Christian Heritage News

Posted at Hub Pages: A post-mortem of a heretic observence Halloween has become a festivity that is supposed to be nothing more than mere fun for the whole family. Halloween is a day where children innocently personify evil spirits and go door to door to receive treats of all sorts from strangers. However, many parents don't realise that Halloween is not a harmless day, it is actually the witches’ New Year. Hallowe'en goes back many centuries to the ancient Druid priests of Britain and France. For these people, this pagan holiday is actualy a celebration of the end of summer and the beginning of the Celtic year. Much research has gone into this festivity due to the imense controversy it holds in our modern era. Many researchers believe that the festival is named after Samhain ( pronounced sah-ween), Samhain is the God of the dead. There are a few people who are not convinced of this version of history; nevertheless, this holiday IS satanic deep within its roots. T

By Mike Riccardi - Posted at The Cripplegate: So, I know I’ve posted this (and even re-posted this) before, but when Reformation Day comes around, these truths are what my heart and mind settle upon as I thank the Lord for what He accomplished through the Reformation. 499 years ago this upcoming Monday, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther famously nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany, kick-starting the Protestant Reformation. Nearly 500 years later, God’s people reserve this day to celebrate the rescue of His Word from the shackles of Roman Catholic tyranny, corruption, and heresy. The glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in the sufficient Scriptures had been recovered, and it’s been doing its saving work ever since. Romans 1:16–17 stands at the heart of the Reformation, especially because of how central it was in Luther’s conversion . Luther speaks of how he had hated the phrase, “the righteousness of God,” because he understood it to be sp

By Angela Wittman As we approach November 8 th and the 2016 elections, the Christian would do well to ask what the Biblical qualifications for leaders are and then apply these principles to those seeking public office. A good resource for those seeking to bring glory to God in the political arena and the voting booth is the book  Explicitly Christian Politics , published by Christian Statesman Press and edited by William O. Einwechter. In the Appendix of Explicitly Christian Politics on pages 256 and 257 under the heading The Scriptures Require Moral and Religious, not Ecclesiastical, Qualifications and Duties of Civil Officers is this list of qualifications with Scripture proofs that one can use to measure the Biblical qualifications of candidates seeking their vote: Civil rulers are ministers of God, deriving all just authority ultimately from Him ( Prov. 8:15-16 ; Rom. 13:4-6 ). Civil officers hold their trust from God, through the people, to protect and enforce right

By Bill Hornbeck - Posted at Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions: Today’s devotion comes from Psalm chapter 144. Here is a link to this chapter – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+144&version=NASB I quote only the following verses. “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle; 2 My lovingkindness and my fortress, My stronghold and my deliverer, My shield and He in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me. … 9 I will sing a new song to You, O God; Upon a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You, 10 Who gives salvation to kings, Who rescues David His servant from the evil sword. 11 Rescue me and deliver me out of the hand of aliens, Whose mouth speaks deceit And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. 12 Let our sons in their youth be as grown-up plants, And our daughters as corner pillars fashioned as for a palace; 13 Let our garners be full, furnishing every kind of produce, And our flocks bring

Jeremiah 5:21-31 (KJV) 21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: 22 Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? 23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. 24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. 25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you. 26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. 27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their

By Brian Mattson - Posted at The Resurgent: "Which loss is worse? The freedom of our public witness, or the integrity of our public witness? I’m inclined to believe it is the latter, for at the end of the day our integrity is that for which we are most directly responsible. Our political freedoms rest on many things outside of our control; our integrity rests on something solely within our control. I believe we will be judged accordingly." As a public theologian, my paramount concern in the coming election is the public witness of the Christian community. I believe the health of society requires a strong Christian influence, and societies that lack it tend to be dysfunctional societies. Part of obeying the gospel call to love our neighbors is seeking to influence society with the claims of Christ. I also believe the two major party candidates for President of the United States are both threats to Christian public witness. Whether they are equal threats is the matter we

