Free Republic

This is the first installment of how a former Protestant leader crossed the Tiber. [1]James Tonkowich A little over a year ago my status changed. Having been a Presbyterian minister for over twenty years, I became a Catholic layman. How that happened is a long story.In a nutshell, though, reading a Catholic author here, meeting with a priest or two there, befriending groups of faithful Catholics, and attending lectures, meetings, and (occasionally) Mass all added up. At the same time, my questions about the viability of Protestantism in a post-modern environment became more pointed and my answers more frightening....

When President Obama signed off on the new HHS regulations that demand every Catholic institution in the country not officially designated a "church" either shut down or offer its employees subsidized sterilization, "morning after" pills and all other forms of contraception, neither the president nor his political team recognized the enormity of the mistake they were making. In attacking the Roman Catholic Church in America on the question of abortion rights absolutism, the president and his team had thought they were dividing women from Republicans when in fact they were uniting Catholics of all political persuasions in a single front...

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, February 8, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – One of the most influential evangelical leaders in the United States says Christians should go to jail rather than comply with the Obama administration’s mandate to provide all contraception, including abortion-inducing drugs, in their health care plans. Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), told LifeSiteNews.com “we will not comply” with the Dept. of Health and Human Services’ mandate requiring religious institutions to cover abortifacient products such as Plan B, Ella, and the IUD. “We want the law changed, or else we’re going to write...

February 6 Roy Schoeman- Jewish ConvertMark Shea- Former Baptist, Dr. Scott Hahn- Former Presbyterian, Fr. Ray Ryland- Former Episcopalian

A couple from Texas who moved to a violence-plagued area of northern Mexico to run a Baptist church were found murdered on Tuesday in their ransacked home, relatives said. John and Wanda Casias, originally from Amarillo, Texas, moved to an area outside of Monterrey, Mexico, in the late 1970s or early 1980s to make it their home. Valerie Alirez, the eldest child of John Casias, said one of her brothers found her father and stepmother dead on Tuesday in their home in Santiago, Nuevo Leon. John Casias, 76, was a Baptist preacher and the couple ran the First Fundamentalist Independent...

Jewish leaders are criticizing a ceremony that involved a controversial megachurch leader being wrapped in a religious scroll and exalted as a “king� to the applause of his parishioners. The video from a service last Sunday at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church shows Rabbi Ralph Messer, a Messianic preacher, instructing two men to slowly wrap Bishop Eddie Long in a large scroll that’s purported to be the Torah.“It doesn’t matter where you go, how you try to attack him. He’s sealed,” Messer proclaims, before the scroll is opened to reveal a teary-eyed Long. Moments later, Long was seated in...

LUNDALE - Members of the Lundale Freewill Baptist Church in Logan County are wondering who shot a statue of Jesus in front of their building. They noticed a bullet mark on the forehead of a statue of Jesus. The church is located along Buffalo Creek. The church's pastor Bobby Adkins says he isn't angry, just disappointed that someone would do such a thing. "As far as I know we don't have an enemy in that community or even on Buffalo Creek. If I do I don't know about it," Adkins said. Adkins said he isn't planning to press charges but...

ROCKFORD, Illinois, January 11, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new book from one of the world’s foremost scholars in family issues examines how mid-twentieth-century evangelical leaders followed the mainstream and bought into birth control, and, briefly, abortion. The book, titled “Godly Seed: American Evangelicals Confront Birth Control, 1873-1973,” by Dr. Allan Carlson, comes at a time when some American evangelicals are rethinking their position on birth control. For instance, there are the followers of the Quiverfull Movement who “eagerly accept their children as blessings from God,” eschewing not only artificial birth control, but even natural family planning. In this way, they...

