A 60-year-old pastor has become the first patient with COVID-19 to die in Malaysia as the country’s coronavirus cases climb to the highest in Southeast Asia.

The secretariat for Sarawak’s state disaster management committee revealed that Pastor David Cheng from Emmanuel Baptist Church was diagnosed with the virus after being admitted to Sarawak General Hospital with a fever, cough and breathing difficulties on March 14, Channel News Asia reports.

The pastor, who had chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, was transferred to the intensive care unit after his conditions worsened and died on Tuesday.

In a statement, Cheng’s son, Anders, said: “Give us some time to grieve but fret not, we are still at peace. Death has no sting.”

Anders said that his father will be cremated. “My dad is in a place where there is no more pain, sickness, grief, sorrows or worries, and he’s in a better place than all of us. So with that, we are putting on our garments of praise and still rejoicing through this storm.”

Anders’ mother and sister are also reported to have tested positive for COVID-19.

“As of now, I’m concerned more for my mom and sis and pray that their immunity will clear it without any further complications,” said Anders. “Pray with me for my health too that I won’t be tested positive and my sister and mom will be ok, (and that) we will come out stronger.”

According to his bio on the Emmanuel Baptist Church (EBC) website, Pastor Cheng converted to Christianity in 1977. The pastor said his “greatest joy is to see people encountering the Presence of God during the time of worship.”

“The Bible verse that stirs my passion regarding worship is found in Psalm 40:3: He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord, and put their trust in him,” Cheng wrote. “May we see many continue to experience the reality of God through worship.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Leah MarieAnne Klett

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The National Black Church Initiative, a coalition of 34,000 African American and Latino churches working to eradicate racial disparities, has urged leaders of churches in their network to “respect the science” of the new coronavirus and warn their at-risk congregants to stay home amid the pandemic.

“We must follow all of the CDC’s guidelines pertaining to those who are at least 60, especially those with underlying health conditions and compromised immunities. We are taking this extraordinary action in light of the fact that we must show moral leadership here in order to get everyone singing the same song — God will take care of us if we listen and obey those who he was empowered to help us protect ourselves, our families, and our communities,” the Rev. Anthony Evans, president of the NBCI said in a recent statement.

Churches in the coalition are comprised of 37 denominations and 26.7 million members with an additional 116,000 sister churches.

The NBCI warning comes amid a lack of consensus among church leaders nationwide on whether churches should shutter their doors and meet remotely.

Paul S. Morton, founding bishop of The Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, has been fielding withering criticism online for insisting churches should remain open, like hospitals and police stations across the country, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Leonardo Blair

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is calling on world governments to account for religious freedom in their responses to the coronavirus outbreak, citing concerns with some government and societal responses to the crisis. 

“From a legal perspective, international law requires governments to preserve individual human rights, including religious freedom, when taking measures to protect public health even in times of crisis,” reads a factsheet written by USCIRF policy analysts Scott Wiener and Dominic Nardi and USCIRF International Legal Specialist Kirsten Lavery.

The factsheet, published Monday by the bipartisan federal commission, reviews the international legal framework “surrounding the limitation of religious freedom on the grounds of public health.”

The document provides examples from the current pandemic where religious freedom issues and public health interventions have overlapped.

The factsheet comes as there have been over 204,000 reported COVID-19 cases and over 8,200 deaths worldwide since December, according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine coronavirus resource center.

According to USCIRF, South Korea “provides a vivid example of how public health emergencies can increase the risk to marginalized religious groups.”

USCIRF reports that members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a secretive religious sect that many see as a cult and claims to have over 300,000 members worldwide, have faced “considerable criticism and even harassment from the South Korean government and society.”

It all began after a 61-year-old member of the church developed a fever and attended services in Daegu before being diagnosed with coronavirus.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about two-thirds of cases could be traced to the church member as a surge of infections broke out among Shincheonji members.

USCIRF notes that Shincheonji Church has faced pressure from mainline Protestant groups in South Korea.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Samuel Smith

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Welcome to the How to Stay the Coronavirus Plague podcast #2. My name is Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International.

Jeremiah 19:8 says, “And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.”

Matthew Henry said, “The whole city shall be desolate, the houses laid in ashes, the inhabitants slain or taken prisoners; there shall be no resort to it, nor any thing in it but what looks rueful and horrid; so that every one that passes by shall be astonished. That place which holiness had made the joy of the whole earth sin had made the reproach and shame of the whole earth. He must assure them that all their attempts to prevent and avoid this ruin, so long as they continued impenitent and unreformed, would be fruitless and vain. There is no fleeing from God’s justice but by fleeing to his mercy. Those that will not make good God’s counsel, by humbling themselves under his mighty hand, shall find that God will make void their counsel and blast their projects, which they think ever so well concerted for their own preservation. There is no counsel or strength against the Lord.”

