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

Ex-Witch’s Warning About New Disney Show: ‘It’s Not a Joke… That Realm Is Very Real’

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“It was a demonic hold on my life that caused me to open doors to witchcraft and practicing spells and incantations and studying the religion of Wiccan…It’s why I tell parents when I minister, it’s not a joke when we say be careful what your children are watching.” 

(Charlene Aaron – Faithwire) A new Disney cartoon is teaching kids that being a witch is a good thing. It’s called “The Owl House” and recently premiered on the Disney Channel.

The show tries to portray witchcraft as a positive tool to fight evil. And some people say there’s nothing to worry about when it comes to a children’s show like this, arguing that it’s just make-believe. Continue reading →

Do Discerning Christians Hate the Local Church?

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“At Pulpit & Pen, we are constantly reminding our readership (as well as our listeners at Polemics Report and the Intelligence Briefing) that discerning believers must be among the most faithful, most giving, most sacrificial church members in any local congregation.”

(Pulpit & Pen)  Richard Caldwell is the pastor of Founders Baptist Church in Spring, Texas. It is a Reformed(ish) Baptist congregation, and Pastor Caldwell claimed on Twitter yesterday that discerning Christians don’t have a high regard for the local church.

God help his congregation. Continue reading →

Are Focus on the Family, BGEA, & RZIM Churches? And Should They Be Exempt From Reporting Salaries of Executives?

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“I similarly reached out to Ruth Malhotra, public relations manager with RZIM. She did not give a reason for RZIM seeking to be classified by the IRS as an association of churches, but simply noted that other ministries, like the BGEA, had done likewise. I asked Malhotra for the salaries of RZIM Chairman & CEO Ravi Zacharias; his wife, Margaret Zacharias, who was listed as RZIM vice-chairman; and his daughter, Sarah Davis, who’s the new CEO of RZIM. In 2015, when the organization still filed 990s, the ministry paid Zacharias and his wife more than a half-million dollars, and his daughter more than $215,000.”

(Julie Roys)  It’s listed in Wikipedia as an evangelical parachurch organization that promotes “social conservative views on public policy.”… Continue reading →

Drag queen urges parents to keep kids away from drag: ‘Don’t ruin your child’s life’

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“A drag queen performs in a night club for adults. There is a lot of filth that goes on, a lot of sexual stuff that goes on, and back stage there’s a lot of nudity, sex, and drugs.” 

(Laura Mize – Disrn)  A drag queen known as Kitty Demure has taken to Twitter with a video warning for parents: The drag scene is not for kids.

Demure’s message comes as public libraries in some communities are hosting drag queen story hour for children. Continue reading →

Defining the Will of God

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“The context of Deuteronomy is instructive. As the Lord prepares Joshua to lead Israel into the land of Canaan after the death of Moses, He reminds His people of the necessity of His Word to know His will. This would prove to be a message Israel needed to hear. The anticipation of the promised land would press the limits of Israel’s faith as it navigated the obstacles that often lie in the gap between promise and fulfillment. In the face of the uncertainties that attend life in a fallen world, Israel needed to be reminded that obeying God’s Word was at the center of knowing God’s will for their lives.”

(John Tweeddale – Tabletalk) Throughout the annals of time, many people have struggled to define the will of God. When we talk about God’s will today, we tend to speak about things in reference to ourselves—usually good things such as our spouses, our children, our jobs, our finances, and our hobbies…. Continue reading →

If You Aren’t Paying Attention to the Latest UFO News, You Really, Really Should Be

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“Is it possible these things are a foreign adversarial technology that somehow was developed in secret and we are just now trying to figure these things out?” he said. “It’s possible. But, there are also other possibilities as well, of what these things could be.”

(Scott Morefield – Townhall)  I’m as much a Sci-Fi fan as most anyone. I’ve read my fair share of Orson Scott Card books, seen all the Men in Black movies, think it’s a travesty that Firefly got canceled, and have sat through every cringy second of every lame attempt to improve on the original Star Wars trilogy, but until the past few months, I’d never seriously considered even the remotest possibility that humans may not be alone, at least on this planet and in this solar system. Continue reading →

Beth Moore Says She Stays Quiet on MLK Day Because a Black Man Told Her ‘Talk Less’

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“To be frank, the argument employed here is no different than the argument that leftists use against the pro-life movement — that only women who experience hardships in raising children should have a voice.”

(Jeff Maples – Reformation Charlotte)  Beth Moore has long left the reservation of sound, biblical Christianity. Besides the fact that she’s a rebellious woman who refuses to submit to the authority of God’s word by teaching and preaching to men, she has fully embraced the “woke church” movement and joined the chorus of self-shaming virtue-signaling white folk who have surrendered their right to speak on racial issues to those professional victims of a fictive epidemic of “white supremacy.” Continue reading →

Baptist Press quoted NIF rep who wrote blog for Soros Open Society

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The actual grant numbers from Open Society Foundation to NIF were verified by The Blaze in a 2013 story that includes a great quote from Richard Land on the reported Soros connection. Land reportedly said, “If God can use the jawbone of an ass to achieve His purpose, He can use George Soros, too.” 

