Friday Church News Notes
August 7, 2026 - Volume 27, Issue 32
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.
CHINA CLAIMS AUTHORITY OVER ANY CITIZEN OF ANY COUNTRY (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Beijing’s New Law,” The Washington Times, July 27, 2026: “On July 1, a new Chinese law took effect. It claims the right to punish people who have never set foot in China, including those residing on American soil. Beijing calls it the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress. In practice, it does two things: orders the country’s minorities [Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Manchuria] to become Chinese and declares that anyone, anywhere who ‘undermines ethnic unity’ can be held to account under Chinese law. ... It also reaches into religion. Faith in China now has to be remade in the party’s image. ... That is no longer just a propaganda campaign; it is the direction of the Chinese legal system. Religion is permitted only once it has been made to serve Beijing. The most alarming provision of the law is Article 63, which states that organizations and individuals outside China who ‘undermine ethnic unity’ are to be pursued for legal responsibility. Amnesty International has warned that this clause could be used as a tool for transnational repression, and the vagueness is the point. Beijing deliberately uses elastic language so it can decide after the fact what counts as a violation. The CCP applies its own laws loosely, so they can mean almost anything. Waved a Taiwanese flag once. Spoke to a Hong Konger about the protests. Watched Seven Years in Tibet. In Beijing’s reading, each of these could ‘undermine ethnic unity.’ Under Article 63, a U.S. citizen posting from California is, in the party’s eyes, subject to Chinese law. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach abroad. ... With this legislation, Beijing is openly challenging the rule of law and basic rights protections wherever its critics live, including the U.S.”
VICAR WINS SETTLEMENT AFTER PREACHING THAT STUDENTS SHOULD NOT BE FORCED TO ACCEPT LGBT IDEOLOGY (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Vicar Wins Settlement,” Christianity Daily, July 14, 2026: “The Rev. Bernard Randall, a former Church of England school chaplain who was dismissed and referred to a terrorism prevention program after telling students they should not be forced to accept LGBT ideology, has reached a legal settlement following a seven-year fight. Randall has also been cleared to seek a return to ministry in the Church of England ... The dispute began in 2019 after Randall preached in the chapel of Trent College, a Church of England-affiliated independent school in Nottingham. His sermon came in response to a student who asked why pupils were being told they ‘have to accept’ teaching on LGB and transgender identity at a Christian school. In the sermon, Randall told students, ‘... By all means discuss, have a reasoned debate about beliefs, but while it’s OK to try and persuade each other, no one should be told they must accept an ideology.’ Trent College suspended Randall after the sermon and later told him he was being fired for gross misconduct. The school also referred him to Prevent, the government’s terrorism prevention scheme, as well as to the local authority designated officer for safeguarding the Teaching Regulation Agency and the Disclosure and Barring Service. ... Although the statutory agencies involved found no case for him to answer, the Church of England took a different approach and treated him as ‘a safeguarding risk to children,’ despite the sermon reflecting the denomination’s official doctrine. ... After the statutory bodies cleared him, the Church of England still declined to reinstate him. ... Responding to the outcome, Randall said, ‘My case has revealed the extent of the corruption within the Church [of England], our schools and in the judiciary, and should deeply concern us all.’”
STEVEN ANDERSON VS. THE MOTHER BEFORE SOLOMON’S COURT (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is by Brian Snider: “And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. 27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. 1 Kings 3:24-27 Wise King Solomon understood some things about human nature. He knew the mother of the child would never allow her son to be slain. That love exposed the true mother and settled the case beyond any doubt. Steven Anderson has been in the news lately for a meltdown in which he called for his four oldest children to be ‘destroyed by God.’ This sermon was in response to the fact that his four oldest children have left his home and have publicly shared their stories of abuse growing up under him. It doesn’t take a Solomon to realize that his response in this sermon left him as exposed as the harlot in 1 Kings 3. When the child of Christian parents goes astray, the godly parents will always look to themselves first…. “What did we do? What could we have done? Where did we fail?” The parents cannot ignore the wrong choices of the child, but they will always take the greatest burden on themselves. As long as the child is alive, they will never stop seeking to bring the child back to a right relationship with the Lord and pleading for their deliverance. But a parent who calls on God to kill their child because they did not live up to expectations has revealed the truth of the whole matter. Without realizing it, Anderson confessed to having the heart of an abuser and destroyer. Like the harlot in 1 Kings 3, I believe he has exposed the fact that the children are telling the truth.”’ For more on this see the free eBook What about Steven Anderson? at the Books section of www.wayoflife.org.
