Harvest Elders Put James MacDonald on ‘Indefinite Sabbatical’ & Announce ‘Peacemaking Process’

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In an addendum to the elder email, MacDonald wrote a short note admitting to battling “cycles of injustice, hurt, anger, and fear which have wounded others without cause.” He added that he has “carried great shame about this pattern” and added that he wants to address “these recurring patterns” and looks forward to a “welcomed time of sabbatical rest.”

(Julie Roys)  Rocked by allegations of  financial impropriety and abuse, Harvest Bible Chapel today announced that founding and senior pastor, James MacDonald, is taking an “indefinite sabbatical from all preaching and leadership in Chicago.” (MacDonald will continue to preach and teach from Harvest’s newest campus in Naples, Florida.) The church also announced it is launching a “peacemaking process,” which will seek to “identify and address our personal failures, sins, and errors in leadership.” Continue reading →

Come to Jesus

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. John 6:35-37 (NASB) 

Human reason is nothing more than worldly wisdom which is useless for anyone to rely on in order to be saved. On the other hand, our salvation is a work by all three persons in the Holy Trinity. God the Father chose his people before the foundation of the world. He set into motion all of the circumstances that would result in all of them becoming part of the Family of God. The Son, Jesus Christ, became the God-Man. He became flesh and dwelt among us. …  View article →

Is Saving the Earth More Important than Saving Souls?

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Following is #10 in a series by Michael J. Kruger, “The 10 Commandments of Progressive Christianity.” Kruger warns that one trend to look out for in the Progressive (Social Justice) “Christian” movement is when they claim uncertainty on the front end, but then smuggle their own “certain” (unbiblical) convictions through the back door.  Progressive Christianity, “downplays doctrine for morality, focuses on man instead of God, and claims uncertainty while all the while being very certain.”

Here’s #10 in Kruger’s series on Canon Fodder:

Over the past year, I have slowly worked my way through my series on “The 10 Commandments of Progressive Christianity.”  It’s an examination of 10 core tenets of progressive (or liberal) Christianity offered by Richard Rohr, but really based on the book by Philip Gulley. Continue reading →

‘THE SMOKING GUN’: Google Manipulated YouTube Search Results for Abortion, Maxine Waters, David Hogg

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“The software engineer noted that the change had occurred following an inquiry from a left-wing Slate journalist about the prominence of pro-life videos on YouTube, and that pro-life videos were replaced with pro-abortion videos in the top ten results for the search terms following Google’s manual intervention.”

(Breitbart)  In sworn testimony, Google CEO Sundar Pichai told Congress last month that his company does not “manually intervene” on any particular search result. Yet an internal discussion thread leaked to Breitbart News reveals Google regularly intervenes in search results on its YouTube video platform – including a recent intervention that pushed pro-life videos out of the top ten search results for “abortion.” Continue reading →

Majority of Americans Say Abortion Should Be Restricted, New Poll Finds

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“The poll, which randomly selected and surveyed 1,066 American adults about their opinion exclusively on abortion, found that 83 percent of Americans agree that laws can protect both the health and well-being of a woman and the life of the unborn.”

(Courtney Joyner – The Daily Signal)  A poll released Tuesday just ahead of the 46th March for Life demonstration in Washington, D.C, shows the majority of Americans support tighter restrictions on abortion, and would even like to see the landmark Roe v. Wade decision “reinterpreted” to allow more restrictions. Continue reading →

3 Reasons Why Gillette’s ‘Toxic Masculinity’ Ad Is Incredibly Stupid And Degrading

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“The vast majority of men are not rapists or harassers and were, prior to this past year, already staunchly opposed to both activities. There was nothing epiphanic or revolutionary about Me Too for us. To insinuate that we learned that rape and assault are bad, or that we needed to learn such a lesson, is patronizing in the extreme.”

