Friday Church News Notes
Volume 21, Issue 14 - April 3, 2020
The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, though this does not imply an endorsement.
KENNETH COPELAND DECLARES AMERICA HEALED (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Pentecostal preacher Kenneth Copeland has exercised his prophetic “Word-Faith” powers to take authority over Covid-19 and to declare America healed. He said, “Standing in the Office of the Prophet of God, I execute judgement on you, COVID 19. ... I demand a vaccination to come immediately. I call you done. I call you gone. ... It is finished. It is over. And the United States of America is healed and well again, sayeth the mighty Spirit of peace who is also the Prince of War” (“Judgment Is Executed on Covid-19,” Mar. 30, 2020, YouTube). This deluded man is a reproach to the cause of Jesus Christ and the Word of God. I have seen him command a hurricane to dissolve and a crippled girl to be healed, and after the huffing and puffing and commanding and proclaiming was finished, the hurricane was still a destructive hurricane and the crippled girl was still crippled. It’s on video for all to see, just like this present fiasco. Jesus Christ can command storms and heal every disease, and He gave miracle-working sign gifts to His apostles to prove their apostleship. “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds” (2 Co. 12:12). But Copeland is not an apostle. He is “deceiving and being deceived” (2 Ti. 3:13), like the other Word-Faith hoaxers. I believe in miracles and have seen a great many miracles over these past 47 years of walking with Christ, and I believe in healing and have seen miraculous healings in answer to prayer, but we can’t demand and command these things. In this present time, we walk by faith, not sight, as we wait for the “manifestation of the sons of God” (Ro. 8:18-25).
PENTECOSTAL PASTOR ARRESTED FOR HAVING SUNDAY SERVICES (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Pentecostal pastor Rodney Howard-Browne was arrested on Sunday, March 29, by Hillsborough County (Tampa, Florida) deputies for holding services in violation of county orders. He was charged with a misdemeanor for “unlawful assembly and violating quarantine orders during a public health emergency” and released on bail within 40 minutes. Sheriff Chad Chronister said, “Our goal here is not to stop anyone from worshiping, but the safety and well-being of our community must always come first” (Tampa Bay Times, Mar. 30, 2020). Quoting Mark 12:31, Chronister said, “Loving your neighbors is protecting them, not jeopardizing their health by exposing them to this deadly virus.” I’m not a fan of Howard-Browne, to say the least, who is a Word-Faith heretic, practices the near-insanity of Spirit-laughter and Spirit-drunkenness, and is a conspiratorial nut who has allegedly said that the covid-19 pandemic is a “phantom plague” created by the Chinese and planned at a Bill Gates Foundation event (Tampa Bay Times). But even heretics and nuts are guaranteed freedom of speech and freedom of religion and freedom of assembly under the U.S. Constitution. (And the government should not be in the business of deciding who is or isn’t a heretic or a nut.) These are indeed trying times, and it will be interesting to see how this case is decided.
THE ROOT OF AMERICA’S ILLS (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The bottom line is that America needs to repent of her wickedness before God. Radical political action and multi-trillion dollar national debts will not solve America’s ills, because the fundamental issue is her terrible sin against the God that has shown her such light and mercy. And the very root of it all is the apostasy, corruption, compromise, worldliness, and lukewarmness in her churches. And that includes the majority of the most staunchly conservative, evangelical, “fundamentalist,” and even “independent Baptist”! From my perspective, most “Bible-believing” churches in America are lukewarm at best. I believe that the promise of God to Solomon at the dedication of the temple has a proper application to God’s people in America today. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). What happens in God’s house dramatically affects the White House. It’s high time to exchange a frivolous fun and games program, an entertainment program with a thin veneer of religiosity, for a program of serious prayer, serious Bible study, serious Bible preaching with exegetical substance and plain reproof and rebuke, serious holiness, serious separation from the wickedness of this fallen world, serious pilgrim Christianity, serious Christian living in the homes, being serious about the fathers being the heads of the homes and the mothers being the keepers of the home, serious about putting God’s will before economics, serious training of children and discipling of youth, and above all, serious about a regenerate church membership!
ELTON JOHN PREACHING “BE WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BE” (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Rocker Elton John, a prominent gay-rights activist, emceed “The iHeart Living Room Concert for America” on Sunday, March 29. Artists included Alicia Keys, the Backstreet Boys, and Mariah Carey, all performing from their homes. At 73, Elton John has this message for youth: “Just be yourself. Don’t let anybody do you down. ... I love being gay. ... If you’re unhappy at home, leave, Don’t let anybody torture you for being gay or for your sexuality. ... Be proud of who you are. There are so many wonderful diverse people in the world--straight people, gay people [and] transgender people. We’re all God’s kids. People who should know better in places of responsibility [and] attack gay people, transgender people … they claim to be close to God, [but] they couldn’t be further away from God if they tried” (“Elton John Has a Message for Struggling LGBTQ Youth,” Variety, July 5, 2019). It appears that Elton now thinks of himself as a prophet of God, since he speaks on God’s behalf. Elton’s message has been the message of the rock & roll pop culture since its inception. In the 1960s, I was captivated when the Rolling Stones sang, “I’m free to do what I want any old time,” and the Animals said amen to that with, “It’s my life and I’ll do what I want; it’s my mind and I’ll think what I want.” That philosophy resonated with me in those days, but the end of living for oneself is death, because man is not his own God. To live as one pleases is rebellion to the true God who gives us life and breath and all things (Acts 17:25). The “be what you please” message is a lot older than the 1960s, in fact. About 6,000 years ago, in a very nice garden, a serpent said, “Ye shall not surely die ... ye shall be as gods” (Ge. 3:5). It was a lie. We didn’t make ourselves and we aren’t gods and we do die.
