Just the facts.

Presidential Candidate Ben Carson: Seventh-Day Adventists Should “Ordain” Women

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There are a number of problems within Seventh-day Adventistism. In fact, many consider it a cult for the reason that some Seventh-day Adventists believe Jesus is Michael the Archangel and that Saturday is the proper day of worship. Discover more of their teaching by visiting CARM.

Now to Christian News Network’s report.

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson told reporters on Friday that he believes Seventh-Day Adventists should ordain women, expressing disagreement with current prohibitions against female headship.

“I don’t see any reason why women can’t be ordained,” he said, opining that it was a “huge mistake” for Adventist leaders to vote against female ordination.

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U.S. officials believe ISIS planted bomb on Russian plane

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CNN has the full report:

The latest U.S. intelligence suggests that the crash of a Russian passenger jet in the Sinai over the weekend was most likely caused by a bomb on the plane planted by ISIS or an ISIS affiliate, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

But the official stressed a formal conclusion has not been reached by the U.S. intelligence community.

“There is a definite feeling it was an explosive device planted in luggage or somewhere on the plane,” the official, who is familiar with the latest U.S. intelligence analysis of the crash, told CNN.

Other U.S. officials also told CNN that the analysis is pointing toward the cause being a bomb.

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Houston Equal Rights Ordinance fails by wide margin

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Chron reports:

Houston’s controversial equal rights ordinance failed by a wide margin Tuesday, with voters opting to repeal the law that offered broad non-discrimination protections, according to incomplete and unofficial returns.

The hotly contested election has spurred national attention, drawing comment from the White House and the state’s top officials. Largely conservative opponents of the law allege that it would allow men dressed as women, including sexual predators, to enter women’s restrooms. Supporters of the law, including Mayor Annise Parker, argue that it extends an important local recourse for a range of protected classes to respond to discrimination.

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Ohioans reject legalizing marijuana

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According to The Columbus Dispatch:

MarijuanaOhioans pushed a monopoly marijuana-legalization proposal out the door Tuesday by a nearly 2-to-1 vote.

But the question is, will pot make a comeback?

Although Issue 3 was handily defeated, the debate and conversations about the issue have convinced House Speaker Cliff Rosenberg, R-Clarksville, and other state lawmakers who were staunchly opposed to legalization to now say it may be time to move ahead with medical marijuana.

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Obama Administration Orders School District to Let Boy Use Girls’ Locker Room

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Christian News Network reports:

The Obama administration has ordered a school district in Illinois to allow a male student who identifies a female to use the girls’ locker room or face enforcement measures that could mean the loss of $6 million in federal funding.

As previously reported, an unidentified high school student within Township High School District 211 requested to use the girls’ locker room nearly two years ago since the student asserts that they identify as female.

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Americans becoming less religious, especially young adults

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Reuters reports:

Americans are becoming less religious, judging by such markers as church attendance, prayer and belief in God, and the trend is more pronounced among young adults, according to a poll released on Tuesday.

The share of U.S. adults who say they believe in God, while still high compared with other advanced industrial countries, slipped to 89 percent in 2014 from 92 percent in 2007, according to the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study.

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German Protestant church’s scandalous idea rocks evangelical community

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Religion News Service has the story of a prominent German church that’s redefining the gospel and missions:

One of Germany’s largest Protestant regional churches has come under fire from other Christians for speaking out against efforts to convert Muslims just as tens of thousands of refugees from the Islamic world are streaming into the country.

In a new position paper, the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland says the passage in the Gospel of Matthew known as the Great Commission — “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” — does not mean Christians must try to convert others to their faith.

“A strategic mission to Islam or meeting Muslims to convert them threatens social peace and contradicts the spirit and mandate of Jesus Christ and is therefore to be firmly rejected,” the paper entitled “Pilgrim Fellowship and Witness in Dialogue with Muslims” argues.

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Juanita Bynum, Twice-Divorced “Prophetess” Who Spoke at Homosexual “Ordination,” to Be Made Bishop

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According to Christian News Network:

A prophetess who divorced her second husband in 2008 and who raised concern in 2009 after it was found that she spoke during an ordination service for a homosexual minister, is set to be promoted to the position of bishop.

Juanita Bynum is a Georgia-based speaker and author of the books “Walking in Your Destiny,” “Heart Matters,” and “No More Sheets,” the latter of which resulted in Bynum revealing that she once had been involved in lesbianism.

