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A major American Newspaper has printed an article encouraging readers to cast spells against the President. According to the article, thousands of witches all around the world have already performed incantations against President Trump. From the LA Times:

I cast a spell on the president. I was not alone. Thousands of witches, believers and people like me all over the world performed “A Spell to Bind Donald Trump and All Those Who Abet Him” under the waning crescent moon last month. It was not meant to physically hurt him, only to keep him from succeeding at his tasks. Now he’s complaining he’s the object of a “witch hunt.” Maybe the spell is working.

I heard about the incantation from the Oracle of Los Angeles. I’m on her email list and the subject line “Bind Trump, not your breasts” caught my eye. The binding-spell movement started with an article on Medium posted by Michael M. Hughes, a writer and magician. I don’t believe in the devil, but I do believe our country has gone to hell, and I am willing to try anything to save us.

Response: It is incredible to me that a major American newspaper would print this story. I guess anything goes anymore in our media culture except Christianity? Notice that the writers says that she will ‘try anything’ to stop Trump. Quite an admission.

For once I am not going to encourage our readers to ‘read the whole article’ since it is so full of spiritual distortion and deception. If you do, use discernment.

The writer equates Christian prayer with witches spells. It is time for Christians to demonstrate the difference and rise up and commit to praying daily for our leaders including President Trump regardless of our personal politics. After all, the Apostle Paul counseled Christians in the 1st century to pray for their Roman rulers. Time for Christian to step into the gap being created by our spiritual enemy in the dominant culture.             *Top

There use to be a time in America when close to 99% believed in God. Now some are claiming that over a quarter of the country no longer share that belief even if they have not fully embraced an ‘atheist’ identity. I believe that it is now increasingly important for Christians to be able to understand some of the philosophical and scientific arguments for the existence of God.

Here’s a very interesting article by Robert H. Nelson: “Five Rational Arguments Why God (Very Probably) Exists”

This comes from an academic perspective and includes 5 excellent scientific, philosophical, and historical arguments on why God probably does exist. Not the typical explanations that you might get from your pastor. Well worth the read.                *Top

Anyone reading newspapers, watching newscasts, or listening to radio news can easily figure out that the main stream media doesn’t like our new President and his administration. A new Harvard study not only confirms that there is a definite on-going media bias but demonstrates that the amount of negative stories against President Trump is unprecedented and far worse than any recent executive had to face. Here’s the story from Heat Street:

A major new study out of Harvard University has revealed the true extent of the mainstream media’s bias against Donald Trump. …

Academics at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy analyzed coverage from Trump’s first 100 days in office across 10 major TV and print outlets.

They found that the tone of some outlets was negative in as many as 98% of reports, significantly more hostile than the first 100 days of the three previous administrations: …

The picture was very different for other recent administrations. The study found that President Obama’s first 100 days got a good write-up overall – with 59% of reports positive.

Bill Clinton and George W Bush got overall negative coverage, it found, but to a much lesser extent than Trump. Clinton’s first 100 days got 40% positivity, while Bush’s got 43%…

<Read the whole article>

Response: We have been commenting on media bias for many years and the fact is it is far worse than it use to be. Increasingly the major university schools of journalism are dominated by secular folks of the far left and students are taught that it is their job to change the world ‘for the better.’ In most cases ‘better’ includes a leftist/progressive politically correct world view that distains religion, particularly Christianity, conservatism, and any kind of national identity.

Since President Trump Seems to be on the opposite side of every issue that they hold dear he is considered to be an ‘enemy’ that needs to be eliminated. Every story is formed to fit a negative narrative and every fact is presented in a way to support their distain for the President and his administration. From the media’s perspective it is no longer their job to merely present the facts and let the people in a democratic society decide for themselves. It is obviously their view that the terrible conservative voters that voted for Trump in the first place must be forced to change their minds.

The firing of FBI’s Comey is a case in point. Last year the press and the progressives were calling on President Obama to fire the Director but when Trump actually does it they take an opposite view immediately. Comey was incompetent and everyone knows it and I’m pretty well tired of the huge negative media coverage and feeding frenzy.

Some will say that Trump may be causing some of his own problems by the way he is treating the press. Which came first the chicken or the egg- Trump’s attack on the media or the media against Trump? Sometimes I do believe that the President has caused some of his own problems through political inexperience and with his demonstrated ‘foot in the mouth disease’ on Twitter.

