Christian Heritage News

By  David Harsanyi  - Posted at  The Federalist : The anti-libertarian libertarian. At the Democratic National Committee, Tim Carney of the Washington Examiner caught up with Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson and asked him a few questions about religious liberty. You may remember: earlier this year during a Fox News debate, Johnson offered a rambling justification for why the state should police thought crimes. Since many Republicans dealing with Trump Nomination Trauma are considering his candidacy, surely the former New Mexico governor must have cobbled together some kind of intelligible position on this issue, right? No. Read it . ... Read more...

By Heather Clark - Posted at Christian News Network : PHILADELPHIA — During her speech on Thursday accepting the Democratic nomination for president of the United States, Hillary Clinton again vowed to defend homosexuality and abortion if elected. “We will defend all our rights—civil rights, human rights and voting rights—women’s rights and workers’ rights—LGBT rights and the rights of people with disabilities!” she declared to those gathered and those watching around the world. “If you believe that every man, woman, and child in America has the right to affordable health care, join us. If you believe that we should say ‘no’ to unfair trade deals, that we should stand up to China, that we should support our steelworkers and autoworkers and homegrown manufacturers, join us,” Clinton said during another portion of her speech. Read more...

By Heather Clark - Posted at Christian News Network : PHILADELPHIA — The Democratic National Convention is set to feature its first-ever “transgender” speaker this Thursday as a man who identifies as a woman is scheduled to take the stage in support of Hillary Clinton. Tim McBride, who goes by the name Sarah, serves as the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign and is also a volunteer on the steering committee of Trans United for Hillary. McBride explained in 2012 that he felt he was transgender as a child, but buried his struggle with his identity in his love for politics. Read more...

By Chris Coatney I'm repeatedly hearing the GOP described as the party of "angry, old, white men." How can the GOP broaden its base when it's constantly depicted as the party of racism? My view is that whites are better off financially in this country not because of what they've done wrong, but because of what they've done right. I'm familiar with the history of racism in this country but the racist barriers were knocked down long ago. Blacks have never had more opportunity than they do today, but we're hearing more about racism than ever before. What is the solution? The attacks on whites remind me of the attacks on Jews in Nazi Germany. The Jews, who were successful, were blamed for Germany's problems, despite the fact that Jewish people had contributed much to Germany's success. The politics of envy, which Hitler employed so successfully, are being repeated by leftists in America today. Instead of playing the "blame game," blacks s

By T. M. Moore - Posted at The Fellowship of Ailbe : Workfare and guest workers. Grace Economics (1) (3) “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I amthe LORD your God.’” Leviticus 23.22 The importance of work One of the most reliable measures of any economy is employment. When employment is high, the economy is healthy; when it is low, the economy struggles. Everyone understands this. This is because work is fundamental to a healthy economy. Indeed, without work it’s difficult to see how there could be any economy at all. So it’s no wonder that we have laws protecting people’s right to work, providing a fair wage, ensuring just and timely compensation, ordering safety and security in the workplace, supporting standards of quality and workmanship, and so forth. Whatever we can do to encourage productive

By Marsha West - Posted at Berean Research : I have a deep concern for those who are warring against the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m speaking of men and women who are spreading a false gospel around the globe, a gospel that saves no one. In Mat. 23 , Jesus rebuked false teachers for being full of “hypocrisy and lawlessness.” He also referred to them as serpents and a brood of vipers. Ouch! The Lord addressed false teaching in Mat. 7:15-20 : Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Yet “ravenous wolves” are frequently given a platform to reach mi

By Peter LaBarbera - Posted at AFTAH : (Part 1) Fox News, media, Republican social liberals cheer on LGBTQ agenda in Cleveland “Fake” Culture Wars? Donald Trump gave homosexual (activist) Republican and PayPal founder Peter Thiel a prime-time slot to address the Republican convention–and he used it to belittle the “culture wars” and pro-family campaigns against “transgender rights,” i.e., laws allowing men wearing dresses to use female restrooms. AFTAH does not cower to political correctness: we tell the truth: that God makes no special dispensation for Republican homosexuality as opposed to the Democrat variety. Quick Summary: Donald Trump is already taking the Republican Party in a pro-homosexual direction Trump as a life-long New Yorker has a history of supporting homosexual “rights” In his speech accepting the GOP presidential nomination, Trump went out of his way to affirm the “LGBTQ [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning] community” Meanw

By Raymond Ibrahim: A German-born 18-year-old of Iranian descent named Ali Sonboly went on a shooting spree last Friday. He reportedly targeted young children and murdered nine. This incident is a reminder that the ongoing terrorization of the West is not limited to the Islamic State (ISIS), “extreme” Wahhabi or Salafi interpretations of Islam, or terrorists posing as refugees entering the West. Ali Sonboly was none of those. He was born and raised in Germany and, based on his name and Iranian heritage, was most likely of Shia background. But he was a Muslim. He screamed Islam’s ancient war cry “Allahu Akbar” during his rampage and, less significantly, launched his attack on the one day of the week that many calculated Islamic attacks on non-Muslims occur: Friday . [1] Read more...

