29 June 2022
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“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” [Ezekiel 33:6]
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12]
Presbyterians Week Headlines
[2] UK Christians Respond to US Supreme Court Abortion Ruling
[3] Helpful Warning About Yoga
[4] ARPTalk (162) The Great Punt Analysis of the 2022 Meeting of General Synod
Additional Articles of Interest
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SCOTTSDALE, Az., June 24, 2022 /Christian Newswire/ — The Board of Directors and Executive Leadership of The Presidential Prayer Team affirms the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization by the Supreme Court of the United States. This ruling overturns the outcome of the 1973 Roe v. Wade case and allows each state to set its own laws regarding the legality of abortion.
Nearly fifty years ago, the decision by our nation’s highest court set in motion a tragic period in our nation’s history that saw the termination of more than 60 million pregnancies in the United States. For too long, this unspeakable loss of life has torn at the moral fabric of our nation. To add to the tragedy, abortion has had a disproportionate impact on minorities. It has robbed our country of potential futures, as well as the opportunity to grow bigger, stronger, and more diverse.
While the prayer team is a non-partisan organization, we view the court’s decision as a moral decision, not just a political one. As a Christian ministry, we applaud the stance taken by the justices of the Supreme Court and know that it brings our country closer in alignment to God’s word. We are reminded of the sanctity of life in Psalm 127:3,
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.”
“This landmark decision serves as a reminder that God answers prayers and He makes His light to shine upon us, even during the darkest times,” said Jim Bolthouse, president of The Presidential Prayer Team. “We welcome this new era in our country’s humanity and prayerfully anticipate the day when every life is given the opportunity to live, thrive, and reach his or her full potential in this world. And we are thankful for the millions of prayer team members, churches, and other organization who have diligently prayed (some for decades) for this decision.”
Although today’s decision cannot bring back the lives that have been lost, it does allow states to restrict and/or end the practice of abortion. To date, more than half of our states have already passed or plan to pass legislation that will rein in the practice of abortion.
We now turn our prayers and attention to each state as they carry on the effort to protect the lives of unborn children. We remain united and resolute in asking God to be at work and to shape the future of our nation.
Mr. Bolthouse is available for radio, television,?or press interviews.
About The Presidential Prayer Team
Founded in 2001,?The Presidential Prayer Team?is the nation’s largest, full-time nonpartisan ministry dedicated to encouraging and inspiring people to pray for the president and leadership of the United States of America.?The ministry is a registered 501(c)(3) with accreditations from?Charity Navigator?and the?Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.?The Presidential Prayer Team proudly maintains memberships in both?Christian Music Broadcasters?and?National Religious Broadcasters.???
To learn more about The Presidential Prayer Team, please visit?www.PresidentialPrayerTeam.org.
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+ The Presidential Prayer Team, Post Office Box 4140, Scottsdale, Arizona 85261, 833-240-7729, ppt-info@presidentialprayerteam.org
[2] UK Christians Respond to US Supreme Court Abortion Ruling
Christian Concern has today released a video of UK Christians reacting to the Supreme Court decision to overrule Roe v Wade and state that there is no right to abortion.
The video features several well-known UK Christians including church leaders, evangelists and campaigners who share why they welcome the decision and call on the UK to protect the lives of preborn children.
The video can be watched at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx6i-6bbTHk
Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, reacted to the Supreme Court decision:
“We are delighted by the court’s decision to protect children in the womb by overturning Roe v Wade.
“A civilised society will always work to protect every human life including the most vulnerable. In the western world, the most vulnerable among us are unborn children.
“It’s great, at last, to see some sense and common humanity prevail.
“This week in the UK we tragically saw record high abortion numbers released for England and Wales – 214,869 lives deliberately ended. We will soon reach 10 million in total. We are determined to see this number come down.
“Our UK abortion policy offers no meaningful protection to these small but precious humans. A woman’s decision is all it takes to end each life.
“We praise God for this decision and pray that we will see preborn babies protected in the UK as well.”
Responding to the ruling in the video, Canon J John , said: “I believe in miracles and I am delighted by the US Supreme Court ruling regarding Roe versus Wade. God is pro-life and I am pro-life.
“Abortion does not prevent women from being mothers. It just makes mothers of dead babies and my hope and my prayer is that, on this side of the Atlantic, we here in the United Kingdom will listen to what has taken place in the US and that we too would become a nation that is pro-life.
“The good news of Christianity is [that] when we have failed, when we have regrets, when we’ve done what opposes God and his word, and his values and principles, in Jesus there is redemption. We can be ransomed, healed, restored, and forgiven and that is offered to every one of us, irrespective of what we’ve done, where we’ve been, and that is the good news of Christianity.”
