Friday Church News Notes
Volume 24, Issue 38 - September 22, 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.
CATHOLIC MUSICIAN SAYS CONTEMPORARY MUSIC DISARMS PEOPLE AND OPENS THEM TO ECUMENISM (Friday Church News Notes, September 22, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Contemporary Christian musician Audrey Assad, who converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 2007, says she is passionate about musical ecumenism and explains that it “disarms” people. “Ecumenism, true actual dialogue between different branches of Christianity, is absolutely one of my greatest passions, and so music is a great way to accomplish that. Christians of many different stripes can come together to sing worship songs with each other. It’s a good way to open up the potential of dialogue ... And so I JUST THINK MUSIC IS DISARMING. I think it paves the way for people to put down their weapons for a minute. ... So I’m just very intentional about making sure we remain in a conversation going to all different kinds of places” (“Audrey Assad Shares Her Inheritance,” JesusFreakHideout.com, Feb. 9, 2016). Assad attends Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Tempe, Arizona, which is devoted to Mary as Queen of Heaven. In 2012, Assad performed at Trinity Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, a prominent independent Baptist congregation, but Trinity’s leaders are far from the only independent Baptists who are too lacking in spiritual discernment to recognize that contemporary worship music “disarms” their people toward the one-world church agenda.
YOUNG MAN ESCAPES INFLUENCE OF C.S. LEWIS (Friday Church News Notes, September 22, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is a testimony we received from a reader: “My father pointed me to your materials, and at first I was hesitant, as you are more hard-lined in what you believe than Ravi Zacharias, Frank Turek, and others who I was listening to. With time, I jumped into your materials as well, and you have made me much more confident in my faith than anyone else. Your hard stance on God’s Word is not harsh, but simply true. Your method of citing all claims you make with Biblical references is unlike virtually anyone else I have read. And to think I was close to purchasing Mere Christianity before reading your e-book on CS Lewis! Your work is completely necessary in such a confused and Biblically illiterate world, and I just want to thank you, as a brother in Christ, for the hard work you put into what you do. I have also built up a habit of daily Bible reading, which has now developed into a daily Bible study, using commentaries, the Way of Life Encyclopedia, and Strong’s Concordance along with my reading. I also am reading strictly King James, which is something I never thought I’d be doing (your book, ‘Why We Hold to the King James Bible’ changed my heart in the matter). For the first time in my life, I can say that my faith in God is truly grounded in actual conviction, repentance, and a love for God and His Word, and you are a big reason for it. So again, I sincerely love the work you continually put out, and I pray daily for your various ministries as well.”
MARXISM, THE NEW LEFTISM, CRITICAL THEORY, ETC., IS SIMPLY A WAR AGAINST GOD AND HIS HOLY LAWS (Friday Church News Notes, September 22, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Karl Marx wrote, “Communism abolishes eternal truth, it abolishes all religion, and all morality” (The Communist Manifesto). Herbert Marcuse, father of the New Left, called for a “cultural revolution in the sense that the protest is directed toward the whole cultural establishment, including the morality of the existing society” (“Reflections on the French Revolution,” cited from Michael Walsh, The Devil’s Pleasure Palace: The Cult of Critical Theory and the Subversion of the West, 2015). Antonio Gramsci, founder of the Italian Communist Party and one of the founders of cultural Marxism, said, “One must speak for a struggle for a new culture, that is, for a new moral life that cannot but be intimately connected to a new intuition of life, until it becomes a new way of feeling and seeing reality,” and, “Socialism is precisely the religion that must overwhelm Christianity” (Gramsci’s Political Thought: Hegemony, Consciousness, and the Revolutionary Process, 1981). Saul Alinsky, communist-leaning community organizer who influenced Barack Obama, honored Lucifer in Rules for Radicals. In the front of the book he said, “Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgement to the very first radical ... the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom.” Alinsky’s book has been called “the bible of the far left.” Kate Millett influential feminist, said, “A sexual revolution would require perhaps first of all an end of traditional sexual inhibitions and taboos, particularly those that most threaten patriarchal monogamous marriage: homosexuality, ‘illegitimacy,’ adolescent pre- and extra-marital sexuality” (Sexual Politics, 1979). Following is a chant led by Kate Millett in a consciousness-raising group in New York City in 1969: “And how do we make Cultural Revolution? By destroying the American family. How do we destroy the family? By destroying the American Patriarch. And how do we destroy the American Patriarch? By taking away his power. How do we do that? By destroying monogamy. How can we destroy monogamy? By promoting promiscuity, eroticism, prostitution and homosexuality” (cited by Kate Millett’s sister Mallory Millett who attended the meeting, “Marxist Feminism’s Ruined Lives,” Frontpage magazine, Sept. 1, 2014). The Bible says, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good” (Psalm 14:1).
