Dear friends:

The article below is from IsraelNationalNews.com.  It further demonstrates the apostasy of mainline denominations, especially their hierarchies.

Of course, there are many individual Bible-believing churches and members that disagree with the liberal and apostate National and World Councils of Churches.  But they need to assert themselves and do something about it instead of sitting in the pew like a proverbial knot on a log.

Years ago I was an elder in a local Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation and I was concerned that a percentage of our offerings was going to the NCC, which I knew had sponsored left-wing terrorism abroad.  I protested and it was not long before we stopped sending money for that purpose.  It was not long after that when the church voted to withdraw altogether from that liberal denomination and join an evangelical Presbyterian denomination -- a great decision. (I am no longer a member of either.)

Last week I met an Episcopal pastor whose church had protested liberalism in his denomination, suffered persecution from them, then withdrew, later affiliating with a Bible-believing African Anglican church in Rwanda, which graciously agreed to sponsor them.  The Episcopal church kept all their property and other assets and they are left with nothing, but God is blessing.

The time is here to choose sides, and "come out from among them."

Jim
______________________

From IsraelNationalNews.com.

Another Church Group Decides to Divest

Another umbrella church organization has taken steps toward divesting from companies that deal with Israel, as a means of waging financial war against the Jewish State.

The World Council of Churches (WCC), an umbrella organization of 347 Protestant and Orthodox Christian sects, has issued a directive to its members to “give serious consideration” to divesting from companies that deal with Israel. The directive explains that the initiative stems from Israel’s “occupation of Palestinian territory.”

The Central Committee of the WCC added that it believes its call for divestment from Israel is not anti-Semitic. “Criticism of the policies of the Israeli government is not in itself anti-Jewish,” it stated. Many people disagree, and much has been written on the topic; see, for instance, Jeff Jacoby's The Face of Antisemitism.

The WCC is not the first major church group to attack Israel in this manner. The US Presbyterian movement decided last summer to consider divestment from companies linked to Israel as well. The 2.5 million-strong church, the ninth largest in North America, represents most US Presbyterians.

The decision, however, was not accepted by all church officials. Reverend J.W. Gregg Meister, an ordained PCUSA minister and president of the New Jersey-based Interlink Media, said at the time that the "actions of the Presbyterian Church's General Assembly do not accurately reflect the beliefs and convictions of the people in the pews. We share with Israel belief in the same God and the same democratic system. No Arab state does. I am confident that the majority of people in our denomination strongly support Israel's right to exist and to defend itself."