February/March 2003

Dear ones,

As most of you know, The Cornerstone Foundation, founded and headed by my son Jeff, is committed to building and operating a hospital-based evangelical outreach on the remote north coast of Honduras; it is the only source of medical care in a very large area, populated largely by very poor people. If you've never visited its web site, www.crstone.org, you've missed an uplifting time. I recommend going to the "Photo Gallery" on the navigation bar to see them and their world. Hospital Loma de Luz was carved out of a jungle where there was no water, no electricity and no telephone service (there is still no telephone service). Now, 10 years later, by the grace of God, it's up and running. The official inauguration was on January 31. To our knowledge, Hospital Loma de Luz is the only mission hospital in the world today built and administered without the backing of any denomination. All staff are Christians from a variety of denominational backgrounds. Patients are prayed for, taught of the Lord, and lives are being saved - physically and spiritually. In addition, staff members provide food and milk for (literally) hungry children in the village school, help with teaching, provide books and other materials, train local pastors, and reach out in other ways to meet the needs of the people they serve.

SALLY & CORNERSTONE
My daughter, Sally Mahoney, has served as stateside representative and spokeswoman for The Cornerstone Foundation, on a volunteer basis, almost since it's inception. She has done everything from editing the publications, to arranging air-drops of food and medicine in Honduras during a disastrous hurricane. (She also home-schools her children and is my primary editor.) But now, she feels called to step up her work for Cornerstone, traveling to speak for the mission, and going at least twice yearly to Honduras to keep up with things there--all at her own expense. In a very real sense, she has become a missionary here, and all Cornerstone missionaries must raise their own support. So, I ask that you pray for her needs to be met. If you are led to give, you can send donations to WFLM (with "Sally" or "SMM" on the "for" line of the check, or otherwise making it clear that the gift is for Sally), and we will pass 100 percent of it on to her, with a tax-deductible receipt to you. You can contact her directly at 270-443-8606 (phone/fax), or via e-mail at kyfam777@bellsouth.net.

MISSION HOSPITAL ATTACKED
A Southern Baptist mission hospital stands on the coast of Yemen, at the south end of the Arabian Peninsula; it has been there for 35 years, treating the mostly poor Arab people around it. On 30 December a Yemini Arab told the security guard that he wanted to visit a sick patient, and was admitted. He walked to a meeting room, pulled a semi-automatic rifle from under his robe and shot to death three American missionaries: William E. Koehn, 60, administrator; Martha C. Myers, 57, obstetric nurse; and Kathleen A. Gariety, 53, purchasing agent. He also chased down and shot pharmacist Donald Caswell, 49, twice in the abdomen. Caswell is expected to survive. The murderer is a University student, member of an Islamic Jihad group, and was trained in terror in Afghanistan. He said that he shot the Americans "because they were preaching Christianity." (W/ANS)

CHRISTMAS MASSACRE IN PAKISTAN
On Christmas Day two masked Muslims burst into a small Pakistani Presbyterian church 40 miles north of Lahore during a children's program and threw an explosive device into a room full of children, killing four, and wounding 18 other children and parents. The policeman, assigned to guard the church, "somehow" failed to show up that day; the police spokesman expressed regret. (W)

CAN WE KEEP CHRISTMAS IN CHRISTMAS?
When I was a child I used to see the billboard ads saying "Keep Christ in Christmas." They were the work of the Knights of Columbus; being ignorant of such issues, I wondered why they did that. My ignorance continued into adulthood, until I met the Lord at age 40 and had my spiritual eyes opened. I realized that a popular paganism really had created a Christ-less Christmas, and that a supernatural Santa had displaced Jesus. Today, however, with the rampant madness of political correctness, the ad campaign may need to be changed to something like, "Keep Christmas in Christmas." This year, all the TV networks were careful to avoid the "C" word, substituting the innocuous "Happy Holidays," and business commentary concerning retail sales (most retailers do half their annual business at Christmas time) carefully referred to "the season," avoiding the traditional "Christmas (sales) season." Even when referring to Christmas in its most Christ-less commercial meaning, use of the "C" word was too much for them. Public schools and public libraries were decorated for "Winter Festival," or just referred to "the Holidays." In the Sacramento, California public schools, teachers were ordered not even to speak the word "Christmas" on the school grounds. Meanwhile, children in California schools have been required to study Islam and plan a jihad, and to celebrate the pagan "Day of the Dead" festival at Halloween time. In Canada, in its ad campaign to sell its coins, the Royal Canadian Mint used the traditional song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas," but removed the "C" word and substituted "Giving" ("The Twelve Days of Giving"). And it will probably only get worse, for Jesus and His people are an intolerable offense to the secular, politically correct world around us. (ANS et al)

