Jesse Johnson of The Cripplegate reminds creationists that we’re not the ones who have to prove or disprove evolutionist’s theories because we’re not making substantive claims. “The burden of proof is on those postulating with certainty that they know the scientific secrets of life,” says Johnson. He writes:
Last week I reviewed The Kingdom of Speech, by Tom Wolfe. Wolfe is not religious (the New York Times calls him an atheist, for whatever that’s worth), but he delivers a stunning critique of modern evolutionary theory as being entirely devoid of substantial evidence.
Which in turn reminded me of David Berlinski’s book The Devils Delusion: Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions. Berlinski, despite himself being an atheist, cannot tolerate the intellectual arrogance demonstrated by today’s atheistic evolutionists. While I don’t want to review the whole book, I will pass on its main point: a scientific theory should only claim what it can prove. The problem with evolution is that it claims to explain everything, while it actually is able to prove nothing.
Author Archives: Marsha West
Army of Bots Constantly Building Your Digital Profile
Steve King warns that social media, apps, smart devices, etc. are collecting data and invading our privacy. Is your TV in the “Fake Off” mode? LifeZette has the story:
If you are worried about your smart TV recording your most intimate conversations in its “Fake Off” mode and sending those over the internet to a covert CIA server, you are right to be worried.
As we saw in the WikiLeaks’ Vault 7 dump, the CIA’s malware known as “Weeping Angel” places the target television in a “Fake Off” mode, so that the owner falsely believes the TV is off when it is on. In “Fake Off” mode, the TV operates as a “wiretap,” recording conversations in the room and streaming them back to the CIA.
But as worried as you may be right now, the future will be far more frightening.
Moore, ERLC trustees issue ‘Seeking Unity’ statement
Baptist Press reports:
An extended statement, “Seeking Unity in the Southern Baptist Convention,” has been issued by Russell Moore and the executive committee of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
Moore, in a 1,691-word portion of the March 20 statement, clarified criticism he had leveled at Christians who supported Donald Trump for president in the November 2016 election.
The ERLC executive committee, in a 536-word portion of the statement, affirmed Moore’s ongoing leadership as president of the SBC entity.
The ERLC executive committee acknowledged criticisms of Moore and stated “we are convinced that Dr. Moore has sought to be attentive and responsive to those who have brought concerns to him.”
“We realize that divisions do not heal overnight, and as needs arise our Board will be happy to address them. But in terms of leadership and support, Dr. Moore is the man to whom it has been entrusted to lead this entity — speaking prophetically both to our culture and to our Convention. He will continue doing so with the confidence of our support,” the ERLC executive committee stated.
Sex-selective abortions should be allowed, British Medical Association ethics expert says
According to The Telegraph, a British obstetrician and gynecologist, who is also a member of the British Medical Association, says a woman should have the right to destroy the unborn baby she is carrying simply because her baby is not of the biological sex she desires:
Forcing pregnant women who do not want a child of one sex or the other to give birth could harm both the baby and the mother’s mental health, a leading doctors’ union member has said.
Prof Wendy Savage, a voting member of the British Medical Association Council, also said women should have the right to terminate a pregnancy at any stage.
The comments by Prof Savage, a women’s rights campaigner and retired obstetrician and gynaecologist, come after a proposal to decriminalise terminations passed the first hurdle in the House of Commons last week.
Her intervention is likely to spark a strong reaction from campaigners on both sides of the argument.
T.D. Jakes and Joyce Meyer Teaching Word of Faith ‘Little Gods’
The late Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries penned this piece in 2014. In it he deals with the word-faith “little gods” doctrine. (Follow the link to his piece and scroll down to the end and check out the video of wolves teaching “little gods” heresy.) Ken also reveals the names of several highly regarded evangelicals who have had no problem promoting word-faith prosperity preachers such as Jakes and Meyer.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.” (Genesis 3:1-5)
This Type Of Lunacy In The Lord’s Name Is On Its Way Into The Heart Of The Visible Church
Apprising Ministries has long been sounding the warning about the growing acceptance of straight-up Word Faith prosperity preachers even within the very mainstream of rapidly apostatizing evangelicalism itself.