SWEDISH GOVERNMENT REMOVES CHILDREN FROM CHRISTIAN HOME/ PASTOR WARNS OF SOCIALIST TOTALITARIANISM IN USA (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Christian family takes fight to DC embassy,” Fox News, July 12, 2026: “Christian parents whose two daughters were seized by the Swedish government more than three years ago brought their custody battle to Washington, D.C., on Friday. A crowd of Romanian-Americans gathered outside the Swedish Embassy in Washington on Friday morning to show their support for Daniel and Bianca Samson, Christian parents who have been separated from their daughters, Sara and Tiana, since December 2022. The years-long battle began after Sara, then 11, made a false abuse allegation against her parents, stemming from an argument over not being allowed to wear makeup or have a smartphone. Despite Sara quickly admitting she had lied, Swedish social services removed the girls from the home. ... Prosecutors found no evidence of abuse, but the state refused to return the girls, citing the family’s habit of attending church three times a week and media choices as evidence of ‘religious extremism.’ ... In court, Daniel Samson said ... lawyers used their parenting choices against them, such as the girls not being allowed to paint their nails, the lack of a television in the home and the reading of Bible stories, which he said authorities called ‘violent.’ The case has drawn international outrage and support from the Romanian government. Romanian Sen. Titus Corlatean and Chicago Pastor Cristian Ionescu traveled to speak at the D.C. rally, which coincides with similar demonstrations planned this week in Brisbane, Stockholm, London, and Copenhagen. ... Ionescu, the senior pastor of Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church and president of the Romanian Pentecostal Churches’ Union in the United States, told Fox News Digital he hopes the same sort of government overreach won’t come to the U.S. But after fleeing communism in Romania 40 years ago, he says he’s alarmed by the rise of socialism in political races across the country. ‘I see a surge of socialist and communist politicians and this is always associated with a totalitarian society,’ Ionescu said.”
PLANT SELF-DEFENSE (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, April 14, 2026: “Every day, all over the earth, plants engage in chemical warfare against insects and animals that would eat them. When this drama is described by evolutionary scientists, they usually talk about plants as though the plants were skilled chemists who developed their abilities on their own. For example, the leaves of the oak tree contain tannins. Tannins form complexes with proteins so that, when eaten, they have little nutritional value. An evolutionary account of how this arrangement came about describes how the trees supposedly developed this strategy for self-defense. Stories like this make one wonder how oak trees gained so much knowledge about animal digestion and chemistry. Some species of milkweed and dogbane produce powerful muscle relaxants that can be fatal to humans. One might picture, in the far distant past, white-smocked milkweeds working in the chemistry lab. Other ‘doctor’ milk-weeds are feeding various concoctions to humans in cages to test their responses. When one tries to account for this without a Creator, the picture can become silly. The Bible provides an answer that makes a great deal more sense. In Job 38 and 39, the Lord--the Creator--asks Job about dozens of aspects of the creation. In His questioning, He asks Job about the source of the knowledge and abilities found in living things. The answer, of course, is that the creating God, and no one else, designed, built, and taught the creation. Other answers simply can’t satisfy.”
GOD’S INFALLIBLE WORD: REST IN THE LORD. Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Psalm 37:7-11: “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”
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).
VICAR WINS SETTLEMENT AFTER PREACHING THAT STUDENTS SHOULD NOT BE FORCED TO ACCEPT LGBT IDEOLOGY (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Vicar Wins Settlement,” Christianity Daily, July 14, 2026: “The Rev. Bernard Randall, a former Church of England school chaplain who was dismissed and referred to a terrorism prevention program after telling students they should not be forced to accept LGBT ideology, has reached a legal settlement following a seven-year fight. Randall has also been cleared to seek a return to ministry in the Church of England ... The dispute began in 2019 after Randall preached in the chapel of Trent College, a Church of England-affiliated independent school in Nottingham. His sermon came in response to a student who asked why pupils were being told they ‘have to accept’ teaching on LGB and transgender identity at a Christian school. In the sermon, Randall told students, ‘... By all means discuss, have a reasoned debate about beliefs, but while it’s OK to try and persuade each other, no one should be told they must accept an ideology.’ Trent College suspended Randall after the sermon and later told him he was being fired for gross misconduct. The school also referred him to Prevent, the government’s terrorism prevention scheme, as well as to the local authority designated officer for safeguarding the Teaching Regulation Agency and the Disclosure and Barring Service. ... Although the statutory agencies involved found no case for him to answer, the Church of England took a different approach and treated him as ‘a safeguarding risk to children,’ despite the sermon reflecting the denomination’s official doctrine. ... After the statutory bodies cleared him, the Church of England still declined to reinstate him. ... Responding to the outcome, Randall said, ‘My case has revealed the extent of the corruption within the Church [of England], our schools and in the judiciary, and should deeply concern us all.’”
