Friday Church News Notes
Volume 22, Issue 3 - January 15, 2021
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.
AMERICA: A LOT OF CHANGE AND NO CHANGE (Friday Church News Notes, January 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following was published four years ago, in Friday News, Feb. 3, 2017, not long after President Trump’s inauguration: Donald Trump’s actions in his first days as U.S. President are breathtaking. He has filled his cabinet with capable and largely conservative people. He is blessing Jacob’s seed. He has signed multiple orders to strengthen border security and immigration, including denying federal money to sanctuary cities, hiring 5,000 more Border Patrol agents, ending “catch-and-release” policies for illegal immigrants, and building a wall on America’s southern border to protect the nation from scofflaws. He has issued an order to rebuild the U.S. military, which has been devastated by eight years of the Obama administration. He has issued an order to deny federal funds to international organizations that perform or even lobby for the legalization of abortion. He has halted the nation’s refugee program for 120 days so that it can be re-evaluated and potentially dangerous refugees can be properly vetted. His short list of nominees to the vacant U.S. Supreme Court seat are constitutionalists. He has issued an order to defeat ISIS. There is much to applaud. Of course, the courts and opposition politics have only begun to fight the Trump agenda, and the fight will be exceedingly fierce. All of this aside, our biblical worldview does not allow us to see things as secular or even religious conservatives do. We can’t join Judge Jeanine or Hannity or Rush, et al, in proclaiming this a new day for America. It’s not a new day or a good day, and a Trump presidency is probably not going to turn out well. Spiritually and morally, which are the most important principles by far, absolutely nothing changed with the November election. Nothing has changed in the public schools and the universities, which continue to indoctrinate the minds and hearts of American citizens with godless humanism, moral relativism, socialism, and globalism. Nothing has changed with the Muslim agenda to establish sharia law, and it doesn’t appear that Trump even understands the plan. Nothing has changed with the LGBT agenda which is already firmly embedded throughout society, industry, and government. In fact, Trump refuses to overturn Obama’s 2014 executive order protecting federal workers from “anti-LGBTQ discrimination,” saying that he “is determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community” and “continues to be respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights” (“Trump leaves intact,” Fox News, Jan. 31, 2017). Nothing has changed in the pop culture, which continues to morally pollute the nation’s very heart and soul. It is pop culture moral relativism that has given us a Donald Trump, with his adulteries, narcissism, boastings, pomposity, lyings, and petty vindictiveness. The fearful destruction of the black family, for example, is not only the result of the welfare state; it is the product of a vile pop culture. Nothing has changed with the global culture, as indicated by the incredible outrage expressed by world leaders and the world media at the Trump presidency. The nonsensical outrage at such perfectly reasonable acts as trying to keep scofflaws and terrorists out of America is clear evidence of demonic blindness. And above all, nothing has changed in the churches. America was only great when it was good (and it was never truly good, nor truly great by God’s standards), and it can never be great again unless it is good by biblical standards which can issue only from God-fearing churches. What we have said all along is that Bible-believing churches need to focus like a laser on “first love for Christ” revival, serious education in God’s Word, serious obedience to God’s Word, serious prayer, serious building of godly homes, serious discipleship, serious separation from the world, and serious zeal in fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission. This will do more to help America than flag-waving conservative political zeal. Most of the best churches are shockingly weak, shallow, biblically ignorant, worldly, and unfruitful.
PRAYING AGAINST THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY (Friday Church News Notes, January 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Intercessory prayer is participating with God in His business. The wisest, most effectual prayer is not praying for my will to be done. It is finding God’s will in Scripture and praying according to His will. Born again people are “laborers together with God” (1 Co. 3:9). God has chosen to partner with His people in the accomplishment of His will in this present world. We are laborers together with Him in evangelism, in church building, in home building, in child training. Intercessory prayer is a large aspect of man’s part in God’s business. Intercessory prayer is based on the revealed will of God. God tells His people what He is doing and going to do, and we pray on the basis of that revelation, joining our prayers with His eternal purposes. Consider the worldwide preaching of the gospel. God has committed Himself to this and the Spirit of God came for this purpose, but prayer is an essential aspect. Christ taught us to pray that God will send forth laborers into His harvest (Lu. 10:2). It’s God’s harvest, but man must pray for laborers. Paul instructed the churches to pray for the ministry of God’s Word, for wisdom, blessing on the preaching, boldness, deliverance from wicked men, prosperous journeys, etc. (Ro. 15:30-31; Eph. 6:18-20; 2 Th. 3:1-2). Consider the mystery of iniquity (2 Th. 2:7-10). This is the devil’s program to put his man on the throne of the world. It has been operating since the days of the apostles. The mystery of iniquity entails the preparation for a global government and a global economy, the destruction of nationalism, anarchy, apostasy, war on biblical Christianity, the destruction of historic America, the strengthening of the United Nations, anything to exalt man and dethrone God. Humanism, evolution, economic and cultural Marxism, all such things are aspects of the mystery of iniquity. But the Bible says “he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way” (2 Th. 2:7). To “let” is old English for restrain. The Spirit of God is restraining the devil’s program, and He will continue to do so until He is finished with His own program of global evangelism. And since God is doing this, God’s people can pray for the restraining of evil. This is to be laborers together with God. We can expect Him to answer these prayers until He be taken out of the way and we with Him! “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Th. 4:16-18).
