Will we ever know whether the admission by the CEO of Target was due to the company’s stock plummeting after the transgender bathroom decision; or was this a true conviction within the man’s conscience?

From charismanews.com

Target CEO Admits Bathroom Policy Announcement Was Huge Mistake

A very damaging article just out from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) clearly shows that Target CEO Brian Cornell regrets his company’s policy announcement welcoming men to use women’s restrooms and fitting rooms.

WSJ interviewed a representative from the American Family Association (AFA), who launched the immensely successful #BoycottTarget initiative nearly a year ago. The 1.5 million-signature boycott has sent the strong message to the retailer that its misguided and potentially dangerous bathroom policy is the reason millions of families are no longer shopping there.

According to the article, Cornell expressed frustration about how the bathroom policy was publicized without his permission or knowledge, and told colleagues he wouldn’t have approved the decision to flaunt it with a public statement that is still on Target’s website today.

WSJ reported that Cornell told staff that “Target didn’t adequately assess the risk, and the ensuing backlash [AFA boycott] was self-inflicted.” (Read the entire WSJ article here; subscription required.)

The WSJ article also explained that Target headquarters sent an internal memo to store managers reiterating its official stance on men using women’s facilities. On April 15, 2016, a group Target calls its “risk committee” emailed executives informing them of a plan to post that message publicly. Cornell wasn’t among the recipients of that email, but at least two Target executives approved the post.

“The American Family Association Target boycott has wreaked internal havoc at Target,” said AFA President Tim Wildmon. “Out-of-touch executives incorrectly assumed that the backlash would die down, but we can see today—with plummeting stock prices and decreased traffic in stores—that it certainly has not.

“Together we are making an unprecedented financial impact on a corporation whose policy is to allow men to use women’s restrooms and dressing rooms,” Wildmon added. “Target’s decision is unacceptable for families, and its dangerous and misguided policy continues to put women and children in harm’s way.”

AFA is urging those concerned to the sign #BoycottTarget pledge by the end of April in order to reach an important threshold of 1.5 million signatures.

“At that point,” Wildmon said, “I will personally return to Target headquarters in Minneapolis with an additional 500,000 names. I will then discuss how Target can invite 1.5 million AFA supporters back to its stores by having a common-sense bathroom and dressing room policy that links use of these rooms to a person’s biological sex so that predators no longer have a method to prey on innocent victims.”

AFA is offering several ways to reach 1.5 million #BoycottTarget signatures:

• Sign—#BoycottTarget pledge
• Share—Ask family, friends and church members to sign the pledge. One effective strategy is to voice concerns politely but firmly on Target’s Facebook page and other social media sites using #BoycottTarget.
• Voice concerns on Target’s Facebook page or call Target to politely let its executives know you’ve signed the#BoycottTarget pledge—Guest Relations, (800) 440-0680, option 1, then 1 again.

“As AFA has stated many times, our worries do not stem from fear of the transgender community,” added Wildmon, “but rather, from both the real and potential threat that predators and voyeurs would take advantage of the Target bathroom policy to harm women and children—and there are plenty of incidents to show that they have.” – source

Brethren, we knew from the start that the reckless policy adopted by Target would put women and children in harm’s way. But liberals are ruled by political correctness at any cost.  For Target it turned out to be a cost from which they may never recover.

“A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself” (Proverbs 18:2).

MARANATHA

My husband and I have had credit card fraud 3 times in the past year. We have an Amazon credit card for purchases on that site. We have one other card we use online for other purchases. We had been told by our bank never to use our check card for online purchases.

We purchased wallets which have material to block  “scanners” from reading our credit card numbers.  Yes, there are people who walk around in stores with these scanners and collect numbers off your credit cards. If the card is in an unprotected wallet, the hacker can easily obtain your information.

We realized that the Amazon card had never been hacked in over 10 years.  We started looking up credit card fraud and where it happens most often.  After reading the article I am providing in this piece, we have decided to pay for our gas with cash – ONLY.

I know that this is certainly not a typical article written by me. But if this can help the brethren to remain safe from criminal hackers, then it is worth writing.

From abcnews.go.com

A new breed of credit card thieves is stealing unsuspecting customers’ credit card information at gas pumps by installing “skimmer” devices that steal a purchaser’s data as quickly as one swipe of a credit card.

The “old way, they used to come in here with a gun, or they used to break the windows at night when you were gone,” said Ahmad Motlagh, a California gas station owner who has been in the business for 33 years.

But now thieves have advanced with the times.

Earlier this year, a skimming device was found inside one of Motlagh’s pumps. Without his knowledge, the skimming device sat there for months silently stealing the credit card information of his customers.