The votes are in and we have a “favoritest” hymn. Congratulations to … I Know that My Redeemer LivesI’m not really surprised this classic hymn won, but I am intrigued with the first runner-up, Come, Thou Fount. It only lost by one percent of the total votes, so clearly it’s a popular hymn. But the funny thing is, it’s not actually in the current hymnbook. Come, Thou Fount was the most requested write-in hymn from round one of voting, so we added it to the list of others. But if it’s not even in the hymn book, why is it...

Why is the sun setting on the West? Vishal Mangalwadi argues that is is due to one factor: the brand Christianity. In November 2011, I visited two classes at a Christian university in North America. I asked both: “How many of you would still believe Christianity if you found out tomorrow that Christianity was not true. That is: God never became a man; Jesus did not die for our sin; or, that he did not rise from the dead?”Twelve hands went up in each class of about 25 and 45 students. These sincere and devout students had grown up in...

Newt Gingrich: What Kind of Catholic Is He? Melinda Henneberger December 23 The Newt Gingrich who talks about finding ways around the U.S. Supreme Court ban on school prayer and says public schools should be required to “teach the Creator” is not immediately recognizable to those who knew the former House speaker when he was not much of a church-goer. These days, Gingrich is running an overtly faith-based presidential campaign with echoes of televangelist Pat Robertson’s run in 1988. But on a quieter tour of Catholic America that began more than a year ago, the GOP candidate has been sounding...

The last remaining evangelical church in Gaza is functioning but in danger of dying, famed Bible smuggler Brother Andrew said after a recent visit to Gaza Baptist Church. “Christians in the west are surprised to learn that there is a church [in Gaza], a functioning church, a suffering church, a restricted church, but there is a church in Gaza... and I think its dying," the founder of Open Doors, an organization dedicated to support of Christian minorities who are persecuted because of their faith, said in a video clip. “Today only one active evangelical church remains, Gaza Baptist Church,” the...

Leaders of two large Christian traditions held preliminary conversations Dec. 13-15 to lay groundwork for ecumenical dialogue between Baptists and Pentecostals around the world. Delegations from the Baptist World Alliance and Pentecostal World Fellowship set guidelines for anticipated multi-year meetings to pursue closer ties between two groups..Pentecostals are members of Protestant denominations or independent churches that hold the teaching that all Christians should seek a post-conversion religious experience called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They believe that people who experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit may receive one or more spiritual gifts, including the abilities to prophesy or...

By now, this won't be a surprise to anyone: Baylor's Robert Griffin III is going to win the Heisman Trophy. By our reckoning, he's going to get approximately 2000 points - 71% of a perfect unanimous #1 vote. (This year, 2781 points is perfect.) That total would rank Griffin among the top 15 all-time biggest winners of the Heisman Trophy - roughly on par with Tim Tebow (70.5%) and Doug Flutie (71.1%).

Hoping to provide useful data to help settle the Southern Baptist Convention’s dilemma on whether to change the Christian denomination’s name, a research group released a study Wednesday on how Americans view the SBC along with other faith groups. The majority of Americans have a favorable impression of Southern Baptists, according to the LifeWay Research study. However, 40 percent of respondents have an unfavorable view of the denomination and more than a third strongly assume an SBC church is not for them. The negative viewpoint is slightly higher (44 percent) among the unchurched, according to the study. The research was...

As Peter means rock, the natural interpretation is that 'upon this rock' means upon thee. No other explanation would probably at the present day be attempted, but for the fact that the obvious meaning has been abused by Papists to the support of their theory. But we must not allow the abuse of a truth to turn us away from its use; nor must the convenience of religious controversy determine our interpretation of Scripture teaching. . . . Some hold that such a play upon words, "thou art Rock, and on this rock," is unworthy of our Lord. But there...

