THE SMITHSONIAN MUSEUMS, D.C. FEDERAL TOURS, AND AMERICAN HISTORY (Friday Church News Notes, October 2, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In August I spent a week doing research in Washington D.C. The Smithsonian museums are amazing, the architecture, the infrastructure, the artifacts, even the coffee shops and cafeterias, and I’ve spent many days in them in years past. But what struck me this time more than ever was what is absent. Even in the museum of American history and the American Art Gallery there’s nothing at all about the pilgrims, the Puritans, and the major role of Christianity and the Bible in American history. Basically nothing. I talked with docents who are the supposed experts, volunteers who are stationed here and there, and they knew of nothing. The National Museum of African American History and Culture is totally absent of any role of the Bible or Christianity. The focus is on slavery, abolition, and the filthy pop culture, but there is a lot more about black history than that. On the recent trip I visited the Hampton University Museum in Virginia, where Booker T. Washington was educated and taught. He was the most prominent graduate of the school and a major figure in black history, yet there is zero information about him in the Hampton Museum. He has been deleted. I was told that his artifacts are in storage. I was not surprised since Booker’s philosophy was contrary to the one that is being pushed today, which focuses on victimization, systemic racism, endless reparations, and perpetual anger. The corruption of history is a major way that America is being destroyed. I saw it in the federal tours of the Capital building and the judicial building. The tour guides are federal employees. In the rotunda of the Capital building there are two large paintings that depict Christianity’s role in American history--Pocahontas’ baptism in Jamestown in 1613 and the embarkation of the Pilgrims from Holland in 1620. The tour guide talked about those paintings in passing yet said nothing significant about what they actually represented. This is part of the larger effort throughout the public education system to destroy the old America. Its beginnings can be traced back to John Dewey (1859-1952), the atheist, globalist, anti-Christian co-author of the Humanist Manifesto. I’m thankful that there are many private schools, church schools, and home schools that are going against the grain and preserving accurate history and that God continues to answer prayer for liberty in such matters.

CATHOLIC CHURCH IN AMERICA CONTINUES TO PAY OUT MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO SETTLE LAWSUITS AGAINST ITS PRIESTS (Friday Church News Notes, October 2, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The total payout for sex abuse lawsuits by the Roman Catholic Church in America over the past 20 years is over $5 billion and possibly over $6 billion (bishop-accountability.org). A conservative Catholic organization documented this wretched business in the fall/winter 2002 issue of the magazine Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, observing: “[T]he overwhelming majority of sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church--about 90%--involve homosexual priests preying on teenage boys. The major media and the U.S. culture at large want to deny or spin the homosexual factor out of the scandal.” Though we have no sympathy for the Roman Catholic Church in this sordid affair, we would also comment that the judicial system in America is also corrupt. If a religious “minister” of whatever brand is guilty of a heinous crime, he should be held liable and should pay for his crime, and if a fellow “clergyman” is found to have contributed to the crime by trying to cover it up, then he, too, should be accountable. But an entire group of churches, even unscriptural ones, should not face the threat of bankruptcy by greedy lawyers as the present system unjustly allows. The American judicial system is no longer about justice for those who have been wronged; it is about money, which it drains from every victim that falls into its uncaring clutches. Following are recent cases of settlements as stated by EWTN News: In 2026, the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey agreed to a $180 million settlement for more than 300 “victims of clergy abuse”; the Archdiocese of Chicago agreed to pay $5.5 million to “nine survivors of abuse”; and the Franciscan Friars of California announced a $20 million settlement for “94 child sexual abuse claims,” which comes after the Friars filed for bankruptcy some years ago. In 2025, the Diocese of Syracuse (New York) agreed to pay $176 million to settle abuse cases ($76 million to be contributed by insurance companies); the Diocese of Rochester (New York) agreed to pay $246 million to “survivors of clergy abuse”; and the Diocese of Buffalo agreed to pay $150 million. In 2024, the Archdiocese of Chicago settled an abuse case for $950,000; the Diocese of Rockville Centre (New York) agreed to pay $323 million; and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to a near-$1 billion payment to “abuse victims.” In 2022, the Archdiocese of Chicago paid nearly $3 million.

BIOLOGICAL MALES HAVE WON MORE THAN 2,000 GOLD MEDALS COMPETING AGAINST WOMEN (Friday Church News Notes, October 2, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “2,000 gold medals later,” The Washington Times, Sept. 23, 2026: “Trans-identifying men have won at least 2,293 gold medals participating in women’s and girls’ sports in the U.S., a new study from a conservative organization found. The Concerned Women for Research compiled data from the organization He Cheated, which tracks male athletic wins in female sports. The data showed males who identify as females have not only won the big haul of gold medals, but have also collected $501,498 in prize money from women in professional sports since the mid-1980s. In all instances, the men pushed women down to second place, denying them championship medals and money, the organization said. ... The study found men prevailing over women on dozens of sports teams, ranging from U.S. swimming, bowling, volleyball, and track and field to the Ladies Professional Golf Association. Trans-identifying men have competed in more than 10,000 female sporting events, both amateur and professional.”