(Matt Walsh – Daily Wire)  The fine folks at Gillette recently decided to take a break from peddling overpriced razors and instead focus on insulting their entire customer base. Presumably taking the advice of a marketing agency staffed exclusively by pink-haired feminists, Gillette released an ad this week which encourages men to stop raping and bullying and doing all of the other things that men will inevitably do until their shaving cream tells them not to. Continue reading →

Why did Jesus wash the disciples’ feet?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 4 *got up from supper, and *laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.  John 13:1-11 (NASB)  (Read verses 5-11 on the site)

My brethren, the next time we even begin to think we have become mature believers who have passed all the tests and have totally crucified the flesh, et cetera, we need to reread passages like this one. Do we go and ‘wash the feet’ of our enemies? Do we cling to our animosity against those who have wronged us as if it is “our right” or do we humble ourselves, forgive them and serve them as our Lord would? Notice carefully my brethren that even though our Lord did all of this for Judas Iscariot, it changed nothing. He still betrayed our Lord. View article →

The Charles Finney Cornucopia of False Doctrine, Pelagianism & Evangelical Manipulation

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“Finney didn’t believe in the substitutionary atonement, instead he believed that Christ’s death on the cross was simply demonstrating obedience to God. Since Jesus was obedient enough to go all the way to death on the cross, we should do likewise. Christ didn’t so much accomplish something on the cross (pay for our sins) as He was setting a good example for us to follow. This alters the meaning of the Gospel completely!”

(Steven Kozar – Messed Up Church)   Charles G. Finney (1792-1875) was the father of “Revivalism” in America, the most prominent preacher of the Second Great Awakening, and in many ways the father of modern Evangelicalism in America. He is often considered the predecessor of American Evangelists/Revivalists like D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday and Billy Graham. … Continue reading →

The New, New Anti-Semitism

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“The new, new anti-Semites do not see themselves as giving new life to an ancient pathological hatred; they’re only voicing claims of the victims themselves against their supposed oppressors. The new, new anti-Semites’ venom is contextualized as an “intersectional” defense from the hip, the young, and the woke against a Jewish component of privileged white establishmentarians — which explains why the bigoted are so surprised that anyone would be offended by their slurs.”

(Victor Davis Hanson – National Review)  The old anti-Semitism was mostly, but not exclusively, a tribal prejudice expressed in America up until the mid 20th century most intensely on the right. It manifested itself from the silk-stocking country club and corporation (“gentlemen’s agreement”) to the rawer regions of the Ku Klux Klan’s lunatic fringe. Continue reading →

‘Daily Show’ Creator Lizz Winstead: Unborn Babies Are ‘Medical Waste’

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Most recently, Lizz Winstead’s Lady Parts Justice League launched a pro-abortion comedy tour to teach women that promoting abortion could be “fun.” 

(Paul Bois – Daily Wire)  The pressure put against abortion during the age of President Trump has pushed “The Daily Show” creator Lizz Winstead into saying some of the most hateful rhetoric yet toward pro-lifers and the unborn. Continue reading →

Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” James 2:14-18 (NASB) 

The passage I placed at the beginning of this article is one the most abused and misunderstood passages that I know of. If it is read casually, it can be easily misunderstood. If it is exposited by someone possessing a faulty hermeneutic, it can be twisted to say what no other part of the Bible teaches, that faith plus works is required for salvation. View article →

An FBI that is corrupt and dishonest — Latest reports offer only more proof

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion

The investigation had been running for ten months. Comey admitted, “In fact, when I was fired as director, I still didn’t know whether there was anything to it.”  Nevertheless, top officials at the FBI opened their investigation of Trump in May of 2017 without sufficient evidence and in direct violation of FBI and DOJ regulations.  They broke the law.  And they did it to depose Trump.

