Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] New Christian Observer Articles for November 2014
[2] ARPTalk Editor Chuck Wilson Reports on the October 2014 Erskine College and Theological Seminary Board of Directors Meeting
[3] Reformed Church in Zambia Schools Disallow Reentry to Girls That Become Pregnant
[4] 2014 Christian Worldview Essay Contest Winners Announced
[5] Former Christian Observer News Editor and ARP Leader Tom Patterson Sentenced to Life in Prison on 127 Counts of Child Molestation
[6] Former Vision Forum President Doug Phillips Sued by Young Woman Phillips Alleged to Have Used as a “Personal Sex Object”
[7] Williston, North Dakota, Police Censor Pro-Life 'Truth Truck,' in Free Speech Violation
[8] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell
[9] Articles from LifesiteNews.com
[10] The Thinning Blue Line
[11] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining
[12] The Religion of Peace
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[1] New Christian Observer Articles for November 2014
New Christian Observer articles for November 2014 include:
-- “My Lord, What a Morning!” - By Christian Observer Contributing Editor David Brand – Recent scientific discoveries about the expanding universe, the earth’s gigantic sub-magma water reserve, literal six-day creation, and where the theories of Henry Morris and Vern Poythress fit into the equation;
-- 95 Theses against the Claims of the Mormon Church - a Reformation Day plus 497 years figurative posting on the doors of the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah by the session of Christ Presbyterian Church (Orthodox Presbyterian Church) of Magna, Utah;
-- Learning and Gender Identity - By Christian Observer Contributing Editor Dr. Joe Renfro – The importance of biblical sexual identity vs. the gender confusion being sown into the minds of today’s public school students;
Plus, Daily Devotionals by Christian Observer Contributing Editor T.M. Moore, dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe.
+ Christian Observer, Post Office Box 1371, Lexington, Virginia 24450, christianobserver@christianobserver.org
[2] ARPTalk Editor Chuck Wilson Reports on the October 2014 Erskine College and Theological Seminary Board of Directors Meeting
ARPTalk 106 dated 30 October 2014 reported on the October 2014 meeting of the Erskine College and Theological Seminary Board of Directors.
Several interesting items from the article include:
-- After SACS’ rejection of the Board’s August 2014 three-year budget plan and a subsequent two-year plan,
“[I]n a recent Atlanta meeting, SACS’ auditors had a “come-to-Jesus” meeting with Erskine’s administrators. According to President Kooistra, at the Town Hall meeting in Due West on Tuesday afternoon, October 28, the officials of SACS stated unequivocally there will be a balanced budget in 2014-15 with no more than a five percent draw on the endowment, and there will be a balanced budget in 2015-16 with no more than a five percent draw. At the sound of this trumpet, the budget reduction plan goes back to the drawing board for a second time, for further cuts of somewhere between $300,000 and $400,000.
“As most of us are aware, Erskine College and Seminary will be placed on “probation” by SACS in December. Failure to comply with these new demands by SACS will result in a much stronger sanction — a loss of accreditation by SACS.”
-- “[I]n the meeting of the Seminary Committee, the presence of non-Christians in the MEDCOM DMin program for [U.S.] Army chaplains continues to be a contentious issue. A motion was made that would have required all applicants to all programs to give testimony of faith in Christ. The motion failed. It was noted that all the new candidates for the MEDCOM program this year are from Christian denominations. Members of the committee wanted to give new Vice-President of the Seminary, Dr. Chris Wisdom, time to get his feet on the ground (since he has been at his post for only a month). Furthermore, it was clear that this topic will be revisited in February [2015].”
-- “[T]here is still no policy on sexuality. If gay and lesbian students get together and ask the administration for permission to form a LGBTQ chapter on campus, there is nothing the administration can do to disallow it.”
-- On a more optimistic note, Dr. Wilson concluded the article thusly:
“The task before President Kooistra and Vice-President of the Seminary Chris Wisdom is formidable. Perhaps the only way to save Erskine College and Seminary is to recharter. I do not know. This, however, I do know: these good men are courageous and worthy of our support. I think they are Erskine’s last best chance.”
