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

Congress Urged to Pass Law Protecting Religious Schools from Punishment Over Marriage Beliefs

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

Christian News Newtork reports:

Administrators from Christian and Catholic schools nationwide have signed on to a letter urging Congress to pass a law that would protect religious schools from punishment over their biblical beliefs on marriage.

Daniel Egeler, the president of the Association of Christian Schools International, Al Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Michael Ferris, the Chancellor of Patrick Henry College and Alan Hodak, the executive director of the Minnesota Association of Christian Schools, were among those who signed the letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

“We write to express our deep concern with the potential loss of tax-exempt status for educational institutions should the Supreme Court find constitutional legitimacy for same-sex marriage,” it read.

View article →

How to Attract Goats to Your Church

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

Berean Research reports on Preston Trails Community Church in Frisco, Texas that recently won a design award for its building and its brand: Making goats feel accepted:

Goats heading to churchIs church about saints (those who are saved), or sinners goats? Look, we’re all sinners; we need to use our words correctly. Those who have repented and put their trust in Christ alone for their salvation are saints. Another great word we can use here is sheep. The opposite term in the Bible is goats. The real question is, what – and Whom- is church about, and whom is it for?

Let’s not “kid” ourselves; it’s not for goats. It’s for former goats. The Bible teaches us that church is the gathering of those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit:

…to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. – Ephesians 4:12-16

View article →

Saddleback Church raising $71 million for its largest expansion yet

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

From Berean Research:

Pastor Rick Warren is asking people to donate their hard earned money to open 10 more Saddleback campuses in Southern California. Even teens are getting into the act as you will see in Orange County Register’s piece. They’re called PEACE centers and they’ll provide assistance locally with food, medical help and counseling, Helping people is what churches do, right? But is it prudent for God’s people to spend their money this way?

View article →

Madeleine L’Engle’s foundation awards grant to LGBT group at Wheaton College

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

Religion News Service reports:

The foundation of Madeleine L’Engle, the late National Book Award-winning author of “A Wrinkle in Time,” has awarded OneWheaton, an independent community of LGBT students and alumni from Wheaton College, a $5,000 grant.

OneWheaton is committed to affirming LGBT students but is not officially recognized by the prominent evangelical school, which can expel students caught in homosexual behaviors.

The group plans to use the money to fund public discussions and forums about LGBT issues and evangelical culture.

“We couldn’t be happier to receive this grant from L’Engle’s Crosswicks Foundation,” said Paul Canaday-Elliott, a OneWheaton board member.

“Wheaton tells a very one-sided narrative about LGBT persons without making room for dialogue,” he added. “So this will help us continue to supply something that the college isn’t.”

View article →

Gay activist Matthew Vines quietly holds private meetings with Christian leaders

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , , ,

Amy of Berean Research has written a follow-up story to Emergent Church leader Tony Campolo’s call for full inclusion of gay and lesbian “Christians” in the Church. She reports that some well-know Christian leaders are wavering. She writes:

In his newsletter, Matthew Vines, author of God and the Gay Christian and founder of The Reformation Project (to reform biblically-based churches to accepting homosexuality and gay marriage), wrote this:

Pretty amazing news: Yesterday, evangelical leader Tony Campolo announced his support for “gay Christian couples” in the church, changing his position in a moving statement on his website after many years.

And then this morning, the work of The Reformation Project made the front page of the nation’s paper of record, The New York Times. The headline of the landmark article: “Evangelicals Open Door to Debate on Gay Rights.”

View article →

Media respond to Houston dropping hot potato “pastor” Driscoll from Hillsong Conference 2015

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

From Berean Research:

Mark DriscollHere’s a comedy of errors if ever there was one. Hillsong Church’s pastor and notorious false teacher Brian Houston decided to drop former pastor of Seattle’s Mars Hill Church, Mark Driscoll, from Hillsong Conference 2015 even though he has been fully aware of the controversy over Driscoll. Houston had many people shaking their heads when he decided to do an interview with Driscoll. Well, over the weekend he decided to dis-invited him from the conference and offered the following reason:

It was clear to me that Mark’s attendance had the potential to divert attention from the real purpose of Hillsong Conference, which is to see people leave encouraged in their own spiritual journey.

