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

California is considering a travel ban on states with [so-called] anti-gay laws

Miami Herald reports:

Like always, lawmakers jammed a mountain of bills into the legislative queue just ahead of the Feb. 19 deadline to introduce them.

Many of them affect state employees. Some would install new laws and regulations that pile on workload (it happens every year to DMV staff) or by altering some aspect of how state government itself conducts business.

Now, with the 30-day waiting period to start hearing those measures just ahead, here’s one to watch: Assembly Bill 1887 by Assemblyman Evan Low, a Democrat from Campbell.

Low wants to prohibit state employees from government-funded travel to states that have “a law in effect that sanctions or requires discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression,” according to his bill’s language.

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U.S. Supreme Court Divided in Argument Over Law That Could Close Most Texas Abortion Facilities

Christian News Network reports:

The U.S. Supreme Court seemed divided on Wednesday as it heard oral argument over a Texas law that some say would result in the closure of the majority of abortion facilities in the state.

As previously reported, in 2013, following the passage of several safety regulations for abortion facilities, Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against Texas officials, asserting that the new requirements would have an adverse affect on most facilities.

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Anne Graham Lotz Lassoing Baptists With Wiccan Prayer Circles

Circle MakerBlogger Bud Alheim informs us that Anne continues to promote a “new way of praying” she discovered in The Circle Maker which is nothing more than an occult book (here). This time she taught praying in circles at a Baptist campus. A few months ago she posted the following on her blog: As I look ahead into 2016, I feel compelled to draw a circle around this city, this state, this nation” and pray! Until God answers. Do the same. Please. On this first day of the New Year, draw your own circle. Then pray for everything that’s inside of it.

Now to Alheim’s blog post:

Just last week, February 25, the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC hosted “An Evening With Anne” in which the daughter of the renowned evangelist was given free reign of the dais to promote the false teaching of circle making, contemplative prayer.

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that SEBTS would host such an evening of Scripture-denying false teaching. You may recall in June 2015, when the President of SEBTS, Danny Akin, made news (HERE, and HERE, among others) for eagerly joining in with atheist Richard Dawkin’s website Openly Secular (Video: HERE) in order to, not defend a Christian worldview nor to share the Gospel, but to “pitch tolerance” for atheists, as the Christian Examiner noted.

If you’re the President of a Southern Baptist seminary, and you get invited to go on video on Richard Dawkins’ website, that’s stupendous! What an opportunity to share the Gospel!

But if you’re Danny Akin, president of a Southern Baptist seminary, it’s more important to seek unity, and tolerance, and get-alongedness with those whose very souls are heaping up God’s wrath. Let’s not share the Gospel; let’s find ways we can live together in harmony! (I’m here inserting a new hashtag … #PATHETIC-SOUTHERN-BAPTIST-LEADERSHIP-FAIL!)

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Phil Johnson: “‘Evangelical’ support for Trump proves the American Evangelical movement isn’t truly _evangelical_ in any historic sense of the word”

Because of all the discussion going on regarding whether or not Donald Trump is an evangelical Christian, as he claims, we’ve decided to share what some of our Christian leaders are saying about Mr. Trump. The following Facebook post was penned by executive director of Grace to you, Phil Johnson, who once said that the term “evangelical” is likely the most abused term in the entire religious lexicon.

Please allow me to expand on something I posted [on Facebook] in reply to some questions that came up in an earlier comment-thread. Here is my answer to friends who wonder if there’s a contradiction between my sounding an alarm during an election year regarding Donald Trump’s character vs. my own frequently-expressed opinion that churches and pastors should keep partisan politics at arm’s length, and Christians should not be deluded into thinking that the machinery of the American Electoral College can be commandeered for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom.

This isn’t about politics. My concerns about Donald Trump have nothing to do with his political convictions. Even if I agreed with every position he took on both foreign and domestic policy, it would still be my firm belief that he does not qualify to lead this or any other nation. It’s frightening to think that such an irascible and capricious man, severely lacking in both self-control and moral boundaries—a man whom we have repeatedly seen fight like a 7-year-old schoolgirl—might have the power to invoke war or take other executive actions.

