Friday Church News Notes
May 1, 2026 - Volume 27, Issue 18
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.
Flag bearers at the torch-lighting ceremony at Mount Herzl. Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
ON THE ISRAEL STATE’S 78TH ANNIVERSARY NETANYAHU SAYS ISRAEL IS “STRONGER THAN EVER” (Friday Church News Notes, May 1, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - On Israel’s 78th Independence Day ceremony, April 21, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has “risen like a lion and fought like one” and “is stronger than ever” (“Under the stars of Mount Herzl,” Israel Today, Apr. 22, 2026). He described the current period as a “generation of revival.” Netanyahu is smart, courageous, persistent, and has done a lot of good for his nation. But what he does not know, because he is blind to the true meaning of Scripture, is that Israel has been preserved by God in her apostasy and is back in the land in apostasy. This was prophesied in Ezekiel 37:1-14, which describes Israel’s return to the land in two stages: first as spiritually dead (“but there was no breath in them,” v. 8); second as spiritually revived (“and they lived,” v. 10). Israel is back in the land to prepare for the fulfillment of Daniel 9:27 and Matthew 24:15-22, among other prophecies: the rise of the Antichrist, his covenant with “many” in Israel, the building of the third temple and its desecration by the Antichrist’s blasphemy, and the final wars of desolation. At that time a remnant of Israel will be converted and believe on Jesus as the Messiah (Zechariah 12-13), followed by the return of Jesus to establish His global kingdom (Zechariah 14). The evidence of Israel’s spiritual death is overwhelming. The day before the Independence Day ceremony, the Israel government announced “This June the Dead Sea becomes Pride Land, the biggest LGBTQ+ festival ever in the Middle East” (@Israel, X, Apr. 20). Pride Land will have “family-friendly areas with children’s activities.” The north end of the Dead Sea is the location of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah!
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AND TEMPORARY VISITORS GIVE BIRTH TO 9% OF U.S. BABIES (Friday Church News Notes, May 1, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following reminds us that the trajectory of American culture is unequivocally and irreversibly (apart from a revival greater than any America has heretofore experienced) toward the loss of biblical influence and its replacement with multi-culturalism: Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Roman Catholicism, atheism, Humanism, Marxism, etc. The following is excerpted from “Illegal immigrants and temporary visitors,” Apr. 23, 2026: “Nearly 1 in 10 newborns in the U.S. in 2023 were delivered by mothers who were either in the country illegally or on a temporary visitor’s pass. ... They were born to families where neither the mother nor father had permanent status in the U.S., meaning either citizenship or a green card. Most of the time, in some 245,000 cases, the mothers were illegal immigrants. In the other 15,000 cases, the mothers had some temporary visitor’s status. ... More than 4 million babies born in the U.S. from 2006 to 2023 [fit this definition] ... Illegal immigrants are often part of families at the lower end of the income scale, and they end up costing tens of billions of dollars in education and welfare payments each year.”
SMALL CHILDREN SUSPENDED FROM U.K. SCHOOLS FOR “HOMOPHOBIA” (Friday Church News Notes, May 1, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “UK nursery suspends toddler,” TheBridgehead.ca, Apr. 1, 2025: “A toddler between the ages of two and four years old has been suspended from a nursery in the United Kingdom after being accused of ‘transphobia’ or ‘homophobia.’ ... The short version: a toddler was kicked out of school for anti-LGBT bigotry ... the Independent noted that ‘data does show 94 pupils at state primary schools were suspended or permanently excluded for homophobia or transphobia in 2022/23,’ and ‘ten of the suspended pupils were from year one and three were from year two where the maximum age is seven.’ ... ‘This is totalitarian insanity,” author J.K. Rowling stated on X. “If you think small children should be punished for being able to recognize sex, you are a dangerous zealot who should be nowhere near kids or in any position of authority over them.’ Elon Musk responded: ‘Utter madness!’ This latest case--and the hundreds of others detailed in the data obtained by the Telegraph--highlights the fact that even with substantial victories against gender ideology, including a number of high-profile legal cases, the Cass Review, and a permanent government ban on puberty blockers for minors, trans activists have thoroughly infiltrated most Western institutions.”
GOLD-TONGUED MUMMIES (Friday Church News Notes, May 1, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Archaeologists have found three mummies with gold tongues in the Minya region of northern Egypt. “The mummified individuals were wrapped in cloths with geometric patterns before being placed in wooden coffins. A total of three gold tongues and one brass tongue were found, each crafted from thin foil. ... In Egyptian religious thought, especially in traditions linked with the god Osiris, the deceased were expected to speak, justify themselves, and participate in judgment. The tongues are generally interpreted as enabling this capacity for speech in the afterlife” (“Gold Tongues,” Bible History Daily, Apr. 24, 2026). Gold tongues were also found at Alexandria near the Mediterranean coast in 2021 and at Oxyrhynchus in middle Egypt in 2025. A ritual performed by a priest wearing a mask of Anubis, the jack-headed god of the dead was supposed to awaken the body and restore its ability to breathe, eat, and speak when it was needed by the soul of the deceased. It began with the “opening the mouth” ceremony. It was all in vain, of course. The soul’s eternal destiny is sealed at death, depending on the individual’s relationship with the Son of God. The nations descended into the gross darkness of idolatry after the Flood, but they had no excuse. There was the light of creation and the light of conscience, both leaving men without excuse before God (Romans 1:20; 2:11-16). There was also the light of the revelation of God to Israel in the law of Moses, which was well known in Egypt.
