United Methodists Begin To Reverse Longstanding Anti-LGBTQ Policies

United Methodist delegates began making historic changes in their policies on sexuality on Tuesday — voting without debate to reverse a series of anti-LGBTQ policies.

https://www2.cbn.com/news/us/87-registered-democrats-0-republicans-alarming-allegations-bias-renew-call-defund-npr

UMC drops decades-old ban on ordaining LGBT clergy without debate

The United Methodist General Conference has voted to remove a decades-old ban on ordaining pastors in romantic same-sex relationships after thousands of conservative congregations left the denomination in recent years.

At the UMC General Conference Wednesday, delegates approved without debate a measure removing the language from the Book of Discipline as part of a broader consent calendar, passing it by a final tally of 692 to 51.

Since 1984, the UMC Book of Discipline has prohibited the ordination of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals," with many progressives in the mainline Protestant denomination openly refusing to enforce or follow the restriction. 

rest: read://https_www.christianpost.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.christianpost.com%2Fnews%2Fumc-repeals-decades-old-ban-on-ordaining-lgbt-clergy.html

Matt Gaetz blasts House antisemitism legislation as 'ridiculous hate speech bill'

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., railed against the House’s antisemitism legislation on Wednesday, blasting it as a "ridiculous hate speech bill" before the legislation was ultimately passed.

The Antisemitism Awareness Act aims to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses and would expand the legal definition of antisemitism used to enforce anti-discrimination laws. The bill comes at a time when anti-Israel protests are raging at college campuses across the country.

It was passed overwhelmingly by a 320-91 vote in the House, but that’s not before critics like Gaetz came out against its passage, saying on social media that some excerpts of the Bible would meet this bill’s definition of antisemitism.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla, railed against the House’s antisemitism legislation on Wednesday, blasting it as a "ridiculous hate speech bill" before the bill was ultimately passed. (Aaron Schwartz/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

"This evening, I will vote AGAINST the ridiculous hate speech bill called the ‘Antisemitism Awareness Act,'" Gaetz wrote on X.

"Antisemitism is wrong, but this legislation is written without regard for the Constitution, common sense, or even the common understanding of the meaning of words. The Gospel itself would meet the definition of antisemitism under the terms of this bill!"

If passed by the Senate and signed by President Biden, the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act would mandate that the Department of Education legally adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) definition of antisemitism when enforcing anti-discrimination rules.

Gaetz provided an example of one of IHRA’s definitions of antisemitism, which includes "claims of Jews killing Jesus," asserting that the Bible would fall under the definition.


rest: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/matt-gaetz-blasts-house-antisemitism-legislation-ridiculous-hate-speech-bill

Persecution watchdog warns of growing hostility to Christians in US: 'Frogs in the kettle'


The president of a nonprofit Christian persecution watchdog that monitors hostility to faith and freedom abroad warned that too few Christians in America and the West seem aware of how such trends are manifesting at home.

"Basically, we are frogs in the kettle, and the bubbles keep coming up under us," Jeff King, president of the Washington, D.C.-based International Christian Concern (ICC), told The Christian Post.

"Too many people are not aware politically, and they're so used to thinking of how things were that they can't figure out where these bubbles are coming from, not realizing they're being cooked."

ICC, which was founded in 1995 to advocate for the persecuted church around the world, has been speaking out, particularly about Staci Barber's case in Texas.

Barber is a school teacher who sued the Katy Independent School District near Houston in March after her principal allegedly reprimanded her last September for praying with two other teachers at the school's flagpole as part of "See You At the Pole," an annual international event.

The administrator reportedly told her that teachers were not allowed to pray where students could see them and be influenced to join, according to the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ). Teachers were told they "could not pray in any location where students would be present, even if this praying occurred before the school day began," according to the lawsuit.

Barber had previously been barred from starting a campus chapter of Students for Christ, and the school board instituted a policy mandating that "employees will neither advance nor inhibit religion."

"Employees may not promote, lead, or participate in religious activities of noncurriculum-related student groups," the policy stated, which the ACLJ argued is "blatantly unconstitutional," according to the Christian Broadcasting Network.

King told CP that Barber's case "highlights the depth of ignorance among school boards and even at the principal level of what rights the Constitution grants people," but he suggested her situation is symptomatic of a wider hostility toward Christians in the U.S. at all levels.

King warned that the same trends his nonprofit has been tracking and advocating against overseas are increasingly manifesting in the historically free nations of the Western world, including the United States. He pinpointed a corrupt, cumbersome judicial process and proliferating hate speech laws as the main prongs of the attack on Christian beliefs.

King explained that dictators and despots will promise religious liberty out of one side of their mouths while at the same time effectively mandating that religious citizens keep their opinions to themselves and out of the public square.

"If that sounds familiar, there's a reason," he said. "The big picture, and what people need to grasp, is that's what's going on here in the West, and that's what a lot of people who dislike Christianity are proposing and trying to push forward."