For whatever reason, it finally dawned on Houston that a preacher who’s known for his potty-mouth…explicit sexual messages…plagiarism…bullying…and an over-inflated ego might not be the best one to encourage people in their spiritual journey.

Churchwatch Central has the details:

View article →

Tony Campolo Calls for Full Inclusion of Gay & Lesbians Christians

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , , ,

From Berean Research:

Tony CampoloThe founder of Red Letter Christians and Emergent Church leader Tony Campolo has called for full inclusion of gay and lesbian “Christians” into the church. Campolo is a “Progressive Christian” (read: liberal) so it comes as no surprise that he would go against the clear teaching of Scripture on the sin of homosexuality. For those who are unfamiliar with Mr. Campolo and red letter Christianity, listen to Apprising Ministries Ken Silva describe what he believes:

[O]n March 10, 2008 on his PBS show Tavis Smiley asks Tony Campolo, “what is a ‘Red Letter Christian?’” Campolo replies:

Well, he or she is somebody whose beliefs are very traditional in a sense. It’s a person that believes in the Apostles’ Creed, who believes salvation comes from Jesus, who believes that the bible was inspired by God, but whose politics are not aligned with the religious right. (Online source)

Hmm, that doesn’t sound quite right. Let me see if I can fix that:

“Well, he or she is somebody whose beliefs are very ‘traditional’ in an ecumenical sense where most any belief that considers itself Christian is accepted as simply another ‘tradition.’ It’s a person that relishes the brevity and non-specifiity of the Apostles’ Creed, who believes that the Bible becomes inspired by God as a given passage ‘speaks’ to them, but whose politics are not aligned with anyone we broad-brush as being part of some nebulous religious right.”

Now the stage is set for the reading of Campolo’s statement… View article →

White House to Order Faith-based Grant Recipients to Accept LGBT Applicants

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

Center For Family & Human Rights reports:

A source within the federal government has informed the Friday Fax that the White House is quietly moving forward with a policy change that will require charitable humanitarian groups to accept LGBT applicants in order to qualify for government funding, even those religious groups that might have religious objections.

The policy change is linked to an executive order President Obama issued last July that prohibits federal contractors from discriminatory hiring practices based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Faith-based groups were already wrestling with that order.

Things are about to get exponentially worse for faith-based groups who perform humanitarian tasks and receive not contracts but financial grants for doing so.

View article →

Gallup: Pro-lifers at lowest number since 2008

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙

According to Baptist Press:

Abortion pro-choicers significantly outnumber pro-lifers in the U.S. for the first time in seven years, according to the Gallup 2015 Values and Beliefs poll.

Half of Americans identified themselves as pro-choice in the poll that has since 2001 tracked Americans’ views on abortion. The last time pro-choicers accounted for such a large chunk of the populace was in 2008, when they also numbered 50 percent.

Of those polled, 44 percent identified themselves as pro-life, the same percentage found in 2008, Gallup reported.

View article →

Death Plunge: ISIS throws gay men off buildings under guise of Sharia law

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

According to Fox News:

The Islamic State has released a series of horrifying photos showing blindfolded men tossed head-first off a building because, ISIS claimed, they were gay.

In photos obtained by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), ISIS militants are shown publicly executing the unidentified men for violating Sharia law.

A crowd of spectators, including children, was gathered below the 100-foot building in Mosul as the men were held by their ankles and then sent plunging to their deaths. The photos were believed to be recent.

View article →

Prosperity Preacher Creflo Dollar to Get Coveted $70 Million Dollar Jet

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

Christian News Network reports:

Prosperity Preacher Creflo Dollar’s recent pleas for money to buy him a mega-million dollar jet are no longer needed since his ministry’s board has now agreed to buy him one.

Dollar, whose teachings state that God wants all Christians to be prosperous and that material wealth is a sign of God’s favor, will get the coveted jet after the board of directors for his nonprofit organization known as “World Changers Church International” approved the purchase.

“A long-range, high-speed, intercontinental jet aircraft is a tool that is necessary in order to fulfill the mission of the ministry,” the board said in a statement. “We plan to acquire a Gulfstream G650 because it is the best, and it is a reflection of the level of excellence at which this organization chooses to operate.”

