THE CHURCH MILITANT
Ephesians 5:11-"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them". This Christian News Blog maintains a one stop resource of current news and reports of its own related to church, moral, spiritual, and related political issues, plus articles, and postings from other online discernment ministries, and media which share the aims to obey the biblical commands to shed light on and refute error, heresy, apostasy, cults, and spiritual abuse.
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
The pro-life movement in America has scored a major win over one of its most well-known opponents.
On Monday, abortion provider Planned Parenthood dropped its Title X federal funding in response to a newly enforced rule by the Trump administration that prohibits family-planning clinics from talking to patients about abortion or referring them to abortion centers.
The announcement by Planned Parenthood came after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last week denied the organization’s request to reverse its order allowing the Health and Human Services (HHS) restriction to go into effect.
“Due to an unethical and dangerous gag rule, the Trump administration has forced Planned Parenthood grantees out of Title X,” said Planned Parenthood CEO and acting president Alexis McGill Johnson.
She called the rule an “attack on reproductive health care” and said Planned Parenthood will continue to fight it in court.
“We will not be bullied into withholding abortion information from our patients,” Johnson added.
Critics of the rule say communities of color would be most affected. Proponents see that in a positive light, noting that over 19 million black babies have been aborted since the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.
In a statement, HHS spokesperson Mia Palmieri responded that Planned Parenthood has only itself to blame for its loss of federal funds: “Every grantee had the choice to accept the grant and comply with the program's regulations or not accept the grant if they did not want to comply. Some grantees are now blaming the government for their own actions — having chosen to accept the grant while failing to comply with the regulations that accompany it — and they are abandoning their obligations to serve their patients under the program.”
Multiple federal judges had blocked the rule prior to the Ninth Circuit Court’s reviews of it in June and July.
Title X, enacted under President Richard Nixon in 1970 as part of the Public Health Service Act, is a federal grant program that aims to provide pregnancy prevention services to the low-income and uninsured.
Now that the Trump administration has accomplished one of the president’s (and Republicans’) longest-running promises — to get Planned Parenthood off federal funding — the next question is: Do we really need a program such as Title X subsidizing Americans’ birth control at all?
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After the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, President Trump lowered flags to half-mast until August 8. According to a commentator on MSNBC, that was a secret signal to white supremacists meaning “Heil Hitler,” with H being the eighth letter of the alphabet. As a number of commentators and comedians pointed out, it was the sort of thing one expects from the drunk at the end of the bar, or an escaped mental patient. The speaker was Frank Figliuzzi, the FBI’s former assistant director for counterintelligence.
Figliuzzi is an attorney with a JD from the University of Connecticut. He joined the FBI in 1987 and, among other tasks, served as special agent in charge of the Miami field office. Figliuzzi worked his way up to FBI Chief Inspector and then Assistant Director for Counterintelligence. What actual foreign espionage Figliuzzi managed to uncover has not come to light. On other hand, as an MSNBC mouthpiece, he has revealed a great deal about himself.
In an August 12 appearance on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” Figliuzzi told anchor Chris Jansing that the Trump administration should be viewed through the “lens of radicalization.” Jansing countered that the president demands blind loyalty from his followers, and Figliuzzi clicked on the link.
“Well, this is why it’s so important to look through the lens of radicalization when you look at this president and then apply counter-radicalization techniques, because you're right, attacking his followers is going to be counterproductive,” said Figliuzzi, and he wasn’t done. “He demands that loyalty, and they are loyal. So if you call Trump followers racist en masse, they simply coalesce around each other and become even more defensive and protective of the leader, just as they would in, say, a terrorist organization to compare to the radicalization.”
As Mike Brest noted in the Washington Examiner, Figliuzzi had indeed “compared supporters of President Trump to members of a terrorist organization,” and that would of course justify militant action against them. As it happens, that is a belch from deep state in general and the administration of POTUS 44 in particular.
“Desire to wage war on ordinary Americans – to disadvantage them and even to kill them – had long been bubbling in the ruling class’s basements,” Angelo Codevilla recently noted on American Greatness. Codevilla cited the Department of Homeland Security’s Hot Spots of Terrorism and Other Crimes in the United States, 1979-2008. This 2012 study classified persons judged to be “suspicious of centralized federal authority” and “reverent of individual liberty” as “extreme right-wing terrorists.”
