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

Mike Bickle Meets With Pope Francis to Discuss Jesus

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Recently Pope Francis met with Pastor  Life Coach Joel Osteen as well as a group of televangelists that included Kenneth Copeland and James Robison. Now the Pope has reached out to New Apostolic Reformation leaders, including Bethel Church’s residing senior associate leader Kris Vallotton. Charisma News, a site we do not recommend, has the story:

Some of the most recognizable names in the charismatic movement had a private meeting with Pope Francis on Friday. Mike Bickle, Che Ahn, Kris Vallotton, Stacey Campbell and dozens of other Protestant leaders from North America and Europe gathered at the Vatican.

According to Bickle, director of IHOP in Kansas City, the purpose of the meeting was to engage in an on-going dialogue about the pontiff’s views on Jesus and Christianity.

“The meeting lasted a couple of hours. They gave us the opportunity to ask questions. The meeting was very warm and personal,” Bickle told Charisma News. “I asked him about his views on the serious error and deception of universalism that claims that ‘all paths lead to God’ and other religions being saved without receiving the grace of God that only comes through Jesus. He assured me that he believes that Jesus is the only way of salvation.”

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See our research paper on the Roman Catholic Church

50 killed in shooting at Florida nightclub in possible act of Islamic terror

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Fox News has this breaking story:

A gunman who federal authorities say had possible ties to terrorism opened fire early Sunday morning in a packed Orlando nightclub, killing 50 people and wounding at least 53 more in a bloody scene that ended hours later when police stormed the building and killed the shooter.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer asked Gov. Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency following the attack.

The gunman was identified as Omar Mateen, Rep. Alan Grayson said during a Sunday morning press conference. Mateen was a U.S. citizen, Grayson said, though that was “not true of other family members of his.” Mateen, 29, lived in Fort Pierce, Fla. He was born in the U.S. to parents of Afghan origin and was a Muslim, Fox News confirmed.

Authorities were going through Mateen’s belongings on Sunday morning trying to identify a motive for the attack, Grayson said.

“More likely than not, that it was an ideologically motivated attack,” Grayson said, though he said it was unclear if Mateen was linked to any terror groups.

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The Spirit of Lawlessness

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Lee Duigon, contributing editor with Chalcedon Foundation, shows the ways in which liberals are decimating every trace of biblical morality.  He writes:

Again I say it: kill the culture, and the culture will kill you right back.

Throw off God’s laws, and man’s laws will suffer, too.

Few cities reject godliness like San Francisco, Gay by the Bay. Its leaders, its thinkers, speak of “San Francisco values” is if they actually believed in them. Those values would include the public festival of sexual lawlessness that they call a “pride parade,” defiantly taking pride in what ought to be a source of shame.

Would it surprise you to learn that property crime in San Francisco is up 60 percent since 2010? That it now has the highest per capita property crime among all of America’s top 50 cities? And the city tourist board is getting nervous about “street behavior” that sends the tourists fleeing to Des Moines. “Street behavior” is a euphemism covering many antisocial acts, from “overly aggressive panhandling”—is that another euphemism for mugging?—to shooting up with drugs right out on the sidewalk for everyone to see.

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Law enforcement card readers can seize money electronically

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Surely criminals will get a hold of this card.  Fox 25 has the report:

A new tool coming to the Oklahoma Department Of Public Safety will let troopers scan credit cards, debit cards, or gift cards and freeze them.

DPS says the new car readers will help in credit card fraud cases or identity theft, but also help with civil assets forfeiture.

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6 Men Who Disguised Themselves as Women to Access Bathrooms

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According to The Daily Signal:

TransgenderismWith the departments of Justice and Education’s new announcement on transgender access to showers, locker rooms, bathrooms, and other sex-specific facilities in schools, there is reason for concern.

The Obama administration has unlawfully rewritten law, meddling in state and local matters, and imposing bad policy on the entire nation.