In countries where leaders possess antipathy toward Christianity, a politically weaponized judicial system plays a key role in chilling speech and driving Christians to self-censor, King said. He cited the example of India, where Christians are increasingly persecuted and their churches vandalized despite the guarantee of religious freedom in the country's constitution.

"They have religious freedom in their constitution, but it doesn't matter," he said of India. "It's what happens in practice. And so when pastors are often attacked in the streets or in the churches, guess who gets arrested? It's the pastor. What happens is you keep your head down. So this is what we're seeing in the States."

Even if courts rule against the bad actors, King noted that the onerous judicial process itself is sufficient to convey the regime's message.

"People learn that you do not stick your head up, and you start being quiet because the process is the punishment," he said, adding that he has even seen examples of similar situations in Christian ministries in the U.S. where employees have been dragged before HR for not "toeing on the line" on LGBTQ issues and pronoun usage.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/watchdog-warns-americans-are-frogs-in-the-kettle-on-persecution.html

Debunking Popular Lies About The Pre-Tribulation Rapture

One of the most unpopular beliefs among Christians today is that of the pre-Tribulation Rapture. Many not only scoff at our expectation of meeting Jesus in the air, but also ridicule those of us who believe it could happen at any moment.

The resulting silence in most pulpits today regarding our “blessed hope” has opened the door for a great many misconceptions about it to flourish. For many, social media and Internet searches have replaced sound biblical teaching regarding our “blessed hope.”

Below are five popular lies about the Rapture.

1. Belief In The Rapture Began With John Darby
Despite clear and overwhelming evidence to the contrary, most Christians remain convinced that belief in the pre-Tribulation Rapture began with John Darby. They claim that since no one in the church held this viewpoint prior to the nineteenth century, we shouldn’t ascribe to something no one believed before the time of Darby.

This assertion is blatantly false.

In AD 180, Irenaeus wrote Against Heresies to refute the errors of Gnosticism. In Book 5, Chapter 29, of Against Heresies he wrote these words:

And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, “There shall be Tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be.”

In the above quote, this early prominent early church theologian used the same Greek word for “caught up,” harpazo, that Paul used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, a favorite Rapture verse of many. He clearly had this passage in mind.

While his words don’t specify a pre-Tribulation Rapture, they do reveal Irenaeus’ belief that the event portrayed in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, the harpazo, would come before a time of extended Tribulation on the earth as presented in Matthew 24:21ff during which time the church would be absent from the earth.

His words also confirm an early belief in Jesus’ appearance for His church that’s separate from the Second Coming. He didn’t combine the two events as most do today.

In my book, The Triumph of the Redeemed, I document beliefs similar to that of Irenaeus in the following documents or writers:

The Shepherd of Hermas (about AD 140)
Cyprian (AD 200–258)
The Apocalypse of Elijah (Third Century AD)
Ephraim the Syrian (AD 306–373)
Morgan Edwards (1722–1795)
Each of the above examples, which predate John Darby by an exceptionally long time, express the belief that Jesus would remove His church from the earth before a period of extended judgment upon it. Ephraim clearly believed in a pre-Tribulation Rapture although Morgan Edwards placed it at the midpoint of the Tribulation.

Ongoing research into the history of the church continues to uncover more occurrences of a belief in the removal of the church from the world followed by a time of tribulation and after that, the Second Coming.

In his book, Dispensationalism Before Darby, Dr. William C. Watson devoted an entire chapter to instances of belief in the Rapture during seventeenth century England. In a few of the cases, writers used the word “Rapture” while others referred to some who would be “left behind.” Church history is full of references, long before the time of Darby, that place Jesus’ appearing for His church before a time of tribulation that precedes the Second Coming.

2. There’s No Mention Of It In Scripture
Many scoffers of our hope like to point out that the Bible doesn’t contain the word “Rapture.” Such an assertion deceptively implies that there’s no such event described in Scripture, which again is totally false.

The late Dr. Ed Hindson, former professor at Liberty University, acclaimed Bible scholar, and author, put it this way:

If you disagree on the timing of the rapture, please don’t tell people, “There’s never going to be a rapture.” No, there must be a rapture or the Bible is not true. There must be a time when the archangel shouts, when the trumpet sounds, and the dead in Christ are raised and the living are caught up (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18). We may differ on the timing of the rapture but not the fact of the rapture.

It’s true that John Darby helped popularize the application of the word “Rapture” to the event that Paul describes in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, I Corinthians 15:50-55, Philippians 3:20-21, and Titus 2:11-14. However, giving it a name is far different than creating it.

The event we refer to as the “Rapture” occurs in the Bible; it’s just not labelled as such that in our English translations of Scripture.

3. Belief In The Rapture Is Escapism
Another falsehood used to discredit the Rapture is that its proponents just want to escape tumultuous times on the earth. In other words, we are just seeking to avoid the tribulation that Jesus said would be the experience of His followers.

