About Marsha West

Marsha West is the owner and managing editor of Christian Research Network, Apprising Ministries (the late Ken Silva’s blog) and On Solid Rock Resources. She is also co-founder of Berean Research. For two decades Marsha was the owner and managing editor of Email Brigade website as well as the EMB News Report, a bi-weekly email report for conservative people of faith. For many years Marsha was a regular contributor to several blogs including CRN, RenewAmerica, News With Views and Web Commantary as well as popular websites she no longer endorses: American Family Association, Worldview Weekend, Stand Up For The Truth, The Christian Post and Christian Headlines. Although Marsha still blogs, her primary focus is CRN. Marsha also writes Research Papers (White Papers) on various topics that are published on CRN, Berean Research and On Solid Rock Resources. Visit Marsha’s other sites: On Solid Rock Resources https://www.onsolidrockresources.com/ Apprising Ministries http://apprising.org Marsha’s RenewAmerica Column http://renewamerica.com/columns/mwest Marsha’s Facebook Page http://facebook.com/marsha.west.77

Why Do We Continue to Follow Nonsensical COVID Rules?

The political, social, and economic devastation we are suffering is not caused by a virus “with a survival rate of well over 99%,” but by a political and financial class—international oligarchs—seeking absolute power via “a weaponized virus from China.” But we go along with it, dutifully obeying the mandates, as if we were characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream bewitched by fairies and spells. “Shall we their fond pageant see? Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

(David Solway – PJ Media) The only demonstrable result of government-imposed COVID-19 lockdowns has been the destruction of national economies, the crippling of domestic and cultural life, the suffering and death of multitudes due to untreated prior medical conditions, and the drastic rise in suicide rates…. Continue reading

Interim Report Finds Ravi Zacharias ‘Engaged in Sexual Misconduct Over Many Years’

“RZIM leader Carson Weitnauer published a scathing letter, accusing RZIM’s “secretive board and senior leaders” of misleading the staff and public.” 

(Julie Roys – The Roys Report)  The firm hired by RZIM to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct by Ravi Zacharias has released an interim report, finding “credible evidence” that Zacharias “engaged in  sexual misconduct over many years.” Continue reading

Emails obtained by FBI detail how Hunter Biden landed Ukrainian gas gig in 2014

“In the April 13, 2014 email to Archer, Hunter Biden said that he and his partner should portray Joe Biden’s visit to Ukraine as part of their consulting deliverables and to “ask for a long term agreement and across the board participation” in Burisma’s business. Joe Biden’s trip to Ukraine had been announced just a day earlier.”

(John Solomon – Just the News)  In the weeks before he landed a deal with a Ukrainian gas company in 2014, Hunter Biden strategized with his business partner on how to leverage an upcoming official trip to Kiev by his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, to clinch the lucrative arrangement, according to emails obtained a year ago by the FBI. Continue reading

Lawmakers Perpetuating Lockdowns by Handing Money to States with ‘Arbitrary and Unscientific’ Rules

The Kentucky Republican further explained the country’s fiscal situation, noting the nation brought in $3.3 trillion last year and spent $6.6 trillion. The deficit was a “record-busting $3.3 trillion,” he said, explaining there is no more coronavirus bailout money…”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) blasted the $2.3 trillion government spending bill — $900 billion of which is dedicated to coronavirus relief — criticizing Republicans for voting to print money with impunity. He warned Congress is essentially perpetuating lockdowns by handing money to states with leaders implementing rules that are “arbitrary and unscientific.” Continue reading

If Restaurants Really Spread COVID, This CEO of a Nationwide Chain Would Know. He Says It’s Not Happening.

“Marsden had just shelled out $80,000 to create the outdoor dining space which she was now forced to close. It was the one last way she’d be able to keep her ten-year-old business afloat.”