By Bill Muehlenberg - Posted at Culture Watch : For true conservatives and Christians, the slow death of the Republican Party in America has been clearly observable for quite some time now. One RINO loser after another has been put forward by the GOP establishment machine to become POTUS, and one loss after another to the Democrats has occurred. Many have asked if the Republicans can any longer be called a conservative party. It seems the just-held convention in Cleveland has dispelled any lingering doubts about this. Ramming through the most hostile candidate to Christian and conservative values in recent memory is of course the major indicator of a party that has long ago given up the ghost. Electing a lifelong liberal, Democrat supporter, and Clinton supporter, to take on the liberals, the Democrats, and Clinton, is as insane as you can get. It is as if the Dems did a deal with Donald to get Hillary into the White House. And the Republican establishment went along with this. H

Posted at Journey of Cross and Quill : In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate — look to his character as a man of known principle, of tried integrity, and undoubted ability for the office. It is alleged by men of loose principles, or defective views of the subject, that religion and morality are not necessary or important qualifications for political stations. But the Scriptures teach a different doctrine. They direct that rulers should be men who rule in the fear of God, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness. But if we had no divine instruction on the subject, our own interest would demand of us a strict observance of the principle of these injunctions. And it is to the neglect of this rule of conduct in our citizens, that we must ascribe the multiplied frauds, breaches of trust, peculations and embezzlements of public property which astonish even ourselves; which tarnis

From the July 20, 2016 Christian Observer E-Newsletter/ Presbyterian Week Headlines : The Republican Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, on 19 July 2016 toward the end of the evening session had a “Muslims for Trump” representative lead the delegates in prayer to whatever he called “god,” probably “Allah,” and in the name of their prophet. Many of the “Christians” in the crowd prayed along. The Covenanters, rightly in the editor’s opinion, condemn the U.S. founding fathers for making “We the People” the final arbitrator instead of the true triune God. Trump by his Muslim proxy last evening went that much farther by ending the day of his nomination for president by invoking the “blessing” on his campaign and our nation by one of the most damaging, violent, perverted, and murderous manifestations of the prince of this world. We are witnessing a modern application of God’s granting to his people a king as in I Samuel 8, made worse by the overt calling upon Satan as supreme being:

By Andrew T. Walker - Posted at The Public Discourse : The first lesson in civics received by most children in America is that America is a great “melting pot,” or perhaps a large patterned quilt sewn together with many unique squares. These images are meant to convey the essence of America’s motto: E pluribus unum (“out of many, one”). American children are also taught that our country came to be thanks to a faithful, dissenting remnant—the Pilgrims—who sought political asylum and religious freedom. People traveled thousands of miles in order to create a political society where religious exercise was at the center. However inconsistent America’s earliest religious dissenters may have been in extending the freedom of dissent to others, religious freedom was woven into our nation’s earliest beginnings. Protecting religious dissent is at the foundation of America’s history and constitutional legacy. As Madison and Adams argued, religion is prior to the claims of the state. It provi

By Michael Farris - Posted at The Washington Post : “Lesser of two evils” isn’t how principled Christians should vote. Over the years, I’ve worked closely with many of the hundreds of faith leaders who trekked to Trump Tower on Tuesday to meet with presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump. I’ve opposed Trump, and wasn’t invited. But even if I had been, I wouldn’t have gone. I believe these pilgrims meant well, but I think their judgment about associating with Trump is troubling and unwise. In embracing this brazen man — whether tacitly or overtly — they appear to have forgotten the very premises on which the Moral Majority and the social conservative movement was founded. His candidacy is the antithesis of everything we set out to achieve. The first national meeting of the Moral Majority took place on a snowy day in February 1980. I was a young lawyer from Spokane, and attended as the newly minted Washington state director of Jerry Falwell’s organization. We were moved by our belie

