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Reasonable people will agree that much of Mr. Obama's biography is not exactly an open book. Many things about him are unknown because they remain undisclosed, and much that has been disclosed leaves many questions unanswered at the same time as new ones are raised. This article concerns something about Mr. Obama's life history that, to the best of my knowledge, has not yet been explored -- even though what is about to be discussed is, ironically, an "open book." Readers are about to learn that Mr. Obama has supplied two completely contradictory accounts regarding the time frame of his...

Three More Rules for Keeping the Dreaded Whore of Babylon at Bay The ongoing story of a Catholic convert [1]James Tonkowich In the first installment of my advice as to how to avoid becoming a Catholic, I suggested two rules. First, assume that all Catholics are idiots. Second, get all your information about the Catholic Church second-hand. Steer clear of Catholic intellectuals, well-catechized laypeople, and young, zealous, orthodox priests and nuns. Look for leftover aging, hippy priests and nuns, poorly catechized Catholics, and ex-Catholics evangelicals who have it in for the Church. And above all, donÂ’t read the Catechism...

CHAPTER III: THE REAL OBSTACLES In the last chapter I have dealt in a preliminary fashion with the Protestant case in the conventional controversial sense. I have dealt with the objections which I suspected very early of being prejudices and which I now know to be prejudices. I have dealt last and at the greatest length with what I believe to be the noblest of all the prejudices of Protestantism: that which is simply founded on patriotism. I do not think patriotism is necessarily prejudice; but I am quite sure it must be prejudice and nothing else but prejudice, unless...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Brevard County State Attorney's Office has dropped a felony charge this week against gun conversion manufacturer Jonathan A. Ciener. The Brevard County Sheriff's Office raided Jonathan Arthur Ciener, Inc. located at 8700 Commerce Street in Cape Canaveral last November and charged Ciener with one count of scheme to defraud in an amount less than $20,000. (Image above) Jonathan Arthur Ciener, Inc., is a company that sells gun conversion kits nationwide and advertises its kits on www.22lrconversions.com. Ciener's attorney, Greg Eisenmenger of the Viera law firm Eisenmenger, Berry & Peters, P.A., told Brevard Times that the...

Featured Term (selected at random):IMMANENTIST APOLOGETICS A method of establishing the credibility of the Christian faith by appealing to the subjective satisfaction that the faith gives to a believer. This method tends to ignore, if not deny, the corresponding value of objective criteria for accepting divine revelation, notably miracles and prophecies. The latter alone are finally demonstrative of the fact of revelation. Therefore immanentist apologetics runs the danger of leaving Christians with purely personal motives for their faith and without intellectually convincing grounds as to why they believe. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic...

The conversion testimony of Kevin McGrane, elder of Bury St Edmunds Presbyterian church. I was raised in a Roman Catholic family, my father having been born in Dublin of Roman Catholic ancestry. Baptism, Confession, Holy Communion and Confirmation followed in regular course. After junior education under Ursuline nuns, I moved to a boys' grammar school established by Jesuits. The education was of a high standard (four years of Greek being particularly useful later). However, no student could take an 'O' Level in Religion as every examination board required study of the Bible, which was not permitted. Instead, we were fed...

Mitt Romney today announced the support of former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore.

...the US military has been prohibited from helping the local Christians by the administrations of both Bush and Obama. Two years ago, the distribution of Bibles was banned in Iraq, and even the sale to the military of assault weapons with Bible verses on them was stopped. In Egypt, the new authorities helped and financed by the Obama administration and supported internationally by Hillary Clinton, encouraged pogroms against the traditional Christian minority in the country, the Copts. It seems that one of the main strategic goals for the US military presence in the Middle East is the eradication of traditional...

