Free Republic

I remember when the word missional was new. It was filled with all the facial hair, slim-fit shirt, Avett Brothers cache that a single word could carry. If churches were not actively seeking how to be “missional” they were missing out on the next great thing. And no church wants to miss out on what’s hot. It has not been easy nailing down just what missional means. I have heard about as many definitions for it as there are people who have attempted to define it for me. But taking what I have been told and what I have read...

Former Archbishop John Nienstedt said he remains “dumbfounded” by the allegations of personal misconduct that emerged last year during an internal church investigation of his behavior — a report that the archdiocese now is considering making public. “It pains me deeply that my good name and reputation have been put into question by allegations that are entirely false and based wholly on rumor, hearsay, or innuendo,” said Nienstedt last week, in written responses to questions from the Star Tribune. Commissioned by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the probe looked into claims that Nienstedt had engaged in behavior that...

An openly gay United Methodist pastor said his "I Dos" in front of more than 30 clergy members and 100 guests Friday, days after he was forced to resign for having a partner.The Rev. Benjamin Hutchison married his partner, Monty Hutchison, in a ceremony on the steps of the historic Cass County Courthouse.Hutchison called it a joyous occasion."Walking around the courthouse and seeing all the support, seeing all clergy there gathered standing there saying that they support it, they're not opposed to it, it really was a blessing today."Hutchison, 31, resigned earlier this week from his position as senior pastor...

Los Angeles (CNN)—Catholics in the nation's largest archdiocese will hold a special prayer this weekend about immigrants at a time when Donald Trump has put the issue on center stage. Specifically, their prayers will counter anti-immigration views as the Los Angeles archdiocese holds a special cathedral Mass to affirm the humanity and plight of immigrants. The annual service was planned before the presidential candidate made incendiary remarks about illegal immigration, and the Mass in recognition of immigrants won't address Trump's remarks. Still, the service comes as Archbishop José H. Gómez of Los Angeles took exception with Trump, who described Mexicans...

Why are Americans being forced to consider homosexual acts as morally acceptable? Why has the US Supreme Court accepted the validity of same-sex “marriage,” which, until a decade ago, was unheard of in the history of Western or any other civilization? Where has the “gay rights” movement come from, and how has it so easily conquered America? This is a recording of two lectures given on 7/9 and 7/16 at St Mary of the Sorrows Catholic Church in Fairfax, VA. It examines, from an Aristotelean perspective, the philosophical shortcomings of the culture that led to the insanity of the Obergefell...

One news event that may have passed most people by last week was the election of Tim Farron as leader of the Liberal Democrats.The party, which was once Britain’s third largest, was decimated in May’s General Election, losing all but eight of its 57 seats, completing a brutal period of decline while it was in government alongside the Conservatives. The inquisition began the morning after Farron’s election when the BBC’s John Humphreys asked him if he would “seek advice from God when it came to making important policy decisions”. Farron accused Humphreys of focusing on “the shocking revelation that a...

Group sought to convince Republicans that their rhetoric was pushing away atheist voters.AMES — As they arrived at an all-day cattle call of conservative presidential hopefuls, Christian conservatives were greeted by demonstrators from the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers who sought to convince Republicans that the party’s rhetoric was pushing atheists away as voters. “They’re telling me they don’t want me in their party,” said John Fruetel, of Newton, who was part of a protest outside of Stephens Auditorium in Ames where more than 2,500 people were arriving to hear from the 2016 GOP candidates at the 2015 Family Leadership Summit....

Most people who attend church are used to seeing the offering plate passed around the pews. People donate what they can as a proud member of the congregation. But a Tampa woman told ABC Action News her church says she must pay more than $1,000 a year in donations or she wouldn't be considered a member. "People were really friendly there, and I really enjoyed being there," said Candace Petterson.

One cannot understand how Pope Francis surrounds himself with revolutionary leaders, assumes their ideas are good, and gives them a virtually unconditional support without first hearing renowned specialists who contend—with concrete data to back them up—that private property, free enterprise and the principle of subsidiarity have been a source of social progress and poverty reduction around the world, in spite of deficiencies that should be corrected. Socialism, on the contrary, has been and continues to be (e.g. communist Cuba and Venezuela) an economic system that intrinsically produces poverty, class struggle, and social conflict “Chavez died. Fidel is sick. Francis has...