DALLAS, November 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a jarringly candid statement made to WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas, late term abortionist and Baptist Minister Dr. Curtis Boyd said that when he performs abortions he is "killing," and he has no issues with it whatsoever. "Am I killing? Yes, I am. I know that," Boyd said during a video interview with the news station following the opening of the Southwestern Women's Surgery Center abortion facility. By law, Boyd must have a surgery center in order to abort a child more than 16 weeks along. "We see patients from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) – A Southern Baptist seminary president said Baptist churches should pay heed to the child sexual abuse scandal tarnishing Penn State University and immediately report any credible report of child abuse to legal authorities. “Sometimes Christians and indeed those in churches or Christian institutions seem to have the protective instinct that we need to find out more before going to any legal authority with that kind of suspicion,” Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said Nov. 8. “We need to get over that reluctance,” Mohler said. “We have to leave it to...

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following information is adapted from the North American Mission Board's www.4truth.net apolgetics website. ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon church) professes to be a Christian church. However, a careful comparison of basic doctrinal positions of that church to those of historical, biblical Christianity reveal many radical differences. This comparison utilizes Mormon doctrines as stated in LDS authoritative primary sources and those of historic Christianity as derived solely from the Bible. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD: -- Historic Christianity The one God is a Spirit who is the personal, eternal, infinite Creator...

ROME, Ga. (BP) -- A "Personal Lifestyle Statement" for employees of Shorter University has placed the Georgia Baptist school in the news. The lifestyle stipulations, which employees of the university must sign or risk termination, is one of four new policy statements adopted by the university's board of trustees. The lifestyle statement includes requirements that employees: -- agree with the university's Statement of Faith. -- be active members of a local church. -- "reject as acceptable all sexual activity not in agreement with the Bible, including, but not limited to, premarital sex, adultery, and homosexuality." -- abstain from alcohol in...

Shorter University in Rome, Ga., is requiring its employees to certify that they are not gay as a condition of employment. All 200 employees of the Baptist university, located about 65 miles northwest of Atlanta, received a "personal lifestyle statement" last Wednesday, which they must sign or risk being fired. Employees must pledge to be "active members of a local church" and to abstain from, among other things, drug use, premarital sex and homosexual behavior. "I reject as acceptable all sexual activity not in agreement with the Bible, including, but not limited to, premarital sex, adultery and homosexuality," the statement...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) – A Southern Baptist Convention official says one of the top challenges facing the nation’s second largest faith group behind Roman Catholics is the increasing influence of Calvinism in churches. “I think one of the issues which is a tremendous challenge for us is the theological divide of Calvinism and non-Calvinism,” Frank Page, CEO of the SBC Executive Committee said in a blog interview posted Oct. 18 at SBC Today. “Everyone is aware of this, but few want to talk about this in public,” elaborated Page, who assumed the post of president and CEO of the SBC...

A Metro Nashville Council member is suing the Southern Baptist Convention for $1.5 million. Ron Nollner and his wife, Beverly, filed the lawsuit against the nation's largest Protestant denomination and related entities last week. The lawsuit states the two went to New Delhi as missionaries in 2009 and were hired by the Virginia-based International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention to oversee construction of an office building there. However, the lawsuit claims they were fired after Ron Nollner complained about illegal and unsafe building practices at the job site and said the project's architect and builder were paying bribes...

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has asked the IRS to investigate First Baptist Church of Dallas and its pastor for posting videos that endorse a presidential candidate, but the pastor isn't concerned about it. Pastor Robert Jeffress, who is familiar with Americans United's executive director Barry Lynn, introduced Rick Perry at last weekend's Values Voter Summit at the request of the Family Research Council. Following the scuffle about the pastor's subsequent comments on Mormonism being a "cult," the church-state separation advocacy group targeted Jeffress. "Barry Lynn has spent his whole career writing letters to the IRS trying...

You might say the oh so very Rev. Robert Jeffress, the Torquemada of Texas, has put the yuck into ecumenical. Or put another way, you're all going to hell. And that means you, by the way. Jewish? Please, don't even think about heaven. Catholic? One word: complete toast. Okay, two words. Muslim? Really, now. Mormon? Cue The Omen theme. And as for Buddhist, Quaker or anything else that doesn't comport with Jeffress' brand of puckered fundamentalist evangelicalism, well, you might as well just go ahead and set yourselves on fire right now. It was the scriptural snake oil salesman Jeffress,...