Consider also Challengers from the Sidelines: Understanding America’s Violent Far-Right, from the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. This 2013 study warns about the “anti-federalist movement,” whose members “espouse strong convictions regarding the federal government, believing it to be corrupt and tyrannical, with a natural tendency to intrude on individuals’ civil and constitutional rights.” They also support civil activism, individual freedoms, and self-government. In the United States, people of that description fill a rather large tent.
Consider also Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment, an April 2009 publication of the Department of Homeland Security, then ruled by former Arizona governor Janet Napolitano. These right-wing extremists are “mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority.” The “possible passage of new restrictions on firearms,” also disturbs them.
Those who find these government studies troubling might recall that POTUS 44, formerly known as Barry Soetoro, refused to link Islam with terrorism. Those who believe the federal government intrudes on individual rights might wonder how the FBI handled actual cases of terrorism under that administration.
As it emerged in Lessons from Fort Hood: Improving our Ability to Connect the Dots, during his medical residency the U.S. Army’s Nidal Hasan demonstrated “evidence of violent extremism,” sympathy for radical Islam, and even wrote papers defending Osama bin Laden. “Yet no action was taken. Instead, Major Hasan was rewarded for his work and promoted.”
In May of 2009, the Army major was communicating with terrorist mastermind Anwar al-Awliki about killing American soldiers. These and other emails between the two were in the hands of the FBI, which looked the other way and dropped the case until November 5, 2009. That day Hasan killed 13 Americans and wounded 42 others, the worst terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11. The president pronounced it “workplace violence,” not even “gun violence.”
The FBI director at the time was Robert Mueller, who served from 2001 to 2013, longer than any FBI boss except for J. Edgar Hoover. It was Mueller who in 2011 appointed Frank Figliuzzi Assistant Director for Counterintelligence. He may be the looniest anti-Trumper on television, but to be fair the former FBI assistant director is an equal opportunity hater.
He tweets about “Moscow Mitch” and as the network explains, Figliuzzi joined Nicolle Wallace “to discuss reporting that a Russian company invested in an aluminum plant in Kentucky soon after McConnell led the efforts to lift sanctions on that company.”
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As he gets ready for the fall launch of his unaffiliatedThe Sanctuarychurch in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Billy Graham’s grandson, Tullian Tchividjian, who was stripped of his preaching credentials in 2015 due to extramarital relationships with former congregants, says they were all “consensual” and not an abuse of power.
Speaking through a spokesperson, Tchividjian, 47, told the Palm Beach Post in a report Saturday that said his “infidelity in 2015 was completely wrong, morally and ethically” but rejected claims that he used his role as a pastor to inveigle the women into sexual relationships.
“I don’t care what role a person has, a consensual relationship between two adults is not abuse. And some of these people will try to make the case that, ‘Well, because you’re in a position of authority, it is abuse,’” Tchividjian said. “And I’ll go, ‘OK I can see how that has been and can be used by people in those positions.’ ... (But) that just was not true for me. I was not abusing my authoritative role to try and find women.”
Once a pastor/shepherd is defrocked for committing an egregious sin against God, he is unqualified to lead, or in Tchividjian’s case “unfit for Christian ministry”….unless you happen to be the grandson of Billy Graham, and have an ego roughly the size of the Grand Canyon.
Tchividjian lost his job at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as his marriage to his now ex-wife, Kim, in the summer of 2015 after the church discovered an adulterous affair between him and a parishioner on the church's server. He was also deposed of pastoral credentials by the South Florida Presbytery. He later confessed to another affair that resulted in his firing from Willow Creek Church in Winter Springs, Florida, where he was hired after he left Coral Ridge.
Despite Tchividjian’s view of his relationships with the women, Rachel Steele, one of his former parishioners at Coral Ridge who says she had sex with him a few times between May and June 2015, told the Palm Beach Post that she didn’t feel like their relationship was consensual even though she wanted to have sex with him.
There was an element, she said, of surrendering “to what he wanted.” She argues that she was groomed and he did abuse his position as her pastor.
Tchividjian, she said, had baptized her children months earlier and had been offering her and her now ex-husband marriage advice she considered counseling.
