Just the facts.

Rick Warren, T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen Express Excitement Over “Pope Francis” Visit

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , , , ,

Christian News Network reports:

Photo courtesy Instagram

Photo courtesy Instagram

As the Roman Catholic head Jorge Bergoglio, who is known as “Pope Francis,” traveled to the United States this past week for a six-day visit, megachurch leaders Rick Warren, T.D. Jakes and Joel Osteen expressed their excitement and support for the papal pomp and circumstance.

On Wednesday, T.D. Jakes of The Potter’s House posted a photo on social media of himself and his wife at the White House, outlining that he had been invited by Barack Obama to be among the VIP’s welcoming Francis to the nation’s capital. “A special thanks to President Obama for his VIP invitation to attend such a historical event,” he wrote. “As the world watches this international figure move through our country, let’s pray that the pope’s journey is safe!”

View article →

“I Unite Myself”: “Pope” Calls Muslims “Brothers and Sisters” in Message at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , , ,

Christian News Network reports:

During a speech at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Thursday night, the Roman Catholic pontiff known as Francis offered prayers for his Muslim “brothers and sisters” on the Islamic Feast of Sacrifice following word of a deadly stampede during the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

“I would like to express two sentiments for my Muslim brothers and sisters,” he began. “First, I send my greetings as they celebrate the Feast of Sacrifice [Eid al-Adha]. I would have my greeting to have been warmer. My sentiments are closeness.”

“I am close to them in the face of tragedy, the tragedy they suffered in Mecca,” Francis continued. “In this moment, I give assurances in their prayers. I unite myself with you all in prayer to Almighty God, all merciful.”

View article →

Pope’s speech troubling, Southern Baptists say

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , , ,

Some high profile Baptists, including Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Russell Moore of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, had a lot to say about a Roman Catholic pope’s address to Congress….as a pastor, by the way, not as a political leader. Mohler makes an excellent point: “Well, let’s just state the obvious: No other pastor in the history of the United States of America has ever addressed a joint session of Congress.” So, why was the leader of the Roman Catholic Church invited to speak before Congress?

Baptist Press has the full report:

Pope Francis’ historic address to Congress proved troubling in both its lack of clarity on moral issues and in its church-state impropriety, Southern Baptist leaders and pastors said.

The pope spoke to a joint session of Congress on Thursday (Sept. 24), becoming the first head of the Roman Catholic Church to address the U.S. legislative body. His speech came on the final day of a three-day visit to Washington, D.C., that featured a White House welcoming ceremony, a parade and a mass for the canonization of a Catholic saint.

View article →

Read our research paper on Roman Catholicism

Ayatollah says Muslim responsibility is to shatter U.S., the ‘idol of tyranny’

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

According to the Christian Examiner:

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with the ink barely dry on the nuclear deal between his country, the United States and its allies, has issued a “call” for Muslims to help destroy the “idol of tyranny” – America.

In a letter celebrating the annual pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca, known as the Hajj, Khamenei said the Hajj was a source of renewal for Muslims and it will help them shatter the idols in their lives – “the idol of the soul, the idol of pride, the idol of sexual lust; the idol of tyranny and subservience; the idol of global tyranny [i.e., the U.S.]’ the idol of sloth and irresponsibility; and the other idols that shame the precious human soul – a plan that will spring forth from the depths of the heart will shatter them. Then, liberty, honor, and health will replace dependence, hardship, and humiliation.”

View article →

Pope, in unscheduled visit, shows solidarity with nuns in religious liberty fight with U.S. government

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

The Christian Examiner reports:

The Little Sisters of the Poor received an unexpected visitor Sept. 23 when Pope Francis made an unscheduled stop at their community in Washington, D.C.

The move, according to Vatican officials, was a show of support for the nuns who are entangled in a lawsuit with the federal government over the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act, known to the public – sometimes derisively – as “Obamacare.”

View article →

Phyllis Tickle, who championed a church paradigm shift, is dead

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

Berean Research has the report:

It was lung cancer. Sadly, the emergent-New Ager clung to her teachings that Christendom must evolve. She frequently appeared with Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt and those of other faiths to ring in a new era in the modern Church. (See “Emerging Towards Convergence”)

Tickle believed that throughout history, the Christian Church evolves every 500 years or so, and we are ripe for another paradigm shift. She wrote a book, Embracing Emergence Christianity: Phyllis Tickle on the Church’s Next Rummage Sale. Here is the publisher’s description of this latest apostasy:

View article →

Senate Democrats block GOP bill curbing late abortions

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

Fox News reports:

Baby in the womb Senate Democrats blocked Republican legislation Tuesday prohibiting most late-term abortions, the second time since this summer’s release of videos involving Planned Parenthood that they’ve derailed an abortion-related drive by the GOP.

Senators voted 54-42 to move ahead on the legislation, but that fell six short of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill. With Republicans holding 54 Senate seats and the two parties sharply divided over abortion, the outcome was no surprise. But the showdown afforded each side an opportunity to highlight its willingness to fight to its most loyal voters and contributors.

