Friday Church News Notes
Volume 21, Issue 46 - November 13, 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.
POLITICS WON’T SAVE THE NATION (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - America’s root problems are spiritual, and the only real solution is spiritual. The only thing that will help America in her terrible plight is a true revival, and there could be revival at some level, particularly in the churches. Revival always begins at God’s house with God’s people. 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Ch. 7:14). This is a promise for Israel, but it has application to the church age. See Romans 15:4 and 1 Corinthians 10:11. Nothing like a revival and lasting change will happen through Moral Majority programs or Tea Parties or Chick Fill-A Days or Trump rallies. As these have been tried repeatedly and enthusiastically over the past few decades, the moral depravity has only increased and the power of the forces for right and liberty has only decreased, because these are carnal weapons that deal with symptoms and cannot affect the foundational spiritual issues. These are Band-Aids on cancer. They can win political skirmishes but not spiritual wars. The heart of the tree is being eaten away even as the watchers are pleased at keeping a few leaves alive. Some type of revival could happen if individual Christians and individual churches would repent of an adulterous love for this God-hating world, repent of setting the affections more on things below than things above, and earnestly beseech God’s help. Who knows how far the forces of evil could be driven back? God has never needed a majority. Gideon’s vigilant few are enough. But so many churches are like Sardis; they have a name that they live, but they are dead. They are comfortable in the world, not pilgrims but dwellers, mighty for pot luck but weak for spiritual warfare, zealous for video games and sports and consuming fleeting hours on social media vanity, but not zealous students of God’s Word, passionate for parties but not for prayer. Why pray according to 1 Timothy 2:1-2 that we might “lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness” when God knows that we will not live such lives? It’s past time for pastors to rise up and lead their churches in true revival. Better to have 30 people, if need be, with God’s blessing and power, than 200 without it. Are we afraid of losing members and finances if we take God’s Word seriously? If so, we are mere hirelings. “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation” (James 3:1). With God’s blessing and power we can have real eternal fruit; without it, there is nothing but wood, hay, and stubble.
OREGON IS THE FIRST U.S. STATE TO DECRIMINALIZE “HARD DRUGS” (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Oregon becomes,” Fox News, Nov. 4, 2020: “Oregon became the first state to decriminalize hard drugs like heroin, cocaine and meth in a 59-41% vote as of early Wednesday morning, according to the Associated Press. The ‘Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act’ will transition Oregon's drug policy from a punitive, criminal approach to ‘a humane, cost-effective, health approach.’ ... Instead of treating drug users as criminals, Oregon will now offer them addiction services funded by marijuana tax revenue, which is more than $100 million a year in the state. Only small amounts of drugs are decriminalized, such as less than 1 gram of heroin or MDMA; 2 grams of cocaine or methamphetamine; 12 grams of psilocybin mushrooms; and 40 doses of LSD, oxycodone or methadone. Criminal penalties for possession of these amounts are replaced with a fine of up to $100, which can be waived if the user is evaluated at Addiction Recovery Centers. Crimes that are associated with drug use, such as manufacturing drugs, selling drugs and driving under the influence, are still criminal offenses. ... There was also a fair amount of opposition to the measure, with two dozen district attorneys in the state saying the measure ‘recklessly decriminalizes possession of the most dangerous types of drugs (and) will lead to an increase in acceptability of dangerous drugs.’”