Of course Trump is by no means the only Presidential candidate (including certain current office-holders) who is morally, spiritually, and ethically stunted. He’s surely the *worst,* but he’s neither the first nor the only scoundrel who doesn’t deserve anyone’s votes. American politicians for years have seemed to be trying to outdo each other to see who can be more arrogant, more narcissistic, more ostentatious, more wantonly driven by the flesh, and more cleverly deceitful—while being less accountable, less open to instruction or admonition, and above all, less modest. But Trump has greatly upped the ante, and he is certain to be the hands-down winner by an incredible margin in the contest to see who can be the mouthiest and most unsavory political candidate ever. I can’t imagine how anyone could ever surpass him for sheer carnal chutzpah. I’m especially annoyed by the ridiculous pretense (put forward and fostered by Trump himself) that he is a faithful Christian who “reads the Bible more than anyone else”—even though he claims he can’t remember ever asking God for forgiveness or even needing to. This man is not a Christian, and as long as he insists he is—and (evidently) manages to get lots of people to believe it,—my conscience is continually telling me I have a duty to warn my friends and members of my flock not to be duped by this swaggering loudmouth falsely masquerading as a messiah.

I’m appalled by the pathetic gullibility of hundreds of thousands who self-identify as “evangelicals” (presumably people who would say they believe the Bible is true) who nevertheless are quite willing to believe that this arrogant adulterer represents hope, or promise, or an improvement of some kind.

Americans already voted an overweening narcissist into office eight years ago. Why would anyone think an even more egomaniacal blowhard is going to make things better for our nation?

Yes, I know God is sovereign, and that the king’s heart is in His hands (Proverbs 21:1), and I DO rest in the knowledge that His truth will ultimately triumph, and He will use all things for our good and His glory.

But I’ve never viewed my Calvinist convictions as an excuse for indifference or inaction. I needed to say something.

Planned Parenthood dented as American Cancer Society backs away from breast exams

Washington Times has the report:

Planned Parenthood Threatened with cuts to its state and federal funding, Planned Parenthood has fought back by touting its non-abortion services, starting with its “life-saving breast cancer screenings.”

The problem? The American Cancer Society no longer recommends the annual procedures, saying in its latest directive that they have failed to show a “clear benefit.”

“Research does not show a clear benefit of physical breast exams done by either a health professional or by yourself for breast cancer screening,” the society said in an Oct. 20 statement after the directive was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“Due to this lack of evidence, regular clinical breast exam and breast self-exam are not recommended,” the statement said. “Still, all women should be familiar with how their breasts normally look and feel and report any changes to a health care provider right away.”

For Planned Parenthood, the recommendation is another blow in its battle to portray itself as an indispensable health care provider while it tries to stem a rash of defunding efforts.

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Your Choice: Homosexual Hegemony or Free Speech

Bill Muehlenberg of Culture Watch details how homosexual fascism is on the rise. LGBT activists aim to silence all dissenting voices and are attempting to destroy anyone who disagrees with their radical agenda. We’re in the midst of a moral revolution that is rapidly spreading across America and pressure to conform to the LGBT agenda is mounting. Muehlenberg reminds us that freedom of speech is at stake, especially for Bible believing Christians — and he has several examples of Christians who are being persecuted for clinging to the biblical view that homosexuality is a sin. (Rom 1:24-27, 1 Cor. 6:9) He writes:

SilencedIt’s becoming abundantly clear that we either insist on a whole raft of special rights for homosexuals, or we defend freedom of speech, but we cannot have both. Every day we find more appalling examples of homosexual militants and their allies in the State clamping down on freedom of speech.

Simply dare to take a contrary view to the reigning homosexual orthodoxy and all hell will break loose. That is why in my 2014 book Dangerous Relations I had an entire chapter on the erosion of freedom under the homosexual juggernaut. I offered 165 examples from a 34 month period of individuals being persecuted for holding differing beliefs.

Simply to state that marriage is between a man and a woman on your own private Facebook page for example can result in you being fined or fired. And some of the horror cases I cite show that differing viewpoints can even see you being jailed.

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South Dakota Governor Vetoes Bill Requiring Use of Restroom Corresponding With Birth Gender

Christian News Network reports:

The Republican governor of South Dakota has vetoed a bill requiring that public school students use the restroom or locker room that corresponds with their birth gender as he believes that it “openly invites federal litigation.”

As previously reported, last month, the state Senate voted 20-15 in approval of H.B. 1008, just weeks after the House advanced the bill 58-10.

