Important facts about The Passion Translation

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“I put together a fact sheet on The Passion Translation, showing — quickly and concisely — what this “translation” claims to be and why people need to beware of its growing use in churches. I posted the fact sheet below and included a link to a PDF you can download. I encourage you to distribute it widely — online, through social media, and by giving printed copies to friends, pastors and other church leaders.” – Holly Pivec

Passion Translation Fact Sheet

Composed by Holly Pivec, author and blogger at Spirit of Error (www.spiritoferror.org)

Who is Brian Simmons?

Brian Simmons is the founder of Stairway Ministries in Wichita, Kansas.  He’s also an “apostle,” working under the apostle Ché Ahn, with Harvest International Ministry, an apostolic network of 25,000 churches and organizations in 65 nations. He spent eight years working with New Tribes Mission in the rain forest of Panama as a church planter, Bible translator and consultant. … Continue reading →

Pray at all times

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. Eph 6:17-20 (NASB) 

Ungodly focus is the focus that everyone has except for the Spirit-filled believer. This focus is oriented to self. Believers who are self-focused are either baby Christians or they have succumbed to Satan’s attacks against them. These attacks are designed specifically to render each believer powerless and without a Christlike testimony. He does this with temptations, fiery darts, that are designed to bring believers to be self-satisfied, self-sufficient, and spiritually arrogant. Of course, these are the marks of a Christian who is not humble, but whose pride is in control.  View article →

5 Reasons Churches Should Teach Theology to Children

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“From an early age, children can have an understanding of being linked to church history and the generations that have gone before—to those who have spoken the same words together about God, humanity, sin, redemption, heaven, and hell.”

(Jon Nielson — Crossway)  The Importance of Biblical Literacy

There is no substitute for parents and church leaders presenting the clear, simple, powerful Word of God to the children in their midst. We need to be reading the Bible to the children in our families and church congregations. We need to be teaching the Bible to the children in our families and church congregations. The children in our midst must become acquainted and conversant with the Bible during their early years; we must ensure that, as much as it depends on us! Continue reading →

Supreme Court Sides With President Trump and Calif. Pregnancy Centers

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TWO BIG DECISIONS HANDED DOWN BY THE HIGH COURT:

Court Upholds Trump Travel Ban, Rejects Discrimination Claim  

(Mark Sherman – AP) The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld President Donald Trump’s ban on travel from several mostly Muslim countries, rejecting a challenge that it discriminated against Muslims or exceeded his authority.

The 5-4 decision Tuesday is the court’s first substantive ruling on a Trump administration policy, and the president quickly tweeted his reaction: “Wow!” Continue reading →

Liberals Are Pushing The Country To The Edge

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“There may be no coming back from this ledge, it seems we’re well past the point of no return. I hope I’m wrong. But having spent a year digging into how this liberal machine is designed to whip the unstable into a frenzy, the one thing I didn’t find was how they ever planned to turn it around.”

(Derek HaIl — Townhall)  In a time of crazy, it’s been a Hell of a week. I literally wrote the book on the liberal outrage culture and this week disturbed even me. There are some things you simply can’t undo, some ledges you can’t pull back from. We’re teetering on one now. How can we, as a nation, get back to civility or even just get along again? Continue reading →

Unbelief is rooted in an ungodly focus

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

5 But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’” 6 Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man whether you still had another brother?” Genesis 43:5-6 (NASB) 

Unforgiveness is poison for the Soul as it ensnares those who refuse to forgive by binding them into the prison of bitterness. This world is not a peaceful, easy, benign place. It is fallen. The world system is the product of Man’s rebellion against God. There is war. There is crime. There is oppression. People wrong other people. They place their wants and desires and perceived needs ahead of the wants and desires of others. The world system is marked by people pursuing their own no matter who gets hurt. The Christian is called to respond to the hurts and wrongs done to them in a vastly different way from the ways of the world. View article →

Book Burners Disappear ‘Laura Ingalls Wilder’ From Literary Award

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Melissa Gilbert played Laura Ingles Wilder in Little House on the Prairie.

“This move by the children’s division of the American Library Association, the largest library association in the world, is yet another example of the left’s ongoing fascist crusade to erase history deemed offensive by 21st century standards; to figuratively burn books (and movies and art) through bans …”

(John Nolte – Breitbart)  The American Library Association has removed Laura Ingalls Wilder’s name from a major award based on how her iconic Little House on the Prairie novels portray minorities.

“This decision was made in consideration of the fact that Wilder’s legacy, as represented by her body of work, includes expressions of stereotypical attitudes inconsistent with ALSC’s core values of inclusiveness, integrity and respect, and responsiveness,” the Association for Library Service to Children said in a statement.

The vote to remove her name was unanimous. A standing ovation followed.

The award will now be called the Children’s Literature Legacy Award. View article →

Jennifer LeClaire teaches you can defeat a ‘merman’ by drowning him – for $69?

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(Churchwatch Central)  Move over sneaky squid! There’s a new archaic aquatic antagonist in town and it’s possessing and demonising NARismatics like never before. Thankfully, NARpostle Jennifer LeClaire has received divinely inspired new revelation from God to set people free.

