Friday Church News Notes
Volume 19, Issue 19 - May 11, 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.
Bono, of the group "U2"
U2 COMES OUT AS PRO-ABORTION (Friday Church News Notes, May 11, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The influential Irish rock band U2 has tweeted support for repealing Ireland’s pro-life Eighth Amendment and legalizing abortion on demand. The amendment guarantees pre-born humans the right to life (“U2 Comes Out,” LifeSiteNews.com, May 2, 2018). The vote will occur on May 25. Three members of the band claim to be Christians, including the frontman Bono. U2 has a great influence in the contemporary worship movement. Bono is praised almost universally among contemporary and emerging Christians. Phil Johnson observes that “Bono seems to be the chief theologian of the Emerging Church Movement” (Absolutely Not! Exposing the Post-modern Errors of the Emerging Church, p. 9). Eugene Peterson, author of The Message, says U2 has a prophetic voice to the world; he claims that Bono is a prophet like John the Baptist (foreword to Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog). Yet Bono lives in blatant contradiction to the reality of biblical grace, and not only in the matter of killing unborn babies. He is described in the following passage: “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16). Much of Bono’s language cannot be printed in a Christian publication. In 2006 Bono said, “I recently read in one of St. Paul’s letters where it describes all of the fruits of the spirit, and I had none of them” (“Enough Rope with Andrew Denton,” March 13, 2006). In October 2008, Fox News reported that Bono and rocker friend Simon Carmody partied with teenage girls on a yacht in St. Tropez (“Facebook Pictures Show Married U2 Singer Bono’s Rendezvous with Sexy Teens,” Fox News, Oct. 27, 2008). U2’s Christian supporters tout the band’s “biblical” lyrics as evidence of the reality of their Christianity. But U2’s ambiguous lyrics do not present a clear Christian message, and the few songs that do mention Christ typically do so in a strange, unscriptural manner. “The listener senses something religious is being dealt with but can’t be quite sure what” (Steve Turner, Hungry for Heaven, p. 172). They never preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in a plain manner so that their listeners could be born again. They pose moral questions in some of their songs, but they give no Bible answers. Bono’s view of the Bible was stated in a December 2017 interview with Rolling Stone magazine. “The person who wrote best about love in the Christian era was Paul of Tarsus, who became Saint Paul. He was a tough ------. He is a superintellectual guy, but he is fierce and he has, of course, the Damascene experience. ... Now, it doesn’t cure him of all, of what he thinks of women or gay people or whatever else, but within his context he has an amazingly transcendent view of love” (“Bono: The Rolling Stone Interview” with Jann Wenner, Dec. 27, 2017). So according to Bono, the apostle Paul needs to be cured of his view of women and gay people and other things. Doubtless a modern, relevant, supercool guy like Bono can straighten out poor misguided Paul. (For more on this see “The Rock Group U2,” www.wayoflife.org.)
BOY SCOUTS DROPS “BOY” (Friday Church News Notes, May 11, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a major sign of the times, the venerable 108-year-old Boy Scouts of America organization is dropping “Boy” from its “Boy Scouts” program to make way for the introduction of girls. Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh said, “We’re trying to find the right way to say we’re here for both young men and young women” (“Boy Scouts to change name,” Fox News, May 2, 2018). The unisex movement, which has blossomed throughout society since the 1960s and is a fundamental part of the global pop culture, is a direct affront to the Creator who made them “male and female” and assigned different tasks to each sex. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). It is a fulfillment of Psalm 2, which describes a global rebellion against God’s laws. “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us” (Psalm 2:1-3). As pilgrims in a foreign land, God’s people must refuse to be conformed to the world’s thinking and ways. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11).
THE SCRIPTURES
Guideless and darkling; Oh, how poor
Is man! forsaken and impure,
He cannot for a day, an hour,
Go safe, without superior power.
Away, ye false lights of an age,
When pride enveloped every sage.
The garden where Platonic lore
Its honeyed current once did pour;
The Porch of Zeno, and the walk
Where once the Stagyrite did talk;
The haunts of Epicurus--all
Are desert, and to ruin fall.
Nor could their lordly patrons show
The way of life they could not know.
In vain, bewildered, o’er their page
I hang, my sorrow to assuage.
An endless guessing in the best
They give, to put my doubts at rest.
A truth, half seen, may twinkle far,
As murky evenings show a star,
But in their most meridian light
There glimmers but a Greenland night.
The hour-glass notes the noon of day,
The dial owns the sun away.
