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

ABC Broadcasts Pop Music From Hell

The Hell theme continued with 17-year-old songstress Billie Eilish, who offered her song “All the Good Girls Go to Hell.” It begins with the words “My Lucifer is lonely.”

Brace yourself…

(Brent Bozell & Tim Graham – Townhall)  ABC aired The American Music Awards on Sunday, Nov. 24, and the big surprise was that none of the featured pop stars launched into a political diatribe about the horrors of the Trump era. The shock factor was reserved for one of the most vicious assaults on God ever projected by Hollywood. Continue reading

Hillsong Phoenix Hosting Roman Catholic Speaker in January 2020 along With Francis Chan

“The idea of the conference is to bury the distinctions between biblical Christianity and other false churches, particularly the Roman Catholic Church and the New Apostolic Reformation — nothing new for Chan.”

(Jeff Maples – Reformation Charlotte)  In January, Hillsong Phoenix will be hosting the Alpha Conference 2020 which will feature such ecumenical false teachers as Francis Chan and a Roman Catholic priest from the Archdiocese of Halifax, James Mallon. Continue reading

Apologia Church Saved Private Clergy-Penitent Recordings, Then Released Them to Punish Critics

[U]nbeknownst to Hurd, the church was secretly recording his call, even though they knew that the discussion of sin would be the topic of conversation, an unconscionable thing for a church to do. Not knowing he was recorded, Hurd even eluded to the alleged sins of others, who did not agree to have their sins divulged to the elders, and certainly not to the world at large.

(Pulpit & Pen)  Imagine you had a private conversation with ordained clergy, confessing your sins. Then imagine those clergy members secretly recorded that call and later chose to anonymously put that info online in order to punish you. Continue reading

Martin Luther On Confession: Tell Your Brother His Fault ‘Between You and Him Alone’

Now we have heard all the things which ought to be considered here, except confession. Of this we shall speak now.

In the first place, there is a confession which is founded on the Scriptures, and it is this: when anybody committed a sin publicly or with other men’s knowledge, he was accused before the congregation. If he abandoned his sin, they interceded for him with God. But if he would not listen to the congregation [häuffen], he was cast out and excluded from the assembly, so that no one would have anything to do with him. And this confession is commanded by God in Matthew18:15, “If your brother sins against you (so that you and others are offended), go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.” Continue reading

Sin and Our Relationship to God

Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.”  – Psalm 85:10

Atonement is central to Christian theology, and without the cross we do not have Christianity. Much of the New Testament is devoted to explicating what happened on the cross of Christ, and the atonement was necessitated by the problems that sin brought to our relationship with God (Rom. 3:21–26). To understand the atonement, therefore, we must first understand how our transgressions affect our relationship with our Creator. Continue reading

Hallmark Channel Under Assault by Race Hustlers and LGBTQ Cult, ‘Too White’

“But in a culture that values offensive sex acts, profanity, and violence overall, the Hallmark channel is doomed. The diversity activists will never be satisfied until everything white people like is canceled, including white people themselves. And they will eventually get their wish because white people in America will become a minority in the not-too-distant future.”

(Megan Fox – PJ Media)  Every Christmas season, it appears we have to endure listening to the race hustlers and the gay patrol complain about the one channel left in America that does not partake in envelope-pushing. The Hallmark channel really is the last known entertainment that does not engage in the culture wars by pushing “diversity” for the sake of pleasing the agitators and instead focuses on its demographics; white moms and grandmas…. Continue reading

Higher Education Union: Anyone Can Self-Identity As ‘Black, Disabled, LGBT+ or Women’

We’ve all seen it coming—once you open the door to “self-identification” based solely on feelings, anything goes. If a man can identify as a woman and legally be considered a female (and vice versa), despite his male biology and chromosomes, then anyone should be able to self-identify simply based on personal feelings, regardless of biology or fact. That’s exactly what the world’s largest higher education union is arguing.

(Ken Ham – Answers In Genesis)  This United Kingdom-based union, the UCU, announced that “anyone should be able to identify as black ‘regardless of the colour of their skin or background.’”…. Continue reading

Why Are So Many Christians Paralysed by Fear and Compromise?

“The other side keeps winning because we are far too fearful and willing to compromise. We keep putting up the white flag of surrender when we should be resisting and trusting God. We are involved in a full-scale Satanic attack, and only the full armour of God will suffice here.”

