Friday Church News Notes
Volume 24, Issue 45 - November 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.
Protesters attend a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, USA, 04 November 2023. EFE/EP A/WILL OLIVER
WHY DOES THE WORLD HATE ISRAEL? (Friday Church News Notes, November 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Anti-Semitism is on the march globally such as has not been witnessed in a long time, and it is rampant on prominent American university campuses. “Yesterday, many thousands of Islamofascists and leftists turned out across the globe for pro-Hamas demonstrations, celebrating the massacre of October 7 and demanding the extermination of Jews. Trafalgar Square was packed to overflowing. Hundreds of thousands turned out in Paris. Some might find the idea of a ‘kill the Jews’ rally in Berlin alarming. And, of course, many thousands rallied to support genocide against the Jews in Washington, D.C. It looked almost like an insurrection” (“Genocide Is Popular,” PowerLine, Nov. 5, 2023). What is happening? Hatred of the Jews, promoting lies about the Jews, comparing Israel with Hamas, calling for the destruction of the state of Israel--none of this is reasonable. In 1932, Harold Laski, said of Hitler’s anti-Semitic propaganda, “If the Jews trusted to reason only for the defense of their lives their chance of survival would be relatively small. For the temper in which they are attacked is inherently unamenable to rational discussion” (cited from “Thought for the Day,” PowerLine, Nov. 5). Laski was right, and this is a 2,000-year-old irrationality, but why? The answer is found only in the Bible. It has to do with the age-old battle between God and a world in rebellion, a world of which Satan, Lucifer, or the Devil is “the god” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The chief voices of anti-Semitism--Islam, Marxism, Humanism, etc.--are of the Devil. Israel is not right with her God at present, but that is no reason to hate her. God will take care of Israel and bring her to repentance, as He has promised to do in many prophecies of Holy Scripture. As the multitudes rage against Israel and her God, we pray for Israel; we pray for Israel’s safety; we pray for Israel’s repentance. God’s Christ, the Lord Jesus, will rule Israel and the world, and nothing can stop it. All the nations banded together with all their might, with Satan at their head, cannot stop it, as the great prophecy of Psalm 2 proclaims. It announces the future in the present tense, because everything is in the present tense with the Eternal God, who declares the end from the beginning (Isaiah 48:10).
PSALM 2 (Friday Church News Notes, November 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”
THE LATEST HOMOSEXUAL CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC ARTIST (Friday Church News Notes, November 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Singer/songwriter Grace Baldridge, who goes by the name Semler, announced on TikTok that she’s expecting a baby with her “wife” Elizabeth Capel (“Queer ‘Christian’ Artist Semler Announces,” JubileeCast, Nov. 1, 2023). Semler claims to be a non-binary lesbian, which, I suppose, is supposed to mean something. In the song “Faith,” which was number one this summer on iTunes Christian and Gospel chart, Semler complains that “my religion turned against me.” On learning of gaining the top spot, she tweeted, “I really can’t believe it. We got a queer artist to chart at #1 in Christian music during Pride month.” In 2022, Semler toured with the Christian rock band Relient K, winner of two Dove awards. The band posted the following on Twitter, “We are super stoked to announce that @gracebaldridge - Semler will be opening up all the shows on the Um Yeah Tour.” Semler replied, “Relient K is about to have a bunch of gays at their shows this spring now.”
EARTHQUAKES CAUSE A TRILLION DOLLARS IN DAMAGE (Friday Church News Notes, November 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Earthquakes over the past 50 years have killed tens of thousands of people and caused economic damage of about $1 trillion. Damages include $200 billion in Hanshin Japan, 1995; $360 billion in Tohoku, Japan, 2011; $150 billion in Sichuan, China, 2008; $50 billion Northridge, California, 1994; $40 billion in Chirstchurch, New Zealand, 2011; $30 billion in Chile, 2010; and $28 billion in Nilgata, Japan, 2004 (“Nepal earthquake,” Fox News, Nov. 4, 2023).
EARTHQUAKES IN DIVERS PLACES: GOD’S KNOCK ON THE ROOF (Friday Church News Notes, November 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In His great prophecy of the end times, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of earthquakes. “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:7-8). This was spoken 2,000 years ago and is repeated in three of the Gospels. The “beginning of sorrows” refers to the beginning of the seven year Day of the Lord which will usher in Christ’s return, but the events of the beginning of sorrows obviously precede the Day of the Lord as preliminary warnings of its approach. Earthquakes are the Lord’s “knock on the roof,” which is a military tactic Israel has used for several years in Gaza. A low yield device is exploded on the roof of a Palestinian home that is targeted for destruction as a warning of imminent destruction. It is designed to give the occupants opportunity to flee. The good Lord is knocking on the door of this world. “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (Psalm 2:12). “... the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).
