Free Republic

Also, three Evangelical NT scholars from North America will participate in symposium sponsored by Joseph Ratzinger Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation >Although he might not be well known outside of certain theological circles, Dr. Hans Boersma is one of the finer young Evangelical theologians writing today. He is the J.I. Packer Professor of Theology at Regent College, one of the best Evangelical schools in Canada, and he is the author of some books that engage deeply and thoughtfully with Catholic theology, notably Nouvelle Théologie and Sacramental Ontology: A Return to Mystery (Oxford, 2009), and Heavenly Participation: The Weaving of a Sacramental...

A Sermon of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Romans 10:3 “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” “Saving Faith” An Exposition of Chapter 10, published by The Banner of Truth Trust: 1997 1.800.263.8085 (pp.28-39). “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going We have, so far, been dealing with the first two verses, and have seen that certain general lessons are taught there by the Apostle. These not only concern his contemporaries, the Jews, but are of universal application in the life of...

The moment I uttered these words, my burden rolled off my back and I knew that I was free. Joy now flooded into my heart and I began to praise the Lord. He had taught me a new song. by Moshe Radcliff [On September 25th H.R. Moshe Radcliff died. His testimony appeared in the Presbyterian Standard (July-September 1998) and is published by kind permission.] I was born into a Jewish family in prosperous Vienna, Austria on the 5th April 1930. Although my parents did not strictly observe the Jewish religion, father took my brother and me to synagogue occasionally. Mother...

You are subject to none Conquerer of all for My Presence "IN" you "IS" Holy and True !  Do you see My children the enemy would attempt to convince you of your unholiness but My Righteousness STANDS ETERNAL and is " subject to none " !  Thererfore wear the garments of Righteousness that I have given you and walk in My ways for I HAVE finished the fight you are in against darkness !  Merely APPLY MY WORD to each situation you are in and I will shut the mouth of the lions for you for THE BATTLE IS MINE "SAYS" THE LORD...

Introduction Teresa of Avila calls for our consideration on several counts: Her writings are increasingly popular amongst unconverted but professing Protestants who find her ‘mystical spirituality’ attractive in their own ‘pursuit of God.’ We are thus alerted to a dangerous ‘enemy within the gates.’ She is revered by Romanists as ‘a quintessential Catholic’, ‘a revolutionary mystic’, ‘a saint and doctor of the Church’, and a co-patron of Spain. This gives us an inkling of the influence she wields over Roman Catholic hearts. Her works, ‘long seen as merely devotional treatises . . . are now being mined more seriously for...

APOSTASY WE MUST START FROM THE ‘GREAT POSITIVE STATEMENTS OF SCRIPTURE’ John Owen is one who has written comprehensively on this subject. I have, therefore, taken his writings as the basis for what I want to say, while drawing on the contribution of others here and there, and interjecting some comments of my own. By way of definition, Owen helpfully says that “apostasy is the relinquishing of any important truth or way in religion; and heresy is the embracing of any new distinctive opinion, or principle, or way in the profession of it.” A man may be an apostate by...

Christ our righteousness The apostle Paul writes, “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of...

FAITH IS A GIFT OF GOD Fall flat before Christ, cast yourself upon him and rest upon him completely. He can support you for ever. Faith looks to Jesus Christ as he is indeed the Son of God, as he is indeed perfect, sinless, and true man. by Geoff Thomas By this phrase "faith in Jesus Christ" we are referring to a saving grace, whereby sinners receive and rest upon Christ alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel, and we are affirming that that faith is a gift of God. We are talking about a...

Peace with God and False Peace Thirty years ago today, Dr D Martyn Lloyd-Jones died, March 1 1981.1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Rom. 5:1, 2) We now proceed to look at the ‘peace with God’, that results from justification by faith, from the two sides – the God-ward, and the man-ward. Far too often it is taken even here in a purely subjective sense. While it...

If you listen carefully, you can hear echoes of the resurrection in the great, epic stories we return to again and again. Those stories lead us to a poi­nt of despair where all seems to be lost, only then to erupt into uncontainable joy as good triumphs over evil. There is a reason these stories resonate with us. In one way or another, they model and mimic the true story of our world. A story of perfection and paradise, corrupted by human sin and wickedness, redeemed by a selfless sacrifice, and restored through a triumphant return. This is the true...