(Bill Muehlenberg – Cultural Watch)  The other side keeps winning because we live in fear, and too easily capitulate

I know of entire churches and denominations that have caved and capitulated to the world, to the militants, and to the activists. And there are many parachurch groups and Christian businesses doing the same. And plenty of individual Christians are following suit as well. Continue reading

Paula White Teaches ‘Treasury of Heaven’ Exists for Seed-Faith Offering Scams

During his show, Jim Bakker whines that he’s having a hard time raising money and that he’s hoping people will send him $10,000 — or perhaps a check for $1 million. So Pastrix Paula decides to help her pal out by reminding the audience that they stand to be rewarded by God if they send their hard earned money to Bakker. Pulpit & Pen has the story as well as a video clip of the show. P&P writes:

We originally wrote on this travesty in the post, Trump Advisor, Paula White, Says It’s God’s Command to Support Jim Bakker. Essentially, the basic gist is that Paula White appeared on Jim Bakker’s program to help him raise the money to complete the building of a new survival supplies infomercial studio. Continue reading

Analyzing Unanswered Prayer

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles;they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.  Isaiah 40:29-31

Our prayers are sometimes not answered because we pray in vague generalities. When all our prayers are either vague or universal in their scope, it is difficult to experience the exhilaration that goes with clear and obvious answers to prayer…. Continue reading

The Democratic Cold War on Christianity Heating Up

“Democrats mumble the occasional platitude and claim to be Christian since they still need to hoodwink a sizable portion of their voting base, but it is far more important to pay attention to their actions.  The vile Equality Act being pushed openly by Democrat politicians is meant as a frontal attack on Christianity and to open the door for unending lawfare against Christians.  It will almost assuredly be rushed into law the minute Democrats control government.” 

(Fletch Daniels – American Thinker)  One of the great unknowns in terms of the future electorate is the effect the Democrats’ increasingly radical anti-faith stance will have on its voting coalition.  Continue reading

Spiritual Disciplines and the Appearance of Wisdom (Reprise)

Spiritual Formation ….Contemplative/Centering/ Apopathic/Breath Prayer…. ”Christian Yoga“….Enneagram (you’ll learn about this below) are terms Bible believing evangelicals must become familiar with. All of these practices have been introduced into mainstream evangelicalism. Where do they come from? You don’t have to dig very deep to discover that practices such as these are rooted in Eastern mysticism. In other words, neo-paganism. What’s concerning is that nearly everyone dabbles in some form of mysticism (occult knowledge). Even the Church is entrenched in “Christian” mysticism (much of it borrowed from Roman Catholicism) and they don’t even know it. However, many professing believers do know. They’ve heard the warnings and continue down the neo-pagan path that leads to death. Why? Because having to give up things we enjoy is hard!  And besides, God understands…. right? Continue reading

This Thanksgiving, I embrace my Christian privilege

“A grateful heart is one that sees through the eyes of faith the blessings God has poured out on others, and then praises Him for it, rather than curses Him for not giving it to us instead. A thankful soul is one whose perspective is calibrated on eternal things, and therefore recognizes the unfathomable privilege God has gifted to all who follow Him.”

(Peter Heck – Disrn) I do a lot of complaining; far more than I should. Continue reading

Harvest Report Shows ‘Massive…Governance Failure,’ Allowing James MacDonald to Misuse Millions

According to Stoner, some of the $1.9 million may have been legitimate church expenses. “But too often, there is insufficient documentation or no documentation at all to confirm the intent of the payment,” he said. “And it appears the decisions to spend these funds were too often made unilaterally without proper budget procedures, oversight, or approvals.”

(Julie Roys)  Harvest Bible Chapel (HBC) suffered “a massive corporate governance failure,” which enabled former senior pastor, James MacDonald, to “extensively” misuse millions in church funds “for improper financial benefit.” Continue reading

New SEBTS Professor Endorses Ministry That Promotes Close Woman-to-Woman Same-Sex ‘Partnerships’

“One article on the website titled A Celibate Same-Sex Couple? talks about two women who admit to being same-sex attracted who live together in a same-sex “celibate” intimate partnership with each other.”

(Jeff Maples – Reformation Charlotte)  Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) has been in the news for the last few weeks ever since Danny Akin announced that the seminary was hiring former Liberty University English and Literature professor, Karen Swallow Prior. The move struck a nerve with conservative Southern Baptists drawing criticism from many outlets, including Founders who have typically abstained from such controversy in the past. Continue reading

Bethel Church’s Kris Vallotton Promotes Use of ‘Spirit Guides’

The danger with a false church like Bethel is evident in Vallotton trying to cloak religious concepts with occultic language, apparently to appeal to pagans, Satanists, superstitionists, and spiritists. Every time Bethel sparks a controversy by using Occultic ideas like Tarot cards, necromancy, or the like, its leadership will ultimately claim good intentions.