Rudy Giuliani (Gage Skidmore - Wikipedia ) By Dr. Gary North Rudy Giuliani is some sort of advisor/counselor/apologist for Trump. They are both in trouble. He told Jake Tapper: "Men, at times, talk like that." http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/rudy-giuliani-trump-language-229400 Tapper said he had never heard anything like this. Neither have I. Trump is 70 years old. I am 74. We are not quite the same generation, but we are close. Giuliani is in between: 72. Let me assure you: their experience is not my experience. I begin with a simple thesis: how boys talk about girls at age 15 will shape how they talk about women for the rest of their lives. TEENAGE BOYS BEFORE 1965 The 1960's through the summer of 1964 were really an extension of 1955-59. The teenage etiquette of the late 1950's still prevailed. (I date the arrival of "the sixties" with the free speech movement at the University of California, Berkeley, in the fall of 1964. The arrival of the

Getty Images By Mark Anthony Escalera - Posted at Defending. Contending.: I have lived almost half a century. Being both a US citizen and a British subject, I can say that I have seen my share of politics. I have seen the games, heard the lies, and watched the vitriol fly. This current election in the USA must be the worse I have ever seen. We are a laughingstock among the nations of the world, many of whom have no fear of us as a nation. More importantly, they have no respect for us because our leaders (and potential wanna-be leaders) have no respect for the laws of this land. America used to be a very great nation. We are the nation that was silent for the first 3 years of The Great War, also known as World War I. Finally joining in, the men of this nation answered the call to arms and routed the enemies of freedom. That was ALL that was fought for. The same thing occurred in World War II when the greatest generation of Americans who have ever lived rose up and resoundingly t

Posted at The Quixotic Iconoclast: The idea is being put forward by both major parties that the future of Roe v. Wade hangs in the balance because of Supreme Court nominations that will be made during the next 4-8 years. People are urged to vote for a candidate that they might otherwise abhor, so that their side can prevail in Roe v. Wade. Is that true? Can we solve this just by supporting the right party? The best case study for this idea is the 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v Casey . At the time of the decision, Republicans had been in control of the White House for 12 years. Because President Carter made no nominations to the Supreme Court, Republicans had nominated every Justice appointed since 1969. Eight of the nine sitting Justices were appointed by Republicans. Only Justice White, appointed by President Kennedy, was the nominee of a Democrat. This was the perfect opportunity for Republican nominees to overturn Roe v. Wade. They had an 8-1 majority over Democrat

By Eric Davis - Posted at The Cripplegate: It’s never something we want to talk about. But, with it happening more than any of us would like, we must. And with a handful of passages addressing the issue, we must all the more. All Scripture is profitable. That even includes the sections covering apostasy. It’s a big enough deal that God addresses it. And the way in which he does so is telling: “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, ‘Vengeanc

Posted at The Domain for Truth: I don’t understand why the media has downplayed the wikileaks and the emails of Hillary Clinton. I’m not going to go over the media’s double standard with how they handle Hillary as opposed to Trump for this post but instead I want to focus on an important spiritual lesson that comes from Hillary’s emails being leaked. One thing everyone can agree upon no matter where you land on the political spectrum is that we get to know more about Hillary from these wikileaks. And they aren’t pretty despite the sanitized image Hillary tries to present herself. For instance we learn from journalists going over the emails at Wikileaks that Hillary Clinton Stole Furniture From Department of State, Too . She’s done it before when they left the Whitehouse. Apparently she’s a thief.  As late as February 2015 we find her husband Bill emailing that all the Foreign governments donors are “in.” That is, they are given. So much for Hillary ragging on others w

By Heather Clark - Posted at Christian News Network: “Although Trump has a huge lead over Clinton among evangelicals, the most noteworthy finding in this regard is that more than four out of ten evangelicals currently refuse to vote for either of those two candidates,” analyst George Barna said in an Oct. 10 post, outlining the results. A recent Barna study shows that although many of those who identify as evangelical support the presidential candidacy of Republican nominee Donald Trump, more than four out of ten evangelicals currently reject both Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. The organization surveyed 1,023 adults, including 627 likely voters, to conduct its study . Those expressing support for Trump included evangelicals (55 percent for Trump as opposed to 2 percent for Clinton), those who claim to have a biblical worldview (57 percent to 30 percent), and those who believe in absolute moral truth (48 percent to 37 percent). Those supporting Clinton includ

By Kendra Broekhuis I think it is safe to say that our country has lost its ever loving mind over the upcoming election. My sister shared the perfect meme: “I feel like Trump and Clinton are two divorced parents fighting for custody of us, and we just want to go live with Grandma.” I post very little about politics on social media, because literally nobody has asked for my opinion. But I’m not here to try to convince you to vote for a specific candidate. I’m here to share a few of the things I'm upset about, a few of the things I won’t fall for in regards to my Christian faith and the upcoming election. I’ll try to be brief, because Moses knows we have ingested enough of the words “Trump” and “Clinton” to make us all just want to move in with Grandma. Read more...

