Federal government hours away from possible shutdown;
Health care exchanges start Tuesday;
Italian court begins third Amanda Knox trial;
Egypt puts restored antiquities on display.

Santa Monica plane crash;
Gov't shutdown threatened;
BP trial to resume;
NASA's 3-D printer.

The Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove is scheduled to host a contemplative prayer retreat by the Renovaré organization October 29 - November 1. The goal is to "enter into a connection with God" in the "quietness." Renovaré was founded by Richard Foster, who has done more than any other individual to promote Roman Catholic mysticism among Protestants and Baptists. Speakers at the Cove conference will include Richard's son Nathan. Foster's book Celebration of Discipline, which has sold more than two and a half million copies, was selected by Christianity Today as one of the top ten books of the 20th century. Foster advocates Roman Catholic mysticism with absolutely no qualms. He recommends Ignatius of Loyola, Francis of Assisi, Benedict of Nursia, Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Genoa, Julian of Norwich, Brother Lawrence, Dominic, Catherine of Siena, John of the Cross, The Cloud of Unknowing , Madame Guyon, Thomas à Kempis, Catherine Doherty, Meister Eckhart, Thomas Aquinas, Hildegard of Bingen, Francis de Sales, Alphonsus de Liguori, Bernard of Clairvaux, John Henry Newman, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, G.K. Chesterton, Andrè Louf, Henri Nouwen, Dorothy Day, Karl Rahner, John Main, Mother Teresa, Thomas Merton, Brennan Manning, John Michael Talbot, and others. In the introduction to the 1998 edition of Celebration of Discipline, Foster says that these people taught him spiritual depth and substance (pp. xiii, xiv), and he calls them "Devotional Masters of the Christian faith." There is no warning that these Catholic mystics trusted in a cursed works gospel (Galatians 1), venerated Mary, worshipped Christ as a piece of consecrated bread, believed in purgatory, exalted papal supremacy, and scores of other heresies. Some of them believed in panentheism and universalism. (For extensive documentation of this see the book Contemplative Mysticism, available from Way of Life Literature.) Foster promotes extremely dangerous practices such as centering prayer, visualization, guided imagery, the repetition of mantras, silence, walking the labyrinth, even out of body experiences. Consider the following quotes from the mystics that Foster heartily recommends: Thomas Merton (who called himself a Buddhist Catholic): "... the deepest level of communication is not communication, but communion. IT IS WORDLESS. IT IS BEYOND WORDS, AND IT IS BEYOND SPEECH, and it is BEYOND CONCEPT" (The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton, 1975 edition, p. 308). The Cloud of Unknowing: "I URGE YOU TO DISMISS EVERY CLEVER OR SUBTLE THOUGHT no matter how holy or valuable: Cover it with a thick cloud of forgetting because in this life only love can touch God as He is in Himself, never knowledge" (chapter 8). Teresa of Avila: "All that the soul has to do at these times of quiet is merely to be calm and MAKE NO NOISE. BY NOISE I MEAN WORKING WITH THE INTELLECT to find great numbers of words and reflections with which to thank God. ... in these periods of quiet, the soul should repose in its calm, and learning should be put on one side" (The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Herself, chap. 15, pp. 106, 107, 108). For more on this see the report "Richard Foster: Evangelicalism's Mystical Spark Plug" at www.wayoflife.org.

(Friday Church News Notes, September 27, 2013, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Romans 12:2
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

The human brain is the most complex arrangement of matter in the universe, and modern brain research is adding to this wonder.

But medical researchers are learning that if the part of the brain that controls your left hand, for example, is damaged beyond repair, other parts of the brain will take over for the injured part. This doesn’t always happen automatically, however. It takes effort on your part. If you don’t use the hand, the brain won’t work very hard to reassign its function to another part of the brain. It also works the other way. Even if the brain isn’t damaged, failure to use your left arm will result in a shrinkage of the brain area that controls it. So pianists, for example, will have a growth in the area of the brain controlling their skills, if they practice.

These discoveries fill us with more wonder over the incredible abilities of the brain. But they also tell us something about ourselves. We are not, as many think, locked into certain bad habits or sins. We are learning that the transformation of our minds by God’s power is not only something that happens spiritually – physical changes take place in our brains as a result of our behavior. Is your mind being transformed by the power of God, or is it being conformed to the world?

Notes: “How Plastic is the Brain?” Science Digest, May 1983, p. 85.
Photo: Was jazz pianist Thelonious Monk’s brain larger in the area that controlled his musical skills? Most likely!
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Time running out to keep government open;
Private company makes space station delivery;
Tourists flee flaming duck boat;
Electric car enthusiasts gather.

