Friday Church News Notes
July 10, 2026 - Volume 27, Issue 28
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.
WORLD CUP: ITS A FEELING (Friday Church News Notes, July 10, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Recently a young man in an Asian country asked me, “Are you keeping up with the World Cup?” I told him I have no interest it; it has nothing to do with my life. I said, “It’s just a ball; it’s nothing.” He replied cheerfully but seriously, “It is not just a ball, it is feeling.” I was amazed. He nailed the attraction: It is an emotional high. It is a major stirring of man’s fallen nature promoted by electronic-energized hoopla: flashing video ads, pulse pounding music, blaring horns, larger than life images of super-fit sports stars, profanity, blasphemy, beer, liquor, marijuana, paraphernalia, vain nostalgia, massive wealth squandered on vanity, huge crowds, dancing, shouting, screaming, entrancing game highlights, hyper-enthused sports announcers, sports news, sports talk talk talk, unholy advertisements, embellishment, deceit, hypocrisy, fake humility, anger, fanaticism, illusion, fantasy, nominal Christianity, glorification of man, juicy gossip, violence, mammon, mega sports palaces, boasting, underdressed women, gambling, lazing, overindulging on junk food, hype, hype, hype, World Series, Stanley Cup, March Madness, Midnight Madness, Super Bowl, Super Monday, Super Tuesday, super everything. When measured by Scripture, it all adds up to less than nothing. Pro sports and collegiate sports is 100% the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. There is nothing holy, nothing godly, nothing righteous, nothing pure, nothing edifying. For the redeemed child of God, it is a waste of thought, emotion, time, and money, all of which are God’s property and for all of which the believer will give account at Christ’s judgment seat. Sports enthusiasm is disobedience to clear Scripture commands such as love not the world; be not a friend of the world; be not conformed to this world; redeeming the time because the days are evil; be sober, be vigilant; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them; be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind; keep yourselves from idols; set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth; sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; do good; be rich in good works; walk worthy of God; abstain from all appearance of evil; flee also youthful lusts; now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God; be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Sports enthusiasm is a bad example to the children, putting them in danger of becoming addicted to unholy things and being nominal Christian hypocrites. Sports enthusiasm is a major cause of the lukewarmness and worldliness that characterizes so many Bible-believing churches.
IRAN’S AYATOLLAHS DEMAND ELIMINATION OF TRUMP AND NETANYAHU (Friday Church News Notes, July 10, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Iran’s Ayatollahs,” Israel Today, July 1, 2026: “Tehran’s supposed ‘moderates’ may sit at the table, but Iran’s ruling clerics are making clear who still controls the agenda: no surrender of the nuclear program, no retreat from Hormuz, and no peace without vengeance. Iran’s senior religious establishment has escalated its confrontation with the United States and Israel by calling for the killing of President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even as diplomatic channels between Washington and Tehran remain formally open. The statement, issued by members of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, described both leaders as deserving death and framed their assassination as a religious obligation. The language was carefully calibrated: not quite a formal fatwa, but unmistakably clerical, ideological, and operational in intent. For anyone thinking otherwise, the message made clear that whatever the outcome of the current negotiations, Iran has no intention of altering its long-term agenda.”
GRAND THEFT AUTO (Friday Church News Notes, July 10, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Why Video Games Are Stupid,” The Bridgehead, June 25, 2026: “The latest in the Grand Theft Auto video game series is opening for pre-orders on June 25. [It was first released in 1997.] ... The new entry, Grand Theft Auto VI, promises much of the same first-person wickedness as the previous editions. Players steal cars, run down pedestrians, exploit prostitutes to restore their ‘health,’ and then kill them to get their money back. Rockstar Games has ignored criticisms of the amorality of their product, but previously removed content condemned by the LGBT movement as ‘transphobic.’ Presumably, you can still kill hookers--but they can’t be trans. ... I would suggest that those who defend Grand Theft Auto and other violent video games must explain why they are justified entertainment for Christians. ... In order to get the satisfaction that comes with genuine achievement, young men once had to do things. Now, that sense of achievement can come merely from sitting behind a screen, indoors, aping the behavior of a degenerate. Combine that with the toxic effect of widespread porn addiction--allowing men to ape at sex while gawping at a screen and sapping their will to pursue courtship and marriage in which sexual intimacy was once largely confined--and the effect on young men has been predictably devastating.”