PRAYER CAN DO ANYTHING THAT GOD CAN DO (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). “Prayer is the key that unlocks all the storehouses of God’s infinite grace and power. All that God is, and all that God has, is at the disposal of prayer. But we must use the key. Prayer can do anything that God can do, and as God can do anything, prayer is omnipotent” (R.A. Torrey, Power of Prayer). “What wonders prayer has wrought! The Word of God teems with its marvelous deeds. Believer, thou hast a mighty engine in thy hand, use it well, use it constantly, use it with faith, and thou shalt surely be a benefactor to thy brethren” (C. H. Spurgeon). “There is nothing like that of prevailing prayer--of Abraham pleading for Sodom, Jacob wrestling in the stillness of the night, Moses standing in the breach, Hannah intoxicated with sorrow, David heart-broken with remorse and grief, Jesus in sweat of blood. ... Such prayer prevails. It turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God” (Samuel Chadwick, Prevailing Prayer).
ELECTRIC HORNETS (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from creationmoments.com, February 3, 2020: “How many hornets does it take to power a digital watch? In the case of the Oriental hornet, six hornets can generate enough electricity to run the watch. Entomologists at Tel Aviv University have been studying Oriental hornets. They have been most interested in the outer skeleton or skin of the hornet. And they have discovered that this cuticle works as a living solar cell. When sunlight hits the hornet’s cuticle, electricity is generated. To prove their point in dramatic fashion, they wired six hornets together in series. That arrangement generated enough electricity to run a digital watch for several seconds. Their research also revealed the fact that the cuticle’s electrical generation is most efficient at the temperatures in which the hornets normally operate. Different layers in the cuticle generate and store electrical current. Voltages have ranged as high as several hundred millivolts and the current has been recorded as high as several tenths of an ampere. In effect, Oriental wasps are living semiconductors! The researchers now find themselves in the classic situation of finding out how little they know by learning something. They report that they don’t know how the hornet converts its electrical energy into a form it can use. Nor do they know how the cuticle stores the energy or transmits it. Modern science loves to take pride in its accomplishments. However, every time science investigates God’s seemingly simplest creations, scientists are reminded of their need for humility. REF.: Reese, K.M. 1992. ‘Hornet cuticle may work like organic solar cell,’ Chemical & Engineering News, Mar. 23. p. 94.”
CONCLUSION: The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14).
PENTECOSTAL PASTOR ARRESTED FOR HAVING SUNDAY SERVICES (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Pentecostal pastor Rodney Howard-Browne was arrested on Sunday, March 29, by Hillsborough County (Tampa, Florida) deputies for holding services in violation of county orders. He was charged with a misdemeanor for “unlawful assembly and violating quarantine orders during a public health emergency” and released on bail within 40 minutes. Sheriff Chad Chronister said, “Our goal here is not to stop anyone from worshiping, but the safety and well-being of our community must always come first” (Tampa Bay Times, Mar. 30, 2020). Quoting Mark 12:31, Chronister said, “Loving your neighbors is protecting them, not jeopardizing their health by exposing them to this deadly virus.” I’m not a fan of Howard-Browne, to say the least, who is a Word-Faith heretic, practices the near-insanity of Spirit-laughter and Spirit-drunkenness, and is a conspiratorial nut who has allegedly said that the covid-19 pandemic is a “phantom plague” created by the Chinese and planned at a Bill Gates Foundation event (Tampa Bay Times). But even heretics and nuts are guaranteed freedom of speech and freedom of religion and freedom of assembly under the U.S. Constitution. (And the government should not be in the business of deciding who is or isn’t a heretic or a nut.) These are indeed trying times, and it will be interesting to see how this case is decided.
THE ROOT OF AMERICA’S ILLS (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The bottom line is that America needs to repent of her wickedness before God. Radical political action and multi-trillion dollar national debts will not solve America’s ills, because the fundamental issue is her terrible sin against the God that has shown her such light and mercy. And the very root of it all is the apostasy, corruption, compromise, worldliness, and lukewarmness in her churches. And that includes the majority of the most staunchly conservative, evangelical, “fundamentalist,” and even “independent Baptist”! From my perspective, most “Bible-believing” churches in America are lukewarm at best. I believe that the promise of God to Solomon at the dedication of the temple has a proper application to God’s people in America today. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). What happens in God’s house dramatically affects the White House. It’s high time to exchange a frivolous fun and games program, an entertainment program with a thin veneer of religiosity, for a program of serious prayer, serious Bible study, serious Bible preaching with exegetical substance and plain reproof and rebuke, serious holiness, serious separation from the wickedness of this fallen world, serious pilgrim Christianity, serious Christian living in the homes, being serious about the fathers being the heads of the homes and the mothers being the keepers of the home, serious about putting God’s will before economics, serious training of children and discipling of youth, and above all, serious about a regenerate church membership!