The death toll from a double suicide bombing on a church in Pakistan rose to 81 yesterday, as Christians protested across the country to demand better protection for their community. The attack on the All Saints church in the northwestern city of Peshawar after a service on Sunday, claimed by a Taliban faction, is believed to be the deadliest ever to target Pakistan's small Christian minority. The death toll had risen to 81, including 37 women. A total of 131 people were wounded. Paul Bhatti, the president of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance ... said, "Terrorists are targeting everyone; they are beasts. The time has come for Pakistan to take action against them."... The 400 or so worshipers were exchanging greetings after the service when the bombers struck, littering the church with blood, body parts and pages from the Bible.

("Christians protest church attack, "Bangkok Post, Sept. 24, 2013)

Radio problems cited in deadly Arizona wildfire;
Syria says it will comply with UN stance on chemical weapons;
Earthquake strikes southwest Pakistan again;
Vintage car fans flock to Nebraska auction.

From the 1950s to today, rock musicians have pushed the moral envelope until there is not much envelope left, except perhaps bestiality. Nothing has done more to destroy morality in modern society than rock & roll, and it has operated at a global level. Miley Cyrus is on the cutting edge of the push today, with her naked video "Wrecking Ball" becoming the fastest music video to reach 100 million views on VEVO. At a recent concert at the iHeartRadio music festival in Las Vegas, the former Disney Channel starlet acknowledged that she is doing things that are getting her into trouble, but she argued, "It's just me doing what my heart and soul is telling me what to do" ("Miley Cyrus performs at iHeartRadio," CNSNews, Sept. 22, 2013). Indeed, and that is because man's fallen heart "is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9). Miley added that her actions are "inspired by the music." Elvis said the same thing, and we have been agreeing with them for 40 years. The rock backbeat is inherently sensual and rebellious. When I was a church kid teen in the 1960s, it grabbed me, encouraged me to "do my thing," and nearly led me to hell. Rock music is the sound-track of end-time rebellion and apostasy, and to think that it can be "Christianized" is spiritual insanity. At the iHeartRadio festival, Miley joined Justin Timberlake, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Katy Perry, and others. Preachers who have stopped warning loudly and plainly about the spiritual dangers of rock and the pop culture it has created and who are so careless as to "adapt" contemporary worship music are the blind watchmen and dumb watch dogs that Isaiah warned about. They are the chief reason why most "fundamentalist" Baptist churches will be emerging within 10-20 years. "His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber" (Isa. 56:10).

(Friday Church News Notes, September 27, 2013, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Building collapses in India, dozens feared trapped;
Suspected US drug smuggler deported from Thailand;
Senate set to OK budget bill, but fight not over;
Georgia Aquarium exhibits preserved sea creatures.

"For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him" (Psalm 103:11). The Psalmist says God's mercy is so great that it is like the height of the heavens. Even with modern equipment man has not been able to see the end of the heavens, but it has been measured out to 14 billion light years. Light travels at 670 million MPH. In a year it would travel 6 trillion miles. To travel to the end of the known universe would require 14 billion years if you had a space ship that could travel at the speed of light, and even when you got there you would not be at the end of the heavens. In other words, there is no end to the heavens as far as man is concerned, from an earthly perspective. It is so great that it is beyond measure and comprehension, and this is also the measure of the greatness of Christ's atonement!

(Friday Church News Notes, September 20, 2013, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Acts 17:25
“Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things...”

One of the most difficult problems for those who believe in evolution is to explain the origin of life without reference to God.

Science is now aware that even the elementary living cell is, in reality, extremely complex, and it has become increasingly difficult to explain this without a Creator God. The most popular explanation says that the early Earth had an atmosphere of ammonia, methane, hydrogen and water. Oxygen had to be absent because it pretty much ruins the chemical reactions that are needed to form even simple biological molecules. It was also important that this early Earth be protected from ultraviolet radiation, which also ruins the chemistry.

But this picture of the early Earth has been shown to be totally inaccurate. For one thing, geologists can see from the oldest rocks that the Earth has always had plenty of oxygen in its atmosphere. Then astronomers have pointed out that a younger sun would be turning out l0,000 times more ultraviolet radiation than it does now.

Modern science is finding out that what the Bible says is true. Scientists just won’t admit it. The Earth has always had oxygen, since life needing oxygen has been around from the first week that the Earth existed. And life can only be explained as the work of the Source and Author of life, our Creator God.

Notes: Patrick Huyghe. “New Recipe for Cosmic Soup.” Science Digest, May 1983, pp. 42-44.
Photo: Alexander Oparin, the Soviet biochemist who in 1924 put forward a theory of life on Earth developing through gradual chemical evolution of carbon-based molecules in primordial soup.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Obama vows health care law won't be undercut;
Former Montana teacher freed after 30-day term for rape;
Displaced elephants now have new home.