“I’ve done the drugs, you know, I’ve been with men, I’ve been with women,” she told the “Frank & Wanda in the Morning” show in 2012.

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Brazil sees its first civil union — between three women

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Christian Examiner reports:

Three women in Brazil have entered into a polyamorous civil union, a step toward three-way marriage, the American Foreign Press (AFP) has reported.

According to AFP, the women have reportedly “shared a bed for years and say they want to raise a child,” but the government in the deeply conservative Catholic country does not recognize marriage among more than two people.

That isn’t stopping the women – a dentist, businesswoman and office manager – from pressuring the legal system to recognize their union.

“The union is just symbolic” at this point, the women’s attorney, Fernanda de Freitas Leitao, said. At this point, it only demonstrates “how they intend to have children.”

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Gay Activists Demand Secular Non-Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade

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Crisis Magazine has the details of this bizarre story:

Gay PrideTwenty-five years ago, a small group of activists charged the New York City Saint Patrick’s Day Parade with being a public gesture of pure homophobia. They built their case around the allegedly bigoted “Catholic character.” The trial was held before the judges of the left-leaning secular media.

A jury composed of the general public yawned, wondering why a 250-year-old civic and religious institution needed to become a battlefield in the culture wars. The activists found this lack of popular support impossible to fathom. Enraged, they determined to do more than just march up Fifth Avenue. They sought to humiliate their enemies, including the parade’s organizers, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and the Catholic Church herself.

Then the unexpected: the committee responsible for sponsoring and staging the parade stopped defending itself against the worst of the charges. The case has now moved to the penalty phase.

This week, the victors revealed their demands: a Saint Patrick’s Day parade that is both non-Catholic and—incredibly—non-Irish. As outlandish as that sounds, all indications are that the activists will get what they want, because they’ve somehow managed to capture the imagination of the parade’s new boss—Quinnipiac University president John L. Lahey.

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Battle Continues Over Christian Business’ Right Not to Print T-Shirts With ‘Gay Pride’ Messages

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Christian News Network reports:

A court battle continues over the right of a Christian business not to print t-shirts for a “gay pride” event in conflict with its biblical beliefs after the Kentucky Human Rights Commission recently filed an appeal of a ruling in favor of the company.

As previously reported, the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization of Lexington (GLSO) had wanted the Kentucky-based Hand On Originals–a company that identifies as “Christian outfitters” on the home page of its website–to print t-shirts for the 2012 Lexington Gay Pride Festival. When manager Blaine Adamson declined the order due to the company’s biblical convictions, GLSO filed a complaint with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Human Rights Commission.

“I want the truth to come out—it’s not that we have a sign on the front door that says, ‘No Gays Allowed,’” owner Blaine Adamson said following the filing of the complaint. “We’ll work with anybody. But if there’s a specific message that conflicts with my convictions, then I can’t promote that.”

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Illinois School District Refuses to Allow Boy in Girls’ Locker Room, Defying Obama Administration

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Christian News Network reports:

A school district in the Chicago area is remaining steadfast in its refusal to allow a male student who identifies as female to change in the girls’ locker room despite an opinion from the U.S. Department of Education that the district is violating federal law.

According to reports, an unidentified high school student within Township High School District 211 requested to use the girls’ locker room nearly two years ago since the student asserts that they identify as female.

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Heaven Over Hospital: Oregon Parents to Allow Five-Year-Old to Choose Death Over Treatment

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According to Christian News Network:

A couple in Oregon has announced that they are planning on following their five-year-old daughter’s wishes not to return to the hospital when she becomes sick again, opting for “heaven over the hospital.”

Julianna Snow was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) at the age of two after numerous visits to the doctor in an effort to understand her developmental problems and weakness in her arms and legs.

Her mother, Michelle, a neurologist, soon found that her husband, Steve, had CMT in a mild form and realized that their daughter might have genetically inherited the ailment. Snow underwent treatments and physical therapy to fight the CMT, but struggled with weakened lung muscles that made it hard to breathe and also experienced difficulty swallowing.

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Massachusetts “United Church of Christ” Hosts Blasphemous “Drag Gospel Festival”

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Most people won’t be the least bit shocked by a “church” hosting a drag show during the worship service. What’s important to keep in mind, though, is the lengths the LGBT community will go to to draw attention to themselves, even if it means blaspheming God. While strutting their stuff at the church event, one man proclaimed: “God is good all the time! That means God is a diva, and girl, Jesus is fierce.” Christian News Network has the story:

United Church of Christ congregation in Massachusetts recently hosted what it called a “Drag Gospel Festival” in support of the homosexual and transgender members in its assembly.