THE CULTURE WAR CONTINUES
In Crete, Illinois, a lesbian couple in Crete-Monee High School has been named "Cutest Couple" in the yearbook. Administrators, who have encouraged "gay" glorification, applauded the choice. Bob Knight, of the Culture and Family Institute sees the situation clearly, from a traditional point of view. "The administrators...ought to be sacked," he says, "You've got two sexually confused girls, one of them only 15 years old, and [the administrators are] actually applauding their sexual confusion." He called the attitudes of the administration "beyond irresponsible," and points out that "Nobody is born gay," and that lesbian women have a higher risk of certain bacterial infections, cervical and breast cancer, and are more likely to abuse alcohol and drugs.(ANS)

THE DANGEROUS MYTH OF "HATE" CRIMES
One of the most insidious and dangerous developments in these trying times is the concept of "hate" crimes. The idea here is that if a crime, say assault, is "thought" to be motivated by hatred of a group, then the crime is more serious, and the penalty, therefore, more severe. The entire concept is spurious, because it is based upon assumptions (not facts), and a deadly implication in the concept is that it makes certain opinions criminal. Since the defeat of the alien and sedition acts in the early years of our history, this is the first such assault on freedom of opinion and expression. The homosexual power structure (and its leftist supporters in government and the media) has brought this to pass, claiming that homosexuals are victimized, and their safety threatened, because of their way of life. If one believed the media and the "gay" spokesmen, they are as threatened as were Jews in Hitler's Europe. The facts, however, reveal the opposite.
Even with a growing tendency among politicians and law enforcement bodies to do almost anything to please and pander to the homosexuals, and with "hate crimes" recognized as a reality, the FBI's crime statistics for 2001 are revealing. More than half of crimes classified as "hate crimes" were so labeled simply on the basis of the homosexual's "feeling intimidated." And, of 16,000 murders reported during the year, only ten were classified as "hate crimes" and in only one of the 10 was the victim a homosexual.

Incidentally, the one group that seems to be fair game for "hate crimes" is Christians; when we are assaulted or murdered by those who hate the Church, the media and the politicians seem to look the other way. (ANS/Focus on the Family)

CRACKER BARREL CAVES
For many years Cracker Barrel (the restaurant chain with home-style food, souvenirs, and the rocking chairs on the porch) has stood firmly against very public attacks from "gay" activists, including a highly publicized "kiss in" by homosexual Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank and his male "lover." Why the heat from the homosexuals? Because of Cracker Barrel's policies not to give special treatment to them. For this reason, I have gone out of my way to eat there. No more. In December, the Cracker Barrel Board voted to include "sexual orientation" in its anti-discrimination policy. Cracker Barrel spokeswoman Julie Davis says that she expects the policy change to have no impact on day-to-day business; she's wrong-I am one customer in the permanent "previous" category. (ANS)

MARVEL COMICS: COWBOY HERO IS "GAY"
Marvel Comics announced in December that "the Rawhide Kid," a Marvel comics cowboy hero since the 1950s, will appear as a homosexual, beginning in February. In an Associated Press report, Marvel's Editor in Chief announced that it will be "obvious through his actions and the things he says that his preference is men, not women." Marvel already has several homosexual characters, such as "North Star" of the X-Men comic book series. Of course, it has been a long time since comic books have been funny; but parents need to know that now they are turning deadly. (ANS/AP)

DISNEY WORLD EVICTS CHRISTIANS
Disney World in Orlando is canceling its long-standing tradition of making a place available for Christian visitors to worship. Although the facility has been used by 1,500 Catholic and Protestant families for Sunday services, they have been evicted. Disney spokeswoman Rena Callahan said it didn't seem right to have Christians using the facility when there are "so many religions out there." We should not be surprised, for Disney has become a major supporter of the "gay" agenda, and has consistently demonstrated hostility toward scriptural values in general, and to Christianity in particular, producing blatantly offensive anti-Christian movies. (ANS)

WHO GIVES THE MOST TO CHARITY?
The Northeastern liberal establishment does the most talking about compassion for the poor, painting the South and Midwest as being selfish and indifferent to the poor. According to The American Enterprise, quoted in The Federalist (22 May 01), the Urban Institute conducted an exhaustive study of 1998 tax returns. The state with the least charitable giving was wealthy Massachusetts, the Mecca of the liberal establishment. The state which gave the most was Mississippi, although it ranked 49th in average income! The other leading states in charitable giving were other Southern, Bible Belt states.

