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

What’s Missing from this Picture?—Fertility on the Rise, Worldview on Display

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Dr. Albert Mohler writes:

USA Today reported last week that the United States “is taking baby steps forward” in terms of the fertility rate. According to the forecasting group Demographic Intelligence, the USA’s total fertility rate is likely to increase to 1.90 per woman in 2013, up slightly from 1.89 in 2012. Last year’s figure was the lowest recorded in 25 years.

“The United States has seen marked declines in childbearing in the wake of the Great Recession, but we think that this fertility decline is now over,” Sam Sturgeon, president of Demographic Intelligence, told USA Today. “As the economy rebounds and women have the children they postponed immediately after the Great Recession, we are seeing an uptick in U.S. fertility.”

Sturgeon, like many others, points to economic factors as the main driver of fertility rate fluctuations. Similarly, Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau said: “Historically, we’ve seen fertility trends move up and down with economic indicators.”

But, wait just a minute.

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Pat Robertson on Sex Change Operations: ‘I Don’t Think There’s Any Sin Associated With That’

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News

Christian News Network informs us that:

On his Sunday broadcast of the 700 Club, Pat Robertson shocked a number of viewers in responding to a question about those who decide to have sex change operations.

Robertson’s comments made were during the Q&A segment of the broadcast, as he was fielded the question by co-host Terry Meeuwsen.

“I work with two people who have decided that they are females,” wrote a viewer named David. “I know what the Bible says about homosexuality, but is it wrong to refer to them as females since they have had their gender status changed in the eyes of the law?”

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School Defends Textbook Calling Muhammad ‘God’s Messenger’

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Fox News radio commentator Todd Starnes reports:

School officials in Florida are defending a textbook that declares Muhammad as the “Messenger of God” after critics accused an Islamic education group of launching a stealth jihad in American public school classrooms.

The Prentice World History textbook being used in Brevard Public Schools includes a 36-page chapter on Islam but no chapters on Christianity or Judaism.

According to a copy obtained by Fox News, The ninth grade textbook declares that Muhammad is the “Messenger of God” and instructs students that jihad is a duty that Muslims must follow.

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Gay couple to sue church over gay marriage opt-out

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The Christian Institute informs us that a law suit has been filed in the UK to force churches to host homosexual weddings:

Wealthy gay dad, Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, says he and his civil partner Tony will go to court to force churches to host gay weddings.

He told the Essex Chronicle that he will take legal action because “I am still not getting what I want”.

A Government Bill legalising gay marriage passed Parliament recently but it included measures to protect churches from being forced to perform same-sex weddings.

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Christian Church Evicted from NYC Restaurant for Preaching Against Same-sex Relations

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The Washington Times reports:

The Gallery Church in New York City claims it was booted from its $25,000-per-year rental space in a local restaurant for preaching Christian messages that included sermons against same-sex relations and marriage.

The church pastor, Freddy Wyatt, said in a story reported by The Blaze that “this particular sermon series struck a nerve in the neighborhood. There was an enormous amount of backlash. … The restaurant said that if it had only been a couple of phone calls [it received] it would have been one thing – but it was more than that.”

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David Barton Says Four Professors Criticized The Jefferson Lies; He Forgot Some

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion

David Barton critic, Professor Warren Throckmorton, challenges the Christian historian’s claim that only four professors criticized Barton’s book, The Jefferson Lies. Throckmorton begins by saying:

Facts are pesky.

On July 19, Steve Deace interviewed David Barton (at 24:12 in hour 3) in Iowa after the big political confab there with Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. Deace asked Barton to describe the controversy over The Jefferson Lies (now approaching a year ago). He also asked if there was any substance to the criticism.

Barton said a bunch of stuff he usually says about it (e.g., publisher Thomas Nelson got scared of the scary professors, etc.). Then he said:

You’ve got about 6,000 universities in America and they found four professors who criticized what I did. Well, 6,000 universities, you probably have 60,000 professors and they found four who didn’t like it.

Well, we all know who two of them are. But just four? I think he forgot some.

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Students Sign Petition to Legalize 4th Trimester Abortions

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Life News reports:

Just how pro-abortion are some college students? They were happy to sign a fake petition to legalize abortions in the nonexistent fourth trimester of pregnancy.