View article →

Darwin letter reveals, “I do not believe in the Bible”

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙

According to CBS News:

Gutenberg_BibleWhile many scholars believe Charles Darwin was an agnostic or even an atheist, it can be difficult to find hard evidence to back up those beliefs. He was reluctant to discuss religion and his writings are often silent on the issue.

But now a simple one-sentence handwritten letter signed by the naturalist offers proof he did not believe in God. The letter, written 21 years after the publication of “The Origin of Species,” was auctioned off Monday afternoon at Bonhams in New York. It fetched $197,000 at the auction, three times the previous record of $59,142 for a four-page letter that Darwin had penned to his niece.

View article →

Sex Reassignment Is Latest Company Benefit in Equality Push

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

Bloomberg has this report:

U.S. companies are swiftly adding health insurance benefits for employees who want to transition to another gender, a fairly inexpensive way to show they’re serious about a diverse workforce because so few people actually use them.

More than 415 of about 780 firms surveyed for their friendliness toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers now cover related procedures, including hormone therapy and sex-reassignment surgeries, according to the Human Rights Campaign. That’s more than double the number in 2012, and up from just 49 in 2009.

View article →

U.S. Soldiers Told to Ignore Afghan Allies’ Sexual Abuse of Boys

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

Christian News Network reports:

In his last phone call home, Lance Cpl. Gregory Buckley Jr. told his father what was troubling him: From his bunk in southern Afghanistan, he could hear Afghan police officers sexually abusing boys they had brought to the base.

“At night we can hear them screaming, but we’re not allowed to do anything about it,” the Marine’s father, Gregory Buckley Sr., recalled his son telling him before he was shot to death at the base in 2012. He urged his son to tell his superiors. “My son said that his officers told him to look the other way because it’s their culture.”

View article →

GLAAD-handing: Obama invites gay rights activists to meet Pope Francis

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , , ,

According to Christian Examiner:

GLADD-handing is a common political occurrence in Washington, D.C., but the official guest list for Pope Francis’ visit to the White House is causing the Vatican serious concern.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Vatican officials are concerned that photos featuring the pope greeting several prominent gay rights advocates and Roman Catholics who support same-sex marriage during his White House visit could be misinterpreted as the pontiff endorsing non-traditional views on the family and human sexuality.

According to the White House, retired (and now divorced) homosexual Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson will be a guest, as will Nicholas Coppola, a former Roman Catholic who started a Change.org petition calling for the church to be more inclusive of gays and lesbians after he was put out of his church parish in New York.

View article →

C. Peter Wagner: “NAR is not a cult”

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

From Berean Research:

WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHINGThe man credited with being the “father” of the New Apostolic Reformation is surprised at the negative feedback his experience-based movement is getting in the media, especially in the left-wing liberal groups.

But he is perhaps missing the biggest outcry of all is coming from those Christians who adhere to Scriptural truth; who believe that the Bible is sufficient.

View article →

Doritos’ new rainbow colored corn chips are already causing a stir

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

Fox News reports:

Move over Oreos.

Doritos now has a new rainbow-colored corn chip in support of gay and lesbian teens — and they’re already causing a stir.

Frito-Lay, the company that makes the snack food, unveiled Doritos Rainbows Thursday, a limited-edition version of its Cool Ranch-flavored tortilla that come in shades of green, blue, purple, red, and orange inspired by colors of the Gay Pride flag.

View article →

Obama to nominate first openly gay service secretary to lead the Army

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

According to The Washington Post:

President Obama, in a historic first for the Pentagon, has chosen to nominate Eric Fanning to lead the Army, a move that would make him the first openly gay civilian secretary of one of the military services.

Fanning, 47, has been a specialist on national security issues for more than two decades and has played a key role overseeing some of the Pentagon’s biggest shipbuilding and fighter jet programs. Now he will oversee an Army that has been battered by the longest stretch of continuous combat in U.S. history and is facing potentially severe budget cuts. It’s also an Army that after a long stretch of patrolling Iraqi and Afghan villages is searching for its postwar role in protecting the nation.

View article →

Republican Candidates’ Child Vaccine Comments Have Doctors Worried

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙

According to Christian Headlines:

The issue of child vaccines was brought up in Wednesday’s second Republican debate and has many doctors worried.

Two of the Republican presidential candidates are doctors, Dr. Ben Carson and Dr. Rand Paul. While both candidates affirmed that vaccines were beneficial for children and that there is no link between childhood vaccines and autism, both acknowledged that some doctors are rethinking how many vaccines are given to children in such short periods of time.

“We have extremely well-documented proof that there’s no autism associated with vaccination, but it is true that we are probably giving way too many in too short a period of time,” said Dr. Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon. “I think a lot of pediatricians now recognize that and are cutting down on the number and the proximity in which those are done.”

View article →

Fiorina: “I dare” Clinton, Obama to watch Planned Parenthood videos

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

According to Christian Examiner:

AbortionRepublican president candidate Carly Fiorina stood out during Wednesday’s GOP debate for her answers to a host of questions, but it was her response to a question about federal funding of Planned Parenthood that had social media and pro-life leaders buzzing.

