Friday Church News Notes
December 5, 2025 - Volume 26, Issue 49
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.
Levites on the Temple Mount
(Photo courtesy Beyadenu)
(Photo courtesy Beyadenu)
LEVITES SING ON TEMPLE MOUNT FOR FIRST TIME IN 2,000 YEARS (Friday Church News Notes, December 5, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The fervor to build the Third Temple in Jerusalem continues to increase. The Temple Institute and others have prepared articles for the temple service, such as the priest’s garments, the golden candlestick, and the altar of sacrifice, and Levites are practicing to make the offerings, including the Passover. The Third Temple is referred to in four prophecies: Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; and Revelation 11:1-2. It will be occupied by the Antichrist, who will “sit in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has allowed Jews to pray, sing, and dance openly across the entire Temple Mount compound since earlier this year (“Messiah in the air,” World Israel News, June 26, 2025). Israel captured the Temple Mount at the end of the Six-day War in 1967 but within days Israel’s secular-minded, playboy Defense Minister Moshe Dayan returned control to the Islamic Waqf. Thousands of Jews worshipped on the Temple Mount on Tisha B’Av (the ninth day of Av, August 2-3 this year) and sang about the return of the Messiah to “build the temple” (“Thousands of Jews,” World Israel News, Aug. 3, 2025). Tisha B’Av marks the day of the destruction of the first temple (586 BC) and the second temple (AD 70). The following is excerpted from “For the First Time,” Israel365 News, Nov. 28, 2025: “The silence that has hung over the Temple Mount for nearly two thousand years was broken Thursday morning when three Levites ascended Judaism’s holiest site and sang the daily psalm. The moment marks an unprecedented restoration of an ancient Temple service that ceased with the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE [AD]. The Levites who participated in the ascent described their experience in a statement: ‘We were moved today to fulfill (partially) our dream as sons of Levi--to sing the song of God on the holy mountain. Today, thank God, there are several organizations of Levites preparing for the day when we can stand again on the platform, and we invite our Levite brothers to inquire and join.’ The Bible assigns the Levites a specific role in Temple worship. In the book of Chronicles, King David organized the Levitical singers: ‘Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals...’” (1 Chronicles 25:1). ... The Beyadenu movement for the Temple Mount facilitated Thursday’s event and helped make it accessible to the public as part of its activities to strengthen the living, values-based, and communal connection to the Temple Mount.”
OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY SURVEYS CHILDREN ON PERVERTED SEXUAL BEHAVIOR (Friday Church News Notes, December 5, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The wickedness that has permeated America is not going to be rooted out by any existing political entity or movement or organization. It is deeply entrenched at every level of society. What was said about Canaan of old can be said about America today: “The land ... is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness” (Ezra 9:11). The Canaanites were infamous for sodomy and incest (Leviticus 18). The moral insanity has leavened large parts of America’s public school system from kindergarten to university and continues its brainwashing enterprise regardless of who the president might be. America’s problem is not the Democrats but Americans. Democrats are Americans who are elected by Americans. The only thing that would make a significant difference is a real biblical revival in churches, but even the best churches, for the most part, are lukewarm. How many lukewarm members does it take to equal a lukewarm church that Christ despises (Revelation 3:18-19)? Instead of fasting and praying and seeking God’s face earnestly, the people are playing. Instead of exercising true biblical leadership to maintain a spiritual house made of living stones (1 Peter 2:5), the pastors follow tradition, fear the people, and capitulate to their good old boys associates. Thankfully, there are New Testament churches that are not guilty of these things and are getting stronger rather than weaker. Friends in Christ, it’s not enough to complain. If necessary, relocate to a place where there is a true New Testament church and, if qualified, join it and help build it for the glory of Jesus Christ. The following is excerpted from “Oregon father outraged,” Fox News, Nov. 28, 2025: “An Oregon father is outraged after discovering that his 11-year-old son was slated to receive a state-issued sexual orientation and gender identity survey that asked children to identify their sexual orientation, gender identity, and whether they are transgender. ‘I was made aware of this survey somehow online,’ Chuck Gonzales told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday, whose son, Maxwell, attends Minter Bridge Elementary School in Hillsboro, a suburb of Portland, Oregon. ‘[I]t was a survey that is asking our children grades six, eighth, and eleventh grade issued by the Oregon Health Authority,’ Gonzales said. ‘And the survey, it asks a lot of really confusing things to sixth graders.’ ... The 2024 Student Health Survey asked questions such as ‘What is your gender identity,’ with the multiple choice answers being ‘girl or woman, boy or man, demigirl/demiboy, nonbinary, genderfluid, genderqueer or questioning, and agender/no gender.’ ... An additional question asked students their sexual orientation and told them that they could choose more than one answer. Answers to the question included ‘straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual or aromantic, queer, questioning, Something else fits better, Please tell us more.’”
