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

Rutgers Removes Depiction of Jesus Crucified on Dartboard From Art Display Following Complaints

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According to Christian News Network:

Photo from: jihadwatch.com

Photo from:  jihadwatch.com

Officials at Rutgers University have removed a depiction of Jesus crucified on a dartboard following complaints from those who found the display to be blasphemous and disrespectful.

The display at issue was called “Vitruvian Man” and was part of an exhibition at the three-story university art library on Voorhees Mall. It featured a sculpture of Jesus affixed to a dartboard with darts on his hands and feet, as well as one in his side.

Last Wednesday, Rutgers student Natalie Caruso posted on on the Rutgers University Class of 2016 Facebook page that she had asked the university to remove the display.

“It is surprising that a state university would allow this,” she wrote. “I asked them to take it down because I found it disrespectful and they refused.”

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Colorado Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case of Baker Ordered to Make Cake for “Gay” Celebration

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Christian News Network reports:

The Colorado Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of a baker who was ordered to make a cake for an event celebrating the union of two homosexual men, allowing the lower court’s order to stand.

“Upon consideration of the Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Colorado Court of Appeals and after review of the record, briefs, and the judgment of said Court of Appeals, it is ordered that said Petition for Writ of Certiorari shall be, and the same hereby is denied,” it wrote in a brief order.

Two of the court’s seven judges said they would have accepted the case on religious freedom grounds.

 

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16 “Pro-LGBT” Businesses That Operate in Countries With Poor Human Rights Records

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According to The Daily Signal:

Big corporations have come out to criticize state religious liberty measures in Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina as discriminating against those who aren’t heterosexual, some going as far as to propose boycotting states that enact such laws.

However, several of the most vocal companies that say they stand with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans also operate in countries with troubling human rights records, including places where homosexuality can result in a death sentence, a review by The Daily Signal shows.

Details on the fate of the measures in Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina are below. The following is a list of 16 corporations that publicly attacked religious liberty measures in one or more of the three states, yet do business in countries that blatantly and sometimes brutally discriminate against LGBT citizens or otherwise have a poor record of defending human rights:

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Jen Hatmaker: “Christians should open wide their churches to LGBT community”

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Berean Research reports that “Christian” celebrity Jen Hatmaker has announced her decision to reject the authority of Scripture and join the LGBT community in their rebellion against God. Worse, she is encouraging her many fans to pick up a rainbow flag and follow her down the path that leads to destruction:

So many Christian women who love the Lord are very upset with me for warning them about Jen Hatmaker. Yes, I know, Jen is the lovable mom, writer and speaker who is known for being “Raw and Real.” Apparently she says what women think, or wish they could say, and she tells a lot of great, emotional stories.

But if we judge her fruit (that’s her doctrine, ladies; not her social works) against the truth of Scripture, we find that underneath that sweet funny rawness of hers is a wolf who is luring women by the hundreds of thousands into the maw of deception. Is that unloving of me? No! I am trying to help women see Christ and warn them against counterfeits.  I got a lot of hate mail after posting “4 Concerns about Jen Hatmaker’s Teachings, and another slew after reviewing her “bible study” book that dips into sorcery: “7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess” (Why aren’t we having women study the actual Bible?)

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Calvary Chapel, Bill Hybels, and Jesuit Mysticism

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From Berean Research:

Roger Oakland of Understand the Times International says that Calvary Chapel has a new found connection with Bill Hybels, one of the architects of the seeker-sensitive movement.  Oakland wonders how big of an impact this union will have.  There’s a program Willow Creek implemented by Bill Hybels’ son-in-law Aaron Niequist called The Practice that Oakland sees as “the epitome of all that is emergent.”

What about Calvary Chapel’s connection to The Practice and contemplative prayer? Will this connect Calvary Chapel to the spiritual formation practices promoted by the Jesuits?  So many questions…

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Pro-choice Group Features Broken Baby Cookies to Support Abortion

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In a piece over at National Review, Ericka Anderson writes:

Photo courtesy National Review.

