June / July 2003

Dear ones,
In preparing the previous issue (April/May), during a particularly difficult time, I was moving back and forth between Marion and Ocean Springs, working at both computers. In the process, when the issue was laid out, the following 3 articles were overlooked; please give them your immediate attention:

(1) CORRECTION CONCERNING RHEMA
In the February/March issue I reported on the defrocking and dis-fellowshipping of a Rhema pas-tor in Wichita ("Charismatic Pastor Fired for Fighting Abortion"); he was reportedly dismissed for his zeal-ous pro-life activities, particularly in opposing the bloody-handed Dr. George Tiller ("Tiller the Killer"). Pastor Mark Holick had his ordination revoked by the Rhema Ministerial Association International (RMAI), for fear that the Association would be sued by Tiller, or others in the abortion industry. In the arti-cle, for the sake of those who know nothing of Rhema, I named Kenneth Copeland as a "prominent RHEMA leader" because he is so widely known. This was inaccurate, misleading, and unfair. Although Copeland has been a prominent teacher at Rhema School of Biblical Studies, from which the RMAI flowed, and has been a moving force in the "word of faith" philosophy and teachings that the school and association represent, he is not an official in RMAI. The head of RMAI, which revoked Holick's ordination and ministerial license, is Ken Hagin, son of Rhema's founder, Kenneth E. Hagin.

(2) SHORT TERM MISSIONARIES NEEDED
Our friend Dr. Gerald Freeman conducts short-term missions to Costa Rica, and he needs volun-teers for the following trips: 7-14 June (adult work team, construction, sewing and crafts); 24 June -1 July (youth and adult work team); 12-19 July (Dental team-need dentists, hygienists and workers); and 19-26 July (youth and adult, construction, vacation Bible school). If interested, contact Dr. Freeman 2165 Meadow Lane Dr., Montgomery, AL 36106, (334) 284-6420, or via e-mail at GKJFreeman@aol.com.

(3) FREE BOOK ON THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS
Would you like to understand better the crisis in the Middle East and its roots? My friend Tom Adcock is offering, free, a book to explain it and answer your questions. Tom is one of those selfless peo-ple in ministry whom I greatly admire for doing so much, with small assets, and asking nothing for himself. He will even pay for shipping; however, if you can afford to send him a gift it will help (he doesn't ask this, but I do). Write directly to him (not to us please-we don't have the books) at: Jesus People Information Center, 4338 3rd Avenue; Sacramento, CA 95817, and ask for the book, "The Blood of the Moon" by George Grant.

THE SPREADING POISON OF PORN
An estimated 11,000 hard-core pornography movies are produced annually in the US, where porn is a $10 billion industry (bigger than the NFL, the NBA and Major League Baseball combined).(PWB)

THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS COMFORT FROM ISAIAH
When announcing to the nation confirmation of the destruction of the shuttle Columbia and the death of the crew, he said, "The Columbia is lost-there are no survivors." He expressed his condolences to the families, and then said, "In the skies today we saw destruction and tragedy. Yet, farther than we can see, there is comfort and hope in the words of the prophet Isaiah." He then quoted Isaiah 40:26. What a blessed change it is to have a president who knows where truth is to be found, and is unashamed to speak comfort to us from the Word of God! (ANS)

THE TESTIMONY OF TWO ASTRONAUTS
Astronaut Rick Husband commanded the space shuttle Columbia which disintegrated in its return flight, killing all aboard. He was a committed Christian husband and father who taught his children the Bi-ble daily. Before leaving for the ill-fated space mission, he had videotaped, in advance, a Bible lesson for his children for each day that he would be gone. On the night before the launch, as a charge to the crew, Rick recited from memory God's message to Joshua as the Jews prepared to enter the Promised Land. At the memorial service, President Bush told the world how another astronaut, Mike Anderson, had told his pastor before leaving, "If this thing doesn't come out right, don't worry about me; I (will be) just going higher." Christian singer Steve Green, a friend of Rick and Evelyn Husband, told how Rick had used his song, "God of Wonders" as the wake-up call for the astronaut crew each morning. During the last Sunday service before leaving Houston, Rick and Mike went before their church for prayer, asking that God would use the mission to demonstrate their faith in Jesus. That prayer is being answered. (ANS)

