Friday Church News Notes
Volume 24, Issue 10 - March 10, 2023
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.
RIGHTNOW MEDIA: A PATH INTO THE DANGEROUS WORLD OF CONTEMPORARY EVANGELICALISM (Friday Church News Notes, March 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - RightNow Media advertises itself to pastors as “the world’s largest library of video-driven Bible study resources, used by more than 24,000 churches, schools, and organizations.” A church membership gives the members “access to thousands of inspirational videos anytime, including kids content.” That which is advertised as a spiritual help and blessing is actually a window into the very dangerous world of modern evangelicalism, a world filled with heresy, an ecumenical path to “the greater church,” which is nothing less than the end-time one-world church. The two great dangers of the internet are moral pollution (e.g., pornography) and spiritual pollution (heresy). These are great dangers to any Bible-believing individual, family, and church. Never was there a time when God’s people more urgently need to be educated about heresy so as to be protected from its onslaught. A few of the dangerous authors promoted by RightNow Media are J.D. Greear, Louie Giglio, Max Lucado, Andy Stanley, Francis Chan, Matt Chandler, Tony Evans, Bruce Wilkinson, John Perkins, Mark Batterson, Ed Stetzer, Joseph Stowell, Erwin McManus, John Piper, Henry Cloud, Gary Smalley, R.C. Sproul, and David Platt. Some of the speakers on RightNow Media are fairly harmless, such as Tim Tebow, Kirk Cameron, and Dave Ramsey, and there are helpful teachings on subjects such as marriage, finances, and apologetics, but all of the personalities are ecumenical and are pathways to the “broader church,” where any heresy can be found and the simple devoured (Proverbs 14:15). Further, things you will not find, typically, in contemporary evangelism include repentance, separation from the world, warnings about heresy, teaching on sacred music vs. contemporary, teaching on modest dress, clear identification of apostasy, and an emphasis on the New Testament church. Quietness on these issues is a mark of contemporary evangelicalism. The Bible teaching is kept on a soft, gentle keel, with little to no reproof and rebuke. Heresies you will encounter including Reformed Sovereign Grace Theology, Roman Catholicism, Psychological Self-esteemism, the Church Fathers, Replacement Theology (the church is Israel), Modern Textual Criticism, Form Criticism, Universal Church, Amillennialism, and the principle that Music is Neutral. (For an education in popular evangelicalism, see New Evangelicalism: Its History, Character, and Fruit, www.wayoflife.org. The book now has course material availble for free with registration. I have used this book and the review questions to prepare people for membership in our church when they are coming from a weak background.)
AUSTIN SCHOOL DISTRICT TO HOST “PRIDE WEEK” FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN (Friday Church News Notes, March 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Texas is one of the “red” (Republican) states that citizens of more leftist-dominated states are relocating to, but the following report proves that the problem is not in politics, it is in the school house. As long as the public schools are humanist, leftist, homosexualized propaganda institutions, it is only a matter of time when the Old America will be no more. The following is excerpted from “Austin School District,” PJMedia, Feb. 26, 2023: “LGBTQ+++ ‘Pride Month’ occurs every year in June. Austin Independent School District’s academic year ends on May 25, though, which means it loses out on the opportunity to groom the children in its care at that time. No matter: the school district just moved its ‘Pride Celebration’ to March 20-25, a time during which its captive audience is in class and ready to absorb the propaganda. Via the district’s website: ‘Every year, to celebrate LGBTQIA+ students, staff and families Austin ISD hosts its own Pride Week, a time to highlight the district’s commitment to creating a safe, supportive and inclusive environment. This year’s weeklong celebration is March 20-25, 2023, which aligns with the National LGBT Health Awareness Week. ... Pride Swag--Students and staff, during the week of March 20-24, please visit your campus front office to pick up Pride and Ally stickers, posters, flags, pronoun buttons and more!’ ... It’s unclear how many drag shows the children will be subjected to during the week.” We would also note that Austin, Texas, has participated in the asinine, super nutty business of defunding the police. Those who put their hope in conservative politics and Red States are bound to be disappointed. “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. ... His oath, his covenant, his blood, support me in the whelming flood; when all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay” (Edward Mote, “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less,” 1834).
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPERTS DECEIVED BY A FAKE (Friday Church News Notes, March 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - On March 1, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of an ostracon (an inscribed potsherd) featuring the words in Aramaic “Year 24 of Darius” (498 BC). This was announced with much fanfare and media focus as the first written evidence of Darius the Great found in Israel. The ostracon was discovered in the ruins of Lachish by Eylon Levy, adviser to Israel President Isaac Herzog. He turned it over to the Antiquities Authority and the piece was examined for some weeks by the advanced Analytical Laboratory under direction of Saar Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Dr. Haggai Misgav of the Hebrew University. Finally, Levy received the following statement from Ganor: “We’ve put it through three scanners. This is authentic. No modern hand could do it, and it’s from two and a half thousand years ago, from before the story of Purim.” Yet it turns out that the ostracon was created in August 2022 by a teacher of archaeology as a visual aid to a group of students at Lachish and was left behind accidentally. This is an important reminder of the fallibility of the highest scientific experts. Man’s science is not fallible and should never be an absolute authority. In fact, man’s science, including archaeology, is shot through and through with the gross error of Darwinian evolution (i.e., the myth of the big bang, natural selection, long ages, the stone age).