Last Friday, Rev. Robert Jeffress, the Dallas pastor who introduced Gov. Rick Perry at the Values Voter Summit, spoke derisively about the Mormon faith of Mitt Romney, making the case that “Mormonism is a cult.” Two days later, he chided Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism as “false religions.” Last year, Rev. Jeffress said the Roman Catholic Church was the outgrowth of a “corruption” called the “Babylonian mystery.” He continued, “Much of what you see in the Catholic Church today doesn’t come from God’s word. It comes from that cult-like pagan religion. Isn’t that the genius of Satan?” Catholic League president Bill...

Dr. Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, said Monday in an interview with Fox News' Bill Hemmer that "no one goes to heaven in a group," when asked about the eternal state of Mormons. When prompted by Hemmer to discuss whether or not he believes Mormons will go to heaven, Jeffress replied, "We all go to heaven or hell individually based on what we do with Jesus Christ. I don't think all Baptists are going to be in heaven, I don't believe all Catholics are going to be in heaven, I don't believe all Mormons...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (ABP) – A Missouri woman pleaded guilty in federal court Oct. 11 to embezzling more than $717,000 from a nursing school operated jointly by a Baptist university and a Catholic hospital. Amy Phillips, 39, waivcd her right to a grand jury before confessing to charges of theft and tax evasion, Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced in a press release. Phillips worked as administrative assistant for the College of Nursing, a division of St. John’s Mercy Health Systems run jointly with Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo. Phillips admitted to stealing funds...

The president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the second-largest church in America, announced today that come next year, they might not be the Southern Baptist Convention anymore. President Bryant Wright said the “Southern” part of their name might need to go since it implies a regional focus, and he’s launched a task force to consider new options for the 166-year-old body, Baptist News reported. Their findings will be shared with SBC leaders in February, and any change would have to be approved by delegates at its annual meetings. Across the Baptist blogosphere, Southern Baptists seem to be thinking that Wright...

Southern Baptist Pastor Leaves Everything for the Eucharist I grew up in a strong Christian home.  My parents were, and still are, two of the most devout Christians I have ever known.  They instilled in me not only the importance of knowing about Christ, but knowing Him personally.  When I was 10 years old, I pledged my life to Jesus and was baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  My teen years were filled with opportunities for spiritual growth thanks to the encouragement and example of my parents and youth leaders. ...

A weekend of religious-themed observances at Washington National Cathedral marking the tenth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks will include a Buddhist nun and an Imam, but not an evangelical Christian, leading the head of the Southern Baptist Convention to ask President Obama to reconsider attending the event. “A Call to Compassion” will include an interfaith prayer vigil on Sept. 11th. It will feature the dean of the Cathedral, the Bishop of Washington, a rabbi, Buddhist nun and incarnate lama, a Hindu priest, the president of the Islamic Society of North America and a Muslim musician. However, Southern Baptists,...

The Journey Home with Marcus Grodi LIVE - Mondays 8 PM ET Encore – Tuesday 1 AM ET & 9 AM ET, Thursday 2 PM ET, Saturday 11 PM ET This exciting call-in program examines why so many people, including fallen away Catholics and individuals from other denominations, are being drawn home to the Catholic Church. August 1 David Currie Former Bible Church missionary David Currie was raised in a devout Christian family whose father was a fundamentalist preacher and both parents teachers at Moody Bible Institute. Currie's whole upbringing was immersed in the life of fundamentalist Protestantism -...

This is a religious vanity post I suppose. I am a Christian raised mainly Baptist with some attendance at other denominations. I have, in the course of my life, had a couple of experiences of the intercession of the Holy Virgin for my help and Protection. I have also witnessed the Mass a few times as an outsider and felt drawn away from my Protestant identity. The order and sense of Apostolic succession appeals to me in the Church as opposed to the churches. However, my main point of confusion now is whether to draw close to the Roman Catholic...