(Pulpit & Pen)  Bethel ‘Church’ of Redding, California, has proven itself time and again to dabble in the occult. But in its latest dabbling with the devil, its pastor, Kris Vallotton, encouraged the use of ‘spirit guides.’ Continue reading

Real change will come when people of faith stop behaving like unholy heathens

I first penned this article in 2010. Sadly, nothing has changed since then. In fact, our culture has become even more wicked than it was over a decade ago. 

(Marsha West – Christian Research Network)  If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times: America has lost its moral compass. Our country has fallen into the pit of depravity and if we’re going to emerge from this seemingly bottomless pit we’ve dug for ourselves and win the culture war, Americans have got to get busy.

The ability to dig ourselves out depends on two factors. Firstly, parents must instill in their children Judeo-Christian values (rooted in the Bible) on a variety of moral issues, from premarital sex and bearing babies out of wedlock, to abortion, gambling, alcohol, drug use, homosexuality and finally pornography. The Bible speaks to every one of these subjects.

Secondly, parents must deal with what’s going on in the government-run institutions-of-liberal-indoctrination (public schools). Liberal teachers are stealthily implanting in student’s minds the idea of rejecting conservative parent’s values and adopting a Marxist/socialist “progressive” worldview.

Children are no longer taught to develop critical thinking skills nor are they learning how to make their own decisions. In our politically correct (PC) world many educators deem it more important to fill our younger generation’s minds with homosexual propaganda than to teach them U. S. history!

Because the radical homosexual agenda must be “outed” I’m going to share with readers what is taking place behind parent’s backs in tax-payer funded public schools and in our institutions of higher learning. For decades there has been an ongoing all-out assault on the family, on individual freedom, and on traditional Christianity. We are experiencing the demise/deterioration of the family and, alarmingly, we are seeing the beginning stages of Christian persecution in America.

PUBLIC SCHOOL CLASSROOMS AND HOMOSEXUAL APOLOGETICS

Radio talk show host Sandy Rios warned that “homosexual apologetics have been promoted so aggressively through the National Education Association, that faculty or staff dare not express an objection. Public school hallways display rainbows and trumpet Gay Pride and Days of Silence, while renderings of the Ten Commandments are forbidden. In Deerfield, Illinois, a required freshman orientation class features gay, straight, lesbian and bi-sexual students telling 14 year olds the ins and outs of homosexual sex with their young audience strictly forbidden to tell their parents. In schools across the nation homosexuality is taught in every discipline from the use of math word problems related to same gender sex to the science of non-existent gay genes to history claiming Abraham Lincoln had a love affair with his law partner, Billy Herndon.”

For the record, Harvard professor emeritus David Herbert Donald, who is considered the definitive biographer of President Lincoln, insists he was not a homosexual.

Imagine, if you will, a Buddhist student being told by school officials to read the New Testament and attend a Bible study to learn about Christianity as a way of getting the student to adopt America’s religious beliefs. The Pope will become a Protestant convert before that happens, you say? And you’re right to say something like this will not happen — unless the student is a Bible-believing Christian whose beliefs are not PC. Recently a Christian grad student who attends Augusta State University in Georgia was told by school officials that she would be dismissed from the counseling program unless she agreed to read literature promoting homosexuality and attend a “gay” pride parade and report on it. This was an attempt to get the student to change her views that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender behavior is unnatural and morally wrong. Instead of kowtowing to leftist indoctrination, the student is suing the university.

WAS JESUS A SODOMITE?

To try and justify their perverse behavior a number of homosexuals are out to “prove” that homosexuality is normal and natural and that same-sex sex is acceptable to God. To make their case, some liberal clergy and scholars are claiming that the Bible teaches that Jesus and John, David and Jonathan, Naomi and Ruth were involved in “gay” love affairs. Since Jesus claimed to be God, wouldn’t that make God a homosexual?

That’s patently absurd! God did not mince words when He said, “There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel” (Deuteronomy 23:17). Note that whore and sodomite are in the same class. Sodomite is a synonym for homosexual! The city of Sodom was known for homosexuality thus men who indulged in anal sex were known as sodomites. (Genesis 18-19) The term not only described the residents of Sodom, it was also used to describe criminal sexual acts. Moreover, it is important to remember that rampant homosexuality was the main reason God destroyed Sodom.