Nevertheless, I have had enough of the way the media is distorting the facts to fit their own progressive world views and narrative. I am hoping and trusting that millions of Americans are also getting fed up and see though the obvious media bias against President Trump and anything conservative or Christian. 

There was a time in America when the major news folks were among the most trusted public figures but that is no longer the case as the lines between actual hard news, biased narratives, and ‘fake’ reporting has become increasingly blurred.              *Top

The Lexington Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission attempted to force a Christian printer to produce T-shirts for a gay pride event. The Christian businessman has now won his second appeal in court against the commission. Here’s the story from the FaithWire:

A Kentucky appeals court has ruled that the government cannot force a Christian printer to make T-shirts for a gay pride event after the government previously stepped in and punished the businessowner for refusing to do so.

The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled 2-to-1 that Blaine Adamson, owner of Hands on Originals, a print shop based in Lexington, Kentucky, is correct in his argument that being forced to create the T-shirts was a violation of his religious beliefs, according to the Becket, a law firm devoted to the defense of religious liberty.

“The court agreed with Becket, top legal scholars, and LGBT business owners, who all stood up for the rights of artists to choose what messages they would promote, without fear of government punishment,” the firm said in a statement. “(The) ruling emphasized that ‘the ‘service’ [the printer] offers is the promotion of messages. The ‘conduct’ [the printer] chose not to promote was pure speech.’”

<Read the whole article>

Response: We have been following this case for some time now because of the implications for similar cases around the country against Christian business owners. In several cases Christians have lost their businesses due to fines and punishments handed out by government agencies. At some point we are hoping for one of these cases to make it all the way to the US Supreme Court and for religious liberty to finally triumph.

This case may stop here with 2 wins for a Christian business. If it does go on, it will go next to the Kentucky Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the costs would continue to escalate which is why many Christian business owners are forced to give in or up. Thanks to organizations like Becket and the Alliance Defending Freedom, along with the Pacific Justice Institute for making it possible for Christians to respond to government intrusion upon their faith and businesses.               *Top

According to research conducted by LifeWay, 81% of Americans are concerned about the declining moral behavior in the country. Here’s the story from the Christian Post:

The Nashville-based Christian polling group’s survey, released Tuesday, found that 81 percent of Americans either agree or strongly agree with the statement: "I am concerned about declining moral behavior in our nation."

Forty-six percent of respondents said they "strongly agree" with that statement, while 35 percent said they "agree." On the flip side, only six percent said they "strongly disagree" and 13 percent said they "disagree" that they are concerned about the declining morality in the nation.

<Read the whole article>

Response: This sounds like it should be ‘good news.’ However the real problem in our current American culture is who or what defines right from wrong or what is good and what is evil.

In past generations in America the Bible was the ultimate standard but that is no longer the case. among the cultural majority. Even among many Christians the Bible  is no longer the definitive ground on which they stand but only one important source among others.

In fact the politically correct progressive culture is increasingly opposed to Biblical teaching. So 81% of Americans may be concerned about the morality of the country but a large number would also disagree over what to be concerned about and how it should be resolved.

In fact I believe that if  the responders were asked if the Bible should provide the basis for the ‘moral standards’ in America that it would be surprising if a majority still agreed. The real answer to the declining morality in the country is a major culture changing awakening and a radical changing revival in the American church. It has happened before in our history and it is time to pray for it to happen again.               *Top

A prominent scientist was recently denied access to conduct a study in the Grand Canyon National Park because of his Christian beliefs. Here’s the story from Charisma News:

Dr. Andrew Snelling is a highly learned and experienced geologist. He’s published numerous peer-reviewed materials, has had years of experience in various labs and has conducted studies in the United States as well as Australia.

But when he submitted a request to Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP) to perform a standard soil and rock collection, he was denied.

Rather than noting his experience and numerous endorsements from fellow scientists, reviewers scrutinized Dr. Snelling’s Christian faith and views.

They subsequently denied his request.

<Read the whole article>

Response: This type of discrimination is happening to Christians in colleges and universities all across America in academic circles. There have been a number of reports in the last year or so that Christian professors and scientists have been denied tenure and advancement.

But the National Park Service is a government agency and this type of treatment should not be tolerated. In fact President Trump just said in a speech that this type of treatment of people of faith would not be allowed in his administration.

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Dr. Sneller. It will be interesting to see how this is resolved in a new administration. The lead ADF lawyer Gary McCaleb, commented that the GCNP is "directly discriminating" against Dr. Snelling for his faith. The law and the Constitution should be on the Doctor’s side.                    *Top