Friday Church News Notes
Volume 22, Issue 7 - February 12, 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.
Gov. Tim Walz
HOW THE LEFT IS STEALING AMERICANS’ HEARTS AND MINDS THROUGH PUBLIC EDUCATION (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “How the Left Is Stealing,” Powerlineblog.com, Jan. 27, 2021: “Across the country, leftists in charge of public education are substituting indoctrination for learning. Facts and objective standards are out, liberal shibboleths are the order of the day. My state, Minnesota, exemplifies the trend. Under state law, the Department of Education promulgates standards and benchmarks for K-12 schools in a variety of disciplines. These standards are periodically revised, and this year the Social Studies standards are being rewritten. Under Minnesota’s hard-left governor, Tim Walz, the committee doing the revision consists almost entirely of left-wingers. That committee has released the first draft of its standards. This draft drops almost everything normally regarded as history--the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Holocaust, and any reference to minor figures like George Washington--in favor of political indoctrination like this: (1) systemic racism in the United States rooted in our founding; (2) developing a ‘respectful awareness’ of the LGBTQ+ community; (3) the Reconstruction period, specifically successful efforts to disenfranchise newly freed Black Americans and connecting this history to persistent discrimination and inequity in the present; (4) an analysis of the ideology of Manifest Destiny and its relationship to whiteness, Christianity, and capitalism. Essentially, liberals want our schools to be hotbeds of anti-Americanism. Unfortunately, just about all of our public school systems are in their hands.” CONCLUDING NOTE BY D. CLOUD: There is no way to take back the public school system. Even the staunchest conservative presidents have not attempted to disband the radicalized Department of Education, and that would be only one step toward rooting out the secular atheism that permeates the public school system. America was greater when there was no government school system. It must be abandoned by those who love Christ and truth and should never have been supported by God’s people. “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Corinthians 15:33).
NEO-MARXIST IDEAS HAVE FOOTHOLD IN TWO SOUTHERN BAPTIST SEMINARIES (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Former ERLC Scholar Says,” Capstone Report, March 13, 2020: “A former scholar with the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) warned Southern Baptists about the dangers of Neo-Marxist ideas like Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Intersectionality during an event in Louisiana. Dr. Craig Mitchell, president of the Ethics and Political Economy Center, rejected the use of CRT and Intersectionality as ‘Analytical Tools,’ and called out Southern Baptist professors for promoting these wicked ideologies. In fact, Dr. Mitchell called for the firing of professors espousing these Neo-Marxist ideas. Dr. Mitchell warned that professors at Southern like Dr. Curtis Woods, the chairman of the 2019 SBC Resolutions Committee that approved the use of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality as ‘Analytical Tools,’ are promoting these dangerous ideas. Also, Mitchell cited professors like Dr. Walter Strickland of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) and Dr. Jarvis Williams and Kevin Jones of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. ... The Baptist Message reported, ‘Responding to the description in the resolution calling Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality useful analytical tools, Mitchell said this is true only if you’re a Marxist.’ ... There are several implications from this report: Should we believe public denials of SBC Elites like Danny Akin, president of SEBTS, when they tell us they aren’t drifting to the Left? ... Dr. Mitchell is a real leader. He’s a brave man. He is a voice in the wilderness urging the Southern Baptist Elites to change their ways.” For a report on Mitchell’s warning see
https://baptistmessage.com/mitchell-marxist-concepts-have-footholds-at-sebts-sbts/
