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

New Vatican document reflects on relations between Catholics, Jews

From Berean Research:

In a piece over at Catholic News Service – an important read – Cindy Wooden writes:

Catholics are called to witness to their faith in Jesus before all people, including Jews, but the Catholic Church “neither conducts nor supports” any institutional missionary initiative directed toward Jews, says a new document from a Vatican commission.”

How God will save the Jews if they do not explicitly believe in Christ is “an unfathomable divine mystery,” but one which must be affirmed since Catholics believe that God is faithful to his promises and therefore never revoked his covenant with the Jewish people, it says.

More in a moment.

Keep in mind that the apostate Roman Catholic Church (RCC) can say anything it wishes because they say that they alone have the right to interpret Scripture. The RCC “claims to be the one true Church as established by Jesus and His apostles. However, an examination of the doctrines upheld and taught by the RCC demonstrates that it stands in contrast with – and even in opposition to – biblical Christianity. (Source)

As you will see in this piece, it matters not to the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews that the Bible makes it abundantly clear that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. The RCC conveniently ignores the Apostle Paul’s very words: “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:9, 10) And they ignore verse 13, where Paul confirms that the Old Testament promise that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Even worse, the RCC also chooses to ignore the words of Jesus in John 14:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

“No one” bears repeating.

Now, continuing where we left off:

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Influence of Churches, Once Dominant, Now Waning in South

According to Jay Reeves of the Associated Press:

Prayers said and the closing hymn sung, tea-drinking churchgoers fill Marble City Grill for Sunday lunch. But hard on their heels comes the afternoon crowd: craft beer-drinking, NFL-watching football fans.

Such a scene would have been impossible just months ago because Sunday alcohol sales were long illegal in Sylacauga, hometown of both the actor who played TV’s Gomer Pyle and the white marble used to construct the U.S. Supreme Court building. While the central Alabama city of 12,700 has only one hospital, four public schools and 21 red lights, the chamber of commerce directory lists 78 churches.

Yet few were surprised when residents voted overwhelmingly in September to legalize Sunday alcohol sales. Churches lacked either the heart or influence to stop it.

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Homosexuals File Suit to Challenge Law Allowing Judges to Opt-Out of Officiating “Gay Weddings”

According to Christian News Network:

Several homosexuals in North Carolina have filed suit to challenge a law that was passed this year that allows judges to opt out of officiating “gay weddings” because of their religious convictions.

As previously reported, S.B. 2 was introduced earlier this year by Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, to allow magistrates to recuse themselves from officiating over the services, as well as to permit register of deeds workers to opt out of issuing licenses due to religious objections.

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Paris Conference Leaders Want You to Think the Planet Is Facing a Climate Change Crisis. That’s Not True.

According to Nicholas Loris of The Daily Signal:

Leaders from around the world, including President Barack Obama, have been saying that the COP21, also known as the Paris climate conference, is the last best hope to save the planet from catastrophic warming.

Evidence and observed data, however, suggest otherwise.

History shows us that this isn’t the only time international leaders have cried that the sky is falling when it comes to global warming.

French President François Hollande said last week that “[n]ever have the stakes of an international meeting been so high, since what is at stake is the future of the planet, the future of life.”

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Texas Court Rules Police May Form Human Barricades to Block Opposition to “Gay” Pride Events

According to Christian News Network:

The highest criminal court in Texas has ruled that it is permissible for police to form human barricades to physically block dissenters from engaging with attendees of “gay pride” events in situations where there is a possibility that the hearers might become violent.

On Wednesday, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reinstated the conviction of a preacher and a member of his congregation who had been previously found not guilty of “interfering with public duties” for crossing a barricade that was meant to separate them from attendees of a homosexual festival in Fort Worth.

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Zombie-themed nativity toys created by atheist cause outrage, offense

Christian Examiner reports:

An irreverent Kickstarter project by NerdTalk Toys features a five-figurine nativity of Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus, an angel, and a donkey—but all of them are zombies.

“I just like to be weird and come up with crazy ideas that typically offend people,” says Ashley Gojic, founder and CEO of NerdTalk Toys, in a promotional video on the Kickstarter site.

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Bermuda Hotel Cancels Heritage Scholar’s Speeches on Same-Sex Marriage for Being “Anti-Diversity”

According to The Daily Signal:

Marriage

A Bermuda hotel canceled two events this week because the organizers believe marriage is the union of a man and a woman.