How I led Catholics Out of the Church STEVE WOOD I was a Protestant for twenty years before I became a Catholic. I led many people out of the Catholic Church. My formula for getting Catholics to leave the Church usually consisted of three steps. Step 1: Get Catholics to have a conversion experience in a Protestant setting. Most Fundamentalist, Evangelical, and charismatic Protestant churches have dynamic youth programs, vibrant Wednesday and Sunday evening services, and friendly small-group bible studies. In addition, they host special crusades, seminars and concerts. At the invitation of a Protestant friend, a Catholic may begin...

... As the July 9 division of Sudan nears, the government in Khartoum is scrambling to crush any rebellious chunks of the territory that will remain its own. Its forces have been relentlessly pounding the Nuba Mountains from Russian-made Antonov bombers for weeks, demanding that tens of thousands of rebel fighters dug in here disarm and drop their insistence on more autonomy for the distinctive Nuba people. Hundreds of civilians have been killed, including many children. Bombs have been dropped on huts, on farmers in the field, on girls fetching water together, slicing them in half with buckets in their...

Christians everywhere have been responding in grief and sadness over the death of famed atheist Christopher Hitchens, who passed away late Thursday evening after a yearlong battle with esophageal cancer. From pastors to theologians alike, all expressed pain and sorrow over the recent news, which Vanity Fair was the first to announce. The magazine reported that Hitchens had died from pneumonia, a complication from his stage IV cancer. He was 62 years old. Pastor Rick Warren, founder of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., tweeted, “My friend Christopher Hitchens has died. I loved & prayed for him constantly & grieve...

Something for those who have taken an “ABSOLUTELY NOT NEWT” stance to consider; In spite of anything Newt may have said in the past, when he was lightyears away from being POTUS, I believe we are dealing with a completely converted Newt at this point. I base this on his recent books, DVD, etc. The DVD was a review of all the scriptural quotations and appeals to Providence which are sculpted into the government buildings in DC, as a rebuttal against the lie of Separation of Church and State. The latest book is “A Nation Like No Other,” which describes...

Teresa Tomeo talks about... • ... the lies of pop culture, especially about the sexuality and self-image of young women:“I bought into these lies for a long time,” Tomeo told LifeSiteNews in an interview. “I wanted to share what I have learned with other women and blow the lid off of many of the tales that have been told about these issues.”Extreme Makeover, which was released October 7 by Ignatius Press and currently sits at Number 3 on Amazon’s list of bestselling books in the “Roman Catholicism” category, addresses a host of issues that affect women, including abortion and contraception....

In the midst of a grey, damp winter, at the end of a healthy and normal pregnancy, our second child, a daughter, dies at birth. Despite 20 minutes of attempted resuscitation in the delivery room, she never draws breath outside my body. The neo-natal consultant has tears in his eyes when he comes up to the bedside where my husband and I are clutching each other’s hands in disbelief. “I am so sorry. We couldn’t save her.” Our shock is complete. There was no indication this would happen. When we are asked if we would like our baby blessed, we...

Chesterton and Saint Francis | By Joseph Pearce This essay appears in Joseph Pearce's new book Literary Giants, Literary Catholics. Chesterton enjoyed a lifelong friendship with Saint Francis of Assisi. As a small boy, long before he had an inkling of the nature of Catholicism, Chesterton was read a story by his parents about a man who gave up all his possessions, even the clothes he was wearing on his back, to follow Christ in holy poverty. From the moment the wide-eyed Gilbert first heard the story of Saint Francis, he knew he had found a friend. As such,...

Whenever a new moon would come around, Saachi Mehta’s behavior changed. For five days starting on the day of the new moon, she could not hear or talk, and her body would shut down as if she was suddenly paralyzed. Worried for their 20-year-old daughter, Saachi’s parents took her to see witchdoctors and temple priests, but neither could offer her a cure. For years, these intervals of unexplained sickness disrupted Saachi’s and her family’s lives. Even after Saachi married and had children, her condition did not improve. When Saachi’s mother-in-law, Gajra, met Gospel for Asia-supported Bible college student Sanjay Nigam,...

