CA Gov. Approves Law Earmarking Taxpayer Funded Grants for Transgender Surgeries, Hormone Treatments

CA Gov. Approves Law Earmarking Taxpayer Funded Grants for Transgender Surgeries, Hormone Treatments


California Gov. Gavin Newsom has approved a law in the state for transgender criminals and another law that provides grants to hospitals for hormone therapy for transgender persons.

According to CBN News, under Senate Bill 132, prison inmates who identify as transgender, non-binary or intersex will be able to choose their gender identity when they are admitted to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The bill is known as the Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act and was introduced by state Sen. Scott Wiener in hopes of reducing the possibility of violence against transgender inmates.

“SB.132 protects transgender people in prison, by allowing them to be housed where they’re safest, instead of automatically being placed in the facility corresponding to their birth-assigned gender,” Wiener tweeted about the bill in early September. “Trans women are frequently brutalized in men’s prisons.”

Under the law, the state can refuse a request if there are “management or security concerns.”

In a second approval, Newson approved the Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund, which uses taxpayer dollars for treatments and medical procedures for transgender children.

The law earmarks grants for hospitals and clinics for hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgeries.

Assembly member Miguel Santiago says the law provides “critical medical…

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Trump, Biden Both Receive Nobel Peace Prize Nominations

Trump, Biden Both Receive Nobel Peace Prize Nominations


On the same week of the first presidential debate, President Trump and Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden have both received nominations for the coveted Nobel Peace Prize.

On Tuesday, a Senior Member of Parliament announced that Biden would be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

According to the Evening Standard, Chris Bryant, a member of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party, explained that Biden is someone who attempts to resolve issues through a “force of argument” instead of “violent solutions.”

“When others have resorted to violent solutions, he has argued that the best force is the force of argument,” Bryant said. “Because guns can stop a heart but well-placed words can change many hearts, and many hearts can change a world.”

For Trump, a group of Australian law professors are nominating the President for the Nobel Peace Prize in light of his “Trump Doctrine.”

“What he has done with the Trump Doctrine is that he has decided he would no longer have America in endless wars, wars which achieve nothing but the killing of thousands of young Americans,” Professor David Flint told Sky News on Monday. “So he’s reducing America’s tendency to get involved in any and every war.”

Flint also commended Trump for his recent peace agreements between Israel and two Arab countries, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

“He went ahead and negotiated against all advice, but he did it…

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Former drug addict arrested as Captain America during burglary shares story of faith, healing

David Hobbs before (L) and after receiving treatment (R) | Credit of Good Landing Recovery

When David Hobbs looks at pictures from one year ago, he barely recognizes himself. 

In September 2019, he was arrested in Clarksdale, Mississippi, after breaking into the backyard shed of a former Marine. High on drugs at the time of his arrest, Hobbs was dressed head to toe in a Captain America costume and fairy wings. His mugshot went viral, and Hobbs quickly became the source of mockery for millions of social media spectators. 

But fast forward one year, and Hobbs is a new man — healthy, whole, and on Oct. 23 he will receive a one-year sobriety award during an upcoming pastor’s conference from Good Landing Recovery, a holistic faith-based organization in Atlanta, Georgia.

“I never thought I would ever get out of addiction,” Hobbs told The Christian Post. “I thought it was going to be my life. But God has shown me I’m not just a society throw away. It’s all worth it for all of us to strive to have a better life. If I can do it, anybody can do it.”

Hobbs’ road to health and healing was an unlikely one. A self-described “active addict” for two decades, he began experimenting with drugs and alcohol as a teen, and after a series of car accidents, became addicted to painkillers. 

At the time of his September 2019 arrest, Hobbs had already had several run-ins with the law and was on probation for a grand larceny conviction. Charged with burglary and held on a $25,000 bond, he now faced even…

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Mobs of Thousands Attack Christian Homes in India

Mobs of Thousands Attack Christian Homes in India


NEW DELHI, September 30, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Incited by Hindu extremists, thousands of tribal animists in Chhattisgarh, India last week drove Christians in three villages from their homes in assaults that police declined to prevent or stop in spite of prior warnings, sources said.

