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"Take
Heed" Ministries
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Cecil Andrews, PO BOX 13, Ballynahinch, BT24 8AL, Northern Ireland. Telephone/Fax 028 9756 5511. E-MAIL - takeheed@aol.com WEBSITE - http://www.takeheed.net |
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NEWS
FROM THE FRONT
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DECEMBER 2002
"Be not afraid or dismayed by reason of this great multitude for the battle is not yours but God's" (2nd Chronicles 20v15)
Dear
praying friends,
REFLECTIONS
ON
‘POWER
TO CHANGE’
Well, what one of the leading
organisers claimed was going to be ‘the biggest event in the Christian
calendar in 2002’ [Basil Good – Chairman of ‘Power to Change’ Republic
of Ireland on RTE TV 13 January 2002] has come and gone. It would be impossible
in the few pages available to me in this issue to adequately evaluate this
initiative but I will try to pass on ‘reflections’
– not just from myself but also from others who were likewise concerned.
One of the former loyalist
paramilitaries who withdrew his testimony from the original ‘Power to
Change’ booklet because of its ecumenical nature [as mentioned in my ‘Spin
Doctors’ enclosure in September] made this very telling comment to me - ‘My suspicions have been
confirmed also that the campaign is a purely horizontal one – change from what
to what? Just better people, not sinners to saints.
What a lost opportunity!’
In my reply to him I wrote – ‘As I have seen the banners
going up saying ‘Jesus give YOU the power to
change’ I thought of how wrong they are theologically. The truth is that ‘JESUS
changes people first and then gives them power to live a changed life as a
child of God’.
The error of ‘purely horizontal’ change is
clearly seen on the back cover of the ‘Power to Change’ booklet where
they wrote ‘Be honest. There’s probably at least one thing you’d
like to change in your life. Perhaps it’s your job, your friendships or even
your outlook on life. Deep down you desire to be a
better person’. Most of the TV and billboard adverts reflected this ‘horizontal’ change
where people claimed now to have ‘purpose and direction’ in life
or to have had ‘a void’ filled. Not once did I hear anyone
testify that Jesus ‘saved me from my sins and gave me eternal life’.
This whole initiative played right
into the hands of
An additional worry
relating to this man, Michael McGoldrick’s ‘testimony’, was highlighted in a
letter from Rev Stephen Dickinson that was published in the Ballymena Guardian [16
October]. In it Mr Dickinson wrote ‘Michael McGoldrick…in his
testimony says “At the funeral I went to say my final words to my son before
they closed the casket. I put my hands on his and said ‘Goodbye son, I’ll see
you in heaven’. At that moment a great power went out of my son’s body and shot
through mine. I recognised that it was the power of God.’ Mr
Dickinson commented ‘Is Power to Change some religious form of the occult or black magic
where power can be transferred from a dead corpse & change a living
person’s life and introduce that person to God?’
Could this be why there is a
cavity in Roman Catholic altars, where the Mass is performed, to house a ‘relic’
from a dead ‘saint/martyr’? Here is an extract from the service
of CONSECRATION
OF A FIXED ALTAR as outlined
on the Catholic Encyclopaedia website ‘When the relics have
been carried to the church, the consecrator anoints with holy chrism, at the
four corners, the sepulchre of the altar, in which the relics are to be
enclosed, thereby sanctifying the cavity in which the venerated remains of the
martyrs are to rest, and then reverently places therein the case containing the
relics and incenses them’. Are these bones the source of a priest’s
claimed ‘Power to Change’ the elements? As I read of Mr McGoldrick’s experience I was
reminded also of what Hank Hanegraaff
wrote about Benny Hinn on page 30 of
his book [H/B] ‘Christianity in Crisis’ – ‘When it comes to
style however, Hinn gravitates more toward such faith
healers as Aimee Semple McPherson and Kathryn
Kuhlman. The influence of these women on Hinn’s life
and ministry is so great that he still visits their gravesites and experiences “the
anointing” which he claims emanates from their bones’.
One of the staunchest advocates
of ‘Power to
Change’ from
beginning to end was local Evangelical Alliance representative
1.
When the
various committees [comprised of Protestants and Roman Catholics] met together
to plan for ‘Power To Change’, did they also pray
together for ‘Power To Change’?
2.
When various churches [Protestant and Roman Catholic]
registered for ‘Power To Change’ and contributed the £100.00 [or more]
requested by ‘Power To Change’ were their financial contributions lodged to
separate ‘Protestant’ and ‘Roman Catholic’ ‘Power To Change’ bank accounts?