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Brazilian archbishop following an apostolic visitation conducted by Cardinal Claudio Hummes. Archbishop Antônio Carlos Altieri, 63, was appointed archbishop of Passo Fundo in 2012. For the previous six years, he had served as bishop of Caraguatatuba. According to a Brazilian media report, local clergy complained to the apostolic nuncio following a $600,000 renovation of the episcopal residence as well as renovations to the seminary, chancery, and a retreat house. Priests also opposed the imposition of a 10% diocesan assessment on parish income and complained about prelate’s “rubricism” and “ritualism” in the liturgy,...

Using recent quoted from President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, this video makes the case that the change that liberals are really interested in is changing who you believe in and who you trust. The liberal idea of change is to get you to change your God. They want you to trust them with all of your life decisions.

If you’re a Catholic and you’re on Facebook, you’ve probably seen the sponsored posts. If you’re a person living in the DC Metro area, you’ve probably heard the radio ads, seen the posters at bus stops, or maybe even the full-page ad in the Washington Post. These ads, from a San Francisco-based non profit called the “Knights of St. Francis,” are showing up everywhere, and unless the space is being donated, at significant expense. I decided to dig a little deeper to find out who was behind the group, and I didn’t have to look too far.According the the group’s...

The Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate of Baghdad has issued a new appeal for protection of Iraqi Christians. The plea comes after four Christians were kidnapped in Baghdad in the past two weeks, and two of them killed. “It is unfortunate that the security situation continues to deteriorate,” the Chaldean Patriarchate says; “and that some individuals and groups exploit it to carry out the kidnapping of innocent people in order to gain sums of money and terrorize civilians.” The statement goes on to say that Christians have been the targets of other predatory schemes. Some Christian homes have been seized by unscrupulous...

Do Not Be Afraid, For Evil Cannot Withstand the Power of Jesus Evil, no matter how powerful it seems, cannot stand. It will ultimately self-destruct and be overcome by the Light. Some Pharisees, likely disingenuous in their motives, approach Jesus to warn him that he needs to leave immediately: Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you. Jesus says simply: Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.' (Luke 13:32) Surely Jesus has more in mind here than the next three...

DENVER, Colorado - Four Christian Universities in Oklahoma lost a religious freedom case Tuesday in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. A district court temporarily stopped enforcement of the Obama administration's abortion-pill mandate after the universities objected to it in 2013. The appeals court overturned that ruling Tuesday saying it's the insurance companies that provide the contraception not the universities.

Detroit has many problems.  Here is another.From ABC: Threats Force Satan Statue Unveiling to Secret Detroit VenueAn 8½-foot-tall bronze monument featuring a goat-headed Satan will be unveiled at a secret, ticketed event in Detroit after the owner of a popular restaurant and entertainment complex backed out and opponents issued threats, organizers said.The 1½-ton Baphomet, which is backed by an inverted pentagram and flanked by statues of two young children gazing up at the creature, [?!?] shows Satan with horns, hooves, wings and a beard.The Satanic Temple, a group that advocates for the separation of church and state, [Therefore, allies of...

Julie Rogers has resigned her position in the Wheaton Chaplain’s office on the same day that she reveals her support for gay sexual relationships. Eric Teetsel has a report here, and I encourage you to read it. In the meantime, some initial observations: 1. Biblical authority is missing. Rogers’s explanation of her change of heart is long on personal experience and short on Bible. If she has a reasoned biblical rationale for her views, she didn’t share it. It shouldn’t be lost on readers that other considerations seem to be driving her embrace of gay relationships, not God’s word.2. Theology...

My friend, there is a BIG BAD GLOBAL TRIBULATION headed our way and with the Four Horsemen ready to ride nothing is going to stop that event from transpiring. Many professing Christians have set their “tent pegs” deep in the world reasoning and system, and have given a distant second status to their position in Christ (Eph. 2:6, Col. 3:1-4) and the Gospel proclamation to all the world (Matt. 28:19-20; Rom 1:16). They have lost their ETERNAL vision and focus, and the Heavenly calling given them by Almighty God, which is needed so drastically for today for our nation and...

We are living in a day in which the messages of the prophets must be understood and proclaimed. Jesus lived and preached, constantly under the knowledge that He was fulfilling the words of the prophets, "Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished" (Luke 18:31). Jesus upbraided the two disciples on the road to Emmaus for not believing what the prophets spoke. "Then He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to...

Since the beginning of this current pontificate, the cool, considerate men and women of Catholic media have urged many of us not to jump to early conclusions regarding breaking news and alleged troubling quotes from Pope Francis. It is more important to get the story right than it is to be first, my former editors at the National Catholic Register would often tell me.It is hard to argue with that mantra when journalistic media, particularly Catholic journalistic media, have an obligation to present the truth of events. In this age of global communication and agenda-driven secular media parsing every papal...