http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/christians/ en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:50:00 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2416416/posts As soon as Muslims of Iraq did not have Saddam’s heavy hand to keep them in line, they did what Muslims across the world do, and that is persecute Christians. But as long as the Muslims there are happy, that is all that matters. Right? 1960 Christians killed in Iraq since 2003 – survey December 26, 2009 Logan's Warning http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2416416/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:50:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415695/posts While devoted activists from both sides of the gay marriage debate plot strategy for their next moves, Michael Glatze mostly watches from the sidelines. That's surprising to some: Just four years ago, Glatze was a practicing homosexual, a prominent gay activist, and editor of a national magazine for gay youth. Two years ago, he publicly renounced homosexuality and asserted a belief in Christianity. Glatze soon disappeared from the public eye, resisting a well-worn path: instant hero status for a new cause. In October, he re-emerged, granting a few interviews and writing a column for the conservative site WorldNetDaily about remaining... WORLD http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415695/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 13:18:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415218/posts An Islamist militant group based in Russia's North Caucases has claimed the killing last month of an Orthodox priest who was an outspoken critic of Islam. "One of our brothers who has never been to the Caucases took up the oath of (former independent Chechen president Doku Umarov) and expressed his desire to execute the damned Sysoyev," said a statement on the Kavkazcenter.com website. Daniil Sysoyev, 35, was killed on November 20 when masked gunman walked into Saint Thomas's church in southern Moscow and shot him four times. Doku Umarov emerged as the leader of the remaining active rebel movements... France24 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415218/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 07:34:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2414722/posts I am not inclined to sign manifestos or petitions. While believing strongly and passionately about many causes, I am not usually impressed with the effectiveness of such statements and I am generally concerned about how such statements might be used or construed by others. I am not reluctant to speak for myself and from my own Christian convictions and consequent judgments. Furthermore, the constant exchange of opposing statements on this or that issue merely crowds the public square as opposing viewpoints compete for attention. So, for reasons perhaps both admirable and not so admirable, I prefer to stand on my... albertmohler.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2414722/posts#comment Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:06:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2414873/posts The phenomenon of abduction, rape and forced Islamization of Christian girls in Egypt was shown for the first time on the Christian TV channel "Life TV", which broadcasts from outside Egypt and has nearly 60 million Arab-speaking viewers in Egypt and around the world. ... Ingy Adel, now 16, was abducted at the age of 12 on her way to school by being anaesthetized and bundled into a car. "I was taken into a room by a man called Sultan, who tied my hands behind my back and raped me," said Ingy. Four men followed Sultan in raping her, "I... Assyrian International News Agency http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2414873/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 09:32:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2414171/posts I’m working on a new prophecy book. The tentative title is The Christian Prophetic Calendar under the Microscope. I know; it’s not a very good title. That’s why I’m sponsoring a contest. Submit your title suggestion, and if I use it, I’ll give you credit in the book when it’s published plus a $250 gift certificate to purchase anything from American Vision’s store. Email your suggestions to mail@AmericanVision.org. Let me tell you what I have in mind so you can get an idea of what I’m after in a title. I went to our local Barnes & Noble bookstore to... American Vision http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2414171/posts#comment Thu, 24 Dec 2009 01:25:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413774/posts The ongoing Christian flight from the Middle East was high on the agenda of the Vatican’s secretary of the relations with states, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, when I met with him recently in Rome. The lengthy exodus of ancient Christian congregations from the greater Middle East’s last redoubts of religious pluralism is accelerating. Terrorism, conflict, and the rise of intolerant Islamism are to blame, Vatican officials explain. There is a real fear that the light of Christian communities that was enkindled personally by the apostles of Jesus Christ could be extinguished in this vast region that includes the Holy Land. This... National Review http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413774/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:05:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2413616/posts The pilgrims will be there as midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity is again broadcast live around the world this Christmas Eve -- but the town of Bethlehem is fast losing its last few year-round Christian residents. Christians are fleeing the town of Christ's birth, and the much-reported hardship that Israel inflicts on residents of the West Bank town has little to do with it. It's the same reality across the Arab world: rising Islamism pushes non-Muslims away. Islamists frown on real-estate ownership by non-Muslims -- Christian, Jew or anything else. And though the secular Palestinian Authority still... NY Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2413616/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:14:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2413617/posts The pilgrims will be there as midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity is again broadcast live around the world this Christmas Eve -- but the town of Bethlehem is fast losing its last few year-round Christian residents. Christians are fleeing the town of Christ's birth, and the much-reported hardship that Israel inflicts on residents of the West Bank town has little to do with it. It's the same reality across the Arab world: rising Islamism pushes non-Muslims away. Islamists frown on real-estate ownership by non-Muslims -- Christian, Jew or anything else. And though the secular Palestinian Authority still... NY Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2413617/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:14:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2413613/posts ROME, DEC. 20, 2009 (Zenit.org).