3.
When the prayers prayed for and then submitted to
‘Power To Change’ were being added to the running
total – was there a separate ‘Protestant’ total and a separate ‘Roman Catholic’
total or were they all just tabulated together?
4.
When ‘Protestant’ churches are handing out the ‘Power
To Change’ booklet do they first remove the ‘Roman Catholic’ testimonies from
it and when the ‘Roman Catholic’ churches hand out the ‘Power To Change’
booklet do they first remove the ‘Protestant’ testimonies or do both
groups simply hand out the booklet in its entirety?
The answers to these
questions are I believe obvious and show clearly that ‘Power To
Change’ is ‘ecumenical’ as understood in the historical sense of the
word and
In the light of
other actions Evangelical Alliance has clearly
forfeited any right to describe itself as ‘Evangelical’ as was evidenced by their contribution to events under a title of Face
Values. Their invited guest was Jim Wallis
of a ministry called Sojourners
based in
Many
‘ecumenical’ events were listed on the ‘Power To Change’ web site such as the Larne and
District ALPHA course, which would involve not just
Protestant and Roman Catholic denominations, but
also the Seventh-day Adventists. The Belfast
Telegraph certainly ‘went the extra mile’ to
promote Power To Change when it gave
its editorial comment over on 28 September to promoting it under a heading of ‘Christian
Message Gets The Hard Sell’ and its
religious affairs correspondent Alf McCreary did his bit to push it with articles published on consecutive Saturdays
in which he downplayed [like any good ‘spin doctor’] what was in reality a
MAJOR SETBACK to this initiative when RTE TV refused to broadcast the Power To
Change adverts as they would violate the
Constitution of the Republic of Ireland. This decision was challenged by Power To Change in the courts in
Let me close
with this comment from a brother in Christ ‘Cecil, Basil Good’s comment
“we won’t tell you what doctrine to teach” sums up Power To
Change – imagine spending £1million sterling to promote such a farce’.
CATHOLIC
CATECHISM CORNER
Amongst the items included in the Roman
Catholic Zenit news agency report for
happenings on 11 October was the following
CATECHISM A KEY FRUIT OF
Marks 10th Anniversary of Its
Publication
On the 10th anniversary of its publication,
John Paul II described the Catechism of the Catholic
Church as a "choice gift"
for all the faithful.
The following extracts of what the Pope
had to say show how highly he values the role of this Catechism, not just in
the professing Roman Catholic community but also in a wider-world context.
Meeting with some 250 cardinals, bishops and
theologians at the International Congress on Catechetics,
the Holy Father [said] ‘The catechism has a "collegial
magisterial" nature’.. This catechism, the Pope
said, "still today maintains its reality of 'choice gift,' placed at the
disposition of the whole Catholic Church, offering every man who asks and
wishes to know what the Catholic Church believes, reasons for the hope that
dwells in us."..
"The good reception and wide diffusion that it has had in this decade in
various parts of the world, including in non-Catholic realms, are a positive
testimony of its validity and continued importance," the Holy Father said.
Because of this, John Paul II urged an intensified commitment to its
"greater diffusion, more joyful reception, and better use in the Church
and the world."
When having conversations with
professing Evangelical Christians I am often soon painfully aware of how little
they actually know of the teachings of the Roman Catholic religion. I believe
that if they truly knew what
NON-CHRISTIAN TEACHING OF THE CATHOLIC CATECHISM [1]
For our first look at a
non-Christian teaching in the
Catholic Catechism I want to quote Paragraph
460.
‘The Word became flesh to make us “partakers
of the divine nature” [2 Peter 1:4]. ‘For this is why the Word became man, and
the Son of God became the Son of Man: so that man by entering into communion
with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship might
become a son of God. For the Son of God became man so that we
might become God. The only-begotten Son of God,
wanting to make us sharers in his
divinity assumed our nature, so that he, made man might make men gods’.
I felt this was a rather apt
portion to begin with as it repeats one of the first lies told by the devil in
the Bible, as found in Genesis 3:5, where Satan said to Eve as he
tempted her
“Ye shall be as gods”.
True believers, who have
been spiritually resurrected, when formerly they were ‘dead in trespasses
and sins’ now have a Holy Spirit driven inclination towards holiness and
godliness – that’s what it means to be a ‘partaker of the divine nature’
as can be seen from the preceding verse 3 of 2 Peter 1.
