Marxism Has ALWAYS Been Based on Evil.

North Korea sentences 2-year-old to life in prison camp after parents caught with Bible: US State Dept.

By Anugrah Kumar

If Christians in North Korea are found possessing a Bible, they face the death penalty, and family members, including children, are sentenced to life imprisonment, reveals a report by the U.S. State Department, which includes an incident where a two-year-old child was sentenced to life in a prison camp after his parents were caught with a Bible.

Covenant.

 

Apathy Reigns.

4 ways to shift church culture from apathy to expectation of growth.

By Sam Rainer, Op-ed Contributor | Sunday, May 28, 2023

A group of people listening to a sermon in church. | Getty/ FatCamera. The American church is at a crisis moment. Only 1% of churches have an ongoing evangelism emphasis.

Apathy in the Church is nothing new. The New Testament letters demonstrate how a lack of enthusiasm for God’s work goes back to the inception of the early church. In Acts 1, after Jesus ascended, two angels came down to tell the disciples to get moving.

“Why are you standing here staring into Heaven?” The angels reminded the disciples not to delay Kingdom work.

Why is the American church apathetic today? I could dedicate an entire book to the subject, but one fundamental problem stands out.

A culture of broken rhythms discourages excitement.

I broke my leg a couple of years ago. The injury prevented me from exercising, especially running, which I love to do daily. The broken rhythm of exercise affected my psyche. After I healed, it took much more effort to get back into the exercise habit.

When people miss several days of a Bible reading plan, they can get discouraged and stop reading altogether. When someone misses church regularly, the broken rhythm quells excitement and creates a growing apathy. Every missed worship service adds a level of indifference. Over time, these layers build and become a barrier to obedience.

Attendance frequency continues to get worse. The person who once attended every other week now attends one out of four weeks — momentum stalls when people do not gather frequently. When absent from church, people direct their passions to other endeavors.

Apathy is a lack of enthusiasm for what you’re supposed to do. This problem is not isolated to individuals in a few congregations. The problem is cultural across almost every congregation. The issue has become a phenomenon in North America. It’s hard to build excitement if many people in your church have broken rhythms of discipleship.

You can begin the shift from apathy to an expectation of growth

Cultural changes occur more slowly than technical changes. For example, you can figure out the best technical ways to communicate to your congregation (text, emails, newsletter, etc.), but solving a cultural problem of poor communication is a more involved process.

What are some ways a cultural shift to an outward focus can occur? How can churches restart the process of getting people back into a healthy rhythm?

1. Celebrate the bright spots in your worship services. You become what you celebrate. Tell the stories of people who do Kingdom work. Positive reinforcement produces a lasting cultural change. Negative reinforcement is a short-term fix that utilizes guilt. One of the best ways to share these stories is through videos. Almost every church today can create a two-minute video and show it to the congregation in worship. One video will not likely make a cultural change. But multiple testimonies over time will help with the shift.

2. Include ways to put boots on the ground in your missions budget. Almost everyone who goes on their first cross-cultural mission trip returns with an inspiration to do more locally. Our church serves the homeless every week. Those who volunteer in this ministry are some of our most dedicated. When we craft our missions budget, one of the driving factors is how many people we can get on the field. We offer scholarships to families who travel internationally together for the first time. Our missions budget is just as much about boots on the ground as it is about providing funds to our partners.

3. Hold staff accountable for Gospel conversations. “Gospel conversation” is the first item on our weekly staff meeting agenda. Every meeting begins with our team telling stories of their efforts to invite people to church and share Christ with people from the neighborhood. Every week, we highlight this effort. Gospel conversations are first on the agenda because they are most important. You could do the same with your leadership team or elders if you do not have paid staff.

4. Resource ministries focused on the youngest generations. Does your children’s ministry receive as much budget support as your worship ministry? If not, then something is wrong. This one is simple. Your budget allocations will reveal your church’s passion. You may say you are passionate about reaching the next generation, but if your budget does not reflect this desire, you are simply speaking empty words. Cultural change will not occur without budgetary support.

An apathetic church lacks enthusiasm for Great Commission work. Can you muster through apathy and be obedient to God’s commands? Perhaps for a season. Eventually, you will start to look like the Ephesus church in Revelation — doing enough to appear obedient but lacking love for Christ. But you can break through this apathy. Indeed, we must. CP.

EU Empire and Erdogan.

                    The EU empire is crumbling.

The re-election of President Erdogan explodes the myth that Brussels has any geopolitical influence whatsoever.

CONCOUGHLIN

29 May 2023 •

Any pretensions the European Union may entertain of being a major power in world affairs have been utterly exposed by the re-election of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as president of Turkey. It was not so long ago, after all, that Brussels was trying to cajole Turkey into becoming a member of the EU. Indeed, the country is still formally regarded as a candidate for accession, even though Ankara has hardly made any progress on implementing the necessary institutional reforms since 2004. DT,

Hmm. Rather An Odd Thought Process.

 Just before his death in May 337, it is claimed that Constantine was baptised into Christianity. Up until this time he had been a catechumen for most of his adult life. He believed that if he waited to get baptized on his death bed he was in less danger of polluting his soul with sin and not getting to heaven.

Birdie.

Marxism Explained.

                                               ... and never will, never can.

'Creation of Fossils Takes Millions of Years.'