Brethren: Peace be with you, the Peace of Christ, the Peace that is unlike that which the world gives, the Peace surpassing all understanding. Today is the tenth anniversary of the terrorists attack in New York and Washington, and of the first resistance to the forces of evil resulting in the death of the passengers and crew of Flight 93 on a field in Pennsylvania. This September 11th is unlike any other I’ve observed because I am here, in Afghanistan, as a direct consequence of those attacks. I’ve been here for most of the year and will be until early...

On August 26, Pastor Lutzer had the privilege of baptizing ten Muslims who, over a period of time, came to accept Christ as Savior through the Iranian ministry at Moody Church. Friends of these converts wept as they rejoiced in the power of Christ to transform those who had been brought up in another religion, proving that the Gospel is for all the people of the world. A few of their testimonies are given below. “I was born in Tehran, Iran in 1974. I came to the U.S. in 1994. After a year in this country, my sister-in-law introduced me...

Okay I am already a Christian as far as believing in Jesus and that he is the son of God. But I've never really been a church goer, raised Catholic but I have some problems with the religion and want to convert to basic christianity. I don't know where to start as far as finding a church or local group. Any help?

Renowned playwright, writer, director David Mamet talks with Sean Hannity about his transformation from "brain-dead Liberal" to Conservative, and discusses his new book about Leftist politics in Hollywood, The Secret Knowledge. Mamet, who happens to be Jewish, also shares his thoughts about Netanyahu and Israel. Very good interview.

B.P. Terpstra Another week. Another shocker. Yes all is revealed in Bishop Edward S. Little’s post on Christianity Today, about how one anti-Christian philosopher prepared him to hear the gospel. Her name: Ayn Rand. The Bishop explains: Ayn Rand changed my life. When I embraced her philosophy, Objectivism, the conversion was far more dramatic than my decision, several years later, to follow Jesus Christ—more dramatic, but in the end transitory. Yet Rand, the novelist, philosopher, and uncompromising atheist, inadvertently opened a door for the gospel. I don't believe dead people spin in their graves, but if they did and she...

This perhaps has been asked on Free Republic previously and if so, I apologize. But to the extent we are populated with any converted liberals, briefly explain what brought you over to the conservative side. I have heard 9/11, parenthood, maturity, marriage etc. as reasons, but as a "cradle conservative," I have to ask on behalf of my continuing efforts to convince liberals (and moderates) that their ideology is fuzzy-headed at best and terribly harmful to the future of the United States.

What gorgeous freedom looks like. Rifqa made it. She's free. The case of Rifqa Bary resonated nationally at a time of tense Muslim-Christian relations. One of Rifqa's primary supporters is a blogger who a year later led a campaign against the development of an Islamic center in New York City near ground zero. AP [Christian should come before Muslim, just sayin'] And they can't bring themselves to write my name -- bloody cowards.Despite intense pressure from the Islamic supremacist machine, charges will not be filed against those righteous souls who helped Rifqa Bary escape her devout Muslim household after...

The Church of Sweden has advised pastors to avoid christening asylum seekers that have converted to Christianity due to the risk of reprisals in the case of repatriation, reported news agency TT. One of the reasons for the recommendation is because it can cause danger and increase risks if a person who has converted to Christianity is later sent back to their home country. Another reason is that the motive for the christening can be questioned by some who suggest that asylum seekers convert to Christianity to increase their chances of staying in Sweden. The issue is being addressed in...

No. 257, November, 1915, Vol. XXI., No. 11., pp. 124-125. The last fourteen chapters (35-48) of Ezekiel contains such clear and concise prophecies concerning the restoration, conflicts, conversion, and establishment of Israel in their own land, on their own soil, that, were there no other testimony in the Word (and we have produced abundance), we venture to assert that no one, except by the most flagrant system of spiritualization, could deny that such restoration either had taken place, or must be relegated to the future. And that it is to the future we must look for the fulfillment is certain,...

