A/G Pastor Shot; Wife Killed

Unbelievable tragedy - it appears that the couples sixteen year old son may have been the shooter.

Here's an update from MSNBC.

Story from Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Wellington- A Lorain County pastor was in critical condition and his wife was dead after they were shot in their home Saturday night on rural Peck-Wadsworth Road.

Authorities said the couple's 16-year-old son was a suspect, but they would not give details of what took place. Wellington police found him and took him into custody after officers spotted the family minivan in Wellington.

Officers were preparing to search a residence late Saturday. Mark Petric, 45, was in critical condition at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. His wife, Sue, 43, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Relatives found them in their home about 7 p.m.

Stephen Evans, a deputy Lorain County coroner, said Mark and Sue Petric were found sitting on separate couches in the family's living room in their ranch home. Mark Petric was shot in the face, while his wife had been shot in the head and arm.

Relatives, who came to the home to watch the Indians game, found their bodies. Evans said three people - the couple and their son - were in the home at the time of the shooting.

The couple were pastors at New Life Assembly of God in Wellington, according to the church's Web site. They had been at the small, close-knit congregation on West Street for two years and had moved into their home in April, the Web site said.

No one answered a call to the church late Saturday night.

A neighbor declined to comment, saying the family deserved privacy. Other neighbors said the rural setting prevented many people from getting to know the family.

11 Year Olds To Get Birth Control Without Parental Consent

from Foxnews.com

The plan, offered by city health officials, makes King Middle School the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available to students in grades 6 through 8, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.

There are no national figures on how many middle schools, where most students range in age from 11 to 13, provide such services.

"It's very rare that middle schools do this," said Divya Mohan, a spokeswoman for the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care.

The Portland School Committee voted 5-2 for the measure.

Chairman John Coynie voted against it, saying he felt providing the birth control was a parental responsibility. The other no vote came from Ben Meiklejohn, who said the consent form does not clearly define the services being offered.

Opponents cited religious and health objections.

Diane Miller, who said she has worked as a school nurse in another district for eight years, called the proposal "tragic" and asked "What would God have us do?"

Miller said the plan gives children an adult responsibility they are not ready for, and puts them at risk from sexually transmitted disease and emotional problems.

"I just don't know how we can even look at this and consider it," she said.

Peter Doyle, a former middle school teacher, said the proposal violates the rights of parents, potentially ignoring their special knowledge of their children's health, and puts young girls at risk of cancer from too early use of hormone-based contraceptives.

"You all are going to be responsible for the devastating effects on young women when this goes through," he said.

Those who favored the plan said it isn't about encouraging premature sex, but protecting kids who don't have strong support from their parents.

"Unfortunately, not every child is getting the kind of parental involvement that is going to help keep them safe," said Richard Verrier.

"If my daughter were not able to talk with me about something, if she couldn't reach me for whatever reason, to keep her safe and healthy, I would want to make sure she had access to those resources from trusted adults," Verrier said.

Condoms have been available since 2002 to King students who have parental permission to be treated at its student health center.

About one-fourth of student health centers that serve at least one grade of adolescents 11 and older dispense some form of contraception, said Mohan, whose Washington-based organization represents more than 1,700 school-based centers nationwide.

At King Middle School, birth control prescriptions will be given after a student undergoes a physical exam by a physician or nurse practitioner, said Lisa Belanger, who oversees Portland's student health centers.

Students treated at the centers must first get written parental permission, but under state law such treatment is confidential, and students decide for themselves whether to tell their parents about the services they receive.

Five of the 134 students who visited King's health center during the 2006-07 school year reported having sexual intercourse, said Amanda Rowe, lead nurse in Portland's school health centers.

A high school in Topeka, Kan., on Wednesday stopped providing free condoms to students after district officials learned of the month-old program. The district has a policy against providing contraceptives.

