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.
"Kamala Harris, who doesn't want you to have a firearm, (of course, she doesn't want you anywhere near a firearm) has spent a total of $42,000, taking armed L.A. police officers with her outside of Los Angeles... I have no problem whatsoever with Kamala Harris receiving armed security. As a matter of fact, Ms. Harris, it's a great idea... What I have a beef with is you being a hypocrite and, again, throwing obstacles in front of all of us—the people you allegedly govern—about allowing us to protect ourselves and our families." —Dan Bongino
Armed Police Protection for Kamala Harris, the Height of Elitist Hypocrisy
If it were up to Harris and her useful idiot followers, they'd all be illegal except for the guns carried by state enforcers. (KamalaHarris/Facebook)
USA – -(Ammoland.com)- “Armed, plain-clothes LAPD officers were dispatched to California cities outside of Los Angeles at least a dozen times to provide security for U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris at public events, media appearances, and a party,” NBC Los Angeles reports. “The LAPD routinely provides security for dignitaries and officials visiting LA, but a senior retired department official said the courtesy extended to Sen. Harris for her travels to other cities was unprecedented.”
What’s not unprecedented are gun-grabbing politicians who would deny you the right to protect yourself and your family while using tax plunder to make sure their safety is taken care of. Their security detachments can even go armed in so-called “gun-free zones.” At least they have that in common with private criminals.
And Harris is such a hypocrite. And a lying one at that.
“This cannot be a political issue,” she tweeted disingenuously after Parkland, not bothering to explain why she insists on making it one. “We have to have smart gun safety laws – our babies are being slaughtered.”
And what gun safety laws does she consider “smart”?
First of all, forget allowing teachers to make the choice to arm and protect themselves. Harris tried to shoot that plan down by pointing out “trained law enforcement officials, they only hit of their intended target approximately 20 percent of the time,” making it fair to ask if that means her armed security detail poses an 80% danger to the public.
Harris supports “further restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms.” She’s trying to “export California gun control to the nation.” She used “dirty tactics” in the Peruta case to fight the right of all Americans (except for enforcers) to bear arms. And naturally she doesn’t want you to be able to possess “common defense” firearms consistent with the intent of the Second Amendment.
But the guys you pay for who are protecting her, the “Only Ones,” can have it all. And more.
But no fair, some will argue. She’s an important politician. That makes her more of a target than “ordinary” people.
Let’s forget the congressmen killed in duels. It’s been half a century since Robert F. Kennedy, the last U.S. Senator was assassinated, and the one before him, Huey Long, was shot to death in 1935, presumably by his own bodyguards.
As far as the most dangerous jobs in America, “politician” doesn’t make it anywhere near the top 25, all of whom, aside from law enforcement officers, Harris demands be disarmed.
Here’s the thing – reasonable people can agree that some politicians, especially high-profile ones, can require extraordinary protection for situations regular constituents are not likely to encounter—the crazy, violent Bernie supporter who shot up Republican congressmen at the baseball practice, or the nutjob “progressive” #MarchForOurLives supporter arrested for trying to stab a congressman the other day come to mind.
By the same token, Kamala Harris is unlikely to be subjected to the myriad dangers ordinary citizens face. It’s doubtful she’ll ever have some reptile stick a gun in her face at a convenience store, or live in a dangerous neighborhood overrun by gangs, or be the victim of a home invasion, or be raped and slaughtered just because some animal feels like doing it to her. Yet she would prevent every one of those potential victims from protecting themselves.
She would prevent you if you let her.
About David Codrea: David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating / defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. In addition to being a field editor/columnist at GUNS Magazine and associate editor for Oath Keepers, he blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
On this new Anni Cyrus Moment, Anni focuses on Nike’sKaepernick “Just Do It” Jihad, shedding disturbing light on the troubling and eerie question of what exactly is supposed to be sacrificed.
Sexual assault occurs in all cultures, but only in Islam does it have divine sanction.
