Friday Church News Notes
Volume 21, Issue 5 - January 31, 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.
Phil Vischer
GETTYS PROMOTING FOUNDER OF VEGGIE TALES (Friday Church News Notes, January 31, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - One of the speakers scheduled for Keith and Kristyn Getty’s Sing! Worship Conference 2020 is Phil Vischer, creator of VeggieTales. The announcement promises “three days of deep theology, timeless artistry and rich congregational worship,” but there is no deep theology in VeggieTales. From its inception, it was a dangerous bridge to the world, creating in children a taste for every type of worldly music. The VeggieTale movie Jonah featured “Jump, Jive an’ Wail” by secular rocker Brian Setzer of the Stray Cats. Following are the lyrics: “Baby, baby it looks like it’s gonna hail ... You better come inside Let me teach you how to jive and wail ... Papa’s in the icebox lookin’ for a can of ale ... Mama’s in the backyard learning how to jive and wail.” Vischer says that laughter is a key to teaching. So why didn’t Jesus, the Master Teacher, make people laugh while He taught them spiritual truths? We believe the ultra silly VeggieTales approach to teaching spiritual truths CHEAPENS the things of God. It brings eternal truth down to the level of worldly cartoons. The Bible says that “foolishness is bound in the heart of a child” (Proverbs 22:15). The last thing we need to do is encourage the innate silliness of children, as if they are not already silly enough without the help of sincere but misguided adults. Consider the VeggieTales version of Nebuchadnezzar forcing Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego to worship the idol in the book of Daniel. Nebby K. Nezzer, manufacturer of chocolate bunnies, tries to force Shack, Rack, and Benny to worship a giant bunny. The VeggieTales song “Dave and the Giant Pickle” is dedicated to the psycho-babble theme of “self-esteem.” “Oh Santa” from “Silly Songs with Larry” is about the mythical Santa Claus. The VeggieTales movie Jonah had the king of Nineveh claiming he didn’t know that the things they were doing were wrong and pretending that their chief sin was slapping each other with fish. What a fearful example of trivializing sin! The Gettys have no boundaries and are a bridge to anything and everything. (See “The Gettys: Pied Pipers of Contemporary Worship Music” at www.wayoflife.org.)
SOUTHERN BAPTIST LEADER SAYS MANY CATHOLICS ARE BORN AGAIN (Friday Church News Notes, January 31, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Southern Baptist Richard Land says that he is seeing “more and more Catholics” who have been born again (“Being ‘born again’ isn’t trendy--it’s meaningful,” OneNewsNow, Jan. 24, 2020). Land was head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission from 1988 to 2013. He made the recent comment in light of the 2018-2019 General Social Survey that found that the use of the term “born again” is spreading to Catholics and mainline Protestants. He said, “It’s not what your denominational affiliation is, it’s whether you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” But the Roman Catholic Church is not just a different “denomination.” It is a different religion from the New Testament faith once delivered to the saints. Rome has a false christ and a false gospel. Its christ is a consecrated wafer called the host that is worshipped as the very Jesus Christ. Its gospel is baptismal regeneration followed by participation in the other sacraments. I have met “evangelical Catholics” while attending ecumenical conferences with media credentials, but when questioned carefully about salvation, they demonstrate their confusion and their trust in the sacraments and “the church.” I have never met a Roman Catholic who testified, “I am trusting in the blood of Christ alone for salvation; baptism and sacraments have absolutely nothing to do with salvation; Mary and the saints cannot hear and answer prayer; I know that Rome’s gospel is unscriptural and I renounce it.” That would be the testimony of a truly “born again Catholic.” In 2005, Land was recognized by Time magazine as one of the “25 most influential evangelicals in America.” (For documentation of Rome’s gospel from sources such as the Vatican II Council and the New Catholic Catechism, see Is the Roman Catholic Church Changing?, a free eBook available from www.wayoflife.org.)
TRUMP IS THE FIRST PRESIDENT TO ATTEND MARCH FOR LIFE (Friday Church News Notes, January 31, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Trump Defends the Unborn,” PJMedia.com, Jan. 24, 2020: “President Donald Trump became the first president in history to attend and speak at the March for Life in person. The president received deafening applause from the thousands in attendance as he championed the dignity of the unborn, condemned radical Democrat proposals on abortion, and touted his historic wins for the pro-life movement. ‘Unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House,’ Trump declared. He mentioned his administration's efforts on the Mexico City Policy, a pro-life rule on Title X funding, support for the Little Sisters of the Poor, new rules preserving faith-based adoption, and his 187 confirmed originalist federal judges. ‘Sadly, the far-left is actively working to erase our God-given rights, shut down faith-based charities, ban religious believers from the public square, and silence Americans who believe in the sanctity of life,’ the president declared. ‘They are coming after me because I am fighting for you and we are fighting for those who have no voice, and we will win. When it comes to abortion, Democrats have embraced the most radical and extreme positions for years and decades...,’ Trump added. ‘Nearly every top Democrat in Congress now supports taxpayer-funded abortion all the way up until the moment of birth.’ ... He concluded the speech with a firm declaration of the sanctity of human life, born and unborn. ‘Every child brings joy to a family, every person is worth protecting, and above all we know that every human soul is divine and every human life, born and unborn, is made in the holy image of almighty God,’ Trump said.” CONCLUSION: President Trump demonstrated his ignorance of Scripture in saying that every human soul is divine, but we are glad for his open and unqualified support of the pro-life movement in gross contrast to every Democrat party presidential contender.