(Brian Preston – PJ Media) Waffle Houses are little outposts of Americana. They’re near highways and adjacent to hotels and truck stops all over the nation. They’re always open, always welcoming, and they always have bacon. I probably should’ve led with that.

Their CEO, Walter Ehmer, has a solid handle on whether restaurants under his watch, or really under just about any watch, spread COVID. He says they don’t. Continue reading

Ravi Zacharias Ministries (RZIM) Leader & Speakers Denounce Handling of Scandals; Two Call for New Board

Gilman also tweeted support for Lori Anne Thompson, a Canadian woman who alleged Zacharias groomed her and then exploited her by requesting nude photos and phone sex. Gilman called Thompson “courageous” and “credible” and said she “deserves to be thanked for . . . refusing to be silenced…

(Julie Roys – The Roys Report)  More employees at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) are publicly denouncing the leaders and board of the ministry for their handling of scandals involving founder, Ravi Zacharias. Two are calling for a new board. Continue reading

The Sovietization of California

“The left’s claim to “follow the science” is a lie. The left does not follow science; it follows scientists it agrees with and dismisses all other scientists as “anti-science.”  Science does not say that eating inside a restaurant at least six feet from other diners, let alone outside a restaurant, is potentially fatal, but eating inside an airplane inches from strangers is safe.”

(Dennis Prager – PJ Media)  I am writing this column upon returning home to California after five days in Florida. For the first time since my first trip to Los Angeles in 1974 and moving there two years later, I dreaded going to California. Continue reading

New Study Shows Mask Mandates Had Zero Effect in Florida or Nationwide, But the Lie Continues

“If masks did even close to as advertised, one would expect to see the counties that went maskless to be absolute dumpster fires next to the counties that implemented mandates, right? At the very least, the numbers should favor the masked areas by more than a percentage point or two. So, how did it go? Yep, it was the Mask Cult’s worse nightmare:”

(Scott Morefield – Townhall)  Obviously, no amount of evidence, data, trends, facts, studies, or science will ever convince most ‘public health officials’ that masks aren’t doing squat to stop the spread of COVID-19. Cases and deaths continue to spike (yes, many of these are super-sensitive PCR test-driven numbers, but still) despite the fact that well over 90% of the country are complying with their absurd mandates…. Continue reading

Rand Paul: Masks ‘Are All About Submission’

“If Fauci has his way, you’ll never give up on the mask. It’s all about submission. They want you to submit to their will, whether there’s any science. In fact, like on schools, I’ve been telling Fauci for six months, the evidence is that if you open schools, you will not get a surge. The whole world accepts it, except for Dr. Fauci. He finally accepted it last week, six months after I started showing him the evidence.”

(Robert Kraycik – Breitbart) Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told Breitbart News on Saturday that mask mandates — ostensibly issued for public health purposes — “are all about submission,” offering his remarks in an interview with Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit in West Palm Beach, FL.

Partial transcript below: Continue reading

Billionaire linked to Chinese Communist Party has given extensively to Americans including to Evangelical Christians

The T.H. Chan School of Public Health of Harvard is a leading proponent of lockdowns and identity politics in healthcare. Also, it recently promoted the absurd claim that 2+2=5.

(Capstone Report)  A billionaire linked to the Chinese Communist Party and a sect condemned as heretical by Evangelical Christians has given extensively to influential Evangelical Christians like the Christian Research Institute.

As early as 2009, tax records show the Christian Research Institute (CRI) received a $200,000 grant from the Morningside Foundation. CRI received another grant worth $425,000 in 2010. Morningside Foundation is a charitable organization of Ronnie Chan and his brother Gerald Chan. Continue reading

Obama’s Latest Autobiography Rewrites Israeli History to Make You Hate the Jewish State

“Obama’s use of the term “militias” to describe the Israel Defense Forces is doubtless chosen for its resonance with the right-wing, racist, white supremacist militias that American Leftists hysterically imagine to be stalking the land.”