Ryan T. Anderson, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, was scheduled to speak on marriage at public forums Tuesday and Wednesday at the hotel in Pembroke Parish, Bermuda. But the hotel canceled the events, calling Anderson and others who hold his views “anti-diversity.”

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IHOP-KC Once Again Withholds Mention of Catholic Participation at Onething Conference

According to John Lanagan of My Word Like Fire:

Francis Chan & Mike BickleLike the saying goes, It is deja vu all over again. In 2012, the Catholic Church was scheduled to participate in the International House of Prayer’s Onething conference. While this startling information was available on Catholic sites online, there was virtually nothing about it on the IHOP-KC and Onething websites.

In 2012, Catholic participation was canceled, and this spiritual partnership never took place. In 2015, the Catholics are once again scheduled to participate at Onething, and IHOP-KC founder Mike Bickle has determined yet again to keep this information off the IHOP-KC and Onething websites.

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Read our research paper on Roman Catholicism

Obama’s claims on Islam evaluated

Baptist Press reports:

In an address on a “new phase” in America’s war on terror, President Obama said committing acts of violence in the name of Allah represents a perversion of Islam.

Presenting a televised speech from the Oval Office for just the second time in his presidency, according to the Associated Press, Obama called Muslims “to speak out against … those interpretations of Islam that are incompatible with the values of religious tolerance, mutual respect and human dignity.” He called all Americans “to reject discrimination” against Muslims.

Evangelical scholars of Islam responded to both points, noting a debate among both Christians and Muslims over the compatibility of Islam and violent jihad, the Muslim term for holy war.

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God’s New Sound

From Berean Research:

Kudos to Herescope’s researchers for their willingness to tackle topics many discernment ministries won’t touch. After reading “Part 11: The Physics of Heaven* A Serial Book Review & Theological Interaction” penned by Pastor Larry DeBruyn, you’ll understand why some researches shy away from esoteric topics such as the so-called “physics of heaven.” This is no easy concept to grasp. Even so, pastor DeBruyn does a stellar job conveying what it all means and why we should not take this sort of thing seriously. The book was written by Larry Randolph. Randolph embraces New Apostolic Reformation’s highly unbiblical theology. His teaching is utter nonsense. Take a look at a couple of quotes from the article:

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San Bernardino gunman obsessed with ISIS and Israel, dad says

Syed Farook’s father believes that in two years Israel will not exist anymore. Fox News has the story:

San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook shared ISIS’ ideology, wanted to see the establishment of an Islamic caliphate and was fixated with Israel, Farook’s father told an Italian newspaper during an interview in which he also offered his own unusual ideas about Israel.

“My son said that he shared [ISIS leader Abu Bakr] Al Baghdadi’s ideology and supported the creation of the Islamic State,” said Farook’s dad, also named Syed Farook, who lives in Corona, Calif., with another son who is a Navy veteran. “He was also obsessed with Israel.”

“I told him he had to stay calm and be patient because in two years Israel will not exist anymore,” the elder Farook told La Stampa in an article published Sunday. The foreign language daily’s report was translated in part by The Times of Israel.

“Geopolitics is changing: Russia, China and America don’t want Jews there anymore. They are going to bring the Jews back to Ukraine. What is the point of fighting? We have already done it and we lost. Israel is not to be fought with weapons, but with politics. But he did not listen to me, he was obsessed,” the father said in the interview, according to The Times of Israel.

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President: Terror threat has evolved into “new phase”

According to Christian Examiner:

The terror attack that took place in San Bernardino, Calif., last week was a new evolution of terrorism, President Barack Obama said in an address to the nation on Sunday.

Because the attack was not an international operation, the president said, it was much harder to detect than “complex, multifaceted attacks like 9/11,” in spite of the fact that the terrorists, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, had stockpiled a large amount of weapons, ammunition and pipe bombs.

While Obama said the victims of the attack were “brutally murdered and injured by one of their coworkers and his wife,” he did define the attack as an act of terrorism. However, stopped short of saying the attackers had been directed from terror groups overseas. He also said there was no hint of a “broader conspiracy” either.

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Confirmed Dinosaur Blood on Ancient Fossil Astonishes Evolutionists

Christian News Network reports:

Researchers have confirmed that biomaterial discovered on an ancient fossil is in fact preserved dinosaur blood, astonishing evolutionists who continue to believe the fossil is 80 million years old.

Over the past decade, scientists have unearthed a number of dinosaur fossils with preserved blood vessels and soft tissue. Many evolutionists initially treated such discoveries with skepticism and incredulity—while others rejected them outright—due to their seeming incompatibility with the evolutionary timeframe.

