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

Do cults seem to care more about the Protestant Reformation than Christianity?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ ,

From Churchwatch Central:

Ellen G. White, founder of the Seventh Day Adventist cult

At the beginning of this year, we made the claim that international cults will use the Protestant Reformation as a ‘sheepskin’ to mislead society into thinking they are Christian charities.

It has been an absolute tragedy to observe just how many Protestant Churches show little regard to their history, heritage or express any real interest in celebrating 500 years of the Protestant Reformation.

Instead – liberal cults and NAR cults (Hillsong, etc.) seem to care more about making a big deal about the Reformation in order to mislead people into thinking they are legitimate Christian organizations and groups.

Jordan Hall of Pulpit & Pen shared his concerns about another world-wide cult trying to give the impression they are legitimately part of the Christian Faith.

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Teenage Boy Who ‘Transitioned’ to Girl Changes Mind: ‘I Realized I Could Be Happy Without Changing’

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Christian News reports:

A teenage boy who “transitioned” to a girl two years ago with his mother’s help has now changed his mind, as he has realized that he is not really a girl and is actually comfortable with the way he was born.

Patrick Mitchell, now 14, and his mother Ellie, who hail from Australia but currently live in the U.K., recently appeared on “60 Minutes” to share their story.

“[The doctors] were wrong to pigeonhole him so quickly,” Ellie Mitchell said. “I think they should have said, ‘Here we have a child who does have gender dysphoria and he’s going through a period of transition, where he needs to work out exactly how he feels.’”

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Homosexuality, Gender Identity, and Other Sexual Immorality

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Bible study author, speaker and blogger Michelle Lesley has written a thought-provoking piece for Bible believing Christians (those who hold to the authority of Scripture) that lays out the biblical view of how we must respond to all the troubling sexual issues that are impacting the world and the Church. She writes:

Sexuality in Western culture is a mess. Within the last hundred years or so, we’ve devolved from a society that had, broadly speaking, a general understanding of, and compliance with, the Bible’s parameters for sex to today’s sexual mores that barely top short of child molestation and bestiality and permits – even encourages – nearly every other form of perversion.

It can be difficult to know how to approach these issues which have been suddenly thrust upon us, and with which the average person – Christian or not – has very little experience. How are Christians to think about, believe, and address these issues in our families, churches, and communities? Do we just go with the “live and let live” flow of modern society? No. As with every other issue in life, our thinking, our words, and our actions must be shaped by and in submission to the authority of Scripture. Not public opinion. Not political agendas. Not our own personal feelings, opinions, and experiences. Scripture.

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Bannon to Charlie Rose: Elites Have Committed ‘Economic Hate Crime’ Against Working-Class Americans

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According to Breitbart, during the interview with Rose, “Bannon said though Trump was 15 points down in the polls, he said Clinton ‘reconfirmed’ to him that ‘she has no earthly idea what she’s doing. She has no earthly idea where this country is.’”

Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon told Charlie Rose that elites on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and Washington, DC, have committed an “economic hate crime” against working-class Americans by eviscerating the country’s industrial base.

Rose aired Bannon’s remarks Monday evening on his much-heralded Charlie Rose Showon PBS after 60 Minutes devoted two segments to Rose’s interview with Bannon on Sunday evening.

Bannon said though Donald Trump had a double-digit deficit in the polls when he took over his campaign, he knew Trump was going to win the election as soon as Hillary Clinton gave her infamous alt-right speech.

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Charismatic Prophets Claim Hurricanes are ‘Latter Rain’ Predicted in Joel 2

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A solar eclipse…a hurricane…then a mighty move of God, declares the (false) prophet. What exactly will God do? Pulpit & Pen News has the story:

Pentecostals associated with the “First Wave” of the charismatic movement claim that their fraudulent faux-miracles and gobbledegook tongues are the “latter rain” prophesied in Joel 2. Many Christians are familiar with the prophecy of Joel 2 because it is cited by Peter on the Day of Pentecost during the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Jews. The portion of that prophecy cited in Peter’s sermon is in Acts 2:17-21 and cites Joel 2:28-32…

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

Peter says that this prophecy had been fulfilled, saying in verse 16, “This is what was uttered by the prophet, Joel…”

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Military Mobilizing Massive Response to Those Struck by Irma

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According to Newsmax:

The U.S. military is sending aid down south to help recovery efforts for Hurricane Irma, the Pensacola News Journal reports.

