Friday Church News Notes
Volume 21, Issue 7 - February 14, 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.
CHURCH OF ENGLAND APOLOGIZES FOR SAYING ONLY MARRIED STRAIGHT PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE SEX (Friday Church News Notes, February 14, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Church of England apologizes,” Christian Post, Feb. 2, 2020: “Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Archbishop of York John Sentamu have apologized for a decree issued by the Church of England which said that only heterosexual married couples should have sex and that sex in gay or straight civil partnerships ‘falls short of God’s purpose for human beings.’ ‘We as Archbishops, alongside the bishops of the Church of England, apologize and take responsibility for releasing a statement last week which we acknowledge has jeopardised trust,’ the archbishops said in a statement, according to Belfast Telegraph. ‘We are very sorry and recognize the division and hurt this has caused.’ The House of Bishops of the Church of England last week issued a pastoral guidance, which said, ‘For Christians, marriage—that is, the lifelong union between a man and a woman, contracted with the making of vows—remains the proper context for sexual activity.’ ... After the guidance, some important Anglican figures wrote an open letter to the archbishops, warning that the denomination had become ‘a laughingstock to a nation that believes it is obsessed with sex,’ according to The Telegraph. The pastoral statement, they added, ‘makes clear there has been no desire to listen or learn from those of us who spoke to explain how offensive we found the tone of the House of Bishops’ previous document. Indeed, the statement is anything but “pastoral”—it is cold, defensive, and uncaring of its impact on the millions of people it affects.’”
YOUTUBE CENSORS VIDEO ABOUT EVANGELICALS HELPING MARXISTS AS “HATE SPEECH” (Friday Church News Notes, February 14, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “YouTube Says Video,” Pulpit and Pen, Jan. 28, 2020: “Technocracies are increasingly controlling the conversation, censoring particularly impactful videos, posts, and articles that expose leftist schemes to takeover American institutions. This trend is seen most recently in YouTube taking down a video from Christian ministry organization, Worldview Weekend, which focused on the link between Marxists and Muslims and their desire to take control of the United States. Entitled, Some Evangelicals Are Helping the Marxists and Muslims Sabotage America, the video was produced and posted by Brannon Howse of Worldview Weekend (WVW). WVW now reports that the tech giant removed the video because of ‘hate.’ ‘On January 25th, 2020 we received an email from YouTube that stated: ‘Our team has reviewed your content, and, unfortunately, we think it violates our hate speech policy. We have removed the following content from YouTube: Video: Some Evangelicals Are Helping the Marxists and Muslims Sabotage America.’ WVW continues, ‘Telling the truth with TONS of documented facts and video clips is now hate speech? These were older videos and so apparently YouTube is stepping up its crackdown on conservatives as the fall of 2020 elections approach. Yet, YouTube is FILLED with hateful rants by Islamists and Marxists about Christians, conservatives and Jews. Some of these videos feature individuals like Linda Sarsour, Yasir Qadhi, Dalia Mogahed, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Siraj Wahhaj who was on a list of co-conspirators in the trial of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. This is the second video in one week that YouTube has removed.’”
TESTIMONY OF ONE WHO FORMERLY HELD THE “PRE-WRATH” DOCTRINE (Friday Church News Notes, February 14, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “You are right to take a strong stand on the pre-tribulation rapture position. This is our blessed hope and the encouragement that Jesus gave to His Church, as we fight the good fight. Sadly, I left that position for over twenty years, favoring the pre-wrath rapture and then, for a while, the seventh trumpet rapture position. Over time, I lost my joy in Christ. I often repented of my fear of the judgments to come, my fear that I wouldn’t be found worthy to escape, my fear that we hadn’t prepped enough, my fear that I would lose my salvation, etc. It wasn’t that I was afraid to die for my faith, but that those days are described as something far worse than any kind of tribulation ever experienced on earth. I wondered why God would allow His latter day Church to endure such horrible tribulation that could end with one of the weaker believers taking the mark of the beast?! I just prayed for strength, grace and courage to face the worst in that day. At the same time, there was also a pridefulness that had set in with me, as I had also noticed in others who held my anti-pre-tribulation view. And a disdain for those poor souls who held to such an easy escapist way out of tribulation. It was like we knew the truth and had some kind of deeper understanding of God’s Word. Thankfully, God led me to a pre-tribulation website back in 2016. I fought if off for a bit, and then decided to listen to the Holy Spirit. I can’t tell you how happy I am that I did. My joy was restored and I now believe it is absolutely the correct and biblical position and a very important doctrine. Thank you for all that you do. God bless.”
