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

Farewell, Willow Creek: Where the ‘Regular’ Churches Can Go From Here

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

“Well, Weeping Willow Creek and all others of its ilk, we’re on to you. We see the chinks in your armor, and they’re gaping open ever wider with each passing day. Another one of your empires has fallen, and others will follow soon.”

(Jonathan Aigner – Patheos) It looks like the beginning of the end at Willow Creek. They aren’t saying that, but I feel like that’s what’s happening.

If so, good riddance.

I’m sorry if I sound bitter. I’m not, really. More relieved than anything else. Saddened for the stories of abuse, gaslighting, and hero worship. Grieved by the commoditization of human hearts and souls, the theological void, and the liturgical collapse. But relieved that this sad chapter in American religious history is rattling to an end. And you can take the megachurch movement you spawned with you. Continue reading →

301 ‘Predator Priests’ Named In Pa. Grand Jury Sex Abuse Report: ‘They Were Raping Little Boys & Girls’

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PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro  announces findings of grand jury report on Catholic Church sex abuse

“One boy was forced to stand on a bed in a rectory, strip naked and pose as Christ on the cross for the priests. They took photos of their victim, adding them to a collection of child pornography which they produced and shared on church grounds.” 

These are sick, twisted evil men. Brace yourself. 

(Andy Sheehan – CBS Pittsburgh)The long-awaited state grand jury report into sexual abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses, including Pittsburgh and Greensburg, has finally been released.

The 884-page document, two years in the making, shines a light into the dark corners of these dioceses going back seven decades, exposing the predators and the efforts of their bishops to protect them. Continue reading →

Bethel Faith Healer, Beni Johnson, Seeks Medical Treatment for Cancer

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“Johnson is married to one of the most famous faith-healers in the world who regularly claims to heal Stage-4 cancer. He teaches that with enough faith, one can be healed. He decrees and declares such things, and weekly claims to do it. His wife is receiving medical treatment at hospitals and from naturalists. Think about that for a minute.”

(Pulpit & Pen)  We should pray for healing to come to faith-healer, Beni Johnson, who has recently announced having cancer. Beni is the wife of Bill Johnson, with whom she serves as co-lead pastor of Bethel Church. Continue reading →

Colleges: A Force for Evil

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Rodney Swanson, a UCLA economics professor, told his class, “The United States of America, backed by facts, is the greediest and most selfish country in the world.”

(Walter E. Williams – Townhall)  Many of the nation’s colleges have become a force for evil and a focal point for the destruction of traditional American values. The threat to our future lies in the fact that today’s college students are tomorrow’s teachers, professors, judges, attorneys, legislators and policymakers. A recent Brookings Institution poll suggests that nearly half of college students believe that hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment. … Continue reading →

Newspaper Industry Seeks Character Assassination of President As Antifa Wants to Kill Him

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Photo credit Patriot Prayer

Here was my question to the progressive protesters (I asked everyone the same question): “If Donald Trump showed up here, what would you say or do?” Over half-dozen progressives voluntarily told me they would kill Trump. This is the definition of “Violence on both sides.”

(Judi McLeod – Canada Free Press)  Without ever blinking a jaundiced eye, 100 newspapers will follow the Boston Globe’s directive on Thursday with a collective hit job on President Donald Trump.

At press time, not a single newspaper had stepped forward to state that this is proof positive that there is no such thing as an objective free press; that what the Boston Globe is calling for is nothing less than a coordinated hate attack. Continue reading →

Willow Creek paid $3.25M to settle lawsuits over child sex abuse by church volunteer

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“There are no allegations that Hybels had any connection to Sobczak’s case. Hybels stepped down from the helm of the church in April, six months ahead of schedule, amid claims of inappropriate behavior with women, including employees.”

(Robert McCoppin – Chicago Tribune)  Willow Creek Community Church agreed to pay more than $3 million to settle lawsuits over the sexual abuse of two developmentally disabled boys by a church volunteer, court records show. Continue reading →

Arrest Warrant issued for NAR Apostle David Tomberlin – exposed for having multiple wives, kidnapping & prostitution?

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“This article hopes to provide resources for believers and non-believers on the criminal New Apostolic Reformation and its ‘Apostolic leaders’ who have not called out David Tomberlin, or told him to report to the proper authorities, in order to be properly investigated.”