MANNING JOHNSON EXPOSED BLACK LIVES MATTER 65 YEARS AGO (Friday Church News Notes, September 22, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Manning Johnson (1908-1959), a high-ranking Communist Party USA member, renounced communism in 1940 and dedicated himself to exposing its plans and methodology for the overthrow of America using racial strife. In 1958, he authored Color, Communism and Common Sense, the preface to which was written by Archibald Roosevelt, a son of President Theodore Roosevelt. Chapter one, “In the Web,” begins like this: “Ten years I labored in the cause of Communism. I was a dedicated ‘comrade.’ All my talents and efforts were zealously used to bring about the triumph of Communism in America and throughout the world. To me, the end of capitalism would mark the beginning of an interminable period of plenty, peace, prosperity and universal comradeship. All racial and class differences and conflicts would end forever after the liquidation of the capitalists, their government and their supporters. ... Being an idealist, I was sold this ‘bill of goods’ by a Negro graduate of the Lenin Institute in Moscow. ... Little did I realize until I was deeply enmeshed in the Red Conspiracy, that just and seeming grievances are exploited to transform idealism into a cold and ruthless weapon against the capitalist system--that this is the end toward which all the communist efforts among Negroes are directed. Indeed, I had entered the red conspiracy in the vain belief that it was the way to a ‘new, better and superior’ world system of society. Ten years later, thoroughly disillusioned, I abandoned communism. The experiences of those years in ‘outer darkness’ are like a horrible nightmare. I saw communism in all its naked cruelty, ruthlessness and utter contempt of Christian attributes and passions. And, too, I saw the low value placed upon human life, the total lack of respect for the dignity of man, the betrayal of trust, the terror of the Secret Police and the bloody hand of the assassin, during and since, those fateful years when I embraced communism. ... My zeal, training, both theoretical and practical, combined with loyalty and willingness to sacrifice, changed me from a novice into a dedicated red--a professional revolutionist. Consequently, I climbed rapidly to the National Committee, the highest governing body of the Communist Party in America. ... Thus, as a participant on the highest level of the communist conspiracy in America, I observed the cold, calculating, ruthless nature of red power politics and political warfare, stripped of all its illusory propaganda and idealistic cover.”
THE PROOF OF GOD IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND (Friday Church News Notes, September 22, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Craig Beidler, “Proof of God in the Palm of Your Hand,” The Real Truth, Dec. 20, 2009: “Sir Isaac Newton once said, ‘In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence.’ ... In his book Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, Dr. Paul Brand, who was one of the foremost hand surgeons in the world, testifies to the wonder—the miracle—of the human body. Dr. Brand explained that although many people think that fat serves no significant purpose, it does on the hand. ‘Underneath the skin in the palm of the hand lie globules of fat with the look and consistency of tapioca pudding. Fat globules, so soft as to be almost fluid, cannot hold their own shape, and so they are surrounded by interwoven fibrils of collagen, like balloons caught in a supporting rope net…where stress occurs, such as on the palm of the hand, fat is tightly gathered and enveloped by fibrous tissue in a design resembling fine Belgian lace.’ When you grasp a hammer in the palm of your hand, each ‘cluster of fat cells changes its shape in response to the pressure. It yields but cannot be pushed aside because of the firm collagen fibers around it. The resulting tissue, constantly shifting and quivering, becomes compliant, fitting its shape and its stress points to the precise shape of the handle of the hammer. Engineers nearly shout when they analyze this amazing property, for they cannot design a material that so perfectly balances elasticity with viscosity.’ The skin of the hand is also well suited to the task of gripping and handling different kinds of objects. Dr. Brand wrote, ‘If my skin tissue had been made harder, I might insensitively crush a goblet of fine crystal as I hold it in my hand; if softer, it would not allow a firm grip.’ ... Another remarkable feature of a normal hand is its sensitivity. Dr. Brand states, ‘A normal hand can distinguish between a smooth plane of glass and one etched with lines only 1/2500 of an inch deep.’ The fingertips have the ability to detect a difference of just three milligrams. How extraordinary it is that the hand should be so well-suited for its purpose through all of these amazing features and abilities. Was this the product of chance or the creation of God?”
