Middletown Road Baptist Church [Pittsburgh-Jeff Kistler, pastor] voted Jan. 26 to withdraw from the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches. A resolution which passed unanimously stated: "This action is taken after years of study, discussion, and prayer. It is our observation that this fellowship of churches no longer stands Biblically and doctrinally, on the historic
principles on which it was originally established. Noticeably weak and almost nonexistent is the organization's position and practice of Biblical separation. Likewise, we have seen the Association minimize the Biblical importance and primacy that the Lord has placed upon the ministry and mission of the local church. We take this action with great sadness and deep regret. However we must, for as a church we are determined and committed to maintain the Biblical stand that was once
very evident in the GARBC but is currently lacking. We will currently maintain our fellowship with the PARBC and with the Association of Independent Baptist Churches of W. Pennsylvania with due vigilance."
CORNERSTONE SPEAKERS INCLUDE ED DOBSON Cornerstone University, still a General Association of Regular Baptist Churches - approved school, has the following speakers for its Bible conference Feb. 21-25: Drs. Ed Dobson, Dick Gregory (IFCA), Charles Ware, and Bill Rudd. Ware platform-shares with ecumenicals (see 2/15/98 CC). Rudd served on the GARBC's Council of 18. Busloads of men from his church attended a Promise Keepers rally (see 8/1/96 CC). Dobson's
new-evangelical associations are a matter of long record (e.g., see 4/15/94, 10/1/95, 5/15/96 CCs). He is pastor of Calvary Church (Grand Rapids), and a former assistant to Jerry Falwell. He (Catholic) is listed as an Advisory Editor of Christianity Today, whose founder and board chairman is Billy Graham. Dobson was MBI's 1993 Pastor of the Year. The GARBC still tolerates inclusivism.
PINNOCK AN APOSTATE?-Clark Pinnock, professor of theology at McMaster Divinity School (Canada), has been called an apostate (see 4/15/92 CC), and perhaps for good reason. In the 1960s he was a conservative professor at New Orleans Baptist Seminary (SBC), but underwent a change in the 1970s and 1980s which led to a highly unorthodox understanding of such doctrines as biblical inspiration and the nature of hell. He presented a paper at the recent Evangelical Theological Society calling for a "more inclusive" evangelical understanding of last things which includes the salvation of many who never come to faith in Christ (1/00 Bapt. Banner). He said "God has more than one covenant and more than one people." He spoke of "various paths to Jesus Christ," and said many pagans already belong to God's kingdom. Rejecting justification through faith alone, he said God's standard of judgment is the individual's" participation in Christ's loving way of "life" which "manifests" itself in "the service" of "others."
CRISWELL CHURCH EXAMINES SBC TIES-First Baptist Church (Dallas), which counts Billy Graham as a member, was pastored for almost five decades by Dr. W. A. Criswell. Mac Brunson the current pastor recently presented the results of a year-long study by an FBC deacon committee (1/00 Baptist Banner). The 18-page report contains 100 documented sources linking nearly 100 Baptist General Convention of Texas leaders to the moderate/liberal Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Texas Baptists Committed, two organizations of SBC liberals/moderates opposed to the main "conservative" SBC, and a host of theologically and politically liberal groups also critical of the SBC's conservative stances on "biblical and moral" concerns. First Baptist-Dallas voted Nov. 17 to loosen its ties with the BGCT and join the new more conservative Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. (Messengers of Christ Ministries, http://cnview.com)back
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