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

World religious leaders condemn Paris carnage

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Religion News Service reports:

Pope Francis raised the specter of a World War III “in pieces,” Muslims issued statements of condemnation, while evangelical Christians in America debated whether to speak of a “war with Islam.”

These were some of the responses by religious leaders around the world on Saturday (Nov. 14) to the series of attacks overnight in Paris which left more than 120 people dead.

“This is not human,” Francis said phone call to an Italian Catholic television station. Asked by the interviewer if it was part of a “Third World War in pieces,” he responded: “This is a piece. There is no justification for such things.”

Earlier, the Vatican’s chief spokesman, Rev. Federico Lombardi, released a statement saying: “This is an attack on peace for all humanity, and it requires a decisive, supportive response on the part of all of us as we counter the spread the homicidal hatred in all of its forms.”

In Cairo, Al-Azhar University, the preeminent seat of Sunni Muslim scholarship, called the attacks a criminal act, and said that “Islam denounces any violence,” the Arabic news site Al Arabiya reported, quoting Egypt’s state news agency MENA.

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Fraudulent Faith

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

From a sermon on First Timothy preached by Pastor Ray C. Stedman

They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth (1 Timothy 4:3).

One of the strange marks of religious error is that it is so often accompanied by ascetic practices, that is, denial of certain normal, natural human enjoyments. One of them is marriage. A number of groups have historically forbidden marriage to their adherents with the idea that sex is unclean, and those who indulge in it are certainly less dedicated than those who refrain.

Foods come under this heading too. I do not mean to imply at all that there is anything wrong with diets. It is obvious that some people need dieting. There is nothing wrong with studies on nutrition and proper eating. Nevertheless, through the course of human history there has been a strange affinity between food restrictions and fads and religious error.

The reason is that at the heart of asceticism is a conviction that self-denial somehow pleases God. It can be very earnest, very sincere. Often Christians fall into this error in their early Christian days, thinking that if they deny themselves in some way God is going to be pleased, and their status in His sight will be advanced. That is why some Christians love to get up early in the morning for Scripture reading or memorize hundreds of verses of Scripture or pray on their knees for long periods of time. These practices, which in themselves are not wrong, nevertheless become wrong because their motive (that of gaining God’s favor by self-denial) is wrong.

This is a good example of the subtlety by which error begins. When a deviation enters a stream of truth, at the first point of deviation, error looks like truth; it is very hard to see it as error. This is what has misled so many people. They never recognize error until they become engrossed in it. Down the line they begin to suspect that it is error, but by that time they are already hooked.

There is a difference between self-denial and denying self. Jesus said, If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23). That is denying self. But that is easily confused with self-denial, which says, I will give up this thing or that thing. I want to gain a special mark of favor before God, and I want to influence God to do something for me in return. When our motivation ultimately is to achieve something for ourselves by our actions, we are no longer denying self but practicing self-denial.

How subtle the differences are! Self-denial is an attempt to earn favor apart from faith in the gift of righteousness which makes us wholly acceptable before God right at the very beginning of our Christian life; denying self is a refusal to heed those silken arguments of the inner ego that appeal to us to show how good we are by giving up something.

Life Application

What is the difference between self-denial and denying self? Are we careful not to let subtle religious error lead us into a fraudulent faith apart from Christ’s righteousness?

Fraudulent Faith

Ohio ISIS Supporter Arrested for Soliciting Murder of U.S. Military Members

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Christian News Network reports:

An Ohio man was arrested this week and is facing a criminal solicitation charge for allegedly trying to recruit other Muslims to kill members of the U.S. military.

Terrence McNeil, 25, was taken into custody on Thursday after being watched by the FBI, which states that he posted the names and addresses of 100 service members online, urging readers to murder them for Allah.

“O brothers in America, know that the jihad against the crusaders is not limited to the lands of the Khilafah, it is a world-wide jihad and their war is not just a war against the Islamic State, it is a war against Islam,” he wrote. “Know that it is wajib (necessary) for you to kill these kuffar (non-Muslims)!”

