Free Republic

My dear friends, I know I'm going to get it for this post but in love I must say it (2 Cor. 12:15). Someone has to and it might as well be me. For the past 5 years I have been feeling the spiritual temperature at Free Republic and other conservative forums and have found that moral and biblical relativism, biblical ignorance, conservative optimism, Christian ecumenicalism and the outright rejection of the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12, Rom. 10:2-4, 1 Cor. 15:1-4, Eph. 2:8-9) nearly dominate this and other conservative forums. Thank God for Free Republic, they do...

Full Title: “Gay Marriage” Shows Us Why Theology Matters. Three ways Biblically sound theology will help in the same-sex marriage debate To invite homosexuals to embrace themselves so that they are no longer lonely is agreeing with those on the left that God was wrong in ordaining the family as one man and one woman together in marriage. It is agreeing with those whom God is pouring out His wrath. It is agreeing with those who have cast off any notions of holiness, purity and piety in the church. It is, as I have said, theological suicide. Over the weekend...

... But if the Bible is so vital for life, why does it often feel difficult to read and understand? How can it be so hard to commit to daily devotion? It could be that all you need is the right tools. These free, downloadable Bible Study programs could help you truly delve deeper into the Word of God ...

I’ve read with interest Francis (Frank) Beckwith’s book, Return to Rome, because like him, I was baptized and raised Roman Catholic, attending parochial schools through my primary grades and a preparatory school run by a Benedictine monastery throughout my high school years. And, like Dr. Beckwith, in my teens I turned away from the Roman Catholic Church and Christianity altogether but was converted in my early twenties and began attending a Protestant Evangelical church. And for the past thirty seven years I have been a committed Evangelical Protestant. I was also quite interested in reading Dr. Beckwith’s book because he...

Former megachurch pastor Rob Bell appeared in a recent radio discussion with Christian British minister Andrew Wilson to discuss his new book, What We Talk About When We Talk About God, and grew frustrated when pressed by Wilson to explain his theological reasons for affirming homosexuality and same-sex relationships. Bell and Wilson appeared on the U.K. faith debate program "Unbelievable?" hosted by Justin Brierley on Premier Christian Radio. Wilson is a published theologian and elder at Kings Church in Eastbourne, East Sussex. The men, moderated by Brierley, started the discussion by debating various issues during the hour-plus program, but it...

Mid-East Prophecy Update - May 5th, 2013 Pastor JD talks about Syria and Egypt in Bible Prophecy and how they point to yet another reason that Christ's return for His church is sooner than we may think.

Obama admin. surrenders in HHS mandate case against Bible publisher WASHINGTON, May 6, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - At the government’s own request, a federal appellate court Friday dismissed the Obama administration’s appeal of an order that stopped the president from enforcing the HHS birth control mandate against a Bible publisher. The administration’s retreat marks the first total appellate victory on a preliminary injunction in any abortion pill mandate case. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Tyndale House Publishers say the administration is apparently nervous about trying to defend its position that a Bible publisher is not religious enough for a religious exemption...

You just have to shake your head at some liberals who think that having a baby is like catching a disease. Mitt Romney gave the commencement address at Southern Virginia University, a largely Mormon school, where he told the grads to marry young and have children. He quoted Psalms 127: Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in...

A report by the Church of Scotland, published this week, denies any special privilege for the Jewish people in the land of Israel. The church, which in recent years has jettisoned its once philosemitic character, opened a wide rift with the Scottish Jewish community with the report. Among other controversial statements, the report argues that, “Christians should not be supporting any claims by Jews, or any other people, to an exclusive or even privileged divine right to possess particular territory.” The report, titled “The inheritance of Abraham? A report on the ‘promised land’”, was prepared for the general assembly of...

An Air Force spokesperson said personnel are not allowed to proselytize but are free to express their personal religious beliefs so long as it “does not make others uncomfortable.” But a critic pointed out an Air Force officer was told to remove a Bible that was on his desk. “When on duty or in an official capacity, Air Force members are free to express their personal religious beliefs as long as it does not make others uncomfortable,” Lt. Col. Laurel Tingley said in a statement to Fox News. “Proselytizing (inducing someone to convert to one’s faith) goes over that line.”...