No. 256, October, 1915, Vol. XXI, No. 10 VII. THE TESTIMONY OF JOEL. We come now in chronological order to the Book of the prophet Joel, which we regard as one continuous prophecy, and claim the entire prophecy as a prediction of events to be accomplished after a coming restoration of the Jews. Joel's prophecy is undated. It seems clear, however, that as Hosea was appointed prophet especially for the ten tribes of Israel, so Joel exercised that sacred office for Judah and Benjamin. The unity of the book as a whole is so evident that there is no need...

No. 255, September, 1915, Vol. XXI. No. 9, pp. 104-106 VI. THE TESTIMONY OF DANIEL THE PROPHET. Although the Book of Daniel does not mention the Restoration, nor directly refer to the Conversion of Israel, it is our privilege to glance at certain passages in that book, as they tell us of occurrences which will take place between those two events. It also brings to our notice a personage who shall be instrumental in bringing those occurrences to pass. We have reference again and again to some Great One who shall rule with universal sway, and shall tread down and...

No. 253, July, 1915, Vol. XXI., No. 7., pp. 74-76 V. THE TESTIMONY OF JEREMIAH (continued). Let us now turn to some passages in chapters 30-33, taking chapter 33 first, as this has something in common with chapter 23, which we examined in the preceding article. Again we have "the Branch" and "the LORD our RIGHTEOUSNESS" referred to. "In those days, and at that time (i.e., the time at which Jehovah will perform the good things promised unto the house of Israel and under the house of Judah, the whole twelve tribes (v. 14), will I cause the BRANCH (Tsemach)...

No. 252, June, 1915, Vol. XXI., No. 6., pp. 63-65 IV. THE TESTIMONY OF MICAH (continued). But not only does Micah tell us of the events and happenings connected with the restoration and conversion of Israel, and the righteous rule of Messiah; he also takes us still further, and, if the interpretation of vv. 7, 8, following those in chapter 5, which we considered in our last article, be correct, gives us a glimpse of what that people shall become, and how they shall be regarded among the nations of the world, when the Lord shall have dealt graciously with...

No. 251, May, 1915, Vol. XXI., No. 5., pp. 51-53 III. THE TESTIMONY OF ISAIAH (continued). We concluded our last paper with Isaiah's description of the overthrow of Israel's enemies. But what of Israel? We have seen and shall further see that deliverance from their oppressors by the interposition of Messiah ensures blessings, temporal and spiritual, and these blessings flow from their reception of Messiah as their Hope and Salvation. So in the passages here considered. 1. There shall be peaceful occupation of Jerusalem. "For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: He will...

No. 251, May, 1915, Vol. XXI., No. 5., pp. 51-53 III. THE TESTIMONY OF ISAIAH (continued). We concluded our last paper with Isaiah's description of the overthrow of Israel's enemies. But what of Israel? We have seen and shall further see that deliverance from their oppressors by the interposition of Messiah ensures blessings, temporal and spiritual, and these blessings flow from their reception of Messiah as their Hope and Salvation. So in the passages here considered. 1. There shall be peaceful occupation of Jerusalem. "For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: He will...

No. 250, April, 1915, Vol. XXI., No. 4., pp. 39-40. III. THE TESTIMONY OF ISAIAH (continued.) In our last article we saw very plainly how Jehovah would "assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth" (Isa. 11.12). Also verse 11 tells us that the LORD will "recover the remnant of His people . . . from Assyria and from Egypt." We follow the same line of thought in chap. 27.12, 13. "It shall come to pass in that day the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the...

No. 249, March, 1915, Vol. XXI., No. 3, pp. 29-31. II. THE TESTIMONY OF HOSEA (continued). Finally, let us glance at Hosea 1.10, 11. Here, after stating that Israel is not His people, God promises a future great increase of the nation, "yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea," in which we see a direct reference to the natural seed, for it will be remembered that the Almighty promised Abraham a double line of descendents, a natural seed is represented by the sand of the sea, and a spiritual seed represented...