Heath Lambert said, “Until God is your chief concern — until sinning against Him is what makes your heart break — you will never turn the corner.”

Here are some news stories about the coronavirus:

According to the Guardian There have now been at least 10,316 deaths from coronavirus since it emerged and more than half of those deaths (5,168) have been in Europe, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.

According to CNN New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo just announced that 100% of non-essential workers must stay home.This comes only a day after California’s governor took similar measures, locking down the entire state of nearly 40 million. These two states taking these measures means that one in five Americans now must sequester themselves due to the outbreak.

According to Yahoo Dr. OZ said The new coronavirus outbreak may result in the deaths of over 1 million Americans, though the ultimate toll can still vary significantly depending on efforts taken by the U.S. government and public.

Here is how we can stay the plague:

The solution is not going to come from the president or politicians or physicians. It will come from pastors, preachers, and parishioners confessing and repenting of their sins and also praying for people and witnessing to people.

1 Corinthians 11:31 says “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.”

2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

1 Peter 4:17 says, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”

Revelation 2:21 says “And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.”

Revelation 2:4 says, “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.”

I believe that one of the things that God is allowing to happen through this plague is to bring families back together because families are the biggest problem in our society and if you have broken families you have broken churches and a broken community but for many families being cooped up in the house together is going to be rough because many husbands and wives, fathers and mothers are selfish and really don’t want to be in the house all the time with the family and depending on the age of the children they may not want to be either and this can lead to an explosive situation that can potentially be deadly and by the grace of God i will share with you some things as I have done this and we have done family life, ministry life, and business life in the home together.

Billy Graham said, “Nothing can bring a real sense of security into the home except true love.”

HOME SCHOOL

David O. McKay said, “The home is the first and most effective place to learn the lessons of life: truth, honor, virtue, self control, the value of education, honest work, and the purpose and privilege of life. Nothing can take the place of home in rearing and teaching children, and no other success can compensate for failure in the home.”

Here is some homeschooling curricula you can use:

Abeka

Liberty Online Private Homeschool

Khan Academy

HOME BUSINESS

Dave Ramsay, said “The worst thing we can do is get a 2nd job. The best thing we can do is start a home based business”

HOME CHURCH

Since you are doing home church the best advice that i can give you is to have church yourselves before you watch church somewhere else.

Henry Hon said, “While the system of institutional churches of various stripes has been well established, the recovery of the independent assembly in homes, house by house, according to the New Testament, is still in it’s infancy. Ironically, it is the assembly located in homes that the apostles labored to build up. Yet two thousand years later, it is still obscure. However, the Lord Jesus, according to His desire, has not given up and is recovering the assembly back to its rightful prominence.”

Hosea 10:12 says, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

Here are some sins the church needs to repent of:

1. Husbands not loving and leading their families like they should.
2. Wives not submitting and respecting their husbands.
3.Children not obeying their parents.

Ephesians 5:22 says:

22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

DR. John Constable said about this passage:

Paul addressed wives first. Christian wives are to be subject to their own husbands as an expression of their submission to the Lord Jesus. Paul did not say they were to be subject to their own husbands in proportion as they are submissive to the Lord. In submitting to her husband, the wife is obeying the Lord who has commanded her to do so. In this section Paul was speaking of relationships in marriage, as the context clarifies. He was not saying all women are to be subject to all men, nor was he saying that women are inferior to men.

People often misunderstand submission. It does not indicate inferiority or involve losing one”s identity and becoming a non-person. Some women fear that submission will lead to abuse and or a feeling of being used. Submission does not mean blind obedience or passivity. It means to be in order and to line up under.

Equality of worth is not identity of role.

We live in an ordered universe in which there is authority and submission to authority everywhere. Authority and submission relationships are therefore natural and necessary to maintain order. God has authority over man. Man has authority over nature. Husbands have authority over their wives. Parents have authority over their children. Governors have authority over those they govern. Employers have authority over their employees. Spiritual leaders have authority over those they lead spiritually.
———————————–
Submission means organizing voluntarily to fill out a pattern that constitutes a complete whole. The word “support” is a good synonym for the biblical concept of “submit.” A wife submits to her husband when she voluntarily “organizes” herself so she can complete her husband. A good example of this is her cooperating with him when they run a three-legged race. They have to work together to succeed. Submission is essential to achieve oneness in marriage.

