 | America's War On Baby Girls
The pro-life investigative group Live Action says its latest probe has found that some Planned Parenthood clinics are willing to do abortions based on the sex of the unborn child. Live Action is headed by Lila Rose, who tells OneNewsNow their latest probe looks into sex-selective abortions in the United States. She notes that an estimated 160 million preborn girls have been killed through abortion in countries such as China and India. She was asked: Is it happening in America as well? We actually went undercover into Planned Parenthood and non-Planned Parenthood abortion clinics across the country, posing the scenario of a late-term, sex-selective abortion of a baby girl," she describes. "And we uncovered -- and we have documented -- Planned Parenthood clinics across the board encouraging the late-term abortions of little girls just because they are girls." MORE | International Outcry Grows Over Syria's Houla Massacre
A weekend massacre that left over 100 people dead in Syria's Houla region has sparked international outrage and has left U.N. special envoy on Syria Kofi Annan worried about the future of the country. At a press briefing on Tuesday, Annan labeled the massacre "an appalling crime" and stressed that the country was at a "tipping point." "The Syrian people do not want the future to be one of bloodshed and division, yet the killings continue and abuses are still with us today," Annan said. "I appealed to [President Assad] for bold steps now – not tomorrow, now." The massacre last Friday in Houla left 108 people dead, including 34 women and 49 children. A majority of victims in the massacre were killed execution style by close-range gunfire and knives, witnesses on the ground told the U.N. human right's office. MORE |
Pastor Worley Greeted By Standing Ovation Sunday
Although gay rights and anti-hate groups responded with outrage when a North Carolina pastor called for gays and lesbians to be fenced in so they eventually die off, he was greeted with a standing ovation by his church members when he approached the pulpit, the Hickory Record reported. “I appreciate all the support,” Pastor Charles Worley told the 100 or so congregants at Providence Road Baptist Church near Maiden, N.C., on Sunday, according to the Record. Several members stood and spoke out; others threw up their hands in support of their pastor. “I’ve got a King James Bible,” Worley said, according to the Record. “I’ve been a preacher for 53 years. Do you think I’m going to bail out on this?” Demonstrators wanted him to do just that. More than 1,000 people gathered in front of the Justice Center in nearby Newton waving signs with messages such as "Will God judge me for loving or hating?" and "Don't Fence Me In..." MORE |  |
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| Thursday, May 31st, 2012 | | NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST TO CHRISTIANS | Lila Rose: Abortion Exposure Work 'A Matter of Faith'
Lila Rose is president of Live Action, a group known for its campaigns against Planned Parenthood. And she's been on this pro-life quest since age 15. | Stocks Sell Off as Spain Fears Grip Wall Street
The markets dropped sharply on Wednesday as traders eyed Spain's ailing banking sector and soaring borrowing costs. | Rev. Wright on the Obamas: ‘Church Is Not Their Thing’
In speaking about Barack and Michelle Obama, their longtime pastor, the Rev. Jermiah Wright said, "Church is not their thing. It never was their thing." | Obama 'Has Our Back,' Says Planned Parenthood
Saying Barack Obama has "stood with Planned Parenthood time and again when it mattered most," a political action fund affiliated with the abortion-provider has formally endorsed the incumbent president. | Calling Someone 'Fatty' or 'Obese' a Hate Crime in Britain?