 DINOSAUR BONES DO IT! So do fossil insects and bats on stalactites and leaves and teddy bears. Great new 40 mins show with John and Joe and Craig on just how rapidly calcification occurs in all sorts of fossils and how ignorant the sceptics are and how foolish those pastors are who listen to them. DONT MISS THIS EXPOSÉ filmed live with all specimens shown. WATCH HERE: https://youtu.be/N0Olur3iVZ0

Our Undertrained Police?

Police track down red panda that escaped from local zoo to a wholesale fruit market - as officer jokes panda rescue is 'not a topic taught in training'.

• Police found the red panda in a fruit shop after it escaped from Newquay Zoo
• The Cornish zoo keeps two red pandas called Seren and Sundara 

By LOUIS GOSS

Revelation 13.

 Revelation 13: The Beast, persecution and providence.

By Mark Creech, Op-ed Contributor | Tuesday, May 30, 2023

.

  | Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

In his classic book, World Aflame, the late Dr. Billy Graham shared a quote about a coming world ruler. The quote, a description of the Antichrist, reads:

“There will arise ‘the man.’ He will be strong in action, epigrammatic in manner, personally handsome, and continuously victorious. He will sweep aside parliaments and demagogues, carry civilizations to glory, reconstruct them into an empire, and hold it together by circulating his profile and organizing further successes.”

Revelation chapter 13 speaks of the rise of the Beast and his activities. The Bible calls him a “Beast” because, in the eyes of God, that’s what he is. However, the world will not see him this way. He will be idolized and adored around the globe. Academia will love him. He will inspire the arts. The sciences will hail him. He will craftily secure peace among the nations, and no one or country will want to go to war against him. He will cater to humanity’s sensual pleasures without considering the moral or negative consequences. He will lead people to indulge in immediate gratification rather than long-term satisfaction or well-being. His approach to leadership is the kind that people have always wanted. After having suffered a mortal wound, he will deceitfully appear to resurrect from the dead, sealing his place as a worldwide dictator. Although he is seen as Earth’s incomparable benefactor, he is beastly and profane in nature, wanting to supplant the authority of God. The Scripture says:

“And he spoke terrible words of blasphemy against God, slandering his name and his dwelling — that is, those who dwell in Heaven. And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation” (Revelation 13:6-9).

Some Christians believe John’s reference to a ruler’s speech of “words of blasphemy against God, slandering his name and his dwelling” may have had an immediate application to Caesar worship in his day.

It is said that the Roman Emperor Caligula, AD 37-41, insisted on being worshiped as a god by everyone from every nation. The Jews, however, under Roman occupation, had always been exempt from Caesar worship because Rome knew they were unbending about worshipping only one God. But Caligula would not relieve them of this requirement. Instead, he stipulated that an image of himself be placed in the Temple of Jerusalem within the Holy of Holies. The emperor was quite prepared to enforce his mandate. But in a death shrouded by mystery, Caligula died, and the Jews were spared what would have likely been a blood bath for them.

As the renowned Scottish Bible commentator William Barclay wrote:

“If ever there was an insult to the dwelling place of God, this action of Caligula was one. And it may well be that this notorious incident was in John’s mind when he speaks of the insults which the beast launched against the dwelling place of God.”

No doubt, the requirement of Caesar worship was blasphemous. It was the highest of insults of all things sacred for one to exalt himself in place of God and demand to be worshipped.

Christians faced Caesar worship, too, and were martyred by the thousands. Refusal to participate in it was seen as a threat to the stability of the Roman Empire. Christians, who refused to worship the emperor as a god, were seen as disloyal and subversive and were therefore targeted for persecution.

Rome was a place of many gods — a place of religious pluralism. People could worship any god they pleased, but they were also required to bow before an image of the emperor.

Now the way a Christian was supposed to do this was seemingly a small thing. They were to take a small pinch of incense and put it on an altar of fire before Caesar’s image as an act of loyalty and patriotism — an act to say that the emperor was Lord. But Christians refused to do it. For them, only Jesus was Lord.

Christians who would not comply were arrested, tortured, and killed for their beliefs, including being thrown to wild animals in arenas or burned alive. The most notorious example of this persecution was under emperor Nero in the 1st century AD, but it continued sporadically for several centuries.

Today, we are living in what is mostly, especially in the West, religious pluralism. It is not considered chic to believe in anything absolutely. As the former pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, the late W.A. Criswell once said:

“We come now to our modern world. What kind of culture do we face … Dogma is decried; conviction is discarded; belief is discredited. And a man is to be open-minded, and broad-minded, and liberal, and he is not to come to a conclusion about anything, much less believe in a salvation in one Lord alone.”

Apologist Josh McDowell, in his book, The New Tolerance, expounds on this further, writing:

“[T]raditional tolerance … asserts that everyone has an equal right to believe or say what he thinks is right, the new tolerance — the way our children are being taught to believe — says that what every individual believes or says is equally right, equally valid. So not only does everyone have an equal right to his beliefs, but all beliefs are equal. All values are equal. All lifestyles are equal. All truth claims are equal …

“The Bible makes it clear that all values, beliefs, lifestyles, and truth claims are not equal. It teaches that the God of the Bible is the true God (Jeremiah 10:10), that all his words are true (Psalm 119:160), and that if something is not right in God’s sight, it is wrong (Deuteronomy 6:18). This is not just the view of Hebrew culture or Christian culture or Western culture; it is the truth, according to the God who rules over all cultures, revealed in God’s Word.”

