Just the facts.

“Too Much God Talk”: Rob Bell’s “Progressive” Successor Steps Down from Leading Mars Hill

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Christian News Network reports:

Kent Dobson, who took over the leadership role at Mars Hill in 2012 after controversial author and speaker Rob Bell left the congregation he founded, has now also decided to step down, stating that “being a pastor is not who I am.”

“My place here has not felt right. Like I was wearing someone else’s suit that didn’t quite fit and I tried to get it tailored and maybe I had shoulder pads from the 90’s or something, I don’t know,” he told the congregation on Sunday. “It just felt like it didn’t quite fit me so well.”

Dobson said that he feels restless and uncomfortable around “too much God talk.”

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“Severe blow”: Al Qaeda suicide bomber takes out leadership of key ISIS brigade

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Fox News has good news to report:

A recent suicide bombing in southern Syria shows the rivalry between Al Qaeda and ISIS is more than just a contest to see who can kill the most infidels — the groups are using classic terror techniques on each other.

The Nov. 15 bombing came at a top-level meeting of the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, a key ISIS militia known for its bloody and vicious hold over parts of the Golan Heights. Six of the group’s top men were killed, including Muhammad “Abu Ali” al-Baridi, the shadowy head of the group who went by the nickname “The Uncle.”

Al Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, quickly took credit, gloating on Twitter about the “heroic” attack.

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Black student at Occidental charges conservatives not protesting are “marginalized” and bullied

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Christian Examiner reports:

A black conservative collegian said he has been ostracised by former friends and marginalized for not supporting activist groups on campus who have said racial bias exists at Occidential College and have demanded the resignation of the school’s president.

“They’re doing what they claim white people do to us, which is marginalize us and cast us as the bad guy,” Alton Luke II told the Los Angeles Times Friday. “You can’t have a different opinion here or you’re persecuted. But I’m standing against their tyrannical and unjustified actions.”

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“Get ’Em Young”: Evolutionists Praise New Book Teaching Children About Their “Grandmother Fish”

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According to Christian News Network:

An evolution-promoting author has released an illustrated children’s book, titled “Grandmother Fish,” that uses whimsical text and drawings to convince preschoolers that they are the products of evolution and the descendants of animals.

“Grandmother Fish: a child’s first book of Evolution” is a 40-page children’s book written by Jonathan Tweet. The book begins by introducing its readers to a fish from whom all humans supposedly descended.

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Teenager Arrested in Murder of Indiana Pastor’s Wife Amanda Blackburn

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Christian News Network reports:

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s Gang and Violent Crime Unit, along with U.S. marshals, arrested a teenager on Monday in the death of Indiana pastor’s wife Amanda Blackburn.

The suspect has been identified as 18-year-old Larry Taylor of Indianapolis, who neighbors state they saw in the area the morning that Blackburn was killed. Detectives believe that Taylor, who sought to burglarize the home, observed Pastor Davey Blackburn leaving the residence to go to the gym. He then entered the front door, which had been left onlocked as Amanda Blackburn waited for her husband to return home.

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Tenured California professor says study labeling “homophobia” a disease is “garbage”

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According to Christian Examiner:

An Italian research group of social psychologists recently published a paper in The Journal of Sexual Medicine claiming “homophobia” is a disease and homophobic attitudes are strong indicators of mental disorders.

“Garbage,” says Robert Oscar Lopez, a professor at California State University-Northridge.

Lopez, reportedly a member of a church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and frequent writer in conservative publications, explained the study was done mostly by homosexuals and their supporters in the social psychology field, an academic discipline notably lacking in social conservatives.

“It’s almost impossible for the research teams to critique their own methodologies or to improve or to see their own biases.”

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SICK! ABC’s “Scandal” Sets Main Character’s Abortion to “Silent Night”

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News Busters reports:

ABC’s Scandal just crossed a sickening line in the episode “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” The entire hour was an advertisement for Planned Parenthood, but the absolute worst scene was a montage set to the Christmas hymn “Silent Night,” a song that celebrates the birth of Christ, while main character Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) has an abortion, killing her and the president’s baby. Between the execution of a man that opens the graphic clip below, the talk of “soft tissue,” saying family destroys you, watching a doctor take his instruments between Olivia’s legs, and the hint of a smile on her lips at the end, it is a truly vile scene, stomach churning scene.

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Evangelical Grand Canyon University to Grant Employee Benefits to Homosexual Staff

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According to Christian News Network:

Arizon’s Grand Canyon University has announced that it has decided to grant employee benefits to homosexual staff while reiterating its belief that marriage can only be defined as the union of one man man and one woman.