CRITICAL RACE THEORY (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “4 Main Things Christians Need to Know about CRT,” Pulpit & Pen, Aug. 6, 2019: “Invented by Derrick Bell and other attorneys as a spin-off of Critical Legal Theory in American law schools in the 1980s, these theorists were disenchanted with the results of the Civil Rights Movement. Bell, Richard Delgado, and other CRT thinkers viewed classical liberal ideas such as meritocracy (people being rewarded based on their individual merits), equal opportunity, and colorblind justice (like that promoted by Dr. King) to all be factors that cause systemic, invisible, intangible racism. What many people don’t understand is that CRT rejects most of the things that the 1960s Civil Rights Movement fought for, like treating people equally in institutions and under the law. Instead, CRT teaches that if power is to be properly redistributed from the ‘haves’ to ‘have-nots’ (which in their eyes include minority identity groups), the law may actually need to be biased in favor of minority identity groups. ... CRT is a system that rejects both human biology and Biblical doctrine and teaches that mankind should be separated into various ethnic minority groups. With CRT, people are encouraged to identify with their ethnicity (which CRT thought-leaders inaccurately label ‘race’), rather than with greater and more significant distinguishing factors, like Jesus, their nation, or their community. It’s also important to understand that Critical Race Theory--although it may seem counter-intuitive--doesn’t just deal with race. CRT promotes division between ‘identity groups,’ dividing people into either the ‘oppressor class’ (usually, White and ‘straight’ men holding to the majority religion) versus ‘victim identity groups’ which can include so-called ‘sexual minorities,’ the disabled, abuse victims, women, the ‘transgender,’ as well as ethnic groups. CRT is used by homosexuals, the transgender, and women as much as it is used by ethnic minorities. In CRT, ‘whiteness’ refers to anything identifying with power or privilege as it relates to the ‘majority class’ (usually, those who hold ethnic or religious majority). For CRT theorists, to be white is to have privilege, and to have privilege is to be white. The term Whiteness, as used in CRT, refers to any majority group that has majority status and--in the world of CRT--that is synonymous with power and privilege.”
https://pulpitandpen.org/2019/08/06/4-main-things-christians-need-to-know-about-critical-race-theory/
21 STEPS TO A STRONGER CHURCH FOR THE 21ST CENTURY (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a time when the average Baptist church is getting steadily, shockingly weaker, more carnal, more worldly, moving farther down the contemporary path with each passing year, we are intent on moving in a much stronger direction, and we are thankful for the churches that we know of personally that are on the same path. We have no intention of following the crowd, and we are not afraid of being in the minority. The church we see in the New Testament is a church of born again disciples of Christ who are committed to serving Christ. 21 Steps has two major sections. First, Looking at a Stronger Church, which examines key Bible passages that provide the pattern for the church for the entire age. The pattern is not found in the church fathers, the Waldenses, the Lollards, the Anabaptists, the Lutherans, the Anglicans, the Reformed Presbyterianism, the Geneva Calvinists, the Brethren, Pentecostalism, Charismaticism, Fundamentalism, Evangelicalism, New Reformed Calvinism, denominational Baptists, or any of the streams of Independent Baptists. We examine the church as the pillar and ground of the truth of 1 Timothy 3:15; the spiritual house made of living stones of 1 Peter 2:4-5; the regenerate, faithful, growing church of Acts 2:36-42; the purifying church of 1 Corinthians 5:6-8; the turning, serving, watching church of 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10; the church that aims for perfecting every member of Colossians 1:25-28; the ministering body church of Ephesians 4:7-16; and the missionary church of Acts 13. The second section describes 21 Steps toward a Stronger Church, which are as follows: The leaders must have spiritual revival; the leaders must be courageous; start with a biblical examination of the church; be ready to engage in a difficult battle; be patient; be confident of God’s help; pastors must be real leaders; pray for a ministry team; immerse the church in prayer; aim for a regenerate church membership; focus on the real disciples; strengthen the church covenant; set up biblical standards for workers; immerse the church in Scripture; disciple all of the people; deal with sin; emphasize separation from the world; emphasize Bible prophecy; double down on evangelism; have a strong vision for church planting and world missions; aim to incorporate all the elements of a discipling church. 130 pages. Available in print or as a free eBook,
https://www.wayoflife.org/free_ebooks/21_steps_to_a_stronger_church.php
WHERE DO YOU FIND YOURSELF? (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “If you find yourself loving any pleasure better than your prayers, any book better than the Bible, any house better than the house of God, any table better than the Lord’s table, any person better than Christ, and any indulgence better than the hope of heaven--be alarmed” (Thomas Guthrie).
