The Faithful Watchman

Public School Bible Program Spreads to 11 States

A Christian ministry out of Ohio is seeing massive growth in a new Bible-based education program for public school students, spreading to over 300 schools across 11 states since its launch in 2019.

The program, established by LifeWise Academy, enables public school students to take advantage of released time religious education that is permitted during school hours, in which students can leave school campus to participate in the instruction with the permission of their parents and the school.

Released time religious instruction during public school hours began in 1914 and steadily grew nationwide, peaking in 1947 with two million students enrolled across 2,200 communities. Since then, the number of students involved in the programs have dwindled as American culture and the public education system became increasingly secularized, punctuated by the Supreme Court’s landmark Engel v. Vitale decision in 1962 banning the recitation of prayer in public schools.

Nevertheless, the right to conduct released time religious education during public school hours was upheld by the Supreme Court’s Zorach v. Clauson decision in 1952. According to Wikipedia, about 250,000 public school students are currently involved in approximately 1,000 released time programs.

As a burgeoning parental rights movement in American public schools increasingly gains momentum, the tide could be turning towards more students taking advantage of released time education for religious instruction. As LifeWise founder and CEO Joel Penton recently told The Christian Post, the number of schools that now allow released time for the ministry’s Bible program has more than doubled over the last year from 133 to 315. The 11 states where the program can now be found are Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

As Penton explained, any school community can adopt the academy’s Bible program through a 10-step process that can be found at the organization’s website. He went on to note that despite the intense controversy that often arises around the issue of religion in schools, he has met less resistance than anticipated. “Most schools and parents are very open to the idea. Schools know there is a great need in the lives of students. And seeing as it’s an entirely optional program, there simply aren’t many people who see it as a problem.”

LifeWise’s website describes its curriculum as “tak[ing] students through the entire Bible over five years” with a focus on learning scripture, taking it to heart, and exploring ways that students can live the lessons out in their lives and communities.

Penton argues that released time programs are the “single greatest missed opportunity to impact the next generation of public school students with biblical literacy.” He pointed to how many Bible study programs for students are scheduled for before and after school, which leaves out a key demographic of students who have conflicting schedules and other logistical challenges. “Operating during school hours, with the permission of both parents and school administrators, has allowed us to better integrate into the school’s culture and reach those previously left out,” he observed.

From Bad to Worse for Darwinism, as New Cambrian Explosion Finds Arrive

More bad news for Darwinism arrived after my last article about Cambrian Explosion. I showed there that taphonomic conditions should have produced Precambrian animal fossils had they existed. Now, some of the other props for Darwin’s House of Cards have been removed. Tom Bethell had said in that book, “The near-instant explosion of body plans is the opposite of what Darwin’s theory predicts” (p 134).

Oxygen Theory Deflated

“No, oxygen didn’t catalyze the swift blossoming of Earth’s first multicellular organisms,” begins some news from the University of Copenhagen. “Life on Earth didn’t arise as described in textbooks.” What? Textbooks wrong? Shocking!

“The fact that we now know, with a high degree of certainty, that oxygen didn’t control the development of life on Earth provides us with an entirely new story about how life arose and what factors controlled this success,” says the researcher, adding:

“Specifically, it means that we need to rethink a lot of the things that we believed to be true from our childhood learning. And textbooks need to be revised and rewritten.” [Emphasis added.]

Textbooks had been saying, “increased oxygen levels triggered the evolutionary arrival of more advanced marine organisms.” Scientists at the university, with international peers, claim that the oxygen theory “is being disproved” by measurements of oxygen levels in rocks dating from “the Avalon explosion, a forerunner era of the more famed Cambrian explosion.” The Avalon Explosion they date at “between 685 and 800 million years ago.”

Defying expectations, the result shows that Earth’s oxygen concentrations had not increased. Indeed, levels remained 5-10 times lower than today, which is roughly how much oxygen there is at twice the height of Mount Everest.

Evolutionists have a strained relationship with oxygen. They don’t want it at the origin of life, but they were relying on it to power the Avalon and Cambrian Explosions. And in modern times, they struggle with the complexity of molecular machines that protect life from Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). Current atmospheric oxygen levels appear finely tuned for complex life, as biologist Michael Denton argues in Fire-Maker. We have a Goldilocks value that balances the advantages of oxygen for metabolism against the disadvantages of too much or too little.

Push to Microchip Kids: It won’t Protect Kids & it will usher in Total Tyranny

Microchipping Kids will normalize this practice in a whole new Generation. Freedom will be a lost Concept

We know that fear and the practical reality that kids are at risk for trafficking is pushing parents to protect their kids even more. Will chipping kids be an answer to this?