FIRST PRESIDENT OF FACEBOOK WARNED THAT IT WAS DESIGNED TO BE ADDICTIVE (Friday Church News Notes, November 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “The following is excerpted from “The Terms of Service,” The American Conservative, May 9, 2022: “[T]he social media platforms conditioning a generation to twitch for dopamine hits every time their smartphones buzz like rats in a lab know what they are doing. In 2017, Sean Parker, first president of Facebook and founder of Napster, explained that Facebook’s in-house experts had essentially figured out how to hack the minds of its users: ‘The thought process that went into building these applications, Facebook being the first of them…was all about: How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible? And that means that we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in awhile, because someone liked or commented on a photo or post or whatever. And that’s going to get you to contribute more content, and that’s going to get you…more likes and comments. It’s a social-validation feedback loop…exactly the sort of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology. The inventors, creators—it’s me, it’s Mark Zuckerberg, it’s Kevin Systrom on Instagram, it’s all of these people—understood this consciously. And we did it anyway.’” For more about this, see Spiritual Safety in the Facebook Age, https://www.wayoflife.org/publications/all.php.
FREE VIDEO ON THE LANGUAGE OF MUSIC STYLES: SACRED VS. CONTEMPORARY (Friday Church News Notes, November 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “The Language of Music Styles” is one of the video classes in The Satanic Attack on Sacred Music series. In this video, we learn how to discern the major elements of the worldly sound in contemporary music. We deal with syncopated dance styles, soft styles, and unresolving chord styles. We learn how to discern soft rock. We learn how chords are used in contemporary music to create a sensual “feel.” We examine vocal singing styles that have been borrowed from secular music and that add a sensual element to the music (scooping and sliding, improvisation, breathy, vocal fry).
https://www.wayoflife.org/s3/satanic_attack_on_sacred_music.php
CAN BACTERIA THINK? (Friday Church News Notes, November 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, October 26, 2023: “It sounds silly to ask whether bacteria can think. However, science has known for more than 100 years that the little guys can indeed think. Experiments in 1883 conducted by Wilhelm Pfeffer showed that bacteria will swim toward good food like chicken soup and away from poisons such as mop disinfectant. Pfeffer also learned that bacteria can make decisions. He made sure that his bacteria knew the location of chicken soup. Then he separated them from it with a mild mixture of disinfectant. He found that the little fellows would swim as fast as they could through the disinfectant to get to the soup. This is the same type of decision-making process you and I go through every day. We often tolerate the unpleasant to arrive at the pleasant. As a result of this research, scientists today talk about bacteria actually making decisions. These conclusions amaze most people. That’s because we have been trained to think of intelligence in an evolutionary context. The ‘higher’ or more evolved a creature is, the smarter we expect it to be. However, if we recognize, as the Bible says, that all life is the product of an intelligent Creator, we should not be surprised to find that intelligence has nothing to do with evolution. Every creature has been given as much intelligence as it needs by a Creator Who truly cares for every living creature--even bacteria! Ref: Pietsch, Paul, ‘The mind of a microbe,’ Science Digest, Oct. 1983, p. 69.”
“The vine ... is not the root merely, but all--root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit--and Jesus is not only that: He is soil and sunshine, air and showers, and ten thousand times more than we ever dreamed, wished for, or needed” (J. Hudson Taylor). “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me” (John 15:4).
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).
PSALM 2 (Friday Church News Notes, November 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”
THE LATEST HOMOSEXUAL CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC ARTIST (Friday Church News Notes, November 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Singer/songwriter Grace Baldridge, who goes by the name Semler, announced on TikTok that she’s expecting a baby with her “wife” Elizabeth Capel (“Queer ‘Christian’ Artist Semler Announces,” JubileeCast, Nov. 1, 2023). Semler claims to be a non-binary lesbian, which, I suppose, is supposed to mean something. In the song “Faith,” which was number one this summer on iTunes Christian and Gospel chart, Semler complains that “my religion turned against me.” On learning of gaining the top spot, she tweeted, “I really can’t believe it. We got a queer artist to chart at #1 in Christian music during Pride month.” In 2022, Semler toured with the Christian rock band Relient K, winner of two Dove awards. The band posted the following on Twitter, “We are super stoked to announce that @gracebaldridge - Semler will be opening up all the shows on the Um Yeah Tour.” Semler replied, “Relient K is about to have a bunch of gays at their shows this spring now.”