+ ARPTalk Blog, 864-882-6337, wilson6114@bellsouth.net
+ Erskine College and Theological Seminary, 2 Washington Street, Due West, South Carolina 29639, 864-379-2131, Fax: 864-379-2167, jguyette@erskine.edu
[3] Reformed Church in Zambia Schools Disallow Reentry to Girls That Become Pregnant
A 3 November 2014 Post Zambia article by Richard Luo titled “RCZ Schools Shall Never Use Re-Entry Policy – Jere” reports that Reformed Church in Zambia (RCZ) Eastern Province education secretary Joshua Jere has expressed disappointment with the high pregnancy rates among girls in RCZ schools, and stated that RCZ school students that become pregnant will be expelled and are not eligible to reenter RCZ schools.
Jere stated:
“Government really wants children to get educated, especially girls and it’s because of this that it introduced a re-entry policy in order for a girl child to be educated and be independent rather than depending on someone in future. We respect this government policy, but as for the policy of RCZ, whoever falls pregnant has to be expelled and restart at a regular school and not at any of the RCZ schools. I want to tell you parents that since Nyanje Day is under RCZ, it shall never use the re-entry policy.”
Saying that it is unfortunate that adults are impregnating the mostly-teenage schoolgirls, Jere added:
“I am deeply saddened that you parents, you tend to hide the perpetrators in your communities just because they tell you ‘Don’t reveal because muzadyamo bwino’ (you will be paid handsomely). Once they give you a goat, you are silenced, forgetting that you have ruined the future of the children. Mwadyamo bwino (you have been paid) but who knows, maybe the girl has been infected with the [HIV] virus”
+ Post Zambia, Contact Page
+ Reformed Church in Zambia, Post Office Box 38255, Olympia Park, Lusaka, Zambia, 260-211-295369, info@rczsynod.co.zm
[4] 2014 Christian Worldview Essay Contest Winners Announced
The Trinity Foundation on Reformation Day 2014 announced the winners of the 2014 Christian Worldview Essay Contest.
The First Prize of US$3,000 plus fifteen books are awarded to Ammi Burke of Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland for her essay "Gordon H. Clark on the Christian Life".
There was no Second Prize awarded this year.
The Third Prize of US$1,000 plus five books are awarded to Luke Cummings of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for his essay "What Is the Christian Life?”
All entrants had to read the book What Is the Christian Life? by Dr. Gordon H. Clark and write an essay about the book.
+ The Trinity Foundation, Post Office Box 68, Unicoi, Tennessee 37692, 423-743-0199, Fax: 423-743-2005, tjtrinityfound@aol.com
[5] Former Christian Observer News Editor and ARP Leader Tom Patterson Sentenced to Life in Prison on 127 Counts of Child Molestation
A 12 July 2014 Fox8 article titled “Retired NC Elementary Teacher Guilty of 173 Counts of Sex Offenses; Gets Life in Prison” reports that Tom Patterson, a teacher in Iredell County, North Carolina schools from 1971 until he resigned in 1987, on 11 July 2014 was sentenced to life in prison on 173 counts related to Patterson’s fondling of ten-year-old students when he was a fourth-grade teacher in Mooresville.
Patterson was the News Editor of the Christian Observer from 1988-2007, long-time ruling elder and organist at Coddle Creek ARP Church in Mooresville, North Carolina, Stated Clerk of the ARP First Presbytery 2006-2012, editor of the Alliance of Loyal Laity publication The Highroad for All, long-time ARP Synod liaison to the ARP Synod Lay Committee and the Alliance of Loyal Laity, former Moderator of the ARP Synod, and held several other roles with the ARP Church.
