Friday Church News Notes
Volume 21, Issue 16 - April 17, 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.
Queen Elizabeth during her address to the nation and the Commonwealth. - via REUTERS
THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND SAYS EASTER ISN’T CANCELLED (Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - On Saturday April 11, in a message via social media, Queen Elizabeth said, “As darkness falls on the Saturday before Easter Day, many Christians would normally light candles together. In church, one light would pass to another, spreading slowly and then more rapidly as more candles are lit. It’s a way of showing how the good news of Christ’s resurrection has been passed on from the first Easter by every generation until now. This year, Easter will be different for many of us but by keeping apart we keep others safe. But Easter isn’t cancelled; indeed we need Easter as much as ever. The discovery of the risen Christ on the first Easter Day gave his followers new hope and fresh purpose, and we can all take heart from this. We know that Coronavirus will not overcome us. As dark as death can be, particularly for those suffering with grief, light and life are greater. May the living flame of the Easter hope be a steady guide as we face the future. I wish everyone of all faiths and denominations a blessed Easter.” The Queen is right, of course, that Easter isn’t cancelled. Christ is risen from the dead and nothing can undo that. What is sad is that she didn’t state the significance of Christ’s death and resurrection. She didn’t preach the gospel, and there is no salvation, no victory over death, no real hope, apart from the gospel. A vague “new hope and fresh purpose” isn’t the gospel of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul summarized it like this: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Christ’s bodily resurrection, which is a well-authenticated fact of history, was the evidence that God accepted His vicarious atonement and that He is indeed the Son of God, the only Lord and Saviour. “Jesus Christ our Lord ... declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:3-5).
BOB JONES UNIVERSITY HOSTS ROMAN CATHOLIC SPEAKER (Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Machen White, “BJU Then and Now...Abby Johnson,” Apr. 7, 2020, Musings of a Fundamentalist: “On February 2018 Dr. Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University, praised Dr. Billy Graham’s ministry and his legacy. During a chapel message on November 7th of 2019, Dr. Bob praised the ministry of Dr. Billy Kim. Dr. Kim has always been a lover of the Graham ministry. It is a well-documented fact that Graham and Kim made partnering with the Roman Catholics (and others) IN MINISTRY a matter of course. On January 23, 2020, BJU invited the public on campus to screen the movie Unplanned created by pro-life advocate Abby Johnson. Then on March 5, 2020, BJU hosted the Piedmont Women’s Center (PWC) for their fundraising event. The speaker for the evening was Abby Johnson. During the event, Johnson ‘preached the gospel.’ On stage, displayed on a banner, were the words of Isaiah 43:19. Johnson said, ‘We must give the gospel to these ladies, not the watered-down Jesus but the powerful Jesus...everyone here is a sinner and in the need of a savior.’ She used the words ‘cross, gospel, sinners, Jesus.’ Folks left the event believing Johnson to be a born again Christian. Here is what they did not know: Johnson was raised a Southern Baptist. Through a series of events, she converted to Roman Catholicism ... Johnson explains her journey away from a gospel-preaching church and into Romanism. She proudly admits that she uses the pro-life platform to evangelize for Romanism.”
