Friday Church News Notes
September 25, 2026 - Volume 27, Issue 39
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.
PROBABLE 2,700-YEAR-OLD DEPICTION OF JERUSALEM AND HEZEKIAH (Friday Church News Notes, September 25, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from Brent Nagtegaal, “Revealed: A 2,700-Year-Old Depiction,” Let the Stones Speak, Dec. 2025: “When researcher Stephen Compton shared with me an image of Slab 28 of Sennacherib’s throne room in Nineveh, I was awestruck. Surveying the scene on the relief, the identity of the city portrayed grew increasingly obvious: This was Jerusalem! ... He might be right! I thought. This is the oldest work of art depicting Jerusalem ever found! The evidence began to accrue immediately. There were the three species of fruit trees--grapes, figs and pomegranates--all native to Israel and Judah. It was noteworthy too that, unlike some depictions of trees on other reliefs, these were not hewn down, suggesting this city remained unconquered. Above the fruit trees, there was a massive city wall, defensive towers and two gates. Depicted on the defensive towers were twice-corbeled battlements. Although I didn’t know it at the time, these were almost identical to those on the Lachish wall reliefs, suggesting this was a Judean city. On top of the corbeled battlements was a series of shields, recalling scenes described in several biblical passages from the time of King David onward. Higher up the slab, there was a second series of walls and towers. This was interesting. Did this indicate this city occupied two hills or ridges, just like Jerusalem? Finally, standing alone in the tallest tower was a single figure. He’s the only individual in the entire city. And he’s holding a standard, suggesting royal status. If Slab 28 depicts a scene from King Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah, and if the city depicted was Jerusalem, then this lone royal figure had to be King Hezekiah! ... Slab 28 [was] in the throne room, the epicenter of Sennacherib’s prestige. Unfortunately, Sennacherib’s throne room, along with its over 100 meters (330 feet) of reliefs, was destroyed in 2015–2016 by the Islamic State. ... Fortunately, [Henry] Layard and his team documented Sennacherib’s throne room (and much of Nineveh) in detailed reports, including several drawings and illustrations.”
DARLENE ZSCHECH SAYS “CHURCH” ENTERING “REVIVAL DAYS AGAIN” (Friday Church News Notes, September 25, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Darlene Zschech, former worship leader of Hills Christian Life Centre of Sydney, Australia, and Hillsong Music associate, “believes the Church is entering another season of spiritual revival, with a new generation of worship songs emerging alongside it.” She said, “The new song has always coexisted with a fresh revival on the Earth, wherever it was. It was always a new song that accompanied historical revivals, and we’re there again. ... I think we’re on the brink of something so magnificent” (“Darlene Zschech, Christianity Daily, Sept. 7, 2026). Hillsong is hugely influential and has invaded many independent Baptist churches. Popular Hillsong songs include “Oceans,” “Shout to the Lord,” “Stronger,” “This Is Our God,” and “Mighty to Save.” But there is no spiritual revival in contemporary Christian music. It is an illegitimate merger of Christ and the world. It is the music of the one-world church, not the New Testament church. In a 2004 interview, Zschech expressed her unscriptural philosophy: “I’ve been in the Catholic Church, in the United Church, the Anglican Church, and in many other churches, and when worship is offered in truth, this sound emerges--regardless of the style. It’s the sound of the human heart connecting with its Maker” (Michael Herman, “Zschech, Please,” Christianity Today, June 4, 2004). She doesn’t explain how worship can be “in truth” in the context of an ecumenical unity among denominations that teach heresies and false gospels. Zschech and Hillsong performed for the Roman Catholic World Youth Day in Sydney on July 18, 2008. Pope Benedict XVI was present and conducted a papal mass during the extravaganza. On July 3-4, 2015, Darlene Zschech and Hillsong joined hands with the pope at the Convocation of the Renewal of the Holy Spirit at the Vatican. On her Facebook page, Zschech said, “Honoured to be singing this week, with Andrea Bocelli, Don Moen, Noa [Israeli singer], with Pope Francis and thousands of worshippers gathering in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. This is a celebration of unity and peace in the Renewal of the Holy Spirit. Amazing days for the Body of Christ.” The Catholic mass was conducted at the event led by Cardinal Angelo Comastri. According to blasphemous Catholic dogma, the priest has the power to turn the bread into the actual body and blood of Jesus, and it is then worshiped in the form of the consecrated host. We wonder if the Hillsong folk took the time to visit the Santa Maria Maggoire (Saint Mary Major) basilica to pray to Mary the Queen of Peace, Mary the Queen of Heaven, and to meditate on the statue, just outside the church, of Mary hanging on the cross with Jesus?
