Commentary, analysis and opinion.

Dance, Monkey. An Open Letter to John Crist, Re: Lauren Daigle

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On Instagram, Christian comedian John Crist told critics to “just shut up” about CCM artist Lauren Daigle, who got slammed for avoiding answering a question about her views on homosexuality. Crist also commented on megachurch pastor John Gray who reportedly gave his wife a $200,000 Lamborghini for her birthday. To Gray’s critics he said “shut your mouth.” JD Hall of Pulpit & Pen responded thusly:

John,

You’re funny. I’ve laughed at your videos and shared them around multiple times. I’ve never looked to you as a church leader of any kind because as far as I know, your primary contribution to Christianity is to make people laugh. Continue reading →

What Does it Mean to be Led by the Holy Spirit?

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“If we rely solely upon inner peace, feelings, dreams, visions, or impressions, then we are not being led by the Holy Spirit. We are merely being led by ourselves, or worse.”

(Eric Davis – The Cripplegate)  We face a lot of decisions in life. Many of these can be tricky, having no particular Bible verse directly associated. Nevertheless, we are commanded to glorify God in everything we do (1 Cor. 10:31). And Christians want to honor God in all they do. But it’s not always easy to discern how to do so. Continue reading →

Five Big Differences Between JMac and the Papist on Ben Shapiro’s Program

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Bishop Robert Barron

Barron very clearly said that Shapiro could be saved by Christ “indirectly received” by following their conscience or by following the laws of Moses.

(JD Hall – Pulpit & Pen)  The religion of Jesus is entirely different from the religion of the Roman Catholic Church. They hold to a different gospel. They are two different religions. Practitioners of those religions have two different eternal fates.

Dr. John MacArthur gave a good effort at presenting the Gospel authentically and accurately to Ben Shapiro, an Orthodox Jew, on Shapiro’s program several weeks ago. David Limbaugh, another evangelical, gave a perspective on Christianity that was not much different than MacArthur’s just a week later. Continue reading →

Are Creationists Trying to Stop ‘Sound Science Education’?

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“My challenge to AU (as I gave to Bill Nye “the Science Guy”): name one technological achievement that requires belief in naturalistic evolution. There’s none!” 

(Ken Ham – Answers In Genesis)  A blog appeared recently on the website for Americans United for Separation of Church and State titled, “Creationists Remain Hard at Work Trying to Block Sound Science Education.” It laments the tide of public opinion against evolution in the US and the way this influences how teachers present evolutionary ideas in the classroom. But I think headline should read instead, “AU Works Hard to Stop Every Student from Being Taught the Truth Regarding Evolution.” Continue reading →

George Soros and his ‘rented evangelicals’ outed by Christian leaders

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What’s going on here is not so much Christianity as it is partisan politicking under cover of religious teaching. It’s the furtherance of a George Soros style of progressivism, but cloaked in Christianity — and backed by George Soros bucks — and made all the worse by the initial denials of the George Soros ties.

(Cheryl K. Chumley – The Washington Times)  A new video from the American Association of Evangelicals reveals how George Soros, through his many funding ventures, has been busily infiltrating the Christian base in America to divide, and ultimately conquer, the religious minded within the Republican Party. Continue reading →

Anti-Gay?—Get Out of the Way!

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“In spite of constant repetition, the cultural divide is not between hate-filled traditionalists and love-inspired progressives. It is an irreconcilable conflict of two opposing worldviews that affects our understanding of the deep meaning of life. It is the conflict between what the Apostle Paul calls in Romans 1:25 the Truth (worship of the Creator, Twoism) and the Lie (rejection of the Creator and worship of nature, Oneism).” 

(Peter Jones – truthXchange)  We constantly hear that the American culture is irredeemably split politically and ideologically, perhaps even close to civil war. Rarely is the cause of the split ever identified. Certain language is simply dismissed as hate speech, which means that some issues cannot even be discussed in respectful ways. The British periodical, The Spectator, gets close to an explanation of the current “yellow vest” rebellion in France against elitist progressivism: Continue reading →

Boys can have periods too, children to be taught in latest victory for transgender campaigners

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“We believe that it’s important for all genders to be able to learn and talk about menstruation together… Our approach recognises the fact that some people who have periods are trans or non-binary.” 

(Henena Horton – The Telegraph)  School children will be taught that “all genders” can have periods in new sex education lessons, in a victory for transgender rights campaigners.

The advice to teachers was approved by Brighton & Hove City Council as they try to tackle stigma around menstruation. Continue reading →

Medicalizing the Absurd

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“Now the problem becomes clear: The structure of this definition provides the grounds of removing moral evaluation from any morally deviant action (sin) whatsoever.”