Bethel faculty: Bible compels us to use inclusive language
It appears that Bethel, a Christian university, has been swayed by postmodernism and will disregard the inspired Word of God’s depiction of gender roles and bow to the god of political correctness. Campus Reform has the story:
Bethel University is encouraging its faculty “to be clear in our Christian witness” by eschewing masculine terminology, despite the Bible consistently referring to humans as “man” or “mankind.”
A guide published by the Bethel library called “Language is a Powerful Tool” tells Bethel employees that their Christian faith and the Bible compel them to use inclusive language.
“The Bible teaches us to value all people because they are created in God’s image,” the guide begins. “Some traditional uses of language have been perceived as excluding a substantial group of people. To be clear in our Christian witness, the Bethel faculty encourages the use of inclusive language.”
One general guideline states that employees should “avoid using masculine terms to refer to people who may be either male or female,” urging them to “use a substitute for words like ‘man or ‘mankind’ when you mean a more inclusive term” and suggesting several “adequate substitutes.”
The Pharisees Weren’t Concerned With Sound Doctrine
Were the Pharisees Jesus confronted concerned with keeping God’s law and doing good as some people think? According to Brandon Hines of Pulpit & Pen, that isn’t necessarily the case. He writes:
Whenever someone plays the Pharisee Card, they often seem to think that the Pharisees were more concerned with sound doctrine and personal holiness than loving God and loving people. For one thing, loving God and loving people is a part of personal holiness, so this idea is already a self-refuting idea. However, if we look deeper into Scripture, we can see that the Pharisees, for the most part, were not doctrinally sound at all.
The Pharisees Did Not Understand Regeneration
In John 3, Jesus famously expresses the doctrine of Regeneration and being born again to the Pharisee named Nicodemus. When Jesus says in verse 3 (ESV), “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God,” Nicodemus responds by asking, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Interestingly enough, it is actually Jesus who seems more concerned with doctrinal accuracy. In verse 10 (ESV), Jesus says, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” implying both that regeneration is a doctrine that should’ve been understood even at that time and that Nicodemus, a Pharisee, did not know it.
95 Percent of Faith-Driven Consumers Unlikely to See Beauty and the Beast Remake Due to Gay Character
ChristianHeadlines reports:
A new report by Faith Driven Consumer (FDC) has revealed that the majority of consumers whose faith influences their decisions are less likely to see Disney’s remake of Beauty and the Beast due to the film’s inclusion of a gay character.
As ChristianHeadlines.com previously reported, the remake features a character who experiences same-sex attraction to the film’s villain, Gaston.
“LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston,” movie director Bill Condon said of the character, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“He’s confused about what he wants,” Condon continued. “It’s somebody who’s just realizing that he has these feelings. And Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it. And that’s what has its payoff at the end, which I don’t want to give away. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie.”
Mother, Son on Quest to ‘Transition’ to Father, Daughter
Christian News has the story:
Photo credit: Instagram
A mother and son from Michigan are going public regarding their quest to “transition” into father and daughter.
Erica Maison and her 15-year-old son Corey recently appeared on Australia’s “60 Minutes” to talk about the matter. The younger Maison said that he came to his parents four years ago and disclosed that he felt like a girl rather than a boy.
“They were very supportive,” Maison advised. “They would always make sure that I was happy, [and] make sure that I was safe too.
A 2015 YouTube video, which to date has over seven million views, shows Maison being gifted with a box of female hormones, which his mother hid under the sofa pillow.
Trump Isn’t Spending Money on Climate Change Because It’s a Waste of Money
According to Townhall:
Speaking to reporters yesterday from the White House briefing room, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney was asked about the elimination of funding for climate change research in President Trump’s budget. Mulvaney didn’t mince words with his answer.
“Part of your answer is focusing on efficiencies and focusing on doing what we do better. As to climate change, I think the President was fairly straightforward saying we’re not spending money on that anymore,” Mulvaney said. “We consider that to be a waste of your money to go out and do that. So that is a specific tie to his campaign.”
