Friday Church News Notes
January 23, 2026 - Volume 27, Issue 04
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.
Scott Adams
DILBERT CARTOONIST DIES (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Scott Adams, Dilbert cartoonist, non-fiction author, and commentator, died of prostate cancer on January 13 at age 68. One week earlier, in an interview with the Catholic News Agency, Adams said he was going to “convert” to Christianity before he died. He said he had more time to deal with this, not knowing that he had only hours to live. “An outspoken proponent of so-called medical assistance in dying, Adams said he took steps toward assisted suicide last year but did not go through with it after finding a new treatment option. He now says he will follow Christ in what he sees as his final days. You don’t need to talk me into it, he said. I am now convinced that the risk-reward is completely smart. If it turns out that there’s nothing there, I’ve lost nothing. But I’ve respected your wishes, and I like doing that. If it turns out there is something there, and the Christian model is the closest to it, I win. So with your permission, I promise you that I will convert. But I probably won’t spend that much time in that phase, so don’t expect it to happen today, okay? But argument made, argument accepted’ (“Facing impending death,” CNA, Jan. 6, 2026). This very sad story is typical of the impenitent, unbelieving sinner. He has done things his way all his life and thinks he can continue in that, even to making his own deal with God. With Frank Sinatra, he sings “I Did It My Way.” He knows he is some sort of sinner, but he does not accept the Bible’s indictment that he is a wicked sinner deserving of eternal judgment. He does not believe that Jesus Christ is the only Lord and Saviour and the gospel of Jesus Christ the only true gospel. He senses no great urgency about preparing for death. Having rejected the witness of the Spirit by creation, conscience, and Scripture all his life long, he is dull and hardened, lulled into a sense of false security. He is often deceived by false Christianity that promises salvation by sacraments. When Adams said, “Argument made, argument accepted,” he was referring to arguments made by Catholic priests who were attempting to convert him to Rome’s gospel. The Emperor Constantine did something similar in the fourth century AD, and his decision, too, was based on the false gospel that was already prominent in his day and headquartered in Rome, that baptism is a sacrament that washes away sin. By this thinking, it is better to keep sinning to “the end” in order to wash away as many sins as possible. This false gospel has damned countless multitudes to eternal judgment. The true gospel, the only saving gospel, promises full salvation for those who have “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). For those, Christ’s blood washes away all sin before God and obtains justification, adoption, eternal life, and an eternal inheritance. Repentance requires renunciation of sin, false religion, false philosophy, and false gospels. There must be a turning from and a turning to. It is not a change of life; it is a change of mind. There must be genuine trusting faith that Christ alone is Lord and Saviour. Pretense and half-faith will not do, and there is no second chance after death. True Christianity is described in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10: “For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”
THE UNSAVED DELUDE THEMSELVES THAT THEY WILL NOT GO TO HELL (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2026, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” -- “All wicked men’s pains and contrivance which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do. Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done. He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail. But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. The greater part of those who heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive: it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape. If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell, ever to be the subjects of that misery: we doubtless, should hear one and another reply, ‘No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself: I thought my scheme good. I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief: Death outwitted me: God’s wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then suddenly destruction came upon me.’”
PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS PROCLAIM HOLINESS OF TRANSGENDERISM (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Liberal Protestant churches,” Christian Post, Nov. 14, 2025: “Several liberal Protestant and Jewish denominations declared transgenderism ‘holy’ this week ... [They stated,] ’During a time when our country is placing their lives under increasingly serious threat, there is a disgraceful misconception that all people of faith do not affirm the full spectrum of gender--a great many of us do,’ read the Wednesday statement, which included signatures of leaders from The Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ (UCC), Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Union for Reform Judaism, an association of Quakers [General Society of Friends General] and others. ‘Let it be known instead that our beloveds are created in the image of God--Holy and whole,’ the statement said of transgender-identifying individuals. The statement went on to suggest that opposing transgenderism is sinful, reiterating the belief that transgender, nonbinary and intersex individuals are intrinsically holy, which is the only attribute of God magnified to the third degree of repetition in the Bible.”
CURSIVE WRITING MAKING A COMEBACK (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Before Common Core State Standards, which were inaugurated in 2010, cursive was taught in nearly all U.S. public schools, but by 2015 only 14 states required it. Today that number has risen to 25. The following is excerpted from “Why writing by hand beats typing,” NPR, May 11, 2024: “In kids, studies show that tracing out ABCs, as opposed to typing them, leads to better and longer-lasting recognition and understanding of letters. Writing by hand also improves memory and recall of words, laying down the foundations of literacy and learning. ... A slew of recent brain imaging research suggests handwriting’s power stems from the relative complexity of the process and how it forces different brain systems to work together to reproduce the shapes of letters in our heads onto the page. ... ‘Handwriting is probably among the most complex motor skills that the brain is capable of,’ says Marieke Longcamp, a cognitive neuroscientist at Aix-Marseille Université. Gripping a pen nimbly enough to write is a complicated task, as it requires your brain to continuously monitor the pressure that each finger exerts on the pen. Then, your motor system has to delicately modify that pressure to re-create each letter of the words in your head on the page. ‘Your fingers have to each do something different to produce a recognizable letter,’ says Sophia Vinci-Booher, an educational neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University. ‘Adding to the complexity, your visual system must continuously process that letter as it’s formed. With each stroke, your brain compares the unfolding script with mental models of the letters and words, making adjustments to fingers in real time to create the letters’ shapes,’ says Vinci-Booher. ... A study published in January found that when students write by hand, brain areas involved in motor and visual information processing ‘sync up’ with areas crucial to memory formation, firing at frequencies associated with learning. ... ‘There seems to be something fundamental about engaging your body to produce these shapes,’ says Robert Wiley, a cognitive psychologist at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. ‘It lets you make associations between your body and what you’re seeing and hearing,’ he says, which might give the mind more footholds for accessing a given concept or idea.”