+ Christian Concern, 70 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8AX, England, 020 7935 1488, Contact Page
[3] Helpful Warning About Yoga
The following is excerpted from “YOGA: Exercise or Religion–Does It Matter?” by Ray Yungen. “Currently, an estimated 24 million people (as of 2022, that number has increased to nearly 40 million) in the United States are regularly involved with some form of Yoga. In the town where I live, the high majority of health clubs, including the YMCA, YWCA, and the local community college, offer Yoga classes. … Most of these adults may be vaguely aware of the Hindu component of Yoga but see that as being irrelevant to taking Yoga classes. … The word ‘yoga’ actually means to be yoked to or united in body, mind, and spirit with Brahman (the Hindu concept of God). It doesn’t get more spiritually obvious than that. Yoga adherents cannot divorce the religious or spiritual aspects of Yoga from the physical because the physical postures were, from their inception, specifically designed to serve as conduits to yogic religious experience. … Yoga instructor and author Stephen Cope … says, ‘We are all born divine. … This is the classic statement of the perennial philosophy of yoga.’ … Occultist and ‘prophetess’ Alice Bailey … said, ‘The Yogi, or the one who has achieved union (for Yoga is the science of union) knows himself as he is in reality … he knows himself to be, past all controversy, God.’ … As believers, we are told in Romans 12:2, ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’ We are [to] ‘learn not the way of the heathen’ (Jeremiah 10:2) … When Yoga is viewed through the lens of the Cross of Christ, it is clear that the two are incompatible. Then a person becomes involved with Yoga, he enters a realm of often subtle but powerful spiritual deception. … The Russel Simmons story is of special interest. Simmons was a young, street-wise black youth who later did quite well for himself as a hip-hop (rap) music producer. Ironically, Simmons did not fit any New Age stereotype, but a friend, as he put it, ‘dragged [him] into a yoga class,’ and he ‘realized [he] had stumbled onto something incredible.’ As a result, Simmons acquired the spiritual perspective that always accompanies the practice of Yoga. Simmons relates: ‘A lot of the time it seems like people are more comfortable listening to the God that is outside them, but I believe that God is already inside of you. … The God that’s in all of our hearts.’ … Yoga produces a certain perception. That perception is identical with what is commonly called New Age spirituality. Incidentally, Simmons has become a major Yoga ‘evangelist’ and has written three books (one a best seller), which specifically target the young hip-hop audience. … Christine Aguilera, popular singer in the vein of Brittney Spears, fits right into this pattern. In a 2015 ABC News article titled ‘Yoga Serving as Inspiration for Aguilera’s New Music,’ Aguilera [states that yoga practice results in] ‘feeling more in one with the Earth and everyone being connected.’ Aguilera is an influence to millions of young girls, who see her as a role model and emulate her.”
+ Way of Life Literature, Post Office Box 610368, Port Huron, Michigan 48061, 519-652-2619, fbns@wayoflife.org
[4] ARPTalk (162) The Great Punt Analysis of the 2022 Meeting of General Synod
By Charles W. Wilson
If it were not for seeing old friends again and meeting new ones, the meeting of the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church this summer would have been a total waste of time. As a friend said, “We’re doing it again. In good ARP style, we’re kicking the can down the road again. This Synod is nothing but a big punt.” Well, he nailed the essence of General Synod on the head. So, my title for this analysis of General Synod: THE GREAT PUNT.
For you who can remember, Charlie Brown had his Great Pumpkin. The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church has ANGUS, THE GREAT PUNTER.
I like this cartoon of Angus. Being visionally impaired (and not offended by “blind” jokes), I didn’t miss the artist’s humor: Angus is cross-eyed. He doesn’t have the slightest idea as to the direction in which he is kicking the ball. That’s about right for a meeting of the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church!
The New Moderator
The Moderator-elect of General Synod is the Reverend Rob Patrick, the Pastor of the Boyce Memorial Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Kings Mountain, NC. Having been Vice Moderator twice, he is prepared as much as one can be for the hazardous duty of moderating a contentious meeting of General Synod. And, yes, the meeting of General Synod next summer portends to be a contentious meeting. That is, unless the powers that be can figure a way to put off the study on deacons again and again and again and . . .
The Study on Deacons
The study on deacons was brought forth a year ago at the last Covid meeting of General Synod at First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, SC. A memorial from First Presbytery which would have defined the office of deacon to men only was politically maneuvered to a study committee. The memorial from First Presbytery was well prepared and compelling. The debate was passionate. As I remember, no one challenged the Biblical exegesis of the paper; rather, the political ramifications were front and center. If the memorial had come to the floor for a vote, some say it would have passed, and others say it would have failed. I don’t know. It was too close to call. It was fascinating to watch.
If the study on deacons finally comes to a vote at the 2023 meeting of General Synod, I hope I’m still alive to see it. If I am, I’m going to set up a concession stand and sell cokes, popcorn, cotton candy, and peanuts. It will be more fun to watch than the summer Gene Horton, Buddy Worley, Teddy Larson, and I took Teddy’s cat down to Elmer Taylor’s minnow pond to find out if a cat can swim. It was 1956, we were ten, and we were told cats couldn’t swim by my Uncle Ran, but we were not sure. We tried hard that day to drown Teddy’s cat, but the cat wouldn’t cooperate. We found out cats are good swimmers. However, they don’t like it. The cat bit Teddy twice. We gave up. We let the cat go. We took our BB-guns and shot at an empty sardine can until it sank. Sinking an empty sardine can was more fun than trying to drown a cat. An empty sardine can doesn’t bite!
