WATCH: Democrat does 'Holy Ghost' dance just days after INSANE state trooper meltdown



Democrat state Rep. Justin Pearson is already back in the news after a video of the Tennessee politician calling a state trooper a “stupid motherf**ker” went viral.

But in the latest video, Pearson appears to be a changed man.

In a video from a graduation ceremony, Pearson thrashes around, dancing on stage in front of a cross, leading BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock to comment that it appears Pearson has “caught the Holy Ghost.”

“I’m almost speechless, Jason, and I speak for a living,” Anthony Walker tells Whitlock, calling Pearson’s actions “performative.”


And Walker does not believe Pearson has “caught the Holy Ghost.”

“Evidence of the Holy Spirit truly in your life and transforming you is going to be a transformed life. Your conversation is going to be different. Your conduct is going to be different. Your whereabouts, where you choose to go, is going to be different. Something will be evident that you used to behave in a sinful manner,” he explains.

“So it’s performance, and you know, unfortunately, we live in a performance-rewarding society,” he adds.

Shemeka Michelle is in agreement.

“It is performative. It is an act. And he failed,” she says, noting that the audience is applauding in the video.

“Most of them are probably women who just don’t have the discernment that’s necessary to be able to sniff out a fraud. He’s a fraud. Plain and simple,” she adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

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Secular lie exposed: The truth about America’s founding they don’t teach



While many Americans claim that the founding fathers were not deeply shaped by Christianity but rather secular, president and CEO of the Museum of the Bible Dr. Carlos Campo and BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey beg to differ.

“Is that true what we hear — that all of the founders were just deists, that they didn’t really have any faith imbued in our founding documents?” Stuckey asks Campo, whose museum is currently showing an exhibit on the founding of America and the role of the Bible.

“Can we say that every founder was an orthodox Christian? No. And we wouldn’t say that. See, we have a mandate, unlike other places, that we have to tell the story fully and faithfully,” Campo tells Stuckey.


“But if we could only exhume the bodies of these men and talk to them again, I don’t think we can even fully understand how the Bible was truly part of the air that they breathed,” he explains.

“Even as we look at the different versions of the Declaration … this was a text they worked on together, and that they added the word ‘Creator’ with a capital ‘C’ — that in and of itself tells us, perhaps in many ways, all we need to know,” he adds.

“That’s such a good point that it was so ubiquitous in their culture … that they just didn’t realize how special and unique it was,” Stuckey responds.

The principles of the gospel, she explains, “filled them with this really radical and revolutionary idea that your rights don’t come from a monarch.”

“They come from you being a human being. ... But of course, I think through the Holy Spirit they did put some of those principles into our founding, which is amazing,” she continues.

Stuckey even pulls out a quote from John Adams, who once said, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity, as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”

“So I don’t think anyone who studies the founding of our country could say, ‘Well, yeah, they were just kind of agnostic. They had a relativistic moral worldview,’” she says. “That’s clearly not true.”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

7 ways to know if you're saved



In a world where millions claim to be Christians while living lives indistinguishable from anyone else, it’s critical to understand the importance of authentic faith. It’s a bit more than “all you have to do is believe” (explained here), which is an unsupportable position according to scripture and Jesus’ own words.

But a companion misunderstanding is that you should never question your own faith. Some even say it’s a sin to do so.

As you examine your thoughts and attitudes and actions in the clear light of scriptural teaching, the Spirit will show you things to work on — guaranteed.

But again — that’s not what the Bible says.

The apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, told them to test themselves to see if they were in the faith — “examine yourselves!” he exclaimed (2 Corinthians 13:5). It’s never wrong to thoughtfully examine our own hearts to ensure we’re on the right track.

So having established that it’s not wrong — and in fact, it's desirable to examine ourselves — let’s answer the million-dollar question: How do we know we are saved?

1. Understand what happens at salvation

Obviously, you won’t know if you’re saved if you don’t know what being saved means. It means that God has freely given you:

  • Eyes to see the truth of the gospel. You sincerely believe that Jesus lived, died, and rose again to pay for your sins.
  • A heart to repent. You recognize your sin separates you from a holy God, and you want to pivot to a life in relationship with your creator. You want to align with His plans for your life, not your own.

