President Trump re-enacted a dialogue he had with the Lord this afternoon while standing in front of Air Force One during a press conference, saying that God spoke to him and acknowledged what a great job he did at growing the economy. He further stated that the Almighty challenged him again to do it once more in the midst of an economic recession caused by the novel coronavirus, in remarks that were likely, hopefully, tongue in cheek.
President Trump said:
What we achieve together, and what we’re together is nothing short of an economic miracle, and now we’re doing it again.
We did it. We built the greatest economy in the history of the world, and now I have to do it again.
ou know what that is? That’s right. That’s God testing me. He said ‘you know, you did it once’ and I said ‘Did I do a great job God? I’m the only one that can do it.’
He said ‘That you shouldn’t say, now we’re going to have you do it again.’ I said ‘Ok, I agree. You got me.’
But I did it once, and I’m doing it again. and you see the kind of numbers we’re up, they’re unbelievable. Best job numbers ever.
A video can be seen embedded from The Hill below.
Trump: "We built the greatest economy in the history of the world & now I have to do it again! You know what that is? That's God testing me…'Did I do a great job, God? I'm the only one that can do it.' He said, 'That you shouldn't say, now we're going to have you do it again.'" pic.twitter.com/LJ5yGtAjVu
The Disney Channel introduced their first “bisexual lead character” in the animated series “The Owl House,” which follows a young girl who discovers a portal to another world and befriends the rebellious witch Eda the Owl Lady, eventually becoming her apprentice despite having no magical powers.
The revelation that the character was bisexual came when Luz Noceda, the 14-year-old lead who has previously shown interest in boys, spent the last two episodes pursuing a recurring female character, Amity, eventually asking her to the prom and slow dancing with her, in a move that previous to this revelation had not been hinted at.
Creator Dana Terrace, who is bisexual herself, spoke of her intention and fight to have the queer experience at the front and center of the show.
While Disney has nibbled around the edges of having homosexuals, lesbians, and transexual representations in their films, it has usually always been on the fringes and in smaller roles, such as Officer Spector being a lesbian in the feature film “Onward,” The innkeeper Oaken in “Frozen” and some bit characters in Zootopia, among others.
John MacArthur and the Elders at Grace Community Church defied government orders and held their regular Sunday morning services yesterday, without masks and without socially distancing, after a late-night, last-minute appellate court decision removed an exemption they were given on Friday by Superior Court Judge Gregory Alarcon to have service, so long as they complied with masks and social distancing.
“We’re having church. It’s actually hard to figure out exactly what the city is trying to do, with us and to us, but we know they don’t want us to do exactly what we’re doing right now.”
Said MacArthur, during his opening few minutes, further explaining what was happening and the current state of Grace Community Church as it pertains to the government.
“And we’re not meeting because we want to be rebellious. We’re meeting because our Lord has commanded us to come together and worship him. There was a court order that granted this church and this church alone the right to meet indoors, and the powers of the city were not happy about that. They were going to be asking us to do two things; social distance and wear masks, that was until yesterday when city…we agreed, look, we’ll comply for a few weeks, they asked that for three weeks. We’re not wanting to be defiant. We will do what is reasonable.
That was not enough for the city, so they went to the appellate court at the last minute on Saturday late and had that order removed.
The California Court of Appeal, led by Judge James Chalfant, issued a stay of the previous judge’s order, ruling that the dangers and risk of catching and transmitting the novel coronavirus outweigh the right to hold services, with the 4-page report summarizing:
“As between the harm that flows from the heightened risk of transmitting COVID-19 (namely “serious illness and death”) and the harm that flows from having to conduct religious services outdoors instead of indoors, the balance at this early stage favors issuance of a stay.”
In a statement, Los Angeles County said it was “pleased that the California Court of Appeal recognizes the vital importance of our Health Officer Orders in protecting the lives and health of our residents as we work to slow the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus.”
The county so far has shown every indication that they will pursue their July 29 cease-and-desist order, where they declared the church would be subject to fines up to $1,000 and 90 days in prison for each indoor service.
Pastor MacArthur continued:
So, the good news is you’re here, you’re not distancing, and you’re not wearing masks. And it’s also good news that you’re not outside because it’s very hot out there. So the Lord knew you needed to be inside and unmasked. So he did us that gracious favor.
They don’t want us to meet, that’s obvious. They don’t want to work with us, they just want to shut us down. But we’re here to bring honor to the lord. They’re not our enemy, we understand that. The bible tells us to pray for their salvation, and we need to be faithful to do that.
