
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-04/03/2008

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McDonald's gives support  to homosexual activists' agenda
by Erin Roach
Date: April 03, 2008 - Thursday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A McDonald's executive has joined the board of directors for the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, a business organization known for aggressively pushing the homosexual agenda.

Richard Ellis, McDonald's vice president of communications, was elected to the advocacy group's board in March, according to a news release from the NGLCC.

"I'm thrilled to join the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce team and ready to get to work," Ellis said, according to the news release. "I share the NGLCC's passion for business growth and development within the LGBT &#91;Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender&#93; community and I look forward to playing a role in moving these important initiatives forward."

Justin Nelson, the cofounder and president of the homosexual chamber of commerce, said the group "could not be more delighted with the addition of Richard to the board. Richard brings his extensive experience in communications and public affairs to a dynamic team of leaders."

The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, according to its website, "represents the interests of the estimated 1.4 million LGBT owned businesses in the United States. Through its affiliated network of 45 state and local chambers and business organizations, the NGLCC is the largest LGBT business development and economic advocacy organization in the country."

In recent years, Wal-Mart, one of the nation's leading retailers, also joined the homosexual chamber of commerce but, in the face of protests across the country, subsequently announced it would not make corporate contributions to support or oppose "highly controversial issues unless they directly relate to our ability to serve our customers."

The decision by McDonald's to place an executive on the board prompted the American Family Association to circulate a national alert via e-mail April 3, explaining that McDonald's "gave an undisclosed amount of money to the NGLCC in return for being recognized as a major promoter of the homosexual agenda." The chamber then placed Ellis on its board of directors, AFA said.

"You have to buy your way onto the board," Don Wildmon, founder and chairman of AFA, told Baptist Press April 3. "In other words, McDonald's paid money to be a member of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.... I was surprised at McDonald's, and I think it's going to hurt them pretty bad."

Wildmon said AFA has tried to contact McDonald's regarding the move but as of Thursday at noon had not spoken with anyone. He said a boycott of McDonald's "is always a possibility" in a situation like this.

"I think what we plan to do right now is wait and see how McDonald's responds," Wildmon said. "If they continue like they're going, then I think we would very seriously consider looking at a boycott. Following our success with the Ford boycott, I think we could generate some numbers that would impress McDonald's."

In March, AFA announced the end of a two-year boycott of Ford Motor Company during which Ford's North American sales declined an average of 8 percent per month. That boycott pertained to Ford's promotion of the homosexual agenda.

WorldNetDaily, in a copyrighted story on the McDonald's decision to join the homosexual advocacy group, noted that McDonald's is listed on the website of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce as a "corporate partner and organization ally," for an undisclosed financial contribution.

Also on the list of partners and allies: Pepsico, Johnson & Johnson, OfficeMax and three real estate companies, ERA, Century 21 and Coldwell Banker, among others.

McDonald's officials declined to return a call from WorldNetDaily seeking comment on Ellis' placement on the chamber board, the article said, but the restaurant company did send an e-mail confirming their support of the chamber.

"McDonald's is indeed a Corporate Partner and Organizational Ally of NGLCC. Our vice president of communications, Richard Ellis, was recently elected to its board of directors," Heidi Barker, senior director of media relations at McDonald's, wrote in an e-mail to World Net Daily.

McDonald's did not respond to Baptist Press' request for comment April 3.

The WorldNetDaily article also referred to comments on the McDonald's corporate website attributed to CEO Jim Skinner, who said last May in comments unrelated to the current matter that McDonald's is "socially responsible."

"Being a socially responsible organization is a fundamental part of who we are," Skinner said. "We have an obligation to use our size and resources to make a difference in the world ... and we do." 

The McDonald's website also describes McDonald's as "the world's community restaurant" and says "diversity at McDonald's is understanding, recognizing and valuing the differences that make each person unique," the World Net Daily exclusive said.

The American Family Association is asking its supporters to call their local McDonald's and ask why the company is using its size and resources to promote the homosexual agenda. 