ROME, April 30 (UPI) -- Israeli President Shimon Peres met with Pope Francis in the Vatican Tuesday, inviting him to Israel and seeking help restarting the Palestinian peace process. Peres told Francis he has a unique and potentially very helpful role in restarting the dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians, Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported. "The citizens of Israel see in you a leader of peace and good will," Peres said. "The sooner you visit the better, as in these days a new opportunity is being created for peace and your arrival could contribute significantly to increasing the trust and belief...

The Reformed Presbyterian Church in the U.S., at it meeting on April 19, 2013, adopted a statement concerning Homosexuality and Same Sex marriage. They intentionally included positions from the Presbyterian Church in America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church with the hope that they would once again join in making a prophetic statement to those in civil authority that the fear and judgment of God may at least move enough legislators and judges not to approve of or support legalizing “same sex marriage.” Their desire is that the whole Christian, and especially the Reformed church, should protest this matter. Resolution Adopted...

WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday thanked the emir of Qatar for the "excellent relationship" between the two countries with respect to security and trade. "Qatar has been a center of innovation," Obama said after their bilateral meeting in the Oval Office. "We've seen enormous progress within the country on everything ranging from education to health care. And I think His Highness has shown extraordinary leadership over the last many years in helping to guide this country. "Obviously, Qatar is also an important country in the region, and has an influence that extends beyond its relatively...

Pope: The Unbreakable Unity between Scripture and Tradition April 12, 2013 by O'Meara Ferguson   Filed under O'Meara Ferguson News Vatican Radio – April 12, 2013 (Vatican Radio) On Friday Pope Francis received members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission at the end of their plenary assembly here at the Vatican on ‘inspiration and truth in the Bible’.Listen to the report from Emer McCarthyPope Francis told them “the Holy Scriptures are the testimony in written form of God’s Word, the canonical memorial that attests to the event of Revelation. The Word of God, therefore, precedes and exceeds the Bible. It is...

The U.S. Army is directing troops to remove a Bible inscription that a vendor etched into the serial numbers of weapon scopes, Fox News has learned.Soldiers at Fort Wainwright in Alaska told Fox News they received a directive to turn in their scopes so the Bible references could be removed.The scopes were made by Trijicom and referenced New Testament passages in John 8:12 and Second Corinthians 4:6. The verses appeared at the end of the scope serial numbers – “JN8:12” and “2COR4:6.”“The biblical verse (JN8:12) must be removed utilizing a Dremel type tool and then painted black,” read instructions on...

Mr. O’Reilly, You consistently challenge your guests to “tell me where I am wrong”. Well, you are wrong on the homosexual marriage issue in a number of areas.

It’s an old gospel song: Just like a tree planted by the water, I shall not be moved. But if you’re the magnolia tree the president of the United States planted today in Jerusalem, there’s a chance you might be moved. Obama planted a tree on Wednesday in Israeli President Shimon Peres’s Jerusalem garden. It’s a gift for a man Obama said has planted “the seeds of progress, the seeds of security, the seeds of peace — all the seeds that have helped not only Israel grow but also the relationship between our two nations grow.”

In his first congressional hearing as secretary of State, John Kerry tells lawmakers that, after the Benghazi attacks, the US must fortify security for diplomats, press for a two-state solution in the Middle East. Seven months after the deadly terrorist attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, the State Department is proposing hundreds of millions of dollars in new security spending – tacit acknowledgement that some of the most effective security enhancements for America’s overseas diplomats are still months or years away. Secretary of State John Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday that the department’s proposed fiscal...

President Shimon Peres said on Monday that he does not regret the Oslo Accords, despite the fact that their signing brought about hundreds of Israeli victims who were killed in terror attacks.Speaking in an interview with the Walla website, on the occasion of Israel’s 65th Independence Day, Peres said that terrorist attacks against Jews had taken place long before the signing of the Oslo Accords. “There were terror victims before the Oslo Accords. Before the Accords there was only one Palestinian camp and that camp supported terrorism. Now we have two camps, and one camp is against terrorism and in...

A thoughtful pastor’s teaching on what the Apostle Paul says about homosexual behavior in his letter to the Romans Homosexuality is the most vivid form of that breakdown. God and man in covenant worship are represented by male and female in covenant sexual union. Therefore, when man turns from God to images of himself, God hands us over to what we have chosen and dramatizes it by male and female turning to images of themselves for sexual union, namely their own sex. Homosexuality is the judgment of God dramatizing the exchange of the glory of God for images of ourselves.