One survivor of a Muslim rape gang in the UK said that her rapists would quote Quran to her, and believed their actions justified by Islam.
The Qur’an teaches that Infidel women can be lawfully taken for sexual use (cf. its allowance for a man to take “captives of the right hand,” 4:3, 4:24, 23:1-6, 33:50, 70:30). The Qur’an says: “O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.” (33:59) The implication there is that if women do not cover themselves adequately with their outer garments, they may be abused, and that such abuse would be justified.
“Girl ‘had slept with 100 men by 16 and had baby at 15 after being passed around by abusers,'” by Ben McVay, Mirror, September 8, 2018:
A young girl was “passed around” and had sex with 100 men by the time she was 16, a child abuse trial was told.
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claims the abuse she suffered between 1998 and 2001 began when she was just 13 years old, jurors heard.
Her video interview was played at the trial of eight men accused of sexual abuse of five girls over a five-year period from 1998 to 2003.
They were arrested and charged as part of Operation Stovewood – a police investigation into sexual abuse launched after the Rotherham grooming scandal.
Sheffield Crown Court, South Yorkshire, heard how her number would be passed around between the men – with others then “demanding” to meet her.
She said: “I can honestly say that by the age of 16 I had slept with 100 Asian men – some I didn’t see again.
“The ones who come and use you for one time are the ones who are hard to remember.
“As soon as you get to know them your number gets passed around.
“Asian lads demanding to meet you – then you meet a new group and it went on like that.
“I didn’t know at the time I was being passed around when I was 13 but I know now I’m older.”
Tanweer Ali, 37, and Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar, 37, are both accused of indecently assaulting the girl between 1998 and 2001 when she was under the age of 16.
Ali and Akhtar would have been aged between 17 and 20 during the alleged period of offending….
Akhtar, of Rotherham, faces four counts of indecent assault, one of supplying a controlled drug, one of rape, one of procuring a girl under 21 for unlawful sexual intercourse with another, one of aiding and abetting a rape and one of sexual assault.
Tanweer Ali, 37, of Rotherham, faces two counts of indecent assault, two counts of rape and one of false imprisonment.
Salah El-Hakam, 39, of Sheffield, faces one count of rape.
Nabeel Kurshid, 34, of Rotherham, faces two counts of rape and one of indecent assault.
Iqlak Yousaf, 34 of Rotherham, faces two counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault.
Ajmal Rafiq, 38, of Rotherham, faces one count of false imprisonment and one count of indecent assault.
Asif Ali, 33, of Rotherham, faces three counts of indecent assault.
An eighth defendant, who cannot be named, faces three counts of rape and one of abducting a child.
“The Trump administration announced Monday that it is closing the Palestine Liberation Organization’s mission in Washington, citing Palestinian leaders’ resistance to peace talks and attempts to get an international court to prosecute Israel for alleged war crimes.”
At last, a move away from fantasy-based policymaking and an adjustment of policy based on actual reality. Long overdue, and certain to elicit howls of rage from the entrenched fantasists.
“Trump administration closing PLO mission in Washington,” by Andrew O’Reilly, Fox News, September 10, 2018 (thanks to Ken):
The Trump administration announced Monday that it is closing the Palestine Liberation Organization’s mission in Washington, citing Palestinian leaders’ resistance to peace talks and attempts to get an international court to prosecute Israel for alleged war crimes.
The announcement marks the latest blow by the United States against the Palestinians amid a stalled Mideast peace process.
“The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court,” National Security Adviser John Bolton plans to say during a Monday afternoon speech to the Federalist Society. “The United States will always stand with our friend and ally, Israel.”
Bolton is addressing the PLO decision in that speech, saying “The Trump administration will not keep the office open when the Palestinians refuse to take steps to start direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel.”
He plans to say: “The United States supports a direct and robust peace process, and we will not allow the ICC, or any other organization, to constrain Israel’s right to self-defense.”