(Churchwatch Central)   Once again, the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) network has allowed another criminal to remain within their ranks, despite reports alleging Thai Police having an arrest warrant issued for child kidnapping. Continue reading →

The New Apostolic Reformation – A Shelter for the Unqualified

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The Bible is absolutely clear regarding the qualifications for a pastor,” says Stephen Colin. In this piece over at Famine In The Land, Colin offers two examples of wolves in sheep’s clothing, Todd Bentley and Mark Driscoll, who have found shelter in the NAR cult, despite the fact that, according to 1 Timothy 3:2-7, both men have disqualified themselves from pastoral ministry.  Colin writes:

Bob Dylan, hailed as one of the great song writers of the 20th century penned a song called “Shelter from the Storm” in 1975. The lyrics to the song have been regarded as a poetic masterpiece, which is probably why he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016. The third verse in particular uses imagery which is akin to something we see in the visible church today. … Continue reading →

The Ten Most Hateful Americans and Why they Matter

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Language alert!

“John Brennan was Obama’s CIA director who once voted for Communist Gus Hall for president. This Deep State denizen, who many believe helped organized the Obama spying on the Trump camp during the election, is suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

(Frank Hawkins – American Thinker)  The American Left is stoking hatred and it’s tearing us apart. Our media is guilty of not only of failing to shame those responsible, in many cases they egg them on, giving them a platform. The volume of irrational hatred spewing into our ether is extremely unhealthy, even dangerous for our republic and the broader American culture. Continue reading →

He Does Not Budge

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

Then the Lord said to me, Do not pray for the well-being of this people. Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.But I said, Alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophets keep telling them, You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.Jeremiah 14:11-13

Jeremiah goes on to describe the land, how the cisterns have no water, the ground is dismayed, there is no rain on the land, the crops are dried up, and wild asses stand and pant, and there is no water in all of the land. This is part of the judging hand of God.  View article →

Can You Compete With Horses?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered? … If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? Jeremiah 12:4a-5

Jeremiah cries out to God with some troubled questions on his mind. These are the standard questions people ask when things begin to go wrong in an individual life, or in the life of a community, or a nation. I heard recently that a very well-known and well-liked high school girl disappeared mysteriously a few days before, and no one knew where she was. All her high school friends were praying for her. She was a Christian, and they were sure that God would protect her. …   View article →

BSF Leader resigns; warns members about 2018 Study

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From Berean Research:

This week, long-time Bible Study Fellowship International (BSF) leader Linda Davis is warning members signed up for this fall’s new study, People of the Promised Land. Davis is a BSF veteran of 22 years. Please consider sharing this link with women who are not on social media.

Also share our resources:

White Paper: Purpose Driven

White Paper: Spiritual Formation

White Paper: Emergent Church  Continue reading →

Getting ‘Unhitched’ from the Old Testament? Andy Stanley Aims at Heresy

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Megachurch pastor Andy Stanley describes the effort to retain much of the Old Testament as “intellectually ruinous and morally debilitating.” Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary & Boyce College, disagrees. He argues that because the Lord Jesus and the Apostles didn’t “unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish Scriptures” as Stanley urges Christians to do, we should pay no attention to him.  Moreover, Dr. Mohler warns:

We are looking here at the ancient heresy of Marcion, who argued that the Old Testament must be repudiated by the church. Marcion, who lived about the years 85-160, taught that the Old Testament revealed a Creator deity who is not even the same God who sent Jesus. Unsurprisingly, he also held to a heretical Christology.

Now listen to Dr. Mohler explain why he believes Andy Stanley’s teaching aims at heresy. He writes: Continue reading →

Having Faith in Doubt: A Response to Steven Furtick

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Let me say as this plainly as I know how: there is nothing of doubt in faith. God is not honored by doubt; doubting is not obedience to God. It is disobedience.

(Owen Strachan – For The Church) Doubt is back in the news. We’ve all heard a great deal about postmodernism over the years; one of the ways it continues to influence us as a culture is to make us prize uncertainty and distrust certainty. It seems more authentic, more truly human, even more virtuous, to live in gray areas than it is does to traffic in certitudes. You could sum up the spirit of the age like this: we’re being encouraged to have faith in doubt. Continue reading →

A tale of two confessions: Bill Hybels and Art Azurdia

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“The bottom line—when a pastor disqualifies himself because of immorality, his church needs to investigate, and then rebuke. They need to rebuke him publically, clearly, and directly.” 

(Jesse Johnson – The Cripplegate)  In the past month, two prominent pastors have had their private sins publicly exposed: Bill Hybels and Art Azurdia—one nationally known and whose fall was front page news, the other known only inside of evangelical circles and his fall reported largely on social media.

Both demonstrated conduct contrary to the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3, conduct that disqualifies them from being elders. Both committed adultery, and the fall of both men will obviously bring shame on the name of Christ. Continue reading →

You exist to glorify Christ

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” – Colossians 1:16

Christ is the focus of the apostle’s gaze in this text. He begins a dissertation on the surpassing excellencies of Christ from verse 15-22. I want to focus our attention right toward the beginning of this beautiful section to focus on one key phrase. That is the statement “all things are created through him and for him.”

What does it mean that all things are created for the Son? What exactly does this text convey about the Son? View article →

Christians Mystically Encountering God (Reprise)

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FLASHBACK FRIDAY

This article by CRN managing editor Marsha West was published 4/16/2013.

For a couple of decades there has been a big push by numerous evangelical leaders to incorporate pagan practices into the visible Church.  These unbiblical practices have their origins in Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, likewise the New Age movement.  Roman Catholic Trappist Monks fully embraced Eastern religion’s pagan practices.  Through the writings of Thomas Merton, Basil Pennington, William Menninger and Thomas Keating these practices have been introduced into mainline Protestant churches as well as independent, nondenominational, charismatic and Pentecostal churches. Continue reading →

Rick Warren Says Saddleback Has Matched the Growth of Church in Acts 2: Just Needs a Few More Baptisms to Pass a History-Making Milestone

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“Already baptized? That’s ok!  Since baptism doesn’t really do anything your invited to come and be baptized again!” 

(Daniel Long – Long For The Truth)  Do you want to feel significant, special, important? Then you need to be baptized! But, baptism in any old church won’t do! Nope. In order for your  baptism to be really special, you need to be baptized at one of the twenty Saddleback Campuses.

Why?

First, because “no other church in America,” or quite possibly the world, has done what Saddleback has done! Saddleback is the modern-day church of Acts 2. Continue reading →

Clashes in Argentina after plans to legalise abortion rejected

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Supporters say dangerous abortions have killed thousands in the country – but politicians have voted against changing the law.

(Sky News) Protesters have lit fires and thrown bottles at police after Argentina’s senate rejected a bill to legalise abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.

Thousands of pro and anti-abortion protesters in rival colours gathered in heavy rain outside Congress in Buenos Aires as politicians debated the proposal for 15 hours. Continue reading →

Threats prompt removal of Harvest Crusade ads in Orange County

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“The artwork on the banners wasn’t overtly religious. So we were very taken aback that the ads received complaints and threats.”

(L.J. Gambone – Daily Press) For the past 29 years, pastor Greg Laurie’s Southern California-based Harvest Christian Fellowship ministry has been holding annual crusades at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. In an effort to advertise for the year’s event, to be held Aug. 17-19, Harvest paid to place several banners in malls at Fashion Island in Orange County with the help of the Irvine Company. Continue reading →

Willow Creek Elders and Pastor Heather Larson Resign over Bill Hybels

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“We believe that [Hybels’s] sins were beyond what he previously admitted on stage, and certainly we believe that his actions with these women were sinful,” she said. “We believe he did not receive feedback as well as he gave it, and he resisted the accountability structures we all need.”

(Bob Smietana – Christianity Today)  In the summer of 2008, Bill Hybels stood in front of thousands of pastors and other church leaders gathered at Willow Creek Community Church and admitted his megachurch had failed. Continue reading →

Pro-lifers denounce FDA for buying ‘fresh’ aborted baby parts for experiments on mice

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“We call on Congress to pass the Roby Amendment to stop taxpayer funding of these repugnant practices and act swiftly to ban them altogether.”

(Calvin Freiburger – LifeSiteNews) – Pro-life leaders are outraged over revelations that the federal government continues to use human tissue from abortions in medical experiments, according to documents highlighted by CNS News.

A June 13, 2018 notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announces that the agency has awarded a $15,900 contract to Advanced Bioscience Resources, Inc. (ABR), a San Francisco Bay fetal tissue procurement firm, for the purpose of acquiring “Tissue for Humanized Mice.” The contract runs from July 15, 2018 to July 14, 2019. Continue reading →

What Censorship of Alex Jones Means for the Rest of Us

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“What is disturbing is that these are independent companies that seem to have made this decision collectively. In other words, competitors are making decisions about content publication together. Regardless of how you feel about Jones, that should make anyone who is cautious of a Corporatocracy a tad concerned.”

(Pulpit & Pen)  Social media companies are private corporations that reserve the right to deny service to anyone. There is no constitutional right to demand that Google, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or iTunes allow any person to speak freely. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution restricts the government from prohibiting speech, but privately owned companies – whether newspapers, opinion websites, or social media platforms – can censor whomever they want. That said, the coordinated censorship of Alex Jones by these companies should frighten anyone who is seriously concerned with a free flow of information in the Marketplace of Ideas. … Continue reading →