Matthew 16:24-26 (NIV) 24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?  After Jesus rebuked Peter for having man’s preference over God’s, He uttered these challenging words. Peter had a revelation that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. What was he going to do about it? He wanted to cling to Jesus physical presence. No one wants to lose their closest friend. But Jesus tells us that if we want to follow […]

Could it be that, by divine intent, ultimate relational fulfillment for human beings can be found only in heterosexual marriage? In 2014, a gay activist in England addressed the disproportionately high rate of drug abuse in LGB circles, asking, “Why is drug use higher in the gay community?” His answer: There are negative aspects to the LGB lifestyle that contribute to it. Now, in 2017, a gay writer has addressed “The Epidemic of Gay Loneliness,” asking why gay “marriage” has not cured gay loneliness (among other problems in the gay community), especially among gay men. His answer: “minority stress.” Strikingly, the 2014 article in the UK’s Pink News did not mention “homophobia” once, while the 2017 article in the Huffington Post, amounting to nearly 7,000 words (and worth reading in full), mentioned it only twice. In other words, neither writer

It seems that some people just can’t live and let live. They will not rest until all polite opposition is crushed and everyone is forced to celebrate what they are doing. The Washington State Supreme Court recently found seventy-two-year-old florist Barronelle Stutzman guilty of violating a Washington state law for refusing to use her artistic talents to compose flower arrangements for a same-sex wedding. Here are seven reasons why Ms. Stutzman is right and the court is wrong. 1. Original Intent is the Key to What the Constitution Means Our country was founded largely to secure religious freedom. Thus, when the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed in 1791, the intent was to ensure that Congress would make no law that would require church membership or religious practice of its citizens. Nor could Congress prohibit citizens from freely

If you were under the impression that the opposition to your religious freedom came from rational people who just have a disagreement with conservatives, wait until you see who’s jumping into the movement. The latest group to declare their allegiance to the anti-Christian cause might surprise and even frighten you a little. “If we’re asking for religious rights for all, then we need to understand what that means. That means religious rights for Satanists as well,” a Satanist declares. The Satanic Temple tells the outlet Broadly it is looking to mainstream itself and is vying for converts among one of the fastest growing segments of the American spectrum of faith – atheists and so-called free thinkers. But they insist that is just parody to make a point. Satan, they say, is not real; they just need a gimmick to counter

Matthew 16:13-15 (NIV) 13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”   Caesarea Philippi was a city at the source of the Jordan River twenty miles north of Galilee. It consisted mostly of Gentile people. It was a center for the worship of the Greek god Pan, because of a great water cavern. This was the northern most outreach of Jesus’ ministry. It was here, in view of all the idolatry of the city, that Jesus asked His disciples who people thought Him to be. Their answer of John the Baptist shows us that they

The Word of God is not a resource for believers. Rather, it is the Source for everything the faithful do and encounter. Our thinking, points of view, decisions, and goals all should derive from the Word of God.- Joseph Parker The Word of God is our standard.  For the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God is our guide, our compass, and ultimately, our bottom line.  All counsel, wisdom, understanding, and perspective starts and ends with the Word of God. Our thinking, points of view, decisions, and goals all should derive from the Word of God.  For the Church, this is non–negotiable.  Why?  Because the Bible defines who we are and what we believe.  It is that from which we are to take all of our counsel.  So, when we look at the “Church” today, that is,

Former President Obama on Saturday denied President Trump’s accusation that Obama had Trump Tower phones tapped in the weeks before the November 2016 election. “Neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false,” said Kevin Lewis, a spokesman for the former president. Trump made the claim in a series of early Saturday morning tweets that included the suggestion that the alleged wiretapping was tantamount to “McCarthyism” and “Nixon/Watergate.” “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism,” Trump tweeted. “Is it legal for a sitting President to be ‘wire tapping’ a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!” he said in another tweet. Trump also tweeted that

The kids’ entertainment empire Disney is receiving a major backlash from conservatives over a number of “gay” and lesbian characters kissing on an episode that aired Monday – on one of its most popular cartoon programs, Stars vs. the Forces of Evil. This is reportedly the first time in Disney’s history that it has portrayed such LGBT-friendly imagery in its programming, even though Disney XD has previously vowed to have a longstanding policy to be “inclusive” of all “genders.” The homosexual content appears in what is seemingly just another episode depicting good and evil in a science fiction setting on one of its popular animated TV series. “The animated show follows Star Butterfly – a teenage princess from another dimension – as she navigates high school, embarks on dimension-hopping adventures across the multiverse and battles arch-nemesis Ludo and his monstrous

Matthew 15:7-9 (NIV) 7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’”  The faultfinding religious leaders of Jesus’ day criticized the fact that Jesus’ disciples did not wash their hands before they ate. Jesus did not answer their accusation but gave them a question as a reply. He asked why they nullified the commands of God because of their traditions and cited several examples. They were looking for something to accuse Jesus and His disciples of when they were the ones who were abusing the Word of God. They said all the right things in a religious way, but their hearts were not close to God. They used religion for power, prestige

In 1964, students at the University of California, Berkeley joined together to fight for their right to free speech. Last night, a group of over 1,500 protestors showed up on that same campus to shut down a speaker with whom they disagreed, and about 150 of them started a riot. Clearly, the culture of tolerance on college campuses has changed quite a bit since 1964. Last night, Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos stopped by the UC Berkeley campus on his college tour to talk about the importance of free speech, yet was met with shocking hostility that led to violence. He is well known for criticizing the “social justice left” in a very provocative manner that elicits a strong response from the campuses he visits. He is no stranger to disruptive protests outside his events. However, the new violent nature