Mr. CAMPING SETS ANOTHER DATE FOR SECOND COMING

The very confused Harold Camping, head of Family Radio Network, is claiming that Christ will return on May 21, 2011. This is the second time that Camping has made a nutty prediction. In the last decade he predicted that Christ would return on September 6, 1994, and I don’t have to tell you that it didn’t happen. You would think that this world-class blunder would have ended his prophesying and Bible teaching career, but in these days of apostasy there are enough gullible, biblically-ignorant people out there to keep such heretics afloat. Camping’s heresies are heard on 55 radio stations in America and via shortwave overseas, and his program is translated into 48 languages. Camping believes the church age ended in 1988, and that God has turned from churches to Family Radio as His means of preaching the gospel. His followers meet in homes to listen to Camping’s messages. There is no baptism, no Lord’s Supper, no pastor. In late 2001, Baptist Pastor Jim Barker of Elmont, New York, was banned from preaching messages on the church on WFME radio that broadcasts from West Orange, New Jersey. Though he had preached on that station for many years, he was told that he could no longer identify himself as a pastor or mention the church. Barker warns, “Camping says sinners can no longer be saved in churches and if Christians defy him and continue to attend church services their children cannot be saved.” Camping also believes in “sovereign election,” that you can only hope that you have been chosen and that “a baby can be saved as readily as a mature adult” (Time Has an End: A Biblical History of the World, 2005, p. 17). As for life’s most important question, “What must I do to be saved?” Camping says, “You cannot do anything.” Happily, the Bible has already given the answer to that question and it is “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 16:31). As for Jesus’ coming, there is no doubt that He is coming again, but we don’t know when. We only know that it is imminent. We are instructed to expect Him at any time. There is one thing we do know, though, and that is that Jesus will NOT return on May 21, 2011, for Jesus said, “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 25:13).

U.K.’S “DRINKING CULTURE” A DRAIN ON HEALTH CARE

A new report warns that the United Kingdom’s “notorious drinking culture” is putting a serious strain on the taxpayer-funded medical system. It is costing $4.4 billion a year to treat patients for drink-related problems, which is double the amount five years ago (“U.K. Drinking Culture Strains Health System,” USA Today, Jan. 2, 2010). The study, co-published by the Royal College of Physicians, says that 10.5 million adults in Britain “drink above sensible limits.” A study at a hospital in Leeds found that one-fifth of emergency room admissions were for alcohol-related conditions. Alcohol-related deaths have doubled in the last 15 years. In January 2005 the Royal College of Physicians warned that Britain’s epidemic of alcohol addiction is fuelling violence and illness throughout the country (The Telegraph, Jan. 3, 2005). Nothing good comes out of an alcoholic bottle, but having read about 80 books by emergent church writers, I have been impressed with the fact that they, too, love to drink. The book Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches: Five Perspectives, for example, contains probably a dozen references to the joys of drinking. The contributors are Karen Ward, Mark Driscoll, John Burke, Dan Kimball, and Doug Pagitt. They meet in bars and taverns for theological discussions and exchange beer-making techniques. Mars Hill Church in Seattle sets up a “champagne bar” at their New Year’s Eve parties and attendees are reminded to bring their IDs so they can enjoy the bubbly. It is true that some of the Protestant Reformers drank alcoholic beverages, but they are not our authority. They also “baptized” babies and drowned Baptists! It is also true that there are instances in the Old Testament in which God allowed His people Israel to drink alcoholic wine, but there are many things in the O.T. that we do not practice today. I believe that Christians today should not drink alcoholic beverages for the following three reasons, among others. First, the Bible warns that wine is a mocker and deceives men (Prov. 20:1). Second, the Bible instructs the believer not to give offense in anything (1 Corinthians 10:32-33). Three, the Bible commands the believer to abstain from all appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22). If anything has the appearance of evil today, it is alcoholic beverages, and abstaining from all appearance of evil is not a mere suggestion; it is a commandment!

And these are the   SIGNS OF THE TIMES………

SOUTHERN BAPTIST EMERGENT CONTRASTS HUMILITY WITH JUDGMENTAL PREACHING

SOUTHERN BAPTIST EMERGENT CONTRASTS HUMILITY WITH JUDGMENTAL PREACHING  – J.D. Greear is a Southern Baptist preacher associated with the Acts 29 network. In 2002 Greear became senior pastor of Homestead Heights Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina. He led it to adopt the emergent philosophy, changed the name to Summit Church, and attendance has grown from 400 to 2,400. Mark Driscoll, head of Acts 29, claims to be “theologically conservative and culturally liberal.” Driscoll’s church in Seattle, Mars Hill, sponsors secular rock concerts, reviews R-rated movies, and hosts a New Years Eve dance party complete with a champagne bar. Greear says he strives for “humble orthodoxy” and contrasts this with the image of the Baptist preacher as “the angry guy with coifed hair and an out-of-style suit who likes to pick at things” (“Young Baptist Preachers Chart Different Courses,” Christian Post, June 20, 2008).

Jesus Christ was humility incarnate, yet He was very bold and “judgmental” in his preaching. He preached more about hell than heaven, at least 14 times in the four Gospels, and He preached it red hot and terrible (e.g., Mark 9:42-48). Christ rebuked error in the severest terms (Mat. 23:13-33). He scalded the Pharisees because they perverted the way of the truth and corrupted the gospel of grace, calling them hypocrites, blind guides, fools and blind, serpents, generation of vipers. Roman Catholic priests and theologically liberal Protestant ministers corrupt the truth at least as much as the Pharisees did, yet the emerging church does not speak out against them after the fashion of Christ. He told the Pharisees that they were of their father the devil (John 8:44), and a more “judgmental” statement has never been made! After forgiving and healing people Christ warned them, “… sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:14).

That is the type of thing that people in the “emerging culture” do not want to hear. They want to be forgiven and healed and encouraged, but they do not want to be told how to live and warned about what will happen if they don’t. Christ’s message cut against the grain of society in His day, and it still cuts against the grain of society, and the apostles preached after exactly the same fashion. One thing is certain. Christ’s type of preaching would not be at home in any branch of the emerging church.

CONCLUSION: Friends in Christ, do not be discouraged by what is happening today. It is God’s will that we know the times
Matt.16:3… And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
Rom.13:11… And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

And these are the   SIGNS OF THE TIMES………