Why I'm Not Emerging: A Brief Response to the Emergent Church

(This article, while written in 2005, contains many great points and fair analysis about the EC movement.)


by James MacDonald

Let me begin with a word of personal appreciation for the current leaders of the emerging church movement. I am deeply grateful for your courage in standing against the many shortcomings of the modern western church. Thanks for insisting that authenticity in relationship is the foundation of genuine Christian community. Thanks for standing against the formulaic/instant Gospel which fills our churches with tares and insulates the human heart from a genuine transformational encounter with the living Christ. Thanks also for daring to believe that failure is not final and that Christ yet longs for His bride to function with the health and wholeness He created it to enjoy.

In case you are wondering why my gratitude for the leaders of the emerging church does not translate into enthusiasm for their current emphasis and direction let me take a few words to explain why I am not emerging.

Because observing the bad is not a credential for guiding us to the good.

Even if every placard-carrying protestor across from the White House has a legitimate complaint, they will not soon be invited to cross the street and participate in governing our nation. The hippies of the late sixties told us that the choice to “make love, not war” would go a long way toward solving society’s ills. We now know however that free love is a fast track to rampant perversion and escalating victimization of the innocent among us. History is replete with proof that those most articulate about our shortcomings are often least able to bring balanced, objective solutions. I resonate deeply with much of the criticism flowing from the emerging church against current western Christianity, but I am deeply grieved to see the emergent remedies accepted so uncritically by those who feel gratified by the accuracy of their critiques. Knowing the soup is bad does not make one a chef. If successful diagnosis was a license to treat the patient every lab technician would be a surgeon . . . scary.

Because God is looking for obedience to revealed truth, not just sincerity.

I have had numerous interactions and time to personally observe several of the key emerging leaders such as Chris Seay, Carol Childress, Dave Travis, Leonard Sweet, Brian McLaren and Rob Bell. Some I have only spoken with, others I consider to be dear friends, but each that I have been exposed to give strong evidence that they are sincere and genuinely committed to Jesus Christ. If all that Christ asked of us was a gracious, kind demeanor they would be exemplary indeed; however the Lord is asking for much more. In John 14:21 Jesus taught “he who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.” We are expected to obey our Master and to accept His Word without equivocation. Cavalier questioning of the explicit statements of Scripture regarding the necessity of the new birth, the priority of biblical proclamation or the binding authority and sufficiency of Scripture cannot build a stronger, more Christ- honoring church no matter how sincere the messengers. Critiquing the church is good, disregarding or diminishing the revealed truth of our Founder is not good, no matter how ‘nice’ the people are who do it.

Because Christ’s is a kingdom of substance, not style.

Candles and bells, paintings and sculpture, incense and chanting—great! Let’s bring back the best of all those offerings of worship, but let’s not confuse style and substance. According to Jesus, it’s still truth that sets you free—not artistic expression. Wearing suits and ties is certainly not necessary and it can be contrived and unnatural, but wearing jeans and sandals is not a means to the revealed presence of Christ. John 14:21 teaches that obedience to the substance of Christ’s teaching brings His “manifest presence,” not forms—old or new. In most of these discussions we are simply inserting an ancient-dead form in place of a modern-dead one. The former feels new because it’s so ancient, as in “wow, we lit candles and sat in circles at church—that was so powerful.” Or wait, was it the form that was powerful or just the broken routine that allowed my heart to worship with fresh sincerity? The renewed, ancient forms of worship are powerful if they are offered in spirit and truth and will become just as worthless as they become routine. The power of Christ is not experienced in style, but in heart-felt substance and to miss that point is to set the stage for Emerging Church II when our kids get sick of the currently cool. Style is fun and fresh methods can promote sincerity, but the manifest presence of Christ which is the life of the church comes in response to biblical substance from the heart, not surface adjustments which can quickly become an end in themselves.

Because the answer is Jesus, not cultural analysis.

