Just the facts.

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

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.”

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

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.

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

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.”

View article →

Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders Claims Climate Change Causes Terrorism

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

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.

View article →

World religious leaders condemn Paris carnage

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

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.

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

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)!”

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

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.”

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News

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.

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙

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.”

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

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.”

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

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.

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙

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.”

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

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.

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

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.

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙

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.

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

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.

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

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.

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

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.”

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

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.”

View article →

Cash-Strapped Missionaries Get a New Calling: Home

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

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.

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

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.

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

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.

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

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.

View article →

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

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙

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.

View article →

UWM offers “voice feminization therapy” to help students “live their gender identities”

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

According to Campus Reform:

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is offering “voice feminization therapy” for male students claiming to be transgender women.

As part of the university’s “Transitioning at UWM” resource, the university encourages students to utilize “voice feminization therapy for male-to-female transgender clients” offered by the UWM Speech and Language Clinic, which claims to treat “voice disorders in adults and children.” Elsewhere on the UWM website, the university claims voice feminization therapy is a “non-medical option” that allows transgender students to “live their gender identities.”

Michelle Johnson, the Media Content Manager at UWM, told Campus Reform that the school provides the voice feminization therapy “in compliance with nondiscrimination policies established by the university and the American Speech Language Hearing Association.”

View article →