Friday Church News Notes
July 4, 2025 - Volume 26, Issue 27
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.
BOTH PARTIES WANT A KING (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - America continues its steady march to totalitarianism. It began a long time ago, with the vast increase in federal bureaucracy during and after the Civil War, with the creation of a federal income tax, a national currency, a national banking system, the creation of the Department of Justice and the Department of Commerce and Labor. “They inserted the government into railroads, education, agriculture, immigration, the sciences, financial regulation [and] industry” (Roger Lowenstein, Ways and Means: Lincoln and His Cabinet and the Financing of the Civil War). Totalitarianism received a major push with President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and a steady stream of ever newer deals, such as Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. America has long been a socialist nation. In this area, the difference between Republicans and Democrats is in degree only, in exactly how large and powerful the government will be and what portion of the nation’s wealth it will confiscate and how large the debt will be allowed to grow. Now we are witnessing a civil war between those who want to keep the old America, or what is left of it, and those who want to destroy the old America and establish a new “woke” one. There can be no compromise. Thus both parties want a king and are busy reconstructing the presidency for this purpose. Barak Obama and Joe Biden tried to be kings for the “leftist” agenda. Donald Trump is trying to be a king for the “conservative” agenda. The U.S. presidency was not designed for this purpose. It is an abuse of constitutional power on both sides, but the die is set. Each president finds new ways to increase his power. Thus, the nation continues its rush toward totalitarianism. This fits Bible prophecy. The mystery of iniquity, which has operated for 2,000 years but is moving into high gear at the end of the age, is the devil’s program to put his man on the throne of the world (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12). In its fulness, there will be a global government, a global economy, a global judicial system, a global everything, and that is exactly what we see playing out in real life on every hand. Bible prophecy is what most political conservatives do not understand, but it is impossible to know the times, to understand Israel and the Middle East crisis, and to know God’s will for the saints apart from a right understanding of prophecy.
ISRAEL OFFICIAL SAYS TRUMP’S ATTACK ON IRAN COULD HERALD THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi told Arutz Sheva (Israel National News) that Trump’s attack on Iran could herald the coming of the Messiah (“Trump,” Arutz Sheva, June 23, 2025). He called Trump “the Cyrus of our times and even greater than that,” referring to Cyrus the Great of Persia who in 538 BC opened the door to Israel’s return from Babylon and the building of the second temple. Many ultra-orthodox Jews see Trump in this light. Karhi believes Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, enjoys “Saita D’Shmaya” (divine assistance) and “our ultimate victory is within reach and depends on us, divine mercy, and the miracles we are witnessing in this war, and what [we] will continue to see.” In 2018, during Donald Trump’s first presidency, the Temple in Zion organization issued a memorial half shekel temple tax coin featuring the images of Persian King Cyrus and U.S. President Donald Trump on one side and the Third Temple on the other. In a speech at the Arutz Sheva conference in Jerusalem in 2014, Pete Hegseth (who was confirmed as Trump’s Secretary of Defense in January 2025), said, “There’s no reason why the miracle of the re-establishment of the temple on the Temple Mount is not possible. I don’t know how it would happen. You don’t know how it would happen, but I know that it could happen” (The Times of Israel, Nov. 14, 2024). Mr. Hegseth was wrong in saying we don’t know how it will happen. God’s Word has told us. It will happen at the beginning of the reign of the Antichrist when he comes on the scene as a great peace maker and world problem solver and makes a seven-year covenant with Israel (Da. 9:27). The world will receive him as the harbinger of the Age of Aquarius. Operating under the power of the god of this world, he will make the building of the Third Temple possible. We see this in Revelation 11 which occurs during the first three and a half years of the Antichrist’s rule. The 42 months and 1,260 days are mentioned in verses 2 and 3. We see the temple being measured in verses 1-2 and two miracle-working prophets preaching in Jerusalem in verses 3-12. A building is measured when it is built, and the temple will be built in a very short time as soon as the go-ahead is given. Everything is ready. Third Temple organizations have constructed the priestly garments, the high priest’s golden crown and breastplate with its 12 precious stones, a copper laver, an incense altar, silver trumpets, gold- and silver-plated shofars, harps, and the gold menorah. They are breeding red heifers in Shiloh. Rabbi Yisrael Ariel says all of the materials for the operation of the temple are “all ready in crates in the basement, so that when we reach Jerusalem there will be trucks that unload everything, and we can get to work” (“Ariel’s Jerusalem,” Arutz Sheva, May 7, 2015). The New Testament believer won’t see Revelation 11 fulfilled. Our blessed hope is Christ, not the Antichrist. Our expectation is an imminent (any time) return of Christ. “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand” (Php. 4:5).
