Mississippi Gov. Signs Religious Freedom Law Protecting Right to Decline Part in Same-Sex Ceremonies

Christian News Network reports:

The governor of Mississippi has signed into law a bill that provides protections to pastors, faith-based organizations and business owners who object to being complicit in another’s same-sex ceremony.

“I am signing HB 1523 into law to protect sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions of individuals, organizations, and private associations from discriminatory action by state government or its political subdivisions, which would include counties, cities and institutions of higher learning,” Gov. Phil Bryant said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This bill merely reinforces the rights which currently exist to exercise of religious freedom as stated in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” he said.

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PayPal Pulls North Carolina Expansion Plan After Transgender Restroom Law

According to Christian News Network, PayPal has taken up the LGBTQ cause and is now looking for another site for the new center:

Transgender bathroom signPayPal Holdings Inc (PYPL.O) on Tuesday canceled plans to open a global operations center in Charlotte, North Carolina and invest $3.6 million in the area after the state passed a controversial law targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens.

The digital payment company’s protest is the first by a major business after North Carolina became the first state last month to enact a measure requiring people to use bathrooms or locker rooms in schools and other public facilities that match the gender on their birth certificate rather than their gender identity.

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Clinton Refers to Unborn as “Persons,” But Says They Don’t Have “Constitutional Rights”

Christian News Network reports:

In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton used the phrase “unborn person” when speaking about abortion, but asserted that the unborn do not have constitutional rights.

Clinton was interviewed by host Chuck Todd, who asked the candidate to provide her “straightforward position on the issue of abortion.”

“My position is in line with Roe v. Wade, that women have a constitutional right to make these moment intimate and personal and difficult decisions based on their conscience, their faith, their family, their doctor,” she replied. “And that it is something that really goes to the core of privacy. And I want to maintain that constitutional protection.”

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Israel Investing Nearly 3 Million in LGBT Tourism

According to Breitbart:

Israel’s Ministry of Tourism will invest NIS 11 million ($2.9 million) to promote LGBT tourism to the Jewish state.

The campaign will promote Israel as a liberal country that embraces members of the global LGBT community, and is aimed at increasing gay tourism throughout the year, not just during Pride events in June.

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Fusion Touts Teaching Children about Trans Lifestyle

News Busters reports:

ConfusedFusion, the hyper-left English-language media outlet run by Univision, continues to push the bounds of its Trans acceptance campaign, by now encouraging the indoctrination of our nation’s youth.

The network’s latest attempt to normalize the Trans lifestyle features video of a mother explaining to her apparently kindergarten age daughter that her father has decided to identify as a woman now. The premise could not be more clear; we should all gain validation via heart-to-heart chats with our children (who by the way, are easily manipulated), and if a child gets it then darn it, why can’t the rest of us get it?

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University of Sydney evangelical students are threatened for voting to keep “Jesus is Lord”

According to Sydney Morning Herald the student union accused students who are in an evangelical club of discrimination and gave them an ultimatum: Remove a requirement that new members sign “Jesus is Lord” or be deregistered from the university.  Who did the students allegedly discriminate against? People who are not evangelical that insist on joining the club but refuse to sign an affirmation that “Jesus is Lord.”  So the student union is threatening to kick them off campus for expecting those who join an evangelical club to be evangelical.  The real issue here is that Christians around the globe are losing their freedom to express their faith.

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Comb Jelly Footage Surprises Scientists, Upends Evolutionary Expectations

Evidently comb jellies are a bit more complex than biologists thought they were. What we learn from this report is that observable data doesn’t always line up with the predictions of evolutionary theory. Following is an excerpt from the Christian News Network story:

Per conventional evolutionary wisdom, comb jellies are ancient animals who have roamed the seas for more than 500 million years. Because of their age and position in the evolutionary tree, scientists believed comb jellies both ingested food and excreted waste through a single opening. As a result, the Smithsonian describes the comb jellies’ anatomy as “basic,” saying the “single opening [is] where food enters, waste is eliminated, and reproductive cells are released and taken in.”

However, Browne’s videos at the Ctenopalooza workshop show a much different story. Rather than returning through the opening in which they came, waste particles actually exited through muscle-lined pores along the rear of the comb jellies’ bodies—a more complex process than anticipated.

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Trump abortion comments spark outrage on both sides

According to USA Today:

Donald Trump 2Donald Trump drew a wave of immediate rebukes from abortion rights advocates and opponents Wednesday after saying that women should face “some form” of punishment for abortion should the procedure be made illegal in the U.S.

Trump later issued a statement clarifying his position, saying that, if abortion is banned, “the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman.”

But that was after his earlier comments sparked widespread outrage, bringing about what is rarely seen in American politics: advocates on both sides of a hot-button issue vehemently denouncing the same remarks.

“Mr. Trump’s comment today is completely out of touch with the pro-life movement and even more with women who have chosen such a sad thing as abortion,” said Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund. “No pro-lifer would ever want to punish a woman who has chosen abortion. This is against the very nature of what we are about. We invite a woman who has gone down this route to consider paths to healing, not punishment.”