View article →

The New Transgender Agenda: Cultural Confusion

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

From Berean Research:

Dave Fiorazo, author, speaker and radio host, addresses the Left’s attempt to normalize what the majority of people have always thought of as a sexual perversion: Transgenderism. Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner has been portrayed by the press as courageous for saying publicly that he no longer wishes to be a man; now he wants to be viewed as a woman even though it is predetermined by his DNA that he’s male. Fiorazo challenges the idea that what Jenner did took courage. To him “Conforming to this world and going with the flow of pop culture is not courageous; courage is telling the truth in the face of evil and accusations of hate. Courage is living counter-culture for Jesus Christ and sharing the gospel with people because we love them.” View article →

Not Just Acceptance, But Coercion—Christians Now Being Told to Embrace Gay “Marriage” or Else

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

Ken Ham and Mark Looy of Answers In Genesis discuss the best approach for Bible believing Christians to take in the growing controversy over gay “marriage.” More and more professing Christians are ignoring what the Bible expressly teaches and are falling in line with the radical gay lobby. Ham and Looy blame this shift on biblical illiteracy. They point out that “with the increasing emphasis on entertainment in church life today, there has been a corresponding dearth of solid Bible teaching and thus a lack of spiritual maturity seen among Christians. Such congregations essentially function as a group of biblical illiterates and are more susceptible to being swept up in anti-biblical thinking of the day, such as supporting gay ‘marriage.’ An ignorance of what the Bible teaches about homosexual behavior combined with a mindset that Christians must be ‘loving’ has led to many churches accepting gay ‘marriage.'” So, how can believers influence a society that no longer takes God’s Word seriously?

View article →

Wife of Village Church pedophile speaks out about her abuse

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

After a public uproar questioning the way in which The Village Church, a megachurch in Dallas, handled a situation that involved the worst sort of sexual perversion by a TVC missionary, Jordan Root, lead pastor and president of Acts 29, Matt Chandler, apologized from the pulpit for the elder’s “exuding domineering behavior” over Root’s wife. Berean Research has been closely monitoring the situation and has Karen (Root) Hinkley’s side of the story.

View article →

Cindy Jacobs was first to “prophesy” C. Peter Wagner would be “Apostle”

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

C. Peter Wagner & Cindy JacobsJohn Lanagan of My Word Like Fire continues to expose the false teaching of the NAR “apostles” and “prophets.” He writes:

While still assessing the damage done through Empowered21’s Jerusalem gathering, where many were exposed to New Apostolic Reformation leaders and teachings, it seems appropriate to share these words from Cindy Jacobs about her own alleged prophetic gift, as well as her prophecies (?) to C. Peter Wagner, the founder and Grand Poohbah of the New Apostolic Reformation:

“I first prophesied when I was four years old.” –Cindy Jacobs, from The Turn Around Season, spoken at the Empowered21 Jerusalem gathering

View article →

Humans will be hybrids by 2030

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙

According to a CNN Money report humans are going to be artificially intelligent in the future. At least that’s what Ray Kurzweil, director of engineering at Google, predicts. Kurzwell believes “humans will become hybrids in the 2030s. That means our brains will be able to connect directly to the cloud, where there will be thousands of computers, and those computers will augment our existing intelligence. He said the brain will connect via nanobots — tiny robots made from DNA strands.”

View article →

Warning Met With Deafness

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

Danger signBill Muehlenberg of Culture Watch addresses the sad fact that people in discernment ministries are having to “duck and cover” more and more these days. But not from bullets coming from secularists who hate the truth and attempt to shoot them down for declaring it. The bullets are now coming from so-called brothers and sisters in Christ! He writes,

And when people come along warning them about all these great evils, instead of getting irate at the evils, they get mad at those bringing the warnings. They shoot the messengers and condemn the watchmen, and simply go back about their business.

View article →

Once Taboo, Some Behaviors Now More Acceptable in U.S.

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

According to a recent Gallup poll:

While a select few actions remain deeply taboo for much of the country, there has been an increasing shift to moral acceptability for some of these over time. Such actions include suicide (which 19% of Americans call “morally acceptable”), polygamy (16%) and cloning humans (15%). On the other hand, “married men and women having an affair” has remained at the bottom of a list of 19 moral behaviors Gallup has measured, with only 8% considering it morally acceptable.

