Category: Culture

Although there are many “solutions” offered for how to change one’s sexual orientation—and some believe it cannot even be done—one evangelical Christian says the answer is simple: the gospel.

Dr. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, says secular therapy to change one’s sexual identity—known as reparative therapy or sexual orientation conversion therapy—is not a viable solution.

This debate, which has already been prominent in the 2012 elections, was started by the pro-homosexual group Truth Wins Out accused a clinic ran by Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann’s husband, Marcus, of offering such treatment.

Tanner Looft, 18, had been growing his hair out for several years, but it wasn’t until his senior year of high school that he entertained the idea of cutting it.

Looft decided to have his curly brown hair cut to raise money for missionaries. It wasn’t a typical fundraiser, however—Looft’s hair measured 28 inches long when it was cut on June 19.

The hair was donated to Locks of Love, and all money raised was donated to Speed the Light through his youth group at New River Assembly of God in Red Wing, Minn.

“I simply wanted to use everything I had to glorify God in some way,” Looft says. “Even the most simplistic things can be used to glorify God in a huge way. I mean, I cut my hair and we raised a good chunk of money for a missionary somewhere to get around much easier.”

The man behind the hit reality-TV shows Survivor and The Apprentice is tackling a “profound” new reality: the Bible.  Mark Burnett is producing a … Read More

As a renowned marriage and family expert, Dr. Gary Chapman has done his fair share of studying, teaching and writing about loving one another.

When he leads a seminar at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove July 29-31, he will address that topic. But he will address the topic in light of the greatest commandment: to love God.

Chapman says that before we can effectively love one another, we must have a genuine love for God. He first loved us, and He demonstrated that love by giving His son to die on the cross, so our love for Him is a response.

“After we understand what God has done for us, we can’t help but say, ‘Yes, I want to love Him,’” explains Chapman. “Then when we have responded to God by loving Him back, we can then be agents of His love to other people.”

Francis Chan is dominating the New York Times best-seller list these days. The founding pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi … Read More

The fate of television is getting ready to change, and it’s starting with web-based evangelist and author Ty Adams. Reality television will soon offer a solution to troubled relationships and broken marriages, as Adams produces the three-part DVD production, The Real Housewives of the Bible.

Adams became frustrated after learning of the current divorce rate, realizing the upsetting ratio of available men to single women and seeing how society negatively portrays relationships.

“There is a place for reality television, if it’s reality,” says Adams. “TV and multimedia has certainly a place in society, but we should be able to use those airwaves to be able to capture God’s voice. I think in fact God was the first television and movie producer—He captivated His audience through stories. He created images in the minds of those who listened to Him. So God loves reality TV—as long as there’s a solution provided that stands with the word of God.”

The publishers of RELEVANT magazine, a Christian publication targeting the college-to-30s audience, just rolled out a new publication. Dubbed Reject Apathy, the magazine aims to give a voice to the faith-based social justice movement in this generation.

Reject Apathy will focus on five key areas—poverty, defense of innocents, creation care, preventable disease and violence. The  accompanying website, RejectApathy.com, promises a holistic view of social justice issues and solutions. It emphasizes core values of sustainability, local involvement and leadership, faith focus, financial transparency, and a long-term commitment to change.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, the final film in the popular series, still offers audiences some dangerous, forbidden occult content and false religion. So warns family advocate and Christian media scholar Dr. Ted Baehr, chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission.

“The final chapter to the Harry Potter stories, like the books, contains some surprisingly overt Christian allegorical elements,” Baehr admits, “but the movie version slightly changes the final confrontation between the hero and the villain to make it even more like a spectacular magical showdown between two sorcerers.”

Baehr, a theologian and Bible scholar, pointed out that the God of the Bible strongly condemns witchcraft and sorcery as evil and loathsome in Deuteronomy 18:10-13. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ affirms all of God’s law in Matthew 5:17 and other passages.

Shealtiel? Epaenetus? Ever wonder how to pronounce some of the more exotic names and places you read about in the Bible? There’s an app for that!

