Newsmax reports:
Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden says his group has hundreds or thousands of hours of undercover video of abortion providers that will be released in the coming weeks and months, and that some of it is “even worse” than the two videos already aired to the public.
Shot over the past two-and-a-half years, the group has “dozens upon dozens” of hours of “the really, really shocking compelling stuff,” Daleiden told Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” on Wednesday.
Christian News Network reports:
A nationally-recognized political commentator says that regardless of whether or not Planned Parenthood is profiting from the organs of the babies killed at its facilities, the videos released about the matter have helped to expose and delineate the bloody brutality that is abortion.
“Whatever comes of the revelations about Planned Parenthood and its trafficking of fetal body parts, those revelations will have achieved on thing: They have parted the veil of antiseptic tidiness behind which the abortion industry has so long operated,” Brit Hume stated during a recent airing of Fox’s Special Report with Bret Baier.
“The sight of a senior Planned Parenthood official—and a doctor to boot—discussing the market for fetal body parts in between bites of salad and sips of wine was stomach turning. That’s because it laid bare the brutal nature of abortion,” he said.
15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Hebrews 9:15 NASB
The Gospel is explained very well in the New Testament. The role of the Church in the World from the time of Christ’s Ascension until His return is very well defined for us there as well (to go and make disciples from all the earth, teaching them to observe all that He taught…) This Great Commission is not to ‘be the Gospel’ nor is it to ‘redeem the earth’ nor is it to ‘make the world a better place.’ No, it is to go and tell the Good News that we have a mediator of a new covenant and those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance that is made possible through the death of their Saviour who has redeemed through the shedding of His blood (see the passage above). You see, this is the Good News. The Gospel is to preach what Christ has done not what people have done, not what churches have done, not what religion has done or what being religious can do for anyone. It is simply to proclaim this message relying on the power and work of the Holy Spirit to draw those called to saving faith. Let’s take a closer look at this “redemption.”
Christian News Network reports:
Two American colleges that identify as Mennonite institutions have announced changes to their hiring policy to now allow the employment of homosexuals who have “wed” their partners.
Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) in Harrisonburg, Virginia and Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana announced the alterations on Monday, while claiming to still hold to the biblical principles as Christian schools.
EMU’s decision followed a two-year “listening process” to “review current hiring policies and practices with respect to individuals in same-sex relationships.” As previously reported, in 2013, the university outlined that it would open up a time of dialogue between students, faculty and administration to understand the level of interest in allowing a policy change that would permit university employees to be in homosexual relationships.
According to CNS News:
Gun-toting citizens are showing up at military recruiting centers around the country, saying they plan to protect recruiters following last week’s killing of four Marines and a sailor in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The citizens, some of them private militia members, said they’re supporting the recruiters, who by military directive are not armed.
“We’re here to serve and protect,” Clint Janney said Tuesday, wearing a Taurus 9mm handgun as he stood in a parking lot across from a recruiting center on the west side of Columbus. “What the government won’t do, we will do.”
24 “ Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘ Lord, open up to us! ’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘ I do not know where you are from. ’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; 27 and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from ME, all you evildoers. ’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. 29 And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.” Luke 13:24-30 NASB
Many who believe they are Christians are not. They have a form of righteousness, but it is not the righteousness born from above. It is self-righteousness. One group that contended with John the Baptist, our Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples, was the Pharisees. Who hasn’t heard believers accusing other believers of being Pharisees? These accusations are usually thrown at people who are stricter than the accuser in their judgments of saved and lost. The Liberal calls a person who judges on the basis of regeneration as the only evidence of saving faith as being a Pharisee. The mainstream church-goer calls all fundamentalists Pharisees. The antinomian calls those who preach about the Lordship of Jesus Christ Pharisees.
Townhall reports:
When the first video surfaced of a top Planned Parenthood doctor casually discussing the sale of aborted babies’ body parts went viral, many pro-life advocates hoped the shocking admission would be enough to finally turn the tides against—at the very least—taxpayer funding of the abortion giant.
Despite the firestorm of criticism directed against Planned Parenthood in the wake of the video, not to mention investigations launched—the organization’s president never came close to issuing a sincere apology. Instead, all Cecile Richards really regretted is the “tone” of the worker’s comments.
How can Planned Parenthood get away with it? According to a new Rasmussen survey, there are more Americans that approve of the disturbing practice—and the people behind it—than many would probably like to think.