POPE SAYS JUDAS IS POSSIBLY IN HEAVEN (Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Speaking at a papal mass on April 8, Pope Francis said, “Something that calls my attention is that Jesus never calls him ‘traitor’: [Jesus] says he will be betrayed, but he doesn’t say to [Judas], ‘traitor.’ He never says, ‘Go away, traitor.’ Never. In fact, he calls him, ‘Friend,’ and he kisses him. … How did Judas end up? I don’t know. Jesus threatens forcefully here; he threatens forcefully: ‘woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.’ But does that mean that Judas is in Hell? I don’t know.” The pope also said there is a “little Judas that each one of us has within” (“Satan pays badly, warns pope,” Aleteia, Apr. 8, 2020). The pope lightly passes over the words of Jesus that it would be better for Judas if he had never been born (Mt. 26:24). When the apostles chose a replacement for Judas after Christ’s ascension, they prayed, “Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place” (Acts 1:24-25). What is Judas’ own place? Jesus answered this in His high priestly prayer, as He said to the Father, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the SON OF PERDITION; that the scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12). “Perdition” is the Greek apoleia, which is also translated “destruction” (Mt. 7:13) and “damnation” (2 Pe.2:3). It is used for eternal judgment in Romans 9:22; Philippians 3:19; Hebrews 10:39; 2 Peter 2:1, 3; 3:7, 16; and Revelation 17:8, 11. The antichrist is also called “the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
STREAMING CHURCH SERVICES BANNED IN CHINA (Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - We understand from other sources that some believers are able to work around the ban that is described in the following report, but the ban is real and conditions are always oppressive in China. It is not the land of the free, and we need to pray for God’s people and the work of the gospel there. The following is excerpted from ChristianHeadlines.com, Apr. 7, 2020: “Churches around the world are staying in contact online during the COVID-19 pandemic, but such an action remains illegal in China. The watchdog Bitter Winter reported April 5 that very few organizations, and ‘only those that hold state-issued licenses,’ can stream religious services online in China. ‘We can’t get together because of the pandemic,’ an underground house church pastor in the province of Jiangxi told Bitter Winter. The pastor tried to stream a sermon Feb. 9 through an app, but was stopped. ‘Our first and only online gathering was blocked by the government soon after it started,’ the preacher said. That same day, another house church pastor, in the province of Shandong, also tried to stream online services. ‘The meeting was stopped less than 20 minutes after the start,’ Bitter Winter reported. A 2018 Chinese law bans streaming services. ‘No organizations or individuals will be allowed to live-stream or broadcast religious activities, including praying, burning incense, ordinations, scripture chanting, holding Mass, worshipping or receiving baptism online in the form of text, photo, audio or video,’ the law says. On Feb. 23, the government-approved Two Chinese Christian Councils of Shandong Province issued a notice ‘demanding all churches in the province to stop live-streaming their services immediately,’ Bitter Winter reported. On Feb. 28, the United Front Work Department of the Nanhu district in Jiaxing, a government organization in Zhejiang province, said it would investigate all online activities by state-approved churches. Churches in China must register with the government and join either the Three-Self Patriotic Movement or the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. But because these state-approved churches face severe restrictions, millions of Christians worship in illegal underground churches.”
UNITED NATIONS PARTNERING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA TO STIFLE FREE SPEECH GLOBALLY (Friday Church News Notes, April 10, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “World Health Organization,” Reformation Charlotte, Mar. 17, 2020: “Free speech is the foundation upon which a free society is built and when freedom of speech is taken away, society is no longer actually free. In the free world, free speech has been a right protected regardless of the truthfulness of the speech itself. ... The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that it is partnering with social media giants to ‘flag and take down’ ‘misinformation’ regarding the coronavirus pandemic. ABC 7 reports, ‘There is a flow of misinformation online about the virus, which health officials are calling an infodemic and they are mounting a concerted effort to combat it. ... Andy Pattison, the manager of digital solutions at WHO, [says] this could well be the first global infodemic. ... The WHO is working directly with tech companies on a daily basis to flag and take down bad information, and to ensure that facts from reliable sources get to users first’ (‘How COVID-19 infodemic is infecting the internet with false information,’ ABC7news.com, Mar. 6, 2020). Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted in a comment on Facebook recently, ‘Given the developing situation, we’re working with national ministries of health and organizations like the WHO, CDC and UNICEF to help them get out timely, accurate information on the coronavirus. We’re also focused on stopping hoaxes and harmful misinformation...’ While there certainly is a plethora of false information being widely disseminated around social media, a free society has the obligation to allow it, protect the right to it, and to combat it with true information. The fact that a world government organization is partnering with social media to limit the information that they alone deem ‘false’ or ‘misleading’ should raise the hairs on everyone’s necks. This isn’t protecting the public, it’s harming people. It’s outright tyranny on a global scale.”