CHERITH (Friday Church News Notes, May 1, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is by Lydia Western
Thy camp is pitched by Cherith stream,
The hamlet of thy love, thy means,
And running low the crystal drains away,
Sinks into the burning sand, the hardened clay.
From its waning freshness thy spirit found its share,
And foolish fear has told thee thy Jesus doesn’t care.
That little shall drain till nothing left
But turbid leagues of hearts bereft.
Greater eyes have seen the stream has dried,
The fainting spirits died.
And comes the voice of One beholding,
Guiding words, His new unfoldings.
Get thee hence, my will is thy supply.
Let Cherith’s blessings die,
If once supplies thy soul hath cherished
Turned to dust and perished.
Let Jesus be thy guide.
He shall not mock nor disappoint thee.
Trust his promise for the need.
New morning joy, the night its fears assuage,
And wipes the burning tears away.
POPE CALLS MOSQUE “THE SPACE THAT BELONGS TO GOD, A DIVINE AND SACRED SPACE” (Friday Church News Notes, May 1, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - On April 13, Pope Leo XIV visited the Grand Mosque of Algiers and said to the rector of the mosque, “I thank you for these reflections and for these important words during this visit, from a place that represents the space that belongs to God, a divine and sacred space, where many people come to pray and to seek the presence of the Most High in their lives. ... To seek God also means recognising the image of God in every man and woman” (“Pope Leo arrives in Algeria,” National Catholic Register, Apr. 13, 2026). The Grand Mosque of Algiers is the third largest in the world, capable of accommodating 120,000, and its minaret reaches a height of 267 meters.
MAKING SCENTS OF SMELLS (Friday Church News Notes, May 1, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, April 3, 2026: “How many different scents do you think your nose is able to smell? The answer is about 10,000. How does your nose tell the difference between a rose and a skunk? Until only recently, scientists really weren’t sure. Now we know that humans and mammals detect smells by using at least 1,000 different genes. These genes are located in every cell in your body, but they are active only in your nose. This discovery, say scientists, gives them their first insight into how smell works. Before this, said one scientist, ‘We had almost no knowledge of the olfactory system and this really opens up the molecular study of smell in a very fascinating way.’ They say that each of the different genes seems designed to respond to a small group of odors. As each group of genes does its part, the entire system is able to recognize everything we can smell. These genes pass signals from the nerve cells in the nose to a small region of the brain called the olfactory bulb. Now that smell genes are identified, researchers say they can begin to understand how odors are detected and how the brain interprets those signals. Our sense of smell relies on a very elegant and sophisticated system. Imagine, 1,000 genes lie at the heart of that system. Each one of those genes is information--a programmed code that is designed to make sense of what we smell. Information, programming and decoding are all terms that assume that we have a highly intelligent Creator who designed our sense of smell! REF.: ‘Scientists find genes that let the nose make scents of what it smells,’ Minneapolis Star-Tribune.”
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).
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AND TEMPORARY VISITORS GIVE BIRTH TO 9% OF U.S. BABIES (Friday Church News Notes, May 1, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following reminds us that the trajectory of American culture is unequivocally and irreversibly (apart from a revival greater than any America has heretofore experienced) toward the loss of biblical influence and its replacement with multi-culturalism: Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Roman Catholicism, atheism, Humanism, Marxism, etc. The following is excerpted from “Illegal immigrants and temporary visitors,” Apr. 23, 2026: “Nearly 1 in 10 newborns in the U.S. in 2023 were delivered by mothers who were either in the country illegally or on a temporary visitor’s pass. ... They were born to families where neither the mother nor father had permanent status in the U.S., meaning either citizenship or a green card. Most of the time, in some 245,000 cases, the mothers were illegal immigrants. In the other 15,000 cases, the mothers had some temporary visitor’s status. ... More than 4 million babies born in the U.S. from 2006 to 2023 [fit this definition] ... Illegal immigrants are often part of families at the lower end of the income scale, and they end up costing tens of billions of dollars in education and welfare payments each year.”
