity
will contribute to healthier local churches
and transformed lives by the thousands.”
The first “ministry focus” listed is
“Uniting the Body.” Johnson was
instrumental in getting Craig Blomberg of
Denver Seminary and Steve Robinson of
Brigham Young University together to
“dialogue” and to produce a book entitled
How Wide the Divide, which concludes
that the divide between Mormons and
Bible-believing Christians is not as wide
as formerly thought. We wonder what it is
about Mormonism and its false gospel and
false christ that these evangelicals don’t
understand. We are also puzzled at why
they are dialoguing with heretics when the
Bible states that we are to mark and avoid
them, turn away from them, and reject
them (Romans 16:17-18; 2 Timothy 3:5;
Titus 3:10-11). The apostle Paul wasn’t
much of a dialoguer. He called false
teachers “dogs” and “evil workers” (Phil.
3:2). Of those who pervert the gospel he
said, “Let them be accursed” (Gal. 1:8, 9).
H e c a l l e d t h e m “ e v i l m e n a n d
seducers” (2 Tim. 3:13), “men of corrupt
minds, reprobate concerning the faith” (2
Tim. 3:8), “false apostles, deceitful
workers” (2 Cor. 11:13) Beware of
modern “evangelicalism.”
BROTHER CLOUD IS THE ONE
WHO HAS BEEN SHOT IN THE
WEST COAST MUSIC AFFAIR
(Friday Church News Notes, March 18,
2011, www.wayoflife.org
fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Not
only do I have the right Scripturally to
give a warning about the promotion of
“adapted” CCM music at an IB school
that is influencing people all over the
world, I have a responsibility before God
to do so. The only authority I need is 2
Timothy 4:1-2. “I charge thee therefore
before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall judge the quick and the dead at
his appearing and his kingdom; preach the
word; be instant in season, out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine.” There is no
limit placed on my preaching, except that
it be done in the Spirit of God by the
Word of God. I can reprove and rebuke
wherever and whoever and whatever and
whenever, in season and out of season. So
can Paul Chappell and every other Godcalled
preacher. Take my preaching
ministry, for example. I have a very
public ministry that influences many
people (a half million downloads of my
sermons and videos, for example, and
1 Timothy 6:20,21 19