THE AMAZING BLUE WHALE (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from creationmoments.com, Oct. 21, 2019: “As far as we know, the blue whale is the largest animal that has ever existed. Every statistic that we find about these giants is overwhelming. A blue whale’s tongue is larger than an elephant. Its flipper can be about six feet long--as long as a man is tall. A baby blue whale is the size of two minivans. Their mouths could hold 400 people. Yet the creatures they eat--krill--are only about half an inch long. They swallow vast amounts of water, then filter it back through their baleen--the strange keratin filter-like structure that they have in their mouths. They eat four tons of krill a day. That is 4 million of the tiny creatures. Babies consume 50 to 100 gallons of milk per day. The blue whale’s tail is as wide as a soccer net. One of these whales can dive to nearly 1,000 feet, and they can stay there for 30 minutes, without needing a breath. The water that they blow through their blowhole can jet up to 30 feet high. In short, these are magnificent animals, clearly illustrating the greatness and the beauty of God’s creation. We read in Genesis 1:21 that God made them on the fifth day of creation: “And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly.” The word translated as whales could also refer to other large sea creatures, but it certainly includes these beautiful, amazing giants of the ocean. Ref: Encyclopedia Britannica, ‘Blue Whale.’”
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).
NEO-MARXIST IDEAS HAVE FOOTHOLD IN TWO SOUTHERN BAPTIST SEMINARIES (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Former ERLC Scholar Says,” Capstone Report, March 13, 2020: “A former scholar with the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) warned Southern Baptists about the dangers of Neo-Marxist ideas like Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Intersectionality during an event in Louisiana. Dr. Craig Mitchell, president of the Ethics and Political Economy Center, rejected the use of CRT and Intersectionality as ‘Analytical Tools,’ and called out Southern Baptist professors for promoting these wicked ideologies. In fact, Dr. Mitchell called for the firing of professors espousing these Neo-Marxist ideas. Dr. Mitchell warned that professors at Southern like Dr. Curtis Woods, the chairman of the 2019 SBC Resolutions Committee that approved the use of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality as ‘Analytical Tools,’ are promoting these dangerous ideas. Also, Mitchell cited professors like Dr. Walter Strickland of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) and Dr. Jarvis Williams and Kevin Jones of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. ... The Baptist Message reported, ‘Responding to the description in the resolution calling Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality useful analytical tools, Mitchell said this is true only if you’re a Marxist.’ ... There are several implications from this report: Should we believe public denials of SBC Elites like Danny Akin, president of SEBTS, when they tell us they aren’t drifting to the Left? ... Dr. Mitchell is a real leader. He’s a brave man. He is a voice in the wilderness urging the Southern Baptist Elites to change their ways.” For a report on Mitchell’s warning see
https://baptistmessage.com/mitchell-marxist-concepts-have-footholds-at-sebts-sbts/
CRITICAL RACE THEORY (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “4 Main Things Christians Need to Know about CRT,” Pulpit & Pen, Aug. 6, 2019: “Invented by Derrick Bell and other attorneys as a spin-off of Critical Legal Theory in American law schools in the 1980s, these theorists were disenchanted with the results of the Civil Rights Movement. Bell, Richard Delgado, and other CRT thinkers viewed classical liberal ideas such as meritocracy (people being rewarded based on their individual merits), equal opportunity, and colorblind justice (like that promoted by Dr. King) to all be factors that cause systemic, invisible, intangible racism. What many people don’t understand is that CRT rejects most of the things that the 1960s Civil Rights Movement fought for, like treating people equally in institutions and under the law. Instead, CRT teaches that if power is to be properly redistributed from the ‘haves’ to ‘have-nots’ (which in their eyes include minority identity groups), the law may actually need to be biased in favor of minority identity groups. ... CRT is a system that rejects both human biology and Biblical doctrine and teaches that mankind should be separated into various ethnic minority groups. With CRT, people are encouraged to identify with their ethnicity (which CRT thought-leaders inaccurately label ‘race’), rather than with greater and more significant distinguishing factors, like Jesus, their nation, or their community. It’s also important to understand that Critical Race Theory--although it may seem counter-intuitive--doesn’t just deal with race. CRT promotes division between ‘identity groups,’ dividing people into either the ‘oppressor class’ (usually, White and ‘straight’ men holding to the majority religion) versus ‘victim identity groups’ which can include so-called ‘sexual minorities,’ the disabled, abuse victims, women, the ‘transgender,’ as well as ethnic groups. CRT is used by homosexuals, the transgender, and women as much as it is used by ethnic minorities. In CRT, ‘whiteness’ refers to anything identifying with power or privilege as it relates to the ‘majority class’ (usually, those who hold ethnic or religious majority). For CRT theorists, to be white is to have privilege, and to have privilege is to be white. The term Whiteness, as used in CRT, refers to any majority group that has majority status and--in the world of CRT--that is synonymous with power and privilege.”