EARTHQUAKES CAUSE A TRILLION DOLLARS IN DAMAGE (Friday Church News Notes, November 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Earthquakes over the past 50 years have killed tens of thousands of people and caused economic damage of about $1 trillion. Damages include $200 billion in Hanshin Japan, 1995; $360 billion in Tohoku, Japan, 2011; $150 billion in Sichuan, China, 2008; $50 billion Northridge, California, 1994; $40 billion in Chirstchurch, New Zealand, 2011; $30 billion in Chile, 2010; and $28 billion in Nilgata, Japan, 2004 (“Nepal earthquake,” Fox News, Nov. 4, 2023).
EARTHQUAKES IN DIVERS PLACES: GOD’S KNOCK ON THE ROOF (Friday Church News Notes, November 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In His great prophecy of the end times, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of earthquakes. “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:7-8). This was spoken 2,000 years ago and is repeated in three of the Gospels. The “beginning of sorrows” refers to the beginning of the seven year Day of the Lord which will usher in Christ’s return, but the events of the beginning of sorrows obviously precede the Day of the Lord as preliminary warnings of its approach. Earthquakes are the Lord’s “knock on the roof,” which is a military tactic Israel has used for several years in Gaza. A low yield device is exploded on the roof of a Palestinian home that is targeted for destruction as a warning of imminent destruction. It is designed to give the occupants opportunity to flee. The good Lord is knocking on the door of this world. “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (Psalm 2:12). “... the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).
FIRST PRESIDENT OF FACEBOOK WARNED THAT IT WAS DESIGNED TO BE ADDICTIVE (Friday Church News Notes, November 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “The following is excerpted from “The Terms of Service,” The American Conservative, May 9, 2022: “[T]he social media platforms conditioning a generation to twitch for dopamine hits every time their smartphones buzz like rats in a lab know what they are doing. In 2017, Sean Parker, first president of Facebook and founder of Napster, explained that Facebook’s in-house experts had essentially figured out how to hack the minds of its users: ‘The thought process that went into building these applications, Facebook being the first of them…was all about: How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible? And that means that we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in awhile, because someone liked or commented on a photo or post or whatever. And that’s going to get you to contribute more content, and that’s going to get you…more likes and comments. It’s a social-validation feedback loop…exactly the sort of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology. The inventors, creators—it’s me, it’s Mark Zuckerberg, it’s Kevin Systrom on Instagram, it’s all of these people—understood this consciously. And we did it anyway.’” For more about this, see Spiritual Safety in the Facebook Age, https://www.wayoflife.org/publications/all.php.
FREE VIDEO ON THE LANGUAGE OF MUSIC STYLES: SACRED VS. CONTEMPORARY (Friday Church News Notes, November 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “The Language of Music Styles” is one of the video classes in The Satanic Attack on Sacred Music series. In this video, we learn how to discern the major elements of the worldly sound in contemporary music. We deal with syncopated dance styles, soft styles, and unresolving chord styles. We learn how to discern soft rock. We learn how chords are used in contemporary music to create a sensual “feel.” We examine vocal singing styles that have been borrowed from secular music and that add a sensual element to the music (scooping and sliding, improvisation, breathy, vocal fry).
https://www.wayoflife.org/s3/satanic_attack_on_sacred_music.php
CAN BACTERIA THINK? (Friday Church News Notes, November 10, 2023, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, October 26, 2023: “It sounds silly to ask whether bacteria can think. However, science has known for more than 100 years that the little guys can indeed think. Experiments in 1883 conducted by Wilhelm Pfeffer showed that bacteria will swim toward good food like chicken soup and away from poisons such as mop disinfectant. Pfeffer also learned that bacteria can make decisions. He made sure that his bacteria knew the location of chicken soup. Then he separated them from it with a mild mixture of disinfectant. He found that the little fellows would swim as fast as they could through the disinfectant to get to the soup. This is the same type of decision-making process you and I go through every day. We often tolerate the unpleasant to arrive at the pleasant. As a result of this research, scientists today talk about bacteria actually making decisions. These conclusions amaze most people. That’s because we have been trained to think of intelligence in an evolutionary context. The ‘higher’ or more evolved a creature is, the smarter we expect it to be. However, if we recognize, as the Bible says, that all life is the product of an intelligent Creator, we should not be surprised to find that intelligence has nothing to do with evolution. Every creature has been given as much intelligence as it needs by a Creator Who truly cares for every living creature--even bacteria! Ref: Pietsch, Paul, ‘The mind of a microbe,’ Science Digest, Oct. 1983, p. 69.”
“The vine ... is not the root merely, but all--root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit--and Jesus is not only that: He is soil and sunshine, air and showers, and ten thousand times more than we ever dreamed, wished for, or needed” (J. Hudson Taylor). “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me” (John 15:4).
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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