British MPs have suggested that calling someone "fatty" or "obese" should be considered a hate crime on a par with racism or homophobia. | Stance On Gay Marriage May Cost Rev. His Church
The reverend of a St. Paul church says he needs to raise $200,000 to pay off a church loan after most of his followers left because of his support for gay marriage. | Faithful Volunteers Build Church in 1 Day in Iowa
More than 300 volunteers teamed up to build an entire church in a little more than 24 hours last weekend in Perry, Iowa, and the sanctuary was ready for use by Sunday morning. | MSNBC's 'Anti-American Military' Mindset
A TV talk-show host has apologized for making comments about being uncomfortable with describing America's fallen soldiers as "heroes." But one analyst says the initial statement is reflective of the network's mindset. | Snake-Handling W. Va. Pastor Dies After Poisonous Bite During Sunday Service
A snake-handling Pentecostal preacher who witnessed his father die in a similar fashion, passed away Sunday after he was bitten by a poisonous snake he had owned for years. | Gallup: Nonreligious Are Least 'Pro-Life'
Americans with no religious attachment are much less likely than religious Americans to identify themselves as "pro-life" on abortion, according to a new Gallup poll. | 'Mormon Moment' Forcing Christians to Learn About Mormonism
With Mitt Romney now the first Mormon presidential nominee of a major party, America has reached what many are calling the "Mormon moment." That reality is forcing Christian leaders to get a better grasp of a religion that few understand. | Baptist Church Ordains Openly 'Gay' Man
A Baptist church in Louisville, Kentucky, has ordained an openly homosexual man as a minister with unanimous support from the congregation. | British Lawmakers Propose Altering Laws to Allow Same-Sex Marriage
Lawmakers in England have proposed changing the language of the country's consummation laws, a part of Great Britain's Marriage Act, in order to allow gay couples to legally marry. | Interview: Edward Klein on 'The Amateur,' Obama's Faith
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who for years was the pastor of Barack and Michelle Obama, told author Edward Klein in a three-hour interview for his book,The Amateur, that the first couple are not "church people." | | CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS EDITORIALS | Get Religion: USA Today’s Islam-Free 9/11
...One must have a heart of stone not to laugh at the persecution of Muslims in America as depicted by USA Today. This article is so bad, so one-sided, so inept that its ham-handed attempt to elicit sympathy by condemning prejudice felt by some Muslims in America brought me to tears — of laughter. | Get Religion: Doc Watson Was a Pilgrim
...It’s almost impossible to overstate his influence in the close-knit worlds of folk, country, acoustic blues and bluegrass music. “Americana” music? That’s Doc. Only, you have to throw gospel music in there, too, if you are writing about the real Doc Watson. What was a Doc Watson show without hymns and gospel music? | Jim Denison: Josh Hamilton's Secret
...During Saturday's marathon, Hamilton grew sicker as the game grew longer. Sitting in the dugout, he looked down while trying to catch his breath and saw a scrap of paper... | Gene Veith: What Americans Think Is Right and Wrong
...Pornography comes out as worse than abortion, sex outside of marriage, and the death penalty. Nearly two out of three Americans consider pornography to be immoral? So how come that’s such a profitable industry? Contrary to Plato, to know the good is not the... | Get Religion: Massive Religious Liberty Lawsuit, Minor Broadcast Coverage
...So last week, one of the largest religious lawsuits in American history was launched. For all I know, it may be the largest religious lawsuit ever launched in history. It involves, as savvy readers probably know by now, 43 Catholic dioceses, schools, hospitals, social service agencies and other institutions. | Get Religion: NPR Shocked Westboro Stories Go Viral
A celebrity death sort of goes like this: Celebrity dies, people tweet a lot of RIPs. Westboro Baptist Church announces its plans to protest the funeral, people tweet a lot of OMGs. | Gene Veith: Thomas Kinkade as a Nihilistic, Dangerous Artist
...Dr. Siedell’s complaint is about works that are all law, while implying that we can easily keep that law. That encourages complacency, self-righteousness, and salvation by works. He argues for work that destroys our complacency, while opening us up to God’s grace... | Angel Castillo Jr: Now, President Obama Should Defend Polygamists
Now that President Obama has “evolved” into a public supporter of gay marriage, the former constitutional law professor should turn his attention to another minority persecuted because of their marital preferences: polygamists. | Get Religion: The Media’s Next Move on Same-Sex Marriage
...What does it mean that this sample of journalists from 30-some years ago had such views outside the mainstream and that these views have been pushed from media outlets in the intervening years? | | MINISTRY & SCRIPTURE RELATED ARTICLES AND ESSAYS | Trevin Wax: Lessons from the Megachurch Pastor Who Killed a Man
...If there’s one thing Norris knew how to do well, it was how to attract publicity. By 1924, he had the largest Protestant church in America. His weekly newspaper was delivered to 50,000 homes. And his radio station broadcasted his messages to millions. | Jesse Johnson: Slavery, Gay Marriage, and Hypocrisy in the Black Church
In the aftermath of President Obama’s announcement that he supports redefining marriage to include same-sex couples, many news outlets featured stories that compared the desire of gay couples for marriage to the plight of the American slaves. In fact, it became a common theme that blacks who opposed gay marriage were guilty of cultural and biblical hypocrisy. | Darryl Dash: Deeper Application
I have a problem with application in sermons. It’s often poorly done. Granted, this is because application is actually one of the hardest parts of preaching. Haddon Robinson has said more heresy is preached in application than in any other part of the sermon. | Steve Cornell: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, Woefully and Tragically Fallen