- It’s been another difficult year for Christians in Turkey and it is finishing just as it began, with problems. Early in December, three Muslims entered the Meryem Ana Church, a Syriac Orthodox church in Diyarbakir, and confronted the Reverend Yusuf Akbulut, according to a Dec. 15 report by Compass Direct News, an agency specializing in reporting on religious persecution. They told the priest that that unless the bell tower was destroyed in one week, they would kill him. The Muslims were apparently acting in reaction to the recent referendum in Switzerland, which banned the... Zenit http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2413613/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 10:58:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413384/posts "The war on Christmas - it's a Commie thing" Matt Barber - Guest Columnist - 12/22/2009 10:25:00 AM SNIPPET: "Are you as annoyed as I am by that nauseatingly amorphous phrase "Happy Holidays?" You may be interested to know that the mindset behind the term precedes America's postmodern love affair with political correctness, tracing back to good ole' fashioned Cold War Communism (PC's uglier big sister)." SNIPPET: "Ronald Reagan once spoke to this noteworthy historical factoid during a Christmas radio broadcast about the Ukraine's war on Christmas. The great Gipper noted: "When the Ukraine was free and not under Soviet... ONE NEWS NOW.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413384/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:05:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413171/posts The South has risen again, at least in terms of belief in God. Mississippi is the America's most religious state, according to a Pew Forum study on the levels of devotion in America, which asked respondents whether religion is important in their lives. Eighty-two percent of Mississipians said yes. "That is not too surprising," said William F. Lawhead, chairman of the religion and philosophy department at the University of Mississippi. "This is the Bible Belt. We are primarily made up of small towns - not many urban areas like Dallas and so on, where there's a lot of people coming... Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413171/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:01:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413035/posts Cologne, Germany - One of Germany's most senior Catholic leaders, Cardinal Joachim Meisner, criticized on Sunday what he described as restrictions on Christians in Islamic nations. In an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio, Meisner, who is archbishop of Cologne, charged that this led to "an aversion against Muslims" among Germans. The often outspoken cleric said he had been campaigning for the past two years for the Church of St Paul in Tarsus, Turkey to be permanently opened for worship by any Christian. The Turkish government which treats the early medieval church at Paul's birthplace as a museum granted access to Christian... EarthTimes http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413035/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:31:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412798/posts Note: Photos included. NOTE: The following text is a quote: Pakistani court acquits Christian girl and her father accused of blasphemy By Dan Wooding Monday, December 21, 2009 FAISALABAD, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- A Pakistani Christian girl and her father who were accused of defiling the Qur’an (Muslim holy book), in October of last year were acquitted on December 14, 2009 after serving thirteen months and fourteen days in prison. Sanda and Gulsher Sandal, 22 and her father, Gulsher Masih, 47, were accused of committing sacrilege of the Qur’an on October 10, 2008. A criminal case was registered against the pair... ASSIST NEWS SERVICE http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412798/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:18:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412793/posts INTERNATIONAL "PAKISTANI MUSLIMS GUN DOWN CHRISTIAN FRIEND They order him to convert to Islam or die, after accusing him of murder." By Jawad Mazhar SNIPPET: "MUREEDKAY, Pakistan – A group of Muslims shot their Christian friend dead this month on the outskirts of this town after saying they would spare his life only if he recanted his faith, according to the young man’s father. The friends of Patras Masih, who died from gunshot wounds on Dec. 3 in Karol village, Punjab Province, issued the ultimatum to him after accusing him of the murder of their friend Anees Mahammad. An autopsy... (COMPASS DIRECT NEWS) via CHRISTIAN NEWS TODAY.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412793/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:10:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2409397/posts A 60-year-old Church of Sweden pastor faces a remand hearing this Friday for the alleged sexual abuse of two children during an overseas trip with a group of candidates for confirmation. The pastor is suspected of three sex offences carried out over the course of the confirmation group's trip to a major European city in October. Friday's remand hearing at Varberg district court will determine whether the public prosecutor's case is sufficiently strong to warrant detaining the cleric in custody for one charge of child rape and two of child sexual abuse. As of Thursday, the pastor remained active at... The Local http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2409397/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:36:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2409819/posts Sixty-six percent (66%) of Americans celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that another 20% celebrate the event as a secular holiday. Of those who celebrate Christmas, 81% believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God