In the context of today’s culture of tolerance, the Beast, the Antichrist, is a strong warning against the dangers of blind acceptance of progressive beliefs and behaviors that contradict orthodox Christian teaching. Free thinking toward irrational, scandalous, unbiblical ideas and lifestyles prepares people to embrace an individual or movement which is hostile to God and his ways.

All truth is narrow. And all truth is God’s truth.

Every century, the Evil One has declared and waged war on the people of God. It will be no different during the Tribulation, except more intense than at any other time in history. John Phillips, in Exploring Revelation, eloquently explains:

“He [the Beast] cannot harm the glorified saints in Heaven, but he can harm the believers on Earth, at least those not specially sealed against him. The age-old mystery of the suffering of the saints is again brought into focus. It was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, just as it was given unto Herod to imprison and behead John the Baptist, and just as it was given to Satan to persecute Job, and just as it was given to Pilate to pass sentence of death upon Jesus. It is all a deep mystery now, but it will be an eternal weight of glory for the sufferers when God gives out the Martyr’s crowns.

“This is the devil’s last fling against the people of God. The great dragon will drink his fill of blood, and the beast, summoned from the sea and from the pit, will be unmasked at last for what he is, a monster with a quenchless thirst for blood.

“He must dominate the globe. North, south, east, and West, all peoples must yield obedience to him. It will not last long, it is true, but for a brief season, his power and authority will be acknowledged worldwide. Satan will achieve his goal of unifying the nations, dazzling some, browbeating others, cementing the whole tricky structure together with the mortar of the indulgence of every evil passion and with the epoxy of horrible, merciless, unrelenting persecution.”

The apostle John continues revealing more about the Beast and the perilous days of the Antichrist. He writes:

“And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. Anyone who is destined for prison will be taken to prison. Anyone destined to die by the sword will die by the sword” (Revelation 13:8-10).

Providence, predestination, and foreordination are words that make many people very uncomfortable. Yet, they shouldn’t. They are taught in the Bible and should comfort everyone who has received Christ.

Whether we realize it or not, there is a sense in which all of us are practical predestinarians, and to deny it would be insane. We were not asked whether we should exist, what period in history we should be born in, or what race we should be. God is sovereign over these things. He established these matters in eternity past – before the foundation of the world. Most people know this to be true.

People also believe certain events or situations were predetermined or predestined to happen, regardless of their actions or decisions. For example, a person may believe they were meant to meet their spouse at a particular time and place or was destined to pursue a specific career path from a young age.

Innumerable examples might be cited to show that God has a plan, and even the smallest of events in life have their place in his divine scheme.

Someone might protest, saying, “Yes, but I can’t believe a person’s eternal salvation is foreordained.” The idea might rub us wrong, but if God is sovereign over everything (and he is), matters of the soul or salvation are no different.

Scholars have endlessly argued over this doctrinal issue, trying to reconcile how God can be completely sovereign and man still has free agency. The fact is, however, the two can’t be reconciled. Nonetheless, both are true.

Although some would argue it’s an oversimplification of the issue, the evangelist D.L. Moody clarified what about this doctrine is essential for us to understand. He said, “The elect are the ‘whosoever wills;’ the non-elect are the ‘whosoever won’ts.'”

In other words, do you know that you are a sinner? Do you know that Christ died for your sins on the cross? Then everything you need to know as to whether you were predestined from eternity past for salvation is to put your trust in Christ as your Savior.

In A Commentary on the Revelation of John, George Eldon Ladd makes this part of the text even more transparent, arguing:

“That their names were written before the foundation of the world carries the assurance that even though they [God’s persecuted people] seem to be powerless before the attacks of the beast, they are really in the keeping providence of God and have been since the foundation of the world …

“[T]he persecution waged by the beast will be carried out within the providence of God, and therefore violent resistance is out of place. If one is destined for captivity, he must be willing to go meekly as a Christian. However, persecution is not the last word; there is divine retribution, and the final punishment of those who kill with the sword will fit the crime. The last word is not with the persecutor.”

Indeed, the last word isn’t with the persecutor; it’s not with anyone, not even the Beast; it’s with God alone.

O, what tremendous comfort! No matter how terrible it gets, God is still in control. He will never give up his throne. His plan for his people will come to pass. The Dragon and the Beast will be utterly defeated, and everyone who believes and keeps the faith will know the joy of Christ’s coming Kingdom.

It’s not too late for you to get on board. Trust Christ right now. CP.

Rev. Mark H. Creech is Executive Director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina, Inc. He was a pastor for twenty years before taking this position, having served five different Southern Baptist churches in North Carolina and one Independent Baptist in upstate New York. CP.

Arthur Mann RIP.

 

Arthur John Mann Ordinary Seaman Born: 24th April 1921 Manor Park, Essex, England Died HMS Hood 1941. His widow was a big friend of my Mum.

India, Liberia and Sierra Leone - The Mighty Amanda Smith.

Smith, Amanda [Berry] (1837-1915).

African American holiness evangelist and missionary.