Americans agree that while we should be sensitive to transgender individuals, others also have rights of privacy, safety, and their own beliefs that deserve respect and should not simply be pushed aside, especially when transgender persons can be accommodated in other ways

 

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“Belieber!”: Religious Publishers Raking in Rewards With Justin Bieber and the Bible

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Christian News Network reports:

Religious publishers in the United States are busy these days, releasing such new books as a biography of pop music phenom Justin Bieber — entitled “Belieber!: Fame, Faith and The Heart of Justin Bieber.” Other tomes mix spirituality with memoir and self-help topics. New editions of the Bible have also been released recently,  as well as e-books and audio book downloads by popular religious authors.

“Both in dollars and units sold, the industry is back in line with its historical growth of the last decade,” since the recession, said Byron Williamson, head of Worthy Publishing in Nashville, a center  for religious publishing in the United States that some say is second only to New York City for book publishing.

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Together 2016, Ann Voskamp Declare Scripture Insufficient

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Jeff Maples of Pulpit & Pen continues his report on Together 2016.  He writes:

Pulpit & Pen recently confirmed and reported that the Pope of Rome will be joining Southern Baptist President, along with Hillsong United, Lecrae, and many other professing evangelical Christians in Washington D.C. for an ecumenical fornication-fest. The event, dubbed Together 2016, is estimated to host over 1 million attendees.

Recently, a tweet appeared from Together2016’s official Twitter account that stated the following:

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See our research paper on Roman Catholicism

Discernment Lesson: Deconstructing Beth Moore’s most popular story

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From this piece we learn that there are two-tiers of Christian hierarchy.  According to Elizabeth Prata of The End Time, “At the top are the super-spiritual, super-intimate believers who are blessed with God’s favor in receiving this special revelation directly. The bottom tier are the unlucky/unfaithful/less-than believers who don’t ever receive such personal ministrations from Jesus.”

Find out if you’re blessed with God’s favor, like Beth Moore is, or if you’re super-unlucky.

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“The Pancreas Forecast?” House Panel Calls for Investigation Into Planned Parenthood, StemExpress

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Christian News Network reports:

The House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives has called for an investigation into the abortion giant Planned Parenthood and one of its baby body parts buyers as new evidence has surfaced that allegedly suggests the entities violated patient privacy laws.

Chairwoman Marsha Blackburn recently sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to request the investigation, as she included concerning evidence from email correspondence between Planned Parenthood representatives and buyers such as Stem Express.

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Ethicists warn new genome project could lead to synthetic humans

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Paige Cunningham, executive director of The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity, warns that “Although the prospect is remote, scientists could potentially design people on computers who would be born without biological parents.”  World Magazine has the story:

DNAOn June 2, the journal Science published a paper written by 25 researchers announcing their intention to begin a 10-year project aimed at synthetically creating an entire human genome—the complete set of genes present in a cell.

Although the researchers are clear the goal of the Human Genome Project-Write (HGP-Write) is to synthesize a human genome in a lab dish—not to create a baby—many bioethicists and other experts are raising skeptical eyebrows.

 

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Why millennials are yawning at the likely first female major-party nominee for president

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Molly Roberts of the liberal Washington Post has the story:

A female presidential candidate has clinched a major-party nomination for the first time in U.S. history. No one seems to care — at least not many people in my millennial generation. Not even women, although they should.

Maybe my cohort is caught up in the moment of Donald Trump: Millennial liberals may think it’s more vital to ward off an age of authoritarianism than to usher in a new era for feminism. Certainly, we’ve been distracted by Bernie Sanders: For idealistic young voters, a rabble-rousing revolutionary feels more alluring than a political pragmatist, even one with two X chromosomes.

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Colgate Joins “Gay Pride” Push With New Ad, “Smile With Pride” Hashtag

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Christian News Network reports:

The toothpaste manufacturer Colgate-Palmolive has joined the push to promote “gay pride” in the month of June by releasing an advertisement featuring two homosexual men.

The commercial, which generated over 21,000 likes on social media, features two men who are moving into an apartment together. As they stand next to the moving truck looking at the outside of their apartment, one of the men lays his head on the other man’s chest, who strokes his hair.

The men then proceed to carry a sofa up the stairs, at which point they are met by a middle-aged man and a young boy. The two parties stare at each other for a brief moment, not knowing what to think, but the middle-aged man and boy accept the men and gesture to each other to help them carry the sofa.

