Author Archives: Marsha West

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

God calls us to wisdom, not conspiracy theories

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“Sharing these unfounded conspiracies as truth is not a morally neutral act in the same way that gossiping isn’t morally neutral. Gossip is sinful. What are conspiracy theories but gossip to the next degree? As Christians we should play no part in spreading gossip and lies, in ruining reputations without ensuring what we are sharing indeed is the truth.”

(Joseph Hamrick – Herald Banner) I have been reflecting on this verse in light of the sheer volume of conspiracy theories that have come across my Facebook newsfeed over the past few weeks. Continue reading →

Ravi Zacharias shares grim cancer update: ‘No options for further treatment remain … they have done all they are able’

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Ravi, Margie, and Naomi are returning from Houston and will remain at home in Atlanta, where our family can be together for whatever time the Lord gives us.

(Disrn) World-renowned Christian apologist and bestselling author Ravi Zacharias shared a sobering update on his cancer journey Friday evening, written by his daughter, which said, “this cancer is very rare in its aggression and that no options for further treatment remain. Medically speaking, they have done all they are able.” Continue reading →

Southern Baptists Abandoning Social Justice Heresy For Heresy of Dominionism

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“If the Southern Baptist Convention is anything, it isn’t coherent. And the denomination’s lack of any meaningful confession of faith and doctrinal standards leaves it open to being tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14) and never landing on anything to cohesively hold the denomination in place.”

(Jeff Maples – Reformation Charlotte)  For the last several years, the social justice movement has swept the Southern Baptist Convention and it’s tentacles reach every possible corner of nearly every single church in the entire denomination leaving a stain of intersectionality, feminism, and even in some cases, LGBTQ activism. Continue reading →

Justification and Sin

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. – Romans 4:6-8

Sola fide—faith alone—is sometimes called the “material cause” of the Reformation because the substance or material of the debate between the Protestant Reformers and the Roman church concerned the instrumental means of justification. The Reformers and their opponents both understood that we must be declared righteous to endure God’s judgment and enter into eternal life…. Continue reading →

Those who insist that the Lord demands what is not in scripture have fallen foul of gnosticism

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“If the fullness of God could dwell in human flesh, there can be nothing intrinsically evil about the flesh. In a wider sense, there is nothing intrinsically evil about material things because God is the one who created them for his creatures. And if God called his creation very good, and he created us to enjoy him forever in that very good creation, who are we to insist what the Lord has called good is something else altogether?”

The Gnosticism of Legalism by Stephen Kneale

When legalism rears its head, gnosticism is usually lurking around somewhere. There is a strong dualistic tendency that very often paints ‘spiritual’ things as good and ‘worldly’ things as bad…. Continue reading →

Will There Be Consequences for How the FBI Handled the Flynn Case? Barr Weighs In

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“As far as consequences for the agents and officials who engaged in corrupt and dishonest behavior in the Flynn case, Barr said he’s waiting for the results of U.S. Attorney John Durham’s investigation. He also said misconduct by government officials must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” 

(Katie Pavlich – Townhall) Attorney General Bill Barr is speaking out after the Department of Justice announced Thursday the criminal case against General Michael Flynn, which involved FBI agents engaging in entrapment, has been dropped. Continue reading →

Do Democrats Really Want to Celebrate the FBI’s Heinous Abuses Against Mike Flynn?

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“National Review‘s Andrew C. McCarthy, a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, explained, Powell’s evidence seemed to confirm not just that Flynn had been set up but that Mueller’s staff had threatened to target his son unless he confessed to the false statements charge.”

(Tyler O’Neil – PJ Media)  When the Department of Justice (DOJ) finally dropped the case against General Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser for President Donald Trump, House Democrats slammed the decision as a partisan attempt to “cover up” for Trump — presumably on Russia…. Continue reading →

CA County Health Dept Could Remove COVID-Infected People From Homes and Place Them in Quarantine Centers

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“Some of the people we find are going to have trouble being isolated. For instance, if they live in a home where there is only one bathroom and there are three or four other people living there, and those people don’t have COVID infection, we’re not going to be able to keep the person in that home. Every person who we’re isolating for instance needs to have their own bathroom.”

