Friday Church News Notes
Volume 20, Issue 44 - November 1, 2019
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.
Beth Moore
John MacArthur
JOHN MACARTHUR TELLS THE FEMALE PREACHER BETH MOORE TO “GO HOME” (Friday Church News Notes, November 1, 2019, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - At a Truth Matters Conference at his Grace Community Church, October 16-18, 2019, John MacArthur was asked at a Q&A session about Beth Moore. MacArthur answered with two words, “go home.” He followed this with, “There is no case that can be made biblically for a woman preacher. Period. Paragraph. End of discussion. ... I think this is feminism gone to church. This is why we can’t let the culture exegete the Bible.” That is biblical exhortation, 100%, and MacArthur will certainly not regret it at the judgment seat of Christ. While we can’t accept MacArthur’s Reformed theology, we very much appreciate outspoken preachers in this cowardly era. And he said this on the 50th anniversary of his ministry. In May of this year, Moore said that she has come to the conclusion that men who oppose women preachers are jealous and carnal. Apparently she had a revelation that gave her the ability to judge the heart motives of other people. After SBC professor Owen Strachan of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary said that “women should not preach on Sunday to the church,” Moore publicly reproved him on her Twitter account, saying, “I would be terrified to be a woman you’d approve of.” In so saying, she is admitting that she refuses to be a woman the apostle Paul would approve of, since he is the one who forcefully forbade women to “teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence” (1 Timothy 2:12). Beth Moore is not very good at being in silence, or, it would seem, with exhibiting the “meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price” (1 Peter 3:4). She called Owen’s biblical position “sexism and misogyny.” Not surprisingly, MacArthur was widely criticized, including by J.D. Greear, Southern Baptist Convention president, and Danny Akin, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary president. Some criticized MacArthur for his view, others for his “tone.” But those who think John MacArthur is harsh need to spend more time with the old God-approved Bible preachers such as Enoch, who said of this present generation, “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are UNGODLY among them of all their UNGODLY deeds which they have UNGODLY committed, and of all their hard speeches which UNGODLY sinners have spoken against him” (Jude 15). How about that for “tone”! I wonder if Enoch is a misogynist?
BAGHDADI OPERATION NAMED AFTER CHRISTIAN WOMAN BRUTALLY TREATED AND MURDERED BY ISIS (Friday Church News Notes, November 1, 2019, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Baghdadi Operation Named after Christian Woman,” CBNNews, Oct. 28, 2019: “The US military operation that resulted in the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi [in Syria on Oct. 26] was dedicated to Kayla Mueller, a young Christian woman who was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by the Islamic State. Mueller, 26, was abducted by ISIS in August 2013 in Aleppo, Syria while serving on a humanitarian mission with Doctors Without Borders. US officials said Baghdadi tortured and repeatedly raped her at his compound before announcing in 2015 that she died in captivity. Her body has never been recovered. White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that the operation against Baghdadi was named after Mueller. ‘The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff named the operation that took down al-Baghdadi after Kayla Mueller, after what she had suffered,’ O'Brien said, adding that Baghdadi was the ‘most vicious, cruel man.’ Her father, Carl Mueller, recounted his daughter's last days in an interview with The Arizona Republic shortly after President Donald Trump announced Baghdadi's death. ‘What this man did to Kayla — he kidnapped her,’ Mueller said. ‘She was held in many prisons. She was held in solitary confinement. She was tortured. She was intimidated. She was ultimately raped by al-Baghdadi himself. He either killed her or he was complicit in her murder,’ Mueller said. ‘I'll let people who read this article make up their own mind how a parent should feel.’ Mueller's fellow hostages, who were later freed, told ABC News in 2016 she never stopped caring for others and even defended her faith against the infamous British ISIS executioner named Mohammed Emwazias, also known as ‘Jihadi John.’ ... Mueller also spoke extensively about how she relied on her faith in a hand-written letter given to her parents while she was in captivity. Mueller’s cellmates who were eventually freed gave the letter to her family in the spring of 2014. Mueller wrote: ‘I remember mom always telling me that all in all in the end the only one you really have is God. I have come to a place in experience where, in every sense of the word, I have surrendered myself to our creator b/c literally there was no else.+ by God + by your prayers I have felt tenderly cradled in freefall...I have been shown in darkness, light + have learned that even in prison, one can be free. I am grateful.’”