First, there’s a significance difference between the persecution and affliction that we experience because of our faith and the outpouring of God’s wrath during the Day of the Lord. Second, our belief stems from what Paul wrote about Jesus coming for us before this awful period of Tribulation begins (1 Thessalonians 5:1-10).

I love the response of John Walvoord to such criticism:

Is it an unworthy motive to desire to escape the Great Tribulation? Actually, it is no more so than the desire to escape hell. The point in either case is not our desire or wishes but the question as to what the Scriptures promise. Pretribulationists hope to escape the Great Tribulation because it is expressly a time of divine judgment on a world that has rejected Christ. But the Scriptures also reveal the Great Tribulation as a time of satanic wrath against Israel and believers in Christ who are living at the time. The Great Tribulation is a time of both divine wrath and satanic wrath.

Our hope for missing the Tribulation period rests on the words or Scripture rather than our desire to escape trouble. And as Walvoord points out, how is our desire to escape God’s wrath on earth any different than that of wanting to avoid it in the lake of fire?

4. Those Who Believe In The Rapture Don’t Care About The Current World
This falsehood is more of an attack on us who believe in the Rapture than against the teaching itself. Again, the idea that we don’t care about this world or its inhabitants is simply not true of the majority of those who daily watch for Jesus’ appearing.

Scholar and author, Dr. Grant R. Jeffrey, wrote the following concerning the myth-based assertion that belief in the Rapture causes us to cease caring about this world and its people:

For the past two centuries, churches that enthusiastically taught the literal premillennial and pretribulation return of Jesus have been at the forefront of the worldwide medical missions as well as missionary efforts to reach the lost.

Of course there will be exceptions, but from what I see, there’s no lack of compassion for the hurting and lost among those that wait expectancy for Jesus’ appearing. Belief in the Rapture, if anything, accelerates the desire of most to give generously to help the poor and support the spread of Gospel.

5. Jesus Doesn’t Intervene In Our World Until The End Of The Age
Those that believe the preceding falsehoods pertaining to the Rapture say the next event on God’s prophetic calendar is an end-of-the-age return of Jesus to initiate the eternal state.

Many pastors convey such a scenario by preaching that all believers today will someday die. I have heard this proclaimed several times from the pulpit in churches that I have attended in the past. Such teaching directly contradicts the New Testament; Paul tells us there will be saints alive at the time of Jesus’ appearing (1 Corinthians 15:51; 1 Thessalonians 4:17).

The New Testament belief in Jesus’ imminent appearing doesn’t place an end date on this expectancy, but asserts that it could happen at any moment. The abundance of signs pointing to the soon arrival of the Tribulation period tell us that it’s likely that most believers today will meet Jesus in the air before they die. Though not a certainty, it’s a viable expectation for the day in which we live.

A careful study of the words in the texts describing Jesus’ appearing and the Second Coming reveal that they cannot be the same event. At the time of the Rapture, Jesus raises the dead saints immediately; it’s the very first thing He does (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). When He returns to the earth, several major events take place before He raises His followers (Revelation 19:17-20:4); it’s likely that the resurrection doesn’t happen the same day because of the many intervening events.

A careful study reveals an abundance of other stark differences between the two events that make it impossible for one to say they happen at the same time. Prominent early church theologians such as Irenaeus and Cyprian wrote that Jesus would come for His church before a time of Tribulation on the earth, Jesus’ Second Coming after that. Some “post-Tribulationists” such as Robert Gundry place the bowl judgments in-between the Rapture and Jesus’ return to the earth.

Why do so many Christians cling to falsehoods about the Rapture? It’s because they start with beliefs regarding the end times that make such an occurrence impossible.

The most popular views regarding Bible prophecy claim that most of the book of Revelation is symbolism, code exclusively for first century AD saints, or past history (fulfilled prophecy). These widely accepted viewpoints presuppose that there cannot be a Rapture, which explains its unpopularity in most churches.

read://https_harbingersdaily.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fharbingersdaily.com%2Fdebunking-popular-lies-about-the-pre-tribulation-rapture%2F

Tucker has some interesting statements about UFO's based on talking to people "in the know". Latest interview was with Joe Rogan. He says there is little evidence these things come from above. But much evidence these things come from below. Bible notes that Satan uses intrigue to draw people away from God.

1. Classified tech
2. Multi dimensional spiritual entities
3. Bluebeam holographic projection
4. Doctored CGI video
and/or
5. Combination of these things

The general Christian consensus as to "why" is to explain away a future rapture event for those left behind. "The aliens took them."

It's a common manifestation. I've seen all-black or all white. Another one is slitted pupils. Deliverance ministries see this and more before the demon gets cast out. I praise Christ for the liberty He provides from such oppression. Whom the son sets free is free indeed.