Friday Church News Notes
Volume 19, Issue 18 - May 4, 2018
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.
HISTORIC MEETING BETWEEN KOREAN LEADERS (Friday Church News Notes, May 4, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - For the first time since the end of the Korean War in 1953, a North Korean leader has set foot on South Korean soil. This occurred on Friday morning, April 27, when North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un crossed the border at Panmunjom into the South Korean sector to meet with President Moon Jae-in. Kim wrote in the guestbook at the meeting place, “A new history begins now -- at the starting point of history and the era of peace.” In May or June, Kim is expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump. This will be the first time that a North Korean leader has met with a sitting U.S. President since the Korean War. Nothing might come of this, of course, but if it does lead to a real opening of North Korea and a relaxation of the draconian laws against religious liberty, it will be the answer of the prayers of the many saints who have petitioned the Lord to allow the free preaching of the gospel in that long-enslaved land. Kim Jong Un is the grandson of Kim Il-sung, who founded the Kim dynasty in 1948. In North Korea it is called the Mount Paektu Bloodline. “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
RAPPER CALLS “GOD FEARING” A “DATED MENTALITY” (Friday Church News Notes, May 4, 2018, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a tweet on April 21, rapper Kanye West said, “I don’t subscribe to the term and concept of God fearing. That’s a dated mentality that was used to control people. We are in the future. If God is love and love it’s [sic] the opposite of fear then... to fear God makes no sense.” The fear of God is mentioned more than 80 times in Scripture. It is “the beginning of wisdom” (Ps. 111:10). It is “to hate evil” (Pr. 8:13). The fear of God is compatible with, and not contrary to, God’s love, because God is also holy and just and righteous. The fear of God is not only an Old Testament concept. The New Testament believer is instructed, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Co. 7:1), and “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (He. 12:28). West appeared as a thorn-crowned Jesus on the cover of Rolling Stone in 2006. His 2013 album was titled Yeezus, which is a play on West’s nickname Yeezy and the name Jesus. The cover art depicts West being crowned king by angels. In the song “I Am a God,” he raps, “I just talked to Jesus, and he said, ‘What’s up, Yeezus?’/ ... I know He the Most High/ But I am a close high/ ... I am a god.” The Book of Zeezus: A Bible for the Modern Day, published in 2015, is a version of the book of Genesis that replaces every mention of God with the rapper’s name. West is married to pop icon and former Playboy model Kim Kardashian. Their marriage was performed by emerging church pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr. of Vous Church near Miami. Yes, West claims to be a Christian. He is a typical modern “Christian” who is described in the prophecy of 2 Timothy 4:3-4. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
KNOWLEDGE SHALL INCREASE (Friday Church News Notes, May 4, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - About 2,500 years ago, during the Persian Empire, an angel told the prophet Daniel, “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4). We are seeing a dramatic fulfillment of this in our day. Recent inventions and discoveries include the following: In a world first, an Israeli has undergone surgery to regrow a bone. The procedure, developed by Israeli biotech company Bonus BioGroup, uses fat cells to grow tissue that is transplanted into the patient’s body and regrows the missing parts of the bone. Dr. Shai Meretzky, CEO of Bonus Biogroup, says, “We created thousands of tiny bone particles, each one of them alive, which enables us to inject them into the missing part where they join together to form a fully functional bone” (The Times of Israel, Dec. 20, 2017). Dr. Nimrod Rozen, who conducted the procedure, said, “This surgery is truly science fiction, it changes the entire game in orthopedics. Today I have the ability to grow any bone in a lab.” Drones are being used to deliver blood in Rwanda. “Zipline, a Silicon Valley company, has teamed up with Rwanda's health ministry to deliver more than 5,500 units of blood, according to a report in The Guardian. The drones have reportedly cut the average delivery time from four hours to roughly half an hour. The company, which has raised over $41 million from investors according to Crunchbase, delivers blood to 12 hospitals in the eastern part of the country, covering a total of approximately 6 million people” (“Drones Are Being Used,” Fox News, Jan. 2, 2018). Scientists in Britain and Australia have developed a new technique for speed breeding crops (“Speed breeding,” UPI, Jan. 2, 2018). The technique yielded a generation of wheat, seed to seed, in just eight weeks, three times faster than standard growth. Not only did the plants grow quicker, but they “look better and are healthier.” “The breakthrough could accelerate the pace of crop research and help scientists find more productive, resilient and adaptive varietals and hybrids.” Pancreatic cancer research scientists have made a nanoparticle that can selectively deliver genetic material to a tumor (“Tel Aviv University Study,” The Times of Israel, Jan. 4, 2018). The study was led by Ronit Satchi-Sainaro at Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, who said, “We managed to change the genetic signature of pancreatic cancer cells and inhibit the cancer gene and increase the survival of mice.”