AFA also is urging concerned citizens to send an e-mail to Andrew McKenna, president of McDonald's. The text of a sample e-mail provided by AFA reads: "I am surprised to learn that McDonald's has decided to put their entire corporate strength behind the promotion of the homosexual agenda. I'm asking McDonald's to remain neutral in the culture war. Your efforts should be in providing the finest fast food products possible, not in a political battle -- especially helping promote an aberrant and destructive behavior." AFA provides a link to send an e-mail of concern at https://secure.afa.net/afa/activism/TakeAction.asp?id=314.
--30--
Erin Roach is a staff writer for Baptist Press. Art Toalston, editor of Baptist Press, contributed to this report.


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Oprah editorial gets Enquirer spotlight
by Mark Kelly
Date: April 03, 2008 - Thursday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--The National Enquirer took an editorial potshot at Florida Baptist Witness executive editor James A. Smith Sr. in their April 7 edition -- and Smith couldn't be more pleased.

Under a headline that declared, "Baptist leader condemns Oprah," National Enquirer writer Alexander Hitchen drew readers' attention to what he called a "bizarre warning from a leading Baptist authority who says the talk-show host's support for some New Age teachings is leading Christians astray."

The bulk of Hitchens' article was then devoted to quotes from Smith's March 6 editorial, including an observation that "far too many Christians -- including many who would consider themselves conservative, Bible-believing evangelicals -- are more likely to take their theological cues from Oprah than they are from their faithful pastors."

The supermarket tabloid's weekly circulation of 1.05 million is down 28.5 percent from the fall 2004 level of 1.47 million advertised in its media kit, but it is still more than 26 times the Witness' circulation of 39,911. Smith thinks that is great exposure for his publication.

"Since I suspect National Enquirer readers are a prime demographic for Oprah, I couldn't be more delighted by the attention that publication chose to give my editorial," Smith told Baptist Press. "I pray that the coverage may cause a few readers to carefully evaluate Oprah's theology -- and their own eternal destiny."

The Enquirer's page-51 headline is a little confused theologically in asserting that Smith condemned Oprah, the Witness editor noted.

"Oprah stands condemned by her own decision to embrace a false gospel," Smith said. "Yet God's grace can rescue her, and all true followers of Christ should pray to that end."

Smith's editorial focused on an e-mail circulating on the Internet that warns Christians about Winfrey's promotion of a New Age teaching called "A Course in Miracles." Smith noted the popular talk show host's stated belief that "there couldn't possibly be one way" to God and detailed the unbiblical teachings of ACIM, which was popularized by Winfrey's promotion of New Age guru Marianne Williamson's book, "A Return to Love."

Noting that "A Course in Miracles" dismisses guilt as "solely an invention of your mind," Smith encouraged Christians to "pattern their lives after those of the Bereans who 'received the Word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether' what they were being taught was true (Acts 17:11)."

The full text of Smith's editorial is  here.
--30--
Mark Kelly is an assistant editor for Baptist Press.


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Evangelists: Probe chills religious liberty
by Staff
Date: April 03, 2008 - Thursday

WASHINGTON (BP)--Lawyers for "prosperity gospel" televangelists Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar have told U.S. senators that they will not comply with a probe into their ministries because it threatens religious freedom rights.

Letters on behalf of Copeland and Dollar were sent March 31 to inform members of the Senate Finance Committee of the noncompliance, contending that the probe was based in part on the targeting of teachers from the "word of faith" movement. The lawyers said Copeland and Dollar not only objected to the investigation's potential infringement of the First Amendment but also the senators' failure to operate through the current process provided by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Copeland and Dollar's ministries are two of six asked to provide personal and ministry-related financial records in a probe initiated in November by Sen. Charles Grassley, R.-Iowa, the Finance Committee's minority leader. Sen. Max Baucus, D.-Mont., the Finance Committee's chairman, joined Grassley March 11 in calling for the ministries to cooperate. They set a March 31 deadline for compliance.

The other targeted televangelists –- Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn, Eddie Long, and Randy and Paula White -– provided the requested documents by March 31 or pledged to do so.