NEW ULTRASOUND DEVICE SHOULD SAVE BABIES
General Electric has developed a vastly improved ultrasound technology they call "4D." It provides a much clearer image of the unborn baby. The developers of 4D Ultrasound have promoted it as a means to see the unborn baby in much greater detail, to permit earlier diagnosis of problems. However, it is almost certain to have a mighty impact on pregnant women, who will see their babies, much more clearly, and will be much less likely to submit to abortion. Christian columnist Cal Thomas, in a World Magazine article, described a TV commercial that shows the face of a pregnant woman, seeing her baby for the first time in "4D." He suggested that if that scene doesn't touch you in the deepest recesses of your heart, then the machine may show that you don't have a heart. (ANS/W)

MORE FRUIT OF CASINO GAMBLING
Since casinos arrived on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, rates of bankruptcies, certain types of crime, divorces and suicides have skyrocketed. Local restaurants and hotels have been forced out of business. There are, however, two kinds of businesses that have proliferated, springing up like mushrooms: pawn shops (where the people who have lost everything gambling can pawn their watches, rings, guns, cars, etc., so they can go back and lose the rest); and "escort services." It is no secret that such "escort services" are a venue for prostitution (male and female); I knew very well a man in Little Rock who ran one. In the Gulf Coast telephone directory, I counted at least 28 such businesses that advertise in the Yellow Pages, with names like "Barbie Escorts," "Eve's Escorts," and "Secrets Escorts." They advertise "discrete," "no appointment necessary," "confidential," "prompt," "sophisticated," "24 Hours, 7 Days," and "All Major Credit Cards Accepted." Jesus taught us to judge things by their fruit; the fruit of casino gambling continues to be rotten.

BLACK CHURCHES AND DEMOCRATIC POLITICS
For many years we have seen white churches threatened with IRS audits and ACLU lawsuits if the pastor so much as distributed educational voter guides with simple facts such as voting records of candidates on issues like abortion. Meanwhile, across the nation, we have seen large black churches blatantly used as arms of the Democrat Party, with Democrat candidates making campaign speeches on Sunday mornings, pastors openly endorsing Democrat candidates and church vans hauling Democrat voters to the polls to vote en masse for the "right" candidate-all this while the IRS looks the other way, the liberal media broadcast the pulpit speeches, and the ACLU smiles. Well, that may be changing. Ron Sellers, a conservative Christian, watched all this in Louisiana during the recent senatorial runoff campaign there. He took notes: names, dates and places; and he is filing a series of complaints with the IRS, and-wonder of wonders-the IRS is investigating. Maybe, just maybe, some justice can at last be done.(ANS)

PORN FILM MADE AT INDIANA U.
A pornographic film company based in California made a porn film at the University of Indiana last year, with 20-30 I.U. students performing sex acts with professional "actresses." The company's publicist said they chose Indiana because it was ranked the number one "party school" by the Princeton Review. The film was released in December. Interestingly, Indiana University was the center of Alfred Kinsey's spurious and criminal "research" in human sexuality that gave birth to the enormously destructive sexual revolution, to today's ungodly sex education curricula, and is still the home of the Kinsey Institute. If you are not aware of the hideous and spurious nature of Kinsey and his work, I urge you to look into the work of Dr. Judith Reisman by contacting Col. Ron Ray at First Principles, PO Box 1136, Crestwood, KY 40014, 1-800-837-0544, or 502-241-5552. (ANS)

SOUTHERN BAPTIST COLLEGE PLANS SEXUALLY EXPLICIT PLAY
William Jewell College, a Southern Baptist school near Kansas City, Missouri, is preparing to host a student-produced play which features very sexually explicit dialogue. A spokesman for the Missouri Baptist Layman's Association says the trustees at William Jewell have lost their biblical understanding of sin. Two major universities, Notre Dame and Saint Mary's, have banned the play. (ANS) (Editorial Comment: Church-related schools always tend to drift from the doctrinal positions of the sponsoring denomination; and just now the Baptists aren't the only ones with such problems. Read on.)