In that moment when those things happen, God does a miracle:

  • He brings a dead person to life.
  • He wipes your slate clean (even the sins you’ll still commit) because they were all nailed to the cross, so you are now justified — you are officially “righteous” because you are cleansed.
  • You are saved from eternal separation from God (hell).
  • God Himself, the Holy Spirit, comes to dwell in you, and the process of your sanctification (becoming more like Christ) begins. (It will take your whole life!) The Holy Spirit also seals you in Him, which means you will never lose this salvation.
  • You are promised that one day you will be glorified, which means when you die, you will be free of all worldly cares and sins and will be in the very presence of Jesus.

So in light of the mind-boggling gifts you, the new believer, have just been granted — how else do you know you’re saved?

2. Learn to recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul says:

In Him, you also, after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)

The Bible is clear that the Holy Spirit indwells us at the moment of salvation. It is not something that comes later, as some mistakenly teach. His presence in us is indeed proof of our salvation:

However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. (Romans 8:9)

And later in that same chapter:

For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ... The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. (Romans 8:14, 16)

So — the Holy Spirit in us helps us know that we belong to God. How, exactly?

Well, are you different than you were before you believed? Or more accurately, do you desire to be different, to love and serve the God who saved you? (Because it’s always about the heart’s desire, not some perfect behavior.)

If you want to change your life to align with God, that prompting is coming from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s assurance works in tandem with something else though.

3. Use scripture as a mirror

Are you reading and studying the Bible? Again — more precisely — do you have the desire to do so, even if you struggle to find a place for that in your busy schedule? Because the Holy Spirit will convict you of your need to be in the Word. If you’re feeling that prodding, that is itself an assurance of salvation. The Holy Spirit is in you, working.

And when you obey that prompting, He will illuminate the Bible for you to help you begin to become more like Jesus. As you examine your thoughts and attitudes and actions in the clear light of scriptural teaching, the Spirit will show you things to work on — guaranteed.

If you are wanting to be in the Word and wanting to obey the Spirit’s leading to change as you learn — that is a powerful assurance of your salvation.

RELATED: The laws freaked-out AI founders want won't save us from tech slavery if we reject Christ's message

Photo by Bloomberg/Getty Images

4. Seek out other believers

Are you in relationships with other believers? Are you going to or at least looking for a church? This life can’t be lived sitting on the sofa watching screen church — it requires real human interaction due to (among other things) the commandment Jesus gave us to love one another, which is impossible from your comfy couch.

Again, it comes down to obedience. The Spirit will prompt you to seek out other believers, because God designed us to be in those relationships, serving and loving each other, and being served and loved.

If you’re obeying Him in this, that is also a powerful assurance that you are saved, because stepping into an entirely new group of people we’ve never met before —which is how most of us start finding a church — does not come particularly easy to anyone.

5. Check your life for 'fruit of the Spirit'

The Bible brims with teaching about fruit — we’re supposed to produce good fruit as followers of Jesus. More on this here, but for now, let’s look at what the Bible explicitly calls out as the “fruit of the Spirit” living in us (Galatians 5:22-23):

  • Love
  • Joy
  • Peace
  • Patience
  • Kindness
  • Goodness
  • Faithfulness
  • Gentleness
  • Self-control

John MacArthur calls this “attitude fruit” — the attitudes we should begin to exhibit once we are saved. So that’s the fruit of the Spirit — attitudes the Spirit helps us develop.

But in that same chapter of Galatians, Paul also lists some opposites. “Deeds of the flesh” he calls them, which include:

  • Sexual immorality
  • Impurity
  • Sensuality
  • Idolatry
  • Sorcery
  • Enmities
  • Strife
  • Jealousy
  • Outbursts of anger
  • Selfish ambition
  • Factions
  • Envying dissensions
  • Drunkenness
  • Carousing
  • “and things like these”

So are you more characterized by deeds of the flesh or the Spirit?