The White House has reportedly mulled shutting down of the PLO mission in Washington since last November, unless the Palestinian leadership enters serious peace talks with Israel.
Bolton’s announcement on closing the mission adheres to a provision in U.S. law saying the PLO mission must close if the Palestinians try to get the ICC to prosecute Israelis for crimes against Palestinians.
“While the Court welcomes the membership of the so-called State of Palestine, it has threatened Israel—a liberal, democratic nation—with investigation into its actions to defend citizens from terrorist attacks in the West Bank and Gaza,” Bolton plans to say. “There has also been a suggestion that the ICC will investigate Israeli construction of housing projects on the West Bank.”
The U.S. does not currently recognize the Palestinian territories as an independent state, though the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted in 2012 to recognize Palestine as a “non-member observer state.”
Heather Nauert, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said on Monday that the announcement does not change the U.S. stance that direct negotiations are the way to forge a peace deal, but warned the PLO against any rash actions.
“The United States continues to believe that direct negotiations between the two parties are the only way forward,” Nauert said in a statement. “This action should not be exploited by those who seek to act as spoilers to distract from the imperative of reaching a peace agreement. We are not retreating from our efforts to achieve a lasting and comprehensive peace.”
Closing the PLO mission in Washington almost certainly will stiffen the Palestinians’ opposition to any peace plan now being worked on by Trump’s Middle East point men, Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt.
The Palestinian leadership has been openly hostile to any proposal from the administration, citing what it says is a pro-Israel bias.
Senior Palestinian diplomat Saeb Erekat said the U.S. decision was designed “to protect Israeli crimes” and added that the move would not stop Palestinian legal action against Israel.
“We reiterate that the rights of the Palestinian people are not for sale, that we will not succumb to US threats and bullying,” Erekat said in a statement. “Accordingly, we continue to call upon the International Criminal Court to open its immediate investigation into Israeli crimes.”
One issue the U.S. has had with the Palestinian Authority had been its stipends paid to the families of Palestinians killed, injured or jailed for attacks on Israel. Israel and the Trump administration have repeatedly demanded that those payments from a so-called “martyrs’ fund” be halted because they encourage terrorism. PA President Mahmoud Abbas has refused to do so….
Germany has been hit with another impromptu protest after a man in the eastern town of Köthen was killed following a physical altercation with two Afghan migrants.
Around 2,500 demonstrators hit the streets of Köthen on Sunday, carrying German flags and chanting “we are the people”.
Authorities described around 500 of the protesters as “far-right,” but there were no arrests during the march.
Holger Stahlknecht, the interior minister of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, said that many of the demonstrators were “level-headed citizens,” but said that police were investigating slogans and chants to check if they “amounted to incitement”.
The protesters expressed their anger at the death of a 22-year-old German man who died of a heart attack after a brawl with two Afghan migrants.
According to State Justice Minister Anne-Marie Keding, “There were at least two Afghans and two German men involved in the brawl that is believed to have led to his death, but that they neither had any details on the other German man nor did they have all the details of what had occurred during the row.”
Before the demonstration on Sunday, the two Afghans were arrested on charges of aggravated assault and causing bodily harm resulting in death.
While Angela Merkel’s approval rating continues to drop, mostly as a result of opposition to her open border policies, anti-mass migration protests in Germany are on the rise.
The town of Chemnitz was the epicenter of several clashes between anti-migrant protesters and leftists over the last two week following the stabbing of 35-year-old Daniel Hillig by a Syrian and an Iraqi migrant.
The Mayor of Chemnitz reacted to the protests by declaring a state of emergency and drafting in 1,200 police officers to secure the city.
As we reported last week, a club in Frankfurt was also attacked by a gang of 10 Syrian “refugees” who attempted to stab terrified guests while shouting “Allahu Akbar”.
Germany has allowed in over 1 million migrants, predominantly from the Middle East, since 2015.
