News

Living together before marriage = greater risk of divorce

Sussman’s note: Not living together (and abstaining from you-know-what) prior to marriage  certainly has been a plus to my marriage…

(CBN) Couples who choose to live together before they are married are at greater risk of getting a divorce, according to a new study.

The study was published in the September issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family.

The “premarital cohabitation effect”, which has been studied by social scientists for several years, and appears to be a real fact in terms that two people who live together before getting married are more likely to struggle during marriage.

Authors Michael Rosenfeld and Katharina Roesler conclude that the struggles of these couples mean an increased risk of divorce. They contend that past researchers who have argued that the cohabitation effect disappeared were biased, looking at short-term rather than long-term effects.

They argue couples who go straight into marriage without living together have a larger immediate shock to negotiate after marriage and thus have a short-term increased risk greater than those already living together.

Scott Stanley and Galena Rhoades of The Institute for Family Studies in Charlottesville, Virginia, who back up Rosenfeld and Roesler’s findings write, “For starters, it’s counterintuitive that living together before marriage would not improve one’s odds for a successful marriage. And yet, whatever else is true, there is very scant evidence to support this belief in a positive effect.”

Read more here…

Former LGBT, now Christian, to march in L.A.

A group of ex-LGBTQ people are getting ready to take the streets of Los Angeles, California to declare the transforming power and love of Jesus Christ.

The march takes place on Nov. 4 and will feature worship, praise, and testimonials from people who call themselves former homosexual, bisexuals, and transgender individuals. Each person comes from different parts of the country but all of them have the same message — there is freedom from sexual confusion and sin through Jesus.

It is the second Freedom March since the first one in May, which took place in Washington D.C. It featured two survivors of the Pulse nightclub shooting, who say they left behind their LGBT lifestyles after the attack to have a transformative relationship with Jesus.

Read more here…

Film Shows How Google & Facebook Can Undermine Free Speech

The Creepy Line is a new feature-length documentary that examines how Silicon Valley tech companies can use their vast influence to limit speech and undermine democracy. The film focuses specifically on Facebook and Google, and analyzes exactly what these companies do once they have unlimited access to user’s data. Using first-hand accounts, scientific experiments, and detailed analysis, the film explores the risks of allowing these two tech giants free reign over the personal information of millions of people.

The title of the documentary is taken directly from the words of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt when, during a 2010 interview, he explained Google’s code of conduct: “The Google policy on a lot of things is to get right up to the creepy line and not cross it.”

The Creepy Line explores the measurable impact the Silicon Valley elites have had on elections. Google, Facebook, and the other social media companies are continuing to subtly sway apply voters in support of their favored liberal candidates and progressive ideologies after failing in their efforts to see Hillary Clinton win the White House in 2016.

The Creepy Line documentary can be rented or purchased on iTunes and is also available through Amazon Prime.

TobyMac Gets Personal

Grammy Award-winning Christian musician TobyMac recently released his new album, The Elements, and he says it is his favorite one he’s ever done.

“I really worked for about a year and a half on it. I had 30 to 40 songs, and I picked 11 concepts that I couldn’t let go of. I am so passionate about these concepts, and I would chase those concepts as far as I had to, to make a great song out of it,” he told Digital Journal.

He says the album is based on his own life experiences — even the most difficult ones.

“‘Scars’ is deeply personal and for me, it is about my son. He is 20 years old and he left home and he is doing his own thing now. It’s also about watching him go through tough times and get cut and bruised. Watching people you love go through hard things is tough, and I want people to know that they are not alone,” he said.

Freed Pastor says ordeal part of a bigger Divine plan

 

(WND) – In one of his first media interviews since his dramatic release from Turkey over the weekend, Pastor Andrew Brunson said he believes his prison ordeal was part of a much bigger plan God has for Turkey and the Middle East.

“We are so grateful to the people who prayed for us,” he told Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice on the “Sekulow Live” radio show.

But the 53-year-old North Carolina native said he believes that the impact of the prayers of many around the world went way beyond releasing him from prison.

“It’s almost like we’re looking at a puzzle from the bottom side. Someday, we’ll look from the top and see the full picture,” Brunson said.

“Right now we don’t see the full picture, but God was doing much more than using prayers to release me from prison,” he said.

“I think he was pouring prayer from God’s people into Turkey and into the Middle East, and there is going to be a great harvest from this.”

Read the rest of the story here.