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS AND PLANNED PARENTHOOD
Jodie Brown of the American Life League is furious because at least eight Catholic Colleges and Universities are endorsing, and cooperating with, the world's largest abortion provider. Pro-life Catholics (including Jodie) have discovered that San Francisco University provided a link to Planned Parenthood on its Student Health web site. Since then, research by the Cardinal Newman Society reveals that at least seven other Catholic schools promote Planned Parenthood through web links; and one such school, De Paul University, conducts an internship program with Planned Parenthood. Jodie says, "So, we have [at least] seven universities referring their students to Planned Parenthood, while at the same time claiming to be Catholic. It's an outrage…an absolute scandal…an abomination…[and] an attack on Roman Catholicism from within!"
The other six schools involved are Georgetown, Loyola, Santa Clara, Boston College, Seattle University and John Carroll University. (ANS)

THE ROOTS OF CATHOLIC CLERGY SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
The ongoing revelations of sexual misconduct by Catholic clergymen, highlighted by the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law, Archbishop of Boston, is an extremely painful situation. Public revelations of sexual abuse of children by priests, ruined lives, lawsuits and criminal convictions are spreading. They hurt the Church's reputation and undermine its moral authority. What is already revealed however, according to concerned Catholic researchers and reform groups, is only the tip of a very ugly iceberg. As painful as all this publicity is to Catholics, it is revealing a cancer that is destroying the Church; and it will get worse, if not exposed and removed. The roots of the cancer seem, more and more clearly, to lead to a homosexual subculture; one of its more notorious members is the Rev. Paul Shanley, a charter member of NAMBLA, the notorious pedophile organization. Following the cancer's roots to their tips leads to the apparently increasing control of Catholic seminaries by this homosexual subculture. Catholic lay leader, Jodie Brown, heartbroken over all this, believes purging the homosexuals from Catholic seminaries is the place to start.
Only God and its members know how high up in the hierarchy this cancer reaches, but as concerned Catholics dig ever more deeply, the more they find. After all, as one researcher observed, seminarians become priests, and priests become bishops, archbishops and cardinals.

And it's not all just about corrupt priests and boys. The Saint Louis Post Dispatch reports that a 1996 survey by Saint Louis University found that 40 percent of all Catholic nuns have suffered some kind of sexual abuse, at the hands of priests or other nuns. The study was paid for in part by several orders of Catholic nuns. If this cancer is not removed, it will, like all such malignancies, eventually bring death. (ANS/St. Louis Post Dispatch, et al)

FORD AND SUBARU ADVERTISING TO HOMOSEXUALS
While homosexuals would have us believe that they are an oppressed minority, they are much more wealthy, as a group, than the general population. They have a lot of money to spend, and those in the business world know it. Ford has decided to deliberately target the homosexual market in advertising for its Jaguar Division, featuring ads with same-sex "couples" and homosexual themes. The only other American auto company advertising specifically to homosexuals is Subaru of America. (ANS)

MARTY'S CORNER
One of the effects of the decline of doctrinal teachings that began in the 60's and 70's is the murky haze that has settled in the church (universal) over contemporary issues. Cultural values changed with the acceptance of New Age beliefs and Humanism - its basic tenet being that man is not accountable to a higher power: God. Some practices, like Buddha-type meditation, martial arts, cremation etc, have become so acceptable that we seldom search for God's directives. This article is not intended to be the cause of division in the body of Christ, rather it is to show that there is logic and discerning for rejecting the practice of destroying human bodies by cremation, and I hope you will search the Scriptures and seek the Holy Spirit for clarification. Cremation is an area that throughout history has separated Jews and Christians from other religions and heathens. The obvious reason for that is the degree of respect with which each group regards the human body; Christians and Jews know that man was created in the image of God.

Scriptures do not speak volumes about cremation-nor does it speak about locking children in basement closets or pornography-because it doesn't need to do so, such things contradict a Christian's spiritual life and the fabric of salvation. They are matters to be discerned by the Spirit-there is a spirit to Scripture as well as verbal text. The acts of redemption, water baptism, Communion, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, the resurrection of the body, and the fact that our bodies are the temple of the Lord (…and you are not your own. 1 Cor 6:19) all make cremation untenable.

If we had no Scriptural insight other than that of Jesus being buried, it should settle the matter for us. His burial is a vital part of the Gospels and is something in which we participate when we are buried with Him in baptism (Col 2:12); and we will be resurrected when he returns (Rom.6: 4,5; Col 2:12). While the Spirit leaves our earthly bodies at death, when He returns the bodies of believers will arise.

The pagan origins and rituals are of no small significance in the examination of cremation - Christians are not to participate in pagan practices of any kind. Additionally, reincarnation, which Christians reject, is a belief that often accompanies cremation. Abraham was called out of pagan Ur and God spoke to him, clearly commanding: And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age (Gen.15: 15). Scriptures give details of numerous burials of those who were God's servants…in fact, God Himself buried Moses (Deut.34: 6). On the other hand, God consumed the wicked with fire and (sometimes) brimstone (Gen 19:23 ,Num.16:35, Lev.10:2, etc).

