http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:leenfield/ en-us Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:59:29 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2436956/posts Last Sunday we drove up to Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in Orange County, a collection of affluent, politically conservative suburbs south of LA. The model of a modern megachurch, Saddleback boasts over 112,000 "unchurched occasional attenders" as ... Guardian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2436956/posts#comment Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:59:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2430790/posts I've concluded that the typical evangelical funeral can go quite a ways to making a person an atheist. I've also concluded that the church needs to reclaim the fundamental truth that Christianity is primarily for dying. Not primarily for living, but for dying; and because it is primarily about preparing to die, it has something profound to offer about living. Funerals need to rediscover death and thus once again have something to say to the living. Before looking at the causes of the death of the funeral, a true confession about a funeral--oops, sorry, a celebration of life--I recently attended.... Modern Reformation http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2430790/posts#comment Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:53:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2395197/posts Since most of us have grown up with the Thanksgiving Holiday it is easy for us to assume that this is the way things are and should be but it has not always been so nor is it necessarily so. The American Thanksgiving holiday is the result of a series of presidential proclamations. It became a federal holiday in mid-20th century. The apostolic churches in the first century, however, experienced no such national or official affirmation of their faith. The Apostle Peter called the Christians of Asia Minor “strangers and exiles” (1 Pet 2:11). Indeed they were. They had much... Heidelblog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2395197/posts#comment Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:13:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2251069/posts The Ditch Carp of DemocracyP. J. O'RourkeWe live in democracies. Rule by the majority. Rule by the people. Fifty per cent of people are below average in intelligence. This explains everything about politics..... Canberra Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2251069/posts#comment Thu, 14 May 2009 20:56:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2156262/posts ISRA is proud to sponsor Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day for 2009 All Illinois gun owners are invited to join in Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day (IGOLD) in Springfield in 2009. This is an annual event where everyone goes to lobby` their representatives in the Illinois House and Senate. The ISRA is partnering with local and internet organizations in Illinois to increase attendance and make a bigger & better impression in Springfield. The other participating organizations are Illinois Carry and Champaign County Rifle Assoc. Get your local organization involved as well!We will meet at the Prairie Capitol Convention Center -... Illinois State Rifle Association http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2156262/posts#comment Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:54:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2129759/posts Over the past several days, since the recent general election, I have received countless despairing e-messages from individuals who are certain that the ascendency of Barack H. Obama to the Presidency of the United States represents the end of America, the end of democracy, the end of history, the end of the world, or some combination of the above. You may feel that way, yourself. I certainly have, from moment to moment, but despair is not my chosen mode of existence, and I have spent those moments trying to figure out how to get my family and myself through the... Libertarian Enterprise http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2129759/posts#comment Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:22:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2103963/posts Orange County's latest murders reflect an alarming trend for law enforcement: urban firefights with dozens of shots fired. The shooters in Tuesday night's double killing outside a Pine Hills apartment complex emptied two AK-47s into the victims and fled, discarding the assault rifles, two handguns and a shotgun. Orlando Sentinal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2103963/posts#comment Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:03:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2087162/posts I believe that the Lord laid this word of direction and affirmation on my heart: "My children, put all fear of the future aside and know above all else that you will be led by Me. Know and understand that you will be shown the way. "I have covenant blessings to release and now is the appointed time. New treasures and new authority are found on new roads of surrender. Those who climb mountains only travel with that which is necessary to succeed; they travel as lightly as possible and only with the essentials. ... elijahlist http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2087162/posts#comment Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:22:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2043158/posts On June 6, Martin Burnham, an American missionary, died in a battle between his Islamic kidnappers and Filipino troops sent to rescue him. Burnham, thus, becomes the newest member of what the Te Deum, an ancient hymn, calls "the white-robe army of the martyrs" -- an army that, according to a recent estimate, is a staggering 70 million strong. But what's even more staggering is that, according to the same estimate, 45 million, or two-thirds of all Christian martyrs, died in the twentieth century. These estimates are contained in a new book, The New Persecuted: Inquiries into Anti-Christian Intolerance in... Crosswalk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2043158/posts#comment Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:09:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034507/posts http://www.illinoiscarry.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034507/posts#comment Sat, 21 Jun 2008 23:04:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027750/posts PROVO, UTAH -- For years, Kevin Jensen carried a pistol everywhere he went, tucked in a shoulder holster beneath his clothes. In hot weather the holster was almost unbearable. Pressed against Jensen's skin, the firearm was heavy and uncomfortable. Hiding the weapon made him feel like a criminal. Then one evening he stumbled across a site that urged gun owners to do something revolutionary: Carry your gun openly for the world to see as you go about your business. ..... L A Times (!!) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027750/posts#comment Sun, 8 Jun 2008 01:43:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1998214/posts deviantart.