Infant Charlie Gard dies after parents’ futile pleas

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Baptist Press has the story:

Charlie Guard. Screenshot from Fox News

Charlie Gard — the infant at the center of a battle over parental authority that gained international attention — has died, his parents announced today (July 28) in England.

Charlie died in hospice care a week short of his first birthday, Aug. 4, after being removed from a ventilator. He was born with a rare condition known as mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome (MDDS). His parents — Chris Gard and Yates — fought numerous legal battles for their son’s life and raised about $1.7 million for an experimental treatment in the United States that he never was permitted to receive.

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It Shall Be Done

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee. (Psalm 119:168)

O that every Christian were altogether and evermore obedient to heavenly rule. As the planet revolves undeviatingly in its orbit, because with the law imposed upon it there has come forth a constraining and impelling force, so may we also pursue our course of duty.

Let us do so because we not only have heard the divine precept, but feel the sacred energy of the Holy Spirit leading us in the prescribed path.

Brethren, how safe we feel, and how happy in our consciences, if we are certain that we have the authority of the Great King for all our actions!

The business of a Christian upon the earth is not an independent one; he is not acting on his own account, but he is a steward for Christ. View article →

The Power of Prayer and Scalise’s Near-Miraculous Recovery

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LifeZette’s Leah Jessen has the story of “How a nation of the faithful has helped buoy the spirits and well-being of a stricken lawmaker and his family.”:

Prayer’s healing power has helped House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) on his path to recovery after a lone shooter went on a rampage last month at a Virginia baseball field, striking the Louisiana congressman and several others.

“As a family of faith, the Scalise family believes in the power of prayer, and have been able to stay in good spirits during this most difficult time from the outpouring of prayers they have received,” Lauren Fine, the majority whip’s press secretary, told LifeZette in an emailed message. “They are eternally grateful and humbled by the support they have been given from folks across the country.”

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Let’s stop supersizing ‘our dreams’

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Elizabeth Prata reminds us that God “gives us His Spirit, His love, and grows us in holiness. That’s pretty big.” So why do some Christians desire more? “Must we have huge dreams too?” asks Prata. “Must we encourage each other by saying God has huge plans for our lives?” Well, no  for the reason that “sometimes His plan for our life is not a fantastic rollercoaster of supersized dreams, but difficulty, humiliation, rejection, and heartache.”

What are you supposed to think when someone tells you that God has big things for you? First of all you’re to be a Berean and high-tail it to God’s Word to see if you’re being sold a bill of goods. In the case of  God wanting to supersize your dreams, Elizabeth says that it ain’t necessarily so — and she backs up what she says with Scripture. She writes:

Megan Miller assures us that “God desires to fill our hearts with big dreams.”

In my opinion I believe He desires to fill our heart with holiness and righteousness of His Son.

Certified life coach Holley Gerth assures us that “there’s a God-sized dream knocking on the door of your heart”. Plus, she “shows you how to forget the lies and expectations the world feeds you and instead believe that God loves you and has even bigger plans for your life than you’ve even imagined.”

Before I was saved, I had not just big plans, I had huge plans for my life. After salvation, God showed me how puffed up those dreams were. Thank you, God.

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Mike Bickle: Speaking Falsely on Behalf of God is Not a Big Deal

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Anthony Wade of 8:28 Ministries tackles IHOP guru Mike Bickle’s rambling response when asked what should be done if a modern-day prophecy doesn’t come to pass, even though some “prophets” declare “Thus saith the Lord.” Wade writes:

Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. — 1Corinthians 14: 29-33 (ESV)

http://www.charismamag.com/video/33360-mike-bickle-should-prophets-be-punished-if-their-prophetic-words-don-t-come-true

The above link is to a short video clip of false prophet and heretic Mike Bickle answering the question of whether a prophet today should be disciplined in some manner if what they prophesy fails to come to pass. One should expect a ridiculous answer from someone who has prophesied incorrectly in the past and is associated with nearly every false prophet in operation today. The Kansas City prophets, which Bickle is also affiliated with, have stated that a 65% successful prophecy rate makes you a pretty good prophet. How absurd and unbiblical. Beloved, as we have covered before, prophecy is hearing directly from God. In the Old Testament there was no ready access to the Scriptures for people. There were no printing presses. God’s people were also contained to the nation of Israel. These things combined for God to choose people to be His vessels for communicating with His people. Because God is never wrong and does not stutter, the success rate expected for prophets was 100%. God takes it quite seriously when people pretend to speak for Him. If they were found to be false, they were stoned to death.