1.8 MILLION COVID DEATHS AND 42 MILLION ABORTIONS (Friday Church News Notes, January 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In 2020, there were a reported 1.8 million deaths associated with Covid-19. This was the big, never-ending news, but in the meantime there were 11 million deaths from communicable diseases other than tuberculosis, 8.2 million deaths from cancer, 5.1 million deaths from smoking, 2.5 million from alcohol, 1.8 million deaths from tuberculosis, 1.4 million deaths from road accidents, and 1.1 million from suicide. But the largest loss of life by far were the 46 million deaths by abortion (“More than 42.6 million abortions,” Christian Headlines, Jan. 5, 2021). And we are convinced that 42 million is much lower than the terrible reality, since many high abortion countries do not keep accurate statistics. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
SOUTH KOREA CRACKING DOWN ON OPERATION TO SEND BIBLES INTO NORTH KOREA (Friday Church News Notes, January 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Christian leader awaits charges,” Mission Network News, Nov. 23, 2020: “South Korean police began cracking down on balloon launches by Voice of the Martyrs Korea this summer following threats from North Korea. ... ‘Essentially, the police recommending the charges guarantees that I’ll be charged; it’s just a question of when. Could be tomorrow, could be next week, could be next month; we don’t know,’ Eric Foley of VOM Korea says. ... Confusion surrounds the prosecutor’s charges and possible outcomes. ‘Our case asks, [Should] launching Bible balloons, which has been legal up until this point in time, be considered illegal not just going forward, but related to past launches?’ Foley clarifies. ‘For 15 years, we’ve had a good relationship with the authorities. ... God is finding ways to get Bibles into North Korea. We’re amazed at the avenues He’s opening. Please pray that continues. Pray that God is glorified.’”
ALLIGATORS IN ALASKA (Friday Church News Notes, January 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from creationmoments.com, December 25, 2020: “Both archaeology and the Bible suggest that the world was once quite different from the world we know today. Each agrees that the Earth’s climate was once much more uniform than it is today. At one time, the tropics may have extended into what are today polar regions. However, the Bible and evolutionary geology don’t agree on how long ago that was. Bible-believing geologists, on the other hand, are reporting evidence to support the Bible’s story of history. In the last few years, scientists have been surprised to discover dinosaur fossils in Alaska. Dinosaurs need warm temperatures--warmer than Alaska was thought to have been. In 1986, on Canada’s Axel Heiberg Island, only 600 miles from the North Pole, scientists found a huge, dense forest. Some of the trees were well over 125 feet tall. They have been snapped off at the stump and are neither fossilized nor petrified, but remain as fresh wood. Even some of the leaves are still intact. The area was filled with spruce, hickory, dawn redwood and cypress trees and was evidently a swamp, since tropical turtle and alligator remains have also been found. Tree rings show that the area was warmer in the recent past, while the size of the rings tell us that there were short, hot summers during which rapid growth occurred, followed by long, dark winters as there are today. The most interesting conclusion reached by the scientific team is that the entire region must have been subjected to a huge flood! This discovery tells us that all of geology must be restructured to present a history that agrees with the Bible’s story of the Earth’s past. Author: Paul A. Bartz; Ref: ‘Search for a Tropical Arctic’ (Television documentary), 1990, Federal Department of Energy, Mines and Resources (Canada).”
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).
