Friday Church News Notes
Volume 21, Issue 17 - April 24, 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.
"Bible 2020" New Testament
Published by the Danish Bible Society
LUTHERAN NEW TESTAMENT REMOVES THE WORD “ISRAEL” (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A New Testament published by the Danish Bible Society has removed the name Israel, except in one place. Called Bible 2020, it replaces Israel with “Jews,” “the land of the Jews,” or an alternative generic term. Reviewer Jan Frost says that “the publishers justified the change by claiming that the ‘Israel’ referred to in the Bible is not the same as Israel today.” “Elaine Duncan, Global Council Chairperson of the Bible Society, noted that the new edition has already been downloaded to more than 90 countries, which she considered to be a great success at moving towards what she described as a ‘global church’” (“Lutherans Publish New Version,” BreakingIsraelNews, Apr. 20, 2020). This reminds us that the United Bible Societies, of which the Danish Bible Society is a member, are radically ecumenical and are at the forefront of building the apostate one-world “church.” (For documentation see Unholy Hands on God’s Holy Book, available as a free eBook from www.wayoflife.org.) The name “Israel” is mentioned 70 times in the Greek New Testament, and Israel was already apostate then, which is why she called for the crucifixion of her own Messiah. At the dawn of Israel’s history as a nation, after she left Egypt but before she entered her own land, Moses prophesied that Israel would disobey God’s law, be evicted from her land, be scattered throughout the nations in a spiritually blind, difficult condition, and then return to the land. See Deuteronomy 28:15-67 and 30:1-9. This is exactly what has happened, proving that Bible prophecy is to be interpreted literally. So it is THE SAME ISRAEL that came out of Egypt and entered the Promised Land and that was evicted from the land by Rome in the second century AD and that has lived among the nations for 2,000 years, that has returned in modern times. Old Testament prophecy explains that Israel must return to the land in an apostate condition in order to set the stage for the Antichrist and the Third Temple (Daniel 9:27). The “Valley of Dry Bones” prophecy in Ezekiel 37 teaches that Israel will return in two stages, first spiritually dead, and then spiritually converted. Stage one is fulfilled; stage two waits in the wings. “And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army” (Eze. 37:8-10).
CHINA REMOVES CROSSES FROM CHURCHES FOR BEING “HIGHER THAN THE NATIONAL FLAG” (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Bitter Winter, a human rights magazine, reports the following: “Even the deadly coronavirus outbreak did not reduce the speed of the cross-demolition campaign sweeping through China. In mid-March, crosses were removed from multiple churches in the eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui. In the neighboring Shandong, the prefecture-level city of Linyi is no exception: On top of at least 70 crosses removed from churches since last spring, more have been taken down during the epidemic. ... Last December, numerous crosses were removed from Three-Self churches in Hegang, a prefecture-level city in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang. A member of a church in the city’s Dongshan district told Bitter Winter that a local official threatened to close down the church if the cross was not removed because ‘it was higher than the national flag’” (“Crosses Removed from Numerous State-run Protestant Churches,” Bitter Winter, Apr. 11, 2020). This reminds us of two Bible prophecies. The first is in the Psalms: “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion” (Psalm 2:1-6). The second prophecy is in Isaiah: “Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low” (Isaiah 2:10-12).
CHINA MONITORING CHURCHES’ SOCIAL MEDIA (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from ChristianHeadlines.com, Apr. 7, 2020: “Day-to-day online activities by Christians also are monitored. Members of a Three-Self church in the province of Henan received a notice from their pastor in January demanding they dissolve their groups on We Chat, a social media app. In February, a village official forced a Christian resident to ‘change his We Chat account profile picture’ because it contained an image of a cross, Bitter Winter reported. Churches and their members are prohibited from saying anything negative about the government or spreading information about the pandemic that isn't government-approved. ‘The Public Security Bureau has information on all members of every We Chat group, and network inspections are carried out, especially strict during the pandemic,’ a Three-Self pastor from Shandong told Bitter Winter. Persecution has worsened during the pandemic. ‘Encouraged by the government, many factories and public venues have been re-opened, but religious venues are still barred,’ a Three-Self believer from Henan province said. ‘Religious meetings are forbidden, and all channels of religious communication are blocked.’”