Blogger for The Cripplegate, Mike Riccardi, believes that the issues American’s are being forced to deal with–transgrenderism, homosexualism and the destruction of marriage, and abortion–“all stem from the same polluted fountain out of which even the first sin flowed: self-deification. Satan tempted Adam and Eve to rebel against God in the Garden by holding out to them the deceitful promise that they would become like God in their rebellion. And it seems plain to me that our society is absolutely intoxicated with the very same prospect. They want to be God.”
Riccardi begins his piece by bringing us back to the beginning…when America was comprised of a highly “moral and religious people.”
The last few months have been emotionally tiring for Christians in America.
Though many debate whether the United States was ever a “Christian nation,” there can be no denying that a Christian worldview and biblical principles were fundamental in the formation of this country. Indeed, the founding fathers understood this even as they crafted the charter documents of our government. Thomas Jefferson wrote that the “inalienable rights” of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” which mark the ideals of every American, are endowed to us by our Creator. John Adams wrote, “We have no government, armed with power, capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge and licentiousness would break the strongest cords of our Constitution, as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
ChristianExaminer reports:
Christian schools and other non-profit religious organizations opposed to same-sex marriage are in danger of losing their tax-exempt status if Congress fails to act and stop the IRS, according to a coalition of 15 state attorneys general who say the Obama administration’s top lawyer conceded the point during Supreme Court oral arguments this year.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, led the coalition in writing a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) and Speaker of the House John Boehner (R.-Ohio), saying religious freedom is at stake.
“As the chief legal officers of our States, were are concerned that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may deny tax-exempt status to religious organizations following the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Obergefell v. Hodges,” the coalition wrote.
According to Christian News Network:
Days after the president of Planned Parenthood released a video statement denying that the organization makes any profit from selling the organs of aborted babies, a second undercover video has been released showing another top director joking that she would like enough to buy a Lamborghini.
“I want to be really clear: The allegation that Planned Parenthood profits in any way from tissue donation is not true,” Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards claimed in a video on Thursday, emphasizing the word “any.”
But on Tuesday, The Center for Medical Progress released a second undercover video, this time with abortionist Mary Gatter, the president of Planned Parenthood’s Medical Directors Council. The Center for Medical Progress again posed as a fetal tissue procurement company, and asked Gatter what kind of compensation she would expect for intact organs.
Christian News Network reports:
A college student in South Africa has been removed as acting president of her student council after she posted a comment on her personal Facebook page expressing disapproval over the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on “gay marriage.”
Zizipho Pae, who had been serving as acting president of the University of Cape Town’s Student Representative Council (SRC) while elected President Ramabina Mahapa was on leave, is now under investigation over her comment on her Facebook page.
“We are institutionalizing and normalizing sin! Sin. May God have mercy on us,” she wrote earlier this month.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has come out with a shocking report. Heroine use is epidemic in the U.S. According to the CDC’s website:
Most demographic groups are increasingly using heroin and other drugs. During the past decade, heroin use has increased across the United States among men and women, most age groups, and all income levels, with some of the greatest increases occurring in demographic groups that have had historically lower rates of heroin use, according to a new Vital Signs report.
According to Breitbart:
The Center for Security Policy released a poll Tuesday that should give all Americans pause. The results show that a startling number of American Muslims, our fellow citizens, agree that violence is a legitimate response to those who insult Islam. A full majority of 51% “agreed that “Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to shariah.”
1 Δικαιωθέντες οὖν ἐκ πίστεως εἰρήνην ἔχομεν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν διὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Romans 5:1 NA28)
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1 translated from the NA28 Greek text)
In this post we will look at Romans 4:13-5:1 which is the application of the theology that Paul presents in Romans 3:20-31, which could be summarized with the statement, “By works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight since through the law come knowledge of sin, but the righteousness of God is manifest through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” I must interject something my brethren. In these times of doctrinal uncertainty and rampant apostasy in the visible church it is imperative that we who are truly in Christ know what we believe and why we believe it. Also, that we know it so well that we can defend it against all attempts by our enemy and his people to corrupt it and distract us from obeying it.
According to Associated Press:
The Supreme Court’s ruling last month legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide has left Americans sharply divided, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll that suggests support for gay unions may be down slightly from earlier this year.
The poll also found a near-even split over whether local officials with religious objections should be required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, with 47 percent saying that should be the case and 49 percent say they should be exempt.
