Here’s an idea. Instead of Christian missionaries heading off to third world countries to evangelize the lost, why not remain at home and evangelize college students. As it turns out, many institutions of higher learning promote paganism; thus, a large number of college educated millennials have bought into pagan beliefs, hook line and sinker. They’re involved in occult practices like astrology, tarot card reading, aura reading, palmistry, Runes, charms, potions, they play the Ouija board game and so on and so forth. In other words, college students are practicing the magik arts, what is commonly called witchcraft.
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Author Archives: Marsha West
Where Is Wisdom?
But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell? Man does not comprehend its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the living (Job 28:12-13).
Job points out the elusiveness of wisdom. What is this wisdom Job is talking about? All through this book we have been confronted with the question, Why does God treat Job this way?
But we have information that Job does not have. He has no knowledge of Satan’s challenge to God regarding him, and so his questioning is even deeper than ours. But we often feel this way ourselves. …
Christian Research Network 2017 Top 10 Articles
The following are Christian Research Network’s 2017 top 10 posts. But before we get to that, we want to thank those of you who use CRN, not just to do Research, but to start your day with our Devotion/teaching, or simply to catch up on the News. Or you might visit CRN to read an informative Opinion piece so that you’ll be up on what’s affecting/infecting the visible Church. It doesn’t matter what your reason is, we’re grateful! And because many of you share whatever happens to grab your attention, we know CRN’s on the right track!
From the beginning, the aim of this blog has been to direct readers back to Jesus Christ and His life, death and resurrection for sinners, as revealed in the scriptures. Nothing will change in that regard — but other changes are definitely coming in 2018 — so stay turned!
2017 TOP 10 ARTICLES
1. Insight Into the Lunacy of Bethel Supernatural School of Ministry
2. Joyce Meyer Teaching the ‘Relationship Over Religion’ Heresy
3. Saddleback Church Statement Appears to Downplay Role of Alleged Molester Ruben Meulenberg
5. Bible Answer Man Hank Hanegraaff Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy
6. The Beth Moore Cornucopia of False Doctrine, Mysticism, and Impasioned Frenzy
7. Who Cares About Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz Slamming Shots With Justin Bieber
8. The Photo That Lost Radio’s ‘Bible Answer Man’ Thousands of Listeners
9. Hillsong, Bethel Music and the Great Seduction
10. 5 Most Ridiculous Books to Ever Become Christian Bestsellers
2017 TOP 10 ARTICLES WITH THE MOST HITS — some of these articles were posted several years ago. They’re still relevant today. Continue reading
The Five Biggest Pop Culture Stories of the Year
(LifeZette) From Hollywood scandals with stars like Kevin Spacey to celebs taking their Trump hate too far, it’s been a shocking time
This was the year that never slowed down or quieted down — especially in the world of pop culture.
It’s also hard these days for a news story of almost any kind to pass without a reaction from a celebrity in one way or another.
There are arguably more eyes on the entertainment industry than ever before, and the easier access to content and social media bridges the gap between consumer and creator today — so pop culture stories are more widely spread and consumed by Americans now.
27 Percent of California Youth Are Gender ‘Nonconforming’
(Breitbart) A new study released at UCLA finds 27 percent of California’s young people between the ages of 12 and 17 self-report that others view them as gender ‘nonconforming” at school.
The study – which has a margin of error of about six percent – was based on the inclusion of two questions in the California Health Interview Survey that were asked of 1,594 California young people between the ages of 12 and 17.
First, the young people were asked, “Are you male or female?” and, subsequent to that question, they were asked:
‘We’ve Prayed About It’: Professing ‘Christian’ Couple Refuses Woman’s Pleas Not to Abort Baby
(Christian News Network) A viral video posted to social media on Friday shows a man and woman who professed to be Christians declining a woman’s pleas not to abort their baby, stating that the child would interfere with their plans and that they had “prayed about” the matter.
While the background behind the video, such as the location of the recording, has not been divulged, the footage captures the nearly seven-minute conversation between the young couple and a woman named Kate.
Trump White House Celebrates 50 Years of Kenneth Copeland’s Ministry
(Pulpit & Pen News – Important) With Paula White as Trump’s closest religious adviser, it’s been odd to watch his proximity to the strangest of religious leaders. Donald Trump and America’s craziest charismatics make for strange bed-fellows (a term one has to use cautiously, given the frequency with which Paula White changes literal bed-fellows, from her public affair with already-married Benny Hinn to her serial divorce and remarriages). Having been purportedly led to Christ by Paula White herself, Trump has made a showing of the support he’s enjoyed from Jim Bakker to Rodney Howard- Browne (both of whom have been invited to the White House). Most recently, he has shown his support of Kenneth Copeland.
New Research Shows Increased Risks of Same-sex Parenting
This article is posted for informational purposes and not as an endorsement of ChristianHeadlines.com
Contrary to the narrative pushed by academia and the mainstream media, there is increasing evidence that same-sex parenting has negative effects on children.
An article published last month by Catholic University of America sociology professor Paul Sullins found children with same-sex parents suffer emotional problems two to three times as often as children raised by opposite-sex parents.
Disney Staff Can Enter Your Hotel Room for Any Purpose
Well this is disturbing. According to LifeZette:
Walt Disney World has rolled out an updated security policy requiring its staff to enter guests’ hotel rooms daily, according to a report in Walt Disney World Today (WDWT). And a related policy includes replacing the traditional “Do Not Disturb” doorknob tags with tags reading “Room Occupied.”
Regardless of the presence or absence of any tag, Disney’s terms of service now state that “the hotel and its staff reserve the right to enter your room for any purposes.” Continue reading
Evangelical rebel Jen Hatmaker deserved more from Politico than a puff piece
Journalist and author Julia Duin argues that Politico’s recent piece on “evangelical” Jen Hatmaker, who has become firmly ensconced in the Religious Left, didn’t get anywhere near the same scrutiny as those on the Religious Right receive in the articles written about them. “Why didn’t the writer of this fluff maintain at least some journalistic distance from her subject?” demands Duin. “There was zero attempt (that I could discern) to get an opposing point of view and whoever edited it didn’t demand even a hint of objectivity from the reporter.”
In this piece over at Get Religion, Duin reveals why a large number of evangelical women feel betrayed by the woman they were led to believe shared their biblical worldview. She writes: Continue reading
Formula One Driver Under Fire For Telling Nephew ‘Boys Don’t Wear Princess Dresses!’
(Dailywire) Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton is on the receiving end of internet leftists’ wrath for telling his young nephew that “boys don’t wear princess dresses.”
Hamilton recently posted a video of his nephew dressed in full-on princess attire, apparently after receiving the dress, shoes and accessories as Christmas gifts. “I’m so sad right now. Look at my nephew,” the driver starts the video, camera pointed to himself. “Why are you wearing a princess dress? Is this what you got for Christmas?” Hamilton asks the boy.
Speaking What Is Right
After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has
(Job 42:7).
Perhaps we are surprised that in this account God affirms that Job was right in what he said about Him. We have never seen any recognition up to this time that Job had said right things. In fact, much of the book is aimed at pointing out that Job was wrong in his attitude about God. Although both Job and his friends say some wonderfully true things about God, and there are great passages of brilliance and glory that depict something of His power, beauty, and wisdom, Job himself admitted that he spoke in ignorance and folly, and he repents of this and puts his hand on his mouth. So it is rather surprising that God twice admits that Job has said that which is right about Him.
Pastors: Stop Trying to be Popular
The good news about Christ can only be appreciated with the bad news as the backdrop. There are times when the saints must be fed, and there are times when the sinners must be warned (C.H. Spurgeon).
(Shane Idelman – ChristianHeadlines) A few years back, I listened in astonishment as some prominent “Christian” leaders talked about replacing “preaching” with “having a conversation.”
At first, I thought that they might be confusing individual conversations with how we should speak to the masses, but I was wrong. They felt that we should stop “preaching” from the pulpit and start being more passive and less confrontational. Never mind the fact that Jesus said, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent” (Luke 4:43). But according to many, it’s time to replace the pulpit with a couch and preaching with conversing. Continue reading
The Shepherds’ Gospel
Called Out Of Darkness Into Light
The Christmas story just wouldn’t be the same without the shepherds, would it? Just a bunch of blue collar guys out doing their jobs one night, when God stepped in and gave them a story they’d be telling for the rest of their lives. We don’t know their names or how many of them there were, but they’re more than just pieces of our nativity sets. They’re a picture of the gospel.
The shepherds had no idea God would reveal His Son to them that night. They were just going about their lives, day in and day out, oblivious, until God intervened and brought them the good news of Christ. In a similar way, the Bible says that we walk through life day after day, dead in our trespasses and sins, until that glorious moment when God draws us to Himself, opens our eyes to the gospel, and makes us alive in Christ.
In A World of ‘Authentic’ ‘Journeys,’ There’s Always First Things
(Carl Trueman – First Things) One of the sad things about writing my annual contribution to the First Things end-of-year appeal is that there is always some news headline that indicates why the print magazine and its online content are important. And this year is no exception, with the news that a Roman Catholic priest in Wisconsin has come out as gay, to a standing ovation from his parishioners.
Debates about whether or not same-sex attraction is sinful rage on in Christian circles—but that is not what interests me in this story. Rather, I am interested in the blithe way in which many of the present age’s heterodoxies concerning human personhood are widely accepted as normative.
Handling Stress
(Brent Aucoin – Answers In Genesis) Our primary goal in handling life’s pressures is to learn how to depend upon God and please Him, not simply get rid of stresses.
The economy, unemployment, terrorism, politics, finances, moral decline, major sickness, a prodigal child, an unhealthy marriage—for most of us, contemplating any one of these pressures will knot our stomach. We become uneasy and tense. Our soul ceases to be quiet like the still waters but instead becomes deafeningly noisy like a wailing infant. In other words, we are “stressed.”
Swarthmore College Introduces ‘Queering the Bible’ Course
(Breitbart) Next fall, the prestigious Swarthmore College will introduce a course called “Queering the Bible.”
The course, which will launch in the fall of 2018 through Swarthmore’s religion department, will examine the Bible through a queer lens. It will examine issues of sex, gender, and identity as they present themselves in one of human history’s most influential texts.
Your God Is Too Small
God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him? (Job 36:22).
Elihu’s final word to Job is a great and beautiful passage in which he sets forth in marvelous language the glory of God. It runs from chapter 35:22 through chapter 37. First, God is beyond human instruction. Notice how he begins: God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him?
Then, he reveals another important fact in chapter 36:26: God is beyond human understanding: How great is God beyond our understanding!
Finally, Elihu reveals in 36:30-31 that God acts beyond the rigid categories and reasons of humans: See how he scatters his lightning about him, bathing the depths of the sea. This is the way he governs the nations and provides food in abundance.
God uses His natural powers for both blessing and judgment alike.
Supreme Court Will Decide if Illegal Immigrants Have a ‘Right’ to Abortion
(LifeNews.com) Veteran Supreme Court reporter Lyle Denniston reported today that the Supreme has decided to “move ahead on the dispute over teen abortions.” He is referring to the case of three undocumented pregnant girls whom the ACLU has so far successfully argued ought to be allowed to abort. Denniston begins:
The Supreme Court plans to take up at its first private conference in the new year the intense, ongoing fight over an unsettled constitutional question – do undocumented immigrant teenagers who are pregnant have a right to an abortion? …
The ‘Bethel Board’-Encounter God With This New Game! (No, it’s NOT a Ouija Board, You Religious Pharisee)
Is there a link between Bethel Church in Redding CA and occultism as some discernment ministries have been reporting (here)? Steven Kozar of Messed Up Church presents the shocking evidence that the claims made by discerners are indeed true. Here’s Kozar’s report:
We all know how important it is to have massive encounters with God, right? Well, now it can be fun, too! Introducing the brand new board game from Bethel Church in Redding, California: “The Bethel Board!” (And it’s just in time for Christmas!)
Free All ‘Trans’ Prisoners and Abolish Birth Certificates, Lobby Group Demands
(Christian Institute) All transsexual prisoners should be released, children should be allowed unrestricted access to hormone blockers and birth certificates should be banned, transsexual campaigners are demanding.
In its manifesto, the Edinburgh chapter of the national Action for Trans Health (ATH) group, which has previously called for ‘radical violence’, said: “This is war, and we will win”.
The national body was handed a public platform when it gave oral evidence to an influential committee of MPs, while its founder has reportedly trained hundreds of NHS staff.
Christmas: Not the Beginning of Jesus’ Existence
A frequently heard phrase this time of year is the “birth of Jesus.” And that’s good. But, it’s possible to miscommunicate something essential about Christ. Typically, when we mention someone’s birth, we think of it as the beginning of the individual’s existence. Obviously conception marks the beginning of existence, but for convenience sake (and avoidance of some awkward conversations) we do not celebrate one’s conception day, but birthday. You get the idea.
It’s Christmas! ‘Harry Potter’ Visits ‘The Shack’
Photo credit: Herescope
Who are we going to allow to define God, New Ager Wm. Paul Young and promoter of witchcraft J.K Rowling…or the Lord Jesus Christ? Following is Pastor Larry DeBruyn’s response in a piece he penned for Herescope:
Looks like the concept of “god” in the book and movie The Shack is spreading. Fiction and fantasy have merged. J.K. Rowling, author of the occult Harry Potter series of books, popular reading among even many Christians, has announced that like The Shack, she believes “God is a Black Woman.” (Rowling’s declaration, as well as The Shack‘s fiction, reminds me of The Black Madonna.) Continue reading
CNN Promotes Children’s Book with Gay-Married Santa Claus
(Breitbart) CNN’s relentless campaign to destroy the innocence of young children marched on this weekend with a lengthy Sunday morning New Day segment promoting a children’s book that depicts Santa Claus as a homosexual who is married to another man.
Above a chyron that read, “Children’s Holiday Book Explores Race, Homosexuality,” New Day co-anchor Christi Paul declared the book a “fresh, new twist” and then appeared to lament the fact that “there are some families though, tsk, not so happy about the book’s maybe not so hidden agenda.”
Did a False Teacher Heal You?
(Costi Hinn – Defining Deception) A few years ago an excited woman in her 20’s ran up to me one Sunday at church – she was a newer attendee who had been kicking the tires on our church for a few weeks when my last name must have clicked. It’s not like we talk about it every Sunday at Mission Bible – our members don’t really care. We have a lot of important ministry to do and I’m just another one of the pastors. But sometimes it comes out in conversations and you never know what you’re going to get. Angry ex-faith-healer-enthusiast who threatens a shake down if I don’t pay them back what my uncle stole from them? Excited believer who came out of the jaws of deception like me? It’s hit or miss.
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