TRANSGENDER EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN PASTOR (Friday Church News Notes, January 31, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Transgender Latin makes history,” NBC News, Dec. 13, 2019: “Before coming out as transgender, Nicole Garcia prayed daily that God would ‘fix’ her. When her prayers weren’t answered and the feeling in her gut didn’t go away, she gave up on religion. Now, nearly four decades later, Garcia stands behind the pulpit at Westview Lutheran Church in Boulder, Colorado, and delivers weekly sermons to a congregation of more than 100 faithful as their ordained pastor. ‘Nobody can question my faith, my devotion to Christ, my devotion to the church. That’s why I’m the pastor here,’ Garcia, who turned 60 Thursday, told NBC News. ‘Being trans is secondary.’ Garcia, who delivered her first sermon at Westview earlier this month, is the first known transgender Latina to serve as a pastor within the 4 million-strong Evangelical Lutheran Church in America--an unanticipated position for someone who grew up in the Roman Catholic Church and left religion entirely for nearly 20 years.” COMMENT BY BRO. CLOUD: Missing in Garcia’s testimony is biblical salvation. As a Roman Catholic, Garcia was baptized, sacramentalized, and prayed, but he didn’t come on God’s terms in repentance and saving faith. When he became a Lutheran, it was the same thing: sacramentalism. All his life, by his own testimony, Garcia has believed a gospel of works, and it is a false gospel with no life-changing power. Religion cannot “fix” man’s sin problem. The old Adamic nature is full of sin, every type of sin. The Lord Jesus said, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness” (Mark 7:21-22). Only biblical salvation can “fix” man by regeneration and sanctification. Paul describes how that some of the citizens of wicked Corinth were “fixed.” “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).
THE GIRAFFE’S WONDER NET (Friday Church News Notes, January 31, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from creationmoments.com, December 30, 2019: “Did you ever stand up a little too quickly and get dizzy? That happens because by standing you may have temporarily lowered the blood pressure in your brain. Can you imagine what can happen when the giraffe swings his head from the ground to the treetop? The giraffe’s heart and the rest of his cardiovascular system are very different from ours--and from most other creatures. If it weren’t different, there wouldn’t be any giraffes! In order to get his blood all the way from his heart up that long neck to his brain, the giraffe’s heart must produce twice as much blood pressure as would be expected in an animal his height. But the giraffe’s brain is very sensitive to high blood pressure. So giraffes have been given a special structure that’s been called the ‘wonder net’, where the blood supply enters his brain. This wonder net keeps the blood pressure in the giraffe’s brain just where it should be. Even if the giraffe drops his head quickly--say, from nibbling a treetop to take a drink of water--the blood pressure in his head remains safe. The wonder net can quickly control such rapid changes. And to prevent used blood from draining back into his brain when he lowers his head, the giraffe has a special set of one way check valves in his neck. When we talk about our Creator, we need not be afraid that some people will think we are talking about worthless things. Truly, the wonders the Creator has made are great and worthy to be told to people far and wide! Notes: ‘Sticking out his neck.’ Creation Science Report, Creation Science Research Center, San Diego, CA, July 1974.”
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).
SOUTHERN BAPTIST LEADER SAYS MANY CATHOLICS ARE BORN AGAIN (Friday Church News Notes, January 31, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Southern Baptist Richard Land says that he is seeing “more and more Catholics” who have been born again (“Being ‘born again’ isn’t trendy--it’s meaningful,” OneNewsNow, Jan. 24, 2020). Land was head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission from 1988 to 2013. He made the recent comment in light of the 2018-2019 General Social Survey that found that the use of the term “born again” is spreading to Catholics and mainline Protestants. He said, “It’s not what your denominational affiliation is, it’s whether you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” But the Roman Catholic Church is not just a different “denomination.” It is a different religion from the New Testament faith once delivered to the saints. Rome has a false christ and a false gospel. Its christ is a consecrated wafer called the host that is worshipped as the very Jesus Christ. Its gospel is baptismal regeneration followed by participation in the other sacraments. I have met “evangelical Catholics” while attending ecumenical conferences with media credentials, but when questioned carefully about salvation, they demonstrate their confusion and their trust in the sacraments and “the church.” I have never met a Roman Catholic who testified, “I am trusting in the blood of Christ alone for salvation; baptism and sacraments have absolutely nothing to do with salvation; Mary and the saints cannot hear and answer prayer; I know that Rome’s gospel is unscriptural and I renounce it.” That would be the testimony of a truly “born again Catholic.” In 2005, Land was recognized by Time magazine as one of the “25 most influential evangelicals in America.” (For documentation of Rome’s gospel from sources such as the Vatican II Council and the New Catholic Catechism, see Is the Roman Catholic Church Changing?, a free eBook available from www.wayoflife.org.)