The New Birth John 3:1-8 ‘Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no-one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his...

Guess the saint: This saint joined a Crusade to Egypt in the hopes of PROSELYTIZING as many musloids as he could before being killed. This saint was not killed, but was instead received into the court of a sultan. Our saint then offered to engage in a trial by fire – literal fire – with the sultan’s musloid “scholars”. Our saint offered to enter into a fire pit and if he emerged unscathed, the musloid scholars would then have to concede that the CATHOLIC GOD (the word “catholic” means “universal”, so of course God is Catholic, and of course His...

The following debate between Mike Gendron and Tim Staples appears in the January - February 2012 Issue of Catholic Answers Magazine. Mike Gendron's First Affirmation God promises eternal life to those who repent and believe the glorious Gospel of Grace. When He gives spiritual life to those who are dead in their sins, He does not place them on probation or give them conditional life. Eternal life is given by grace through faith so that the divine promise can be guaranteed (Rom. 4:16). God's promise is upheld by His holy character, unlimited power and sovereign purpose. Listen to the Lord's...

Anyone that's familiar what the bible, anything like that, when Jesus said that you're going straight to hell if you didn't treat the less of his brothers and sisters, and what did he say, he said he was hungry. They give him food stamps. – Tax evading Congressman Charlie Rangel The demons are emerging from their pits, folks, and they're slithering toward the TV cameras. Cheatin' Charlie is not "familiar" with "the bible, anything like that." If he were, he would understand that "You Shall Not Steal" and "You Shall Not Covet" are two of the Ten Commandments, and that...

Rescuing Precious Souls from the Bondage of Religion We can be wrong about a lot of things in this life and still survive, but if we are wrong about the only way to obtain forgiveness from God, we will pay for that fatal mistake throughout all eternity. Our Creator provides only one way to redeem man from sin and He has revealed it in a divinely inspired message to mankind. However, it didn't take long for God's complete and perfect Gospel message to be corrupted by religious leaders. These men, who say they speak for God, have distorted and perverted...

Recently a Community Column writer for a local paper wrote an opinion piece denouncing conservative politicians for not complying with the "Red-Letter" teachings of Jesus. Among other things, he was referring more specifically to Ted Cruz's call for evangelical Christians to help his political bloc to defund Obamacare. This claim is worthy of careful examination. Emphasizing the authority of one portion of scripture while ignoring all others isn't a principle of historical normative Christian theology. As the Bible declares of itself "...All scripture is given by inspiration of God..." Red-lettering was first conceived in 1899, and it first appeared in...

Russell Moore says the pope’s latest interview in an Italian newspaper “is more than just confusing. It’s a theological wreck.”The head of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission says Pope Francis is soft on sin. Russell Moore, president of the moral-concerns agency for the nation’s second-largest faith group behind Catholicism, criticized the pope’s comments published in la Repubblica, the largest Italian daily general-interest newspaper. Responding to a question about whether there is a “single vision” of good and, if so, who decides, the pontiff replied: “Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We...

Calvin placed preaching the Scripture squarely at the center of the church. In his words, “Wherever we see the Word of God purely preached and heard, and the sacraments administered according to the institution of Christ; there, it is not to be doubted, is a church of God.” Out of his many writings on Scripture, a few choice quotes remind us how to handle God’s written Word properly—and why it’s important to do so. 1. Scripture should be treated with reverence. “We owe to the Scripture the same reverence that we owe to God; because it has proceeded from him...

Men and women are different. This self-evident and clichéd claim is no longer as uncontroversial as, historically, it would have been. According to the American Psychological Association, "Gender identity refers to a person's internal sense of being male, female, or something else; gender expression refers to the way a person communicates gender identity to others through behavior, clothing, hairstyles, voice, or body characteristics. ... Transgender people experience their transgender identity in a variety of ways and may become aware of their transgender identity at any age." This statement, which includes a reference to an undefined but apparently defining "internal sense"...

One of the most controversial issues in the study of the New Testament canon is the date when these books were regarded as Scripture. When were these books first used as an authoritative guide for the church? Critical scholars will argue that these books were not written to be Scripture and were not even used as Scripture until the end of the second century. But one of the most basic facts that Christians should know is that some New Testament writers actually quote other New Testament writers as Scripture. This demonstrates that the concept of a new corpus of biblical...