PUEBLO, COLORADO IS PROOF THAT LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA IS A FOOLISH IDEA (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “The True Cost of Marijuana,” The Epoch Times, Oct. 27, 2020: “For years, Pueblo has been looking for industries to revive its economy, and when recreational marijuana was legalized for retail sale in Colorado in 2014, many saw it as the answer. More people would be employed and the tax money would go to schools and infrastructure. ... So far, 11 states have legalized retail marijuana and four others—New Jersey, Arizona, Montana, and South Dakota—are considering it. Marijuana is still an illegal, Class 1 drug according to federal law. Two emergency room doctors in Pueblo see a different side of the equation and say the deleterious effects of cannabis legalization far outstrip any benefits. Dr. Karen Randall, who trained in pediatrics and emergency medicine, spent years as an ER doctor in Detroit, but Pueblo turned out to be a whole other level. ‘It’s like a horror movie,’ she told The Epoch Times. Every shift in the ER brings in a patient with cannabinoid hyperemesis. In layman’s terms, that means someone is screaming and vomiting uncontrollably. The sound is wretched and apocalyptic. It’s caused by chronic cannabis use, usually high-potency products, and it stops when the person stops using cannabis. ... Dr. Brad Roberts said he’s seeing more and more patients with psychosis who have no previous psychiatric history and are testing positive only for THC. ... Roberts and Randall are trying to sound the warning bell on the negative effects marijuana legalization has had on their community ... Since legalization in Colorado, Randall and Roberts have seen an increase in all drug use, not just marijuana. Methamphetamine use is up 143 percent, opiates are up by 10 percent, and cannabis is up by 57 percent, according to data from the ER drug screens over the past seven years. ‘If you pump a community full of drugs, you’re going to have to expect everything that’s associated with them. You’re going to have to expect the crime, addiction,’ Randall said.”
BOB JONES UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT PARTNERS WITH ECUMENICAL ORGANIZATION (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Twice in 2020, BJU President Steve Pettit has endorsed the Christian Learning Centers of Greenville County (CLC), which minister to public school students. At a fundraising event on May 12, Pettit said, “We are fully engaged in helping the [CLC] ... Dr. Bobby Wood one of our vice presidents is now a new member of the board and we are so glad he is there ... as a university we are FULLY SUPPORTIVE of the CLC.” Pettit again issued public support for the CLC at a fundraising event on Oct. 22, saying, “[BJU] has the privilege of partnering with [CLC] in providing the gospel and biblical training to public high school students.” Machen White warns, “CLC, however, is not what it seems. The CLC leadership and sponsoring churches are made up of everything from conservative evangelicals, to left leaning charismatics, to rank theological liberals. The Chairman of CLC board, Kevin Brady, attends Advent United Methodist Church. Board member, Richard Furman, attends First Presbyterian Church of Greenville. Board member, Gabe Vicks, attends Word of Life. Board member, Todd Hyneman, attends Holland Park Church of Christ. Among sponsoring churches, three United Methodist churches, a liberal Presbyterian church, several charismatic churches, and a half dozen SBC churches are listed on the CLC website. Social justice is often promoted on CLC podcasts. In the CLC doctrinal statement, the gospel is at best supplemented and at worst replaced with social justice” (Musings of a Fundamentalist, Nov. 5, 2020).
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PRESIDENT SAYS CHRISTIANS ARE CURSED FOR NOT FIGHTING FOR “GENDER JUSTICE” (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “JD Greear Says,” Reformation Charlotte, Oct. 29, 2020: “JD Greear, president of the Southern Baptist Convention--who denounced Southern Baptists as racists and white supremacists, called on Christians to stand up for LGBTQ rights, and has a pro-choice woman leading Bible studies at his church and also says that people who are followers of Jesus will think about the ‘rights of immigrants’ while at the ballot box--has denounced the Church as ‘cursed’ like Meroz for not fighting for ‘racial justice’ and ‘gender justice.’ Greear recently complained in a sermon that Christians today, like Christians during the time of American slavery, have a ‘malaise’ about matters of justice because, he says, it doesn’t ‘directly affect them.’ ‘Whether we’re talking about racial justice or gender justice or what have you,’ he says, ‘tragically ... there’s often been a malaise in the church ... because the injustice did not directly affect those of us sitting in places of privilege. Like Meroz, it didn’t affect our tribe.’ Of course, he doesn’t exactly explain what ‘gender justice’ is, however, the website, Gender Justice U.S. defines it as ‘a world where everyone can thrive regardless of their gender, gender expression, or sexual orientation.’ And since Greear has called on Christians to stand up for gay rights and says that using ‘preferred pronouns’ for transgender people is ‘pronoun hospitality’ and that he believes he should do it, one can draw his own conclusion as to what Greear means by the term.”
