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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 44 - October 30, 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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THE POPE SPEAKS OUT IN SUPPORT OF SAME SEX CIVIL UNIONS (Friday Church News Notes, October 30, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In Francesco, a new biographical documentary, Pope Francis speaks out in favor of homosexual “civil unions.” He says, “They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it. What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered.” Francis, who was elected pope in 2013, spoke strongly against the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2010 when he was the cardinal of Buenos Aires. He called it “a move of the father of lies who wishes to confuse and deceive the children of God” (National Catholic Register, Jul. 8, 2010). The pope is now disregarding the Catholic Church’s own official teaching, which says, “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law. ... Under no circumstances can they be approved” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, approved by Pope John Paul II, second edition, 1997, # 2357). In 2003, the Catholic Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stated, “The Church teaches that respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behaviour or to legal recognition of homosexual unions” (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons”). Ratzinger was Pope Benedict XVI from 2006-2013 and is currently “pope emeritus.”

MORE TOTALITARIAN HARASSMENT OF CHURCHES IN CALIFORNIA (Friday Church News Notes, October 30, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The government of California is acting like a communist state in its actions toward churches. Most recently, health officials of Los Angeles County cited 11 parishioners who attended a worship service at Our Lady of the Angels Church that seats 500. The citation carries a $1,000 fine (“Clear Case of Retaliation,” The Daily Wire, Oct. 26, 2020). On October 20, county inspectors attempted to eject two women praying alone in the church and threatened them with citations. In late September, the church joined in a lawsuit against California Gov. Gavin Newson and other state officials claiming that their rights under the state constitution were being violated by the extended lockdown. In September, North Valley Baptist Church in Santa Clara, was fined more than $112,000 for congregating contrary to the state’s regulations. Los Angeles County has repeatedly sought to shut down the services of Grace Community Church of Sun Valley and to hold Pastor John MacArthur in contempt, but in early October a Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that the church is entitled to a full trial on the merits of their challenge to the constitutionality of the government shut-down orders and the county’s injunction. This delays implementation of the fines and possible imprisonment sought by the totalitarian county.

THE U.S. AND 31 OTHER COUNTRIES DECLARE THERE IS NO “INTERNATIONAL RIGHT TO ABORTION” (Friday Church News Notes, October 30, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “No International Right to Abortion,” Christian Headlines, Oct. 23, 2020: “The United States joined 31 other countries Thursday in signing a document emphasizing the equal rights of men and women and declaring there is ‘no international right to abortion.’ The Geneva Consensus Declaration was co-sponsored by the U.S., Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Hungary and Uganda and represents 1.6 billion people and every region of the world, supporters of the document said. It was signed during a joint virtual ceremony. ‘In no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning,’ the document says. The declaration involves three primary issues: promotion of equal rights for women, opposition to abortion for family planning, and the recognition of the need for universal health coverage. ‘Under President Trump’s leadership, the United States has defended the dignity of human life everywhere and always,’ Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said in a statement. ‘He’s done it like no other President in history. We’ve also mounted an unprecedented defense of the unborn abroad.’ The Geneva Consensus Declaration, Pompeo said, ‘protects women’s health, defends the unborn, and reiterates the vital importance of the family as the foundation of society.’”