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Colorado Bible Study Goes to Pot: “Stoner Jesus” Group Combines Weed with the Word

According to Christian News Network:

MarijuanaA Bible study group in Colorado has literally gone to pot, inviting its members to smoke marijuana together while discussing the Scriptures.

The group is called the “Stoner Jesus Bible Study” and was formed after Colorado legalized the use of recreational marijuana. It was formed by Deb Button, who first posted her invite on Craigslist. Only one person attended at first, who told reporters last month that Button was “so baked out of her head she forgot that she’d invited me over.”

“Many people have a thirst for spiritual connection that is lacking in the traditional church setting and we aim to learn from the wisdom of His word and teachings,” the group writes on its website. “And yes, cannabis is welcome as it can bring clarity of thought and a sense of connectedness that we often only find in a small group of fellow stoners.”

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LIBERTY UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT URGES STUDENTS TO ARM SELVES

According to The Associated Press:

The president of Liberty University urged students at the Christian school to carry concealed weapons on campus to counter any possible armed attack like the mass killings in San Bernardino, Calif.

“Let’s teach them a lesson if they ever show up here,” President Jerry Falwell Jr. told students at a convocation Friday.

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Obama Apologizing to the World for US on Climate Is Ridiculous

Economist Nicholis Loris of The Daily Signal writes:

President Obama’s opening remarks at the Paris climate agreement were effectively an apology for industrial progress. At the kickoff of the talks, Obama remarked, “I’ve come here personally, as the leader of the world’s largest economy and the second-largest emitter, to say that the United States of America not only recognizes our role in creating this problem; we embrace our responsibility to do something about it.”

Obama should not be apologizing for the economic growth that dramatically improved Americans’ and much of the world’s quality of life. Instead, the president should apologize for pushing costly and ineffective climate policies that will make us worse off and trap the world’s poorest citizens in poverty.

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“Own it!”Terrorism is an Islamic issue, say some Muslims

According to Religion News Service some leading Muslims speak out against Islamic extremism:

While details are still unfolding as to why a California Muslim couple turned to murder, Muslims in the West must step up and admit terrorism is rooted in extremist Islam, said four Muslim panelists speaking at a conservative think tank on Thursday (Dec. 3).

They criticized major U.S. Muslim groups that lament such tragedies but say their religion is not responsible. They insisted the violence has roots in Islam, and that Islamist political terror is nurtured in Saudi Arabia’s strict Wahhabi branch of the faith.

And they blasted the Obama administration for steadfastly refusing to brand terror as Islamic extremism. President Obama decried the deaths and pledged a thorough investigation of the attack but cautioned against setting blame based on the killers’ Muslim names.

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Archaeologists Discover Seal Bearing Name of Biblical King Hezekiah in Jerusalem

According to Christian News Network:

Israeli archaeologists have discovered a mark from the seal of biblical King Hezekiah, who helped build Jerusalem into an ancient metropolis.

The circular inscription, on a piece of clay less than a centimeter (0.4 inches) long, may very well have been made by the king himself, said Eilat Mazar of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University who directed the excavation where it was uncovered.

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CRISIS: Southern Baptists seek ways to assist unemployed missionaries

According to Christian Examiner:

After the International Mission Board’s (IMB) shocking announcement in August about a serious budget deficit, what will happen to the 600 to 800 overseas missionaries whose jobs it announced it will cut during its “organization reset”?

Southern Baptists have responded to the 170-year-old organization’s financial crisis — rising through the past few years and finally requiring the IMB to stop relying on reserves and make some heart-wrenching personnel cuts — by welcoming home missionaries with help finding housing, transportation, and jobs.

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N.Y. newspaper blasts post-shooting prayers: “GOD ISN’T FIXING THIS”

Christian Examiner reports:

Prayer - Charles SpurgeonWhile media pundits debated terrorism Wednesday night, the Southern California mass shooting touched off another heated debate on social media over the value of prayer, and the New York Daily News escalated the dispute with an inflammatory and even sacrilegious headline screaming: “GOD ISN’T FIXING THIS.”

It isn’t clear when the argument on Twitter and Facebook started, although George Zornick, Washington editor for the liberal-leaning The Nation, sent out a Tweet several hours after the shooting with two pictures comparing the Twitter reactions of the Democratic candidates and the Republican candidates for president.

Democrats such as Hillary Clinton called for more gun control – “We must take action to stop gun violence now,” she wrote – while Republicans such as Ted Cruz called for prayer. “Our prayers are with the victims, their families, and the first responders,” he wrote.

