Friday Church News Notes – October 22, 2021

PRAY FOR THE NATION! PRAY FOR CHURCHES TO WAKE UP! PRAY FOR PREACHERS TO WAKE UP! “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” (Romans 13:11-12).

AMISH IGNORED GOVERNMENT COVID MEASURES (Friday Church News Notes, October 22, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from “Amish Covid,” Full Measure, Oct. 10, 2021: “Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: thousands of Amish families lead lives largely separate from modern America. … [T]here was a whole different approach here in this community when coronavirus broke out than many other places. … After a short shutdown last year, the Amish chose a unique path that led to Covid-19 tearing through at warp speed. … Calvin Lapp, Amish Mennonite, says they weren’t denying coronavirus, they were facing it head on. ‘Working is more important than dying. … to shut down and say that we can’t go to church, we can’t get together with family, we can’t see our old people in the hospital, we got to quit working? It’s going completely against everything that we believe.’ … Steve Nolt, Mennonite scholar, says, ‘For the most part, yeah, by the middle of May, it’s sort of like back to a typical behavior again. I know of some cases in which Amish people refused to go to the hospital, even when they were very sick because if they went there, they wouldn’t be able to have visitors. And it was more important to be sick, even very sick at home and have the ability to have some people around you than to go to the hospital and be isolated.’ Last March, the Lancaster County Amish were reported to be the first community to achieve ‘herd immunity,’ meaning a large part of a population had been infected with Covid-19 and became immune. … One thing’s clear: there’s no evidence of any more deaths among the Amish than in places that shut down tight— some claim there were fewer here. That’s without masking, staying at home, or another important measure. … Nolt says, ‘I think it’s pretty clear that in percentage terms, relatively few [got the vaccine]. … [As for the economy side] we made more money in the last year than we ever did. It was our best year ever.’”

KEN HAM DEBUNKS CLAIM OF NOAH’S ARK DISCOVERY (Friday Church News Notes, October 22, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from “Boat-like Formation … Discovered?” Answers in Genesis, Oct. 7, 2021: “You may have seen exciting headlines like this one: ‘3D scans show boat-like formation matching biblical description of Noah’s Ark, archaeologists say.’ According to reports, researchers using ground-penetrating radar have discovered a boat-shaped formation matching the dimensions of the biblical ark, including ‘parallel lines and right angles,’ on Mount Tendürek in Eastern Turkey. … Well, this isn’t a new find–this is the Durupinar site we’ve written about many times before … It was first postulated as an Ark site back in 1959 and has been disputed (and refuted) ever since, including by Christians and creationists who believe God’s Word … Geologist, and director of our research department, Dr. Andrew Snelling, explains: ‘We do not expect the Ark to have survived and been available to find after 4,350 years. With no mature trees available for Noah and his family to build shelters after they got off the Ark, there is every reason to expect they dismantled the Ark (which they didn’t need anymore) to salvage timber from it. Besides, this claimed Ark site is in a valley and not on a mountain as described by the Genesis account. … We don’t need to find the Ark to accept it as a historical reality. We already have the infallible testimony of the ever-present, all-knowing Creator in His Word. And even if the Ark were found, scoffers would still reject the evidence…’ So, has Noah’s ark been found? We would say no. …[A]as Dr. Snelling said, skeptics ‘would just explain away the evidence, as they do the mountains of evidence for a global flood. The unbelieving heart doesn’t want to believe, ‘though one rose from the dead’ (Lu. 16:31).”

FEEDBACK ON SPIRITUAL SAFETY IN THE FACEBOOK AGE (Friday Church News Notes, October 22, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – “Thank you, brother Cloud, for this amazing e-book ‘Spiritual Safety in the Facebook Age’ that I purchased this summer but only got around to explore it now. It’s so practical and the No.1 e-book for all believers that spend time online; it’s not only for youngsters, adults would benefit just as much, if not even more, from this book, because many adults are also extremely addicted to twitter/instagram. Having experienced twitter for almost a year, I’m more than ready to eliminate it completely. It has only brought negative influence that corrupted my behavior. Twitter has the vilest speech possible online with people harassing others. A perfect platform for people in anon mode to verbally assault others, but it also contains extreme filth in terms of sexual photos and gore. Too many times I was caught by surprise when people posted disturbing images and clips without warning about its content. It was traumatic to see those. Another thing that I’m thankful for is your very direct warning to women, ‘do not talk with promiscuous men.’ This short advice has saved me so much trouble/disappointment. This advice is so powerful because women are easily influenced and manipulated by sweet talk. There’s safety in separating and limiting conversation/interactions with random men. Have a wonderful day and I hope for your ministry to continue.”