(Gregg Jarrett – Fox News)  Dishonesty and corruption are endemic at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The latest proof comes in a New York Times report that the FBI initiated an investigation in May of 2017 into whether President Donald Trump was serving as a covert Russian agent.  The accusation itself was ludicrous on its face.  But from a legal standpoint, the FBI’s probe constituted an egregious abuse of power.  The Bureau had no probable cause, no evidence, and no reasonable suspicions.  They investigated Trump because they could.  They defied the law, ignored or perverted facts, and debased the integrity of a heretofore-respected law enforcement agency. Continue reading →

American Psychological Association States Men are the Cause of Society’s Woes

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“Make no mistake here, the APA’s report is not science; it’s a worldview. That worldview is against traditional masculinity, with the end goal being to stomp out any form of biblical or traditional manhood.”

(Richard Haas – Pulpit & Pen)  For years now, the APA has been at the forefront of legitimizing progressive gender and sexual ideologies; that is just what they did in this new report on boys and men. The report is the first of its kind from the APA, which in the past has issued “guidelines” for girls and women, as well as for so-called “sexual minorities.”  Simply put, this report is full of vain conclusions that are less clinical recommendations than they are naked worldview assertions. Continue reading →

‘Gay Christians’ Seeking to Hook Up? – There’s an App For That

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“Gay Christianity” is being made increasingly popular by the acceptance and promotion of openly gay church leaders such as Sam Allberry of Living Out, who is currently being promoted by the popular Gospel Coalition and the ERLC of the Southern Baptist Convention. 

(Reformation Charlotte)  In the wake of a major push for acceptance of homosexuality in the Christian community, particularly among left-leaning progressive denominations, a need has arisen for those professing to be Christians, yet still living a sexually deviant and immoral lifestyle to have easy access for, well, hook-ups. Continue reading →

Christians are to be unified in love while not being divided over every wind of doctrine

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25 (NASB) 

On one hand, we are commanded in Sacred Scripture to stand firm while holding to God’s truth as “The Truth” with no exceptions. On the other hand, we are also commanded in the same Word of God to walk in unity with the whole Body of Christ. Unfortunately, many today insist on the latter while teaching that in order to obey it we must totally neglect the former. …  View article →

Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

4 We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. Psalms 78:4 (NASB) 

God is good. He is beyond our comprehension in His magnificence and the depths of His mercy. He is Holy, Righteous, and Just. He is Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Immutable. Oh, let us praise Him from grateful hearts.

1 I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever. Psalms 145:1 (NASB)  View article →

Mary Poppins Returns: Echoes of the Gospel?

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“The children often can’t believe what Mary Poppins proposes. But she says with a grin, “Everything is possible, even the impossible.” Did not Jesus say something similar? “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27).”

(Steven Ingino – The Cripplegate)  Rebooting a classic is never easy. Just read the critics of the new Star Wars series, and you’ll see what I mean. It is always difficult to retain the flavor of a classic while also reshaping it for a modern audience. But, after seeing Mary Poppins Returns with my family, I was surprised by how Disney was able to capture the “magic” of the original, with a new cast, new music, and new plot, some 54 years later. Continue reading →

The Racist Speech a Christian College Doesn’t Want the Public to Hear

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Ryan Bomberger gave “an expletive-free, fact-based, statistics-driven, Biblically-rooted, deeply personal and grace-filled discussion on the systemic racism of the abortion industry and the hypocrisy of the pro-abortion #BlackLivesMatter movement. … My entire message was branded as “offensive rhetoric” that made “many students, staff and faculty of color” feel “unsafe” on their campus. And now, the school has cancelled the College Republicans’ next event…

(Ryan Bombeger – Townhall)  This is the tale of two lectures at Wheaton College, a Christian evangelical college in the suburbs of Chicago. One was given in September 2017 and the other in November 2018. Though only a year apart, the responses to the two presentations were universes apart. The reaction is very telling and tragic for those who believe that a Christian education is different than a secular one. Continue reading →

Therapy bans and trans regret

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As of Jan. 1, adult residents of New York City may change their gender to “X” on their birth certificates and parents may choose “X” for the gender of newborn babies. The City Council passed the measure in a 41-6 vote in September, and Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the bill in October, saying, “You be you. Live your truth. Know that New York City will have your back.”