Matthew
Henry commenting on these verses wrote
‘Those
who receive the promises of the gospel, partake of the divine nature. They are
renewed in the spirit of their mind, after the image of God, in knowledge,
righteousness and holiness; their hearts are set for God and His service; they
have a divine temper and disposition of soul…Those in whom the Spirit works the
divine nature are freed from the bondage of corruption. Those who are, by the
Spirit of grace, renewed in the spirit of their mind, are translated into the
liberty of the children of God’.
John wrote in 1 John 3:2
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God’
but he also wrote in Revelation
21:3 concerning the future eternal state
“Behold the tabernacle of
God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall
be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their
God”.
GENERAL
INQUIRIES
The variety of topics that we are contacted
on by people seeking help or information can be very wide-ranging at times. In
the matter of a few days in early October I had inquiries as follows. A
minister who is involved in a particular committee of his denomination asked me
if I had any information on a group called ‘CHERUBIM and SERAPHIM
ETERNAL SACRED ORDER’ and after some investigative work I was able to
unearth a number of revealing items that I was able to forward on and
subsequently the minister contacted us to pass on his thanks for our
assistance.
Then I was contacted by someone concerned for
their friend who had become interested in the strange teachings of a man called
‘ANDREW COHEN’. This man has a worldwide following that is drawn to his mystical
views and teachings, which are expressed in his magazine ‘What is
enlightenment’. Having looked at some of his articles there are clearly
aspects of ‘New Age’ thought running through what he believes. My
research unearthed not only Mr Cohen’s teachings but also the reflections of some
former but now disillusioned, ‘disciples’.
Next, a local missionary worker contacted me,
concerned for a friend in
Finally a friend in Texas inquired if I could
supply anything on the subject of ‘THE INTERNATIONAL CHURCH
of CHRIST and BAPTISM’ and I was able to send on a suitable article together with the web site
address of a ministry that had other informative articles relating to this
particular grouping.
Should
any reader require the information that I unearthed and supplied in relation to
these ‘general inquiries’ I will be very pleased to forward it on to them upon request.
RELIGIOUS PLURALISM
GOOD or BAD?
Another
few weeks will mark the end of the Queen’s Year of Jubilee and I
have no doubt there will be much reference to it in the Queen’s annual
television Christmas Broadcast to the Nation and to the
Commonwealth. As coverage of the various events has been unfolding over the
course of the year on television it is clear that a deliberate effort has been
made by the Royal entourage to focus attention upon the extensive multi-racial
and multi-faith make-up of the United Kingdom – particularly
highlighting how this ‘mix’ has dramatically increased since the Queen first
became monarch after the death of her father in 1952. The following report that
appeared in the October issue of Evangelical Times serves to
illustrate well this drive by the Queen and her advisers to make her Year
of Jubilee an ‘all embracing and inclusive’ one.
QUEEN
VISITS MOSQUE
The
Queen has visited a British mosque for the first time. As she slipped off her
shoes to enter the prayer room at the Scunthorpe Islamic Centre, she asked
‘Which direction is
This
concerted attempt by the Queen during this special year to identify with all
races and faiths has been further evidenced by similar visits to for example
the Hindu and Sikh communities and their respective places of worship. As a
Christian I have no problems in rejoicing at being part of a multi-racial
society such as is found in the
As
I stated, not only in the regal and political palaces of Buckingham and
Should you wish to obtain a
video copy of ‘The Vanishing Conscience’
talk by John MacArthur
you may do so by writing to
‘Good News Videos’,
A cost-covering donation of 4 Euros or £2
The ‘Sin’
of Adam
On
page 10 I made reference to an article that appeared in the local, glossy
‘Christian’ magazine called ‘Faith for Life’. The article in
question was called ‘Self Esteem’ and the magazine editor, Adam
Harbinson, wrote it. As I read
it, it reminded me very much of what Peter said in 2 Peter
In
this article Adam Harbinson was
extolling the ‘virtue’ of people developing their ‘self image’.
He wrote, ‘The way we look at ourselves and feel about ourselves, way
down deep at the centre of our personality will determine our relationship with
God and those around us. This is particularly important for teenagers, for
NOTHING is more necessary to their Christian growth than developing a good
healthy Christian self image from the inside out’. In contrast to this
statement let me again quote Peter who wrote in 1 Peter 2:2 “As
newborn babes, desire the sincere MILK OF THE WORD that ye may grow thereby”.