Pro-abort group celebrates abortion by breaking, eating baby-shaped cookies. Photo courtesy National Review

Pro-choicers go to great lengths not to use the term “babies” when it comes to unborn children. Which is what makes it ironic that a University of North Georgia pro-abortion group decide to feature cookies in the shape of said babies to promote keeping abortion legal. Worse than just featuring the cookies, the group chose to break them in half, which can only be a reference to what happens to infants when they are torn apart in the womb during an abortion.  They were reportedly chomping off the heads and laughing about it as well.

God help us.

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NC Lt. Gov.: We’re Protecting Women, Children From Sexual Predators — LGBT Is Running a “Smear Campaign”

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According to CNSNews:

Target StoresNorth Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest said the “bathroom law” in that state is designed to protect women and children from “predators and sexual offenders,” and that LGBT activists and their allies are running an “amazing smear campaign” that is “based on a bunch of lies.”

During an April 20 interview on Relevant Radio’s Drew Mariani Show, Lt. Gov. Forest explained how gender activists were attacking the state of North Carolina and misrepresenting the law in the Tar Heel state.

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Heavy teen marijuana use may cut life short by 60

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CBS News reports that a new study shows that pot smokers have poorer health in general.  According to CBS, the drug is linked with lung cancer and increased heart problems.:

Heavy marijuana use in the late teen years puts men at a higher risk for death by age 60, a new long-term study suggests.

Swedish researchers analyzed the records of more than 45,000 men beginning in 1969 and 1970. The scientists from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm reported that 4,000 died during the 42-year follow-up period, and men who’d used marijuana heavily at ages 18 and 19 were 40 percent more likely to die by age 60 compared to guys who hadn’t used the drug.

The authors of the new study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, said the findings contradict previous research involving the same group of men.

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When tests detect birth defects, babies can still be born healthy

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According to World Magazine, a new study shows that “the embryo has an amazing ability to correct itself” in the womb.:

New research suggests women who terminate their pregnancies because of an abnormal prenatal test may be aborting perfectly healthy babies.

Doctors frequently offer birth defect tests to pregnant women whose babies are at increased risk of abnormalities. One of the tests that can be performed earliest in pregnancy, chorionic villus sampling (CVS) analyzes cells from the placenta between 11 and 14 weeks of gestation.

Physicians often believe the presence of abnormal cells indicates the baby will most likely be born with birth defects like Down syndrome. Some moms choose to abort their babies when the test results are abnormal.

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How GPS Came to Be—and How It May Be Altering Our Brains

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Is the system changing the structure of our brains? Bloomberg Businessweek has the story:

GPSIn Pinpoint: How GPS Is Changing Technology, Culture, and Our Minds, Greg Milner tells two stories. One’s about how the Global Positioning System became one of the 21st century’s most important technologies. The other’s about how it may be stunting the brains of the ingenious species that created it.

We use GPS today to guide airplanes, ships, and tractors. It keeps tabs on sex offenders and helps find oil deposits. “GPS surveys land, and builds bridges and tunnels,” Milner writes. “GPS knows when the earth deforms; it senses the movement of tectonic plates down to less than a millimeter.” GPS can tell you how long until your Uber arrives—and even let you know if someone nearby is interested in a one-night stand.

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Trump Wants Republican Platform Changed to Include Abortion Exceptions

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Christian News Network reports:

During his appearance on NBC’s “Today” show on Thursday, Republican presidential candidate Donal Trump said that he would like the Republican platform changed to include exceptions to abortion.

Co-host Savannah Guthrie noted to Trump during the broadcast that the current platform does not cite any exceptions, and asked Trump if he would like them to be included.

“The Republican platform, every four years, has a provision that states that the right of the unborn child shall not be infringed. And it makes no exceptions for rape, for incest, for the life of the mother. Would you want to change the Republican platform to include the exceptions that you have?” she asked.

