Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Vandalizing Europe's Christian Past: the Old World's Ignorant New Religion
Aug 5th, 2019
CommentaryJOHN STONESTREET/BREAKPOINT.ORG
Categories: Moral Decline

The word "vandalism" comes from the Vandals, a Germanic tribe that sacked Rome in the early 5th century. These "barbarians," as Roman writers called them, actually behaved much better than their name might suggest. 

For example, they spared the lives of most of Rome's citizens and left her buildings standing--including, notably, Christian churches. This was because the Vandals themselves claimed the name of Christ--although their theology was of a type condemned by orthodox Christians.

Modern vandals, on the other hand, fail to live up to their namesakes' example. 

Over the last few months, Europe has seen a wave of attacks against churches and other Christian sites. CBN reports that in countries like France and Germany, there has been "...a spike in violent vandalism, desecrating cherished churches and Christian symbols..."

To clarify what the report means by "spike," there were over one thousand attacks just in 2018, and the vandalism involved more than spray paint. Sometimes attacks included human waste. According to Church officials in France, an average of two churches per day are desecrated. 

Recently, the Reformation Wall in Geneva was hit. The intended message of the vandals was made clear by the rainbow paint dumped all over the statues of 16th-century Reformers William Farel, Theodore Beza, John Knox, and John Calvin.

This wasn't even the first act of vandalism at this site this year. Back in March, feminist activists graffitied the Reformation monument with the insightful message, "Where are the women?"

Around the same time, Newsweek quoted Ellen Fantini, the executive director of a Vienna-based organization that tracks religious discrimination. She said that while the motives and identity of vandals aren't always clear, France in particular faces a surge of anti-Christian violence by "anarchist and feminist groups." 

According to Fantini, attacks were up 25 percent in March over the same time last year.

The fact that Christianity is no longer Europe's dominant religion, and hasn't been for some time, is not new news. Pew Research reports that while a majority of Western Europeans still identify as Christians, just 22 percent attend services at least once a month. Compare that with the U. S., where around half attend regularly.

Increasingly, Europeans are devoted to a different religion--a militant form of secularism that sees the continent's Christian past as a time of darkness and oppression--a time to be not just forgotten, but intentionally abandoned.

Yet how many of those who desecrate churches and vandalize religious monuments even know what it is they're attacking? How much could those who dumped rainbow paint on the Reformers in Geneva tell us about them, other than they were Christians...or men?

But ignorance and/or cynicism of the past is a feature of the kind of secularism dominating Western culture right now. C. S. Lewis dubbed it "chronological snobbery"--the belief that past people were unenlightened, evil, or just stupid.

As Art Lindsley writes, chronological snobbery "not only rejects the values of the past, it claims that the study of history itself is pointless." The Christians who built Europe's great churches--indeed, who built European civilization itself--are no longer read, nor are their beliefs taken seriously. 

Instead, along with their statues and churches, they are consigned to the ash-heap of history, condemned for not embracing our modern ideas about sexuality, gender, and God.

Ancient Rome was sacked by Vandals. Western culture today has been invaded by ideas. Bad ones. It's a sad fate for a continent once alive with Christian faith--a continent that, today, is still littered with its buildings and monuments.

Quartus a Brother - Romans 16:23
Aug 5th, 2019
Morning MeditationF. B. Meyer
Categories: Commentary;Inspirational;Book Study

That is all we know about him. The others whose names are written here are more or less famous. Tertius wrote the Epistle; Gaius was evidently a man of influence; Erastus was the treasurer of the city, and so on. But Quartus was just a humble, simple Christian, who had no handle to his name, save his brotherliness and his desire to assure his Roman brethren, whom probably he had never seen, of his love to them. "So he begs a little corner in Paul's letter, and gets it; and there, in his little niche, like some statue of a forgotten saint scarce seen amidst the glories of a great cathedral, 'Quartus the brother' stands to all time."

What a lesson in humility! Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not. Be content to live and die unknown, except for the love that breathes through thy life, not to those of thine own circle merely, but for those across the sea, with whom thou wouldst fain strike hands. Thy one joy, that thou hast been born into the family of God. Thy creed, that all regenerate souls, of every name and sect, are members of the same family, children of the same Father, and therefore one in ties of peculiar tenderness and strength.

What a revelation this slight reference is to the new binding forces of the Gospel! At the Advent the world was split by great gulfs of national hatred; fierce enmities of race, language, and religion; wide separations far profounder than anything that we know. And then the Gospel came, which began to gather men of every race into one family, in Jesus Christ, the Divine Elder-brother; and from this, uniting influences of brotherhood began to permeate the world.