By Sunny Shell - Posted at Abandoned to Christ: I've never written much on politics before, but this will be my fifth article on the 2016 Election. The reason I've written these articles on the 2016 Election is because of the grave effect its had on my brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the first election I can recall in my 47 years, that has caused such strong fear and deep division among Christians. And honestly, I'm quite perplexed by it all. I'm grieved to the core about how fearful many Christians have become. I'm heartbroken over the self-preservation that's overtaken so many saints in Christ, that they're willing...no, more than willing...they are fully committed to sacrifice biblical precepts and mandates to save their personal agendas and interests. Many of the evangelicals who are voting for Donald Trump keep shouting, "We're not voting for a pastor, we're voting for a president!" I know that. And I agree. However

By Heather Clark - Posted at Christian News Network: “Any faculty or staff member at Liberty would be terminated for such comments,” Wednesday’s statement read, “and yet when Donald Trump makes them, President Falwell rushes eagerly to his defense—taking the name ‘Liberty University’ with him. ‘We’re all sinners,’ Falwell told the media, as if sexual assault is a shoulder-shrugging issue rather than an atrocity which plagues college campuses across America, including our own.” LYNCHBURG, Va. — A reported 1,3000 students, faculty and alumni of Liberty University have signed a statement objecting to university President Jerry Falwell Jr.’s ongoing vocal support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, stating that Falwell does not represent the views of students and faculty. “Donald Trump does not represent our values and we want nothing to do with him,” the statement, released on Wednesday, reads in part. “… He has made his name by maligning others and bragging about h

By Erick Erickson - Posted at The Resurgent: I am an evangelical Christian. I believe scripture is the inerrant word of God. I believe that when scripture speaks with authority on a subject, it is accurate even though it sometimes forces me to confront seeming contradictions. I believe in one triune God who through the person of Jesus Christ has delivered me from sin and will return to judge the quick and dead. But I no longer believe in you. While there are many right thinking Christians in the United States, the Christian Right has become as worldly and polluted as the Christian Left. Liberal Christianity in the United States has found that God is ever changing. His pronouncements on homosexuality have evolved. The application of the Bible need not be taken literally. And sin itself must be affirmed. Now the Christian Right does the same. It ignores admonitions of the Bible. It excuses the sins of those on the team. Read more...

Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, endorsed Donald Trump in the primaries. Source: Politico | Getty By Rich Lowry - Posted at Politico: "Clinton’s defenders used to wheel out the King David defense, and Trump supporters have resorted to it in recent days. It is true that the 10th century B.C. king of the Israelites committed adultery—and in truly spectacular fashion. He impregnated Bathsheba, got her husband killed to avoid discovery and then married her. A hot mic in King David’s court might have made Trump blush. But this story doesn’t end well—the consequence of David’s sin was deadly strife in his family and kingdom." Lanny Davis must be dizzy from the déjà vu. Davis was a famously stalwart defender of Bill Clinton during the scandals of the 1990s. Little did he know that the excuses and rationalizations made for Clinton then would be repurposed by some of Clinton's harshest and most moralistic critics for a Republican presidential nominee.

Posted at Crosswalk.com: Last week, America’s already divisive presidential election took another turn for the worst. Video evidence surfaced of Republican candidate Donald Trump openly bragging about his numerous sexual assaults on women. The news set off a firestorm of controversy, with many Republicans formally withdrawing their support from Trump and condemning his actions on social media. Just a few notable names include Senator John McCain, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, and Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan . However, the news reverberated strongest through Christian circles, where many evangelical leaders have voiced support for Trump. Trump’s predatory statements have caused one prominent Christian to desert his campaign altogether. Southern Baptist ethicist and theologian Wayne Grudem , who had previously penned an article in favor of Trump, wrote publically of his exodus online. However, as Russell Moore observed in a recent article for The Washington Pos

