Christian Heritage News

By Kim Burdick - Posted at the Journal of the American Revolution:  Haslet was kind of a fighting preacher . . . My guess is, before the revolution, Haslet was probably recognized by the political establishment in Delaware as being a little bit too radical . . . Many Scotch-Irish immigrants moved to America in hopes of gaining some independence from an English government that kept them from schools and leadership positions . . . I think there was a bit of resentment toward the English because of the way they were treated in Ireland. Born in Straw Dungiven, County Londonderry in Ulster, Ireland,[1] thirty-year-old John Haslet was the young, widowed minister of Ballykelly Presbyterian Church. Arriving in America in 1757, he became a captain in the Pennsylvania militia and participated in the November 26, 1758 action at Fort Duquesne. Twenty years later, he would be killed at the Battle of Princeton. Continue reading... Originally featured April 30, 2019

"Give 'em Watts, boys!" ( Battle of Springfield - Wikipedia ) Posted at This Day in Presbyterian History : On this day of June 23, 1780 , an American Revolutionary Battle took place in Springfield, New Jersey. Ordinarily we might think that this has no place in a historical devotional, but it does, because of the presence of the Rev. James Caldwell, pastor of the Elizabethtown Presbyterian Church. Rev Caldwell was known as “the Rebel’s High Priest.” His congregation in present day Elizabeth, New Jersey, had provided forty line officers to the American Continental army. And Caldwell himself was the chaplain of Col. Elias Dayton’s Regiment in George Washington’s army. Read more here. Originally featured June 23, 2017.

By Joshua Horn - Posted at  Journal of the American Revolution: America has many heroes from its War for Independence, but one who is rarely remembered is Virginia’s Maj. Gen. John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg. If he is ever mentioned, it is usually as part of a legend in which he removed his robes after preaching a sermon to reveal a Continental uniform underneath, then proceeded to raise an entire regiment from his congregation. [1] Muhlenberg’s career went far beyond this. He served in the military throughout the war, participating in many of the most important battles, from Charleston in 1776 to Yorktown in 1781, and rose to the rank of major-general. Sullivan’s Island Muhlenberg got his first taste of military life as a young man in the British 60th Regiment of Foot, in which he served a short time after running away from the school in Germany to which his father had sent him. [2] He soon returned home to America and followed his father into the ministry. When Virginia raise

By Adam Ford - Posted at DISRN : The Supreme Court delivered a huge win for the LGBT movement Monday, ruling that Title VII of the landmark Civil Rights Act — which bars people from being fired on the basis of sex — should be read to include sexual orientation and gender identity as well. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the opinion; he and Justice John Roberts joined the four liberal members of the court to deliver the 6-3 decision . "An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids," Gorsuch wrote. Continue reading...  See also: Conservative Favorite Justice Kavanaugh Says ‘Gays’ Can ‘Take Pride in’ Ruling Redefining ‘Sex’: ‘Important Victory Achieved Today’  (Christian News Network) Supreme Court rewrites the Civil Rights Act of 1964 t

Image Source: BPR Posted at Christian News Network: A number of videos surfacing on social media show a street preacher being assaulted in what has come to be labeled Seattle’s “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,” and in one short video clip appears to show the preacher being dragged unconscious through the street. The unidentified preacher can be seen being surrounded by a number of people while speaking on one of the streets closed by the activists, assaulted, and at one point kissed against his will on the face. The “autonomous zone,” which been taken over by Antifa and BLM activists and supporters, has been illegally blocked off by those who want to do away with police, and who are now encamped in the six block area. The area includes Seattle Police Department’s burned out East Precinct. In one video clip, the street preacher is confronted by a man wearing a red handkerchief over his face, stating, “You’ll die out here, bro. You want to die out here?” Read more...