Violent crime has risen since that time, and 90% of it is due to migrants, according to the German government’s own statistics.
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Breath prayer [are] an ancient Christian prayer practice with origins in the lives of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, is a vehicle we can use to live out Scripture’s call to “pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17) . . . Breath prayer offers stressed-out Christians a simple way to respond to stress by turning our attention to the presence of God and reaching out to Him for grace.
[s]ince 2002, RELEVANT has been the leading platform reaching Christian twenty- and thirtysomethings.” In other words, their target is the millennials. . . . We reach about 2,300,000 twenty- and thirtysomething Christians a month.
If numbers like that are accurate, that means there’s a large chance your grown children or grandchildren are reading material from Relevant, and now, through this article, have been introduced to breath prayers, mindfulness, and contemplative prayer. The article continues:
Breath prayer provides Christians a simple, sustainable way to gain the benefits of mindfulness while deepening our relationship with God. The practice of breath prayer considerably overlaps with the practice of mindfulness . . . The impact of this kind of prayer can be profound. Studies have found that contemplative prayer, of which breath prayer is one form, can help Christians manage stress, evaluate stressors differently and increase spiritual awareness. Furthermore, practicing contemplative prayer can decrease symptoms of worry, depression, anxiety and stress. Additionally, it can be an effective tool for coping with conflict, enhancing users’ mindfulness skills and offering them a greater connection and awareness of their subconscious.
As for breath prayers, this article certainly isn’t the first time major players in today’s “New” Christianity have recommended them. One of the most, if not THE most, popular and influential pastors was pushing breath prayers years ago. On pages 89 and 229 of The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren states, “With practice, you can develop the habit of praying silent ‘breath prayers'” In an article on Warren’s pastors.com website, it exhorts: “Breath prayers are a great way to keep in contact with our Heavenly Father throughout our day. Just repeat short heart-felt prayers, such as “You are my God,” “I love you Lord,” and “Thank You, Jesus.” And also, in 2004, on the Purpose Driven website, it stated: “I started slowly to turn my worries into ‘breath prayers.'” Author and researcher, Ray Yungen, writes about breath prayers in A Time of Departing:
When [Richard] Foster speaks of the silence, he does not mean external silence. In his book, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, Foster recommends the practice of breath prayer—picking a single word or short phrase and repeating it in conjunction with the breath. This is classic contemplative mysticism. In the original 1978 edition of Celebration of Discipline, he makes his objective clear when he states, “Christian meditation is an attempt to empty the mind in order to fill it.” In Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, he ties in a quote by one mystic who advised, “You must bind the mind with one thought.” The advice recounts Anthony de Mello’s remarks in his contemplative prayer classic, Sadhana: A Way to God. His approach was virtually identical to Foster’s: “To silence the mind is an extremely difficult task. How hard it is to keep the mind from thinking, thinking, thinking, forever thinking, forever producing thoughts in a never ending stream. Our Hindu masters in India have a saying: one thorn is removed by another. By this they mean that you will be wise to use one thought to rid yourself of all the other thoughts that crowd into your mind. One thought, one image, one phrase or sentence or word that your mind can be made to fasten on.” “I once related Foster’s breath prayer method to a former New Age devotee who is now a Christian. She affirmed this connection when she remarked with astonishment, ‘That’s what I did when I was into ashtanga yoga!” (ATOD, p.75)
To direct people on a spiritual journey for 40 days, Rick Warren wrote The Purpose Driven Life. The bestselling book has impacted millions of persons. Some of Pastor Warren’s purpose involves recommendations for “Becoming Best Friends with God.” To become God’s friends, the author shares six secrets, one of which is practicing God’s presence by being in “constant conversation” with him. After quoting 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (“pray without ceasing”), Warren asks how a Christian can practice unceasing prayer to which he answers, “One way is to use ‘breath prayers’ throughout the day, as many Christians have done for centuries. You choose a brief sentence or a simple phrase that can be repeated in one breath.” Then after providing ten examples of short biblical phrases that could work as breath prayers, Warren advises “Pray it as often as possible so it is rooted deep in your heart.”[1] In this context Warren also cites the book of Brother Lawrence (c.1605-1691), The Practice of the Presence of God, who advocated experiencing God’s presence in the most menial of circumstances by praying short conversational prayers throughout the day. The Roman Catholic practice of praying the rosary is akin to breath prayers. . . . As the record shows, Jesus never practiced or taught breath praying. . . . Though in Scripture Jesus has commanded us to do many things that pertain to holiness and godliness, he never commanded us to pray breath prayers. In fact, his teaching on prayer implies just the opposite, that we should not pray repeated and recitative prayers like the heathen. The Lord called Abraham “My friend” (Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23), but there is no record that first, he prayed constantly, or second, used breath prayers. Yet because Abraham obeyed [and trusted] God he was a friend of God. In the same way we become God’s friends through obedience. Trust and obey, for there’s no other way.