(Jeff Maples – Reformation Charlotte) In a shocking revelation, Ventura County in California just north of Los Angeles has announced that they, along with the entire state, are hiring thousands of “contact investigators” to storm the homes of COVID-infected people and remove them from their homes to place them in isolation centers. Continue reading →

Acting DNI, House Judiciary & Oversight Committees urge Schiff to release transcripts to back up his assertions of Russian collusion

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“The transcripts include testimony from Donald Trump Jr., Steve Bannon, Andrew McCabe, Sally Yates, Michael Cohen, Hope Hicks, Susan Rice, Ben Rhodes, and others.”

(Kristina Wong – Breitbart)  Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell sent a letter to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Tuesday informing him that transcripts of all 53 interviews the committee conducted as part of its Russia investigation have been cleared for public release. Continue reading →

America the Wuss – From Rugged Pioneers to Cowering Sheep

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“In reality, safety is an illusion. Step out your front door and you risk your life. … In 2018, 647,457 Americans died of heart disease, 599,108 of cancer, 169,936 from accidents of all kinds (including roughly 40,000 highway fatalities), 55,672 from influenza and pneumonia and 47,173 from suicide.”

(Don Feder – Front Page Magazine)  On the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, the paramount question becomes: What happened to the American people? Continue reading →

Coronavirus modeling – how our hysterical culture led to this reaction to pandemic

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“The combination of news media desperation for something about which to be hysterical, the Chinese Communist Party’s role in hiding and then lying about the new virus, and absurdly overstated claims of supposedly scientific modelers has led to the greatest self-inflicted economic disaster in history.”

(Newt Gingrich – Fox News)  Claire Berlinski writes an amazing blog called “Claire’s Invariably Interesting Thoughts.”

She recently wrote a series headlined “The Years of Living Hysterically: Reflections on Joe Biden, Tara Reade, #MeToo, and our Hysterical Culture.” Continue reading →

Over 100 Pastors Sign Letter to Ohio Board of Education Opposing Yoga, Meditation Being Taught in Schools

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The pastors concede that while “[m]ost initiate yoga practice for exercise and stress relief,” for others, “spirituality becomes their primary reason for maintaining practice.” They point to a study of mindful yoga retreat participants, which found that “longer-term meditators were less likely to be religious monotheists and more likely to identify as Buddhist or with ‘all’ religions.”

(Heather Clark – Christian News)  More than 100 pastors recently signed a letter to the Ohio Board of Education, which was also sent to 39 school districts, to express opposition to yoga and transcendental meditation being taught in schools as they are rooted in Eastern religion and are a spiritual practice at their core. Continue reading →

So when does the LGBT movement stop getting a pass for their blatant bigotry?

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“The LGBT political movement is working very hard to expose the American people to their intolerance and narrow-minded prejudice against people of faith.”

(Peter Heck – Disrn)  As the entire country has marveled in recent days at the raging hypocrisy of political activists who attempted to destroy the life and reputation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh over alleged sexual assault, now suddenly turning a blind eye to the alleged sexual assault circling the life and reputation of former Vice President Joe Biden, the speaker of the New York City Council Corey Johnson bellied up the microphone and, with a wink, boasted, “Hold my beer.” Continue reading →

How Heretics Shaped Alcoholics Anonymous

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“People assume, logically enough, that if the co-founders were mentioning the Word of God, this must mean they were Christians. But the unsaved Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith viewed the Bible along the lines of Fox’s esoteric spiritual wisdom, rather than believing it to be the literal Word of God. One cannot, after all, promote anti-Biblical heresy and simultaneously believe and obey the Word of God.”

(John Lanagan – The Word Like Fire)  When it comes to A.A’.s alleged “Christian” roots, God’s people have been—to use a technical term—snookered. Continue reading →

If you like the pandemic lockdown, you’re going to love the ‘Green New Deal’

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“The socialist greens acknowledge that the meltdown and shutdown we’re enduring (with gritted teeth) is what their climate agenda entails. They’re right.”

(Washington Examiner)  When socialist darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez first floated her “Green New Deal,” it was an intangible vision for society rather than a concrete policy proposal. Even after the New York Democrat and her acolytes added details (including a ban on airplanes and flatulent cows) in a voluminous range of policies costing an astounding $93 trillion, the idea of running the economy without fossil fuels seemed unthinkable. Continue reading →

A Wizard of Oz virus: The COVID-19 hoax

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It would be nice to think that the malicious Machiavellians in media and politics will be held accountable for visiting one of American history’s greatest blunders upon us. But that appears just a dream. It’s lamentable, surely, and can make one understand why G.K. Chesterton once remarked, “It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged.”

