Category: News

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Charismatic Nonsense Featured News

Shocking ‘HOLY FIRE BAPTISM’ Video Shows Fruits of the Charismatic Movement

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.

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Featured News Righteous Defiance

CA Congregation Travels 2 Hours To Face Arrest so Other Church can Worship, Defying Judge’s Orders

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.

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Featured News Social Justice Wars

TX Judge Reverses ‘Save James’ Decision. Mom who wants to ‘Gender Transition’ 8 y/o Son Given Go-ahead

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.



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News

CA Congregation Travels 2 Hours To Face Arrest so Other Church can Worship, Defying Judge’s Orders

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.

Categories
Church Featured News

Judge Rules John MacArthur’s GCC Can Have Indoor Services: Church Agrees to Wear Masks and Socially Distance

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.”

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Featured News Social Justice Wars

Jim Wallis Replaced as Sojourners Editor after Pulling Controversial Catholic Article

(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 …

To continue reading, click here

Editor’s note. This article was written by Aysha Khan and published at Religion News. Title changed by Pulpit & Pen

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Featured News

Teacher Complains Online Learning lets Parents see ‘What Happens’ at ‘Gender/Sexuality’ Lessons

(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…

To continue reading, click here

Editor’s note. This article was written by Martin Bürger and published at Lifesite News.

Categories
Featured News Righteous Defiance

California Judge Issues Restraining Order Against Anyone Attending Megachurch

A California judge has declared that anyone who gathers under the church roof of Godspeak Calvary Chapel will be steeply punished, issuing a restraining order against the church and its pastor, Rob McCoy.

The order was granted by a Ventura County judge 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.

Appearing on the Todd Starnes Show, Liberty Council 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.

Last week, Pastor McCoy said that they intended to gather no matter what is thrown at them, or what restrictions are placed on them, saying in the video:

Come to church, and if you’re one of the first thousand, you win a prize. You will get a citation. It will be a misdemeanor. It will go on your record. Be mindful of that.

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Evangelical Stuff Featured News

New Barna Poll: The Christian Church is Seriously Messed up.

A new poll last week released by George Barna’s Cultural Research Center shows that professing Christians are developing more and more decidedly unchristian beliefs, demonstrating that many of these professing Christians are in fact, un-professing pagans.

According to the American Worldview Inventory 2020, syncretism rules the day, with the majority of Christians having fundamental, troubling, primary belief problems.

56% of respondents who identify as Christian and who attend Evangelical churches, or 62% of Christians who say they attend Pentecostal churches, profess that having ‘some type’ of religious faith is more important than which faith a person aligns with. Unsurprisingly, Mainline Protestant churches were at 67% and Roman Catholic at 77%.

When asked if one could qualify for heaven by being good or doing good, compared to the belief that salvation comes ONLY from embracing Christ as Savior, 41% of professing evangelicals said that if a person is generally good, or does enough good things in their life they will earn a place in heaven, a view shared by 77% of Roman Catholics.

Dr. George Barna, CRC Director of Research and one of the authors of the survey, called the results of this latest survey discouraging.

If you step back and look at the big picture painted by all of the outcomes in this research project it seems to suggest that people are in an ‘anything goes’ mindset when it comes to faith, morals, values, and lifestyle,” Barna commented. “Americans appear to be creating unique, highly customized worldviews based on feelings, experiences and opportunities rather than working within the boundaries of a comprehensive, time-tested, consistent worldview.

If you look at some of the dominant elements in the American mind and heart today, as illuminated by the Inventory, we find that most people say that the objective of life is feeling good about yourself; that all faiths are of equal value; that entry into God’s eternal presence is determined by one’s personal means of choice; and that there are no absolutes to guide or grow us morally.

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Coronavirus Featured News

Nashville Council Member: ‘People Not Wearing a Mask Should be Charged with Attempted Murder’

Newly minted “Boss Karen” and Nashville Council Member Sharon Hurt said last week during a meeting of the Joint Public Safety and Health Committee that current legislation for those not wearing masks is too weak and doesn’t go far enough.

She suggested stronger legislation must be mounted in the form of charging anyone not wearing a mask with murder or attempted murder. According to transcripts provided by the Washington Examiner:

But my concern is — you know I work for an organization, that if they pass a virus, then they are tried for murder or attempted murder, if they are not told… and this person who may very well pass this virus that’s out in the air because they’re not wearing a mask is basically doing the same thing to someone who contracts it and dies from it.

It seems to me that we have been more reactive, as opposed to proactive, and a little too late, too little. So, my thing is, maybe there should be legislation, stronger legislation, I don’t know if Mike Jameson is…can speak to it, but maybe there needs to be stronger legislation to say that if you do not wear a mask and you subject exposure of this virus to someone else then there will be some stronger penalty as it is in other viruses that are exposed.”

After being told that the city council doesn’t have the authority to create criminal legislation that would warrant the death penalty if violated, Hurt responds sadly and dejectedly:

I was afraid that was going to be the answer…I guess that’s the whole point of asking for something to be done as early as the Council was pushing. It seems it was not taken as seriously as it should have been and thus we are in the situation we are in right now.

While her suggestion was ridiculous on the face of it, it does highlight some of the exasperation being felt by a society cracking down on dissenting opposition. Nashville is enforcing a mask-mandate in public, with the city having recently hired more law enforcement to patrol the streets looking for violators, as well as enforcing any businesses not wearing masks or not enforcing masks policies.

Nashville Churches, however, are still exempt from the law, enabling them to gather unemcumbered to worship and have servivces as they see fit, with only suggested guidliness being issued. This is due to Tennesse having some of the nation’s more permissive guidelines for churches, thanks to Republican Governor Bill Lee, a professing Christian.

But with a new poll from Pew Research Center showing that “80% U.S. adults overwhelmingly say houses of worship should be required to follow the same rules about social distancing and large gatherings as other organizations or businesses in their local area.” it is unknown how much longer the admittted double standard will last – whether Nashville will become more lax on businesses, or become more stringent on churches.