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Hillsong, Ronnie Floyd, Lecrae, Join Pope at Monumental Together 2016 Gathering

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Pope Francis is hoping to unite Christians in the “Next Great Awakening” at Together 2016.  Jeff Maples and Brandon Hines of Pulpit & Pen have the story:

Confused 2

Where is the discernment?

It has been thoroughly covered that the Together 2016 is hosting many questionable people liked by evangelicals, including Hillsong UNITED, Christine Caine, Kari Jobe, Kirk Franklin, the rapper “who happens to be Christian,” Lecrae, SBC President, Ronnie Floyd, Josh McDowell, Tedashii, Trip Lee, Ann Voskamp, and Matthew West. Since then, we have also learned that Matt Maher won’t be the only Roman Catholic these people are partnering with. Pope Francis has added himself to the lineup stating that he will speak to the people via video. Founder of PULSE, Nick Hall, who helped organize the event, said,

We are humbled and honored by his involvement and eager to share his message with the crowd that gathers at Together 2016…That His Holiness would choose to speak into this historic day is a testament to the urgency and the need for followers of Jesus to unite in prayer for our nation and our world.

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See our research paper on Roman Catholicism

Robots will take over most jobs in the world by 2045

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This makes perfect sense, as robots are much more reliable than humans — plus robots don’t ask for raises nor do they call in sick.  So what will humans be doing when robots take over?  Economic Times has the story:

RobotAs we reach the middle of the 21st century, half the population of the world will lose their job to a machine. Yes, this is another ‘robots will take our jobs ‘ story.

The latest comes from Moshe Vardi, professor at Rice University , Houston, who delivered a talk to the American Association for the Advancement of Science , exploring the question: “If machines are capable of doing almost any work humans can do, what will humans do?”

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SBC Loses Nearly A Million Members

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According to Bud Ahlheim of Pulpit & Pen:

The Baptist Press just released the Annual Church Profile report for 2015. The article opens with the decidedly Scripture-oblivious words, “Southern Baptists may find cause for hope in the latest Annual Profile Report.   The Southern Baptist Convention added more churches in 2015, due mostly to church planting efforts.”

Really?

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Jennifer Knapp, Trey Pearson, and the Cross We Bear

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Over at Borrowed Light, blogger Mike Leake tackles what’s going on with what he calls the “accepting myself” movement that’s becoming so prevalent among professing Christians.  Leake laments:

Cross and rainbowI’m seeing more and more young people follow the path of Knapp and Pearson. It’s becoming quite the broad road. And this broad road isn’t labeled homosexuality. This broad road is labeled “accepting myself”. That is the foundational doctrine of this American heresy. And it is swallowing up more and more of those my age and younger. It’s a doctrine which runs away from the Refiner’s fire.

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NBA Sells Rainbow Shirts to Raise Money for Gay Organization That Instructed HS Students in “Fisting”

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According to Breitbart:

The NBA launched a marketing campaign for 30 shirts bearing rainbow-colored team logos to benefit a controversial homosexual-advocacy group. “In celebration of LGBT Pride Month, we’re excited to announce a new collaboration between the NBA, GLSEN, and Teespring,” the three groups proclaimed. “Beginning on June 7, fans can purchase an exclusive line of Teespring NBA Pride T-shirts featuring the logos of all 30 NBA teams, with all proceeds benefiting GLSEN.”

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As DOD Celebrates LGBT Pride Month, “There Continues to Be Progress on Transgenders in Military”

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According to CNSNews:

The U.S. Defense Department will host its fifth LGBT Pride Month ceremony on Wednesday in the Pentagon courtyard, a spokesman announced on Monday, but don’t expect an announcement on transgenders in the military.

“There continues to be progress on that front, even in the last few days,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told reporters on Monday.

“There have been a range of — I’m not going to get into private deliberations…but there have been — the secretary challenged people within the department to work out issues resolving — to try and resolve this issue.

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Report: Media Give Gorilla Death 6 Times More Coverage Than ISIS Beheadings of Christians

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According to Breitbart:

On Saturday, May 28, security officials shot a gorilla named Harambe to protect a three-year-old boy who had fallen into the animal’s pen at the Cincinnati Zoo.