+ Fox8, 2005 Francis Street, High Point, North Carolina 27263, 336-841-8888, news@wghp.com
+ Christian Observer, Post Office Box 1371, Lexington, Virginia 24450, christianobserver@christianobserver.org
+ Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, 1 Cleveland Street Suite 110, Greenville, South Carolina, 29601, 864-232-8297, Fax: 864-271-3729
+ ARP First Presbytery, c/o 4784 Styers Ferry Road, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27104, 336-624-9529, jerry.hallman1048@comcast.net
[6] Former Vision Forum President Doug Phillips Sued by Young Woman Phillips Alleged to Have Used as a “Personal Sex Object”
Former Vision Forum President Doug Phillips, Vision Forum Inc., and Vision Forum Ministries Inc. were sued 15 April 2014 by Ms. Lourdes Torres-Manteufal, who alleges that Phillips used her as a “personal sex object”.
In Part V. Facts, Ms. Torres describes Phillips and his circle in these excerpts as follows:
“Phillips espoused avoiding interaction with authorities at all costs. There is a pervasive sense within Phillips’s tight circle of people that they are engaged in a cosmic war, and that they avoid contact with the government and other outside groups that might hold them accountable or ask questions. Phillips used his training as a lawyer to help foster an unregulated community that operated as a “total institution” where Ms. Torres would have limited access to outside support as she came to see her situation as abusive.”
“Douglas Phillips created a sociological environment that operated as a “total institution.” The total institution concept is used to describe an environment where a person is exclusively surrounded by a large number of similarly situated people. In other words, people within a total institution work together, worship together, spend leisure and recreational time together, and even dwell together. Thus, a person within a total institution is cut off from the normal world entirely. As a closed and tightly knit unit of people, total institutions lead an enclosed and uniquely administered round of life that is peculiar to its own characteristics and beliefs.”
“As one component of the “total institution,” Douglas Phillips’s community had its own church-court system. Disputes were brought before a board of all male elders in what resembled a legal proceeding without any of the rights of the accused in secular courts.
“For Ms. Torres, this system would force her to go up against Phillips—the most powerful man in the extended community—who is a trained attorney known for his skills at argument and intimidation. If Ms. Torres were to lose, she likely would be excommunicated from her church and all other churches that are legitimate in the eyes of her community. Seeking advice from others would have been labeled as gossip and treated as a very serious sin. One could be excommunicated for this, a practice that very much protects the men in power. Ms. Torres had watched others be abused under this one-sided dispute resolution process.”
“Phillips was the dominant authority figure in Ms. Torres’s life and family. He made himself her spiritual father. He was her authority figure with regard to where she lived, where she worked, where and how she worshipped, her education, her interpersonal relationships, her time and schedule, and even acted as her counselor. In other words, Phillips was the pastor of her church, her boss, her landlord, and the controller of all aspects of her life—obedience to Phillips was as obedience to God in this total institution.”
“Prior to the fall of 2013, Douglas Phillips was the self-promoted leader of what is commonly known as the “patriarchal” or “quiverfull” movement. Phillips’s teachings were generally critical of the traditional local-church as he advocated a “home-church” model that created division within evangelical circles. Phillips travelled extensively as a presenter attempting to advance his teachings.”
“Phillips was also the primary leader of a patriarchal church in Boerne, Texas. Phillips used these positions of leadership to manipulate and coerce Ms. Torres.”
“Phillips’s patriarchal movement teaches that men are, and should be, in the absolute control of women. Patriarchy considers women to primarily exist for the purposes of producing children, caring for the men, and rearing the children. Females in the patriarchal movement are discouraged from attaining higher education of any kind and are told that their sole purpose is to marry a man within the movement to meet the purposes described above. In other words, women within this movement are perceived to exist only for the end-goals communicated by the male leaders that perceive themselves as the “patriarchs” of this world.”
“Families within patriarchal and quiverfull communities place extreme importance on maintaining their daughters’ sexual and emotional purity. Sex before marriage is held to be sin, and sex before marriage also damages a daughter’s marriage prospects. Most couples in Christian patriarchy and quiverfull circles don’t kiss before marriage, and some don’t even hold hands or embrace. Furthermore, this virginity is more than just physical; it is emotional as well. Girls are urged not to “give away pieces of their hearts” by becoming emotionally entangled with boys their age. Every teenage crush becomes suspect and dangerous. Dating is out of the question, as it is considered to be “practice for divorce.” Instead, females within these environments find husbands through parent-guided courtships, trusting their father’s guidance and obeying his leadership. Marriage is seen as a transfer of authority from the daughter’s father to her husband.”
