Friday Church News Notes
Volume 24, Issue 14 - April 7, 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.
BIDEN REGIME WANTED TO CENSOR PRIVATE TEXT MESSAGES (Friday Church News Notes, April 7, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - We are thankful to God for America. It has been a bastion of liberty in an oppressive world. It is still the freest nation on earth, though its liberties are fading and under great assault. We want to be informed about what is happening, but we have no intention to fret or to get wrapped in an attempted political solution. Let unbelievers do that. Their only hope is this present world. What we are doing in the face of end-time apostasy and wickedness is simple. We are doing what God has told us to do, which is focus like a laser on Christ’s Great Commission, preaching the life-changing gospel, building good churches and good Christian homes, raising children and youth for Christ, training preachers, and lots and lots of prayer, including prayer for those who are in authority that we might lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. The following is excerpted from “Biden Regime,” PJMedia, Mar. 25, 2023: “The Biden regime has already abundantly established that it has no patience for dissent. The Twitter Files show regime lackeys pressuring Twitter, along with other social media giants, to silence people who dared question, among other things, its COVID-19 narrative--yes, the one that has been shown to have been full of holes all along. But as is so often the case these days, it gets worse. Now it has come to light that the Biden White House actually pressured Meta to censor private WhatsApp texts that dared to express disagreement from the regime’s line. Yes, private texts. ... It comes from investigative journalist David Zweig, whose Leftist bona fides are impeccable: he has written for The Atlantic, New York magazine, and Wired, among others. Despite this background, Zweig has had the integrity to reveal that the Biden regime is even more obsessed with crushing dissenting voices than we had previously known ... Zweig gained access to emails between White House staffers and Meta executives about WhatsApp that underlie this investigative report. The emails were obtained through discovery in Missouri v Biden, a first amendment case brought by two attorneys general, and New Civil Liberties Alliance (a nonprofit public interest law firm) on behalf of private plaintiffs. These emails demonstrate that less than a week after taking power, Biden’s handlers began talks with Meta executives regarding ‘content moderation.’ That was when things took a dark turn. ... Rob Flaherty, the Biden White House’s Director of Digital Strategy, sent ‘multiple emails’ to Meta top dogs, demanding they ‘tell him what interventions the company had taken on WhatsApp.’ He ‘wanted to know what they were doing to reduce harm on the messaging app.’ On March 22, 2021, this tinhorn authoritarian demanded specific information about how Meta was deep-sixing dissident WhatsApp messages. ... When ‘a Meta employee responded to Flaherty’s questions, explaining that WhatsApp is for private messaging,’ Flaherty ‘replied that he was very aware and added a smiley face.’ ... Flaherty was still unhappy, writing Meta honchos, ‘I care mostly about what actions and changes you’re making to ensure you’re not making our country’s vaccine hesitancy problem worse. I still don’t have a good, empirical answer on how effective you’ve been at reducing the spread of vaccine-skeptical content and misinformation to vaccine fence sitters.’ Remember, he was writing this about a private messaging service.”
AFGHANISTAN WORSE THAN EVER (Friday Church News Notes, April 7, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Afghanistan,” Religion News Service, Mar. 2, 2023: “Until recently, Afghan professor Ismail Mashal could be found wheeling books around Kabul and passing them out for free in response to the Taliban’s ban on higher education for women and girls. An outspoken critic of the Islamist government, Professor Mashal dramatically quit his job on live TV and tore his diploma to protest the ban on women attending university. But then, on Feb. 2, Mashal was violently beaten by members of the Taliban, arrested and hauled off to an unknown location. Sadly, this incident of repression is just one of many that regularly take place in Afghanistan. In the 18 months since the U.S. withdrawal, the situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime continues to disintegrate, delving ever further into the completely brutal and absurd. ... Under the Taliban’s rule, women and girls have been erased from society. They are not allowed to have jobs or attend school, are forced to wear hijabs and must be accompanied by a male relative in public. They can no longer visit parks in Kabul or go to the gym. Travel has been restricted. Laws protecting women have been abolished and public floggings have returned. ... Along with women and common sense, Christianity and religious freedom have also been erased. While the Taliban claim no Christians even live in Afghanistan, the actual number of Christians currently living in the country probably numbers in the low thousands. By some measures, the Taliban’s war on Christianity has cooled slightly, but Afghan Christians remain in grave danger. ... Since leaving Islam is considered punishable by death under the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic law, the decision to follow Jesus can have devastating consequences.”