How the Social Gospel is Becoming the Dominant Theology in Evangelicalism
According to Jeff Maples of Pulpit & Pen many well-meaning Christians are buying into the social gospel propaganda. “Christians are being guilted into believing that if they don’t jump onto the social justice bandwagon, they are being disobedient to the Great Commission,” says Maples. “This is simply false and it’s underhanded.” He writes:
There is a dangerous trend that is sweeping throughout churches, especially in America. The church has largely redefined the gospel from its most basic tenets to something that tends to have a mass appeal to outsiders–the “social gospel.” The social gospel comes in many different flavors and is advanced by those of various theological traditions, but it appears to be most prevalent in the cabal of New Calvinism. However, they are certainly not the only ones. The Gospel Coalition, which should be rightly renamed The Social Gospel Coalition, is by far the most prominent outlet for the advancement of social justice in the Church.
The social gospel advances ideas such as racial justice, open borders, and left-wing political ideology that has a facade of Christlikeness, but under the surface, merely replaces the gospel with social activism. The social gospel is different from the culture war, as the culture war tends to try to instill and enforce conservative and religious ideology through the use of boycotts and other “take-overs” of the culture. The social gospel, on the other hand, is an attempt to appease the world and the culture by encouraging Christians to adopt political social justice ideas through the guise of “gospel mandates.”
Reclaiming Patrick for Protestants
Was Saint Patrick a Roman Catholic? Was he even Irish? According to JD Hall of Polemics Report, neither one of these things is true about Patrick. Hall writes:
This Friday, revelers from across the western world will gather with their Irish friends, clad in green, to celebrate the “Patron Saint” of Ireland. Wherever the Irish diaspora can be found, you’ll be able to smell the wafting odor of corned beef, Guinness beer and hear the sound of raucous laughter or perhaps an Irish drinking song. “Kiss me, I’m Irish” will be said more times than ladies will have interest, and shamrocks will hang from tavern ceilings. In spite of the popularity of this holiday, few grasp the significance of its namesake.
In irony, the Saint who by God’s power expelled paganism from Ireland will be celebrated by displays of pagan celebratory rituals around the world. It’s time to reclaim Patrick for Christianity, and furthermore, it’s time to reclaim Patrick for Protestantism.
A high-ranking Irish politician in the Democractic Unionist Party (DUP) called Patrick a Protestant back in January, and it was scandalous enough a claim to make the national papers. Granted, Patrick lived a millennium before the Reformation – and thus the chortles and snickers from the Roman Catholic Irish majority – but the ‘social development minister’ was only trying to make the point that their Patron Saint wasn’t beholden to the Pope or the Pope’s religion. A similar comment by another notable DUP politician in Ireland came the same month, and it was equally as scandalous. Of course, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland has made the claim for years, and perhaps none as articulate as one of our most favorite fiery Protestants, Ian Paisley.
Feeling God?
Spanish mystic Teresa of Avila
Do you ever wonder if there’s something more to the Christian life? Maybe you’ve heard of or know people who tell you about having some sort of amazing God-experience—whether it’s been intense feelings of peace and joy, some kind of ecstatic excitement, maybe even visions or voices—and you wonder if you’re missing out. You hear about these things and you think to yourself “I want more”.
There have been times in my life when I’ve thought that maybe if I prayed in a different way, or if I sang songs in a different style, or if I used that Bible reading plan, then maybe I would experience God in a fuller, deeper, and more intimate way. Maybe if I just did something differently, then God by his Holy Spirit would fill me with these feelings of excitement, making my Christian walk just that much better.
As I speak with Christians at church or university, it seems that this desire to ‘experience’ or ‘feel’ God more intimately is quite widespread. People who desire such an experience feel they’re missing out on something. As one Christian said to me at church after hearing a sermon on Psalm 103, “There must be something more to the Christian life than I am currently feeling”. I wonder what advice you would give to such a person? On one hand, you may be right to point out that what we know to be the truth shouldn’t be overshadowed by being caught up in an experience-hungry age—but does this downplay too seriously the proper place of our emotions? My hope is that we can speak in such a way that values a desire for intimacy with God by speaking truthfully about the work of the Holy Spirit in the here and now.
