Friday Church News Notes
April 24, 2026 - Volume 27, Issue 17
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.
THE IDEOLOGICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF THE IRANIAN REGIME (Frida Church News Notes, April 24, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “The Ideological Underpinnings,” Israel Today, Apr. 17, 2026: “It is often assumed that policymakers in Washington fully understand the ideological foundations of the Iranian regime. That assumption is questionable. Iran’s governing system is not simply authoritarian or generically theocratic; it reflects a distinctive synthesis of religious doctrine, revolutionary theory and anti-colonial thought. This ideological framework shapes both how the mullahs govern internally and how the country’s government positions itself in the world. At its core, the Iranian clerical regime represents an intersection of political Islam, elements of Marxist-influenced revolutionary thinking and anti-colonial ideology--filtered through a particular interpretation of Shi’a Islam sometimes described as ‘Red Shi’ism.’ ... In the 20th century, these religious themes intersected with secular revolutionary ideas, especially those associated with anti-colonial movements. The writings of Frantz Fanon were particularly influential. Fanon argued that oppressed peoples could overcome materially stronger powers through sustained resistance, psychological transformation and a willingness to endure suffering. In this framework, endurance becomes a form of power, and struggle itself can reshape both individuals and societies. These ideas resonated across the developing world, including in the Middle East. They contributed to a broader narrative in which asymmetric struggle--often carried out by nonstate actors--could challenge and, under certain conditions, defeat more powerful adversaries. While such theories were not uniquely Islamic, they proved adaptable to religious frameworks that already emphasized sacrifice, justice and moral struggle. Within Iran, these strands were synthesized by intellectuals such as Ali Shariati. Shariati sought to reinterpret Shi’a Islam in explicitly activist and revolutionary terms. ... The institutional structure of the Islamic Republic reflects this synthesis. Alongside conventional state institutions, Iran created parallel organizations designed to safeguard and advance the jihadi’s ideological mission. Most prominent among these is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ... Understanding this framework is essential for interpreting Iran’s behavior. The regime does not operate solely according to traditional cost-benefit analysis. Concepts such as endurance, resistance, martyrdom and ideological legitimacy play a central role in decision-making. Policies that appear counterproductive when viewed through a purely material lens may serve different purposes within an ideological one--reinforcing internal cohesion, projecting resolve or sustaining a narrative of struggle.”
NUNS FACE JAIL TIME FOR REFUSING TO FOLLOW NEW YORK’S TRANS RULE (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - This situation reminds us that totalitarian wickedness has not gone away because of Donald Trump’s presidency. The only protection is effectual prayer on the part of born-again believers who are on praying ground. The following is excerpted from “Nuns Sue New York,” PJ Media, Apr. 8, 2026: “A group of nuns in New York has taken legal action to, as the Washington Times reports, ‘block a New York transgender-rights law that requires nursing homes to use pronouns, assign rooms and allow restroom access based on a patient’s gender identity, or risk jail time.’ The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne is an order of nuns who care for indigent terminally ill patients. ... the State of New York threatens to shut down the ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, Rosary Hill Home, and the ministry of similar CBA members unless they violate their Catholic faith. New York’s LGBTQ Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights, codified at New York Public Health Law § 2803-c-2 ... requires long-term nursing facilities to post a notice that assures the public that they do not discriminate based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or HIV status, and that every two years, employees go through ‘cultural competency training.’ If they don’t comply, they will get hit with major consequences, which, according to the Washington Times, include ‘fines of up to $2,000 for the first violation and up to $5,000 for repeat violations. Those engaging in willful violations of public health law are punishable by fines of up to $10,000 or one year in prison, or both.’”
