ERLC Vice-President of Communications Daniel Darling Releases Book on Human Dignity

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ERLC Vice-President of Communications Daniel Darling Releases Book on Human Dignity


NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 14, 2018​—Daniel Darling, vice-president of communications for the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, released his newest book today titled, “The Dignity Revolution: Reclaiming God’s Rich Vision for Humanity.”


This book, with a foreword by World Vision President, Richard Stearnes, urges Christians to reclaim, in their public witness and their activism, a vision of human dignity that motivates them to speak up on behalf of the most vulnerable.


“Human dignity is at the heart of Christian gospel,” Darling says. “I wrote this book to help ordinary Christians understand and live out the radical implications of being created in the image of God.”


Russell Moore, president of the ERLC, comments on Darling’s newest work.


“The kingdom of God redefines for us who matters and what matters,” Moore said. “Human beings are not the sum of their physical, economic and mental powers. We are creatures who reflect, all of us, a picture of the Creator God. This book appeals to the imagination and the conscience about what it would look like were we to treat our neighbors, and ourselves, as created in the image of God.”


“The Dignity Revolution” has been endorsed by several Christian leaders including R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Ann Voskamp, ​New York Times ​bestselling author of “One Thousand Gifts” and Joni Eareckson Tada, Founder and CEO of Joni and Friends International Disability…

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Scottish island of 650 people seek faithful minister for ‘Hawaii of the North’

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Scottish island of 650 people seek faithful minister for ‘Hawaii of the North’

Since the previous pastor left, the congregation of around 20-30 on Sundays have had visiting speakers from the mainland who often stay in the manse for a fortnight and preach for two Sundays and then return home.

Ian MacKinnon, a member of the church who has lived on the island since he was a toddler, told Premier their visiting speakers were good but the arrangement wasn’t ideal: “It’s quite a challenge, we’ve been supplied with very able preachers Sunday by Sunday… some of the members of the congregations have taken services as well but we are fully aware of our limitations!

“We’d like to have somebody who is a leader, a spiritual leader, in the community because we feel the island is in need of it and it’s very much to our detriment not having one.”

When asked why it’s been hard to fill the vacancy, he said: “It’s not everyone’s cup of tea at the end of the day because people here are quite isolated.”

He added that another factor was the wide range of backgrounds that exist in the congregation: “We are the only established Church of Scotland on Tiree… we work very closely with the local baptist church and there’s another home church as well, a small home community, but by and large we cater for the island parish and it’s difficult because in our services and during our worship we have people from a Catholic faith, someone from the Episcopal church, Church of England, we’ve got Methodist and…

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Atheist Group: ‘For God and Country’ Patches on Sheriff Uniforms Unconstitutional

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Atheist Group: ‘For God and Country’ Patches on Sheriff Uniforms Unconstitutional


Atheist Group: ‘For God and Country’ Patches on Sheriff Uniforms Unconstitutional


A national atheist organization is urging an Ohio sheriff’s office to remove “For God and Country” patches from officer uniforms, asserting they are unconstitutional.


The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter Aug. 8 to the Shelby County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Office after it received a complaint about the patches.


“It is inappropriate and unconstitutional for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office to promote or endorse religion,” the letter from FFRF co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor reads. “Anyone viewing these patches would understand the Sheriff’s Office to be endorsing religion and belief in a god. We request that these patches be removed.”


The patches display an American flag with the words “For God” at the top and “And Country” at the bottom.


A FFRF press release said “government employees can worship, pray, or read any religious text they wish when acting in their personal capacities”


“But they are not permitted to provide prestige to their personal religion through the machinery of a government office,” the press release added. “Sheriffs and deputies take an oath to uphold our godless and entirely secular constitution and must keep their personal religious views out of law enforcement.”


Michael Foust is a freelance writer. Visit his blog, MichaelFoust.com.


Publication Date: August 14, 2018


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Robert Morris Gives First Sermon at Gateway Church Since Near Death Experience, Preaches on Calvinism

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Robert Morris Gives First Sermon at Gateway Church Since Near Death Experience, Preaches on Calvinism

(Screenshot: YouTube/gatewaychurchtv)Gateway Church Pastor Robert Morris preaching a sermon on Calvinism on Saturday, August 11, 2018.

Texas megachurch Pastor Robert Morris gave his first sermon since a near death experience earlier this year, receiving a strong applause from the Gateway Church community.

