Free Republic

Unintended Consequences: How the “relevant” church and segregating youth is killing Christianity. I recently spent six-months doing a rotation as a hospital chaplain. One day I received a page (Yes, hospitals actually still use pagers). Chaplains are generally called to the rooms of people who look ill: People gray with kidney disease, or yellow with liver failure, discouraged amputees, nervous cancer patients. In this room, however, was a strikingly attractive 23 year-old young lady sitting up cheerfully in the hospital bed, holding her infant daughter and chatting with family and friends. Confused, I stepped outside and asked her nurse, “Why...

Science is the systematic application of a logico-empiricist method to look at and understand things, and was born in Christian Europe first with the Scholastic philosophy and then with Leonardo da Vinci, Francis Bacon and Galileo Galilei. The necessary foundation for scientific research is the belief in one God that created a universe regulated by immutable laws which can be understood by man exactly because God's mind and man's are similar except in extent. The Christian God is a person. Galileo famously talked about the "book of nature", that scientists try to read, being written by God. This is possible...

NASHVILLE (BP) -- The centrality of the doctrine of substitutionary atonement is being emphasized by Southern Baptist leaders after a state newspaper editor wrote that he does not sing certain words of a popular hymn due to its mention of God's wrath. Substitutionary atonement refers to the belief that Jesus died in the place of sinners, taking on Himself the wrath of God that they deserved. Bob Terry, editor of The Alabama Baptist, in an Aug. 8 editorial, paralleled the angst expressed by a Presbyterian Church USA hymnal committee in rejecting the song "In Christ Alone" because of the line...

A comprehensive demographic study of more than 200 countries finds that there are 2.18 billion Christians of all ages around the world, representing nearly a third of the estimated 2010 global population of 6.9 billion. Christians are also geographically widespread – so far-flung, in fact, that no single continent or region can indisputably claim to be the center of global Christianity. A century ago, this was not the case. In 1910, about two-thirds of the world’s Christians lived in Europe, where the bulk of Christians had been for a millennium, according to historical estimates by the Center for the Study...

[ . . . ] . . . Christian authorities need to stop thinking and writing as though the categories of homosexual and Christian can be joined—as though the Church could tolerate or accommodate, or speak gently of, much less bless or sanctify, anything peculiar to the garment stained by the flesh that those who come to Christ throw off in their baptism. In that baptism we become penitents, and as such divided from our sins. St. Paul tells us here that no penitent is to be named by, identified by, what he has abjured. Those injured people who have...

SAN ANTONIO --The talk of the Knights of Columbus convention here, which I attended as an invited speaker, were missionaries from the Philippines. The Marikina Valley Council in Luzon traveled by foot for an hour and a half, each way, to establish a relationship with an indigenous Dumagat tribe living in the remote mountains despite the physical and language challenges. Severo S. Del Rosario doesn't really understand what the big deal is. They were just doing what good Christian men do: helping, sharing their goods and skills and spreading their faith. Offerings of food and clothes -- the men and...

David Cameron yesterday confessed he found it a “little difficult” to follow Christ’s example and give all his possessions to the poor. Questioned about his religious beliefs, however, the Prime Minister described biblical teachings as “not a bad handbook” for life. …

A female CofE vicar yesterday insisted she has not sinned against God by putting an obscene bumper sticker reading 'WTFWJD' on the back of her car. The Reverend Alice Goodman stuck the sticker, standing for ‘What The F*** Would Jesus Do?', on the back of her red Subaru Legacy - sparking outrage from members of her parish. But the Reverend insists the sticker is harmless and even the former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams was happy to accept a lift in her car in the past. The sign - a play on the Christian motto ‘What Would Jesus Do?’...

AFP, Pristina Some fought as guerrillas during the bloody Balkans wars of the 1990s, battling powerful tanks and artillery. Others grew up under the influence of radical Islam that has gained ground in poverty-hit areas in the Balkan countries and regions populated by Muslims. Today, both experienced fighters and their younger followers are leaving the Balkans to join Syrian rebels on the front line. Many return home in body bags with their families often unaware they had even joined the fight. Migena Maliqaj, an Albanian, had not heard from her husband Halil since November, when he told her he was...

Transfiguration icon by Theophanes the Greek (15th c.). August 6th commemorates Christ’s transfiguration in glory on Mount Tabor. The Transfiguration is one of twelve major feasts on the Eastern Christian liturgical calendar. A major feast is the equivalent of a solemnity on the Roman calendar. A glimpse of this feast through the hymns and traditions of the East gives a fresh perspective on God’s plan of salvation for us. “My favorite part of this feast is singing the troparion,� says Robin Roxas of Morning Star Family Farm in Hartland, Wisconsin. Robin and his family of ten traveled an hour from...