Overall, if there’s a conflict, a majority of those questioned think religious liberties should win out over gay rights, according to the poll. While 39 percent said it’s more important for the government to protect gay rights, 56 percent said protection of religious liberties should take precedence.
10 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 Now these were more noble- minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Acts 17:10-11 NASB
We live in an age in which tolerance is demanded, but those who disagree are quickly and swiftly met with heavy-handed intolerance from those very same people demanding tolerance. Of course, for what are they demanding tolerance? Isn’t it the very things that our Lord God calls sin such as homosexuality, bestiality, adultery, murder of the unborn, et cetera? Since the Christian is called by God Himself to use His Word alone as the source for truth then we must do so without compromise. This being so, those who call themselves Christians, but who join the “tolerance” bandwagon by compromising God’s truth with man’s lies are simply proving their disingenuousness.
5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, 7 wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. 8 But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers 10 and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted. 1 Timothy 1:5-11 NASB
Carefully read the passage I placed at the top of this post. What is the aim of the charge of a true discipler? It is to produce the good fruit of of love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. That is the good fruit of genuine prophet of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, our Lord Himself told us in His Sermon on the Mount how to discern whether a prophet was false or not.
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15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits. Matthew 7:15-20 NASB
Todd Starnes, host of Fox News & Commentary argues that members of our armed forces who defend our nation should be able to defend themselves here in America. He w rites:
It turns out that at least one of the two military facilities attacked in Chattanooga, Tennessee — was a gun-free zone.
If you looked closely crime scene photographs – you can see the sign — plastered on the front of a bullet- riddled window.
Four Marines were slaughtered — a fifth wounded — along with a Chattanooga police officer.
Authorities say the gunman, identified as 24-year-old Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, was killed in a shoot-out.
ChristianExaminer reports:
Several religious leaders have responded to the revelation of a video showing a high-ranking administrator with Planned Parenthood discussing the exchange of body parts from aborted fetuses for money.
In the video, which was made public by the Center for Medical Progress July 14, Deborah Nucatola, a doctor and senior director of Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Medical Services Department, is recorded describing how the organization has been compensated for providing intact organs and body parts for research.
“We’ve been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that, so I’m not gonna to crush that part; I’m basically gonna crush below, I’m gonna crush above, and I’m gonna see if I can get it all intact,” Nucatola says in the secretly recorded conversation.
According to Christian News Network:
Media outlets that asserted that the owners of a Christian bakery in Oregon were not ordered to pay damages for refusing to bake a cake for a lesbian’s same-sex ceremony, but were rather punished for “publishing” the women’s addresses, are retracting their claims and apologizing for disseminating inaccurate information.
Raw Story published an article last week entitled “Oregon Bakers Weren’t Fined Over Cake, They Were Punished for Sharing Lesbian Couple’s Home Address.” It noted that it obtained the information from a column called “Love, Joy, Feminism” posted on Patheos, which likewise asserted that the damages the bakers were ordered to pay were reflective of the address incident.
However, while the order issued by Brad Avakian of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries briefly mentions the instance, he specifically refused to grant the women’s request for additional damages over their claim that exposure in the media and on social media caused them emotional distress.
20 The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Matthew 13:20-22 NASB
The Bible very clearly teaches that Christians should examine themselves quite often in order to see what their spiritual condition is. Genuine Christians are not perfect people. Neither are they always full of happiness, in perfect health while having plenty of money in the bank. No, the fact that all believers are called to be humble, poor in spirit, meek, pure in heart and many other things that are growing in their character means that they will spend much of their time in the fires of sanctification.
It is during these times of purging and pruning that believers are in the greatest danger of becoming despondent, discouraged, and even depressed if they have not learned to view their circumstances correctly.
Despite what many in the Easy-believism or Universalism camp teach, there are people who profess Christ who are not genuine. They are not regenerate nor do they have the Holy Spirit. They are not in Christ. Genuine Christians abide in Christ. They remain. They may go through the worst tribulation imaginable, yet they remain attached to the Vine. However, when tribulation descends on the disingenuous professing Christians they do not endure because they have no root in themselves. The world and the deceitfulness of riches cause others to fall away. These are not genuine believers.
