Human trafficking in America among worst in world

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In 2018, the DOJ began 230 federal human trafficking prosecutions, a drop from 282 in 2017. Federal convictions rose from 499 in 2017 to 526 in 2018. More than 70 percent of the cases resulted in jail sentences of more than five years, according to the State Department report.

(Andrew Keiper, Perry Chiaramonte – Fox News)  Graphic video! The United States is again ranked as one of the worst countries in the world for human trafficking. According to a recently released report by the State Department, the top three nations of origin for victims of human trafficking in 2018 were the United States, Mexico and the Philippines. Continue reading →

Dealing With Anger

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

“Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly” (Prov. 14:29)

A wise man once compared the human personality to a minefield. “Some people,” he said, “have relatively few mines and interacting with them does not often provoke anger. Others have mines lined up side-by-side from one end of the field to the other, and it does not take much to push them over the edge into a fiery rage.”

All of us have mines buried in our personalities. Some of us respond calmly to most situations that upset us. But others among us explode with anger at the slightest provocation…. Continue reading →

Cultural and Theological Stockholm Syndrome

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“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.” 

(Joseph E Torres – truthxchange)  Stockholm Syndrome can be defined as the “psychological response wherein a captive begins to identify closely with his or her captors, as well as with their agenda and demands.”…. Continue reading →

Children of the Devil

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“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me” (vv. 44–45).  – John 8:41–47

First-century Jews took great pride in being descendants of Abraham, whom God chose to be His agent of blessing to the world and who was even called the “friend of God” (Gen. 12:1–3; James 2:23)…. Continue reading →

Beth Moore’s Beliefs on Homosexuality Are Called into Question in Open Letter from Bible Teachers

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The letter focus[es] heavily on Moore’s seemingly close relationships with two progressive Christian authors, Jen Hatmaker and Jonathan Merritt, who have openly shown support for the LGBTQ community. Merritt has even expressed that he had “at least one homosexual encounter about a decade ago.”

(Kayla Koslosky – Christian Headlines)  Nearly a half a dozen woman Bible teachers have called Christian author Beth Moore’s views on homosexuality into question this week. Continue reading →

Draining the Rainbow Swamp

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“Vengeance is His, let’s remember. But these harmful actions need to stop. And they will if enough of us keep saying “No.” “Drag Queen 101” was cancelled recently in Delaware and Licking counties in Ohio not because of “threats” as alleged but because enough people called, wrote, and said “No.” Even brave Republican lawmakers flexed their muscles. If thinking citizens do this, they will go away. It doesn’t take much, but it does take enough of us. And all the while, we must lift up prayers for these poor lost people.”

(Linda Harvey – Mission: America)  Have you had your fill of “pride” yet?

Corporations, government agencies, online sites, schools. AT&T, Walmart, Kellogg’s, Nationwide, Ikea. I was already on rainbow overload when I opened the mail. Continue reading →

Behind the music: The baffling views about God held by Bethel Music’s Amanda Lindsey Cook

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“Some of her songs that you may have heard include “You Make Me Brave,” “Closer,” and “I Will Exalt.” They’re played on Christian radio stations and sung in churches throughout the nation. But the combination of Cook’s half-baked theological views and the popularity of her music raises the question: does the songwriter’s viewpoint or intent matter when it comes to writing songs for others to worship God?”

(Holly Pivec – Spirit of Error)  I was baffled and dismayed by the responses in an interview the Christian Post conducted, in April, with Amanda Lindsey Cook, a prominent worship leader and songwriter with Bethel Music. The interview was about her most recent album, House on a Hill, and about what Cook was thinking about God as she wrote the songs for this album. Continue reading →

Tullian Tchividjian is Planting a New Church

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“You can’t “restore” yourself, people. Podcasts, blogs, and…churches with no moral standards can’t restore Tullian. The only ones who can restore Tchividjian are those who removed his credentials from ministry for his sins and subsequent lack of repentance. And they’re the ones who won’t restore Tchividjian if they’re responsible leaders.”

(Pulpit & Pen)  Tullian Tchividjian is the grandson of Billy Graham and a one-time replacement for the honorable D. James Kennedy at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. Theologically astute believers noticed Tchividjian’s slide into antinomianism – a dangerous teaching that makes light of God’s laws, morality, and piety – several years before his eventual dismissal from the ministry on account of an extra-marital affair…. Continue reading →

How Prayer Works

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When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.  Genesis 18:33 (Read Genesis 18:16-33)

This verse does not say, The Lord went his way when Abraham had finished speaking to Him. It says, When He had finished speaking to Abraham. In other words, Abraham did not quit here, God did. The verse suggests that God initiated this whole conversation with Abraham and led him along all through it, and when he had responded in fullness as God desired, God terminated the dialogue and went His way. So Abraham was not asking God to do something for him; it was God who prayed in Abraham and set the limits of the conversation. Continue reading →

SEBTS Secretly Scrubs Website of Critical Race Theory

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“It does not seem that SEBTS or SBC leadership is capable or willing to publicly repudiate the ideologies that it seems they only now are beginning to understand, even if they’re careful to scrub their websites or walk back their rhetoric in social media.”