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) zxc
YOUNG MAN ESCAPES INFLUENCE OF C.S. LEWIS (Friday Church News Notes, September 22, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is a testimony we received from a reader: “My father pointed me to your materials, and at first I was hesitant, as you are more hard-lined in what you believe than Ravi Zacharias, Frank Turek, and others who I was listening to. With time, I jumped into your materials as well, and you have made me much more confident in my faith than anyone else. Your hard stance on God’s Word is not harsh, but simply true. Your method of citing all claims you make with Biblical references is unlike virtually anyone else I have read. And to think I was close to purchasing Mere Christianity before reading your e-book on CS Lewis! Your work is completely necessary in such a confused and Biblically illiterate world, and I just want to thank you, as a brother in Christ, for the hard work you put into what you do. I have also built up a habit of daily Bible reading, which has now developed into a daily Bible study, using commentaries, the Way of Life Encyclopedia, and Strong’s Concordance along with my reading. I also am reading strictly King James, which is something I never thought I’d be doing (your book, ‘Why We Hold to the King James Bible’ changed my heart in the matter). For the first time in my life, I can say that my faith in God is truly grounded in actual conviction, repentance, and a love for God and His Word, and you are a big reason for it. So again, I sincerely love the work you continually put out, and I pray daily for your various ministries as well.”
MARXISM, THE NEW LEFTISM, CRITICAL THEORY, ETC., IS SIMPLY A WAR AGAINST GOD AND HIS HOLY LAWS (Friday Church News Notes, September 22, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Karl Marx wrote, “Communism abolishes eternal truth, it abolishes all religion, and all morality” (The Communist Manifesto). Herbert Marcuse, father of the New Left, called for a “cultural revolution in the sense that the protest is directed toward the whole cultural establishment, including the morality of the existing society” (“Reflections on the French Revolution,” cited from Michael Walsh, The Devil’s Pleasure Palace: The Cult of Critical Theory and the Subversion of the West, 2015). Antonio Gramsci, founder of the Italian Communist Party and one of the founders of cultural Marxism, said, “One must speak for a struggle for a new culture, that is, for a new moral life that cannot but be intimately connected to a new intuition of life, until it becomes a new way of feeling and seeing reality,” and, “Socialism is precisely the religion that must overwhelm Christianity” (Gramsci’s Political Thought: Hegemony, Consciousness, and the Revolutionary Process, 1981). Saul Alinsky, communist-leaning community organizer who influenced Barack Obama, honored Lucifer in Rules for Radicals. In the front of the book he said, “Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgement to the very first radical ... the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom.” Alinsky’s book has been called “the bible of the far left.” Kate Millett influential feminist, said, “A sexual revolution would require perhaps first of all an end of traditional sexual inhibitions and taboos, particularly those that most threaten patriarchal monogamous marriage: homosexuality, ‘illegitimacy,’ adolescent pre- and extra-marital sexuality” (Sexual Politics, 1979). Following is a chant led by Kate Millett in a consciousness-raising group in New York City in 1969: “And how do we make Cultural Revolution? By destroying the American family. How do we destroy the family? By destroying the American Patriarch. And how do we destroy the American Patriarch? By taking away his power. How do we do that? By destroying monogamy. How can we destroy monogamy? By promoting promiscuity, eroticism, prostitution and homosexuality” (cited by Kate Millett’s sister Mallory Millett who attended the meeting, “Marxist Feminism’s Ruined Lives,” Frontpage magazine, Sept. 1, 2014). The Bible says, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good” (Psalm 14:1).