Children, Mums, Dads and the Gender Benders
“It is not just religious conservatives who have problems with the transgender revolutionaries,” says Bill Muehlenberg. “Many others also have some valid concerns about it, and how it impacts our culture and our kids.” In this piece over at Culture Watch, Muehlenberg offers examples of non-religious people who have problems with the trans agenda. He writes:
That the trans revolution is causing massive devastation to countless families and children, as well as to society and culture as a whole, is something I have now documented numerous times. So too have many others. But our concerns are often dismissed as mere ‘religious bigotry’ and the like.
However I can assure you that there are plenty of non-religious folks who also have problems with the trans agenda and their radical take on gender (that it is fluid and a social construct, and has no biological basis, etc). Non-Christians, feminists and even lesbians among others have all expressed real concerns about the gender activists.
There would be plenty of these folks out there, but let me just highlight four of them who have spoken on these issues at various times. Consider as my first exhibit the lesbian academic and social commentator Camille Paglia. She has often been critical of feminist excesses, and is not too keen about the trans mania as well.
Namaste, Satan
Na-ma-stay is the pronunciation. It’s a Hindu salutation that is said at the beginning and end of most yoga classes. Participants place their palms together before the heart, bow their heads, and utter “Namaste,” which means “The divine in me bows to the divine in you.” But wait! We all know professing Christians who participate in yoga classes. Many of them have been warned that there are spiritual dangers associated with yoga and are not concerned in the least. According to Baptist Theological Seminary president Albert Mohler, who has warned of the spiritual dangers for years, “The bare fact is that yoga is a spiritual discipline by which the adherent is trained to use the body as a vehicle for achieving consciousness of the divine.”
So, should believers avoid yoga altogether? What about “Christian yoga“? And what is the association between yoga and Satan? Pam Frost answers these questions in a piece she penned for truthXchange. Some of what Frost reveals about this Hindu practice is chilling. She writes:
Photo credit: truthXchange
Namaste, Satan.
These are surely shocking words to the ears of most yoga enthusiasts, who find the association of yoga with Satan to be both disturbing and incongruous with their own understanding and experience of yoga. Yet, so begins an article announcing yoga classes to be held in the Satanic Temple of Salem, Massachusetts. How could something so widely considered beneficial in every way suddenly be associated with the devil? After all, yoga has achieved status in the West as the seemingly ubiquitous answer for the general well-being of just about everyone—from children in our public schools to the elderly in assisted living, from those with robust health in the prime of their lives to those with terminal illnesses nearing the end of their lives, and everyone in between. Many healthcare professionals recommend yoga for purported benefits such as the increased strength, flexibility and balance attributed to yoga’s postures; for the reduced blood pressure and heart rate attributed to yoga’s breathing techniques; and for the inner peace and global harmony attributed to yoga’s meditative spirituality. Yet, while most acclaim what they believe to be the positive benefits of yoga, William J. Broad, in his New York Times Magazine article How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body, warns that it can actually cause serious physical injuries such as trauma to the back, neck and head, as well as brain injuries and even stroke. But as Christians, we also need to ask whether there could be real spiritual dangers associated with the practice of yoga. We need to understand what the essence of yoga really is.
Trump Budget Proposes Killing All Funding for PBS, NPR and National Endowment for the Arts
According to The Wrap:
President Donald Trump made good on a long-time conservative goal in his first proposed budget Thursday morning, targeting the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities for complete elimination.
Trump’s budget would zero out the $445 million budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a relatively small source of funding for programming and broadcast operations on public TV stations and NPR radio stations nationwide, per the Washington Post.
The budget would also eliminate the budgets for both national endowments, which stood at $148 million each in 2016, as well as $230 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which supports libraries and museums. Additional cuts would affect two tourist mainstays in Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art.