Amanda Berry was born into slavery at Long Green, Maryland. She was married in 1854 to Calvin M. Devine and her conversion followed two years later. After her husband died in the Civil War, she moved to Philadelphia and married James Smith, and ordained deacon at Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. After visiting Green Street Church in Philadelphia, where she heard John S. Inskip, a prominent Wesleyan holiness leader, preach, she testified that she had received her sanctification there. Following the death of her second husband in 1869, she traveled as a holiness evangelist, becoming a popular speaker in many churches and camp meetings. Smith’s friendships included prominent holiness and prohibition movement leaders such as Hannah Whitall Smith and Frances Willard.

Her overseas ministry began with a visit to England in 1878. From there, Smith went to India as a missionary; Methodist bishop James M. Thoburn thought so highly of her that he wrote the introduction to her Autobiography (1893). In Africa, she worked with Methodist missionaries, including Bishop William Taylor. She was honored by African Americans and whites alike. Smith spent her last years caring for needy African American children at her orphanage in Harvey, Illinois; she was also connected to the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Her spiritual fervor and calls for justice in society, and her work in missions inspired an expanded role for women in ministry, particularly within the AME and Methodist churches.

Gary B. McGee, “Smith, Amanda (Berry),” in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed. Gerald H. Anderson (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998), 625.

This article is reprinted from Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Macmillan Reference USA, copyright © 1998 Gerald H. Anderson, by permission of Macmillan Reference USA, New York, NY. All rights reserved.

Bibliography.

Digital Primary

Smith, Amanda Berry. An Autobiography The Story of the Lord’s Dealings with Mrs. Amanda Smith, the Colored Evangelist : Containing an Account of Her Life Work of Faith, and Her Travels in America, England, Ireland, Scotland, India and Africa, As an Independent Missionary. Chicago: Meyer, 1893.

And God Said ...

 

I Don't Wholly Agree, Stephen.

STEPHEN GLOVER: I can’t abide entitled Tory know-alls like George Osborne who want to tax orange juice and cake and ban smoking

By STEPHEN GLOVER FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED:  23:03, 3 May 2023 

The moment I began to have suspicions about David Cameron is etched on my mind. It was in January 2006, a month after he had been elected Tory leader, and he laid into chocolate oranges.

Mr Cameron complained that anyone trying to buy a newspaper at a train station was 'surrounded by cut-price offers for giant chocolate bars'. He castigated W.H. Smith for promoting 'half-price chocolate oranges at its checkouts instead of real oranges'.

Blogger: this Blogger realised precisely what Cameron was when I first heard him talk about a pursuit of - not 'justice' - but social justice!

Some may not grasp what I am talking about here but this revealed that one of two things applied to DC.

1) Either he did not recognise the implications of the expression used and was therefore unfit to lead our nation by dint of his ignorance

or, more likely ...

2) He realised perfectly well the meaning of what he was saying and that he was offering us all a non-Tory, liberal-left agenda. It rather suggested to me that he may have been a Blairite wearing a rather inadequate disguise.

Either way, he was clearly unfit for purpose.

Birdie.

 

Oldest Bat Skeletons Offer Little Help To Evolutionists.

OLDEST BAT SKELETON.  Palaeontologists at the American Museum of Natural History and Naturalis Biodiversity Centre in the Netherlands have studied two bat skeletons found in the Green River Formation in Wyoming, USA, and claim to have found a new species of fossil bat.  Nearly 30 bat fossils have been found in the Green River formation, representing two species. The new fossil bats had shorter broader wings than other Green River bats, and they had claws on the wing's first and second digit, and therefore have been classified as a new species named Icaronycteris  gunnelli. Otherwise, they “looked almost similar to present-day bats”.  The fossils have been dated as 52 million years old.  The researchers wrote: “The relative stratigraphic position of these fossils indicates that they are the oldest bat skeletons recovered to date anywhere in the world.”  Arvid Aase, park manager and curator at the Fossil Butte National Monument, in Wyoming, explained: “One of these bat specimens was found lower in the section than all other bats, making this species older than any of the other bat species recovered from this deposit.”  Nancy Simmons, one of the research team commented: “This is a step forward in understanding what happened in terms of evolution and diversity back in the early days of bats.” References: Interesting Engineering 12April 2023; Science (AAAS) News12 April 2023; ScienceDaily 13April 2023; PLOS ONE 12 April 2023, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0283505 ED. COM.  Let’s call a spade a spade, and face the fact that when you find two fully formed bats with all the features of present-day bats, it doesn’t matter how old you think these fossil bats are, they will not help scientists understand the evolution of bats! The difference in wing structure, plus the fact that this bat species is now extinct, does tell us something about diversity of bats – there used to be more bat varieties, i.e. there has been a decrease in diversity.  Those who believe bats evolved from non-flying mammals are ignoring the actual evidence that fossil and living bats confirm the record of Genesis, which tells us flying creatures were created fully functional, according to their kinds, on the fifth creation day.  Yet land dwelling mammals were not created until the sixth day.  Since then flying and non-flying mammals have reproduced after their kinds, but some, like Icaronycteris gunnelli have died out, while none have evolved.  These fossils also confirm the overall history of the world as being created perfectly complex, but because of human sin and God’s judgement, it is degenerating and losing living things. Another fossil bat also dated as 52 million years old was reported in 2008 – see our report Oldest Bat Fossil here. So why is this one now claimed to be the oldest bat?  Note the claim “stratigraphic position of these fossils” i.e. the rock layer it was found in.  This dating method depends on the assumption that lower layers were laid down before upper layers in a process of depositing one layer on top of one another.  However, experiments conducted by Creation Research show that rock layers are actually laid down sideways, which means lower layers can be laid down at the same time as upper layers. More details of our strata experiments here. Creation Research.