“Yes, I would,” he replied. “Yes, I would. Absolutely. For the three exceptions, I would.”

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Cruz hits Trump for remarks that transgender people should “use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate.”

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Fox News has the story:

Trump and CruzTed Cruz blasted Donald Trump on Thursday after the Republican presidential front-runner said transgender people should “use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate.”

Speaking at a “Today” show town hall Thursday morning, Trump said North Carolina’s so-called “bathroom law,” which directs transgender people to use the bathroom that matches the gender on their birth certificates, has caused unnecessary strife.

“There have been very few complaints the way it is,” Trump said. “People go, they use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate. There has been so little trouble.”

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Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Virginia Girl Who Sued School District to Use Men’s Restroom

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Christian News Network reports:

A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a Virginia girl who identifies as a boy who sued her school district out of her desire to use the men’s restroom at her high school.

As previously reported, Gavin Grimm, now 17, told reporters in December 2014 that she began using the men’s restroom after obtaining permission from the school principal when she expressed disapproval over being forced to use the nurse restroom.

“I’m not a girl. I’m not using the girl’s restroom,” Grimm stated. “So I said, ‘Hey, where can I use the restroom?’ … And so they said, ‘Use the nurse’s room,’ and at the time I was fine with that, because I was still afraid—I didn’t know how my peers would react. So, I didn’t want to push the envelope any further than I had to all at once.”

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Target to Allow Transgender People to Use Bathroom of Their Choice

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Fox News Insider reports:

Target StoresTarget Corp said on Tuesday that transgender employees and customers can now use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity, becoming the first big retailer to weigh in on an issue at the center of a heated national debate.

This announcement comes amid the firestorm surrounding North Carolina’s controversial bathroom law, which requires people to use bathrooms and locker rooms in public facilities that correspond with their gender at birth.

In a blog post, Target said, “We welcome transgender team members and guests to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity.”

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“God Is Gay”: Blasphemous Saturday Night Live Skit Mocks Bakeries That Decline Same-Sex “Weddings”

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Christian News Network reports:

A blasphemous skit mocking bakeries that decline forms of participation in same-sex “weddings” aired on Saturday Night Live this past weekend, portraying two homosexual men taking a baker to court to force her to say that “God is gay.”

The segment, entitled “God Is a B**b Man,” features comedienne Vanessa Bayer, who plays a small town baker named Beth Walsh.

In the movie trailer parody of the “God’s Not Dead” films, a man enters Walsh’s bakery and requests a wedding cake.

“Of course,” Walsh replies. “Where’s the lucky bride?”

“He’s right here,” the man responds as his male partner approaches. “Now make the cake.”

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In the Market for Fetal Body Parts, a Baby’s Brain Sells for $3,340

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Kelsey Harkness of The Daily Signal gives us a rundown on the dollar value of baby body parts abortion mills are offering for sale:

Photo: Kelsey Lucas/Visualsey/The Daily Signal

Photo: Kelsey Lucas/Visualsey/The Daily Signal

Republicans on the special House panel investigating the transfer of fetal tissue from aborted babies will present evidence in a hearing today that breaks down the price per body part.

With release of this evidence, Republicans say, they have enough documentation to show that several abortion clinics and middleman procurement businesses may have violated federal law.

“It is just horrifying,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who leads the House’s investigation of the fetal tissue industry, told The Daily Signal. “They are putting a dollar value on these organs from these children—unborn children that have been aborted. It is just beyond belief.”

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Cuba officials call Obama’s visit an “attack,” Raul Castro labels U.S. as “enemy”

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Fox News reports:

Weeks after President Barack Obama’s historic trip to Cuba, officials from the Communist island have ramped up their attacks on the U.S.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez called Obama’s visit “an attack on the foundation of our history, our culture and our symbols.”

“Obama came here to dazzle the non-state sector, as if he wasn’t the representative of big corporations but the defender of hot dog vendors, of small businesses in the United States, which he isn’t,” Rodriguez said.