MANNING JOHNSON EXPOSED BLACK LIVES MATTER 65 YEARS AGO (Friday Church News Notes, September 22, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Manning Johnson (1908-1959), a high-ranking Communist Party USA member, renounced communism in 1940 and dedicated himself to exposing its plans and methodology for the overthrow of America using racial strife. In 1958, he authored Color, Communism and Common Sense, the preface to which was written by Archibald Roosevelt, a son of President Theodore Roosevelt. Chapter one, “In the Web,” begins like this: “Ten years I labored in the cause of Communism. I was a dedicated ‘comrade.’ All my talents and efforts were zealously used to bring about the triumph of Communism in America and throughout the world. To me, the end of capitalism would mark the beginning of an interminable period of plenty, peace, prosperity and universal comradeship. All racial and class differences and conflicts would end forever after the liquidation of the capitalists, their government and their supporters. ... Being an idealist, I was sold this ‘bill of goods’ by a Negro graduate of the Lenin Institute in Moscow. ... Little did I realize until I was deeply enmeshed in the Red Conspiracy, that just and seeming grievances are exploited to transform idealism into a cold and ruthless weapon against the capitalist system--that this is the end toward which all the communist efforts among Negroes are directed. Indeed, I had entered the red conspiracy in the vain belief that it was the way to a ‘new, better and superior’ world system of society. Ten years later, thoroughly disillusioned, I abandoned communism. The experiences of those years in ‘outer darkness’ are like a horrible nightmare. I saw communism in all its naked cruelty, ruthlessness and utter contempt of Christian attributes and passions. And, too, I saw the low value placed upon human life, the total lack of respect for the dignity of man, the betrayal of trust, the terror of the Secret Police and the bloody hand of the assassin, during and since, those fateful years when I embraced communism. ... My zeal, training, both theoretical and practical, combined with loyalty and willingness to sacrifice, changed me from a novice into a dedicated red--a professional revolutionist. Consequently, I climbed rapidly to the National Committee, the highest governing body of the Communist Party in America. ... Thus, as a participant on the highest level of the communist conspiracy in America, I observed the cold, calculating, ruthless nature of red power politics and political warfare, stripped of all its illusory propaganda and idealistic cover.”
THE PROOF OF GOD IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND (Friday Church News Notes, September 22, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Craig Beidler, “Proof of God in the Palm of Your Hand,” The Real Truth, Dec. 20, 2009: “Sir Isaac Newton once said, ‘In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence.’ ... In his book Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, Dr. Paul Brand, who was one of the foremost hand surgeons in the world, testifies to the wonder—the miracle—of the human body. Dr. Brand explained that although many people think that fat serves no significant purpose, it does on the hand. ‘Underneath the skin in the palm of the hand lie globules of fat with the look and consistency of tapioca pudding. Fat globules, so soft as to be almost fluid, cannot hold their own shape, and so they are surrounded by interwoven fibrils of collagen, like balloons caught in a supporting rope net…where stress occurs, such as on the palm of the hand, fat is tightly gathered and enveloped by fibrous tissue in a design resembling fine Belgian lace.’ When you grasp a hammer in the palm of your hand, each ‘cluster of fat cells changes its shape in response to the pressure. It yields but cannot be pushed aside because of the firm collagen fibers around it. The resulting tissue, constantly shifting and quivering, becomes compliant, fitting its shape and its stress points to the precise shape of the handle of the hammer. Engineers nearly shout when they analyze this amazing property, for they cannot design a material that so perfectly balances elasticity with viscosity.’ The skin of the hand is also well suited to the task of gripping and handling different kinds of objects. Dr. Brand wrote, ‘If my skin tissue had been made harder, I might insensitively crush a goblet of fine crystal as I hold it in my hand; if softer, it would not allow a firm grip.’ ... Another remarkable feature of a normal hand is its sensitivity. Dr. Brand states, ‘A normal hand can distinguish between a smooth plane of glass and one etched with lines only 1/2500 of an inch deep.’ The fingertips have the ability to detect a difference of just three milligrams. How extraordinary it is that the hand should be so well-suited for its purpose through all of these amazing features and abilities. Was this the product of chance or the creation of God?”
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) zxc
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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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