Evangelicals have a significant stake in the decision-making nature of human beings. Terms like belief and unbelief, obedience and disobedience, are part of a biblical grammar of responsibility. Accountability and culpability are essential concepts in relation to the... | Nathan Busenitz: Dollars and Sense
Money can’t buy happiness. That simple fact has been clearly demonstrated time after time. Remember King Solomon? He had more money than he could possibly spend, but by... | Tim Brister: Six Ways of Minimizing Sin
I found these six ways of minimizing sin to be very instructive regarding gospel-centered sanctification/mortification of sin. Take a moment and examine your fight against sin, the ways you are prone to minimize sin, and develop an intentional strategy to renounce them. | | RELATIONSHIP, MARRIAGE & FAMILY | Scott Brown: Why You Ought to Have Your Children With You in Church
Is your church like the early church where children were present in the meetings? Have you experienced what parents experienced back then? Do your children have the blessing of worshiping with the richness of the whole body or are they segregated among their own... | Kevin DeYoung: Parental Discipline Without Provocation
In Ephesians 6:4, God tells fathers (though I think the application is fair for both parents) to raise children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. He also warns against provoking our children to anger. So how do we do one without the other? | Christiane Jensen: Ten Tips for Going to Church With Your Family
Growing up in a family that didn’t go to church, I was determined when I married for ‘church’ to be the centre of our family. Of course, this was idealistic, and there were many moments when I thought it would have been easier to stay at home. I hadn’t realised that this goal of mine wasn’t as easy as it sounded. I wanted my children to go happily, for church to be a delight to all family members. But this does not always happen. | | GENERAL ARTICLES AND ESSAYS | Am Spectator: Remembering Shiloh 150 Years Later
...Today's remembrance of the Civil War is more dispassionate. The anniversary of Shiloh was in April. It's not so much recalled as Gettysburg or Antietam. But it was at the time, in 1862, the bloodiest battle ever fought in North America, and probably the Western Hemisphere. |
////////////////////| Wednesday, May 30th, 2012 | Health Worker Punished for Sharing Pro-Life Views, Lawsuit Claims
A Christian mental health worker in England claims in a lawsuit that she was disciplined and eventually fired from her job with a National Health Service trust after sharing a pro-life booklet with a co-worker. Margaret Forrester was fired from the North West London NHS Trust several months after giving a colleague the booklet, which contained stories written by both women who have... MORE | | NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST TO CHRISTIANS | 'Atrocities' Could Trigger Military Intervention In Syria
The escalating "atrocities" in Syria could end up triggering a military intervention, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told Fox News on Monday -- following the massacre that left more than 100 dead. | Debt Crisis: a $46 Trillion Problem Comes Sweeping In
Just as you thought things couldn't get any worse, credit markets are about to be hit by a veritable tsunami of maturing corporate debt. Standard & Poor's estimates that companies in Europe, the US and the major Asian economies require a combination of refinancing and new money to fund growth over the next four years of between $43 trillion and $46 trillion. | Oklahoma Parent Upset by Gospel Message
A parent of a high school student in Oklahoma is claiming that a pro-life video shown in the school condemns people to hell for having an abortion. But Ray Comfort, the film's producer, says that isn't the message the documentary conveys. | Evangelist Benny Hinn and Wife Have Reunited
Evangelist Benny Hinn has reunited with his wife, Suzanne. His ministry posted the news on the front page of its website. In a letter, Hinn says the reconcilliation started at Christmas. | Religious Freedom To Be a ‘Key Element’ of Canada’s Foreign Policy
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird, part of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government, seems to have grasped the trend... | Another Revealing Video Sting at a Planned Parenthood
Live Action says Planned Parenthood and other U.S. abortion providers are willing to assist in the termination of baby girls for pregnant women who choose abortion because they want to have baby boys. | Disneyworld: Gay Days Expecting Record Attendance
Beginning on Tuesday, more than 150,000 people will be in Orlando for the annual Gay Days event. Event organizers are expecting record crowds, and hotels are already booked solid | Kansas Governor Signs Sharia Ban into Law
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has signed a measure blocking the use of Islamic law in the state. The new law doesn't specifically mention Sharia law, but it does bar Kansas courts and government agencies from basing decisions on Islamic or other foreign legal codes. | Obama Ducks Calls to Release His Collegiate Transcripts
Obama continues to ignore calls to release his college transcripts from his days as an undergraduate and a law school student.. | Turkey Seeking Curbs on Abortions, C-Sections
Turkey’s health minister says the government wants to reduce the number of abortions and Caesarean sections, days... | Colton Dixon: God Used 'Idol' to Share Gospel
American Idol sensation Colton Dixon enjoyed a long-awaited homecoming in Murfreesboro, Tenn., this weekend. Talking to fans at World Outreach Church, Dixon made a point to share the Gospel and talk about how God used his experience this year in season 11 of the American Idol show. | | CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS EDITORIALS | Eco Collapse Blog: Obama's Five Trillion Dollar Lie
Why isn't the U.S. economy in a depression right now? The number one reason is because the federal government has stolen more than five trillion dollars from future generations since Barack Obama was elected and has used that money to pump up our grossly inflated standard of living. MORE | Am Spectator: In Search of Muhammad
...SO WHAT ARE THE MAIN arguments against the historicity of the traditional Islamic accounts of Muhammad's life and the subsequent rise of Islam through the Arab conquests? | Am Spectator: The Sebelius Precedent -- Time to Regulate Liberalism?
