NewsWatch

Hillsong, Alpha, and Catholic Masses

EmergentWatch.com, 2/15/18, “Hillsong Sponsoring Contemplative Alpha – Allows Catholic Mass at Conference” [Excerpts]: In what appears to be one of the latest atrocities in the ecumenical war against God’s church, Hillsong churches are partnering with Alpha—a contemplative program that originated in the Anglican Holy Trinity Brompton—the church that was the European home of the “Holy Laughter” heresies.

The mega-ecumenical Alpha Conference 2018 in the U.S. was just held at Hillsong Phoenix on Feb. 8-9, and featured popular Catholic artist Matt Maher, the Hillsong Phoenix worship team, Eleanor Mumford of the Vinyard Int’l Executive, Catholic Bishop Eduardo Nevares, and former Willow Creek executive Craig Springer.

Photos of the event show Catholic clergy in full regalia holding up the Eucharist wafer and doing mass on the stage at Hillsong Phoenix. Anyone familiar with Alpha’s links to contemplative mysticism knows this certainly is not a good thing. As a quick perusal of the Hillsong TV Channel will show – Hillsong is far from being orthodox, and is firmly in the “Word-Faith” / “Kingdom Now” camp.

(https://goo.gl/yFWj8p)

“Selfish Gene” Misleads Evolutionists

ICR.org, 3/12/18, “Selfish Gene” Metaphor Misleads Evolutionists” [Excerpts]: A recent opinion piece posted on the Chemistry World website [by editorial board member Philip Ball] notes that Richard Dawkins’ 1976 book The Selfish Gene deeply motivated a generation of biologists.... The book’s persuasion notwithstanding, the article notes ongoing challenges to the validity of Dawkins’ “selfish gene metaphor.” It also highlights other inconsistencies in evolutionary theory.

As Philip Ball at Chemistry World opines, Dawkins asserts that the reason organisms have parts appearing like they were designed for a purpose, and why they are driven to do what they do, is because they are “survival machines” whose purpose is to act solely as a vehicle to perpetuate their “selfish,” self-replicating genes. Ball astutely points out the scientific error of Dawkins’ claim, “I will go out on a limb and say that I don’t believe anyone has ever observed a gene, as a discrete and autonomous unit, make an exact copy of itself…. It is not clear that a gene can be considered, from a chemical point of view, a replicator…[thus] once you accept that genes are not autonomous replicating…you lose any plausible sense of selfishness, even metaphorically.”

(https://goo.gl/ennqqS)

Death to “Filthy, Demonic” Christians

FrontPageMag.com, 2/1/18, “Death to ‘Filthy, Demonic’ Christians” [Excerpts]: Pakistan: Sharoon, a Christian boy who achieved academic excellence despite years of entrenched discrimination and bullying—and whose poverty-stricken parents had worked hard to put him in MC Model Boys Government High School—was beaten to death by Muslim pupils.

According to one report: “His academic prowess…only added to the disdain for him felt by other pupils.” Another report says “there were repeated attempts to convert him to Islam. Sharoon however, never quit his faith to the chagrin of the Muslim children around him, exacerbating his pariah status.” Then, on his fourth day at the prestigious Model school—Muslim students attacked him in the classroom (the teacher supposedly did not notice as he was reading his paper). “The violence,” continues the report, “was of such sickening ferocity that poor Sharoon died where he was in the classroom.” A cacophony of insults accompanied the beating; he was called a “filthy Christian” and a “demon.”

Germany: A group of Muslims attacked a 23-year-old Muslim convert to Christianity. He was assaulted because “his attackers saw his Christian cross and were angry he had converted from Islam,” says the report. “They asked him why he had changed his religion,” before “one of the attackers tore the chain off him and threw it to the ground.” The report continues: The unidentified man then punched the Afghan in the face several times. The second attacker then held the Christian by the arms as the first man took out a blade and cut him twice on the upper body with it…. The attack happened less than a mile away from the most notorious radical Islamist mosque in Berlin, the Al-Nur Mosque.

(https://goo.gl/SaiAGQ)

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