(Selwyn Duke – Renew America)  When I speak of a hoax and The Virus, I don’t mean there isn’t in our population a pathogen identified as SARS-CoV-2 or, as the “unwoke” might say, the Wuhan Flu…. Continue reading →

The Worldwide Lockdown May Be the Greatest Mistake in History

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“But the American left cares as much about the millions of non-Americans reduced to hunger and starvation because of the lockdown as it does about the people of upstate New York who have no incomes, despite the minuscule number of coronavirus deaths there. Or about the citizens of Oregon, whose governor has just announced the state will remain locked down until July 6. As of this writing, a total of 109 people have died of the coronavirus in Oregon.”  

(Dennis Prager – PJ Media)   The idea that the worldwide lockdown of virtually every country other than Sweden may have been an enormous mistake strikes many — including world leaders; most scientists, especially health officials, doctors and epidemiologists; those who work in major news media; opinion writers in those media; and the hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people who put their faith in these people — as so preposterous as to be immoral…. Continue reading →

Sharp Eyes, Soft Hearts, And Sanctified Minds: Evaluating Christian Books

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“A good Christian book should guide the reader to the Celestial City. It should lead them in a Godward direction and inspire them to live hopeful lives and holy lives.”

(David Steele)  I review books – a lot of books. Some people have expressed an interest in how I evaluate them. A few specific criteria govern the way I evaluate the overall effectiveness of Christian books, in particular.

First and most important, is the book biblical? That is, does the content reflect the teaching of the infallible, authoritative, inerrant Word of God? The label “Christian” does not automatically mean that a given book is a faithful representation of orthodoxy…. Continue reading →

Max Lucado Endorses Anti-Trinitarian Word of Faith Heretic Steven Furtick

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Now, it’s safe to say that Lucado himself should be avoided at all costs since he does not have the discernment, wisdom, and heart to separate himself from false teachers who are harming the Kingdom of God.

(Jeff Maples – Reformation Charlotte)  After endorsing the pro-gay Jen Hatmaker earlier this year, Max Lucado’s new-found role of propping up heretics and false teachers seems to have hit overdrive…. Continue reading →

US, Canadian Conferences of Catholic Bishops ‘Consecrate’ Nations to Mary, Ask Her to Intercede Amid Pandemic

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“Evangelicals note that the Bible states in 1 Timothy 2:5 that there is “one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” and that Jesus taught that men are to pray in His name (John 14:13-14), mentioning nothing of asking the deceased to intercede.”

(Heather Clark – Christian News)  The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops have joined together to “consecrate” their nations to the care of Mary on May 1 and to ask that she intercede to Jesus during the COVID pandemic…. Continue reading →

The Coronavirus Death Rate Is MUCH Lower Than the Estimates Justifying the Lockdowns…

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“None of these studies were perfect. Some are large, some are small. As you’ll see, they came up with a range of fatality rates, but considering our country was shut down over the belief that the coronavirus had a CFR of 2% to 3.4% and all of these studies suggest the actual CFR is under 1 percent, it makes you wonder why the country was shut down.”

(Matt Margolis – PJ Media)  Appearing on Justice with Judge Jeanine on Saturday night, Dr. Debora Birx admitted something that anyone paying attention to the coronavirus pandemic has known for some time now…. Continue reading →

SBC’s National Day of Prayer Goes All-In on NAR’s ‘Seven Mountain Mandate’

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The SBC needs to stop borrowing from the NAR and stop repackaging “the seven spheres of influence” as “the seven centers of influence.” 

(PNP)  The SBC Executive committee released a guide designed to support members during the upcoming National Day of Prayer. Captioned ‘How to pray the 2020 theme, Pray God’s Glory Across the Earth, into the Seven Centers of Influence in America for the National Day of Prayer, May 7, 2020.‘… Continue reading →

Nancy Pelosi Blocking Investigation into Chinese Coronavirus Origins, Tax Money to Wuhan Lab

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“What is perhaps most interesting about all this is how little the Democrats on Capitol Hill seem to care about the origins of the virus in Wuhan, China, or about U.S. taxpayer dollars flowing to this lab in China. Many Democrats have brushed off holding China accountable for the virus and, instead, intend to focus their efforts on attacking President Trump over the Chinese coronavirus.”

(Matthew Boyle – Breitbart)  Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) told Breitbart News this weekend that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would rather investigate President Donald Trump again than focus on the actual origins of the Chinese coronavirus and U.S. tax dollars that went to the Wuhan Institute of Virology from which intelligence officials increasingly believe the virus leaked. Continue reading →