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Way of Life Literature

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Way of Life Literature

Publisher of Bible Study Materials

Way of Life Bible College
Friday Church News Notes
Volume 21, Issue 10 - March 6, 2020
Graphical Edition
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.
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Christopher Dummitt

GENDER THEORY INVENTOR ADMITS HE MADE IT UP (Friday Church News Notes, March 6, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Parents As First Educators (PAFE), Mar. 2, 2020: “In an article published last fall in the online Canadian magazine Quillette, historian Christopher Dummitt discusses how he went from denying that sex is a biological reality to admitting that he was wrong. Dummitt describes how in the 1990s as a graduate student he promoted the idea that sex is wholly a social construct—‘that there was no such thing as sex.’ At that time he couldn’t find many people that agreed with him because ‘such beliefs went against common sense.’ Fast forward 25 years and ‘now my big idea is everywhere,’ writes Dummitt. It shows up especially in the talking points about trans rights, and policy regarding trans athletes in sports. It is being written into laws that essentially threaten repercussions for anyone who suggests that sex might be a biological reality. Such a statement, for many activists, is tantamount to hate speech. Dummitt admits he was wrong in promoting the idea that sex is a social construct, and says that he and others in the gender-studies field were ‘making it up’ when it came to their research. Yet this ‘baseless’ idea that Dummitt and others promoted is what is driving the transgender movement and its lobbying to have pro-transgender policies put in place. Dummitt laments the fact that, ‘My flawed reasoning, and other scholarship using the same defective thinking, now is being taken up by activists and governments to legislate a new moral code of conduct.’ This ‘flawed reasoning’ and ‘defective thinking’ has found its way into the Ontario sex-ed curriculum and who knows how many ‘spontaneous’ classroom discussions about sex and gender identity led by activist teachers. It is also what is behind the dramatic rise in children claiming they are transgender and the medical establishment’s approach to such children: affirming their new identity and offering them drugs and surgery to ‘transition.’”

CORONAVIRUS IN PERSPECTIVE (Friday Church News Notes, March 6, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “U.S. Flu Season 2017-18,” CNSNews.com, Feb. 20, 2020: “As health care experts and world leaders struggle with the spread of the new corona virus (COVID-19) -- an infectious respiratory illness like influenza (flu) but caused by a different virus--it merits noting how widespread influenza is in the United States and globally, and how many people die from the flu each year.  ... According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were approximately 45 million cases of the flu in the United States during the 2017-2018 influenza season. Among those cases, 810,000 people had to be hospitalized. During that season, 61,000 people died from the flu. ... Globally, about 1 billion people get the flu, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. And the CDC reports that ‘between 291,000 and 646,000 people worldwide die from seasonal influenza-related respiratory illnesses each year.’ As of Feb. 25, the World Health Organization (WHO) said there were 80,239 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 34 countries. The WHO also reported that there have been 2,700 deaths from COVID-19. As of Feb. 25, there were 54 COVID-19 cases in the United States but no deaths reported.”

TRUMP APPOINTS GAY MAN WITH SAME-SEX PARTNER ACTING HEAD OF U.S. INTELLIGENCE (Friday Church News Notes, March 6, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Trump Makes” CNSNews.com, Mar. 2, 2020: “President Donald Trump has put Richard Grenell, a gay man with a same-sex partner, in the position of acting Director of National Intelligence, the cabinet-level official who oversees the U.S. intelligence community. After naming Grenell acting DNI on Feb. 19, Trump announced on Feb. 28 that he was nominating Rep. John Ratcliffe (R.-Texas) to take over as the full-time DNI. Ratcliffe, however, must first win a confirmation vote in the Senate to assume that role. ... On Feb. 20, 2019, the New York Times ran a story with the headline: ‘A U.S. Ambassador Promises a Global Push to Decriminalize Homosexuality.’ It said: ‘The American ambassador to Germany [appointed by President Trump] plans to lead what his embassy said Wednesday was a new and ‘specific push’ to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide. ‘The ambassador, Richard Grenell, rumored to be a candidate as the next American ambassador to the United Nations, invited about a dozen gay and transgender activists from around Europe to a dinner at his Berlin residence Tuesday night where the effort was discussed.’ On Oct. 3, 2018, the Times reported: ‘In recent years, the United States has posted several openly gay people to important ambassadorships. The most recent is Richard Grenell, the current ambassador to Germany, who was confirmed by the Senate in April. Mr. Grenell's longtime partner, Matthew Lashey, accompanied him to Germany.’ On May 3, 2018, when Vice President Mike Pence swore-in Grenell as ambassador to Germany, he welcomed the presence of Grenell’s “partner,” Matt Lashey. Lashey held the Bible that Grenell put his hand on when he took the oath to God to uphold the Constitution and faithfully perform the duties of his office.” Pence said: “On behalf of President Trump and the First Family, it is my privilege to say, welcome to the White House for the swearing-in of the 29th United States Ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell. (Applause.)”