On Saturday, Morris returned to preach his first sermon, a three-part series, titled “Eternity: Your Choice,” after suffering complications from hernia surgery in April that led to severe internal bleeding.

“I’m glad to be back,” said Morris to the Gateway congregation, joking that despite being away for months “the pulpit still fits.”

Before beginning his sermon, Morris reported that he was “fully recovered” from his illness and that Gateway Pastor Jimmy Evans, who filled in for Morris while he was ill, was going to continue to help with leadership as a senior pastor.

“Pastor Jimmy is going to help me a little more in leading the staff on a day-to-day basis,” said Morris, who noted that he remains lead senior pastor and will be able to preach more often as a result.

Morris’ first sermon back was titled “Whosoever Will,” in which he expressed his opposition to Calvinism, or the belief that God alone chooses who is saved and who is damned.

“I really believe you determine…

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Doctors Warn About Rise of Patients Seeking Plastic Surgery to Look Like Their Snapchat Selfies

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Doctors Warn About Rise of Patients Seeking Plastic Surgery to Look Like Their Snapchat Selfies

(Photo: Unsplash/Ionut Coman Photographer)A woman takes a “selfie” picture with her cell phone.

Medical professionals are voicing concern about a growing trend of patients seeking cosmetic surgery simply to look more like the filtered pictures they post on social media.

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine’s Department of Dermatology wrote an article published by a peer-reviewed medical journal this month that touches on the “alarming trend” of people requesting surgical procedures to make their facial structures as appealing as their selfies.

The trend is referred to as “Snapchat dysmorphia” and has been on the incline in recent years with the development of social media filters that incorporate photo-editing technologies similar to ones used to glorify models and celebrities on magazine covers.

Although some filters can be used to smooth skin, enhance lips and whiten teeth in photographs, the report claims that the trend is alarming because “filtered selfies often present an unattainable look and are blurring the line of reality and fantasy for these patients.”

The researchers warned that the use of these filters can have an impact on a person’s self-esteem and even make a person “feel inadequate for not looking a certain way in the real world.”

The researchers note that the filters might also “act as a trigger” that causes the development of body dysmorphic disorder, where a person fixates on a nonexistent or minor flaw in their appearance.

The report comes after a 2017 American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery found that 55 percent of…

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Disney Family Film ‘The Jungle Cruise’ to Feature Gay Character, Report Says

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Disney Family Film ‘The Jungle Cruise’ to Feature Gay Character, Report Says


Disney Family Film ‘The Jungle Cruise’ to Feature Gay Character, Report Says


The 2019 Disney film The Jungle Cruise reportedly will feature an openly gay character in what is being called a first for the studio.


Jack Whitehall is set to play a “effete young man” who “has no interest in women,” according to the British tabloid The Sun. He will star alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt. Like many Disney movies, the film will be marketed toward families.


Disney did not confirm the report.  


The source told The Sun: “He is playing a gay man — one who is hugely effete, very camp and very funny.” The source added: “This latest script, set at a time when it wasn’t socially acceptable to be gay, is another significant turning point.”


The 2017 Disney film Beauty and the Beast featured a gay character, although the character’s sexuality wasn’t obvious to all moviegoers.


If the report about The Jungle Cruise is true, it will be but the latest example of the company including a gay character in its productions.  


Last October the Disney Channel TV series Andi Mack became the first Disney series to feature an openly gay main character when 13-year-old Cyrus revealed he had romantic emotions toward boys.  


Michael Foust is a freelance writer. Visit his blog, MichaelFoust.com.


Publication Date: August 14, 2018


Photo Courtesy: Disney/Flickr/Facebook

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Christian debt charity flags wage struggle despite record employment levels

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Christian debt charity flags wage struggle despite record employment levels

UK unemployment fell by 65,000 to 1.36 million in three months to June – the lowest for more than 40 years. The number of people in work increased by 42,000.

However, the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also revealed that there has been a slowdown in wage growth.

 

Phil Haggis, Christians Against Poverty’s (CAP) job club manager in Glasgow told Premier: “What we find is that the basic wage is not going up as fast as inflation. People struggling financially are making decisions about whether to heat the house or to buy food.”

Job vacancies increased by 20,000 to a record high, while average earnings increased by 2.4 per cent in the year to June.

The number of workers on zero-hours contracts fell by 104,000 to 780,000, the first substantial fall since the ONS started tracking the figures in 2000.

