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

What will become of you when you die?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

Easter conjures images of Easter egg hunts, decorative baskets filled with all sorts of goodies, cool new clothes, church services, and families and friends gathering together for a feast. It’s all about….what? Is the reason we observe Easter Sunday to celebrate the coming of the Easter Bunny? To usher in springtime? Or is it an excuse for a parade?

As you might have already surmised, it is none of the above. The significance of Easter is to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

For many professing Christians, Easter isn’t about Jesus — it’s about binging on sweets! There’s nothing wrong with Easter festivities per se; but to be sure, the reason we celebrate is Christ’s triumph over death. A little more than two thousand years ago the Son of God experienced a humiliating horrific death to atone for the sins of humankind. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

The Son of God condescended to take on human flesh and come to Earth to die, not because He had some sort of social or political agenda that weighed heavy on His heart. Jesus was not concerned with “social justice.” He came to Earth to die for our sins.

The Bible is clear that God’s hates sin — yet He went to great lengths to save us!  Pastor and author John MacArthur explains it thusly:

When we say God hates sin and doesn’t hate the sinner, you’re really drawing a fine line. God looked on all His creation and said that it was good, so that basically what God created He adores, He considers the work of His hand, and man, though the image of God is marred is none the less made in the image of God. So, the New Testament says God loves the world, God loves all men. It even says that we are to do good unto all men especially of the household of faith, so we are to do good to all men for they are made in the image of God. There is a sense in which no matter what we do in our lives, God still loves what we are as the expression of His creation. But He hates the sin.

The thing most people fail to understand is that God is holy. (Isaiah 6:3, Rev 4:8) And because God is holy He is repelled by evil. All sin is evil — even those “little white lies” we tell. Washing away our sins (cleaning us up) is the sole purpose for Jesus’ death on the cross. He died for one and all, and that includes those we think aren’t worth a plug nickel.

My point is that the person who truly BELIEVES that Jesus shed His blood for his sins and realizes his need for repentance and forgiveness will be saved from eternal damnation. Yes, Jesus died for the worst of the worst, the scum of the earth, the reprobate, the smelly homeless guy, the ugly girl in your math class, Bashful, Dopey, Doc and, yes, even Grumpy. So if an outlaw like Billy the Kid comes to faith in Christ, that outlaw is heaven bound! The blood of Christ has washed away his sins.  From the moment the Kid repents and places his faith in Christ, he is no longer that outlaw; he has become a son of the King.

Christ’s death on the cross is God’s way of saving humans from being sent to hell for all eternity. Every sinner is destined for hell — and hell is a real place! How do I know that? Because Jesus gave us fair warning when He spoke these words:  “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:29). He also spoke of hell to the Pharisees: “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?” (Matthew 23:33). Again: “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades” (Luke 10:15). Christ’s words were not just hyperbole!  If hell is nonexistent, the Lord Jesus wouldn’t have warned people about it. Those who reject Him will be sentenced to hell!

But never fear! There is a way to avoid being sentenced to that terrible place. The Apostle Paul tells us how to avoid it: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved [from hell]” (Romans 10:9).

Now, those who think they know better than God who should enter the Highway to Heaven or be thrown into hell will no doubt reject what Paul said. But they cannot ignore the fact that the scriptures teach that God, no one else, will decide who ultimately goes up…and who goes into the pit.

There are those who believe that “good people” go to heaven. Au contraire! By God’s standard of “good” the Bible says a person’s good deeds are “filthy rags.” No Good person, no good Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or Mormon will ever see the Kingdom of Heaven. Why? For the simple reason that “good people” will not be invited into God’s kingdom. Jesus said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) So no matter how good an individual appears to be, he/she will never be “good enough” to stand in the presence of Holiness unless he/she is cleansed of all sin by the blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

It’s going to be a huge shock when those in the “me” generation find themselves in the courtroom of the One who will judge the world and are handed a one way ticket to hell. After all, they think God created the sun just to light up their lives. Hell isn’t a real place anyway, they say. So why should anyone have to worry about going there? And if there is a hell, only murders, rapists, pedophiles and Adolph Hitler will go there. It’s indeed true that unrepentant murders and so forth will go to hell; likewise, anyone else who rejects Christ will spend eternity “where the worm never turns…”  Including “good people.”

