Dr Paul Allen

Last week's episode of ABC Family 's The Fosters featured a same-sex kiss shared by two 13-year-old, seventh-grade boys. The characters involved, Connor and Jude , are the youngest ever to do so on television. Series co-creator Peter Paige told The Wrap, "If people want to judge it I think maybe they should watch and see how carefully, delicately and chastely it was handled. … I would say it's very easy to balk at or sensationalize the headline, but it's hard to deny the truth or the integrity of the whole story. … We are here to tell the true stories of what it is to grow up, and these are true stories of what it is to grow up as a young, potentially gay person. It's the truth and that's all." Gabe Bergado wrote in The Daily Beast , "The Fosters is already lauded as one of the most progressive shows on TV , with the heads of household being an interracial lesbian couple raising a family of biological, foster, and adopted kin. With the kis...

David and Bathsheba (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) We all face temptations of many kinds. God wants us to beat them. We don’t have to sin , as powerful as temptations feel. Here are 8 ways to gain the victory. 1. Pray before you are tempted Jesus instructed his disciples to ask God to pray, “Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil .” And as he told us to pray “Give us THIS DAY” our daily bread”, it’s good to ask God to deliver us from temptation and evil THIS DAY. 2. Flee. A good run is better than a bad fall. Stay as far away sin as you can. Don’t think you won’t fall. If you hired someone to transport your most valuable possessions, you wouldn’t tell them to see how close to the edge of a cliff they could drive. In Proverbs 7 a “young man lacking sense” wanders near the house of an woman at twilight, and just “happens” to run into her. She’s dressed sensually. She says her husband’s gone and describes her perfumed bed. Eventually he follows her like an ox going ...

English: The title card for the musical comedy series Glee (Fox). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) People are steeped in secular culture – particularly the young – have become increasingly intolerant of anything they see as “intolerance” to lifestyles their church considers sinful. It is no longer the Bible that guides them, but the TV with shows like Glee , Modern Family , Music TV, Katy Perry . But Leviticus 20:13: “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.” Matthew 5:32 : ‘But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity , makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.’?” The clash is about to get bigger. This is essentially a war against Christ and the Holy Spirit engineered by Satan. Related articles The Magisterium of Sophomores: another High School explosion Petraeus to testify behind doors on Benghazi Friday 3 Characteristics of a New Life Christian...

Hagia Sophia ; Empress Zoë mosaic : Christ Pantocrator; Istanbul, Turkey (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God ; believe also in me. (John 14:1) Discouragement is a temptation “common to man” ( 1 Corinthians 10:13). And in dealing with it sometimes we need tenderness and other times we need toughness. But either way discouragement is not to be tolerated or wallowed in. It’s to be fought. If we linger in discouragement it can be costly. Its sense of defeat and hopelessness saps us of energy and vision. It can consume a lot of time. It can keep us from doing what we need to do because we don’t want to face it. And it can even be contagious, weakening others’ faith . When we feel discouraged we want comfort, which is right to feel. But the comforts we often turn to are ways to avoid our fears rather than ways to muster our courage to face and overcome them. When this happens discouragement simply becomes sinful indulgence in unbelief, no differe...

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HOW DO YOU SEE YOURSELF? A masterpiece or a mess? Survivor or struggler? Advocate or critic? Getting perspective on how God sees you might give you a new view of yourself! Our new series entitled: Who do you think you are, starts this Sunday 10am 18.9 at Hope Church Australia . Related articles Inclusion in Church, Australia: A Reader's Personal Story (queeringthechurch.com) 'Survivor: South Pacific' Premiere: Never Suck at the First Challenge! (VIDEO) (aoltv.com) Vote for Click for Community - Round 3 (colesonline.com.au) Tourism Australia to focus on luxury in next advertising campaign (mumbrella.com.au) WWE Survivor Series: Why Is WWE Being so Weird About The Rock's Return? (bleacherreport.com) Australian Records (ancestry.co.uk) My thoughts on the recently-concluded 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards. (thedoctorisinthebathroom.wordpress.com) Rydges Canberra Announces NGA Masterpieces Hotel Package (prweb.com) Help AFL strugglers with draw: Malthouse (news.theage.c...

HOW DO YOU SEE YOURSELF? A masterpiece or a mess? Survivor or struggler? Advocate or critic? Getting perspective on how God sees you might give you a new view of yourself! Our new series entitled: Who do you think you are, starts this Sunday 10am 18.9 at Hope Church Australia . Related articles Inclusion in Church, Australia: A Reader's Personal Story (queeringthechurch.com) 'Survivor: South Pacific' Premiere: Never Suck at the First Challenge! (VIDEO) (aoltv.com) Vote for Click for Community - Round 3 (colesonline.com.au) Tourism Australia to focus on luxury in next advertising campaign (mumbrella.com.au) WWE Survivor Series: Why Is WWE Being so Weird About The Rock's Return? (bleacherreport.com) Australian Records (ancestry.co.uk) My thoughts on the recently-concluded 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards. (thedoctorisinthebathroom.wordpress.com) Rydges Canberra Announces NGA Masterpieces Hotel Package (prweb.com) Help AFL strugglers with draw: Malthouse (news.theage.c...

How do you see yourself? A masterpiece or a mess? Survivor or struggler? Advocate or critic? Getting perspective on how God sees you might give you a new view of yourself. new series this Sunday 10am at Hope Church Australia . Related articles List of Catholic Churches with Signed Mass and Catechism (deafphilippines.wordpress.com) McCann Sydney: Mumbrella Creative Agency Review - merger offers fresh start for an old school brand (mumbrella.com.au) Festival of Obvious Ideas #5: Be nice to your workers (thepunch.com.au) Huge Fall Festival Weekend Planned at Sunday River Ski Resort October 8th and 9th (thevalleyvoice.org) Sunday premiere primer: Walking Dead from A to Z (calgaryherald.com) Spelunking In The Caves Of Asia (asiahotels.com) Eldership is Critical! (brokenbelievers.com) Putting Things In Perspective - Echuca, Australia (travelpod.com) Grazia Daily talks shades of blue with Richard Nicoll! (graziadaily.co.uk) Australian Greens Senator Christine Milne...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife " Censorship is, at its best, nothing more than the legal codification of proven community values for the protection of those who cannot protect themselves. To argue against censorship where children are concerned is both disingenuous and foolhardy." ‘A baby is nothing but a bundle of possibilities.’ So said the prominent nineteenth century abolitionist and liberal clergyman, Henry Ward Beecher . The inheritance of genetics aside, children have always been very much a product of the nurturing they receive and the environment in which they receive it. Genetic influence itself is often subject to the effects of environment. A new UK poll reveals that large numbers of parents are concerned that society may be creating the wrong environment for their children. The study shows that 88 percent of parents feel their children are under pressure to grow up too quickly, especially in the area of sexual behaviour. The study was commissione...