Author: Christian Feed

The late Rush Limbaugh’s far-reaching and toxic impact on conservative America and the Republican party is well-known and well-documented. Still, there’s one aspect of his legacy, specifically his cultural dominance in the 1990s, that’s difficult to convey in the post-internet era: Limbaugh’s pivotal role in the ascension of conservative talk radio and the pivotal role that conservative radio played in emboldening modern conservative populism.

For many years throughout the Clinton era, Limbaugh’s daily radio program, The Rush Limbaugh Show, was synonymous with conservative political media and part of a larger burgeoning conservative radio ecosystem. The show, which aired for three hours each afternoon across America, began syndicating nationally in 1988 — incidentally the same year that famed evangelist minister Billy Graham delivered the benediction for both the Republican and Democratic national conventions. If you can’t imagine that happening today, it’s due in large part to the political polarization Limbaugh himself helped engender. In fact, Graham’s brand of evangelical Christianity spread across many of the same airwaves that also aired Limbaugh’s brand of toxic conservative bigotry.

The key detail that frequently gets lost when discussing Rush Limbaugh and his influence is that Limbaugh didn’t come out of nowhere. At the time he rose to prominence, he was part of a conservative radio ecosystem priming its listeners for exactly the kind of content he provided. In particular, the late 1980s and early ’90s saw the rise of Christian evangelism as a major media force. The popularity
Source…

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” — Genesis 1:1 NKJV

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; …’ ” — Genesis 1:27-28 NKJV

The first man and woman messed up. So God provided a divine plan of redemption. He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be born of a virgin, to live perfectly, though tempted never yield, to choose followers, to preach and teach, to be crucified for the sins of mankind, to be buried, and to rise from the dead, and before ascending to the right hand of His Father in heaven, to tell His followers to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel” to everyone everywhere.

For years now, grime and religion have both been important to me, but I’ve always had an internal argument as to whether the two are compatible. As a youth going to church every Sunday, I was taught that the music of the world is sinful and that hymns are all a Christian should listen to. When I got older and became a massive fan of grime, this became hard to reconcile, yet as I navigated my way through the scene, I found that many others involved had a similar upbringing to my own.
This same dichotomy is palpable on Ghetts’ new record, Conflict of Interest; where we see him battling between himself (J.Clarke) and his alter egos, Ghetto & Ghetts, almost like there is an angel and demon on his shoulders.

On ‘Proud Family’, the warmer side, J.Clarke shines through, whereas on the phosphorous, Stormzy assisted ‘Skengman’, Ghetto returns. On the otherworldly ‘Mozambique’ with Jaykae & Moonchild Sanelly, Ghetts emerges once again, perfectly balanced between the ferocious Ghetto and the family man, J.Clarke.

This conflict of interest is something I’ve also felt. For my whole life, I had believed that the music I loved couldn’t be mixed with my religion. However, in 2007 Ghetts changed the game with the release of Ghetto Gospel, a project which perfectly fuses grime and faith. I was 13, and this tape came out at a time when I needed it the most.
Source…

(RNS) — Rush Limbaugh, the bombastic and popular radio host who shaped conservative politics for decades, has died.

Limbaugh, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2020, was 70.

Evangelist Franklin Graham, who urged his followers to pray for the radio host after he was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer in 2020, mourned Limbaugh after news of his death broke.

“My heartfelt condolences and prayers for the family of Rush Limbaugh, who passed away today after a battle with lung cancer,” he posted on Twitter Wednesday (Feb. 17). “He was a conservative voice of reason for so many years and will be greatly missed.”

The radio show host — along with other media voices — appealed to Christian conservatives and often had more influence on the politics of evangelicals than their pastors, a reality that concerned conservative author and constitutional attorney David French.

“They are being catechized into religious political engagement through Fox, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, OAN, Breitbart, viral Facebook videos,” he told Religion News Service recently. “Yeah, there are pastors who stoke it, but that’s not who’s reaching the millions.”

Limbaugh was a fierce critic of Democrats and political progressives, labeling them “feminazis” and “commie libs.” He also compared the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol in January to revolutionary war figures like Sam Adams and Thomas Paine.

Source…

By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

Marking the sixth anniversary of the beheading of 21 Christians on a beach in Libya, Pope Francis said they gave witness to Christ through their martyrdom.

In a video message released Feb. 15 for an online event commemorating the “Day of Contemporary Martyrs,” the pope said that while their brutal murder was a tragedy, it was also true that “from their simplicity, from their simple but consistent faith, they received the greatest gift a Christian can receive: bearing witness to Jesus Christ to the point of giving their life.”

“They had gone to work abroad to support their families: ordinary men, fathers of families, men with the desire to have children; men with the dignity of workers, who not only seek to bring home bread, but to bring it home with the dignity of work,” he said.

“And these men bore witness to Jesus Christ. Their throats slit by the brutality of ISIS, they died saying: ‘Lord Jesus!’—confessing the name of Jesus.”

The martyred Christians—20 Egyptian Copts and one Christian migrant from Ghana—were beheaded in 2015 on a Libyan beach by the Islamic State group, which later released a gruesome video that sparked worldwide outrage.

Among those participating in the online event to commemorate the anniversary were Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury.

In his video message, the pope said the martyrdom of the 21 Christians was “a day I have in my heart” because it marked the day they were “baptized with
Source…

As a benevolent healthcare ministry of the Missouri Baptist Convention, the Baptist Homes campuses in Arcadia Valley, Ashland, Chillicothe and Ozark adhere to seven core values that distinguish these continuum of care senior communities from other healthcare providers in the industry. Common to each core value is our commitment to be a distinctively Christian ministry.

What does this mean for the residents, staff and churches we serve? First, it means that our leadership are born-again believers who are active in their faith as followers of Jesus Christ. Moreover, our senior leadership, administrators and campus pastors annually affirm The Baptist Faith & Message. Likewise, every trustee is a member of a cooperating Southern Baptist Church.

Being distinctively Christian means we seek to live out Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:12, “Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them.” Growing up, my parents and public-school teachers referred to this as “the Golden Rule.” Being distinctively Christian demands we treat one another with Christlike dignity, respect and truth.

Being distinctively Christian means we provide care for the body, soul and spirit. Each campus employees a campus pastor who is an active member of a Missouri Baptist congregation. Weekly Bible studies and chapel services are provided for residents. In a year where the coronavirus closed nursing homes to outside visitors, these weekly opportunities provided our residents an occasion to sing, pray with others and study God’s word despite the
Source…