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Trump donated to group that promotes homosexuality to 5-year-olds

According to LifeSite News:

Donald Trump donated $30,000 to homosexual activists, including a $20,000 grant to an organization that promoted “fisting” to middle school students, recommended books excusing homosexual pedophilia, and proclaimed its mission is “promoting homosexuality” in the public schools to children as early as kindergarten.

According to a 990 form filed with the IRS, the Donald J. Trump Foundation donated $20,000 to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in 2012 and another $10,000 to Gay Men’s Health Crisis.

Kevin Jennings founded GLSEN (originally the Gay and Lesbian School Teachers Network) in 1990. He and other homosexual teachers formed Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) nationwide and drew up curricula that began shaping children’s values in accordance with the LGBT perspective from the age of five.

Kindergarten should be the “saturation period” for LGBT views

GLSEN has been upfront about its goals and desire for mainstream respectability. In 1997, Jennings said, “I can envision a day when straight people say, ‘So what if you’re promoting homosexuality?’”

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Racketeering suit claims Mark Driscoll misused Mars Hill donor dollars

Disgraced “pastor” Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill executive elder Turner Sutton had a RICO lawsuit filled against them in the U.S District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle. The attorney filing the suit said in a statement: “Driscoll and Turner engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity so deeply embedded, pervasive and continuous, that it was effectively institutionalized as a business practice, thereby corrupting the very mission Plaintiffs and other donors believed they were supporting.” Seattle Times has the story:

Mark DriscollMark Driscoll may have moved on to a new city and a new church, but he faces the sharpest demand yet to account for his actions at Mars Hill Church.

On Monday, four former Mars Hill members filed a civil racketeering lawsuit against Driscoll, charging that the once swaggering pastor fraudulently used thousands if not millions of dollars raised by the church, which once boasted 15 branches in five states with 13,000 visitors on Sundays.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for Western Washington, also names former Mars Hill executive elder John Sutton Turner as a defendant.

A 42-page complaint accuses the two men of raising money for specific purposes and then using the money for other things, including a “scam” designed to make Driscoll a best-selling author.

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“Luscious Lesbians”: Christian Actor Candace Cameron Bure Takes Part in Racy “Dirty Dancing” Scene

Christian News Network reports:

Despite her regular profession of being a Christian on television, talk show host and actor and sister to Kirk Cameron, Candace Cameron Bure recently let loose in an episode of “Fuller House”—a restart of the 80’s show “Full House”—pulling out her “dirty dancing” moves with her best friend in a lingerie-style dress, the two being referred to as “luscious lesbians.” The episode, which is the third for “Fuller House,” is raising concern among Christians who had looked up to the actor as a Christian role model.

In “Funner House,” Cameron Bure, who plays D.J. Tanner, spends the evening drinking and dancing at a night club with her best friend Kimmy Gibbler and sister Stephanie Tanner.

“When Stephanie, Kimmy and D.J. have a girls’ night out and leave Joey in charge of the kids, things get wild out on the town and at home,” the show description outlines.

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Southern Baptists Lose Almost 1,000 Missionaries as IMB Cuts Costs

According to Christianity Today:

Six months after announcing plans to cut 600 to 800 missionaries and staff in order to balance its budget, the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) revealed today that it has lost 1,132 workers—almost twice as many as its low-end estimate.

In all, 983 missionaries and 149 US staff have accepted the IMB’s offer of voluntary early retirement or resignation. That brings the number of SBC missionaries in the field down from 4,700 to about 3,800—a return to 1993 levels.

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Prophecy watchers morphing into a mixed Apocalyptic bag

According to Berean Research:

“Apocalyptic scenarios sell. No wonder there is a temptation to enhance Scripture with extrabiblical and alternative future scenarios. Postmodern teachers are rapidly leaving Sola Scripture to add in mystical components, and the prophecy circuit teachers are no exception.”

Rocky Mountain conference The intro paragraph above was written by researcher Sarah Leslie in 2013. The image is from a promotional conference happening this summer. What do you see?

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Multi-site churches, holographic pastors and virtual relationships

In a piece over at Grace to You entitled The Absence of Pastors, blogger Cameron Buettel examines a “new generation of pastors who can be in two places at one time [by] using technology—high-def videos, and even holograms—to beam their Sunday morning sermons to remote ‘satellite’ churches that belong to their congregation.” We are in the age of the multi-site “church.” Buettel gives Steven Furtick’s Elevation Church as a prime example of this sort of shepherding. And then there’s megachurch pastor Andy Stanley who thinks pastors should be more like CEOs.