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Preaching the Gospel of light into the darkness

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, 2 but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 2 Corinthians 4:1-2 (NASB) 

In 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 Paul speaks of a veil that that lies over the hearts of those who reject the genuine Gospel. Paul used the Jews as his example of those who, with hearts hardened against the Gospel, believe they are serving God in their rejection of it. In the 21st Century Church, we have a parallel of this in much of the visible Church. Before I took my time off I received several emails from many of you about an escalation of attacks on what we refer to as Reformation Theology from those who are convinced that Christians are saved by exercising their will with absolutely no help from God. In fact, they view this as sacred and if God were to interfere, He would be in violation somehow and this would nullify the veracity of their salvation. This is part of the struggle for the truth with which we must deal, but we also have outright heretics preaching in some pulpits teaching Eastern Mysticism as if it is part of the Gospel. We also have those who are seemingly desperate to be seen as separate from anything “Orthodox” so they reject what the Bible clearly teaches about homosexuality being a sin. It is as if these who are consistently attacking God’s truth and rejecting His Sovereignty are doing the very same thing the Jews of Paul’s day did. They insist that the focus of Christianity must be all about people, while we teach that it is all about God and His glory. View article →

Internet Culture, Lone Ranger Christianity, And The Pornification Of Church

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Fire Breathing Christian has some questions professing Christians who choose not to attend a local church need to be thinking about…and a few things to consider:

Why settle for the ugliness of a local church body when you can have a much more attractive online version instead?

Why gather with and commit to serving with a local bunch of often incredibly immature, confused, messed up, and biblically illiterate yahoos when you can instead bond with a group of awesome people who share your understanding and your passion in the areas that light you up and make you happy?

Why sit on Sundays in a pathetic little church building alongside pathetic little baby Christians who don’t share your wisdom, your spiritual depth, and your general awesomeness when you can bond instead with your people in Facebook forums and threads on your own schedule?

Why listen to some unenlightened simpleton preacher wannabe pitch some lame-o sermon on some subject you “mastered” long ago when you can instead immerse yourself in online sermons, podcasts, and social media conversations that feed your appetites on your terms at your preferred depth, and (this is important to mention again:) on your schedule?

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The Importance of Daily Bible Reading for Spiritual Growth

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Dave Jenkins of Servants of Grace urges fellow Christians to spend time with the Lord each day. He writes:

Whenever I write or speak about the need for Christians to daily read their Bible, I almost always get some form of pushback. At the heart of most of the pushback, I hear is something along the lines of how I’m making Bible reading a duty rather than a delight. I’ll grant that sometimes I don’t always communicate in the most nuanced way on this topic. With that said I’m often left wondering after these types of conversations, “Why do we need to qualify and nuance daily Bible reading?” After all, daily Bible reading has had a long tradition in the history of the church; especially in the Reformed tradition since the Protestant Reformation.

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Faith Leader Joins Fight Against Teen Vogue’s Disgraceful Articles

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“Operation Pull Teen Vogue” is underway reports Leah Jessen of LifeZette:

Christian parents have been expressing their outrage that a magazine aimed at today’s tweens and teenagers is giving young people explicit directions about controversial sexual acts — information that is wholly inappropriate for children in general.

“How disgusting,” evangelical leader Franklin Graham said of the material in a Facebook post. “As parents and grandparents, regardless of one’s faith, we shouldn’t stand by and let this kind of trash be pawned off on our children.”