“While Ms. Torres would have felt compelled to submit to Douglas Phillips, the purity culture would have meant at the same time, her submission made her “damaged goods” in her eyes, the eyes of her family, and her community-raising the cost for her to come forward to call him to account. She was, in fact, in a “no-win” situation.”
“As a result of the manipulation of this movement, Ms. Torres’s thinking was altered. As described herein, Douglas Phillips—standing in a position of influence and prominence within patriarchy—methodically groomed Ms. Torres so that she would eventually participate in illicit sexual rendezvous with him promising that she could one day marry him. This grooming began when Ms. Torres was a fifteen-year-old child. Due to the years of continued conditioning and indoctrination by Phillips and the patriarchal leaders, Ms. Torres was incapable of giving consent to Phillips’s sexual advances.”
“Phillips promised Ms. Torres that he would marry her and that she would be the person who would have the great privilege of being his wife. In Ms. Torres’s eyes he was the primary leader of this movement and the most powerful male figure in her universe. Phillips repeatedly told Torres that this was possible because his wife, Beall Phillips, was going to die soon.”
In Part VI. CAUSES OF ACTION, Ms. Torres alleges the following counts:
-- COUNT 1—BATTERY (Against Douglas Phillips)
-- COUNT 2—ASSAULT (Against Douglas Phillips)
-- COUNT 3—SEXUAL BATTERY (Against Douglas Phillips)
-- COUNT 4—FRAUD (Against Douglas Phillips)
-- COUNT 5—INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS (Against Douglas Phillips)
-- COUNT 6—NEGLIGENT INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS (Against All Defendants)
-- COUNT 7—SEXUAL EXPLOITATION ( Against All Defendants)
-- COUNT 8—NEGLIGENT SUPERVISION (Against Vision Forum Ministries and Vision Forum, Inc.)
-- COUNT 9—NEGLIGENT RETENTION (Against Vision Forum Ministries and Vision Forum, Inc.)
In Part XI. PRAYER, Ms. Torres prays for judgment against Defendant as follows:
(a) For trial by jury;
(b) For judgment in Ms. Torres’s favor for damages outlined herein:
i. General damages;
ii. Special damages; and
iii. Exemplary damages;
(c) That all costs be taxed against the Defendants, including attorneys’ fees; and
(d) For any and all further relief from Defendant as this Honorable Court deems just.
+ Christian Observer, Post Office Box 1371, Lexington, Virginia 24450, christianobserver@christianobserver.org
[7] Williston, North Dakota, Police Censor Pro-Life 'Truth Truck,' in Free Speech Violation
The human life amendment on the North Dakota ballot for Tuesday's election remains hotly contested, but the right to free speech has long been guaranteed by the First Amendment [to the U.S. Constitution]. In Williston, North Dakota, police officers have silenced that free speech for pro-life advocates, who are being defended in court by the Thomas More Society.
Matt Trewhella, of Missionaries to the Preborn, and Rob Rudnick are supporters of the proposed human life amendment. They are also drivers of "truth trucks," vehicles adorned with large, graphic images of babies, both preborn and aborted. These "truth trucks" are intended to show the reality of abortion and influence North Dakota voters to uphold the human dignity of the unborn.
In August, just a little over two months before this election, Williston police officers ordered the pro-life advocates to remove the images. When Rudnick did not comply, he was arrested and the truck was confiscated. The case is set for pretrial hearing in district court in Williston on November 5, the day after the election. The Thomas More Society is defending Rudnick and is working with Trewhella and Missionaries to the Preborn, to pursue any redress that may be available to them in court.
"It's regrettable that Mr. Trewhella's and Mr. Rudnick's free speech was suppressed during this critical time before the election," said Tom Brejcha, Thomas More Society president and chief counsel. "Williston authorities have prohibited these pro-life advocates from proclaiming their pro-life message based on the content of that message, which is a patent violation of their First Amendment rights."