What will it take to save Western culture? What will it take to turn things around in an America that seems to have turned its back on its Judeao-Christian foundations? Al Kresta doesn’t see it happening—at least not until the Church changes first. Kresta, the long-time host of the popular “Kresta in the Afternoon� talk show, is the author of Dangers to the Faith: Recognizing Catholicism’s 21st-Century Opponents (OSV, 2013). Though the new book focuses largely on external threats—cults, scientific materialism and atheism, historical revisionism, secularism and consumerism—Kresta also touches on internal dangers, such as the complacency of some...

In the first communication between the leaders of the United States and Iran since 1979, President Barack Obama on Friday spoke to President Hassan Rouhani by phone and called for the release of American Pastor Saeed Abedini, who is in an Iranian prison because of his Christian faith and has been tortured. Obama, the first American leader to speak with an Iranian president since the Islamic revolution, noted the nation's concern about three American citizens who have been held within Iran in his 15-minute conversation with the Iranian president. The three include the missing U.S. citizen Robert Levinson, Pastor Saeed...

Two architectural firms have been selected to collaborate on the transformation of the landmark building and its 34-acre campus.ORANGE, Calif. — The leading architects in the massive undertaking of renovating the Crystal Cathedral into Christ Cathedral for the Diocese of Orange, Calif., have expressed their excitement about the daunting project. On Sept. 18, Bishop Kevin Vann of Orange announced that Johnson Fain and Rios Clementi Hale Studios had been selected to collaborate on the transformation of the landmark building and its 34-acre campus. The Diocese of Orange purchased the 3,000-seat Crystal Cathedral in February of 2012 from the Protestant church...

And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.(Genesis 2:22-25)And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice...

Bipartisan legislation was introduced today in the House of Representatives that would prevent the federal government from discriminating against citizens and organizations who believe that marriage is the union of a man and a woman. The Marriage and Religious Freedom Act (H.R. 3133) was introduced by Representative Raul Labrador (R–ID) and over 60 other original co-sponsors from both political parties. The bill is an important step for conscience protection. Government policy should respect those who stand for marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Even in jurisdictions that have redefined marriage, those who believe marriage is the...

OKLAHOMA CITY, September 26, 2013 (LifeSIteNews.com) – Four Christian universities in Oklahoma have filed a joint lawsuit in federal court seeking to overturn the HHS mandate. All four schools — Oklahoma Baptist University, Mid-America Christian University, Southern Nazarene University, and Oklahoma Wesleyan University – assert that the ObamaCare stipulation violates their constitutional rights, forcing them to violate their deeply held Christian beliefs against abortion in order to avoid massive governmental fines. The Oklahoma schools join dozens of other religious employers who have sued the federal government over the contraceptive/abortifacient mandate. While the Obama administration has offered a limited “compromise” arrangement...

Comedian Bill Maher has no plans to run for public office. In fact, he believes his outspoken atheism would be a major barrier to any potential candidacy. But at the same time, the “Real Time” HBO host also sees changing tides on the horizon when it comes to the treatment of non-believers in America. In an interview Monday with entertainment news outlet TheWrap, Maher said that atheism will be “the new gay marriage.” What does he mean by this? With the nation becoming more understanding and accepting of same-sex unions, it seems Maher believes that atheists, who have frequently been...

Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabeshgilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days’ respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come...

SIAULIAI, LITHUANIA—No one knows when pious Lithuanians first erected crosses of all sizes on a hill about seven miles north of the city of Siauliai; it may have been after an abortive 1831 uprising against Russian rule over the small Baltic country. Oftentimes, the bodies of Lithuanian patriots killed during that rebellion, and a similar revolt in 1863, could not be found. So their families planted crosses in their memory on a small mound that was eventually covered with memorials. During the country’s brief moment of independence between the First and Second World Wars, citizens of a free Lithuania continued...

“America loves success stories.” This is how a 1983 admiring profile of the famed Robert Harold Schuller began. And back in 1983 “Bob” Schuller, as his friends called him, was certainly successful. The son of pious Dutch Reformed parents, Schuller was born on a farm in Sioux County, Iowa, in 1926. That was one year before Sinclair Lewis published Elmer Gantry, a satirical novel about a ne’er-do-well preacher from Kansas. Though Schuller would match Gantry in exuberance and flamboyant style, he was no charlatan. Educated at his denomination’s flagship schools, Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, Schuller was already a...