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“I Don’t Believe That”: Seventh Day Adventist Ben Carson Says Hell Does Not Exist

According to Christian News Network, Dr. Ben Carson rejects the Bible’s clear teaching on hell and chooses to embrace Seventh-Day adventism’s unbiblical teaching that souls sleep until the Second Coming of Christ.:

Despite the numerous Scriptures warnings given by Jesus himself, Seventh Day Adventist and presidential candidate Ben Carson told The Washington Post that he does not believe in hell.

“I don’t believe there is a physical place where people go and are tormented,” he stated. “No. I don’t believe that.”

As previously reported, Seventh Day Adventists believe in the “annihilation of the wicked,” rejecting the doctrine of eternal torment out of their assertion that the Bible doesn’t teach about a permanent place called Hell, but rather the snuffing out of the soul.

“How repugnant to every emotion of love and mercy, and even to our sense of justice, is the doctrine that the wicked dead are tormented with fire and brimstone in an eternally burning hell; that for the sins of a brief earthly life they are to suffer torture as long as God shall live,” wrote founder Ellen White in “The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan.”

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Court Rules Cross Memorial Is Constitutional Despite Objection from Humanists

Christian News Network reports:

A federal court has ruled that a memorial cross that sits on public land is constitutional, despite objections from a prominent humanist organization.

The Bladensburg World War I Veterans Memorial, also known as the “peace cross,” was erected in 1925 by the American Legion to honor the lives of 49 men from Prince George County who died during the war.

The cross stands 40 feet tall in Memorial Park, and also features a plaque that reads, “The right is more precious than the peace; we shall fight for the things we have always carried nearest our hearts; to such a task we dedicate ourselves.” The site is mainly used by the American Legion for Memorial Day and Veterans Day celebrations.

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San Bernardino Shooting Day Two: The Jahidis Next Door

Breitbart reports:

Day Two: Authorities are still investigating details of a mass shooting Wednesday morning in San Bernardino, California at the Inland Regional Center, a facility for developmentally disabled adults. 14 people were killed and at least 17 injured in a conference room at the center, where county employees had been enjoying a holiday party. There appear to be two suspects, both Muslim, a husband-and-wife team named Syed Rezwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27. Large portions of the city remain locked down.

6:45 a.m.: A high school in Pacific Palisades, a Los Angeles neighborhood where many Hollywood celebrities live, has received a threat, according to the Palisadian-Post:

BREAKING: Parents this evening received notification that Palisades Charter High School is on “high alert” due to an anonymous tip. According to Pali High Principal Pamela Magee, it was Palisades Charter Elementary School that received a threatening call today. “Pali High was notified of the alert and sent out a similar message about being on high alert due to the incident in [San Bernardino],” Magee told the ‪#‎palipost‬. Pali Elementary could not be reached for comment.

One parent commented on Facebook: “Having received that call from Palisades Elementary School tonight I can say that while the call itself was disturbing the complete lack of update or follow up made it more so. The call didn’t say do or don’t send kids to school, so I think we have all been left wondering.”

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Colorado Lawmaker to Planned Parenthood: “Stop the Violence Inside Your Walls”

Christian News Network reports:

A Republican lawmaker in Colorado pointed to Planned Parenthood’s violence against the unborn in a comment on social media this week, stating that the nation must “start pointing out who is the real culprit.”

Rep. JoAnn Windholz of Denver made the comments on Monday on Facebook.

“The freedoms we enjoy in the United States include those that were made up to fit the audience and unsubstantiated numerical support, specifically the right to an abortion,” she wrote. “When a violent act happens at a Planned Parenthood facility (most recent in Colorado Springs) the left goes on ‘auto-pilot’ blaming everyone in sight when they should be looking in a mirror.”

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Backlash brewing against same-sex marriage gay leaders fear

Christian Examiner reports:

Supreme Court 5-4Supporters of same-sex marriage are warning about a backlash against this summer’s landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, and a prominent Christian sociologist says they have reason to be concerned.

The anxiousness on the part of LGBT leaders follows the defeat of a transgender equal rights ordinance in Houston as well as the widespread support among Christian conservatives for Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who refused to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples if her name was on them.

Additionally, the Alabama Supreme Court in September ruled that the state doesn’t have to recognize the adoption of children by a lesbian woman in a custody dispute across state lines. She lives in Georgia, while the biological mom and the children live in Alabama. The controversy began when the two women ended their relationship.

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