N.T. WRIGHT SAYS GOD RAISED ADAM AND EVE FROM HOMINIDS (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - N.T. Wright, an influential Anglican theologian who has been called “one of the world’s pre-eminent New Testament scholars,” claims that man grew out of the ape kingdom. The following is from “N.T. Wright Says,” Protestia, Apr. 10, 2026: “Fresh off of suggesting that abortion may be a tragic yet best allowable option in cases of rape, incest, or for the mental health of the mother, and that belief in the bodily resurrection of Christ is not necessary to be a Christian, famed New Testament scholar N.T. Wright has shared some thoughts on the origins of Adam and Eve. On a recent episode of Premiere Unbelievable?, after being asked whether or not Adam and Eve literally existed, Wright opines: ‘The way that I’m inclined to see an original human pair, let’s put it like that, is to say that undoubtedly from all the historical evidence we’ve got, there were what we might call hominids, human-like creatures, and we might even call them proto-humans, for many generations, perhaps for many thousands of years before the time we’re now talking about. But that just as God called Abraham and Sarah and said, now I’ve got a special purpose for you. So it seems to me perfectly reasonable to suppose that God would say to one pair of proto-homidids, whatever we’re to call them,’ come with me. I’ve got a special purpose for you. I’m now going to enable you to reflect my image into the world. and reflect the praises of creation back to me. And your purpose will be to bring the, at the moment, rather random and chaotic world under my saving sovereign stewardship.’ So that it seems to me is a way of saying that if there was an original Adam and Eve, that would be what it was all about. Not, I mean, what we’re getting away from, of course, is any idea of seven periods of 24 hours. That’s certainly not what Genesis 1 is trying to communicate.’” CONCLUDING NOTE: There is zero evidence that man evolved from apes. The evolutionary story of man’s evolution is riddled with nonsense and fakery, including Ernst Haeckel’s apeman, Piltdown, Nebraska Man, Neanderthal, Ramapithecus, Orce Man, and Lucy.
WAKE UP, PASTORS, PARENTS, WE ARE LIVING IN A PORNDEMIC (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from a sermon by Pastor Simeon Western, Northside Baptist Church, Adelaide, Australia: “You have heard of a pandemic. What we have in our churches that is even more dangerous is a porndemic. I don’t enjoy having to tackle this problem. I wish I didn’t have to talk about it. It makes me faint to look at it because it is like ten Goliaths facing us all at once. But I have come to a realization in my experience to date that this porndemnic is not going to go away, and whether we like it or not, as parents, as pastors, we are going to have to face this battle. And you’ve got to be awake to it, and you’ve got to be alert to it, because it is destroying families, it is destroying marriages, it is destroying lives. Wantonness has taken over the people of God. It is killing the spiritual lives of so many Christian men. And I’ve been praying, ‘Lord, what do I do about it as a pastor? How can we tackle this more effectively?’ And I think maybe this is of the Lord, but the thought that came to mind is that we need to go on the offense. That means that you as a parent need to be involved in this because if you are not careful your ten year old could get hooked on your unprotected device. The amount of young men I have counseled would have shocked you, and guess where they got hooked on porn? In their home school bedrooms on unprotected devices which parents let into their home and did not think carefully and wisely about what they were doing. There is forgiveness and restoration and such, and I’m not trying to smash you down if you have made mistakes as a parent, but you had better get on your knees and say, ‘God, forgive me for being unwatchful, forgive me for not being alert, and now my son or daughter is practically an addict, and I’m going to have to fast and pray and get my hands dirty to lift them out of the pit in which I, to a degree, allowed them to get into.’” For victory in this battle see The Pornographic Age and Victory in Christ at the Courses section of www.wayoflife.org.
THE GREAT EVIL OF INGRATITUDE (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful...” (Romans 1:21). “Gratitude is not a spiritual or moral dessert which we may take or push away according to the whims of the moment, and in either case without material consequences. Gratitude is the very bread and meat of spiritual and moral health, individually and collectively. What was the seed of disintegration that corrupted the heart of the ancient world beyond the point of divine remedy? What was it but ingratitude?” (Noel Smith). Unthankfulness is an indictment against all men and reveals their sin-ridden, guilty condition. When men say, “Wherein have we sinned so greatly to deserve punishment?” God answers, “By not being thankful to me, by not living every moment of your life in passionate thankfulness.”
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).
NUNS FACE JAIL TIME FOR REFUSING TO FOLLOW NEW YORK’S TRANS RULE (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - This situation reminds us that totalitarian wickedness has not gone away because of Donald Trump’s presidency. The only protection is effectual prayer on the part of born-again believers who are on praying ground. The following is excerpted from “Nuns Sue New York,” PJ Media, Apr. 8, 2026: “A group of nuns in New York has taken legal action to, as the Washington Times reports, ‘block a New York transgender-rights law that requires nursing homes to use pronouns, assign rooms and allow restroom access based on a patient’s gender identity, or risk jail time.’ The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne is an order of nuns who care for indigent terminally ill patients. ... the State of New York threatens to shut down the ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, Rosary Hill Home, and the ministry of similar CBA members unless they violate their Catholic faith. New York’s LGBTQ Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights, codified at New York Public Health Law § 2803-c-2 ... requires long-term nursing facilities to post a notice that assures the public that they do not discriminate based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or HIV status, and that every two years, employees go through ‘cultural competency training.’ If they don’t comply, they will get hit with major consequences, which, according to the Washington Times, include ‘fines of up to $2,000 for the first violation and up to $5,000 for repeat violations. Those engaging in willful violations of public health law are punishable by fines of up to $10,000 or one year in prison, or both.’”