The Media Research Center set up the fake petition drive and interviewed students to find out show how solidly they support abortion on demand for any reason throughout pregnancy — and beyond.

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North Carolina Governor Will Sign Pro-Life Bill Stopping Abortions

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Life News reports:

Late Thursday night, the North Carolina state Senate passed a pro-life omnibus bill that would stop abortions by helping pregnant women and stopping taxpayer financed abortions.

Today, Governor Pat McCrory indicated he will sign the bill into law.

The State Senate concurred by a vote of 32–13 with the State House, on SB 353, Health and Safety Law Changes. The State House worked with the Governor and his Department of Health and Human Services to reach an agreement for a compromise bill that accomplished pro-life goals in a way the governor would sign into law.

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Media Love New Jesus Book ‘Zealot’, Fail to Mention Author is Muslim

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙

According to author John S. Dickerson:

Reza Aslan, author of the new book, “Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth” has been interviewed on a host of media outlets in the last week. Riding a publicity wave, the book has surged to #2 on Amazon’s list.

Media reports have introduced Aslan as a “religion scholar” but have failed to mention that he is a devout Muslim.

His book is not a historian’s report on Jesus. It is an educated Muslim’s opinion about Jesus – yet the book is being peddled as objective history on national TV and radio.

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DOJ Criticized over Transgender Restroom Rights

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Fox News reports:

The U.S. Department of Justice’s latest cause – fighting for a transgendered California ninth-grader’s right to use the boy’s room at school – has conservative groups wondering just how far Washington will go in the name of civil rights.

The student was born a girl but “has identified as a boy from a young age,” according to the Department of Justice, which reached a settlement with the public school district in Arcadia, an affluent LA suburb. Under the deal, the district must not only change the student’s restroom privileges and make similar accommodations on overnight trips. It also must institute a host of measures to ensure transgender students are treated as whatever gender they consider themselves to be.

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Is Monogomy Unnatural?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙

Ken Ham, founder of Answers in Genesis, addresses the growing belief that unbiblical belief that monogomy is unnatural for many humans. He begins:

The moral decay continues in our Western culture! As shown again with the recent Supreme Court decisions regarding same-sex “marriage,” there has been a rise in the number of people promoting polygamous lifestyles and behavior.

Recently, CNN featured an opinion column by journalist and author Meghan Laslocky titled “Face it: Monogamy is unnatural.” In the column, Laslocky asserts that “monogamy is not natural for many, or probably even most, humans.”

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Global Warming? Trees to the Rescue!

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Institute for Creation Research science writer Brian Thomas suggests that perhaps our planet is not as fragile as radical environmentalist would have us believe. According to Thomas, “scientists have been watching a pleasant trend, even amidst unpleasant environmentalist diatribes—the world’s forests are expanding, even in arid regions. The trees are growing without any extra water. All they needed was more carbon dioxide.”

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Weekend Camp Encourages Young Boys to ‘Freely Express Their Interpretations of Femininity’

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Christian News Network reports:

A controversial family camp for boys who wish to identify as girls is generating discussion as it was recently discovered documented in an online photo album.

Photographer Lindsay Morris, whose website covers a variety of photo shoots and subject matter, has caught the attention of a number of outlets in recent days in regard to a collection of photos entitled “You Are You.”

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Students Embrace “BroChoice,” Want Abortions Legal for Sex Without Consequences

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LifeNews reports this disturbing story:

A new video shows college students embracing the pro-abortion “BroChoice” campaign that says abortion should remain legal so men can enjoy sex without consequences like taking care of a baby or paying child support.

Last week, pro-abortion blogger Ben Sherman explained the #brochoice movement, saying that if abortion isn’t readily accessible, especially in his state of Texas, men’s sex lives are at stake. It was the ultimate form of male-chauvinism, yet NARAL and other pro-abortion women’s groups took to Twitter in support of the campaign.

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Fuller Seminary Grants Official Recognition to First Homosexual Student Group

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According to Christian News Network:

Thirty years after an influential Christian seminary in California specifically labeled homosexuality a ‘concern,’ the school has officially accepted its first on-campus homosexual student group.