In the art and science of biblical interpretation (hermeneutics) we learn to “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15). In other words, we learn to read the verse in context and not to impose our own view on the text nor do we read between the lines. Some individuals find it easy to exercise license when interpreting the Bible for the purpose of making it say what they want it to say in order to justify continuing in a behavior that displeases God. Hermeneutics is out the scope of this article so I’ll move on.

PARENTS, GET TOUGH

Leftist ideologues see the classroom as the ideal place to indoctrinate young people into their worldview. Most teachers are not neutral on the issues. Watch the following videos and you’ll get the picture. These videos show teachers taking indoctrination to a whole new level.

Clip 1  Clip 2 Clip 3

Some teachers say, “Yes we can!” influence your children’s views on politics, religion, same-gender “marriage,” reproductive rights (abortion), contraception, nutrition, environmental issues…and, of course, the “science” of global warming. (Click here to watch a propaganda cartoon on global warming)

Parents, are you going to continue to sit back while the public school sensitivity training police disrespect you and attempt to conform your child’s mind to their way of thinking? Or are you going to do as Sandy Rios suggests:

Get tough. Take a stand. Make the hard choices. Speak up and take your licks. The sexual anarchists are free to practice their anarchy, but they cannot have our kids. Any government that promotes or says they can and bars parents from their rightful influence must be opposed fiercely…. Let’s get busy. Let’s move our kids to private schools…private cooperatives…homeschool them. The public school must either clean up its act or risk losing its power.

For over 50 years people of faith have allowed secular humanists to infuse their anti-God agenda into our public education system. Make no mistake. Elitist humanists are more determined than ever before to see society dominated by them and their progressive ideology. Back in 2000 Jann Flury warned:

They have brought us political correctness; universal tolerance with zero tolerance of intolerance; they have brought us a ‘value-free, nonjudgmental society’ where there is no discrimination and judgement [sic] except the denial of the old Judeo-Christian values, and the vigorous persecution of its adherents, which they call extremists. These humanists are establishing a free nonconformist society where everyone is free to do whatever they are told to do by the new establishment. And these humanists have a vision of a free and peaceful global society where there is no competition or strife, and war has been eliminated by calling it ‘peace.’

To bring this total transformation of society about, the humanists must change society’s thought process- its beliefs, and values system. Nowhere is there more fertile ground to plant the seed for this transformation than in the minds of our youngsters in the schools. This the humanists are assiduously pursuing through Outcome Based Education (OBE) and Child Centered Learning. According to the philosophy of Transformational OBE, factual knowledge is no longer important for the children; rules and discipline are considered stifling; right or wrong does not exist; therefore, integrity and morality means nothing, and ‘learning to learn’ and liking it is more important than acquiring factual knowledge. Under child centered learning, individuals are prompted to choose what suits them best, competition is replaced by group learning, and self-esteem is projected as a right- to be savoured without accomplishment.

Christians are not alone in opposing what’s being taught in government schools. Islamic organizations also do not want Muslim children indoctrinated by public school teachers (hooray for them). What are they doing about it? They’re attempting to use taxpayer-funded schools to proselytize for Islam! Try proselytizing for Judaism or Christianity in a government school and see what happens.

SEX-ED PROPAGANDA K-12

In 2006, King & King, a children’s book portraying homosexual romance and marriage, was read to a second grade class by a teacher at Estabrook Elementary School in Lexington Mass. The last page shows a male-to-male kiss. The book clearly promotes same-sex “marriage.”

In 2010 the Helena Montana Public School system came up with a plan to teach kindergartners sex education. The plan “includes teaching first graders that people can be attracted to the same gender. In second grade students are instructed to avoid gay slurs and by the time students turn 10 years old they are taught about various types of intercourse.” Fifth graders should “understand that sexual intercourse includes but is not limited to vaginal, oral, or anal penetration.”

We’re talking about 11 year olds! We’re talking about learning about far more than reproduction and body parts! When parents heard about the sex-ed program they were so angered by it that the school was forced to delay its implementation. Three cheers for parents who said “No way!” to the sexual anarchists.

Back in the stone age when I was in the fifth grade, teachers taught the 3 Rs — reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic. Students were also taught history, social studies and geography. Times have changed. Today’s teachers are required to explain oral and anal sex to youngsters. What an outrage — and how embarrassing for our teachers!