Warning to the unbeliever! Jesus Christ is the CEO (Chief Executive Over-all) of Heaven.   So – if you have little or no interest in getting to know the Lord Jesus while residing on this planet, why would you want to live in the kingdom He rules for all eternity?  Moreover, if you have no use for biblical Christianity and its “outdated confessions, creeds and dogmas,” then would you really want to bow to and worship the Son of God for all eternity?

One last thing.  There are a large number of professing Christians who claim to love Jesus yet they’re too embarrassed–or proud–to bend a knee to Him.  They embrace Him as their Savior but they’ll not allow Him to be their Lord and Master.  They disobey His commands and live by their own rules…and they believe they’re saved.  Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) So are these people saved?  Really?

Not judging, just saying.

© Marsha West, 2017

10 Signs of a Cultic Church

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

From Berean Research:

Cross Examined has a piece by Brian Chilton who asks: “How does one know that a church has the characteristics of a cultic church?” Good question.  According to Chilton, there is a difference between a cult and a cultic church and he gives some signs of cultic churches. So we want you to know what those distinctions are. We’ve included links for further study at the end that will help you grow in your faith:

#2 Personal interpretations are held to an equal or higher view than biblical truth. A good example of a cultic church would be Bethel Church in Redding, CA

A few weeks back, I was troubled to hear about a Word of Faith congregation in Spindale, North Carolina, that was guilty of abusing its members. Reports included young children being punched by the leadership while being called Satanists. Jane Whaley and her husband are at the center of these accusations. The full report can be accessed here.

Unfortunately, cultic churches abound. Just last night, a guest pastor from the Philippines spoke about particular cults in his land. He noted that one cult did not allow the congregants to open their Bibles as everything had to be interpreted by the leadership. Churches like these are identified as cultic churches as contrasted with authentic churches. Authentic churches are the body of Christ. They are the assemblies of baptized believers who fully adopt biblical principles and have the freedom to grow and develop in their relationship with Christ.

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The Insanity of the Left’s Child Gender-Confusion Agenda

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

“This is science with an agenda,” reminds Ben Shapiro in a piece over at CNSNews:

On Sunday, The New York Times ran a piece by Jack Turban, a research fellow at the Yale School of Medicine. Turban says that doctors should begin applying puberty blockers to children who identify as transgender as early as possible. That’s because, according to him, “it has become clear that if we support these children in their transgender identities instead of trying to change them, they thrive instead of struggling with anxiety and depression.”

Turban uses as his example one 14-year-old girl named Hannah who was born a boy named Jonah. Turban glows: “Hannah is using a puberty-blocking implant and getting ready to embark on the path of developing a female body by starting estrogen. Ten years ago most doctors would have called this malpractice. New data has now made it the protocol for thousands of American children.”

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The Daily Wonder of Easter

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion

Michelle Leslie reminds us that “As Christians, every day our sin sick souls need to bow at the cross and be washed afresh in the precious, atoning blood of Christ.”

“What should I preach about on Easter Sunday? Help me out, here.”

That’s the gist of a tweet I saw recently from a pastor. It caught me quite off guard, and it must have had the same effect on many others who punctuated their excellent advice –“preach the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for our sins”- with lots of “duh’s” and other indications that this should be a no-brainer for a Christian pastor.

Traditionally, the prevailing line of thought about Easter (and Christmas) services has always been, “This is one of the two times a year that a lot of lost people go to church. It might be our only chance to reach some of them. Let’s make sure we give them the gospel.” Maybe after so many years of that, some pastors feel that their church members have heard it all before and they need to move on to something else in order to keep people’s attention. Sometimes, as a pastor, it’s tough to know just what to do to best reach people for Christ.