Somalis still leaving Minn. to join terror group;
Survivors wait for food, aid after Pakistan quake;
Assad says he doesn't rule out US attack;
Survey attempts to number Detroit's stray dogs.

"A large contingent of motorcycle riders rolled into Washington D.C. on Wednesday as sign of support to the victims of the 9/11 attacks 12 years ago, as well as honoring the four Americans who were killed during the terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate and CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya last year. The bikers, who hoped to attract 2 million riders to their cause, were denied a permit for a police escort from local D.C. authorities. While the group fell short of their number, Breitbart News rode along with the bikers on part of their route and saw the turnout was still excellent. The lack of a permit, however, did pose logistical problems for the planned activities. ... Another rally organized by the American Muslim Political Action Committee proposed that one million attendees would be at their event, but according to reports, only 30 to 100 people at the most appeared. As for the biker's rally, Jerry Ceasel of southern Maryland said, 'It was just a collaboration of a lot of people coming together. We had over 10,000 people come together today at Fort Washington and started to ride out there.'"

("9/11 Bikers Ride into D.C.," Britbart, Sept. 11, 2013)

Psalm 104:16
“The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted...”

When you look at a tall tree with good green leaves on the topmost branches and it hasn’t rained in a week, did you ever wonder how those leaves get their water in order to stay green?

On a nice, warm summer day, a large tree may pump over a thousand gallons – that’s four tons – of water from the ground up to its leaves. The water is collected by the roots, a drop at a time. But the real work of pumping tons of water 30, 60 or 100 feet into the air comes from the top of the tree. As water is pulled toward the treetop, it passes through vessels that have negative pressure in them, pulling the water up. Negative pressure in these vessels, high in a tree, has been measured as low as negative 20 atmospheres. This very low pressure is created as water evaporates from the leaves of the tree, creating a vacant space in the vessel that must be filled with more water from below. The pump in every tree can pull water up from more than 32 feet, which is the limit for man-made pumps.

The engineering excellence and power of the silent pump that delivers water within the tree is a witness for our Creator God and against chance evolution!

Photo: Sunlight shining through redwoods in Muir Woods. Redwoods grow as tall as 379 feet and up to 26 feet in diameter at chest height.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Ted Cruz finished talking at noon on Wednesday;
Kenyan authorities start the grim task;
Fears of oil spills grow as Colorado flood waters recede;
New Benjamins coming to your bank.

Massive quake in southwest Pakistan kills 210;
Gunshots ring out at Nairobi mall as Kenyans mourn;
Senate moves toward test vote on Obamacare;
Mom selling Kurt Cobain's childhood home.

"British Baptists Rebrand" is the title of a recent report in the Associated Baptist Press about the new leader of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. Lynn Green, the organization's first female general secretary, intends to "embrace a new way of being for the 21st century." We don't know what exactly she will change, but the Baptist Union was already becoming apostate at the end of the 19th century when Charles Haddon Spurgeon separated from it in protest in 1888. That apostasy has long been complete. In the early 1970s, for example, Michael Taylor, principal of the Baptist Union's Northern Baptist College, denied that Jesus Christ is God in his message to the London Baptist Assembly titled, "How much of a man was Jesus?" Though many protested the man's heresy, the Baptist Union refused to discipline him or remove him from office. In 1986, the Australian Beacon made the following evaluation about the Baptist Union: "It is a Union which harbours apostates and succors infidels while ostracizing faithful servants of Christ. It is a friend of Rome, a bed-fellow of idolaters and spiritists in its membership of the World Council of Churches. No true man of God could remain within it in good conscience" (Australian Beacon, No. 240, July 1986). In 1989, the Baptist Union yoked together with the Roman Catholic Church in the newly formed ecumenical union in Britain.

(Friday Church News Notes, September 20, 2013, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Proverbs 15:3
“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”

While science has yet to find a human mother with eyes in the back of her head, it turns out that there is a species of shrimp that comes pretty close ... with extra eyes on its back.

The shrimp goes only by its Latin name – exoculata for short. It lives beneath two miles of water in the mid-Atlantic Ridge, near geological formations called black smokers. Black smokers continuously shoot out thick black clouds of water at a temperature of 660 degrees F. No trace of sunlight ever penetrates to such depths. So why do these shrimp need eyes at all? Scientists learned that the super-heated water coming out of black smokers is so hot that it actually glows. The glow isn’t all that bright, which is why exoculata needs such large eyes that they will fit only on the shrimp’s back. And what do the shrimp see? They make their living within inches of the hot stream of water. If they get too close to the super-heated water they could become instant shrimp cocktail!