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What are the roots of bitterness and cynicism? 

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:29-32 (NASB) 

Steel is made through the smelting of iron ore. Iron becomes steel as carbon is added while the iron is very hot. What makes steel much harder than iron was not really understood by the ancients who created it. All they knew was that at a certain point in the shaping of a sword they would lay the red hot blade into the coals for a few minutes then resume the process of hammering, cooling in water, re-heating, hammering, cooling in water, et cetera. The finished product was a sword that would not bend in battle and could be sharpened over and over. The blade was actually made up of many pieces of iron rods that were heated, flattened, and folded upon itself over and over. It was hard work, but that was what it took to create a fine, usable steel sword.

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB)   View article →

Christianity, Inc.

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , , , ,

We’ll start with a quote from Erick Erickson’s piece:

The most faithful pastors in this country are not the cowards trying to figure out how to lead their churches to accept gay marriage, but the ones who are willing to stand against the world, and even the President, in favor of Christian orthodoxy.Too many Christian pastors in America, both on the left and right, have become fixated on running businesses and growing profits instead of saving souls. They will all one day be held to account.

Read Erickson’s column over at The Resurgent:

Eugene Peterson is not a name familiar to most Americans, but within evangelical circles, Peterson is well-known. He wrote a translation of the Bible called “The Message,” which is a preferred text for churches trying to lure in new members who might be put off by the “thou shalls” and “thou shall nots” of the King James Version and the more accurate scriptural translations like the English Standard Version.

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DNC Vice Chair Refuses to Denounce Party Embrace of Extreme Leftist

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

According to Megan Barth of LifeZette a high level Democrat party representative has refused to renounce Women’s March organizer Linda Sarsour who praised a cop killer and called for ‘jihad’ on President Trump. She writes:

As one who believes in the spirit of debate, I had the opportunity to interview Michael Blake, vice chair of the DNC, as I filled in for Kevin Wall on KBET, AM790, out of Las Vegas, Nevada.

The premise of our discussion was the DNC reaction and response to President Trump’s Commission on Election Integrity and the overall integrity of our election system. Blake cited a “leading” partisan study to proclaim there isn’t enough voter fraud evidence to justify an investigation. Yet there was enough evidence, which I had assembled from candidates and whistleblowers, to warrant a FBI investigation, still ongoing in Nevada, related to voter fraud.

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Trump Announces Reinstatement of Ban on Transgenders Serving in U.S. Military

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Christian News reports:

President Trump announced on Wednesday that the U.S. government has decided to reinstate the country’s ban on open transgenders serving in the military, advising that the issue is a distraction and would place a burden on the finances of the Armed Forces.

“After consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military,” he tweeted this morning. “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgenders in the military would entail. Thank you.”

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The Pilgrim’s Heart Part 14 – Conclusion

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

37 For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. 38 But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. Hebrews 10:37-39 (NASB) 

As we end this study of the Pilgrim’s Heart, let us take notice of the vast difference between the self-focused Christian, the Flesh-bound, and the God-focused Christian, the Spirit-led. The former is fleshly. He or she may very well be a genuine Christian, but they struggle mightily with besetting sins and are still focused on self-gratification as a means of fulfillment. His or her heart is relatively hard or callous towards God. The latter is not nearly as fleshly. He or she is a genuine Christian, and besetting sins are actively fought via mortification. The Spirit-led believer seeks to obey God and deny self. He or she has learned to take every thought captive so that sin does not have a chance to take root. His or her heart is relatively tender towards God. The Spirit-led believer, in his or her obedience, is Spirit-filled. That means he or she walks and obeys God by His grace. These fundamentals are the basis for all aspects of the victorious pilgrimage. View article →

Bad Doctrine in the Hands of an Angry Minister: A Review of Brian Zahnd’s ‘Sinners In the Hands of a Loving God’

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Reviews ∙ , ,

Pastor Gabriel Hughes has written a book report on Sinners In the Hands of a Loving God. He writes:

Brian Zahnd has a bone to pick. By the title of his upcoming book, slated to release on August 15, you might think his bone is with puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards. The title of the book is Sinners In the Hands of a Loving God, a play on words against Edwards’ famous sermon Sinners In the Hands of an Angry God, perhaps the most famous sermon ever preached on American soil. But Zahnd’s bone isn’t with Edwards. It’s with the Bible.