Since its founding in 1947, Fuller Theological Seminary (FTS) has grown into a leading Christian school, with the Los Angeles Times recently describing it as “arguably the most influential” seminary in America. One of the school’s stated purposes is to equip “men and women for the manifold ministries of Christ and his Church.”

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National Christian Legal Organization Petitions California Supreme Court to Uphold Proposition 8

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ ,

According to Christian News Network, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has filed a petition asking that the Court order all county clerks to uphold Proposition 8 and not continue issuing “marriage” licenses to homosexuals. ADF “has been one of the main legal entities defending Proposition 8 in the courts, including in the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to rule on the matter last month. The court had stated that those defending Proposition 8 in Hollingsworth v. Perry did not have legal standing in the case, since California government officials decided not to appeal the lower court’s ruling, which found the state’s marriage amendment unconstitutional.” View article →

Federal Appeals Court Rejects Christian University’s Request to Overturn ObamaCare

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Fox News reports:

A federal appeals court in Virginia on Thursday rejected a Christian university’s bid to overturn the Obama administration’s health care law.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a lower court ruling dismissing Liberty University’s lawsuit.

Liberty argued the employer health insurance mandate of the Affordable Care Act violates the school’s religious rights by requiring it to provide coverage for abortion inducing drugs. The appeals court found no merit in the claim.

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What Would Jesus Have You Do?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

The question all Christians must ask themselves in their decision-making process is not so much “What would Jesus do?” but “What would Jesus have you do?” The way in which Christians conduct their lives is to be based on solid biblical principles—what Jesus says—certainly not based on what our corrupt culture deems appropriate. Yet a large number of professing Christians live as if they’re excused from the moral example God has set forth for His people in Scripture.

In this piece Marsha West offers food for thought on the do’s and don’t’s of Christian living. She begins:

No question, we are a culture that loves to be entertained. Even churches have caught on to the public’s desire for 24/7 entertainment. As a consequence, a large number of evangelical churches are now driven by a need to fulfill this desire in their congregants. And what better way to pack the house in ginormous auditoriums than to offer a 90 minute stage show enhanced with state-of-the-art sound, lighting and video systems.

Lights, camera, action!

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Bush on Homosexuality: ‘I Shouldn’t Take Speck Out of Someone’s Eye When I Have Log in My Own’

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Christian News Network reports:

During a recent trip to Africa to help renovate a cancer screening clinic in Zambia, former president George W. Bush used Scripture to outline his belief that the world should not be “overly critical” of homosexuality.

A Zambian reporter had asked Bush how he feels about the issue of same-sex “marriage,” and whether it is compatible with Christianity.

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IVF Baby Born Using Revolutionary Genetic-Screening Process

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In this piece, The Guardian reveals IVF’s slippery slope:

The first IVF baby to be screened using a procedure that can read every letter of the human genome has been born in the US. Connor Levy was born on 18 May after a Philadelphia couple had cells from their IVF embryos sent to specialists in Oxford, who checked them for genetic abnormalities. The process helped doctors at the couple’s fertility clinic in the US select embryos with the right number of chromosomes. These have a much higher chance of leading to a healthy baby.

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Video: Medical Experts Confirm Unborn Children Feel Pain During Abortion

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Life News reports on this disturbing story and shares a video from Texas Right to Life:

Three medical specialists discuss the science of preborn children experiencing pain during an abortion procedure. House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 1, currently considered in the Special Session of the Legislature, establish the state’s interest in protecting the lives of preborn children who feel pain.

Dr. Paul Liu, Dr. Ingrid Skop, and Dr. Greg Bonnen all speak to the behavioral and physiological evidence confirming that preborn children feel pain.

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Here We Stand

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ ,

In this article found at The Cripplegate, Mike Riccardi reflects on the Supreme Court’s rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8. Now, more than ever before, Christians are being pressed to soften their stance on the Word of God. Many Christians have caved to the pressure. Riccardi gives fair warning that we must not back down—not now, not ever. As good soldiers of Jesus Christ, we are to hold our ground. We have no choice but to stand firm! And when the spiritual forces of evil tempt us to soften on a particular doctrine of Scripture, “we must be ready to look that tempter in the face, to raise our copy of the Word of God, and say, “Here I stand!” View article →