The images on Trewhella and Rudnick's "truth trucks" support North Dakota's proposed state constitutional human life amendment: "This constitutional measure would create and enact a new section to Article I of the North Dakota Constitution stating, 'The inalienable right to life of every human being at any stage of development must be recognized and protected.'"
The police report in the case explicitly states that it was the content of the signs on the trucks that prompted the police to suppress them. Trewhella was given a cease and desist directive to take his signs out of town and stay out of the city until after the election. Rudnick was likewise warned, but did not comply and was arrested, and his truck and signs were impounded.
"If someone disagrees with another's speech, the proper legal recourse is not suppression of speech but free speech in response," added Brejcha. "Our First Amendment does not permit silencing others just because you dislike their message."
Read the Williston, North Dakota, police report in the case against Robert Rudnick here:
https://www.thomasmoresociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Robert-Rudnick-police-report.pdf
See a photo of the "truth truck" here:
https://www.thomasmoresociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Robert-Rudnick-Truth-Truck-.jpg
About the Thomas More Society
The Thomas More Society is a not-for-profit, national public interest law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty. Based in Chicago, the Thomas More Society defends and fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro bono legal services from local trial courts all the way to the United States Supreme Court.www.thomasmoresociety.org
+ Thomas More Law Center, 24 Frank Lloyd Wright Drive, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106, 734-827-2001, Fax: 734-930-7160, info@thomasmore.org
+ Missionaries to the Preborn, Post Office Box 26931, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226, 414-462-3399, defendbabies@missionariestopreborn.com
+ Interposition Society of North Dakota, Robert Rudnick - psa13913@hotmail.com - 651-238-3064 and Jonathan O'Toole -
help@ProjectSEE.com – SMS 816-337-2614
[8] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell
-- 'They Will Kill Your Baby in Your Face' -- Chinese Activist Chen Guangcheng
-- New York Court Redefines Marriage to Include Incest
-- British Ethicists Seriously Argue for Four-Plus-Parent Embryos, Self-Reproduction
-- Terminally Ill 'Death with Dignity' Advocate Brittany Maynard Takes Her Life
-- The Beginning of Death Panels?
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
+ World Magazine, 85 Tunnel Road, Suite 12, Asheville, North Carolina 28805, 828-232-5415, Fax: 828-253-1556, mailbag@worldmag.com
+ LifeSiteNews.com, Incorporated, 4 Family Life Lane, Front Royal, Virginia 22630, 888-678-6008, Contact Page
+ American Vision, Post Office Box 220, Powder Springs, Georgia 30127, 770-222-7266, Fax: 770-222-7269, mail@AmericanVision.org
+ GOPUSA, Contact Page
[9] Articles from LifesiteNews.com
Articles from the past week from LifesiteNews.com:
-- British Columbia Law Society Rescinds Approval of Christian Law School
+ LifeSiteNews.com, Incorporated, 4 Family Life Lane, Front Royal, Virginia 22630, 888-678-6008, Contact Page
[10] The Thinning Blue Line
-- Fort Lauderdale, Florida Police Cite, Threaten Arrest of Ninety-Year-Old Volunteer for Feeding the Homeless
-- Graphic Video Shows SWAT Team Kill a Small Dog as It Walked Away from Racine, Wisconsin Police
-- New York City Pays US$7500 Fine for Falsely Arresting Man Carrying a Legal Knife
-- ‘They Can’t Un-Rape You': Dash Cam Records Austin, Texas Police Officers Joking about Raping a Woman Walking by Their Car
-- Amarillo, Texas Middle School Student, Assaulted by Police, Arrested, Currently in Jail, for Wearing a Rosary to Football Game