BUT NOT ALL HAD THE "BLESSED ASSURANCE"
Not all the astronauts died with the blessed assurance of Heaven, nor do their children have that comfort. Astronaut Laurel Clark belonged to the Unitarian Universalist Church, where the divinity of Jesus is de-nied, everyone is "OK" and they deny Hell and any kind of eternal punishment. Their doctrines are not Bi-ble-based, are hazy at best, and questions of sin, forgiveness and Heaven and are largely left unanswered. The church's children were denied the comfort of being told that she is in Heaven because, according to the Education Director, "in this church, we each kind of find our own explanation, if there is one." How very, very sad. (ANS/AP)

DAVID BLOOM'S TESTIMONY GOES ON
One of the journalists who died while covering the war in Iraq was David Bloom of NBC. A young man at the peak of success, he died on the battlefield with a blood clot in his lung. At the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner, President Bush spoke of Bloom as "a journalist in his prime," and said that his concern while covering the war was not for his safety or his career, but his family and his Lord. The president read, to the not-necessarily-receptive crowd of establishment journalists, Bloom's last e-letter to his wife, Melanie: "Here I am, supposedly at the peak of professional success, and I could frankly care less. Yes, I am proud of the good job we have all been doing, but in the scheme of things, it matters little compared to my relationship with you, the girls, and Jesus." (WT) (Editor's note: do you think either Bill Clinton or Al Gore would have read that note to the correspondents, and the world?)

DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE MAKES PROGRESS
Texas is the 37th state to approve a Defense of Marriage Act, a law that declares that marriage is between one man and one woman. Only one more state is needed to ratify a Defense of marriage Amend-ment to the U.S. Constitution. Who ever dreamed that we would see the day when such an issue would even arise? But, at least in this issue, there is hope. (PWB)

WAL-MART DROPS PORN MAGS
Wal-Mart will no longer carry Maxim, Stuff and FHM magazines, as a result of complaints from customers about their soft-porn content. Cosmopolitan is even more offensive, but that decision is still pending. (PWB/ANS)

ABORTION IN MICHIGAN HANDED A DEFEAT
In Michigan, due to a recent legal settlement with Michigan Right-to-Life, women will no longer have to pay for abortions in advance of the state's mandatory 24-hour waiting period. Until now, because they had already paid, before the waiting period, many women who otherwise would have decided against killing their babies have gone ahead with abortion because they had already paid.(PWB)

YEAH, SURE, DICK….
House Minority Leader, Dick Gephardt, who wants to be President, was reared as a Baptist. He is now pro-abortion, but says his "eyes were opened" to this position through prayer, introspection, personal stories and "personal revelation." If he really got this deadly revelation from a spirit, it was NOT the Holy Spirit. (PWB)

"THE DEADLY DOZEN" PRO-DEATH SENATORS
Catholic pro-life activist Jody Brown, of the American Life League, recently ran a full-page ad in the Washington Times; it was in the form of an old wild-west "Wanted" poster. Calling the wanted men "The Deadly Dozen," the ad read, "Wanted, for fraudulently claiming the Catholic faith," and identifies 12 members of the senate who are pro-abortion Catholics: Ted Kennedy (D-Mass), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), John Kerry (D-Mass), Tom Daschle (D-SD), Chris Dodd (D-Conn), Susan Collins (R-Me), Jack Reed (D-RI), Patty Murray (D-Wash), Mary Landrieu (D-La), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md) Joe Biden (D-Del). Incidentally, some Catholic diocesan newspapers, controlled by the local bishops, have refused to run the ad. (WT/PWB/ANS)

"GAY-FRIENDLY" LEGISLATION BEARS ROTTEN FRUIT
As more and more cities pass "gay-friendly" ordinances, one result has been an increase in homo-sexual behavior in public places. Since homosexuals interpret such special-rights legislation as endorse-ments of their behavior, they are more likely to be public with it. An example is Philadelphia, where in one department store restroom that is becoming a favorite spot for such perverted debauchery, a 10-year-old boy was recently subjected unexpectedly to seeing two homosexual men doing what they do. (ANS)

ADHD, READING, AND ADDICTIVE DRUGS
Growing numbers of physicians and researchers are warning against the increasing practice of medicating school children, who are restless and troublesome, for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Dr. Fred Baughman, a pediatric neurologist, is crusading against the increasingly common prac-tice. He says that, at best, children are diagnosed by psychiatrists who are not trained to diagnose organic disorders of the brain; at worst, the diagnosis is made by public school nurses. The drugs most commonly given to such children are addictive and, he says, can themselves do permanent damage to the brain. Meanwhile, the California state Superintendent of Public Education has said publicly that at least 95 per-cent of the California school children being medicated for ADHD simply can't read. Because they can't read, he says, they quickly become bored, restless, and troublesome. (ANS, et al)