TRUMP IS THE FIRST PRESIDENT TO ATTEND MARCH FOR LIFE (Friday Church News Notes, January 31, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Trump Defends the Unborn,” PJMedia.com, Jan. 24, 2020: “President Donald Trump became the first president in history to attend and speak at the March for Life in person. The president received deafening applause from the thousands in attendance as he championed the dignity of the unborn, condemned radical Democrat proposals on abortion, and touted his historic wins for the pro-life movement. ‘Unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House,’ Trump declared. He mentioned his administration's efforts on the Mexico City Policy, a pro-life rule on Title X funding, support for the Little Sisters of the Poor, new rules preserving faith-based adoption, and his 187 confirmed originalist federal judges. ‘Sadly, the far-left is actively working to erase our God-given rights, shut down faith-based charities, ban religious believers from the public square, and silence Americans who believe in the sanctity of life,’ the president declared. ‘They are coming after me because I am fighting for you and we are fighting for those who have no voice, and we will win. When it comes to abortion, Democrats have embraced the most radical and extreme positions for years and decades...,’ Trump added. ‘Nearly every top Democrat in Congress now supports taxpayer-funded abortion all the way up until the moment of birth.’ ... He concluded the speech with a firm declaration of the sanctity of human life, born and unborn. ‘Every child brings joy to a family, every person is worth protecting, and above all we know that every human soul is divine and every human life, born and unborn, is made in the holy image of almighty God,’ Trump said.” CONCLUSION: President Trump demonstrated his ignorance of Scripture in saying that every human soul is divine, but we are glad for his open and unqualified support of the pro-life movement in gross contrast to every Democrat party presidential contender.
TRANSGENDER EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN PASTOR (Friday Church News Notes, January 31, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Transgender Latin makes history,” NBC News, Dec. 13, 2019: “Before coming out as transgender, Nicole Garcia prayed daily that God would ‘fix’ her. When her prayers weren’t answered and the feeling in her gut didn’t go away, she gave up on religion. Now, nearly four decades later, Garcia stands behind the pulpit at Westview Lutheran Church in Boulder, Colorado, and delivers weekly sermons to a congregation of more than 100 faithful as their ordained pastor. ‘Nobody can question my faith, my devotion to Christ, my devotion to the church. That’s why I’m the pastor here,’ Garcia, who turned 60 Thursday, told NBC News. ‘Being trans is secondary.’ Garcia, who delivered her first sermon at Westview earlier this month, is the first known transgender Latina to serve as a pastor within the 4 million-strong Evangelical Lutheran Church in America--an unanticipated position for someone who grew up in the Roman Catholic Church and left religion entirely for nearly 20 years.” COMMENT BY BRO. CLOUD: Missing in Garcia’s testimony is biblical salvation. As a Roman Catholic, Garcia was baptized, sacramentalized, and prayed, but he didn’t come on God’s terms in repentance and saving faith. When he became a Lutheran, it was the same thing: sacramentalism. All his life, by his own testimony, Garcia has believed a gospel of works, and it is a false gospel with no life-changing power. Religion cannot “fix” man’s sin problem. The old Adamic nature is full of sin, every type of sin. The Lord Jesus said, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness” (Mark 7:21-22). Only biblical salvation can “fix” man by regeneration and sanctification. Paul describes how that some of the citizens of wicked Corinth were “fixed.” “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).
THE GIRAFFE’S WONDER NET (Friday Church News Notes, January 31, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from creationmoments.com, December 30, 2019: “Did you ever stand up a little too quickly and get dizzy? That happens because by standing you may have temporarily lowered the blood pressure in your brain. Can you imagine what can happen when the giraffe swings his head from the ground to the treetop? The giraffe’s heart and the rest of his cardiovascular system are very different from ours--and from most other creatures. If it weren’t different, there wouldn’t be any giraffes! In order to get his blood all the way from his heart up that long neck to his brain, the giraffe’s heart must produce twice as much blood pressure as would be expected in an animal his height. But the giraffe’s brain is very sensitive to high blood pressure. So giraffes have been given a special structure that’s been called the ‘wonder net’, where the blood supply enters his brain. This wonder net keeps the blood pressure in the giraffe’s brain just where it should be. Even if the giraffe drops his head quickly--say, from nibbling a treetop to take a drink of water--the blood pressure in his head remains safe. The wonder net can quickly control such rapid changes. And to prevent used blood from draining back into his brain when he lowers his head, the giraffe has a special set of one way check valves in his neck. When we talk about our Creator, we need not be afraid that some people will think we are talking about worthless things. Truly, the wonders the Creator has made are great and worthy to be told to people far and wide! Notes: ‘Sticking out his neck.’ Creation Science Report, Creation Science Research Center, San Diego, CA, July 1974.”
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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