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DETROIT — The top legislative body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has taken major steps toward recognizing gay marriage. The General Assembly voted Thursday in favor of redefining Christian marriage in the church constitution as the union of "two people," not just "a man and a woman." The redefinition will take effect only if most of the 172 regional Presbyteries approve it in voting over the next year.

Whenever the American people try to curtail abortion or maintain marriage laws, the followers of Satan will be there to fight back, promises the national spokesman for the Satanic Temple. “Lucien Greaves” told Detroit's Metro Times that he would like to help women avoid complying with pro-life laws by saying abortion restrictions violate their Satanic religious beliefs. He added that gay “marriage” is a Satanic “sacrament.” He said Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican from the party's moderate business wing, “has been trying to make it untenable for women to terminate a pregnancy.” A bill that Snyder signed – which...

The battle against temptation in our lives is, of course, an ongoing struggle. Some moments and periods of our life provide more temptation than others, but no day goes by without at least some sort of temptation. While it is important to battle temptation in the moment, it is also important to build ourselves up by grace so that in moments of temptation we can draw on that strength and preparation to more easily win the battle.Obviously, recourse to prayer, the Sacraments, and the Scriptures are essential in building ourselves up. But it is also instructive for us to observe...

They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.(Deuteronomy 32:16-19)Man was made to worship, we were created with a need to adore something greater than we are, to open up our souls, and...

I may have figured out why the Department of Veterans Affairs had such difficulty finding time to treat patients. It’s because it was working overtime to give its chapels a religiously neutral makeover. But as VA officials in Iron Mountain, Mich., learned, one man’s renovation is another man’s desecration. Some folks in Iron Mountain became infuriated earlier this month when they discovered that statues of Jesus and Mary, along with a cross and altar, were hidden behind a curtain in the chapel of the VA hospital there. The chapel still has stained glass windows, though for how long is unclear....

Adapted from "Unworthy: How to Stop Hating Yourself" by Anneli Rufus “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.” – Bertrand Russell Is low self-esteem all that bad? Self-loathing is. But between self-loathing and narcissism is a vast spectrum comprising infinitely various degrees of self-regard. Neither extreme is good. If only we could just reach medium. In 1986, California state assembly member John Vasconcellos proposed the State Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem. This ignited a new movement: Based on the notion that low self-esteem...

Those who believe in traditional marriage had better get used to it. We’ve lost this battle in the culture wars. The homosexualists have succeeded in framing their situation as a struggle. Increasingly their gay pride will be seen as a struggle for equal rights and those who oppose their proclivities will be branded as racists and once that is accomplished the use of force against those who stand for marriage will begin. If you want to know why the gays are winning read Robert R. Reilly’s excellent new book Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything. Brad...

“If you continue in my word you shall be my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free”(John 8:32)“Promising them liberty, when they themselves are the slaves of corruption, for by what a man is overcome, by that is he enslaved” (2 Peter 2:19)There is a true freedom, according to Jesus, Yet the apostle Peter warns us against the slavery of a false freedom. How can we know the difference between the true and the false freedom? Only by appealing to the original document of human liberty, the Holy Bible. The Bible addresses...

In Making Gay Okay, Robert Reilly says the ascendancy of men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) started with Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s victory over Aristotle and that once philosophy fell the triumphant march through the institutions was quick and maybe even inevitable.Reilly explains that the debate centers on the question of what is natural and not, and how to distinguish between right and wrong. He describes how the Greeks fell in love with reality when they discovered nature and that the purpose of things was knowable and unchangeable even by the whim of gods.The author writes, “A dog wagged his tail because that was the...

Full title of this poorly written article: Gay Marriage and Homosexuality: What Have Joel Osteen, Billy and Franklin Graham, Joyce Meyer, TD Jakes and Other Top Pastors Said on the Subjects Evangelist, Reverend Franklin Graham recently participated in a news panel discussion in which he answered questions on homosexuality. Some of the world's most popular evangelicals in America have shared a similar biblical position as Graham in past interviews. Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyers, T.D. Jakes and more, like Graham, have openly shared their thoughts on the divisive subject, and they have used their knowledge of scripture to shed a light...