...Just the other day, after futile attempts to reach agreement between the Catholic Church and the Obama Administration -- represented by Headmistress Sebelius -- the Church took the President to court. Mysteriously, the story of the Church suing the President got scant coverage in the liberal media. Why? | Am Thinker: Who Cares About Rev. Wright the Second Time Around?
...Outside conservative media, there was no in-depth reporting to provide details about Obama's openly Marxist church. Obama wrote that he chose the church because of its political gospel, not because he was seeking religion. | Thomas Sowell: ‘Meaningful Work’
...The underlying notion seems to be that it is work whose performance is satisfying or enjoyable in itself. But if that is the only kind of work that people should have to do, how is garbage to be collected, bed pans emptied in hospitals or jobs with life-threatening dangers... | World Mag: Gospel Confusion In Christian Environmentalism
More and more prominent voices from around the globe are now describing environmentalism as religion. Czech President Václav Klaus, who has... | Am Thinker: Whitewashing Religious Law for Youngsters
...John Swails, who was the director of the Center for Israel and Middle East Studies at Oral Roberts University, stated that supporters of sharia law will "tell you it provides religious freedom, but that's true only if you're a Muslim." | Walter Williams: Our Nation’s Future
Our nation is rapidly approaching a point from which there’s little chance to avoid a financial collapse. The heart of our problem can be seen as a tragedy of the commons. | Ryan Mauro: Islamist vs. Secularist for Egyptian Presidency
The votes have been counted and the results, though not yet official, are in: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi came from behind to win Egypt’s presidential election and he will face former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq on June 16-17. | Am Thinker: Never Call Socialism by Its Right Name
...Let's shear off some of the wool and take a closer look at some of the radical Fabian policies. Shaw said that Socialism meant the "equality of income or nothing." You would be fed, clothed, lodged, taught and employed -- "whether you liked it or not." | | MINISTRY & SCRIPTURE RELATED ARTICLES AND ESSAYS | Brian Croft: Future Pastor -- Consider Your Wiffe as you Prepare For Service
Aspiring pastors are usually chomping at the bit to become pastors. Rightly so. Because of this, those aspiring to pastoral ministry often times dream to the future to one day serve in that capacity and miss some very significant ways he can serve his wife now that he cannot once he becomes the pastor preaching every week. Here are a few of those ways: | Unashamed Workman: How Can I Know If I Am Called To Preach?
Many a young Christian man asks, “How can I know if God is calling me to preach?” The question is vitally significant but the answer is not simplistic. How indeed? | Brian Croft: Why Should a Mother Pray for Her Children With Her Children?
So much of the daily grind of a mother goes unnoticed. Children, especially when they are younger are very ungrateful and overlook so much of what mothers do and this can be a great discouragement for mothers. This discouragement grows as mothers find themselves burdened for the souls of their children and see very little spiritual fruit from their efforts. | Alicia Constant: The Costly Faithfulness of The Falls Church
...Six years ago, after the mainline Episcopal Church ordained an openly practicing homosexual bishop, 90 percent of The Falls Church congregation voted to break with the denomination and align with the conservative branch of the worldwide Anglican church. | Chris Castaldo: The Irrepressible Force of Secret Sin
...The Secret Service wasn't able to keep its own sins secret, and a prestigious arm of the government is now paying a heavy price in prestige. Agents are learning that to sin is one thing; to be found out is another. s on a new and real terror when there seems a chance that it is going to be found out." | Kent Brandenburg: Pandering Is Now an Art Form!