In his speech to members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, Pope Francis said “the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures cannot be only an individual scientific effort, but must always confront itself with, be inserted within and authenticated by the living tradition of the Church” The speech given by Francis to members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission this morning followed faithfully in the footsteps of his predecessor Benedict XVI teaching. Members of the Commission – scholars and theologians from all over the world gathered under the leadership of the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Mgr. Gerhard...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic faith is not centered simply on a book -- the Bible -- but on Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh, Pope Francis said. "The sacred Scriptures are a written testimony to the divine Word," which came before the Bible and exceeds it, the pope said April 12 during a meeting with members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, an international body of scholars that advises the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Commission members met at the Vatican April 9-12 to conclude work on a document about inspiration and truth in the...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu indicated on Wednesday, at his press conference with President Barack Obama, that Israel is "fully committed" to resolving the decades-long conflict with the Arabs with a solution which involves two states for two peoples. During the joint news conference, Netanyahu said the U.S. president's historic visit presented "an opportunity to try and find a way to advance peace" with the Palestinian Authority. "My new government was sworn in two days ago. I know there have been questions regarding what the policy of the new government will be towards peace with the Palestinians,” said Netanyahu. “So let...

One of Scotland’s councils has just implemented a boycott of Israel after comparing the country to apartheid South Africa. The Clackmannanshire Council declared it would resist all economic and political support for Israel in order to “end suffering in Palestine”. In Scotland, once known as the only European country which has no history of state persecution of Jews, a region is officially dedicated to the eradication of the Jewish State as a malevolent, “settler” and foreign entity. Last year, the Scottish University of Dundee banned water from Eden Springs on the campus, because—it claimed—“it steals water from the Salukia spring...

And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he...

This weekend, an email written by Ron Trowbridge, the undersheriff of Prowers County, Colorado, started sweeping some of the viral corners of the internet. It alleges that a Colorado State Police training encouraged law enforcement officials to look at Bible-believing Christians with intense skepticism. At first glance, the startling allegations in the letter, which was first posted on the conservative site Red Statements, were seemingly unbelievable. But TheBlaze reached out to Trowbridge to confirm that he wrote the note and to speak further about its contents. In sum, the undersheriff said that he, indeed, wrote it and that the version...

One hundred Russian Jewish notables urged Benjamin Netanyahu to ignore recent pleas by American Jews calling on the Israeli prime minister to cede land for peace. In an open letter from Russia published Tuesday, the Russian Jews wrote that their message was a reaction to the April 3 letter initiated by the dovish Israel Policy Forum by 100 American Jews, including philanthropists Charles Bronfman, Danny Abraham, Lester Crown and Stanley Gold, and former U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Dov Zakheim. Among the signers of the Russian letter were the president of the Russian Jewish Congress, Yuri Kanner, and businessman Mikhail Fridman,...

Believing the truth about hell also motivates us to persuade people to be reconciled to God. By God’s grace those of us who are trusting Christ have been rescued from this horrible destiny. How can we love people and refuse to speak plainly to them about the realities of eternal damnation and God’s gracious provision of salvation? Clearer visions of hell will give us greater love for both God and people. “There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ’s moral character, and that is that He believed in hell.” So wrote the agnostic British philosopher Bertrand Russell...

WASHINGTON (BP) -- Scripture has had a tremendous influence on the rights of citizens throughout American history, two historians said at a recent Washington, D.C., forum. "The Bible permeated both private expressions and the public announcements of those who shaped the new nation and its political institutions," said Daniel Dreisbach, an author and a law professor at American University. The Founding Fathers were not as religiously conventional as history textbooks make them out to be, he said. "The Bible's influence is not merely ignored in the scholarship; rather, many scholars contend that the leading founders -- influenced by rationalism, the...

In the last few years the phrase “Bucket List� has come into the American lexicon. A bucket list is a list of things to accomplish before you die. There is some sort of TV show related to this that I have never seen, but from the few snips I have seen, it is mostly about frivolous, even unpleasant stuff.But for the Christian the Scriptures announce a number of things that we well ought to have either done or have up and running long before we die. Our goal is to die in an act of loving God, to die in...