RIVERSIDE (CBSLA.com) — Two Hemet church members who were arrested while reading the Bible outside a DMV office were expected to be in court when their trial begins Monday. Brett Anthony Coronado, 42, of Reconciled Christian Fellowship in Hemet, and Mark Allen Mackey, 59, a Calvary Chapel Hemet church elder, visited the DMV at 1200 S. State Street on Feb. 2, 2011, before business hours and began to read passages from the Bible. After a security guard approached Mackey and instructed him to leave the premises, the men continued reading, claiming their First Amendment rights protected their actions and that...

Question: Does the OPC use the crucifix in the church? If not, are they opposed to it? Answer: Thank you for your question. The answer is, so far as I know, the crucifix is not used in OPC churches, and here is why: 1.The Second Commandment (Ex. 20:4-6 and Deut. 5:8-10) forbids any picture or image of God, and that would include the Son of God, even as man. At any rate we do not know what Jesus looked like as there is no physical description of him. 2.The crucifix will always end up being an object of worship—regarded as...

Christians are less likely than atheists to be promoted to top jobs, official figures show. Nearly a quarter of people with no religious belief live in homes headed by someone with a senior executive position or a job in one of the professions. However, well under a fifth of Christians work in the best-paid and most influential jobs or are married to someone who does. … Barrister Andrea Minichiello Williams, a member of the Church of England’s General Synod, said: “If you hold views that are contrary to the prevailing orthodoxy, you are seen as potential trouble. This is a...

Christianity is not just about being happy and feeling good and being liked by others What’s at the root of this movement to back away from moral issues? Here’s what I think is the problem. When you advocate for moral causes like protecting the unborn, or school choice, or freeing the slaves, a bunch of people are not going to like you. Christians in the time of Jesus knew that being bold about their Christian convictions would make a lot of people think bad things about them – they expected it. But young evangelicals have gotten the idea that being...

Archeologists conducting excavations at the site of a church in Turkey have unearthed a stone chest containing a relic that may be part of the cross on which Jesus was crucified. The items were discovered during a large-scale excavation at the Balatlar Church, which was built in A.D. 660 near the Black Sea, Today's Zaman reported. Professor Gülgün Köroğlu, an associate professor at Turkey's Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University and excavation leader, told the newspaper the artifacts are linked to Jesus' crucifixion.

The Torah portion of Re’eh is in the Book of Deuteronomy. History, religion and literature have many examples of good and bad leaders but it gets very murky when trying to figure out good or bad spiritual leaders. As in all domains, one man’s bread is another man’s poison. One person’s hero is another person’s villain. And in today’s age of the relativity of truth, where everything is relative, even the worst leaders can somehow be accepted as great by some people. Extreme left wingers who are personally atheists can accept religious leaders they find appealing and likewise fanatical right-wingers...

In the new, liberated Egypt, leading imam Abu Islam explains that Christianity originated in penis worship:...

MOSCOW, July 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised the role of Orthodox Christianity in the country’s history and congratulated the heads of the world’s Orthodox churches on the 1025th anniversary of the Christianization of Kievan Rus, a medieval state comprising parts of modern-day Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. “The adoption of Christianity became a turning point in the fate of our fatherland, made it an inseparable part of the Christian civilization and helped it turn into one of the largest world powers,” Putin said in a message addressed to participants of a commemorative celebration on Red...

Who is Jesus? Is He just a man? Is He just a Great Teacher? Is He just a Great Prophet, another in several sent by God over the centuries? The Biblical answer to these questions is found below. Some may believe that only the narrow-minded would not be ready to accept a universal Jesus; One popular with and accepted by all non-Christian religions. However this is not what the Bible teaches. True Belief in Christ allows room for none other. Let's look at the Scriptures and find out what the Biblical portrait of Jesus is. We learn Who Jesus is,...

MOSCOW, July 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised the role of Orthodox Christianity in the country’s history and congratulated the heads of the world’s Orthodox churches on the 1025th anniversary of the Christianization of Kievan Rus, a medieval state comprising parts of modern-day Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. “The adoption of Christianity became a turning point in the fate of our fatherland, made it an inseparable part of the Christian civilization and helped it turn into one of the largest world powers,” Putin said in a message addressed to participants of a commemorative celebration on Red...