CHILDREN ADDICTED TO PORNOGRAPHY VIA SMART PHONES (Friday Church News Notes, February 14, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “What’s the Right Age for a Child to Get a Smartphone,” New York Times, July 20, 2016: “Not long ago, many parents wondered at what age they should give their child full access to the car keys. Nowadays, parents face a trickier question: At what age should a child own a smartphone? The topic is being increasingly debated as children get smartphones at an ever younger age. On average, children are getting their first smartphones around age 10, according to the research firm Influence Central, down from age 12 in 2012. For some children, smartphone ownership starts even sooner--including second graders as young as 7, according to internet safety experts. ... ‘The longer you keep Pandora’s box shut, the better off you are,’ said Jesse Weinberger, an internet safety speaker based in Ohio who gives presentations to parents, schools and law enforcement officials. ‘There’s no connection to the dark side without the device.’ ... Ms. Weinberger, who wrote the smartphone and internet safety book The Boogeyman Exists: And He’s in Your Child’s Back Pocket, said she had surveyed 70,000 children in the last 18 months and found that, on average, sexting began in the fifth grade, pornography consumption began when children turned 8, and pornography addiction began around age 11.”
MEDICAL JOURNAL SAYS STATES SHOULD OVERRIDE PARENTS WHO REFUSE TO “TRANSITION” CHILDREN TO ANOTHER GENDER (Friday Church News Notes, February 14, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Medical Journal,” ReformationCharlotte.org, Feb. 7, 2020: “A highly respected medical journal is urging the state to override the parents’ decision when a child wants to ‘transition’ to another gender but the parents refuse to do so. The Journal of Medical Ethics published an article on December 31 titled ‘Medically assisted gender affirmation: when children and parents disagree,’ which classifies the refusal to transition a child as ‘neglect’ and that ‘Neglect, as a medico-legal term, can be used to initiate an evaluation by Child Protective Services and remove a parent as a child’s legal guardian in the most severe instances.’ The article was authored by Dr. Samuel Dubin, a plastic surgeon from the University of Michigan, along with several colleagues, and published at British Medical Journal website. Theologian Robert Gagnon, a Presbyterian pastor and professor of New Testament Theology at Houston Baptist University and former associate professor of the New Testament at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, comments on the article, stating, ‘You can believe that this is coming with the passage of the Dems’ Equality Act, which will happen if a Dem becomes President.’ We can already see this taking place in several judicial cases around the country. In 2018, a Hamilton County, Ohio, judge ruled that the parents of a 17-year-old could no longer retain custody of their child, instead, giving custody to the grandparents to make medical decisions on behalf of the teen who desired to ‘transition’ to the opposite sex. Several other cases are currently under litigation. One high-profile case, however, has not worked in favor of the radical sex-change activists as a 7-year-old boy’s mother fought in court against her ex-husband, the child’s father, who refused to transition his son into a girl at the behest of the boy’s mother. The state of Texas ruled against sole custody for the mother and that medical decisions to ‘transition’ the child could not be made without the father’s approval. It turned out that the boy did not have the desire to ‘transition’ after all—not that it should matter.”