MERYL STREEP AS ASLAN (Friday Church News Notes, October 2, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a fitting sign of the vast feminist influence in modern Western culture in general and the movie industry in particular, a woman has been cast as the voice for Aslan the Lion in the upcoming movie based on C.S. Lewis’s Narnia. Narnia the Magician’s Nephew is scheduled to open in theaters in February. In Lewis’s hyper-popular fantasy series Chronicles of Narnia (the books have sold 120 million copies and the film series has grossed $1.6 billion), Aslan loosely represents Christ as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Though Lewis was called “Superstar” in the December 2005 edition of Christianity Today and was rated by a reader’s poll that year as the most influential evangelical writer, we do not recommend anything written by C.S. Lewis, including his children’s fantasies. Lewis did not have a biblical testimony of salvation (see his autobiography Surprised by Joy), held to baptismal regeneration, rejected the infallible inspiration of Scripture and Christ’s substitutionary blood atonement, believed in purgatory, and denied the biblical teaching of hell. In the Narnia series, Lewis taught that those who sincerely serve the devil (called Tash) are actually serving Christ (Aslan) and will eventually be accepted by God. In The Great Divorce, which is about salvation, heaven, and hell, Lewis does not mention faith in Christ, the blood of Christ, or the new birth. It’s all about works and character, which is a false gospel under the curse of God (Galatians 1). For more on this see the free eBook C.S. Lewis and Evangelicals Today, available at the Books section of wayoflife.org.

NEW JERSEY MAKES IT A FELONY TO “INTERFERE WITH REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE SERVICES” (Friday Church News Notes, October 2, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “FACE Act 2.0?” Standing for Freedom, Aug. 26, 2026: “On the heels of an aggressive effort to smear, investigate, and shut down pro-life pregnancy centers, New Jersey has passed legislation that critics say will criminalize pro-life speech and potentially even prayer near abortion clinics. Last Thursday, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, D, signed S2260, a bill she claims protects ‘reproductive health services’ for women and gender-confused minors, as well as abortionists from ‘malicious out-of-state legal actions.’ ... Sherrill ... earlier this year signed a law allowing abortions up to birth if a single ‘certified fetal-maternal specialist’ deems it necessary to save a mother’s physical or mental health. ... S2260 is sweeping in its scope. For example, the law establishes a new crime of ‘interference with reproductive healthcare services.’ Interference doesn’t only involve blocking access to a clinic, intimidating someone, or defacing property; a person can be charged with a felony if they cause a patient or healthcare worker ‘mental anguish’ or ‘emotional harm.’ A violation of the law carries with it a penalty of up to 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine. If the charge is upgraded, a convicted defendant could receive as many as 10 years in prison and a $150,000 fine. In addition, S2260 creates a private right of action for businesses, doctors, and others to file lawsuits against those convicted under the law and allows judges and juries to award punitive damages, attorney’s fees, and up to $1,000 in compensatory damages for each violation.”

THE BEAR FACTS ABOUT GOOD HEALTH (Friday Church News Notes, October 2, 2026, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, July 23, 2026: “Imagine, lying around not just for days on end, but for months! And while lounging the months away, you get leaner and more muscular. The bear’s lifestyle sounds like a couch potato’s dream. Such a lifestyle would cause our bones to become weak and smaller, and make the calcium level of our blood high enough to kill us. Apart from losing bone, we would also lose muscle and gain fat, lying around all day. We all know what happens to couch potatoes. But bears, they are different and scientists have been puzzled to learn that bears don’t suffer bone loss, and don’t lose muscle during their winter rests--they don’t really sleep all winter, but they do rest a lot. Moreover, they don’t eat, drink, or use the bathroom all winter--a routine that would kill most creatures in less than a week. Researchers believe that they have found the chemical in a bear’s blood that prevents bone loss during long inactivity. The chemical is under study for possible use in treating human osteoporosis. Bears avoid bathroom visits by chemically changing their own wastes back into proteins. The fact that scientists study how things in the creation work to improve how we do things is a tribute to the workmanship of the Creator, even if scientists refuse to admit His existence and activity. Ref: Ingrid Wickelgren, ‘Bone Loss and the Three Bears: A circulating secret of skeletal stability,’ Science News.”

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).