The bulk of the assistance comes from the Army, sending 9,900 National Guard soldiers and Corps of Engineers members to Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, along with six aircraft, 500 trucks and 80 generators. A further 150 aircraft, 3,000 trucks, 150 boats and 600 generators remain on standby.

The U.S. military is sending aid down south to help recovery efforts for Hurricane Irma, the Pensacola News Journal reports.

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Defining Orthodoxy in Our Modern World

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Recently a manifesto was released by the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood known as the Nashville Statement (NS). The manifesto proclaims that traditional sexual morality is based on the clear teaching of Scripture, not on the whims of an ever changing culture.  Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a signatory to NS, declared that the statement was released by “Christians who believe that it is our responsibility to speak clearly to issues of gender and sex and sexuality and biblical morality in a time when these issues are commonly confused.”

Peter Jones, Executive Director of truthxchange, also signed NS. He believes the manifesto raises two crucial questions: 1. What is God-honoring sexuality? and 2. Who is truly Christian?

Dr. Jones tells us that Progressive Christians accuse evangelical orthodoxy of resisting the Spirit’s leading and clinging to the dogmas and traditions that, in their view (which is decidedly liberal), God is calling us to rethink and reform Christianity.  “For these ‘Christians'” says Jones, “’Evangelical orthodoxy’ is a heresy.”

Dr. Jones has no problem naming names and lists several progressive “Christians” who deny the authority of Scripture; moreover, they twist Scripture into a pretzel so that it fits a very “progressive” (liberal) agenda. Jones writes:

This is the oddest time for me to be writing a book that warns the church that the affirmation of homosexuality will lead many Evangelicals into liberalism. The recent Nashville Statement on Sexuality (made public August 25, 2017), has, oddly enough, provoked an embarrassment of riches for my research into the decline of evangelicalism.

The internet is rocking with responses of “Christians” denouncing with righteous anger the Scripture-honoring Nashville Statement. Written and endorsed by leading evangelical theologians (such as J. I. Packer and Al Mohler) this statement is dismissed by “Christian” movements as a hateful attack on people with variant sexual identities. So the Nashville Statement raises two crucial questions: 1. What is God-honoring sexuality? and 2. Who is truly Christian?

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See Berean Research’s White Paper on Progressive (Social Justice) “Christianity”

Michigan Mother Who Sacrificed Her Life to Save Unborn Daughter Passes Into Eternity

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Christian News reports:

Photo crredit: Facebook – Cure 4 Carrie

A Michigan mother who refused recommendations that she abort her unborn child in the midst of a battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer, and instead decided to forgo treatment in order to save her baby, has passed into eternity just days after her daughter was removed from her womb.

“Carrie entered into the presence of our Lord early this morning,” the Cure 4 Carrie page posted on Saturday. “I can only imagine what she is experiencing now!”

As previously reported, Carrie DeKlyen, a mother of five, was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme in April and was accepted for a clinic trial at the University of Michigan. However, in meeting with doctors at the facility, she was informed that she was pregnant and would need to obtain an abortion in order to proceed.

She declined.

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Barbie’s Newest Doll: Jenna the Hijabi

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According to Jerusalem Post:

The newest Barbie doll made her appearance this week in a look that would be unrecognizable to the original. Jenna, created by a French Muslim mother, is a hijabi Barbie.

In tradition with Muslim customs, Jenna wears an abaya, a modest dress that covers her collarbone and that stretches to her wrists and ankles. She comes with a matching scarf meant to be wrapped around her hair as a hijab. In addition to looking the part of a Muslim, Jenna will play it as well: she has the ability to recite 4 Quran verses.

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Three Truths to Settle Your Heart During a Storm

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

“We are praying, begging God to turn this storm,” says Tommy Clayton, co-pastor of GraceLife Church in Central Florida. “We’re asking Him to weaken its power, change its course, and have mercy on our community. We can’t possibly imagine a scenario that would make this storm a ‘good thing.'” Clayton reminds us that God is good, even when we’re being tossed by the storms of life.  Yes, life is sometimes hard. But Jesus uses the storms of life to make us strong and more like Him.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 2 Cor. 4:8-10 (emphases added)

In his piece over at The Cripplegate, Tommy Clayton offers three truths to plant deep into your heart and cling to when you enter a storm:

Hurricane Irma is headed toward my city in Central Florida. Even the most hopeful models show it shooting straight up the Peninsula. The majority of people who attend GraceLife Church could possibly experience the very center of that storm passing over their home. Many have evacuated and are navigating bumper-to-bumper traffic, gas shortages, and hotels with no vacancies.