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Hebrew Roots: About that Cepher “Bible”

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Berean Research reports on WND’s promotion of a heretical Bible. We should not be surprised as WND promotes all sorts of unbiblical things, as you will see:

Recently I’ve been seeing a lot of advertisements for The Cepher Bible, a new translation of sorts brought to you by WND, where editor Joseph Farah sells Cepher alongside The Harbinger, The Rabbi Who Found Jesus, the Mystery of the Shemitah and other questionable books.

WND is a source to mark and avoid for discerning Christians, as I discovered several years ago when I first learned that the site sponsored Sid Roth’s hour-long video tutorial on how to do the New Age Soaking prayer.

But with the growth of the dangerous Hebrew Roots Movement, there is concern that WND’s powerful readership numbers may be aiding and abetting false teachers to reach a whole new audience. Christian Answers for the New Age author Marcia Montenegro recently alerted her readers:

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Terrorists slaughter at least 118 in Paris music hall, 40 others in separate attacks

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Fox News reports:

DEVELOPING – Terrorists wielding AK-47s and hurling explosives executed at least 118 people inside a Paris concert hall late Friday night, in a massacre that followed coordinated attacks that killed at least 40 more people, rocking the French capital — prompting President Francois Hollande to close the entire nation’s borders and order a state of emergency.

The carnage inside the music venue ended around midnight local time when French police stormed inside, killing three Kalashnikov-toting gunmen who witnesses said wore flak jackets as they slaughtered horrified spectators. The victims had gathered to see the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal, and a handful managed to escape to tell of the horror taking place inside where the killers shouted “This is for Syria!” and “Alahu Akhbar!” as they cut down patrons from a balcony before the band took the stage.

Julien Pierce, a Europe 1 journalist who was inside the Bataclan, described what he saw to the BBC.

“It lasted between 10 and 15 minutes,” he said. “It was extremely violent and there was panic. The attackers had enough time to reload at least three times. They were very young.”

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Leaving Lysa: Why You Shouldn’t Be Following Lysa TerKeurst or Proverbs 31 Ministries

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Proverbs 31 WomanBible study author, speaker and blogger Michelle Lesley is a Berean. “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Acts 17:11 Michelle does not take pleasure in exposing teachers who are not doctrinally sound. You need only to visit her blog to know that. In this blog post she takes a popular teacher and author to task for not rightly handling the Word of God (2 Tim 2:15) thus misleading women — and some men. No doubt she will receive a lot of flack for exposing a beloved Christian celeb, so pray for her. Listen to Michelle explain why leaving Lysa is a good idea. She writes:

According to her web site, “Lysa TerKeurst is president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and the New York Times best-selling author of The Best Yes, Unglued, Made to Crave, and 16 other books.” She also blogs prolifically and speaks at numerous Christian women’s conferences.

Lysa is charming, friendly, and down to earth- the type of person I would probably want to be friends with if I knew her personally. We have several things in common: a big family (she has 5 kids, I have 6), women’s ministry, we’re even just a couple of months apart in age (which shocked me, since she looks so much younger!).

I first became familiar with Lysa a year or so ago when her name, articles, and memes of her quotes (and those of Proverbs 31 Ministries) began appearing in my news feed on Facebook. What I was seeing sounded good, and I hoped against hope that she was a doctrinally sound teacher of God’s word that I could recommend to my friends and readers. In fact, I resisted vetting her for a while because I was afraid of being disappointed by another popular Christian women’s author and teacher who seemed biblical on the surface but turned out not to be.

Sadly (and I genuinely mean that- I was sad), that is exactly what I found when I began to research Lysa TerKeurst at the request of several of my friends and readers. It’s my prayer that Lysa will repent of the areas in which she is acting against Scripture, learn biblical hermeneutics so she can rightly handle God’s word, and have a tremendous doctrinally sound – impact on the thousands of women who love her so much. I would love nothing more than to give her a virtual “high five” and highly recommend her to others if she would do so.

Until such time, I regret that I must recommend that women not follow Lysa TerKeurst or Proverbs 31 Ministries (including the other women who write for and are leaders in this ministry) for the following reasons:  View article →

Pastor Saeed Abedini’s Wife Halts Public Advocacy, Citing Marital Woes and Abuse

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According to Christianity Today:

For the past three years Naghmeh Abedini has publicly battled her husband’s captors, advocating for his release from an Iranian jail.

Behind the scenes, she also struggled with his inner demons.

