30 April 2014

Wednesday, April 30, 2014, 0:00

This news item was posted in Presbyterians Week category.

Presbyterians Week Headlines

[1] Entire Session and 200 Members of Stornoway High Church (of Scotland) in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland, Vote to Leave and Form New Congregation over Kirk Decision to Allow Homosexual Ministers

[2] Church of Scotland Membership Drops below 400,000 for the First Time

[3] U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and Graham’s Supporters Search the Sermons of Primary Opponent the Rev. Det Bowers for Mud to Sling

[4] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell

[5] Headlines from Christian Concern

[6 Headlines from The Christian Institute

[7] Articles from LifesiteNews.com

[8] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining

[9] The Religion of Peace

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A 24 April 2014 STV article titled “Divided Stornoway Church Congregation Walks out in Gay Minister Row” reports that the entire church session and 200 congregation members of the Stornoway High Church (Church of Scotland) in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland, have voted to leave the church and form a new congregation to meet in a rented facility over the Kirk’s decision to allow homosexual ministers.

103 church members voted to remain with the church, while 121 members did not participate in the voting.

+ STV, Pacific Quay, Glasgow G51 1PQ, Scotland, 0141-300-3704, yourview@stv.tv

+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722

[2] Church of Scotland Membership Drops below 400,000 for the First Time

A 28 April 2014 Press and Journal article by Cameron Brooks titled “All-Time Low for the Kirk’s Membership” reports that the Church of Scotland 2014 General Assembly will report a total membership of 398,389, representing a drop of almost 50,000 members since 2010.

+ Press and Journal, Lang Stracht, Mastrick, Aberdeen AB15 6DF, Scotland, 01224-343311, pj.newsdesk@ajl.co.uk

+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722

[3] U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and Graham’s Supporters Search the Sermons of Primary Opponent the Rev. Det Bowers for Mud to Sling

The editor is reminded of a maxim learned in a seminary hermeneutics class:

“A text without a context is a pretext.”

A 24 April 2014 Politico article by Manu Raju titled “Lindsey Graham Foe: Children-Loving Women Cause Divorces” reports upon an undated one-hour and thirteen minute sermon by the Rev. Det Bowers, former Preaching Pastor at Christ Church of the Carolinas in Columbia, South Carolina, and current Republican primary challenger of South Carolina U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, where Raju summarizes Pastor Bowers’ sermon as blaming women who love their children more than their husbands for causing divorces, even when the husband has committed adultery.

The sermon is taken from 1 Peter 4:1-11. Pastor Bowers examines the theme of suffering – suffering from the effects of sin, and how the world drains the strength of God’s people. He compares and contrasts life before and after redemption-showing that dying to self changes one from spending one’s life to investing one’s life for God.

In the context of verse three’s reference to “abominable idolatries”, Pastor Bowers defines an abominable idolatry as an “unlawful worship”, i.e. anything that one worships other than God is an unlawful worship. As an object lesson, Pastor Bowers says that in his years of pastoral counseling, in about ninety-five percent of the cases where a man ran out on his wife, the wife loved her children more than she loved her husband. Which Bowers describes as “an abominable idolatry” that will ruin a marriage. This object lesson takes one minute to present.

Pastor Bowers then turns to the abominable idolatries pursued by so many on Sundays in not keeping holy the Sabbath Day. He asks: “Is Sunday for you a day of worshiping the Son of all sons and the King of all kings, or do you worship the king of me?”

Bowers goes on to thoroughly exposit the remaining verses, imparting much godly wisdom about putting the world and its sin behind, and going forth to effectively serve God under the direction of the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 55:11 says “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” In an attempt to disparage Det Bowers’s campaign to wrest the Republican senatorial nomination from Lindsey Graham, Manu Raju in fact has made available a powerful sermon to all of us here:

http://www.politico.com/multimedia/video/2014/04/full-det-bowers-sermon.html

May God direct and strengthen Det Bowers so that all that is done in this political campaign will give God all the honor and glory.

+ Politico, 1100 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 601, Arlington, Virginia 22209, 703-647-7999, info@politicopro.com

[4] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell

— Former Employee: Oregon Officials Had to Know They Were Incinerating Babies, ‘There Was So Much Blood’

— Judge Sides with NAACP’s Attempt to Silence Black Pro-Lifer

— She Rejected Abortion after Rape, Then the Rapist Sought Custody of Her Daughter

— College Students Celebrate Abortion with Coat Hanger Display

+ LifeSiteNews.com, Incorporated, 4 Family Life Lane, Front Royal, Virginia 22630, 888-678-6008, Contact Page

+ LifeNews.com, Post Office Box 270841, Fort Collins, Colorado 80527, news@lifenews.com

[5] Headlines from Christian Concern

Headlines of the past week from Christian Concern:

— Christian Nursery Worker Sacked for Saying Marriage Is between a Man and a Woman

+ Christian Concern, 70 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8AX, England, 020 7935 1488, Contact Page

[6] Headlines from The Christian Institute

Headlines of the past week from The Christian Institute:

— Britain’s Youngest Parents: Mum and Dad at Twelve and Thirteen

+ The Christian Institute, Wilberforce House, 4 Park Road, Gosforth Business Park, Newcastle upon Tyne NE12 8DG, England, 44-0-191-281-5664, Fax: 44-0-191-281-4272, info@christian.org.uk

[7] Articles from LifesiteNews.com

Articles from the past week from LifesiteNews.com:

— Crisis Pregnancy Centers Face ‘Blacklists’ from Google over ‘Deceptive’ Ads

— The Homosexual Movement’s Push for Adult-Child Sex

+ LifeSiteNews.com, Incorporated, 4 Family Life Lane, Front Royal, Virginia 22630, 888-678-6008, Contact Page

[8] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining

Articles from the past week regarding kings and rulers setting themselves against the LORD and against his anointed:

— Zhejiang Mega-Church Demolished after Government Reneges on Agreement

— Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren Calling for Unity with Rome

— Front-Man of ‘Christian Band’ Jars of Clay Supports Gay Marriage

+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com

+ Way of Life Literature, Post Office Box 610368, Port Huron, Michigan 48061, 519-652-2619, fbns@wayoflife.org