The Remarkable Faith of Elisabeth Elliott.

 

• 

Elisabeth Elliot: A Life

By Lucy S. R. Austen

An In-Depth Biography on the Life and Work of Missionary Elisabeth Elliot

Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015) is one of the most widely known Christians of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. After the death of her husband, Jim, and four other missionaries at the hands of Waorani tribesmen in Ecuador, Elliot famously returned to live among the same people who had killed her husband. Her legacy, however, extends far beyond these events. In the years that followed, Elliot became a prolific writer and speaker, touching the lives of countless people around the world.

In this single-volume biography, Lucy S. R. Austen takes readers on an in-depth journey through the life of Elisabeth Elliot—her birth to missionary parents, her courtship and marriage to Jim Elliot, her missions work in Ecuador, and her private life and public work after she returned to the United States. Through Elliot’s example of love for God and obedience to his commands, readers will ponder what it means to follow Jesus.

• Single-Volume Biography on Elisabeth Elliot: Author Lucy S. R. Austen explores Elliot’s professional articles, books, and radio programs, as well as personal scrapbooks, journals, and letters
• Engaging: Tells the complex and moving life story of one of the most well-known Christian missionaries
• A Great Resource for Students: Thoroughly researched book provides information about Elliot beyond her work with the Waorani people and her first husband’s death

---

Author:

Lucy S. R. Austen (BA, University of Washington) is a writer, editor, and teacher who has spent over a decade studying source materials on Elisabeth Elliot. She has served on the editorial staff of the Spring Hill Review, contributed to various publications, and developed two high school English textbooks on prominent Christian authors. S. R. Austen lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband and child

Cannabis? Harmless?

Almost a third of schizophrenia cases in young men triggered by cannabis use.

Heavy use of the drug described as ‘a major public health issue’ despite an increasing number of countries embracing legalisation

BySarah Knapton, SCIENCE EDITOR4 May 2023 • 8:19pm

Young men with a serious cannabis addiction are at increased risk of developing schizophrenia, a new study suggests.

Experts estimate that nearly one third of cases of schizophrenia in 21 to 30-year-olds were triggered by cannabis use disorder.

Cannabis use disorder is thought to impact around 1 in 200 people, and relates to problematic cannabis use where people cannot control their intake and suffer withdrawal symptoms if they stop taking the drug.

A new study led by Danish researchers analysed the health records of nearly seven million people over 50 years and found a strong link between schizophrenia and serious cannabis addiction.

As many as 30 per cent of cases of schizophrenia among men aged 21 to 30, and 15 per cent of cases in 16 to 49-year-olds, could have been prevented by preventing cannabis addiction, they estimate.

Health concerns ‘require urgent action’

Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness in which people appear to have lost touch with reality. DT.

The 12 Year Old Who Put So Many Adults To Shame.

 https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1652659333921148929?s=20

Wisdom.

The common-sense wisdom of a 16-year-old girl.

By Michael Brown, CP Op-Ed Contributor | Tuesday, May 16.

                               Unsplash/Pâmela Lima

“They no longer teach about the birds and the bees but about the birds and the birds and the bees and the bees and the bees that used to be birds and the birds that used to be bees.”

Those were the spontaneous comments of our 16-year-old granddaughter as she explained to my wife and I what was being taught in her high school.

We were all together near Lynchburg, Virginia, celebrating the college graduation of our oldest grandchild, Ellie, from Liberty University when our youngest grandchild, Riley, learned that she had been penalized for failing to complete a class assignment.

Until then, her grade had been an A, but it now dropped down to a C. What happened?

It was a gender and sexual orientation assignment in a health class where Riley had to supply definitions for the standard LGBTQ+ terms, including words like genderqueer. But of course! I can actually point you to books for toddlers with similar vocabulary lessons. Certainly, all teens must be able to tell the difference between a cisgender person and a self-identified genderqueer individual, right?

In the past, with her parents’ full approval and encouragement, she had opted out of other assignments, some of them with sexually explicit material. And her teacher had always accommodated these requests. But this time, while away with family and doing the assignment remotely, she simply failed to turn it in, hence the penalty in her grade.

We encouraged her to write to her teacher, explaining that the class violated her personal religious and moral beliefs, which she did immediately.

Thankfully, the teacher responded quickly, saying that she would never ask a student to complete an assignment that made them uneasy. Wonderful!

But this is hardly the norm in many of our school systems today, from children’s schools to universities. There is often a high price to pay for failing to conform. This has been the norm for well over a decade, as I documented at length in A Queer Thing Happened to America, which was published in 2011. In fact, some instances date back to almost 20 years ago.

The only difference today is that: 1. many parents for the first time realize what their kids are being taught, due to online classes at home during COVID; 2. more parents are pushing back, outraged over the blatant indoctrination of their kids; 3. plenty of young people are not buying into the indoctrination.

I asked Riley how the other kids in her high school felt about these kinds of issues, including the use of preferred gender pronouns.

In her opinion, the school was pretty much divided, with some kids realizing that you could not be “he” one day and “she” the next, while others took these things very seriously. And there were, of course, the openly gay teachers, like one lesbian teacher with a Pride flag in her room. You dare not make her feel “unsafe” with any non-affirming attitudes, comments, or attire.