Posted at This Day in Presbyterian History: “Ninevah’s Repentance and Deliverance” by Joseph Sewall (Dec. 3, 1740) Joseph Sewall (1688-1769) was a Boston scion, the son of a Chief Justice, who later was offered the presidency of Harvard (from where he graduated in 1707). He delivered this early Fast Day sermon before the Massachusetts’ Governor and Council in 1740. Indeed, by order, the Council commissioned both this Fast Day and the preaching. Sewell, a pastoral fixture at Boston’s South Church from 1713-1769, launched this homily by revisiting the epic of Jonah’s revival in Ninevah. His text was Jonah 3:10, and he intended to address the signs of divine displeasure at the time. This is one of the earliest political sermons in our series. At his death, Sewall would be commemorated by Charles Chauncy (see his sermons in this series) for being “a strenuous” defender of “our civil and ecclesiastical charter-rights and priviledges. . . . the purchase of our forefathers at the expenc

By Brittany Pounders - Posted at Liberty Juice: I know this post will generate a lot of mail that I don’t necessarily feel like dealing with. But there are those moments that are so compelling to one’s heart that they must handle it. So here is my raw moment of honesty… I’m really struggling right now. Not with politics. Politics is as ugly as I always know it to be. I’m used to that. Not just used to it, hardened and callused to it. I choose to fight in the arena, but I do so only because I’m passionate about my principles. And my principles are defined by my faith. But right now my heart is struggling with everything I’ve ever believed. My struggle is with the church. I’m watching the reaction to how leaders in The Church, many whom I’ve known my entire life, are destroying their testimonies by not only accepting this reprobate- but are blasphemously using God’s Word to defend him! Read more...

By Bob Williams - Posted at the Christian Observer: Bob Williams is the Managing Editor of the Christian Observer, and a minister and teaching elder in the Reformed Presbyterian Church – Hanover Presbytery In less than one month as this article is being written, if God wills (D.V.), the 2016 U.S. presidential election will be held. The two major parties have nominated in the case of the Democrats, a serial criminal, committer of treason, and enabler of her sexual predator husband and former U.S. president. The Republicans have nominated a boorish, arrogant, New York City thug businessman who is continually having to react to and defend pornographic, vulgar, bullying, and misogynistic utterances caught on videotape during his campaign and over at least the past decade. Facebook, Twitter, the blogosphere, and the Internet in general have various and vociferously-argued theories about how a Christian should vote on 8 November. It seems though, that the Word of God, appropriately-e

Posted at Affluent Christian Investor : "Of course, many Trump surrogates have tried to downplay the significance of the tape and the Republican response, saying “this is how guys talk” – which begs the question, what kind of guys are you spending time with? ..." As I saw the un-endorsements of Trump from Republicans roll in Saturday morning, I thought that there was now basically one plausible scenario in which Trump wins. That Clinton collapses during the debate. I thought Trump actually performed pretty well in the debate, though the focus groups and phone polls – which are much, much more reliable than online polls – by and large said Clinton won. But whether you think the debate on its own was a net loss or net gain for Trump, it wasn’t nearly enough to undo the disaster that was last weekend. If this election were close, Trump’s performance in the debate would be considered a narrow win. Trump needed something a lot more than a narrow win. He needed Clinton to

By Heather Clark - Posted at Christian News Network: Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore WASHINGTON — A number of Republican leaders nationwide are beginning to revoke their endorsement of Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy after audio and video surfaced on Friday of Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women in 2005, including seeking to have sexual relations with a married woman. “This is not a decision that I have reached lightly, but his pattern of behavior has left me no choice,” Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said in a statement Saturday. “His repeated actions and comments toward women have been disrespectful, profane and demeaning.” “I wanted to be able to support my party’s nominee, chosen by the people, because I feel strongly that we need a change in direction for our country. However, I’m a mom and an American first, and I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women,” also remarked Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. Read mo

By J.K. Wall - Posted at Gentle Reformation: In America today, freedom of religion is being narrowed to merely freedom of worship. [1] The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights last month explicitly recommended a legal doctrine that “distinguishes between beliefs (which should be protected) and conduct (which should conform to the law).” [2] In other words, you can sing whatever you want in church, but you can’t come out of church and act on those beliefs—at least not with any special protection from the law. That legal viewpoint—already put into action in recent court and regulatory rulings—threatens public funding and tax breaks that now support Christian colleges, K-12 schools, poverty-fighting organizations and other charities. Why is this happening? Ignorance of, insensitivity to and even hostility toward Christianity are certainly factors—and the ones Christians like to cite most. But another big reason is that Christians, in large numbers and for many years, have been telling Am