By Rev. Geo. A.B. Chamberlain, M.A. Vicar of Hook, Yorks. No. 248, February, 1915, Vol. XXI., No. 2, pp. 19-22. So many are the "divers portions" in which "God in time past spake unto the fathers by the prophets" with regard to the future Restoration and Conversion of their descendents, that it is somewhat perplexing to know exactly where to begin our exploration of this rich treasure-house of God's revelation. Perhaps the best course would be to take the prophets in their chronological order, and see what each has to tell us in connection the future dealings with the chosen...

By Rev. Geo. A.B. Chamberlain, M.A. Vicar of Hook, Yorks. As found in Things to Come, A Journal fo Biblical Literature, No. 247, January, 1915, Vol. XXI. No. 1., pp.8-10 FORWARD It is a matter of congratulation that in dealing with the subject such as the above, there is no need, as far as the readers of Things to Come are concerned, to dwell upon the great importance of the prophetic Scriptures. In fact, no one would spend valuable time reading that excellent paper, did they not attach some importance, however little, to the prophetic parts of Holy Writ; where...

From Rescued to Rescuer      By Betsy DoaneBetsy Doane, "From Rescued to Rescuer", Ensign, Feb. 2011, 60–61  My life was a downward spiral until I met a man who claimed to have the solution to my troubles.   One evening in 1978, I was at the Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, waiting for some friends to arrive. A man struck up a conversation with me, and we talked a little about our lives. I told him I had returned three months earlier from a trip to Central America.I had gone to escape the painful realities of my life, I told him. Nine...

...Pope Benedict reminds us all that the Church "exists to evangelize" with an urgency reminiscent of the Saint whose feast we celebrated the day this message was made public. He writes,"This task has lost none of its urgency.We cannot rest easy at the thought that, after two thousand, there are people who still do not know Christ, who have not yet heard His message of salvation." Here he is speaking of the missionary mandate of the Church "ad gentes" , to the Nations. The Church has always taught that every single human being on the face of the earth has...

...'For a son of God each day should be an opportunity for renewal, knowing for sure that with the help of grace he will reach the end of the road, which is Love. That is why if you begin and begin again, you are doing well...' (The Forge, 344) The London Daily Mail recently ran an article entitled "New Year's resolutions 'barely last longer than a week'" However, the fact remains, we all make them. The experience is nearly universal. Some Nations use different calendars, but the passing of one year to another is marked by a deliberate period of...

A high-profile conversion begs the question: what are these women seeking that they could not find under liberty? Very recently Tony Blair’s sister-in-law, journalist Lauren Booth, embraced the faith after what she described as a “holy experience” in Iran. Based on what Ayaan Hirsi Ali has described as the brutal, totalistic character of Islam, one is obliged to ask why any modern career woman would opt for conversion to the Muslim religion. After all, as so many autobiographies of Muslim women note, the religion bans anything that is fun (“haram,” or forbidden). No chewing of gum, no bicycle riding, no...

The trial of an Afghan convert to Christianity was delayed from Sunday to possibly as early as sometime this week, depending on when officers figure out how to judge the case. Said Musa, 45, an amputee, is understood to be in prison for his Christian faith, although he has no legal representation and does not know the charges against him. Under the Afghan constitution, there is no law that bans religious conversion. As a result, officers are currently deciding if Musa should be tried under sharia law. Sharia or Islamic law says a convert from Islam can be punished by...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A lawyer for a runaway Christian convert from Ohio who was also an illegal immigrant says the 18-year-old woman has gained permanent residency in the United States. Kort Gatterdam, a lawyer for Rifqa Bary, said Tuesday the news means Bary can now start applying for a driver's license, Medicaid coverage and college scholarships. Gatterdam says Bary, a native of Sri Lanka, received her permanent residency card last week and can apply for citizenship in five years.