"Word of faith" teaching normally includes the "prosperity gospel," which asserts that the Bible promises physical and financial blessings to followers of Christ. Evangelical critics of the teaching, however, say such doctrine mistakenly equates God's promises of blessing with temporal, materialistic success.

Grassley has said his questions of the televangelists were based on accounts of abuses from watchdog organizations and whistleblowers, as well as investigative news reports. Accusations of contributions being used to support lavish lifestyles have been leveled against at least some of the televangelists.

The fact that all the televangelists being investigated are part of the "word of faith" movement suggests the probe is on shaky ground regarding the First Amendment's protection of free religious exercise, Copeland and Dollar's lawyers said.

"The selective investigation only of churches that preach the 'Word of Faith' message raises significant concerns as to whether the inquiry is aimed at publicly questioning the religious beliefs of the targeted churches, their preachers and their members," lawyer Shane Hamilton of Washington, D.C., wrote on behalf of Copeland.

Writing for Dollar, lawyer Marcus Owens, also of Washington, D.C., said it appears the ministries were chosen for investigation "because of Senator Grassley's distaste for, or disagreement with, these churches' theology and religious practices."

Both ministries said they would comply with an examination by the IRS under the protections it provides.

Hamilton's letter on behalf of Copeland said the ministry provided substantial or complete answers to 17 of the 42 questions asked by Grassley but balked at the others because of constitutional and other legal concerns. Dollar did not answer any questions.

Grassley said he would continue his dialogue with the ministries of Copeland and Dollar. 

Grassley's inquiry called for the televangelists to provide such documents as credit card statements, expenses for their secondary residences, gifts given by the ministries and lists of private automobiles. 

The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) has encouraged cooperation by the televangelists, but the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) has expressed concerns about the probe's implications for ministries.

None of the six ministries is a member of either ECFA or NRB.

The names of the televangelists and their ministries, plus the locations of their headquarters, are: Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Newark, Texas; Creflo Dollar, World Changers Church International, College Park, Ga.; Eddie Long, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Lithonia, Ga.; Joyce Meyer, Joyce Meyer Ministries, Fenton, Mo.; Benny Hinn, Benny Hinn Ministries, Grapevine, Texas; and Randy and Paula White, Without Walls International Church and Paula White Ministries, Tampa, Fla.
--30--
Compiled by Baptist Press Washington bureau chief Tom Strode.


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ERLC expands values-centered websites
by Dwayne Hastings
Date: April 03, 2008 - Thursday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A new iLiveValues.com initiative of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is calling Baptists and other evangelicals to apply their faith-informed convictions in all areas of life, not just at the ballot box.

So with another presidential election on the horizon, the ERLC has retooled its iVoteValues.com website as part of the new iLiveValues.com effort.

iVoteValues.com still has features that made it popular with voters in 2004 and 2006, ERLC President Richard Land said, while noting the site has expanded to include interactive features.

Launched in 2004, iVoteValues.com energized people of faith to fulfill their civic duty, prompting thousands to register to vote -- some for the first time -- and hundreds of thousands, as Land put it, to connect "one's personal values, beliefs and convictions with their decisions on which candidates to support."

Citing the ERLC's ongoing emphasis on active and principled civic involvement by Christians, however, Land noted: "While voting is a critical civic obligation, we make important decisions every day -- decisions in which our faith should play an important part. Whether in our home, our workplace or the marketplace, we have both an opportunity and an obligation to live out our values," Land said.

"Considering your values on just one day a year falls far short of what God expects from us," Land continued. "Our biblically based beliefs should guide and direct our thoughts, speech and activities every day of the year."

The iLiveValues.com website features three audio portals, with download and podcasting capabilities for featured content from the ERLC executive's weekly radio program, "Richard Land Live!"; highlights of the daily "For Faith & Family" broadcasts; and a new exclusively online offering -- Richard Land Answers -- in which Land deals concisely with issues of the day.

The iLiveValues.com launch coincided with the For Faith & Family radio program's 10th anniversary celebration during the National Religious Broadcasters annual meeting, March 8-11 in Nashville, Tenn.