The rights of religious minorities, including Christians, are being infringed all over the planet and humanity must take measures to stop such instances, Vladimir Putin said at the meeting with Orthodox Christian leaders in Moscow. “In many of the World’s regions, especially in the Middle East and in North Africa inter-confessional tensions are mounting and the rights of religious minorities are infringed, including Christians and Orthodox Christians,” the Russian President noted, adding that such conflicts could lead to the most serious consequences. Putin called for immediate measures to prevent such situations. He added that Russia has tremendous experience in reaching...

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit commemorative events in Ukraine dedicated to the celebration of the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. The visit will take place on July 27-28. The head of the Department for Relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox community Kirill Frolov shared his comments on Putin's upcoming trip with Pravda.Ru. "Vladimir Putin's route coincides with the route of his divine patron, Equal to the Apostles Saint Prince Vladimir. The president will first visit key celebrations. July 27 will be the day for the historic prayer, to be attended by the leaders...

One of the key elements in any contest is to understand the tactics of your opponent and to recognize the subtleties of the strategy or moves they may employ. In the spiritual battle of life we need to develop some sophistication in recognizing, naming, and understanding the subtleties of common tactics of the Devil.A 2011 book by Fr. Louis Cameli, The Devil You Don’t Know is of great assistance in this matter. Having read it recently, I think it would be of value to reflect on four broad categories of the Devil’s tactics that Fr. Cameli analyzes.While the four...

Here’s an ugly truth you can drop in the punchbowl at your next office party – most Western men and women, including many who consider themselves conventionally religious, treat human beings as subhuman. They accept without reflection theories of human life that reduce us to brainy animals, or let us play at being gods. These theories render suffering meaningless and train us to live as cowards; they teach us to despise the weak but train us in habits of laziness and avoidance; they speak the language of progress while in fact encouraging the lowest of human instincts; they claim to...

A new global Christianity report predicts that there will be 2.6 billion Christians by 2020, with most of the growth expected in the global South while Christianity continues to decline in the global North. The study conducted by U.S.-based Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary titled, "Christianity In Its Global Context, 1970-2010", offers a timely overview of the changing context of Christianity since 1970, while looking forward to 2020. The data in the study also details the religious and social contexts of each of the 21 United Nations regions and the changes that will...

Frederic C. Rich's speculative novel "Christian Nation" is about the rise of an authoritarian theocracy in the United States. The author's disclaimer calls the book a "warning" and not a prediction. But as the book's cover says, in a twist on the Sinclair Lewis novel, "It could happen here."The book opens in 2029. Greg, an ambitious lawyer who also serves as the tale's narrator, has been asked to write his memories of the circumstances and events that led to the nation's condition. Greg is a college student in 1998 when the memoir begins. At that point, he isn't too concerned...

What if George Zimmerman had approached his “neighborhood watch mission” carrying Christ’s parable of the Good Samaritan in his heart? Did Zimmerman’s concept of “who is my neighbor?” correspond to Christ’s? What if foremost in Zimmerman’s mind had been Christ’s message of “blessed are” the meek, the peacemakers, the merciful? What if he had had the courage and wisdom to remember the Bible’s many admonitions to “fear not” and cheerfully engage Trayvon in conversation, giving the young man a chance to show his attitude without being put on the defensive? While the jury’s outcome may be in line with current...

The following dreck appeared in the opinion section of the July 2nd, 2013 edition of The Miami Herald : *** "With the Supreme Court’s historic rulings on DOMA and Proposition 8, as well as the generational shift on civil marriage equality, it is clear that same-sex marriage will one day be a reality in Florida and the rest of the nation. It’s just a question of time. Until then, religious justifications and definitions of marriage will continue to be used in opposition to civil same-sex marriage. Less than 50 years ago, similar religious and moral justifications for prohibiting civil interracial...

She is a political analyst, blogger, columnist and commentator. She is a Democrat who regularly contributes to USA Today, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, Fox News and the Wall Street Journal among other publications. She formerly served under the Clinton administration from 1993-1998 and was appointed Deputy Assistant U.S Trade Representative for Public Affairs. In an interview with Focus on the Family, she shares how she converted from atheism to Christianity. She said: “I was not looking to be a Christian. The last thing in the world I wanted to be was a Christian. I had grown up as an Episcopalian,...

Today is the 504th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin (July 10, 1509) — and the 497th anniversary of misunderstanding Calvinists. To commemorate the event, let’s look at a recent notable example provided by The Economist. The article is out-datedly titled, “Dippers divided� and the subhead is “Where evangelicals disagree.� Where evangelicals disagree, apparently, is on whether to maintain, the “theocon� alliance in American politics between Catholics and evangelicals, who have set aside their doctrinal differences (over the Virgin Mary, for example) to take a joint stand against abortion and in favour of the traditional family. What could be...