By John C. Nugent - Posted at Think Christian : Evangelicals are rapidly endorsing Donald Trump, who seemed anathema to them only months ago. In their mind, he represents the “lesser of two evils.” Sure, he’s not vey moral, he’s politically inexperienced and he routinely alienates minority groups and women, but “crooked Hillary,” to use Trump’s words, is considered much worse. I wonder whether Christians have any business resorting to lesser evil calculations. Would God authorize us to choose evil at all? Those without hope have been conditioned to think that a life without a vote is hardly worth living. But are Christians so obligated to participate in national elections that we must do so even if we believe that both viable candidates represent evil in one form or another? Scripture takes a fairly strong stance against evil. Jesus , Peter and Paul make clear that God is against and will condemn those who do evil. Paul goes so far as to consider it slander to accuse some

By Heather Clark - Posted at Christian News Network : CLEVELAND, Ohio — The founder of “Muslims for Trump” delivered a prayer at the conclusion of the second day of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, an inclusion that drew opposition from at least one member of the audience. Sajid Tarar, a Baltimore-area resident who immigrated to the United States from Pakistan in the 1980’s, took the podium shortly before 11 p.m. local time to deliver the benediction. He told reporters earlier in the day that he had obtained permission from the Trump campaign to participate in the convention. “They asked me not only to do the benediction, but to speak at the convention,” Tarar told the Washington Post. “I have prepared a speech and I have been looking forward [to it].” Read more...

Posted at Relevant Magazine : Last night’s Republican National Convention featured a lot of notable appearances throughout the evening (including speeches from Rudy Giuliani and Melania Trump), but one of the most talked-about moments came in the closing moments. Mark Burns, a televangelist and pastor of South Carolina’s Harvest Praise & Worship Center, was invited to the stage to deliver the benediction prayer. But, instead of the typical non-partisan prayers delivered at conventions, Burns ignited controversy by explicitly calling Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton “our enemy.” He said, “Republicans, we got to be united, because our enemy is not other Republicans—but is Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.” Burns continued, Father God, in the name of Jesus, Lord we’re so thankful for the life of Donald Trump. We’re thankful that you are guiding him, that you are giving him the words to unite this party, this country, that we together can defeat the liberal Democr

By David Harsanyi  - Posted at The Federalist : “This is not a way to unify the party,” Guy Short, a national delegate from Colorado and member of the Republican National Committee convention’s Rules Committee, tells me. Short supported Ted Cruz during the primaries, but he’s a loyal partisan, hardly #NeverTrump. “I’m an easy guy to get if you want to unify a party,” says the amenable Short. “I was on board for Dole and McCain. I supported Mitt Romney. None of them were my first choice, either. But the way this convention has been handled by the RNC, so heavy-handed, it’s going to be difficult to unify this way.” When pro-Trump forces circumvented a roll call vote on the convention rules on Monday, a group of Colorado delegates walked out in protest. While they were lucky enough to avoid a torrent of stilted platitudes and clumsy tautology that dominated the convention, Short stuck around. But like other Colorado delegates I spoke with, he’s suspicious of the RNC’s tactics.

By Dr. R. Scott Clark - Office Hours/ WSC : Office Hours talks with United States Senator Ben Sasse about being a Christian in the Senate, about religious liberty, and about ordering our various callings in this world. Listen here. HT: The Reformed Mind Editor's Note: While I agree with much Sen. Sasse says in this interview regarding the role of government, I disagree with national pluralism. America was founded by Christians and should acknowledge Jesus Christ and the Christian faith in our founding documents. - AW

Posted at Morning Star News : Government helping Muslim business interest to seize facilities. Bahri (North) Khartoum in relation to Nile and capital area. (Wikipedia) JUBA, South Sudan (Morning Star News) – Sudanese security personnel in North Khartoum last week jailed 14 Christians after raiding an evangelical school on a church property the government is helping a Muslim business interest to seize, sources said. Leaders of the Khartoum Bahri Evangelical Church were inside the Evangelical School of Khartoum North trying to stop authorities from taking parts of the building at the time of the raid on July 7, they said. One source said police insulted the Christians and used force to arrest them. They were detained until Sunday (July 10) and released after paying fines. Prior to their arrest, police detained 11 Christians at the school that morning but quickly released them. Of the 14 Christians arrested later that day and released on Sunday (July 10), 13 paid fines of