(Robert Spencer – PJ Media) Whatever the merits or lack thereof of Barack Obama’s presidency, he certainly leads all other presidents in the number of autobiographies he has written, with three compared to a number of his peers who are tied at one. However, his latest one, A Promised Land, is more than just an update on the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of the Most Undeservedly Celebrated Man on the Planet; it’s a full-on apologia for his policies as president, and a program for his impending third term, aka the Biden administration. [emphasis added] Continue reading

Google confirms it notifies children if parents are monitoring their accounts

(Daniel Payne – Just the News)  Google informs children when their parents are monitoring their account activity, the tech giant confirmed this month, with the company claiming that doing so is a way of balancing the interests of both parents and children.

Google’s child-notification policies received attention when film director Robby Starbuck claimed on Twitter that his 7-year-old child had received a warning from Google that his account was being monitored. Continue reading

$78.6 Million in Government Guaranteed Loans Given to Televangelists

“Trinity Foundation compiled a spreadsheet [there’s a link in the article on the site] of televangelists, churches, religious broadcasters and parachurch organizations receiving PPP loans, along with notes about various organizations’ spending practices, jet ownership and scandals.”

(Trinity Foundation)  For months, Trinity Foundation has investigated televangelists receiving Paycheck Protection Program forgivable loans. Our findings: Continue reading

China, Spies, And Sexual Harassment: 3 Bombshell Stories The Legacy Media Are Hiding From You

(Ian Haworth – Daily Wire)  In the weeks leading up to November 3rd’s election, one unfortunate truth became abundantly clear: the legacy media are the Democratic party’s propaganda wing. To the Left — and some in the middle — this will sound like lazy conservative hyperbole, where the media is presented as the “enemy of the people,” pushers of “fake news.”

The truth is, however, that the “good old days” of subtle subjectivity or mild bias in the field of journalism are long gone. Instead, the legacy media have ushered in a new age of blatant and shameless narrative control with the expressed goal of achieving partisan political objectives. Continue reading

Trump Taps Conservative Giants to Lead 1776 Commission

The president signed the executive order creating the commission on September 17, Constitution Day. He hailed the Constitution as “the fulfillment of a thousand years of Western civilization. No political document has done more to advance the human condition or propel the engine of progress. A radical movement is attempting to demolish this treasured inheritance. We can’t let that happen.”

(Tyler O’Neil – PJ Media)  On Friday, President Donald Trump nominated 18 conservative leaders to serve on the “1776 Commission” to promote American patriotism in education, countering the Marxist critical race theory promoted in The New York Times‘ “1619 Project.”…. Continue reading

Hillsong Church rife with ‘inappropriate’ sex, members claimed

The group claimed in the letter that there are only “vague or absent sexual harassment/sexual assault” policies at the church, and that the organization fosters a “culture of silence and fear.”

(Mark Siegler – Page Six)  Hillsong staffers used the church like a seedy dating service, “sleeping around” with volunteers and asking them to send nude pictures — according to a group of volunteers who allegedly complained about the situation. Continue reading

New Peter Strzok Texts Undermine Official Narrative on Start of ‘Russia Collusion’ Investigation

“Critics of the FBI have long suspected that the investigations began earlier. The Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee hired opposition research firm Fusion GPS in April 2016 to investigate Trump’s supposed Russia ties.”

(Joel Pollack – Breitbart) Newly-released texts from former FBI agent Peter Strzok suggest that the Obama administration’s investigation of then-candidate Donald Trump for supposed “Russia collusion” began earlier than the official government narrative has acknowledged. Continue reading

Who Believes in Science, Now? Medical Journal Claims Biological Sex Has ‘No Clinical Utility’

“Removing or altering biological sex from identifying documents does not just cause confusion. In at least one case, it cost a life. Last May, The New England Journal of Medicine published a harrowing story about a “transgender man” who went to the hospital with abdominal pains. As it turns out, the “man” was really a pregnant woman, and she was going into labor. The woman’s misleading documents led the hospital to make a grievous error, and her child died as a result.”