JANE FONDA, CHRISTIAN?
Jane Fonda, guilty, in my opinion, of treason as an anti-American propagandist during the Viet-nam War, has supposedly become a born-again Christian through the witnessing of her chauffeur and the people in his church. Her ex-husband, humanist Ted Turner, gave this as a reason for their separation. Rec-ognizing that the renewing of the mind takes time, one still wonders about the change, since she has con-tinued as the poster girl for condoms and as an activist for abortion. In the last national election, she gave $4 million to help elect pro-abortion candidates. Now, she has been given the Margaret Sanger Award, the highest "honor" that Planned Parenthood bestows. (ANS)

AMERICAN "IMPERIALISM" IN IRAQ
Most opponents to our recent war to liberate Iraq from the brutal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein accuse the Bush administration of "imperialist" expansion of power. When asked about this by the Arch-bishop of Canterbury recently, Secretary of State Colin Powell reportedly replied, "Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those who did not return." To see the truth of this, one needs only to look at the hundreds of thousands of white American crosses in the battlefields of France.

TOO MANY PEOPLE? NOT IN RUSSIA
There is an ongoing cry to the effect that we are having too many babies and crowding ourselves off the face of the Earth; overpopulation, we are constantly being told, is poisoning the environment. We hear this mostly from the pro-abortion industry, radical environmentalists, and animal rights activists. This message falls on deaf ears in Russia, where government leaders fear that soon there will not be enough people to sustain the fragile economy. In a program reminiscent of Mussolini in pre-war Italy, the Russian government offers rewards for large families. In that country, where housing is scarce, free houses are promised to couples who will have as many as three children.

THE YWCA NO LONGER CHRISTIAN
Like so many organizations, founded on the Christian gospel (or at least Christian morality), the YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) has become a betrayer and enemy of its heritage. Origi-nally a place for preaching and teaching the gospel, while providing wholesome recreation for girls and young women, it was the female counterpart of the YMCA program for men. In some cities "the Y" also developed dormitory-like facilities to provide a clean, wholesome place for unmarried females to stop over, or to live. If there was any place in the city that was "safe" for a girl to be, it was the YWCA. No more. Radical, anti-Christian feminists began quietly to take control of policy many years ago. And now, the newly appointed national President is Patricia Ireland, former head of the radical National Organization for Women (NOW). Among other things, Mrs. Ireland has been a leading promoter of abortion, cross-dressing and sex-change for teens, and homosexual "marriage." Although she has a husband in Florida, she lives in the DC area with her lesbian lover. When asked by Fox News host Bill O'Reilly if she is a Christian, she looked at him silently, obviously uncomfortable, finally said she didn't know what the question meant, and became angry for being asked. (ANS/PWB/WND)

CONCERNED MOM FIGHTS COLLEGE INDOCTRINATION
Luann Wright is a California mom who has decided to fight the anti-family, anti-God, anti-Western Civilization, anti-white male indoctrination so prevalent on our college campuses. Her son is a freshman at UC San Diego; in his required freshman writing class, 4 of the 5 mandatory topics had to do with "the toxicity of whiteness." Invoking the Freedom of Information Act, she has found such indoctrina-tion to be pandemic. Mrs. Wright has established a web site, which is both a source of information for con-cerned students and parents, and a clearinghouse for reporting outrageous actions by professors. She is reached at www.NoIndoctrination.org. (ANS)

LESBIAN METHODIST MINISTER UPHELD
Karen Dammann, a lesbian Methodist minister in Seattle, has been restored to her parish. Al-though official complaints were filed urging her dismissal (which Methodist rules of church discipline clearly require), the complaint was dismissed by an appeals committee, which commended her. The case was heard in the Pacific Northwest Annual conference, presided over by Bishop Elias Galvan, who made the news last year by appointing a Methodist minister as Chaplain for Planned Parenthood of Washington. (ANS)

CHARGES AGAINST BISHOP SPRAGUE DISMISSED
To the disappointment of Bible-believing, orthodox Methodists, but to the surprise of no one, a committee of Methodist bishops has dismissed all charges of heresy against Chicago's Bishop Joseph Spra-gue, who has publicly denied the divinity of Jesus, His resurrection, the virgin birth, and virtually every basic Christian belief. Is it any wonder that the denominational hierarchy is complaining about diminishing contributions, and that doors are closing on empty Methodist churches all across the land? (ANS)