The Relevant Magazine article promises the reader, if he or she will practice breath prayer and other contemplative prayer practices, an “inner stillness” (i.e., putting the mind in neutral – stopping all thought), relief from stress, “interior watchfulness,” “inner peace,” “purity of thought,” “a feeling of delight through one’s being,” “lightness and courage,” and “joy of life”—basically the same things that are promised if one practices Eastern-style mantra meditation. In fact, an article like this would fit very nicely in any New Age type publication because the focus is on meditation practices not on the biblical Jesus Christ who never once recommended to His followers that they practice breath prayers or other meditation techniques to get close to God. The breath-prayer article on Relevant Magazine is just another mile marker on the church’s fast-moving highway to deception. Knowing that over two million millennials may read this article on breath prayers, mindfulness, and contemplative prayer is an overwhelming thought. Let’s make sure we do what we can to warn any in this age group of the dangers of these practices and encourage them to put their trust in Jesus Christ and His Word. If Ray Yungen is right, that contemplative prayer is the vehicle which will bring about a time of departing from the faith, then our young people are in serious trouble, and their parents and grandparents have a responsibility to speak up. *According to Wikipedia, Relevant Magazine is owned by Relevant Media Group, which was started by Cameron Strang, son of Charisma Magazine publisher and Strang Communications CEO Stephen Strang in June, 2001. Related Articles: Christianity Today Article Promotes Lectio Divina and Breath Prayers YWAM—Wants Every YWAMer to Practice Contemplative Prayer! Dangerous Prayers by Paul Proctor
"A Grapevine megachurch known for outrageous stunts is outdoing itself with a new venture that involves wrestlers.
Fellowship Church, whose prior exploits have included such questionable bookings as caged lions and Oliver North, is launching a new series called "Wrastlin'." What a fun name for what is undoubtedly a deeply spiritual enterprise.
Fellowship Church pastor Ed Young says he grew up watching wrestling — which, not unlike some megachurches, is an entirely fake thing.
"Why wrestling? Because wrestling is all about entertainment!" Young says in a release that brims over with enthusiastic exclamation points. "I grew up loving it, and enjoying the entertainment of it. The church is in the entertainment business! People think that's bad, but it's good. We should entertain like no one else!"
Jesus himself was an entertainer, says Young. Forget that whole savior schtick.
"The word 'entertainment' simply means 'to capture and hold someone's attention for an extended period of time,'" he says. "That's what Jesus did, and that's what we're doing. Wrestling is one of the most used metaphors in the Christian life.""