A video has emerged out of the Philippines showing members of the Charismatic and Pentecostal Church, Zion of God, being overtaken by the power of the devi Holy Spirit, in a run-of-the-mill manifestation of the ‘Holy Fire Baptism” that while may seem initially shocking for the uninitiated, is not out of step at what you’d find at many Pentecostal or NAR churches in the United States today.
In fact, this is in line at what you’d see at John Arnot’s Toronto Airport Blessing Revival, Michael Brown’s Brownsville Revival, or Todd Bentley’s Lakeland Revival.
Captioned “HOLY FIRE BAPTISM IN ZION OF GOD, THROUGH ONLINE / LIVE PREACHINGS…CONNECTED TO ZION OF GOD , FIRE FIRE FIRE !!!! IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME !!! and the listing the location, one of the church’s pastors, Zion Nieva, posted a video showing congregation members speaking in tongues, being slain in the spirt, having the spirit control their extremities, holy laughing, and as the Pents’ like to say when engaged in these sort of definitely biblical activities, “groanings too deep for words.”
We perused the Church’s Facebook page and found more speaking/ preaching in tongues.
We even found a video of their spiritual deliverance ministry- again, all mainstays in the charismatic experience.
Truly, what wonderful fruits of the spirit on display. The diversity in the body of Christ is truly a beautiful thing, especially where there is definitely, totally, for sure nothing completely evil and demonically inspired by any of those activities. Nope. Satan and his minions are most certainly not loving every minute of that. Not at all. Definitely all of Jesus.
A judge who issued a restraining order against a California church opening during the pandemic and who threatened to arrest and fine the first 1000 people who showed up, had his plans thwarted when another church came to rescue, with members driving over 150 miles to attend the service and be counted as among the first to be arrested, sacrificing their bodies and freedom to free up members of the church under fire to attend and worship unmolested.
The move comes after a California judge declared that anyone who gathered under the church roof of Godspeak Calvary Chapel would be severely punished, issuing a restraining order against the church and its pastor, Rob McCoy after the local government sued McCoy and his church for holding in-person services of up to 200 people, which violates Covid-19 shutdown restrictions.
The attorney for the county also demanded that Pastor Rob McCoy be thrown in jail for opening his church this past Sunday and also requested that the judge order armed police officers to physically block entrance into the church to prevent congregants from attending.
Liberty Counsell President Matt Staver, whose firm is closely following the proceedings, explained that this was the first time that there has ever been such an order placed against a church.
The judge issued a restraining order against him, the church, and 1 through 1,000 John Does. He issued the order and said ‘anyone acting in concert with any of these individuals.’
The John Doe orders and the in-concert language means that anybody who dares go into that church building, at any time in the future, until this judge gives his blessing, will be held in contempt of court. There are already penalties and fines of $1,000 a day, and now this contempt that they would hold over you, for going into the building for worship or prayer, would result in you going to jail as well under this court order.
This has never happened before in America.
At the news of the fines and the restraining orders issued to potential John Does, 2500 people attended the service on Sunday. Staver recounts:
Part of this group was another church that drove two hours to this church to be the first 1,000 people to be arrested so that the people inside could have their worship services.”
It is an incredible thing that church members from another congregation, whose church wasn’t being attacked and subjected to this persecution, drove two hours to stand outside in the parking lot during the services to voluntarily receive citations or face arrest so others could worship inside, in defiance of Governor Gavin Newsom’s tyrannical and anti-christian policies.
We at Pulpit & Pen commend the courage of all involved.
A father who has been frantically seeking to stop his young son from transitioning to a ‘girl’ against his (and allegedly his son’s) wishes has been dealt a crippling blow by a Texas judge, who ruled that his ex-wife who has been actively trying to transition their child is to be given sole medical, psychological, and psychiatric care, overruling the father and removing him from the decision making process.
It’s the next twist in a saga that caught national media attention last year, with even politicians like Senator Ted Crux and Texas Governor Greg Abbott both commenting after the #savejamesyounger hashtag blew up and trended on Twitter, in a story that at last resolution involved the father having joint say in his son’s medical decisions and acting as a bulwark from having this child abuse foisted upon their son, now 8 years old. Not so any longer.
The mother, Dr. Anne Georgulas, has been aggressively seeking to transition their son into a girl. Claiming that he has gender dysphoria. She calls James ‘Luna’ at home and dresses him like a girl and has been exploring options to begin him on hormone blockers. According to court documents, the mother asked the courts to stop the father from:
“signing Luna up as James for any activities or taking her as James or calling her James or using male pronouns related to Luna at any activities outside the home… allowing the children to remain in the presence of anyone who is not calling Luna by her chosen name, ‘Luna,’ not using female pronouns to refer to her and otherwise not affirming Luna.”
