Friday Church News Notes
Volume 22, Issue 14 - April 2, 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.
BIG BANKING’S MOVE TOWARD A SOCIAL CREDIT SCORE (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “How Big Banks Are Planning to Force Americans into the ‘Great Reset’ Trap,” Townhall, Mar. 30, 2021: “In June 2020, elites from around the world gathered to announce the launch of a plan to ‘reset’ the entire global economy, a proposal they ominously named the “Great Reset.” Among the many world leaders and powerful institutions that pledged their support for the Great Reset at the June meeting were the International Monetary Fund, Prince Charles, the head of the United Nations, CEOs from major international corporations, and the World Economic Forum--one of the key ringleaders of the Great Reset. ‘Every country, from the United States to China, must participate [in the Great Reset], and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed,’ wrote Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, in an article published on WEF’s website. The initial justification for the Great Reset was the COVID-19 pandemic, but from the start, supporters of the global economic overhaul repeatedly said that climate change was the long-term justification, the one that would allow a sustained, massive transformation of society ... Among the most important figures in the Great Reset movement are gigantic financial institutions and/or their CEOs, including Bank of America and MasterCard. ... the heart of the Great Reset is something called environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics. ESG metrics offer public policy leaders, economists, investors, and banks an entirely new way of evaluating businesses. Instead of looking at how profitable a company is, how many employees it has, its business model, and other traditional metrics, ESG adds to those concerns a whole host of left-wing causes, including how ‘green’ a company is, having the ‘right’ ratio of minorities, whether a business is involved in politically disfavored industries (such gun manufacturing and sales), as well as other, similar considerations. Companies are then given a score or rating to determine how well they align with ESG goals. Hundreds of the world’s largest corporations, including financial institutions, have already created ESG systems and reporting metrics within their companies, and investor groups worth trillions of dollars have pledged to prioritize these companies over those that refuse to participate. ... Put more simply, if you want a loan from Bank of America in the future, you better toe the globalist line on climate change. ... Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase--which, together with Wells Fargo and Bank of America, make up the six largest banks in the United States--also made similar commitments. And do not think for a moment that these requirements will only apply to businesses, either. Some financial institutions have already started to give ESG scores to individual investment accounts ... If banks are allowed to collectively decide to stop financing any group of people they want, based not on financial concerns but ideological considerations, then banks and their Great Reset allies will have, in effect, near-total control over society--especially if they begin to tie lending decisions to a vast ESG system.” The Bible says, “In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word. In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?” (Psalm 56:10-13).
POPE CALLS MARY “THE BRIDGE JOINING US TO GOD” (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a tweet dated March 25, Pope Francis said, “Mary is not only the bridge joining us to God; she is more. She is the road that God travelled to reach us, and the road that we must travel in order to reach him.” This is not only heresy; it is blasphemy. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Timothy 2:5-6). Pope John Paul II, widely praised by evangelical Protestant and even Baptist leaders, was also a great venerator of Mary. Engraved in his coffin, viewed at what has been called “the world’s largest funeral,” was a large letter M for Mary (The Evening Standard, London, Apr. 8, 2005). Thus his papal career ended as it began. When elected Pope in 1978, Karol Wojtyla dedicated his papacy to Mary, taking as his episcopal motto the Latin “Totus Tuus,” meaning “Totally Yours” (“John Paul II’s Devotion to Mary,” Inside the Vatican, special insert, May 1996). He had these words embroidered on his papal robes. John Paul II worshipped at Marian shrines throughout the world, including the Black Madonna in Jasna Gora, Poland, Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, and Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico. In his general audience of December 13, 1995, the pope observed that the Second Vatican Council applied the title of Mediatix to Mary and spoke of her “mediating role” and “her cooperation in a wholly singular way in the work of restoring supernatural life to souls” and “her exceptional role in the work of redemption” (“Council’s Teaching on Mary Is Rich and Positive,” Dec. 13, 1995, L’Osservatore Romano). In his general audience of May 7, 1997, the pope said that “MARY IS THE PATH THAT LEADS TO CHRIST...” (Vatican Information Service, May 7, 1997).