DC COMICS RECREATES SUPERMAN AS BISEXUAL (Friday Church News Notes, October 22, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The new leftist, hip, politically-correct iteration of Superman is Jonathan Kent, a bisexual who combats “the climate change crisis and protests against the deportation of refugees.” Jonathan is the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane of the original Superman series. This is a further progression in the promotion of homosexuality by the major comic publishers. Earlier this year, it was announced that the new Robin of Batman and Captain America will have boyfriends. Tom Taylor, series writer for DC Comics, told the New York Times, “Superman’s symbol has always stood for hope, for truth and for justice. Today, that symbol represents something more. Today, more people can see themselves in the most powerful superhero in comics.” In reality, there is no truth or hope in DC Comics. It is pure mythology akin to Greek gods and goddesses. The comic genre, as well as science fiction, present a fantasy world without God, without divine purpose, without the fall and redemption, without heaven and hell, without Jesus Christ who is “the way, the truth, and the life.” It is a world that is attractive to man’s fallen nature, but it is a mere daydream that will come crashing down in the presence of Almighty God.

ELECTRIC BUS FIASCO (Friday Church News Notes, October 22, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from “Magic Bus,” PowerLine, July 17, 2021: “Possibly the dumbest thing any country could do from an energy standpoint is to promote widespread use of electric vehicles, while simultaneously mandating reliance on wind and solar energy, which work less than half the time. Moreover, governments’ politically-motivated reliance on electric vehicles like buses has been a disaster. This is a typical ‘green’ fiasco: ‘More than two dozen electric Proterra buses first unveiled by the city of Philadelphia in 2016 are already out of operation, according to a WHYY investigation. The entire fleet of Proterra buses was removed from the roads by SEPTA, the city’s transit authority, in February 2020 due to both structural and logistical problems–the weight of the powerful battery was cracking the vehicles’ chassis, and the battery life was insufficient for the city’s bus routes. … The city paid $24 million for the 25 new Proterra buses, subsidized in part by a $2.6 million federal grant.’ There is no sane reason for any government to buy, let alone subsidize, these vehicles. It is crony corruption, pure and simple. ‘Proterra, which had Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on its board of directors when Philadelphia pulled the buses off the streets last year.’ … It would help, I suppose, if they actually worked. But practicality is optional if you are ‘green.’ Enormous amounts of money are being made at the expense of taxpayers and ratepayers. … Battery capacity is a huge issue with electric vehicles: ‘Philadelphia placed the Proterra buses in areas where it thought they could succeed but quickly learned it was mistaken. Two pilot routes selected in South Philadelphia that were relatively short and flat compared with others in the city were too much for the electric buses. Even those routes needed buses to pull around 100 miles each day, while the Proterras were averaging just 30 to 50 miles per charge,’ WHYY reporter Ryan Briggs wrote.”

THE BOTTOMLESS SUITCASE (Friday Church News Notes, October 22, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is from CreationMoments.com, Sept. 8, 2021: “It was first discovered in 1855, but many scientists debated its existence for another 50 years. Once its existence was finally proven to everyone’s satisfaction, it was another 50 years before science had any tools to begin studying it. Finally, in the late 1980s, scientists began to learn a little about the secrets of one of the tiniest, yet most amazing structures in the body. At the back of the eye, between the deepest layer of the retina and the cells beneath it, lies a tiny moat made up of about 10 drops of a mysterious fluid. The entire moat is thinner than a sheet of cellophane. It seems that the clear fluid in the moat serves the surrounding light-sensing tissues of the eye in place of blood, bringing in nutrients and carrying away waste. It also transports light-sensitive chemicals needed by the light-detecting cells in the eye. In addition, it seems to glue the retina in place. More than that, the moat is rich in a growth factor. This fact makes scientists believe that the gel may also be important to repairing injuries to the retina, keeping the cells of the retina young and active, as well as helping in the growth of new cells. As one researcher said, the more they study this tiny structure, the more unexpected abilities they find–something like a bottomless suitcase. Charles Darwin, who didn’t even know about the moat, was right when he said that it was impossible to believe that natural selection could have produced the eye. Author: Paul A. Bartz. Ref: Weiss, P.L. 1990, ‘Eye diving,’ Science News, v. 138, Sept. 15. p. 170.”

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).

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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. IS 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