When I asked Riley if there were any boys who used the girls’ restroom, she told me there was one kid who sometimes came into the girls’ room. But she struggled to describe this individual.

She said, “The person comes into our bathroom wearing short shorts, with hairy legs and hairy armpits.” (If I recall, she also mentioned the student wearing a dog collar with spikes, but perhaps I’m conflating that description with her description of another student in the school!).

The other girls think it’s a boy, but they’re not allowed to ask. What kind of madness is this?

The good news in all this is that, again, there is a pushback against this cultural madness, our granddaughter’s own thinking is clear and correct, she has a fully supportive family, and her school system, by and large, has been accommodating.

The bad news is that a whole generation of young people has been heavily indoctrinated, from schools to social media, and from many authority figures to movies and TV, resulting in deep confusion and uncertainty. (I’ll write more about this shortly; for the moment, see this recent report documenting how the number of high school students identifying as somewhere on the LGBTQ+ spectrum has doubled since 2015, now at 25%.)

We had better pay careful attention to what our children are taking in, doing our best to provide positive, clear, and compassionate environments for their own growth and development. And by all means, let us keep pushing back in the schools. Young lives are at stake.

As for the child identified as “it,” may that young person find wholeness from the inside out, living a blessed and productive life.

Dr. Michael Brown(www.askdrbrown.org) is the host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program. His latest book isWhy So Many Christians Have Left the Faith. Connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.

Will 'The Boys in Blue' Ever Again Be Preservers of Law and Order?

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The Mighty Mildred.

 

盖群英

 Founded a girls school to train   Chinese women to be evangelists   and leaders. Gansu, Shanxi, Xinjiang

Mlldred Cable grew up in Guildford, England, with her three brothers and two sisters. Her upbringing was strict; she was constantly warned about the judgment of God, and she had trouble sleeping at night, afraid that she would wake up in hell. One night, she had a dream about Jesus playing with her and some other children, and she began to recognize God’s love and his fatherhood. Mildred was able to attend a children’s mission meeting, where she accepted Christ at the age of twelve. She continued attending the weekly children’s meetings, and when she was fifteen, Mildred met Emily Whitchurch of the China Inland Mission (CIM). Mildred realized God was calling her to serve in China. However, her parents were sending her to the academically rigorous Guildford High School and had other ideas for their daughter. They tried various methods to discourage and distract her, but Mildred got in touch with CIM while still in school, and when she graduated, she spent six months at their training home.

Mildred moved to London, where she studied science and was trained as a pharmacist. On Friday evenings, she attended a Bible school. In 1900, she was ready to move on to China and was planning to marry a young man who also intended to be a missionary. After the outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion, however, the young man told Mildred that he no longer planned to head to China, and she could choose to stay in Britain and marry him or go to China alone. Although Mildred was bitterly disappointed, she was not willing to give up China, and she set sail without him in the fall of 1901. Upon reaching China, Mildred was able to begin language study on the coast until it was safe to move inland.

After a year, Mildred met Eva French, who became her senior missionary. This partnership lasted for the remainder of their time in China. Eva took Mildred to the Huozhou area to work with the church community and encourage the women there. Eva and Mildred loved village work. They spent their days sharing the Christian message with women who were illiterate and rarely left their homes. Although Eva and Mildred were happy with the work they were doing, the two women often asked themselves what it was that the church in China needed most at the present. They determined that the church really did not have enough educated Christian women, both to serve as Bible women and evangelists, and to be Christian wives and mothers. Interest in Christianity was growing, and China needed more women to help spread the gospel. Mildred and Eva wanted to train Chinese women to be evangelists and take their place. They also needed to teach more women to read so that they could do the work of the church.

In 1904, Mildred and Eva opened a girls’ school in Huozhou with twenty-four students. Within a year, they had seventy women and girls attending. Mildred designed a curriculum that taught literacy, Christianity, science, and Chinese classics, while also making it possible for the students to keep in touch with their family lives. (School holidays were timed to allow the students to help with the crops and wheat harvest at home). Other topics covered included foot-binding and the value of child life (referencing female infanticide). Mildred also encouraged her students to think for themselves, urging them to explore the world around them. Mildred’s own academic background at Guildford High School spurred her to teach medieval history and democracy, which she thought appropriate, considering the current political turmoil in China.

In 1908, Mildred and Eva returned to Britain, where they met up with Eva’s sister, Francesca, who decided to join them in China. The three women became known as “The Trio” and worked together for the rest of their lives. While they were home on furlough, they prayed that God would provide money to expand their school. Although they never asked for donations, they received enough money in gifts to build a new church building for 600 people and to grow their school to eighty-six pupils. In 1910, the Trio opened their compound to the public and held a six-day mission for Christian women from all over the surrounding area. A total of 500 women attended, a remarkable turnout in a culture where women stayed in their homes and did not venture out. At the end of the six days, 250 women stood up to share what they had learned.

Their school grew to 100, and their first class of teachers graduated in 1913. In 1922, the CIM held a conference in Shanghai, where Mildred was asked to be involved in committee work, discussions, and giving papers. She spoke of the importance of training Christian leaders. Mildred also contributed an article on the work done in women’s Bible schools to the Chinese Recorder. In her article, Mildred argued that women had spiritual gifts for building the church which should be recognized. She saw that the patriarchal culture in China made Chinese men hesitant to acknowledge the gifts of Chinese women, and Mildred wanted to change that.