FUDGING WORDS (Friday Church News Notes, May 4, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - There are a thousand ways to prevaricate, and one of those is to change the definition of a word. This is a common practice with false teachers. For example, as a young Christian I read a Seventh-day Adventist pamphlet entitled “Saved by Grace,” but the pamphlet actually taught saved by grace plus works! The beautiful word “grace” was redefined. I think of another example. A couple of years ago a preacher wrote to me to say that he did not agree with my perspective about the compromise at Lancaster Baptist Church in Lancaster, California. He said, “From first-hand experience I have found the issue at Lancaster to be not to the degree that you have portrayed it.” When I wrote to him and said that I had clear evidence that I have not “exaggerated” the problem at Lancaster, he said, “I didn’t say that you exaggerated.” Well, no he didn’t use the word “exaggerated,” but it is obvious that this is exactly what he was saying. To fine tune words in such a manner is obfuscation. It is similar to Bill Clinton saying, “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.”
“MUMMIFIED” TREES MORE PROOF OF THE FLOOD (Friday Church News Notes, May 4, 2018, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Mummified Trees,” OneNewsNow.com, Jan. 9, 2018: “It was recently announced that a team of scientists found the fossilized trees on the ice-covered continent. They estimate that the trees are some 280 million years old and were preserved down to the cellular level after being rapidly buried in volcanic ash--preserved so well, in fact, that some of the amino acid building blocks that make up the trees; proteins can still be extracted. But Dr. Tim Clarey with the Institute for Creation Research says a more literal, biblical explanation that fits the science is that this is a result of the Great Flood told in the Old Testament. He explains that the most important thing the scientists noted they had found was that the trees had original protein in them. ‘It isn’t that they were frozen and preserved that way,’ he tells OneNewsNow. ‘These things were buried in rock. Just like the dinosaurs, we’re finding more and more original proteins and blood cells and blood vessels in dinosaurs as well. These things are supposed to be 68 to 150 million years old; in this case, they’re supposed to be around 280 million years old,’ he continues--then asks: ‘How do you have original proteins that survive that long?’ ... ‘This is another example of Antarctica showing that there was a warmer climate down there at one point,’ he states. ‘It wasn't always icy--that didn't happen until after the Flood was over that the Ice Age really kicked in. In our opinion, at ICR, this fits exactly what the biblical story tells us in the Book of Genesis.’ He says to explain this in an ‘old age’ system is very difficult--and argues that the discovery of original proteins is scientific, empirical evidence that shows the world isn't as old as secular scientists believe.”
THOMAS EDISON ON PERSISTENCE AND HARD WORK: “Opportunity is missed by most people, because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up; the most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
“Worldliness is a sprit, a temperament, an attitude of soul. It is life without high callings, life devoid of lofty ideals. It is a gaze horizontal, never vertical. Its motto is ‘Forward,’ never ‘Upward’” (John Henry Jowett).
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).
RAPPER CALLS “GOD FEARING” A “DATED MENTALITY” (Friday Church News Notes, May 4, 2018, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a tweet on April 21, rapper Kanye West said, “I don’t subscribe to the term and concept of God fearing. That’s a dated mentality that was used to control people. We are in the future. If God is love and love it’s [sic] the opposite of fear then... to fear God makes no sense.” The fear of God is mentioned more than 80 times in Scripture. It is “the beginning of wisdom” (Ps. 111:10). It is “to hate evil” (Pr. 8:13). The fear of God is compatible with, and not contrary to, God’s love, because God is also holy and just and righteous. The fear of God is not only an Old Testament concept. The New Testament believer is instructed, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Co. 7:1), and “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (He. 12:28). West appeared as a thorn-crowned Jesus on the cover of Rolling Stone in 2006. His 2013 album was titled Yeezus, which is a play on West’s nickname Yeezy and the name Jesus. The cover art depicts West being crowned king by angels. In the song “I Am a God,” he raps, “I just talked to Jesus, and he said, ‘What’s up, Yeezus?’/ ... I know He the Most High/ But I am a close high/ ... I am a god.” The Book of Zeezus: A Bible for the Modern Day, published in 2015, is a version of the book of Genesis that replaces every mention of God with the rapper’s name. West is married to pop icon and former Playboy model Kim Kardashian. Their marriage was performed by emerging church pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr. of Vous Church near Miami. Yes, West claims to be a Christian. He is a typical modern “Christian” who is described in the prophecy of 2 Timothy 4:3-4. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
