Christ Prays for You

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

“Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” (John 17:11b RSV)

This is the great prayer Jesus prayed before he went to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus is leaving these disciples by means of the garden, the betrayal, the judgment seat of Pilate, and the cross, and to them it appeared that he was abandoning them. They felt frightened, helpless, alone, and unable to understand what was taking place. They could not see that our Lord was merely introducing a higher and a better relationship to them. Continue reading on Ray Stedman Daily Devotions

To Unpack Roma Downey’s Box of Butterflies Is to Discover a Core False Teaching

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Reviews ∙ , ,

New Age, Roman Catholic mystic Roma Downey has a new book to sell. So she has turned to several evangelical luminaries to help promote her book. Check out who the people are who “rave over Roma’s every word.” Names are included as well as a few key words/phrases taken from their glowing testimonials.

But this is not about so-called evangelical leaders who endorse the work of false teachers like Roma. Lois Putnam of Learn to Discern Granny has written a stellar review of Downey’s book Box of Butterflies: Discovering the Unexpected Blessings All Around Us: Continue reading →

Six Key Points From the DOJ Inspector General Report

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

The third exchange we identified was on November 22, 2016. FBI Attorney 2 sent an instant message to FBI Attorney 1 commenting on the amount of money the subject of an FBI investigation had been paid while working on the Trump campaign. FBI Attorney 1 responded, “Is it making you rethink your commitment to the Trump administration?” FBI Attorney 2 replied, “Hell no.” and then added, “Viva le resistance.”’

(Katie Pavlich – Townhall) DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a long awaited report Thursday afternoon detailing FBI behavior during the 2016 presidential election. Here are some important points found in the report: Continue reading →

When God Abandons A Nation

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

It is always instructive, it is always enlightening, it is sometimes literally scintillating to turn to the pages of God and see what it has to say and how relevantly it speaks to our time and to our lives. That will be true tonight as we turn in our Bibles to the first chapter of Romans. Romans chapter 1 and we’re going to be looking at a somewhat familiar portion of Scripture to anyone who is a student of the Bible. Romans chapter 1, beginning in verse 18 and running through the end of this chapter.

I’m going to read just the first verse to set the stage for the unfolding of this profound truth.Romans 1:18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” Continue reading →

Just Stop it, Part 4: How to Repent of Stealing

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“God gives you the ability to provide for your needs. Finding another avenue (like playing the lottery or pursuing get-rich-quick schemes or theft) is trying to sneak around God’s means of provision.”

Following is Clint Archer’s 4th installment of “Just Stop It” posted over at The Cripplegate:

Apparently, from what I learned online, for some people stealing proves to be quite difficult. According to the FBI, most modern-day bank robberies are “unsophisticated and unprofessional crimes.” Even though banks use surveillance cameras, 76% of robbers use no disguise. Some use disguises that aren’t convincing enough. Continue reading →

Ex-gays and ex-trans rally against California’s LGBT therapy ban

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“I take exception to the wording of this bill which calls the Gospel a fraud,” he said, explaining that the world once insisted that he identify as gay. “Yet I stand here today as a man married for 15 years, with three beautiful daughters.”   

(Doug Mainwaring – LifeSiteNews) – In an amazing show of force, 30 former gay and transgendered people took to a podium outside the California statehouse to oppose a proposed law banning therapy and printed resources helping those who seek freedom from LGBTQ+ identities and lifestyles. Continue reading →

Drag Queen Children TV Shows Coming to America, ‘Drag Tots!’ Features Cross-Dressing Toddlers

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

“Netflix is turning drag queens into animated superheroes, and RuPaul’s streaming service is turning drag queens into child superheroes.”

(Stoyan Zaimov – Christian Post)  At least two new animated television shows about drag queens, one featuring children characters, are set to debut in America, drawing high concern from conservative commentators.

World of Wonder released a trailer in May about “Drag Tots!,” a show about toddler drag queens coming June 28th, featuring transgender model RuPaul. Continue reading →

The Dew of Heaven

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

His heavens shall drop down dew. (Deuteronomy 33:28)

What the dew in the East is to the world of nature, that is the influence of the Spirit in the realm of grace. How greatly do I need it! Without the Spirit of God I am a dry and withered thing. I droop, I fade, I die. How sweetly does this dew refresh me! When once favored with it I feel happy, lively, vigorous, elevated. I want nothing more.