GOSSIPING PLANTS (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from creationmoments.com, October 23, 2020: The venus flytrap senses a fly and, in less than a second, its trap springs shut. It will eat today. A new area of science is plant behavior. Plant behaviorists point out that plants, like the venus flytrap that interact with animals, have to move on an animal scale. We have traditionally thought of plants as inactive living things that just sit there. But as we learn more about them, we are beginning to discover that plants are much more active than we ever thought. Other plants move as well, often when they interact with animals. But sometimes not. When a white mulberry tree opens its blooms, they open at half the speed of sound. But there’s more than this to plant behavior. Scientists have learned that plants have memory, despite the lack of a nervous system or brain. Yet, when a leaf has mobilized its defenses against a predator in the past, it will do so more quickly the next time the threat returns. Previously we have talked about how plants communicate by emitting scents. When a leaf is attacked, a scent is emitted, warning surrounding leaves and plants. Scientists now call this ‘plant gossiping.’ When we see how much ability God has given even plants, we are led to realize, thankfully, that God has been even more generous to us. Ref: Science News, 6/20/09, pp. 16-19, Susan Milius, ‘No brainer behavior.’”
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).
OREGON IS THE FIRST U.S. STATE TO DECRIMINALIZE “HARD DRUGS” (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Oregon becomes,” Fox News, Nov. 4, 2020: “Oregon became the first state to decriminalize hard drugs like heroin, cocaine and meth in a 59-41% vote as of early Wednesday morning, according to the Associated Press. The ‘Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act’ will transition Oregon's drug policy from a punitive, criminal approach to ‘a humane, cost-effective, health approach.’ ... Instead of treating drug users as criminals, Oregon will now offer them addiction services funded by marijuana tax revenue, which is more than $100 million a year in the state. Only small amounts of drugs are decriminalized, such as less than 1 gram of heroin or MDMA; 2 grams of cocaine or methamphetamine; 12 grams of psilocybin mushrooms; and 40 doses of LSD, oxycodone or methadone. Criminal penalties for possession of these amounts are replaced with a fine of up to $100, which can be waived if the user is evaluated at Addiction Recovery Centers. Crimes that are associated with drug use, such as manufacturing drugs, selling drugs and driving under the influence, are still criminal offenses. ... There was also a fair amount of opposition to the measure, with two dozen district attorneys in the state saying the measure ‘recklessly decriminalizes possession of the most dangerous types of drugs (and) will lead to an increase in acceptability of dangerous drugs.’”
PUEBLO, COLORADO IS PROOF THAT LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA IS A FOOLISH IDEA (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “The True Cost of Marijuana,” The Epoch Times, Oct. 27, 2020: “For years, Pueblo has been looking for industries to revive its economy, and when recreational marijuana was legalized for retail sale in Colorado in 2014, many saw it as the answer. More people would be employed and the tax money would go to schools and infrastructure. ... So far, 11 states have legalized retail marijuana and four others—New Jersey, Arizona, Montana, and South Dakota—are considering it. Marijuana is still an illegal, Class 1 drug according to federal law. Two emergency room doctors in Pueblo see a different side of the equation and say the deleterious effects of cannabis legalization far outstrip any benefits. Dr. Karen Randall, who trained in pediatrics and emergency medicine, spent years as an ER doctor in Detroit, but Pueblo turned out to be a whole other level. ‘It’s like a horror movie,’ she told The Epoch Times. Every shift in the ER brings in a patient with cannabinoid hyperemesis. In layman’s terms, that means someone is screaming and vomiting uncontrollably. The sound is wretched and apocalyptic. It’s caused by chronic cannabis use, usually high-potency products, and it stops when the person stops using cannabis. ... Dr. Brad Roberts said he’s seeing more and more patients with psychosis who have no previous psychiatric history and are testing positive only for THC. ... Roberts and Randall are trying to sound the warning bell on the negative effects marijuana legalization has had on their community ... Since legalization in Colorado, Randall and Roberts have seen an increase in all drug use, not just marijuana. Methamphetamine use is up 143 percent, opiates are up by 10 percent, and cannabis is up by 57 percent, according to data from the ER drug screens over the past seven years. ‘If you pump a community full of drugs, you’re going to have to expect everything that’s associated with them. You’re going to have to expect the crime, addiction,’ Randall said.”