BRAIN DISAPPOINTS EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT (Friday Church News Notes, February 14, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from creationmoments.com, November 14, 2019: “According to evolutionary thought, humans came from ape-like creatures. These ape-like creatures came from reptiles through many steps. Likewise reptiles ultimately came from fish, through many steps. Evolutionists say that with each major stage, more parts were added to the brain. The final development, and the greatest of all, is the cerebral cortex. According to this theory, one of the oldest parts of the brain is the part deep inside. Evolutionists claim that this part of the brain, called the basal ganglia, comes from our reptilian past. They have described this part of the brain as “primitive.” It controls such simple things as movement and spatial memory. These are basic functions needed by reptiles. Of course, the evolutionary view that the basal ganglia is primitive was never scientifically researched. Then researchers started to examine the workings of the basal ganglia. They have concluded that the deep structures of the brain that are supposed to be primitive are actually quite sophisticated. In fact, these so-called reptilian structures rival the cerebral cortex in sophistication. These structures receive input from all parts of the cortex. And all the neurochemicals found anywhere else in the body are also found in these structures. In other words, there is absolutely no evidence of their being primitive. Once again scientific research has not found what evolutionists expected. The human brain has not developed by adding parts to reptile brains. It was specially created just for human beings. REF.: Miller, Julie Ann. 1985. ‘Deep core of brain gains respect,’ Science News, v. 128, Nov. 9. p. 297.”
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).
YOUTUBE CENSORS VIDEO ABOUT EVANGELICALS HELPING MARXISTS AS “HATE SPEECH” (Friday Church News Notes, February 14, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “YouTube Says Video,” Pulpit and Pen, Jan. 28, 2020: “Technocracies are increasingly controlling the conversation, censoring particularly impactful videos, posts, and articles that expose leftist schemes to takeover American institutions. This trend is seen most recently in YouTube taking down a video from Christian ministry organization, Worldview Weekend, which focused on the link between Marxists and Muslims and their desire to take control of the United States. Entitled, Some Evangelicals Are Helping the Marxists and Muslims Sabotage America, the video was produced and posted by Brannon Howse of Worldview Weekend (WVW). WVW now reports that the tech giant removed the video because of ‘hate.’ ‘On January 25th, 2020 we received an email from YouTube that stated: ‘Our team has reviewed your content, and, unfortunately, we think it violates our hate speech policy. We have removed the following content from YouTube: Video: Some Evangelicals Are Helping the Marxists and Muslims Sabotage America.’ WVW continues, ‘Telling the truth with TONS of documented facts and video clips is now hate speech? These were older videos and so apparently YouTube is stepping up its crackdown on conservatives as the fall of 2020 elections approach. Yet, YouTube is FILLED with hateful rants by Islamists and Marxists about Christians, conservatives and Jews. Some of these videos feature individuals like Linda Sarsour, Yasir Qadhi, Dalia Mogahed, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Siraj Wahhaj who was on a list of co-conspirators in the trial of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. This is the second video in one week that YouTube has removed.’”
TESTIMONY OF ONE WHO FORMERLY HELD THE “PRE-WRATH” DOCTRINE (Friday Church News Notes, February 14, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “You are right to take a strong stand on the pre-tribulation rapture position. This is our blessed hope and the encouragement that Jesus gave to His Church, as we fight the good fight. Sadly, I left that position for over twenty years, favoring the pre-wrath rapture and then, for a while, the seventh trumpet rapture position. Over time, I lost my joy in Christ. I often repented of my fear of the judgments to come, my fear that I wouldn’t be found worthy to escape, my fear that we hadn’t prepped enough, my fear that I would lose my salvation, etc. It wasn’t that I was afraid to die for my faith, but that those days are described as something far worse than any kind of tribulation ever experienced on earth. I wondered why God would allow His latter day Church to endure such horrible tribulation that could end with one of the weaker believers taking the mark of the beast?! I just prayed for strength, grace and courage to face the worst in that day. At the same time, there was also a pridefulness that had set in with me, as I had also noticed in others who held my anti-pre-tribulation view. And a disdain for those poor souls who held to such an easy escapist way out of tribulation. It was like we knew the truth and had some kind of deeper understanding of God’s Word. Thankfully, God led me to a pre-tribulation website back in 2016. I fought if off for a bit, and then decided to listen to the Holy Spirit. I can’t tell you how happy I am that I did. My joy was restored and I now believe it is absolutely the correct and biblical position and a very important doctrine. Thank you for all that you do. God bless.”
