The Jews Are Gone

If a modern-day Rip Van Winkle were to fall asleep in Aleppo, Syria, in 1910 and wake up in 2010, he would find an amazing and unexpected situation. When he fell asleep, there would be a thriving Jewish community in Aleppo of about 40,000 souls and an active synagogue possessing Hebrew treasures, the chief of which was “The Crown,” the Codex annotated by the great Masorete scribe Aaron Ben Asher. The community has existed in Aleppo since at least the 5th century AD. When our Rip Van Winkle woke up in 2010, all would be gone. He wipes the sleep of a century from his eyes and looks around. The synagogue is still there, but it looks rebuilt. And it is empty. He walks around the old Jewish neighborhood, but there are no Jews. Perplexed, he asks someone, “Where are the Jews?” The answer is that the Jews are gone. “No Jews?” Right, no Jews in Aleppo. “But where are they?” They are gone to Israel.. Read More

The Amazing Journey of the Aleppo Codex

    The Aleppo Codex is a hand-written Hebrew Bible produced by Masoretic scribes in Israel in the 10th century AD. It is a codex, meaning that it is a bound book rather than a scroll.
    Called “the Crown” (Keter), the Aleppo Codex was the apex of the work of the Masoretic scribes who preserved the Hebrew Scriptures after the scattering of the Jews following the first and second Roman-Jewish Wars (AD 70 and 135) and particularly after the widespread devastation resulting from the rise of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries AD.
    The Masoretes worked from about the 6th to the 10th centuries, in Tiberias on the shores... Read More

Friday Church News Notes

A QUESTION FOR NON-HYPER CALVINISTS (Friday Church News Notes, July 19, 2019, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Calvinism is on the march, but there are many varieties of Calvinism. Every Calvinist believes he has the liberty to decide what kind of Calvinist he will be. One list names nine types: total hyper-Calvinist, partial hyper-Calvinist, ultra-high Calvinist, regular high Calvinist, moderate Calvinist, lower moderate Calvinist, lower Calvinist, lowest Calvinist, and Amyraldism (4 point Calvinist). (To understand the difference, you must understand compatibilism, lapsarianism, supralapsarianism, infralapsarianism, active reprobation.. Read More

A Discipling Church Disciples Youth

     The following material is excerpted from THE DISCIPLING CHURCH: THE CHURCH THAT WILL STAND UNTIL JESUS COMES, 513 pages. Available in print or as a free eBook from www.wayoflife.org.
    The church’s youth and the people who are won to the Lord from outside are the future of the church. A pastor once told me, “I used to think that the youth are the future of the church. I no longer think that. I now think that those we win to Christ are the future of the church.”
    It appeared to me that he had changed his thinking because of a general lack of good fruit among the church’s youth.
    I am convinced that both our youth and those we win to Christ are the future of the church. In light of God’s promises, there is no reason why we can’t win our children to Christ and train them as true disciples of Christ... Read More

The Inspiration and Canonization of the New Testament

The following is an updated excerpt from the book Faith vs. the Modern Bible Versions, available from Way of Life Literature-
In this section we will cover the giving and canonization of the New Testament from a believing perspective, which means that we base our teaching directly upon the Bible itself. This, and this alone, is true faith. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17). Any doctrine that is not based on the Word of God is not of faith, but it is human tradition and has no divine authority.

Contemporary books on the history of the Bible commonly parrot the Catholic doctrine that the development of the canon of the New Testament was haphazard and occurred over a long period of time and was accomplished by Catholic synods.
“The idea of a complete and clear-cut canon of the New Testament existing from the beginning, that is from Apostolic times, has no foundation in history. The Canon of the New Testament, like that of the Old, is the result of a development, of a process at once.. Read More

A Plea to the Clark Family

    This is a plea to the Clark Family of Solid Rock Baptist Church in Berlin, New Jersey, in regard to their music. The plea is public, because their music is public.
    The pastors of Solid Rock are Charles Clark, Jr. and Charles Clark III. The Clarks have a singing ministry called the Clark Family and have published several albums. Mike Clark has a major role in the singing ministry. They influence many individuals, families, and churches outside of their own congregation by their albums, web sites, YouTube channel, and conferences.—
    “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Proverbs 27:6).
    I am thankful for your profession of faith in Jesus Christ, your modest dress and conservative Christian values, your commitment to the King James Bible, your close family ties, your zeal to win lost souls to Christ, your concern for our wayward nation, and other wholesome things.. Read More

Friday Church News Notes

TRASHING AMERICA’S FOUNDING FATHERS (Friday Church News Notes, July 12, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A large percentage of Americans have been brainwashed to hate the nation’s Founding Fathers. The latest evidence is the decision by the San Francisco Board of Education to paint over a 13-panel mural of scenes from George Washington’s life at George Washington High School, because of the “violent” and “degrading” imagery (“San Francisco school board votes to paint over,” Washington Post, June 28, 2019). One panel shows frontiersmen standing by the dead body of a Native American, while another shows Washington at Mount Vernon among his slaves. The painting simply depicts the reality of America in the 18th century, which was.. Read More

Jericho - Part of the wall from Joshua's day.

The Ruins of Jericho Confirm the Biblical Account

I have stood on the ruins of ancient Jericho three times. It is an amazing experience. From here, you can see the place of a great many biblical events. You can see across the plains of Jordan to ancient Moab, where Moses viewed the land from Mt. Nebo (De. 34:1) and where he died and was buried (De. 34:5-6) and where Israel encamped and prepared for the invasion of Canaan (Jos. 3:16). You can see the place of the Jordan River.. Read More

CCM Philosophy Spreading Among Independent Baptists

    This is a shortened edition of a previous report by this same title.
    In recent days I have warned about the “adaptation” of Contemporary Christian Music at independent Baptist churches and schools.
    This is going on widely, but even more serious than the “adaptation” of the contemporary music is the adaptation of the contemporary philosophy. Of course, the two go hand-in-hand, which is why contemporary music brings such radical and rapid changes to churches.
    I trust that church leaders will heed our warning and renounce the following philosophies. Every fundamental Baptist church and school today needs to have a top to bottom review of what is being taught and what is not being taught, of what is being emphasized and not emphasized. Every teacher should be vetted so that no foreign philosophy is creeping in.
    I am convinced that every Independent Baptist church that refuses to plainly and boldly and unhesitatingly renounce both the music and the philosophy.. Read More

Charles Spurgeon and a Regenerate Church Membership

Charles Spurgeon began pastoring the Metropolitan Tabernacle of London, England, in 1853 at age 19, and was the senior pastor until his death in 1892. His superlative preaching drew massive crowds, and the church grew from two to three hundred to a membership of over 5,300.

    Spurgeon believed in a regenerate church membership and was very careful in this regard.
    He didn’t give invitations to come forward after his sermons. Instead, he invited seekers to meet with him at his office on Monday morning. He wanted to deal with seekers carefully and properly.
    Prospective candidates for baptism and membership went through a multi-step process.
    1. The enquirer met with one of the elders or deacons to share his or her testimony. .. Read More

Friday Church News Notes

IS ANNE GRAHAM LOTZ CONSERVATIVE? (Friday Church News Notes, July 5, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A few years ago a preacher friend mentioned that he had been listening to some conservative evangelicals, including Anne Graham Lotz (not something I would advise), and he observed, “This Anne lady should have been a man. She makes some very good points, better than her dad Billy and her brother Franklin. She even talks about sin, repentance, hell, demons, earnest prayer, revival, about Israel in a favourable light, etc. There are a very small group of evangelicals.. Read More

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Alphabetical Listing of Reports

God's Amazing Creatures

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