If you use an iPhone or an iPad, you can tap into the Bible Audio Pronunciations application, which offers up audio recordings of more than 1,000 challenging words found in scripture.

“We wanted to give people an easy tool to raise their level of understanding and enjoyment from reading the Bible,” says Michael Vance, developer of the app. “It will speak out loud some of its most difficult words.”

Pottermania will experience one last spasm as the Grand Finale of Harry Potter movies, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, opens July 15.

When the book was released in July 2007, 11 million copies sold in 24 hours, making it the “fastest selling book in history.” When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 hits theaters this Friday, once again, global interest will soar higher than Quidditch players seeking golden snitches.

While most consider all anti-Potterism downright Mugglish, concerns remain high among many parents over exactly where these novels and movies, along with Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, are catapulting this generation of kids.

What do today’s teens aspire to become after graduation, and how does the input from pastors and church leaders influence … Read More

While many people believe social networking websites are a positive step in reconnecting and staying in touch with friends, a church in Crestwood, Ky., is demanding its clergy to sign a “MySpace, Facebook and Website Disclosure Agreement.”

The Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church is requiring its clergy members to “agree to allow the Kentucky Annual Conference to examine any and all MySpace, Facebook or other blog and website accounts.”

The agreement asks for a MySpace screen name and web address, as well as a Facebook user name. It also asks that the clergy member agree to add “the Kentucky Annual Conference as a friend on these sites.”

There’s nothing like the sound of a person’s voice to tell a deeper story. That’s why a newly obtained recording of a 911 call is such a striking example of the dangers of abortion.

Operaton Rescue just released the call, which was placed from the UNM Center for Reproductive Health. The recording ofers dramatic audio of a 35-year old woman “crashing” after being given “conscious sedation” during an abortion procedure on Feb. 15. In the audio, you can hear voices calling the patient’s name and urging her to breathe as she groans and gasps for air.

“We have a patient who is crashing right now,” the caller told the dispatcher. At the dispatcher’s request, the call was transferred to the abortion room where another clinic worker described the patient as “grayish” in color. Once the call was transferred, the disturbing sounds of the patient’s suffering and struggling for life became clearly evident.

The fate of the woman is unknown.

Former New York Giant David Tyree has been under intense media scrutiny for some gutsy statements he made about gay marrriage in an online video produced for the National Organization for Marriage.

Tyree says he recorded the video because he opposes the notion of gay marriage and wants to voice his opinion.

In the video, the former Pro Bowler warned that anarchy could result in the U.S. if homosexuals are legally allowed to marry. He also said gay couples can’t successfully raise a child.

Surprise flash mobs. That’s one strategy to demonstrate a committment to traditional marriage—and that’s just what Worldwide Marriage Encounter couples from across North America are doing in the month of July.

“It is our hope that this flash mob activity is another way to place a positive emphasis on couples committed to marriage,” explain Jose and Marilyn Garcia and Mitch Walters, the North American Ecclesial Team for WWME. “This reach out effort demonstrates that marriages can last and be happy. It is the perfect time to capitalize on a phenomena that is spreading across North America.”

In the wake of New York passing a gay marriage bill last Friday, there are many voices crying out.

Some in the secular world—and even in the church—are celebrating. Others, like Dr. Michael Youssef, are weeping.

Although many are blaming Republicans, Youssef is pointing a bold finger directly at the church of Jesus Christ. As he sees it, the church allowed this abomination to rise up and the church is the only body on earth working to restore God’s righteousness to the land.

Charisma News caught up with Youssef, founder and president of Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, a worldwide television ministry, and senior pastor of The Church of the Apostles in Atlanta, to discuss his thoughts on the gay marriage campaigns across the country and how the church should respond now.

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AP Photo As the tense topic of gay marriage continues to circulate the country, a new study shows that 62 … Read More

Former pastor and author Francis Chan has jumped into the debate on heaven, hell and eternal punishment with book titled … Read More