The assembly of world religions, (United Religions Initiative), met at Stanford University in June. They met in secret (their press release stated: "The 1997 URI Summit Conference is by invitation and open only to registered participants."), released no action, no statements and concluded their meeting as announced and predicted. These were the headlines, "Conference Sparks Interfaith Union", "Faith in Dialogue", "Stanford Meeting's Goal: U.N. for Religion". They must have heard that the opposition was going to be there, they shut the doors tight to the Bible and Bible believers.The San Francisco Chronicle gave a full page announcing, "Bishop's Idea For a Leap Of Faiths." Bishop Swing's face covers four columns. (Swing is Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California and has gotten the non-Christian leaders of the world behind his new world Church). The explanation is, "The Episcopal leader has an Idea that may have found its time: to create in the Presidio a forum, like the United Nations, where believers can talk."
The introduction to this story reads: "San Francisco's Episcopal bishop, William Swing, has traveled around the world chasing his dream of a place in the Presidio where the world's religions could come together for peaceful dialogue and conflict resolution. Tomorrow, the world comes to Swing, when 200 delegates from historic religious traditions and new spiritual movements convene at Stanford University to begin working on a charter for an international, interfaith organization, tentatively called the United Religions.
"Sitting down together will be Christian ecumenical leaders, black Muslims, American Jews, Australian aborigines, California pagans, South African Hindus, Thai Buddhists, British Baha'is, Catholic priests, Indian Sikhs and other leading lights from across the spiritual spectrum.
"Important details - such as how the United Religions will function, where it will be located, and who will pay for it are to be worked out at a series of meetings between now and June 26, 2000, when the interfaith organization is scheduled to be established in San Francisco.
"Religion almost always comes packaged in a `winner take all' wrapping," Swing, 62, said in a recent sermon. Gentle Buddhists are hurling grenades in Sri Lanka, Hindus and Sikhs are murdering Muslims in Jammu-Kashmir, Muslims are killing Christians in the Sudan: Christians are killing Christians in Northern Ireland, Bethlehem is under the paralysis of religious hostilities.
"Swing envisions the world's religions coming together on a daily, permanent basis, in pursuit of global good. And what better place to do it, he asks, than at the Presidio, where we could turn swords to ploughshares?"
Meeting in the conference hall of the University, the organizers shut out everyone except their own anti-Christ crowd. Paul Andrews, the organizer of the entire set up, came out and told the International Council of Christian Churches' representatives that they could not come in and there would be no statements and actions released to the public.
The protesters from the International Council of Christian Churches included officials who were appointed at the 15th World Congress held in Santiago, Chile, to attend and protest this assault upon Jesus Christ. It is the religious and cult leaders of the world projecting a world organization under the title "Uniting Religions." The harlot church of Revelation is in the making.
The secrecy, forbidding entrance, was imposed to keep any representatives of the ICCC from entering or gathering information. The Conference release on Saturday was all they wanted the world to have. It is worth including that $400,000 was used to pay the way of poor delegates.
The ICCC people caused no disturbances, but they had their signs. Wednesday night at the University Chapel, which was filled to capacity, some 3,000 fliers, which came from Singapore and other leaflets were given out. Local Christians joined the ICCC demonstration.
The story just reported, opens the way now for ICCC Churches to bear the same testimony, locally, in every country, and the impact that God Himself gave to those who belong to His Son and are obeying the Great Commission to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth.
Some of the signs read: "Salvation is only by faith in Jesus Christ;" "Jesus arose from the dead the third day;" "Holy Bible - Word of God;" "Jesus Only Saviors;" "Wages of sin is death;" "Heaven or Hell."
-- Based on a report by Dr. Carl McIntire in the Far Eastern Beacon.