COURT SUPPORTS PROFESSOR WHO WAS FIRED FOR NOT USING TRANSGENDER STUDENT’S PRONOUNS (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Professor Can’t Be Punished,” Just the News, Mar. 26, 2021: “A public university violated a professor’s constitutional rights by punishing him for refusing to use a transgender student's preferred pronouns, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday. In a unanimous opinion written by Judge Amul Thapar, a Supreme Court short-lister for former President Trump, the court compared the Ohio university’s behavior to a ‘McCarthy era’ law against ‘subversive’ government employees. Philosophy professor Nicholas Meriwether, a ‘devout Christian,’ sought an accommodation under which he would not have to address the student as a woman in classroom discussions, which often touched on gender identity as a cultural controversy. Shawnee State University officials belatedly ordered Meriwether to stop addressing the student only by name and instead use female pronouns. They also shot down his offer to tell students in the syllabus that he was being forced to use preferred pronouns. ... While the Supreme Court ruled that public employers can punish workers for speech on the job, it expressly declined to extend that holding to ‘scholarship or teaching.’ Three other appeals courts have also exempted academic speech from punishment, the 6th Circuit said. The high court’s other rulings show no doubt that professors at public universities have a ‘right to lecture’ and to be free from ‘laws that cast a pall of orthodoxy over the classroom. ... The university cannot satisfy its ‘compelling interest in stopping discrimination against transgender students’ by giving itself license to ‘discipline professors, students, and staff any time their speech might cause offense,’ the opinion said. The judges also scolded university officials for their alleged ‘religious hostility’ toward the professor when he raised concerns about the gender-identity policy.”
CHURCH SPEAKER SAYS MOST WHITE PEOPLE HAVE “POST-TRAUMATIC SLAVE-MASTER DISORDER” (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Church Speaker Says,” NC Daily Gazette, Mar. 3, 2021: “Renewal Church of Chicago recently hosted a speaker, Nathaniel McGuire, who told the audience via a Zoom meeting that the ‘majority of white people’ have a mental disorder and they ‘don’t even know it.’ That mental disorder, he says, is ‘post-traumatic slave master disorder.’ If that sounds ridiculous, it is. The church hosted the speaker at the annual Race & Mental Health Conversation which has a stated purpose of discussing ‘how race impacts mental health and how the Gospel is essential to healthy living.’ Only problem, there was no actual gospel discussed. In fact, the only thing discussed was a perversion of the gospel twisted into a social justice nightmare at the hands of unqualified church leaders. McGuire says his passion is to ‘help people heal from their past so they can enjoy their present.’ ... Here’s what he says he does, from his own bio. ‘I issue an invitation to go on a journey of self-discovery.’ ... If you want to know the real reason churches are shrinking, it isn’t because of a lack of ethnic diversity--it’s because of a lack of the Scriptures being preached.”
THE WORLD PASSETH AWAY (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17). The verb “passeth” is present indicative. The present tense is a continuous tense, and the indicative mood “asserts something which is occurring while the speaker is making the statement.” So the world is passing away at this time. It appears to be permanent, but it is even now in the process of passing away. God holds the reins. He is using this present world system for His eternal purpose, and it will be finished exactly when and how God decides, to be replaced by Christ’s kingdom. The prophet Daniel described the end of this present world system. In the dream given to Nebuchadnezzar, it was depicted as a great image of a man representing the ruling empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome (Da. 2:31-35). Daniel’s interpretation explains that Rome continues in various forms until the return of Christ, at which time the world system will be crushed and replaced with Christ’s righteous kingdom. “Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth” (Da. 2:34-35). Bible commentator Robert Lenski says, “The world is now in the act of passing away. It is its very nature not to last. Its doom is overtaking it. Its glory is fading, its flowers are withering, its promises are failing, its hopes are crumbling. Isaiah 14:11. ... Does the siren voice of the world tickle your ears? Hear the word of truth: ‘The world is passing away!’ The bank is breaking, it was never solvent--will you deposit in it? The foundation is tottering, it was never solid but only sham--will you build on it? The mountain is rumbling, quaking, it was never anything but volcanic, ready to blow off its head at any time--will you build your city there?”
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).
POPE CALLS MARY “THE BRIDGE JOINING US TO GOD” (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a tweet dated March 25, Pope Francis said, “Mary is not only the bridge joining us to God; she is more. She is the road that God travelled to reach us, and the road that we must travel in order to reach him.” This is not only heresy; it is blasphemy. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Timothy 2:5-6). Pope John Paul II, widely praised by evangelical Protestant and even Baptist leaders, was also a great venerator of Mary. Engraved in his coffin, viewed at what has been called “the world’s largest funeral,” was a large letter M for Mary (The Evening Standard, London, Apr. 8, 2005). Thus his papal career ended as it began. When elected Pope in 1978, Karol Wojtyla dedicated his papacy to Mary, taking as his episcopal motto the Latin “Totus Tuus,” meaning “Totally Yours” (“John Paul II’s Devotion to Mary,” Inside the Vatican, special insert, May 1996). He had these words embroidered on his papal robes. John Paul II worshipped at Marian shrines throughout the world, including the Black Madonna in Jasna Gora, Poland, Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, and Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico. In his general audience of December 13, 1995, the pope observed that the Second Vatican Council applied the title of Mediatix to Mary and spoke of her “mediating role” and “her cooperation in a wholly singular way in the work of restoring supernatural life to souls” and “her exceptional role in the work of redemption” (“Council’s Teaching on Mary Is Rich and Positive,” Dec. 13, 1995, L’Osservatore Romano). In his general audience of May 7, 1997, the pope said that “MARY IS THE PATH THAT LEADS TO CHRIST...” (Vatican Information Service, May 7, 1997).