CHILDREN ADDICTED TO PORNOGRAPHY VIA SMART PHONES (Friday Church News Notes, February 14, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “What’s the Right Age for a Child to Get a Smartphone,” New York Times, July 20, 2016: “Not long ago, many parents wondered at what age they should give their child full access to the car keys. Nowadays, parents face a trickier question: At what age should a child own a smartphone? The topic is being increasingly debated as children get smartphones at an ever younger age. On average, children are getting their first smartphones around age 10, according to the research firm Influence Central, down from age 12 in 2012. For some children, smartphone ownership starts even sooner--including second graders as young as 7, according to internet safety experts. ... ‘The longer you keep Pandora’s box shut, the better off you are,’ said Jesse Weinberger, an internet safety speaker based in Ohio who gives presentations to parents, schools and law enforcement officials. ‘There’s no connection to the dark side without the device.’ ... Ms. Weinberger, who wrote the smartphone and internet safety book The Boogeyman Exists: And He’s in Your Child’s Back Pocket, said she had surveyed 70,000 children in the last 18 months and found that, on average, sexting began in the fifth grade, pornography consumption began when children turned 8, and pornography addiction began around age 11.”
MEDICAL JOURNAL SAYS STATES SHOULD OVERRIDE PARENTS WHO REFUSE TO “TRANSITION” CHILDREN TO ANOTHER GENDER (Friday Church News Notes, February 14, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Medical Journal,” ReformationCharlotte.org, Feb. 7, 2020: “A highly respected medical journal is urging the state to override the parents’ decision when a child wants to ‘transition’ to another gender but the parents refuse to do so. The Journal of Medical Ethics published an article on December 31 titled ‘Medically assisted gender affirmation: when children and parents disagree,’ which classifies the refusal to transition a child as ‘neglect’ and that ‘Neglect, as a medico-legal term, can be used to initiate an evaluation by Child Protective Services and remove a parent as a child’s legal guardian in the most severe instances.’ The article was authored by Dr. Samuel Dubin, a plastic surgeon from the University of Michigan, along with several colleagues, and published at British Medical Journal website. Theologian Robert Gagnon, a Presbyterian pastor and professor of New Testament Theology at Houston Baptist University and former associate professor of the New Testament at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, comments on the article, stating, ‘You can believe that this is coming with the passage of the Dems’ Equality Act, which will happen if a Dem becomes President.’ We can already see this taking place in several judicial cases around the country. In 2018, a Hamilton County, Ohio, judge ruled that the parents of a 17-year-old could no longer retain custody of their child, instead, giving custody to the grandparents to make medical decisions on behalf of the teen who desired to ‘transition’ to the opposite sex. Several other cases are currently under litigation. One high-profile case, however, has not worked in favor of the radical sex-change activists as a 7-year-old boy’s mother fought in court against her ex-husband, the child’s father, who refused to transition his son into a girl at the behest of the boy’s mother. The state of Texas ruled against sole custody for the mother and that medical decisions to ‘transition’ the child could not be made without the father’s approval. It turned out that the boy did not have the desire to ‘transition’ after all—not that it should matter.”
BRAIN DISAPPOINTS EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT (Friday Church News Notes, February 14, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from creationmoments.com, November 14, 2019: “According to evolutionary thought, humans came from ape-like creatures. These ape-like creatures came from reptiles through many steps. Likewise reptiles ultimately came from fish, through many steps. Evolutionists say that with each major stage, more parts were added to the brain. The final development, and the greatest of all, is the cerebral cortex. According to this theory, one of the oldest parts of the brain is the part deep inside. Evolutionists claim that this part of the brain, called the basal ganglia, comes from our reptilian past. They have described this part of the brain as “primitive.” It controls such simple things as movement and spatial memory. These are basic functions needed by reptiles. Of course, the evolutionary view that the basal ganglia is primitive was never scientifically researched. Then researchers started to examine the workings of the basal ganglia. They have concluded that the deep structures of the brain that are supposed to be primitive are actually quite sophisticated. In fact, these so-called reptilian structures rival the cerebral cortex in sophistication. These structures receive input from all parts of the cortex. And all the neurochemicals found anywhere else in the body are also found in these structures. In other words, there is absolutely no evidence of their being primitive. Once again scientific research has not found what evolutionists expected. The human brain has not developed by adding parts to reptile brains. It was specially created just for human beings. REF.: Miller, Julie Ann. 1985. ‘Deep core of brain gains respect,’ Science News, v. 128, Nov. 9. p. 297.”
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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