“He was my spiritual leader. You know, he was my go-to. He was my teacher. ... He definitely had a place of authority in my life,” Steele told the publication. “You trust a man like that a lot more.”
Tchividjian told the publication that he was not serving as a counselor for Steele at the time.
In late 2016 however, the board of GRACE, an organization that exists to empower the Christian community through education and training to recognize, prevent, and respond to child abuse, condemned Tchividjian’s actions, as a "gross misuse of power."
The board on which Tchividjian's uncle, Emmanuel Tchividjian, and brother, Boz, are members said they were "deeply disturbed" as the scandal snowballed after multiple women came forward with confessions of extramarital dalliances with him at the time.
"One of God's shepherds used his position of authority, his gift of words, his intellect and personality to draw you in when you were vulnerable and in need of care. All power belongs to Christ. Any power we have is derivative and sacred and to be used only for His glory and the good of His people. Anything less is an abuse of that power," Grace told the women in a statement on the situation.
"You have been victims of the gross misuse of power God intended for your good. We grieve with you. We stand with you in the light. You have with courage exposed the deeds of darkness. Thank you, for we as the Body of Christ need your voices,” it continued.
Other critics, like independent journalist Julie Roys, have openly expressing misgivings about Tchividjian’s return to ministry.
“After an extramarital affair & getting defrocked by So Florida Presbytery, Billy Graham's grandson @TullianT is back & planting a church in South Florida. No apology for sexual misconduct & pastoral abuse, just denials. #badcelebritypastorsalwayscomeback,” Roys tweeted Sunday morning.
She later revealed that she was blocked by the preacher on the social network which prompted several other critics of his ministry to reveal that he gave them the same treatment.
As he makes his return to the pulpit, Tchividjian is arguing strongly that he has a message that many people will appreciate.
“Some people think that I should just shut up and crawl in a cave and never come out because I’m not qualified to be leading spiritually in any way because of everything that I went through and everything that I did,” he told the Palm Beach Post. “Other people champion it because they go, ‘It’s about time that churches are led by people who know what it feels like to, you know, fall on their face and be in the gutter.’”
In his message on Sunday, he argued that “real Christianity” is “much more scandalous than most of us realize.”
“I wanna focus your attention this morning on Mark 10. I’m gonna read verses 17-22 and then also verse 27. This is part four or a short series that I’ve entitled ‘Upside down Christianity.’ And the whole purpose of this series has been to look at various episodes in the life and ministry of Jesus and to show how Jesus turned conventional religious wisdom upside down and inside out,” he began.
“In fact, his very existence confronted and contradicted the religious establishment of his day. By looking at different episodes of his life we get a sense of what real Christianity actually is and it’s much more scandalous than most of us realize,” he noted.
Near the end of his message, he veered into his own scandal and what he had learned from it.
“I’ve been very open, upfront and honest, painfully and uncomfortably transparent about my life completely coming off the rails in 2015 as a result of choices that I made. And I still deal, and I don’t think it will ever fully go away. It’s probably a gift to me honestly, because it keeps me dependent on God and makes me realize afresh that His grace is undeserved,” he said, noting he was still struggling to get over it.
“I still deal with a level of guilt and shame and regret for how I hurt my family and how I hurt my friends and how I let people down back in 2015. I screwed up and people got hurt because of me. And because of that, I still deal with,” he said tearing up and his voice slightly cracking.
“It is like it happened yesterday when I think about the moment I sat my three children down … in my living room to tell them what I had done and the look of their face and the words that came out of their mouth. I will never ever forget. And my relationship with my kids, it always has been, unbelievable. But I will never forget the ways in which I hurt them specifically, the ways in which I let other people down and hurt other people,” he said. “The way that I betrayed my first wife and all of those things. Ok.”
He noted however that because “Jesus succeeded for me, I am free to fail without fearing that God will leave me or forsake me.
“God’s love for me, God’s acceptance of me, God’s approval of me has nothing to do with me and has everything to do with what God in Christ has done on my behalf.”