Featured Term (selected at random):BOOK OF JUDGES The seventh book of the Bible, thus called because it relates the events surrounding the temporary leaders of Israel called "Judges." This represents the period between the death of Joshua and the days of Samuel. The purpose of the author is especially to illustrate the fact of divine Providence, that apostasy is always punished and that loyalty to God is always rewarded. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

St Paul speaks about homosexuality three timesKeep reading to learn what he says... One afternoon while ministering to the homeless in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, I fell into a conversation with a stranger about religion, which eventually led to the subject of Christ. Without hesitating, he came right out and said, “I’m a gay Christian.� After he admitted to being an active homosexual, he added, “I have studied the whole Bible and nowhere does it teach that homosexuality is a sin.�  I countered his claim, but the conversation became understandably awkward. Since then, I’ve met others who believe that...

Mark Burnett's "The Bible" miniseries concluded this past Sunday with strong ratings, attracting 11.7 million viewers, 14 percent higher than its previous week of 10.3 million viewers. "The Bible" miniseries' great success resulted in the History Channel being the top cable network, both in total viewership and with adults ages 25 to 54, for the month of March. The episode's finale, which featured Jesus' crucifixion, death, and resurrection aptly on March 31, Easter Sunday, received 3.8 million viewers among adults ages 18 to 49 and 4.6 million viewers among adults ages 25 to 54, according to Nielsen ratings. As Deadline...

About one in four Americans suspect that President Barack Obama might be the antichrist, more than a third believe that global warming is a hoax and more than half suspect that a secretive global elite is trying to set up a New World Order, according to a poll released on Tuesday.

PRAESTANTIA SCRIPTURAE Motu proprio of Our Most Holy Lord Pius X., by Divine Providence Pope, on the decisions of the Pontifical Commission on the Bible and on the censures and penalties against those who neglect to observe the prescriptions against the errors of the modernists: In his encyclical letter "Providentissimus Deus," given on November 18, 1893, our predecessor, Leo XIII, of immortal memory, after describing the dignity of Sacred Scripture and commending the study of it, set forth the laws which govern the proper study of the Holy Bible; and having proclaimed the divinity of these books against the errors...

Q: Okay, so what is the Christian account of how revelation occurred?As Elmer Fudd might say, “Vewy, vewy swowly.” Divine revelation didn’t happen in a blinding flash—such as God dropping the Summa Theologiae on top of a mountain and waiting for people to invent the Latin language so they could read it. (Though He could have given them magical spectacles that would translate it for them….) It seems that God preferred to slowly unfold His personality and His will for us through the course of tangled, messy human history. We might wonder why, and call up the divine customer service...

Bill O’Reilly tonight responded to criticisms from the right over his commentary last week that gay marriage opponents need to do more than just “thump the Bible” if they want to win the argument. After a Talking Points Memo largely focused on mocking liberal media attempts to gin up a feud between himself and Rush Limbaugh, O’Reilly brought on Laura Ingraham, who actually told O’Reilly he was wrong in saying what he said. O’Reilly was stunned with Ingraham, shouting over her and telling her “I’m disappointed in you.” RELATED: Conservative Radio Host: Bill O’Reilly’s Mockery Of Gay Marriage Opponents A...

Last week, I gave 12 examples of how religious liberty has been assaulted in just the past two years in the U.S. Here are about two dozen more instances just for good measure, as reported by the Family Research Council, the office of Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., and various media outlets. --The following public institutions recently have joined the growing ranks of those that have banned the use of the word "Easter" in order to diminish or eliminate references to religion: East Meadow School District in New York, Prospect Heights Public Library in Illinois, Heritage Elementary School in Alabama,...

...The Bible’s Place in Society If the Bible has such resonance with television viewers, then it stands to reason the awareness of the Christian Scriptures is high in America. And indeed, nearly nine out of ten (88%) Americans actually own a Bible. Despite such a high number, that’s declined since 1993, though only slightly, when 92% of Americans owned a Bible. On average, American Bible owners have 3.5 Bibles in their home, and one-quarter of Bible owners (24%) have six or more.In terms of demographic breakdowns, about eight out of ten (79%) Mosaics (people aged 18-28) own a Bible, compared...

I offer the single most politically incorrect statement a modern American — indeed a modern Westerner, period — can make: I look first to the Bible for moral guidance and for wisdom. I say this even though I am not a Christian (I am a Jew, and a non-Orthodox one at that). And I say this even though I attended an Ivy League graduate school (Columbia), where I learned nothing about the Bible except that it was irrelevant, outdated, and frequently immoral. I say this because there is nothing — not any other work, religious or secular, or body of...