UNSAVED CHURCH MEMBERS (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - R.A. Torrey (1856-1928), Bible teacher, educator, Bible conference speaker, editor of The Fundamentals, and one of the most prominent evangelists in the heyday of America’s revivals, said that he believed that only 10% of those who professed to be believers were really converted (cited from William Ashbrook, Evangelicalism The New Neutralism, p. 118). Monroe “Monk” Parker, evangelist, president of Pillsbury Baptist College, and general director of Baptist World Mission, said, “I have concluded that if we could get half the church members saved, we would see a great revival. In fact, I think if we could get half of the preachers in America converted, we would see a mighty revival that would stop the floodtide of evil and turn America back to God. Just belonging to a church did not save me” (Parker, Through Sunshine and Shadows, 1967, p. 62).
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).
BOB JONES UNIVERSITY HOSTS ROMAN CATHOLIC SPEAKER (Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Machen White, “BJU Then and Now...Abby Johnson,” Apr. 7, 2020, Musings of a Fundamentalist: “On February 2018 Dr. Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University, praised Dr. Billy Graham’s ministry and his legacy. During a chapel message on November 7th of 2019, Dr. Bob praised the ministry of Dr. Billy Kim. Dr. Kim has always been a lover of the Graham ministry. It is a well-documented fact that Graham and Kim made partnering with the Roman Catholics (and others) IN MINISTRY a matter of course. On January 23, 2020, BJU invited the public on campus to screen the movie Unplanned created by pro-life advocate Abby Johnson. Then on March 5, 2020, BJU hosted the Piedmont Women’s Center (PWC) for their fundraising event. The speaker for the evening was Abby Johnson. During the event, Johnson ‘preached the gospel.’ On stage, displayed on a banner, were the words of Isaiah 43:19. Johnson said, ‘We must give the gospel to these ladies, not the watered-down Jesus but the powerful Jesus...everyone here is a sinner and in the need of a savior.’ She used the words ‘cross, gospel, sinners, Jesus.’ Folks left the event believing Johnson to be a born again Christian. Here is what they did not know: Johnson was raised a Southern Baptist. Through a series of events, she converted to Roman Catholicism ... Johnson explains her journey away from a gospel-preaching church and into Romanism. She proudly admits that she uses the pro-life platform to evangelize for Romanism.”
POPE SAYS JUDAS IS POSSIBLY IN HEAVEN (Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Speaking at a papal mass on April 8, Pope Francis said, “Something that calls my attention is that Jesus never calls him ‘traitor’: [Jesus] says he will be betrayed, but he doesn’t say to [Judas], ‘traitor.’ He never says, ‘Go away, traitor.’ Never. In fact, he calls him, ‘Friend,’ and he kisses him. … How did Judas end up? I don’t know. Jesus threatens forcefully here; he threatens forcefully: ‘woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.’ But does that mean that Judas is in Hell? I don’t know.” The pope also said there is a “little Judas that each one of us has within” (“Satan pays badly, warns pope,” Aleteia, Apr. 8, 2020). The pope lightly passes over the words of Jesus that it would be better for Judas if he had never been born (Mt. 26:24). When the apostles chose a replacement for Judas after Christ’s ascension, they prayed, “Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place” (Acts 1:24-25). What is Judas’ own place? Jesus answered this in His high priestly prayer, as He said to the Father, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the SON OF PERDITION; that the scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12). “Perdition” is the Greek apoleia, which is also translated “destruction” (Mt. 7:13) and “damnation” (2 Pe.2:3). It is used for eternal judgment in Romans 9:22; Philippians 3:19; Hebrews 10:39; 2 Peter 2:1, 3; 3:7, 16; and Revelation 17:8, 11. The antichrist is also called “the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