APPEALS COURT RULES NEW HAMPSHIRE SCHOOL VIOLATED FIRST AMENDMENT OVER “XX” WRISTBANDS (Friday Church News Notes, September 25, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following report illustrates how morally corrupt and antagonistic to God the public schools have become. The school district lost this particular case, but the corrupt school board remains in place. This is excerpted from “Appeals Court Rules,” Standing for Freedom, Sept. 2, 2026: “The First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on August 26 that a New Hampshire school district likely violated the First Amendment by removing two fathers and a grandfather from a girls’ soccer game after they refused to take off ‘XX’ wristbands as a protest against a transgender-identifying male’s participation in a girls’ competition. A three-judge panel overturned an earlier district court ruling in Fellers v. Kelley, concluding that Bow School District likely engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination when officials restricted the spectators’ silent protest during a soccer game on September 17, 2024. The district had threatened Anthony Foote, Eldon Rash, and Kyle Fellers with arrest and issued no-trespass orders against the three men, but the panel noted that their silent protest did not disrupt the game nor attract the attention of players, including transgender athlete Parker Tirrell. School Superintendent Marcy Kelley had argued that displaying the ‘XX’ symbol was ‘intimidating, threatening, harassing, and discouraging’ toward Tirrell. The appeals court rejected that argument. While the three wore the wristbands ‘because of Tirrell being a player, the record does not contain evidence of appellants engaging in harassment,’ Judge Sandra Lynch wrote: ‘To the contrary, appellants did not shout, chant, make threats, or aggressively gesture at Tirrell to communicate their views.’”
UK JAILS BECOME JIHADIST TRAINING CAMPS (Friday Church News Notes, September 25, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Jihadist training camps,” Fox News, Aug. 29, 2026: “The problem of Muslim gangs in the nation’s prisons has become progressively worse since Britain’s Sky News first reported in 2013 that ‘British inmates are being bullied into converting to Islam while in jail’ while noting that the ‘Prison Officers Association says it is symptomatic of the growing power and influence of Muslim gangs in prison.’ This week, Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary of the opposition Conservative party, has urged the left-of-center Labour government to root out forced conversions. Timothy posted on X Tuesday, ‘Islamist gangs control many of our prisons. Conversion to Islam is the only way to stay safe from them. I obtained data showing 1 in 5 Muslim prisoners are white. That’s four times higher than in the general population. This cannot continue.’ ... According to Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, this growing trend is having a detrimental effect on the country’s prison system. ‘It is an absolutely outrageous state of affairs in the British prison system. This also poses a very significant national security risk for the United Kingdom. The British government appears to have lost control over its prisons, which have become jihadist training camps,’ Gardiner, who advised Lady Thatcher, told Fox News Digital.”