"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" (I Cor. 3:1-3) In the above passage of Scripture, the apostle Paul speaks of the Corinthian Christians as being immature babies. Rather than having grown up and matured in the...

The New International Version, the King James Version and the New King James Version continue to enjoy popularity among Bible readers, according to the Association for Christian Retail (CBA) and the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). While the CBA and the ECPA agree on the top-selling three Bible translations for the month of September, the organizations vary on which versions of Christian Scripture rank among the remaining 7 bestsellers. According to the CBA, whose rankings are based on sales at member Christian retail stores in the U.S. through Aug. 3, 2013, the top Bible translations are: (1) New International Version;...

Many in the Christian church today have, at best, a rudimentary understanding of what Jesus was talking about when he said "You must be born again." False teachers are often quick to invent their own concept of "born again" apart from sound biblical information, so be careful to compare what they teach to the Word of God. A good grasp of the biblical teaching on this subject is important to the understanding of how God saves people and transforms their lives – the very essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

World’s biggest shipwreck The sinking of Titanic and Wilhelm Gustloff in perspective By Julio Severo Even with their sophisticated, fast and high-powered news and information technology, modern humankind has a hard time to see or recognize proven facts. One of those facts is that it is impossible to live without God and his values. Nazis tried, and they reaped bitter and destructive consequences. Communists tried, and they did and they do the same reaping. Both socialist ideologies were focused on man and based on the evolution theory, which dethrones God and enthrones man, or monkey. Without God, tragedy is...

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian's recent comments on Twitter about her church attendance provided fodder for not only celebrity gossip in the secular media and blogosphere, but surprisingly also for a Christian radio station. Internet radio host Chris Rosebrough of the show "Fighting for the Faith" devoted a segment on Friday to answering a question that he posed: "Kim Kardashian's designer spirituality, is it biblical Christianity?" The model and reality TV star tweeted recently that "I would be lost if I didn't go to church to reflect back on my whole week. Today's service was awesome! Thank you so much...

WHITMAN, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- State Police in Logan County are searching for the suspects responsible for burglarizing a church. Troopers say more than $7,000 worth of goods was stolen from 20 Whitman Community Church on Whitman Creek Road. They say a television, a debit card, microphones and sound equipment were among the items missing. "They went through everything in the church," choir member Earl Bush said. "They opened up every door, every drawer. I lost a $1,500 guitar." Troopers say the suspects barged in through the backdoor and left evidence of the break-in. The burglary has left churchgoers like Ocil...

The wife of an imprisoned Iranian-American pastor has stated that her husband has been bringing fellow inmates to Christ and that his time in an Iranian prison is "not in vain." Naghmeh Abedini, wife of Pastor Saeed Abedini, told those gathered at Liberty University on Monday that though imprisoned in the infamous Evin Prison, her husband continues to evangelize. "He's been asked and tortured to deny his Christian faith and return to Islam and he has not," said Abedini, who said around 30 inmates have converted to Christianity due to Abedini's witness. "For me to know that so many of...

For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.( 2 Corinthians 7:8-10)The scripture above addresses a very serious aspect of the...

Charles Spurgeon aka Charles Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was a British Particular Baptist preacher. Charles Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is known as the “Prince of Preachers”. He was a strong figure in the Reformed Baptist tradition, defending the Church in agreement with the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith understanding, and opposing the liberal and pragmatic theological tendencies in the Church of his day. In his lifetime, Charles Spurgeon preached to around 10,000,000 people, often up to 10 times each week at different places. Spurgeon was...

FULL TITLE: Neil Riser campaign worker linked to defunct church girls’ home, accusations of sexual abuse by father-in-law minister Two men with ties to a defunct church-operated home for girls and boys in Bienville Parish—and to the Baptist minister and accused sexual predator who ran the facility—currently are actively involved in the congressional campaign of State Sen. Neil Riser (R-Columbia), LouisianaVoice has learned. Timothy Johnson of Choudrant in Lincoln Parish, who was fired earlier this year as a vice president at Louisiana College after leading an unsuccessful coup against President Joe Aguillard, is married to the daughter of Rev. Mack...