The university says that it made the change as federal and state governments “have recently changed their long-held definition of marriage and now recognize same-sex marriage as lawful.”

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Islamic Jihadists Kill Three at Mali Hotel, Freeing Those Who Could Recite from Koran

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Daily Mail reports:

Armed jihadists have killed at least three people in a deadly shooting rampage and taken 170 hostages at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali.

Automatic weapons fire has been heard on the seventh floor of the 190-room hotel, where it is thought as many as 10 militants have been going floor to floor and taken 140 guests and 30 members of staff hostage.

Witnesses described how the gunmen allowed around 20 hostages to leave safely after they proved they were able to recite verses of the Koran to the militants. US and French Special Forces have reportedly stormed the hotel and have began to clear the building one floor at a time.

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Suspected mastermind behind Paris attacks killed

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Fox News reports:

The man suspected of ringleading last Friday’s Paris attacks that killed 129 people, who bragged that he could always stay one step ahead of Western intelligence, was killed in the police raid north of Paris Wednesday. Officials also confirmed that his cousin was killed, when she apparently blew herself up.

Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 27, also had been linked to as many as four thwarted attacks since this spring, including the plot to kill passengers on a Paris-bound high-speed train in August, a plot that three young Americans helped foil. He was identified from skin samples after the Saint-Denis raid, the French prosecutor’s office reported Thursday.

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Confirmed: 8 Syrians caught at Texas border in Laredo

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Breitbart reports:

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has confirmed that eight Syrians were taken into custody at the Laredo port of entry.

Two federal agents operating under the umbrella of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are claiming that eight Syrian illegal aliens attempted to enter Texas from Mexico in the Laredo Sector. The federal agents spoke with Breitbart Texas on the condition of anonymity, however, a local president of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) confirmed that Laredo Border Patrol agents have been officially contacting the organization with concerns over reports from other federal agents about Syrians illegally entering the country in the Laredo Sector. The reports have caused a stir among the sector’s Border Patrol agents.

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Planned Parenthood to Spend $20 Million to Elect Pro-Abortion Hillary Clinton, Take Over Congress

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Life News reports:

The Planned Parenthood abortion business announced today that it plans to spend $20 million to elect pro-abortion Hillary Clinton president and take over Congress. This comes after the abortion giant has been caught up in a massive scandal involving its sales of aborted babies and their body parts.

“Extremists made the 2016 election about attacking reproductive rights,” Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards says in a new promotional video to abortion activists.

“Enough is enough,” Richards said in the video. “With our supporters, we’re launching ‘I Vote Planned Parenthood Action.’ We’ll organize and mobilize to elect lawmakers who are in our corner.”

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Outraged husband of 9/11 hero returns “Woman of the Year” award over Jenner

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According to Christian Examiner:

Bruce-Caitlyn Jenner James Smith, widower of Moira Smith, a police officer who died rescuing others from the south tower during the 2001 attacks on the New York World Trade Centers, FedExed his wife’s Woman of the Year award back to Glamour magazine.

He was outraged the award this year was given to Bruce Jenner, who changed his name to Caitlyn after having sex-change operations earlier this year.

Smith said giving the award to Jenner insulted his wife’s memory.

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French Police Carry Out Intense Pre-Dawn Raid to Locate Mastermind Behind Paris Attacks

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Christian News Network reports:

A female suicide bomber blew herself up on Tuesday as French police conducted a pre-dawn raid on an apartment building in an operation to locate the mastermind associated with Friday’s massacre in Paris.

Police closed in on an apartment building in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, and according to reports, a woman detonated a suicide vest after confronting authorities. Residents report hearing gunfire and explosions at 4:30 and 7:30 a.m. local time.

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ISIS Genocide Victims Do Not Include Christians, the State Department Is Poised to Rule

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According to National Review:

A report by a renowned journalist states that Christians are to be excluded from an impending official United States government declaration of ISIS genocide. If true, it would reflect a familiar pattern within the administration of a politically correct bias that views Christians — even non-Western congregations such as those in Iraq and Syria — never as victims but always as Inquisition-style oppressors. (That a State Department genocide designation for ISIS may be imminent was acknowledged last week in congressional testimony, by Ambassador Anne Patterson, the assistant secretary of the State Department’s Near East Bureau.)

