Friday Church News Notes

December 10, 2021

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.

129 NATIONS VOTE IN FAVOR OF U.N. RESOLUTION CALLING THE TEMPLE MOUNT “HARAM AL-SHARIF” (Friday Church News Notes, December 10, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – God gave the Holy Land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the United Nations has no legitimate vote in the matter. God laughs at man’s arrogance. The following is excerpted from “U.N. Passes Controversial Resolution,” Christian Headlines, Dec. 2, 2021: “The United Nations passed a controversial resolution Wednesday that criticizes Israel and calls the Temple Mount only by its Muslim name, Haram al‑Sharif. The resolution passed easily, 129-11, although Israel, the United States, Canada and Australia all opposed it. The Temple Mount is the site of the first temple that was built by Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonians, and of the second temple that was destroyed by the Romans. It was this second temple that Jesus visited. The Western Wall, where Jews pray, is part of the Temple Mount structure. The Temple Mount also is considered holy within Islam. The resolution says, ‘any actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem are illegal.’ Significantly, the resolution does not contain the phrase ‘Temple Mount’ but instead refers to it as Haram al-Sharif–the Muslim term for the site.” The Bible says, “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision” (Psalm 2:1-4).

MACARTHUR’S HYMNAL COMMITTED TO CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP (Friday Church News Notes, December 10, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – Hymns of Grace, published by John MacArthur’s The Master’s Seminary, is committed to contemporary worship. The latest edition has 74 titles by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. While the Getty-Townend lyrics are more theologically serious than many of the contemporary worship songs, Getty-Townend are an attractive bridge to rock & roll and every theological heresy in the “broader church.” While their printed music is fairly conservative in style, the Gettys rock out in their concerts. There are no musical boundaries. The Gettys are representative of evangelicalism today. At the heart of modern evangelicalism is “a renunciation of separatism,” as Harold Ockenga stated it in the 1940s. They follow the example of Billy Graham who was called “Mr. Facing Two Ways.” The Gettys say they love sound doctrine, but they don’t separate from heresy. They don’t draw clear lines as the Bible requires. They don’t speak out against error as the Bible demands. They keep everything on a positive note. Consider the Gettys’ close association with Stuart Townend. Their music company is GTM (Getty Townend Music). Townend is charismatic in theology. He leads worship at the Church of Christ the King, a New Frontiers church in Brighton, England. New Frontiers is a network of charismatic churches that believes in modern apostles and prophets. Townend believes worshipers can hear a “full blown thus saith the Lord prophecy” during worship times. The Gettys’ close association with Townend proves that they accept these things at some level. “How can two walk together except they be agreed”? (Amos 3:3). In July 2012, the Gettys and Townend joined Roman Catholic Matt Maher on NewSongCafe to promote ecumenical unity. They played and discussed the Getty/Townend song “The Power of the Cross.” Yet Rome has destroyed the power of the cross with its sacramentalism! Maher calls himself a “musical missionary” to unite Protestants and Catholics (Christianity Today, Oct. 27, 2009). He believes the consecrated wafer of the mass is Jesus. He prays to Mary and believes that she assists in salvation. His church, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Tempe, Arizona, is named in honor of the Catholic Mary who is the supposed Queen of Heaven. The Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is alleged to guarantee Mary’s help in salvation, which is a gross heresy. “Mary” supposedly appeared to Simon Stock in the 14th century and promised that those who die wearing the Brown Scapular will be saved. Maher’s church has a sign saying, “Mary, Mother of Life, Pray for Us.” Maher’s wife is Methodist and they are raising their son in both “churches.” This is the one-world church! Maher sings “Lord, I Need You,” but what Lord? Keith Getty also collaborated with Roman Catholic Margaret Becker in the song “Jesus Draw Me Ever Nearer.” This is the ecumenical world of the Gettys. They are fairly conservative in their own theology (Reformed) and lives, but they have no boundaries. Therefore, any bridge that Bible-believing churches build to the Gettys is a bridge to heretics such as C.S. Lewis and Bono, to the Roman Catholic Church, to the charismatic movement, and to the filthy world of secular rock. Pastors who are allowing bridges to be built from their churches to these people will answer to God for the souls that cross such bridges to a most dangerous spiritual world.