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AI programs exhibit racial and gender biases, research reveals

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙

According to The Guardian “Machine learning algorithms are picking up deeply ingrained race and gender prejudices concealed within the patterns of language use.” So the question is, will robots display human prejudices?

An artificial intelligence tool that has revolutionised the ability of computers to interpret everyday language has been shown to exhibit striking gender and racial biases.

The findings raise the spectre of existing social inequalities and prejudices being reinforced in new and unpredictable ways as an increasing number of decisions affecting our everyday lives are ceded to automatons.

In the past few years, the ability of programs such as Google Translate to interpret language has improved dramatically. These gains have been thanks to new machine learning techniques and the availability of vast amounts of online text data, on which the algorithms can be trained.

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Trinity Broadcasting Network campus sale price revealed: $18.25 million

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙

Orange County Register reports:

When Trinity Broadcasting Network announced in March that it sold its highly visible campus in Costa Mesa, the price was not revealed.

Now it’s public. The landmark building sold for $18.25 million, according to CoStar Group, a commercial property database.

The 65,000-square-foot, three-story building on the 6.19-acre campus is familiar to many beyond TBN’s audience for its brightly lit holiday displays along the 405 Freeway on Bear Street.

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President Donald Trump Signs Bill to Overturn Obama Rule Forcing States to Fund Planned Parenthood

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

According to LifeNews:

Photo credit::Kelsey Lucas Visualsey,The Daily Signal

President Donald Trump signed into law today a bill to overturn a rule pro-abortion President Barack Obama put in place preventing states from defunding the Planned Parenthood abortion business.  The rule from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) prevented states from blocking Title X funding to abortion companies like Planned Parenthood.

After the House first passed the measure, the Senate voted 50-50 for the bill, with a couple of liberal pro-abortion Republicans joining Democrats in supporting the abortion giant and Republicans voting pro-life. The tie vote made it so pro-life Vice-President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote to approve the measure.

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Read why Planned Parenthood should be defunded: Congress’s Planned Parenthood Investigations Find Horrifying Criminal Practices 

23 and Me (and You): Let the Buyer Beware

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

“Curious about genetic testing and what the results will tell you?” asks Chris Woodward of LifeZette. “Be sure you’re comfortable with privacy issues (or lack thereof).” Woodward writes:

Let the buyer beware! That is the message for people thinking about using home kits promising personal genetic information and details in exchange for something as simple as a saliva sample. The firm 23andMe is the latest company looking to become a household name — and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted it authorization to market genetic reports on personal risk for certain diseases.

The authorization includes reports on genetic risk for 10 conditions, including late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and harmful blood clots, among others.

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No Substitute For Marriage: Co-Habiting Parents More Likely to Break Up, Hurt Kids

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙

Tyler O’Neil over at PJ Media fills us in on the study — that will come as no surprise to Bible believing Christians:

Children’s well-being depends on family stability, researchers agree. But some say marriage is not a critical factor in that stability — that cohabiting parents are just as likely to stay together long-term and provide the love and support children need. According to a new study from the Brookings Institution, that just isn’t the case: There’s no substitute for marriage.

“It is easy to see why some conclude marriage per se does not matter. But here’s the thing: marriage itself is strongly associated with family stability,” wrote Bradford Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, and Laurie DeRose, sociology professor at Georgetown University.

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Profane ‘Pastor’ Welcomes Open Homosexuals, Admits He ‘Doesn’t Care’ What Bible Says

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

Christian News has the story. They’ve posted a video at the end of the piece where you will hear the so-called pastor using profanity and saying some pretty provocative things, such as “I don’t care if the Bible says gay people suck…I have lots of things I disagree with about the Bible.” Yes, Bible believing Christians are few and far between these days.