STREAMING CHURCH SERVICES BANNED IN CHINA (Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - We understand from other sources that some believers are able to work around the ban that is described in the following report, but the ban is real and conditions are always oppressive in China. It is not the land of the free, and we need to pray for God’s people and the work of the gospel there. The following is excerpted from ChristianHeadlines.com, Apr. 7, 2020: “Churches around the world are staying in contact online during the COVID-19 pandemic, but such an action remains illegal in China. The watchdog Bitter Winter reported April 5 that very few organizations, and ‘only those that hold state-issued licenses,’ can stream religious services online in China. ‘We can’t get together because of the pandemic,’ an underground house church pastor in the province of Jiangxi told Bitter Winter. The pastor tried to stream a sermon Feb. 9 through an app, but was stopped. ‘Our first and only online gathering was blocked by the government soon after it started,’ the preacher said. That same day, another house church pastor, in the province of Shandong, also tried to stream online services. ‘The meeting was stopped less than 20 minutes after the start,’ Bitter Winter reported. A 2018 Chinese law bans streaming services. ‘No organizations or individuals will be allowed to live-stream or broadcast religious activities, including praying, burning incense, ordinations, scripture chanting, holding Mass, worshipping or receiving baptism online in the form of text, photo, audio or video,’ the law says. On Feb. 23, the government-approved Two Chinese Christian Councils of Shandong Province issued a notice ‘demanding all churches in the province to stop live-streaming their services immediately,’ Bitter Winter reported. On Feb. 28, the United Front Work Department of the Nanhu district in Jiaxing, a government organization in Zhejiang province, said it would investigate all online activities by state-approved churches. Churches in China must register with the government and join either the Three-Self Patriotic Movement or the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. But because these state-approved churches face severe restrictions, millions of Christians worship in illegal underground churches.”
UNITED NATIONS PARTNERING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA TO STIFLE FREE SPEECH GLOBALLY (Friday Church News Notes, April 10, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “World Health Organization,” Reformation Charlotte, Mar. 17, 2020: “Free speech is the foundation upon which a free society is built and when freedom of speech is taken away, society is no longer actually free. In the free world, free speech has been a right protected regardless of the truthfulness of the speech itself. ... The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that it is partnering with social media giants to ‘flag and take down’ ‘misinformation’ regarding the coronavirus pandemic. ABC 7 reports, ‘There is a flow of misinformation online about the virus, which health officials are calling an infodemic and they are mounting a concerted effort to combat it. ... Andy Pattison, the manager of digital solutions at WHO, [says] this could well be the first global infodemic. ... The WHO is working directly with tech companies on a daily basis to flag and take down bad information, and to ensure that facts from reliable sources get to users first’ (‘How COVID-19 infodemic is infecting the internet with false information,’ ABC7news.com, Mar. 6, 2020). Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted in a comment on Facebook recently, ‘Given the developing situation, we’re working with national ministries of health and organizations like the WHO, CDC and UNICEF to help them get out timely, accurate information on the coronavirus. We’re also focused on stopping hoaxes and harmful misinformation...’ While there certainly is a plethora of false information being widely disseminated around social media, a free society has the obligation to allow it, protect the right to it, and to combat it with true information. The fact that a world government organization is partnering with social media to limit the information that they alone deem ‘false’ or ‘misleading’ should raise the hairs on everyone’s necks. This isn’t protecting the public, it’s harming people. It’s outright tyranny on a global scale.”
UNSAVED CHURCH MEMBERS (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - R.A. Torrey (1856-1928), Bible teacher, educator, Bible conference speaker, editor of The Fundamentals, and one of the most prominent evangelists in the heyday of America’s revivals, said that he believed that only 10% of those who professed to be believers were really converted (cited from William Ashbrook, Evangelicalism The New Neutralism, p. 118). Monroe “Monk” Parker, evangelist, president of Pillsbury Baptist College, and general director of Baptist World Mission, said, “I have concluded that if we could get half the church members saved, we would see a great revival. In fact, I think if we could get half of the preachers in America converted, we would see a mighty revival that would stop the floodtide of evil and turn America back to God. Just belonging to a church did not save me” (Parker, Through Sunshine and Shadows, 1967, p. 62).
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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