The First Church of Somerville (FCS) hosted the event October 16-18 both during its Friday night drag show and Sunday morning worship service.

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Calvary Chapel Pastor Posts Photo Standing With New Age Advocate Roma Downey

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From Berean Research:

Many people are concerned with the direction evangelist Greg Laurie is taking the church, and rightly so, as you will see in Lighthouse Trails’ report:

Lighthouse Trails reader sent this photo (see below) to us today. It is a picture of Calvary Chapel pastor Greg Laurie, standing with Roma Downey and Mark Burnett and was posted on Greg Laurie’s Facebook page along with this caption by Downey:

So nice spending time with friends. Mark and I had a lovely lunch today with Greg and Cathe Laurie ‪#‎harvestoc

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Sacked gay priest condemns “homophobic hate” of Catholic Church

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From Berean Research:

A senior Vatican priest comes out of the closet, admits to having a long time boyfriend, and gets fired. He’s mad. Ho hum, no surprise these days. But the bigger story is how a major evangelical news outlet reports the story — never mentions the priest’s sin. Instead we learn how unfair the Vatican is to the priest and his boyfriend — boohoo. Why did Christian Today contributing editor Ruth Gledhill neglect to mention the reasons homosexuality can never be accepted by the Roman Catholic Church? Evidently she would like CT readers to believe that the RCC hates homosexuals for no good reason when this is patently untrue. The Vatican’s view is based on the Bible’s teaching on same-sex relationships:

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Hollywood Moves Back to Demonic Possession Stories

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Wall Street Journal reports on Hollywood’s fascination with the world of the occult:

It’s enough to make your head spin. Some 40 years after “The Exorcist,” demonic possession is back, spewing out movies, TV shows and books. “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” based on the “Evil Dead” film franchise about demons plaguing vacationers at a cabin in the woods, is premiering on the Starz cable network on Halloween. The creator of zombie hit “The Walking Dead” is bringing his possession comic book “Outcast” to Cinemax next year.

A sequel to the hit 2013 film “The Conjuring,” about an attempted exorcism, is in production. “The Witch,” a film-festival darling about possession in a Puritan family in 17th-century New England, is set to open in February. A revival of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” opens on Broadway that same month, starring Saoirse Ronan as a young woman amid charges of witchcraft in Salem. A reality-TV special advertised as a “live exorcism” of a haunted house is scheduled to air the night before Halloween.

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“Something to Strive for:” Planned Parenthood Abortionist Laughs About Harvesting Intact Baby Heads

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Christian News Network reports:

The eleventh Planned Parenthood expose’ video released by the Center for Medical Progress captures a Texas abortionist laughing about how obtaining an intact baby head would be “something to strive for,” and explaining how she performs breech or partial birth abortions to harvest the child’s organs.

“My aim is usually to get the specimens out pretty intact,” Amna Dermish tells the undercover investigator posing as a representative from a fetal organ procurement company, who explains that he would expect any organs to be intact.

“Can you convert to breech?” he asks.

“I can if I need to,” Dermish replies. “I don’t usually do it in the 16 t0 18 weeks [babies] because I don’t really need to, but with the further gestation, I will sometimes do that if it’s a celaphalic presentation (head first) just because it’s easier to get.”

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Feds look into Hobby Lobby owners’ acquisition of ancient artifacts

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Christian Examiner reports:

Federal authorities are reportedly looking into the illegal acquisition of archaeological relics for the Museum of the Bible, a project planned and funded by the Christian owners of Hobby Lobby, the Daily Beast has reported.

The museum, conceived by the Green family, which owns Hobby Lobby and Mardel Christian Bookstores, will house some 40,000 Bibles, artifacts and historical documents in a 430,000-square-foot facility close to the U.S. Capitol and the National Mall. According to its website, the museum will “provide guests with an immersive and personalized experience as they explore the history, narrative and impact of the Bible.”