Wake up, conservatives -- and Christians. We're getting our rear ends handed to us, and we'll continue to if we don't do a better job of fighting back. I'm not just talking about electoral politics. Liberal and secular activist groups are as aggressive as ever and winning, energized and enabled by this most radical of administrations -- and equally so by deer-in-the-headlights conservatives. The latest episode in this particular series of unfortunate events involves the Y's rolling over to the relentless bullying of pro-abortion activists to evict Students for Life of America from its facilities. These self-depicted arbiters of tolerance...

[ . . . ] ". . . But I’m even more concerned for what this means for the church in America. Dr. Russell Moore made a statementthat bears repeating: In another sense, though, the marginalization of conjugal marriage in American culture has profound implications for our gospel witness. First of all, marriage isn’t incidental to gospel preaching. There’s a reason why persons don’t split apart like amoebas. We were all conceived in the union between a man and a woman. Beyond the natural reality, the gospel tells us there’s a cosmic mystery (Eph. 5:32). God designed the one-flesh union...

The worldwide rise in anti-Christian persecution is not often noted by the MSM, but that doesn’t make it any less deadly. This week two new stories of persecution hit the web. Christianity Today reports that Hindu extremists broke into a Christian prayer meeting in India and beat up the attendees with clubs and iron rods. The attackers accused the pastors of using force and coercion to convert Indians to Christianity, an accusation the pastors vigorously deny. And in Syria, Fr. François Murad became the latest victim of rebel militas, some of whom are systematically targeting Christians for persecution and death....

There is a clear and present danger to religious liberty within the military, says a coalition of groups who believe the Obama Administration is pushing a secular, anti-religious culture on the nation’s armed forces. “Christians who choose to live out their faith find themselves incompatible with the secular view of this administration,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. “We’re establishing a beach head for religious liberty and the evidence points to a very deliberate attack.” Representatives of 14 groups concerned about religious liberty joined Reps. John Fleming R-La., Jim Bridenstine R-Okla., and Louie Gohmert R-Tex. on Capitol...

MOSCOW, July 8 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian satellite TV channel devoted to Orthodox Christianity plans to go national to promote its conservative agenda, as part of a Kremlin push to counter the liberal opposition and bolster Russia’s traditional institutions, a Russian daily reported Monday. Launched in 2005, Spas (Savior) TV has been endorsed by the increasingly powerful Russian Orthodox Church and claims to have an audience of about 10 million households in Russia. But the channel has widely been criticized for its unexciting programming and recycling of old shows. Funded from donations from Orthodox businessmen, it features talk shows...

The St. Louis Cardinals general manager ordered a cross carved into the pitcher’s mound to be removed following a fan complaining about the religious symbol to local newspapers. Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak asked the grounds crew to remove the cross and not to put the religious symbol on the mound again after learning of the practice from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It’s not just club policy to be putting religious symbols on the playing field or throughout the ballpark,” Mozeliak told the Post-Dispatch. “I didn’t ask for the reason behind it. I just asked for it to stop.”

Holy war can seem like something that happened long ago or that happens far away — the Crusades of medieval Europe, for example, or jihadists fighting secular forces today. But since their country’s founding, Americans have often thought of their wars as sacred, even when the primary objectives have been political. This began with the American Revolution. When colonists declared their independence on July 4, 1776, religious conviction inspired them. Because they believed that their cause had divine support, many patriots’ ardor was both political and religious. They saw the conflict as a just, secular war, but they fought it...

Pope Francis has paid tribute to his predecessor Benedict XVI in his first letter to clergy, acknowledging that most of it was written by Benedict. The encyclical to Roman Catholic bishops, called Light of Faith ("Lumen Fidei" in Latin), speaks of faith as a beacon of hope for those who suffer... ... the document says that modern society tends only to accept the truths of technology and science. In a passage relating to faith and family life, the Pope restates the Church's opposition to gay marriage.

Here is Star Parker’s commentary: Supreme Court ruling is the latest in a long process of the unraveling of American culture driven by pride — the sense that we answer to no higher authority. The Book of Proverbs, part of biblical canon, once a vital part of American culture, tells us: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” It’s this haughty spirit, this pride that precedes destruction, that lies behind the Supreme Court’s decision last week to bury the Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA defined marriage, for purposes of federal law, as traditional marriage — the union...

The McCain/Palin ticket lost in 2008, right? Fiction can change that. ”Christian Nation” is a new novel from lawyer Fred Rich that wonders what would happen if the Republican ticket won in 2008. But Rich goes even further than that, plotting a would-be Palin presidency after McCain passes away in the novel. And although it’s fiction, Rich is dead serious about what a Palin presidency would mean for the country. As the title suggest, Rich is concerned about how religious extremists on the right could upend society. “If somebody like Sarah Palin, who holds so firmly to this conviction that...