LEFTISTS KILLING PEOPLE BY BANNING AIR CONDITIONING (Friday Church News Notes, July 10, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excepted from “Air Conditioning? It’s Illegal!” PowerLine, June 25, 2026: “Britain is in even worse shape than I thought. From the Telegraph [June 24, 2026]: ‘Air conditioning torn from homes under net zero clampdown.’ ... So whether you can air condition your home is not up to you, it is up to left-wing busybodies. ‘In one of a string of cases uncovered by The Telegraph, a resident living in North London was forced to permanently remove two air-con units from the back of their home. ... In an appeal, the resident was told to open the windows and balcony doors of their first-floor flat to ventilate the property by natural means. Their concerns about security were dismissed.’ Yes, you might be robbed or murdered, but your carbon footprint will be smaller! ... This is all about global warming, of course. As though air conditioners in the U.K. would have the slightest impact on the world’s temperatures. ... Meanwhile, the European Left’s opposition to air conditioning is killing people: ‘A heat wave sweeping across Europe is turning temperatures lethal, with more than 40 deaths reported since June 18 in a region where extreme heat kills an estimated 175,000 people each year--roughly four times the toll of gun deaths in the United States’ (“In Europe,” Newsweek, June 23, 2026). For liberals, human well-being is not a relevant consideration.”
BEN FRANKLIN’S PROPHECY THAT AMERICA WILL DESCEND INTO DESPOTISM (Friday Church News Notes, July 10, 2026, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin made a speech in favor of the constitution and the new American Union, and in so doing he prophesied of these present times in the nation’s history. He said, “I think a general government is necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people, if well administered; and I believe, further, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other. ... Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution, because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors I sacrifice to the public good” (The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. 5, 1904, pp. 156, 157).
ONE FOOT AND A SAIL (Friday Church News Notes, July 10, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, March 12, 2026: “According to unsubstantiated reports, it was about 50 years ago that Chinese immigrants to the United States brought some freshwater clams with them. The clams were eaten for good luck on Chinese New Year. What is substantiated is that today the clam is found in at least 35 states. That’s an amazing amount of territory to cover in only 50 years for a creature that only has one foot. The spread of the Asian clam costs the industry over a billion dollars per year to clean up. Lacking enemies, it reproduces rapidly and clogs the water intake line which industry uses to cool its equipment. Scientists began to wonder how the creature could travel so rapidly even going from lake to lake and stream to stream. What scientists learned was that when the Asian clam encounters a current, it sets sail. Lifting off with its one foot, it releases a transparent film that catches the current like a sail. It sails off using its foot like a rudder. This explains not only why it spread so rapidly down rivers, but also how the clam could spread from one body of water to another during floods. The Asian clam’s ability to sail is a clever design. So, too, is the balance of nature which prevents creatures from over-populating. Unfortunately, the Asian clam in the United States has few enemies to keep it under control. If evolution were true, such a lack of balance would be the rule in nature. The balance that exists, keeping each creature fed but not over-populated in their natural settings, is but another witness to the fact of the Creator.”
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).
IRAN’S AYATOLLAHS DEMAND ELIMINATION OF TRUMP AND NETANYAHU (Friday Church News Notes, July 10, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Iran’s Ayatollahs,” Israel Today, July 1, 2026: “Tehran’s supposed ‘moderates’ may sit at the table, but Iran’s ruling clerics are making clear who still controls the agenda: no surrender of the nuclear program, no retreat from Hormuz, and no peace without vengeance. Iran’s senior religious establishment has escalated its confrontation with the United States and Israel by calling for the killing of President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even as diplomatic channels between Washington and Tehran remain formally open. The statement, issued by members of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, described both leaders as deserving death and framed their assassination as a religious obligation. The language was carefully calibrated: not quite a formal fatwa, but unmistakably clerical, ideological, and operational in intent. For anyone thinking otherwise, the message made clear that whatever the outcome of the current negotiations, Iran has no intention of altering its long-term agenda.”