(Pulpit & Pen)  BREAKING… Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, which is the ‘woke’ epicenter of Southern Baptist life, just secretly scrubbed its website of material explicitly promoting Critical Race Theory (CRT). After widespread criticism that the SBC adopted a resolution in favor of CRT, written about in publications like Pulpit & Pen and The Federalist, it seems that SEBTS has decided to reel back a bit on their overt promotion of the Marxist ideology, deciding instead to take it underground. Continue reading →

God’s holy name, misused and abused, even by believers

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(Marsha West – Christian Research Network)  You can run, you can hide, but you can’t get away from it, “God knows I’ve tried.”  It seems that wherever you go, whether it’s to the mall, a movie, the golf course, the hardware store, or even a buffet line, God’s name is being misused loudly and proudly.  It’s so common that most people don’t even notice.

But some of us do.

It’s rare to watch a TV program without hearing G-d this, G-d that….”Oh my G-d!”  Some people like to punctuate each word, “Oh – my – G-d.” Others say it as if it’s a single word, “OhmyG-d!” And there are those who shorten it to “Oh G-d” in a despairing tone. If he’s a guy of few words, just saying “G-d!” will make his point.  For added punch, some people tack on damn, as in “G-D America!” Continue reading →

The DNC Sold The Brooklyn Bridge To The FBI

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“When was Russia-was-behind-the-hack proven to be true? The FBI never tested the computers. The DNC at the time was constructing a Russia-did-it excuse to deflect attention from its damaging emails and did not want law enforcement to poke around its story too much.”

(Thomas Farnan – Human Events)  George C. Parker was a con man who specialized in selling unwary immigrants the Brooklyn Bridge. His ruse was discovered when the police had to arrest a few poor souls who set up toll booths on the access ramp. The resulting expression, “I have a bridge to sell you,” is a gibe at the victims of dumb frauds.

Last week, Andrew McCarthy ended his article about the dubious Russian origins of the Steele Dossier with the following statement: Continue reading →

The Shack author brings new ‘Reformation’ to the church

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“On Mother’s Day, the influence of The Shack was very clear when a congregation worshiped “Mama Ghost” and the “Mother”. A church leader spoke about the “Mother Heart of God” which is also the title of a Paul Young teaching. Reformation indeed.”

(John Lanagan – The Word Like Fire)  In an interview with The Shack author Paul Young several years ago,  Bethel Redding’s Kris Vallotton asked, “Do you think that this book is really a catalyst for Reformation in the church?” [1] (27:13 in video)

Paul Young replied, “I think this is part of whatever this is that the Holy Spirit is doing in the world.” [2] (27:23) Continue reading →

The Circumcised Life

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This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.  Genesis 17:10

What a strange thing this is, literally carving in the flesh the sign of God’s lordship! This is the great sign of the Jews, intended by God to be the mark of His possession, that they were God’s instrument to use as a blessing among the nations. It was placed upon this particular part of the body to indicate that they were to be physically separate from the other nations. The very organ by which that separation could be violated bore upon it the mark of God’s ownership. As we read the course of Jewish history, we see how this mark, intended to be the sign of humility and instrumentality, became perverted into a mark of superiority and favoritism…. Continue reading →

Teachings of the 2018 Revoice Conference may split the Presbyterian Church in America

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This piece by Rev. Steven Warhurst is entitled “Responding to Revoice: The Case for Overture 28 at the PCA General Assembly (Part One).” An overture is the request of a presbytery for action by the General Assembly upon a specific matter. According to Rev. Warhurst “The Revoice Conference speakers affirmed homosexual orientation as a legitimate part of their identity; something that should not be condemned or changed. Overture 28 offers a different perspective.” Rev. Steven Warhurst’s overture is published on The Aquila Report: 

The Revoice Conference speakers repeatedly affirmed homosexual orientation as a legitimate part of their identity; something that should not be condemned or changed.[i]Ray Low condemned those who recommended counseling to help change his orientation.[ii] Greg Johnson expressed skepticism about whether sexual orientation could change[iii]and rejected the possibility of repenting of attractions.[iv] Continue reading →

High school athletes file complaint over transgender policy

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Transgender track stars Terry Miller & Andraya Yearwood

“We all know the outcome of the race before it even starts; it’s demoralizing. I fully support and am happy for these athletes for being true to themselves. They should have the right to express themselves in school, but athletics have always had extra rules to keep the competition fair.“

(Dave Collins – Fox News)  Three Connecticut girls who have run high school track have filed a federal discrimination complaint saying a statewide policy on transgender athletes has cost them top finishes in races and possibly college scholarships. Continue reading →

When Normality Became Abnormal

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Unhinged comedian Kathy Griffin holds bloody Donald Trump mask.