The ruling by the judge for full-decision making now frees her to subject her son to transgender medical procedures. The father, Jeff, says that when his son stays with him he does not want to be treated as a girl and won’t wear girl clothes, saying that he is a boy.
The father has also been ordered to pay for all the counseling, though he will not be given an option in the choice of a counsellor.
According to the “Save James” Facebook page, there is “a special evidentiary hearing is scheduled for September” to review the current orders and determine whether or not they will proceed as planned. Until then, the page is seeking to again get the attention of Senator Cruz, in a bid to review these heartbreaking developments.
A judge who issued a restraining order against a California church opening during the pandemic and who threatened to arrest and fine the first 1000 people who showed up had his plans thwarted when another church came to the rescue, with members driving over 150 miles to attend the service and be counted as among the first to be arrested, sacrificing their bodies and freedom to free up members of the church under fire to attend and worship unmolested.
The move comes after a California judge declared that anyone who gathered under the church roof of Godspeak Calvary Chapel would be severely punished, issuing a restraining order against the church and its pastor, Rob McCoy after the local government sued McCoy and his church for holding in-person services of up to 200 people, which violates Covid-19 shutdown restrictions.
The attorney for the county also demanded that Pastor Rob McCoy be thrown in jail for opening his church this past Sunday and also requested that the judge order armed police officers to physically block entrance into the church to prevent congregants from attending.
Liberty Counsell President Matt Staver, whose firm is closely following the proceedings, explained that this was the first time that there has ever been such an order placed against a church.
The judge issued a restraining order against him, the church, and 1 through 1,000 John Does. He issued the order and said, ‘anyone acting in concert with any of these individuals.’
The John Doe orders and the in-concert language means that anybody who dares go into that church building, at any time in the future, until this judge gives his blessing, will be held in contempt of court. There are already penalties and fines of $1,000 a day, and now this contempt that they would hold over you, for going into the building for worship or prayer, would result in you going to jail as well under this court order.
This has never happened before in America.
At the news of the fines and the restraining orders issued to potential John Does, 2500 people attended the service on Sunday. Staver recounts:
Part of this group was another church that drove two hours to this church to be the first 1,000 people to be arrested so that the people inside could have their worship services.”
It is an incredible thing that church members from another congregation, whose church wasn’t being attacked and subjected to this persecution, drove two hours to stand outside in the parking lot during the services to voluntarily receive citations or face arrest so others could worship inside, in defiance of Governor Gavin Newsom’s tyrannical and anti-christian policies.
A California Court has ruled that John MacArthur and Grace Community Church have a constitutionally protected right to remain open and hold indoor services in their sanctuary, upholding the church’s stance that they are indeed essential, but also imposing some restrictions for mask-wearing and social distancing, which GCC indicated they will comply with.
According to a press released by Grace Community Church
Hours after Grace Community Church filed suit to invalidate Los Angeles County’s unconstitutional restrictions on churches, the County filed for a temporary restraining order to force the church to stop holding indoor services and comply with every unreasonable and over-broad demand. At hearing today in Los Angeles Superior Court, Judge James Chalfant denied almost all of the County’s requests, agreeing with Pastor MacArthur and the Church that it is the County’s burden to show why it should be permitted to infringe on the constitutionally protected rights of churches to freely exercise religion. The judge did also express concern for some safety protocols.
To address those concerns and after explaining that the County was being unreasonable in its demands, counsel for Grace Community Church offered to comply with mask wearing and social distancing indoors until the matter could be fully heard, rather than the County simply rushing to shut down the Church. The judge agreed this was reasonable, set the full hearing for September 4, 2020, and ordered the Church to have congregants wear masks and social distance between family groups indoors.
Pastor MacArthur said he was pleased with the ruling, commenting
“I am very grateful the Court has allowed us to meet inside and we are happy for a few weeks to comply and respect what the judge has asked of us because he is allowing us to meet. This vindicates our desire to stay open and serve our people. This also gives us an opportunity to show that we are not trying to be rebellious or unreasonable, but that we will stand firm to protect our church against unreasonable, unconstitutional restrictions.”
The church’s lawyer, Charles LiMandri, said:
“This result is indeed a great victory for all citizens’ constitutional right to freedom of religion. Pastor MacArthur’s love of God and country motivated him and all the GCC church elders to resist the unjust government shut-down orders targeting people of faith. Their devotion and patriotism has brought about a result that respects the legitimate interests of both the church and state. This result makes it possible for the thousands of congregants of GCC to continue to gather together in their church to worship, while at the same time honoring the court’s requirement that reasonable and temporary safety measures be observed. This court ruling should stay in effect at least until there can be a full court hearing in this case on September 4, 2020. Please continue to pray that the courts allow this enlightened judge’s decision to stand so that all Californians can soon resume the worship of God in their respective churches.”