ARE YOU A CONCERNED METHODIST?
Are you a Methodist who cares about the orthodoxy of your denomination and the values it expresses with its words and actions? Do you want to know what is actually being done with the money you give to sup-port your Annual Conference and the General Conference? There is a new resource for being honestly and fully informed, which also offers possibilities for working for reform within the church: it is a web site called simply The Methodist Church (www.themethodistchurch.com). It is associated with Rev. Dr. Don Wildmon, veteran Methodist minister, and founder of the American Family Association. If you wonder about such things as the heretic Bishop Sprague, and whether or not the denomination will correct him, check it out.

JOE FOSS, AMERICAN PATRIOT
Brigadier General Joe Foss suffered a stroke last October and never regained consciousness. He was 86. As a Marine fighter pilot on Guadalcanal, he led the desperate fight against Japanese fighters and bombers in that pivotal battle, and fought on for the rest of the war in the Pacific. He fought again as a Cor-sair pilot over Korea. His decorations included the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart. Refusing to be called a hero, he always said the real heroes were the ones who didn't come home. He went on to become Governor of South Dakota, Commissioner of the American Football League, a founder of the Super Bowl, President of the National Rifleman's Association, a leader in Campus Crusade for Christ, and was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame. Shortly before his death, when boarding a plane to fly to speak at the NRA convention and then to West Point to lecture to cadets on the Medal of Honor, he was stopped by security personnel who believed him to be a terrorist. A terrorist!?!? Yes-because his Medal of Honor, which he was carrying in his pocket, set off a metal detector. The security people, who didn't understand English, thought the medal was a "throwing star" weapon. He was forced to wait, partially disrobe twice, and his medal was seized. He suffered the outrage graciously. What offended him most was not being delayed and hassled as a suspected terrorist, but that the guards didn't know what a Medal of Honor is and thus had no respect for all those who have worn it. (American Legion, Gun Week, et al)

A POINT TO PONDER
"We simply argue that the cross be raised again at the center of the marketplace, as well as the steeple of the church. We are recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town garbage heap; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan that they had to write His title in Hebrew, in Latin and in Greek…at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died. And that is what He died about. And that is where churchmen ought to be, and what churchmen should be about." (Tom Adcock, street fighter-turned-street preacher, Sacramento)

MARTY'S CORNER
A mother wrote to World magazine, "As the war in Iraq ends, let us not forget that the cultural war wages on in our nation." She was referring to the April 9th "Student Day of Silence" imposed upon her sons and nearly 2,000 middle schools, high schools and universities across the United States. It was not a day of silence to thank God for His mercy in setting Baghdad free as the Saddam statue was pulled down; it was a day to support gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. On this eighth annual national Day of Silence, students were to be mute and stop their "intolerance."

Relativists accuse people who have a sense of right and wrong of being "intolerant." Like con-stantly dripping water, the accusation of intolerance often eats away at morality (and scriptural truths) leav-ing nothing but a hole. It is a slow seduction of beliefs, intellect and Christian values; and Christians are not immune to intellectual seduction. False worldviews have been a threat to Christians throughout history. Many pastors and leaders have already mentally surrendered, often in order to keep their job or pastorate in a church for financial reasons or prestige. If we take our eyes off Jesus and scriptural truths, we allow the values of modern culture to shape our worldview-that's surrendering before the war is even over.

Whether the war is a war in the traditional sense or a cultural war, we do not know for sure whether intervention will bring an end to atrocities. What we do know is that we must try; wickedness can-not be left unopposed. History holds out to us a hope that those who have given their lives for freedom and for righteousness have not done so in vain.

BLESSED BULK DISTRIBUTORS
One of the most helpful developments in publishing this newsletter has been the idea of bulk dis-tribution. As some of you began to request multiple copies of each issue, in order to give them away, a sys-tem for bulk distribution was born. It is a great way to distribute the newsletter economically. Some have been receiving 2 or 3 copies, and some have been receiving 100 or more. With the loss of the list due to a computer crash, however, the system nearly died. Thanks to friends like Charlie Wiley of Gallatin, Tenn. and Kathleen Rudisill of Wadesville, Ind., who have contacted us, we have begun to rebuild the system. If you have been a bulk distributor but no longer receive multiple copies, PLEASE let us know; and, if you haven't been, but would like to receive multiple copies, PLEASE let us know.