Christians in the United States are witnessing a subtle but mounting transformation in our relationship with the American empire. Some would say the changes are not so subtle. Believers have enjoyed an enviable status throughout the history of this country, largely due to our own efforts in helping to secure certain liberties during it’s founding decades. These “unalienable Rights” were seen, not as rights created by Government, but as gifts given to mankind by the Creator. The Bill of Rights, for example, was composed in order to impel the government to secure rights which already existed. This climate of liberty...

Today we have more options for reading the Bible than ever before. While many of us still prefer our leather covers, ribbon markers, and gilded pages, the American Bible Society recently found that 41 percent of Americans read Scripture on the Internet. Twenty-nine percent say they search for Bible verses on their cell phones, and 17 percent say they use their Kindle or iPad. Yet despite all this access, pollster George Gallup has dubbed the United States “a nation of biblical illiterates.” Time magazine says: “Only half of U.S. adults know the title of even one Gospel. Most can’t name...

FULL TITLE: Adoptive parents of Ethiopian girl who died of hypothermia and starvation in their backyard found GUILTY of manslaughter A Washington state couple were convicted of manslaughter Monday in the gruesome starvation and hypothermia death of a teenage girl they adopted from Ethiopia. A jury found Larry Williams, of Sedro-Woolley, guilty of first-degree manslaughter, while his wife, Carri Williams, was found guilty of homicide by abuse as well as manslaughter. The jury also convicted them both of assault and each faces a possible life sentence. Hana Williams died in May 2011 in the backyard of the couple's home, where...

In 1962, philosopher-scientist Thomas Kuhn coined the term “paradigm shift” to signal a massive change in the way a community thinks about a particular topic. Examples of paradigm shifts include Copernicus’s discovery that the earth revolves around the sun, Einstein’s theory of relativity, and Darwin’s theory of evolution. Each changed the world of thought (some for better, some for worse) in a fundamental way. From a political perspective, Constantine’s Edict of Milan, issued in AD 313, constituted the formal beginning of a major paradigm shift that signaled the end of the ancient world and the beginning of the medieval period....

Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. He hath said in his heart,...

A 7 minute short (but powerful) movie that ends with a question many of you may have asked yourself sometimes.

Hamlin, WV - The mayor of Hamlin, WV was asked to resign as pastor of his church after he let Lincoln County Sheriff's deputies use the church bus in a drug bust. Chris Wilkinson has a few jobs in Lincoln County. He's the mayor, the Chief of Police, and up until Monday, was the pastor of Morningstar Community Church. After being pastor for ten years, he said his congregation asked him to resign. He said the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department asked him if they could use the church's bus last Thursday. Nine officers needed to get to a meth bust...

(It has come to our attention that there is a new move within apostate Evangelicalism, called NALT,(Not All Like Them), in which false pastors team up with homosexual activists, to assure the ‘sodomite community’ that they are “Not all Like them”, that is like the faithful, confessing church which holds to the Christian position on marriage and sexuality. Thus they deny Christ to appeal to the enemies of Christ, at the expense of the Word of God and those willing to bear the reproach of Christ. The following is an article I wrote in February 2011 that bears repetition in...

Justin Bieber, 19-year-old pop music star, was apparently so moved by a sermon preached by Pastor Carl Lentz at Hillsong NYC church on Sunday that the Canadian recording artist "broke down." "Love to my guy @carllentzNYC for the amazing sermon at church this morning. Love you man. I broke down today. Thank (you)," Bieber tweeted Sunday night, adding a smiley face. The award-winning recording artist also uploaded a photo of himself and Pastor Lentz to his Instagram account that same evening, writing, "Love you bro" as the caption. Bieber has long been open about his Christian faith, and previously referred...

Much of Weigel's exposition mirrors exactly what I also would like to say to Catholic brothers and sisters from my perspective as an evangelical Protestant of Reformed convictions modelled by, say, Abraham Kuyper.BOOK REVIEW: Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Church by George Weigel. Basic Books, 2013. 291pp. George Weigel's Evangelical Catholicism provides very interesting reading for a historian with pietist and Calvinist convictions who happens to teach at the University of Notre Dame. It is also greatly interesting to see a lay American Catholic, known for his conservative political convictions as well as for his comprehensive biography of...