Many thanks to Tennessee legislators Sen. Mae Beavers and Rep. Mark Pody for sponsoring the Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act. The bill declares Obergefell unconstitutional, and orders all state officials to treat it as such. Let's pray the bill makes it through committee, and that legislators in other states would introduce similar measures.
To fully understand the investigation and permanent suspension of Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore by the Court of the Judiciary, The Alabama Political Reporter filed a Motion to Intervene and Unseal Court records about the case on October 19, 2016. In a 4-3 decision on February 3, 2017, the Special Supreme Court selected to hear Moore’s appeal denied APR’s request.
The White House said on Monday that President Trump would leave in place a 2014 Obama administration order that forbids federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual behavior. "President Trump continues to be respectful and supportive of L.G.B.T.Q. rights, just as he was throughout the election,” a statement from the White House said. "The president is proud to have been the first ever G.O.P. nominee to mention the L.G.B.T.Q. community in his nomination acceptance speech, pledging then to protect the community from violence and oppression."
In this article, Rosaria Butterfield (author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert) confronts three unbiblical ways of thinking about homosexuality: (1) The Freudian position, (2) The revisionist heresy, and (3) The reparative therapy heresy. "Worldview matters," Butterfield says. "And if we don't reach back before the 19th century, back to the Bible itself, the Westminster divines, and the Puritans, we will limp along, defeated."
In this 4-minute video, Dr. James Anderson emphasizes the need for Christians to respond to transgenderism with a distinctly Biblical worldview.
Listen to Mark Shiver as he interviews Lt. Governor Dan Forest on his continued support for HB2. The interview is about 33 minutes long, with the discussion of HB2 lasting from 16:28 to 26:25.
During his confirmation hearing Tuesday morning, Attorney General-designate Sen. Jeff Sessions took on questions about Obergefell and same-sex "marriage." "Supreme Court has ruled on that, the dissents dissented vigorously, but it was 5-4 and five justices on the Supreme Court, the majority of the court, has established the definition of marriage for the entire United States of America, and I will follow that decision," Sessions said.
Here's a great article by Brian Owen on how to talk with millennials about cohabitation: "Millennials want you to be upfront with them. Don’t dance around the issue. Speak directly about how God would view their cohabitation. Call cohabitation, and sex outside of marriage, what it is—a sin. Remember, we walk a balance between grace and truth. Help them understand you care for them and truly believe honoring God is what is best for them. If they (or he/she) identify themselves as believers, then present a good biblical case for why it’s wrong and dangerous. Many of them have heard it’s wrong (from their parents), but they haven’t heard why the Bible says it’s wrong."
Alabama resident Maggie Ford writes about the need for judicial reform in light of Chief Justice Roy Moore's politically-motivated suspension from the bench: "Regardless of what you think about Chief Justice Moore, his case reminds us why unaccountable bodies policing the judiciary were never consistent with Alabama’s quest to preserve the integrity of the judiciary and a balanced government of the people. It’s time for a new judicial reform."
Here are some good thoughts from John Piper on how to combat lust by meditating on God's magnificent creation: "Pure, lovely, wholesome, beautiful, powerful, large-hearted things cannot abide the soul of a sexual fantasy at the same time. I remember as I struggled with these things in my teenaged years and in my college years—I knew how I could fight most effectively in those days. And I’ve developed other strategies over the years that have proved very effective. And one way of fighting was simply to get out of the dark places, get out of the lonely rooms, get out of the boxed-in places, get out of the places where it’s just small me and my mind and what I can do with it, and get out where I am just surrounded by color and beauty and bigness and loveliness."
In his first in-depth interview since being taken off the bench for a second time, Chief Justice Roy Moore is speaking exclusively to CBS42 about everything: from his potential run at the Governor’s office to his time in the boxing ring in Vietnam. “The Constitution of the United States is our supreme law,” Moore said. “We’ve got to recognize and go back to what it says and what it means. I think a lot of people are tired of the courts overlooking the constitution and ruling according to the seat of their pants.”
Dr. James White debates Graeme Codrington on what the Bible says about homosexuality. Mr. Codrington takes the position that the Bible does indeed support "loving" same-sex unions, while Dr. White argues that the Scriptures consistently condemn homosexual behavior as sinful.
Former Lesbian Rosaria Butterfield responds to Jen Hatmaker's assertion that LGBT relationships can be holy: "If I were still in the thick of the battle over the indwelling sin of lesbian desire, Jen’s words would have put a millstone around my neck."