(Joel Maas & Kiley Crossland – World)   The success of LGBT activists in dictating how therapists counsel minors about sexuality and gender dysphoria continues to gain momentum as we head into 2019. Some pro-LGBT groups want to make it illegal for therapists to encourage children to embrace heterosexuality or their biological sex and expect legislative victories in at least four states this year: Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York. Continue reading →

6 Ways Your Credibility is Crushed When You Defend a False Teacher

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“Jesus says that following and defending false teachers doesn’t match your claim to be one of His sheep (a Christian). And rejecting incontrovertible biblical truth because you consider it to be foolishness is a symptom of someone who isn’t saved. Either you’re a genuinely born again Christian who embraces biblical teaching and rejects false teachers or you embrace false teachers and reject biblical teaching because you’ve never truly been born again. The Bible says you can’t do both at the same time.”  

(Michelle Lesley)  It’s so predictable it would be almost comical if it weren’t so wearisome and worrisome. Every time I write an article about a false teacher or mention on social media that someone is a false teacher, her disciples come out of the woodwork to defend her. Continue reading →

Yes, There Is A Crisis At The Border — The Numbers Show It

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“Even if Cato [Institute] is right that the crime rate among Hispanic illegals is a bit lower than for natives, that’s cold comfort to victims of these crimes, which would not have happened had the border been more secure. They would likely agree with Trump about their being a crisis at the border.”

(Investor’s Business Daily)  Democrats and the mainstream press accuse President Donald Trump of manufacturing a crisis at the border. The numbers tell another story. Continue reading →

Looking at Christine Caine’s Speech at Passion 2019

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“In addition to Caine’s Word of Faith doctrines showing her as a false teacher, she was inappropriate elsewhere in her speech. She spoke twice of how husbands can be “getting some action” out of their wives. She spoke of a skiing accident where she was loaded onto a stretcher and bemoaned the fact that she wasn’t wearing any underwear. Yes, these items were included in her speech to thousands of teenage and young male adults listening. Should a teacher or pastor say this ever? Of course not.”

(Elizabeth Prata – The End Time)  The Passion 2019 conference concluded last weekend. The event has expanded to four simultaneous venues spread among three cities, and all four were sold out. A total of just over 43,000 youths between the ages of 18-25 were in attendance. Continue reading →

Parents beware: Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria a social contagion among girls

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“The weight of support for subjecting healthy young women to experimental medical procedures that will render them infertile and may permanently damage them in other ways is crushing for parents who want to save their daughters.”

(Dorothy Cummings McLean – LifeSiteNews)  A new social contagion, called Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria, is making families miserable as previously contented girls attempt to become boys through hormones and surgery. Continue reading →

Liberals’ plans extend health care to illegals, placing them on par with U.S. citizens

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“The question is, should California’s taxpayers bear the financial burden of bad immigration policies by progressives in the state of California and now at the national level?”

(Valerie Richardson & Tom Howell Jr – The Washington Times)  New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that the city will provide illegal immigrants with a way to obtain affordable health care as part of a broader program to cover city residents traditionally shut out of insurance options. Continue reading →

Testing the Spirits

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 1 John 4:1-6 (NASB) 

It is one thing to confess Christ or profess to be a Christian and quite another to live and walk before the face of God within that confession or profession in obedience to God and His Word. There are so many in our time who claim to be Christians, but whose lives are marked by them speaking and living according to the world and its ways. I, like many of you, have become very perplexed when certain Christian leaders who profess all the right things are then seen to fellowship with those who are obvious apostates. If we are not careful and properly focused in our devotion, which is the definition of godliness, we can become discouraged because we are looking to men rather than our Saviour for the proper way to walk, minister, and confront false doctrine. Continue reading →