GRAND THEFT AUTO (Friday Church News Notes, July 10, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Why Video Games Are Stupid,” The Bridgehead, June 25, 2026: “The latest in the Grand Theft Auto video game series is opening for pre-orders on June 25. [It was first released in 1997.] ... The new entry, Grand Theft Auto VI, promises much of the same first-person wickedness as the previous editions. Players steal cars, run down pedestrians, exploit prostitutes to restore their ‘health,’ and then kill them to get their money back. Rockstar Games has ignored criticisms of the amorality of their product, but previously removed content condemned by the LGBT movement as ‘transphobic.’ Presumably, you can still kill hookers--but they can’t be trans. ... I would suggest that those who defend Grand Theft Auto and other violent video games must explain why they are justified entertainment for Christians. ... In order to get the satisfaction that comes with genuine achievement, young men once had to do things. Now, that sense of achievement can come merely from sitting behind a screen, indoors, aping the behavior of a degenerate. Combine that with the toxic effect of widespread porn addiction--allowing men to ape at sex while gawping at a screen and sapping their will to pursue courtship and marriage in which sexual intimacy was once largely confined--and the effect on young men has been predictably devastating.”
LEFTISTS KILLING PEOPLE BY BANNING AIR CONDITIONING (Friday Church News Notes, July 10, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excepted from “Air Conditioning? It’s Illegal!” PowerLine, June 25, 2026: “Britain is in even worse shape than I thought. From the Telegraph [June 24, 2026]: ‘Air conditioning torn from homes under net zero clampdown.’ ... So whether you can air condition your home is not up to you, it is up to left-wing busybodies. ‘In one of a string of cases uncovered by The Telegraph, a resident living in North London was forced to permanently remove two air-con units from the back of their home. ... In an appeal, the resident was told to open the windows and balcony doors of their first-floor flat to ventilate the property by natural means. Their concerns about security were dismissed.’ Yes, you might be robbed or murdered, but your carbon footprint will be smaller! ... This is all about global warming, of course. As though air conditioners in the U.K. would have the slightest impact on the world’s temperatures. ... Meanwhile, the European Left’s opposition to air conditioning is killing people: ‘A heat wave sweeping across Europe is turning temperatures lethal, with more than 40 deaths reported since June 18 in a region where extreme heat kills an estimated 175,000 people each year--roughly four times the toll of gun deaths in the United States’ (“In Europe,” Newsweek, June 23, 2026). For liberals, human well-being is not a relevant consideration.”
BEN FRANKLIN’S PROPHECY THAT AMERICA WILL DESCEND INTO DESPOTISM (Friday Church News Notes, July 10, 2026, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin made a speech in favor of the constitution and the new American Union, and in so doing he prophesied of these present times in the nation’s history. He said, “I think a general government is necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people, if well administered; and I believe, further, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other. ... Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution, because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors I sacrifice to the public good” (The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. 5, 1904, pp. 156, 157).
ONE FOOT AND A SAIL (Friday Church News Notes, July 10, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, March 12, 2026: “According to unsubstantiated reports, it was about 50 years ago that Chinese immigrants to the United States brought some freshwater clams with them. The clams were eaten for good luck on Chinese New Year. What is substantiated is that today the clam is found in at least 35 states. That’s an amazing amount of territory to cover in only 50 years for a creature that only has one foot. The spread of the Asian clam costs the industry over a billion dollars per year to clean up. Lacking enemies, it reproduces rapidly and clogs the water intake line which industry uses to cool its equipment. Scientists began to wonder how the creature could travel so rapidly even going from lake to lake and stream to stream. What scientists learned was that when the Asian clam encounters a current, it sets sail. Lifting off with its one foot, it releases a transparent film that catches the current like a sail. It sails off using its foot like a rudder. This explains not only why it spread so rapidly down rivers, but also how the clam could spread from one body of water to another during floods. The Asian clam’s ability to sail is a clever design. So, too, is the balance of nature which prevents creatures from over-populating. Unfortunately, the Asian clam in the United States has few enemies to keep it under control. If evolution were true, such a lack of balance would be the rule in nature. The balance that exists, keeping each creature fed but not over-populated in their natural settings, is but another witness to the fact of the Creator.”
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.
Way of Life Literature - www.wayoflife.org
copyright 2025 - Way of Life Literature