Wrastlin: Part 1 - The Battle of the Brothers
Ed Young & SPECIAL GUEST Sting
ED YOUNG: "Every day, whether we realize it or not, we are all facing a fight. We’re thrust into the ring and forced to engage in a wrestling match we cannot avoid. The great news is that we do not have to fight alone. In this message, Pastor Ed Young begins to look at the life of one of the most prominent fighters in all of Scripture, the Old Testament patriarch Jacob. And as we unpack Jacob’s battles with his own brother, we discover that victory in our lives has more to do with our trust in God
(PHOTO: COURTESY ED YOUNG)Ed Young, senior pastor of Fellowship Church of Grapevine, Texas (Left) and Mark Calaway, a World Wrestling Entertainment superstar commonly known by his stage name The Undertaker (Right).
Texas megachurch pastor Ed Young is going to have a professional wrestling themed sermon series in which he will interview notable wrestlers like The Undertaker, Ric Flair, Sting, and "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase.
The senior pastor of Fellowship Church, a multi-site congregation based in Grapevine, Texas, recently announced that the four-week series will begin on Sunday, Sept. 9.
In a Thursday interview with The Christian Post, Young explained that he had considered centering a sermon series on wrestling for years given how often it appears in the Bible.
"One of the most used metaphors in scripture regarding the Christian life is that of a wrestler," said Young, citing as examples Ephesians 6:12 and Jacob wrestling with an angel, as described in Genesis 32:22-32.
"It's a staple in our culture so I thought wouldn't it be cool to interview some of the most popular wrestlers in the world, to have them at Fellowship, and then to speak out of the scripture regarding wrestling?" Young said.
Each of the four pro-wrestlers will be interviewed, with three of the interviews being live and a fourth being prerecorded. Young declined to comment which wrestler would have the taped interview.
Fellowship Church's main worship stage will also have a wrestling ring constructed on it, with one section opened up for the congregation to better see him and his interviewee.
Young explained that this was his way of using "word pictures" and enforcing the metaphor of wrestling with God, which he said would be the key theme of his sermon series.
"The whole series is wrestling with God and it's a match that everyone needs to lose," said Young, noting that he did not consider the series to be "Christianity 101."
"It's really probably Christianity 401. But we're using 101 techniques, a big overarching picture everyone can connect with."
The Big Four
The four pro-wrestlers Young will interview for his sermon series are notable names in the professional wrestling industry, both in World Wrestling Entertainment and other companies.
Flair, Sting, and DiBiase are all in the WWE Hall of Fame and many speculate that the Undertaker will eventually be inducted in the near future.
Young told CP that his church was able to get such famous pro-wrestlers for the series because they "just worked our rears off to do it."
"We called and called and called," said Young, "we're friends with one of the wrestlers who knows all these guys and he was able to put us in contact with these wrestlers."
What also helped, explained Young, was that another professional wrestler he declined to name was friends with a pastor friend of his, which helped Fellowship connect to the notable wrestlers.
Trading the Gospel for Entertainment?
Some have criticized Young for the focus on pro-wrestling. When the senior pastor announced the sermon series on Twitter, some were quick to denounce the idea.
"Trading the Gospel for entertainment. This is a true picture of the seeker sensitive garbage that's infiltrating our communities. Foolishness to the max," tweeted one critic.
For his part, Young told CP that he seeks to "teach the way Jesus taught," pointing out that with his parables Jesus "used word pictures," as "most of what He said were stories, things that the culture could connect with."
"We're a Bible-teaching church, but we try to teach, to communicate the way Jesus communicated, which would be using word pictures and illustrations that our culture can identify with and then obviously explaining from scripture the deeper meanings behind these metaphors," replied Young.
Over at his blog, Tim Challies has an interesting piece about the folly of the attractional church model mega-pastor Ed Young consistently uses to fill Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas. This month, Young’s attractional strategy is manifesting in the form of WWE Superstars Rick Flair, Sting, the Undertaker, and Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase. His “Wrastlin” series is previewed in the video below:
Three of these men are WWE hall-of-famers and all have proven for decades that they can draw a crowd (or “draw money” to use a wrestling term). Two of them have been outspoken about their Christian faith. This is a fact not mentioned by Challies, whom I doubt knows much about pro wrestling and its celebrities. I, however, came of age during the Monday Night Wars, so I thought I’d make mention of some important details that Challies left out.
