How a fly saved a man’s life: Do you trust God’s timing?

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The fly that made headlines at the vice presidential debate Wednesday night made me think of another fly that made the news recently.  

An elderly man in France sat down for dinner when he spotted a fly, and his desire to eat in peace evidently got the best of him. He blew up part of his home while trying to kill the fly with an electric bug-killing racket, unaware that a gas canister was leaking in the home.  

The reaction from the electric swatter and gas caused an explosion that destroyed his kitchen and partly damaged the roof. He managed to escape with only minor burns.

I wonder if the fly actually saved his life. 

If the gas leak had gone unnoticed, the outcome could have been much worse. 

A lesson on God’s timing

The man’s response to the pesky fly, although over-the-top, isn’t that unusual. 

We often do the same with annoyances in our lives, often overreacting to situations that a calm head can resolve more easily.  

I’m sure you can remember those times. We all have them. 

What we don’t know is how many times those pesky situations are part of a larger picture—how many times they may make us late but ultimately save us from harm. 

One particular instance in my life comes to mind. 

Several years ago, my sister died unexpectedly, and my husband was on a business trip involving a several-hour flight. We were to leave immediately after he got home, but, for unknown reasons, no gates were available and his flight was delayed in landing. 

We were late leaving and frustrated. Later, on our several-hour drive, we came across a deadly accident that had shut down the interstate in both directions. We both breathed a prayer of gratitude for God’s timing and protection, as well as prayers for those involved in the accident. 

I would like to say that I am always more patient with the pesky distractions that always come, but I’m not. I try to be. I wonder how many times…

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Christian Animator Attacked Online for Refusing to Draw a Transgender Flag

Christian Animator Attacked Online for Refusing to Draw a Transgender Flag


A college student says the online animation community is accusing her of having “transphobic and homophobic views” after she declined to complete a customer request to draw a transgender flag.

According to CBN News, Regent University student Emily Arunt, known as LupisVulpes online, is a top animator and YouTube user, but she says because of her beliefs she declined to draw a character with the transgender flag and told another customer that she would not promote Black Lives Matter.

“I told them I don’t feel comfortable doing that and I’m a Christian,” she said of the request to animate the transgender flag.

Later, however, an online community of animators issued an “official callout” on Arunt. An official callout is a type of blacklist.

The group posted a six-page document that detailed her social media posts and also included screenshots of “evidence” of Arunt being “transphobic and homophobic.”

Arunt said she will not apologize, but she did issue a video response, saying, “I’m also praying for you because I want you to find joy in your life. Your life has extreme value. I really believe that.

“God is perfect and loves perfectly,” she adds.

Pastor Lance Bacon, who teaches at Regent University and is a mentor to Arunt, said he was impressed by her response.

“I was so very blessed by the fact that she didn’t ask ‘how might I find legal representation, what can I…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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An Increasing Number of Americans Believe Political Violence Is Acceptable

An Increasing Number of Americans Believe Political Violence Is Acceptable


A recent Politico survey has shown that an increasing number of Americans feel political violence is justified if the other side wins in the presidential election.

Late last year, researchers noticed a worrying trend: people were more comfortable with political violence. Data sets over the course of three years, as well as a recent survey conducted in September, revealed that one in three Americans now believe violence is acceptable to push forward their agenda.

In 2017, only 8% of the population agreed. The data does not bend towards one party—both extreme Democrats and Republicans alike have voiced this opinion. In late 2018, the number increased to 13% of Democrats and 11% of Republicans. The numbers hovered in a similar range for 2019 but skyrocketed to 30% in June 2020. Only two months before the election and the population’s response once again ticked up to 33% for Democrats and 36% for Republicans.

The choices varied from violence is “never” an option to a “great deal.” Of the people who feel some level of violence is justified, 20 percent of Republicans and 19 percent of Democrats condone “a great deal” of it.

It is worth noting that the more extreme a member of a political party is, the more likely violence is seen as acceptable. People who identified as “very conservative” or “very liberal” were four times more likely to justify violence.

The survey…

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Chinese Communist Party Imprisoned Christian Kindergarten Teacher for Sharing Her Faith with Students

Chinese Communist Party Imprisoned Christian Kindergarten Teacher for Sharing Her Faith with Students


A kindergarten teacher in Communist China was imprisoned for simply sharing her faith with the students, The Christian Post reports.