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ISIS reportedly hijacks university’s chem lab for explosive experiments

According to Fox News:

The Islamic State terror group has been making use of a chemistry lab in Iraq’s University of Mosul — which it seized nearly two years ago — to test and build deadlier bombs, military officials and other sources told The Wall Street Journal Friday.

The report comes as analysts warn that ISIS soon could get its hands on the materials necessary to build and deploy a radioactive “dirty” bomb.

“The University of Mosul is the best Daesh research center in the world,” Gen. Hatem Magsosi, Iraq’s top explosives officer, told the Journal, using another name for ISIS. The terrorists used the lab to crank out chemical weapons, peroxide-based bombs and suicide vests similar to the the ones used by the attackers in Belgium and Paris, military officials said.

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Joel Osteen Says He’s Not “Cheating People” by Neglecting to Preach on Repentance, Hell

Christian News Network has the story:

Megachurch self-help author and motivational speaker Joel Osteen says that he doesn’t believe that he’s “cheating people” by neglecting to preach on repentance or eternal punishment as he opines that people “feel guilty enough.”

Osteen was featured on CBS Sunday Morning on March 27, as correspondent Tracy Smith visited Lakewood to interview the megachurch leader.

“You’ve been criticized for church-lite, or a cotton candy message. Do you feel like you’re cheating people by not telling them about the Hell part? Or repentance part?” she asked.

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NY Post: Trump supporters “shocked” by attacks on Heidi Ted Cruz

According to NewsMax:

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s New York supporters have been “engulfed” in a “wave of pessimism” after the real estate billionaire retweeted an unflattering photo of Heidi Cruz last week and amid fears the Trump campaign was behind Friday’s National Enquirer article alleging Ted Cruz engaged in affairs with multiple women,New York Post columnist Fredric U. Dicker writes.

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Absurd: Cuomo Bans State Travel to NC Because Transgenders Can’t Use Whichever Bathroom They Want, Encourages Travel to Cuba Where They’re Harassed and Detained

Townhall reports:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is apparently so disturbed by the fact that transgender people in North Carolina cannot choose which restroom or locker room to use based on their gender identity that he has banned all non-essential travel to the state.

The ban, which took effect upon the signing of the order Monday, requires all New York state agencies, departments, boards and commissions to review any requests for state-funded travel to North Carolina. Any such travel that is not essential to the enforcement of New York state law or public health and safety will not be allowed.

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Meet the One Down Syndrome Girl Cosmo Doesn’t Want to Kill

The Federalist has the story of Madeline Stuart, the world’s only fashion model with Down Syndrome. Seems Cosmo has no problem killing people with Down as long as they’re still in the womb.  What’s ironic is that, “the same day Cosmo published this ‘rah-rah, we love Madeline, look at how beautiful and worthy disabled people are’ article, it torched an Indiana bill that would have prohibited mothers from discriminating against potentially disabled children in utero, including babies predicted to have Down Syndrome like Madeline.”

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Georgia Governor Vetoes Religious Liberty Bill Protecting Pastors, Faith-Based Organizations

Christian News Network reports:

The Southern Baptist-identifying governor of Georgia has vetoed a religious liberty bill that provided conscience protections for pastors and non-profit faith-based organizations, stating that there is no need for such legislation, and that the protections provided under the First Amendment are sufficient.

“As I’ve said before, I do not think we have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in Georgia, of which I and my family have been a part for all of our lives,” Gov. Nathan Deal said during a press conference on Monday.

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Scientists Who Set Out to Create Simple Genome Astonished by Sheer Complexity of Life

Christian Research Network reports:

DNADescribing their findings as “humbling,” researchers who set out to create a “minimal genome” have concluded that the basic elements of life are enormously complex and remain full of unsolved mysteries.

In an article titled “Design and synthesis of a minimal bacterial genome,” a team of more than 20 scientists share the results of years of research on cellular genomes. The scientists, in an attempt to better understand the basic requirement for life, took a bacterial genome and stripped it down of all genes they deemed unnecessary.

“We set out to define a minimal cellular genome experimentally by designing and building one, then testing it for viability,” the scientists explain in their paper, which was published last week in the journal “Science.” “Our goal is a cell so simple that we can determine the molecular and biological function of every gene.”

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Trump Again Denies Any Involvement In Enquirer Story Alleging Cruz Has Had Extramarital Affairs

According to NewsMax:

Donald Trump says he “had nothing to do with” a story published in the National Enquirer alleging Texas Senator Ted Cruz, his rival to be the Republican party’s 2016 presidential nominee, has had extramarital affairs.

But he did accuse Cruz of maligning his wife, Melania Trump.

Trump slammed rival Cruz for the recent ad produced by an anti-Trump super-PAC featuring a photo of Trump’s wife posing nude.

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ISIS “crucifies Catholic priest on Good Friday” after kidnapping him from old people’s home where four nuns were shot dead

Daily Mail reports:

The Indian Catholic priest kidnapped by ISIS-linked terrorists in Yemen earlier this month was crucified on Good Friday, it has been claimed.