The attacks on Sept. 22-23 by mobs that swelled to more than 3,000 agitators damaged homes, sent Christians fleeing for their lives and left a woman hospitalized with serious injuries, but police officers’ only response was to pressure Christians to contribute to the Hindu festivals that were the touch point of the hostilities.

Sivram Koyam, a resident of Kakadbeda in Kondagaon District, said he and other Christians were at the local police station on Sept. 22 trying to warn officers of impending violence when they received calls from relatives saying fierce mobs were attacking their homes.

“From three in the afternoon till eight in the night, I pleaded with and begged the police officers to go and stop them, but they did not go,” Koyam told Morning Star News. “The furious mob came in search of me, and not finding me home, they picked up my wife and smashed her on the ground three times.”

The mob of about 3,000 animists were chanting Hindu slogans as they damaged homes in Kakadbeda village, he said.

“One of them tore my wife’s blouse [the garment worn beneath a saree],” Koyam said. “Besides grievous…

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Smaller churches lose access to YouTube livestream services

Google announces new “stricter” guidelines for monetization of YouTube videos. | REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

Smaller churches have not been able to host their online services at their requested time on YouTube. The online video-sharing platform has been moving the times for some users with less than 100 subscribers allegedly due to heavy traffic, but without informing them.

Pastor Stuart Chaplin of Bushy Hill Park Community Church in London recently complained about it on Twitter.

“If like @BHPCC you have less than 100 subscribers, you won’t be getting access to that feature (‘premiere’ an event at a set time) any time soon. Unfortunately, our attempts to mutually boost subscribers with other @theFIEC churches didn’t get us to the magic 100 figure, so we’re relying on a work round,” he wrote.

Later, Chaplin wrote, “I have at last discovered why @YouTube suddenly stopped premieres on the hour or at half-past for some churches. Basically, because of the increase in traffic due to COVID, YT decided to throttle access to these prime times for small channels.

“It’s pretty poor show from @YouTube to make a big change that affects a large number of users, and not inform them that…

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Southern Baptist Publishing Arm, LifeWay, Sues Former President Thom Rainer

Southern Baptist Publishing Arm, LifeWay, Sues Former President Thom Rainer


(RNS) — LifeWay Christian Resources, the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, has sued its former president and CEO, accusing him of violating a noncompete clause in his contract.  

Thom Rainer, who announced his plan to retire as president and CEO in 2018, still serves as chief advisory officer for LifeWay. Under terms of a transition agreement, he was prohibited from working with a competitor for 12 months after his retirement, LifeWay claims in a suit filed in Williamson County, Tennessee, on Monday (Sept. 28).

Rainer, 65, was earning the same salary he received as president, plus a car, which he could keep after his term as chief advisory officer concludes Oct. 31, according to the transition agreement he signed with LifeWay in 2018.

But in April, the suit alleges, Rainer and Tyndale, a publisher of Bibles and other Christian books, reached “a multi-book, multiyear agreement” for publishing Rainer’s books, which LifeWay says violates the transition agreement.

“Tyndale is ecstatic about our long-term partnership with Thom Rainer and Church Answers. Thom is a gifted leader, teacher, and communicator whose personal mission aligns perfectly with Tyndale’s,” Tyndale senior VP and publisher Ron Beers was quoted saying in a news release.

Rainer, a prolific writer, runs a business called Church Answers, which is intended to help church leaders with…

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Nearly three-quarters of pastors concerned presidential election will impact churches: Barna

People arrive to cast their ballot for 2016 elections at a polling station as early voting begins in North Carolina, in Carrboro, North Carolina, U.S., October 20, 2016. | Reuters/Jonathan Drake

Nearly three of four pastors are concerned that the presidential election and its fallout will negatively impact their congregations, according to a newly reported study by the Barna Group.

Barna recently released the findings of week 18 of their Church Pulse leader survey, which drew from a poll of 475 Protestant pastors taken Sept. 24-28.

Since each week has a different total of respondents, the margin of error varies week to week, being between 4.77% to 7.65% depending on the sample taken.