“Trump so unhinged the Left that it finally tore off its occasional veneer of moderation, and showed us what progressives had in store for America. On one side in 2020 is socialism, “Medicare for All,” wealth taxes, top income tax rates of 70 or 80 or 90 percent, a desire for a Supreme Court full of “wise Latinas” like Sonia Sotomayor, insidious curtailment of the First and Second Amendments, open borders, blanket amnesties, reparations, judges as progressive legislators, permissible infanticide, abolition of student debt, elimination of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau and the Electoral College, voting rights for 16-year-olds and felons, and free college tuition.” 

(Victor Davis Hanson – American Greatness)  Donald Trump is many things. But one thing he is not is a defender of the 2009-2016 status quo and accepted progressive convention. Since 2017, everything has been in flux. Lots of past conventional assumptions of the Obama-Clinton-Romney-Bush generation were as unquestioned as they were suspect. No longer. Continue reading →

God Almighty

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When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. Genesis 17:1

After thirteen years of silence, God appears to Abram in a new revelation and with a new name—God Almighty. In the Hebrew it is El Shaddai, which essentially means the God who is sufficient, the all-competent God, the adequate God who knows what He is doing and how to do it. This is an indication that Abram has learned something from his recent bitter experience. God says, in effect, You have been learning for thirteen years the total inadequacy of your own efforts through Ishmael…. Continue reading →

In Stunning Reversal, Roman Catholics to Ordain Married Men as Priests, Women as Clergy

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The official announcement came yesterday after consultations between the Vatican and Catholics in the Amazon region. Most commentators believe that the decision was made because Rome sees South America as the future of the Roman Catholic church. As “Christianity” fades in Europe, its center of growth is increasingly in the Western Hemisphere and, in particular, South America.

(Pulpit & Pen)  As Pulpit & Pen first reported in November of 2017, the Romanist church was considering the ordination of married men as priests. Chiefly, the Vatican was considering the changes because of a shortage of celibate men to choose from the Amazon region. Now, the Vatican has officially embraced married men as clergy. Continue reading →

US Supreme Court Throws Out Ruling Against Oregon Bakery, Sends Case Back to Lower Court for Review

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Aaron and Melissa Klein of Sweet Cakes by Melissa were fined $135,000 four years ago after Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) Commissioner Brad Avakian declared that they had discriminated against two lesbian women for declining to help out with their same-sex “wedding.”

(Heather Clark – Christian News Network)  The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated an adverse ruling against an Oregon couple who declined to create a cake for a same-sex “wedding,’ and has sent the case back to the Oregon Court of Appeals to review the matter in light of its decision in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, which found that hostility toward religion tainted its action against the bakery. Continue reading →

Defecting from Todd White & ‘lifestyle’ Christianity

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There’s an important documentary we highly recommend that warns Christians about the Word of Faith movement. Todd White, who’s featured in the documentary, is a leader in the New Order of the Latter Rain and New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) heresy. White teaches that when people are spiritually baptized they become Sons of God, little Gods, or Kings Kids (like Jesus). Find out more about the documentary from Churchwatch Central:

A major Christian documentary, ‘American Gospel: Christ Alone’, has been produced to warn Christians around the world of what has become ‘America’s most dreadful export’, the Word of Faith movement…. Continue reading →

Deception is rooted in unbelief

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53 When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. 54 He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? Matthew 13:53-58 (NASB)  (Read verses 56-58 on the site)

The condition of the “visible church” in our time is quite tragic.  It is full of professing Christians who appear to be running headlong into apostasy in ever increasing numbers. In this post we will attempt to look at what it is in these people that has brought this about. Why have they fallen into darkness and we have not? There are leaders amongst those on the broadway that leads to apostasy that have a problem taking God’s Word as absolute truth…. Continue reading →

How many sins will it take for the Southern Baptist Convention to disqualify false teachers?

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Photo from “Aesop’s Fables”

“Check the shelves at LifeWay. Select twenty average SBC churches with women’s ministries and see whose books, DVDs, and simulcasts are being used again and again. Peruse the speakers at popular SBC conferences.  You’ll find names like Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Lysa TerKeurst,  Christine Caine, Ann Voskamp, Sarah Young, Andy Stanley, Steven Furtick, Rick Warren, and T.D. Jakes, just to name a few.”

(Michelle Lesley) Think back to your childhood. Remember the story, The Emperor’s New Clothes?

Once upon an time, there lived an emperor. One day two swindlers came to his palace and told him they could weave cloth for his royal robes that was magical: to those who were foolish or unfit for their jobs, it would appear invisible…. Continue reading →