Friday Church News and Notes
RECREATIONAL DRUGS GETTING MORE POTENT, MORE DEADLY, MORE READILY AVAILABLE – The following is excerpted from “Fentanyl victim’s mother speaks out,” Fox News, June 20, 2022: “Seventeen-year-old Placer County, Calif., student Zach Didier’s parents found him slumped over his desk in 2020, dead from a then-unknown cause. With California’s uptick in fentanyl poisonings and deaths, coroner officials reportedly suggested it could be the cause of Zach’s sudden death. Laura Didier, Zach’s mother, told ‘The Story’ on Fox News on Monday that she initially had no idea how such a powerful opiate found its way into her home. ‘This was nothing we were prepared for. Zach was a 17-year-old high school senior. He had no history with abusing drugs or alcohol,’ she said. ‘So it was a complete shock to us when he was found at his desk and passed away two days after Christmas of 2020.’ It was later discovered Zach obtained what he believed to be an oxycodone pill via Snapchat and ingested it after the rest of his family went to sleep. ‘When the authorities came, there were no drugs in his room. There was no injury to his body. So it was a real mystery why he would be dead,’ Laura Didier said. ‘But tragically, in our county there was a large uptick in fentanyl deaths. So the coroner’s office was the first one to suggest it was fentanyl.’ Fentanyl is an opiate 100 times stronger than morphine. First synthesized in 1960 by Dr. Paul Janssen, the Belgian namesake of the popular vaccine manufacturer, as a component of intravenous analgesics for severe chronic pain–it later transitioned into an illegal recreational drug. … The high potency of pure fentanyl will stop a human being from breathing, he said, adding that administering naloxone hydrochloride may help, but that there is not enough of the antidote–commonly called Narcan–around. ‘So I tell parents out there to be on the lookout for what your teens are doing with social media, to have a conversation with them about it, to talk to them about it, look for changes in behavior, also sudden changes in behavior,’ Dr. Marc Siegel said. ‘Are they becoming more isolated because of the pandemic? Is there more depression going on? More anxiety? The mental health crisis right now because of the pandemic, is directly tied into the substance abuse problem.’ Siegel added another potent opioid being trafficked from Mexico is Isotonitazene, or ‘Iso,’ which is one-hundredfold stronger than fentanyl, and went on to criticize the open border policy of the current administration.”
HELPFUL WARNING ABOUT YOGA – The following is excerpted from “YOGA: Exercise or Religion–Does It Matter?” by Ray Yungen. “Currently, an estimated 24 million people (as of 2022, that number has increased to nearly 40 million) in the United States are regularly involved with some form of Yoga. In the town where I live, the high majority of health clubs, including the YMCA, YWCA, and the local community college, offer Yoga classes. … Most of these adults may be vaguely aware of the Hindu component of Yoga but see that as being irrelevant to taking Yoga classes. … The word ‘yoga’ actually means to be yoked to or united in body, mind, and spirit with Brahman (the Hindu concept of God). It doesn’t get more spiritually obvious than that. Yoga adherents cannot divorce the religious or spiritual aspects of Yoga from the physical because the physical postures were, from their inception, specifically designed to serve as conduits to yogic religious experience. … Yoga instructor and author Stephen Cope … says, ‘We are all born divine. … This is the classic statement of the perennial philosophy of yoga.’ … Occultist and ‘prophetess’ Alice Bailey … said, ‘The Yogi, or the one who has achieved union (for Yoga is the science of union) knows himself as he is in reality … he knows himself to be, past all controversy, God.’ … As believers, we are told in Romans 12:2, ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’ We are [to] ‘learn not the way of the heathen’ (Jeremiah 10:2) … When Yoga is viewed through the lens of the Cross of Christ, it is clear that the two are incompatible. When a person becomes involved with Yoga, he enters a realm of often subtle but powerful spiritual deception. … The Russel Simmons story is of special interest. Simmons was a young, street-wise black youth who later did quite well for himself as a hip-hop (rap) music producer. Ironically, Simmons did not fit any New Age stereotype, but a friend, as he put it, ‘dragged [him] into a yoga class,’ and he ‘realized [he] had stumbled onto something incredible.’ As a result, Simmons acquired the spiritual perspective that always accompanies the practice of Yoga. Simmons relates: ‘A lot of the time it seems like people are more comfortable listening to the God that is outside them, but I believe that God is already inside of you. … The God that’s in all of our hearts.’ … Yoga produces a certain perception. That perception is identical with what is commonly called New Age spirituality. Incidentally, Simmons has become a major Yoga ‘evangelist’ and has written three books (one a best seller), which specifically target the young hip-hop audience. … Christine Aguilera, popular singer in the vein of Brittney Spears, fits right into this pattern. In a 2015 ABC News article titled ‘Yoga Serving as Inspiration for Aguilera’s New Music,’ Aguilera [states that yoga practice results in] ‘feeling more in one with the Earth and everyone being connected.’ Aguilera is an influence to millions of young girls, who see her as a role model and emulate her.”