BANK OF AMERICA FREEZES STEVEN ANDERSON’S ASSETS (Friday Church News Notes, November 1, 2019, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Earlier this year, Steven Anderson’s bank account was frozen by Bank of America and his funds were held for weeks before being returned via a cashier’s check in the mail. He was told, simply, that his account was terminated, he would not be told why, and the decision was irreversible (“Bank of America Freezes,” Pulpit & Pen, Apr. 16, 2019). He has also been frozen out by Paypal, Easy Tithe, and six other financial platforms, none of them giving a reason. He has been banned from traveling to about 34 countries, including England, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. This has to do with Anderson’s stand against homosexuality and possibly, too, his denial of the Holocaust. Anderson is a Baptist preacher who has wide influence through his YouTube videos and movies. He is laden down with heresies, as we warn in the book What about Steven Anderson? but corporations like Bank of America and PayPal should not be in the business of judging and punishing belief systems. Why should it be their business what their customers believe? This is moving in the direction of Communist China’s Social Credit system, but in this case it is faceless global corporations doing the rating and the punishing.
STEVEN ANDERSON’S POSITION ON HOMOSEXUALITY VS. THE BIBLE’S TEACHING (Friday Church News Notes, November 1, 2019, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Of the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting Steven Anderson said, “The good news is that there’s 50 less pedophiles in this world, because these homosexuals are just a bunch of disgusting perverts and pedophiles” (“Gay Hating Preacher,” Sunday Express, Sept. 16, 2016). He said it was too bad some of the homosexuals survived. Of transgender celebrity Bruce (Caitlyn) Jenner, Anderson said in a sermon, “Listen to me – I hate him with a perfect hatred. I have no love for this Bruce freak. I hope he dies today, I hope he dies and goes to Hell – he’s disgusting, he’s filthy, he’s reprobate” (Adam Salandra, “Pastor Prays Caitlyn Jenner’s Heart Explodes,” NewNowNex, n.d.). Anderson teaches that there is no hope for homosexuals to be saved. On his video, “Born That Way?” he says, “Well, I’m just saying that the Bible teaches in many places that it can become too late for a person before that point sometimes, if they reject Christ enough. And I would say homosexuals fall into that category” (about 7:07f). He says, “There are no queers allowed in this church. No homos will ever be allowed in this church as long as I am the pastor here. Never!” (youtube.com/watch?v=ttxumEkHnKE). This is unscriptural nuttiness. Any sinner should be welcome to attend church services as visitors, so long as he doesn’t cause trouble, because the church’s commission is to invite all people to God’s salvation. Christ made the propitiation for the whole world (1 John 2:2), meaning He made salvation possible for all men, and He commanded the gospel to be preached “to every creature” (Mark 16:15), and every creature means every creature! On any given week we have adulterers, fornicators, homosexuals, polygamists, idolaters, thieves, liars, and demon possessed people in our church services. Anyone is welcome to attend to hear the preaching of God’s Word. On the other hand, church membership requires born again salvation with evidence. The membership of the church of Corinth is described as follows: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Here we see that homosexuals can be saved and experience a changed life in Jesus Christ, and they are saved in the same way as any other sinner: by repenting of their sin against God and believing on Jesus Christ as Saviour with all the heart. “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Then, again, Steven Anderson doesn’t believe in biblical repentance, and this is probably his chief heresy. (See What about Steven Anderson? available as a free eBook from www.wayoflife.org.)