SATANIC ATTACK ON SACRED MUSIC - BOOK AND VIDEO SERIES (Friday Church News Notes, April 7, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - This course consists of a textbook and a video series with about 17 hours of teaching, packed with photos, graphics, audio and video clips. One previewer commented, “The series is broad and deep with serious factual analysis according to properly interpreted Scripture.” We deal with Emotions and the Music Issue; The Spiritual Environment of the Music Issue: The Church and the Home; Bible Principles of Music; Music’s Role in the Great Changes among Fundamental Baptists; Contemporary Music as a Bridge to Dangerous Waters; Bob Jones, Majesty Music, New Reformed Calvinism, and the Gettys; The Language of Music Styles; Lancaster’s Role in the Downgrade of Fundamental Baptist Churches; and A Plea to Southern Gospel Music Fans. We learn how that Contemporary Christian Music is a bridge to the “broader church”: the Pentecostal/charismatic movement, the ecumenical movement, theological liberalism, New Evangelicalism, the Emerging Church, modern Bible versions, contemplative prayer, cultural liberalism, the New Reformed Calvinism, the Jesus People movement, theistic evolution, homosexual Christianity, the downgrade in hell, secular rock, Matt Maher the Roman Catholic apostle of unity, Hillsong, The Shack, C.S. Lewis, and more. We show that these things are not “out there” somewhere; they are a very near danger to the most conservative churches. We document the change in music standard at Bob Jones University and Majesty Music. We learn how to discern the elements of the worldly sound in contemporary music. We learn how to discern soft rock. We learn how chords are used in contemporary music to create an unresolving sound and “feel.” We examine why contemporary music always transforms churches. We show that conservative evangelicals are not safe partners. We document how that the Southern Baptist Convention is more corrupt than ever. We consider why we should be concerned about “little” changes in music. We show that trying to deal with the music issue alone won’t work. Unless we have spiritual churches and spiritual homes, the battle is already lost. The book contains a detailed study of every major passage in the Bible on the subject of music. The Satanic Attack on Sacred Music: the video series and the book are available at
https://www.wayoflife.org/s3/satanic_attack/
BABIES BAFFLE EVOLUTION (Friday Church News Notes, April 7, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, Mar. 15, 2023: “The Bible teaches that until several centuries after the Flood all people on Earth spoke the same language. The fact that many supposedly unrelated languages have similar sounding words with the same or similar meanings supports this teaching. Some language researchers say that this is simply due to chance. Now some language researchers say that they have developed another line of research that supports the belief that all humans once spoke the same language. Language researchers have spent years listening to babies in many different language groups babble. Babies younger than four months make a variety of sounds as they learn to use their voice. Speaking is a highly complex activity, requiring the coordination of 70 different muscles as well as several different body parts. By seven to ten months of age babies typically begin making sounds that alternate vowels and consonants. Researchers found that there are three distinct patterns of alternating sounds that are universal among babies in English-speaking households. Then they found that these three patterns are also common among infants from a wide range of language groups around the world. Researchers comparing infants from varying language groups then identified a fourth pattern among all groups. These findings have been interpreted as independent evidence that all people once spoke one language. We accept what the Bible says by faith, not because it has been proven. But when Scripture’s truths are supported by science the Bible’s integrity is upheld before skeptics. Ref: Science News, 5/27/00, pp. 344‑346, ‘Building Blocks of Talk.’”
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).