Republicans Break Ranks With Pledge to Fight Climate Change
Bloomberg reports that Republicans are abandoning their pledge to fight climate change. According to Technocracy News: Trump’s campaign pledge to fight global warming is becoming increasingly moot as his elected constituents turn in the opposite direction. Climate warmists may or may not not realize that they are promoting Technocracy, Sustainable Development and Green Economy that will eventually destroy America.
Now to Bloomberg’s report:
Seventeen conservative Republican members of Congress—10 of them in their first or second terms—are bucking long-time party positions and the new occupant of the White House. They announced on Wednesday that they’re supporting a clear statement about the risks associated with climate change, as well as principles for how best to fight it.
Called the “Republican Climate Resolution” by supporters, the statement by House members takes about 450 words to mention conservative thought on environmentalism, support for climate science, feared impacts, and a call for economically viable policy. They pledge in general terms to support study and mitigation measures, “using our tradition of American ingenuity, innovation, and exceptionalism.”
A Manifesto of Christian Discernment
Steven Kozar of Messed Up Church penned some guidelines aimed at Church leaders that deal with the monumental lack of spiritual discernment in the Church visible. Included in the Kozar manifesto are several video clips of celebrity “pastors” jumping, skipping and flouncing around on church stages in an effort to entertain parishioners who expect their pastor to deliver a fabulous show each and every Sunday. Also included is a photo of Word of Faith prosperity preacher T.D. Jakes’ “ridiculous and obscene mansion.”
Steve Kozar offers some no holds barred–and biblical–advice for Church leaders, plus this reminder: You’re a sinner that deserves God’s wrath, just like the rest of us. Jesus took the punishment we deserve upon Himself to set us free from sin and death; you didn’t do anything.
We will maintain a healthy skepticism towards all the big-name leaders in the church. No matter how famous a Christian celebrity might be, we refuse to be gullible just because someone has become a “brand name.”
We will check everything any pastor/teacher says against God’s Word, and when it comes to the most powerful, multimillionaire “Super Pastors,” we will assume the worst until convinced otherwise.
Obama Vs. Trump: Ex-President Returns to Radical Community Organizing to Save His Tattered Legacy
According to Breitbart:
As President Donald Trump plans a slew of policies that could dismantle key parts of Barack Obama’s presidential legacy, the former president seems to be returning to his roots as a Saul Alinsky-style radical community organizer.
This time Obama and his associates’ objective is to stop Trump’s domestic and foreign policy agendas on virtually all fronts – immigration reform, border security, the roll back of the controversial Obamacare system and more. According to some accounts, Obama and his associates may be seeking no less than Trump’s impeachment.
Environmental Activists Deface Trump Golf Course In California
Breitbart has a video showing environmentalist wackos vandalizing Trump’s golf course:
According to a report by the Washington Post, an “anonymous environmental activist collective” decided to vandalize the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA over President Donald Trump’s “blatant disregard” for the environment.
The group snuck into the golf course Sunday morning and carved the words “NO MORE TIGERS. NO MORE WOODS.”
“In response to the president’s recent decision to gut our existing protection policies, direct action was conceived and executed on the green of his California golf course in the form of a simple message: NO MORE TIGERS. NO MORE WOODS,” the group said in a statement released to the Post.
Make Hollywood Great Again, Says Wolverine Group
LifeZette reports:
A campaign is underway to “push back against Chinese influence in Hollywood.”
As Chinese investments in Hollywood grow, America is at risk of losing its leadership role in the arts. Jobs and productions are beginning to be exported to other countries, films are recut to meet the stringent restrictions of the Chinese government — and companies like Legendary (“Fast and Furious” and “Jurassic World” franchises) have been bought up by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda.
