Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
Thursday, March 29, 2018
In Case You Missed It: Planned Parenthood Wants Disney to Create Post-Abortion, Transgender Princesses - CBN News Alegra Hall
03-28-2018
Recent tweets from a Planned Parenthood affiliate demanded Disney include a post-abortive princess in their next film.
The tweet by Planned Parenthood of Keystone Pennsylvania was met with public outrage, forcing the agency to pull it from their page but some followers kept the feed alive.
Planned Parenthood Keystone tweeted this earlier today. When it did not receive the kind of reaction they expected, they deleted it. @StephenHerreid @SteveSkojec @BruvverEccles @bokofittleworth @obianuju
Melissa Reed, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Keystone, responded to her social media critics with this statement:
"Planned Parenthood believes that pop culture - television shows, music, movies- has a critical role to play in educating the public and sparking meaningful conversations around sexual and reproductive health issues and policies, including abortion. We also know that emotionally authentic portrayals of these experiences are still extremely rare - and that's part of a much bigger lack of honest depictions of certain people's lives and communities."
Reed, who oversees affiliates spanning 37 Pennsylvania counties - which, according to their website, sees 35,000 patients each year - stands firm in her commitment to fight for reproductive choice and LGBTQ concerns.
Regarding the now infamous tweet, Reed adds, "Today, we joined an ongoing Twitter conversation about the kinds of princesses people want to see in an attempt to make a point about the importance of telling stories that challenge stigma and championing stories that too often don't get told. Upon reflection, we decided that the seriousness of the point we were trying to make was not appropriate for the subject matter or context, and we removed the tweet."
Outside of the social media forum there are others who don't agree with Reed's line of thought concerning the type of stories our children should be told and the morals of the animated characters they want to emulate.
Instead of using a princess to support adult issues, Movieguide founder Dr. Ted Baehr thinks we should focus on films that bring a positive message to our children.
When asked what types of animated characters have a positive influence on young people, Baehr has this to say: "Animated characters have more influence on children, and some of the audience, who are vulnerable, will get their scripts of behavior from the movie Planned Parenthood is requesting."
Baehr, who has been teaching media literacy for more than four decades, backs up his statement by pointing to the more than "500,000 studies on the varied influence of movies on children - and 99 percent of the studies reveal the influence."
He is also the chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission ministry and adds these adult themes are not appropriate for a G-rated film and encourages the reader to note that Disney has not tweeted back and has not said they will make that content.
According to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the G rating denotes the film is open for all ages" and that the film contains "nothing that would offend parents for viewing by children."
Ratings have been in effect since 1968 and the MPAA takes their role very seriously.
"Movie ratings provide parents with advance information about the content of movies to help them determine what's appropriate for their children. After all, parents know best their children's individual sensitivities and sensibilities," the organization explained in a statement on its website.
Penny Nance, CEO of Concerned Women for America, thinks a G-rated, post-abortive princess film would, in fact, be offensive to parents.
Nance, a Liberty University graduate, says, "Children should indeed learn about human development from a young age - it's in their natural curiosity to ask about babies in the tummies of mommies."
However, this mother of two takes issue with adult themes in children's movies, noting, "Abortion is graphic. It's violent. It's life-ending. It doesn't belong in a film meant for kids."
Box Office Mojo tracks the success of films and it finds that G-rated films are big business, with the animated favorite the "Lion King" and "Toy Story 3" both grossing over $400 million each.
Princess themes do very well, too. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," the "Little Mermaid" and "The Princes and the Frog" have all topped $100 million.
Dr. Baehr thinks society is looking for life-affirming family films. He says "Year after year, pro-life movies do better at the box office."
For instance, faith-filled movies like "Fireproof" grossed over $30 million at the box office, while the "Passion of the Christ" earned over 370 million. And the smash hit "Chronicles of Narnia" films together topped a half billion dollars.
Nance, who serves on President Donald Trump's Life Advisory Council, agrees that family films are in demand and that themes like abortion can be harmful to young minds.
"We need to curb this trend of embracing abortion as a flippant decision and remember that we are talking about ending the life of a baby," she said. "Children are often sensitive to death and Disney movies are viewed by young children, little girls that are attached to their baby dolls and entranced by newborns."
"Even pushing aside the morality of abortion, it is a traumatic concept for a young child to be exposed to," she added.
Nance calls it a "nasty indoctrination tactic" used by groups like Planned Parenthood and she urges society to "let children enjoy their childhood."