God is not bound by human failings, persecution, pestilence or evil actions of men against humans. Martyrs burned at the stake and people who have been innocently consumed will be raised up on the last day for He is sovereign and able to do so (…for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Matt.3: 9). The very subject of cremation has the taint of the unbelieving world upon it while a Christian's life is wrapped in the beauty of God's creation and His perfect plan for a life with Him now and forever more.

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST AND THE "GAY" ISSUE
The Disciples of Christ branch of the Christian Churches has long been a bastion of liberalism, modernism and the denial of scriptural authority. One of its churches, Washington, D.C.'s National City Christian Church, is 159 years old; it was once the church of former presidents James Garfield and Lyndon Johnson. It is very friendly to, and supportive of, the "gay" agenda. In December, its 20 elders voted unanimously to endorse homosexual "weddings" there. Among the groups within National City Christian Church is the Gay and Lesbian Fellowship, which is a local affiliate of the Gay, Lesbian and Affirming Disciples (GLAD), a group within the Disciples of Christ, headquartered in Indianapolis. (ANS)

CHARISMATIC PASTOR FIRED FOR FIGHTING ABORTION
By and large, charismatic and Pentecostal leaders are strongly pro-life; but in November the Rev. Mark Holick, a charismatic pastor in Wichita, Kansas, had his ordination revoked for his pro-life activism. He was ordained by the RHEMA Ministerial Association (a prominent RHEMA leader is Kenneth Copeland), and his church was a RHEMA church. What cost him his ordination was demonstrating, along with other area pastors, at the abortion clinic of Dr. George Tiller ("Tiller the Killer"), the nations leading practitioner of late-term abortions. Apparently the RHEMA leadership felt that Holick was too zealous for protecting the unborn, and feared lawsuits against the denomination. (ANS)

ANOTHER FALSE JUSTIFICATION FOR ABORTION
You may recall that we were assured several years ago that one justification for abortion was the harvesting of the babies' brain tissue, which was supposed to be a miracle cure for Parkinson's disease. Well, that lie has been demolished by the facts. In 2001 a government-funded study of fetal brain cells implanted in Parkinson patients revealed that the implants neither stopped nor even slowed the advance of the disease. But it's worse than that. In December 2002, a second study confirmed the 2001 findings, and revealed that such baby brain implantation actually had very serious side effects, creating problems rather than solving them. (Note: you may notice that you haven't heard about this in the secular TV or print media; but you will get this, and other suppressed news, if you visit our web site at www.wordsforlivingmin.org.)

CHILDREN'S PENNIES BUILD CHURCHES IN AFRICA
Richard and Sherry Browning of Mayfield, Kentucky felt a call to foreign missions. A trip to Africa convinced them. He left his business, they sold their home and other possessions; but they still lacked funds to launch their Africa mission. A granddaughter's talk about Vacation Bible School triggered an idea: the couple began to visit VBSs, telling the children about the needs in Africa. In pennies, the children raised $10,400.00. This gift made it possible for the Brownings to move to Jinja, a city in Uganda ravaged by the AIDS epidemic. The Brownings have established four churches there in the first year, 2,500 people have come to the Lord, and the ministry is growing. And it all started with VBS children and their pennies! (ANS)

LIFE LESSON FROM PROVERBS
"Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?" (Prov. 18:16). If one is living unwisely, making bad choices, and behaving foolishly, no amount of money spent on him will produce wisdom, if he doesn't want it.

MILESTONES
Died 3 Jan. Mrs. Julia Ann Brown (Brian Lindsey's
mother), at 57, in Dyer, Tennessee.

A FINAL WORD
Treasure and use each day as if it were your last, and never give up hope; God has a limitless supply of new beginnings, and he makes beautiful things out of broken pieces.

You are precious,
Tom C. McKenney

(Sources: AFAJ-American Family Journal; AFRN-American Family Radio News; ANS-Agape News Service; AP-Associated Press; BP-Break Point; C-Charisma; CBN-Christian Broadcasting Network; CR-Congressional Record; DR-Drudge Report; EP-Evangelical Press; Fox (Fox News); FRC-Family Research Council; GN-Good News Magazine; HC-History Channel; Ins-Insight Magazine; LAT-L.A. Times; Mil-Military Magazine; NR-National Review; NW-Newsweek; NYP-New York Post; NYT-New York Times; PWB-Pastors' Weekly Briefing; RTLB-Right to Life Education Foundation Bulletin; USAT-USA Today; USNWR-U.S. News and World Report; VOM-Voice of Martyrs; W-World Magazine; WND-World Net Daily; WT-Washington Times; WW-Washington Watch.)