The Holy Spirit brings me life and all that life requires. All else without the dew of the Spirit is less than nothing to me: I hear, I read, I pray, I sing, I go to the table of Communion, and I find no blessing there until the Holy Ghost visits me. But when He bedews me, every means of grace is sweet and profitable. View article →

Irish Catholic hospitals ‘will have to perform abortions’

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(BBC)  Irish hospitals with a Catholic ethos will be expected to carry out abortions when new laws on terminations come into effect, the Irish prime minister has said.

Leo Varadkar said doctors, nurses or midwives could opt out of performing procedures on conscience grounds.

However, entire institutions will not have that option.

Mr Varadkar was addressing concerns about surgical abortions raised in the Dáil (Irish parliament).

It follows a landslide vote in favour of repealing the Republic of Ireland’s constitutional ban on abortion in May.    View article →

Prince William’s Problematic Itinerary in Israel

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

“After his visit to Tel Aviv-Jaffa, William will spend a day in the Palestinian Authority-run areas, celebrating Palestinian culture. He will visit Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who recently said that Jews brought the Holocaust on themselves by serving as money lenders.”

(Caroline Glick – Breitbart)  For 70 years, the British Royal family has boycotted Israel and so refused to officially come to terms with its very existence.

It isn’t that Israel has been completely overlooked. While Queen Elizabeth II, who has clocked more travel hours than any other British sovereign, has made a point never to step foot in Israel, her husband Prince Philip and her son Charles, the Prince of Wales, have come to Israel on private visits. Prince Charles attended the funerals of the late Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres on such “private” trips. Continue reading →

Deconstructing Young Minds

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“The idea of a shadow ban is that you ban someone but they don’t know they’ve been banned, because they keep posting and no one sees their content…So, they just think that no one is engaging with their content, when in reality, no one is seeing it.” 

(Robert Knight – Townhall)   Since November 2016, the Deep State and its media allies have spent considerable time and money cultivating animus toward President Trump and the Republican-led Congress among younger voters.

Many Millennials came unglued in the wake of the election and still are.  The Left is counting on their turning out to elect progressives in November.  Social media bristle with anti-Trump and anti-conservative invectives, and some of it spills over into anti-American rants. Continue reading →

Forgiven and Forgiving

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. (Luke 11:4a)

Here is the need for a cleansed conscience, for a sense of peace, of rest with God and man. This is the arena where the emotional clutter of our life takes a very deadly toll. Who of us has not experienced troublesome mental symptoms, morbid depressions and unreasoning fears and insecurity? Both Scripture and modern psychology, in its groping after truth, agree that underneath these symptoms lurk two frightening monsters: Fear and Guilt. If we can find a way to slay these fiery dragons, the whole emotional atmosphere of our life will pass into peace. Continue reading on Ray Stedman Daily Devotions

Library System Hosting ‘Over-the-Top’ Story Hour With Men, Women ‘Strutting Their Stuff’ in Drag

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(Heather Clark – Christian News) A library system in Minnesota is raising concern as it recently announced that it will be hosting three “over-the-top” drag story hours in June and July, billing the event as being geared toward families and suitable for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and teens.

“Come meet some fabulous drag queens and kings at the library! They will read stories, sing songs, and strut their stuff for an over-the-top story hour. All ages welcome,” a press release from the Saint Paul Public Library system reads. Continue reading →

For the Love of Those Fighting Against Homosexuality

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

“The pastors I know, myself included, minister weekly to former homosexuals and those who fight daily against homosexual desires. We love these precious souls. Each Lord’s Day we labor over them through preaching and prayer. Like all those struggling against sin we seek to help them walk in holiness in this sin-sick world. Calling them Gay Christians, Queer Christians, or sexual minorities undermines not only their ability to fight for holiness but the very way they are to understand themselves as new creations in Christ who have been washed clean.”

(Todd Pruitt – Mortification of Spin)  There is a great deal of discussion going on among Christians these days about the moral status of homosexuality and homosexual desires.

In my own denomination, the PCA, the latest dustup is swirling around the Revoice conference being held in St. Louis at Memorial Presbyterian Church (PCA). Continue reading →

Trump to ‘Hannity’: Kim Jong Un to start denuclearization ‘virtually immediately’

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“His country has to be de-nuked and he understood that, he fully understood that, he didn’t fight it,” Trump said.

(Fox News – Judson Berger) President Trump, on the heels of his historic summit with Kim Jong Un, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he believes the North Korean leader will begin to work toward dismantling his country’s nuclear program “virtually immediately.”