KNOWLEDGE SHALL INCREASE (Friday Church News Notes, May 4, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - About 2,500 years ago, during the Persian Empire, an angel told the prophet Daniel, “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4). We are seeing a dramatic fulfillment of this in our day. Recent inventions and discoveries include the following: In a world first, an Israeli has undergone surgery to regrow a bone. The procedure, developed by Israeli biotech company Bonus BioGroup, uses fat cells to grow tissue that is transplanted into the patient’s body and regrows the missing parts of the bone. Dr. Shai Meretzky, CEO of Bonus Biogroup, says, “We created thousands of tiny bone particles, each one of them alive, which enables us to inject them into the missing part where they join together to form a fully functional bone” (The Times of Israel, Dec. 20, 2017). Dr. Nimrod Rozen, who conducted the procedure, said, “This surgery is truly science fiction, it changes the entire game in orthopedics. Today I have the ability to grow any bone in a lab.” Drones are being used to deliver blood in Rwanda. “Zipline, a Silicon Valley company, has teamed up with Rwanda's health ministry to deliver more than 5,500 units of blood, according to a report in The Guardian. The drones have reportedly cut the average delivery time from four hours to roughly half an hour. The company, which has raised over $41 million from investors according to Crunchbase, delivers blood to 12 hospitals in the eastern part of the country, covering a total of approximately 6 million people” (“Drones Are Being Used,” Fox News, Jan. 2, 2018). Scientists in Britain and Australia have developed a new technique for speed breeding crops (“Speed breeding,” UPI, Jan. 2, 2018). The technique yielded a generation of wheat, seed to seed, in just eight weeks, three times faster than standard growth. Not only did the plants grow quicker, but they “look better and are healthier.” “The breakthrough could accelerate the pace of crop research and help scientists find more productive, resilient and adaptive varietals and hybrids.” Pancreatic cancer research scientists have made a nanoparticle that can selectively deliver genetic material to a tumor (“Tel Aviv University Study,” The Times of Israel, Jan. 4, 2018). The study was led by Ronit Satchi-Sainaro at Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, who said, “We managed to change the genetic signature of pancreatic cancer cells and inhibit the cancer gene and increase the survival of mice.”
FUDGING WORDS (Friday Church News Notes, May 4, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - There are a thousand ways to prevaricate, and one of those is to change the definition of a word. This is a common practice with false teachers. For example, as a young Christian I read a Seventh-day Adventist pamphlet entitled “Saved by Grace,” but the pamphlet actually taught saved by grace plus works! The beautiful word “grace” was redefined. I think of another example. A couple of years ago a preacher wrote to me to say that he did not agree with my perspective about the compromise at Lancaster Baptist Church in Lancaster, California. He said, “From first-hand experience I have found the issue at Lancaster to be not to the degree that you have portrayed it.” When I wrote to him and said that I had clear evidence that I have not “exaggerated” the problem at Lancaster, he said, “I didn’t say that you exaggerated.” Well, no he didn’t use the word “exaggerated,” but it is obvious that this is exactly what he was saying. To fine tune words in such a manner is obfuscation. It is similar to Bill Clinton saying, “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.”
“MUMMIFIED” TREES MORE PROOF OF THE FLOOD (Friday Church News Notes, May 4, 2018, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Mummified Trees,” OneNewsNow.com, Jan. 9, 2018: “It was recently announced that a team of scientists found the fossilized trees on the ice-covered continent. They estimate that the trees are some 280 million years old and were preserved down to the cellular level after being rapidly buried in volcanic ash--preserved so well, in fact, that some of the amino acid building blocks that make up the trees; proteins can still be extracted. But Dr. Tim Clarey with the Institute for Creation Research says a more literal, biblical explanation that fits the science is that this is a result of the Great Flood told in the Old Testament. He explains that the most important thing the scientists noted they had found was that the trees had original protein in them. ‘It isn’t that they were frozen and preserved that way,’ he tells OneNewsNow. ‘These things were buried in rock. Just like the dinosaurs, we’re finding more and more original proteins and blood cells and blood vessels in dinosaurs as well. These things are supposed to be 68 to 150 million years old; in this case, they’re supposed to be around 280 million years old,’ he continues--then asks: ‘How do you have original proteins that survive that long?’ ... ‘This is another example of Antarctica showing that there was a warmer climate down there at one point,’ he states. ‘It wasn't always icy--that didn't happen until after the Flood was over that the Ice Age really kicked in. In our opinion, at ICR, this fits exactly what the biblical story tells us in the Book of Genesis.’ He says to explain this in an ‘old age’ system is very difficult--and argues that the discovery of original proteins is scientific, empirical evidence that shows the world isn't as old as secular scientists believe.”
THOMAS EDISON ON PERSISTENCE AND HARD WORK: “Opportunity is missed by most people, because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up; the most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
“Worldliness is a sprit, a temperament, an attitude of soul. It is life without high callings, life devoid of lofty ideals. It is a gaze horizontal, never vertical. Its motto is ‘Forward,’ never ‘Upward’” (John Henry Jowett).
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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