Looks like that many Christians forgot that Russian Orthodox Church was and is controlled by KGB. Their priests were and are KGB agents. Yes, they want to conquer world, not with Russian Christianity but with long range planned Russian Communism which they exported successfully with Communist religion "Theory of Evolution" to the West. Now they are pretending that they are good guys with their phony Christianity. Wolf change clothing but never his nature and useful idiots getting hooked on this Putin's "Christianity" hoax. Lenin, the founder of the first Communist state, put it simply: "First we will take Eastern Europe,...

It's something most Christian parents worry about: You send your kids off to college and when they come back, you find they've lost their faith. The prospect of this happening is why many parents nudge their kids towards Christian colleges, or at least schools with a strong Christian presence on campus. But in many ways, the damage has been done long before our children set foot on campus. That's the message from a recent article in the Atlantic Monthly. My friend Larry Taunton of the Fixed Point Foundation set out to find out why so many young Christians lose their...

Turn or Burn A Sermon No. 106 Delivered on Sabbath Morning, December 7, 1856, by the REV. C.H. SPURGEON at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens. “If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow and made it ready.”—Psalm 7:12. IF THE SINNER turn not, God will whet his sword.” So, then, God has a sword, and he will punish man on account of his iniquity. This evil generation hath laboured to take away from God the sword of his justice; they have endeavoured to prove themselves that God will “clear the guilty,” and will...

Let’s imagine for a moment that you find yourself in a difficult position — one that has led to abject panic about your future career, the fate of a valued relationship, or whether you’ll even be able to make ends meet. Let’s also stipulate that your difficulty is largely your fault. You made some short-sighted, bad decisions that precipitated the crisis, but questions of responsibility are moot now — all that exists is the crisis, the stress that has overtaken your life. To be sure, there’s a way forward, a way out of the crisis, but even the most attractive...

Battle of Kosovo 1389 / Adam Stefanovic, 1870-1871 Niti cemo se pokoriti, niti ukloniti!(We shall neither submit, nor yield!)...For Serbs, scattered over the central, northern, and western Balkans, living in 2 independent Serbian states born through revolutions and wars during the 19th century, as well as subjected to the Ottoman and Habsburg rule, Vidovdan embodied their "historical memory." ...Generations of Serbs and historians divided the national past into 2 periods: before and after the Kosovo Battle. Later, following the birth and ascendancy of the modern Serbian state in the 19th and 20th centuries, 3 kinds of traditions emerged: the old...

Google image search on 'Russian churches' (ру��кие церкви)... A few examples:

If you ever wonder why the weasel west media always calls Putin a dictator or demonizes him, just look at what has been happening recently. By watching the US news last week one would think all of America has turned gay with the Supreme Court ruling on married same-sex couples. The New York Times called it a, "major victories for the gay rights movement". Some even compare it to racial equality. If Putin was the dictator the West claims, the new law that defends Christianity would have been in effect immediately after the pussy riot blasphemy which happened last year....

While poorly decided U.S. Supreme Court cases are a dime a dozen, prior to last Wednesday, two stood out among the most wretched and constitutionally groundless in American History. First was the 1857 Dred Scott decision. Among other things, it robbed African-Americans of both their U.S. citizenship and their dignity. Next came the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade. It has robbed over 55 million U.S. citizens of their very lives. For the first time in American history, the high court imagined a phantom constitutional right for women to dismember alive their own pre-born children. Both of these cases are...

The Remains of Saint Lazar at Ravanica Monastery Saint Lazar the Great Martyr of KosovoPrince Lazar was born in 1329 in Prilepac to the aristocrat family Hrebeljanovic. His father Pribac was a Logotet-secretary doing very confidential work for King Dusan the Powerful in the royal palace. Young Lazar was raised in the palace, and was respected by the King who entrusted him with the rule of two parts of his kingdom: Srem and Macva. Lazar married Milica the daughter of an important aristocrat named Vratko also known as Yug Bogdan - a very wise and honorable man from the Nemanjic...

Obama’s war on the Christian religion, particularly the Catholic variety, has claimed another casualty in the Middle East. The Vatican confirmed that “Syrian priest François Murad was killed in Gassanieh, in northern Syria, in the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land where he had taken refuge.… According to local sources, the monastery where Fr. Murad was staying was attacked by militants linked to the jihadi group Jabhat al-Nusra.” A graphic video of unknown origin- linked below- shows a crowd of Islamic militants gathered in a circle around three men kneeling on the ground. Many of the onlookers were...