View article →

Cindy Jacobs whups “Jewish witchcraft” to help Empowered21 gathering go smoothly

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

John Lanagan of My Word Like Fire lays out the ways in which he believes Satan is using the ecumenical Empowered21 and the New Apostolic Reformation to torment the Body of Christ. Lanagan writes,

Lecturing her audience at the Empowered21 gathering in Jerusalem, New Apostolic Reformation prophetess Cindy Jacobs urged, “We need to live to torment the powers of darkness.”

View article →

Pro-life Idaho law banning 20-week abortions struck down by appeals court

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

According to Christian Examiner:

Pre-born babyJust a few weeks after the House of Representatives passed a bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down an Idaho law that bans abortions after 20 weeks.

The Idaho law was signed into law four years ago — the third of its kind at the time — called the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” designed to shield an unborn child from pain during an abortion procedure.

The lawsuit was the first of its kind brought against any of those that have been passed, according to Lifenews.com.

View article →

Obama drops by Our Lady of Charity, becoming first U.S. president to visit Miami shrine to Cuban saint

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

According to a Miami Herald report, our president, who says he’s a born again Christian, honored a Roman Catholic saint:

President Barack Obama extended a symbolic olive branch Thursday to Miami’s Cuban Americans by paying his respects to the shrine of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre in Coconut Grove.

Earlier in the day, Obama visited the National Hurricane Center and met privately with the Pinecrest family of Steven Sotloff, the journalist slain last year by the Islamic State, to offer condolences.

The surprise afternoon stop at the shrine by the sea, better known by its Spanish name, La Ermita de la Caridad, comes at a time when many Cuban exiles remain miffed by the president’s decision last December to restore diplomatic relations with the communist island, especially since Obama made no effort to reach out to Miami leaders prior to his announcement.

View article →

Feminist Women Priests With Church of England Move for God to Be Called “She”

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

Christian News Network reports this not so surprising story:

A group of female priests with the Church of England have moved for the denomination to start referring to God as a “she” during the weekly liturgy, stating that to make mention of God solely in the male pronoun is sexist.

According to reports, the group Women and the Church (WATCH), which was behind the push to allow women to serve as bishops in the denomination, is now in talks with the Liturgical Commission for a change in the pronoun used during services when speaking of God. The group says that to refer to God in the masculine devalues women.

“When we used only male language we reinforce the idea that God is like a man and, in doing so, suggest that men are therefore more like God than women,” member Emma Percy, who leads services at Trinity College in Oxford, said in a statement. “If we take seriously the idea that men and women are made in the image of God, both male and female language should be used.”

View article →

Radical Feminist Germaine Greer slams Elton John because his “husband” is named as “mother” on birth certificates of their two sons

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

Elton JohnWhat is surprising here is not that Elton John is named “father” and David Furnish is named “mother” on their children’s birth certificates. It’s that Germaine Greer, who was a major promoter of women’s liberation in the 70’s, would have a problem with it. Seems she’s a bit worried that the motherhood concept has been deconstructed. According to Daily Mail Greer complained: “Sir Elton John and his ‘wife’ David Furnish have entered on the birth certificate of their two sons that David Furnish is the mother. I’m sorry. That will give you an idea of how the concept of motherhood has emptied out. It’s gone. It’s been deconstructed.”

View article →

British Columbia considers removing gender from birth certificates

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙

Berean Research writes,

Oh Canada. Transgender Canadians who have already successfully lobbied provincial and federal governments to make it easier to amend sex designations on key identity documents are now pushing for another change: to abolish gender references altogether from birth certificates.

Read the full report over at the National Post. View article →

Christian Bakers Fined for Declining to Print ‘Support Gay Marriage’ On Cake to Appeal Ruling

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

Christian News Network reports this story from Belfast:

The Christian owners of a bakery in Northern Ireland have decided to appeal a ruling declaring them guilty of discrimination for declining to print the phrase “Support Gay Marriage” on a cake.

As previously reported, in May of last year, Ashers Baking Company in Newtonabbey—named after Genesis 49:20—was approached by a same-sex “marriage” supporter to bake the cake, which also was to feature the logo for the homosexual advocacy group QueerSpace. According to the Belfast Telegraph, the cake was for an event in observance of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

View article →