At the iVoteValues part of the iLiveValues.com umbrella, new features utilize the reach, portability and interactivity offered by the Internet, said Kerry Bural, ERLC vice president for public relations and marketing, who is the brand architect for the voter awareness and registration initiative.

"It is, at its heart, an online tool designed for pastors and local churches to help believers maximize their civic opportunity," Bural said.

The updated iVoteValues.com site now has informative blog posts as well as a Values TV component offering videos with subject matter germane to the iVoteValues.com message. Land noted that the site is structured to allow individuals to "talk back" to the blog posts.

The site's most popular feature remains the "Do's and Don'ts" section that addresses what the Internal Revenue Service allows and forbids churches and pastors to do in an election year.

Organizations classified under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code, which includes most churches, are restricted from engaging in partisan political activity.

As an example, churches can engage in voter registration activities that do not promote one candidate or political party and can provide biblical instruction pertaining to moral and cultural issues that may be of issue in a campaign. Churches cannot show favoritism or any type of support to one candidate or a group of candidates in deference to others running for office.

According to the IRS website: "The political campaign activity prohibition is not intended to restrict free expression on political matters by leaders of organizations speaking for themselves, as individuals. Nor are leaders prohibited from speaking about important issues of public policy. However, for their organizations to remain tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3), leaders cannot make partisan comments in official organization publications or at official functions."

Technically the IRS guidelines allow pastors as private citizens to endorse candidates, yet Land said he advises church leaders to avoid such involvement in partisan politics, fearing it will compromise a church's pronouncement of the Gospel. "I prefer to stay within the hash marks," he said, speaking of the markings on a football field, "instead of getting too close to the sidelines."

Land said the iVoteValues.com initiative will produce bulletin inserts, available for download from the website in July, addressing Christians' civic responsibility. The ERLC also will publish its nonpartisan political party platform comparison guides in late September, once both of the major parties have concluded their political conventions. Land said the guide is carefully crafted by excerpting the Democratic and Republican platforms on a wide range of issues; it contains no analysis or commentary on the two parties' positions.

The platform comparison guides will be available for pre-ordering by churches this summer. "This publication is well within the IRS guidelines for distribution within a church," Land emphasized.

Months before the election, churches and other groups are free to organize voter registration events, Land added, noting that, despite intensive efforts by many organizations to register voters over the past eight years, millions of Americans have yet to register to vote. According to the Census Bureau, 72 percent of American adults, 18 years and older, were registered to vote in 2004. Just over 88 percent of those registered actually voted on Election Day.
--30--
Dwayne Hastings is a vice president with the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.


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Evangelism Response Center aids seekers
by Mickey Noah
Date: April 03, 2008 - Thursday

HARRISON, Ark. (BP)--Patricia Zimmerman, a 71-year-old widow in Arkansas, has led nearly 300 strangers to Christ. But the retired registered nurse and substitute teacher never had to leave her home in the heart of the Ozarks to do so.

Zimmerman is among 3,900 "telephone encouragers" for the North American Mission Board's Evangelism Response Center (ERC) who answer phones and share the Gospel from the convenience of their homes.

Using the ERC's high-tech "virtual" telephone network, volunteers remotely answer calls to 1-888-Jesus2008 (toll-free) 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The ERC also has "Internet encouragers" who use computers to share the Gospel with users who link to the ERC website, www.thegoodnews.org.

While Zimmerman sets her schedule to take calls on Tuesday and Sunday evenings, she actually "logs on" whenever she has a chance, much more frequently than the ERC's monthly minimum of two and a half hours. It doesn't take a computer to log on, just a touch-tone phone.

Modest by nature, she doesn't keep up with the number of souls she's helped lead to Christ. She said she worries more about pleasing Jesus and "doing it right."

"My biggest job is to reach people for Jesus," she says. "The people who call are like ripe fruit. Others have usually witnessed to them and prepared their hearts. All I have to do is pick the fruit."

Zimmerman, who has answered ERC calls for eight years, has a sense of urgency about non-Christians.

"I'm adamant about reaching people for Jesus because I know heaven and hell are real."