Several times in the past few years we have baptized more than 200 adults in our church in a single weekend. When you listen to so many concurrent stories of conversion to Christ in such a short period of time, you get a clear picture of how it happens. “I was going along thinking I was ‘too sexy for my shirt,’ and God dropped a boulder on my life to break me down and get my attention.” While the label on the boulder may change, the story does not. Bottom line: God uses the painful circumstances of life to soften human hearts and bring people to faith in Christ. In the past few years we have analyzed our culture ad nauseum. Cultures don’t come to Christ, individuals do and the fields are more ripe for harvest than ever before. Our endless discussion of culture has become just an elitist substitute for rolling up our sleeves and getting the Good News to the people who are hurting right now! Baby Boomer, GenX, Postmodern, blah, blah, blah. The discussion itself is modernistic and we’re just talking to ourselves. How about a more compassionate extension of our own life in Christ and please . . . a lot less perpetual babbling about culture, which even when rightly observed is not the answer, duh—Jesus is!

Because Jesus is the purpose for the party, not the surprise hiding in the closet of respectability.

If you have not traveled to the places in our world where the Gospel of Christ is spreading like wild-fire, I covet that opportunity for you. What you find there is not careful connoisseurs of some Rodeo Drive Jesus, but flag-waving, flame-throwing, on-fire followers of Christ. The power of God’s Spirit is moving because Jesus is experienced, adored and proclaimed in all of His transcendent glory. Why do so many of the emerging church websites speak of God/Father and less overtly or not at all about Jesus Christ the Lord? Claiming to be post modern we are still marketing Jesus and hiding Him in the closet of respectability until we feel like people are ready to handle Him. Jesus can’t be handled and He doesn’t need spin doctors. I know we’re pretty fussy about music forms, but let’s bring back an old chorus, This Little Light of Mine, and in case we’ve forgotten the answer to “hide it under a bushel?” is NO!
Anyway . . .

I am thankful for the honest and often accurate critiques of current western Christianity flowing from the emerging church movement. I strongly desire to see them show greater promise in the arena of solutions or at least be more open to analysis from outside their community than they have been to date. (Witness the harsh rejection, rather than careful analysis of D.A. Carson’s book, Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church on many emergent blogs )

These are some of the factors affecting my decision not to emerge. What I am doing is hoping, praying and spending myself, along with many others, for “revival in the church in America in our lifetime.” The problems in the western church are extreme: legalism or license, dead orthodoxy or compromised consumerism, professional entertainers with pop psychology or angry disregard for the sinful world Jesus weeps for. The western church in our lifetime has become an awful mess, but Jesus is not giving up on her and neither should we. Now hear this: the answer we desperately need is a fresh move of God. We need a renewed vision of God’s exalted, infinite holiness. We need an overwhelming sense of our own pride and personal sinfulness. We need our eyes lifted from the bankruptcy of cultural reflection to the crucified, risen, glorified Christ. There must be a returning to the centrality of the unadorned Gospel and the power of God’s Spirit to redeem, restore and rebuild broken lives. We need men and women on fire with passionate confidence in the power of God’s Word proclaimed; not because pagans say they want it, but because God promises to bless it. In short, what we need, what we desperately need is a renewing work of God that will cut a swath of revival across our land like a tornado across a Kansas wheat field. That’s what we need and nothing else will do. In fact anything else is window dressing. Most urgently I am praying that we will repent and turn from the horizontal, man-centered focus that grieves God’s Spirit and prevents the presence of Christ from emerging more fully in our midst.

Why Unity In Doctrine Is Essential - Part 1

By Dr. Opal Reddin

We agree with David Wells when he says, "there is no Christian faith in the absence of 'sound doctrine' (1 Tim. 1:10; Tit. 1:9)." Without it, we have neither the Father nor the Son (2 Jn. 9). We are told to "contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). We must "guard" this faith (2 Tim. 1:13-14; 4:3). We know that this faith was stated in propositional truths, for Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "I plead with you that you all speak the same thing and that there be no division among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment" (1 Cor. 1:10). It is on this basis that churches have statements of fundamental truths. Belief and practice are inextricably linked (1 Jn. 2:3-3:18).