Father Thomas Uzhunnalil, 56, was taken by Islamist gunmen, reportedly linked to ISIS, who attacked an old people’s home in Aden, southern Yemen, killing at least 15 people, on March 4.

The terrorists reportedly carried out the heinous murder on Good Friday, after threatening to do so earlier in the week, according to the Archbishop of Vienna

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Justin Bieber introduces “Jesus Calling” to millions

John Lanagan of My Word Like Fire has the story:

Jesus CallingWhile Warren B. Smith, Lighthouse Trails, Tim Challies and others have labored to warn Christians about Jesus Calling, singer Justin Bieber has introduced the book’s false Christ to millions in one fell swoop.

According to Relevant Magazine, during the last weekend of January 2016, “pop star Justin Bieber shared a devotional passage with his 56 million Instagram followers. Alongside the caption ‘Happy Saturday,’ Bieber posted an image of a page from Sarah Young’s best-selling daily devotional Jesus Calling, which calls readers to ‘Worship me only. Whatever occupies your mind becomes your god … Guard your thoughts diligently; good thought-choices will keep you close to me.’” [1] (Complete passage click here)

Like most people, Justin Bieber has no knowledge of the background or origin of Jesus Calling. Many in the visible church have been reading the communications of this false, contemplative Christ for years. As Warren B. Smith has noted, “While the apostle Paul expressed his ‘fear’ that the Corinthian church could be deceived by false Christs (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4), the true Jesus Christ warned that before His return, many would be deceived by false Christs (Matthew 24:3-5).” [2]

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Pope washes feet of Muslim migrants, says “We are brothers”

According to CNS News:

Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of Muslim, Christian and Hindu refugees Thursday and declared them all children of the same God, as he performed a gesture of welcome and brotherhood at a time of increased anti-Muslim sentiment following the Brussels attacks.

“We have different cultures and religions, but we are brothers and we want to live in peace,” Francis said in his homily, delivered off-the-cuff in the windy courtyard of the center.

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U.S. announces take down of senior ISIS leader

According to World Magazine:

A U.S. special operations team conducting a pre-dawn raid in Syria on Friday killed senior Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli. The terrorist, also known as Abu Ala al-Afri, was considered the group’s second-in-command. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter confirmed the raid during a news conference this morning, but declined to give details. He said the operation was part of ongoing efforts to cut down the terror group’s leadership team. Another U.S. official said the raid was prompted by the ISIS attack in Belgium on Tuesday. Carter described Al-Afri as the ISIS finance minister, but he also had a hand in external affairs and plots. Before joining al-Qaeda in 2004, al-Afri was a physics professor. He spent time in an Iraqi jail and joined ISIS after his release in 2012.

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North Carolina Lawmakers, Governor Overturn Charlotte’s Controversial “Bathroom Bill”

Christian News Network reports:

Lawmakers in North Carolina passed legislation to overturn Charlotte’s controversial “bathroom bill” on Wednesday, sending the statute to the desk of Gov. Pat McCrory, who promptly signed the measure into law.

“The basic expectation of privacy in the most personal of settings, a restroom or locker room, for each gender was violated by government overreach and intrusion by the mayor and city council of Charlotte,” McCrory said in a statement.

As previously reported, despite hours of testimony largely in opposition of the proposal, the Charlotte City Council voted 7-4 last month to expand the city’s non-discrimination ordinance to add provisions for homosexuals and those who identify as the opposite sex—including in regard to restroom and locker room use.

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Coral Ridge Elders Knew of Tullian Tchividjian’s Affair With Married Woman, Advised Him to Keep Secret, Source Alleges

As previously reported, Tullian Tchividjian was fired from his job at Willow Creek Church in Florida last week after confessing to a second adulterous affair.  Christian Post, a site CRN doesn’t recommend because of its promotion of false teachers, reports that Tchividjian’s first affair was discovered and kept a secret. Following is excerpted from CP’s report:

Photo credit: Twitter

Photo credit: Twitter

Tchividjian landed a job at Willow Creek Church last September, some two months after he resigned from Coral Ridge due to another confessed extramarital affair he said was triggered by the infidelity of his now ex-wife, Kim.

“As many of you know, I returned from a trip a few months back and discovered that my wife was having an affair. Heartbroken and devastated, I informed our church leadership and requested a sabbatical to focus exclusively on my marriage and family. As her affair continued, we separated. Sadly and embarrassingly, I subsequently sought comfort in a friend and developed an inappropriate relationship myself,” he wrote in a statement to The Washington Post last June.

His latest revelation, however, significantly disrupts that narrative and created a lot of problems for those who have been trying to help him but were kept in the dark.

This story has more twists and turns than the Snake River.  CP’s Leonardo Blair begins his report by informing us that:

At least two elders at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida allegedly had knowledge that their former pastor, Tullian Tchividjian, grandson to evangelical icon Billy Graham, had engaged in an adulterous affair with a married member of his flock and advised him to keep it secret from his wife.

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