(Joseph E. Torres – truthXchange)  In 1973, Karl Menninger wrote Whatever Became of Sin? He was responding to a cultural move away from any concept of moral transgression. The sociologists and psychologists of the day redefined what Western Christianity had always considered as sinful fruit of dark and hardened hearts. Instead, they argued that those effects, whether individual or corporate, were due to physical hardwiring, societal conditioning, or poor childrearing. Continue reading →

An Ethics Lesson For USA Today’s ‘Queer’ Bullies

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“How does lying in wait for unknown months or years (when Gleeson could have “resurfaced” the old tweets at any time) and publishing a smear in the middle of the night before giving Murray a chance to respond comport with the newspaper’s promises that…”

(Michelle Malkin – Daily Wire)  This week, I did something that USA Today’s executive leadership apparently hadn’t done lately: I read the newspaper’s “principles of ethical conduct for newsrooms.” Continue reading →

Drag Performance In Luther Seminary’s Chapel

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“[T]he ELCA is doing the work of Satan by encouraging sin and not helping people turn from these destructive lifestyles and desires.” 

(Dan Skogen – Exposing the ELCA)  Do you think God approves of a man, dressed in drag, “singing” a provocative song in a chapel, on the chancel, next to the altar? Well, that is exactly what happened recently at an ELCA seminary chapel, a school charged with raising up pastors who will be shepherds to ELCA members. The school is Luther Seminary, a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) located in St. Paul, MN.

Luther Seminary is the largest pastor-producing seminary in the ELCA. ​ Continue reading →

‘Shout Your Abortion’ Campaign Gains Steam as More Women Brag About Aborting Their Babies

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“Often when somebody has an abortion, it’s the same celebration, it’s the same joy, it’s the same relief that is present when I’m helping a woman have a baby,” said Dr. Yashica Robinson, who maintains a private OB-GYN practice in Huntsville, Alabama.

(Micaiah Bilger – LifeNews)  A project where women brag about aborting their unborn babies is gaining momentum once again with publicity surrounding its new book, “Shout Your Abortion.”

The pro-abortion campaign of the same name took off three years ago with Seattle woman Amelia Bonow. Since then, it has been promoted by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Amy Brenneman and Martha Plimpton, women’s magazines, and national news outlets. Continue reading →

Something Wiccan This Way Comes

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“This upsurge of occult beliefs and religions in this country, though often political and consumeristic, is still a sign that forces of darkness are at work. For one thing, all false faiths lead people—including people within the church—away from Christ, and that has eternal consequences.”

(John Stonestreet – BreakPoint)  Occult spirituality is on the rise, even among Christians. Is it just pop culture or is it the Prince of Darkness? My guess: it’s both. Continue reading →

The Terrorism of Trans Tyranny

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“The number of children identifying as transgender is on the rise. Referrals to the NHS’s Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service have increased by an astonishing 2,500 per cent in the past nine years. Psychotherapist Bob Withers is concerned that large numbers of children are being transitioned unnecessarily, and that discussion of this phenomenon is being closed down by trans activists….”

(Bill Muehlenberg – Culture Watch) Hot on the heels of the homosexual assault on everything is the non-stop trans war on everything. The trans militants have declared war on children, on family, on society, on sexuality, on biology, and on reality. Have I left anything out? Just as countless individuals have suffered from the radical homosexual agenda, so too with the trans tyrants. Continue reading →

Hard times at Harvest

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James MacDonald – photo credit Wikimedia Commons

Former elders, pastors, and staffers from Chicago’s Harvest Bible Chapel accuse the church of financial mismanagement and a culture of deception and intimidation

(Julie Roys – World Magazine) Five years ago, Harvest Bible Chapel, a Chicago-area megachurch with multiple campuses and an average weekly attendance exceeding 12,000, sent shock waves through the Christian community when it publicly excommunicated two former elders and indirectly censured a third.

The edict was news beyond Chicago because James MacDonald is Harvest’s pastor: His Walk in the Word radio and TV ministry reaches millions weekly. Harvest also is home to Vertical Worship, Vertical Church Films, Vertical Church Network, and Harvest Christian Academy in Elgin, Ill., and Camp Harvest in Newaygo, Mich. Continue reading →

Do You Have Prayer ADHD?

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“No matter how you pray, the point is, pray. It’s a mechanism that is commanded, after all, but it is also a grace that we have been given as a gift. Practice focusing on what you are saying to the Lord and not drifting off, because He is standing right there with you (and me) after all.”

(Elizabeth Prata – The End Time)  I saw a meme on Facebook that made me laugh. I can’t find it again, but it went something like, ‘I have prayer ADHD, I start, drift into thinking other things, then come back saying ‘Where was I, Lord?’ Continue reading →

Candy Canes, Truthful Pronouns and Jesus: Fears that Torment the Left

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“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31), which is the probable destiny (unless they repent) of these proud unbelievers; or the Christ-avoiding, spell-casting witches; or the intentionally hateful and defamatory Southern Poverty Law Center.”