Senior ONS statistician Matt Hughes said: “The number of people in work has continued to edge ahead, though the employment rate was unchanged on the quarter.”

Haggis highlighted despite befits like Universal Credit, people in employment are still barely able to cope financially.

“I think some people are struggling to manage that money and it’s going to be a big thing coming up because everyone who’s currently not on Universal Credit and is on Job Seekers (Allowance) is going to be put onto Universal Credit and they’re going to have to reapply and I think…

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The Amazing Story Only God Could Write

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The Amazing Story Only God Could Write

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Embracing Jesus changes hearts — and lives. That’s the lesson author Ericka Andersen learned after she met her now-husband, Rick, discovered his backstory and then watched God move in his life in stunning fashion.

After growing up in an intensely abusive household and later suffering from the results of that treatment, Rick found Jesus — and his life was never the same.

Read Also: 7 Simple Ways to Glorify God in Your Daily Life

Anderson tells Rick’s incredible story in her new book, “Leaving Cloud 9: The True Story of a Life Resurrected from the Ashes of Poverty, Trauma, and Mental Illness,” explaining how he went from a childhood of intense poverty, neglect and abuse with a mother who was addicted to drugs and alcohol to a person who found God and overcame his lifelong trauma.

“He became a Christian and was able to heal not only physically but emotionally and spiritually and [in] so many other ways as well,” Andersen explained, noting that Rick faced “things that no child should ever have to go through” and that “trauma basically defined … [his] growing up.”

When Andersen met Rick she said he was suffering from “inner wounds” rooted in his experience as a child — pain that carried into adulthood. These struggles included depression, extreme anxiety, bipolar disorder and social anxiety.

“He could not even speak at a meeting at work because he would have a panic attack,” she said.

But then something dramatic happened: Rick found God. Listen to Andersen share Rick’s incredible story of transformation:

“It wasn’t until he pursued a relationship with God that all of those…

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‘I believe harder and more furiously than I did before’

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‘I believe harder and more furiously than I did before’

The 77-year-old entertainer claims his trust in Christianity has never been stronger, following the privacy case which ended with him being awarded initial damages worth £210,000.

He was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying: “I think it’s stronger than ever because I’ve had to rely on it in recent years much more than I’ve ever had to.”

 

Sir Cliff took legal action against the Corporation over footage of a police raid on his Berkshire home which was broadcast live on the BBC News channel in August 2014.

Officers from South Yorkshire Police searched his Sunningdale property as they investigated a child sexual assault allegation.

Sir Cliff always denied any wrongdoing and he was never arrested. In June 2016, prosecutors announced that he would face no charges.

In his ruling last month, Mr Justice Mann said coverage of the raid amounted to a “very serious invasion” of Sir Cliff’s privacy.

Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

 

Sir Cliff also said: “In the darkest moments, I’ve never felt totally lost or alone, although sometimes you do think to yourself, ‘How am I going to get out of this mess?’

“So, if anything, I believe harder and more furiously now than I did before.”

South Yorkshire Police has agreed to pay Sir Cliff £400,000 after settling a claim he brought against the force.

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Evangelicalism’s ‘Newfound Obsession’ With Social Justice Is Threat to Gospel, John MacArthur Says

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Evangelicalism’s ‘Newfound Obsession’ With Social Justice Is Threat to Gospel, John MacArthur Says

(Photo: Grace Community Church)Pastor John MacArthur announced during the Shepherd’s Conference held earlier this month that next year’s conference will include a summit on biblical inerrancy. Photo taken March 7, 2014.

Pastor John MacArthur argued that evangelicalism’s “newfound obsession” with social justice is a threat to the Gospel.

In a Monday blog post on his Grace to You ministry website, MacArthur, leader of Grace Community Church of Sun Valley, California, and president of The Master’s College and Seminary, promised to tackle the notion of “social justice” in a series over the next two weeks.

The focus on social justice by evangelicals is shifting focus away from the Gospel, he claimed.

“Evangelicalism’s newfound obsession with the notion of ‘social justice’ is a significant shift — and I’m convinced it’s a shift that is moving many people (including some key evangelical leaders) off message, and onto a trajectory that many other movements and denominations have taken before, always with spiritually disastrous results,” he wrote.

“Over the years, I’ve fought a number of polemical battles against ideas that threaten the gospel. This recent (and surprisingly sudden) detour in quest of ‘social justice’ is, I believe, the most subtle and dangerous threat so far,”…

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