The Prophetic Significance of the Passover Lamb - RABBI PESACH WOLICKI
RABBI PESACH WOLICKI charisma news
Tomorrow evening, Jews the world over will gather in their homes for the ritual feast known as the Passover Seder. The Seder rituals and liturgy are among the earliest of all Jewish texts and practices, dating from second temple times. Of course, after the destruction of the temple almost 2000 years ago, the Seder underwent one major change. Without a temple in Jerusalem, no longer would there be a Passover lamb. This roasted lamb was the centerpiece of the Seder in temple times. Today a festive meal, minus the lamb, sits at the center of the evening.
Psalms of praise are sung both before and after the meal is eaten. A close look at these psalms will reveal a powerful message about the true meaning of Passover. The psalms in question, Psalms 113 through 118, are well known to Jews as Hallel—the Psalms of Praise. They are sung as part of the synagogue worship on all major Jewish holy days. They are a set; a series that is always recited together—except at the Passover Seder.
Immediately before the serving of the meal—or the eating of the lamb in Temple times—Psalms 113 and 114 are sung. After the meal is concluded, the singing continues with Psalms 115 through 118.
Because these six psalms are always sung as a single uninterrupted set, the fact that they are interrupted with the Passover Seder meal is a very significant and noticeable exception.
A closer look at this unusual division of the Hallel psalms, we will discover a meaningful lesson not only about Passover, but about what it means to live a life of faith in God.
The first two psalms in the series, 113 and 114, speak of how God runs the world. He is in control of the history of nations (113:4); yet He takes care of needy individuals as well (113:6-9). Specifically, He redeems His people Israel (114:1-2). He manipulates the natural order and performs miracles as only the creator is capable (114:3-8).
As I mentioned, these two psalms are sung before the meal. Their connection to Passover is obvious. No Biblical event displays God's control of history, His dominance of nature, and His covenantal relationship to Israel as does the Exodus from Egypt. Psalm 114 actually mentions the Exodus explicitly. Eating the Passover meal immediately after these two psalms clearly positions the meal as a celebration of these historical events.
But what about the four psalms that follow the meal, Psalms 115-118? What connection do they have to the Exodus? They don't mention the Exodus even once.
Psalm 115 dramatically begins with the words, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Your name give glory." In other words, God's control of nations, His redemption of His people and His miraculous manipulations of nature are not for Israel's sake at all; they are for the glory of God. This theme continues throughout Psalm 115.
In Psalm 116, this same theme is framed in terms of personal faith. In this psalm, the individual psalmist comes to realize that even his own personal salvation is meant not for his own sake but only to bring more glory to the Lord. God's hand in my own life is supposed to spur me on to share my faith with others. This is the theme of Psalm 116. The ultimate fulfillment of this mission is described by Psalm 117; "Praise the Lord, all you nations! Exalt Him, all you peoples! ..." This is the mission of all who live with faith—to bring faith to all the earth. Psalm 118 closes out these themes by depicting the nation of Israel as a single individual who is sharing His story of redemption with others in the context of a thanksgiving offering in the Temple in Jerusalem.
In short, the theme of the four psalms that are sung after the Seder meal is this: Our salvation—both collectively and individually—is not meant for our purposes at all. It is our responsibility as servants of the Lord to use our personal redemption to serve His purposes in building the kingdom of heaven on earth.
So why does the meal interrupt the Hallel Psalms where it does? The answer is simple and powerful.
This may come as a surprise to many readers, but the Passover lamb not actually a sacrifice. In fact, the usual Biblical Hebrew word Korban—sacrifice—does not appear in reference to the Passover lamb even once! Furthermore, as opposed to almost all animal offerings, there is no mention of atonement with regard to the Passover lamb. Atonement requires sacrifice. But the Passover lamb did not atone for anything. A sacrifice implies that something is being surrendered to God; something is being given up—sacrificed. The Passover lamb was roasted and enjoyably eaten by the ones who brought it. Not a sacrifice at all.
And yet, while it was not a sacrifice, the Passover lamb is referred to in Scripture as service or worship of the Lord (Ex. 12:25-26). But what sort of service of the Lord is it if all we do is roast a delicious lamb and enjoy eating it?
But this is precisely the point. The Passover lamb is a celebration of our redemption by the hand of God. But what is the point of redemption? Why does God save us?What does He want us to do with our newfound freedom? After the celebration is over and we have marveled at what the Lord has done in our lives, what is supposed to happen next? This exact question is asked in Psalm 116, "What shall I render unto to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?" (Ps. 116:12) The answer is found in the Psalms that follow the food.