There are two kinds of division, one of God and the other of Satan. When Paul warned against division, he was referring to bad division, caused by false doctrine. Some "depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons" (1 Tim. 4:1). In John's Epistles he warned, "Many antichrists have come . . .they went out from us, but they were not of us" (1 Jn. 2:18-19). Regarding fellowship, he wrote, "If anyone comes with another doctrine, do not receive him . . .for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds" (2 Jn. 10,11). Paul told the Romans to "mark those who cause division contrary to the doctrine which you have learned" and avoid them (16:17).

There is good, necessary division, the result of being separated from Error by the Truth (Jn. 17:17). Jesus said, "I came to bring division" (Lk. 12:51); He separated His Church from the Judaism that rejected Him (Jn. 1:11). Paul maintained this separation by exposing the Judaizing heresy as "another (accursed) Gospel" (Gal. 1:6-9). Without this division, Christianity would have gradually become merely a sect of Judaism.

God Now Censored

Source: FoxNews.com

U.S. Congressmen are now being prohibited from using references to God in official correspondence from the Capitol building including, "under God" in the pledge, "God bless you," or "in the year of our Lord".

Washington, DC: Recently, Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo) was astonished when she flew a flag over the U.S. Capitol Building as a tribute to a senior citizen, and the accompanying certificate she received was edited with all religious references removed.

The Congresswoman was more astounded when, upon further investigation, she discovered the certificate was censored by order of the Architect of the Capitol, an unelected official who manages the flag office and other various operations within the Capitol Building.

Responding to a request for a flag flown over the United States Capitol in honor of a World War II veteran's 81st birthday, the Congresswoman ordered the flag and a certificate to state: "This flag was flown for Mr. John Doe on the occasion of his 81st birthday, the eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord, 2007. Thank you, Grandpa, for showing me what it is to be a true patriot -- to love God, family, and country. We love you!"

When the flag and certificate came back from the flag office, each reference to the Lord and God were removed.

In response, Congresswoman Musgrave alerted two of her colleagues. Joining her were Congressman Randy Forbes (R-VA) and Congressman Michael Turner (R-OH). This group of lawmakers confronted Architect Stephen Ayers seeking to find the authority he was given to restrict their freedom of speech and religious expression.

Failing to provide the lawmakers a clear justification of his authority, the Architect has stood his ground and warned that because reference to God and the Lord may offend some Americans he prohibits them from being placed on official documents such as flag certificates.

"Our Founding Fathers fought against this sort of tyranny so every American citizen could freely express themselves and practice their religion. It's unfathomable that a bureaucrat in Washington today would think it is acceptable to silence the religious expression of lawmakers," said Musgrave.

"Flying flags over the Capitol is a traditional way to honor local residents. I was shocked when it came back with a censored certificate. I was even more shocked by the lack of reason the Architect has shown. He clearly has no basis for his actions and has displayed poor judgment on this matter," continued Musgrave.

Why Have Doctrines?

I came across an old letter written by Dr. Opal Reddin in response to some A/G ministers asking this question years ago. Given the current struggle that many face as to why it is important to believe the right things about Christianity and the Bible - thought this letter brings up some great points:


"Do we want doctrinal purity? Do we want doctrines? Referring to Pentecostals and Charismatics, one very popular speaker/author recently said that "people don't want doctrine, they just want Him (God)." The writer seems to believe that people can experience God without all the fuss about doctrine.

The Assemblies of God has been delineated as being strong on Experience and weak on Doctrine. Admittedly, we have been too busy trying to evangelize the world to take time to write many "scholarly" tomes, but we have known what we believe. In my time at Fuller Theological Seminary, I was often asked, "What does the AoG believe about this?" I suffered no embarrassment whatever as I always had an answer for any who asked about any doctrinal belief.