RUSSIA HAS BANNED 10 BAPTIST CHURCHES (Friday Church News Notes, December 5, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Russia Bans,” Christianity Daily, Nov. 22, 2025: “Russian courts have banned three additional Baptist churches affiliated with the Council of Churches Baptists in the southern region of Krasnodar, continuing a broader government campaign against unregistered congregations across the country. According to the Forum 18 News Service, the churches in Timashyovsk, Armavir, and Tuapse were prohibited from operating unless they formally notify authorities of their activities--a requirement the denomination has refused to meet on principle. The Council of Churches Baptists, which emerged during the Soviet era, maintains that registration represents state interference in religious life and is not mandated by Russian law or the national Constitution. ... The Tuapse City Court likewise banned the local Baptist congregation on Sept. 22, after the Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that the group held religious events involving minors and visitors from other regions and countries. ... These latest rulings bring the total number of Council of Churches Baptist congregations banned in Russia to 10 since the start of 2024, ICC [International Christian Concern] reported.”
BABIES MURDERED WORLDWIDE IN 2024 EXCEEDED THE POPULATION OF CANADA (Friday Church News Notes, December 5, 2025, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Abortion,” The Bridgehead, Jan. 6, 2025: “[A]s Breitbart reported yesterday, abortion was the leading cause of death globally in 2024, ‘with a record 45 million unborn babies killed in the womb, according to data provided by Worldometer.’ The numbers are excruciating and impossible to fathom: As of 12 p.m. on December 31, 2024, an estimated 45.1 million abortions were perpetrated throughout the year. For context, Canada’s entire population is 40.1 million. The abortion death rate--or, more accurately, kill count--dwarfs every other number, including 8.2 million dying from cancer, 5 million from smoking, 1.7 million from HIV/AIDS, 1.46 million from traffic accidents, and 1.1 million from suicide. As Breitbart pointed out, the total of all non-abortion deaths is 62.5 million, ‘meaning that abortions accounted for just over 42 percent of all human deaths in 2024.’ ... Tens of millions of children who physically existed were physically destroyed, yet that fact almost never surfaces in the now almost incessant coverage of the population implosion underway in every Western country and many non-Western countries as well. In fact, in some countries this information is being actively suppressed. In France, ARCOM, the French media regulator, recently fined the conservative TV channel CNews a staggering €100,000 after presenter Aymeric Pourbaix observed in February that abortion is the leading cause of death worldwide, according to the WHO’s estimate of 73 million deaths per annum. Why? Because according to the regulator, the channel failed in its ‘obligation of honesty and rigour in the presentation and processing of information’ because ‘abortion cannot be presented as a cause of death.’ A factual statement was banned in the media because it conflicts with the suicidal ideology that is contributing to France’s cratering birthrate to begin with.”