CNN’s Dana Bash had asked several candidates whether they supported shutting down the federal government during budget talks over the issue of Planned Parenthood, when Fiorina got her turn.

“I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama to watch these tapes,” Fiorina said, referencing undercover videos made by the Center for Medical Progress. “Watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking, while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain. This is about the character of our nation, and if we will not stand up in and force President Obama to veto this bill, shame on us.”

View article →

“Heart and homes” of America is target of Bin Laden leader re-emerging in new call for terror attacks

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

Christian Examiner reports:

Al Qaeda’s leader has emerged from the shadows after a nearly two-year absence to call for greater unity among jihadists and to encourage “lone wolf” attacks in the American heartland, Reuters has reported.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian doctor who helped found Islamic Jihad and later al Qaeda with Osama bin Laden, urged a cease-fire among the “mujahideen” and called “on all Muslims who can harm the countries of the crusader coalition not to hestitate.”

“We must now focus on moving the war to the heart of the homes and cities of the crusader West and specifically America,” Zawahiri said, according to the translation provided by Reuters.

View article →

Scalpers Selling Tickets to See Pope Francis for Thousands–Cardinal Condemns

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

According to CNS News:

Pope FrancisNew York officials have joined Cardinal Timothy Dolan in condemning the scalping of tickets to see Pope Francis’ motorcade during his upcoming visit to New York City.

About 80,000 tickets were dispersed through a city-sponsored lottery system for the pope’s Sept. 25 procession through Central Park.

Tickets were being sold on secondary markets such as eBay and Craigslist for thousands of dollars soon after lottery winners were notified.

View article →

Planned Parenthood caught: We make “fair amount” selling “fresh” baby eyes, gonads

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

A 10th video has surfaced. LifeSiteNews has the horrific details:

Planned Parenthood officials are proud of being able to harvest “fresh” babies’ organs, including eyes and genitals, and admit such practices “generate a fair amount of income” in the latest video released by the Center for Medical Progress, released this morning.

The video, the fourth in CMP’s “Human Capital” series, captured abortion industry leaders saying that money for aborted babies’ body parts is a “valid exchange” – but the organization will not be “bullied by ridiculous laws.”

Leaders also admit the national office deliberately keeps all discussion of such activity at arms-length, and exposing the gruesome undertaking could be “a huge PR issue.”

View article →

Evidence Mounts for Viability of Babies not Considered Legally “Human”

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

Christian Headlines reports:

Pre-born babyA new study published Sept. 8 found that more infants born before 28 weeks gestation are surviving without disease or other complications compared to 20 years ago. The findings cast further doubt on the adequacy of the viability standard for protecting the unborn.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, examined 35,000 premature births between 1993 and 2012 at 26 U.S. centers participating in the Neonatal Research Network. It broadens a previous study published in May that found an increased survival rate for infants born at 22 weeks. The May study examined 5,000 infants born at 27 weeks or earlier between 2006 and 2011.

Continue reading

After Iran deal, Obama to pivot to climate change

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

According to Politico:

Buoyed by the success of his nuclear deal with Iran, President Barack Obama is preparing to move aggressively on other long-delayed priorities, including a major climate change summit this winter and his elusive quest to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

The National Security Council’s directorate of strategic planning has been quietly building an agenda of action items for the closing year of Obama’s presidency, in a White House that sees its work as far from complete, administration officials say.

View article →

Armed Military, Police Group Offers Kim Davis Protection from Further “Unlawful Arrest”

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ , ,

According to Christian News Network:

An armed group of current former military and police officials offered protection from further arrest to Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis from earlier this week, but was declined by her legal counsel.

Oath Keepers, whose motto is “Not On Our Watch,” is a coalition founded to provide education about, and defense of, the U.S. Constitution. The group issued a statement on Wednesday, outlining that it had offered protection for the now-freed clerk when she returns to her job on Monday.

View article →

San Francisco jails to house transgender inmates based on gender preference

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

According to the Los Angeles Times:

TransgenderBy the end of the year, San Francisco’s county jails will be among the first in the nation to house transgender inmates by their gender preference, Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi said Thursday.

Currently, San Francisco County puts transgender inmates in an isolated wing of its downtown jail facility. But under the policy announced Thursday, Mirkarimi said, he hopes to have transgender inmates living with their preferred population before 2016.

View article →

Muslim terrorists promise “Afro-Americans” mercy if they assassinate & target “racist politicians”

Posted by ∙ ∙ In News ∙ ,

Christian Examiner reports:

Al Qaeda’s newest edition of Inspire, a jihadist magazine aimed at recruiting terrorists from among the English-speaking world, encourages black Americans to rise up against their own government, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has reported.

In the Inspire article titled, “The Blacks in America,” a writer calling himself Abu Abdiliah Al-Moravid claims the recent killings of blacks such as Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Md., and nine black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., are unlike anything found in Islam.

View article →