Add to that all the hype on social media, alarmist weather reporters, and people who don’t live in Florida painting your worst-case-scenario. Others are scolding us either for waiting too long to prepare, or waiting too late to leave. Bad news. Not helpful. Those issues can easily trouble our hearts and paralyze us with fear.   View article →

Kirk Cameron Says God Sends Hurricanes, Internet Collectively Loses Mind

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Pulpit & Pen News has the story:

Kirk Cameron was recently in Florida and took the time for a short video at the Orlando airport to give an update on his travels and express a thought he had about the coming Hurricane.

The thought was this:

[My friend] you know, says [Hurricane] Harvey was a once in a lifetime event because the destruction was unprecedented with that hurricane. There’s another one coming up that they say is the largest recorded hurricane on the Atlantic, and the devastation from that, we don’t know how much it’s going to be. But, how should we look at two giant hurricanes coming back to back like this. Do we write it off as coincidence or statistical anomaly?

Cameron then reads from Job 37 and God’s declaration that he saturates clouds, scatters lightning, and makes the clouds turn around and around. The passage also says God does that either to water the Earth or for punishment. Cameron then proceeds…

“This is a spectacular display of God’s immense power. And when God displays his power, it’s not without purpose. We may not know what that purpose is, but it’s not random. We know weather serves the purposes of making us respond to God in humility, awe and repentance.”

Cameron then encouraged people to pray for Floridians.

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ELCA Presiding ‘Bishop’ Claims: ‘There May Be a Hell, But I Think It’s Empty’

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Christian News reports:

The presiding “bishop” of the apostate Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) opined in an interview this week with the Chicago Sun-Times that Hell is empty because God doesn’t give up on those who reject Him.

Elizabeth Eaton was interviewed on Wednesday by reporter Robert Herguth during his podcast “Faith to Face.”

Herguth asked Eaton a variety of questions during the 42-minute discussion, from whether she has ever had doubts since becoming a minister, to how she has been received as the ELCA’s first female presiding bishop, to what Jesus will look like when He returns, to what she thinks Heaven is like.

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Dianne Feinstein Attacks Judicial Nominee’s Catholic Faith

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Clearly Senator Feinstein is aware that the Constitution prohibits a “religious test” for public office and yet she laid into a judicial nominee over her religious beliefs. Alexandra Desanctis of National Review has the story:

This afternoon, during a confirmation hearing for 7th Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Amy Coney Barrett, Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein attacked the nominee for her Roman Catholic faith. Barrett is a law professor at the University of Notre Dame who has written about the role of religion in public life and delivered academic lectures to Christian legal groups. Drawing on some of these materials, Feinstein launched a thinly veiled attack on Barrett’s Catholic faith, asserting that her religious views will prevent her from judging fairly.

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Do You Really Want An Abundant Life?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:9-11)

You Can’t Handle An Abundant Life Unless You’ve Been Born Again From Above

So, you want an abundant life; then first of all you must come to understand the truth that mankind does not deserve anything from God but death for our rebellion against Him:

among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:3)

And no, that doesn’t sound pleasant; but spending an eternity in conscious torment in a literal place Jesus Himself referred to as hell sounds just a bit less pleasant, doesn’t it? View article →

‘I can’t find a solid church’

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Berean Research shares some tips on finding a solid church:

I recently received an email that has become a common heart cry for those hungry sheep who are not being fed a solid diet of pure milk and meat of Scripture:

“I am finding it difficult to find a congregation in my area that is not filled with compromise. I currently attend a Vineyard church where the ministries have adopted programs and teachings of Rick Warren, Andy Stanley, and others. I want to leave without rocking the boat, but where do I go? I’ve visited other churches, but find doctrinal issues with them also. I have been saved for years, but only recently have learned to discern, thanks in part to your ministry. Please give me some guidance.”

When I get letters like these, I am so saddened that the visible church has taken a worldly, carnal direction. At the same time, I am encouraged that God is opening the eyes of His children who love Him and seek to learn in truth and spirit from those who rightly handle His Word.

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On Leonard Sweet: Connectness Or Correctness – Which Will It Be?

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This piece by Tamara Hartzell is posted over at Lighthouse Trails:

Photo credit: Apprising Ministries

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Timothy 4:2-4)

Sadly, it has become quite obvious that the time has already come. Openly preferring the fables of man’s imagination to the doctrinal truth of God’s Word, today’s shifting Christianity is heaping to itself teachers to scratch its itching ears. People are choosing to be led in “a way that seemeth right unto a man” rather than in the way that is right unto God as set forth by God in the Word of God.

In Leonard Sweet’s 2009 book, So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church, which, sadly, is just as anti-truth, anti-God, anti-Christ as everything else that caters to today’s epidemic of itching ears, this “[r]enowned professor and theologian” —who has worked for “years as a mentor to pastors” and “is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences, state conventions, pastors’ schools, retreats” as well as “a consultant to many denominational leaders and agencies” —asks a question that effectively sums up the new way of thinking:

“What if we were to think connectness rather than correctness?”

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See our Research Paper on Spiritual Formation

Doctors Successfully Deliver Baby From Mother With Aggressive Brain Cancer Who Laid Down Life for Unborn Daughter

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According to Christian News:

Photo Credit: Cure 4 Carrie/Facebook

Doctors have successfully delivered a baby girl from her mother’s womb after her mother refused recommendations that she abort her unborn child in the midst of a battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer, and instead decided to forgo treatment in order to save her baby.

Doctors at the University of Michigan performed a Cesarean section on Carrie DeKlyen Wednesday night, delivering her daughter, named Life, at a gestation of 24 weeks, 5 days. She weighs 1 pound, 4 ounces.

“Life was delivered at 24 weeks and 5 days at 5:30 pm. She is doing as well as they had hoped,” the Cure 4 Carrie Facebook page announced. “Thank you, Jesus, for this amazing gift of LIFE!”

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U.S. Conference of Bishops’ Ludicrous Response to Steve Bannon’s ’60 Minutes’ Interview

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John Nolte of Breitbart has the story:

In a preview of Sunday’s 60 Minutes interview with former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, CBS released a segment in which Bannon is asked a question by Charlie Rose that no one in the media ever asks pro-gay marriage, pro-abortion Democrats.

Bannon was asked to reconcile his Catholic faith with those political beliefs in opposition to the church. In this case, it was about the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) strident and, as I wrote Wednesday, hypocritical support of DACA.

Transcript courtesy of CBS News:

Rose: Can I remind you, a good Catholic, that Cardinal [Timothy] Dolan is opposed to what’s happened with DACA? Cardinal Dolan.

Bannon: The Catholic Church has been terrible about this. … The bishops have been terrible about this …  Because [they’re] unable to really come to grips with the problems in the church, they need illegal aliens, they need illegal aliens to fill the churches. … They have – they have an economic interest. They have an economic interest in unlimited immigration, unlimited illegal immigration.

Rose:  Boy, that’s a tough thing to say about your church.

Bannon: As much as I respect Cardinal Dolan and the bishops on doctrine, this is not doctrine.  View article →

See our Research Paper on Roman Catholicism

New NAR group to keep your eyes on: The International Coalition of Prophets

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From Berean Research:

Holly Pivec of Spirit of Error alerts us to a new NAR coalition (NAR is keen on coalitions) professing believers mustn’t take part in. Not surprisingly, the group is asking those who join to pay an annual membership fee that ranges from $300 to $350 per prophet. Since this isn’t exactly chump change, it seems aspiring prophets will have to be prosperous.

Now to Holly’s piece:

The International Coalition of Apostolic Leaders is the world’s largest network of New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) apostles, with hundreds of members from many nations. When I was on their website recently, I noticed a link to a newly formed group, the International Coalition of Prophets.

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UC Santa Cruz Art Department Chair: Have Sex with Earth to Save It

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GRAPHIC CONTENT

We’re posting Breitbart’s piece to show you just how wacky some environmentalists are. Keep in mind that Elizabeth Stephens, who’s clearly a kook, is the Chair of the Art Department at UC Santa Cruz. Tom Ciccotta has the story:

UC Santa Cruz Professor Elizabeth Stephens, a pioneer in the “ecosexual” movement, is encouraging the public to engage in environmentalism by having sex with the Earth.

Stephens, the Chair of the Art Department at UC Santa Cruz, a public university, first garnered public attention four years ago with the release of her documentary Ecosexual Love Story, in which she and others licked trees, rolled around in mud, and engaged in vaguely sexual acts with elements of nature.

Stephens is still promoting her brand of ecosexuality. Just this summer she hosted an “Ecosex Walking Tour” in which she taught participants “25 ways to make love to the Earth, raise awareness of environmental issues, learn ecosexercises, find E-spots, and climax with the planetary clitoris.” Stephens is also slated to premiere her documentary Water Makes Us Wet during an art exhibition in Germany this week.