Skimming has gotten so bad across the country that Steve Scarince, assistant to the special agent in charge at the United States Secret Service, is on the case. He described skimming as a “multi-billion dollar” problem.

ABC’s “The Lookout” asked Scarince if the U.S. Secret Service was winning the war on this crime.

“It’s even right now,” he said. “We’re doing our best. We certainly could use more help.”

The U.S. Secret Service gets help from local police departments, gas station owners and guys like Dan DeFelippi, a reformed credit card hacker who switched sides.

DeFelippi was caught by the Secret Service and then spent two years training Secret Service agents in the art of skimming.

Skimming, DeFelippi said, is “very easy, and it’s a lot of money. I mean, you can make tons of money. Gas station skimming is one of the easiest and best ways of doing it because [the skimmer] is hidden, the person using it will never see it. It’s simple to add. It’s simple to modify it.”

Gas station owners are seeking new ways to protect their pumps with locks and alarms, but most pump doors can be opened with universal keys.

Surprisingly, ABC’s “The Lookout” found that many of these keys are available for purchase online.

After a few hours or days, sometimes, the person who put the skimmer in place may retrieve the device. However, according to DeFelippi, some of the newer devices use Bluetooth technology to transmit the data remotely, so a person who places a skimmer could steal your credit card numbers without ever risking a return to the pump.

Once the credit information is obtained, the data thief has the option of selling the information or cloning the credit card.

“I was printing my own fake credit cards that looked just like the real thing,” DeFelippi said. “And then, I would go to the store and purchase electronics, expensive items, things I knew I could resell, and I would resell them.”

However, DeFelippi’s shopping sprees with counterfeit cards left a trail too easy to track, and he was caught.

These days, Scarince said, skimmer users have a new way of turning stolen credit cards into cash. They now sometimes use your credit card information to buy gas and pack that gas into huge, hidden tanks in their vehicles. They then go on to transfer that gas into a regular tanker and make what looks like a legitimate gas delivery to a crooked gas station owner, who will pay for the gas in cash.

So how can consumers protect themselves?

DeFelippi advised checking your credit card statements. Most credit card companies will suck up any loss if you report it within 60 days.

And try not to use a debit card: A skimmer user could drain your account, leaving you high and dry until the bank pays you back.”

Once at the gas station, choose a pump near the attendant. Skimmers prefer to target pumps in the shadows.

Finally, there is always the option of paying for gas inside the station. – source

My advice to the readers is when you purchase gas, pay inside, either with cash or your credit card.

The culprit for being hacked is using your credit card at the pump.

Aren’t you thankful that we will not have to be concerned with this in heaven?!

Shalom b’Yeshua,

MARANATHA!

China is now setting a “red line” for Kim Jong Un.  North Korea’s leader has never been pressured by China to end his provocative and increasingly dangerous outbursts.  After President Trump sent 59 Tomahawk missiles into Syria, China understands that there is definitely a new sheriff in town.

From zerohedge.com

China Threatens To Bomb North Korea’s Nuclear Facilities If It Crosses Beijing’s “Bottom Line”

With everyone putting down new and/or revised “red lines“, be it on Syria or North Korea, it was now China’s turn to reveal its “red” or rather “bottom line”, and in a harshly worded editorial titled “The United States Must Not Choose a Wrong Direction to Break the DPRK Nuclear Deadlock on Wednesday” Beijing warned it would attack North Korea’s facilities producing nuclear bombs, effectively engaging in an act of war, if North Korea crosses China’s “bottom line.”

The editorial in the military-focused Global Times tabloid, owned and operated by the Communist Party’s People’s Daily newspaper, said that North Korea’s nuclear activities must not jeopardize northeastern China, and that if the North impacts China with its illicit nuclear tests through either “nuclear leakage or pollution”, then China will respond with force.

“China has a bottom line that it will protect at all costs, that is, the security and stability of northeast China… If the bottom line is touched, China will employ all means available including the military means to strike back. By that time, it is not an issue of discussion whether China acquiesces in the US’ blows, but the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will launch attacks to DPRK nuclear facilities on its own.”

This, as the editorial puts it, is the “bottom line” for China; should it be crossed China will employ all means available including the military means to strike back,” warned the editorial.

Even though this graphic artist is now renouncing his part in designing “The Shack” (book) I believe that most of the damage is already done.  If you know Christians who have been drawn into this heretical book, and now heretical movie about the Trinity, please send them this article. At least this person had the courage to come forward and speak against “The Shack.”

from christiannews.net

‘I Have Deep Regrets’: Graphic Artist Who Designed ‘Shack’ Novel Renounces Book

The graphic artist who helped design the controversial best-selling novel “The Shack” has come forward to express his regret for being a part of the project out of his concern that it contains false doctrine.

