October 15, 2021 – Volume 22, Issue 42 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, though this does not imply an endorsement.
| REPORT FINDS THAT 3,000 PEDOPHILES HAVE WORKED IN THE FRENCH CATHOLIC CHURCH (Friday Church News Notes, October 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from “Up to 3,200 Pedophiles,” CNN, Oct. 3, 2021: “Between 2,900 and 3,200 pedophile clergymen have worked in the French Catholic Church since the 1950s, the president of an independent commission on sexual abuse told CNN Sunday. … The report aims to establish the facts and provide an understanding of what happened in order to prevent ‘such tragedies’ from taking place in the future. But the report does not aim to establish ‘personal responsibility,’ according to the commission’s website. The commission–made up of 21 people–was set up in 2018 by the French Catholic Church hierarchy and religious institutes after abuse scandals came to light. … The archives of dioceses and religious institutions were accessible to the commission. Sauvé said creating the commission was an important stepping stone towards addressing ‘this secret and hideous side of our society’ and that an ‘enormous amount of work’ had gone into building the report over the last 32 months. … Olivier Savignac, who runs a victims group called Parler and Revivre, said the release of the report would be like ‘a cyclone, a tsunami, a hurricane. … There has always been collusion between the church in France and the Vatican to protect perpetrators of abuse. The church has been too moderate in following the word of God and taking care of the smallest and the weakest.’” CANADA TRIBUNAL RULES THAT USING “WRONG” PRONOUNS VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS (Friday Church News Notes, October 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from “Canadian Tribunal,” Christian Post, Oct. 5, 2021: “A Canadian human rights tribunal has ruled that a restaurant wrongfully fired an employee who demanded that the business use nonbinary pronouns, awarding the ex-employee $30,000. The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal released a ruling last week in favor of Jessie Nelson, a former employee of Buono Osteria who prefers the pronouns of they/them. At issue was the restaurant using female pronouns for Nelson, with the business firing her and claiming that she had become too ‘militant’ in the demand to be identified as nonbinary. Tribunal Member Devyn Cousineau authored the opinion, concluding that the refusal to use Nelson’s preferred pronouns ‘amounted to discrimination.’ … Tanner Hnidey, a Christian writer from Alberta, penned a column on his website denouncing the ruling as a rejection of objective truth and a disturbing restriction on free speech. ‘Now it’s one thing for a person to think they are a different gender than they actually are. It’s one thing for a man to believe he’s plural when he’s singular in reality,’ wrote Hnidey. ‘It’s quite another thing to force us to believe what another believes; coercing us to say what others want us to say. And that’s precisely what the BC Human Rights Tribunal ruled.’” BREAKDOWN OF COVID DEATHS IN THE U.S. BY AGE (Friday Church News Notes, October 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), very few people under age 19 have died of Covid. Of the total deaths attributed to Covid (700,951), 181 were age 0-4 and 406 were 5-18, for a total of 587 deaths in the 0-18 age category (or .08% of the total) (“Provisional Covid-19 Deaths,” data.cdc.gov, Oct. 6, 2021). CDC does not list comorbidities for children, so it is impossible to know whether they died of Covid alone or of cancer, heart or kidney disease, etc., exacerbated by Covid, but of the pediatric deaths by influenza in the 2019-2020 season, 43% had a pre-existing medical condition (“2019-20 Season’s Pediatric Flu Deaths,” CDC, Aug. 21, 2020). More than half of the deaths attributed to Covid by the CDC were of the elderly 75 and over (378,496 or 54%). The U.S. life expectancy is about 78 years old. CHINA RATTLING SABER AT TAIWAN (Friday Church News Notes, October 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from “Could Taiwan defend itself against Chinese invasion?” London Times, Oct. 8, 2021: “The incursion of 150 Chinese fighter aircraft and bombers inside Taiwan’s air defence identification zone over four days this week was a test of Beijing’s war plan for invading the island, one of America’s authorities on Chinese and Taiwanese security said. ‘This wasn’t about China retaliating for something the West had done, such as the exercise involving American and British aircraft carriers off the Philippines. It’s more likely to have been a dry run for testing their ability to execute their war plans,’ said Ian Easton. The first physical sign of an invasion would be the lights going out. A cyberattack, hitting every power station to cripple Taiwan’s ability to defend itself, would lead the way to a full-scale Chinese air, airborne, amphibious and ballistic missile assault that would include ‘decapitation’ missions to neutralise leadership figures. ‘The [People’s Liberation Army’s] doctrine calls for emphasising operations in the speed domains–space, cyberspace, the air