ELTON JOHN PREACHING “BE WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BE” (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Rocker Elton John, a prominent gay-rights activist, emceed “The iHeart Living Room Concert for America” on Sunday, March 29. Artists included Alicia Keys, the Backstreet Boys, and Mariah Carey, all performing from their homes. At 73, Elton John has this message for youth: “Just be yourself. Don’t let anybody do you down. ... I love being gay. ... If you’re unhappy at home, leave, Don’t let anybody torture you for being gay or for your sexuality. ... Be proud of who you are. There are so many wonderful diverse people in the world--straight people, gay people [and] transgender people. We’re all God’s kids. People who should know better in places of responsibility [and] attack gay people, transgender people … they claim to be close to God, [but] they couldn’t be further away from God if they tried” (“Elton John Has a Message for Struggling LGBTQ Youth,” Variety, July 5, 2019). It appears that Elton now thinks of himself as a prophet of God, since he speaks on God’s behalf. Elton’s message has been the message of the rock & roll pop culture since its inception. In the 1960s, I was captivated when the Rolling Stones sang, “I’m free to do what I want any old time,” and the Animals said amen to that with, “It’s my life and I’ll do what I want; it’s my mind and I’ll think what I want.” That philosophy resonated with me in those days, but the end of living for oneself is death, because man is not his own God. To live as one pleases is rebellion to the true God who gives us life and breath and all things (Acts 17:25). The “be what you please” message is a lot older than the 1960s, in fact. About 6,000 years ago, in a very nice garden, a serpent said, “Ye shall not surely die ... ye shall be as gods” (Ge. 3:5). It was a lie. We didn’t make ourselves and we aren’t gods and we do die.
PRAYER CAN DO ANYTHING THAT GOD CAN DO (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). “Prayer is the key that unlocks all the storehouses of God’s infinite grace and power. All that God is, and all that God has, is at the disposal of prayer. But we must use the key. Prayer can do anything that God can do, and as God can do anything, prayer is omnipotent” (R.A. Torrey, Power of Prayer). “What wonders prayer has wrought! The Word of God teems with its marvelous deeds. Believer, thou hast a mighty engine in thy hand, use it well, use it constantly, use it with faith, and thou shalt surely be a benefactor to thy brethren” (C. H. Spurgeon). “There is nothing like that of prevailing prayer--of Abraham pleading for Sodom, Jacob wrestling in the stillness of the night, Moses standing in the breach, Hannah intoxicated with sorrow, David heart-broken with remorse and grief, Jesus in sweat of blood. ... Such prayer prevails. It turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God” (Samuel Chadwick, Prevailing Prayer).
ELECTRIC HORNETS (Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from creationmoments.com, February 3, 2020: “How many hornets does it take to power a digital watch? In the case of the Oriental hornet, six hornets can generate enough electricity to run the watch. Entomologists at Tel Aviv University have been studying Oriental hornets. They have been most interested in the outer skeleton or skin of the hornet. And they have discovered that this cuticle works as a living solar cell. When sunlight hits the hornet’s cuticle, electricity is generated. To prove their point in dramatic fashion, they wired six hornets together in series. That arrangement generated enough electricity to run a digital watch for several seconds. Their research also revealed the fact that the cuticle’s electrical generation is most efficient at the temperatures in which the hornets normally operate. Different layers in the cuticle generate and store electrical current. Voltages have ranged as high as several hundred millivolts and the current has been recorded as high as several tenths of an ampere. In effect, Oriental wasps are living semiconductors! The researchers now find themselves in the classic situation of finding out how little they know by learning something. They report that they don’t know how the hornet converts its electrical energy into a form it can use. Nor do they know how the cuticle stores the energy or transmits it. Modern science loves to take pride in its accomplishments. However, every time science investigates God’s seemingly simplest creations, scientists are reminded of their need for humility. REF.: Reese, K.M. 1992. ‘Hornet cuticle may work like organic solar cell,’ Chemical & Engineering News, Mar. 23. p. 94.”
CONCLUSION: The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14).
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Distributed by Way of Life Literature., publisher of Bible Study Materials and reports for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Established in 1974, Way of Life Literature is a fundamental Baptist preaching and publishing ministry based in Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. Brother Cloud lives in South Asia where he has been a church planting missionary since 1979. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY (REPORTS AND FRIDAY NEWS) IS NOT DEVOTIONAL. IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR.
David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
The Way of Life Literature preaching and publishing ministry is based at Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. A mail stop is maintained in Port Huron, Michigan.
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