Or again let’s ask the right question — which do you desire to be more characteristic in your life? If it’s the good stuff, that is a desire implanted by the Holy Spirit within you — again, an assurance of salvation. And He will help you transform that desire more and more into reality, which will strengthen your assurance as well.

6. See how others have tackled this question

Q: What are some of the signs of genuine saving faith?
A: From the excellent website gotquestions.org

Q: What kind of things do and do not prove the genuineness of saving faith?
A: From Grace to You, John MacArthur’s website

7. Take heart from the words of Jesus

As I’ve written before, the question isn’t “will you believe in Jesus?” The question is “will you follow Jesus?”

If you repented and believed (described above), and now your desire is to follow Him and become more like Him — that desire is from the Holy Spirit within you, and you are assuredly saved. As Jesus said:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish — ever; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one. (John 10:27-30)

A version of this essay previously appeared on She Speaks Truth.

When criminals are 'victims': Why ‘shout your abortion’ culture is going mainstream



A recent article from Life News centers on Becca Rea-Tucker, radical feminist and author of the pro-abortion book “The Abortion Companion: An Affirming Handbook for Your Choice and Your Journey,” openly celebrating her abortion — and BlazeTV host Steve Deace warns this is becoming a trend.

“And you can see she’s wearing a T-shirt there. ‘Thank God for abortion,’” he says, reading her shirt. “That’s blaspheming of the Holy Spirit, I would argue, right there, the unforgivable sin with a middle finger up in the air. She wants you to know. She can’t wait to brag about it. She wants to shout her abortion,” Deace says.

“Now I don’t know how many of the women that are killing their babies these days feel the way that Becca Rea-Tucker does. I just know I’m seeing more of Becca Rea-Tuckers than I’ve ever seen before,” he continues.


Which is why Deace believes pro-lifers desperately need to work on their argument.

“Let me walk you through an exercise. Wait a minute. So you think this thing inside of me that I just got pregnant with seven weeks ago, you think that’s a life?” Deace asks.

“Should fully and completely and totally have all the benefits and accouterments and rights of a fully aged man in his prime?” he continues, using his 33-year-old executive producer Aaron McIntire as an example.

“A child at 7 weeks, a zygote, a fetus at 7 weeks of development ought to have the full rights therein of a 33-year-old man in his prime, married with a couple of kids and a mortgage, paying the bills. They’re the exact same being. That’s what you guys think,” he says.

“So if I pull out a gun right now and shoot Aaron, I should be punished. Maybe even given the death penalty. ... All right, I go across the street to Planned Parenthood to kill my kid. Nothing,” he adds.

“You’re using that retarded messaging, and Becca Rea-Tucker is just laughing at you right in your face. And by the way, thumbing her nose at God and shaking her fist at God and everything else, right?” he asks.

Deace notes that Tucker is also quite literally “flipping the bird at Christ,” while conservatives argue over whether or not she’s a victim of circumstance.

“And you’re like, ‘Listen lady, were you abused?’ ... That looks like a criminal to me. Doesn’t look like much of a victim to me. If she’s a victim, then every criminal is. Marinate on that one. If she’s a victim, every criminal is,” Deace says.

While he doesn’t have a solution to this issue because the right is “completely and totally politically asinine,” he does ask that conservatives ask themselves a question in response to the “shout your abortion” trend.

“Why Becca Rea-Tucker is not the very definition of a murderess by your own admission. What’s the theological case for that?” he asks, adding, “Does one exist?”

Want more from Steve Deace?

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Reclaiming Pentecost: Fire, spirit, and the forgotten power of God



Pentecost — this is a day that’s gotten some bad press because the people associated with the name have some misguided ideas.

The Christian calendar outlines a series of annual events marking Jesus' time on earth. It starts with Advent, which leads to Christmas, followed by Holy Week, which leads to Easter, followed by Ascension Day and, 10 days later, Pentecost, the day the Lord sent the Holy Spirit, precisely as Jesus had promised (John 14:16-31 and John 16:5-15).