FROGS IN THE DESERT (Friday Church News Notes, December 5, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, November 25, 2025: “Even though many frogs live much of their lives out of the water, they need water to reproduce. This can be a problem since some frogs live in trees and some even live in the desert! For a tree frog, the trip from the treetops to a nearby pool is a long and dangerous journey. However, the Creator cares about all of His creatures. The leaves of the bromeliad that grows in the branches of many trees in the tropical forest form a private pool far above the ground. As a result, mama frog can raise her young without ever leaving the treetops! The desert would seem to offer an even greater challenge for a frog. However, since it pleased the Creator to place frogs in the desert--maybe to challenge the evolutionists--He has also provided for their needs. It may rain only once every two years in the deserts of central Australia. When it does rain, the water-holding frogs emerge from their underground hideaways to lay their eggs in the puddles. Before the puddles disappear, not only do the eggs hatch, but the young grow and develop into frogs that are able to store water until the next rain. As the desert again takes over, the frogs dig themselves back into the ground and go into suspended animation until the next rains come. A year or two later, the new generation will emerge after the next rain to raise their young. Neither chance nor the smartest frog in the world could design or create these abilities. Only a wise Creator could. And if the Creator has provided this much care for frogs, just think of how much more He cares about you and me in our everyday lives! Ref: Wilder, Rachel. ‘Flying frogs,’ Science Digest.”
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).
OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY SURVEYS CHILDREN ON PERVERTED SEXUAL BEHAVIOR (Friday Church News Notes, December 5, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The wickedness that has permeated America is not going to be rooted out by any existing political entity or movement or organization. It is deeply entrenched at every level of society. What was said about Canaan of old can be said about America today: “The land ... is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness” (Ezra 9:11). The Canaanites were infamous for sodomy and incest (Leviticus 18). The moral insanity has leavened large parts of America’s public school system from kindergarten to university and continues its brainwashing enterprise regardless of who the president might be. America’s problem is not the Democrats but Americans. Democrats are Americans who are elected by Americans. The only thing that would make a significant difference is a real biblical revival in churches, but even the best churches, for the most part, are lukewarm. How many lukewarm members does it take to equal a lukewarm church that Christ despises (Revelation 3:18-19)? Instead of fasting and praying and seeking God’s face earnestly, the people are playing. Instead of exercising true biblical leadership to maintain a spiritual house made of living stones (1 Peter 2:5), the pastors follow tradition, fear the people, and capitulate to their good old boys associates. Thankfully, there are New Testament churches that are not guilty of these things and are getting stronger rather than weaker. Friends in Christ, it’s not enough to complain. If necessary, relocate to a place where there is a true New Testament church and, if qualified, join it and help build it for the glory of Jesus Christ. The following is excerpted from “Oregon father outraged,” Fox News, Nov. 28, 2025: “An Oregon father is outraged after discovering that his 11-year-old son was slated to receive a state-issued sexual orientation and gender identity survey that asked children to identify their sexual orientation, gender identity, and whether they are transgender. ‘I was made aware of this survey somehow online,’ Chuck Gonzales told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday, whose son, Maxwell, attends Minter Bridge Elementary School in Hillsboro, a suburb of Portland, Oregon. ‘[I]t was a survey that is asking our children grades six, eighth, and eleventh grade issued by the Oregon Health Authority,’ Gonzales said. ‘And the survey, it asks a lot of really confusing things to sixth graders.’ ... The 2024 Student Health Survey asked questions such as ‘What is your gender identity,’ with the multiple choice answers being ‘girl or woman, boy or man, demigirl/demiboy, nonbinary, genderfluid, genderqueer or questioning, and agender/no gender.’ ... An additional question asked students their sexual orientation and told them that they could choose more than one answer. Answers to the question included ‘straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual or aromantic, queer, questioning, Something else fits better, Please tell us more.’”