MADISON, Ind. (BP) -- It seems that the societal ills that plague inner cities everywhere are no respecter of nations. Britain is presently being rocked with social unrest that is quite out of step with what was once viewed proudly as the stodgy national character. In any culture, revered traditions can only hold back disorder so long when young people are uneducated, impoverished and without opportunity. Prime Minister David Cameron has pointed out that Britain has created an atmosphere that is characterized by "children without fathers, schools without discipline, reward without effort, crime without punishment, rights without responsibilities [and] communities...

Rev. Vincent Lachina JACKSON, August 16, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The claim of a clergyman who is also a chaplain for Planned Parenthood that he is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention has been repudiated by a spokesman for the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board in comments to LifeSiteNews.com Dressed in a clerical collar, Rev. Vincent Lachina urged the crowd gathered for the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Personhood Amendment Hearing last Wednesday to vote against the pro-life amendment. He prefaced his remarks by saying, “I am an ordained Southern Baptist minister with 47 years of service to the family of God....

Pastor Nancy Petty, the lesbian spiritual leader at Pullen Memorial Baptist church in Raleigh, N.C., has a message for her state: Legalize same-sex marriage — or else. Until gay unions are legislatively permitted, Petty plans to no longer sign marriage licenses — an action that will potentially have a profound impact on her congregation. In addressing same-sex marriage, Petty said the following to her congregation: “Do we, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, want to continue to participate in offering religious ceremonies that carry with them civil and human rights that are not afforded to all people? Or will it be our...

This is my first thread started here. I have a friend of mine in Tulsa OK who is leaving his Methodist Church because of a female pastor. He is looking for a more conservative Baptist Church in the Tulsa area. I would like a recommendation from FReepers who are in the area so that I can help my friend. Thank you very much for your time!

There is one issue in the fight over illegal immigration that comes very close to pleasing both Republicans and Democrats. It’s summed up in a bill called the Dream Act. And now, it has support from a group that might surprise you. Richard Land is a familiar figure to both Baptists, and TV audiences being a regular guest on talk shows whenever public policy and faith issues collide. He heads the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention the second largest Christian body in the US. He also favors the Dream Act. “The Dream Act is aimed...

Mike Queen – who's stepping down as pastor of First Baptist Church at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Market Street after 25 years on the job – might not fit the stereotype of a preacher. But then, his road to the pulpit wasn't exactly typical. Now that he's been at First Baptist for two and a half decades, the 65-year-old Queen said, "I love what I do, but I don't think I can maintain the pace." First Baptist has named an interim preacher, Dr. Bill Younger, who will be taking the pulpit three Sundays per month. Meanwhile, a church...

The finale of a church's "Faith, Freedom and Fireworks" celebration on Sunday had the feel of a political convention, with indoor fireworks and a choir belting out "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" as red, white and blue confetti filled the air. And providing the patriotic speech at the First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale was U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, who hinted at a run for his party's vice presidential candidacy in 2012. The Rev. Larry Thompson, pastor of First Baptist, treated that possibility like a done deal. If West were to become vice president, Thompson said, he would...

Officials with the Southern Baptist Convention said they have been the victim of an elaborate online hoax that included a phony news release announcing that the nation’s largest Protestant denomination had changed its position on homosexuality. The release was sent to an unknown number of reporters and directed readers to a website designed to replicate the real Southern Baptist Convention website, along with working telephone numbers where individuals identified themselves as employees of the SBC Executive Committee. “It is definitely a hoax,” said Roger Oldham, vice president for communication and convention relations for the SBC Executive Committee. “It seems to...

