Featured Stories
Featured Stories
Corey Stark, Executive Director of Northwest Giving Hope Ministries
Keynote speakers Corey Stark and Kwabla Torsu partner together to address community concerns
Prepare to be saddened, and alarmed.
Every day, right here in the Portland Metro area, trafficked children are being horrendously abused. Together with the committed people in his organization, Northwest Giving Hope Ministries Executive Director Corey Stark is bound and determined to do something about it.
“The reality is, anyone can buy a child within an hour if they have the right connections,” says Stark. “It’s just a matter of pulling out a cell phone.”
The Multnomah County Sex Trafficking Collaborative Website provides a good overview of the problem that defines NWGH’s mission: “Sex Trafficking involves the recruitment, harboring, transporting, obtaining, or providing a person for the purpose of a sexual act by use of force, fraud, or coercion in exchange for something of value. In cases where the individual is under the age of 18, the use of force, fraud or coercion is not necessary to prove exploitation.”
Stark: “Children are being trafficked and raped every day, right here in our communities. Interstate trafficking rings involve millions of dollars and hundreds of players. Children are just a percentage of those enslaved and trafficked.”
Statistics from the Multnomah County site bear out Stark’s troubling scenario: Continue reading
Alyssa Ahlgren
We will not be vulnerable. We will not be complacent. And we will not shrink in fear. After all, the American spirit was derived from rebellion and the desire to be free. Good luck keeping that locked down.
I’m 27 years old and I was born in the United States. What that means is I’ve only ever experienced freedom; a level of freedom that is not comparable to anywhere else in the world. I’ve only experienced liberties that are outlined in the greatest political document known to man. It took 27 years of living to experience what it’s like to have a government—that was sworn to uphold the Constitution—neglect the very words the founders used to build the greatest nation on earth.
Living in a free country doesn’t guarantee freedom.
Apparently, liberties that shall not be infringed doesn’t hold true during a pandemic. Yes, the government is granted emergency powers in times of a public health crisis and yes, at times they are necessary. However, the level of overreach displayed by our political leaders during this time defies the facts, defies science, and when prompted for answers, cannot even be evidentially justified during a press conference. Continue reading
Kari Lee Fournier
Bible prophecy told us that a ‘Great Storm’ on Earth was coming, but the swiftness and fierceness with which it has attacked has taken us all by surprise. Suddenly, we are presented with the major birth pangs spoken of in prophecy in the form of a global pandemic, the defunding of law enforcement, and the vicious riots—not to mention the increased weather events, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and volcanoes.
And we also clearly observe that one Mr. Donald J. Trump has been chosen by Almighty God, out of all those from whom He could have hand-picked, to navigate this world as it spirals out of control.
As storylines go, it does not get any better than this—the ‘Perfect Storm’ for the Anti-Christ to come on the scene, since we already see via this pandemic how many people instantly fold to any type of direction from government. So we knew what our Lord was going to do, in terms of end-times worldwide judgment—but now we have been presented with exactly how this will take place. Continue reading
Bryan Fischer
John MacArthur has declared Independence Day for the American Church.
MacArthur, one of America’s finest expositors and the pastor of Grace Community Church in southern California, has openly defied California governor Gavin Newsom, who issued an utterly unconstitutional edict that churches were not, under any circumstances, allowed to meet.
MacArthur correctly pointed out that Governor Newsom is not the head of the church. Jesus Christ is. As he put it, “Christ, not Caesar, is head of the Church.” Jesus Christ has commanded his church to meet regularly and consistently whether the governor or any other secular authority likes it or not.
We are not, the Bible says, “to neglect (lit., “forsake” or “abandon”) to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day (of Christ’s return) drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25). Every day more and more of us are disobeying this directive of Scripture and getting more comfortable with it. Jesus commands us to meet together. Governor Newsom commands us not to. The issue, to me, is crystal clear. Are we going to obey God or man? Continue reading
Jerry Newcombe
During one of the darkest periods of World War II, Winston Churchill asked aloud, “Will Britain surrender too?” Never.
At the time, in the summer and fall of 1940, the great leader of the U.K. declared, “I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization.”
Churchill, the great lion of the 20th century, understood that if the Nazis won, they would usher in a period of unparalleled darkness. But thank God, “Christian civilization” won.
Fast forward to the summer of 2020, when the radical leftists desecrated a statue of Churchill. They spray painted anti-law enforcement graffiti on his statue. They likely would have torn it down, if they hadn’t been stopped.
There is a war on Western Civilization. And every week seems to bring new examples of this war. Continue reading
Alyssa Ahlgren
Not only has the outbreak radically shifted livelihoods, the economy, and our social and political landscape, but it has the potential to alter the already radically progressive nature of the upcoming young electorate.