Submission involves four responsibilities. It begins with an attitude of entrusting oneself to God. The focus of life must be on Jesus Christ. The ability to submit comes from Him. He is similar to the cables that enable a suspension bridge to carry out its purpose. Second, submission requires respectful behavior. This rules out nagging. Nagging is similar to having a duck nibble you to death. Third, submission means developing a godly character. Fourth, submission involves doing what is right. Submission should not extend to participating in conduct that is contrary to Scripture. Every Christian”s primary responsibility is to do God”s will.

After centuries of Christian teaching, we scarcely appreciate the revolutionary nature of Paul”s views on family life set forth in this passage. Among the Jews of his day, as also among the Romans and the Greeks, women were seen as secondary citizens with few or no rights. The pious male Jew daily said a prayer in which he thanked God for not making him a woman. And he could divorce his wife by simply writing “a bill of divorcement” (which must include the provision that she was then free to marry whomever she wanted). The wife had no such right.

Here is what you can do to stay safe from the plague according to the CDC.:

1.Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
2.Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
3.Stay home when you are sick.
4.Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
5.Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
6 Wash your hands often with soap and water.

——

Now, if you are with us today and you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, allow me to show you how you can place your faith and trust in Him for Salvation from sin and Hell.

First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 18:8: “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Now that is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.
Romans 10:9 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your Salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and today I choose to turn from my sins. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and I choose to follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.

If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the Cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior today, please email me at [email protected] and let us know. There is some free material that we want to send you. If you have a prayer request, please e-mail that to us as well, and we will pray for you until you tell us to stop.

God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.

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A Los Angeles federal judge overturned on Tuesday a jury’s verdict that found pop star Katy Perry and her collaborators guilty of copying a Christian rap song for her hit song, “Dark Horse.” 

U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder said she did not believe the 2008 Christian hip-hop song “Joyful Noise” by rapper Marcus Gray was distinctive enough to be in violation of the copyright law as the jury found.

“It is undisputed in this case, even viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiffs, that the signature elements of the eight-note ostinato in ‘Joyful Noise’ is not a particularly unique or rare combination,” Snyder wrote in her decision.

Perry, Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, Capitol Records, and others had been ordered to pay $2.78 million by a California jury for copyright infringement in 2019. They appealed and asked the California courts to overturn the verdict or grant a new trial.

Gray, professionally known as Flame, plans to appeal the new ruling.

“When the jurors returned a unanimous verdict of infringement, I cautioned my clients that we had only finished Round 11 of a 15-round match and that the next round would take place in the court of appeals,” Gray’s attorney, Michael A. Kahn, said in a statement to the Associated Press. “We believe the jury was right and will do our best to restore their verdict on appeal.”

In the initial trial, Gray and his song’s co-creators had argued in their lawsuit that Perry’s 2013 single “Dark Horse,” featuring Juicy J, copied the beat of their song “Joyful Noise,” featuring Lecrae.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Jeannie Law

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Millennial-aged Christians are more likely than older generations to fact-check sermons while they are being preached, according to a new report by the Barna Group.

In a report titled “Do Americans Replace Traditional Church with Digital Faith Expressions?” that was released last week, Barna analyzed what American Christians do during a sermon.

While 75 percent of respondents said they “listen carefully,” 17 percent acknowledged that they “get distracted” while 10 percent reported that they “’fact check’ the sermon.”

Millennials were the generation with the highest percentage of respondents who said they fact-check, with 16 percent admitting that they do this, compared to 12 percent of Generation X and only 7 percent of Baby Boomers.

Millennial church attenders were also the most likely to report checking their social media, emails, and text messages during a sermon, with 17 percent responding that they do this.

This was larger than the 10 percent of Generation X who reported doing the same during a sermon and the 4 percent of Baby Boomers who responded the same.

A possible factor for this, according to Barna, is that younger church attendees are likely “more device-dependent” than older attendees.

“It’s possible that, for more device-dependent younger generations, having a smartphone or tablet on hand during church simply feels normal, another opportunity to either aid or diminish their engagement with a sermon,” explained Barna.

“In the same way, for an older Christian, a spiralbound notebook might become a sermon staple for writing down notes or just doodling in the margins—and, in fact, Boomers are less likely than younger generations to be taking notes during a service.”

SOURCE: Christian Post, Michael Gryboski

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This is Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International with the Whyte House Family Devotional Reading of Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening podcast. This is Episode #63.