(Tyler O’Neil – PJ Media)  Just how deeply has transgender activism penetrated the medical field? This month, a top medical journal published an article claiming that sex designations on birth certificates do more harm than good. In fact, the article’s abstract claims that biological sex on a birth certificate has “no clinical utility,” even though men and women have different biochemical makeups and therefore many drugs affect the sexes differently. Continue reading

Suspicious? Dominion warned memory cards might need to be prematurely removed from voting machines

Due to vote counting limits, at least 36 memory cards in voter tabulators had to be prematurely removed, raising new concerns about chain of custody and belatedly discovered memory cards.

(Just the News)  Dominion Voting Systems issued a warning to Georgia officials prior to the 2020 election that memory cards might need to be removed from vote tabulation machines prior to the end of the election to deal with a limitation in its system, according to records obtained by Just the News through an open-records request. Continue reading

Carl Lentz’s Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound and his ‘Green Room Girls’

“Volunteers known as ‘green-room girls’ were tasked with keeping Lentz’s demands met. Four current and former Hillsong members said that while the pastor’s green room was stocked with snacks and hot meals, there were few provisions provided for volunteers who worked all day on Sundays.”

(Protestia)  Business Insider released a long-form article detailing accusations of racism, exploitation, and discrimination at Hillsong NYC and Hillsong Boston. Some of it is new and interesting, with much of the drama being self-inflicted due to their lack of clarity on homosexuality, with the article detailing how lesbians and bisexuals felt like second class citizens with little room for advancement within the church. Continue reading

Biden Should Beware of Nemesis

“Given the Democrats’ Faustian bargain with their leftmost faction, destructive rumors about Biden’s faculties or his family’s financial escapades will more likely come from his own party’s left wing, eager for a Harris presidency, rather than from the Republican opposition.”

(Victor Davis Hanson – Townhall)  Joe Biden will be our next president. But he will face Nemesis in a way that few other presidents have ever encountered the cruel Greek god. Biden’s hubris and that of the media/Democratic Party fusion almost guarantee such divine retribution. Continue reading

New Documents Show Hunter Biden Requesting $10 Million From Chinese On Behalf Of ‘Entire Biden Family’

(Tristin Justice – The Federalist)  New documents reported by Fox News Wednesday offer more details into a $10 million deal outlined between Hunter Biden and Chinese businessmen with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party, adding fuel to ongoing scandals plaguing President-elect Joe Biden, big tech, and big media.

According to correspondence obtained by Fox, Hunter Biden reportedly offered his “best wishes from the entire Biden family” to CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming in 2017 and urged the Chinese business partner with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party to wire over $10 million to “properly fund and operate” a joint Biden venture. Continue reading

Does the Bible actually teach that we’re not to judge others?

By Marsha West

Some professing Christians become infuriated when those of us in a discernment ministry has the chutzpah to report on a false teacher by name, as if naming names is unbiblical.  High-profile leaders and bloggers who mention heretics by name are often accused of demonizing or judging them. 

Invariably someone will cite Matthew 18:15-17:

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 

Whenever I write about a false teacher, I’m frequently asked if I’ve gone privately to that person in an effort to correct him or her.  My response is “Of course not!”  Why?  For the reason that Christian celebrities are generally inaccessible.  Many are, in fact, akin to Hollywood celebs.  No doubt some of them rationalize that their popularity affords them certain privileges, one of which is to choose not to have a dialogue with anyone who “attacks” them.

