| | Christian activist: Republicans need a 'fresh candidate' in 2024 | | Curated for you byCP Editors | | Good afternoon! It's Monday, December 19, and today's headlines include an interview with Bob Vander Plaats of the Iowa-based Family Leader, a report detailing more than 400 acts of hostility toward churches since 2018, and a UMC pastor who was suspended after holding a second vote to disaffiliate from the denomination amid its ongoing schism over homosexuality. | | Bob Vander Plaats of the Iowa-based Family Leader, a socially conservative organization established to "strengthen families by inspiring Christ-like leadership in the home, the church and the government," believes that faith-based voters will support a "fresh candidate" in the 2024 presidential election. During an interview with CP, Vander Plaats offered his thoughts on the state of the Republican presidential primary, which currently consists of former President Donald Trump. While he expressed gratitude for former President Trump and his administration, Vander Plaats concluded that "the midterms [did not go] the way we wanted them to," making it important for conservatives to rally around a "fresh candidate casting a vision for the future that can unite America." | | Vander Plaats also discussed abortion and other social issues and why he doesn't believe they cost Republicans the midterms. He pointed to the success of Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis—who he noted is "exceptionally pro-life and has advanced the pro-life agenda"—asserting, "The state of Florida recognized him as being a strong leader." Vander Plaats named "pro-family, pro-faith, pro-freedom conservatives" whom he viewed as "fresh candidates" heading into 2024. Along with DeSantis, Vander Plaats pointed to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as "a guy that’s very prepared to be president" and someone with "a titanium spine" as well as a "winsome way about going about his business." He also pointed to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as other sources of 2024 "buzz." Continue reading. | | P.S. Volume 4 of CP Magazine, Gender Indoctrination: Inside the transgender battle and gender chaos in America, is here! If you'd like to help support Christian journalism, this digital-only offering runs just $19.99 annually—or get your free copy when you sign-up for a free Christian Post account. Sign-up to download your flipbook or PDF copy today. |
|
| Listen to the CP Daily Podcast |
|
|
| Report details 400+ hostile acts against churches since 2018 | | A report by the Family Research Council shows that there have been at least 420 acts of hostility against U.S. churches over the past five years, with 57 of the hostile acts occurring between January and September 2022 related to abortion. The report, which analyzed publicly available data between January 2018 and September 2022, documented acts of hostility—including vandalism, bomb threats, arson and gun-related incidents—targeting 397 individual churches across 45 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. "There is ample reason to be concerned about rising hostility to Christianity by a Western culture that increasingly rejects Judeo-Christian values," Arielle Del Turco, FRC's assistant director of the Center for Religious Liberty, wrote in the report. "Americans appear increasingly comfortable lashing out against church buildings, pointing to a larger societal problem of marginalizing core Christian beliefs, including those that touch on hot-button political issues related to human dignity and sexuality," Del Turco added. Read more. | | Congress passes bill halting Biden's vaccine mandate for troops | | The U.S. Senate voted 83-11 to approve the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, which would order the U.S. Department of Defense to end its requirement that members of the Armed Forces take the coronavirus vaccine. The Senate's passage of the legislation comes a week after the U.S. House of Representatives voted 350-80 to advance the bill. It now heads to President Joe Biden's desk for final approval. The bill, which includes over 4,000 pages of text related to the military, homeland defense, natural resources and energy, contains an amendment ordering Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to repeal the military's vaccine mandate within 30 days. Austin authored a memorandum in August 2021, establishing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for service members, which sparked litigation from more than two dozen Navy SEALS who sought a religious exemption. A federal judge sided with the Navy SEALS earlier this year. Read more. |
|
|