CHRISTIANS, GET BUSY

Forty years ago my mom lamented: “America’s going to hell in a hand basket.” She saw the writing on the wall. That’s why it is critical for Christians to come out of the closet and do what we’re here to do: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Jesus Christ is the reason for the hope that we have. (1Pet 3:15) If His followers had been doing what we are called to do all along our country wouldn’t be in the sad shape it’s in now — both morally and spiritually. It is high time for the professing Christian’s worldview to be based on Judeo-Christian principles found in the Bible instead of allowing a humanist man-centered belief system to shape his/her worldview.

The Christian’s job is not to insure that people understand the message we bring. No. Believers are simply to deliver the message! The Holy Spirit is the One who changes hearts and minds and brings fallen men to faith so that they may believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

Real change will come when people of faith stop behaving like unholy heathens and start behaving in a Christ-like manner. (Phil. 1:27) Christ’s followers are to ever so humbly serve their King and Him alone.

Christians also must get back to the basics. What this entails is reading/studying the Bible and sharing his/her faith. As for pastors, they need to stand up and preach the Word of God and all it contains instead of some watered-down message that’s designed to make people feel good about themselves. (Heb. 4:12) America will not experience an authentic revival until God’s Word is taught chapter and verse.

I’ll close this out with a quote by Anton Bosch:

Change begins with you, personally. That is the only area you have jurisdiction and control over. When you change, your spouse will change and your children will change. When you change, your church will change, and when the church changes it will begin to impact the community and eventually the nation. Jesus said we should begin in Jerusalem, then Judea and then Samaria and then the rest of the world (Acts 1:8). But we want to begin in Washington, London or Pretoria and then work back. It does not work that way. Change begins with me and you.

Research

On Solid Rock Resources

Original title: True culture change comes when hearts are changed

Copyright 2010 by Marsha West

Core Convictions About Prayer

To experience God in our midst we must be people of prayer. To be people of prayer we need to know what prayer is. From the example of David in Psalm 109, we can see that prayer is the total offering of oneself to God for everything that is needed. Because of this people of prayer affirm several core convictions.

God invites us to pray.

Through the psalmist the Lord invites us, saying, “Pour out your hearts before him” (Ps. 62:8). When he walked this earth our Lord showed that he invites us to pray, saying three times in his teaching on prayer, “When you pray,” and then he said, “Pray then like this” (Matt. 6:5679). Clearly, God desires and delights in our prayers. Continue reading

New Science Says Chocolate Fights a Cough Better Than an Rx Medication

Smother your cough with yummy chocolate without the sleepy side-effects of codeine? It’s almost enough to make you welcome winter.

(Shape)  Good news for chocoholics. The next time you come down with a cough, just pop a piece of your favorite treat and you’ll get all the cough-suppressing effects of codeine syrup without the fuzzy-headed side-effects. Here’s how it works.

Professor Alyn Morice, a respected authority on all things related to coughs and respiratory medicine, wrote in the Daily Mail that chocolate can soothe coughs better than codeine syrup by forming a sticky coating that protects the nerve endings in your throat that cause you to cough. Continue reading

Mohler Says Women Shouldn’t Preach in Long-Winded, Barely Coherent Statement

Like clockwork, Mohler espoused straight-line, solid and correct doctrinal positions with his words. That Mohler will be orthodox in his words is predictable. And in reality, Mohler’s position doesn’t sound any different than Dr. John MacArthur (except he did not apply it to a specific person).

(Pulpit & Pen)  In a barely intelligible, stuttering, vaguely-coherent and painfully long answer on his podcast to a question about female preachers, Mohler claimed that the Bible does not allow women to preach to men. Continue reading

Gay Christianity and the Local Church

“It is the local church that is to instruct and hold their members to these God-ordained roles and standards. Should members of that covenant community defile what God has blessed, the church calls them to repent. And if they do not repent, they are to be put out of the local church (Matthew 18:15-20).”

(Tedd Mathis)  In this essay I address how a local church is to respond when a member practices sexual sin. Since the Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever, let’s remind ourselves of what He has commanded His people in the past. Continue reading

Our Old Natures Never Die (Reprise)

And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?” Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, “He is my brother.”’” Gen 20:10-13

Has anyone had to say to you, As a Christian, what were you thinking of when you did this thing? Have you ever had to say it to yourself: What got into me anyway? I thought I was further along in the Christian life than this….. Continue reading