Charles Spurgeon was a prominent English Particular Baptist preacher. He was very influential among the Christians of various denominations during his age and even today, and is commonly called the “Prince of Preachers”. After some time of alternately searching for God and running from God, he had a powerful encounter which led him to give his life to Christ. Spurgeon was only 16 when he preached his first sermon and he began publishing books shortly afterward. At the time of his death, he had preached nearly 3,600 sermons and published 49 volumes of commentaries, sayings, anecdotes, illustrations and devotions. Spurgeon said, “encouraging thoughts are like honey to the heart”, and wrote this devotional in hopes that its uplifting messages for each day of the year would bring comfort and refreshment to our walk with God. He was inspired by Isaiah 50:4 which reads, “He wakeneth morning by morning. He wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned” and Psalm 63:5-6 which says, “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips; when I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the night watches.”

Psalm 138:5 reads: “Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord.”

The time when Christians begin to sing in the ways of the Lord is when they first lose their burden at the foot of the Cross. Not even the songs of the angels seem so sweet as the first song of rapture which gushes from the inmost soul of the forgiven child of God. You know how John Bunyan describes it. He says when poor Pilgrim lost his burden at the Cross, he gave three great leaps, and went on his way singing—

“Blest Cross! blest Sepulchre! blest rather be
The Man that there was put to shame for me!”

Believer, do you recollect the day when your fetters fell off? Do you remember the place when Jesus met you, and said, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love; I have blotted out as a cloud thy transgressions, and as a thick cloud thy sins; they shall not be mentioned against thee any more forever.” Oh! what a sweet season is that when Jesus takes away the pain of sin. When the Lord first pardoned my sin, I was so joyous that I could scarce refrain from dancing. I thought on my road home from the house where I had been set at liberty, that I must tell the stones in the street the story of my deliverance. So full was my soul of joy, that I wanted to tell every snow-flake that was falling from heaven of the wondrous love of Jesus, who had blotted out the sins of one of the chief of rebels. But it is not only at the commencement of the Christian life that believers have reason for song; as long as they live they discover cause to sing in the ways of the Lord, and their experience of his constant lovingkindness leads them to say, “I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” See to it, brother, that thou magnifiest the Lord this day.

“Long as we tread this desert land,
New mercies shall new songs demand.”

PRAY.

Thank you for listening to the Morning and Evening podcast. If you do not know the Lord as your Savior, here is how you can be saved from Hell and walk with the Lord morning and evening until you go to that wonderful place called Heaven when you die:

First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 18:8: “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Now that is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.

Romans 10:9 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your Salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and today I choose to turn from my sins. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and I choose to follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.

If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the Cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior today, please email me at [email protected] and let us know. There is some free material that we want to send you. If you have a prayer request, please e-mail that to us as well, and we will pray for you until you tell us to stop.

God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.

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The final line of the Eagles’ song “Hotel California” accurately describes the current state of LGBTQ so-called “rights,” especially gender affirmation clinics: “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”

Last week, Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden unveiled his campaign commitments on these issues, and included everything on the sexual left’s Christmas list: rollbacks of religious liberty protections, the passage of the so-called Equality Act, adding a “third gender” option on government forms, and of course, supporting a total ban on so-called “conversion therapy.”

That pejorative term no longer applies, by the way, to things like “shock therapy.” Anyone who counsels or psychologically treats someone with unwanted same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria, to help them bring their feelings in line with their body, is accused of conversion therapy.

The newly invented standards of care now call for so-called gender “affirming” therapy, which instead tries to bring the body in line with feelings, often through lifelong doses of cross-sex hormones and mutilating “sex-change” operations.

The former vice-president’s campaign promises to closely resemble new legislation in Canada that would ban all non-affirming forms of therapy for LGBTQ patients. In fact, Canada’s measure is severe, not only banning but criminalizing so-called “conversion therapy,” threatening jail time for professionals who offer it, or even, apparently, parents who might seek it for their children.

Such a ban is justified by the medically and ethically deficient things done in the name of helping those with unwanted attractions or dysphoria, supporters say. But largely ignored is the growing evidence that so-called “affirming” therapies often fail to help people and even can leave them worse off.

For example, as we mentioned recently on another BreakPoint commentary, a movement of hundreds of young people has emerged in Great Britain, who are “de-transitioning” after coming to regret their gender switch. One woman is suing the British National Health Service for the decision to so quickly place her on puberty-blocking drugs, at age 16, after a “gender-affirming” clinic proclaimed she was a boy.

SOURCE: Christian Post, John Stonestreet and G. Shane Morris

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