The American College of Pediatricians is speaking out against National Geographic’s decision to put a 9-year-old on their January cover who is biologically male but identifies as a girl. American College of Pediatricians president Michelle Cretella said that National Geographic is “promoting a political agenda over science and the wellbeing of innocent children” by displaying the young child as the face for their first ever transgender cover.
In this legislative update on the failed attempt to repeal North Carolina's HB2, state Rep. Larry G. Pittman expresses his continued support for the measure: "We did the right thing in HB 2. When you do the right thing, you should stand by it. The majority of our people across the State, about 62% in my district, agree with HB 2. They deserve the protection it offers our women and children. They also deserve to see that their Legislators have moral integrity and a backbone. I will vote no on any effort to repeal HB 2."
The Obama Administration wanted to force America's 900 thousand physicians to participate in abortions and gender reassignment surgeries. A federal judge just said that's not legal.
Texas could soon follow in the footsteps of Indiana and North Carolina and pass its own bathroom bill in the upcoming legislative session. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has made passage of such a bill, which could require all Texans to use the restroom which corresponds to the gender on their birth certificate, a priority. The proposal threatens to split the Texas Republican Party, which controls all three branches of government in Austin. Proponents include the lieutenant governor and the Senate he leads, while House leadership is less enthusiastic. The politically powerful chamber of commerce and the Texas Association of Business both strongly oppose any bathroom bill.
In this video, Dr. James Anderson, associate professor of theology and philosophy at RTS Charlotte, lays out eight helpful theses about transgenderism, followed by some interesting Q&A.
Dr. Robert A. J. Gagnon challenges the claim that homosexual practice is no worse than any other sin. In this article, Dr. Gagnon argues that there is a mountain of Scriptural evidence showing that (1) sins do differ in significance to God and (2) God regards homosexual practice as a particularly severe sexual sin.
The vote to repeal HB2 failed in the NC Senate last night, and both houses decided to adjourn, leaving HB2 unchanged! Praise to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever! The strange thing about last night’s attempt to repeal HB2 was that it was voted down by all the Senate Democrats (because it didn’t go quite as far as they wanted it to) as well as the conservative Republicans (because they didn’t want to repeal HB2 at all). So who ended up voting for the HB2 repeal? Only the liberal Republicans.
Lt. Governor Dan Forest releases the following statement regarding special session to repeal HB 2: "Charlotte repealed an ordinance that the General Assembly already voided months ago. I support HB 2 and do not favor its repeal. No economic, political or ideological pressure can convince me that what is wrong is right. It will always be wrong for men to have access to women's showers and bathrooms. If HB 2 is repealed, there will be nothing on the books to prevent another city or county to take us down this path again. The left has already publicly stated the removal of HB 2 is necessary for the rest of their agenda to move forward. With certainty, if HB 2 is repealed, we will fight this battle all over again with another city or county. The names will change, but the national groups who are pushing this agenda will not stop until their social engineering is accomplished. The only thing stopping them are those of us who continue to stand strong."
The North Carolina House and Senate are in session today to consider a repeal of HB2, the bill that kept Charlotte from forcibly putting men into women’s bathrooms. Conservatives like Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and Rep. Larry Pittman are standing against a repeal, but it’s going to be a hard fight.
An appeals court judge who is on President-elect Donald Trump’s list of potential nominees for the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a ruling on Tuesday that reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a complaint surrounding the denial of a “gay-straight alliance” club at a Florida middle school. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge William Pryor, who also prosecuted Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in 2003 over his refusal to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court, wrote the opinion on behalf of his colleagues.
Following a surprise move by the Charlotte City Council, Gov. Pat McCrory said Monday he would call a special session to consider repeal of House Bill 2. There's nothing wrong with HB2. The bill stopped Charlotte from forcibly putting men into women's bathrooms. A repeal of HB2 would open up the door for Charlotte and other cities to endanger North Carolina citizens all over again. We stand against a repeal, and respectfully ask the General Assembly to stand strong in support of HB2. No compromise on the safety of our women and children is acceptable.
The state of Massachusetts has scaled back some parts of its "Gender Identity Guidance," which could have landed pastors in jail if they tried to prevent men from using the women's restroom at their churches. The state has now made an exception for "religious organizations." While that certainly is a step in the right direction since September, women using the bathroom in businesses or "secular" organizations still won't be allowed any privacy.