HOW CHARLES WESLEY’S HYMN SAVED A SOLDIER’S LIFE IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR (Friday Church News Notes, November 1, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from Dr. Julian’s Hymnology: “During the American Civil War the opposing armies of the Federals and Confederates on a certain occasion were facing each other. One night a Confederate sentry was on duty when he heard the sound of singing coming from the Federal lines. He proceeded cautiously in their direction, and observed an enemy sentry pacing up and down, singing ‘Jesu, Lover of My Soul.’ Bringing his gun to his shoulder, he was about to shoot, when the singer came to the words, ‘Cover my defenceless head with the shadow of Thy wing.’ This was too much for the Confederate and he lowered his weapon and allowed his would-be victim to go unharmed. Many years passed, and the Confederate, now a private gentleman, was aboard an excursion steamer on the Potomac River, when he heard an evangelist singing this hymn. Memories were aroused, and thinking he recognised the voice, he made his way to the singer and in conversation found that the evangelist was indeed the sentry he had nearly shot. Great was their mutual joy when he revealed to the singer the peril from which he had been saved in that night long ago, when on sentry duty he besought divine protection by singing, ‘Jesu, Lover of My Soul.’”
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).
BAGHDADI OPERATION NAMED AFTER CHRISTIAN WOMAN BRUTALLY TREATED AND MURDERED BY ISIS (Friday Church News Notes, November 1, 2019, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Baghdadi Operation Named after Christian Woman,” CBNNews, Oct. 28, 2019: “The US military operation that resulted in the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi [in Syria on Oct. 26] was dedicated to Kayla Mueller, a young Christian woman who was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by the Islamic State. Mueller, 26, was abducted by ISIS in August 2013 in Aleppo, Syria while serving on a humanitarian mission with Doctors Without Borders. US officials said Baghdadi tortured and repeatedly raped her at his compound before announcing in 2015 that she died in captivity. Her body has never been recovered. White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that the operation against Baghdadi was named after Mueller. ‘The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff named the operation that took down al-Baghdadi after Kayla Mueller, after what she had suffered,’ O'Brien said, adding that Baghdadi was the ‘most vicious, cruel man.’ Her father, Carl Mueller, recounted his daughter's last days in an interview with The Arizona Republic shortly after President Donald Trump announced Baghdadi's death. ‘What this man did to Kayla — he kidnapped her,’ Mueller said. ‘She was held in many prisons. She was held in solitary confinement. She was tortured. She was intimidated. She was ultimately raped by al-Baghdadi himself. He either killed her or he was complicit in her murder,’ Mueller said. ‘I'll let people who read this article make up their own mind how a parent should feel.’ Mueller's fellow hostages, who were later freed, told ABC News in 2016 she never stopped caring for others and even defended her faith against the infamous British ISIS executioner named Mohammed Emwazias, also known as ‘Jihadi John.’ ... Mueller also spoke extensively about how she relied on her faith in a hand-written letter given to her parents while she was in captivity. Mueller’s cellmates who were eventually freed gave the letter to her family in the spring of 2014. Mueller wrote: ‘I remember mom always telling me that all in all in the end the only one you really have is God. I have come to a place in experience where, in every sense of the word, I have surrendered myself to our creator b/c literally there was no else.+ by God + by your prayers I have felt tenderly cradled in freefall...I have been shown in darkness, light + have learned that even in prison, one can be free. I am grateful.’”
BANK OF AMERICA FREEZES STEVEN ANDERSON’S ASSETS (Friday Church News Notes, November 1, 2019, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Earlier this year, Steven Anderson’s bank account was frozen by Bank of America and his funds were held for weeks before being returned via a cashier’s check in the mail. He was told, simply, that his account was terminated, he would not be told why, and the decision was irreversible (“Bank of America Freezes,” Pulpit & Pen, Apr. 16, 2019). He has also been frozen out by Paypal, Easy Tithe, and six other financial platforms, none of them giving a reason. He has been banned from traveling to about 34 countries, including England, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. This has to do with Anderson’s stand against homosexuality and possibly, too, his denial of the Holocaust. Anderson is a Baptist preacher who has wide influence through his YouTube videos and movies. He is laden down with heresies, as we warn in the book What about Steven Anderson? but corporations like Bank of America and PayPal should not be in the business of judging and punishing belief systems. Why should it be their business what their customers believe? This is moving in the direction of Communist China’s Social Credit system, but in this case it is faceless global corporations doing the rating and the punishing.
