Commentary, analysis and opinion.

How Do You Know if Your Church is Healthy?

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There are healthy churches and unhealthy churches (so, so many unhealthy churches). How would you know the difference?

(Tim Challies)  Today I want to talk about the health of a local church. Are there ways we can know that a church is healthy or a way we can know it’s unhealthy? And this comes from a question I received from somebody who’s been watching these videos. Let me read the question:

“I’m curious to know how you might go about evaluating the spiritual health of the congregation? Here’s the key; are there objective ways of identifying whether a congregation is growing or stagnant and is there a clear set of biblical markers or indicators that you would use to assess whether the congregation is spiritually healthy?”  Continue reading →

‘Raise the Rainbow Flag, We Surrender’

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Pope Francis “definitely got his nerve purging his message to a shell-shocked American Catholic community of anything that could
vaguely comfort her amid this storm.”

“Facts are notoriously stark, and numbers don’t lie: that homosexuality at all levels of the [RCC] hierarchy is a huge part of the problem is not debatable anymore.”  

(Alessandro Marinelli – The American Thinker)  These are stormy times for the Catholic Church in North America.  First, Theodore McCarrick, whose resignation as cardinal Pope Francis accepted in July.  Then the Pennsylvania grand jury report, which is having the effects of the detonation of an atomic bomb with its subsequent devastating shockwave and radioactive fallout.  As a Catholic, I would be lying if I said the mind-blowing revelations over the extent and the creepy deep-rootedness of sexual promiscuity and perversity in the clergy have not taken a toll on my trust in the Church.  As many of us are still reeling from the shock and the disgust, rage and exasperation mount. Continue reading →

Study: Children of Same-sex couples do less well than those of married couples

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“Adults should NOT be thinking about how to duct-tape a child onto any old relationship that doesn’t offer the same safety and stability that opposite sex marriage offers. We should be passing laws to strengthen marriage in order to protect children, not to weaken it.” 

(Wintery Knight) The Public Discourse reports on a recent study out of Canada.

Excerpt:

A new academic study based on the Canadian census suggests that a married mom and dad matter for children. Children of same-sex coupled households do not fare as well. Continue reading →

Consequences of Sexual Sin

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“When sexual impurity moves in, joy moves out (Ps. 51:8). The two cannot coexist in the heart at the same time. They are mutually exclusive. Joy and gladness will not move in until the lust has moved out and there has been repentance and confession.”

(Eric Davis – The Cripplegate) Life can get dicey this side of Genesis 3. Crops fail. Weather fails. Nations fail. Health fails. Resolve fails. Much of life is simply about learning to navigate disappointment and pain. But there is one thing which perhaps causes more pain than anything else; sexual sin. There’s the betrayal; the lying; the deception. There’s the severing of trust; severing of families; severing of relationships. Sexual sin in spiritual leadership packs an added severity. Churches are damaged; ministries are damaged; witness is damaged. Continue reading →

Camp Followers Endanger the Church

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“It’s a camp exalting a Jesus who is a feminist, a sexual libertine and a socialist. Faith leaders like Franklin Graham are considered fools. Jonathan absorbs rhetoric from Black Lives Matter without questioning the manipulative race- baiting, anti-law-enforcement agenda.”

(Linda Harvey – MissionAmerica)  Jonathan is a self-labeled Christian. He listens to CNN every day and never questions that he’s getting a reliable version of the truth.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Jonathan has a worldview issue but also a “camp” issue.

Which camp are you in? Have you decided? Continue reading →

Masters University Placed On Probation by Accrediting Agency

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“If you read the reports from WASC yourself, you’ll see that they didn’t make any clear accusations, but asked questions that need to be resolved.”

(JD Hall – Pulpit & Pen)  Masters University, the school associated with Grace Community Church and the esteemed John MacArthur, has been placed on probation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). According to WASC, there are a number of deficiencies that Masters must improve upon for them to come out from under their probationary status. Continue reading →

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Want to Drop the ‘Mormon’ Moniker

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LDS Prophet Russell M. Nelson

“But here’s the thing: the Mormon faith is not the true church of Jesus Christ, and to say so threatens to lead untold numbers of people astray. The truth is that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is completely incompatible with biblical Christianity.” 

(Chris Queen – PJ Media)  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints conjures up plenty of different images. Some people equate the Latter Day Saints with bland, middle-of-the-road public figures like Mitt Romney or (if you’re old enough) the Osmonds. Others may think of polygamy. Still others may recall those eager, if dorky, young missionaries making their way through town in their short-sleeve white shirts and ties. Continue reading →

Press needs to restore its credibility on FBI and Justice Department

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“This is an absolutely stunning development, suggesting a “deep state” conspiracy hidden even from superiors and driven on the basis of undisclosed dollars ultimately from the opposition candidate going to the wife of a DOJ official. Even moderate senators like Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have been shocked by this and called for a special counsel to investigate the FBI.”  