Last week, the emotional distress of doing both finally proved too much, she said.

In two emails to supporters, Abedini revealed details of her troubled marriage to Saeed Abedini, an American citizen and pastor imprisoned in Iran since September 2012.

Those troubles include “physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse (through Saeed’s addiction to pornography),” she wrote. The abuse started early in their marriage and has worsened during Saeed’s imprisonment, she said. The two are able to speak by phone and Skype.

Touring the country to advocate for Saeed’s release while coping with marital conflict proved too much, she wrote. She told supporters she’s withdrawing from public life for a time of prayer and rest.

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Anti-Doping Commission Finds Russia Engaged in State-Sponsored Doping

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The Wall Street Journal has the full report:

Russia engaged for years in systematic state-sponsored doping to improve athletic performance, said a commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency, which recommended that Russian track-and-field competitors be barred from the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The 323-page report released Monday by the independent commission described a secret doping program allegedly run for at least the past five years by Russian government officials, physicians, coaches, and track-and-field athletes to give the country a prohibited edge in international competitions. The report said Russian athletes unwilling to participate in the program faced expulsion from their team and other threats.

“It’s worse than we thought,” Dick Pound, chairman of the three-person commission that prepared the report, said at a news conference in Geneva. “We found coverups, we found destruction of samples, we found payments of money in order to conceal doping tests.”

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Childcare worker fired for refusing to call girl, 6, made “transgender” by same-sex parents, a boy

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Christian Examiner reports:

For four months the child came to school as a girl, and then suddenly as a boy – and now the manager of the daycare center the child attends has been fired for refusing to call a she a he, the Houston Chronicle has reported.

According to the paper, Madeline Kirksey has filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging discrimination after she – a black female over 40 who is a Christian – was terminated Nov. 3 for refusing to change the way she addressed a “transgender boy.”

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Muslim Student Who Carried Out Knife Attack at University Carried Printout of ISIS Flag

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According to Christian News Network:

A Muslim student who carried out a knife attack last week at the Merced campus of the University of California carried a printout of the Islamic State flag and, according to reports, was also on the FBI watch list.

As previously reported, Faisal Mohammad, 18, a freshman at the university, entered one of the classroom and office buildings on campus on Nov. 4 at approximately 8 a.m. and began stabbing another student with a hunting knife. Byron Price, a construction worker who observed the altercation, stepped in to help, but was soon stabbed himself.

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Starbucks’ red cup brewhaha

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

Starbucks logoThere’s a big brewhaha going on over the Starbucks holiday coffee cup. Seems some people are incensed that the cups are plain red, with no recognition of Christianity, when there could have been. This is surprising in light of the fact that Starbucks has never paid tribute to the reason for the season on its cups. Since 1997 the left-leaning company “has told a story of the holidays by featuring symbols of the season from vintage ornaments and hand-drawn reindeer to modern vector-illustrated characters.” The company logo is “a 16th century Norse woodcut of a twin-tailed mermaid, or Siren,” which is clearly pagan. One would think that professing Christians would find it offensive to see a pagan logo on one side of the cup and the baby Jesus on the other side.

So anyway, apparently the outside of the cup artists Starbucks’ employs ran out of ideas, threw caution to the wind, and went with an all red cup…and you know the rest of the story.

So to add some perspective to the brewhaha, listen to what Albert Mohler had to say in The Briefing:

Without doubt this does point to the larger secularization of the culture and that means that corporate interests and advertisers no longer feel like they have to give a tip of the hat to Christianity during the time of Christmas, as well as other holidays of the season. One explanation of this just might be religious diversity in the United States. I don’t actually think that’s the big story. I think the bigger story is the loss of cultural Christianity and the fact that major corporations no longer feel that they actually have to give any kind of tacit tip of the hat to Christmas or to Christians during the holiday season.

View article → To read the rest of Dr. Mohler’s comments, scroll down to Transcript.

GOP DEBATE — Rubio: “Family is the most important institution in society”

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Christian Examiner reports:

The fourth Republican presidential debate featured a smaller lineup as well as some of the most contentious exchanges yet on issues important to Republicans, including the family, the military and immigration.