By Heather Clark - Posted at Christian News Network : Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has announced that he has selected Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate, and is set to formally introduce Pence during a news conference on Saturday. “I am pleased to announce that I have chosen Governor Mike Pence as my vice presidential running mate,” Trump posted to social media on Friday morning. On Thursday night, Trump told Fox News host Greta Van Susteren that he hadn’t yet decided for sure who he would select after she noted that reports revealed Pence had been chosen. Read more... See also: Mike Pence is a Fraud (The Federalist) Don’t Ever Forget That Mike Pence Threw Religious Liberty Under the Bus (National Review)

By Pastor Shawn Mathis  I watched the live news reports of the slaughter of French in Nice on CNN Live. It was horrific. And I did not see the murder itself. Just hearing about it live from eye-witnesses was enough to draw tears. But as they were interviewing their local reporting affiliates, I was able to pause the stream (on youtube) and take salient notes (from by Facebook feed): CNN live French reporter, Christiane Amanpore: “this has been a pattern…that the police know them as petty criminals but not as jihadists.”... Read more...

By Michelle Lesley “If the church would just _________, the world would flock to us.”  “The world is in the state it’s in because the church has fallen down on the job.” Over the past few years, I’ve been hearing and reading statements like these more and more frequently. But are they true? Is the world really in such sad shape as a result of the failings of the church? Yes!…and…no. It is absolutely true that the visible church – everything that wears the label “church” or “Christian,” whether or not it’s biblical Christianity – has a lot to be ashamed of. Westboro. TBN. Homosexual church leaders and members. Pastors caught in adultery. Child molestation scandals. Female “pastors.” All manner of demonic behavior masquerading as “worship,” blasphemously attributed to the “Holy Spirit.” Even churches with an orthodox statement of faith – which, to onlookers, seem to be doing fine, biblically – water down the gospel in the name of being seeker sensitive, use materials produced by

By Sharayah Colter & Tammi Ledbetter - Posted at Baptist Press : "Though the concept of male-female complementarity can be seen from Genesis through Revelation, the label 'complementarian' has only been in use for about 25 years," Kassian wrote. "The need for such a label arose in response to the proposition that equality means role-interchangeability (egalitarianism) -- a concept first forwarded and popularized in evangelical circles in the 1970s and 1980s by 'Biblical Feminists.'" GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP) -- While previous generations battled over the inerrancy of God's Word, a current debate among Southern Baptists deals with the sufficiency of Scripture to define the distinct roles of women and men. "The big battleground today is not that the Scripture is inerrant and absolutely true -- though that's still a battle ongoing -- but among evangelicals and among Baptists the real battle today is whether Scripture is sufficien

By David Qaoud - Posted at Gospel Relevance : I read about 100 articles a month, and my favorite piece last month was Girl in The Picture , by Emily Thomes. Originally posted on The Gospel Coalition, Thomes shares her inspiring story of lesbianism to follower of Christ. Today, Thomes stops by the site to share more of her story and give advice to Christians ministering to those who identify as LGBT. You can read the full interview below. Emily, thank you for taking time to stop by the site. I’ll start broadly. Tell us a little about your life before God saved you. Before God saved me, I was an incredibly selfish person. I was pretty well liked by most people but had a tendency to overstep boundaries and act impulsively. I did what I perceived was best for me. This lead me to sleeping around, smoking marijuana, and doing other destructive behaviors. Even when it looked like I was helping and serving others, it was actually for my glory and pride. I had very little respect fo

By Pastor Shawn Mathis - Posted at BarbWire : “I will accept what the interpretation is [of the facts of Brown’s shooting] depending on who is doing the interpretation.” Thus spoke Bishop Dudley while interviewed on the O’Reilly show a few weeks before the final verdict in the Brown shooting. Anger, frustration and chaos boiled over the city of Ferguson for days. Then there were the sympathizing protests across the country, only to break out into more trouble with the death of Garner in New York. Then there was the assassination of two New York police officers because of (among other reasons) the Ferguson shooting. Now, after the shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana, more protests arise and then the slaughter of police officers in Dallas. What is going on? Bishop Dudley may have pointed us in the right direction: suspicion. He is suspicious of the police’s interpretation (or presentation) of the facts. Read more...