Esther, the teacher who was locked up, shared how Chinese Communist Party officials at first politely asked her to stop holding outreach events at Woodland kindergarten and simply focus on teaching the students only what was approved by the bureau of education. She refused and continued to hold outreaches at the school for college students while teaching the kindergarteners.

According to Esther, the Woodland kindergarten was not an outrightly Christian school, but it taught a lot of Christian values such as humility and joy. She also says she was surrounded by a lot of other Christians. But that didn’t stop Chinese Communist Party officials from demanding her come into the bureau of education.

Once Esther was there, they interrogated her for 24 hours straight, demanding she fess up to any illegal materials or teaching she may have been doing. During this time, they also raided her classroom for “illegal” materials such as religious documents or other things.

After the 24-hour interrogation session ended, Esther asked if she could go home. When the Chinese Communist Party officials refused, she asked if she could have a lawyer, to which they also responded no. Then they held her overnight. “I was very cold and very hungry,”…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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Christian Artist Jason Biddle Shares How God Rescued Him following a Drug Overdose

Christian Artist Jason Biddle Shares How God Rescued Him following a Drug Overdose


In an interview with The Christian Post, new Christian artist Jason Biddle opened up about how he overcame his drug addiction and found redemption and healing in Christ.

Biddle, a former baseball player who tried out for the Cincinnati Reds, became a contractor after getting injured. But while he was a contractor, he became addicted to drugs and alcohol. Realizing that he couldn’t conquer his addiction without the help of God, Biddle turned to God, ready to accept the consequences for his actions.

“When I prayed, I asked for consequences. I knew it was the only thing that would get me to stop,” Biddle told The Christian Post.

Shortly after, while with his kids, Biddle suffered from an overdose that nearly took his life. Following his overdose, Biddle went to a Christian treatment center.

In the treatment center, Biddle realized the drugs and alcohol addictions were simply symptoms of a much larger problem. It wasn’t until he surrendered his life to Christ that his addiction finally began to loosen its hold on him. Biddle grew up in a Christian household, and he says that “definitely planted seeds of hope and faith that would later come to fruition.”

Biddle, who is now in recovery and is a budding Christian music artist, recently released a new single, “Come On In.”

The song, which he wrote for a childhood friend who is a non-believer, is reminiscent of the struggles Biddle…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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Harris Won’t Say if Biden Would ‘Pack’ the Supreme Court by Adding His Own Justices

Harris Won’t Say if Biden Would ‘Pack’ the Supreme Court by Adding His Own Justices


Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris refused to say during Wednesday’s debate whether she and presidential nominee Joe Biden support a “court-packing” proposal to add seats to the U.S. Supreme Court, responding with an answer that reflected Biden’s own silence on the issue. 

The sole vice presidential debate was filled with question-dodging from both sides – Pence included – and was conducted with both candidates seated and divided by plexiglass dividers due to the pandemic. It was held in Salt Lake City. 

Much of the debate focused on President Trump’s nomination of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Because Barrett’s confirmation could move the court to the right, some Democrats have proposed adding seats to the court to counter the ideological swing. The court has had nine seats since 1869. 

“I think the American people really deserve an answer, Senator Harris. Are you and Joe Biden going to pack the court if Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed?” Pence asked. 

After Harris dodged the question, Pence responded, “The people deserve a straight answer, and if you haven’t figured it out yet, the straight answer is they are going to pack the Supreme Court if they somehow win this election. 

“Men and women, I’ve got to tell you people across this country, if you cherish our…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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Pandemic could result in loss of faith in next generation

Pastor Kemtal Glasgow speaks to children during a Kingdom Youth Conference event | Kingdom Youth Conference

The coronavirus pandemic could accelerate a loss of faith among the next generation unless churches find ways to better disciple young churchgoers and keep them connected, senior researchers at the Barna Group say.

David Kinnaman, president of the California-based evangelical Christian polling firm and Mark Matlock, director of insights, cited earlier research highlighting how a majority of young people who grew up in the church will either walk away from their faith or from the church when they become young adults, during a recent discussion about the impact of the pandemic on Christians aged 18-29.

And both believe the pandemic will make this crisis of faith even worse unless steps are taken to stanch its impact.