Generation Z, or those born after 1996, will be making a large voting debut in the upcoming 2020 election. The oldest among them are only turning 23 this year, still making a significant portion of the generation ineligible to vote. However, one-in-ten of the 2020 electorate will be a part of this new generation.
Unlike Millennials, Gen Zers did not come of age during the Great Recession or experience life without a smartphone. This new generation was set to inherit a booming economy and record-low unemployment. This is a generation that came into the world with such incredible opportunity that “social media influencer” is not only a career choice but a six-figure one.
The tides have drastically turned for the world’s most fortunate generation, with the pandemic being a catalyst for the government to incite Depression level unemployment and economic despair. The unparalleled freedom and prosperity that Gen Zers have only known has crashed into a roadblock. According to a Pew Research survey, half of Gen Zers ages 18-23 responded that they, or someone in their household, had taken a pay cut or lost their job due to the pandemic. This was significantly higher than the percentage of respondents in every other generation who stated the same. Continue reading
Rachel Dawson, Policy Analyst, Cascade Policy Institute
Based on the passage of a 10% cap on commission fees collected by third-party food delivery services from Portland restaurants, it’s unclear if Portland City Councilors understand the basic principles of economics.
This new rule also bars food delivery companies from making up the lost revenue from delivery drivers and will end 90 days after Portland ends its state of emergency order.
However, there’s no such thing as a free lunch; someone will have to make up the difference. And that someone is the customer. UberEats has already added a $3 fee to all customer receipts from Portland businesses.
This fee isn’t applied to restaurants outside Portland city limits, so customers can simply avoid the added cost by ordering meals from businesses in surrounding cities. This likely will make Portland restaurants worse off, as many area residents will purchase food from neighboring cities or forego using food delivery apps entirely. Continue reading
By Paul Driessen
Dr. Ned Mamula
Democrats’ Green New Deal would make US reliance on China much worse
China unleashed Covid-19 on an unsuspecting world. It knew by early January 2020 (if not by December 2019 or earlier) that it was dealing with a vicious, fast-spreading disease in Wuhan, a city with more people than Chicago and New York City combined. But first it said nothing. Then it lied repeatedly, expelled foreign journalists, and threatened, silenced or “disappeared” Wuhan doctors who tried to warn the world.
The Chinese Communist Party used its influence with the World Health Organization to advance its false claims about the origins of the Wuhan virus (likely a laboratory or wet market in the city) and absence of human-to-human transmission. The CCP even claimed the virus was brought to Wuhan by US soldiers during an October 2019 military sports tournament. It shut down domestic travel to and from Wuhan, while allowing millions to fly between Wuhan and Europe, the United States, Africa and Latin America.
By July 1, the Wuhan virus had sickened 11 million people worldwide and killed a half million – with 2.7 million ill and 130,000 dead in the USA alone. The virus caused trillions of dollars in economic damage, as the world issued stay-home orders, closed down global trade and made hundreds of millions jobless. Amid the pandemic, China shipped defective respirator masks, engaged in hoarding and price gouging on medical supplies, and expanded its campaign to blame other countries for the disaster. Continue reading
Marlon Furtado
When I was first saved, I was confused after reading the book of Job. It seemed like Job’s friends had some distorted views of God. Yet, knowing that the Scriptures were inspired, I wasn’t sure if I was to believe everything they said. Now, my understanding of “inspired” convinces me that the conversations in Job are accurately recorded, but it doesn’t mean that everything the friends said about God was correct, or true. God has provided us with the rest of the Bible to discern what’s true about Him.
Not sure if you agree with me? Here’s what God said about it, “After the Lord had said these things to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, ‘I am angry with you and your two friends, because YOU HAVE NOT SPOKEN OF ME WHAT IS RIGHT, as My servant Job has.’” (Job 42:7).
An example of their distorted view of God is Elihu’s statement, “If they [people] obey and serve Him [God], they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment.” (Job 36:11). Elihu, like the other men, was under the false, and simplistic, impression that God always rewarded good people with prosperity and ease, and He punished sinners with difficult and disappointing Continue reading
Frank Maguire, The Northwest Connection
Were George Orwell alive today, he would, once again, warn of the dangers of the deliberate distortion of language for political gain. Take for example the honorable word “liberal.” It used to mean one who advocated personal liberty. Now it means a proponent of statism — the antithesis of personal liberty.
And conservative? “Conservatives” used to believe in conservation of the eternal verities, and not merely the maintenance of their own influential ascendancy and protection of their cushy sinecure.
Conservatives are sometimes referred to as “classical liberals.” They are often confused with Libertarians, but Libertarians are quick to make a separation. Continue reading