(Mark Penn – The Hill)  I will never call the mainstream media “the enemy of the people.” But I will call them out for having strayed from fairly reporting some of the biggest stories of the last two years. No matter how egregious their errors, they insist on pointing fingers elsewhere and reinforcing their political biases, in ways unimaginable to those of us who grew up in the Walter Cronkite era. Continue reading →

Nadia Bolz-Weber Steps Down from Pastorate: Replaced by Gay Man Married to Drag Queen

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Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber

Humber [Bolz-Weber’s replacement] came to HFASS from St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. He is “married” to a man who pretends to be a woman and is a “drag queen.” His partner’s drag name is “Fruit Bomb.” 

(Pulpit & Pen) Nadia Bolz-Weber retired from her pastorate at the House for All Sinners and Saints (ELCA) and was replaced by a gay Episcopal man who is married to a drag queen who goes by the name “Fruit Bomb.” This is not satire.

Bolz-Weber is the giant Amazon-esque, tattoo-graffiti’d, potty-mouthed impastor who has referred to herself as a “dyke” (she is married to a man, however). … Continue reading →

Be skeptical of Dr. Oz’s remedies and Rick Warren’s ‘plans’ (Reprise)

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FLASHBACK FRIDAY

This article by CRN managing editor Marsha West was published January 15, 2015

Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is a renowned cardiothoracic surgeon, author and host of a successful TV show, has involved himself in some, um, questionable cures for what ails you. According to a Fox News report, a recent study showed that “Half of Dr. Oz’s health advice is bad.” Die-hard Oz fans will more than likely ignore the study results and continue tuning into his TV show for advice from him and the panel of doctors that appear regularly, even knowing that Oz and the other doctors often recommend products straight out of Quacksville.

Our idols would never steer us wrong, would they? I mean, Oz wouldn’t allow his fans to purchase remedies that have little basis in fact or that many in the scientific community agree are bogus. Test the “cures” and you will find that, in some cases, what they recommended is on par with the sort of thing you’ll find in a witches brew – bat wings, spider legs and crow bones. Continue reading →

Educational Limbo: How Low Can You Go?

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A few months ago Josh Niemi blogged about what he called “educational limbo.” Niemi believes that when tolerating the amount of moral mischief in their child’s school, each parent has a personal limit of how low they will go before removing them. In his piece he quotes Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis who said the following about public schools:

I think parents need to repent of just handing their kids over to the secular world. That’s what they’ve done. They’ve basically handed them over to a system. You know, it’s about time we faced up to it—the public education system, by and large, is nothing but a church of atheism. They’ve thrown the Bible out, they’ve thrown God out, they’ve thrown creation out, they say in their textbooks you can explain the whole of reality by natural processes. What is naturalism? It is atheism. Continue reading →

Farewell, Willow Creek: Where the ‘Regular’ Churches Can Go From Here

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“Well, Weeping Willow Creek and all others of its ilk, we’re on to you. We see the chinks in your armor, and they’re gaping open ever wider with each passing day. Another one of your empires has fallen, and others will follow soon.”

(Jonathan Aigner – Patheos) It looks like the beginning of the end at Willow Creek. They aren’t saying that, but I feel like that’s what’s happening.

If so, good riddance.

I’m sorry if I sound bitter. I’m not, really. More relieved than anything else. Saddened for the stories of abuse, gaslighting, and hero worship. Grieved by the commoditization of human hearts and souls, the theological void, and the liturgical collapse. But relieved that this sad chapter in American religious history is rattling to an end. And you can take the megachurch movement you spawned with you. Continue reading →

Bethel Faith Healer, Beni Johnson, Seeks Medical Treatment for Cancer

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“Johnson is married to one of the most famous faith-healers in the world who regularly claims to heal Stage-4 cancer. He teaches that with enough faith, one can be healed. He decrees and declares such things, and weekly claims to do it. His wife is receiving medical treatment at hospitals and from naturalists. Think about that for a minute.”

(Pulpit & Pen)  We should pray for healing to come to faith-healer, Beni Johnson, who has recently announced having cancer. Beni is the wife of Bill Johnson, with whom she serves as co-lead pastor of Bethel Church. Continue reading →

Colleges: A Force for Evil

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Rodney Swanson, a UCLA economics professor, told his class, “The United States of America, backed by facts, is the greediest and most selfish country in the world.”

(Walter E. Williams – Townhall)  Many of the nation’s colleges have become a force for evil and a focal point for the destruction of traditional American values. The threat to our future lies in the fact that today’s college students are tomorrow’s teachers, professors, judges, attorneys, legislators and policymakers. A recent Brookings Institution poll suggests that nearly half of college students believe that hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment. … Continue reading →

Newspaper Industry Seeks Character Assassination of President As Antifa Wants to Kill Him

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Photo credit Patriot Prayer

Here was my question to the progressive protesters (I asked everyone the same question): “If Donald Trump showed up here, what would you say or do?” Over half-dozen progressives voluntarily told me they would kill Trump. This is the definition of “Violence on both sides.”