For leading 300 people to Christ during her ERC "career," Zimmerman was named "Telephone Encourager of the Year" for 2007 during the Arkansas Baptist State Convention’s evangelism conference.

After completing two hours of training, ERC telephone volunteers like Zimmerman receive a password. When they are ready to answer calls, they simply dial the ERC phone number, input a PIN (personal identification number) and their password, and type in the phone number where they can be reached. The ERC system then automatically forwards calls to that number. Calls are handled in either English or Spanish.

N.S.R.K. Ravi, ERC coordinator at NAMB's Atlanta-area headquarters, said the center exists to advance the intentional presentation of the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ.

"We respond and pray with persons who contact us through various media, and refer them to local Southern Baptist Convention churches where they can obtain further ministry and spiritual growth opportunities," Ravi said.

The ERC fielded some 75,000 calls during 2006-07, an average of 3,100 per month. More than 2,200 callers made first-time salvation decisions over the two-year period, Ravi reported.

In a recently announced partnership with Holman Bible Outreach, a ministry of LifeWay Christian Resources, the ERC will send out 2,000 free, Holman-donated Bibles to all callers who make decisions for Christ.

At the same time, Holman Bible Outreach now prints the ERC toll-free phone number in all of its new and reprinted Bibles and New Testaments, totaling more than 500,000 each year.

"God is clearly at work at NAMB, and we wanted Holman Bible Outreach to come alongside NAMB and help support the Evangelism Response Center," said Phill Burgess, Holman's executive director in Nashville, Tenn.

"Having a place that people who receive a Bible can call to speak with a trained counselor about Jesus Christ, and then be able to connect that person with an ERC church, completes the evangelism loop in a way that could never be achieved otherwise," Burgess said.

Ravi said the ERC is looking for relationships with 6,000-8,000 SBC "covenant" churches nationwide –- four or five in each local association -- who commit to follow up on callers in their areas within three days. During the follow-up, the covenant church encourages the person to be baptized, discipled and join a local SBC church.

"About one in four people calling the ERC makes some kind of decision -– a commitment to ministry, to volunteer or a decision for Christ," Ravi said.

Calls are generated from a myriad of ministries and media, some outside the Southern Baptist Convention. For instance, the ERC handles more than 10 percent of the calls to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Other calls may be generated by special events or mass media campaigns (TV, radio, billboards) launched by one of the 40 state Baptist conventions or other ministries.

Telephone encouragers such as Zimmerman are carefully trained and certified by one of 43 regional facilitators or NAMB staff on how to field calls and share the Gospel. They can choose the time they want to handle calls -– evenings, late nights or weekends -– based on their schedules.

Ravi said the ERC is in "desperate need" for more covenant churches and more volunteers, noting, "We have a goal of having 10,000 volunteers handling 100,000 calls a year."

Zimmerman, who has fielded calls from all 50 states and Canada, has shared her faith over the phone with Jews and Muslims, along with truckers on America's highways who saw the toll-free number on a billboard. She's even shared with those who couldn't read.

"You have to feel your way through each call, and each call is different. Bottom line, you make them realize they're sinners, need a Savior and without Him, they're going to hell. Believe it or not, most of my callers are from believers who need discipling, and you can disciple folks on the phone.

"I do it for Jesus," said Zimmerman, a member of Countyline Baptist Church in Compton, Ark. "He's my life. He's blessed me. It's not always easy being a widow in Arkansas, but this is where He put me for this reason and purpose."

Ravi said by the end of 2008 there will be more than 2 billion wireless phones in use, and 1.5 billion people who use the Web. 

"We need to use technology to reach people for Christ. The tragedy of the church today is that evangelicals are biblical but not contemporary in technology. The world uses contemporary technology more than us. We need both faithfulness to the Word and sensitivity to the modern world," Ravi said.
--30--
Mickey Noah is a writer with the North American Mission Board.


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Army chief of chaplains visits alma mater
by Garrett E. Wishall
Date: April 03, 2008 - Thursday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Maj. Gen. Douglas Carver, the U.S. Army's chief of chaplains and a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, challenged students to passionately serve God and to pray for the military during a chapel service at the Louisville, Ky., campus.