A profanity-laced preacher who has lost hundreds in his congregation over his decision to allow open homosexuals to serve in leadership positions, and who says he “doesn’t care” what the Bible has to say on the issue, is featured in a new online video that has received over a million views in less than a week.

Ryan Meeks is the founder of EastLake Community Church in Bothell, Washington, which identifies itself as “an inclusive Christian community where faith is less about a story to be believed as it is a life to be lived.”

In 2015, Meeks announced that he believed a “move of the Spirit” caused him to rethink how he had handled the issue of homosexuality. In the April 8th video released by Upworthy, Meeks—amid clips of profanity usage—noted that he used to shy away from the topic.

“When it came to the conversation around the LGBT community and church policy, or what does the Bible say about homosexuality, I always felt awkward about it. I didn’t want to bring it up,” he explained.

“I felt like I needed to scare people into believing the right thing because the God who loves them is going to send most of human history to Hell,” Meeks said. “That’s the Good News? Sounds pretty [expletive]!”

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App Delivers Birth Control Without Doctor’s Visit, Ages 12 and Up

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

According to Leah Jessen of LifeZette, a “San Francisco-based firm says it ‘won’t tell parents or anyone else’ if a young woman has ordered this medication.”  She writes:

Teenage girls and women can order birth control from an app that will deliver the medication straight to their home, all without the “hassle” of a doctor’s visit. The app, deemed the “uber of birth control,” is called Nurx and is sure to create a wave of controversy.

If you have health insurance, Nurx is free in most cases.

“Our country’s medical system doesn’t always work very well for patients,” Dr. Jessica Knox, Nurx’s medical director, told the Daily Dot. “We sort of hold women hostage.”

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Hank Hanegraaff, Greek Orthodoxy, and Patterns in the Cults

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

Over at Pulpit & Pen, Seth Dunn examines the claim that the man who took over the leadership of the Christian Research Institute (CRI) following the death of its founder Dr. Walter Martin has left the biblical Christian faith to become Eastern Orthodox which, ironically, is considered a cult. Since CRI is a counter-cult ministry it should come as no surprise that this has become a huge story.  Dunn writes:

With the recent defection of Hank Hanegraaff, the Bible Answer Man, to the Greek Orthodox religion, an examination of the compatibility of this religion with Biblical Christianity is in order. Unfortunately, such an examination is a difficult task where the Orthodox religion is concerned. According to an article published by the Christian Research Institute (CRI), “Orthodoxy is not a monolithic bloc that shares a unified tradition and church life.” Despite this, a discerning examination of Greek Orthodoxy is not impossible. Using a variety of available sources, it can be concluded that Greek Orthodoxy falls outside the bounds of Biblical Christianity and exhibits patterns common to other sub-Christian cults. The Watchman Fellowship, an evangelical discernment ministry, has identified four patterns which are common to cults. Greek Orthodoxy exhibits three of them.

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CRN posted Hank Hanegraaff’s response

Trump: Hillary Was ‘Guilty of Every Charge’

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

Newsmax reports:

Hillary Clinton was “guilty of every charge,” and FBI Director James Comey “saved her life” with his revelation that he would not pursue charges against her for her use of a private email server and the handling of classified information, President Donald Trump said in an interview airing Wednesday.

“When he was reading those charges, she was guilty of every charge,” Trump told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo about Comey’s 2016 press conference.  “When he was reading those charges, she was guilty of every charge, and then he said she was essentially OK.”

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Bible Answer Man Hank Hanegraaff Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

Hank Hanegraaff addressed his conversion to the Orthodox faith on his radio show The Bible Answer Man in response to a caller who expressed concern that in becoming Eastern Orthodox, Hank had left the Christian faith. Following is his response:

I am now a member of an Orthodox Church, but nothing has changed in my faith. I have been attending an Orthodox church for a long time—for over two years, really, as a result of what happened when I went to China, many years ago. I saw Chinese Christians who were deeply in love with the Lord, and I learned that while they may not have had as much intellectual acumen or knowledge as I did, they had life. And so I learned that while truth matters, life matters more, and I remember flying back from China after spending time with just common people who had a deep, intense love for the Lord, and wondering, “Was I even a Christian?”