“I think it will. I actually think we’re going to see an increasing number of people who’ve lost connectedness with their faith community, with their usual rhythms and practices. We’re going to actually see an increasing number in the years to come and the long-term impact is even more fallout from that,” Kinnaman said.

“We know that 22% of young people…

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Who won the vice presidential debate? A powerful statement of repentance and engagement

Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Vice President Mike Pence applaud following the vice presidential debate Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, at Kingsbury Hall on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The vice presidential debate last night between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris was largely a civil affair. Predictably, partisan analysts were convinced afterward that their party’s nominee won the event. (The fly that landed on Mr. Pence’s head received widespread attention as well.)

Going into the debate, expectations were unusually high. In fact, some were saying that the stakes were higher than for any previous vice presidential debate in history. 

University of Virginia scholar Barbara Perry notes that, based on US presidential history, Harris or Pence would have a one-in-five chance of ascending to the Oval Office over the next four years. This does not consider the ages of President Trump, who is seventy-four and recovering from COVID-19, and former Vice President Biden, who, at seventy-seven, is the oldest presidential candidate in American history. 

The fact that Americans are so focused on potential successors to the most powerful person in the world reminds us that the most powerful person in the world is subject to forces that are more powerful still. 

“We Are Not as Strong as We Think We Are” 

I read and recommend a daily email devotional distributed by retired Major League Baseball manager Clint Hurdle. Yesterday’s article focuses on a song by the legendary singer and songwriter Rich Mullins titled, “We Are Not as Strong as We Think We Are.” 

Though Mullins died in a car accident in 1997, he could have written his song this morning. 

Hurricane Delta is over the Gulf of Mexico this morning after slamming into Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula yesterday. The National Hurricane Center warns that the storm “is expected to grow in…

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Netflix Indicted: Grand Jury Charges Company for ‘Lewd Exhibition’ of Children in Cuties

Netflix Indicted: Grand Jury Charges Company for ‘Lewd Exhibition’ of Children in Cuties


A Texas grand jury has indicted Netflix for “promotion of lewd visual material” depicting children for the company’s controversial movie Cuties.

The grand jury, in Tyler County, Texas, issued the indictment and said Netflix “knowingly promote[d] visual material which depicts the lewd exhibition” of children.

Texas state Rep. Matt Schaefer posted a picture of the indictment on social media. The Texan newspaper first reported about the indictment.

Cuties, rated TV-MA, follows a group of 11-year-old girls who join a dance group named “Cuties” and “become aware of their own femininity through dance,” according to the show’s description. A Twitter clip that has amassed 22.5 million views shows the girls on stage dressed in revealing outfits while they twerk and grind their hips, among other suggestive moves.

The indictment says the film depicts the “genitals or pubic area of a clothed or partially clothed child who was younger than 18 years of age” and “appeals to the prurient interest in sex, and has no…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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Christian Sentenced to Death for ‘Blasphemy’ in Pakistan Acquitted

Christian Sentenced to Death for ‘Blasphemy’ in Pakistan Acquitted


LAHORE, Pakistan, October 6, 2020 (Morning Star News) – A Christian sentenced to death in Pakistan on blasphemy charges six years ago was acquitted by a high court in Lahore on Monday (Oct. 5), sources said.

Sawan Masih, a 40-year-old Catholic father of three, had been handed the death sentence in March 2014 after a Muslim friend accused him of blaspheming against Islam’s prophet. The false accusation resulted in the burning down of more than 150 homes, shops and church buildings in Lahore’s impoverished, predominantly Christian Joseph Colony in March 2013.

“Hearing blasphemy cases is not an easy job, as there is a lot of pressure on the judges,” Masih’s attorney, Tahir Bashir, told Morning Star News. “I’m glad that the bench admitted our arguments on the basis of facts and set a good precedent in a country where religious sentiments and emotions often influence judgments.”

Masih’s defense had raised several objections about the police investigation and prosecution before a Lahore High Court division bench. Bashir said police registering the case 34 hours after the alleged blasphemy showed mala fide by the complainant.

“The investigation officer and the trial court ignored this material fact while deciding the case,” he said.

There were glaring contradictions between the First Information Report (FIR) and the statement recorded by the complainant, Shahid Imran, before…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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