sent to earth to die for our sins and 72% say Jesus was born to a virgin. Among all Americans, whether they celebrate Christmas or not, 82% say the person known to history as Jesus Christ actually walked the earth 2,000 years ago. Only three percent (3%) say he did not and 15% aren’t sure. Christians... The West Side Story http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2409819/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:04:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2412366/posts On a September afternoon, about 60 prominent Christians assembled in the library of the Metropolitan Club on the east side of Central Park. It was a gathering of unusual diversity and power. Many in attendance were conservative evangelicals like the born-again Watergate felon Chuck Colson, who helped initiate the meeting. Metropolitan Jonah, the primate of the Orthodox Church in America, was there as well. And so were more than half a dozen of this country’s most influential Roman Catholic bishops, including Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, Archbishop John Myers of Newark and Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia. At the... The New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2412366/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:27:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2412452/posts TULSA, Okla. — Hundreds of people are waiting to get into the memorial service for evangelist Oral Roberts. Among the early arrivals for the afternoon service at Oral Roberts University were husband and wife Mark and Paula Sterns, alumni who flew from Dallas for the event. Mark Sterns says Roberts changed their lives forever, adding that 19 members of their families attended the university at some point. Roberts died last week in California at age 91. Roberts chartered ORU in 1963 as a place where Pentecostals could live, study and pray together. The school became the first Pentecostal university in... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2412452/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:16:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411635/posts A few years ago many Christians loved to ask the question, “What would Jesus do?” Chuck Norris has taken some criticism for asking a new question. If Obamacare existed in Judea 2000 years ago, what would the virgin Mary have done with her pregnancy? Is that a fair question to ask, or is that improperly using religion or worse? MsNBC’s Ed Schultz called it psycho talk and “sacrilegious” on his show this week. Chuck Norris: What would have happened if Mother Mary had been covered by Obamacare? What if that young, poor and uninsured teenage woman had been provided the... David Horowitz's NewsRealblog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411635/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:18:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411455/posts Christian Teacher Lost Her Job After Being Told Praying For Sick Girl 'Was Bullying' By JONATHAN PETRE 20th December 2009 Distraught: Olive Jones said her dismissal 'was like a bad dream that had come true' [Pic in URL] A devout Christian teacher has lost her job after discussing her faith with a mother and her sick child and offering to pray for them. Olive Jones, a 54-year-old mother of two, who taught maths to children too ill to attend school, was dismissed following a complaint from the girl’s mother. She was visiting the home of the child when she spoke... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411455/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:58:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2410423/posts Once again the nativity season brings attacks by those offended by ubiquitous displays of Christmas. This Christmas, I’m drawn to the similar ways some Christians and Republicans create opposition to their beliefs and, like the innkeepers of Bethlehem, provide no shelter for travelers. Every year brings new incidents of holiday political correctness, from removal of nativity scenes from public places to banning of Christmas references and displays in public schools. These events do not bother me, and I do not see them as infringements on my Christian beliefs. I do not need to see Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus... Townhall http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2410423/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:37:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410398/posts At a time of year when faith is celebrated by most Americans, it may surprise some to learn that many students of faith and history believe we are living in a post-Christian age. It is not apparent at the local malls now so festively decorated, but it can be seen in some telltale cultural indicators. One of those is the number of attacks on people of faith, particularly Jews. Throughout much of the world today, where Christianity is in decline attacks on Jews are on the rise. In post-Christian Europe, Jews are often victims of a deeply entrenched anti-Semitism. Synagogues... Human Events http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410398/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:12:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2409490/posts Tattoos have held a prominent place in society for centuries. From culture to culture and age to age, the evolution and history of the tattoo goes beyond the boundaries of the physical or spiritual. When a person decides to get inked, the reasons are uniquely personal. In modern America, they have made counter cultural statements and aroused controversy in every walk of life. Whether for the sole purpose of evangelizing or simply to honor a loved one, the bearer of the tattoo has a story to tell and delights in the telling. Opponents and skeptics in the Christian faith have... TheCypressTimes.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2409490/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:06:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408173/posts <p>TULSA, OK -- Dr. Oral Roberts died Tuesday in Newport Beach, California due to complications from pneumonia.</p> <p>According to a news release from the family, his son, Richard, and daughter, Roberta, were at his side. The founder of Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and Oral Roberts University was 91.</p> KOTV http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408173/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:40:09 GMT