Sens. Marco Rubio and Rand Paul may have engaged in the highlight of Tuesday’s debate after Rubio defended his own tax proposal, which includes an increase in the child tax credit.

“I am proud that I have a pro-family tax code because the pro-family tax plan I have will strengthen the most important institution in the country – the family,” Rubio said.

Paul, though, argued Rubio’s plan isn’t conservative.

“We have to decide what is conservative and what isn’t conservative,” Paul said. “Is it fiscally conservative to have a trillion dollar expenditure? We’re not talking about giving people back their tax money. [Rubio is] talking about giving people money they didn’t pay. It’s a welfare transfer payment.”

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Play Depicting Jesus as a Transgender “Woman” to be Performed in Belfast

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According to CNS News:

A play depicting Jesus Christ as a transgender “woman” is about to go up in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

“The Gospel According to Jesus Queen of Heaven” is slated to be performed on Nov. 15 at the Outburst Queer Arts Festival in Belfast. The play’s creator is Jo Clifford, a transgender person.

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Couple Offers to Adopt Babies of Abortion-Minded Mothers After Seeing Planned Parenthood Videos

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Christian News Network reports:

A Kentucky couple has issued an adoption offer to abortion-minded mothers after viewing one of the expose’ videos of the abortion giant Planned Parenthood.

Kevin and Nicole Cook watched the fourth investigative video this past July, which featured staff from Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains sifting through the body parts of an aborted child. “[A]nother boy!” one technician exclaimed.

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Republicans’ media bias claims boosted by scarcity of right-leaning journalists

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Washington Times reports:

A mere 7 percent of journalists identify as Republicans, and when they do give money to political campaigns they usually donate to Democrats, lending evidence to Republican presidential candidates’ claims that they are facing a hostile audience when they deal with the press.

As Republican candidates prepare for their fourth debate of the primary season Tuesday in Milwaukee, the people doing the questioning are increasingly in the spotlight, with their motives being questioned by the campaigns, voters and even by their fellow journalists.

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Pentagon “gay” rape debacle: Report alleging male-on-male sexual trauma retracted

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Washington Times reports:

The American Psychological Association has taken the extraordinary step of retracting an in-house journal article that asserted the rate of rape and other sexual trauma among military men was as much as 15 times higher than the Pentagon’s own survey.

In a press released posted Sunday night, the APA said outside scholars had examined the study, “Preliminary Data Suggest Rates of Male Sexual Trauma May be Higher than Previously Reported,” and determined that the method for randomly selecting and surveying male combat veterans was flawed.

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Heretical New Age books being promoted as Christian (and Christians are buying them)

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The End Times has provided a list of best-selling books that are supposedly “Christian” but are actually New Age/New Thought books that preach “Another Jesus”, “Another Spirit,” and “Another Gospel.” One of the books is “Jesus Calling” which is very popular among professing Christians. Jesus Calling was “the seventh-best selling book in America last year was a 10-year-old Christian devotional written by a woman who claims to have written down the words of God.”

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Wisconsin Church Event: “Raising a Jedi: Spiritual Formation and the Force”

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Berean Research reports:

YodaThe church advertisement quotes John 1:5, with the tagline, “Faith & The Force: A Light Shines in the Darkness.”

But is this “Force” in the Star Wars films in any way like biblical Christianity? Or is The Force (although imaginary), based on a New Age, Pantheistic, Eastern-based idea prevalent in Buddhism? Could The Force be a clever counterfeit, like an angel of light?

A Wisconsin church is hoping to use the idea of The Force along with fun costumes to draw atheists into its sanctuary theater by hosting an event designed to explore Spiritual Formation, The “Force” and how to raise a Jedi.

Glaringly missing from the entire event lineup is any mention of Jesus Christ, repentance, salvation, grace, the cross, the Bible, or anything remotely resembling scriptural faith.

One of the breakout sessions is a self-guided walk the Labyrinth to “quiet your mind and access the Force.” “All Jedis must learn to look inside,” says the church, First United Presbyterian Church in De Pere, Wis., about 15 minutes from my house.

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“It Forces Us to Rethink All These Models”: Discovery Shatters Secular Scientists’ Expectations

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According to Christian News Network:

The unexpected discovery of oxygen around a distant comet has shocked secular astronomers and challenges the current evolutionary models for the universe’s origins.