RUSSIA HAS BANNED 10 BAPTIST CHURCHES (Friday Church News Notes, December 5, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Russia Bans,” Christianity Daily, Nov. 22, 2025: “Russian courts have banned three additional Baptist churches affiliated with the Council of Churches Baptists in the southern region of Krasnodar, continuing a broader government campaign against unregistered congregations across the country. According to the Forum 18 News Service, the churches in Timashyovsk, Armavir, and Tuapse were prohibited from operating unless they formally notify authorities of their activities--a requirement the denomination has refused to meet on principle. The Council of Churches Baptists, which emerged during the Soviet era, maintains that registration represents state interference in religious life and is not mandated by Russian law or the national Constitution. ... The Tuapse City Court likewise banned the local Baptist congregation on Sept. 22, after the Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that the group held religious events involving minors and visitors from other regions and countries. ... These latest rulings bring the total number of Council of Churches Baptist congregations banned in Russia to 10 since the start of 2024, ICC [International Christian Concern] reported.”
BABIES MURDERED WORLDWIDE IN 2024 EXCEEDED THE POPULATION OF CANADA (Friday Church News Notes, December 5, 2025, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Abortion,” The Bridgehead, Jan. 6, 2025: “[A]s Breitbart reported yesterday, abortion was the leading cause of death globally in 2024, ‘with a record 45 million unborn babies killed in the womb, according to data provided by Worldometer.’ The numbers are excruciating and impossible to fathom: As of 12 p.m. on December 31, 2024, an estimated 45.1 million abortions were perpetrated throughout the year. For context, Canada’s entire population is 40.1 million. The abortion death rate--or, more accurately, kill count--dwarfs every other number, including 8.2 million dying from cancer, 5 million from smoking, 1.7 million from HIV/AIDS, 1.46 million from traffic accidents, and 1.1 million from suicide. As Breitbart pointed out, the total of all non-abortion deaths is 62.5 million, ‘meaning that abortions accounted for just over 42 percent of all human deaths in 2024.’ ... Tens of millions of children who physically existed were physically destroyed, yet that fact almost never surfaces in the now almost incessant coverage of the population implosion underway in every Western country and many non-Western countries as well. In fact, in some countries this information is being actively suppressed. In France, ARCOM, the French media regulator, recently fined the conservative TV channel CNews a staggering €100,000 after presenter Aymeric Pourbaix observed in February that abortion is the leading cause of death worldwide, according to the WHO’s estimate of 73 million deaths per annum. Why? Because according to the regulator, the channel failed in its ‘obligation of honesty and rigour in the presentation and processing of information’ because ‘abortion cannot be presented as a cause of death.’ A factual statement was banned in the media because it conflicts with the suicidal ideology that is contributing to France’s cratering birthrate to begin with.”
FROGS IN THE DESERT (Friday Church News Notes, December 5, 2025, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, November 25, 2025: “Even though many frogs live much of their lives out of the water, they need water to reproduce. This can be a problem since some frogs live in trees and some even live in the desert! For a tree frog, the trip from the treetops to a nearby pool is a long and dangerous journey. However, the Creator cares about all of His creatures. The leaves of the bromeliad that grows in the branches of many trees in the tropical forest form a private pool far above the ground. As a result, mama frog can raise her young without ever leaving the treetops! The desert would seem to offer an even greater challenge for a frog. However, since it pleased the Creator to place frogs in the desert--maybe to challenge the evolutionists--He has also provided for their needs. It may rain only once every two years in the deserts of central Australia. When it does rain, the water-holding frogs emerge from their underground hideaways to lay their eggs in the puddles. Before the puddles disappear, not only do the eggs hatch, but the young grow and develop into frogs that are able to store water until the next rain. As the desert again takes over, the frogs dig themselves back into the ground and go into suspended animation until the next rains come. A year or two later, the new generation will emerge after the next rain to raise their young. Neither chance nor the smartest frog in the world could design or create these abilities. Only a wise Creator could. And if the Creator has provided this much care for frogs, just think of how much more He cares about you and me in our everyday lives! Ref: Wilder, Rachel. ‘Flying frogs,’ Science Digest.”
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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