When asked by Barna about how concerned they were that the election will impact their church, 33% of respondents said they were “very concerned,” while 41% said “somewhat concerned.”

While 74% of respondents expressed a level of concern that the election will impact their congregation, 26% responded that they were “not concerned.”

Despite the concern about an impact, the surveyed pastors indicated confidence on handling the divisiveness of the political campaign season at their respective…

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W. Virginia pastor walks 175 miles to bring awareness to extreme poverty, homelessness

The Rev. Zac Morton of First Presbyterian Church Morgantown. | Facebook/First Presbyterian Church Morgantown

A West Virginia pastor recently completed a 175-mile walk over eight days to draw attention to extreme poverty and homelessness being faced by people across the state who are often ignored by society.

“As someone who strives to emulate Jesus, I believe it is my responsibility, and the responsibility of all people of faith, to advocate and care for people who are up against it the most,” the Rev. Zac Morton of First Presbyterian Church Morgantown wrote in a note on a website dedicated to his campaign for the poor and homeless.

“It is my hope that any conversation generated around #WALK4WV and the stories we are able to highlight will help reshape and refocus the way we approach the complexity of houselessness and extreme poverty. Instead of offering top-down solutions, we can partner with individuals and create networks of positive relationships that can lead to a better future for all West Virginians.”

Morton began walking from Morgantown on Sept. 21 and arrived at the State Capitol in Charleston on Monday where he completed his 175-mile journey with plenty of…

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Who won the debate? Remembering how God measures success

First 2020 presidential campaign debate between U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is seen on TV in Washington on September 29, 2020. (Sipa via AP Images)

The first of three scheduled presidential debates took place last night at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Chris Wallace of Fox News moderated the event, which took place over ninety minutes in six fifteen-minute blocks. President Trump and Vice President Biden were asked about their records, the Supreme Court, COVID-19, the economy, race and violence in our cities, and the integrity of the election. 

The debate was contentious from the beginning, with each candidate contradicting the other repeatedly throughout. Fox News is calling the debate “fiery”; CNN describes it as “rancorous and chaotic.” According to USA Today, it was “one of the most chaotic, insult-laden presidential debates in modern history.” 

How Richard Nixon’s suit affected the 1960 election 

Before last night, more than 70 percent of Americans said the debate wouldn’t matter much to them. Fewer people than at any time since 2000 consider debates important to deciding how they will vote. 

However, televised presidential debates have been changing history since 1960, when Richard Nixon’s light gray suit blended into the background on black-and-white television and his opponent, Sen. John Kennedy, began the ascendancy that led to his eventual victory. 

Ronald Reagan’s memorable response in 1984 to a question about his age (“I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience”) led to his easy reelection. President Ford’s insistence that “there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe” may have contributed to his loss in 1976; Ronald Reagan’s clear dominance of his debate with President Carter in 1980 likely contributed to his landslide victory. 

The contentious nature of last night’s…

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We Adopted A Church: Six Lessons Learned After One Year

Some dying churches are saved through revitalization or relaunches. Others are saved through the process of adoption. When a church is adopted, a healthier and stronger congregation receives a more vulnerable congregation into the family. Two families are brought together. Some refer to this arrangement as a merger, but I prefer the language of adoption.

My congregation, West Bradenton, adopted Southside Baptist about a year ago. This adoption happened after a season of fostering them. A fostering arrangement occurs when a healthier and stronger congregation sends help and resources to a more vulnerable congregation. With fostering, the vulnerable congregation retains autonomy as they receive help from the stronger congregation. They did not have a pastor, so we sent them someone from our congregation to preach every week. We also sent people to help with worship. 

Southside approached us after a time of fostering and asked to become part of our family. We weren’t ready, but there was no way we could turn them down! A year later, I understand God’s timing. Southside would not have survived the pandemic on their own. 

Attendance at Southside has grown from a dozen to almost forty. People from the community are showing up. Last Sunday, Southside baptized four new believers, their first baptisms in over eight years. A new group for young adults has started. Children are now present on campus regularly. Many had doubts as to whether the adoption would work. Frankly, I did too. 

We…

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