From these conjectures, lo! I turn
To sources which, while sceptics spurn,
I see, I feel, I know, are fraught
With wisdom, by a Saviour taught.
I hail thee, sacred volume, then,
Product of many a burning pen,
By sage, and seer, and martyr driven,
to picture forth the charms of heaven.
J.W. Alexander, Thoughts on Preaching, 1864, p. 57
LIFE-CHANGING WORDS - GLORY (Friday Church News Notes, May 11, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - To understand the Bible, the student must understand the Bible’s words. This is fundamental. An effectual Bible student will study his Bible with a good Bible dictionary at hand. I have studied the Bible for 45 years, and I don’t think a day has passed that I haven’t done some type of word study. The following definition is from the Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity, with a couple of updates that will appear in a future edition. GLORY is used in at least seven ways in the Bible: (1) Glory refers to praise (Lk. 2:14; 17:18; Ac. 12:23; 1 Co. 2:7; 10:31; Ep. 1:6). (2) Glory refers to God’s holiness, exalted magnificence, the perfection of His character (Jn. 1:14; Ro. 1:23; 3:23). (3) Glory refers to the splendor and wealth of a king and his kingdom (Mt. 6:29; 19:28; 25:31; Jn. 12:41; 17:5, 22, 24; Ro. 9:23; Col. 3:4). (4) Glory refers to the brilliant light which surrounds the presence of God (Ex. 16:10; 40:34, 35; Le. 9:6, 23; Nu. 14:10; 1 Ki. 8:11; 2 Ch. 7:1-3; Eze. 10:4; Mk. 13:26; 9:29-31; Lk. 2:9; Re. 1:16; 21:11, 23). (5) Glory refers to beauty (Is. 28:1; 63:1). When the Bible says believers will be with Christ in glory, it refers to all of the above—the praise, splendor, wealth, light, and beauty which are in Christ’s presence and kingdom. (6) Glory refers to boasting (1 Co. 1:29, 31; 3:21; 4:7; 5:6; 2 Co. 5:12; Ga. 6:13). (7) Glory refers to a witness, an evidence (2 Co. 8:23). Faithful messengers of the churches are “the glory of Christ,” meaning they witness to His love and grace, they are testimonies of His gracious character in redemption and sanctification.
INTELLIGENCE IN THE HUMAN HAND (Friday Church News Notes, May 11, 2018, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Made in His Image: The Connecting Power of Hands,” R. Guliuzza, M.D., Institute for Creation Research: “Human finger movements excel in precision and speed. The average time a person takes to make a common choice between two things is about half of a second. But rapid finger motions are much faster--in fact even faster than is physically possible using only the body’s sensor-to-motor loops. To obtain the highest possible finger speeds, sensors and conscious thought are augmented in the brain with an anticipatory function for individual finger movements called a forward plan, which is extraordinarily complex and significantly subconscious. Evidence shows that the central nervous system predicts the best outcome of every finger movement several movements ahead of its current state. Thus, skilled typists will visually process up to eight characters in advance and then--in anticipation--the forward plan for muscle movements will commit the finger muscles to an action about three characters in advance of actually striking the keys. Times between keystrokes are commonly as low as 60 milliseconds. Interestingly, speed is fastest if successive keystrokes are between fingers on opposite hands. So imagine the quantity of mental data processed for a skilled pianist who can play 20-30 successive notes with each hand every second--about 40 milliseconds apart--since the nervous system executes a forward plan (prescribing speed, direction, pressure, duration, etc.) for every finger simultaneously and updates all plans after every successive finger movement. The plan is compiled in the cerebellum, which may, if needed, retain memory of the plan (one or several varieties). This becomes an integral part of skilled learning. So far, no limits have been found on the number of plans that can be kept in memory.”
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).
BOY SCOUTS DROPS “BOY” (Friday Church News Notes, May 11, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a major sign of the times, the venerable 108-year-old Boy Scouts of America organization is dropping “Boy” from its “Boy Scouts” program to make way for the introduction of girls. Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh said, “We’re trying to find the right way to say we’re here for both young men and young women” (“Boy Scouts to change name,” Fox News, May 2, 2018). The unisex movement, which has blossomed throughout society since the 1960s and is a fundamental part of the global pop culture, is a direct affront to the Creator who made them “male and female” and assigned different tasks to each sex. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). It is a fulfillment of Psalm 2, which describes a global rebellion against God’s laws. “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us” (Psalm 2:1-3). As pilgrims in a foreign land, God’s people must refuse to be conformed to the world’s thinking and ways. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11).