FROM A YOUNG WIDOW'S HEART
I watched and listened on TV as the young widow of Mike Spann, the Marine officer, serving with the CIA in Afghanistan, made her official farewell to her dead husband. Spann was brutally murdered ("beaten, kicked and bitten to death") by Muslim Taliban prisoners who had temporarily seized control of their prison compound. As Marines stood at attention behind her, her young son at her side, she spoke, of and to, her dead husband, from her heart, one of the most eloquent, moving tributes I have ever heard. She ended by kissing her fingertips, touching the microphone with them, and saying, "Semper fi, my love." Then an out-of-touch TV announcer came on and said that he hoped we had "enjoyed" the program. En-joyed!?!? What planet is he living on? We had just seen living, heart-tearing reality of the cost of military service, and he hoped we had enjoyed it? May God comfort and heal Mrs. Spann and her son, and deliver us from such vacuous, out-of-touch-with-reality "journalists." (Fox News)

A VERSE THAT IS NOT IN THE BIBLE
People often misquote the Bible, honestly, to make a point; some of these people should know better. A common example is, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." They think they are quoting Prov-erbs 23:7; but they are not. In fact, this statement is nowhere in the Bible. Although the impact of the thought life on our behavior is a valid principle, it has nothing to do with Prov. 23:7. The context of verse 7 is to be found in verses 6-8, which speak of a deceptive, insincere host; his outward words and behavior are false, concealing his true, evil nature. Read the verse carefully; it says "For, as he thinketh in his heart, so is he," referring to that man (not all mankind), his duplicity and his true, evil nature.

IN ALABAMA: AN ATTORNEY FOR THE UNBORN
Alabama law forbids abortion for minor girls without parental consent or, where this is not feasi-ble, consent from a judge. Judge Walter M. Anderson III has adopted an excellent rule for such cases in his court: he requires an attorney (guardian ad litem) who represents the unborn child. In this way, the baby's attorney can ask the pregnant girl what she knows about the baby, its development, ability to feel pain, what will actually be done in the abortion, etc. He can call a physician to testify about dangers to the girl's life and health in abortion. As a result, the number of such girls who go on to abortion is markedly reduced. (PWB/ANS)

TEEN'S BABY SAVED FROM ABORTION
In Mississippi a high school junior wanted to save her baby from abortion; she pleaded with her parents, who were forcing her to have the abortion, but they were adamant. Only hours before the sched-uled time for the killing of her baby, the girl contacted lawyers at the American Family Association in Tu-pelo, who went before a federal judge in Jackson and obtained a restraining order to stop the abortion. The AFA attorneys argued that if "the right to choose" means anything, it means that the mother should be able to choose to save her baby's life. (ANS/PWB)

A QUIET, GOOD MAN
In these times of widespread corruption and wickedness it helps to be reminded that there are still wonder-ful people in the world. Such a man was Glenn Sunderland of Salem, Ky. He was quietly passionate about his Christian faith, his love for the people of God, his patriotism and his love of freedom. He was a quiet crusader and a doer; he not only cared, he worked. He was also a bulk distributor of this newsletter, and a constant supporter and encourager of this ministry; I never once saw him that he didn't greet me with a strong handshake and a big, wide smile that was like a midsummer sunrise. Glenn died this past December; Heaven is richer, and we are poorer. We miss him.

MILESTONES
Born 29 Apr - James Harrison Crider, at 8 lbs., 10 oz. to
Becky (Johnson) and Ken Crider, Marion, Ky.

4 May - Noah Cannon, at 7+ lbs.(midwife forgot to bring
the scale), to Regina and Walter Cannon, in Northfield,
Minn.

9 May - Andrew Joshua English, at 7 lbs., 7 oz. to mis-
sionaries Pam and Steve English in Guatemala City.

Died 1 Feb - Mrs. Trish McKinlay, good neighbor and long-
time Christian friend, in Lexington, Ky. (Note: Like the
first 3 articles, this was written for the Apr/May issue.)

28 Mar - Todd Fields, missionary in Honduras, shot to
death by bandits, while protecting a van load of mis-
sionary teens traveling to a rally in Guatemala.

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

You are precious,

(Sources: AFAJ-American Family Journal; AFRN-American Family Radio News; ANS-Agape News Ser-vice; 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.)