Volume 5, No. 3, July 1999
Special Offer for Music Ministries & Songwriters
I now operate a website which lists --FREE-- music ministries and songwriters, including a "bio," photo or logo, a link to their website (if any), and contact info. This includes singers, songwriters, musicians, and music groups. Songwriters must produce quality work. I expect to post a list of requirements soon. Applicants must have a working email account for contact purposes. To apply, write for information or visit http://listen.at/pneuma.christian.music.
EDITORIAL
It is appropriate at this time of year, with the impeachment trial behind us and another presidential election looming as well, to reflect upon the nature of this country and the freedoms we enjoy, and especially on the course that we, as a nation, will take in the future.
I am not an extremist on this issue, but the Founding Fathers patently saw the new Republic as an expression of God-given rights, and unrepresentative government the chief threat to those rights. The Declaration of Independence, if you have not read it lately, is a justification for open revolution against any government which dares encroach upon those common rights. The Bill of Rights (the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution) was created to meet the apparent necessity of putting some of those rights in writing.
In recent decades, liberal judges and social demagogues have narrowly defined such rights -- which the Fathers presumed -- as freedom of religion and possessing personal firearms, while applying such "approved" rights as free speech and the Press absolutely, expanding their definitions to even include behavior, artistic expression, and sexual orientation.
The role of secular government, as outlined in the Bible, is to keep order, provide essential justice, and punish criminals. Government has overreached its bounds when it presumes to "grant" rights to the citizenry. The Constitution itself states that the rights of citizens are not limited to those listed therein. I agree with Rush Limbaugh and others who assert that people HAVE rights -- and within the bounds of justice, equality, and public morality, can justly oppose any government or government action which threatens those rights.
To view documents of the Founding Fathers, visit http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/declaration/decmain.html. For a collection of their biographies, visit http://www.colonialhall.com/index.asp.
Editor
West Loop Church Update
The church planting effort is forging ahead, albeit slowly. I have had a lot of inquiries about staff positions, which dwindled after I made sure that all my advertising resources clearly stated that self-support would be required during the start-up period. I am, frankly, disappointed that so many God-called ministers are so tied down to "houses and lands," and a regular paycheck, that they are unable or unwilling to pursue a faith work. I suspect that this is why the Lord has kept me single so far, having fewer obligations and fewer people to answer to. I still have a few potential staff in the works, but have begun to concentrate more on finding local lay members.
My search for gainful local employment and housing are behind schedule, depending somewhat on finding one or more other single ministers with whom to share accomodations. I have, however, fallen into the opportunity to establish a commercial website -- though it remains to be seen whether I will be able to support myself and the church by that means. Visit Pneuma Christian Music Super Site.
For more information on West Loop Church, visit the website at http://come.to/west_loop_church.
I had only casually heard mention of Daniel Quinn, associated with his most famous book, Ishmael. Doing some research of my own on the Internet, I discovered that Quinn has a cult following of people enthused by the environmentalist ideas illustrated in his novels.
Ishmael is a surrealistic story of a man who is taken in tutelage by a large ape of great age, named Ishmael. Communicating with the man telepathically, Ishmael teaches the man all that mankind has done wrong through the ages, and how they must change in order to survive the coming crises of overpopulation. Men are of two types, he says: (1) Takers, who use capitalism and the Biblical concept of "subduing the earth" as a justification for the rape of nature; and (2) Leavers, who honor nature and operate within its rhythms, taking only what they need.
By most accounts, Ishmael is a bad novel, with an unlikely plot (a Socratic dialogue, really), cardboard characters, mind-numbing repetitiveness, and according to Kirkus Reviews (1991), "wild generalities and smug self-assurance." However, with certain readers his ideas appear to strike a chord, producing a mind-changing revelation -- hence the cult following. Moreover, Ted Turner granted Quinn a half-million-dollar prize for the book, apparently over strong objections from Turner's panel of judges.
Another of Quinn's novels, The Story of B, is said to be his best, in a literary sense. A fictional Catholic order, pledged to uncover the Antichrist, sends a member to investigate a guru-type known as "B." The investigator , jaded by religion himself, listens to B's environmental teachings and is converted. Quinn's point: "religions based on animism versus those based on salvation" (Booklist, 1996). Animism (worship of nature) is friendlier to the environment that Judeo-Christianity, it would seem.
A former postulant under Thomas Merton in the Trappist Order, Quinn "details his rejection of organized religion and his personal rediscovery of what he says is humankind's first and only universal religion" (review) in his memoir, Providence.
A reader writes of The Story of B, "What can I say about a book that single handedly renders every major world religion impotent . . . . The author also outlines how, when and where western culture developed its catastrophic method of 'subduing' the earth and its inhabitants" (luvgodd@mci2000.com).
Quinn has done all this without actually offering documentation for his assertions. Instead, he has used the novel form to illustrate his ideas -- an approach that is unfortunately commonplace in both entertainment and politics these days -- changing minds through feelings, not facts. His new work, according to the classified ad, is an attempt to "prove" his assertions about western culture, using quotations from influential historical figures.
Reviews of Quinn's books are available from Amazon (follow link from http://listen.at/pneuma.christian.music).
How does the Holy Spirit indwell and gift a believer? Read about it in Christ Within You! The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
While prophecy in particular might be abused or over-emphasized in some circles, a church is ill-advised to react by trying to limit or control manifestations.
Sometimes pastors ask me what they can do to make their services more spiritual. I offer the following suggestions:
IMPORTANT: Do not limit the opportunity to speak to a few chosen leaders. The moving of the Spirit in Acts and Corinthians is corporate and "upon all flesh," not limited. (Paul wrote, "you may all prophesy one by one," and "let one speak, and let the others judge.")