If God matters, it should show through a person's passionate prayer, praise and service, Carver said.

"Does God matter to you? If He matters to us we need to always recommit ourselves to be passionate for Him in the good times and bad," Carver said. "All of the seasons of our life are in His hands. We must praise Him with a pure and holy heart. We must love Him intently, with our mind, body, spirit, soul and strength. And may we never forget to pray for others.

"Let's continue to pray for our brave men and women in uniform," Carver said. "They faithfully protect and defend the freedom of our great nation, standing watch 24/7."

Carver was appointed the Army's 22nd chief of chaplains last July. The Georgia native earned a master of divinity from Southern Seminary, a bachelor of arts in religious studies from the University of Tennessee and a master of science in strategic studies from the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa.

Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. welcomed Carver to the campus for his March 25 visit and thanked him for his faithful ministry of the Gospel.

Mohler said Carver "represents thousands of military chaplains serving around the world. With so much on our minds and hearts, with so many hundreds of thousands of United States military personnel serving all over the world, with millions of men and women in uniform ... what a debt we owe Gen. Carver &#91;and those he represents&#93; who serve on that mission field."

In 1973, Carver was recognized as a distinguished military graduate and appointed as a regular Army officer in the field artillery branch of the Army. After serving on active duty for six years, he resigned his commission to enter the ministry. He subsequently was commissioned as an Army chaplain in 1984. An ordained Southern Baptist minister, Carver has pastored churches in Kentucky, Colorado and Virginia.

Carver's military awards include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal and Ranger Tab. He received the Clyde T. Francisco Preaching Award in 1982 from Southern. In 1995, he received the Witherspoon Chaplain's Award from the Layman's National Bible Association for outstanding service rendered by a military chaplain in the promotion of Bible reading and study among military families.

Carver noted that he was in the Middle East five years ago at the beginning of the war in Iraq. The United States recently lost its 4,000th service member in the war, and Carver said he is often asked about the morale of troops serving in the conflict overseas. 

"Having made frequent trips to Afghanistan and Iraq, I can honestly make this simple statement: God matters to our service members," Carver said. "God matters so much to soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and coastguardsmen. They are not shy about their faith. They are not afraid or prevented from praying in Jesus' name or the name of their particular choice. They are not bashful about their faith."

Mohler prayed for chaplains, military servicemen and servicewomen and the families of military personnel, and he said each of the 4,000 service members who have died in the war willingly sacrificed their lives.

"&#91;March 23&#93; marked the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq and the 4,000th casualty was recently reported," Mohler said. "I was very frustrated that on the television news programs all day Sunday, &#91;the war&#93; was instantly turned into a political question, and I wondered when someone was going to stop and say, 'Those are 4,000 human beings made in the image of God who gave their lives willingly.'

"It seems incomprehensible that something like this could happen without a nation saying, 'Thank you,' especially to the families and loved ones of those who have fallen in battle," Mohler said. "One of my humble reflections this morning is that I have never been in a bunker. And I realized this morning how many thousands of our fellow citizens -- brothers and sisters and fathers and cousins -- are facing something we never have to face. I'm sure no words can fully express &#91;what they are going through&#93;."

Carver said when believers pray to God and praise Him in every situation it changes their hearts.

"It is kind of sad and pathetic that we wait until those 'concrete bunker moments' to cry out to God," he said. "The Lord would want us to have that same sort of passion all the time."
--30--
Garrett E. Wishall is a writer for Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.


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McDonald's joins the gay agenda
by Dwayne Hastings
Date: April 03, 2008 - Thursday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--McDonald's, known for its distinctive golden arches and, here in the South, its dollar sweet tea, is now being recognized for the dubious distinction of having a member of its executive team on the board of directors of the national Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

McDonald's has been a "corporate partner" with the chamber for some time; now its national vice-president for communications is on the organization's board of directors. 

"I'm thrilled to join the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce team and ready to get to work," crowed Jim Ellis, the chief spokesperson for the fast-food restaurants, in a chamber press release last month. He went on to say that he shares the chamber's "passion for business growth and development within the LGBT &#91;lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered&#93; community and I look forward to playing a role in moving these important initiatives forward."