Posted at Voice of the Persecuted : FIERCE FIGHTING HAS ERUPTED IN SOUTH SUDAN’S CAPITAL. PICTURE: AFP ( World Watch Monitor ) Five years ago today (11 July, 2011), South Sudan became the world’s newest country after seceding from the North. Following a lengthy dispute over where a border should be drawn, it was decided that Sudan’s predominantly Christian South Kordofan and Blue Nile states would remain in the mainly Sunni Muslim North. In the five years since, the Sudanese government has waged a bombing campaign against this restive, resource-rich region. Sudan’s Christians are among the hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced by the violence, and whose homes, crops, churches, schools and hospitals have been destroyed. In the latest incident, in June, the sole secondary school in South Kordofan’s Umdorain Country was destroyed . In April, the US State Department designated Sudan a “Country of Particular Concern” for the tenth consecutive year under the In

By Melissa Edgington - Posted at  Your Mom Has A Blog :  Today marks the beginning of my annual summer vacation stretch where I take a little time off to enjoy my family. But, I don’t think that my heart or mind will be able to rest this week until I pour this post out on the altar, an offering to Christ from a simple West Texas mama. The past several months in our country have been harrowing. We almost feel like it’s all a bad dream. The senseless killing. The anger. The hatred. I learned today that several countries have warned their citizens to reconsider travel plans to the U.S. This nation, which has always been a guiding light, a beacon of hope, is now being advertised as too dangerous to visit. Too dark. Too risky. How did we get here? Some say it’s the guns. As if guns have suddenly become more deadly than they’ve always been before. Guns have always been in American homes. They’ve always provided the power to protect or to kill. The guns haven’t grown more deadly.

By Carl R. Trueman - Posted at First Things : Yesterday, Chad Vegas, a good friend of mine and the Reformed Baptist pastor in Bakersfield, California emailed me as follows: As you know, CA has mandated this [school transgender policy] for the whole state. I have served on the largest high school board in CA, and the nation, for 12 years. I basically lead that board. Our board voted to adopt the new law into policy. I voted against it. I was breaking the law for doing so. I could be personally sued and our attorney tells me the board insurance won't cover me because I am breaking the law and I am a bigot. Anyway, I announced I would not seek reelection. The community came unhinged when I announced that. I remain the most popularly elected official in the history of our school board. Thousands of parents filled our board room in protest of the law. Thousands are pleading with me to reconsider and keep fighting. My elders are still considering what to have me do…. [T]he board

By Jake MacAulay - Posted at BarbWire : Known to the world was the great Christian revival, “The Great Awakening” of the 1740’s. Christianity roared through the colonies and their diverse Christian denominations. Men were reintroduced to the fervent commitment to their Creator, practiced by their puritan and pilgrim ancestors. As mankind has witnessed all through time, religious (that is, Christian) revival precedes the greatest moves of sustained liberty to man. Man’s allegiance to his God and Savior will always produce virtue, which is the essential strength that can overcome tyranny. To use the words of John Adams in a letter to his wife Abigail in 1776, “The only foundation of a free Constitution, is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People, in a greater Measure, than they have it now, They may change their Rulers, and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty. They will only exchange Tyrants and Tyrannies.” Let us then speak

By Heather Clark - Posted at Christian News Network : DES MOINES, Iowa — A congregation on Iowa has filed a federal lawsuit against the state Civil Rights Commission over concerns that its interpretation of local laws pertaining to gender identity prohibits churches from speaking about or living out its beliefs on the issue. According to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which filed the suit on Monday, the Commission’s publication “Public Accommodations Provider’s Guide to Iowa Law” says that sometimes churches are required to follow restroom use and speech laws. “Where qualifications are not related to a bona fide religious purpose, churches are still subject to the law’s provisions (e.g. a child care facility operated at a church or a church service open to the public),” the publication reads. Read more... See also: Iowa Civil Rights Commission Revises Language About Churches (Caffeinated Thoughts)

By Karin McQuillan  - Posted at The American Thinker : It is galling the day after July 4th to be greeted by yet one more official at the highest level of government, who has declined to respect the rule of law in favor of giving a free pass to the Obama Administration. FBI Director Comey indicted Hillary Clinton in the court of public opinion by laying out before the TV cameras, step by step, her gross negligence in handling classified material, including Top Secret information that would compromise our national security if made accessible to our enemies. He told us Clinton sent classified information over servers not as safe as a simple gmail account. He told us it is impossible for the FBI to ascertain what foreign hostile actors may have accessed her account, but there is good evidence to believe that the information was hacked. We do assess that hostile actors gained access to the private commercial e-mail accounts of people with whom Secretary Clinton was in regular co