Has LeClaire’s ‘NARismania’ become the equivalent to the ‘blonde joke’? Many are familiar with these blonde jokes, based on a stereotype of a dumb blonde woman.

How did the blonde kill a bird? She threw it off a cliff. How did the blonde kill a fish? She drowned it. Continue reading →

The acceleration of the New Apostolic Reformation’s influence in South Africa

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Rick Becker is a South African. In his latest blog post over at Famine In The Land, he reveals that the Dominionist movement, a dangerous cult, has infiltrated his country. Dominionist’s main focus is about “Jesus and building his Kingdom on earth.” This movement is now world-wide and it is spreading like a California wildfire.  After reading Becker’s excellent exposé, we urge you to take a look at our White Paper on Dominionism – New Apostolic Reformation.  We name names. And we link to articles and videos that offer proof that those who teach the NAR’s false gospel are no different from the “ravenous wolves” Jesus warned about in Matthew 7:15.  Followers of Jesus Christ must know who the wolves are in order to avoid them. The Apostle Paul made it clear that believers should not take part in their “unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11)

Rick Becker is certainly doing his part to expose the “ravenous wolves.” Here’s his post: Continue reading →

Delegates of Anglican Conference: ‘We Must Defend the Gospel Against Threats From Without and Within’

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“Internally, the ‘prosperity gospel’ and theological revisionism both seek in different ways to recast God’s gospel to accommodate the surrounding culture, resulting in a seductive syncretism that denies the uniqueness of Christ, the seriousness of sin, the need for repentance and the final authority of the Bible.”

(Heather Clark – Christian News)   Delegates from a gathering of Anglicans from around the world, known as the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), have released an open letter committing to “defend the gospel against threats from without and within,” and calling upon others to do so as well. Continue reading →

Water Baptism and the One Baptism

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:37-38 (NASB) 

12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 (NASB) 

This morning when we attended church we witnessed the baptism of about 15 people. Some were teenagers. Some were adults. Afterwards, we worshipped and prayed then we heard the Gospel preached with power by a young man who was one of the youth in our church when I was teaching there back in the 1980’s. Why does our church have such a large number of people being baptized each month while so many other SBC churches do not? The key to that is that God is moving through the obedience of our people in sharing the Gospel and making disciples as our Lord commanded in His Great Commission.  View article →

Prayer’s Practicality

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Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain. And God granted his request. (1 Chronicles 4:10)

At first glance that looks like a self-centered prayer. It sounds like the man who prayed, Bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife, us four and no more. But Jabez is really not being selfish. He is praying for something God wanted him to have. That is the difference between being personal and being selfish. Selfish prayers are prayers which ask God for something he does not want us to have, at least not then, demanding prayers that are interested only in our own immediate welfare, for our own satisfaction. But God promises great and mighty things to us personally that we may lay hold of, so to pray in this way is not selfish, but personal. View article →

Six Reasons Establishment Media Fabricated a ‘Border Crisis’

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“That little crying girl in the hoax photo on the cover of Time? Her mother dragged that poor kid through the desert hoping to get a job in America. She dragged a child along on a harrowing journey in the mercenary hope of exploiting her own child as a golden ticket into America. And if she were successful, a law-abiding American (or immigrant) would lose whatever job this woman took.”

(John Nolte – Breitbart)  As you watch our fake news media desperately try to keep this hoax alive about a “crisis” on the border, never forget that this so-called crisis is fabricated. Never forget that this entire “crisis” was invented, created from whole cloth, ginned up, and is a naked act of fake news. Continue reading →

How Planned Parenthood defeats parents to get ‘comprehensive sex ed’ into schools. … And what parents can do to counter it!

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Revealed: Their systematic tactics to deceive, marginalize, confuse, and overwhelm anyone who gets in their way.

(Mass Resistance) Part 1 – For decades the national sex-ed lobby has been using sophisticated organizing tactics to defeat parents and push their radical programs into the public schools. We will show you what those tactics are (in their own words!) and explain how parents can counter them.

What we’ve all seen over the years

Sex education is very different than English, math, history, band, or anything else taught in schools. In 25 years, we have never seen a single school anywhere where it was brought in because there was a demand for it by parents. Continue reading →

10 Books Every Christian Should Read

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Popular blogger, author and book reviewer Tim Challies has 10 book recommendations for Christians and offers reasons for reading his picks. You can watch the video or read the transcript:

I believe that of all the questions I receive, the most common relate to books. What are some books I ought to read? Can you recommend a book on this subject or that subject? What should I read next? I’m happy to answer such questions, but thought I might be able to answer a bunch at once by suggesting 10 books that every Christian ought to read. Continue reading →

How the occult has been fully integrated into many Christian lives and fellowship

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“I was in a restaurant and a man was witnessing to a group of people at a table near us.  I was grateful that he had the boldness to witness until I heard what he was telling them.  He was saying that you can’t really understand the Gospel until you experience it.  He said that the reason John was a close friend of Jesus and had more revelation than any other disciple was that he laid on Jesus’ breast at the Last Supper.  He got some kind of Gnostic special revelation ability from being in physical contact with the Lord.” 