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Big in Iceland: Paganism

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The Atlantic reports:

Next year, for the first time in a millennium, a pagan temple will wel-come Reykjavik’s faithful. The heathen house of worship, vaguely resembling a misshapen meringue, will be aligned with the sun’s path and burrowed into a hill near the city’s airport. There, like the Vikings of old, members of Iceland’s neo-pagan Ásatrú movement will be able to feast on horse meat, swig from goblets of mead, and praise deities such as Thor, the god of thunder, and Freyja, the goddess of love.

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“The Antis Found a Way to Close Us:” Abortionist “Desperate” After None Would Help Dispose of Babies

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Christian News Network reports:

Baby in the wombRecently leaked videos believed to be obtained by the Center for Medical Progress provide audio footage of an abortionist explaining how “desperate” she was to come up with a way to dispose of the aborted babies stockpiled at her facility after having difficulty finding any businesses that wanted to work with her.

“I mean, it was the worst. I dreamed about how to dispose of fetal tissue,” said Renee Chelian, owner of the Northland Family Planning chain in Michigan in the video, which was recorded at the 2014 National Abortion Federation conference. “I mean I was so desperate, the antis found a way to close us.”

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Chick-fil-A Listed as Sponsor of “Faith-Based” Homosexual Film and Arts Festival

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According to Christian News Network:

An online petition has been launched over revelations that the popular evangelical-owned fast food restaurant Chick-fil-A has been listed as a sponsor of a “faith-based” homosexual film and arts festival.

Level Ground began as a student-organized event in 2013, and was touted as the “world’s first faith-based LGBT film festival.” It has since expanded to six cities across the country and includes not only film, but music, theater, visual arts, comedy, and various workshops with the goal of “elevating the public discourse around the otherwise polarizing topics of gender identity and human sexuality.”

“The Level Ground Festival draws a unique audience that reflects the full spectrum of religious (and non-religious) beliefs, gender identities, and sexual orientations,” the festival website outlines. “All denominations, theologies, beliefs, races, and ages are welcome.”

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How Congress Stopped a Massive Obamacare Bailout

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The Daily Signal reports:

Earlier this month, the Obama administration announced that insurers who lost money selling Obamacare would not get a $2.5-billion bailout. It was great news for taxpayers, but it didn’t happen by chance.

Both chambers of Congress worked very hard to make those savings possible. And lawmakers will have to continue working hard to keep bailouts like this from happening in the future.

Here’s how Congress did it this time. But first, some background.

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Kong Hee’s first appearance at City Harvest after fraud verdict: “Pastor is sorry”

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One would think that a pastor would understand that saying “I’m sorry” is not the same as asking his flock to forgive him for sinning against them by misappropriating 35 million of their hard earned money. Hee and several cohorts were convicted of using church funds to make his wife a popstar. You can’t make this stuff up, brethren. According to Christian Today:

City Harvest Church’s pastor Kong Hee apologised to his congregation this weekend after the guilty verdict in his trial for fraud.

According to the Asia One news service, on Sunday morning Kong faced a crowded auditorium at the Suntec convention centre, bowed and said, “Pastor is sorry”. He had used the same words at a service on Saturday night.

Kong, his deputy pastor Tan Ye Peng, finance manager Sharon Tan and former finance manager Serina Wee, were found guilty with former board members John Lam and Chew Eng Han of misusing $17 million from the church’s building fund to further the music career of Kong’s wife Ho Yeow Sun, known as Sun Ho. A further $18.5 million was used to cover up the scheme through a complicated system of bond issues and ’round-tripping’ transactions in which the church used its own money to pay debt owed to it.

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“God is not a he or a she”, says first female bishop to sit in House of Lords

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God who chose how He would be represented to mankind — male. He could have chosen female, but He didn’t. There are around 170 references to God as the “Father” in the Bible. “Bishop” Rachel Treweek does not seem to realize that only males are fathers.The Guardian has the story:

God should not necessarily be seen as a masculine figure, according to the UK’s first female bishop to sit in the House of Lords on Monday. “God is not to be seen as male. God is God,” said Rachel Treweek, bishop of Gloucester, who is to be inaugurated in parliament.

While acknowledging that many Anglicans would profoundly disagree, Treweek said the Church of England should use both male and female pronouns when referring to God. She personally prefers to say neither “he” nor “she”, but “God”. “Sometimes I lapse, but I try not to,” the bishop told the Observer.

“In the creation narratives, we’re told that God created human beings in God’s likeness, and then it goes on to talk about male and female. If I am made in the image of God, then God is not to be seen as male. God is God.”

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