and the electromagnetic–and quick victory,’ Andrew Krepinevich, an American defence policy analyst and former Pentagon official, said. ‘If the PLA acts according to its doctrine, we would likely see a massive cyberattack supported by large-scale jamming and other forms of electronic warfare on the island to disable its critical infrastructure and military command links.’” “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars” (Matthew 24:5). NORTH CAROLINA LT. GOVERNOR CALLS HOMOSEXUALITY “FILTH” (Friday Church News Notes, October 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – In a sermon in June at Asbury Baptist Church, Seagrove, NC, Mark Robinson, North Carolina Lt. Governor, condemned the immoral social engineering and Marxism that is permeating America’s public schools. He said, “They don’t want you to have a choice where they go to school. Then when they get there, what do they teach them? They teach them a bunch of stuff about how to hate America. They teach them that they are racists. They teach them a bunch of stuff about transgenderism and homosexuality. I say this now, and I’ve been saying it, and I don’t care who likes it. Those issues have no place in a school. There’s no reason why anybody anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth. … Black lives do not matter to Black Lives Matter. You know how I know that? Because if they did, you know where they would be instead of being at the police station? They would be down there at the gang hangout, at the drug dealer’s house burning that down. They’d be down at the abortion clinic burning that down if Black lives really mattered.” Not surprisingly, there have been loud protests against Robinson’s statements and calls for his resignation. Robinson was elected to office in November 2020 and is the first black Republican elected to a major office in that state since the late 1800s when the Democrats robbed black people of the right to vote by crookedness and KKK violence and installed Jim Crow laws. FRANKS STOP THE MUSLIM ADVANCE INTO EUROPE (Friday Church News Notes, October 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – This week, in AD 732, Charles Martel, ruler of the Franks, stopped the Muslim advance in western Europe. Francia consisted of subkingdoms over which Martel had gained nominal control. The historian Isidore said he was “a mighty warrior from his youth and trained in all the occasions of arms.” In 732, Muslim armies occupying Spain entered Francia under the leadership of Caliph Abdul Rahman, who “promised to stable their horses in St. Peter’s at Rome” (Trifkovic, The Sword of the Prophet, p. 96). As they made their way north, the Muslims “burned churches and slaughtered the population” (Susan Bauer, The History of the Medieval World). Martel joined forces with Odo of Aquitaine and with 30,000 men they defeated an invading army of 80,000 or more Muslims at the Battle of Tours. The Muslims underestimated their enemy. Sixteen years earlier, Musa, the first caliph, said the Franks are “brave and impetuous in the attack, but cowardly and craven in the event of defeat; never has a company from my army been beaten” (Raymond Ibrahim, “The Battle of Tours,” National Review, Oct. 12, 2013). But when the Muslims assaulted in “wild headlong charges,” the Franks did not panic but held their phalanx position. “[S]taying as motionless as a wall, they were like a belt of ice frozen together, and not to be dissolved, as they slew the Arab with the sword.” The Franks used their shields and heavy armor to form a wall of protection. This discipline in battle is why the Roman legions had been successful on the same terrain centuries earlier. After Caliph Rahman was killed, his army retreated back over the Pyrenees mountains, destroying and looting as they went. This was a major turning point in history, halting the advance of Islam into western Europe. Fourteen years earlier, the Muslims had been defeated in their attempt to destroy Constantinople, thus being stopped from conquering Europe from the east. It was the Battle of Tours that earned Charles his nickname Martel or Hammer. In 736, Charles defeated a large Muslim invasion force that came by sea and landed in Narbonne. This was probably the first time that heavy armored cavalry with stirrups were used in Europe. It was the dawn of the age of the knights. CHRIST SINGING IN THE KINGDOM (Friday Church News Notes, October 15, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The Lord Jesus Christ will sing in the congregation in the kingdom. “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee” (Heb. 2:12). This is quoted from Psalm 22:22, a prominent Messianic prophecy. Verse 22 was fulfilled in Christ’s incarnation when He sang with His little flock. “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives” (Mt. 26:30), and it will be fulfilled in the kingdom when Christ reigns from Mt. Zion. Christ is the Creator of the human voice. He is the Creator of singing. God made man a musical creature. How wonderful it will be to hear the Singer of singers sing glorious heavenly melodies and harmonies! This world’s best singers only provide a bare glimpse into glory. 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). |