(Sandy Simpson – Deception in the Church)  The Bible is quite clear about occult practices.  Neither Israel nor the Church is to have anything to do with the way the world tries to gain secret knowledge.  The Gnostics were and are known for promoting new revelation that is either loosely tied to Scripture taken out of context or not at all.  The Israelites seeking information from the dead or in omens were judged harshly by the Lord who had warned them numerous times to stay away from that stuff. Continue reading →

The IG Report Should End Mueller’s Obstruction Investigation

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The same logic that spared FBI and Justice Department officials harsher treatment in Michael Horowitz’s report should inoculate the president.

(Andrew C. McCarthy – National Review)  While generally cautious about criticizing Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on the Clinton-emails investigation, Trump supporters have taken aim at its chief logical flaw: Although key investigators harbored anti-Trump and pro-Clinton bias, and even made statements indicating an intention to act on that bias, the IG did not find that this bias was the proximate cause of any particular investigative decision. Continue reading →

Texas Governor Calls Teen Whose Dying Wish Is to Pass Bill to End Abortion in State: ‘Your Wish Has Been Granted’

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“I know that it must be difficult standing against a whole federal beast that forces abortion on us, but I think that we … could end abortion here and now.”

(Heather Clark – Christian News)  The Republican governor of Texas called a 16-year-old boy with osteoblastic osteosarcoma on Sunday whose dying wish was to urge the governor to pass a bill abolishing abortion in the state.

Jeremiah Thomas was diagnosed with the aggressive bone cancer in March and has been to hospitals in Mexico, California, and Texas in an effort to save his life. The high school athlete has been paralyzed by two tumors growing on his spine, and also has a large ulcerated tumor protruding from his chest. Continue reading →

The Lost Spiritual Discipline

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

We are all accustomed to reading works on the spiritual disciplines of the Christian life. We know that as Christians we ought to discipline ourselves to ensure we maintain a lifelong focus on Word, prayer, and fellowship. And so we read the Bible and meditate on it, we pray as individuals and families, and we maintain fellowship with one another through local church worship and the sacraments or ordinances. Well and good! This is the stuff of the Christian life. Yet in his classic work Holy Helps for a Godly Life, Richard Rogers draws out a spiritual discipline that has largely been lost and neglected in recent years—the discipline of watchfulness.  View article →

U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner: What About Black Children Separated From Their Mothers?

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“When we’re talking about family separation — this year alone, 4,500 black kids will be separated from their families because their mothers are going to be incarcerated. Not for, on average, a few hours like 30 percent of the illegal immigrants on the border are being separated.”

(Susan Jones – CNSNews.com) – Liberal activists are literally crying on television about the separation of children from parents who enter the country illegally — and who are now being locked up instead of being released into the community with a promise to appear in immigration court.

But what about the plight of American children living in poverty, some of them in far worse conditions than the foreign children put in temporary government housing on the border? View article →

‘The Shack’ Author Disputes Christian View That Those Who Die Without Jesus Can’t Achieve Salvation

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“As a previous CP story showed, more American Christians are abandoning traditional Bible teaching and what many consider essential to Christianity, including the belief that Jesus is the only way to salvation.”

(Stoyan Zaimov – Christian Post)  William Paul Young, the author behind the faith-based bestseller The Shack, later turned into a movie in 2017, has addressed one of the main controversies behind his book, by disputing the Christian mainstream view that those who die without knowing Jesus Christ cannot achieve salvation.

Speaking to Eternity website in Australia, the author was asked what happens to a person who does not know God or does not return to God within the time frame of their life on earth.   View article →    (Christian Post Disclaimer)

David Platt Repeats Stories of Muslim Dreams and Visions

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The magical, mystical, desire to live “like Christians, false notions of how prayer was answered, healings, deliverance from demons, answer to disillusionment with Islam, “scriptural” truths, and/or influenced by vain imaginations does not “convert” anyone to Christ.

(Cherie Vandermillen)  The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans:

“So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”  Romans 1:15-17

The Qur’an affirms that the certain parts of the Bible (the Torah, the Psalms, and the gospels) are from God.  However, Muslims are taught that the biblical texts have been corrupted.  Thus, they see a need for the Qur’an and the Jesus it portrays, a “different” Jesus. Within the pages of the Qur’an this Jesus is referred to by his Arabic name, “Isa.” The Qur’an describes Isa as without fault, able to heal the sick, and able to deliver the afflicted from demonic possession…. Continue reading →

The Doctrine of Unconditional Election

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by Mike Ratliff

The Doctrine of Unconditional Election is not for sissies. What I mean by that is if we adhere to this doctrine then we had better be ready for those in unbelief to attack us with their broadsides and accusations. It seems that every Pelagian out there, whether full blown Pelagian or semi-Pelagian or Arminian, is convinced that Man is not dead in his or her trespasses and sins and is fully able to elect God or not. Of course, none of their arguments hold any water because they are derived either from man-centered philosophy or from Bible verses taken out of context (eisegesis). On the other hand, the Doctrines of Grace are all completely Biblical and are based entirely in Holy Scripture expositions done exegetically. Continue reading →