THE MIND OF A BACTERIUM (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, December 8, 2025: “Researchers are learning that bacteria have senses similar to our hearing and sight. Bacteria even have a brain that receives information from their senses. They can make decisions. However, all of this is not enough to explain how bacteria can make the decision to swim toward food. When you want a candy bar, you know where to find one, even if you must go to the nearest store. You might also hope that your dentist doesn't see you buying candy. All of this involves memory, which has long been considered a basic part of the mind. Researchers, using various solutions of substances that attract or repel bacteria, have now learned that bacteria do indeed have both long-term and short-term memories. They remember where goodies are to be found. Once a bacterium develops a strategy for dealing with the unknown, it will remember what to do next time. This finding shocked researchers. They know that when you or I decide to retreat or advance, at least hundreds and probably thousands of brain cells are involved. The one-celled bacteria can make the same decision based on past memories. Are there really ‘simple’ forms of life that serve as the living traces of evolutionary development? Scientists haven’t found any yet. According to the Bible’s account of creation, we don’t expect them to find any simple forms of life from which we can be traced. Ref: Pietsch, Paul. ‘The mind of a microbe,’ 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).
THE UNSAVED DELUDE THEMSELVES THAT THEY WILL NOT GO TO HELL (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2026, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” -- “All wicked men’s pains and contrivance which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do. Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done. He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail. But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. The greater part of those who heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive: it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape. If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell, ever to be the subjects of that misery: we doubtless, should hear one and another reply, ‘No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself: I thought my scheme good. I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief: Death outwitted me: God’s wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then suddenly destruction came upon me.’”
PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS PROCLAIM HOLINESS OF TRANSGENDERISM (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Liberal Protestant churches,” Christian Post, Nov. 14, 2025: “Several liberal Protestant and Jewish denominations declared transgenderism ‘holy’ this week ... [They stated,] ’During a time when our country is placing their lives under increasingly serious threat, there is a disgraceful misconception that all people of faith do not affirm the full spectrum of gender--a great many of us do,’ read the Wednesday statement, which included signatures of leaders from The Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ (UCC), Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Union for Reform Judaism, an association of Quakers [General Society of Friends General] and others. ‘Let it be known instead that our beloveds are created in the image of God--Holy and whole,’ the statement said of transgender-identifying individuals. The statement went on to suggest that opposing transgenderism is sinful, reiterating the belief that transgender, nonbinary and intersex individuals are intrinsically holy, which is the only attribute of God magnified to the third degree of repetition in the Bible.”
CURSIVE WRITING MAKING A COMEBACK (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Before Common Core State Standards, which were inaugurated in 2010, cursive was taught in nearly all U.S. public schools, but by 2015 only 14 states required it. Today that number has risen to 25. The following is excerpted from “Why writing by hand beats typing,” NPR, May 11, 2024: “In kids, studies show that tracing out ABCs, as opposed to typing them, leads to better and longer-lasting recognition and understanding of letters. Writing by hand also improves memory and recall of words, laying down the foundations of literacy and learning. ... A slew of recent brain imaging research suggests handwriting’s power stems from the relative complexity of the process and how it forces different brain systems to work together to reproduce the shapes of letters in our heads onto the page. ... ‘Handwriting is probably among the most complex motor skills that the brain is capable of,’ says Marieke Longcamp, a cognitive neuroscientist at Aix-Marseille Université. Gripping a pen nimbly enough to write is a complicated task, as it requires your brain to continuously monitor the pressure that each finger exerts on the pen. Then, your motor system has to delicately modify that pressure to re-create each letter of the words in your head on the page. ‘Your fingers have to each do something different to produce a recognizable letter,’ says Sophia Vinci-Booher, an educational neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University. ‘Adding to the complexity, your visual system must continuously process that letter as it’s formed. With each stroke, your brain compares the unfolding script with mental models of the letters and words, making adjustments to fingers in real time to create the letters’ shapes,’ says Vinci-Booher. ... A study published in January found that when students write by hand, brain areas involved in motor and visual information processing ‘sync up’ with areas crucial to memory formation, firing at frequencies associated with learning. ... ‘There seems to be something fundamental about engaging your body to produce these shapes,’ says Robert Wiley, a cognitive psychologist at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. ‘It lets you make associations between your body and what you’re seeing and hearing,’ he says, which might give the mind more footholds for accessing a given concept or idea.”
THE MIND OF A BACTERIUM (Friday Church News Notes, January 23, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, December 8, 2025: “Researchers are learning that bacteria have senses similar to our hearing and sight. Bacteria even have a brain that receives information from their senses. They can make decisions. However, all of this is not enough to explain how bacteria can make the decision to swim toward food. When you want a candy bar, you know where to find one, even if you must go to the nearest store. You might also hope that your dentist doesn't see you buying candy. All of this involves memory, which has long been considered a basic part of the mind. Researchers, using various solutions of substances that attract or repel bacteria, have now learned that bacteria do indeed have both long-term and short-term memories. They remember where goodies are to be found. Once a bacterium develops a strategy for dealing with the unknown, it will remember what to do next time. This finding shocked researchers. They know that when you or I decide to retreat or advance, at least hundreds and probably thousands of brain cells are involved. The one-celled bacteria can make the same decision based on past memories. Are there really ‘simple’ forms of life that serve as the living traces of evolutionary development? Scientists haven’t found any yet. According to the Bible’s account of creation, we don’t expect them to find any simple forms of life from which we can be traced. Ref: Pietsch, Paul. ‘The mind of a microbe,’ 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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