...The United States has the perfect conditions for pandering to succeed, to take hold, to spread, and then to dominate. People here are consumers and have a consumer mentality. As much as people may say that they don't want to be pandered to, they continue to be... | John Piper: Why Don't We Experience the Miracles the Apostles Were Capable Of?
Well, some people do. The assumption is, "Why don't we see it" — I guess — "regularly, as often as we'd like, or as often as they did?" And that's true, I think. I think that's true globally. | Dave Kraft: 5 Things Mentors Should Model
Dave Kraft writes about his early mentor Warren Myers, what he learned from this man who had a significant impact on his life, and the value of having strong Christian mentors. | Jonathan Dodson: What to Say When Someone Says, 'The Bible Has Errors'
Most people question the reliability of the Bible. You’ve probably been in a conversation with a friend or met someone in a coffee shop who said, “How can you be a Christian when the Bible has so many errors? | Paul Tripp: One Ministry, Two Kingdoms
...I want to examine four treasure principles that emerge from this passage that I find helpful as I seek to examine the motivations of my own heart in ministry. | | RELATIONSHIP, MARRIAGE & FAMILY | Gospel Coalition: Today Was Supposed to Be My Wedding Day
May 26, 2012. It was supposed to be a momentous occasion---the day I would walk down the aisle in my mother's lace wedding gown, peonies in hand, best friend at my side, family and friends looking on with joy. It was supposed to be the day I started a new chapter, the day my dreams would be fulfilled. Little did I know, God had other plans. | | GENERAL ARTICLES AND ESSAYS | Wall St. Journal: Why Humans Lie
...We like to believe that a few bad apples spoil the virtuous bunch. But research shows that everyone cheats a little—right up to the point where they lose their sense of integrity. |
//////////////////////| Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 | Huffington Post: Hundreds Protest N.C. Pastor
More than 1,000 people on Sunday protested a small-town North Carolina Baptist minister's sermon calling for gays and lesbians to be locked up behind an electric fence, a fire-and- brimstone speech viewed hundreds of thousands of times on the Internet since given two weeks ago. MORE | U.S. Bishops Prepare Catholics for Civil Disobedience
Having organized 43 plaintiffs—including the archdioceses of New York and Washington and the University of Notre Dame—to file 12 different lawsuits against the Obama administration last Monday alleging the administration is violating the religious freedom of Catholics, the Catholic bishops of the United States are now preparing Catholics for what may be the most massive campaign of civil disobedience in this country since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and early 1960s. MORE | World Scrambles To Prepare for Collapse of the Eurozone
Policymakers and firms across Europe are making preparations to cope with a break-up of the single currency, with the president of the Swiss central bank yesterday becoming the latest senior figure to admit to contingency plans for a collapse of the eurozone. MORE | | NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST TO CHRISTIANS | Lloyd's of London Preparing for Euro Collapse
Richard Ward said the London market had put in place a contingency plan to switch euro underwriting to multi-currency settlement if Greece abandoned the euro. | David Dolan:Another Blast From Iran
Although it was barely reported by the world press, another serious Iranian threat was issued against Israel during May—a fresh vow that the world’s only Jewish State will be totally erased from the Middle East map. | Netanyahu Condemns Syrian Massacre
Benjamin Netanyahu issued a rare statement Sunday condemning the weekend slaughter in Syria, echoing similar responses by the U.N., the Arab League and several Western leaders. | Using the Internet 'Religiously'
A new poll suggests that a lot of adults in the U.S. use the Internet for religious purposes. The survey, conducted by Grey Matter Research, reveals that 44 percent of American adults who are online use the Internet for some type of religious purpose. | Richard Land: Constraint on Gov't, Not Citizens Regarding Religious Freedom Issues
The constraint is on the government, not citizens when it comes to church-state issues according to the Constitution, stated Dr. Richard Land, who was honored with a national religious liberty award earlier this week at the Canadian embassy. | No More 'Private Speech' in Minn. School District
Liberty Counsel is appearing before a U.S. court of appeals and defending the world's largest Christian ministry for children and its right to proselytize at school. | Gay Marriage Polls...Something Doesn't Add Up
There's a great deal of skepticism among conservatives over recent polling which seems to indicate more Americans approve of gay marriage. | Southern Baptist Official Faces Uncertain Future
Richard Land is being investigated for his remarks about the Trayvon Martin shooting and for alleged plagiarism. | Copper Thieves Strip TN Church
The epidemic surrounding copper theft recently hit an unsuspecting -- and struggling -- church in Tennessee. | Vatican In Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaking Documents
The Vatican confirmed on Saturday that the pope's butler has been arrested in its embarrassing leaks scandal. | Kansas Governor Signs Measure Blocking Islamic Law
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signed a law aimed at keeping the state's courts from basing decisions on Islamic or other foreign legal codes. | | CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS EDITORIALS | Ronn Torossian: A Pastor and Biased Media
Owning a PR Agency, we represent a client, a preacher with a large church and following, including on television, and I challenge him every single time he wants to do secular media interviews. I fight him every step of the way because this minister feels in his heart that... | Mark Tapson: Students Tell Teacher, Obama Is Not God!