AFGHANISTAN WORSE THAN EVER (Friday Church News Notes, April 7, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Afghanistan,” Religion News Service, Mar. 2, 2023: “Until recently, Afghan professor Ismail Mashal could be found wheeling books around Kabul and passing them out for free in response to the Taliban’s ban on higher education for women and girls. An outspoken critic of the Islamist government, Professor Mashal dramatically quit his job on live TV and tore his diploma to protest the ban on women attending university. But then, on Feb. 2, Mashal was violently beaten by members of the Taliban, arrested and hauled off to an unknown location. Sadly, this incident of repression is just one of many that regularly take place in Afghanistan. In the 18 months since the U.S. withdrawal, the situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime continues to disintegrate, delving ever further into the completely brutal and absurd. ... Under the Taliban’s rule, women and girls have been erased from society. They are not allowed to have jobs or attend school, are forced to wear hijabs and must be accompanied by a male relative in public. They can no longer visit parks in Kabul or go to the gym. Travel has been restricted. Laws protecting women have been abolished and public floggings have returned. ... Along with women and common sense, Christianity and religious freedom have also been erased. While the Taliban claim no Christians even live in Afghanistan, the actual number of Christians currently living in the country probably numbers in the low thousands. By some measures, the Taliban’s war on Christianity has cooled slightly, but Afghan Christians remain in grave danger. ... Since leaving Islam is considered punishable by death under the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic law, the decision to follow Jesus can have devastating consequences.”
SATANIC ATTACK ON SACRED MUSIC - BOOK AND VIDEO SERIES (Friday Church News Notes, April 7, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - This course consists of a textbook and a video series with about 17 hours of teaching, packed with photos, graphics, audio and video clips. One previewer commented, “The series is broad and deep with serious factual analysis according to properly interpreted Scripture.” We deal with Emotions and the Music Issue; The Spiritual Environment of the Music Issue: The Church and the Home; Bible Principles of Music; Music’s Role in the Great Changes among Fundamental Baptists; Contemporary Music as a Bridge to Dangerous Waters; Bob Jones, Majesty Music, New Reformed Calvinism, and the Gettys; The Language of Music Styles; Lancaster’s Role in the Downgrade of Fundamental Baptist Churches; and A Plea to Southern Gospel Music Fans. We learn how that Contemporary Christian Music is a bridge to the “broader church”: the Pentecostal/charismatic movement, the ecumenical movement, theological liberalism, New Evangelicalism, the Emerging Church, modern Bible versions, contemplative prayer, cultural liberalism, the New Reformed Calvinism, the Jesus People movement, theistic evolution, homosexual Christianity, the downgrade in hell, secular rock, Matt Maher the Roman Catholic apostle of unity, Hillsong, The Shack, C.S. Lewis, and more. We show that these things are not “out there” somewhere; they are a very near danger to the most conservative churches. We document the change in music standard at Bob Jones University and Majesty Music. We learn how to discern the elements of the worldly sound in contemporary music. We learn how to discern soft rock. We learn how chords are used in contemporary music to create an unresolving sound and “feel.” We examine why contemporary music always transforms churches. We show that conservative evangelicals are not safe partners. We document how that the Southern Baptist Convention is more corrupt than ever. We consider why we should be concerned about “little” changes in music. We show that trying to deal with the music issue alone won’t work. Unless we have spiritual churches and spiritual homes, the battle is already lost. The book contains a detailed study of every major passage in the Bible on the subject of music. The Satanic Attack on Sacred Music: the video series and the book are available at
https://www.wayoflife.org/s3/satanic_attack/
BABIES BAFFLE EVOLUTION (Friday Church News Notes, April 7, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, Mar. 15, 2023: “The Bible teaches that until several centuries after the Flood all people on Earth spoke the same language. The fact that many supposedly unrelated languages have similar sounding words with the same or similar meanings supports this teaching. Some language researchers say that this is simply due to chance. Now some language researchers say that they have developed another line of research that supports the belief that all humans once spoke the same language. Language researchers have spent years listening to babies in many different language groups babble. Babies younger than four months make a variety of sounds as they learn to use their voice. Speaking is a highly complex activity, requiring the coordination of 70 different muscles as well as several different body parts. By seven to ten months of age babies typically begin making sounds that alternate vowels and consonants. Researchers found that there are three distinct patterns of alternating sounds that are universal among babies in English-speaking households. Then they found that these three patterns are also common among infants from a wide range of language groups around the world. Researchers comparing infants from varying language groups then identified a fourth pattern among all groups. These findings have been interpreted as independent evidence that all people once spoke one language. We accept what the Bible says by faith, not because it has been proven. But when Scripture’s truths are supported by science the Bible’s integrity is upheld before skeptics. Ref: Science News, 5/27/00, pp. 344‑346, ‘Building Blocks of Talk.’”
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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