In addition to McDonald's, corporations represented on the chamber's board of directors include IBM, Motorola and Wells Fargo. Just last month, United Parcel Service (UPS) announced a partnership with the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce to offer discounts to "LGBT-owned" businesses. The chamber reportedly exists to promote the economic health of such businesses.

It's one thing for a corporation to be a "member" of the chamber. Most major corporations are . It's another thing entirely to take such a prominent role in promoting the "LGBT" cause, especially for a company like McDonald's that has built its business on the backs of America's families -- most of them solidly heterosexual and with children.

What will this do for Ronald McDonald's image? What secret has Ronald been keeping? What does McDonald's hope to gain by this action? No corporation does something like this without looking to benefit their bottom line. 

I didn't realize McDonald's felt its market share among the "LGBT" segment of the population was suffering. 

My family has decided to help the burger chain in beefing up its percentage of non-heterosexual customers. If we feel the need to eat a cheeseburger and fries, we'll be eating elsewhere. That'll leave room at their counters and their indoor playgrounds for the other customers McDonald's desperately wants to court. 

That'll be tough for me. I really do like their french fries.
--30--
Dwayne Hastings is a vice president with the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Originally published at iLiveValues.com, a website of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.


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Oprah's 'Jesus'
by James A. Smith Sr.
Date: April 03, 2008 - Thursday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--In America's celebrity-driven culture, perhaps the most harmful "Pied Piper" of heresies leading millions astray is Oprah Winfrey. Her adoption of anti-biblical doctrine is on display every day this year through her satellite radio network channel "Oprah & Friends." It's time for Christians to "just say no" to the big "O." 

In recent weeks, I have received multiple copies of the same e-mail warning Christians about Oprah Winfrey's promotion of New Age teaching. 

Oftentimes, broadcast e-mails are baseless and erroneous -- like the one that warns Madalyn Murray O'Hair is attempting to get the FCC to ban all Christian broadcasting. In spite of numerous repudiations of this bogus warning (to which I contributed with an April 2001 editorial), the claim continues to float around the Internet. 

Sometimes, however, e-mails turn out to be true and worthy of our attention. Such is the case with an e-mail currently in wide circulation concerning Oprah Winfrey's promotion of A Course in Miracles (ACIM). After receiving multiple copies of the e-mail warning about this matter, I decided to check it out for myself. 

Most of the e-mails about this include an article by Warren Smith, a former New Ager and student of ACIM, who devastatingly critiques this false teaching. His November 2007 article is online here: www.crossroad.to/articles2/007smith-oprah.htm. As I'm not familiar with Smith or this Web site, I cannot more broadly attest to him or the site. But concerning ACIM, his warnings are accurate and worth attention. 

At the center of ACIM is megastar Oprah Winfrey -- perhaps the most well-known woman in the world. Winfrey's media empire centers on her long-running and popular television talk show but also includes magazines, movies and her book club, and she is well-regarded for her many philanthropic efforts. Unfortunately, too few understand Winfrey's devotion to unbiblical teachings, especially the New Age Movement.

Cky Carrigan, an evangelism professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, in a helpful article, "How to Evangelize New-Agers" (http://www.ontruth.com/newage.htm), notes Winfrey is the "most influential preacher of New Age ideas," winning "converts every day in staggering numbers -- many from Baptist churches."

Carrigan quotes Oprah's view of Jesus from one of her programs:

Oprah: "There are many paths to what you call God." 

Audience Member: "There is one way and only one way and that is through Jesus." 

Oprah: "There couldn't possibly be just one way!"

What is the New Age Movement? Carrigan writes: "The New Age Movement is an American and European form of ancient eastern religious beliefs (Hinduism and Buddhism), combined with divination, earth-based religions, self-help theory, alternative healing techniques, astrology and other non-Christian religious practices. Therefore, the New Age Movement is not really new at all, though it is new to America."