Once upon a time, it was considered tacky for high school teachers to inflict their personal political opinions on their students. Sadly, that is no longer the case. | Alan Sears: Peering Through the Smoke of the Marriage Debate
Childhood camping experiences taught me you don't want green wood when you're starting a fire. It creates too much smoke. Plenty of heat, too, but mostly smoke, of the kind that envelops you and leaves you too blind to see the marshmallows and hot dogs you're burning... | American Thinker: Socialism, by Any Other Name, Is Still Socialism
The Washington Post heralded the election of François Hollande in France as the dawn of a new era, and the birth of a new breed of socialism. The implication is that the Western opinion of socialism has justifiably evolved to one of acceptance. | Daniel Greenfield: The Last Days of the Media
...There is no news business anymore, just media trolls looking for a traffic handout, feeding off manufactured controversies that they create and then report on. Magazines and sites struggling to stay alive while preaching to a narrow audience which likes essays by leftist cranks and mocking pictures of conservatives. | American Thinker: Gay Marriage -- The Hidden Agenda
...Not a single society in the long history of mankind has ever attempted to substitute homosexual relationships for traditional marriage. Even in places where homosexuality was viewed as normal, openly practiced, and even encouraged (as in Sparta, where carnal relationship was regarded as forging an extra bond between warriors), marriage was sacrosanct and never called into question. | David Solway: The ‘Intelligence Potential’ Factor
...Every teacher is acquainted with students whose academic performance is poor or mediocre but who give evidence of a kind of residual “native intelligence” that remains embryonic and untapped. These are the students for whom the window can still be opened. | | MINISTRY & SCRIPTURE RELATED ARTICLES AND ESSAYS | Eric Metaxas: A Wakeup Call for the Church -- Young People Saying 'You Lost Me'
We've all seen the statistics and heard the stories: Good Christian kids go to college, grow disillusioned, and leave the faith. In his new book, "You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church . . . and Rethinking Faith," David Kinnaman writes, "Overall, there is a 43 percent drop-off between the teen and early adult years in terms of church engagement." | David Cloud: In Essentials Unity
The modern evangelical philosophy is often stated by the dictum, “In essentials unity; in non-essentials liberty; in all things charity.” ...The “essentials unity” principle was adopted by the fundamentalist movement of the first half of the 20th century. Fundamentalism focused.... | King's English: A Drop In the Bucket
A sense of proportion is priceless. But it can be elusive too. When things go wrong we speak of life getting “on top” of us. We are “weighed down with worry, drowning in troubles, outnumbered”. It’s “us against the world”. And the world is winning. | Thom Rainer: Seven Keys to Preventing Pastoral Burnout
I have the incredible opportunity to interact with pastors regularly. In recent conversations, I asked two questions. First, have you ever experienced burnout in your ministry? Second, what do you do to prevent pastoral burnout? | Tim Challies: 4 Results of Christ's Ascension
Have you ever noticed that when Jesus told his disciples that he would be leaving them, they reacted with sorrow, but then, when it actually happened, they reacted with joy? | Phillip Jensen: As Good As It Gets
This is as good as it gets’ the man assured me. I was initially shocked, but then deeply saddened by his statement. It was an astonishing statement—but there was no doubting the sincerity with which he was speaking. | Paul Tautges: What Is Counseling?