STEVEN ANDERSON VS. THE MOTHER BEFORE SOLOMON’S COURT (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is by Brian Snider: “And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. 27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. 1 Kings 3:24-27 Wise King Solomon understood some things about human nature. He knew the mother of the child would never allow her son to be slain. That love exposed the true mother and settled the case beyond any doubt. Steven Anderson has been in the news lately for a meltdown in which he called for his four oldest children to be ‘destroyed by God.’ This sermon was in response to the fact that his four oldest children have left his home and have publicly shared their stories of abuse growing up under him. It doesn’t take a Solomon to realize that his response in this sermon left him as exposed as the harlot in 1 Kings 3. When the child of Christian parents goes astray, the godly parents will always look to themselves first…. “What did we do? What could we have done? Where did we fail?” The parents cannot ignore the wrong choices of the child, but they will always take the greatest burden on themselves. As long as the child is alive, they will never stop seeking to bring the child back to a right relationship with the Lord and pleading for their deliverance. But a parent who calls on God to kill their child because they did not live up to expectations has revealed the truth of the whole matter. Without realizing it, Anderson confessed to having the heart of an abuser and destroyer. Like the harlot in 1 Kings 3, I believe he has exposed the fact that the children are telling the truth.”’ For more on this see the free eBook What about Steven Anderson? at the Books section of www.wayoflife.org.
SWEDISH GOVERNMENT REMOVES CHILDREN FROM CHRISTIAN HOME/ PASTOR WARNS OF SOCIALIST TOTALITARIANISM IN USA (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Christian family takes fight to DC embassy,” Fox News, July 12, 2026: “Christian parents whose two daughters were seized by the Swedish government more than three years ago brought their custody battle to Washington, D.C., on Friday. A crowd of Romanian-Americans gathered outside the Swedish Embassy in Washington on Friday morning to show their support for Daniel and Bianca Samson, Christian parents who have been separated from their daughters, Sara and Tiana, since December 2022. The years-long battle began after Sara, then 11, made a false abuse allegation against her parents, stemming from an argument over not being allowed to wear makeup or have a smartphone. Despite Sara quickly admitting she had lied, Swedish social services removed the girls from the home. ... Prosecutors found no evidence of abuse, but the state refused to return the girls, citing the family’s habit of attending church three times a week and media choices as evidence of ‘religious extremism.’ ... In court, Daniel Samson said ... lawyers used their parenting choices against them, such as the girls not being allowed to paint their nails, the lack of a television in the home and the reading of Bible stories, which he said authorities called ‘violent.’ The case has drawn international outrage and support from the Romanian government. Romanian Sen. Titus Corlatean and Chicago Pastor Cristian Ionescu traveled to speak at the D.C. rally, which coincides with similar demonstrations planned this week in Brisbane, Stockholm, London, and Copenhagen. ... Ionescu, the senior pastor of Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church and president of the Romanian Pentecostal Churches’ Union in the United States, told Fox News Digital he hopes the same sort of government overreach won’t come to the U.S. But after fleeing communism in Romania 40 years ago, he says he’s alarmed by the rise of socialism in political races across the country. ‘I see a surge of socialist and communist politicians and this is always associated with a totalitarian society,’ Ionescu said.”
PLANT SELF-DEFENSE (Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, April 14, 2026: “Every day, all over the earth, plants engage in chemical warfare against insects and animals that would eat them. When this drama is described by evolutionary scientists, they usually talk about plants as though the plants were skilled chemists who developed their abilities on their own. For example, the leaves of the oak tree contain tannins. Tannins form complexes with proteins so that, when eaten, they have little nutritional value. An evolutionary account of how this arrangement came about describes how the trees supposedly developed this strategy for self-defense. Stories like this make one wonder how oak trees gained so much knowledge about animal digestion and chemistry. Some species of milkweed and dogbane produce powerful muscle relaxants that can be fatal to humans. One might picture, in the far distant past, white-smocked milkweeds working in the chemistry lab. Other ‘doctor’ milk-weeds are feeding various concoctions to humans in cages to test their responses. When one tries to account for this without a Creator, the picture can become silly. The Bible provides an answer that makes a great deal more sense. In Job 38 and 39, the Lord--the Creator--asks Job about dozens of aspects of the creation. In His questioning, He asks Job about the source of the knowledge and abilities found in living things. The answer, of course, is that the creating God, and no one else, designed, built, and taught the creation. Other answers simply can’t satisfy.”
GOD’S INFALLIBLE WORD: REST IN THE LORD. Friday Church News Notes, August 7, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Psalm 37:7-11: “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”
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