The president left Singapore after the two leaders signed a document stating Pyongyang would work toward “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” Continue reading →

His Name Is Holy

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

He said to them, When you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name…(Luke 11:2b)

The second petition of the Lord’s Prayer is one of surrender, Hallowed be your name. I am quite sure this is the petition that makes hypocrites out of most of us. For we can say, Father with grateful sincerity, but when we pray Hallowed be your name, we say this with the guilty knowledge that, as we pray, there are areas of our life in which his name is not hallowed and in which, furthermore, we don’t want it to be hallowed. When we say, Hallowed be your name, we are praying, May the whole of my life be a source of delight to you and may it be an honor to the name which I bear, which is your name. Hallowed be your name. Continue reading on Ray Stedman Daily Devotions

Is The Pope Catholic?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , ,

Dr. Peter Jones begins with a response to his own question: You laugh! Like the question, Who wrote the Gospel of John? the question, Is the Pope Catholic? hardly seems to deserve a reply. Well, not until a few weeks ago.

He then reports on the reasons many people, including faithful Catholics, are asking this question in the first place.

In a blog post over at truthXchange, Dr. Jones tackles the latest controversy created by Roman Catholic leader Jorge Bergoglio, dubbed Pope Francis by the apostate Roman Catholic Church. He also comments on pop-star Katy Perry, who sang “I Kissed A Girl,” lecturing at the Vatican on the unbiblical practice of mantra meditation aka transcendental meditation, which was odd to say the least for the reason that TM has its roots in Hinduism. He writes: Continue reading →

The New Bigotry

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 “The intolerance of the LGBTQ ideology toward any alternative views is mind-blowing. The tactics of some in the LGBTQ movement toward dissent is an existential threat to freedom of expression. The lack of tolerance for disagreement, which has been replaced with bullying Twitter mobs promising ‘consequences’, should be a concern regardless of your political stance.” 

(Erick Erickson – Daily Wire)  In 155 AD, Roman authorities ordered a man named Polycarp to burn incense for the Roman Emperor. Witnesses say the local authorities begged Polycarp to comply, some even acknowledging it was a meaningless act. But Polycarp refused. “Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” Polycarp announced. The Roman proconsul had a pyre built to burn Polycarp. Continue reading →

God’s Tender Mercy

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

There is a wounded soldier bleeding out his life upon the battlefield and here comes a friend, merciful and tender, who has brought him a refreshing draught which will help to bring him back to consciousness and open his half-glazed eyes again. He is covered with a clammy sweat, but there is cold water with which to wipe his fevered brow.

His wounds are gaping wide and his very life is oozing forth from him, but his friend has brought the salve and bandages with which to strap up every wound. Is this all that he has provided for the wounded warrior? No, for there is a stretcher, carried by men who choose their steps with care, so that they do not jolt the poor invalid. Where will they carry him? View article →

Justitification and original sin

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. Romans 5:12-14 (NASB) 

I am a Monergist, that is, I firmly believe that our salvation is God’s work from beginning to end, totally undeserved by all. There is not one person who deserves it nor can they do anything to earn it because of the fall of man from Genesis 3, therefore, it is a gracious gift from God and, these things being Biblically true, those who hold to them are Monergists. Synergists are those who believe the doctrine of the Fall of Man in Genesis 3 is either fallacious or not complete.  View article →

A classic example of liberalism creating racism/sexism

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“As if segregating women for an [TGC] event isn’t bad enough, the Legacy are further segregating women by color under the idea that they are hoping ‘this gathering will create a space for women of color to address particular concerns and issues, process them together in small groups, and pray for one another.’” 

(Churchwatch Central)  Before Darwinian thought, there was no concept of racism. There were simply human beings. This is because Christianity has always taught that every human being is made in the image of God. There were definite class and cast systems, (which the Christian faith continually stressed to look past and not show particular favor towards) but not the concept that a white or black person were more evolved as a species. It is worth noting that when some segments of the church did embrace these ideas, the Klu Klux Klan was formed. This is the danger when secular ideas mix with Christianity. Continue reading →

A Comment to the Snowflake Society: Breathe in, breathe out, move on

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , , ,

Blogger Elizabeth Prata takes on the victim culture in a piece over at The End Time.  Prata reminds us that while Christian celeb Beth Moore receives attention for playing the victim card in a blog post to Christian men and churches where she complained about being ignored “dismissed and ridiculed and talked down to,” a large number of women around the globe are going through horrendous persecution for openly professing faith in Jesus Christ.  Prata doesn’t hold back as she expresses her frustration with the namby-pamby “snowflake” generation. She writes:

I’m over the victim culture.

Really over it. Continue reading →