By Eric Davis - Posted at The Cripplegate: It’s a phrase that has been heard often in these recent days of sorrow and unrest. Black lives matter. No decent person can disagree. Certainly not Christians. George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, David Dorn, Breann Leath, David Patrick Underwood. We could add more. Their lives mattered. Like every person ever born, they have all been created in the image of God. We all have God’s stamp on us. When life is lost, we are to weep with those who weep. Black Lives Matter is an organization that began in 2013, and has been growing ever since. However, there is a difference between the fact that black lives matter and the organization, Black Lives Matter (BLM). BLM is an organization with a belief system; an ideology; some might argue it parallels a religion (though BLM has not categorized itself as such). It describes itself as an “ideological and political intervention” and is largely rooted in black feminist theology,

By Lu An - Posted at Bitter Winter : Provincial authorities ordered to eradicate crosses “no matter what,” and in four months, many state-run Protestant churches were left without them. From January to April, crosses were removed from at least 250 Three-Self churches in Lu’an, Ma’anshan, Huaibei, and other cities in the eastern province of Anhui. A local believer revealed that in November and December last year, crosses were removed from 22 Three-Self churches in Bozhou, Huaibei, and two other cities. “All Christian symbols are ordered to be removed as part of the government’s crackdown campaign,” a state employee from Ma’anshan city told Bitter Winter. Continue reading...

By Simonetta Carr - Posted at the White Horse Inn : “Our congregation realized that at least twenty individuals didn’t have email addresses, but we only realized that after Covid. We need to be aware of people in our congregations and communities who are on their own. We need to be aware of those who are technologically isolated. Isolation and loneliness did not just suddenly materialize in the last eight weeks – single people and the elderly struggle with or without this lockdown. We need to be more involved with the community as a congregation, really be there for people as they try to navigate the new world after Covid.” (Catherine, member of a Presbyterian church in Scotland) A couple of weeks ago, my pastor challenged the congregation with a weighty thought: our eagerness to reopen our church should not be self-centered. These words lingered in my mind long after the sermon was over. What would be a self-centered reason to reopen? A desire to claim our right to return to c

By Jesse Johnson - Posted at The Cripplegate: Should American Christians ever protest the government? Let me begin by granting that this is a gray area. Different Christians will have different conclusions, and it’s imperative that we treat each other with love, especially when we differ on a question like this. Let me start my answer by saying that I am a protester, and not only because I recently marched in our nation’s capital against injustice. My protest begins way before that. In fact, I’d say that I’m a protestant, which means I’m a protester. ” The genesis of the term “protestant” is the Reformation, where believers proclaimed that it was morally wrong for the Roman Catholic Church to exert control over the government of Europe. The Catholic Church was immoral and teaching a false gospel, and it was subjecting the people of Germany to tyranny in order to fund Roman buildings and an army to continue to suppress Germany. Behind this oppression was the heresy of the sacerd

Posted at Food for the Soul: PEACE FOR A BROKEN AND DIVIDED WORLD Black lives certainly matter, the innocent victims of terrorism must matter and the future of babies yet unborn definitely matter. There is a common thread which runs through all of these situations that are unfolding in the world and in our society today – the desire of the human heart to know and experience justice. But yet we are also reminded that there is a sense of injustice in the world. There is deep division in the world, and this division is reflected in societies and cultures right across this globe. Continue reading...

By Eric Davis - Posted at The Cripplegate: These recent days have been sorrowful ones. The curse of the Fall has been three-dimensional in painful ways. Lives have ended that should not have. The great intruder of death has reared its ugly, uninvited head. Equally uninvited, has been financial ruin, physical injury, destruction of property, anxiety, fear, emotional distress, closure of essential stores and services, not to mention the virus. Truly these last few months have been replete with thorns and thistles. Some have experienced immense pain. Thankfully, our God is the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who gives great hope of Jesus Christ, he who will right all wrongs. A few months ago, it was mentioned here that Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality (CRT/I) collectively, was being embraced by many within professing Christianity. At the 2019 SBC Convention, for example, it was insisted that CRT/I was merely a tool alongside biblical Christianity for the purpos