Let the Headlines Speak
Aug 5th, 2019
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines

All 40 top Likud candidates pledge loyalty to Netanyahu 
All 40 of the Likud’s top Knesset candidates signed a petition on Sunday reiterating that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and only Netanyahu, is the party’s candidate to form the next government.The petition came after Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman said on Channel 12’s Meet the Press program on Saturday evening that he would like to see a prime minister from Likud who is not Netanyahu and suggested Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein.

Sudan crisis: Military and opposition agree constitutional declaration
Sudan’s ruling military council and main opposition coalition have agreed on a constitutional declaration which will pave the way for a new period of transitional government. African Union mediator Mohamed Hassan Lebatt made the announcement early on Saturday, without giving any details. Sudan has been in turmoil since the military ousted President Omar al-Bashir in April.

Hong Kong protests: Police fire tear gas at activists
Hong Kong police have fired tear gas at protesters who are demonstrating for the ninth weekend in a row. Groups rallied in the Mong Kok district before starting their march. They called on others to join a city-wide strike planned for Monday. Beijing and the Chinese army have issued stern warnings about the unrest.

India orders tourists to leave Kashmir over ‘terror threat’
Thousands of people, including tourists and Hindu pilgrims, are leaving Indian-administered Kashmir after local officials issued a security alert. Indian authorities warned of a “terror threat” against Hindu pilgrims heading to the Amarnath shrine. Militants backed by Pakistan were planning an attack on the annual pilgrimage, officials have said.

Russia protests: Hundreds detained during unauthorised demonstration
More than 600 people have been detained over an unauthorised protest in Moscow, amid reports of police violence. Protesters had gathered in the Russian capital after authorities disqualified a number of opposition candidates from standing in local elections. Leading activist Lyubov Sobol was arrested before she could reach the rally, attended by 1,500 people.

Iran seizes another tanker in the Gulf, state media say
Iran has seized another foreign tanker in the Gulf, Iranian state media say. A Revolutionary Guard Corps commander was quoted as saying its naval forces had “seized a foreign tanker in the Persian Gulf that was smuggling fuel for some Arab countries”. It said the tanker was carrying 700,000l of fuel, adding that seven sailors had been detained.

Texas Walmart shooting: El Paso gun attack leaves 20 dead
Twenty people have been killed and 26 injured in a mass shooting at a Walmart store in the Texas city of El Paso. Governor Greg Abbott described it as “one of the most deadly days in the history of Texas”. Police are investigating whether the attack, which happened a few miles from the US-Mexico border, was a hate crime.

Dayton shooting: Nine confirmed killed, shooter also dead
Nine people have been killed and at least 16 injured in a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, police have confirmed. First reports came in at about 01:00 local time (05:00 GMT) of a shooting outside a bar in the Oregon district of the city. Police confirmed they killed the shooter at the scene. Casualties have been taken to a number of hospitals.

Harvard Scientists, Funded By Bill Gates, To Begin Spraying Particles Into The Sky To Dim The Sun
Harvard has formed an advisory board to begin moving forward with their plan to spray particles into the stratosphere to test the geoengineering method of dimming the sun…

Older adults are binge drinking at alarming rates
Binge drinking is booming — among boomers. In fact, more than one in 10 Americans ages 65 and older are binge drinkers, according to a New York University study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society on Wednesday, which is defined as having five or more drinks during one occasion in the past month for men, and four or more for women.

Breaking: Epstein Scandal to Bring Down CFR / Trilateralist Pedophile Ring
Jeffrey Epstein is currently infamous for his conviction for soliciting a fourteen-year-old girl for prostitution and for allegedly orchestrating underage “sex slave” orgies at his private Virgin Island mansion, where he purportedly pimped out underage girls to elite political figures such as Prince Andrew, Alan Dershowitz, and probably Bill Clinton as well (he also traveled to Thailand in 2001 with Prince Andrew, probably to indulge in the country’s rampant child sex trade).

Time Magazine: Arctic Nearing ‘Point of No Return’ from Climate Change
Climate alarmists continue to seek new vocabulary to express the apocalyptic urgency of their cause, with Time magazine now declaring that the Arctic is nearing a “point of no return,” thanks to global warming.