First, pro wrestling is a great metaphor for the Christian religion. In pro wrestling, the action feels spontaneous but in reality, the outcome is predetermined by the owner of the promotion; the winners and losers are picked out long before the wrestlers ever face off in the squared circle. If that doesn’t scream Divine election, reprobation, and predestination then I don’t know what does. I doubt Ed Young and his headliners will make mention of such a theological concern, however. Young’s event is clearly a money grab. Why else would anyone bring in main event talent like the iconic Sting and Flair?
Second, Ted Dibiase should be held in contempt by the Christian community along with Ed Young. Unlike the other wrestlers Young is bringing in, Dibiase is actually an active evangelist who regularly preaches through the organization he founded, Heart of David Ministry. Sting (real name Steve Borden) is also a professed Christian, and it should be noted that he did not perform in WWE until the McMahons (its owners) cleaned up their Attitude Era act. Not much is known about the personal life of the Undertaker (real name Mark Calaway), he rarely breaks character and did not even do so for Young’s preview video. Ric Flair would bust Hell wide open if he died. Flair has basically lived the life of his “Nature Boy” wrestling character, a profligate free-spending playboy. Flair is famously hard-up for cash and would likely appear anywhere for a payday. That a purported Christian minister like Dibiase would headline a church with a man who is so clearly lost is inexcusable. The words of Dibiase’s “Million Dollar Man” alter ego ring true: “Every Man has his price.” It could very well be the case that Dibiase and the many other wrestlers who have found paydays as preachers after their wrestling careers ended are kayfabe Christians who are no more genuine than their in-ring personas. They are still in the business of making an appearance for a payday.
Finally, I want to say a word about what Challies seems to be missing: an appeal to Ed Young’s Texas Redneck target audience. Challies refers his readers to the work of John MacArthur and Jared Wilson and the wisdom of James Montgomery Boice. While these references may be helpful to the regular readers of Challies’ blog, I imagine people who come to church to see the Undertaker don’t have much concern for reformed thinkers. Challies addresses the situation at Fellowship Church in an almost academic fashion, giving a critique of the “attractional model.” This gives far too much charity to Ed Young. Maybe he’s just a promoter looking for a payday and church has nothing to do with it. If the Freebirds and Von Erich’s were still alive, I wouldn’t put it past Ed Young to have them wrestle in the church building. He’s literally turned his church into a circus in the past so doing so wouldn’t be a stretch.
Listen wrestling fans, the lady who edits this blog was friends with Curt Henning and Rick Rude. I was there when Goldberg beat Hogan for the belt. I like Sting (I have a nWo Wolfpac shirt somewhere at my parents’ house) and I like the circus, too, but why in the world are you okay with Shotgun Saturday Night bleeding over into Sunday morning? If you go to Ed Young’s church, Vince McMahon might as well be your pastor. You are being a sold a show. You are not being discipled and grown in Christ. You are Ed Young’s mark. Wise up and get into a genuine church that’s not just another show. If you want help doing so, contact us at talkback@pulpitandpen.org.