BOB JONES UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT PARTNERS WITH ECUMENICAL ORGANIZATION (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Twice in 2020, BJU President Steve Pettit has endorsed the Christian Learning Centers of Greenville County (CLC), which minister to public school students. At a fundraising event on May 12, Pettit said, “We are fully engaged in helping the [CLC] ... Dr. Bobby Wood one of our vice presidents is now a new member of the board and we are so glad he is there ... as a university we are FULLY SUPPORTIVE of the CLC.” Pettit again issued public support for the CLC at a fundraising event on Oct. 22, saying, “[BJU] has the privilege of partnering with [CLC] in providing the gospel and biblical training to public high school students.” Machen White warns, “CLC, however, is not what it seems. The CLC leadership and sponsoring churches are made up of everything from conservative evangelicals, to left leaning charismatics, to rank theological liberals. The Chairman of CLC board, Kevin Brady, attends Advent United Methodist Church. Board member, Richard Furman, attends First Presbyterian Church of Greenville. Board member, Gabe Vicks, attends Word of Life. Board member, Todd Hyneman, attends Holland Park Church of Christ. Among sponsoring churches, three United Methodist churches, a liberal Presbyterian church, several charismatic churches, and a half dozen SBC churches are listed on the CLC website. Social justice is often promoted on CLC podcasts. In the CLC doctrinal statement, the gospel is at best supplemented and at worst replaced with social justice” (Musings of a Fundamentalist, Nov. 5, 2020).
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PRESIDENT SAYS CHRISTIANS ARE CURSED FOR NOT FIGHTING FOR “GENDER JUSTICE” (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “JD Greear Says,” Reformation Charlotte, Oct. 29, 2020: “JD Greear, president of the Southern Baptist Convention--who denounced Southern Baptists as racists and white supremacists, called on Christians to stand up for LGBTQ rights, and has a pro-choice woman leading Bible studies at his church and also says that people who are followers of Jesus will think about the ‘rights of immigrants’ while at the ballot box--has denounced the Church as ‘cursed’ like Meroz for not fighting for ‘racial justice’ and ‘gender justice.’ Greear recently complained in a sermon that Christians today, like Christians during the time of American slavery, have a ‘malaise’ about matters of justice because, he says, it doesn’t ‘directly affect them.’ ‘Whether we’re talking about racial justice or gender justice or what have you,’ he says, ‘tragically ... there’s often been a malaise in the church ... because the injustice did not directly affect those of us sitting in places of privilege. Like Meroz, it didn’t affect our tribe.’ Of course, he doesn’t exactly explain what ‘gender justice’ is, however, the website, Gender Justice U.S. defines it as ‘a world where everyone can thrive regardless of their gender, gender expression, or sexual orientation.’ And since Greear has called on Christians to stand up for gay rights and says that using ‘preferred pronouns’ for transgender people is ‘pronoun hospitality’ and that he believes he should do it, one can draw his own conclusion as to what Greear means by the term.”
GOSSIPING PLANTS (Friday Church News Notes, November 13, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from creationmoments.com, October 23, 2020: The venus flytrap senses a fly and, in less than a second, its trap springs shut. It will eat today. A new area of science is plant behavior. Plant behaviorists point out that plants, like the venus flytrap that interact with animals, have to move on an animal scale. We have traditionally thought of plants as inactive living things that just sit there. But as we learn more about them, we are beginning to discover that plants are much more active than we ever thought. Other plants move as well, often when they interact with animals. But sometimes not. When a white mulberry tree opens its blooms, they open at half the speed of sound. But there’s more than this to plant behavior. Scientists have learned that plants have memory, despite the lack of a nervous system or brain. Yet, when a leaf has mobilized its defenses against a predator in the past, it will do so more quickly the next time the threat returns. Previously we have talked about how plants communicate by emitting scents. When a leaf is attacked, a scent is emitted, warning surrounding leaves and plants. Scientists now call this ‘plant gossiping.’ When we see how much ability God has given even plants, we are led to realize, thankfully, that God has been even more generous to us. Ref: Science News, 6/20/09, pp. 16-19, Susan Milius, ‘No brainer behavior.’”
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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