APOLOGETICS VIDEO PRESENTATIONS (Friday Church News Notes, December 10, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – We would like to recommend two apologetics videos made by Brian Snider, a longtime friend and helper of our ministry. More Than Dirt, which was made by Brian and Jonathan Cloud, explains how inanimate materials could never create anything intelligent. The video examines a number of things required for anything complicated to be created. They include memory, motivation, engineering, planning, language and design among others. This video was primarily made with a high school and college age audience in mind and could be used in homes, schools, chapels, etc. The second video, The Heavens Declare, demonstrates that the universe operates like ‘clockwork’ and features statements by Brian Cox of the BBC, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Carl Sagan proving that science has no answers for the incredible perfection of the universe. Clocks do not build themselves and neither do finely tuned universes. Each of these videos can be downloaded from Vimeo through Brian’s website: https://morethandirtmovie.com/

TINY GOLD MICRO-BIBLE FOUND IN ENGLAND (Friday Church News Notes, December 10, 2021, www.wayoflife.orgfbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from “600-Year-Old Gold ‘Micro-Bible,’” Watch Jerusalem, Nov. 13, 2021: “News broke early this month of a once-in-a-lifetime dream discovery for a metal detectorist in northern England: a centuries-old miniature Bible pendant, made of pure gold, and believed by researchers to have belonged to a relative of King Richard iii. … The artifact is currently being assessed by the Yorkshire Museum. It has been noted for its similarity in artistic style to the Middleham Jewel, an item associated with King Richard iii of England (1452–1485), and the similar engraving style has led to speculation it was created by the same artist. Further, the gold Bible was found on land near property owned by the king. Julian Evan-Hart, editor of Treasure Hunting magazine and an expert in rare treasure items, stated: ‘[S]umptuary law [of the 13th to 15th centuries] made it illegal for anyone other than the nobility to carry gold. Automatically, then, it would have been the possession of someone highly notable such as a member of royalty.’ The figures depicted on the ‘pages’ are not actually personalities of either the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament; instead, they depict St. Leonard and St. Margaret, patron saints of childbirth. Ergo, the researchers believe that the pendant belonged to a pregnant relative of the king, perhaps specifically the king’s wife Anne Neville; her mother, Cecily Neville; or sister-in-law Anne Beauchamp. ‘Whoever had it commissioned must have been incredibly wealthy,’ said Mrs. Bailey [the discoverer]. The item weighs 5 grams, and is either 22 carat or 24 carat gold. The possession of pregnancy charms at this time can be viewed in the context of a devoutly Catholic England, with a high percentage of women dying in pregnancy or from complications thereafter.”

THE BIBLE THE GREATEST LIBRARY (Friday Church News Notes, December 10, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from J. Sidlow Baxter’s Explore the Book: “Our Bible is both a book and a library. … This library must not be measured merely by number of words, but by its depth of truth, by its breadth and fulness, by its superiority and finality. The Bible may seem very small against the imposing shelves of many a large library, yet with this one volume in our hand we may stand within the largest library on earth and truthfully say that all the tens of thousands of books therein collected cannot teach us more about the fundamental realities of the universe and of human life than we learn in these Scriptures. To struggle through hundreds of the profoundest and most erudite of other books, whether ancient or modern, and yet remain ignorant of this book, is infinite deprivation; whereas to know no other volume but this is to be made wise unto salvation, and to be furnished with a knowledge of fundamental realities which comes to us stamped with Divine certainty.”

MICROSCOPIC ENGINEERS (Friday Church News Notes, December 10, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is from creationmoments.com, March 22, 2021: “There are a number of species of bacteria that possess tiny chains of crystal particles called magnetosomes. Magnetosomes, as the name suggests, have iron in them to help the bacteria sense magnetic fields for navigation. They can also help the bacteria find food. These bacteria live in salty, sulfurous waters and sediments. Unlike most bacteria that have magnetosomes, the three species that prefer sulfurous waters don’t make their tiny compasses out of iron oxide. Rather, they combine iron and sulfur to make a crystal called greigite. Now, it would seem astonishing enough to find bacteria that build their own compasses for navigation, but scientists had even more surprises coming as they learned about these three new species. They discovered that each of the species makes its own unique crystalline form of greigite. The bacteria seem to be able to build the crystals, molecule by molecule, at the normal temperatures and other conditions at which life exists. Scientists would like to know how these bacteria do this. Modern science can only make crystals under searing hot temperatures and other conditions that would kill anything alive. These amazing abilities were not designed and built by mutations and accidents. They show that our Creator provides for the needs of all His creatures–even bacteria–and that He does so with unlimited creativity. Author: Paul A. Bartz. Ref: ‘Crystal growers seek bacterial know-how,’ Science News, v. 138, 1990 p. 382.”

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).