Speaking
of John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus said “Among them that are born of women
there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist”. What was John’s
secret for ‘greatness’? Was it the cultivation of a growing and increasing ‘healthy
self image’? The more John grew in his knowledge of Christ it drove him
to declare, “He [Christ] must increase and I [self] must
decrease”. Paul had no misguided delusions about his own ‘self image’
for he testified that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners, OF WHOM I AM CHIEF” [1 Timothy
The
comment that really shocked me was when Adam Harbinson
wrote ‘I firmly endorse the idea of a healthy self-love. Indeed, God
encourages us to “Love thy neighbour AS THYSELF”’. This teaching [Luke
The Christian’s ‘INHERITANCE’
and ‘REWARDS’
To his albeit misguided
credit ‘Father’ Patrick McCafferty is never one to
shirk confrontation and ‘true to form’ he did not let our article on
pass unnoticed or unchallenged.
Prior to its publication in our September 2002 NEWS FROM THE FRONT it
had been posted in advance for several weeks on our ministry web site. As a
direct result Patrick was, I believe, prompted to avail himself of his position
as a regular contributor to the Belfast Telegraph’s weekly feature
Thought For The Weekend
to pen and publish the
following article on
“You must love the Lord your
God…and your neighbour as yourself”
Deuteronomy 6:5
“Do this and live”
Luke 10:28
The above words are Jesus’
answer to a lawyer’s question “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke
10:25).
The lawyer, anxious to
justify himself posed a further question “And who is my neighbour?” The Lord’s
reply is the beautiful parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke
The Jews did not associate
with Samaritans and considered them outsiders. They were certainly not regarded
as brothers and sisters in the Faith.
And yet, when the Lord
wanted to illustrate how we are to treat one another as neighbours, friends and
kin, He told of a Samaritan’s compassion for a Jew who had been beaten, stripped
and robbed.
The Samaritan finding the
poor man half-dead, showed himself to be really Christ-like. Jesus concluded by
saying to the lawyer and the other listeners “Go and do the same yourself”.
Jesus Himself came to us as a poor man with nowhere to lay His head (Luke
He emptied Himself of glory
(Philippians 2:7) in order to give us an eternal inheritance out of His own
infinite riches (2 Corinthians 8:9).
The One, who was Himself a
vagrant preacher of the Good News, calls us to take our places in “the Kingdom
prepared for us from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 26:34).
However, what we must do in
order to have eternal life is love and serve Jesus,
present in the suffering and the poor.
Every poor man, woman or child, no matter who he or she is, or where they come from, is the very Person of Jesus Christ – hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, imprisoned and an outcast. Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan makes it very clear that every human being is my neighbour, sister and brother. In a society that exacerbates divisions and pillories fellow human beings as ‘alien’ or ‘foreign’, we must strive to breach all the borders that exist between peoples.
In doing so, we are throwing
the doors wide open to Christ. We are doing the Father’s Will and advancing Christ’s
Kingdom of love, justice, equality and peace. Jesus says: “Do this and life
is yours” (Luke
Contained in this article is
the revealed ‘gospel’ or ‘Good News’ according to ‘Father’
Patrick McCafferty. By His first ‘heading-quotation’
of Deuteronomy 6:5’ which is in essence a summary of the 10
commandments, and his second ‘heading-quotation’ of Luke 10:28, Patrick
is clearly teaching that those who keep the commandments of God will be
rewarded with ‘eternal life’.
By way of reply to this ‘gospel’ of Patrick McCafferty I am now setting out a response to Patrick’s article by ROB ZINS who in previous visits to the Province publicly debated Patrick on a wide range of doctrinal subjects and topics.
“Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by
the washing of regeneration,
and renewing of the Holy Ghost”
The above words were spoken
by the great apostle Paul in this God-inspired passage of Scripture written to
his protégé Titus. The apostle Paul had earlier been knocked off his
horse, literally blinded for a while and humbled before his companions on the
road to
“Therefore we conclude that
a man is justified by faith
without the deeds of the
law”
He would be even more
forthright in his letter to the Christians at
“Knowing that a man is not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we
have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of
Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no
flesh be justified”
This is no small
concession coming from one who described himself,
“Concerning zeal,
persecuting the church; touching
the righteousness
which is in the law, blameless”
Although Paul was a
zealous defender of the faith of his ancestors, it was revealed to him by Jesus
that a right standing with God could not be attained by keeping the Law.