(Capstone Report) Want to know how desperate Baptist Press and its Evangelical Elite employers are to hide the truth about the Evangelical Immigration Table’s historic and undeniable connections with George Soros funded entities?… Continue reading →

Mysticism in the Church: 10 Things to Watch For

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An integral part of “spiritual formation” disciplines, contemplative prayer (aka centering prayer, abiding prayer, breath prayer, Jesus prayer) is described by Richard Foster as: wordless (no content), not for the novice (exclusive), unmediated, and dangerous. Thomas Merton gives the dangers: you could lose your faith, contact a demon, be led into false belief by your own imagination, feel a dread sense that God has abandoned you, or have a mental breakdown. No Scripture prescribes the following ritual to achieve union with the divine: sit quietly, use measured breathing, repeat a phrase over and over for 20 minutes until your mind is empty. Is this altered mental state really the one way to achieve union with God, as mystics claim?….

(Lena Wood & Lynn Lusby Pratt)  As unsettling changes take place in your Christian environment, you might find yourself in this scenario: Continue reading →

Yes, the Devil is Real

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“One of the things that surprised me when I first read the New Testament seriously was that it talked so much about a Dark Power in the universe – a mighty evil spirit who was held to be the Power behind death and disease, and sin. The difference [from Dualism] is that Christianity thinks that this Dark Power was created by God, and was good when he was created, and went wrong. Christianity agrees with Dualism that this universe is at war. But it does not think this is a war between independent powers. It thinks it is a civil war, a rebellion, and that we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel.” 

(Bill Muehlenberg – Culture Watch) Contrary to the claims of some, Satan most certainly exists: Continue reading →

Over 90% of Illegal Aliens Nabbed Had Criminal Convictions or Pending Charges

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More than 90% of illegal immigrants arrested by federal agents in the United States last year had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, including 56,000 assaults and thousands of sex crimes, robberies, homicides and kidnappings. Many had “extensive criminal histories with multiple convictions.”

(Jim Kouri – News With Views) “North Carolina’s Mecklenburg County, that state’s largest, was among the biggest offenders, releasing numerous violent criminals rather than turn them over to federal authorities for removal. Among them was a previously deported Honduran charged with rape and child sex crimes.” – Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Report. Continue reading →

50 Highly Paid Christian Ministry Executives

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“This information comes from the most recent Form 990 available on Guidestar.org. For some ministries the most recent year available was 2016. For most years, the most recent year available was 2017. For a few ministries, the most recent year is 2018.”

(Warren Cole Smith – MinistryWatch) Below is a list of 50 highly paid Christian ministry executives. The information was derived from the Form 990 prepared by the ministry itself.

We are not calling this list the “50 Highest Paid Christian Ministry Executives” because we know that many pastors and other church leaders who might make more are not on this list, because churches are not required to make their Form 990s available to the public…. Continue reading →

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle will no longer use royal titles, Queen and Buckingham Palace announce

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“I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life. I want to thank them for all their dedicated work across this country, the Commonwealth and beyond, and am particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family….”

(Melisa Roberto – Fox News)  Duke and Duchess of Sussex no more. Continue reading →

Why didn’t God stop Eve from eating the fruit?

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“Our God, your God whether you believe He exists or not, loves His world and continues to work His sovereign plan of salvation in it upon those whom He has foreknown. He will be glorified.”

(Elizabeth Prata – The End Time)  I was listening to a Grace Community Church Question and Answer session. I always appreciate how John MacArthur can sum up complex theological thoughts and issues so succinctly. I also enjoy the variety of questions. There came a question from what sounded like a very young boy. Continue reading →

The New Age Christian—An Accepted Oxymoron

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It is important to understand that Satan is not simply trying to draw people to the dark side of a good versus evil conflict. Actually, he is trying to eradicate the gap between himself and God, between good and evil, altogether.

(Ray Yungen) The current popularity with meditative contemplative mysticism presents a very perplexing challenge for evangelical Christianity. We are now encountering the New Age or Aquarian Christian. This term describes someone who remains in his or her home church and professes the Christian faith but has also incorporated various aspects of the New Age or Aquarian mindset into his or her life…. Continue reading →

No, God Did Not Speak to You Through, Dreams, Visions, Voices in Your Head, or Divine Impressions

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“If you are the one making such a claim, you must be prepared to defend your claim. If you are going to tell others that God is speaking to you, you must give us a reason to believe it. No one should expect to make the incredible claim that God is speaking to them without being willing and open to showing us why they believe such an event occurred.”

(Ed Dingess – Reformation Charlotte)  “God spoke to me.” “God gave me a dream.” “The Holy Spirit led me.” All these represent claims that I hear just about every time I am around other Christians. Rare is the modern Christian that does not make these claims. Rarer still are those that dare to question such claims. And most rare of all are those that dare to reject such claims in preference for, not just a theological, but a practice view of the sufficiency of Scripture. Why is that? Continue reading →

Context Matters: Abstain from All Appearance of Evil

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“And how does Paul want people to express their dependence on the Spirit? How can they show their regard for those verbal prophecies? Is it by shutting off their minds and swallowing wholesale whatever is spoken in the name of the Spirit?”