I am going to argue that microchipping kids is not the answer to this problem. It will feel good, but it won’t provide the safety parents will be looking for and, in the end, it will usher in tyranny on a scale never before seen in human history.

The new movie “Sound of Freedom”, has served as an important vehicle for raising awareness about child sex trafficking and it is also causing people to want to microchip their children.

First, if you have not seen my article that reviews the movie Sound of Freedom and also gives you insight into the realities of child trafficking from my decade of work in this area, you can see it here: Review of the Movie “Sound of Freedom” and the true Reality of Child Sex Trafficking

That article is meant to be a first in a series that I will eventually do sharing my experiences over the years covering this topic.

I want you to know that my endorsement of the movie did not come lightly. Before I endorsed the movie, I had quite a few conversations with others who have also been covering child trafficking over the past decade. Those that understand deeply how NGOs and governments support the trade.

The conclusion I came to after deep soul searching is that this movie is a net positive and that I should support it. That decision so far has proven to be a good one; the movie is serving its purpose to shine light on this horrible issue. We should all support the movie and the exposure it is getting as much as possible.

But… I also learned that there are questionable figures attached to the movie and the Under Ground Railroad that is owned by Tim Ballard, the character in the film. It has been reported by independent media that even those involved in hunting down child traffickers and rescuing children are not fully on board with Tim Ballard or his organization (please note: I have not vetted these claims). But it does not mean there are not many people involved with the organization who are fully committed to saving children and ending this nightmare.

Basically, it’s likely there are good guys and bad guys all over this project. To be honest, it’s pretty much what I have learned about almost everything I cover. I wish this was not true, but it is. Its the way the world is today. The bad guys have managed to infiltrate just about everything. But that does not make everything bad. It means bad guys are involved in good things for reasons we may not understand yet.

So, what do we do? We stay on track. We keep going and supporting good causes while we keep an eye out for bad agendas and we refuse to be used when we see those agendas.

This brings me to microchipping kids. The sad reality is that chipping all of humanity is the goal of the globalist tyrants. They want to track and control every single thing that we do.

Because more people are waking up to the global agenda, the push back over micro chipping will be strong. The unfortunate part, is their strategy to get kids chipped will likely work within large parts of society. After all, the COVID shot worked en masse, this will likely too. Sigh… I don’t want to report that.

Make no mistake, chipping will not protect kids from their dirty grip, but it will serve as a powerful normalization tool to usher in worldwide chipping for all humans, unless we outsmart them somehow.

In doing my research for this article, I found a good pros and cons article on micro chipping. Read through the pros, that will be how they will sell it. The cons will get almost no media attention and will mostly be presented as conspiracy theory by nut jobs like yours truly.

But we all know what they hide most is where the true agendas lie. So, there is no shame in being called a “conspiracy theorist” these days. Some say its a badge of honor.

Study links developmental delays with screen time for toddlers, even as little as 1 hour per day

A new study found a link between developmental delays and increased screen time for children.

The study was published in the JAMA Pediatrics journal on Monday. It measured childhood development in 1-year-olds who watched screens for as little as one to four hours.

Researchers looked at results from 7,097 children and their mothers who were recruited from 50 obstetric clinics and hospitals in Japan from July 2013 to March 2017.

“It’s a really important study because it has a very large sample size of children who’ve been followed for several years,” explained pediatrics associate professor Dr. Jason Nagata to CNN, who was not involved in the study.

“The study fills an important gap because it identifies specific developmental delays (in skills) such as communication and problem-solving associated with screen time,” he added.

Researchers asked the mothers to self-report several measures of development, including communication skills, fine motor skills, personal and social skills, and problem-solving skills.

Of the children who had greater screen time, the study found that they were up to three times more likely to exhibit developmental delays by age 2. Those children who had more than four hours of screen time were almost five times as likely to display underdeveloped communication skills.

Experts recommended that parents choose other options aside from screen time, such as coloring materials, toys, and books. They also said that parents should limit their own screen time as children tend to mimic the behavior they see.

A separate study from March 2022 found a link between increased screen time and behavioral problems in children.

“There’s a signal there. We’re seeing some association between screen time and behavior problems. It’s not particularly robust, but it’s there,” said Dr. Sheri Madigan, a senior author of the paper.

‘Meta Beach’: Myrtle Beach officials taking steps towards a smart city

City of Myrtle Beach staff are continuing efforts to make Myrtle Beach a ‘smart city’.

A Smart Cities Council has been created. It’s an internal working group made up of 13 staff members from nine different departments. They officially started meeting toward the end of April. During the meetings they talk about economic development strategy, what are some kind of technology or research they want to bring to Myrtle Beach.