THE SCRIPTURES
Guideless and darkling; Oh, how poor
Is man! forsaken and impure,
He cannot for a day, an hour,
Go safe, without superior power.
Away, ye false lights of an age,
When pride enveloped every sage.
The garden where Platonic lore
Its honeyed current once did pour;
The Porch of Zeno, and the walk
Where once the Stagyrite did talk;
The haunts of Epicurus--all
Are desert, and to ruin fall.
Nor could their lordly patrons show
The way of life they could not know.
In vain, bewildered, o’er their page
I hang, my sorrow to assuage.
An endless guessing in the best
They give, to put my doubts at rest.
A truth, half seen, may twinkle far,
As murky evenings show a star,
But in their most meridian light
There glimmers but a Greenland night.
The hour-glass notes the noon of day,
The dial owns the sun away.
From these conjectures, lo! I turn
To sources which, while sceptics spurn,
I see, I feel, I know, are fraught
With wisdom, by a Saviour taught.
I hail thee, sacred volume, then,
Product of many a burning pen,
By sage, and seer, and martyr driven,
to picture forth the charms of heaven.
J.W. Alexander, Thoughts on Preaching, 1864, p. 57
LIFE-CHANGING WORDS - GLORY (Friday Church News Notes, May 11, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - To understand the Bible, the student must understand the Bible’s words. This is fundamental. An effectual Bible student will study his Bible with a good Bible dictionary at hand. I have studied the Bible for 45 years, and I don’t think a day has passed that I haven’t done some type of word study. The following definition is from the Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity, with a couple of updates that will appear in a future edition. GLORY is used in at least seven ways in the Bible: (1) Glory refers to praise (Lk. 2:14; 17:18; Ac. 12:23; 1 Co. 2:7; 10:31; Ep. 1:6). (2) Glory refers to God’s holiness, exalted magnificence, the perfection of His character (Jn. 1:14; Ro. 1:23; 3:23). (3) Glory refers to the splendor and wealth of a king and his kingdom (Mt. 6:29; 19:28; 25:31; Jn. 12:41; 17:5, 22, 24; Ro. 9:23; Col. 3:4). (4) Glory refers to the brilliant light which surrounds the presence of God (Ex. 16:10; 40:34, 35; Le. 9:6, 23; Nu. 14:10; 1 Ki. 8:11; 2 Ch. 7:1-3; Eze. 10:4; Mk. 13:26; 9:29-31; Lk. 2:9; Re. 1:16; 21:11, 23). (5) Glory refers to beauty (Is. 28:1; 63:1). When the Bible says believers will be with Christ in glory, it refers to all of the above—the praise, splendor, wealth, light, and beauty which are in Christ’s presence and kingdom. (6) Glory refers to boasting (1 Co. 1:29, 31; 3:21; 4:7; 5:6; 2 Co. 5:12; Ga. 6:13). (7) Glory refers to a witness, an evidence (2 Co. 8:23). Faithful messengers of the churches are “the glory of Christ,” meaning they witness to His love and grace, they are testimonies of His gracious character in redemption and sanctification.
INTELLIGENCE IN THE HUMAN HAND (Friday Church News Notes, May 11, 2018, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Made in His Image: The Connecting Power of Hands,” R. Guliuzza, M.D., Institute for Creation Research: “Human finger movements excel in precision and speed. The average time a person takes to make a common choice between two things is about half of a second. But rapid finger motions are much faster--in fact even faster than is physically possible using only the body’s sensor-to-motor loops. To obtain the highest possible finger speeds, sensors and conscious thought are augmented in the brain with an anticipatory function for individual finger movements called a forward plan, which is extraordinarily complex and significantly subconscious. Evidence shows that the central nervous system predicts the best outcome of every finger movement several movements ahead of its current state. Thus, skilled typists will visually process up to eight characters in advance and then--in anticipation--the forward plan for muscle movements will commit the finger muscles to an action about three characters in advance of actually striking the keys. Times between keystrokes are commonly as low as 60 milliseconds. Interestingly, speed is fastest if successive keystrokes are between fingers on opposite hands. So imagine the quantity of mental data processed for a skilled pianist who can play 20-30 successive notes with each hand every second--about 40 milliseconds apart--since the nervous system executes a forward plan (prescribing speed, direction, pressure, duration, etc.) for every finger simultaneously and updates all plans after every successive finger movement. The plan is compiled in the cerebellum, which may, if needed, retain memory of the plan (one or several varieties). This becomes an integral part of skilled learning. So far, no limits have been found on the number of plans that can be kept in memory.”
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).
_____
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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