Freshman Democratic congresswoman Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., stated during remarks on the House floor Wednesday that as a "pro-choice Christian" and a mother who lost a daughter to a "complex miscarriage," the abortion issue is "personal" to her. Scholten, who identifies as Evangelical, asserted, "Further, when I read the Scripture, I turn to passages, and I'm guided by passages like Jeremiah 1:5, which states, 'I knew you before I formed you and placed you in your mother's womb.' It doesn't say the government's womb or the speaker's womb. It says the mother's womb. I believe life is precious, but I reject the idea that if I embrace the sanctity of life, I also must be forced to invite the federal government in to regulate it." Charlotte Lozier Institute's Michael New questioned Scholten's use of the particular passage, noting that it is typically used "to make theological or scriptural arguments in favor of legal protections for preborn children." New went on to note Scholten voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, which "involves protecting children after they are born," adding, "Regardless of one's faith tradition or one's stance on abortion, protecting infants is something that everyone should enthusiastically support." Read more.

The 5,000-plus member Mt. Horeb United Methodist Church of Lexington, S.C., is seriously considering a departure from the United Methodist Church over ongoing debates on homosexuality. The Post and Courier reports that the church, which is the largest UMC congregation in the state, began a discernment period earlier this week to consider possibly leaving the denomination. "We are thankful a plan, path and price has been provided for traditional churches to consider separation from the denomination," said the Rev. Jeff Kersey, senior pastor of Mt. Horeb, as quoted by the Post and Courier. Read more.

An overhaul of Minnesota's "Standards of Effective Practice" for teachers is being criticized by a parental rights group and Christian scholars due to updates that require teachers to address trans-identified students by their stated gender identity and embrace controversial ideologies on race. The new set of Permanent Rules Relating to Licensing and Academic Standards for teachers in the state are slated to go into effect in 2024. The standards outline requirements on how teachers should set up their "learning environments," stating that a teacher who meets the requirements laid out by Minnesota's Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board "fosters an environment that ensures student identities such as race/ethnicity, national origin, language, sex and gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical/developmental/mental ability, socioeconomic class, and religious beliefs are historically and socially contextualized, affirmed, and incorporated into a learning environment." Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary Adjunct Professor Allen Quist and Julie Quist, chair of the Minnesota parental rights advocacy group the Child Protection League warned that "the new standards will embed basic Marxist principles such as critical race theory, fluid sexual identity, and gender politics into all Minnesota schools." Center of the American Experiment's Catrin Wigfall echoed similar concerns, writing that the think thank believes the proposed rule changes "are bad policy, politicizing teacher training requirements by using language that is political and ideological, not academic." Read more.

The city of Westmoreland in Tenn. has been accused of wrongfully trying to stop a Christian ministry that helps recovering addicts from operating due to an alleged violation of a local zoning ordinance. The city sent a cease-and-desist letter to The Father's House Men's Ministry, which is tied to The Living Water Full Gospel Church, in August, claiming that the ministry unlawfully operates a residential facility on its property. In response, First Liberty Institute attorney Steven Anderson sent a complaint letter to the city arguing that the ministry complies with local ordinances. Anderson also asserted that the cease-and-desist letter "violates Tennessee law" by "substantially and unfairly burdening the Church's free exercise of religion." Writing that the city is unable to "prove both that its actions are furthering a compelling government interest and that the burden it is imposing is the least restrictive means of achieving that interest," Anderson called on officials to withdraw the cease-and-desist letter no later than Jan. 30 and "acknowledge in writing that the Church is within its legal rights to conduct the ministry of providing housing to those in need." Read more.

In this editorial, Christian Post Executive Editor Dr. Richard D. Land discusses what is needed for America to experience a great spiritual awakening. Reflecting on "woke" advocates who try to silence those who disagree with them, as well as research that recently showed the majority of Protestant denominations do not have a biblical worldview, Land writes, "As Evangelical Christians, we must face the unpleasant fact that while there has been an Evangelical revival in the last half of the 20th and the first fifth of the 21st centuries, the secularizing society has influenced Evangelicals more than the other way around. Instead of being salt and light (Mtt. 5:13-16), we have been salted and lit by society at large." Read more.

Dr. Michael Brown writes about DC Comics' push to promote LGBT characters, with the brand's latest storyline for the Joker involving the character getting pregnant and having a baby. Brown details several instances in recent years of writers pushing LGBT storylines and addresses those who have accused conservatives of overreacting, writing, "We know that comic book writers do not live in an abstract world devoid of cultural and moral values. On the contrary, many of them are quite socially aware and use comics to convey a larger message. There’s nothing surprising about that at all, nor is this something hidden. So, at the very least, the fact that so many of us immediately pointed to LGBTQ+ activism in connection with the pregnant Joker is quite reasonable. What seems less reasonable to me is the idea that no one at DC Comics made this connection at all or there was not even a tacit wink or a knowing smile. Really?" Read more.

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Christian speaker, author and artist Jackie Hill Perry recently took to Instagram to warn her followers about the origins of the popular Enneagram personality test. A one-time fan of the test, Perry said she was initially skeptical of those who claimed the test was demonic but changed her mind after researching its roots. "It ain’t even funny, [because] it’s like legitimately doctrines of demons, divination, witchcraft," she told her followers, adding she had "no idea" what its true origins were. Now, she believes previous claims she's heard about the test are true, adding that one of the originators of the Enneagram, Oscar Ichazo, claimed that he received his information through a demon named Metatron in a dream. In his book The Sacred Enneagram, author Chris Heuertz explained that Ichazo went into a "seven-day divine coma" akin to a "hallucinogenic prayer." During that time, "this angel came to him and exposed to Ichazo 108 different, what he then called Enneagons. So this angel comes and gives him 108 Enneagons, or now what we call Enneagrams. And really just one of those 108 is the Enneagram of personality." Hill stated she felt it was her duty to publicly renounce the Enneagram because of her past promotion of it. "Divination, witchcraft, all of this stuff," Hill said, must be renounced as a Christian. "A lot of it centers around knowledge and being able to access information and secrets and mysteries from sources that God hasn’t sanctioned, whether that’s using astrology, tarot cards, psychics, mediums, etc." Read more.

Worship leader Bodie Kuljian was an immediate fan favorite on the reality TV singing competition "The Voice," where he came in second place. Now, the singer is asking for prayers as he gears up to release new music and embrace new opportunities, harvesting what has been sown. "The beginning of the harvest. The beginning of what Ro and I have believed for, for the last decade," He shared on Instagram. Bodie, who has been married to his wife, Royale, since 2015, wrote that 2022 brought "lots of inner healing and restoration." The father of three also asked his supporters to "pray" for him as he is "finally doin' it." Read more.

Actor and former NSYNC member Joey Fatone performed the boy band's hit song "Bye Bye Bye" at a "drag brunch" in South Beach this week. A video of the event, which was posted on social media, shows Fatone performing much of the original choreography from the song's music video. The performer, who has landed acting roles in films such as "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," most recently appeared in the Pure Flix film "Church People," a faith-based comedy starring Stephen Baldwin and Christian comedian Thor Ramsey. In June 2021, Fatone joined former bandmate Lance Bance and fellow boy band members Nick Carter and A.J. McLean from Backstreet Boys to host a charity event in Los Angeles in honor of so-called pride month. Fatone's drag performance comes as states such as Florida and Texas have launched investigations into drag bars where young children are allowed to attend. Read more.