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No Whitney Lynn, You’re NOT Being Persecuted

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Whitney LynnOh, good grief. Where do I begin?

I periodically read articles from a number of Christian and Jewish sources and today I perused an article from the Christian Post called Christian influencer kicked off Alaska Airlines for evangelizing passengers.

Apparently, online Christian influencer Whitney Lynn was on an Alaska Airlines flight leaving Ontario, Florida bound for San Diego. During a departure delay:

Lynn stood up during the delay and addressed the cabin for less than a minute, telling passengers that any frustration over the wait was part of God’s plan and that they might be avoiding a dangerous situation, The Washington Post reported.

According to the Christian Post article:

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I’m On the ActsSocial Christian Social Media Platform – Now What?

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main page
Screenshots of ActsSocial main page

A few days ago I watched a short video on X (twitter) made by conservative Christian actor Kevin Sorbo (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Andromeda). He was promoting a Christian social media app called ActsSocial.

Sure, like I need another social media app. But I was curious and impulsively created an account.

I’ll admit, it’s a little difficult to navigate. Alright, it’s difficult to navigate. Have a look at the feed.

Members are prompted to post gratitude, ask for prayers and a variety of other activities. There are posts, images, and videos that seemingly randomly pop up in the feed asking for prayers or making a variety of Christian faith-based commentaries.

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Upon Reading A Christian Supernatural Thriller

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darkness
© James Pyles

I finished reading Frank E. Peretti’s 1986 novel This Present Darkness last night. It isn’t something I’d normally read, but someone mentioned the author on my other blog and I thought I’d try it out.

This isn’t a review. For that, you can visit my substack. However, in reading the book as well as some of the commentaries about it, I started wondering at the relative value of Christian supernatural fiction and thrillers.

The book continues to receive rave reviews and the author has been likened to as “a sanctified Stephen King” or alternately “the Stephen King of Christian fiction.”

The book is the first of a series of such novels and according to commentaries written by Jay R. Howard and Glenn W. Shuck, Peretti’s writing is considered to reflect what is considered the New Christian Right.

My understanding is that Peretti’s books are widely read by members of the Evangelical, Charismatic, and Pentecostal churches, enthusiastically consumed by both the clergy and laity alike.

The worrisome part is that some of these folks are taking fiction and using it as, at least potentially, guides on matters of prayer, spiritual warfare, and even exorcizing demons.

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It’s Hard To Be A Christian On Social Media

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Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

I suppose that should be obvious. I mean, if you spend any amount of time on social media and you read the posts made by those who call themselves Christians, you might be surprised at how at least some of those comments compare unfavorably to Biblical principles.

I couldn’t sleep, so I got up early to do my daily (most days) Bible readings. This morning, that included Romans 12 and 13. Those chapters have a lot to say about how we are to behave as believers.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. –Romans 12:2 (NASB)

There is no more seductive or alluring platform that conforms us to this world than social media. Any number of atheists (or bots or paid influencers) go online to degrade and insult Christianity and God and it’s like an instant slap in the face. The temptation to fire back at them is enormous and many people do. The irony is that the instant you engage them, the algorithms working on the social media platform put more of the same kind of behavior onto your timeline, so it feels like being ganged up on.

Oh, what about this?

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The Death of Charlie Kirk

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Charlie Kirk formed Turning Point USA, a rightwing student organisation that grew to become a key pillar of support for Trump © Jeffrey Phelps/AP

I hate politicizing this blog. I know I have in the past. I know that I’ve given in to my emotions and let myself rant about all sorts of social and political issues. It’s not why I created Morning Medications so many years ago.

But the Death of Charlie Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA, Trump ally, and conservative activist, poured gasoline on an already raging fire in news and social media.

Kirk was only 31 years old, younger than any of my adult children. He was a husband and father. He was a Christian. He was also a lightning rod.

What was shocking to me wasn’t necessarily Kirk’s death but rather the reaction to it.

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America’s Christian Politics

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christian politics
Found at redeemingbabel.org

In light of the recent election the U.S. and especially the power surge of disapproval regarding the President-Elect, I wanted to reflect on how each candidate, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, has used Christianity as part of their political platform.

Although many believers have been skeptical, Harris has addressed her Christian faith, saying:

…growing up, she and her sister went to a neighborhood church, where they sang her favorite hymn, “Fill My Cup, Lord,” in the children’s choir. When she was sworn in as vice president, she put her hand on a Bible that belonged to the woman who took her to that church.

According to Pew Research, almost all Presidents have been Christians or at least declared themselves as such.

The same article states:

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"When you awake in the morning, learn something to inspire you and mediate upon it, then plunge forward full of light with which to illuminate the darkness." -Rabbi Tzvi Freeman