GOG, MAGOG, AND IRAN (Friday Church News Notes, September 25, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal ... And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: PERSIA, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee” (Ezekiel 38:3-6). Persia (the name was changed to Iran in 1935), is a friend of Russia and a rabid enemy of Israel. In September 2008, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Sallai Meridor, warned that Russian arms sales to Iran and Syria are “destabilizing and dangerous for Israel” (“Israel Irked by Iran-Russia Military Ties,” PressTV.ir, Sept. 13, 2008). Russia is a major player in providing Iran with nuclear technology and high-tech armaments. In 2009, Iran’s defense ministry hailed the nation’s military ties to Russia (AP, Feb. 20, 2009). In June 2014, Russia pledged to build two more nuclear power plants in Iran (“Iran, Russia Agree to Continue Nuclear Cooperation,” ITAR-TASS, May 29, 2014). In August 2012, Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said “the ultimate goal of world forces must be the annihilation of Israel” (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 2, 2012). On Nov. 8, 2014, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweeted, “This barbaric, wolflike & infanticidal regime of Israel which spares no crime has no cure but to be annihilated.” A year earlier, Khamenei called Israel the “sinister, unclean rabid dog of the region.” In July 2024, Iran’s newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian, reaffirmed Tehran’s dedication to destroying Israel, saying its proxies across the region will not allow the Jewish state’s ‘criminal policies’ to continue (Israel Today, July 9, 2024). Whatever the outcome of America’s current military engagement with Iran, we know from Bible prophecy that Iran will endure as the enemy of Israel and will join Russia in attacking Israel during the Day of the Lord.
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).
DARLENE ZSCHECH SAYS “CHURCH” ENTERING “REVIVAL DAYS AGAIN” (Friday Church News Notes, September 25, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Darlene Zschech, former worship leader of Hills Christian Life Centre of Sydney, Australia, and Hillsong Music associate, “believes the Church is entering another season of spiritual revival, with a new generation of worship songs emerging alongside it.” She said, “The new song has always coexisted with a fresh revival on the Earth, wherever it was. It was always a new song that accompanied historical revivals, and we’re there again. ... I think we’re on the brink of something so magnificent” (“Darlene Zschech, Christianity Daily, Sept. 7, 2026). Hillsong is hugely influential and has invaded many independent Baptist churches. Popular Hillsong songs include “Oceans,” “Shout to the Lord,” “Stronger,” “This Is Our God,” and “Mighty to Save.” But there is no spiritual revival in contemporary Christian music. It is an illegitimate merger of Christ and the world. It is the music of the one-world church, not the New Testament church. In a 2004 interview, Zschech expressed her unscriptural philosophy: “I’ve been in the Catholic Church, in the United Church, the Anglican Church, and in many other churches, and when worship is offered in truth, this sound emerges--regardless of the style. It’s the sound of the human heart connecting with its Maker” (Michael Herman, “Zschech, Please,” Christianity Today, June 4, 2004). She doesn’t explain how worship can be “in truth” in the context of an ecumenical unity among denominations that teach heresies and false gospels. Zschech and Hillsong performed for the Roman Catholic World Youth Day in Sydney on July 18, 2008. Pope Benedict XVI was present and conducted a papal mass during the extravaganza. On July 3-4, 2015, Darlene Zschech and Hillsong joined hands with the pope at the Convocation of the Renewal of the Holy Spirit at the Vatican. On her Facebook page, Zschech said, “Honoured to be singing this week, with Andrea Bocelli, Don Moen, Noa [Israeli singer], with Pope Francis and thousands of worshippers gathering in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. This is a celebration of unity and peace in the Renewal of the Holy Spirit. Amazing days for the Body of Christ.” The Catholic mass was conducted at the event led by Cardinal Angelo Comastri. According to blasphemous Catholic dogma, the priest has the power to turn the bread into the actual body and blood of Jesus, and it is then worshiped in the form of the consecrated host. We wonder if the Hillsong folk took the time to visit the Santa Maria Maggoire (Saint Mary Major) basilica to pray to Mary the Queen of Peace, Mary the Queen of Heaven, and to meditate on the statue, just outside the church, of Mary hanging on the cross with Jesus?