MASSIVE “GAY PRIDE” PARADE IN BUDAPEST (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a major sign of the times, an estimated 200,000 people marched in the Budapest Pride Parade on June 28, massively surpassing a previous turnout of 35,000. The parade was held in defiance of Prime Minister Victor Orban’s anti-LGBT march ban (World Crunch, June 30, 2025). “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? ... Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us” (Psalm 2:1, 3).
CANNABIS LINKED TO DANGEROUS HEALTH RISK (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Smoking marijuana and eating cannabis gummies both linked to dangerous health risk,” Fox News, May 30, 2025: “In a new study, researchers at UC San Francisco determined that eating edible cannabis, such as gummies, has the same impact on cardiovascular risk as smoking marijuana. The risk stems from reduced blood vessel function, according to the study, which was published in JAMA Cardiology on May 28. The study included 55 people between 18 and 50 years of age who were ‘outwardly healthy.’ The participants were divided into three groups: those who regularly smoked marijuana, those who ate edibles containing THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), and those who didn’t use cannabis, according to a UCSF press release. ... In September 2024, the participants underwent testing to determine how well their blood vessels functioned and whether the cells lining the blood vessels were affected. All cannabis users were found to have ‘decreased vascular function,’ comparable to those who smoke tobacco. Their blood vessel function was roughly half compared to those who did not use cannabis. This side effect has been linked to a higher risk of heart attack, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular conditions, the researchers noted. ... ‘This study enhances the understanding of the potential risks to vascular health linked to cannabis use and provides more evidence that cannabis use is not benign.’”
CANNABIS USE INCREASING AMONG SENIORS (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Dr. Marc Siegel, “Grandma and Grandpa,” Fox News, June 5, 2025: “[T]he elderly over 65 are using marijuana products more and more, an increase of close to 50% from 2021 to 2023, with a total of 7% of seniors current users, according to new research just published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. But it is clear to me there are several misconceptions feeding this increased usage, the first being that marijuana is somehow safer than alcohol or cigarettes ... Another misconception is that marijuana is safe for people who can’t sleep or are having anxiety problems. In fact, cannabis can lead to IQ decline, poorer learning or processing, and tap cognitive reserves, especially problematic in seniors who may already be showing signs of cognitive decline. And regular cannabis use with higher amounts of THC can worsen anxiety and even lead to psychosis in those with underlying mental health problems. Another false idea prompting increased cannabis use is that the amount of THC in a cannabis product is a constant, when in fact the active psychoactive ingredient in cannabis keeps increasing in concentration. 20th century weed was far less potent than today’s 30-50% THC content weed. ... But the notion that bothers me the most as a practicing internist is, that cannabis is supposed to be medically useful for chronic pain or sleeplessness and that somehow this sanctions its use for everything. In fact, even the medical uses of marijuana products have never been proven.”
YOU ARE LEFT HANDED (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, April 11, 2025: “If I were to ask you whether you are left-handed or right-handed, you would probably answer with most people that you are right-handed. While that may be true, you are also left-handed, and your life depends on it. Biologists have absolutely no idea why molecules of living things are left-handed. You see, when biological molecules are made in ‘origin of life’ experiments, they are always a mixture of both left-handed and right-handed molecules--mirror images of each other that won’t work together in living things. A right-handed amino acid can be chemically identical to a left-handed amino acid. But for some mysterious reason, a living organism will treat the right-handed amino acid as if it were useless, even though normal chemical reactions ignore the difference. This tells us that living things are much more than just the result of chemical reactions. As the Bible suggests when it describes the creation of life, living material is different in some very important ways from nonliving material. The fact that life uses only left-handed versions of biological molecules poses another problem for those who think that life formed spontaneously, without a Creator. While experiments show that some simple biological molecules can be formed in the laboratory, experiments always produce a mixture of left- and right-handed molecules. So life’s origin, with its left-handed-only molecules, remains a mystery to those who reject the Creator. Could this be why God designed life with left-handed only molecules in the first place? REF: Olson, Steve, ‘Why is life handed?’ Science 84.”