N.T. WRIGHT SAYS GOD RAISED ADAM AND EVE FROM HOMINIDS (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - N.T. Wright, an influential Anglican theologian who has been called “one of the world’s pre-eminent New Testament scholars,” claims that man grew out of the ape kingdom. The following is from “N.T. Wright Says,” Protestia, Apr. 10, 2026: “Fresh off of suggesting that abortion may be a tragic yet best allowable option in cases of rape, incest, or for the mental health of the mother, and that belief in the bodily resurrection of Christ is not necessary to be a Christian, famed New Testament scholar N.T. Wright has shared some thoughts on the origins of Adam and Eve. On a recent episode of Premiere Unbelievable?, after being asked whether or not Adam and Eve literally existed, Wright opines: ‘The way that I’m inclined to see an original human pair, let’s put it like that, is to say that undoubtedly from all the historical evidence we’ve got, there were what we might call hominids, human-like creatures, and we might even call them proto-humans, for many generations, perhaps for many thousands of years before the time we’re now talking about. But that just as God called Abraham and Sarah and said, now I’ve got a special purpose for you. So it seems to me perfectly reasonable to suppose that God would say to one pair of proto-homidids, whatever we’re to call them,’ come with me. I’ve got a special purpose for you. I’m now going to enable you to reflect my image into the world. and reflect the praises of creation back to me. And your purpose will be to bring the, at the moment, rather random and chaotic world under my saving sovereign stewardship.’ So that it seems to me is a way of saying that if there was an original Adam and Eve, that would be what it was all about. Not, I mean, what we’re getting away from, of course, is any idea of seven periods of 24 hours. That’s certainly not what Genesis 1 is trying to communicate.’” CONCLUDING NOTE: There is zero evidence that man evolved from apes. The evolutionary story of man’s evolution is riddled with nonsense and fakery, including Ernst Haeckel’s apeman, Piltdown, Nebraska Man, Neanderthal, Ramapithecus, Orce Man, and Lucy.
WAKE UP, PASTORS, PARENTS, WE ARE LIVING IN A PORNDEMIC (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from a sermon by Pastor Simeon Western, Northside Baptist Church, Adelaide, Australia: “You have heard of a pandemic. What we have in our churches that is even more dangerous is a porndemic. I don’t enjoy having to tackle this problem. I wish I didn’t have to talk about it. It makes me faint to look at it because it is like ten Goliaths facing us all at once. But I have come to a realization in my experience to date that this porndemnic is not going to go away, and whether we like it or not, as parents, as pastors, we are going to have to face this battle. And you’ve got to be awake to it, and you’ve got to be alert to it, because it is destroying families, it is destroying marriages, it is destroying lives. Wantonness has taken over the people of God. It is killing the spiritual lives of so many Christian men. And I’ve been praying, ‘Lord, what do I do about it as a pastor? How can we tackle this more effectively?’ And I think maybe this is of the Lord, but the thought that came to mind is that we need to go on the offense. That means that you as a parent need to be involved in this because if you are not careful your ten year old could get hooked on your unprotected device. The amount of young men I have counseled would have shocked you, and guess where they got hooked on porn? In their home school bedrooms on unprotected devices which parents let into their home and did not think carefully and wisely about what they were doing. There is forgiveness and restoration and such, and I’m not trying to smash you down if you have made mistakes as a parent, but you had better get on your knees and say, ‘God, forgive me for being unwatchful, forgive me for not being alert, and now my son or daughter is practically an addict, and I’m going to have to fast and pray and get my hands dirty to lift them out of the pit in which I, to a degree, allowed them to get into.’” For victory in this battle see The Pornographic Age and Victory in Christ at the Courses section of www.wayoflife.org.
THE GREAT EVIL OF INGRATITUDE (Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful...” (Romans 1:21). “Gratitude is not a spiritual or moral dessert which we may take or push away according to the whims of the moment, and in either case without material consequences. Gratitude is the very bread and meat of spiritual and moral health, individually and collectively. What was the seed of disintegration that corrupted the heart of the ancient world beyond the point of divine remedy? What was it but ingratitude?” (Noel Smith). Unthankfulness is an indictment against all men and reveals their sin-ridden, guilty condition. When men say, “Wherein have we sinned so greatly to deserve punishment?” God answers, “By not being thankful to me, by not living every moment of your life in passionate thankfulness.”
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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