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‘It’s All Right,’ Christian Kelly Clark Says after Final Olympics Run

Church and Ministry

‘It’s All Right,’ Christian Kelly Clark Says after Final Olympics Run

In 2002, Team USA Olympic snowboarder Kelly Clark, then 18, had everything she ever wanted: money, fame and an Olympic gold medal.

But at another competition, she heard someone tell a young female competitor who wiped out, “It’s all right, God still loves you.”

That sent her back to her hotel room in search of a Bible. When she couldn’t find one, she found the young woman instead, who was at the same hotel, and said, “I think you might be a Christian and I think you need to tell me about God.”

That encounter, which Clark, now 34, relates in her memoir, “Inspired: Pursuit of Progress,” changed her life. She became a Christian, a fact she advertises with a sticker on her snowboard that reads, “Jesus, I cannot hide my love.”

On Monday (Feb. 12), Clark, who is originally from Rhode Island but trains in California, qualified for the women’s halfpipe finals at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang — her fifth Olympic appearance. After three crowd-pleasing runs, she landed just out of medal range at fourth place.

Minutes later, looking back on what was to be her final Olympic appearance, it was her turn to say that it was all right.

“I just kind of did what I could and that’s all I could do on a day like today,” she said at the bottom of the halfpipe. ” … I am grateful I could put down some runs today.”

Clark is very public…

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NYT Columnist Argues Porn Should Be Banned; Some Ask If That’s Even Possible

America
Church and Ministry

A conservative New York Times columnist has set off a debate following a column he wrote in which he suggested the United States ban pornography, an idea he says makes sense, especially given the #metoo movement.

Ross Douthat’s column, “Let’s Ban Porn” which appeared Saturday in The New York Times, explained how hardcore, sexually violent porn now functions as an instruction guide for many young people, especially young men, when it comes to sex.

Despite how liberal idealists have considered themselves as enlightened ones pushing sex education efforts to ensure safety and equal pleasure for everyone, he argued, they have taken for granted the world that porn aggregator websites like Pornhub have created. And that porn-saturated world is all but impossible to avoid, he said; educators are now teaching “porn literacy” classes — a subject featured in a lengthy Feb. 7 profile in The New York Times — so students can know that certain kinds of porn are indeed inappropriate.

“[W]e are supposed to be in the midst of a great sexual reassessment, a clearing-out of assumptions that serve misogyny and impose bad sex on semi-willing women,” Douthat opined, alluding to the #metoo movement and the recent slew of sexual misconduct allegations against influential men.

“And such a reassessment will be incomplete if it never reconsiders our surrender to the idea that many teenagers, most young men especially, will get their sex education from online smut.”

He went on to describe the harmful effects of porn on society and decried the notion that it ought not be restricted as mistaken, stressing that we…

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God Has Released the Breakthrough Ox Anointing

Church and Ministry
Opinion

Actor Taylor James, star of the new feature film Samson, revealed a stunning “vision” that he had years before he landed the iconic biblical role—a message that led him to grow his hair long and keep up a stellar workout routine.

James said during a recent episode of “Pure Talk” that this vision as well as a conversation with a friend had a major impact on him.

“I had a vision as an actor and a person a few years ago to grow my hair and…

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7 Interesting Facts About Ash Wednesday, Lent

Church and Ministry

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(Photo: REUTERS/John Vizcaino)A man receives a cross of ashes during the traditional Ash Wednesday service, at the 20 de Julio Church in Bogota, Colombia February 10, 2016.

For nearly a billion Christians, the weeks leading up to Easter are a time of fasting, solemn contemplation, and the giving up of certain luxuries and foods.

Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a season on the liturgical calendar that represents a 40-day period, plus Sundays that are not counted.

There are many traditions and customs associated with Lent. Some, like Ash Wednesday’s ash cross on the forehead and Catholics not eating meat on Fridays, are fairly well known.

Here are seven interesting facts about Lent. They include a ban on alleluia songs, a half-time celebration, and why many Protestants do not observe the season.

(Photo: Reuters/John Vizcaino)A Catholic faithful participates in the traditional Ash Wednesday service at the 20 de Julio Church in Bogota, Colombia, February 10, 2016.

1. The Meaning of Ashes

Ash Wednesday worship involves church services where ashes are placed in the shape of a cross on the foreheads of worshipers. The practice is meant to stress mortality and penance.

The usage of ashes for these purposes has a long history in…

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You can order a hamburger with an engagement ring

Church and Ministry
Opinion
Sermons

For $3,000, you can order a hamburger that comes with an engagement ring on the side.

Pauli’s, in Boston’s North End, will sell you a Big Boy burger with a 7/8 carat Neil Lane ring nestled in the bun. The ring is framed with round diamonds and a fourteen-carat gold band.

You’ve missed Valentine’s Day, however-the restaurant requires forty-eight hours’ notice.

Today’s holiday didn’t start with St. Valentine. Many historians think the tradition began more than two thousand years ago with an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia. This holiday in turn inherited some of its traditions from an earlier festival called Februa, from which we get the name of “February.”

Lupercalia began each year when a pagan priest sacrificed goats and dogs to the goddess Juno. The hides of the animals were cut into strips by the priests. Women were then struck by these hides as they ran counterclockwise around Palatine Hill in Rome. This was supposed to make them more likely to have children.

The Romans celebrated Lupercalia until around AD 500, when Christian authorities brought it to an end. So, be grateful you don’t have to kill a dog or be flogged with its hide today. Valentine’s Day is a much nicer holiday.

However, a holiday is not necessarily a holy day.

The sexual revolution has no winners

The sexual revolution redefined love as a feeling rather than a commitment. Since research indicates that the feeling of love typically fades after about fifteen months, it’s inevitable that many will abandon their old commitment in search of new feelings.

The legalization of birth control pills in 1960 made it far easier for couples to have sex without fear of pregnancy. The advent of “no-fault divorce” in 1969 led to an enormous escalation in the divorce rate. The legalization of abortion in 1973 further encouraged promiscuity.

And pornography has become such a plague on our society that New York Times columnist Ross Douthat recently wrote an…

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