Mildred’s school produced Bible women and teachers, and, over a period of twenty years, she and her fellow teachers taught an estimated 1,000 girls. By 1923, 130 of Mildred’s graduates were teachers themselves, educating an additional 5,000 students. She was reaching a multitude of women with her efforts, and Huozhou had become the center for Christian women’s work. The Governor of Shanxi, however, decided to open 70 new provincial schools for girls in 1923, and he called on Mildred’s student teachers and all of her secondary school students to staff his schools. Mildred was left without teachers or students for her schools. The Trio took it as a sign that it was time for them to move on to something else. Their work over the previous twenty years had led to the emergence of Christian women as significant leaders in China, and their educational policies had placed their schools at the forefront of Chinese education.

When the Trio asked themselves what China needed next, they felt led to leave their settled mission station for areas which were more remote and unevangelized. They were inspired by a report they heard on the absence of Christian witness for 1,000 miles along the Silk Road from Gansu province to Xinjiang province. On June 11, 1923, the Trio set out for Gansu. When they arrived in Zhangye, their first destination, they had been traveling for nine months and had covered 800 miles.

The small church in Zhangye was delighted at the arrival of the women. Their pastor rejoiced over what he saw as God’s answer to their prayer for experienced women missionaries. The Trio, who had only planned to stay a short time, became frustrated by these expectations. The pastor, however, convinced them to stay for the summer and promised to send a team from the church out into the surrounding areas with them in the fall and winter. The Trio began conducting a Bible school in Zhangye for both men and women. By the end of the summer, 50 men and women were baptized, doubling the size of the congregation. That autumn, the Trio and their helpers traveled to neighboring towns where they participated in fairs. Farmers would attend the fairs to purchase necessities, and while they were there, they would stop into the tent to listen to the gospel message and often buy Christian literature. When the fairs ended, the Trio traveled to villages to hold teaching missions. Many of those who gathered for instruction were illiterate, and teaching them to read became a priority. 523 people learned to read in their Bible studies over the next three years. The Trio also trained these men and women to become evangelists so that they could move on to a new area, assured that the gospel would continue to spread in the area they had left.

By the end of 1924, the Trio had moved up the Silk Road and settled in Jiuquan for the winter. Jiuquan was the last town in China before the start of the Gobi desert, so travelers had to stop there to collect and/or replenish supplies. The Trio brought with them a group of men and women, students from the Bible school in Zhangye. Mildred continued teaching these men and women and sent them out in the afternoons to preach on the streets or visit women in their homes. Mildred made her students go through the Bible thoroughly and insisted they attempt to find answers to their questions themselves. She also encouraged her students to read books. Mildred’s teaching ensured that her students were grounded in the word of God and that they understood it on more than a superficial level. Most of the students returned to Zhangye in the spring, but a few stayed to help the Trio.

The Trio began a children’s service in the evenings. Adults became intrigued by the children’s music and began attending the services, staying for the brief message. The children taught their parents the hymns, prayers, and texts that they learned, and the Trio became well-known in the town among both adults (many of whom they had never actually met) and children.

At the end of the summer, the Trio set out on a two month journey to visit all the towns in Gansu between Jiuquan and the border. During their journey, they talked to other travelers and visited inns, sharing the Gospel with everyone they met and scouting the whole area. Mildred was always strategizing about the best plans for the future. Since evangelism was their goal, they took their time, stopping at places that were not directly on their route so that they could reach more people with their message. They stayed for a period of time in Dunhuang, a crossroads town where India, China, and Tibet had met over the centuries. In Dunhuang, Muslims were taking over the commerce, as the Chinese were experiencing the harmful effects of the prevalence of opium.

The Trio returned to Jiuquan for the winter and to continue their Bible school. The next summer, they followed the Silk Road northwest across the Gobi desert to Ãœrümqi. Because of the heat of the summer, they traveled at night, when it was cooler. The road offered only primitive inns for them to sleep, and clean water was scarce. The Trio communicated the Gospel with everyone they met in the inns. They would gather around the campfires in the courtyard, sharing food and talking. At the border between Gansu and Xinjiang, they had to wait for several days to receive permission from officials in Ãœrümqi to continue. They spent their time preaching and singing to the other people also waiting to cross the border. When they finally received permission to cross, the Trio continued on to Hami, covering 150 miles in 6 days. As the three women traveled, they accepted any invitations into people’s homes, taking advantage of every opportunity they had to present the Christian message. Once the Trio arrived at Ãœrümqi, they were greeted by two male missionaries and granted a meeting with the Governor. From Ãœrümqi, the women traveled another 700 miles to the Russian border, and from there, they returned to London for a furlough.

While in Britain, Mildred visited churches, speaking about China. She addressed the CIM Annual General meeting that summer, urging more people to go to the central Asia trade routes where they could meet people from countries that were closed to missionaries. She also wrote a letter to the readers of China’s Millions which contained the following words:

We need scarcely remind you that many incidents which are romantic and faith-inspiring when viewed from a distance, are wrought out in circumstances when loyalty is tested to the uttermost, and guidance sought through the cross-lights which but accentuate the confusion of the dimly-discerned way - when the servant of God has no light, and must stay his heart upon Jehovah. (Griffiths, 224)

The Trio left Britain to return to China in March of 1928. Getting back was difficult, as China was in the midst of civil war. They did not arrive in Gansu until November; they had been traveling for eight months. While they were gone, the civil war in China had forced almost all of the missionaries to evacuate to the coast, fearing a repeat of the Boxer massacres. 200,000 people had been murdered, and the situation was only getting worse. The compound had taken in several children from the streets, one of whom was a seven year old deaf-mute named Topsy. The Trio ended up adopting her and eventually taking her home to Britain.