STEVEN ANDERSON’S POSITION ON HOMOSEXUALITY VS. THE BIBLE’S TEACHING (Friday Church News Notes, November 1, 2019, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Of the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting Steven Anderson said, “The good news is that there’s 50 less pedophiles in this world, because these homosexuals are just a bunch of disgusting perverts and pedophiles” (“Gay Hating Preacher,” Sunday Express, Sept. 16, 2016). He said it was too bad some of the homosexuals survived. Of transgender celebrity Bruce (Caitlyn) Jenner, Anderson said in a sermon, “Listen to me – I hate him with a perfect hatred. I have no love for this Bruce freak. I hope he dies today, I hope he dies and goes to Hell – he’s disgusting, he’s filthy, he’s reprobate” (Adam Salandra, “Pastor Prays Caitlyn Jenner’s Heart Explodes,” NewNowNex, n.d.). Anderson teaches that there is no hope for homosexuals to be saved. On his video, “Born That Way?” he says, “Well, I’m just saying that the Bible teaches in many places that it can become too late for a person before that point sometimes, if they reject Christ enough. And I would say homosexuals fall into that category” (about 7:07f). He says, “There are no queers allowed in this church. No homos will ever be allowed in this church as long as I am the pastor here. Never!” (youtube.com/watch?v=ttxumEkHnKE). This is unscriptural nuttiness. Any sinner should be welcome to attend church services as visitors, so long as he doesn’t cause trouble, because the church’s commission is to invite all people to God’s salvation. Christ made the propitiation for the whole world (1 John 2:2), meaning He made salvation possible for all men, and He commanded the gospel to be preached “to every creature” (Mark 16:15), and every creature means every creature! On any given week we have adulterers, fornicators, homosexuals, polygamists, idolaters, thieves, liars, and demon possessed people in our church services. Anyone is welcome to attend to hear the preaching of God’s Word. On the other hand, church membership requires born again salvation with evidence. The membership of the church of Corinth is described as follows: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Here we see that homosexuals can be saved and experience a changed life in Jesus Christ, and they are saved in the same way as any other sinner: by repenting of their sin against God and believing on Jesus Christ as Saviour with all the heart. “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Then, again, Steven Anderson doesn’t believe in biblical repentance, and this is probably his chief heresy. (See What about Steven Anderson? available as a free eBook from www.wayoflife.org.)
HOW CHARLES WESLEY’S HYMN SAVED A SOLDIER’S LIFE IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR (Friday Church News Notes, November 1, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from Dr. Julian’s Hymnology: “During the American Civil War the opposing armies of the Federals and Confederates on a certain occasion were facing each other. One night a Confederate sentry was on duty when he heard the sound of singing coming from the Federal lines. He proceeded cautiously in their direction, and observed an enemy sentry pacing up and down, singing ‘Jesu, Lover of My Soul.’ Bringing his gun to his shoulder, he was about to shoot, when the singer came to the words, ‘Cover my defenceless head with the shadow of Thy wing.’ This was too much for the Confederate and he lowered his weapon and allowed his would-be victim to go unharmed. Many years passed, and the Confederate, now a private gentleman, was aboard an excursion steamer on the Potomac River, when he heard an evangelist singing this hymn. Memories were aroused, and thinking he recognised the voice, he made his way to the singer and in conversation found that the evangelist was indeed the sentry he had nearly shot. Great was their mutual joy when he revealed to the singer the peril from which he had been saved in that night long ago, when on sentry duty he besought divine protection by singing, ‘Jesu, Lover of My Soul.’”
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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