FOX NEWS PROMOTES TRANSGENDER NUTTINESS – The following is excerpted from Ben Johnson, Washington Stand, June 11, 2022: “On Friday, Fox News Channel aired a story praising a family who allowed a five-year-old girl to begin transitioning to the opposite sex, claiming that the move was inspired by their ‘conservative faith,’ and that God ‘created’ the child transgender. The segment wrapped extreme gender ideology in heretical religious verbiage. Fox News highlighted the story of Ryland Whittington, a girl who now identifies as a boy. … The report noted that the family supported Ryland’s transition to a boy at age five and strongly implied that children whose parents ‘push back’ against their gender identity will commit suicide. In reality, multiple studies show that 80 to 95% of children with gender dysphoria accept their birth sex by age 18 [“Gender Dysphoria in Children,” American College of Pediatricians, Nov. 2018]. “The good news is: They’re going to grow out of it. Don’t mess them up,” said John Whitehall, professor of pediatrics at Australia’s Western Sydney University. … The segment, which was produced by Melissa Chrise, aired Friday morning on ‘America’s Newsroom’ as part of a Fox News Channel series titled ‘America Together: LGBTQ+ Pride Month,’ indicating several similar stories will follow over the next 20 days. Fellow Fox News reporter Alicia Acuna praised the ‘excellent piece’ while using the hashtag #Pride2022. … The segment’s most offensive aspect came not from its embrace of infants choosing their own sex, nor from Llenas’s condescending remarks. It occurred when Fox News told its viewers that the decision to transition a preschool-aged child stemmed from his mother’s ‘conservative faith’ in God. Hillary said, ‘For me, it’s just a deep spiritual belief that we believe in God, and He created us the way He wanted us. Well, then yes, He created Ryland just the way [she] is.’ There are numerous reasons why this is false. Affirming that God ‘created us the way He wanted us’ would not necessitate years of hormone treatments, the removal or artificial creation of breasts, eventual sterilization, and the complete surgical reconstruction of the reproductive anatomy. On the contrary, it is precisely the decision to insist on a man-made identity, a ‘modern notion of self,’ which rejects God’s sovereignty as expressed in His created order.”
MOURNING OR FEASTING – “And in that day did the LORD God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: And behold joy and gladness, and slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die. And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the LORD God of hosts” (Isaiah 22:12-13). When Isaiah delivered this prophecy, Judah was in a desperate situation. Assyria was destroying the northern kingdom. The land of Judah was filled with idolatry and moral filthiness. In that dire time, God graciously but forcefully called upon His people to mourn and repent and seek His face, but instead they partied and proclaimed that there was no hope for help or revival. This is exactly what is happening in America and other Western nations today. Politically, morally, and economically, the situation is dire, but instead of calling for repentance and earnest prayer as per 2 Chronicles 7:14 and 1 Timothy 2:1-4, most Bible-believing churches are content with their lukewarm spirituality, their infantile discipleship, their shallow biblicism, their soft preaching, and their entertainment agenda. They blame the moral reprobates, the atheists, and the liberal politicians for the nation’s problems, but it is more likely that the root of the problem lies at their own doorsteps. America doesn’t fear God because 99% of the churches don’t preach the fear of God.
PLANTS SKILLED IN ANIMAL CHEMISTRY – The following is from CreationMoments.com, April 12, 2022: “It occurred to scientists only about 30 years ago that insect pests might be controlled through hormones. If, for example, a hormone that prevented a destructive insect from reaching maturity was applied to a crop, the interrupted lifecycle of the insect might prevent damage to the crop. Yet, the hormone would be a safe, natural substance. However, scientists found that synthesizing such hormones was much more difficult than they thought. Several years into the research, Japanese scientists discovered that certain plants were already making these hormones for self-defense. In fact, many of the plants were manufacturing what they called “super-hormones.” “Super-hormones” are hormones that work in far lower concentrations than the juvenile hormones made by the insects themselves. These juvenile hormones prevent insects from reaching their adult, and usually most destructive, stage. Among those plants that make juvenile insect hormones are ferns and certain evergreens. One result of this research is the development of a mosquito juvenile hormone. This hormone can be time-released from briquettes in swamps, preventing mosquito wigglers from ever maturing to their flying, biting, adult stage. Again, the incredible design and balance that could only have been built into the world by a wise Creator are evident in the creation. How else could plants have gained such skill in animal chemistry? Author: Paul A. Bartz. Ref.: Science Digest, March, 1979, page 67.”
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; Mat. 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” (Rom. 13:11-14). This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list. To SUBSCRIBE, go to www.wayoflife.org/wayoflife/subscribe.html. TO UNSUBSCRIBE OR CHANGE ADDRESSES, go to the very bottom of any email received from us and click “Manage My Subscription.” Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.
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