In the following months, the Trio took another journey to the borders of Tibet and Mongolia to spread the gospel to new areas. They found that many cities along the Silk Road had their gates locked and guarded against the encroaching Muslim forces, and they were delayed several times along their journey. Everywhere they went, crowds gathered to listen to them talk. When traveling in Muslim areas, the Trio conformed to Muslim food restrictions, so as not to put any barriers between them and those they were trying to reach. When they arrived in Ãœrümqi, they visited the homes of officials and their wives, something they would not have been allowed to do as men. They organized a women’s mission, and the numbers of women in the church grew steadily. In February, the Trio set off on their return journey to Jiuquan. On their way, they stopped for a month in Turfan, an area absent of Christian witness, where they visited homes and held public meetings. When they reached the border again, they found positive changes had been implemented by a new Commandant, who wanted to buy a Bible. They had already sold all of their Bibles, so Mildred gave him her own personal copy of the Scriptures. In their sixteen months away, the Trio had visited 2,700 homes, conducted 665 meetings, and sold 40,000 copies of Scripture.

The Trio stayed in Jiuquan over the winter, where they witnessed the charity of the new Christian community in the town. The Christians helped the poor and needy and spoke out against injustice and ill-treatment. In the spring, the missionaries headed up to the Mongolian border again, where they saw many people they had met on their previous journey and were able to see their seeds beginning to take root.

That summer, war overran Jiuquan, and many civilians were executed. The Trio decided to leave, and that autumn they returned to Dunhuang. There, they found that the crowds were eager to welcome them, even after their absence of five years. They used a Muslim inn to hold services and were surprised at the crowds that attended. A new church was emerging there, as a number of people had read and believed the Scriptures that the Trio had left with them five years before. Soon, however, the Muslim army arrived in Dunhuang and the city surrendered immediately. Islamic forces now controlled 600 miles of the Silk Road. The Muslim general summoned the Trio to his army headquarters in Ansi, 80 miles away, and asked them to bring medical supplies. They treated the general’s wounds daily, but feared they would be held captive by the general, who was unpredictable and brutal. When the general’s wounds had healed, the three women decided to try to return to Dunhuang, and eventually obtained permission to leave. Before they departed, however, Mildred courageously handed the general a copy of the New Testament and the Ten Commandments and asked him to reflect on his own life.

Once back in Dunhuang, the Trio began preparing to flee, although they knew the guards had orders not to allow them to leave. In April, they packed what they needed and set off as if they were going on a local visit, concealing their extra food and leaving their house looking occupied. They discovered that the guards on the outskirts of town had gone off for the day and took it as a sign from God. They hurried across the desert. When they were accosted by two soldiers who asked for their permits, Mildred showed them her irrelevant Chinese Central Government passport. The illiterate guards waved them through, and the missionaries continued on their hazardous journey. The roads were empty and inns abandoned; the Trio had to live off the supplies they had brought with them. During their trip, Mildred was kicked by a donkey and severely injured. Eventually, the Trio reached Ürümqi safely. It was clear to them that the political situation was worsening and that war was inevitable, so they prepared for their journey home. They trained their successors, and left for Britain.

After three years in Britain, the Trio returned to Ãœrümqi in 1935. They had to wait all winter to obtain permits to travel down the Silk Road, but once they finally got started, they received a warm welcome everywhere they went. War had ravaged the countryside, however, and homes and villages had been destroyed. They baptized more people in Dunhuang, and when they reached Jiuquan, they stayed for six months. Typhus had wiped out a large number of the population, but the Trio resumed the children’s classes, the Bible study, and the literacy classes. Their time was limited, however, as Mildred was struggling with asthma and Communist pressure was growing. In August 1936, foreigners were ordered to leave, and the Trio finally reached home again in 1937.

Mildred spent her time building up the Bible Society’s women’s support groups and speaking at mission meetings. During the Second World War, she worked for the Women’s Voluntary Service. In 1943, Mildred and Francesca produced a book on the Gobi desert which is still recommended in guidebooks today. They received the Livingstone Medal and the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal for their travels. Mildred lectured to the Royal Geographical Society and was invited to tea at Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth. Mildred and Francesca wrote a number of books together, with Mildred assembling the main material and Francesca doing the editorial work. In 1952, after a bout with shingles, Mildred died at the age of 74.

Mildred brought her own individual gifts to her partnership with the French sisters, who referred to Mildred as “our star.” She was the writer and communicator in the group, and the one to plan, analyze, and set goals. By the time the Trio left China, they had traveled the Silk Road five times, and were widely known among the Muslims as “the Teachers of Righteousness.” They had made Jesus known among the main trade route, and the literature they distributed in several languages was carried throughout Asia. Through their repeated visits, they built friendships and gained respect, so that they were warmly thought of along the Silk Road. Their influence was carried even farther through those they had trained to continue their work. Crossway.