(Religion News) The progressive Christian magazine Sojourners has replaced founder and President Jim Wallis as editor in chief and announced a new policy of editorial independence from the organization’s advocacy work.
The decision came after weeks of turmoil over Wallis’ removal of an essay criticizing white supremacists within the Catholic Church, which led two staffers of color to resign from the magazine.
Wallis, a prominent progressive theologian and activist who has also written for RNS, will continue to serve as president of the Sojourners organization, the magazine announced Friday afternoon (Aug. 14). He had served as a leader at the magazine since its founding in 1971 as the Post-American.
Sandi Villarreal, who had been the executive editor at Sojourners, has accepted the role of editor in chief. According to the statement, she has been promised editorial independence in overseeing Sojourner’s web and print publications.
The controversial essay, written by University of California Los Angeles lecturer Eric Martin, was published in the magazine’s August print issue under the title “Harboring a Culture of Hate” and online as “The Catholic Church has a Visible White-Power Faction.”
On July 28, following backlash from Catholic leaders, Wallis removed the article from the site, saying it “made unwarranted insinuations and allegations against many Catholics.”
In three lengthy subsequent editor’s notes, he criticized Martin’s claim that U.S. bishops voted to reject language condemning swastikas, Confederate flags and nooses in their 2018 pastoral letter against racism. In fact, he wrote, the bishops’ letter does name nooses and swastikas as a “tragic indicator of rising racial and ethnic animus.”
The article has now been restored to the site with a correction about the bishop’s letter appended above it. The publication has also committed not to remove published articles from its site.
As the controversy played out online and within the organization, two associate web editors, Dhanya Addanki and Daniel José Camacho, publicly resigned from the publication.
Addanki said that the article’s removal plus “three years of experiencing this toxic environment” as a Dalit woman and woman of color pushed her to leave.
“I’m unable to continue my role here in good conscience,” Camacho said in a public …
(LifeSiteNews) A teacher within the school district of Philadelphia is lamenting the increased chance of parental oversight if classes are taught online amid the coronavirus crisis — especially when it comes to so-called sex education.
“I am most intrigued by the damage that ‘helicopter/snowplow’ parents can do in honest conversations about gender/sexuality,” the teacher said.
The teacher, Matthew R. Kay, works for Philadelphia’s Science Leadership Academy. In 2018, he published his book Not Light, but Fire: How to Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Classroom.
While his tweets are private, one Twitter user posted a screenshot of his thread of complaints.
“So, this fall, virtual class discussions will have many potential spectators — parents, siblings, etc. — in the same room,” Kay began. “We’ll never be quite sure who is overhearing the discourse. What does this do for our equity/inclusion work?”
“How much have students depended on the (somewhat) secure barriers of our physical classrooms to encourage vulnerability? How many of us have installed some version of ‘what happens here stays here’ to help this?”
Kay then went on to mention “honest conversations about gender/sexuality” as an issue where parents who are involved in their children’s education would be unhelpful.
Kay admitted that “‘conservative’ parents are my chief concern” but said “that the damage can come from the left too. If we are engaged in the messy work of destabilizing a kids [sic] racism or homophobia or transphobia — how much do we want their classmates’ parents piling on?”
The Family Research Council (FRC) in May released a publication on “Sex Education in Public Schools” outlining how “sex ed programs push the limits on what is appropriate, both in terms of the material presented to students and the age at which it is presented.” Often, parents are unaware that these things are happening at school.
According to the publication, “parents have two main concerns about sex ed today: That it sexualizes children and that it is load-ed with LGBTQ indoctrination.”
“Even if parents identify problematic lessons in sex ed and manage to opt their kids out, that won’t protect them from sex propaganda elsewhere in school, sometimes where they least expect it,” Cathy Ruse, the author of the publication, pointed out.
Sometimes, parents are intentionally deceived about what their children are taught at school. Parents in Fairfax County, Virginia are told that an abstinence lesson will talk about “the benefits of abstaining from sexual activity until marriage.” However, as Ruse found out, “the word ‘marriage’ never appears anywhere in the lesson!”
In any case, students are not simply taught how sexual intercourse works, focusing on the biology of it. Instead, pre-pubescent children in Austin, Texas, for instance, are encouraged “to consider ‘vaginal intercourse,’ ‘oral intercourse,’ and ‘anal intercourse.’”
“Schools in Indiana actually send teens shopping for condoms…