| My favorite part of the Christmas story | | Author and apologist Robin Schumacher shares why the arrival of the magi is his favorite part of the Christmas story. Despite the magi arriving not during the birth of Christ but likely when Jesus was a young child, their presence is significant because they were "kingmakers," Schumacher writes, explaining that "while Israel and Rome may have done their best to stop Christ from being King, God declared His Son's royal presence by bringing the mighty kingmakers, the magi, from Persia to acknowledge it." Read more. | | 4 steps to inoculate your children against progressive mind virus | | While progressives view their ideology as progress, their views often mean the destruction of the family and biblical Christianity, writes William Wolfe. In this op-ed, Wolfe outlines four ways you can protect your children from the "progressive mind virus." Among the bunch: teach them the truth of God's Word and ensure that they are being educated and not indoctrinated. Read more. |
|
|
| Deeper Than We Thought: The Stench Has Reached Heaven | Whether it’s Balenciaga sexualizing children and degrading every piece of moral fabric left in our society, or men dressed as women encouraging kids to place money in their G-string, our sickness is worse than Sodom and parallels the days of Noah. Attacking Gender is Child Abuse | | As everyone knows, the innocence of our children is being attacked on many fronts. One of the biggest travesties is the attack on biological gender. Recently, the famous toy company Mattel published a book for young girls that is part of their American Girl product line. The book encourages young girls to consider puberty blockers and to seek advice from people who are not their parents. This is child abuse and should not be tolerated. | | Read more. | | |
|
|
| UMC pastor suspended for second disaffiliation vote | | The UMC Arkansas Conference has suspended the senior pastor of an Arkansas congregation that held a second vote to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church amid the denomination's schism over homosexuality. The suspension of Senior Pastor John Miles of the First United Methodist Church of Jonesboro came after five district superintendents filed a formal complaint against the pastor, with Bishop Gary Mueller asserting that the second vote "was in violation" of the denomination's Book of Discipline and "illegal according to Arkansas State law." The conference also invoked a disciplinary process by declaring "exigent circumstances," which vests title to all property of the local congregation in the Arkansas Conference Board of Trustees. Over 629 people voted to leave the UMC, per the church's Facebook page, while just nine voted to remain part of the denomination. Miles preached on Sunday despite the suspension, telling the congregation, "Let's just trust the Lord, but also, let's trust our lawyers. ... Let's enjoy church, let's enjoy Christmas, let's enjoy one another." Read more. | | Also of Interest... | | UMC conference rejects 3 Arkansas churches’ disaffiliation requests: 'Uncharted territory' Texas megachurch votes to leave ‘broken’ UMC439 Texas churches leave UMC amid schism over denomination's stance on homosexuality249 North Carolina churches leave UMC amid homosexuality schism |
|
|
| Bodie discusses how connecting with God helped him overcome depression | | "The Voice" Season 22 runner-up Bodie says he broke up with depression after connecting with God, which inspired him to write the song "Happy Now" to increase awareness about the rising rates of suicide and caution against songs that romanticize suicide. "I got tired of seeing songs on the radio popup that kind of romanticize the idea of depression, romanticize the idea of let’s be sad together. I guess I kind of paid more attention after that or noticed the rising rate of suicide in young adults. It just started to anger me in a way that I can’t really explain," he said in a video posted to social media. The singer compared his "break up" with depression to a "regular breakup," explaining, "I understand that it’s not just an easy switch to flip off or filp on. Just like a regular breakup, it's painful and it takes time to heal. Maybe your journey doesn’t look exactly like mine, but for me, it wasn’t until I connected with God that and realized where true joy and true freedom came from." Read more. | | Patricia Heaton celebrates reading the Bible in one year | | Emmy Award-winning actress and "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Patricia Heaton took to Twitter to announce that she read the entire Bible this year utilizing an annual Bible reading plan from The Gospel Coalition ministry. "I finished it today," she excitedly told followers, adding that some days "were just revelatory." She also wrote out all the names of God in the Bible, saying, "He’s a Provider, Healer, Righteousness, Sovereign, the Most High, Good Shepherd, Prince of Peace, Lion of Judah." Read more. | | | | | | | | Thank you for spending part of your day with us. We look forward to seeing you again tomorrow! -- CP Editors |
|
|
|
