28 December 2011

Presbyterians Week Headlines

[1] Death of Francis Nigel Lee

[2] Northern Presbytery of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) Issues 22 December 2011 Statement

[3] Vatican Calls for One-World Government

[4] Reformed Church in Hungary Asked by Fidesz Party Leader to Determine Global Religious Communities to be Recognized by Hungary

[5] The Christian Pundit Continues to Write on the Discussions about Creation and Hermeneutics

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[1] Death of Francis Nigel Lee

The Reverend Barrister Professor Doctor Francis Nigel Lee died 23 December 2011 after a long struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Dr. Lee’s daughter Johanna Lee wrote of her father’s passing:

“It is with great sadness, that I need to inform you all on behalf of my family, of the passing of my father, Francis Nigel Lee. Dad died peacefully on Friday morning after a prolonged struggle with Motor Neuron Disease. Although the disease gradually robbed him of his speech, mobility and ability to write, he conducted himself with dignity and grace to the end. When I took him to a neurology appointment in October, he was already wheelchair-bound. The panel of specialists sympathised with his condition and remarked that it would be natural for him to be angry or hope for a less devastating diagnosis. He calmly replied, “Whether I die in two years or two months, is in God’s hands. My hope is in the next life.” On December 5th, Dad celebrated his 77th Birthday. Two days later marked my parents’ 48th Wedding Anniversary. My mother, Nellie, who was his full-time career during his illness, was at his bedside when he died. Her resilience and selfless commitment to Dad’s needs were inspirational. Thank you to all who have expressed their concern for his health and well-being in recent months. His suffering is over now.”

Nordskog Publishing wrote of Dr Lee:

“The world has lost a giant of a Christian man with the death of the Reverend Barrister Professor Doctor Francis Nigel Lee. At 7:50 am, Friday, Anno Domini 23rd December 2011 (Australian Eastern Standard Time), his Lord took Nigel Lee peacefully in glory to His presence. The Christian world will dearly miss this husband, father, passionately Calvinistic Christian, ponderously accomplished theologian, eminent gentleman, and devoted friend. Francis Nigel Lee dearly loved His Triune Savior and Lord, always treating of theology in due relational terms upon the mystery of the Holy Trinity.”

“….In accomplishment, Dr. Lee was an Advocate or Barrister (alias a Trial Lawyer) of the Supreme Court of South Africa before becoming a Minister and pastor to congregations of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) in Mississippi and Florida. He served as Professor of Philosophy at Shelton College in New Jersey; Scholar in Residence at the Christian Studies Center in Memphis, Tennessee; and Academic Dean of Graham Bible College in Bristol, Tennessee. Then for twenty years, Dr. Lee served as Professor of Theology and Church History at the Queensland Presbyterian Theological College, Brisbane, Australia, lately emeritus. Dr. Lee was Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Fellowship Scholar (1964-1966). His letters include Ph.D., Th.D., D.Phil., D.Min., D.Ed., LL.D., Dr. Sac. Th., D.Jur., D.Litt., D.C.L., D.Hum.”

A funeral for Dr. Lee will be held 30 December 2011 at 10:00 a.m. at the Pinnaroo Lawn Cemetery Chapel, Graham Road, Bridgeman Downs, Australia.

Dr. Lee is survived by his wife Nellie and his two daughters Johanna and Anna-Marie.

Matthew 25:23 - “His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”


+ Nordskog Publishing, 4562 Westinghouse Street, Suite E, Ventura, California 93003, 805-642-2070, Fax: 805-642-1862, Contact Page

+ Presbyterian Church in America, 1700 North Brown Road, Suite 105, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, 678-825-1000, Fax: 678-825-1001, ac@pcanet.org


[2] Northern Presbytery of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) Issues 22 December 2011 Statement

“The Northern Presbytery of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) hold that any proposals to permit “marriage” of homosexuals and lesbians amount to a direct attack on the teaching of the Bible and a repudiation of Scotland's Christian heritage.

“Presbytery notes that a United Christian Witness took take place outside the Scottish Parliament on 8th December 2011 to oppose legalisation of homosexual and lesbian “marriage.” Presbytery further notes that Rev. James Gracie, Minister of the Edinburgh congregation of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), had been invited to take part in the Call Kaye programme on Radio Scotland earlier that day and that in his contributions on the programme Mr. Gracie gave a clear exposition of the Biblical teaching regarding marriage.

“Presbytery understands that complaints regarding some of what Mr. Gracie said on the radio have been made to the Police and to the BBC. The Northern Presbytery support the United Christian Witness as an appropriate means of witnessing to unequivocal Biblical teaching regarding marriage and fully support Rev. James Gracie in his clear exposition of Christian marriage as taught in the Bible.”


+ Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), Rev. John MacLeod, Free Church Manse, Portmahomack, Ross-shire, Scotland, principalclerk@fccontinuing.org

+ United Christian Witness & Protest Against Same-Sex Marriage


[3] Vatican Calls for One-World Government

(Friday Church News Notes, December 23, 2011, www.wayoflife.org bns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “The Vatican and the New World Order,” Herescope, Nov. 17, 2011: “The Bible paints quite a clear picture of the major events that precede the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth. While many of the smaller details may be difficult to interpret, the major events concerning the world’s religious, economic and political future are evident in Revelation, chapters 13, 17 and 18. ... Those informed regarding world affairs will recognize there exists an ever-increasing number of influential leaders who have begun to promote the idea of a global economy. The most significant of these is the G20 which in recent years has made several statements advocating such an economy. But the most startling statements were recently made in a 41 page ‘note’ by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, published in several languages on October 24, 2011. Speaking for Pope Ratzinger, the Council’s document is filled with legal verbiage and complicated language, but is an amazing document to read. It is amazing because almost word-for-word, it bears upon the prophecies of Revelation 13, 17 and 18, and places Rome at the center of the prophetic drama! ... the second half of the note calls for a single world government (point 3) and for a single world financial system (point 4)! Had we not read and studied the document, we would not have believed the statements made in it. ... The document quotes several recent Popes to show how support for a single world ruler is very much part of the precedent and philosophy of Rome. For instance, John XXIII (1881-1963) ‘... also expressed the hope that one day a true world political authority would be created.’ ... The document continues to state that today this teaching (of a single world government) is ‘even more vital and worthy of urgent implementation.’ ... The document speaks about the need for all nations to be part of this system and that none should be excluded: ‘… the world Authority should consistently involve all peoples...’ Revelation 13:7 says: ‘And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.’ The note says that policies must be binding on all and that the Authority should have ‘universal jurisdiction.’ ... In the fourth section that deals with a global economy they say there is a need for ‘... the commitment to create some form of global monetary management’ and ‘one can see an emerging requirement for a body that will carry out the functions of a kind of central world bank that regulates the flow and system of monetary exchanges...’ They then speak of the need for such a world economy to be under the control of the world government. ... In this document, the Vatican pledges its commitment for planetary financial control, calling for the fulfillment of Revelation 13 to the letter!”


+ Way of Life, Post Office Box 610368, Port Huron, Michigan 48061, 519-652-2619, fbns@wayoflife.org

+ The Vatican, Città del Vaticano, Rome, Italy, 39-6-69-88-35-11, Fax: 39-6-69-88-54-47, Contact Page


[4] Reformed Church in Hungary Asked by Fidesz Party Leader to Determine Global Religious Communities to be Recognized by Hungary

A 22 December 2011 Politics.hu article titled “Leading Hungarian Protestant Churches Push for Official Recognition in Hungary of All “Global” Religions” reports that on 19 December 2011, Hungary’s constitutional court ruled that the recent law restricting what religious organizations are recognized by the government was unconstitutional. Fidesz parliamentary party leader Janos Lazar had announced on 16 December that the restrictive law would be repealed, revised, then reintroduced for a vote before the end of 2011.

Both the Reformed Church in Hungary (RCH) and the Hungarian Lutheran Church had asked Mr. Lazar to add more church organizations to the fourteen churches approved in the unconstitutional law. A 21 December 2011 RCH statement said that the revised law to be considered in 2012 should “recognise the church status of all global religions and religious communities that have demonstrated that their teachings promote values and their social services benefit the community both in a narrower and wider sense.”

The 14 December 2011 Presbyterians Week article “[3] Reformed Church in Hungary General Secretary Supports New Religious Repression Laws” reported that the RCH had previously enthusiastically supported the unconstitutional law.


+ Politics.hu, 36-30-370-3561, editors@politics.hu

+ Reformed Church in Hungary, MRE Zsinata1146 Budapest, Abonyi u. 21., Hungary, 30-3361-666, info@reformatus.hu


[5] The Christian Pundit Continues to Write on the Discussions about Creation and Hermeneutics

The Christian Pundit has published two additional articles contributing to recent discussions about creation and hermeneutics:

-- Defining Adam and Eve on The Christian Pundit; and,

-- Polity, Power and Politics in The Aquila Report


+ The Christian Pundit, William.VanDoodewaard@puritanseminary.org

+ The Aquila Report, c/o Metokos Press, 211 Main Street, Suite 108, Narrows, Virginia 24124, 540-726-8223, operations@theaquilareport.com

+ Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, 2965 Leonard Street Northeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49525, 616-977-0599, Fax: 616-285-3246, info@puritanseminary.org