(Peter Krol – Knowable Word)  Perhaps you’ve heard the injunction to avoid the appearance of evil. You won’t find the phrase in most modern English Bibles, as it’s a holdover from the King James translation of 1 Thessalonians 5:22. The ESV commands us to “abstain from every form of evil,” and the CSB simplifies it further to “stay away from every kind of evil” (1 Thess 5:22, CSB). This verse could be called upon to support just about any set of personal prohibitions, including interacting with someone of the opposite sex, dining at a tavern, choosing one’s friends, and forming political alliances, to name a few. Continue reading →

Pro-Amnesty Southern Baptist Convention Is in Damage Control After Pushing Open Borders and Its Ties To Soros Are Exposed

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“SBC’s insistence that it has never received money from Soros is an outright lie and BPN’s claims that Soros funded only 2 percent of NIT are demonstrably false. An examination of the IRS 990 filings of the $20 billion Open Society Foundations, the private philanthropic entities of Soros, has granted hundreds of thousands of dollars to the NIF as far back as 2006 and is the group’s largest contributor.”

(Alicia Powe – The Gateway Pundit)  The world’s most wealthy, communist financier, a notorious atheist, is stealthily coordinating the deconstruction of America’s sovereignty and dismantling of our sovereign borders by infiltrating the nation’s most historically conservative channel: The Christian Church. Continue reading →

Criticism of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Role of Discernment Blogs

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Truth is, it may be that SBC leaders are exceedingly fearful that they are losing the ear of the internet consumer, especially the ear of evangelical Christians. Such a fear could very well explain why SBC leaders have become so vigorously vocal and, in some cases, unreasonably hysterical toward the so-called “discernment blogs.” Less than a decade ago,  established blogs by SBC leaders like Al Mohler set the SBC agenda and ruled the information network in SBC circles. But suppose now blogs like Pulpit & Pen, Capstone Report, and some others who are, by and large, critical of the SBC and its stated agenda, rule the internet traffic, perhaps even obtaining the lion’s share of SBC internet consumers.  

(Peter Lumpkins) Last week, The Capstone Report, a popular website that focuses on issues it perceives as troubling in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), released a story concerning the president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Jason Allen, claiming he was personally lobbying the Missouri governor to settle more refugees in the state…. Continue reading →

Kanye West to Join Host of False Teachers for Awaken 2020 Conference

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“It appears that Kanye West has fully embraced the charismatic New Apostolic Reformation “signs and wonders” movement and will be joining a host of self-proclaimed “prophets” and “apostles” at the Awaken 2020 Conference this weekend. Some of the false prophets and false apostles heading up the event include Cindy Jacobs, Lou Engle, Guillermo Maldonado, Brian Welch, and many others.”

(Jeff Maples – Reformation Charlotte)  I’ve been cautiously optimistic about Kanye West’s supposed conversion to Christianity. While I’ve been hopeful that his conversion is true, I’ve been skeptical about the sincerity of his conversion and have refrained from promoting him or his music to other believers. Continue reading →

Pelosi ‘played into’ McConnell’s hands, ‘destroyed’ her own case for impeachment

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“The fact is that Pelosi played into the hands of McConnell by first rushing this impeachment forward with an incomplete record and now giving him the excuse to summarily change the rules, or even to dismiss the articles.”

(Sam Dorman – Fox News) Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley laid out a sweeping indictment of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., arguing that her impeachment strategy backfired and gave Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the upper hand. Continue reading →

Impeachment, Karl Barth, and Christianity Today

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In the interest of answering Mr. Galli’s call for reasoned dialogue on this issue, my question for him is, Why does he give Karl Barth a pass on similar issues? The question requires some explanation so that readers understand what I mean by “give Karl Barth a pass.” Several months ago Mr. Galli wrote an essay, “What to Make of Karl Barth’s Steadfast Adultery?”

(J.V. Fesco)  In recent days Christianity Today’s  editor-in-chief Mark Galli published an editorial calling for the impeachment and removal of President Trump from office. Before I wade into the debate, I want to distinguish two important issues that Mr. Galli raises in his article. First, there is his call for President Trump’s impeachment. Second, there is the way that he characterizes Evangelical supporters of the President…. Continue reading →

Bernie Staffer: Kill Political Opponents, Burn People In Streets, Cops To Be ‘Beaten’ If Bernie Loses

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On Soviet gulags: “There’s a reason Joseph Stalin had gulags, right? And actually, gulags were a lot better than what the CIA has told us that they were. Like, people were actually paid a living wage in gulags, they had conjugal visits in gulags, gulags were actually meant for like re-education.”

(Ryan Saavedra – Daily Wire)  A far-left campaign staffer for 2020 Democratic Party presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) appeared to repeatedly advocate for the use of extreme violence in an undercover video that was released on Tuesday by James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas. Continue reading →