This incredible day is described in Acts 2, surely one of the most dramatic chapters of the Bible. Take a moment and read it right now. Seriously.

Why is it called Pentecost? Because the Greek word pentekoste literally means "50th," and the Holy Spirit came 50 days after Christ's resurrection.

But did you know that Pentecost already existed as a Jewish holiday that was celebrated 50 days after Passover? Called the Festival of Weeks (or Shavuot in Hebrew), it commemorates God giving the Israelites His law at Mount Sinai, which Jewish tradition says took place 50 days after the Passover, or the Israelite deliverance from Egypt.

Much insight can be gained from comparing these two "Pentecosts," so lets compare and contrast.

Exodus 'Pentecost' vs. Acts Pentecost

  • Exodus: Took place 50 days after God’s people were delivered from slavery by the blood of a lamb painted on their vertical and horizontal doorposts (Passover)
  • Acts: Took place 50 days after a far greater deliverance from slavery to sin by the blood of the Lamb painted on the vertical and horizontal beams of the cross
  • Exodus: God descends in fire on Mount Sinai — in effect warning people to keep their distance from His presence
  • Acts: Tongues of fire appear on all believers present as God’s presence draws near and fills them
  • Exodus: Loud thunder and sound of trumpets
  • Acts: Mighty sound of rushing wind
  • Exodus: God gives His law, leading to awareness of sin, condemnation, and death
  • Acts: God pours out His Spirit, leading to assurance of forgiveness and life, empowering people to obey Him
  • Exodus: The people rebel and worship a golden calf, resulting in 3,000 deaths
  • Acts: Peter boldly preaches the gospel, resulting in 3,000 people saved

But it wasn’t the Holy Spirit’s debut performance

The Spirit was active from before time began (see Genesis 1:2 for His first mention). He is who regenerated God’s people before Christ’s time, giving them the desire to obey.

As Barry Cooper writes:

Moses was given the Holy Spirit, and at one point he famously cried out, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” But through the prophet Joel, God promised that the day would come when His Spirit would be given to all believers in a new and more powerful way: “It shall come to pass afterward [He says], that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.”

Peter quoted that same passage in his Pentecost Day sermon (that you just read) as that precise prophecy was fulfilled in real time.

Here is perhaps the most critical distinction between the old covenant saints and new covenant believers: Not all of the old covenant saints were given gifts by the Holy Spirit for ministry — but every new covenant believer is gifted as He comes to dwell within us.

As Cooper notes, “That is the wonder of Pentecost: God coming to dwell more fully in each and every believer, to give them power and gifts for service.”

But what is the purpose of those gifts?

The first believers give us a hint: They immediately began declaring the glory of God in multiple different languages so that all present with them there in Jerusalem could understand.

Peter — the same man who, consumed with fear, had lied about his relationship to Jesus to protect himself just 50 days earlier — boldly proclaimed the gospel to all of Jerusalem, resulting in 3,000 souls joining God’s family.

This is the ultimate meaning of Pentecost. The same Spirit who emboldened Peter that day dwells within us for the purpose of proclaiming the gospel.

Taking Pentecost back

It’s important to understand that the emphasis should not be on the gifts.

I believe this is where many Christians get it wrong, including those who call themselves Pentecostals, because they emphasize speaking in tongues and other such manifestations as somehow being a "second act of grace" that Christians need to experience.

The whole counsel of the Bible teaches that the Spirit indwells us when God saves us, and certain gifts were clearly meant for the apostolic age — to help people verify who was actually representing Christ before the scripture was finalized. (Apostles, by the way, were the historical figures who personally experienced Jesus Christ in the flesh and whom Jesus sent out. There are no apostles today, although there are people claiming to be.)

Let's celebrate Pentecost for the joyful reminder it is: that the very Spirit of God lives in us for the purpose of conforming us to Him in obedience and proclaiming Him fearlessly.

This Sunday, consider the wondrous gift of Him who is sometimes called the "forgotten God."

This article was adapted from an essay originally published on Diane Schrader's Substack, She Speaks Truth.

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