Will the Associate Reformed Presbyterian cat swim out of the YAB lake next summer? Will Angus punt the ball again? My prediction: whatever happens, no one will be happy. If Angus punts again, no one will be happy. If there’s a vote, no one will be happy. I think there is a high probability we will lose congregations.
World Witness
From the mouth of the Chairman of the Board of World Witness: “We are not sending missionaries to start Associate Reformed Presbyterian congregations, we are sending missionaries to further the Kingdom of God.” Now, I may not have quoted him exactly, but I have it close.
I am 76 years old, I have lived long enough to be jeered for not advancing the cause, the name, and the institution of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, and told I wasn’t “a real ARP,” and now I am jeered when I ask why the cause, the name, and the institution of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church are not advanced on the mission field, and told I am opposed to furthering the Kingdom of God.
As a young minister in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, I remember Chap Lauderdale saying and writing the following: “The Board of Bonclarken is how the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church advances in camp and conference ministry, the Board of Christian Education is how the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church advances in publishing Christian literature and teaching in the local church, the Board of Dunlap is how the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church advances in ministry to orphans and other children’s ministries, the Board of Erskine is how the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church advances in college and seminary education, the Board of Outreach North America (Church Extension in those days) is how the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church advances in planting and growing new congregations in the United States, the Board of Stewardship is how the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church advances in promoting faithful giving to and the wise use of monies on the denominational level, and the Board of World Witness (Foreign Missions in those days) is how the ministry of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church is advanced in the world.” And, as far as the success of World Witness in those days is concerned, the proof is in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church of Mexico and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church of Pakistan.
For the life of me, I don’t see how winning people to Christ and planting local congregations which are Associate Reformed Presbyterian, establishing presbyteries, and a national denominational presence (as we did in Mexico and Pakistan) is opposed to the Kingdom of God.
In the United States would we think of giving money and people resources to plant a congregation for the Presbyterian Church in America, or the Christian Reformed Church, or the United Reformed Churches in North America, or the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America? No! We would not do that! Well, maybe I should say I don’t think one of our presbyteries would do that.
Sadly, there is no way to avoid the Statistical Report. The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in North American is dying. The great majority of our local congregations are dying, declining, or plateaued. In Second Presbytery, churches are closed faster than they are planted. We have a dismal record in planting churches. However, instead of pouring our money, effort, and time in securing a healthy Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America, we send 18.59% of our Denominational Ministry Fund to World Witness and raise a total budget of $4,750,180 for World Witness. And what is done? Well, the cause, the name, and the institution of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church are not advanced. The Reformed Church of XXXX is supported. The Church of XXXX is supported. The Baptist Church of XXXX is supported.
The fig leaf of supporting the Kingdom of God over a denominational standard is nonsense. World Witness is supporting denominational standards everyday. The problem is World Witness is not supporting the denominational standard of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.
Isn’t it interesting that a man who was once ridiculed for not being “a real ARP” is now the voice for being an Associate Reformed Presbyterian loyalist? This one thing I learned as a church planter: you can’t plant a generic church; you have to plant a standard! When one looks at the Kingdom of God as the church as it is spread over the world, there is a multitude of standards. As we look for the standard of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church on the mission field today, it is not being planted! It is absent!
Erskine College and Seminary
Of course, I’m sure the reader is wondering, “What is Chuck going to say about the Erskine report?”
Well, not much. I wish President Adamson and Chairman Whitehurst well in an impossible task. I think the spiritual condition of the campus is well stated in the following Facebook talk by “Josh Childs, Campus Chaplin” (sic): https://www.facebook.com/ErskineCollege/videos/josh- chiles-campus-chaplin/4743991395641573/
What do you think? Where is the Gospel? This is WOKE! This is anti-Gospel!
A Letter to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church
We sent a letter to denominational officials of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church informing them we are not pleased with the theological direction they are going. We did this years ago with the Presbyterian Church (USA). They responded saying, “Who are you? Mind your own business.” I expect to see another such letter.
The Rest
The image is from deep space. It is what some call a hole in the universe. The hole is a billion light years across. In the hole there is nothing: no stars, no light, no galaxies, no plasma, no dark holes, nothing. Astronomers do not know what to make of this hole. It’s a mystery.
Well, the rest of the meeting of General Synod was an empty hole for me. We spent our time shuffling papers, listening to long sermons, and hearing uninteresting and boring presentations. As one elder delegate said to me, “I have now attended two meetings of General Synod: my first and last.” He is a very successful businessman. He also said, “You people are not serious people.” I can’t argue with him.
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Additional Articles of Interest
– Canada’s Trudeau Declares WAR against All Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers in Canada
– COVID-19 “Vaccines” Are MORE Harmful to Your Health Than SMOKING CIGARETTES
– COVID-19 is the Largest Psychological Operation in Human History
– Joe Biden Unveils Five-Step Abortion Action Plan to Kill Babies to “The Fullest Extent Possible”
– The Horrifying American Roots of Nazi Eugenics
– How Bad Will the Food Shortage Get?
– A Global Food Shortage “Catastrophe” Is Unfolding, Warns United Nations Chief
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