Mark Burnett and Roma Downey have made headlines numerous times over the past few months with their epic series “The Bible” on the History Channel. TheBlaze has covered the show in detail, most recently providing an look inside a fascinating Bible exhibit that accompanies it. Tonight, the five-part series comes to a close, appropriately concluding with Jesus’ death and resurrection. While the series has been monumentally successful, some critics have pointed to historical inaccuracies they believe are present. Now, before critics of the show get too excited over these claims, there’s much to consider. The exclusions and changes, it appears,...

Here’s a little piece I did a few years back on why I think it obvious the Resurrection really happened. Exalted Felicitations of the Day!I’m told the latest trend among professional atheists, who read each other but not actual New Testament scholarship except from the hothouse of court prophets for atheism like Bob Price and Bart Ehrman, is that Jesus is a “composite�. It’s unclear what this means, but I take it that they think the authors of the New Testament dug through the Old Testament for random verses and then invented incidents in the life of Jesus in order...

Television watchers across the country are glomming on to an unlikely megahit: the History Channel’s 10-hour retelling of stories from the Bible. To the disbelief of Hollywood executives, viewers are shunning a lineup that includes “Revenge” and “The Mentalist” to watch another telling of the greatest story ever told. During its first three weeks, the miniseries produced by reality-show producer Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey, the star of “Touched By an Angel,” has drawn upward of 10 million viewers for each episode. That’s more, our critic Daniel Wattenberg reports, than anything aired by ABC or NBC during the...

The ratings have spoken — and they’re telling television producers that a six-hour, $20 million miniseries on Jesus of Nazareth will prove as great a success as the recent History channel production “The Bible.” “We believe the audience continues to have a hunger for life- and faith-affirming films,” said Michael Landon Jr., who is writing and producing the “Jesus of Nazareth” series with Brian Bird for Brad Krevoy’s MPCA, the Hollywood Reporter says. “The monumental success of Mark Burnett and Roma Downey’s ‘The Bible’ just underscores that.” Showtime is trying to cash in on spiritual fever, too, with “The Vatican,”...

Thanks to the "The Bible" mini-series that has exposed the story of Jesus' life to the nation, He is getting his own mini-series to come. The handsome and gracious Jesus in "The Bible" may have altered some viewers' take on the most influential man who has ever walked on earth, and now, with the newfound spotlight, He may appear on the TV screen more often than before...

While The History Channel's miniseries "The Bible" continues to garner millions of viewers every week, one comedian has opted to poke fun at the program. Comedy Central satirist Stephen Colbert, known for his faux conservative program "The Colbert Report," had a segment Monday evening about the miniseries and its production team. "The Word of God, the story of all creation, doesn't really have the legs to sustain an entire series; unlike The History Channel's Big Shrimpin,'" quipped Colbert. He also talked about Roma Downey, co-producer of the miniseries, being cast for the role of the Virgin Mary. "Wow, I wonder...

There is an important “logion� (utterance) of Jesus on his way to the cross that speaks powerfully to this modern age of ours, and is fulfilled in a gruesome manner in our times.It is the word of Jesus to the women who lamented him as he made his way to Crucifixion:A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the...

 Today, the Monday of Holy Week, Father Steve Grunow shares his sermon about Isaiah, Christ, and the many complexities to a story that ultimately serve to simplify, redeem and illuminate. Our first reading for today is an excerpt from the Old Testament Book of the Prophet Isaiah. In this text, the prophet reveals a mysterious figure, which he names as the servant of the Lord. The servant of the Lord has been chosen by the God of Israel for a particular mission.  The mission of this servant is the restoration of Israel. The prophet Isaiah speaks the word of...

The television drama series based on the Bible and shown on the History Channel has amazed critics by garnering huge viewing figures across America and becoming the most surprising television hit of the year. Defying expectations that a simple retelling of Bible stories, including those of Adam and Eve, and Samson and Delilah, would not appeal to a modern audience, the 10-hour series has been making headlines and had more than 13 million viewers for its first episode. The Bible has consistently been the top-rated cable television programme on Sunday nights, and some reports estimate that 50million people have watched...