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL DARK SIDE OF SHARING YOUR DAILY LIFE ON YOUTUBE (Friday Church News Notes, March 6, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excepted from “The Psychological Dark Side,” New Scientist, Apr. 24, 2019: “Last month, Charlie McDonnell was upfront with his fans. He was the first UK YouTuber to reach a million subscribers, and he has been uploading videos to the site since 2007. Then in March, he told his followers on Twitter: ‘I have, essentially, quit the YouTube thing.’ Part of his rationale was that it ‘Turns out that tying up your perceived worth with your level of success on a website is a Very Bad Idea.’ He is one of many who have created a living for themselves on the world’s most popular video-sharing website, and built up an audience from its 1.9 billion monthly users, only to find that the gilded cage they have built themselves is just that: a cage. Take also Gabbie Hanna, a US YouTuber who migrated to the site when the app she made her name on, Vine, closed in early 2017. She now has 6.5 million subscribers who lap up her every word. As she sat on stage in front of several hundred fans this February at VidCon, a conference on online video, she too shared her feelings. YouTube had ‘poisoned’ her mental health, and, like McDonnell, she now equated her self-worth with the number of views each of her videos received. ... YouTube’s biggest names are now established celebrities, as recognisable to young audiences as mainstream celebrities. But they also came to fame younger than most, and are pressured by their viewers to continue posting--and to keep being the same person that first made their fans fall in love with them. ... ‘People are expressing their emotional concerns and fears to YouTubers as if they know them,’ says Leslie Rasmussen at Xavier University in Ohio. ‘The reality is they don’t, and what they do know about the YouTuber is very different to what the YouTuber will ever know about them.’ This one-sided relationship, often between an adoring audience and a celebrity, is known as a parasocial relationship. These relationships have been studied for more than 60 years, but they have never been felt as intensely as they are now. ... Now the relationship has evolved: viewers don’t just let celebrities into their living rooms, they are on their phones, in their bedrooms and bathrooms. They are appearing across social media, entwined into the same news feeds as their real friends. ... the other fear is that closeness turns to unhealthy obsession. Christina Grimmie was a YouTuber with nearly 1 million subscribers when she appeared at a ‘meet-and-greet’ at an Orlando theatre in June 2016. Such events are a way for fans to meet their favourite YouTube stars and grab a selfie and stilted conversation with their idols. More than 250 people turned out to see Grimmie, including her killer, Kevin James Loibl, who brought two handguns and a hunting knife with him. Loibl shot Grimmie dead, then turned a gun on himself. He had spent months watching her videos, and wanted to become a famous YouTuber himself so he could gain Grimmie’s attention. Loibl’s only friend said that he watched ‘all her YouTube videos, how she interacted with fans, and how she interacted in general.’ That friend also said Loibl called Grimmie ‘his soulmate.’ ... The research on its long-term impact is only now beginning, and when we get the answers, it could be too late to do anything. On YouTube, oversharing is the new norm--with all the tragic consequences that can ensue.”

CAN A CHILD REPENT? (Friday Church News Notes, March 6, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Recently I received the following question: “I've always wondered about this question ... can a child repent? ... I asked Jesus to come into my heart when I was seven. I can't recall repentance. I recall saying that I knew I was a sinner, but I don't recall any turning back. So am I not saved? ... There were many years of self-centered living, but I always came back after periods of wandering. There have been times of doubt too. So I must ask that question, can a child repent?”
BRO. CLOUD’S REPLY: A child old enough to understand repentance and the gospel and saving faith can repent. But we need to be exceedingly wise about child evangelism, as we explain in the report “Careful Child Evangelism.” There we give 11 suggestions: 1. Fill their minds with God’s Word (2 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 4:12; Psa. 19:7; 119:130). 2. Teach them the gospel, and teach them, and teach them (Ro. 1:16; 1 Co. 15:3-4). 3. Deal with repentance (Lk. 17:3; Acts 17:30; 20:21). 4. Don’t pressure them. 5. Discipline them. 6. Pray, pray, pray (Jam. 5:16). 7. Look for the convicting, drawing work of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 12:32; 16:7-11). 8. If a child does profess saving faith in Christ, encourage him or her to seek the Lord and His will (2 Tim. 2:19). 9. Look for scriptural evidence of salvation in the child’s life. (We give five chief evidences.) 10. Let God confirm to the children that they are saved (Rom. 8:15-16; Gal. 4:6). 11. If the child later expresses doubt about salvation, encourage him to settle it. See https://www.wayoflife.org/reports/careful-child-evangelism.php

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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