+ The D.C. Clothesline, dean.garrison.99@gmail.com
+ Girls Just Wanna Have Guns, Contact Page
[11] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining
Articles from the past week regarding kings and rulers setting themselves against the LORD and against his anointed:
-- Election Night Bombshell: Obama Executive Order Amnesty by Christmas
-- Obama Administration to Penalize 2,600 Hospitals Who Treat the Poor and Minorities
-- Harvard Sex Week Offers "What What in the Butt: Anal Sex 101" Workshop
-- Three U.S. Citizens Found Dead on Mexican Side of Texas Border
-- FBI Borrows a Page from Obama’s EPA by Seeking Power Expansion through a Rules Change
+ Godfather Politics, 457 Nathan Dean Boulevard, Dallas, Georgia 30132
+ Now the End Begins, Contact Page
+ Chicks on the Right, chicks@wibc.com
+ Right Wing News, Contact Page
+ Personal Liberty Digest, Post Office Box 1105, Cullman, Alabama 35056, 256-727-5353, Fax: 800-941-6987, eletter@personalliberty.com
[12] The Religion of Peace
Articles from the past week about the religion of peace:
-- Florida Muslim Teacher Raped Kids So Badly That One Needed Surgery to Repair Her Genitals
-- Islamic Terrorists Foster Jihad with over Ninety Tweets per Minute on Twitter
-- Second Turkish Trial Implicates Authorities in Planned Attack on Church Leaders
-- Christian Couple Brutally Beaten by Muslim Mob, Then Burnt Alive in Oven
-- ISIS Jihadists Tortured Kobani Child Hostages
-- Massacre of the Tribes: 228 Found Murdered in Just Two Days as ISIS Militants Exact Bloody Revenge on Sunni Leaders Who Sided with Iraqi Government against Them
-- Muslim Blow Torches Fifteen-Year-Old U.K. Army Cadet
-- UK Islamist Wants Sharia Law In America And Every Woman Covered “Head To Toe”
-- Muslims in Kosovo Capture Christians, Dissect Them Alive, Sell their Organs
-- Islamic State Calls for the Invasion of Jerusalem
-- ISIS Beheads Eight Syrian Rebels Who Surrendered
-- After Jihadists Kill 322 Kurdish Fighters, Bodies to Be Burnt to Confirm They Are Dead
-- Seventy-Five-Year-Old in London Faces Racism Charges over Sarcastic Remark about Muslims
-- Pentagon Bows Down to Sharia Law in America
-- Escape from Iran: Mother of Imprisoned Pastor Saeed Abedini Flees after Repeated Threats
-- Asia Bibi Will Appeal Execution Sentence for Her Faith to Pakistan Supreme Court
-- Marines Investigate Islamic State Leaflets Found at Quantico Base
-- New U.K. Law: “Extremism Disruption Orders” to Criminalize Sharia, Prohibiting Critics of Islam from Broadcasting, Protesting and Posting Messages on Facebook
-- ISIS Line Up, Kill another Fifty Men and Women in Iraq Town
-- Video: Islamic State Jihadis Happily Discuss Buying and Selling Sex Slaves
-- Bangladesh Islamic Leader Sentenced to Death for War Crimes
+ Girls Just Wanna Have Guns, Contact Page
+ Now the End Begins, Contact Page
+ World Watch Monitor, Contact Page
+ Atlas Shrugs, writeatlas@aol.com
+ Newsmax, Post Office Box 20989, West Palm Beach, Florida 33416, 561-686-1165, Fax: 561-686-3350
+ The Daily Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT, England, 020-7938-6000, news@dailymail.co.uk
+ FrontPage Magazine, Post Office Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, California 91499, Contact Page
+ Western Center for Journalism, 42104 North Venture Drive, Suite B-122, Anthem, Arizona 85086, 202-370-6366, Contact Page
+ Right Side News
+ Assyrian International News Agency (Nineveh Software Corporation, 2317 West Farwell, Chicago, Illinois 60645, 773-575-5863, Fax: 773-761-8534)
+ Clash Daily
+ Fox News, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10036, 888-369-4762, Fax: 212-462-6127, yourquestions@foxnews.com
+ The Christian Post, National Press Building, 529 14th Street Northwest, Suite 420, Washington DC 20045, 202-347-7734, info@christianpost.com
+ Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch