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MacArthur and a response to racism

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The interview with Dr. MacArthur is posted over at The Cripplegate:

John MacArthur was recently on the radio in Los Angeles (the Frank Sontag Show) to discuss the Charlottesville attack, but it became a longer conversation on the roots of racism and the Christian’s response to culture-wide hatred. Here are some of the highlights of that twenty-minute conversation:

Sontag: John, how to do we respond as Evangelicals to racism?  

MacArthur: We need to understand the roots of this. The roots of this are really not political, they’re not even economic. They’re moral and have to do with the sinfulness of the human heart. The Devil is the murderer from the beginning. The first crime was a killing. That basically defines the Kingdom of Darkness. That defines the realm of Satan. Jesus even said to the leaders in Israel, “You are of your father, the Devil. You’re either a child of doubt or child of Satan.” Those are the only two possibilities. For those in the Kingdom of Darkness hatred, anger, hostility, harm, and even murder is just par for the course.

That’s why God has designed mitigation into the culture. That’s why God has given every human being a conscience so at least you start out with some form of internal restraint. That’s why God designed the family and the rod in the family so that children can be harnessed and can be taught even to some inflicted reasonable amount of pain to be socially contributing to the well-being of society. That’s why God has ordained the police and given them the sword because this solemn world is completely captive to hatred and hostility at the most vicious level.

Of course, it doesn’t matter where it comes from. It might have various political forms, whether it’s white supremacy, Black Lives Matter, or whatever other form of it. Whether it’s Kim Jong-un or ISIS. This is how the worst in this solemn world conduct themselves.

It must be denounced on every level, but it also has to be understood that the remedy is not a political one. We need to restrain it by strong laws that are enforced at the highest level with justice essentially demanded and meted out.

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Star Wars Novel Hints That Last Jedi Character Is LGBT

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Liam Nolan of CBR.com has the story:

Passages from Claudia Gray’s Leia: Princess of Alderaan novel imply that the Resistance’s Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo, played by Laura Dern in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, may be either bisexual or pansexual.

The hint that Holdo may not be straight comes during a conversation with Leia about the possibility of an interspecies relationship:

“A pair of pretty dark eyes.” Then Amilyn thought about that for a moment. “Or more than a pair, if you’re into Grans. Or Aqualish, or Talz. Or even – ”

“That’s all right! Leia said through laughter. “It’s just humanoid males for me.”

“Really? That feels so limiting.”

“Thank goodness it’s a big galaxy.”

Although the passage doesn’t explicitly state that Holdo is bisexual or pansexual, it notes she’s interested in more than just humanoid men. While there are many alien species in the Star Warsuniverse that are both humanoid and non-humanoid, some don’t fall into a strict gender binary. The insectoid Xi’Dec, for example, have more than 180 different sexes. Other species are hermaphroditic or have a third sex.

Is a ‘Christian America’ Really on the Decline?

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Kimberly Winston of LifeZette has the details of a new study that says organized religion, including white evangelicalism, is losing numbers:

The future of religion in America is young, non-Christian and technicolor.

Almost every Christian denomination in the U.S. shows signs of growing in diversity as white Christians, once the majority in most mainline Protestant and Catholic denominations, give way to younger members, who tend to be of different races, according to a study released Wednesday, Sept. 6, by the Public Religion Research Institute.

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Michael Brown Excited About Superstitious Gypsy Voodoo Mats

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According to Pulpit & Pen News:

Gipsy Smith – who is mentioned by Brown – is responsible for the “start the revival in this circle” analogy often heard by traveling evangelists. Rodney “Gipsy” (it was spelled “Gipsy” by Smith; not Gypsy) Smith was a British evangelist and a member of the troublesome Salvation Army denomination (until they kicked him out for accepting personal gifts of gold jewelry). A widower at 78, Smith made headlines for marrying a 27 year-old. Smith might best be known for the illustration he often gave as a famous evangelist, in which he would draw a circle around himself with a piece of chalk while preaching and pray that revival start with him, inside the circle. He would exhort people to do the same.

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Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Filed by California Churches Over Directive Requiring All Insurance Plans to Cover Abortion

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Christian News reports:

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by several California churches over a state directive that they believe forces all faith-based employers to pay for abortion coverage regardless of their religious beliefs.

“[P]laintiffs have not alleged sufficient facts to make it plausible that the director has selectively applied the law to target the plaintiffs’ religious beliefs,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge Kimberly Mueller on Friday.

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