(Judi McLeod – Canada Free Press)  Without ever blinking a jaundiced eye, 100 newspapers will follow the Boston Globe’s directive on Thursday with a collective hit job on President Donald Trump.

At press time, not a single newspaper had stepped forward to state that this is proof positive that there is no such thing as an objective free press; that what the Boston Globe is calling for is nothing less than a coordinated hate attack. Continue reading →

Arrest Warrant issued for NAR Apostle David Tomberlin – exposed for having multiple wives, kidnapping & prostitution?

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“This article hopes to provide resources for believers and non-believers on the criminal New Apostolic Reformation and its ‘Apostolic leaders’ who have not called out David Tomberlin, or told him to report to the proper authorities, in order to be properly investigated.”

(Churchwatch Central)   Once again, the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) network has allowed another criminal to remain within their ranks, despite reports alleging Thai Police having an arrest warrant issued for child kidnapping. Continue reading →

The New Apostolic Reformation – A Shelter for the Unqualified

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The Bible is absolutely clear regarding the qualifications for a pastor,” says Stephen Colin. In this piece over at Famine In The Land, Colin offers two examples of wolves in sheep’s clothing, Todd Bentley and Mark Driscoll, who have found shelter in the NAR cult, despite the fact that, according to 1 Timothy 3:2-7, both men have disqualified themselves from pastoral ministry.  Colin writes:

Bob Dylan, hailed as one of the great song writers of the 20th century penned a song called “Shelter from the Storm” in 1975. The lyrics to the song have been regarded as a poetic masterpiece, which is probably why he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016. The third verse in particular uses imagery which is akin to something we see in the visible church today. … Continue reading →

The Ten Most Hateful Americans and Why they Matter

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Language alert!

“John Brennan was Obama’s CIA director who once voted for Communist Gus Hall for president. This Deep State denizen, who many believe helped organized the Obama spying on the Trump camp during the election, is suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

(Frank Hawkins – American Thinker)  The American Left is stoking hatred and it’s tearing us apart. Our media is guilty of not only of failing to shame those responsible, in many cases they egg them on, giving them a platform. The volume of irrational hatred spewing into our ether is extremely unhealthy, even dangerous for our republic and the broader American culture. Continue reading →

BSF Leader resigns; warns members about 2018 Study

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From Berean Research:

This week, long-time Bible Study Fellowship International (BSF) leader Linda Davis is warning members signed up for this fall’s new study, People of the Promised Land. Davis is a BSF veteran of 22 years. Please consider sharing this link with women who are not on social media.

Also share our resources:

White Paper: Purpose Driven

White Paper: Spiritual Formation

White Paper: Emergent Church  Continue reading →

Getting ‘Unhitched’ from the Old Testament? Andy Stanley Aims at Heresy

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Megachurch pastor Andy Stanley describes the effort to retain much of the Old Testament as “intellectually ruinous and morally debilitating.” Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary & Boyce College, disagrees. He argues that because the Lord Jesus and the Apostles didn’t “unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish Scriptures” as Stanley urges Christians to do, we should pay no attention to him.  Moreover, Dr. Mohler warns:

We are looking here at the ancient heresy of Marcion, who argued that the Old Testament must be repudiated by the church. Marcion, who lived about the years 85-160, taught that the Old Testament revealed a Creator deity who is not even the same God who sent Jesus. Unsurprisingly, he also held to a heretical Christology.

Now listen to Dr. Mohler explain why he believes Andy Stanley’s teaching aims at heresy. He writes: Continue reading →

Having Faith in Doubt: A Response to Steven Furtick

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Let me say as this plainly as I know how: there is nothing of doubt in faith. God is not honored by doubt; doubting is not obedience to God. It is disobedience.

(Owen Strachan – For The Church) Doubt is back in the news. We’ve all heard a great deal about postmodernism over the years; one of the ways it continues to influence us as a culture is to make us prize uncertainty and distrust certainty. It seems more authentic, more truly human, even more virtuous, to live in gray areas than it is does to traffic in certitudes. You could sum up the spirit of the age like this: we’re being encouraged to have faith in doubt. Continue reading →

A tale of two confessions: Bill Hybels and Art Azurdia

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“The bottom line—when a pastor disqualifies himself because of immorality, his church needs to investigate, and then rebuke. They need to rebuke him publically, clearly, and directly.” 

(Jesse Johnson – The Cripplegate)  In the past month, two prominent pastors have had their private sins publicly exposed: Bill Hybels and Art Azurdia—one nationally known and whose fall was front page news, the other known only inside of evangelical circles and his fall reported largely on social media.

Both demonstrated conduct contrary to the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3, conduct that disqualifies them from being elders. Both committed adultery, and the fall of both men will obviously bring shame on the name of Christ. Continue reading →