The question that needs to be asked is who restored Tullian Tchividjian to ministry after he was very publicly defrocked? As JD Hall points out: “Certainly, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church has not restored Tchividjian. His former pastor, Kevin Labby, has not restored Tchividjian. GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment) has not restored Tchividjian. The Presbyterian Church of America has not restored Tchividjian. The PCA’s South Florida Presbytery has not restored Tchividjian. So how on Earth did Tchividjian get restored?”
Once a pastor/shepherd is defrocked for committing an egregious sin against God, he is unqualified to lead, or in Tchividjian’s case “unfit for Christian ministry”….unless you happen to be the grandson of Billy Graham, and have an ego roughly the size of the Grand Canyon.
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
A businessman in Amsterdam returned from vacation to find his property occupied by 40 refused asylum seekers who told him to leave.
According to a report by AT5, entrepreneur Salih Ozcan was “expelled from (his) own premises” by the migrant squatters after returning from holiday.
After recovering his property from a “bad tenant” who used it as a weed factory in January, Ozcan had refurbished the site and planned to use it for his car company.
He was shocked to discover it had been occupied by 40 failed asylum seekers who had completely trashed the place.
Referring to the piles of trash at the entrance, Ozcan said the scene was too “crazy for words,” adding, “Only rats and mice come here.”
A video shows angry African migrants confronting both Ozcan and the camera crew from the TV station. The migrants threatened to call the police if they didn’t leave immediately.
“Do I have to leave my own building?” asked an exasperated Ozcan.
Ozcan decided to leave his own building before the police got involved.
“It’s a very bad feeling. I have no words for it at all,” he said. “I can understand those people somewhat, but they don’t understand me at all. Unbelievable. That this is possible in such a country.”
Police refused to comment specifically on the case and said they wouldn’t be treating the matter as urgent.
The footage is somewhat similar to video which came to light in 2016 showing an 80-year-old hotel owner in Italy being forced by police to house numerous African migrants as he desperately tries to resist government confiscation of his property.
The owner refused to house migrants after being told he would be paid just 7 euros per night for each asylum seeker, but his property was subsequently confiscated by the then left-wing government.
UPDATED: Former Ms. Nevada 2019 Katie Jo Williams speaks out on her allegations against the Ms. American Pageant on 'Fox & Friends.' #FoxNews
Katie Jo Williams is a US combat veteran, a member of the US Army National Guard and a Trump supporter.
For this she was kicked out of the Ms. America pageant.
Last month Miss Michigan Kathy Zhu has been stripped of her title over allegedly racist social media posts. The 20-year-old, who is a Donald Trump supporter, model, and activist, has over 70,000 followers on Instagram and Twitter.
"SHARE IT! I'M TIRED OF BEING CENSORED FOR NOTHING!"
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Correction: An earlier version of this article listed the organization concerned as “Miss America” – the organization involved is actually Ms. America. Miss Nevada says she was banned from competing in the upcoming Ms. America beauty contest because of her refusal to hide her support for President Trump.
“I was officially disqualified from competing in the Ms. America pageant for 2019,” said Katie Jo Williams in an Instagram video. She says organizers told her she was “too political” to be involved.
Williams asked what she could do to resolve the issue, and was told the only recourse was to delete everything she had posted on social media.
The director of the pageant sent screenshots which included pictures of Williams in her Trump 2020 hat, professing her love for America and her opposition to Antifa, making it clear that they all needed to be erased.
Williams refused and was subsequently stripped of her Ms. Nevada title.
Organizers then told Williams that in order to get a refund for her entry fee, she would have to send back her sash and crown for winning Miss Nevada and agree to not tell anyone about being banned from competing in Ms. America.
“I feel like if I had more liberal views, less conservative views, that this wouldn’t even be an issue,” said Williams, adding, “I stand by everything I posted.”
EXCERPT: "The 24-year-old went through basic training after her junior year at Altamont High School, served a tour of duty in Afghanistan and is currently training for a CrossFit competition. She is a recruiter for the Illinois National Guard, currently overseeing 140 recruiters, and is going through drill sergeant schooling.
Aside from her fit physique, it was her looks that prompted friends in the military to encourage her to apply for Ms. Veteran America 2014. As the only member of the National Guard to make the final round of the competition, she admits she was reluctant at first."
Williams, who plans to work in the Illinois National Guard until retirement, doubts there will be more pageants in her future.