THE ABORTION AGENDA: Its Benefactors & What You Don’t Know
Pay very close attention, because there is a lot more going on with their abortion agenda, than meets the eye. Who’s involved, where is this headed, and what atrocities have already occurred? Something very significant began back in 1993, leading up to this, and no one is reporting on it.

California Scrubs Controversial Kamala Harris-Era Arrest Reports
A ‘routine website redesign’…

Water in Hawaii volcano could trigger explosive eruptions
For the first time in recorded history, a pond of water has been discovered inside the summit crater of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano, a development that could signal a shift to a more explosive phase of future eruptions.

California’s Homeless Crisis Spreads To Orange County, Doubles In Two Years 
No affordable housing has resulted in a gigantic mess…

Republican anxiety spikes after retirements, Dem gains in Texas…
Republicans have long idealized Texas as a deep-red frontier state, home to rural conservatives who love President Donald Trump. But political turbulence in the sprawling suburbs and fast-growing cities are turning the Lone Star State into a possible 2020 battleground.

Actor Mario Lopez Latest Victim of the Lgbt Lynch Mob
Aug 5th, 2019
CommentaryJONATHAN VAN MAREN/THE BRIDGEHEAD
Categories: Contemporary Issues

Most of you will have already seen the controversy swirling around Extra host Mario Lopez, who found himself the target of the LGBTQ lynch mob this week after making a handful of utterly reasonable comments on the Candance Owens Show, a conservative podcast, back in June. 

In a discussion about actress Charlize Theron's decision to raise one of her children transgender, Lopez noted that he had concerns about children who are very young choosing their own gender identity.

"I would say if you come from a place of love you really can't go wrong," he said. "But at the same time...if you're three years old, you say you're feeling a certain way or you think you're a boy or a girl, whatever the case may be, I just think its dangerous as a parent to make that determination then, 'Okay, you're gonna be a boy or a girl'...I just think of the repercussions later on."

The LGBTQ groups came gunning for Lopez first, with GLAAD accusing him of making "dangerous" statements against a "vulnerable group of children." GLAAD helpfully offered him re-education on the issue of transgender children (or else.) 

The rage mob obediently followed, demanding that he be fired from his TV job and changing his Wikipedia page to read "Mario Lopez Jr. is a transphobic and misogynistic American actor." Media outlets published blatant lies, claiming that Lopez had opposed "supporting transgender children." 

In a matter of hours, Lopez faced a crisis: His comments could very well see his career burned down overnight.

And so Lopez did what the mob demanded, coming out to confess that his remarks were "ignorant and insensitive" and that he now has "a deeper understanding of how hurtful they were." Additionally, Lopez noted, "I have been and always will be an ardent supporter of the LGBTQ community, and I am going to use this opportunity to better educate myself. Moving forward I will be more informed and thoughtful." 

Lopez's re-education was complete in short order: Grovel, or else. The totalitarianism of the LGBTQ crowd wielding the club of cultural power is so powerful that panicky celebrities thank the mobs demanding that they be fired for the "opportunity" to apologize and confess.

Many other commentators have already pointed out the obvious fact that Lopez was right (the first time), and that the vast majority of reasonable people agree with him. Responsible parents do not even let their three-year-old children choose their meals or their bedtimes, much less their gender. 

To say that a three-year-old's claim of being the opposite gender before they can even understand what gender actually is--that is insane, it is dangerous, and it is going to destroy the young lives of a lot of children before this horrifying experiment is over. 

But there is something inherently insidious about what happened to Mario Lopez, something that everybody knows but that nobody can say out loud: Lopez probably hasn't changed his mind on the issue. Lopez, like most Americans, probably still believes it is dangerous to take the word of a three-year-old on something that a toddler by definition cannot understand. 

But the LGBTQ mob presented him with a choice: Confess your sin, show your penitence, and we won't destroy your career. And so he could stick to his guns and end up with his head on a stick, or he could give them the statement they demanded and hope that his turn in the news cycle would be over quickly.

There's something creepy about compelling panicky people to repudiate something they've said by blackmailing them and threatening to destroy their lives, with all the insidious sickly sweetness of a sadistic interrogator who has arrived with the sole goal of forcing you to say something you do not want to say. 

If you believe that little children should be left alone and permitted an uncomplicated childhood unpoisoned by the insane post-modern ideologies of their delusional parents, then you must be forced to shuffle the public walk of shame while everyone screams at you before the high priests of the LGBTQ movement will grant you absolution.

This week, it was Mario Lopez. Next week, it will be somebody new.