PRAYING AGAINST THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY (Friday Church News Notes, January 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Intercessory prayer is participating with God in His business. The wisest, most effectual prayer is not praying for my will to be done. It is finding God’s will in Scripture and praying according to His will. Born again people are “laborers together with God” (1 Co. 3:9). God has chosen to partner with His people in the accomplishment of His will in this present world. We are laborers together with Him in evangelism, in church building, in home building, in child training. Intercessory prayer is a large aspect of man’s part in God’s business. Intercessory prayer is based on the revealed will of God. God tells His people what He is doing and going to do, and we pray on the basis of that revelation, joining our prayers with His eternal purposes. Consider the worldwide preaching of the gospel. God has committed Himself to this and the Spirit of God came for this purpose, but prayer is an essential aspect. Christ taught us to pray that God will send forth laborers into His harvest (Lu. 10:2). It’s God’s harvest, but man must pray for laborers. Paul instructed the churches to pray for the ministry of God’s Word, for wisdom, blessing on the preaching, boldness, deliverance from wicked men, prosperous journeys, etc. (Ro. 15:30-31; Eph. 6:18-20; 2 Th. 3:1-2). Consider the mystery of iniquity (2 Th. 2:7-10). This is the devil’s program to put his man on the throne of the world. It has been operating since the days of the apostles. The mystery of iniquity entails the preparation for a global government and a global economy, the destruction of nationalism, anarchy, apostasy, war on biblical Christianity, the destruction of historic America, the strengthening of the United Nations, anything to exalt man and dethrone God. Humanism, evolution, economic and cultural Marxism, all such things are aspects of the mystery of iniquity. But the Bible says “he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way” (2 Th. 2:7). To “let” is old English for restrain. The Spirit of God is restraining the devil’s program, and He will continue to do so until He is finished with His own program of global evangelism. And since God is doing this, God’s people can pray for the restraining of evil. This is to be laborers together with God. We can expect Him to answer these prayers until He be taken out of the way and we with Him! “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Th. 4:16-18).
1.8 MILLION COVID DEATHS AND 42 MILLION ABORTIONS (Friday Church News Notes, January 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In 2020, there were a reported 1.8 million deaths associated with Covid-19. This was the big, never-ending news, but in the meantime there were 11 million deaths from communicable diseases other than tuberculosis, 8.2 million deaths from cancer, 5.1 million deaths from smoking, 2.5 million from alcohol, 1.8 million deaths from tuberculosis, 1.4 million deaths from road accidents, and 1.1 million from suicide. But the largest loss of life by far were the 46 million deaths by abortion (“More than 42.6 million abortions,” Christian Headlines, Jan. 5, 2021). And we are convinced that 42 million is much lower than the terrible reality, since many high abortion countries do not keep accurate statistics. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
SOUTH KOREA CRACKING DOWN ON OPERATION TO SEND BIBLES INTO NORTH KOREA (Friday Church News Notes, January 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Christian leader awaits charges,” Mission Network News, Nov. 23, 2020: “South Korean police began cracking down on balloon launches by Voice of the Martyrs Korea this summer following threats from North Korea. ... ‘Essentially, the police recommending the charges guarantees that I’ll be charged; it’s just a question of when. Could be tomorrow, could be next week, could be next month; we don’t know,’ Eric Foley of VOM Korea says. ... Confusion surrounds the prosecutor’s charges and possible outcomes. ‘Our case asks, [Should] launching Bible balloons, which has been legal up until this point in time, be considered illegal not just going forward, but related to past launches?’ Foley clarifies. ‘For 15 years, we’ve had a good relationship with the authorities. ... God is finding ways to get Bibles into North Korea. We’re amazed at the avenues He’s opening. Please pray that continues. Pray that God is glorified.’”
ALLIGATORS IN ALASKA (Friday Church News Notes, January 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from creationmoments.com, December 25, 2020: “Both archaeology and the Bible suggest that the world was once quite different from the world we know today. Each agrees that the Earth’s climate was once much more uniform than it is today. At one time, the tropics may have extended into what are today polar regions. However, the Bible and evolutionary geology don’t agree on how long ago that was. Bible-believing geologists, on the other hand, are reporting evidence to support the Bible’s story of history. In the last few years, scientists have been surprised to discover dinosaur fossils in Alaska. Dinosaurs need warm temperatures--warmer than Alaska was thought to have been. In 1986, on Canada’s Axel Heiberg Island, only 600 miles from the North Pole, scientists found a huge, dense forest. Some of the trees were well over 125 feet tall. They have been snapped off at the stump and are neither fossilized nor petrified, but remain as fresh wood. Even some of the leaves are still intact. The area was filled with spruce, hickory, dawn redwood and cypress trees and was evidently a swamp, since tropical turtle and alligator remains have also been found. Tree rings show that the area was warmer in the recent past, while the size of the rings tell us that there were short, hot summers during which rapid growth occurred, followed by long, dark winters as there are today. The most interesting conclusion reached by the scientific team is that the entire region must have been subjected to a huge flood! This discovery tells us that all of geology must be restructured to present a history that agrees with the Bible’s story of the Earth’s past. Author: Paul A. Bartz; Ref: ‘Search for a Tropical Arctic’ (Television documentary), 1990, Federal Department of Energy, Mines and Resources (Canada).”
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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