Here comes the bride. And another one. And another one! Meet world's first married lesbian THREESOME . . . and they're expecting a baby in July. Doll, Kitten and Brynn, all from Massachusetts, married last August. Kitten is expecting a daughter in July. The world's only "married" lesbian threesome are expecting their first child. Kitten, 27, is pregnant after undergoing IVF treatment using an anonymous sperm donor. The trio eventually plans to have three children - one for each of them, according to news reports. Apparently, there is a word for this: throuple. When asked what the benefits are to...

With the release of Matthew Vines' God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships, conservative Evangelicals are responding with warnings that the book should not cause confusion regarding Scripture's teaching on homosexuality. The book, Andrew Walker – director of Policy Studies for the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission – says, "is the first step in a larger effort to fundamentally recast long-held, universally acknowledged norms pertaining to sexual ethics." In his review, Walker notes that not only does Vines identify himself as a conservative evangelical and claim to uphold the authority of...

Despite major changes in public opinion in recent years, Rev. Franklin Graham, son of perhaps the most famous American preacher of all time, Billy Graham, reiterated his strong opposition to gay marriage and gay adoption today on ABC's "This Week." As a part of a special Easter week discussion on religion, Graham told ABC News' Martha Raddatz that gays could go to heaven if they repent.

I was exposed to an expression I had never heard before,in a troubling article in the Christian Post.The expression is “Sexual Atheism” and it refers to the cavalier attitude toward sexual activity among professing Christian youth. In a recent study conducted by ChristianMingle.com, Christian singles between the ages of 18 to 59 were asked, “Would you have sex before marriage?” The response? Sixty-three percent of the single Christian respondents indicated yes. In my 30 years of youth and adult ministry experience, this is as unfiltered, direct and honest as a question and answer can be.It is equally honest to say...

Florida megachurch pastor Bob Coy has resigned from his 20,000-member Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale congregation over a “moral failing.” A statement on the church’s website reported the news: ”On April 3, 2014, Bob Coy resigned as Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, effective immediately, after confessing to a moral failing in his life which disqualifies him from continuing his leadership role at the church he has led since its founding in 1985,”...

In today’s Gospel We hear the story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. The story is a significant turning point in the ministry of Jesus for, as we shall see, it because of this incident that the Temple Leadership in Jerusalem resolves to have Jesus killed.As is proper with all the gospel accounts we must not see this as merely an historical happening to people 2000 years ago. Rather we must recall that I am Lazarus, I am Martha and Mary. This is also the story of how Jesus is acting in my life.Let’s look at this Gospel...

A New York appeals court has affirmed a lower court’s 2012 ruling that a lesbian chef is owed $1.6 million for being forced to attend weekly prayer meetings where her boss would regularly warn that "gay people" were "going to go to hell." Mirella Salemi sued Gloria's Tribeca Inc., Gloria's Tribecamex and principal owner Edward Globokar for violations of the New York City Human Rights Law after a string of incidents that occurred between 2004 and 2007. Gloria's Tribeca is a Mexican restaurant. Salemi was awarded $400,000 in compensatory damages and $1.2 million in punitive damages in what her lawyer,...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Leading a penitential liturgy in St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis surprised his liturgical adviser by going to confession during the service. After an examination of conscience March 28, the pope and 61 priests moved into confessionals or to chairs set up against the walls to offer the sacrament to individual penitents. However, as Msgr. Guido Marini, master of papal liturgical ceremonies, was showing which confessional the pope would be using to hear confessions, the pope pointed to another confessional nearby, indicating that he himself was going to first confess. A priest steps out of his confessional...

Christian leaders such as evangelist Franklin Graham and Russell D. Moore, who is president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, expressed outrage that Christian relief organization World Vision announced it would hire employees in same-sex marriages on Monday. "I was shocked today to hear of World Vision's decision to hire employees in same-sex marriages," Graham, the son of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, said in his statement. "The Bible is clear that marriage is between a man and a woman. "My dear friend, Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision and Samaritan's Purse, would be...

Shortly after I broke the news on my radio broadcast and on social media, Christianity Today confirmed the report: World Vision has decided to embrace homosexual "marriage" among its employees and to recognize practicing homosexual employees who profess faith in Jesus as true Christians. This is a betrayal of the gospel, a betrayal of the Lord, a betrayal of the family, and a betrayal of the countless thousands of Christians who have put their trust in World Vision as a legitimate Christian organization. In no way does it contribute to "building a better world for children" – one of the...