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1998214/posts#comment Tue, 8 Apr 2008 00:38:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1990099/posts During this season, which many Christians call “Holy Week,” I am perversely drawn to Saturday. Perhaps it is because the Saturday between “Good” Friday and Resurrection Day is, for others a sort of relief. For them it is a day off from the relentless grieving and guilt associated with Lent— at least for those who take the Roman faith seriously. For others “Holy Saturday” becomes business as usual or, at best, the last day to buy and sell before Easter. Heidelblog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1990099/posts#comment Sun, 23 Mar 2008 01:22:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1988043/posts The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod's Board of Communications suddenly pulled the plug today on our friends @ Issues, Etc. Both Rev. Todd Wilkens and his producer Jeff Schwarz, were both let go without advance notice. Riddleblog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1988043/posts#comment Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:15:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1902113/posts Yes and yes. No, it's not in the Scofield Reference or Ryrie Study Bibles. It seems that some of our dispensational friends have yet to read the memo. See this example sent to me a by a friend. This writer, whom I do not know, claims that folk such as we talk about the apostolic hermeneutic and claim to be able to replicate it but never say what it is. One throws up one's hands in amazement and wonder. The Heidelblog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1902113/posts#comment Wed, 26 Sep 2007 00:31:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1882332/posts The Rt. Rev. Peter Jensen, Australia's Archbishop of Sydney, is making headlines for denying a heretic access to the pulpits of the churches under his care. The heretic is the retired bishop of Newark, New Jersey, The Rt. Rev. John Shelby Spong -- a man who has denied virtually every major Christian doctrine. Albert Mohler.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1882332/posts#comment Fri, 17 Aug 2007 01:43:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1836431/posts Rick Warren: “Any church that fails to fulfill the five purposes...is not really a church!” by Chris RosebroughYes you read that headline correctly. That is a quote from Rick Warren in Mark Kelly’s latest spin piece for Saddleback entitled “Seven myths about ‘Purpose Driven’” The piece itself has two wildly surreal statements in it, that if you consider what is really being said, ought to make you question the entire ‘Purpose Driven’ church concept. The first is a quote from Rick Warren himself: Rick Warren says: “The five purposes of the church commanded by Jesus in the Great Commandment and... Extreme Theology http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1836431/posts#comment Sat, 19 May 2007 20:37:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1785100/posts PRINCETON, N.J. -- Bruce Manning Metzger, professor emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary and an authority on Greek manuscripts of the Bible, has died at age 93. AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1785100/posts#comment Thu, 15 Feb 2007 03:35:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1781039/posts Americans know in their heart of hearts they're going to die but they don't like to admit it. It's a mark of our post-Christianity that this culture is so obsessed with youth and beauty. Most folk don't die at home anymore. Many folk have never seen a dead person. We go away to antiseptic hospital rooms to die and are boxed up and delivered to the funeral home and, in many cases, (even the "open casket" seems to be disappearing) never seen again. It wasn't so in the 16th century. Death as a routine part of life. Life expectancy was... The Heidelblog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1781039/posts#comment Thu, 8 Feb 2007 01:52:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1674468/posts Leon Lamb Morris was perhaps Australia’s most prolific biblical and theological author. He wrote over fifty books of theology and biblical commentary which have sold nearly two million copies worldwide and been translated into many languages. This is an astonishing output for an Australian writing technical or academic books. He was well-known throughout the Christian world as a careful, conservative biblical scholar. Extraordinarily, Morris received no formal theological education, apart from two years of supervision for his doctorate in Cambridge. He was self-taught theologian who brought his rigorous and disciplined training in scientific enquiry to his study of the Bible... Anglican Media Melbourne http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1674468/posts#comment Sun, 30 Jul 2006 02:36:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1651728/posts The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), severely split over homosexuality, would maintain its ban on gay clergy but allow some leeway in enforcing it under a proposal headed to a national assembly vote on Tuesday. A key committee, which divided 30-28, proposed keeping on the books a church law mandating that lay officeholders as well as all clergy restrict sexual activity to heterosexual marriage. But another bill would give local congregations and regional "presbyteries" leeway on whether to require that rule in all cases. . . . Another bill that could prompt intense debate would encourage gender- neutral worship language for the... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1651728/posts#comment Mon, 19 Jun 2006 12:16:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1629123/posts JERUSALEM – Christians who support Israel are distorting their true faith, have adapted Satan as god and comprise the greatest danger to world peace, according to a senior Palestinian Authority cleric. The cleric, whose article on Christianity and Israel is posted on an official PA government website, also accuses Zionist Christians of persecuting Palestinians and directing the war in Iraq, and he calls for pro-Israeli Christian denominations to be expelled from the "world church." world net daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1629123/posts#comment Tue, 9 May 2006 12:43:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1516255/posts First Congregational Church has been on Main Street in the middle of the town of Ripon for almost 90 years. But what no one in the congregation knew was that the church had been sold for $500,000, and more than $450,000 was sent to a fraudulent bank account, according to authorities. The Rev. Randy Radic was arrested and faces charges of embezzlement and forgery. kcra.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1516255/posts#comment Sat, 5 Nov 2005 15:34:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1495296/posts To: K___ B_____ From: "Phillip R. Johnson" Subject: Cr--t-r?! Dear K_____, You wrote: > I serve M-ss--h in a Jewish > context. Hence the omission > of the vowels in the names > of G-d. You have my per- > mission to publish any part > of my messages you choose, > but I have one request: Please > do not edit my words so as to > add the letters I have omitted. > > Were my post to come into the > hands of a Jew, my credibility > with the community would be > suspect for writing... Pyromaniac blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1495296/posts#comment Sun, 2 Oct 2005 18:15:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1423934/posts A venerable Protestant denomination - at the behest of some of its conservative members - is preparing to vote next month on a measure declaring that Jesus Christ is the Lord, and making it mandatory for clergy to accept his divinity. It may seem like a slam dunk, but delegates for the 1.3 million-member United Church of Christ may reject the resolution. Several Bergen County pastors, who aren't delegates to the convention, said they expect the measure to fail. "Religiously speaking, it sounds like apple pie," said the Rev. Raymond Kostulias of the First Congregational Church of Park Ridge. "But... northjersey.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1423934/posts#comment Thu, 16 Jun 2005 12:16:56 GMT