Posted at BrentDetwiler.com: In August 2015, R.C. Sproul Jr. posted a confession on his website titled Judgement and Grace in which he acknowledged visiting Ashley Madison one year earlier. Ashley Madison is a perverse website used to arrange illicit relationships for the purpose of fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and lesbianism. “In August 2014, in a moment of weakness, pain, and from an unhealthy curiosity, I visited Ashley Madison. My goal was not to gather research for critical commentary, but to fan the flames of my imagination.” (R.C. Sproul Jr., “Judgment and Grace,” August 31, 2015) At the time of his acknowledgement, he held three powerful and prestigious positions in Ligonier Ministries. More than anyone else in the organization. First, he was the esteemed Rector and Chair of Philosophy and Theology in the Reformation Bible College. Second, he was a prestigious Teaching Fellow in the ministry along with Sinclair Ferguson, W. Robert Godfrey, Steven J. Laws

By James Faris - Posted at Gentle Reformation: God made us to be emotional and to love justice. Our emotions motivate us to pursue justice. God also knows that our emotions can cloud our thinking such that vengeance is not based on justice. So, in the Old Testament, the Lord established cities of refuge. There, people who were guilty might find asylum until the truth could be fully known. Only then would retribution be inflicted on those found guilty (Exodus 21:12-14, Numbers 35:10-15, Deuteronomy 19:1-13, Joshua 20). The undergirding principle of the cities of refuge is that our emotions must be harnessed by the truth as we seek justice. Facts must bridle our feelings. Only then will we love life the way we should. The Old Testament laws of the cities of refuge deal specifically with manslaughter and murder – the greatest injustice that could be done because it involves taking a person’s life. The principle is to govern the way we deal with all lesser injustices, hurts, an

By Eric Davis - Posted at The Cripplegate : For as long as anyone knows, humanity has had a fascination with the supernatural. It’s an allure that transcends culture and time. So it has been in many contemporary Christian movements. It was in 1987, after a John Wimber conference on miracles, that Bill Johnson claims to have experienced his ministry breakthrough. Then in 1996, after experiencing blessing in the Toronto Revivals, he began serving at Bethel Church in Redding, California, the original home of the Jesus Culture movement and Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. Johnson, who is considered to have the “apostolic gift,” teaches many doctrines which fall in line with the NOLR (New Order of the Latter Rain Movement) and the NAR (New Apostolic Reformation). A proponent of the Toronto Blessing, Johnson supports individuals such as John G. Lake, Rodney Howard-Browne, and Smith Wigglesworth (the notorious, early 20th century faith-healer known for punching and slapping peo

By Diane Bucknell - Posted at Out of the Ordinary: In 1937 Arthur Pink wrote, “The "Gospel" which is now being proclaimed is, in nine cases out of every ten—but a perversion of the Truth, and tens of thousands, assured they are bound for Heaven, are now hastening to Hell, as fast as time can take them!” 1 And the beat goes on. Evangelicals en masse believe they will inherit eternal life because they have “asked Jesus into their heart”, even though many know nothing of what it means to test themselves to see if their faith is genuine. In the past the practice of carefully examining ourselves was considered normal and necessary in order to expose self-deceived professors and hypocrites, rebuke worldly Christians, and assure genuine believers. Read more...

By Garrett Haley - Posted at Christian News Network: “It is most interesting that the horns on the altar were intentionally truncated!” Ganor said in the statement. “That is probably evidence of the religious reform attributed to King Hezekiah, whereby religious worship was centralized in Jerusalem and the cultic high places that were built outside the capital were destroyed.” TEL LACHISH, Israel – Archaeologists digging out the ruins of an enormous ancient gate in Israel have discovered evidence that confirms one of the Old Testament’s historical accounts of King Hezekiah. In January of this year, archaeologists began an archaeological excavation in Tel Lachish National Park, which is located in central Israel about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem. The park marks the site of the ancient city of Lachish, which is mentioned nearly two dozen times in the Bible and played a role in several biblical accounts. Described by some archaeologists as the most important city in Judah aft