Yet the Bible says that those who are in sin (false teaching is sin) must be admonished.  In 3 John 1:9 the Apostle John calls out Diotrephes and promises to publicly correct him upon his return; we see in Galatians 2:11-14 Paul standing up to the highly esteemed Apostle Peter!   He chastised Peter for fearing false teachers. What resulted from Peter’s “fear of man”?:

And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.  But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, ‘If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?’ (bold added)

In context, Matthew 18 addresses how Church leadership is to discipline a brother or sister who have fallen into sin and provides the proper steps to take before excommunicating an unrepentant sinner.  First, we are to go to him privately. If he refuses to repent, we must go to him a second time along with two or more witnesses.  If he remains unrepentant, the pastor must go before the church and proclaim his sin.  Ouch!

It is essential for Church elders to be involved in the process.

Likewise, Matthew 18 does not apply to doctrinal issues, nor does it apply to Christians who have put their work before the world.  Those who go public are fair game. Anyone in the public eye will get scrutinized, even unfairly criticized, for their work. Consequently, Christians who cannot stand the heat should not go into the kitchen.

Making A Judgment 

Is it biblical for a Christian to judge another Christians teaching or their actions?  I’ll get to what the Bible teaches on this in a moment. But first, we are never to make a judgment without having as many of the facts as it is humanly possible to obtain. As well, we are not to judge self-righteously. Never judge a person’s heart or motives because you have no way of knowing for sure what is driving either of these. Moreover, it is always a good idea to examine your own motives. Is there a just cause for judging someone? Do you really want what is best for him or her? Are you driven by anger? Are you getting even? Are you jealous of the person?  Your motive must be that you want what is best for him or her.  Report only the facts. No gossip. No slander. No twisting his or her words.

In the work I do I often name names. As I previously indicated, when I expose a false teacher, invariably someone will call me judgmental. Whenever that happens, I respond to them with Scripture:

The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’  But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:15-16)

What?  You mean Christians have the mind of Christ?  Those who are regenerate do. To clarify this difficult concept, I’ll point you to Bible expositor Matthew Henry.  He writes: 

The apostles were not guided by worldly principles. They had the revelation of these things from the Spirit of God, and the saving impression of them from the same Spirit. These things they declared in plain, simple language, taught by the Holy Spirit, totally different from the affected oratory or enticing words of man’s wisdom. The natural man, the wise man of the world, receives not the things of the Spirit of God. The pride of carnal reasoning is really as much opposed to spirituality, as the basest sensuality. The sanctified mind discerns the real beauties of holiness, but the power of discerning and judging about common and natural things is not lost. But the carnal man is a stranger to the principles, and pleasures, and actings of the Divine life. The spiritual man only, is the person to whom God gives the knowledge of his will. … And the apostles were enabled by his Spirit to make known his mind. In the Holy Scriptures, the mind of Christ, and the mind of God in Christ, are fully made known to us. It is the great privilege of Christians, that they have the mind of Christ revealed to them by his Spirit. They experience his sanctifying power in their hearts, and bring forth good fruits in their lives. (bold added — Source)

In short, it is the spiritual man (regenerate) who possesses the mind of Christ and has received the knowledge of His will which is laid out for us in Scripture.  Therefore, the believer who is truly walking with the Lord— in His will—has been given the authority to judge words and actions, especially when what’s being taught is unbiblical.

How do we know when someone’s teaching is unbiblical?  We are to test his or her teaching against the Word of God. If their teaching doesn’t line up with what’s in the Bible, then it’s not from God. And if a certain teaching is not in the Bible? Then it is coming from another source. To be specific, false teaching is inspired by the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places!

Bible teacher and expositor John MacArthur cautions:

It should be noted that [Matthew 7:1-5] has erroneously been used to suggest that believers should never evaluate or criticize anyone for anything. Our day hates absolutes, especially theological and moral absolutes, and such simplistic interpretation provides a convenient escape from confrontation. Members of modern society, including many professing Christians, tend to resist dogmatism and strong convictions about right and wrong. Many people prefer to speak of all-inclusive love, compromise, ecumenism, and unity. To the modern religious person those are the only “doctrines” worth defending, and they are the doctrines to which every conflicting doctrine must be sacrificed.  (Source)

In my experience, many professing Christians stubbornly stick to their position that those who expose the unbiblical teaching of Christian celebs are unfairly judging them. So they play the Matthew 7:1-5 card: “Judge not, that you be not judged” followed by a resounding rebuke from verse 5: “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye?”