I was comparing my ability to communicate truth with their deep and abiding love for the Lord Jesus Christ… One man, by the way, said to me, truth matters but life matters more. In other words, it is not just knowing about Jesus Christ, it is experiencing the Resurrected Christ. As a result of that I started studying what was communicated by the progeny of Watchman Nee with respect to theosis and that drove me back to the early Christian Church.

And I suppose over that period of time I have fallen ever more in love with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It’s sort of like my wife—I have never been more in love with my wife than I am today, and I’ve never been more in love with my Lord Jesus Christ than I am today. I’ve been impacted by the whole idea of knowing Jesus Christ, experiencing Jesus Christ, and partaking of the graces of Jesus Christ through the Eucharist or the Lord’s Table. And that has become so central in my life, but as far as the statement that you mentioned, that I’ve left the Christian faith—nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact I believe what I have always believed, as codified in the Nicene Creed, and as championed by mere Christianity.

Hanegraaff recited the Nicene Creed and then concluded:

In other words, I am as deeply committed to championing mere Christianity and the essentials of the historic Christian faith, as I have ever been.

Articles that come from different perspectives:

Evangelical Apologist Hank Hanegraaff Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy

“Bible Answer Man” Hank Hanegraaff Joins Orthodox Church

The Bible Answer Man, Hank Hanegraaff, Leaves the Christian Faith?

Research:

Why Write About the Orthodox Church?

“We need to write about the Orthodox Church because it has a membership of over 200 million people worldwide and because it claims to be the only true Church on earth. When any such claim is made involving so many people, it is necessary to  research and write about such a group and compare it to scripture.”

What is the Eastern Orthodox Church and what are the beliefs of Orthodox Christians

“The Orthodox Church claims to be the one true church of Christ, and seeks to trace its origin back to the original apostles through an unbroken chain of apostolic succession. Orthodox thinkers debate the spiritual status of Roman Catholics and Protestants, and a few still consider them heretics. Like Catholics and Protestants, however, Orthodox believers affirm the Trinity, the Bible as the Word of God, Jesus as God the Son, and many other biblical doctrines. However, in doctrine, they have much more in common with Roman Catholics than they do with Protestant Christians.”

Video:

Hank Hanagraaff expresses his view of Eastern Orthodoxy and Theosis

Is the Eastern Orthodox Church the Only True Church?

Gender Expert: Teens Are Trying to Be Transgender Because It’s Trendy

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

According to Heatstreet:

One of Australia’s top experts on gender has raised concerns that children and teens are overdiagnosed as transgender.

Adolescents are “trying out being transgender” to stand out or gain attention from their peers, psychiatrist Stephen Stathis told the Courier Mail last week. “One said to me, ‘Dr. Steve … I want to be transgender, it’s the new black,” he recalled.

Stathis, who runs Brisbane’s Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, said a gender dysphoria diagnosis will be given to only a tiny minority of the 180 minors who seek treatment at his clinic this year.

A gender dysphoria diagnosis is the first step for a transgender person to begin transitioning. Though children under 18 cannot get gender-reassignment surgery in Australia, they can receive hormonal therapy or treatment to suppress puberty.

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Did God Forbid us to Critique or Criticize Church Leaders?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

High profile Church leaders who teach doctrines of demons actually have the temerity to warn their critics to back off or face danger of divine judgment. Well, Cameron Buettel’s not backing off. In a blog post he wrote for Grace to You, Buettel names names and includes a video of one wolf in sheep’s clothing you won’t want to miss. The man’s heretical teaching is breathtaking!  Even so, he has a gazillion adoring fans who financially support his sham of a ministry and they’ve made him a wealthy man. Why would any serious Christian support mangy wolves? Because many believers simply are unable to discern a wolf from a terrier, the reason being that they don’t have a firm grasp of Church doctrine — what they believe and why they believe it.