In  the five days that followed the animal’s death, the three major networks devoted a total of 1 hour, 28 minutes and 17 seconds to the story during their morning and evening news shows. An unfortunate incident, to be sure, but as one commentator noted, “a tempest in a teapot.”

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Christian rock star says “I’m Gay,” headlines Ohio PrideFest

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Berean Research has the story of the latest self-professed Christian to shun Scripture’s clear teaching on the sin of homosexuality and announce that he’s a “gay Christian”:

Ready for your Christian paradigm to shift once again?  Put your Bible away and expand your tolerance:

  • A Christian contemporary rock star “came out” last week and announced he’s a homosexual.
  • The gay rock star has a wife (who supports his lifestyle), and two young children.
  • The gay rock star’s Christian band will headline a homosexual pride festival in Ohio next weekend.

Got it? Now open your Bible. God’s paradigm never shifts, even when the culture – and the visible church – does.

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Christians Told To “Pray In Silence… Don’t Disturb The Migrants”

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Breitbart reports:

Parishioners visiting a church in Italy were told they must “pray in silence” so as not to disturb African migrants being housed there.

Some of the faithful hoping to practice their Christianity at the church of St. Anthony in Ventimiglia were surprised when they were told by Caritas volunteers they couldn’t recite the rosary and would instead have to pray in silence out of respect to migrants who are living there.

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Norwegian Government to Return Children Seized Over Concerns About Family’s Faith

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Christian News Network reports:

Following a seven month battle, the Norwegian government has agreed to return the four remaining children who were seized from their parents last November after a school principal expressed concern over the children’s “religious upbringing.”

“Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! The Bodnariu family will be reunited!” reads a statement released by spokesman Pastor Cristian Ionescu. “The Naustdal Municipality of Norway has come to terms with Marius and Ruth Bodnariu for the return home of all of their five children.”

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The European Commission Wants You To Log Into Social Media Accounts With Govt-Issued ID Cards

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According to Breitbart:

The European Commission plans to attack citizens’ right to online privacy, insisting that state-issued ID cards should be used to log into platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and even Uber.

The Vice President for the Digital Single Market on the European Commission, former Communist Andrus Ansip, is behind the next European Union (EU) raid on personal freedoms, promoting the idea of using national ID cards to log in to online services.

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His Name Is Holy

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He said to them, When you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name…Luke 11:2

The second petition of the Lord’s Prayer is one of surrender, Hallowed be your name. I am quite sure this is the petition that makes hypocrites out of most of us. For we can say, Father with grateful sincerity, but when we pray Hallowed be your name, we say this with the guilty knowledge that, as we pray, there are areas of our life in which his name is not hallowed and in which, furthermore, we don’t want it to be hallowed. When we say,Hallowed be your name, we are praying, May the whole of my life be a source of delight to you and may it be an honor to the name which I bear, which is your name. Hallowed be your name.

The trouble is that we so frequently know there are great areas of our life that are not hallowed. There are certain monopolies which we have reserved to ourselves, privileged areas which we do not wish to surrender, where the name of our boss or the name of our girl friend or some other dear one means more to us than the name of God. But when we pray this, if we pray it in any degree whatsoever of sincerity or openness or honesty, we are praying,Lord, I open to you every closet, I am taking every skeleton out for you to examine. Hallowed be thy name. There cannot be any contact with God, any real touching of his power, any genuine experiencing of the glorious fragrance and wonder of God at work in human life until we truly pray, and the second requisite of true prayer is that we say, Hallowed be your name.

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“Christian” Satire Site Rebuked for “Heartless” Post Making Light of Death of TBN Founder Jan Crouch

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Christian Nets Network reports:

A satire site run by a professing Christian is receiving criticism for making light of the death of Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) co-founder Jan Crouch this past week.

The Babylon Bee is run by Adam Ford of Detroit, who also publishes Adam4d, a comic site that centers on matters of the Christian faith. While some have spoken positively of the site’s use of humor, others opine that its fake news story this week mocking why Crouch might have died went too far.

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