SMALL CHILDREN SUSPENDED FROM U.K. SCHOOLS FOR “HOMOPHOBIA” (Friday Church News Notes, May 1, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “UK nursery suspends toddler,” TheBridgehead.ca, Apr. 1, 2025: “A toddler between the ages of two and four years old has been suspended from a nursery in the United Kingdom after being accused of ‘transphobia’ or ‘homophobia.’ ... The short version: a toddler was kicked out of school for anti-LGBT bigotry ... the Independent noted that ‘data does show 94 pupils at state primary schools were suspended or permanently excluded for homophobia or transphobia in 2022/23,’ and ‘ten of the suspended pupils were from year one and three were from year two where the maximum age is seven.’ ... ‘This is totalitarian insanity,” author J.K. Rowling stated on X. “If you think small children should be punished for being able to recognize sex, you are a dangerous zealot who should be nowhere near kids or in any position of authority over them.’ Elon Musk responded: ‘Utter madness!’ This latest case--and the hundreds of others detailed in the data obtained by the Telegraph--highlights the fact that even with substantial victories against gender ideology, including a number of high-profile legal cases, the Cass Review, and a permanent government ban on puberty blockers for minors, trans activists have thoroughly infiltrated most Western institutions.”
GOLD-TONGUED MUMMIES (Friday Church News Notes, May 1, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Archaeologists have found three mummies with gold tongues in the Minya region of northern Egypt. “The mummified individuals were wrapped in cloths with geometric patterns before being placed in wooden coffins. A total of three gold tongues and one brass tongue were found, each crafted from thin foil. ... In Egyptian religious thought, especially in traditions linked with the god Osiris, the deceased were expected to speak, justify themselves, and participate in judgment. The tongues are generally interpreted as enabling this capacity for speech in the afterlife” (“Gold Tongues,” Bible History Daily, Apr. 24, 2026). Gold tongues were also found at Alexandria near the Mediterranean coast in 2021 and at Oxyrhynchus in middle Egypt in 2025. A ritual performed by a priest wearing a mask of Anubis, the jack-headed god of the dead was supposed to awaken the body and restore its ability to breathe, eat, and speak when it was needed by the soul of the deceased. It began with the “opening the mouth” ceremony. It was all in vain, of course. The soul’s eternal destiny is sealed at death, depending on the individual’s relationship with the Son of God. The nations descended into the gross darkness of idolatry after the Flood, but they had no excuse. There was the light of creation and the light of conscience, both leaving men without excuse before God (Romans 1:20; 2:11-16). There was also the light of the revelation of God to Israel in the law of Moses, which was well known in Egypt.
CHERITH (Friday Church News Notes, May 1, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is by Lydia Western
Thy camp is pitched by Cherith stream,
The hamlet of thy love, thy means,
And running low the crystal drains away,
Sinks into the burning sand, the hardened clay.
From its waning freshness thy spirit found its share,
And foolish fear has told thee thy Jesus doesn’t care.
That little shall drain till nothing left
But turbid leagues of hearts bereft.
Greater eyes have seen the stream has dried,
The fainting spirits died.
And comes the voice of One beholding,
Guiding words, His new unfoldings.
Get thee hence, my will is thy supply.
Let Cherith’s blessings die,
If once supplies thy soul hath cherished
Turned to dust and perished.
Let Jesus be thy guide.
He shall not mock nor disappoint thee.
Trust his promise for the need.
New morning joy, the night its fears assuage,
And wipes the burning tears away.
POPE CALLS MOSQUE “THE SPACE THAT BELONGS TO GOD, A DIVINE AND SACRED SPACE” (Friday Church News Notes, May 1, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - On April 13, Pope Leo XIV visited the Grand Mosque of Algiers and said to the rector of the mosque, “I thank you for these reflections and for these important words during this visit, from a place that represents the space that belongs to God, a divine and sacred space, where many people come to pray and to seek the presence of the Most High in their lives. ... To seek God also means recognising the image of God in every man and woman” (“Pope Leo arrives in Algeria,” National Catholic Register, Apr. 13, 2026). The Grand Mosque of Algiers is the third largest in the world, capable of accommodating 120,000, and its minaret reaches a height of 267 meters.
MAKING SCENTS OF SMELLS (Friday Church News Notes, May 1, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, April 3, 2026: “How many different scents do you think your nose is able to smell? The answer is about 10,000. How does your nose tell the difference between a rose and a skunk? Until only recently, scientists really weren’t sure. Now we know that humans and mammals detect smells by using at least 1,000 different genes. These genes are located in every cell in your body, but they are active only in your nose. This discovery, say scientists, gives them their first insight into how smell works. Before this, said one scientist, ‘We had almost no knowledge of the olfactory system and this really opens up the molecular study of smell in a very fascinating way.’ They say that each of the different genes seems designed to respond to a small group of odors. As each group of genes does its part, the entire system is able to recognize everything we can smell. These genes pass signals from the nerve cells in the nose to a small region of the brain called the olfactory bulb. Now that smell genes are identified, researchers say they can begin to understand how odors are detected and how the brain interprets those signals. Our sense of smell relies on a very elegant and sophisticated system. Imagine, 1,000 genes lie at the heart of that system. Each one of those genes is information--a programmed code that is designed to make sense of what we smell. Information, programming and decoding are all terms that assume that we have a highly intelligent Creator who designed our sense of smell! REF.: ‘Scientists find genes that let the nose make scents of what it smells,’ Minneapolis Star-Tribune.”
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).
_____
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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