The website of an Assembly of God in Oviedo, Florida (Jeff Good, pastor), features actual photographs of teeth purportedly "refilled" with gold.
Ruth Ward Heflin is promoting a Brazilian woman named Silvania Machado, who regularly manifests gold dust in her hair during services. A video is available on Heflin's website, showing Machado shaking dust out of her hair onto a Bible. Having watched this video frame-by-frame, I am convinced that Machado is a fake. She reaches under her hair near the top of her head, and moves her fingers sharply to her left, at which point dust bursts forth. Then she shakes more dust out of her hair. Clearly, she has a packet of dust hidden in her hair which she breaks open on cue. (The reader may view the video and judge for him/herself.)
The question of the fillings or other individual manifestations is less conclusive. I wonder WHY the Lord would refill teeth, and why He didn't also straighten crooked teeth, or even replace filled teeth with pristine new ones. Sources say that "pure" gold would not make good fillings, being too soft. I would like to investigate whether participants might have been given something to eat or drink beforehand which could have chemically altered or shined up old fillings.
Christians should never, in the name of spirituality or "not judging," bypass the Biblical injunctions to "test the spirits, to see whether they are of God," or to "let the others judge."
Paleoanthropologist Erik Trinkaus of Washington University has found a skeleton near Lisbon, Portugal, which he postulates might be the first evidence of interbreeding between Cro-Magnon man (considered the ancestor of modern man) and Neanderthals. The skeleton demonstrates a mix of Cro-Magnon attributes (prominent chin, pelvis and tooth size) and those of the Neanderthal (short, stout legs and long arms) (Archaeology, July/August 1999).
This story is worth following because, whereas I suspect that the Neanderthal is actually just an ape, it is also possible that they were a race of humans with pronounced racial or genetic differences; or even persons afflicted with a disease or genetic abnormality, along the lines of Down's Syndrome or Giantism, for which they were ostracized and isolated from mainstream human society.
"Five former staff members at a Houston psychiatric hospital were indicted on charges they brainwashed patients into believing they had been in a satanic cult so they could bilk them of millions of dollars, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
"At one time, Spring Shadows Glen's Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) Unit was considered cutting-edge therapy. However, according to Jury awards of $5.8 million in satanic memories cases, the unit was closed after state authorities cited the hospital for excessive use of physical restraints on patients, censorship of patient mail and phone calls and, in one case, making a patient's discharge contingent upon safety from a 'satanic cult'" (The Mining Company, 1999).
"President Clinton recently signed executive order EO 13107, Implementation of Human Rights Treaties. The new EO requires federal, state and local governments to comply immediately with all United Nations Treaties, whether or not those treaties have been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as required by the Constitution. One of these treaties, the UN Treaty of Genocide, says that persuading someone to change his or her religion is a hate crime punishable by international law. The new EO 13107 is expected to be used strongly by the newly established Office of Religious Persecution Monitoring to arrest and imprison Christian missionaries and witnesses anywhere in the world who teach Jesus only" (News-of-Interest).
http://www.eagleforum.org/column/1999/jan99/99-01-20.html
http://www.idir.net/~cnc/
http://www.idir.net/~cnc/EO_13107.html
http://www.uhuh.com/laws/eo13107.htm
"Around the world, Christians refer to the Friday before Easter as 'Good Friday,' in recognition of Christ's death on a Roman cross as an atoning sacrifice for humanity's sins. But for Evangel Christian Center, an Assemblies of God church in Pittsburg, Kan., this year's Good Friday was a reminder that human sin is still alive and well. Overnight, several teenagers broke into the church and set it ablaze. Saturday morning, the sanctuary was a total loss.
"'One of these reporters asked me what would happen if these kids were to walk into our church,' Walker remembers. 'I said we'd welcome them with open arms and try to lead them to Jesus. We don't have any animosity towards them. We're just mad at the devil'" (AG-NEWS, 4/16/99).
"Today, across the country, a handful of school districts are equipped not only to teach but to actively address their students’ mental health problems, with on-campus counseling and group therapy. Not only the student, but parents and guardians are called into the process as well. To some, that smacks of unconventional, even unwarranted, intrusion into family life . . . . ‘Suicide and homicide are major causes of death for adolescents in the United States,’ says Kevin Dwyer, president-elect of the National Association of School Psychologists . . . . ‘The mental health problems among students have become more complex and kids have more difficulties at an earlier age,’ he asserts . . . ." (Herb O'Connor, ABCNEWS.com).
"A 'TV Scoreboard' published by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) lists 25 shows -- including 'Chicago Hope,' 'ER,' 'Spin City,' 'The Simpsons,' 'Suddenly Susan' and 'Mad About You' -- that featured gay, lesbian and/or transgender prime-time characters during the fall '98 lineup . . . . "It's vital for teens to see gay characters on television," says Scott Seomin, GLAAD's entertainment media director. 'When a gay teen in Iowa sees Jack on "Dawson's Creek" portrayed as loved, talented and accepted, it sends a strong message that he can be those things, as well' (The Watchman, May 1999).
"'The Baptist Standard' of March 31, 1999 reports that the University of Richmond, an SBC school established by the Baptist General Association 169 years ago, has added to its non-discrimination policy an amendment that will drop the school's ban on homosexual students. Further, gays will now be actively recruited by the University's recruiting staff.
"This puts the school at odds with the Baptist General Association's 1998 resolution that Homosexuality is "sinful and unacceptable to Christians" (News-of-Interest).
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