In fact, man is so sinful and the Law of God is so demanding that
any impulse to achieve salvation through keeping the Law is
unthinkable. Man is simply too sinful. Man will fail miserably!
“For as many as are of the works of the law are under
the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book
of the law to do them”
In fact, Jesus came to
seek and to save the lost and to deliver them from the curse of the Law.
Paul goes on to tell us that those still trying to be justified by Law
have fallen from grace and ‘dis-graced’ the Gospel.
In contrast, Paul proclaims the Gospel of the grace of God. This
is the promise that all who come to Christ, through faith alone in His death on
the cross, would have ‘eternal life’ and not be condemned by the Law. Now there are many today
who cannot fathom ‘eternal life’ as a gift freely given on the basis of
faith alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ. They, like Paul's
contemporaries, seek to point us to this law, or to that law, to this obedience
or to that obedience.
in this system of works or
that system of works.
But the Christian is
assured from the Bible, that the greatest system of
works, which demanded good works done in faith and obedience to the Law
of God, utterly failed to bring salvation to anyone. This, of course, is the
Law of God given to Moses. It failed and all other works systems
will fail as well. Why?
Because the Law
was never issued to give ‘eternal life’. Paul explains:
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us
unto Christ,
that we might be justified by faith”
‘Eternal
life’ is based upon the promise of God to give life to those who
trust in Jesus Christ's death on the cross. Hence, ‘eternal life’
is a promise of God given by grace through faith alone. Let us not
attempt to turn people to ‘faith’ in their own good works, faithfulness,
imitations of Jesus and man-made religious rituals that are destined for
certain failure. Let us instead point them to the depths of their
sin. This sin is so deep that God views any of their personal righteousnesses as being no better than foul, filthy rags.
Then we need to point them to Jesus Christ the author and perfecter
of faith. When once a person comes to see their
desperate need for Christ's perfect forgiveness through faith alone, ‘eternal
life’ is given to them forever. The Lord Jesus Himself said
“Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but
is passed from death unto life”
John 5:24
Upon this promise hinges our eternal destiny and nothing else.
ROB ZINS
Following the publication
of Patrick’s Thought For The Weekend the
Belfast Telegraph subsequently published responses and a counter response by
Rev Ivan Foster and Patrick. These exchanges were most enlightening and
revealing, particularly in the realm of Patrick’s ‘gospel’ and
again I invited Rob Zins to write a response to a
specific doctrinal view advocated by Patrick in his response to Ivan Foster.
These exchanges between Ivan Foster and Patrick together with Rob’s further
thoughts and some views contributed by myself represent a clear expose of the
false ‘works-salvation-system’ of Rome and prompted me to collate all the writings
generated by this subject into a little
28 page A-5 booklet with the
title of
The Christian’s ‘INHERITANCE’ of ‘eternal life FROM
Christ’
and the Christian’s eternal ‘REWARDS’ of ‘service FOR Christ’
contrasted with the ‘Gospel’ of
‘Father’ Patrick McCafferty
Copies of this booklet can be obtained
from us at a
PRICE OF £1-50 [includes p&p]
UPDATE
– FRANK EBERHARDT
In our December 2001
and June 2002 issues of NEWS FROM THE FRONT I made mention of family
situations where Frank welcomed prayer.
Thankfully one of the major concern situations is currently showing much
improvement but we would ask you to continue to pray
on. Another family member is beginning to show worrying illness signs
associated with advancing years so please pray very much for Frank in the
midst of these ongoing trials.
THANKS
- FROM ROGER
At the beginning of September I received an
anonymous card and enclosed with it was a substantial cheque to be forwarded on
to Roger Oakland. This is just to inform the anonymous donor [if they
happen to receive NEWS FROM THE FRONT] that an equivalent American
Dollar Draft was forwarded on to Roger. On his way back from a recent
trip to the Ukraine Roger stopped in England to fulfil a speaking
engagement there and he took the time to phone me to say how he had been
overwhelmed by the generosity of this gift and he wanted, if possible, the
donor to know what an encouragement it had been and to convey his thanks to
them, so we hope the donor sees this acknowledgment.
WARNING
– JOYCE MEYER TO VISIT
I read recently that
TAX
EFFICIENT GIVING via STEWARSHIP
SERVICES
Many thanks to all those who
requested forms and have subsequently used this scheme. For