APPEALS COURT RULES NEW HAMPSHIRE SCHOOL VIOLATED FIRST AMENDMENT OVER “XX” WRISTBANDS (Friday Church News Notes, September 25, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following report illustrates how morally corrupt and antagonistic to God the public schools have become. The school district lost this particular case, but the corrupt school board remains in place. This is excerpted from “Appeals Court Rules,” Standing for Freedom, Sept. 2, 2026: “The First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on August 26 that a New Hampshire school district likely violated the First Amendment by removing two fathers and a grandfather from a girls’ soccer game after they refused to take off ‘XX’ wristbands as a protest against a transgender-identifying male’s participation in a girls’ competition. A three-judge panel overturned an earlier district court ruling in Fellers v. Kelley, concluding that Bow School District likely engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination when officials restricted the spectators’ silent protest during a soccer game on September 17, 2024. The district had threatened Anthony Foote, Eldon Rash, and Kyle Fellers with arrest and issued no-trespass orders against the three men, but the panel noted that their silent protest did not disrupt the game nor attract the attention of players, including transgender athlete Parker Tirrell. School Superintendent Marcy Kelley had argued that displaying the ‘XX’ symbol was ‘intimidating, threatening, harassing, and discouraging’ toward Tirrell. The appeals court rejected that argument. While the three wore the wristbands ‘because of Tirrell being a player, the record does not contain evidence of appellants engaging in harassment,’ Judge Sandra Lynch wrote: ‘To the contrary, appellants did not shout, chant, make threats, or aggressively gesture at Tirrell to communicate their views.’”
UK JAILS BECOME JIHADIST TRAINING CAMPS (Friday Church News Notes, September 25, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Jihadist training camps,” Fox News, Aug. 29, 2026: “The problem of Muslim gangs in the nation’s prisons has become progressively worse since Britain’s Sky News first reported in 2013 that ‘British inmates are being bullied into converting to Islam while in jail’ while noting that the ‘Prison Officers Association says it is symptomatic of the growing power and influence of Muslim gangs in prison.’ This week, Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary of the opposition Conservative party, has urged the left-of-center Labour government to root out forced conversions. Timothy posted on X Tuesday, ‘Islamist gangs control many of our prisons. Conversion to Islam is the only way to stay safe from them. I obtained data showing 1 in 5 Muslim prisoners are white. That’s four times higher than in the general population. This cannot continue.’ ... According to Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, this growing trend is having a detrimental effect on the country’s prison system. ‘It is an absolutely outrageous state of affairs in the British prison system. This also poses a very significant national security risk for the United Kingdom. The British government appears to have lost control over its prisons, which have become jihadist training camps,’ Gardiner, who advised Lady Thatcher, told Fox News Digital.”
GOG, MAGOG, AND IRAN (Friday Church News Notes, September 25, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal ... And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: PERSIA, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee” (Ezekiel 38:3-6). Persia (the name was changed to Iran in 1935), is a friend of Russia and a rabid enemy of Israel. In September 2008, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Sallai Meridor, warned that Russian arms sales to Iran and Syria are “destabilizing and dangerous for Israel” (“Israel Irked by Iran-Russia Military Ties,” PressTV.ir, Sept. 13, 2008). Russia is a major player in providing Iran with nuclear technology and high-tech armaments. In 2009, Iran’s defense ministry hailed the nation’s military ties to Russia (AP, Feb. 20, 2009). In June 2014, Russia pledged to build two more nuclear power plants in Iran (“Iran, Russia Agree to Continue Nuclear Cooperation,” ITAR-TASS, May 29, 2014). In August 2012, Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said “the ultimate goal of world forces must be the annihilation of Israel” (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 2, 2012). On Nov. 8, 2014, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweeted, “This barbaric, wolflike & infanticidal regime of Israel which spares no crime has no cure but to be annihilated.” A year earlier, Khamenei called Israel the “sinister, unclean rabid dog of the region.” In July 2024, Iran’s newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian, reaffirmed Tehran’s dedication to destroying Israel, saying its proxies across the region will not allow the Jewish state’s ‘criminal policies’ to continue (Israel Today, July 9, 2024). Whatever the outcome of America’s current military engagement with Iran, we know from Bible prophecy that Iran will endure as the enemy of Israel and will join Russia in attacking Israel during the Day of the Lord.
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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