It's true that when the 300-plus Pentecostals met in Hot Springs, April 2, 1914 to form the General Council of the Assemblies of God they disdained a formal doctrinal statement. It indeed was a biblical experience they could not deny that had caused them to be driven out of their respective denominations. Since the majority were already "Bereans" and well grounded in the Word, they saw no need for a rigid creed.

(However) It was new "Revelation" that made the young movement realize the need for written "Statement of Fundamental Truths". The (new) "Revelation" was also termed "The New Issue", "Jesus Only", "Oneness", and "Pentecostal Unitarianism". To counteract what the majority could not accept, sixteen doctrines were enunciated at the fourth General Council in 1916. The second doctrinal statement, "The One True God", is almost as lengthy as all the others combined because of the need to defend Trinitarian doctrine against the errors of Unitarianism.

In Anointed To Serve, Dr. William Menzies wrote, "It is remarkable after all of these years the Statement of Fundamental Truths, as it was called, has remained virtually unchanged, with but minor rewording for the sake of clarification in recent years." (GPH, 1971, 119). Presently we face a deja vu: Many Pentecostals and Charismatics are saying ones belief about the Godhead does not matter. I urge each of you to review your understanding of the Trinity. In fact, since many of the "Latter Rain" false teachings are being recycled, why not teach our 16 fundamental doctrines to your congregation? A member of the board of directors told me last week that he's teaching them in Sunday school and the class is growing! They love doctrine, well taught."

In Spirit and Truth,

Opal Reddin


My note: We are definitely having deja vu again today! This time around I would urge our ministers to review their understanding of the Virgin Birth, Substitutionary Atonement, Inerrancy of Scripture and the reality of Hell, just to name of few. Because there are so called "Evangelicals" today who are questioning the veracity of these core doctrines of Christianity. People do love doctrine well taught. We've been doing a Wednesday night study of these 16 fundamental truths and the groups are growing. In fact, we've had better attendance for this study than any other - and folks even had to buy a book for their study groups. I think too often pastors underestimate the desire their people have to learn Biblical doctrine and be versed well enough to never "suffer embarrassment" from not being able to answer a question about their faith. In fact such knowledge may just keep them out of divorce court, the counselor's office, the Kingdom Hall, the Mormon Temple....

Fundamental Christians Cause Atheism?

From Newsbusters:

ABC may have set a loathsome new MSM low in insulting traditional Christians. On today's "Good Morning America," the network lumped the "Christan right" with the 9-11 Islamic terrorists as driving people to atheism.

Keying off an atheists convention being held this weekend, GMA ran a segment on the "Rise in Atheism." Seeking to explain the phenomenon, as images rolled first of the WTC in flames and then of a man placidly holding a sign that simply read "One Nation Under God" and of a display at a demonstration of the Ten Commandments, ABC's Liz Marlantes stated:

Some are reacting to religious extremism, like the Islamic fundamentalism behind the terrorist attacks of 9-11, but also the rise of the Christian right in the U.S.

So there it is. To ABC, traditional Christians are as responsible for making people doubt God as the 9-11 terrorists. People peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights by displaying the Ten Commandments or a sign containing an excerpt from the Pledge of Allegiance as faith-shattering as terrorists who murder thousands by flying airplanes into buildings.

Does MSM anti-Christian bias get any worse than this? ABC owes an apology.

NOTE: In making the case that atheism is growing, Marlantes mentioned that "Congress now has its first self-proclaimed atheist." But while displaying his image [shown here], ABC didn't in any way identify him. He is Pete Stark (D-Calif.)

My note: In the future prepare for the harshest criticism of Biblical Christianity to come from within the 'church'. Articles like this will give illustrative rise to emergents and others of their ilk as to why we shouldn't take the Bible literally, and why all good Christians should shun the 'fundamental' label. They would never use the term 'dumb down the gospel' but that is what will be promoted as hell is deconstructed, the atonement is diluted, the virgin birth is written off and holy living is something for narrow minded legalists.