IN CHINA, ALL CALLS FOR FREEDOM LEAD TO PUNISHMENT (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “In China,” Bitter Winter, Apr. 11, 2020: “The death of Li Wenliang, the doctor who raised concerns about the dangers of the coronavirus and was silenced by the government, ignited a wave of anger among China’s population. On the night of his death, February 6, a protest started online, a rarity in the country governed by an authoritarian regime. Wearing face masks with ‘can’t’ and ‘don’t understand’—in reference to ‘Can you manage? Do you understand?’ from Dr. Li’s forced confession, asking if he could behave and understand what he did wrong—people took to the internet to express the pent-up distrust and despair at the government for concealing information about the virus and its dangers. They also accused the authorities of suppressing free speech. Among them was a man from eastern China. He agreed to talk to Bitter Winter on the condition of anonymity, so we’ll call him Mr. Cheng. ‘When Li Wenliang died, I wanted to do something to commemorate him,’ Mr. Cheng told Bitter Winter. ‘So, I sent a message on my WeChat group, suggesting that the group members change their profile picture to the photo of Li Wenliang and demand to thoroughly investigate why the coronavirus whistleblowers were persecuted, find out who is to blame, and ask for a public apology.’ ... That same day, the local police stormed into his house, took away his cellphone, and arrested him on suspicion of ‘disturbing public order.’ ‘The police claimed that my message was intended to subvert the state power. I could be imprisoned for ten years,’ Mr. Cheng continued. ... Before he was released, Mr. Cheng was asked to sign a statement promising not to post any more ‘improper remarks.’ ... Many other netizens joined the online protest, demanding freedom of speech. They were reprimanded and silenced by the police, and nothing has changed—business as usual in China.”
MARXISTS LOVE TURMOIL (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “Marx took Hegel’s idea of change through confrontation and accommodation and placed it in the material world. This gives us the basic communist idea of change through destruction and reorganization. Communism thrives on turmoil because, to their way of thinking, anything which upsets order is an aid in movement toward their ultimate synthesis. In communism, the ruling class is the thesis, the working class the antithesis, and the ultimate synthesis will be a state controlled by the people living in complete equality. ... Many Christians have been amazed at the sympathy and comradeship liberal theologians feel for the godless communist movement. But it is not really surprising since they are both, in different areas of life, searching by the same methods for the same end” (Daniel J. Ebert, Will Our Sons Defend the Faith, 3rd edition, 1994, p. 36).
THE WALKING FISH (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from creationmoments.com, April 9, 2020: “When is a fish not a fish? When it’s a walking fish! The walking fish is a popular nickname for the axolotl. The axolotl looks like a fish and has external gills like a fish, but it also has legs. In fact, it is not a fish at all. It is an amphibian which usually lives its whole life underwater. It has to rank as one of the most unusual animals on the planet. It is actually the larva of a type of salamander. However, this particular creature has a property known as neoteny, which means that it reaches a form of adult maturity while it is still a larva. There are some other salamanders that have the property of neoteny. In most cases, however, this is a temporary or environmentally influenced aberration. In the case of the axolotl, it is the norm. Wild axolotls hardly ever metamorphose into adult salamanders. Instead, they reach sexual maturity in the larval stage and breed as tadpole-like creatures. Yet, captive axolotls can be given an injection of iodine, and this enables them to undergo full metamorphosis, turning into an adult salamander form. This bizarre and rare behavior is very difficult to explain in evolutionary terms. Once evolutionists have found theories, however untenable, to explain why amphibians undergo metamorphosis, they then have to devise more theories to explain one that doesn’t! To the Christian, however, the animal appears well designed for its habitat. Ref: Hennigan, T. (2013), ‘An Initial Estimate Toward Identifying and Numbering Amphibian Kinds within the Orders Caudata and Gymnophionam,’ Answers Research Journal 6 (2013): 17–34.”
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).
CHINA REMOVES CROSSES FROM CHURCHES FOR BEING “HIGHER THAN THE NATIONAL FLAG” (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Bitter Winter, a human rights magazine, reports the following: “Even the deadly coronavirus outbreak did not reduce the speed of the cross-demolition campaign sweeping through China. In mid-March, crosses were removed from multiple churches in the eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui. In the neighboring Shandong, the prefecture-level city of Linyi is no exception: On top of at least 70 crosses removed from churches since last spring, more have been taken down during the epidemic. ... Last December, numerous crosses were removed from Three-Self churches in Hegang, a prefecture-level city in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang. A member of a church in the city’s Dongshan district told Bitter Winter that a local official threatened to close down the church if the cross was not removed because ‘it was higher than the national flag’” (“Crosses Removed from Numerous State-run Protestant Churches,” Bitter Winter, Apr. 11, 2020). This reminds us of two Bible prophecies. The first is in the Psalms: “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion” (Psalm 2:1-6). The second prophecy is in Isaiah: “Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low” (Isaiah 2:10-12).