Zahnd hates the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement. He has made no secret of this. I believe that if he and I were sitting next to one another, he would go, “Yup, I hate it.” He agrees that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but he has a rather vague way of explaining that. Zahnd says, “We violently sinned our sins into Jesus.” Okay, what does that mean? Where is that in the Bible?

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This Pop Singer and American Witches Want to Hex the President

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Last October a group called “Feminists Against Trump” organized a “witch-in” to “cast magical spells of love and feminism to destroy the Great Orange One and his alleged racism, xenophobia and sexism. Now there’s a new spell caster in town who plans to do a mass spell binding against the president. LifeZette has the story:

President Trump can count on many plagues in the six months he’s been in the office, such as the leaks, endless obstructionism, and a mainstream media determined to cast him from the White House. But pop artist Lana Del Rey would like to add to his troubles and has already begun to do so—by casting a spell on him.

“Yeah, I did it, why not?” Del Rey told NME.  “Look, I do a lot of [stuff].”

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California Imam Prays for Allah to ‘Annihilate’ Jews in Public Sermon

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Breitbart reports:

 

Imam Ammar Shahin of the Islamic Center of Davis in California delivered a sermon on Friday in which he quoted an antisemitic hadith and prayed for Allah to “annihilate” Jews “down to the very last one.”

The video of Shahin’s sermon was posted to the Islamic Center of Davis’s YouTube channel on Friday (Update: the video has since been removed), and translated and excerpted by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), though portions of the sermon were delivered in English.

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The Pilgrim’s Heart Part 13 – The Discerning Heart

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

11 Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Hebrews 5:11-14 (NASB)

A couple of decades ago, I was sent to training by the bank I was working for. It was a Microsoft NT Networking class. The teacher was great. I learned many new skills and honed old ones. I became part of the network rollout team after I came back from training. One of the things the teacher taught us was how to get under the covers of the operating system. He called it looking under the hood. He made it clear it was impossible to do proper diagnostics without digging into what was happening under the covers. View article →

Hillsong, Bethel Music and The Great Seduction

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

Satan and his minions are shrewd, deceptive, relentless and exceedingly powerful creatures!  So with this in mind, here’s a reminder from Emergent Watch:

Many have apparently forgotten that the Holy Spirit will not magnify Himself or some alleged experience, but will magnify Jesus! “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me…” – John 16:13-14

Many in the visible church seem to have forgotten that the Holy Spirit always points us to the Lord Jesus Christ, while Satan’s goal is to turn us away from Christ. One of the ways he accomplishes this goal is through “Christian” music, as you will see in the following piece:

 

For the first time, Hillsong United is uniting with Bethel (Redding’s) Music for a “Night of Worship” on July 21 @ the Redding Civic Auditorium. Note that by their participation, Hillsong is effectively declaring their affinity with Bethel Redding, it’s music, and by default, it’s doctrines.

That these two groups should join together is hardly surprising, as both have been at the forefront of the transformation of church music – from the worship of God, to effectively worshiping “worship” music – From music that exalts God, into music that exalts an experiential “encounter” with “the presence”, and which magnifies feelings and emotions.

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Female Pastors- False Teachers or Just Sinning?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

Bible study author, speaker and blogger Michelle Lesley responds to the following email:

Pastrix Paula White is one example of a woman who holds the position of pastor which goes against the clear teaching in Scripture that a woman is not to exercise authority over a man.  1 Tim 2:11-12

Is a woman who is in the position of pastor to be considered a false teacher or merely disobedient to The Word of God? Some churches in my area place pastors’ wives in the position of “co-pastor.” Would she have to be teaching some false doctrine to be considered a false teacher or does the fact that she is in the position in the first place make her a false teacher?