...Jesus’ command to His followers was nothing short of a mission of spiritual reproduction. The verb form of mathetes means “to instruct with the purpose of making a disciple. Matheteuo must be distinguished from the verb matheo (which is not found in the NT), which simply means to learn without any attachment to the teacher who teaches. | Timmy Brister: Six Ways of Minimizing Sin
I found these six ways of minimizing sin to be very instructive regarding gospel-centered sanctification/mortification of sin. Take a moment and examine your fight against sin, the ways you are prone to minimize sin, and develop an intentional strategy to renounce them. | King's English: Of Making Many Books There Is No End
With the threat of electronic media, some traditional publishers may be relieved at this verse:“of making many books there is no end” And students can particularly identify with the second half: “and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” (Ecclesiastes 12:12) |
///////////////////// |  The day before Memorial Day, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan lamented that Mexico had lost territory to America due to the Mexican-American War and disparaged American military action around the globe. The poorly- timed rant took place in San Diego in front of a partially Hispanic audience. The oft controversial minister began by disparaging “White Mexicans” of Spanish decent before announcing that “Africans were in that part of the World [Mexico] maybe before [Mexicans] got there.” The minister lamented that illegal Mexicans are called “aliens” and declared that Americans “ought to be praising the Mexicans because we living on land that was once theirs.” MORE |  In the UK, Christians are protesting new regulations that would force doctors to prescribe treatments and perform procedures---such as abortifacients and gender reassign- ment surgery---that go against their consciences. The General Medical Council, which oversees the licensing of physicians, has issued guidance warning that it would be "discriminatory" for doctors not to prescribe either the pill or morning-after pill because they disagree with people having sex before marriage. MORE |  Two villages in the Holy Land’s tiny Christian community are teaching Aramaic in an ambitious effort to revive the language that Jesus spoke, centuries after it all but dis- appeared from the Middle East. The new focus on the region’s dominant language 2,000 years ago comes with a little help from modern technology: an Aramaic-speaking television channel from Sweden, of all places, where a vibrant immigrant community has kept the ancient tongue alive. In the Palestinian village of Beit Jala, an older gener- ation of Aramaic speakers is trying to share the language with their grandchildren. Beit Jala lies next to Bethlehem, where the New Testament says Jesus was born. And in the Arab-Israeli village of Jish, nestled in the Galilean hills where Jesus lived and preached, elementary school children are now being instructed in Aramaic. MORE |  Marriage appears to be a dwindling institution in the United States. The number of marriages has dropped 54 percent since 1960. Michael McManus, founder of Marriage Savers and author of Living Together told CBN News during that same time, the number of couples cohabiting has skyrocket- ed. "We had 400,000 couples living together in 1960," McManus said. "And now it's 17,500,000. That's a 17-fold growth." Craig Gorc, a pastor at Cedar Park Assembly of God in the Seattle suburb of Bothell, wanted to do some- thing to fight for marriage and against cohabitation. He found out one of the biggest barriers to couples wedding these days is the enormous cost. MORE |  Hypnosis and yoga are a couple of mystical practices which have basically gone mainstream in America today. Just because a spiritual practice goes mainstream, however, doesn't mean that it is safe and beneficial. Many spiritual teachings and practices are dangerous to the soul. This calls for daily discernment and constant vigilance on the part of every Christian. Altered states of consciousness and other mystical practices open doors in the spiritual realm. Once a door is opened, a person becomes vulnerable to any spirits which come through that door. For example, a seance opens a door. So do animal sacrifices....and all voodoo rituals as well. Astrology is another spiritual exercise which opens a door. MORE |  Researchers are claiming to have discovered the exact date that Jesus Christ was crucified, according to a new geologi- cal study released in an academic journal this week. The geological survey, published in the International Geology Review, suggests that Christ was crucified on Friday, April 3, in the year 33. The year of Christ's crucifixion has been widely debated in religious and scholarly circles, but geologists now believe that their research points to the most likely year Jesus was put on the cross. MORE |
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////// Dozens of faculty and staff at a Georgia Christian university are resigning in opposition to a personal lifestyle statement they were asked to uphold. But the school is showing no signs of backing down. The "personal lifestyle statement" from Shorter University officials says employees must pledge to refrain from drug and alcohol use, adultery and homosexuality. Despite the protests from nearly two dozen staff members, Dr. J. Robert White of the Georgia Baptist Convention, of which Shorter is a part, says the Board of Trustees is not retreating. MORE |  For a while, their message was everywhere. They paid for billboards, took out full-page ads in newspapers, distributed thousands of tracts. They drove across the county in RVs emblazoned with verses from the books of Revelation and Daniel. They marched around Manhattan holding signs. They broadcasted day and night on their network of radio stations. They warned the world. That warning turned out to be a false alarm. No giant earthquake rippled across the surface of the earth, nor were any believers caught up in the clouds. Harold Camping, the octogenarian whose nightly Bible call-in