Someone once said that the Church is a mile wide and an inch deep. In other words, when it comes to understanding the things of God, His people have very little understanding. As a result of their shallowness, spiritual discernment is pretty much non-existent in the visible Church.  And therein lies the problem.

So with all of this in mind, here’s Cameron Buettel’s excellent post:

False teaching thrives in environments where it is unlikely to be questioned. Charlatans and heretics prey on uncritical minds, and work tirelessly to protect and preserve that gullibility. Their success depends on dismantling every challenge to their authority and accuracy.

John MacArthur describes why that problem is rampant in the modern church:

In a time like this of tolerance, listen, false teaching will always cry intolerance; it will always say you’re being divisive, you’re being unloving, you’re being ungracious, because it can only survive when it doesn’t get scrutinized. And so it cries against any intolerance. It cries against any examination, any scrutiny.

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‘I Have Deep Regrets’: Graphic Artist Who Designed ‘Shack’ Novel Renounces Book

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

According to Christian News, the artist lamented: “I look back and see how little discernment I had. And I regret and apologize also for waiting this long to publicly share this.” Heather Clark has the story.  She writes:

The graphic artist who helped design the controversial best-selling novel “The Shack” has come forward to express his regret for being a part of the project out of his concern that it contains false doctrine.

“[O]ver 10 years ago, I was captivated by the story and felt honored to be part of the graphic creation of the book. I was so drawn into it, wanting to know the God it portrayed,” Dave Aldrich of Aldrich Design posted to social media on Tuesday. “The Shack’s story wonderfully painted this picture to me of an incredibly knowable and loving God, one full of forgiveness, but without being judgmental.”

He said that the novel led him into reading other authors such as Rob Bell and Brian McLaren, and he found himself at the edge of accepting universalist beliefs before he came to realize the danger.

“I thank the Lord that He pulled me back from that edge,” Aldrich wrote.

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Why Should I Believe that Jesus Rose from the Dead?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙

The following is adapted from Michael Horton, “Risen Indeed.”

In answering this question, it’s helpful for us to return to the “facts of the case.” Here, speculation is useless. It does not matter what we thought reality was like: whether we believed in thirty gods or none. It doesn’t matter what we find helpful, meaningful, or fulfilling. This is not about spirituality or moral uplift. Something has happened in history and we cannot wish it away. It either happened or it did not happen, but the claim itself is hardly meaningless or beyond investigation. Let’s look at the facts of the case.

The earliest Christians testified to the following elements of the resurrection claim, even to the point of martyrdom:

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Transgender Texas Boy Gets New Birth Certificate

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙

Breitbart reports that the nine year old child’s parents are going to have a “do-over” baby shower to celebrate the revised paperwork:

Born Mary Grace, a nine-year-old North Texas child is now officially named Max. His parents petitioned a court to change all of his legal documents, including his name, birth certificate, and Social Security card to reflect his male name and identity.

Max Briggle’s mother Amber told WFAA: “He’s always going to be transgender, but having that piece of paper, my hope is that it’s going to make it a little easier for him.”

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Trump Nominates Former Army Officer Mark Green For Army Secretary

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

According to Jonah Bennett of The Daily Caller, Mark Green calls himself a “conservative Christian, veteran, father, husband and businessman.” Bennett writes:

President Donald Trump has tapped Mark Green for the position of secretary of the Army.

The White House announced Friday that Trump has picked Green, a former Army officer from West Point, for the position, USA Today reports.

Green is a favorite among many Tea Party Republicans and currently serves as a state senator in Tennessee. He’s also filed paperwork for the gubernatorial race in 2018 in that state, but should he be confirmed to secretary of the Army by the Senate, he’ll have to abandon those plans.