It boggles the mind that Christians fail to grasp the notion that those who are Spirit-filled have the mind of Christ.  Only believers can make this claim — no one else can.

God’s ways and His Word make little sense to the unsaved.  Listen to what Paul says:

The natural person [unregenerate] does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)

The only way to learn about the things of the Spirit of God is by reading the Bible. For believers, the Bible’s our final authority in all matters of faith.  2 Timothy 3:16 says “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” According to 2 Peter 1:21 “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Every page of Scripture is God-breathed, yet a growing number of Christians choose to reject some of hard to understand Bible stories and Church doctrines.  Two examples are the Creation story in Genesis chapters 1 & 2 and our Lord’s teaching that hell is a place of fire, demons and everlasting torment. Christ spoke more on hell than anyone else in the Bible.

Today a growing number of professing Christians reject much of what is taught in the Bible even though they rarely study it.  They may attend church regularly but because they are biblically illiterate, they wouldn’t know if their pastor is teaching God’s truth or filling their minds with outright heresy. In many cases, professing believers would not know biblical truth if it walked up and bit them on the nose!

I regularly hear from Christians whose heart’s desire is to attend a healthy well-balanced church where they can be confident that they are hearing the gospel and receiving good solid biblical teaching.  They lament that they’ve searched high and low to find a gospel preaching church near their home, but to no avail.  So, they have become discouraged.  But the sad fact is that only a handful of ministers still preach the true gospel of Jesus Christ.  My advice to these people is not to give up searching.  Finding a biblical church is best left for another article.

Naming Names

Many ministers and so-called Bible teachers come to us via the airwaves. The term for them is televangelist. The televangelist’s lifestyle is clearly identified by opulence, luxury and riches. They assure viewers that you can live in the lap of luxury like they do if only you will apply certain principles to your life. We also have TV preachers who are CEO’s of mega churches. Worship services are interrupted by commercials for the purpose of promoting upcoming events and to sell their books. Buyer beware!  Many TV preachers also sell consumers a false gospel that saves no one. What they offer is a counterfeit Christianity.  Front and center is the word-faith/name-it-and-claim-it/prosperity charlatans such as Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, Paula White, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar and Joyce Meyer, to name a few.

Be on the alert for the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) a heretical movement that holds to the view that God is restoring the lost offices of church governance such as the prophets and apostles.  The late “Super Apostle” C. Peter Wagner headed up the NAR and there are a swarm of so-called apostles and prophets worldwide.  The wolves in this movement believe they possess the same gifts as the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles.

Other apostates, false teachers, “frauds, phonies and money grubbing religious quacks” to be weary of can be found here.

Again, we’re not to judge a person’s heart or motives, but we can certainly judge the fruit they produce!  Jesus himself said: 

Every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:17-20) 

Believers who read and study their bibles are far less likely to blindly follow false teachers.  But it’s not out of the realm of possibility for mature believers who cease being Bereans to have the wool pulled over their eyes.  For this very reason John warned:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1).

 

This article was adapted from “Does the Bible really say we’re not to judge others?”

Copyright by Marsha West, 12/17/20

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Reckless Courts Codify Chaos

“If Americans can’t depend on the Justice Department or their state attorneys general, Democrats in those three states, or even local Republican leaders to come to the rescue, surely the black-robed referees perched on the bench will step up, right?  Wrong.”

(Julie Kelly – American Greatness)  Flagrant election cheating in several swing states, it seems, is of no interest to the self-appointed watchdogs of American democracy or even to those specifically tasked with investigating such unlawfulness. Continue reading