Nothing escapes the Creator’s notice – not these shrimp nor a life that is in trouble due to difficulty or sin. But we need to remember both His genius in solving problems and that His mind toward us is one of love because of the sacrifice of His Son for us.

Notes: Richard Monastersky. “Deep-Sea Shrimp.” Science News, vol. 135. Feb. 11, 1989, pp. 90-93.
Photo: Top of a 40-foot black smoker vent chimney at Loki's Castle, part of the northernmost hydrothermal vent field yet seen and sampled.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Fighting over in Kenyan shopping mall;
Obama calls for UN action if Syria doesn't dismantle its chemical weapons;
Long lost Mary Pickford movie found;
Encouraging health, babies are made to cry in Japan.

Kenya Terrorists claim to be holding hostages;
Obama to address UN General Assembly;
Family rescued in China;
Closing arguments in Michael Jackson wrongful death case.

In her first interview with a representative of the homosexual community, contemporary Christian music superstar Amy Grant says that she "first became aware of her gay following when she was 18" and she hopes the gay community has responded to her work "because of its all-inclusive message" ("Amy Grant in Her First Gay Press Interview," Between the Lines News, Apr. 23, 2013). The singer said that she was honored to have been invited to sing at a same-sex wedding and expressed her non-judgmental, "live and let live" philosophy, with not a hint about the Biblical necessity of repentance and the new birth and no warning about divine judgment. Amy praised the following statement made by one of her friends: "When we learn to observe without judgment, then we have the ability to know how exhausting it is to observe with judgment all the time." This flies in the face of God's commandments, such as, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Eph. 5:11). In a recent edition of his publication Heads Up! Pastor Buddy Smith wrote: "Amy Grant's decision to sing music that a lost world would love has been copied by countless other musicians. Sadly, pastors all over the world are discovering that their teens are being seduced to cross bridges that didn't even exist a generation or two ago. There are bridges to Rome, bridges to Las Vegas, bridges to Hollywood, bridges to Nashville, and bridges to Wall Street. Some years ago I was driving along the Texas/Mexico border near Laredo. It had been years since I was in the area, so I made a wrong turn and ended up at the new bridge across the Rio Grande River. When we lived in South Texas there was a little two lane bridge there, but now it is an eight lane maxi-freeway! Just so, the tiny, narrow plank bridges into the abominable moral and doctrinal sewers of a Christless world have grown into maxi-freeways of heresy and immorality that are aimed at destroying our churches! Amy Grant actively, knowingly built a bridge to the world by performing music that purposely avoided confronting its immorality and narcissism. By singing songs that reached out to the sensuality that gays and lesbians are addicted to, she implied to them that they were welcome in her world and in her religion. The bridge to the world is always a two way street. It is not possible to smilingly give wicked men a non-confrontational message and not expect them to carry their worldview, their mindset, their morals, and their gay marriages across the bridge you built and into your world." "Be not deceived. Evil communications corrupt good manners" (1 Cor. 15:33). 

(Friday Church News Notes, September 20, 2013, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)
Photo: Amy Grant with BTL Entertainment Editor Chris Azzopardi.

James 5:16
“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Let’s take a moment today to look at your body’s incredible system for repairing itself. Suppose you accidentally cut your finger. Almost instantly, a series of precisely ordered steps begins to repair your finger.

First the bleeding must be stopped. While the scab is forming over the surface of the wound, the blood below is making another kind of clot out of blood platelets and protein. With the bleeding stopped, your body increases the flow of blood enriched with white blood cells. These not only search out and kill germs, but they clean the wound of damaged cellular tissue. Skin cells begin to increase the rate at which they make new cells in order to bridge the cut with new skin. Underneath, cells called fibroblasts fill the wound to strengthen the tender new tissue, and contract to pull the wound closed. Now blood vessels and nerves complete their repairs as the fibroblasts position themselves along the lines of stress to prevent future damage.

The intelligence in the order in which the steps to healing take place, as well as the advanced biochemistry involved in making those steps happen, makes the healing of a cut finger no less of a miracle than Jesus’ healing of the high priest’s servant’s ear. Healing is clearly His doing, whether it happens slowly or instantly!

Notes: “How a Wound Mends.” Science Digest, May 1983, p. 86.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Kenyan security officials nearly regain control of mall;
Obama comments on Kenya during UN opening meetings;
Blackberry sold to largest shareholder;
Artificially bred panda cubs make their debut in China.

Gunfire heard from Kenya mall;
UN General Assembly to open;
Rush to fix Colorado flood damage;
Typhoon hits Hong Kong, Southern China.