The number of baptisms in the Southern Baptist Convention in 2010 fell by nearly 5 percent, according to the Annual Church Profile (ACP) compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions. Southern Baptist churches reported 332,321 baptisms in 2010, down from 349,737 in 2009, which represents a 4.98 percent decline. Total membership in 2010, reported at 16,136,044, represents a 0.15 percent decline from 2009 and is the fourth straight year of decline. ..“As we look upon fields white unto harvest, we should be ever aware that it is critical that we proclaim Christ to our neighbors and...

..Nevertheless, the Baptists have done something very useful: They have established a moral marker for their congregants, some of whom are governors, state legislators and members of Congress. Since so many conservatives in public life like to point to their religious views as a guide for their political acts, the resolution ought to have a substantial influence on immigration debatesLast week at its annual meeting, the Southern Baptist Convention called for “a just and compassionate path to legal status” for the nation’s estimated 11 million undocumented workers. The “messengers,” as the convention delegates are called, also denounced bigotry and harassment...

The nation’s largest Protestant denomination has chosen an African-American to serve as its No. 2 officer in an historic election. The Southern Baptist Convention elected Fred Luter to the position of 1st vice president Tuesday at their annual conference in Phoenix. The 54-year-old Luter has been the head pastor of a SBC affiliate church in New Orleans since 1986.In recent years, the SBC has seen a decline in overall membership and attendance.

We may have to admit it -- the Southern Baptist Convention is getting smaller. If you measure it in purely empirical terms, the SBC is in decline. We just finished gathering in Phoenix for our smallest annual meeting since World War II. Not only that, but almost all of our denominational statistics are headed downhill, from our cumulative baptisms to the number of regular attenders in our churches. And we have lower amounts being given to the Cooperative Program. Annie and Lottie are struggling. Not good. And how about this newsflash -- the SBC is probably already smaller than we...

The number of female pastors in Baptist churches has grown by a third in the past five years, according to a recent report covered in the Associated Baptist Press. Baptist Women in Ministry found that women’s involvement in ordained ministry is slowly growing among organizations like the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The Southern Baptist Convention’s position is that Scripture forbids women from serving as pastors.

Albert Mohler, President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary June 20, 2011 (AlbertMohler.com) - Is President Obama about to endorse same-sex marriage? The possibility was the subject of open speculation on the front page of Sunday’s edition of The New York Times. Reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg quoted an unnamed Democratic strategist close to the White House, who said that the President’s advisers are considering the political costs, if any, of such an action. When President Obama ran for office in 2008, he stated that he was opposed to same-sex marriage, but he ran as an ardent supporter of the homosexual community. This...

PHOENIX (ABP) – The president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary said June 15 that Southern Baptists need to repent of a “form of homophobia” that keeps gays and lesbians out of their churches. Albert Mohler responded during his report to the Southern Baptist Convention to a question from Peter Lumpkins, a Southern Baptist blogger, about whether comments attributed to him in a March 24 Christian Science Monitor article were accurate. Writer Jonathan Merritt, a Southern Baptist minister and well-known social critic, quoted Mohler as saying “We’ve lied about the nature of homosexuality and have practiced what can only be described...

A new coalition announced that it was starting a petition today on the GetEQUAL website (www.getequal.org), calling on the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) to apologize for the harm its teachings are causing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Pointing to current teachings and ministries of the SBC, the coalition is attempting to shed light on harmful teachings and actions that individual congregations, pastors, and SBC leadership have embraced, targeting the LGBT community — particularly LGBT youth. These words and actions include everything from counseling parents to kick gay youth out of their homes to the horrifying practices of...

Nationwide (May 5, 2011) -- The 21st century has offered new challenges to the faith community and society. We are faced with social issues which have become increasingly more complex due to ever shifting perceptions of behavior and relationships. In 1954, Dr. Martin Luther King, in his sermon, "Rediscovering Lost Values," warned the country of a disturbing trend he perceived among its citizens - Moral Relativism. In the 60s it came under this guise: "If it feels good, do it! If it doesn't, do it anyway..." In the 70s it was, "I'm Okay. You're Okay." And these days our children...