https://pulpitandpen.org/2019/08/06/4-main-things-christians-need-to-know-about-critical-race-theory/
21 STEPS TO A STRONGER CHURCH FOR THE 21ST CENTURY (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a time when the average Baptist church is getting steadily, shockingly weaker, more carnal, more worldly, moving farther down the contemporary path with each passing year, we are intent on moving in a much stronger direction, and we are thankful for the churches that we know of personally that are on the same path. We have no intention of following the crowd, and we are not afraid of being in the minority. The church we see in the New Testament is a church of born again disciples of Christ who are committed to serving Christ. 21 Steps has two major sections. First, Looking at a Stronger Church, which examines key Bible passages that provide the pattern for the church for the entire age. The pattern is not found in the church fathers, the Waldenses, the Lollards, the Anabaptists, the Lutherans, the Anglicans, the Reformed Presbyterianism, the Geneva Calvinists, the Brethren, Pentecostalism, Charismaticism, Fundamentalism, Evangelicalism, New Reformed Calvinism, denominational Baptists, or any of the streams of Independent Baptists. We examine the church as the pillar and ground of the truth of 1 Timothy 3:15; the spiritual house made of living stones of 1 Peter 2:4-5; the regenerate, faithful, growing church of Acts 2:36-42; the purifying church of 1 Corinthians 5:6-8; the turning, serving, watching church of 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10; the church that aims for perfecting every member of Colossians 1:25-28; the ministering body church of Ephesians 4:7-16; and the missionary church of Acts 13. The second section describes 21 Steps toward a Stronger Church, which are as follows: The leaders must have spiritual revival; the leaders must be courageous; start with a biblical examination of the church; be ready to engage in a difficult battle; be patient; be confident of God’s help; pastors must be real leaders; pray for a ministry team; immerse the church in prayer; aim for a regenerate church membership; focus on the real disciples; strengthen the church covenant; set up biblical standards for workers; immerse the church in Scripture; disciple all of the people; deal with sin; emphasize separation from the world; emphasize Bible prophecy; double down on evangelism; have a strong vision for church planting and world missions; aim to incorporate all the elements of a discipling church. 130 pages. Available in print or as a free eBook,
https://www.wayoflife.org/free_ebooks/21_steps_to_a_stronger_church.php
WHERE DO YOU FIND YOURSELF? (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “If you find yourself loving any pleasure better than your prayers, any book better than the Bible, any house better than the house of God, any table better than the Lord’s table, any person better than Christ, and any indulgence better than the hope of heaven--be alarmed” (Thomas Guthrie).
THE AMAZING BLUE WHALE (Friday Church News Notes, February 12, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from creationmoments.com, Oct. 21, 2019: “As far as we know, the blue whale is the largest animal that has ever existed. Every statistic that we find about these giants is overwhelming. A blue whale’s tongue is larger than an elephant. Its flipper can be about six feet long--as long as a man is tall. A baby blue whale is the size of two minivans. Their mouths could hold 400 people. Yet the creatures they eat--krill--are only about half an inch long. They swallow vast amounts of water, then filter it back through their baleen--the strange keratin filter-like structure that they have in their mouths. They eat four tons of krill a day. That is 4 million of the tiny creatures. Babies consume 50 to 100 gallons of milk per day. The blue whale’s tail is as wide as a soccer net. One of these whales can dive to nearly 1,000 feet, and they can stay there for 30 minutes, without needing a breath. The water that they blow through their blowhole can jet up to 30 feet high. In short, these are magnificent animals, clearly illustrating the greatness and the beauty of God’s creation. We read in Genesis 1:21 that God made them on the fifth day of creation: “And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly.” The word translated as whales could also refer to other large sea creatures, but it certainly includes these beautiful, amazing giants of the ocean. Ref: Encyclopedia Britannica, ‘Blue Whale.’”
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).
_____
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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