Yazidis, according to the story by investigative reporter Michael Isikoff, are going to be officially recognized as genocide victims, and rightly so. Yet Christians, who are also among the most vulnerable religious minority groups that have been deliberately and mercilessly targeted for eradication by ISIS, are not. This is not an academic matter. A genocide designation would have significant policy implications for American efforts to restore property and lands taken from the minority groups and for offers of aid, asylum, and other protections to such victims. Worse, it would mean that, under the Genocide Convention, the United States and other governments would not be bound to act to suppress or even prevent the genocide of these Christians.

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Southern Baptist Convention president to speak at IHOP-KC’s “Onething” gathering?

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John Lanagan of My Word Like Fire reports:

Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd will be speaking in December at Onething, the International House of Prayer’s annual celebration/convention. So will Francis Chan–for the second time. Onething takes place December 28-31, 2015.

Catholic Matt Maher will be one of the worship leaders. The IHOP Onething Worship and Leaders page notes that Maher played at the World Meeting of Families, which marked “Pope Francis’ first visit to the U.S. this year.”

Ronnie Floyd’s appearance at Onething potentially opens some Southern Baptist members to IHOP-KC influence. How many SBC members will be watching Onething online because Floyd will be speaking there? As noted in Francis Chan as IHOP-KC’s public relations agent?, Chan’s 2013 participation in Onething was a public relations bonanza for IHOP-KC.

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“Eagles of Death Metal” Was Playing “Kiss the Devil” at Moment Terrorists Stormed Theater

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According to Christian News Network:

The California-based band Eagles of Death Metal was playing their song “Kiss the Devil” at the moment that three terrorists stormed a Paris theater Friday and began opening fire, reports state.

“Who’ll love the devil? Who’ll sing his song?” the song’s lyrics ask. “Who will kiss the devil on his tongue?”

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“The Heavens Declare:” Discovery of “Baffling” Features on Pluto’s Surface Defies Evolutionary Models

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According to Christian News Network:

HeavensA NASA spacecraft has discovered what appear to be ice-spewing volcanoes on the surface of Pluto, puzzling scientists who believed the distant world was old, dead, and dormant.

Last week, scientists at an American Astronomical Society meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, announced new findings from NASA’s “New Horizons” spacecraft, which flew by Pluto earlier this year. “New Horizons” was the first spacecraft to visit Pluto, so the data and images it collected have helped astronomers better understand the dwarf planet.

Prior to the Pluto flyby, Christian astronomers predicted that “New Horizons” would find evidence that Pluto is much younger than secular scientists allege.

“Rather than weakening the case for creation, data collected by previous spacecraft have only strengthened the case that our solar system was designed and is much younger than the age of 4.5 billion years that secular scientists have assigned to it,” wrote Dr. Jake Hebert, a physicist with the Institute for Creation Research (ICR). “Christians should not be surprised if data collected by the New Horizons spacecraft continues this trend.”

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Thousands resign from false Mormon church – ‘cuz gay pride.

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Berean Research reports:

Thousands of Mormons surrounded the LDS Church in Salt Lake City, Utah over the weekend, many symbolically submitting their official resignation letters.

Is it because they finally realized Joseph Smith was a false prophet? Or that their extra-biblical Book of Mormon is heretical?

Nope. It’s because they think their church leaders are bigoted against homosexuals. An estimated 1,500 protestors carried signs and filled a mailbox full of their resignation letters.

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Breaking: France Drops “Twenty Bombs” on Key ISIS Targets

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Christian News Network reports:

French fighter jets dropped 20 bombs on key ISIS targets in Raqqa, Syria on Sunday in retribution for the deadly massacre in Paris on Friday that killed over 130.

The airstrike, carried out in conjunction with the U.S. from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, struck an ISIS command center, a jihadist training center and an ammunition depot.

“The raid … including 10 fighter jets, was launched simultaneously from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan,” a statement from the French Ministry of Defense read. “Twenty bombs were dropped.”

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Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders Claims Climate Change Causes Terrorism

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According to Christian News Network:

In wake of a series of terrorist attacks that struck Paris on Friday night, the first question posed to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders during Saturday night’s Democratic debate was whether he still believes climate change is the No. 1 national security threat to the United States—and Twitter users had a lot to say about his answer.

“Absolutely,” he said. “In fact, climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism.” Sanders added that climate change will cause farmers in countries “all over the world” to struggle with a scarcity of water and land to grow crops, which Sanders said studies have shown leads to international conflict.

Some Twitter users mocked Sanders’ response, saying he should tell the French people that but wouldn’t say that if he were face to face with a member of the Islamic State group.

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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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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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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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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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