In 2004, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the “Rosetta” spacecraft to rendezvous with a comet. “Rosetta” arrived at Comet 67P last year and has since been orbiting the comet and relaying observations back to Earth.

On October 28, ESA announced that “Rosetta” had detected traces of oxygen (O2) emanating from Comet 67P. In an ESA news release, astronomers described the discovery as “quite a surprise.”

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“It’s Your Body … Do What You Want:” Woman Has Drain Cleaner Dropleted in Her Eyes to Become Blind

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Christian News Network reports:

A North Carolina woman recently appeared on the television shows “The Doctors” and “Dr. Phil” to explain that she had a psychologist droplet drain cleaner in her eyes out of her desire to be blind. “It’s your body,” Amber “Jewel” Shuping said. “You should be able to do what you want to do with it.” Shuping outlined that as a child she was considered legally blind without eyeglasses, and began thinking that she should have been born blind.

“It got to the point where I felt that I shouldn’t be seeing at all,” she said. “I felt imprisoned by my sight.”

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Cash-Strapped Missionaries Get a New Calling: Home

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According to The Wall Street Journal:

Peter and Jennie Stillman felt a divine calling to preach the gospel abroad. So the Southern Baptist couple left Texas with their three young daughters 25 years ago and became missionaries in Southeast Asia.

Now, the Stillmans are responding to a new call: early retirement. They are among hundreds of Southern Baptist missionaries working abroad who are being summoned home in a move to slash costs, after years of spending to support missionary work around the world led to budget problems.

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U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Obamacare Abortion Pill Mandate

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Christian News Network reports:

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge from several religious groups to what has been dubbed the “abortion pill mandate” in the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, marking the second time the court has deliberated opposition to the law.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty had filed an appeal on behalf of the Roman Catholic group Little Sisters of the Poor, Houston Baptist University, East Texas Baptist University, South Nazarene University, Geneva College, Priests for Life and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.

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46,471: Drug Overdoses Killed More Americans Than Car Crashes or Guns

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CNS News reports:

“Drug overdose deaths are the leading cause of injury death in the United States, ahead of motor vehicle deaths and firearms (deaths),” the Drug Enforcement Agency announced on Wednesday.

In 2013, the most recent year for which data is available, 46,471 people in the United States died from drug overdoses, and more than half of those deaths were caused by prescription painkillers and heroin.

That compares with the 35,369 who died in motor vehicle crashes and 33,636 who died from firearms, as tallied by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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“Prophetic Prayer” Claims God Has Given Donald Trump “Anointing for Mantle of Government”

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From Berean Research:

Here we go again. As you can see by the headline, one of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) “prophets” has uttered a prophecy for a presidential candidate. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! Why? Because the majority of NAR prophets’ predictions never come to pass. For example, on September 28, 2009 the “prophets” declared that Texas governor Rick Perry would have a leadership role beyond Texas. Following is an excerpt from a piece entitled “Rick Perry’s Army of God”:

On this day, the Lord’s messengers arrived in the form of two Texas pastors, Tom Schlueter of Arlington and Bob Long of San Marcos, who called on Perry in the governor’s office inside the state Capitol. Schlueter and Long both oversee small congregations, but they are more than just pastors. They consider themselves modern-day apostles and prophets, blessed with the same gifts as Old Testament prophets or New Testament apostles.

The pastors told Perry of God’s grand plan for Texas. A chain of powerful prophecies had proclaimed that Texas was “The Prophet State,” anointed by God to lead the United States into revival and Godly government. And the governor would have a special role.

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Court exonerates mother in newborn’s death, rules child not a person

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Live Action News reports:

InfantJennifer Jorgensen, the Long Island, New York, woman who was convicted of manslaughter in the 2008 death of her six-day-old daughter, has won her appeal by arguing that her daughter was not yet a person.

Jorgensen was speeding, intoxicated, and not wearing a seatbelt when she crashed her car while she was eight months pregnant. Jorgensen’s blood alcohol level was .06 and the anti-anxiety medication Clonazepam was in her system.

Doctors had to deliver her baby, Ashley Jorgensen-Kaiser, via C-section in an attempt to save the child’s life. However, the premature infant died as a result of her injuries six days later.

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