COURT SUPPORTS PROFESSOR WHO WAS FIRED FOR NOT USING TRANSGENDER STUDENT’S PRONOUNS (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Professor Can’t Be Punished,” Just the News, Mar. 26, 2021: “A public university violated a professor’s constitutional rights by punishing him for refusing to use a transgender student's preferred pronouns, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday. In a unanimous opinion written by Judge Amul Thapar, a Supreme Court short-lister for former President Trump, the court compared the Ohio university’s behavior to a ‘McCarthy era’ law against ‘subversive’ government employees. Philosophy professor Nicholas Meriwether, a ‘devout Christian,’ sought an accommodation under which he would not have to address the student as a woman in classroom discussions, which often touched on gender identity as a cultural controversy. Shawnee State University officials belatedly ordered Meriwether to stop addressing the student only by name and instead use female pronouns. They also shot down his offer to tell students in the syllabus that he was being forced to use preferred pronouns. ... While the Supreme Court ruled that public employers can punish workers for speech on the job, it expressly declined to extend that holding to ‘scholarship or teaching.’ Three other appeals courts have also exempted academic speech from punishment, the 6th Circuit said. The high court’s other rulings show no doubt that professors at public universities have a ‘right to lecture’ and to be free from ‘laws that cast a pall of orthodoxy over the classroom. ... The university cannot satisfy its ‘compelling interest in stopping discrimination against transgender students’ by giving itself license to ‘discipline professors, students, and staff any time their speech might cause offense,’ the opinion said. The judges also scolded university officials for their alleged ‘religious hostility’ toward the professor when he raised concerns about the gender-identity policy.”
CHURCH SPEAKER SAYS MOST WHITE PEOPLE HAVE “POST-TRAUMATIC SLAVE-MASTER DISORDER” (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Church Speaker Says,” NC Daily Gazette, Mar. 3, 2021: “Renewal Church of Chicago recently hosted a speaker, Nathaniel McGuire, who told the audience via a Zoom meeting that the ‘majority of white people’ have a mental disorder and they ‘don’t even know it.’ That mental disorder, he says, is ‘post-traumatic slave master disorder.’ If that sounds ridiculous, it is. The church hosted the speaker at the annual Race & Mental Health Conversation which has a stated purpose of discussing ‘how race impacts mental health and how the Gospel is essential to healthy living.’ Only problem, there was no actual gospel discussed. In fact, the only thing discussed was a perversion of the gospel twisted into a social justice nightmare at the hands of unqualified church leaders. McGuire says his passion is to ‘help people heal from their past so they can enjoy their present.’ ... Here’s what he says he does, from his own bio. ‘I issue an invitation to go on a journey of self-discovery.’ ... If you want to know the real reason churches are shrinking, it isn’t because of a lack of ethnic diversity--it’s because of a lack of the Scriptures being preached.”
THE WORLD PASSETH AWAY (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17). The verb “passeth” is present indicative. The present tense is a continuous tense, and the indicative mood “asserts something which is occurring while the speaker is making the statement.” So the world is passing away at this time. It appears to be permanent, but it is even now in the process of passing away. God holds the reins. He is using this present world system for His eternal purpose, and it will be finished exactly when and how God decides, to be replaced by Christ’s kingdom. The prophet Daniel described the end of this present world system. In the dream given to Nebuchadnezzar, it was depicted as a great image of a man representing the ruling empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome (Da. 2:31-35). Daniel’s interpretation explains that Rome continues in various forms until the return of Christ, at which time the world system will be crushed and replaced with Christ’s righteous kingdom. “Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth” (Da. 2:34-35). Bible commentator Robert Lenski says, “The world is now in the act of passing away. It is its very nature not to last. Its doom is overtaking it. Its glory is fading, its flowers are withering, its promises are failing, its hopes are crumbling. Isaiah 14:11. ... Does the siren voice of the world tickle your ears? Hear the word of truth: ‘The world is passing away!’ The bank is breaking, it was never solvent--will you deposit in it? The foundation is tottering, it was never solid but only sham--will you build on it? The mountain is rumbling, quaking, it was never anything but volcanic, ready to blow off its head at any time--will you build your city there?”
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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