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement regarding the decision by Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James B. Comey that the Department of Justice not indict former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the disclosure of classified information on her non-state.gov email: FBI Director James Comey detailed Hillary Clinton’s massive destruction of government records and grossly negligent handling of classified information. Frankly, there’s a disconnect between Comey’s devastating findings and his weak recommendation not to prosecute Hillary Clinton. Federal prosecutors, independent of politics, need to consider whether to pursue the potential violations of law confirmed by the FBI.  Judicial Watch helped break open the Clinton email scandal and, in the meantime, will independently continue its groundbreaking litigation and investigation. Read more about Hillary Clinton email scandal Source:  http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-

By Mike Ratliff - Posted at Possessing the Treasure : "It must have been about eight or nine years ago that I was in a discussion on this blog after I had written a piece about some of the confusing things coming from the ministry of Dr. John Piper and others. I made the comment to one of my friends that I thought that Dr. Piper needed to show the fruits of repentance for some of the things he had said and done or he would eventually be considered an apostate. Someone not in that conversation (a bottom feeder or troll??) jumped all over that statement and condemned me for calling Dr. Piper an apostate which he refused to consider because (according to him) an apostate is one who drops all pretense of Christianity and walks away from his faith. Using that reasoning those who continue to claim to be Christians even though they preach heresies such as Modalism (T.D. Jakes for instance) or deny the necessity of the Atonement and Justification by Faith alone and the reality of H

By J.D. Hall - Posted at Polemics Report: We’ve heard it all, folks. As polemicists, deflections avoiding substantive discussion typically come from either (1) misdirecting accolades of the good qualities of the person or institution questioned or (2) firing accusatory bullets toward the messenger. Examples of these common deflections… NewSpring plays Highway to Hell on Easter, but did you hear about their young singles outreach? Saddleback is a Purpose Driven pseudo-church, but did you hear about how they’re eradicating AIDS in Africa? Elevation Church’s Grand Poobah has a kids’ coloring book instructing the little minions-in-training to “follow their visionary,” but did you hear about all their record-breaking baptism numbers? Or for the latter category of deflection… Hillsong leadership said they had no idea a tv-famous gay couple was leading their choir , but Michael Brown wrote that it was a bunch of “internet rumor” from a bunch of gossips (even though it wasn’t). Steve

By Pastor Shawn Mathis - Posted at Caffeinated Thoughts : “The practice of true and undefiled religion . . . is the great foundation of public prosperity and national happiness.” — John Witherspoon, Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, 1782 America’s collective ignorance about her religious past is cause for lament. It means that even as we knowingly celebrate our Fourth of July as a day of political freedom we ignorantly omit the religious roots of that freedom. It is true that many conservatives and Christians wish to bring our nation back to the old paths, for “righteousness exalts a nation”. Yet too many think that path of righteousness as a path of political effort and good-will divorced from serious religious effort. In contrast, the founders contended that America’s freedoms were rooted in virtue. And for the colonial Christian that virtue was defined by the Word of God and promulgated in the churches. But today too many wish to recreate the fruits of our American heritage wit

Image from History.com Posted at The Heidelblog : IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,  When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.  We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of

By Aimee Byrd - Posted at Housewife Theologian : In my last article , I pleaded that complementarian men should respond to women with a listening ear and a resolve to better teach what headship actually means and what it does not mean. They should be reaching out to abused women, whose husbands and churches hide under the banner of headship and complementarianism, and call out the abuse and false teaching loud and clear. They should be working to help church leaders to recognize abuse and provide godly counsel and resources for those abused. Perhaps if we hear from some of the women who have been through such abuse, we can improve in this area. This is a guest post from an anonymous author that I am sharing to hopefully raise awareness leading to positive change. Please understand that I am not saying that the distinctive view of male-female relations which CBMW promotes inevitably leads to abuse. And I’ve said before that they have also published helpful teaching. My point i

Posted at Wintery Knight : Canada Election 2015: Socialists in red, Communists in Orange, Conservatives in blue This article about religious liberty in Canada is from Vancouver Sun . (H/T Glenn) Excerpt: Ontario’s top court has dismissed an appeal from a private Christian university that forbids sexual intimacy outside heterosexual marriage, denying its proposed law school accreditation in the province.  The ruling from the Ontario Court of Appeal on Wednesday dealt a significant blow to Trinity Western University in a legal battle which pitted freedom of religion against equality rights.  A panel of three appeal court judges found that while the university’s religious freedom had been infringed upon, the institution discriminated against the LGBTQ community.  Trinity Western — which is fighting similar cases at appeal courts in Nova Scotia and British Columbia — expressed disappointment at the ruling, saying it would be taking its fight to the Supreme Court of Canada.