Question: My sister was baptized and has since married and had a child. My mother claims the child is Jewish, but how could that be? If Judaism is a religion, if someone leaves it, she's no longer Jewish, right? Response: Logically, I would have to agree with you. If Judaism is a religion, then someone who doesn't believe in the religion should be no longer Jewish. The reality, however, is that it doesn't work that way. Throughout the Tanach, we find Jews breaking every facet of their covenant with G‑d, joining and forming all sorts of idolatrous cults and heathen...

NEW YORK – Anne Rice has had a religious conversion: She's no longer a Christian. "In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control," the author wrote Wednesday on her Facebook page. "In the name of ... Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen." Rice, 68, is best known for "Interview With a Vampire" and other gothic novels. Raised as a Catholic, she had rejected the church early in her life but renewed her faith in recent years and in 2008 released the memoir "Called Out...

The Knesset Law Committee approved the first step of a new conversion-to-Judaism law – yet another step in an issue that has been controversial since the establishment of the State. It stipulates, for the first time, that conversions must be according to Jewish Law. The committee, by a 5-4 vote, allowed the latest conversion proposal to be voted on in the Knesset for its first reading. If the bill passes, it then returns to the committee for emendations, if necessary, followed by two more readings in the Knesset. If it passes these stages, it becomes law.

The True Account of Prisoner Claude Newman (1944) by John Vennari, from the March 2001 issue of “Catholic Family News.” The following true story of Claude Newman took place in Mississippi in 1944. The account was told by Father O'Leary, a priest from Mississippi, who was directly involved with the events. He has left for posterity an audio recording it. Claude Newman was a Negro man who worked the fields for a landowner. He had married when he was 17 years old to a woman of the same age. One day, two years later, he was out ploughing the fields. Another...

Q: What does Islam do to the liberal psyche? A: Confuses it. The liberal psyche wants to protect minorities, to apologize for imperialism, colonialism, slavery, and the appalling treatment of black people during the civil rights movement. At the same time, they want to continue to defend the rights of individuals. They’ve convinced themselves that the best way to do that in general is to defend the cultures that are non-white. But what they forget, and what they’re being confronted with, is that non-white cultures contain misogynistic, collectivist, tribal, gay-unfriendly and female-hostile traditions. And so they’re confused: on the one...

Bus ads ask 'Leaving Islam?' * From correspondents in New York * From: AP * May 27, 2010 5:51AM THE questions on the ads aren't subtle: Leaving Islam? Fatwa on your head? Is your family threatening you? Ads carrying those phrases are appearing on at least 30 New York City buses, paid for by a conservative activist and the organisations she leads. The activist, Pamela Geller, says the ads are aimed at Muslims who are already contemplating leaving the faith. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says the ads don't violate any of its guidelines.

Sure, it was explained to me when I converted that the gate would be narrow, but I had no idea. Born “nothing,” I completed my adult catechism and chose to become a Catholic in 2000, to the thinly veiled displeasure of people close to me. Archbishop Fulton Sheen put it right when he said, “There are not over a hundred people in the US that hate the Catholic Church, there are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church, which is, of course, quite a different thing.” Now the horrific replay of the 2002 clerical...

March 22 Fr. Donald Calloway Former Episcopal FROM Aquinasandmore blog We recently had the opportunity to interview Fr. Donald Calloway M.I.C., well-known Marian priest, popular speaker and presenter, and author of the new book No Turning Back: A Witness to Mercy.Our interview:Father, our readers and customers know your name from your many books and talks, but can you give us some more information about your background?IÂ’m a convert to the Catholic faith. I was born in 1972 to non-Christian parents; my parents were not members of any religion. When my mother remarried I was adopted and baptized into the...

This morning my devotions took me to the final chapters of John (which, to those who know the reading plan I’m using this year, is an admission that I’m a few days behind). We find such poignant little stories in these chapters, stories like Peter and John running to the empty tomb, Thomas falling on his face before the risen Lord, Jesus restoring Peter after his three denials. There is one story among them, though, that I love most of all. Mary Magdalene has come to Jesus’ tomb and is distressed to see that his body is gone, the stone...