As a former Army lieutenant colonel, Green has seen a lot of action, having served as a special operations flight surgeon. He was the first to interrogate Saddam Hussein after his capture in 2003.

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Rick Warren: Thinking Like A Pagan And A Theology-dissing Jesus

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

From Berean Research:

Before you get started on Bud Ahlheim’s blog post, head over to our White Paper on Rick Warren, quickly browse our list of concerns, then return to Bud’s piece because you’ll want to know what this man is currently up to.

Because Rick Warren has been dubbed “America’s Pastor” and is held in high esteem by the clueless media as well as pastors who have bought into the purpose-driven model of doing church, it’s important to follow his career path. Since Berean Research makes an effort to closely monitor his comings and goings, we can report without reservation that “America’s Pastor” is not only a wolf in sheep’s clothing; he’s a leader of the pack.  Too harsh, you say?  Again, take a glimpse at our research, and then come back to Bud Ahlheim’s must read report….

 

Remember how Jesus, when He came to earth as the Incarnate Son Of God, actually became a vile, depraved sinner so that He could adequately reach sinners in a relevant way with His Truth? Or that time the thrice-denying Peter answered Jesus’ thrice-offered query, “Do you love me?” in the negative, but only so he could do effective ministry among Jews who didn’t love Jesus either?  Or how about that story of the post-Damascus Road Paul who decided to forsake his apostolic calling and return to living as a self-righteous pagan so that he could reach pagans with the Gospel?

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GOP Calls on Trump to Honor Promise to Defend Religious Liberty

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

In a piece over at Townhall, Todd Starnes says he has “exclusively obtained a letter signed by more than 52 House Republicans urging the president to sign an executive order on religious liberty.”

In February President Trump made a promise to people of faith across the fruited plain.

“My administration will do everything in its power to defend and protect religious liberty in our land,” the president said at the National Prayer Breakfast.

When he campaigned for the White House he stated that the “first priority of my administration will be to preserve and protect our religiously liberty.”

“The First Amendment guarantees our right to practice our faith as we see fit…all the time, always, wherever,” he went on to say.

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Target Stock Continues to Tumble Year After Company Went Public With Restroom Policy

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

Christian News reports:

The national retail chain Target continues to watch its stock prices tumble a year after the company went public with its restroom and changing room policy, which allows customers to use the facility that corresponds with their “gender identity.”

As of press time, the stock price is $53.24 a share, compared to $81.57 a share a year ago on this day. While the company saw an uptick in November and December, by mid-January, stock prices began falling again. Just a month ago, the price was $63.57 and has now sunk another $10. View Target’s stock chart here.

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Jesus Christ is the ONLY Savior

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. – John 21:24-25

Jesus Christ is Savior, the Giver of Eternal Life to those who Believe:

Jesus Christ is Life (1:4) and it is only through Him that man can be saved. The way (John 14:6) is exclusive, that is, there is no other name under heaven by which man can be saved from sin and death (Acts 4:12). This salvation from sin and from death was the very purpose for which Jesus came, the very reason that the Father sent Jesus (3:16-19, 36) was because He loved the world so much. John identified Jesus as the ‘Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world” (1:36) which is a description of the prophetic fulfillment of the Passover- one of the Jewish festivals that foreshadowed God’s promise of salvation to the world. Jesus Christ, the lamb of God, was sent to take away our sins, and to save us from death. Indeed, Jesus Christ was slain from the foundation of the world, showing that God’s eternal purpose was to save His people from their sins.

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Senate Confirms Gorsuch to Supreme Court

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

NewsMax reports:

President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, was confirmed as an associate Justice of the Supreme Court by the Senate Friday morning, after Republicans tore up the Senate’s voting rules to allow him to ascend to the high court over furious Democratic objections.

While the votes were still being tallied, Gorsuch by 11:45 a.m. had reached the 51-vote threshhold required for confirmation under the “nuclear” rules change.

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