After we have enjoyed our roasted lamb—or our Seder meal—we remind ourselves that "Not unto us, but unto Your name be the glory" (Ps. 115:1a). We respond to the blessings that God has given us by asking, as the Psalmist did, "What shall I render unto the Lord?" (Ps. 116:2).
We commit ourselves to using our freedom and joy to share the glory of God with others. We recognize that our eating and drinking, the material blessings that we have been given, are meant to be used as tools for building His kingdom here on earth. This is the true meaning of Passover. Personal redemption is never personal. After we have thanked the Lord and celebrated; when the meal is over, we use our freedom from bondage as a catalyst to spread God to others—ultimately to all nations and all peoples (Ps. 117:1)
And that is truest freedom; the freedom from human bondage; the freedom to serve the Lord. That is what Passover—and a life of faith—is all about. 
Rabbi Pesach Wolicki serves as Associate Director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding & Cooperation in Jerusalem cjcuc.com. He is the author of Cup of Salvation: A Journey Through King David's Psalms of Praise cupofsalvation.com and co-Founder of Blessing Bethlehem, a program that assists the struggling Christian community of Bethlehem blessingbethlehem.com.
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Netanyahu Thanks America for Cutting Funding for Palestinian Terrorism - Israel Today
Netanyahu Thanks America for Cutting Funding for Palestinian Terrorism
For well over a decade, the Palestinian Authority has gotten away with using a significant portion of the international foreign aid it receives to encourage terrorist violence against Israelis.
This despite the fact that the various peace agreements that the Palestinian Authority has signed with Israel obligate it to cease all such incitement.
The reason for this intolerable situation was that the international community was too afraid of upsetting the delicate Israeli-Arab peace process, and so turned a blind eye to the Palestinian leadership's violations.
US President Donald Trump has no such hang-ups.
Earlier this week, Trump eagerly signed into law a congressional bill that includes the so-called "Taylor Force Act," which slashes hundreds of millions of dollars in US aid to the Palestinian Authority until it stops giving part of that money to Palestinian terrorists and their families.
Killing Jews has become a lucrative career in the Palestinian-controlled territories, with the Palestinian Authority providing to the families of jailed and deceased terrorists stipends that far outstrip the average monthly household income.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the Trump Administration for finally righting this wrong, and thereby putting the peace process back on a solid foundation.
Netanyahu's statement read:
"[The Taylor Force Act] It is designed to deny to the Palestinian Authority hundreds of millions of dollars that they invest in encouraging terrorism and lavish on terrorist families and the murderers themselves.
"I think that this is a very powerful signal from the US which is changing the rules. It is unwilling to accept the truth of the past or, I should say, the lies of the past, and live with them. It is simply exposing lie after lie and is standing up on truth after truth. I congratulate the American Congress and President Trump for these decisions."
The Taylor Force Act is named after an American student and retired US Army officer who was stabbed and killed by a Palestinian terrorist while strolling the Jaffa promenade south of Tel Aviv during a visit to Israel in 2016.
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Top Israeli Rabbi Believes Trump Will Build Third Temple in Jerusalem - Israel Today
Top Israeli Rabbi Believes Trump Will Build Third Temple in Jerusalem
Thursday, March 29, 2018 | Israel Today Staff
US President Donald Trump's unabashed support for the Jewish state and his public recognition of Jerusalem as its capital have many Israelis electrified.
The current American leader's positive attitude toward Israel seems nearly illogical, especially after decades of far more hostile trends.
A prominent Israeli rabbi believes the reason for this unprecedented (at least in modern times) shift is that Trump has a big role to play in the building of the Third Temple and the coming of Messiah.
Rabbi Yosef Berger is the rabbi in charge of King David's Tomb on Mount Zion, and the son of a widely revered Hasidic leader.
In remarks to Breaking Israel News, Rabbi Berger cited a medieval rabbinical source that predicted that while the first two temples were built by Israel, the third would be built by the "descendants of Edom," a phrase that in some later rabbinical literature is a euphemism for the Christian world.
This is so that the Christians, and the ancient peoples they have come to represent in rabbinical thought, can make restitution for millennia of wrongdoing toward the Children of Israel.
Rabbi Berger explained: "No leader in history has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the Jews and Israel. [Trump] has already created a great tikkun (reparation) for the Christians through his unprecedented relationship with Jerusalem. Trump is the representative of Edom that will perform that final historic reparation for his entire nation by building the Temple."
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