Shepherd guarding sheep

Imagine you’re trying out a new church this coming weekend. You find your seat just as the pastor opens with a word of prayer. After some worship songs, he returns to greet the new visitors, make some announcements, and pray over the offering.

After another song or two, you expect to see him step onto the stage to deliver his sermon, but he’s nowhere to be found. Instead, the lights dim and you’re transported via video to another church with another congregation, watching someone else preach the sermon. You won’t see the “pastor”—whose Sunday role seems to be little more than master of ceremonies—until he greets you at the door on your way out.

Such is life in a satellite church. And while the look and feel of the service can vary greatly, the end result is still the same—countless believers every Sunday sit under the teaching of pastors piped in and projected from a stage somewhere else.

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HT Glenn Chatfield

Glenn Beck Admits He Misled Cruz Audiences About George Washington’s “Don Quixote”

Breitbart reports:

Don Quixote and Sancho Panza

Don Quixote and Sancho Panza

Glenn Beck has now admitted that he misled audiences at his campaign appearances for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) when he told them the copy of Don Quixote he held in his hand was the same copy that George Washington purchased on the day the Constitution was signed. Beck now admits that the copy he was displaying at Cruz rallies was actually printed in 1796 — 9 years after the Constitution was signed.

The controversy surrounding Beck’s book heated up earlier this week when a spokesperson at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate told the Huffington Post that the copy of Miguel de Cervantes Don Quixote that Washington purchased on the day the Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, is “stored safely” in their collection and is not out on the campaign trail with Glenn Beck.

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Ed Note: Glenn Beck is a member in good standing of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Laid off Disney worker breaks down before Senate panel

Leo Perrero was a highly trained information technology worker at the Walt Disney Company for many years. Even though he had excellent job performance reviews he was told that his his job was being given to foreign workers brought into the country on H-1B visas. Perrero had to train his replacement. Breitbart has the story.

“During the holiday season of 2014, I was sent a meeting invitation by a prominent Disney executive. With an excellent review in hand along with company announcements of record profits my mind buzzed with thoughts of a promotion or a bonus,” Leo Perrero, the former Disney worker testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest. “I walked into a small conference room with about two dozen highly respected fellow IT workers. The Disney executive made a harsh announcement to us all.”

That harsh announcement, Perrero said, was that Disney was laying him and hundreds of others off. He would be without a job in 90 days.

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The Young “Messiah”: Christians Delight In Really Bad Fanfiction

From Berean Examiner:

Get ready for another collection of unbiblical dialog and drama that NEVER HAPPENED. The Young Messiah is the movie that will be releasing March 11 in theaters across the nation (Just in time for Resurrection Sunday!), but the world premiere happened in January at the Billion Soul Network’s NAR-based Synergize 2016 conference.”

“Young Messiah is the “greatest story never told,” says film exec Chris Columbus, (Home Alone, two Harry Potter films, and Mrs. Doubtfire). He recently told Kathie Lee and Hoda that The Young Messiah is based on the novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by on-again-off-again Catholic Anne Rice, which imagines Jesus at around age 7. He said it was biblical, because he had a team of theologians looking over his shoulder, and they all agreed that this was an accurate film.

Who are these theologians? Only one is named:

Dr. Ted Baehr, chairman of the Christian Film, & Television Commission, which publishes MOPVIEGUIDE®, served as a theological and film making consultant for THE YOUNG MESSIAH, and has declared the film to be “orthodox:”

“There have been many movies about Jesus since the 1890s,” he noted. “Only one has been word for word. All the others create story elements not found in the Bible. So, THE JESUS FILM, which has been seen by a billion people, is 70 percent the Gospel of Luke. The rest was added to make the movie dramatic. . . . I had long conversations with the filmmaker, John Heyman, about how to dramatize the Gospel while keeping the orthodox, biblical theology of the New testament. Even if a movie is word for word, like THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, the casting, the set direction, the locations, etc., are all products of the filmmaker’s imagination.” Source

Dr. Baehr, how can a film based entirely on the idea of Jesus at age 7 and an Ann Rice novel be “Orthodox?” Besides Baehr, a long list of partners who got a sneak peek in order to offer a positive review of the film include Word of Faith Hillsong pastorix Christine Caine, Bishop Doug Beacham of the trinity-denying International Pentecostal Holiness Church, and several Catholic organizations and churches.