I love it when I hear from women – like the reader who sent in this question – who are thinking deeply and seriously about the things of God. It brings me so much joy to see God working in the hearts and minds of Christian women.

Before we start parsing these ideas out, let’s bottom line this thing. Scripture is both explicitly and implicitly clear that women are not to serve as pastors. Regardless of whether we call what she’s doing sin or false teaching, it is definitely unbiblical for a church to install a woman in the position of pastor, and for the woman to accept the position. So the bottom line is, it’s wrong and nobody should be attending such a church.

Now, onward and upward with the parsing…

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New blood test can check for 13 types of cancers

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Among the 13 types are breast, ovarian, lung, stomach, colorectal, pancreatic and liver. Japan News has the story:

A research team led by the Tokyo-based National Cancer Center Japan has developed a new test to diagnose 13 kinds of cancers from a single drop of blood, with a clinical study set to start from next month.

The center’s research and ethics screening committee gave the green light to the study in mid-July. The research team will apply to the central government to put the new test into practical use within three years, at the earliest.

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Trump Taps New Communications Director Who Advocated for ‘Gay Rights Movement,’ ‘Pro-Choice’ Cause

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Christian News reports:

President Donald Trump has appointed Anthony Scaramucci to be the new White House Communications Director—a man who has publicly stated his support for same-sex “marriage” and abortion rights.

“Republicans should support gay marriage,” he tweeted in 2012, again writing later that year in response to a follower, “I am not a partisan. For gay marriage, against the death penalty, and pro-choice. I am for social inclusion, fiscal responsibility.”

Just in November, Scaramucci wrote, “I support the gay rights movement and I am an active proponent of equality.”

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The Pilgrim’s Heart Part 12 – The Disciple’s Heart

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

25 Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. 34 “Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? 35 It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Luke 14:25-35 (NASB)

During all my Flesh-bound years as a born again believer, I read the passage above (Luke 14:25-35) innumerable times. I had an understanding of it, but I have found since I became Spirit-led that I was wrong all along. I had assumed someday I would learn to enjoy church enough and develop a deeper love and devotion to the Lord through that. Boy was that stupid! View article →

The Pilgrim’s Heart Part 11 – The Assured Heart

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

 

36 He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36 (NASB) 

24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. John 5:24 (NASB)

When I was a teenager in the Youth Group at the Baptist church our family attended in Oklahoma, I remember hearing several of the leaders say things like, “You can know for certain you’re saved if you know that you know that you know…” I guess they went on to infinity with it. I never really grasped what they were saying at that time. However after God had mercy on me in 1986, I had a sense of assurance that I have never doubted. Until recently, I did not understand where that was residing or how it worked. Let’s take a close look at our common salvation and on what we are basing our assurance. View article →

Pro-Life Leaders Meet with Pence to Urge Planned Parenthood Defunding

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According to Breitbart:

National pro-life activists were among the conservative leaders who met with Vice President Mike Pence on Friday to emphasize the importance of debating an Obamacare repeal bill and the elimination of Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding. The pro-life leaders have an ardent advocate in Pence, who became the first sitting vice president to address the annual March for Life in January:

Vice President Pence 

 ✔@VP

WATCH LIVE! I’m meeting w/ grassroots orgs calling on the Senate to act to rescue the American people from Obamacare https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/vice-president-pence-hosts-roudtable-discussion … pic.twitter.com/HvIjqwqkUe

Vice President Pence 

✔@VP

As @POTUS Trump said, inaction is not an option. Obamacare is collapsing all across the country. It’s time for Congress to act. pic.twitter.com/fnEkJcsBwo

The leaders gathered with Pence Friday as Republicans’ proposals to repeal Obamacare have failed thus far, largely because of a desire on the part of liberal GOP members to keep much of the onerous healthcare reform intact.