BLACK BRITISH MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT BLISTERS SCHOOLS TEACHING CRITICAL RACE THEORY, SUPPORTING BLM MOVEMENT (Friday Church News Notes, October 30, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “British Member of Parliament,” The Daily Wire, Oct. 20, 2020: “Responding to Labour MP Dawn Butler’s calls to ‘decolonize’ history in the British Parliament’s House of Commons, Woman and Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch absolutely blistered schools for teaching critical race theory and supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, asserting, ... Badenoch, a member of the ruling Tory party who was born in Wimbledon and spent much of her childhood in the United States and Nigeria, stated: ‘Our curriculum does not need decolonizing for the simple reason that it is not colonized. We should not apologize for the fact that British children primarily study the history of these islands, and it goes without saying that the recent fad to decolonize maths, decolonize engineering, decolonize the sciences that we have seen across our universities to make race the defining principle of what is studied is not just misguided but actively opposed to the fundamental purpose of education. What we are against is the teaching of contested political ideas as if they are accepted fact. We don’t do this with communism; we don’t so this with socialism; we don’t so it with capitalism. And I want to speak about a dangerous trend in race relations that has come far too close to home to my life, and it’s the promotion of critical race theory, an ideology that sees my blackness as victimhood and their whiteness as oppression. I want to be absolutely clear: This government stands unequivocally against critical race theory. Some schools have decided to openly support the anti-capitalist Black Lives Matter group, often fully aware that they have a statutory duty to be politically impartial. Black lives do matter; of course they do. But we know that the Black Lives Matter Movement, capital ‘BLM,’ is political. I know this because at the height of the protest, I’ve been told of white Black Lives Matter protesters calling--and I’m afraid, I apologize for saying this word--calling a black armed police officer guarding Downing Street a “pet n*****.” That is why we do not endorse that movement on this side of the House. It is a political movement, and what would be nice would be for members on the opposite side to condemn many of the actions that we see from this political movement, instead of pretending that it is a completely wholesome anti-racist organization. There is a lot of pernicious stuff that is being pushed and we stand against that. We do not want to see teachers teaching their white pupils about white privilege and inherited racial guilt. And let me be clear: Any school which teaches these elements of critical race theory as fact or which promotes partisan political views such as defunding the police without offering a balanced treatment of opposing views is breaking the law.”

90-YEAR-OLD SURVIVES COVID-19 AND GIVES THANKS TO GOD FOR AMERICA AND ALL BLESSINGS (Friday Church News Notes, October 30, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Coach Bobby Bowden,” Faithwire.com, Oct. 22, 2020: “Former Florida State Seminoles football coach Bobby Bowden is thanking his doctors, his family, and the many fans who prayed for him as he battled a COVID-19 infection. ‘I want to thank all the many, many people who were thinking of and praying for me over the last few weeks,’ he said in a statement released Wednesday. ‘I just went through a battle with COVID-19 and God just wasn’t ready to take me home yet to be with him.’ ... ‘I have always said that the only thing you can take to heaven with you is your kids, and for 71 years of marriage, Ann and I have tried to live our lives and share our Christian faith with them so that, one day, we will all be there together,’ he said. ‘But until that time, we are here on earth, and America is the greatest country this side of heaven. We have the freedom to pursue our faith in God, our dreams for our career, and our love for our families,’ he continued. ‘For too long now, politicians in Washington have run American down and apologized for our greatness. I’m tired of it.’ ... The former coach noted he received the same experimental drug used to treat Trump’s recent COVID-19 infection, Remdesivir. ‘At the age of 91, in many other countries, I might not have even been treated,’ Bowden said. ‘In America, I was. The one thing that all of us as parents and grandparents can do for our children and grandchildren in these next couple weeks is vote.’ He concluded by arguing re-electing the current president ‘is our only chance to leave the next generation with the same heritage, beliefs, and opportunities that Ann and I had and that many of you had.’”

THE ADDER THAT TELLS TIME (Friday Church News Notes, October 30, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from creationmoments.com, October 14, 2020: “Australia has many unique creatures that people find fascinating. One example is the floodplain death adder and its habit of eating dangerous frogs. The marbled frog has a defense that could get the adder into trouble. It secretes an incredibly sticky mucus. If the adder gets some of this on himself, dirt, leaves and even sticks will begin to stick to him. When the adder strikes a marbled frog, he immediately drops the frog and waits. Studies show that two thirds of the stickiness of the mucus has degenerated by ten minutes after the frog dies. And that’s how long the adder waits before he consumes the frog unharmed. The Dahl’s frog produces a powerful poison for its defense. The adder will quickly strike the frog and drop it so the adder’s poison can kill it. Apparently, even this momentary contact is enough to deliver some poison to the adder. Scientists report that after such a strike the adder will writhe about. Eventually it recovers and continues to wait. After an average of 42 minutes, the adder eats the frog. Research shows that by this time the poison has degraded to nontoxic levels. Researchers debate whether the adder’s strategy of waiting different times for differing frog defenses is learned or inherited. We can be sure, however, that it was created. Ref: Science News, 10/12/07, p. 227, S. Milius, ‘Eat a Killer.’”

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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