How Jesus Called Out False Teachers and Deadly Doctrine
What did the Lord Jesus do to expose the deadly doctrine and unrighteous actions of the false teachers of His day? Well, for one thing, He exposed their error publicly and then taught them the truth! What are God’s people to do about all the deadly doctrines the Church visible is awash in? We’re to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed … ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Jude 1:3
Blogger, author and book reviewer Tim Challies examines the way in which our Lord dealt with those He referred to as “ravenous wolves” in Matthew 7:15. Challies reminds us that in Matthew 23, Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees and called them “hypocrites,” “blind guides,” “blind fools” … even worse, “you brood of vipers.” So, while God’s people are contending/defending with false teachers who are spreading their manure all over the globe, is it appropriate to call them out, rebuke them, and do some name calling ourselves?
Let’s listen to Tim Challies’ advice on how to handle a wolf. He writes:
It’s a good time to be a false teacher and to espouse deadly doctrine. It seems that today’s most brazen heretic will be granted a hearing and, in all likelihood, a book deal. Novelty is appealing, orthodoxy boring. It’s the ones who sound the warning and issue the challenge that bear the risk—the risk of being labelled “haters.” There’s more patience for those who smilingly subvert the truth than for those who boldly defend it. Conviction is a sign of arrogance, while humility is expressed in uncertainty. Love, it seems, requires us to bear patiently with any amount of error. And this kind of love, we are told, is modeled after Jesus. Jesus did not judge, Jesus welcomed all opinions, Jesus would have accepted different kinds of teachings—so long as those teachings contained love and hints of truth.
Judge Awards Tri-Custody of Child to Former Couple and Their ‘Polyamorous’ Lover
Christian News reports:
A New York judge has awarded tri-custody to a former couple and their neighbor, who they entered into a “polyamorous” relationship with over a decade ago.
“Tri-custody is the logical evolution of the Court of Appeals decision in Brooke S.B., and the passage of the Marriage Equality Act and DRL [Domestic Relations Law] §10-a which permits same-sex couples to marry in New York,” Suffolk County Supreme Court Judge Patrick Leis III wrote.
According to reports, in 2001, Michael and Dawn Marano began as friends to neighbor Audria Garcia, who was living with her boyfriend at the time. But when Garcia split with her significant other, she moved in with the Maranos, where she began to engage in “intimate relations” with both of them.
In 2006, Garcia became pregnant with Michael Marano’s child—an agreement made between the three since Dawn Marano was infertile—and they all raised the boy together. However, in 2008, Dawn Marano left her husband to solely be in a relationship with Garcia.
Do Apes Deserve ‘Personhood’ Rights? Lawyer Heads to N.Y. Supreme Court to Make Case
NBC News reports:
When Steve Wise first started out as an animal rights lawyer, people used to bark at him when he entered a courtroom.
For more than 25 years, Wise has been arguing that animals who have cognitive complexities similar to humans should be legally endowed with basic rights of autonomy.
Now when he enters a courtroom, no one is barking.
On Thursday, Wise — who founded the Nonhuman Rights Project on behalf of the great apes, cetaceans and elephants — will go before the appellate division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in Manhattan and argue that two of his clients, chimpanzees Kiko and Tommy, should be afforded the rights of “personhood.”
“‘Personhood’ is not synonymous with ‘humans.’ It is not now and never has been,” Wise told NBC News. “A ‘person’ is the law’s way of saying that entity has the capacity for rights. A ‘thing,’ which chimpanzees are now, don’t have capacity for any kind of rights.”
Pope Francis open to allowing married priests in Catholic Church
According to USA Today:
Pope Francis said he is open to the possibility of permitting married men to become priests to address the serious shortage of Catholic priests in some countries.
The pope raised the idea in an interview with the German newspaper Die Zeit.
He ruled out the prospect of allowing single men who are already priests to marry but was open to the idea of allowing unmarried laymen or men already married to be ordained.
The pope raised the prospect in the context of allowing “viri probati,” Latin for “tested men,” to be ordained in places with a scarcity of priests.
He told the newspaper the lack of Catholic priests was an “enormous problem” for the church.
“We need to think about whether ‘viri probati’ could be a possibility,” he told the German weekly. “If so, we would need to determine what duties they could undertake, for example, in remote communities.”