And that’s the bottom line because Seth Dunn said so…
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
The Left is busy dehumanizing all of those whom it hates, so this is no surprise. And a pro-Sharia Muslima such as Linda Sarsour will be eager to dehumanize the Jews, who are already amply dehumanized in the Qur’an. The Qur’an depicts the Jews as inveterately evil and bent on destroying the well-being of the Muslims. They are the strongest of all people in enmity toward the Muslims (5:82); they fabricate things and falsely ascribe them to Allah (2:79; 3:75, 3:181); they claim that Allah’s power is limited (5:64); they love to listen to lies (5:41); they disobey Allah and never observe his commands (5:13). They are disputing and quarreling (2:247); hiding the truth and misleading people (3:78); staging rebellion against the prophets and rejecting their guidance (2:55); being hypocritical (2:14, 2:44); giving preference to their own interests over the teachings of Muhammad (2:87); wishing evil for people and trying to mislead them (2:109); feeling pain when others are happy or fortunate (3:120); being arrogant about their being Allah’s beloved people (5:18); devouring people’s wealth by subterfuge (4:161); slandering the true religion and being cursed by Allah (4:46); killing the prophets (2:61); being merciless and heartless (2:74); never keeping their promises or fulfilling their words (2:100); being unrestrained in committing sins (5:79); being cowardly (59:13-14); being miserly (4:53); being transformed into apes and pigs for breaking the Sabbath (2:63-65; 5:59-60; 7:166); and more. They are under Allah’s curse (9:30), and Muslims should wage war against them and subjugate them under Islamic hegemony (9:29).
Sarsour was speaking at the annual conference of the Islamic Society of North America. “The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) was established in July 1981 by U.S-based members of the Muslim Brotherhood with a background as leaders of the Muslim Students Association (MSA). As author and terrorism expert Steven Emerson puts it, ISNA “grew out of the Muslim Students Association, which also was founded by Brotherhood members.” Indeed, Muslim Brothers would dominate ISNA’s leadership throughout the Society’s early years. Striving “to advance the cause of Islam and serve Muslims in North America so as to enable them to adopt Islam as a complete way of life,” ISNA was highly dependent upon Saudi funding during its early years.” — from Discover the Networks
In its latest filing before the federal district court in Dallas on behalf of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and its affiliate organization, the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) in the Hamas-terrorism financing case, the ACLU has made a noteworthy admission.
Rather than deny that there is copious evidence tying ISNA and NAIT to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, the brief argues that such evidence is merely dated. In a curious footnote on page 7, the reply states:
Assuming the authenticity of documents’ dates, the most recent documents to mention either ISNA or NAIT are dated 1991, Gov. Exhs. 3-3 and 3-85, but the majority of the documents are older. Almost all of the numerous exhibits that purport to show financial transactions and that contain any mention of ISNA or NAIT are dated 1988 and 1989 (there are two dated 1990), almost a decade before the majority of the overt acts the government alleges in support of its conspiracy charges against the HLF defendants.
So ISNA and NAIT are not saying that the documents tying their organizations to Hamas are “inauthentic,” but that the problem with the evidence is just that it is old. Then, even more curiously, the reply goes on to argue something that the government has not even alleged:
Even if the “evidence” provided some basis for alleging criminality against petitioners, the government’s discussion of it shows the government utterly fails to grasp the singular weight and consequence that an official accusation of criminal conduct carries in our criminal justice system and in our society.
But, of course, the government has not charged ISNA or NAIT with criminal conduct, or the two groups would be indicted in their own right, rather than un-indicted co-conspirators who worked with the Holy Land for Relief and Development (HLF), the defendant and alleged Hamas-front. The reply brief then, as Shakespeare might write, “doth protest too much.”
“Linda Sarsour: Muslims should not ‘humanize’ Israelis,” by Gary Willig, Israel National News, September 9, 2018:
Left-wing activist Linda Sarsour said that American Muslims should not humanize Israelis during an Islamic conference, the Algemeiner reported.
Addressing the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention in Houston, Texas, Sarsour accused American Muslims who were not sufficiently active in supporting the Palestinian Arab cause of being “complicit in the occupation, of Palestinians, in the murder of Palestinian protesters.”
Sarsour warned against normalization or friendly relations with Israelis. “If you’re on the side of the oppressor, or you’re defending the oppressor, or you’re actually trying to humanize the oppressor, then that’s a problem sisters and brothers, and we got to be able to say: that is not the position of the Muslim American community.”
Sarsour, who was propelled into the national spotlight as a leader of the Women’s March following the election of US President Donald Trump, has been criticized for expressing support for anti-Semites and terrorists who murdered Israelis….