So we’ve got Word of Faithers, Modalists and Catholics all agreeing that this is an orthodox film true to a story that was never told? Ah well, Sean Bean is in it, so never mind all that biblical accuracy stuff…

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Related:

MOVIEGUIDE Props Up Profane Preacher By Marsha West

Pastor Lucado: Trump Saying He’s a Christian “Beyond Reason to Me”

Donald Trump 2Two megachurch preachers from the lone star state have very different opinions of GOP candidate Donald Trump. In the NewsMax piece Max Lucado takes issue with Trump for calling himself an evangelical Christian. Not so fast, says Lucado. We must first carefully inspect the fruit before we can determine if Trump is a true Christian. If only he had bothered to inspect the fruit of Joel Osteen before agreeing to preach at his church. And there was zero fruit inspection when it came to endorsing and writing the forward to Word of Faith pastrix of Hillsong Church Christine Caine’s book Undaunted. But I digress.

Whether or not The Donald is a Christian doesn’t concern Robert Jeffress who has been introducing him on the stump. Jeffress says the reason he’s supporting Trump is because he’s the most conservative candidate that’s electable.

Our point in bringing Robert Jeffress into the discussion is to show that evangelical leaders often have very different views of the candidates.

Now to Max Lucado’s assessment of Donald Trump:

Best-selling Christian author Max Lucado believes Donald Trump speaks with a forked tongue when he calls himself a Christian one day and launches jaw-dropping personal attacks on people the next.

“It would be none of my business, I would have absolutely no right to speak up except that he repeatedly brandishes the Bible and calls himself a Christian,” the San Antonio pastor said in an interview with Christianity Today magazine.

“If he’s going to call himself a Christian one day and call someone a bimbo the next or make fun of somebody’s menstrual cycle, it’s just beyond reason to me.”

Lucado — the author of nearly 100 Christian books which have sold 80 million copies — said he had never opposed a presidential candidate before the billionaire developer entered the political arena.

“There was a time in Iowa when he said ‘I’m a Christian,’ and somebody asked about forgiveness and he said ‘I’ve never asked God for forgiveness.’ I can’t imagine that. I’m just shaking my head going ‘How does that work?'” Lucado said.

“Does a swimmer say ‘I’ve never gotten wet?’ Does a musician say ‘I’ve never sung a song?’ How does a person claim to be a Christian and never need to ask for forgiveness?”

Trump has made headlines with the shoot-from-the-lip missiles he’s fired at opponents, recently ripping Sen. Ted Cruz as a “totally unstable individual” and the “single biggest liar I’ve ever come across.”

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Trump Claims Yearly IRS Audits May Be Because He’s “Strong Christian”

Christian News Network reports:

In speaking about being audited by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) each year, the thrice-married, unbridled tongued Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Thursday night that perhaps he is being targeted by the government because he is a “strong Christian.”

“I’m always audited by the IRS, which I think is very unfair,” he told CNN’s Chris Cuomo following the GOP debate in Houston. “I don’t know, maybe because of religion, maybe because of something else, maybe because I’m doing this, although this is just recently.”

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A Missive Against False Teachers

From Berean Research:

Wolf Little Red Riding HoodThis piece was originally posted on Apprising Ministries:

Just as in times past there were false prophets in Israel, there are now false teachers among us. They’ve cunningly introduced destructive heresies. They even deny the Lord who, through His atonement bought them. By doing these things these false teachers will bring swift destruction on themselves!

Many are following their shameful ways and they are causing the way of truth to be mocked and ridiculed. In their greed these false teachers are exploiting the church with stories they have made up. But, their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction is certain.

What are these false teachers thinking? Don’t they know that in the past, God did not spare angels when they sinned! God sent them to hell, and put them in chains to be held for judgment. God also did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its wicked and ungodly people. God only saved Noah, a man who was a preacher of righteousness, along with seven other people. God also condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to the ground. God did this to make an example of them and clearly show us what is going to happen to wicked and ungodly people.

If all of this is true, then we can be certain that the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous in punishment until the day of judgment. This is especially true of those who follow after the corrupt desires of their sinful natures and despise and rebel against authority.