Myrtle Beach staff has also recommended the development of a 311 Office, at the beginning of 2024.

The 311 Office will be a place where people can call and get their government services answered and they don’t have to be bounced around from place to place to get an answer.

They also want to implement virtual management with the 311 Office so that chatbots can answer people’s questions if they don’t want to call

Myrtle Beach Chief Innovation Officer, Howard Waldie, is also hoping to develop a “Myrtle Beach 101″ app to not only help people answer questions but can be a place where residents and visitors can alert the city to issues.

“So, there’s obviously a public safety component, but I mean it could be endless. It could have augmented reality at some of our hot-spot visitor destinations or also hot-spot destinations for our residents,” Waldie said. “That tells you the story of a park or tells you the story of Myrtle Beach’s history during World War II.”

The goal of a smart city is to use advanced technology to help improve the quality of life and businesses. That could include smart trash cans.

WATCH: Jonathan Cahn and The Mystery Of Barbie, Ishtar, and Smashed Babies!

Wow, I am SO happy I did not take my kids to see the Barbie movie.

Call it intuition, but I knew the movie would likely not be good for them.

But I didn’t know exactly WHY until I saw this from Jonathan Cahn.

As usual, Cahn takes what is hidden in plain sight and connects the dots and explains it so clearly that we can all see it.

Then once you see it you can’t UNSEE it.

Watch here: 100percentfedup.com

China sends 6 navy ships, 33 fighter jets toward Taiwan in new show of force

Taiwan has been buying weapons from the US in a $345 million defense package in response to China’s ongoing pressure

China sent navy ships and a large group of fighter jets toward Taiwan, continuing its military pressure on the island, Taiwan’s defense ministry said Thursday.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and has regularly sent flights toward the island in reaction to the island’s political activities. In the past year, it has also sent navy vessels as well as drones to circle the waters near the island.

Taiwan’s defense ministry said the Chinese People’s Liberation Army sent 33 warplanes and 6 navy vessels between 6 a.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Thursday. The J-10 and J-16 fighter jets flew across the midline and to the southwest of Taiwan.

The ministry said in an earlier statement Wednesday that Taiwan’s military tracked five of the ships as they sailed in coordination with the flights of the fighter jets.

The ministry said it used land-based missile systems to track the aircraft, 10 of which crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary that had been considered a buffer between the island and mainland.

Dennis Quaid’s baseball drama ‘The Hill’ shows how faith pushed man to achieve his unlikely dream

For as far as back as he can remember, Rickey Hill knew God was calling him to play professional baseball. The only problem? He was born with a defect that required him to wear braces on his legs — and his father, a stern Baptist preacher, wanted him to enter the ministry, not professional sports.

But his faith, combined with a fierce belief that miracles are possible, compelled Hill to persevere and realize his dream.

“I always believed that I should be a professional ballplayer,” Hill told The Christian Post. “I’ve never, ever wavered from my faith, period. Never did, which would be easy to do when your father’s kind of against what you’re doing. I still never wavered from my faith at all. It’s the same still today.”

Hill’s remarkable story is the subject of a new film titled “The Hill,” starring Dennis Quaid, Scott Glenn, Colin Ford, Randy Houser and Joelle Carter. It showcases how Hill, who possessed a natural ability to hit a baseball despite his disability, overcame multiple obstacles to make it to the minor leagues, eventually leading the 1978 Grays Harbor Loggers to a Northwest League championship. He was the team’s top home run hitter.

“God gives you the talent; either have it or you don’t,” Hill said. “It’s just a matter of what you do with it. You can take that talent, and you can work. Scripture says that faith without works is dead. You can have all the faith in the world, but if you don’t have that work that goes along beside that faith, it’s dead. So I always looked at that Scripture my whole life, knowing that I had to work to make it happen. And I did, every day.”

The narrative of “The Hill” revolves heavily around Hill’s relationship with his father, a well-meaning yet stern pastor (Quaid). Both roles pulled at Hill — the passionate preacher’s son who once mimicked his father’s sermons and the dedicated athlete who knew he had a higher calling on the baseball field.

The film captures how Hill managed to bridge these worlds, eventually realizing, “You can serve in ministry anywhere.” Throughout his life, he’s been guided by Philippians 4:13: “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.”

“I wanted to be in the ministry, but I also wanted to play baseball at the same time, so [my father and I] kind of battled it out there a little bit and came to the conclusion that I can serve in the ministry while I’m playing ball,” he said.