show fomented doomsday mania, suffered a stroke soon afterward and disappeared from sight. MORE |  You know the guy I'm talking about. He spends hours into the night playing video games and surfing for pornography. He fears he's a loser. And he has no idea just how much of a loser he is. For some time now, studies have shown us that porn and gaming can become compulsive and addicting. What we too often don't recognize is why. In a new book, psychologists say we may lose an entire generation of men to pornography and video gaming addictions. Their concern isn't about morality, but instead about the nature of these addictions in reshaping the patten of desires necessary for community. MORE |  ....Obama's false religion explains why he seems to have a chip on his shoulder about the country he is supposed to serve. It explains the Reverend Wright quotation which Obama says inspired him to write Dreams from My Father: "White folks' greed runs a world in need." Obama claims that it was this hateful sermon that brought tears to his eyes ....Obama's worldview is so simple to see. It is so simple to understand. What motivates Obama is so simple to explain, if only a free media would bother to expose it. Cockamamie, but simple. Obama believes he is on a mission from God to upend our oppressive free-market system and replace it with mystic utopian "fairness" as yet to be determined by enlightened ruling-class elites like him. MORE |
/ Throughout the ongoing debate over President Barack Obama's contraceptive mandate, and again on Monday, when Catholic leaders here in St. Louis and nationwide announced anti-mandate lawsuits, one question has surfaced repeatedly among Obama's critics and allies alike: Why choose an election year to pick a fight with the Catholic Church? The mandate controversy is, after all, the president's own creation. As St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson said in a press conference Monday, when explaining why the Archdiocese and Catholic Charities of St. Louis joined 41 other organizations in suing the Obama administration, "The church did not pick this fight or its timing. The federal government did." MORE |  Latin Vulgate. King James Version. Two translations. How do you relate those two? The first is Latin, the second English. They are not translated from an identical original language text. The former was the Bible of Roman Catholicism, not a denomination that teaches salvation by grace through faith. The latter was accomplished by the Church of England with support and participation from professing Christians and ultimately accepted as the received version of Scripture by the English speaking people. Although it is called the authorized version, it was not actually authorized in any official way. It was referred to as the authorized version by the people. They saw it as authorized, so it became known as authorized. MORE |  A major engine for the left’s insatiable quest for power goes under the strange name of “political correctness”—an insidious frontal attack on common sense and conscience through language manipulation. Many people mistakenly regard political correctness as just a nutty liberal fetish for not hurting people’s feelings. Words and phrases are continually decreed to be “insensitive” to various “minorities” and therefore replaced with euphemisms so as to avoid real or perceived offense...this is not, however, just a matter of annoyingly manipulative “word games.” Our civilization is literally being turned upside-down through the strategic redefinition (and therefore transformation) of our society’s operating principles. MORE |  Other than the Psalms, which deal with life in such raw honesty, there hardly seems a better place to turn when in the midst of trials than the book of Job. Job lost everything in a matter of moments; his health, material possessions, wealth, and ten children. Yet, remarkably, “He did not sin with his lips” (Job 2:10), at least for a while. In time, he did stumble in unbelief. However, God graciously restored him to a God-centered faith and increased all Job had twofold (Job 42:10). If you, or someone you love, is enduring a time of testing in their faith then you need to take another look at the book of Job....here are five reasons God brings calamity into the lives of His people. MORE |  Considering that Easter, one of the highest Christian holidays, comes in April, Christian persecution in Muslim nations—from sheer violence to oppressive laws—was rampant last month: In Nigeria, where jihadis seek to expunge all traces of Christianity, a church was bombed during Easter Sunday, killing some 50 worshippers; in Turkey, a pastor was beaten by Muslims immediately following Easter service and threatened with death unless he converts to Islam; and in Iran,Easter Sunday saw 12 Christians stand trial as “apostates.” MORE |  ...There have been countless actors, musicians, athletes, and politicians who have publicly spoken out in favor of Gay rights. Many from these same spheres have themselves disclosed that they themselves are gay. It has become commonplace to have television shows and movies with gay characters. Characters like Oscar on The Office have helped to gradually move the meter on public opinion. Now NBC is set to debut a new show this fall entitled The New Normal. What is the premise? Two guys are married and of course can’t have a child of their own. They hire a surrogate to begin their family. Christians must now... MORE |  One of the chief arguments that people use against God is that He allegedly hasn’t given enough light to mankind. It is common to charge God with culpability because millions of people today have not heard the gospel of Christ and because of those who died in past times without having heard the gospel. The fact is that God has zero culpability in this. He has given light and those who respond to the light receive more light. The Bible says that God gives light to every man (John 1:9). In the epistle to the church at Rome, Paul explained that God has given three types of light to mankind.... MORE |
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