CHINA MONITORING CHURCHES’ SOCIAL MEDIA (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from ChristianHeadlines.com, Apr. 7, 2020: “Day-to-day online activities by Christians also are monitored. Members of a Three-Self church in the province of Henan received a notice from their pastor in January demanding they dissolve their groups on We Chat, a social media app. In February, a village official forced a Christian resident to ‘change his We Chat account profile picture’ because it contained an image of a cross, Bitter Winter reported. Churches and their members are prohibited from saying anything negative about the government or spreading information about the pandemic that isn't government-approved. ‘The Public Security Bureau has information on all members of every We Chat group, and network inspections are carried out, especially strict during the pandemic,’ a Three-Self pastor from Shandong told Bitter Winter. Persecution has worsened during the pandemic. ‘Encouraged by the government, many factories and public venues have been re-opened, but religious venues are still barred,’ a Three-Self believer from Henan province said. ‘Religious meetings are forbidden, and all channels of religious communication are blocked.’”
IN CHINA, ALL CALLS FOR FREEDOM LEAD TO PUNISHMENT (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “In China,” Bitter Winter, Apr. 11, 2020: “The death of Li Wenliang, the doctor who raised concerns about the dangers of the coronavirus and was silenced by the government, ignited a wave of anger among China’s population. On the night of his death, February 6, a protest started online, a rarity in the country governed by an authoritarian regime. Wearing face masks with ‘can’t’ and ‘don’t understand’—in reference to ‘Can you manage? Do you understand?’ from Dr. Li’s forced confession, asking if he could behave and understand what he did wrong—people took to the internet to express the pent-up distrust and despair at the government for concealing information about the virus and its dangers. They also accused the authorities of suppressing free speech. Among them was a man from eastern China. He agreed to talk to Bitter Winter on the condition of anonymity, so we’ll call him Mr. Cheng. ‘When Li Wenliang died, I wanted to do something to commemorate him,’ Mr. Cheng told Bitter Winter. ‘So, I sent a message on my WeChat group, suggesting that the group members change their profile picture to the photo of Li Wenliang and demand to thoroughly investigate why the coronavirus whistleblowers were persecuted, find out who is to blame, and ask for a public apology.’ ... That same day, the local police stormed into his house, took away his cellphone, and arrested him on suspicion of ‘disturbing public order.’ ‘The police claimed that my message was intended to subvert the state power. I could be imprisoned for ten years,’ Mr. Cheng continued. ... Before he was released, Mr. Cheng was asked to sign a statement promising not to post any more ‘improper remarks.’ ... Many other netizens joined the online protest, demanding freedom of speech. They were reprimanded and silenced by the police, and nothing has changed—business as usual in China.”
MARXISTS LOVE TURMOIL (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “Marx took Hegel’s idea of change through confrontation and accommodation and placed it in the material world. This gives us the basic communist idea of change through destruction and reorganization. Communism thrives on turmoil because, to their way of thinking, anything which upsets order is an aid in movement toward their ultimate synthesis. In communism, the ruling class is the thesis, the working class the antithesis, and the ultimate synthesis will be a state controlled by the people living in complete equality. ... Many Christians have been amazed at the sympathy and comradeship liberal theologians feel for the godless communist movement. But it is not really surprising since they are both, in different areas of life, searching by the same methods for the same end” (Daniel J. Ebert, Will Our Sons Defend the Faith, 3rd edition, 1994, p. 36).
THE WALKING FISH (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from creationmoments.com, April 9, 2020: “When is a fish not a fish? When it’s a walking fish! The walking fish is a popular nickname for the axolotl. The axolotl looks like a fish and has external gills like a fish, but it also has legs. In fact, it is not a fish at all. It is an amphibian which usually lives its whole life underwater. It has to rank as one of the most unusual animals on the planet. It is actually the larva of a type of salamander. However, this particular creature has a property known as neoteny, which means that it reaches a form of adult maturity while it is still a larva. There are some other salamanders that have the property of neoteny. In most cases, however, this is a temporary or environmentally influenced aberration. In the case of the axolotl, it is the norm. Wild axolotls hardly ever metamorphose into adult salamanders. Instead, they reach sexual maturity in the larval stage and breed as tadpole-like creatures. Yet, captive axolotls can be given an injection of iodine, and this enables them to undergo full metamorphosis, turning into an adult salamander form. This bizarre and rare behavior is very difficult to explain in evolutionary terms. Once evolutionists have found theories, however untenable, to explain why amphibians undergo metamorphosis, they then have to devise more theories to explain one that doesn’t! To the Christian, however, the animal appears well designed for its habitat. Ref: Hennigan, T. (2013), ‘An Initial Estimate Toward Identifying and Numbering Amphibian Kinds within the Orders Caudata and Gymnophionam,’ Answers Research Journal 6 (2013): 17–34.”
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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