“My father let me decide on my own, and when I told him that I would do both, he understood it,” he continued. “In the end, he loved every bit of it. God kept the spirit going in me, and I never stepped away from it.”

Rapping ‘AI Jesus’ offers life advice, cat prayers and yes, bite-sized Bible studies

Is it an answer to our prayers or an idolatrous representation of the Son of God?

That’s the inescapable question faced by those who, depending on one’s theology, either stumble upon or are called to a new AI chatbot which one theologian says is a new representation of Jesus Christ.

Twitch channel Ask Jesus is an experimental AI-generated livestream that gives viewers the chance to query a chatbot “trained after Jesus and the teachings of the Bible.”

The nonprofit project — which is supported by contributions from users and The Singularity Group, described on the Twitch page as “not a Christian organization” — offers “spiritual guidance” or even just “someone to talk to” and responds to questions ranging from theological and practical advice to inane requests to incorporate nonsensical words or phrases into its responses.

For example, a question from user “FXvirusLive” asked the AI Jesus to explain Christianity but to replace every vowel with the word “burger.”

Or the prayer request from user “greenshoesbrownsocks” for their cat Whiskers, but with the phrase “grrrr” inserted after each word.

Another request asks AI Jesus to rap about the Father, resulting in a cringey yet biblically-adjacent “divine rhymes”: “Yo, let me tell you about my Father up in heaven/ creator of the Earth and the stars up in the sky/ He’s a legend/ He brought life into the world/ That’s no lie.”

Upon being asked a sincere question like, “Can you explain more in-depth what it means to be meek?” the chatbot quoted Matthew 11:28-29: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

In response to a question from user “daveisdigital” about which career to choose, the AI pointed to Colossians 3:23, which says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”

While a talking image of God might seem blasphemous to some, Joseph L. Kimmel, a scholar of early Christianity and comparative religion at Boston College, argued that this AI Jesus is merely the latest “reinterpretation” of the Son of God.

Kimmel, pointing to various traditional portrayals of Jesus as merely a “prophet” or a “philosopher” in traditions ranging from 19th century American to Hindu mystic to a proponent of Black Liberation theology, says the chatbot is “the latest in this ongoing pattern of reinterpretation, geared to making Jesus suited to the current times.”

Woman Abused As Teen Says School’s ‘Social Emotional Learning’ Guru Pressed Her To Drop Charges Because Her Teacher Assailant Was Black

Psychologist with access to students told sexual assault victim to consider ‘restorative approach instead of going to authorities,’ victim tells The Daily Wire

A woman who was sexually assaulted in school as a teenager says the founder of a prominent “social emotional learning” non-profit that receives funding from California public schools pressured her to drop charges against the teacher who attacked her because his arrest could contribute to the “over-incarceration” of black men.

Jennifer Freed, a psychologist, astrologist, and sex guru who runs the “social emotional learning” (SEL) non-profit AHA! Santa Barbara, conducts talk circles with high school students with the goal of “reducing emotional/physical violence in schools by building healthy campus climates,” according to its website. But a woman who participated in those talk circles as a high school student says Freed pressed her to let a teacher who tormented her with sexual advances off the hook.

The woman, who The Daily Wire is referring to only as Maria because she was the victim of an assault as a minor, says Freed delivered a lecture to her about how her accusations against the teacher would contribute to the mass incarceration of black men in America. Freed suggested, according to Maria, that she consider a “restorative approach instead of going to authorities” after the teacher grabbed her buttocks and nibbled her ear when she was 17.

“I was very scared of Jennifer because she’s very persistent in getting what she wants. She said I will feel better if I talk to him and do a restorative approach instead of going to authorities,” Maria told The Daily Wire. “I think it’s really inappropriate for a licensed psychologist to say that to a victim a week after they’ve been assaulted by someone in authority. That really harmed me.”

Freed’s group AHA! Santa Barbara has gained national prominence for its work to advance SEL, a school curriculum that has been embraced by the Left in recent years. Freed’s organization has been feted by celebrities such as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who visited the organization in May to herald its purported mental health benefits for youth. But the actions by Freed could fuel critics who say SEL prioritizes leftist politics over children’s emotional well-being

Maria did not take Freed’s advice. Her accusations against the teacher, a black nationalist and socialist named Matef Harmachis, led to a criminal conviction for battery in 2017, his firing from the school in 2020, and a nearly $1 million settlement with the school district just months ago in a lawsuit that faulted the district for keeping Harmachis on staff despite years of sexually inappropriate behavior.

Freed is just one of the leftists who Maria says turned on her in defense of Harmachis. She told The Daily Wire that she is now “scared for [her] safety” after seeing far-left activists defend her attacker as the real victim because of his race.