(Linda Harvey – Mission: America)  You’ve heard of “FOMO”— fear of missing out? It’s the driver of much social media traffic as the perennially insecure seek constant connection and validation.

Well, look out for a new acronym applied to hard leftists: “FOCC.”

Fear of candy canes. Continue reading →

Making Pedophilia Respectable

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This is one of the most disturbing articles you will ever read. I urge you to read it anyway, the whole thing. Get your head out of the sand, brethren. The push to normalize pedophilia is not going away. In fact, the movement is growing. In his piece over at American Conservative, Rod Dreher reveals that there’s a community of “MAPs” (minor-attracted persons) on Twitter. Twitter scours the platform for anti-trans content “but are perfectly content with tolerating pedophile community-building.”  But this is not about Twitter’s apparent acceptance of pedo-pervs.  It’s about the academic community. Dreher reports that a “peer-reviewed academic quarterly has just published [a] convicted pedophile’s philosophical argument for legalizing the rape of children.”  Wrap your mind around that, he chides.

Now, read it and weep: Continue reading →

How Much Blood Would Leftists Be Willing To Shed To Disarm Patriotic Americans?

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“Rep. Swalwell, some people are going to fight rather than cave in, so what’s the number of bodies you would be willing to pile up to win? Let’s put aside the right or wrong of resistance; it’ll be a thing. It’ll happen.” 

(Kurt Schlichter)  My question for Congressjerk Eric Swalwell is pretty simple: “How many Americans would you murder to achieve your goal of disarming us?”

It’s a fair question.  Continue reading →

Netflix Tells Kids To Learn About Sex By Watching The ‘American Pie’ Films

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“While considered tame by today’s standards, where every cable and streaming show features sex and nudity in nearly every scene, “American Pie” was notorious for pushing the raunchy humor envelope in the late-’90s to new extremes. The most famous (for better or worse) scene featured the main character, Jim, getting intimate with an apple pie.” 

(Paul Bois – Daily Wire)  Gone are the days when children would learn about the birds and bees in a chat with mom and dad by the fireplace. In progressive 2018, the headmasters of Netflix are the great educators, and they have the perfect instructional materials to broaden the little tykes’ horizons: the “American Pie” movies.  Continue reading →

Domenick Nati, Lauren Daigle, & Homosexuality

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“When thrown into the deep waters of mainstream media a Christian must determine to swim. What Lauren did was drown, and you helped. I don’t know if Lauren Daigle was lying, but I do know that as a professing Christian you lied to her.” 

(Costi Hinn – For The Gospel)  Lauren Daigle recently made headlines for an interview with Domenick Nati. Right near the end of his clip with her, he said he wanted to ask about her stance, as a Christian, on homosexuality and whether it’s a sin. Her response:

“I can’t honestly answer on that, in the sense of I have too many people that I love and they are homosexuals. I can’t say one way or the other, I’m not God. When people ask questions like that, I just say, ‘Read the Bible and find out for yourself. And when you find out let me know because I’m learning too.’”

Domenick’s response to her was, “Wow, you’re a pro already!” Continue reading →

A Jesus Calling for Christmas Special

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In this piece, Gabriel Hughes shares everything he’s written after reading through Jesus Calling, the flagship title of Sarah Young’s bestselling devotional series. He informs us that publisher Thomas Nelson recently released Jesus Calling for Christmas.  The new book in the series should not be purchased by anyone, let alone Christians. Pastor Gabe explains why:

A Tale as Big as a Kite

At the start of the year, I posted a blog about the book God Calling by Two Listeners, Sarah Young’s chief inspiration for her bestselling devotional. The two anonymous women behind God Calling likely never existed—author A.J. Russell invented them to give his own writing the appearance of being verified by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Nevertheless, Young followed the method for receiving messages from God detailed in the introduction to God Calling. Continue reading →

Donald Trump and Dead Religion at the Bush Funeral

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“What should not be lost is that some of the presidents who did recite the creed show absolutely no dedication to living out biblical convictions.  While they may be more civil in tone than Trump, the Clintons and Obamas are some of the most anti-life, pro-LGBT politicians in the history of the United States.” 

(Seth Dunn – Pulpit & Pen)  The internet was abuzz today, especially the mainstream media, with criticism of Donald Trump.  While daily criticism of the President is nothing new, today’s story is unique in that it has a religious overtone.   Trump, along with the other living US Presidents, was in attendance at today’s funeral service for George H. W. Bush. …  Continue reading →