“Over 10 years ago, I was captivated by the story and felt honored to be part of the graphic creation of the book. I was so drawn into it, wanting to know the God it portrayed,” Dave Aldrich of Aldrich Design posted to social media on Tuesday. “The Shack’s story wonderfully painted this picture to me of an incredibly knowable and loving God, one full of forgiveness, but without being judgmental.”

He said that the novel led him into reading other authors such as Rob Bell and Brian McLaren, and he found himself at the edge of accepting universalist beliefs before he came to realize the danger.

“I thank the Lord that He pulled me back from that edge,” Aldrich wrote.

And while the graphic designer initially liked how God was portrayed as being non-judgmental and all-loving, he now realizes that because God is love, He must judge sin.

“The fact is that there are two inseparable sides to God. He is both love and judge,” he said.

Aldrich states that he now has “deep regrets” over his personal involvement with and promotion of “The Shack.”

“The movie release of ‘The Shack’ has brought all this back to my mind and I felt the need to apologize to all who I may have led astray by my promoting the book,” he wrote. “I look back and see how little discernment I had. And I regret and apologize also for waiting this long to publicly share this.”

And while some may argue that the book and film are just an imaginary story, Aldrich believes—based on the statements of its author—that the work is simply a means to communicate a message.

“Many will still say that the book was intended as just a work of fiction, but the author himself, William Paul Young, is quoted as saying, ‘The Shack is theology. But it is a theology wrapped in a story,’” Aldrich noted.

As previously reported, “The Shack,” released in 2007, is stated to have sold approximately 20 million copies and has been translated into 39 languages. In 2013, Lionsgate Entertainment obtained the rights to turn the book into a film.

“The Shack” tells the story of a man named Mackenzie “Mack” Phillips who faces a crisis while on a family vacation as his youngest daughter Missy is abducted and presumably killed in an abandoned shack. Years later, the grieving father receives a note from “Papa,” who tells Phillips that it has “been a while” and to meet up at the shack the following weekend.

Reluctantly, Phillips returns to the site, where he meets the Godhead—the Father portrayed as a woman named Papa “Elousia,” who later transforms into an elderly man, the Holy Spirit being a young Asian woman with the Hindu name Sarayu, and Jesus as a Jewish carpenter. Together, they seek to help Phillips deal with his faltering faith and to learn to forgive.

A number of groups have published reports pointing to concerning material in the novel.

“My words are alive and dynamic-full of life and possibility; yours are dead, full of law and fear and judgment. That is why you won’t find the word responsibility in the Scriptures,” God the Father tells Phillips in the story (page 205).

“Honey, I’ve never placed an expectation on you or anyone else. The idea behind expectations requires that someone does not know the future or outcome and is trying to control behavior to get the desired result,” Papa reiterates (page 206).

“Mackenzie, evil is a word we use to describe the absence of good, just as we use the word darkness to describe the absence of light or death to describe the absence of life. Both evil and darkness can only be understood in relation to light and good; they do not have any actual existence,” God the Father outlines (page 136).

“I have followers who were murderers and many who were self-righteous. Some are bankers and bookies, Americans and Iraqis, Jews and Palestinians. I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa, into my brothers and sisters, into My beloved,” Jesus tells Phillips (page 182).

“In Jesus, I have forgiven all humans for their sins against Me, but only some choose relationship,” Papa states (page 225).

Nonetheless, as previously reported, more than 1,000 faith leaders have endorsed the new movie release based on the novel, according to the resource site for “The Shack,” which provides both written and recorded endorsements from many well-known entities.

Leaders and/or representatives of The Salvation Army, Young Life, Family Christian Stores, The Christian Post, K-LOVE, CBN and TBN, as well as celebrities such as Michael W. Smith, Joel Houston of Hillsong United, Gospel artist Tasha Cobbs and Chip and Joanna Gaines of HGTV’s “Fixer Upper” show have backed the film.

The movie has grossed $54 million at the box office to date. – source

What is most troubling to me is that so many people who identify themselves as Christians, have absolutely no discernment.  How can a person read the Word of God and not understand that we are sinners in need of a Savior?  Why would our Father send His only begotten Son to die that horrific death on the Cross, if sin is not a problem?

Our sin sent the Lord Jesus Christ to that Cross.  He paid the penalty for our sin that we could never pay!

“The Shack” has a ghost writer who is never revealed. But those of us who read God’s Word and know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior – we know who that ghost writer is.

His name is Satan, and his game is confusing, deceiving and destroying.

In “The Shack” he accomplished all three.

MARANATHA