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; Mt. 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” (Ro. 13:11-14).
MASSIVE “GAY PRIDE” PARADE IN BUDAPEST (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a major sign of the times, an estimated 200,000 people marched in the Budapest Pride Parade on June 28, massively surpassing a previous turnout of 35,000. The parade was held in defiance of Prime Minister Victor Orban’s anti-LGBT march ban (World Crunch, June 30, 2025). “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? ... Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us” (Psalm 2:1, 3).
CANNABIS LINKED TO DANGEROUS HEALTH RISK (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Smoking marijuana and eating cannabis gummies both linked to dangerous health risk,” Fox News, May 30, 2025: “In a new study, researchers at UC San Francisco determined that eating edible cannabis, such as gummies, has the same impact on cardiovascular risk as smoking marijuana. The risk stems from reduced blood vessel function, according to the study, which was published in JAMA Cardiology on May 28. The study included 55 people between 18 and 50 years of age who were ‘outwardly healthy.’ The participants were divided into three groups: those who regularly smoked marijuana, those who ate edibles containing THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), and those who didn’t use cannabis, according to a UCSF press release. ... In September 2024, the participants underwent testing to determine how well their blood vessels functioned and whether the cells lining the blood vessels were affected. All cannabis users were found to have ‘decreased vascular function,’ comparable to those who smoke tobacco. Their blood vessel function was roughly half compared to those who did not use cannabis. This side effect has been linked to a higher risk of heart attack, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular conditions, the researchers noted. ... ‘This study enhances the understanding of the potential risks to vascular health linked to cannabis use and provides more evidence that cannabis use is not benign.’”
CANNABIS USE INCREASING AMONG SENIORS (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Dr. Marc Siegel, “Grandma and Grandpa,” Fox News, June 5, 2025: “[T]he elderly over 65 are using marijuana products more and more, an increase of close to 50% from 2021 to 2023, with a total of 7% of seniors current users, according to new research just published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. But it is clear to me there are several misconceptions feeding this increased usage, the first being that marijuana is somehow safer than alcohol or cigarettes ... Another misconception is that marijuana is safe for people who can’t sleep or are having anxiety problems. In fact, cannabis can lead to IQ decline, poorer learning or processing, and tap cognitive reserves, especially problematic in seniors who may already be showing signs of cognitive decline. And regular cannabis use with higher amounts of THC can worsen anxiety and even lead to psychosis in those with underlying mental health problems. Another false idea prompting increased cannabis use is that the amount of THC in a cannabis product is a constant, when in fact the active psychoactive ingredient in cannabis keeps increasing in concentration. 20th century weed was far less potent than today’s 30-50% THC content weed. ... But the notion that bothers me the most as a practicing internist is, that cannabis is supposed to be medically useful for chronic pain or sleeplessness and that somehow this sanctions its use for everything. In fact, even the medical uses of marijuana products have never been proven.”
YOU ARE LEFT HANDED (Friday Church News Notes, July 4, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, April 11, 2025: “If I were to ask you whether you are left-handed or right-handed, you would probably answer with most people that you are right-handed. While that may be true, you are also left-handed, and your life depends on it. Biologists have absolutely no idea why molecules of living things are left-handed. You see, when biological molecules are made in ‘origin of life’ experiments, they are always a mixture of both left-handed and right-handed molecules--mirror images of each other that won’t work together in living things. A right-handed amino acid can be chemically identical to a left-handed amino acid. But for some mysterious reason, a living organism will treat the right-handed amino acid as if it were useless, even though normal chemical reactions ignore the difference. This tells us that living things are much more than just the result of chemical reactions. As the Bible suggests when it describes the creation of life, living material is different in some very important ways from nonliving material. The fact that life uses only left-handed versions of biological molecules poses another problem for those who think that life formed spontaneously, without a Creator. While experiments show that some simple biological molecules can be formed in the laboratory, experiments always produce a mixture of left- and right-handed molecules. So life’s origin, with its left-handed-only molecules, remains a mystery to those who reject the Creator. Could this be why God designed life with left-handed only molecules in the first place? REF: Olson, Steve, ‘Why is life handed?’ Science 84.”
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; Mt. 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” (Ro. 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, BUT 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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