Although New Agers rely upon many sources, ACIM is among the most popular. New Age guru Marianne Williamson is responsible for popularizing the work through her book, "A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles," while Oprah is to be credited with launching Williamson's career through her appearances on Winfrey's talk show.

And now, Williamson is one of the featured stars on the "Oprah & Friends" channel on XM Satellite Radio, reprising her role as advocate of ACIM through a year-long series on the course.

ACIM, however, was not written by Williamson, but by a tag-team of psychologists from Columbia University in New York, Helen Schucman and William Thetford. Schucman, on the ACIM Web site, defers credit for the work, which she merely "scribed." An "inner voice," she says was Jesus, told her, "This is a course in miracles. Please take notes."

From 1965 to 1972, Schuman experienced "Jesus'" voice through "inner dictation." Thetford joined Schucman in scribing the voice, resulting in ACIM.

Thetford defined the purpose of ACIM as: "To help us change our minds about who we are and what God is, and to help us let go, through forgiveness, our belief in the reality of our separation from God. Learning how to forgive ourselves and others is really the fundamental teaching of the Course. The Course teaches us how to know ourselves and how to unlearn all of those things which interfere with our recognition of who we are and always have been."

As would be expected from this definition, ACIM is full of heresy, often wrapped in confusing, contradictory, nonsensical rhetoric. Sometimes, however, ACIM is blatantly clear in its false doctrine. And, since Jesus was supposedly the voice heard by Schucman, these assertions are especially outrageous.

For example, Lesson 70, headlined: "My salvation comes from me," opens with this comment: "All temptation is nothing more than some form of the basic temptation not to believe the idea for today. Salvation seems to come from anywhere except from you. So, too, does the source of guilt. You see neither guilt nor salvation as in your own mind and nowhere else. When you realize that all guilt is solely an invention of your mind, you also realize that guilt and salvation must be in the same place. In understanding this you are saved."

Contrary to the Bible's clear teaching that our guilt is the result of the fact that we truly are sinners, separated from God by our sin, and rightfully under God's judgment for our sin, ACIM teaches that we must realize "all guilt is solely an invention of your mind" and in this realization is salvation.

Warren Smith has helpfully summarized some of the other false doctrine of the course in the previously referenced article:

-- "There is no sin."

-- "Do not make the pathetic error of 'clinging to the old rugged cross.'"

-- "The name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol.... It is a symbol that is safely used as a replacement for the many names of all the gods to which you pray."

-- "God is in everything I see."

ACIM is in wide use, even at the grassroots level in local churches. I came across a promotion of ACIM in the Lufkin (Texas) Daily News Feb. 29 for Unity Church of Christianity which offers the course, noting the "class is designed to teach people how to apply spiritual principles in their daily lives. No experience is necessary, just an open heart and an accepting mind."

Such is the result of Oprah's promotion of ACIM. Winfrey's influence is vast. Tragically, far too many Christians -- including many who would consider themselves conservative, Bible-believing evangelicals -- are more likely to take their theological cues from Oprah than they are from their faithful pastors. 

These Christians need to pattern their lives after those of the Bereans who "received the Word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether" what they were being taught was true (Acts 17:11). Because they were rightly concerned with testing what they were taught according to the Scriptures, the Bereans were not likely to fall prey to false teachers.

The Apostle Peter describes the challenge of false teachers and how believers should respond to them in his second letter (2 Peter 2:1-22). He warns against "false teachers ... who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them ..." (v.1). He says "many" believers will be beguiled by the false teachers' "sensuality," resulting in the maligning of the truth (v.2). These false teachers are "springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved" (v. 17).

Peter's warnings are clearly applicable to Oprah, Williamson and A Course in Miracles for undermining the faith with a false gospel and counterfeit "Jesus," which in the end bring no actual spiritual nourishment or relief. Tragically, these teachers are leading people straight to hell.

Christians should flee from Oprah and her cohorts and recommit themselves to careful Bible study, in the context of a local body of believers with whom they have covenanted for mutual edification and accountability, led by a faithful pastor. 

Of course, this isn't as glamorous as Oprah -- but neither is eternal punishment in hell.
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