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Discernment Challenge: If you see something, say something!

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From Berean Research:

Every week it seems, Marsha and I receive at least a couple of messages from women who are fraught with angst over a social media post from their friend, relative or church that promotes a false teacher. “What should I do? Should I say something?”

For me there is only one answer: Yes! You can’t not say something. To say nothing is to let your loved one walk headfirst into the blast zone of a terrorist with only one thing on his/her mind: To take out as many sheep as possible.

“But how?” is the next question. What they’re really asking is, “How can I take the least amount of risk to myself so I don’t have to be that Christian?”

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IRS Is Rehiring Employees Fired for Misconduct

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According to CNSNews:

House Republicans are aiming at the Internal Revenue Service this week, taking up four bills to ensure integrity in hiring and better customer service.

“We have recently learned…that IRS employees that have been fired for misconduct have been rehired” in the last several years, Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) told a news conference on Tuesday.

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The Re-Education Camps We Call Universities

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From Berean Research:

News media critic Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy In Media pulls no punches as he goes after those who administer what he considers “Marxist re-education camps.”  Now is the time, he says, for taxpayers to “revolt against the socialism that rules higher education in America.”  The fact that socialism rules higher education should come as no surprise to anyone for the reason that the American people are fully aware that liberals have infiltrated academia and that their agenda is to indoctrinate students into the Secular Humanist worldview. The logic behind this is that parents have no clue how to raise their own children, so move over and allow the experts to have a go at it.

Recently Kincaid was uninvited from a left-right debate because a professor alleged that he is an “unrepentant propagandist for extremist right-wing causes.”  Well, he is definitely an unrepentant right-winger.  But isn’t the purpose of a debate to present opposing points of view?  Not since the socialists took over!  They’re going all out to see that students will never hear the conservative position.

With this background in mind, here’s Cliff Kincaid’s report:

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“Transgender” Preacher Tells Baptist Gathering “Angel of Reason” Helped Affirm Desire to Be Woman

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Christian News Network reports:

The nation’s first “transgender” Baptist preacher spoke to a national Baptist gathering on April 8, explaining that the doctor who delivered him as a baby was wrong in declaring him a boy, and that it was an “angel of reason” that caused him to accept his inclinations to identify as a woman.

Daniel Robinson, who goes by the name Allyson Robinson, had been studying to be a pastor at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary in 2005 when he began to wrestle with his gender identity as never before. He had struggled with his desire to be a man since childhood.

“I have known my entire life that the world was wrong about me, that on the day I was born, when the doctor took a cursory glance between my legs and authoritatively declared ‘It’s a boy,’ he was wrong—dead wrong,” Robinson told the Alliance of Baptists in St. Louis this month.

He said that one day in his early seminary days he contemplated suicide, but an “angel of the Lord” that he called “reason” stopped him.

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Video: College Students Polled on Identity Agree Short White Man Can Identify as Tall Chinese Woman

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Christian News Network reports

A viral video released this week by the Family Policy Institute of Washington shows students at the University of Washington outlining that they have no issue with a short white man identifying as a tall Chinese woman, and would not tell him that he is wrong.

Joseph Backholm, the executive director of the Washington chapter of the Family Policy Institute, went to the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle to see if students believe that one can ever be wrong about their identity.

“If I told you that I was a woman, what would your response be?” he asked.

“Good for you,” one student replied.

“I don’t have a problem with it,” another answered.

Backholm then asked students what they would think if he told them that he identified as Chinese.

“I would say good for you,” one student stated. “Yeah, be who you are.”

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Mississippi Governor Signs Bill Banning Dismemberment Abortions, Leaving Other Methods Legal

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Christian News Network reports:

The Republican governor of Mississippi has signed into law a bill that makes it illegal for abortionists to perform dilation and evacuation abortions (D&E) in the state, also known as dismemberment abortions.

“We’re making Mississippi the safest place in America for an unborn child,” Gov. Phil Bryant said in a statement on Twitter on Friday.

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