TOP SCIENTIFIC STUDY: MASKS MAKE LITTLE TO NO DIFFERENCE (Friday Church News Notes, March 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “The Covid mask controversy could have been answered two and a half years ago,” Fox News, Mar. 5, 2023: “A major controversy throughout the pandemic was surrounding the efficacy of face masks against the spread of COVID-19. However, a recent study supports that masks may have done little, if anything at all, to stop the spread of the virus. The study published by Cochrane Library, ‘Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses,’ where esteemed researchers dug into the impact of physical interventions, like masks and hand washing, on the spread of COVID. Dr. Marty Makary joined Sunday Night in America to address this recent study and the vacillation on the effectiveness of masks since the start of the pandemic. ... ‘What public health officials did is they hedged on the wrong side of the issue. They had the wrong hypothesis. And when overwhelmingly strong evidence came out time after time, 65 studies on masks, 160 studies on natural immunity. Study after study, they didn’t evolve their position. They dug in,’ Makary said, who went on to say that these health officials were ‘intellectually dishonest’ and ‘at that point you’re basically putting out misinformation,’ explaining how the studies coming out of Sweden of schools that were masked vs. unmasked had ‘no difference’ in transmission. ‘If Dr. Fauci and all of those who pushed masks so fervently would have simply done their own randomized control study with good methodology, they could have answered the controversy two and a half years ago, but they chose to rule by dogma rather than scientific data,’ he added.”
U.S. SENATE PASSES BILL REQUIRING DECLASSIFICATION OF WUHAN LAB LEAK INTELLIGENCE (Friday Church News Notes, March 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Entire Senate Passes Bill,” PJMedia, Mar. 2, 2023: “The Senate voted unanimously--at the behest of Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)--to pass a bill known as the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023. ... Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) reintroduced the bill on Monday after the Department of Energy (DOE) as well as the FBI admitted that COVID ‘likely’ originated in a laboratory, not a ‘wet market’ as the Chinese first claimed. Hawley released a statement that included: ‘For nearly three years, anyone asking whether COVID-19 originated as a lab leak outbreak was silenced and branded as a conspiracy theorist. Now, these prudent skeptics stand vindicated. The Biden administration must immediately declassify all intelligence reports pertaining to the origins of COVID-19 and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The American people deserve to know the truth.’ Mike Braun tweeted, ‘The American people deserve transparency, free from government censors or media spin.’”
THE STRANGER THAT ISN’T A STRANGER (Friday Church News Notes, March 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, Feb. 10, 2023: “Social insects seldom, if ever, tolerate other species within their communities. Strangers are generally identified by their smell, rather than by their appearance, since those insects that aren’t actually blind have very poor eyesight. It is common for social insects to unite to destroy even one stranger who invades their nest. Like most social insects, termites don’t tolerate strangers. However, the Trichopsenius frosti beetle likes to make its living within the nest of just one species of termite. These termites produce a very specific mixture of 21 compounds that are mixed into a unique scent by which they identify nest mates. The unique scent includes a compound that is a third of the total mix while other compounds are included as less than one percent of the mix. As unlikely as it sounds, the Trichopsenius is able to make the same mix of compounds so perfectly that its presence in the termite nest goes unquestioned. Notes: ‘Bombardier Beetles and Fever Trees,’ p. 46.”
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).
AUSTIN SCHOOL DISTRICT TO HOST “PRIDE WEEK” FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN (Friday Church News Notes, March 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Texas is one of the “red” (Republican) states that citizens of more leftist-dominated states are relocating to, but the following report proves that the problem is not in politics, it is in the school house. As long as the public schools are humanist, leftist, homosexualized propaganda institutions, it is only a matter of time when the Old America will be no more. The following is excerpted from “Austin School District,” PJMedia, Feb. 26, 2023: “LGBTQ+++ ‘Pride Month’ occurs every year in June. Austin Independent School District’s academic year ends on May 25, though, which means it loses out on the opportunity to groom the children in its care at that time. No matter: the school district just moved its ‘Pride Celebration’ to March 20-25, a time during which its captive audience is in class and ready to absorb the propaganda. Via the district’s website: ‘Every year, to celebrate LGBTQIA+ students, staff and families Austin ISD hosts its own Pride Week, a time to highlight the district’s commitment to creating a safe, supportive and inclusive environment. This year’s weeklong celebration is March 20-25, 2023, which aligns with the National LGBT Health Awareness Week. ... Pride Swag--Students and staff, during the week of March 20-24, please visit your campus front office to pick up Pride and Ally stickers, posters, flags, pronoun buttons and more!’ ... It’s unclear how many drag shows the children will be subjected to during the week.” We would also note that Austin, Texas, has participated in the asinine, super nutty business of defunding the police. Those who put their hope in conservative politics and Red States are bound to be disappointed. “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. ... His oath, his covenant, his blood, support me in the whelming flood; when all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay” (Edward Mote, “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less,” 1834).