In the current issue of Solid Ground, Christian apologists Greg Koukl and Alan Shlemon reason through the scriptures–in context, without changing the meaning of words–to show people the Bible’s clear teaching on homosexuality. But first, it’s important to read Greg’s introduction:
Sometimes the best remedy for a moral/theological controversy is simply a good old-fashioned, down to earth, nothing buttery, search-the-Scriptures-to-see-if-it’s-so, Bible study. No fancy footwork necessary. Just cut right to the chase, let the Word speak for itself, then be faithful to it. That’s all.
Of course, because of ambiguities in the text, not every challenging, contentious biblical dispute can be settled this easily. Frequently, though, a careful, close, honest look at the Scripture is all that’s required to resolve what might seem at first to be a difficult dispute.
That’s the approach Alan Shlemon and I take to respond to one of the most severe challenges to Christian orthodoxy the church faces today. The question: What does God really think about homosexuality? Could it be that the church has simply gotten it all wrong for 2,000 years?
A dedicated group of homosexuals and “gay-friendly” churchgoers think so, and they are campaigning relentlessly to change your mind. They have certified theologians on their team, they’re tactically clever, and they’re aggressively training their own ambassadors to send out to reform the church.
When—not “if,” but “when”—you encounter this teaching, you’ll need biblically sound answers. That’s what we give you in this month’s Solid Ground. The article is titled, “A Reformation the Church Doesn’t Need—Answering Revisionist Pro-Gay Theology.” Since the material we need to cover is extensive, this will be a two-part series.
Read carefully. There’s a lot riding on this issue, for individual lives and for the integrity of the church today. …
Now listen as Koukl and Shlemon speak authoritatively on what the Bible says about homosexuality without twisting verses into a theological pretzel the way progressives do. Scroll down to page 3
According to Christian News Network:
An executive committee of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has unanimously voted to lift a long-standing ban on openly homosexual troop leaders.
“As a result of the rapid changes in society and increasing legal challenges at the federal, state, and local levels, on Friday, July 10, the Boy Scouts of America Executive Committee adopted a resolution amending the adult leadership standards policy,” the BSA said in a statement on Monday.
“This change allows Scouting’s members and parents to select local units, chartered to organizations with similar beliefs, that best meet the needs of their families,” it outlined. “This change would also respect the right of religious chartered organizations to continue to choose adult leaders whose beliefs are consistent with their own.”
The 17-member vote moves the matter on to the 80-member National Executive Board for a vote on July 27th.
34 Μὴ νομίσητε ὅτι ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν· οὐκ ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην ἀλλὰ μάχαιραν. (Matthew 10:34 NA28)
34 Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. (Matthew 10:34 translated from the NA28 Greek text)
26 τί γὰρ ὠφεληθήσεται ἄνθρωπος ἐὰν τὸν κόσμον ὅλον κερδήσῃ τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ζημιωθῇ; ἢ τί δώσει ἄνθρωπος ἀντάλλαγμα τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ; (Matthew 16:26 NA28)
26 For what will be benefited a man if he acquires the whole world, but he forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:26 translated from the NA28 Greek text)
If you are an ardent listener to many so-called “Christian” leaders today you may be surprised to learn that the Gospel message is not meant to bring peace to the earth or between people. It is not meant to make your life better or to make this world a better place. No, in fact, the real Gospel message is hated by the world and those so-called “Christian” leaders who never preach it, but, instead, preach a man-pleasing comprised version of it that includes their own “Jesus” not the real Jesus Christ of the Bible. They compromise the message in order to enlarge their ministries and perhaps make more money. However, the Word of God itself tells us the true preaching of the Gospel will always be offensive. Let us look at these “offenses” of the Gospel.
A reminder from John Lanagan of My Word Like Fire:
“In our day there is very little reverential fear of God, even among believers. We have been caught up in this love attitude, and I don’t think we should lose sight of the fact that God is love. But God is also light, which means He is holy. God is moving in on churches and dealing with Christians as I have never seen Him do before. If you are God’s child, you had better not do as you please. If you think God would mind sending you a little trouble, you are wrong. God is to be feared. Our God is a holy God.” — J. Vernon McGee
Here are New Testament passages dealing with the Fear of the Lord:
Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. (1 Peter 2:17)
and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ (Ephesians 5:21)
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; (Phil 2:12)
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2 Cor 7:1)
So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. (Acts 9:31)
If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. (1 Peter 1:17-19)
AND HIS MERCY IS UPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM. (Luke 1:50)
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