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After Obama, the commander in chief will also be entertainer in chief

According to USA Today:

Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and John Kasich all say so: America is electing a commander in chief, not an “entertainer in chief.’’ Civics teachers everywhere say, amen!

But a candidate who wants to beat one outstanding entertainer (Donald Trump) for the right to succeed another (Barack Obama) must be able to put on a show, and to go on one. An ability to entertain — in even quirky settings — has become part of the job.

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Your Soul For A–Pronoun?

Peter Jones of truthXchange reminds us that: We were promised by early homosexual rights advocates that granting personal sexual freedom would not change society. History has proven otherwise. Sexual radicals now demand “non-offensive” pronouns: “ze (he or she) laughed; I called hir (‘heer’); hir eyes gleam; that is hirs; ze likes hirself (‘heerself’).”

This, of course, turned out to be fiction, as you will see. Dr. Jones writes:

EqualityThe new Western progressive view of sexuality claims that there are no given sexual identities. Each individual creates his, her “hir”, “zir”, “nir”, “vis”, “eir” or “Xyr” sexual self-definition in our approaching “just” society. No opposition will be considered. Here are some recent expressions of sexual self-determination:

A 60-something Bruce Jenner, one of the world’s greatest male athletes, has fashioned himself as a 30-something female pin-up who recently won the ESPN Arthur Ashe athletic award for courage; In Toronto, a 6’2″, 46-year-old father has convinced himself that he is a 6-year-old girl, with the blessing of the Metropolitan Christian Church; At a 2016 United Methodist forum for their VBS programs, the Reconciling Ministries Network demanded workers to “drop the gender binary” by avoiding such offensive language as “boys and girls”; In the UK the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England for school-children between 13 and 18 asked students to complete a questionnaire choosing from 22 “gender types,” included “gender non-conforming,” “tri-gender” and “gender fluid.”

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Mega-Ministry Methods: David Jeremiah Sows the Wind and Reaps the Windfall

Warren Throckmorton of Patheos has some disturbing news about Pastor David Jeremiah’s business dealings:

One of the key events that led to the demise of Mars Hill Church in 2014 was the revelation that the church leaders had used around $250,000 of church money to strategically buy a spot on the New York Times bestseller list for Mark and Grace Driscoll’s 2011 book Real Marriage. Manipulating bestseller lists became a debated topic for several months after it was learned that other leading Christian authors had also used Result Source to manipulate the bestseller list (e.g., Les & Leslie Parrott, and David Jeremiah). Articles in World, Christianity Today, and this blog examined the ethics of the matter.

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Francis Chan’s not afraid of the big bad wolf, says “I still love Mike Bickle!”

From Berean Research:

In a piece I wrote entitled The Prosperity Preacher and the Pied Piper of IHOP I warned the Body of Christ that it had become evident that popular preacher Francis Chan had started moving away from Christian orthodoxy and offered proof of this. One thing I found problematic was that Chan chose to unite with and sing praises to IHOP Kansas City’s Pied Piper, Mike Bickle. Bickle is not only a false teacher, some people say he’s a cult leader. It’s common knowledge that several years ago Mike Bickle was in cahoots with a heretical group known as the Kansas City Prophets. According to the late Ken Silva, the KCP “brought grandiose claims that a ‘new breed’ of super prophets were beginning to arrive on planet earth who would change the world forever. These so-called prophets were a group of men that coalesced around a church known as the Kansas City Fellowship, pastored by Mike Bickle, that attracted a following of other likeminded churches in that region.”

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“Together 2016”: Denominations link arms with Chrislebrities to erase doctrinal divisions

Berean Research reports on yet another attempt to unite denominations:

Wolf in sheep's clothing

Doctrinal distinctives? Divisions? Not any more. Several major denominations will be blended up smoother than a Vitamix cocktail in a few weeks.

This summer, a “Next Great Awakening” is bringing Assemblies of God Supt. George O. Wood and Southern Baptist Convention president Ronnie Floyd together to link arms in spiritual unity with the Pentecostal Charismatic Churches of North America, Grace Communion International (formerly the Armstrongism Worldwide Church of God), and a host of familiar Chrislebrities including Hillsong United, Francis Chan, Hillsong’s pastorix Christine Caine, Ravi Zacharias, Kari Jobe, Josh McDowell, Lois Palau and others. The number organizers have in mind: One Million.

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