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPERTS DECEIVED BY A FAKE (Friday Church News Notes, March 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - On March 1, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of an ostracon (an inscribed potsherd) featuring the words in Aramaic “Year 24 of Darius” (498 BC). This was announced with much fanfare and media focus as the first written evidence of Darius the Great found in Israel. The ostracon was discovered in the ruins of Lachish by Eylon Levy, adviser to Israel President Isaac Herzog. He turned it over to the Antiquities Authority and the piece was examined for some weeks by the advanced Analytical Laboratory under direction of Saar Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Dr. Haggai Misgav of the Hebrew University. Finally, Levy received the following statement from Ganor: “We’ve put it through three scanners. This is authentic. No modern hand could do it, and it’s from two and a half thousand years ago, from before the story of Purim.” Yet it turns out that the ostracon was created in August 2022 by a teacher of archaeology as a visual aid to a group of students at Lachish and was left behind accidentally. This is an important reminder of the fallibility of the highest scientific experts. Man’s science is not fallible and should never be an absolute authority. In fact, man’s science, including archaeology, is shot through and through with the gross error of Darwinian evolution (i.e., the myth of the big bang, natural selection, long ages, the stone age).
TOP SCIENTIFIC STUDY: MASKS MAKE LITTLE TO NO DIFFERENCE (Friday Church News Notes, March 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “The Covid mask controversy could have been answered two and a half years ago,” Fox News, Mar. 5, 2023: “A major controversy throughout the pandemic was surrounding the efficacy of face masks against the spread of COVID-19. However, a recent study supports that masks may have done little, if anything at all, to stop the spread of the virus. The study published by Cochrane Library, ‘Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses,’ where esteemed researchers dug into the impact of physical interventions, like masks and hand washing, on the spread of COVID. Dr. Marty Makary joined Sunday Night in America to address this recent study and the vacillation on the effectiveness of masks since the start of the pandemic. ... ‘What public health officials did is they hedged on the wrong side of the issue. They had the wrong hypothesis. And when overwhelmingly strong evidence came out time after time, 65 studies on masks, 160 studies on natural immunity. Study after study, they didn’t evolve their position. They dug in,’ Makary said, who went on to say that these health officials were ‘intellectually dishonest’ and ‘at that point you’re basically putting out misinformation,’ explaining how the studies coming out of Sweden of schools that were masked vs. unmasked had ‘no difference’ in transmission. ‘If Dr. Fauci and all of those who pushed masks so fervently would have simply done their own randomized control study with good methodology, they could have answered the controversy two and a half years ago, but they chose to rule by dogma rather than scientific data,’ he added.”
U.S. SENATE PASSES BILL REQUIRING DECLASSIFICATION OF WUHAN LAB LEAK INTELLIGENCE (Friday Church News Notes, March 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Entire Senate Passes Bill,” PJMedia, Mar. 2, 2023: “The Senate voted unanimously--at the behest of Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)--to pass a bill known as the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023. ... Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) reintroduced the bill on Monday after the Department of Energy (DOE) as well as the FBI admitted that COVID ‘likely’ originated in a laboratory, not a ‘wet market’ as the Chinese first claimed. Hawley released a statement that included: ‘For nearly three years, anyone asking whether COVID-19 originated as a lab leak outbreak was silenced and branded as a conspiracy theorist. Now, these prudent skeptics stand vindicated. The Biden administration must immediately declassify all intelligence reports pertaining to the origins of COVID-19 and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The American people deserve to know the truth.’ Mike Braun tweeted, ‘The American people deserve transparency, free from government censors or media spin.’”
THE STRANGER THAT ISN’T A STRANGER (Friday Church News Notes, March 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, Feb. 10, 2023: “Social insects seldom, if ever, tolerate other species within their communities. Strangers are generally identified by their smell, rather than by their appearance, since those insects that aren’t actually blind have very poor eyesight. It is common for social insects to unite to destroy even one stranger who invades their nest. Like most social insects, termites don’t tolerate strangers. However, the Trichopsenius frosti beetle likes to make its living within the nest of just one species of termite. These termites produce a very specific mixture of 21 compounds that are mixed into a unique scent by which they identify nest mates. The unique scent includes a compound that is a third of the total mix while other compounds are included as less than one percent of the mix. As unlikely as it sounds, the Trichopsenius is able to make the same mix of compounds so perfectly that its presence in the termite nest goes unquestioned. Notes: ‘Bombardier Beetles and Fever Trees,’ p. 46.”
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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