Free Republic

Imagine ISIS kidnapped a relative of yours and then you see their brutal beheading on television. Many different emotions can take over, including anger, grief, and depression. CBN News found a group of Egyptian Christians, however, who responded much differently. They are happy their family members stood firm in their faith. Widow Mariam Farhat told us she "was very proud" that her husband "stood firm in his faith and that he didn't deny Jesus." That surprising reaction is happening 150 miles south of Cairo, in the village of Al Aour. Residents there honor the sacrifice of 21 Egyptians brutally murdered...

The 192-page document is Pope Francis' first major teaching letter on climate change and its effects on the planet's poor.Italian magazine L’Espresso leaked Pope Francis’ hotly anticipated encyclical on climate change on its website on Monday, breaking an embargo on the document set for Thursday. The 192-page document is Pope Francis’ first major teaching letter on climate change and its effects on the planet’s poor. Hailed by some as the “Pope of the poor,” Francis’ linkage of environmental and economic issues puts the Vatican out front on a closely watched topic. A Vatican official told Bloomberg News that the leak...

Fakeer Mohamed Althafi speaks so softly that you have to strain to hear him. The 32-year-old physiotherapist from Tamil Nadu says he’s been an introvert since childhood and loves blending into the background. At the bachelor’s pad which he shares with a trio of peers in midtown Mumbai, he insists that no more details about his address be given. “If someone found out where I lived,” he explains, “they could come attack me or worse.” And no, Althafi is not a controversial political figure/activist. So, considering he admits to being no more than “a regular bloke”, what is he so scared of? Just this -- five years ago,...

June 16, 2015 Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Cor 8:1-9 We want you to know, brothers and sisters, of the grace of God that has been given to the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their profound poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For according to their means, I can testify, and beyond their means, spontaneously, they begged us insistently for the favor of taking part in the service to the holy ones, and this, not as we expected, but...

Elisabeth Elliot, widow of martyred Jim Elliot and author of Through the Gates of Splendor, has died, according to the Gospel Coalition. Born in 1926 to missionaries in Belgium, Elliot spent her life pursuing God into the deepest and darkest of jungles. She married Jim Elliot, who was later martyred while trying to reach the Quichua Indians of Ecuador. Elisabeth was known for her service and submitting to God's will, even when she didn't understand. "I realized that the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us...

June 15, 2015 « June 14 | June 16 » Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 365 Reading 1 2 Cor 6:1-10 Brothers and sisters: As your fellow workers, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says: In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you. Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We cause no one to stumble in anything, in order that no fault may be found with our ministry; on the contrary,...

Vatican City, Jun 15, 2015 / 01:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- One of the most challenging scientific questions Pope Francis faces in his new encyclical on creation is that of climate change, which a source close to the document says the Pope addresses in a balanced perspective without taking sides. “The great novelty which emerges from the encyclical is that it comes from a shepherd who’s thinking of all those who are his,” a source familiar the encyclical has said. "(It) has a big overview, the capacity of helping us walk towards a more integral ecology that is all inclusive and...

My dear friends, we as a nation and a world are headed into the Day of the Lord at break neck speed! This world at present has fully given themselves over unto the demonic delusion and spirit of Anti Christ that we do NOT need our ETERNAL Creator and are the masters of our own “temporal” destiny (Rom. 1:18-32, Eph. 6:12, 1 John 2:22, 4:1-3, 2 John 1:7). Tyranny, lawlessness, moral relativism, political correctness and fundamental “religious” fantasies of godlessness dominate and saturate the world; and in the United States of America lawlessness secularism and socialistic totalitarianism is squeezing its...

June 14, 2015Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Ez 17:22-24 Thus says the Lord GOD:I, too, will take from the crest of the cedar,from its topmost branches tear off a tender shoot,and plant it on a high and lofty mountain;on the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it.It shall put forth branches and bear fruit,and become a majestic cedar.Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it,every winged thing in the shade of its boughs.And all the trees of the field shall knowthat I, the LORD,bring low the high tree,lift high the lowly tree,wither up the green...

Francis had invited Bartholomew to present his encyclical on ecology. Zizoulas, one of the greatest Orthodox theologians, will do it in his place. “Mary is much more important than the apostles.” Forcing migrants back in Asia is not an attitude inherent to a continent that “has a mystical treasure-trove”. Similarly, “the fundamentalism found in some parts of Pakistan where Christians were burnt alive for bearing the Gospel is not inherent”.Rome (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis today proposed that all Christians celebrate Easter at the same time. He did so, noting that “The Catholic Church has been willing since Paul VI to...

In a time when churches of every description are faced with Vanishing Male Syndrome, men are showing up at Eastern Orthodox churches in numbers that, if not numerically impressive, are proportionately intriguing. This may be the only church which attracts and holds men in numbers equal to women. As Leon Podles wrote in his 1999 book, “The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity,” “The Orthodox are the only Christians who write basso profundo church music, or need to.” Rather than guess why this is, I emailed a hundred Orthodox men, most of whom joined the Church as adults. What do...

Christian minister Tony Campolo's recent announcement that the church should accept gay couples is highlighting the growing division between Christians over the issues of homosexuality and gay marriage. In a statement issued this week, Campolo said he's tried to approach people on both sides of the issue with grace and understanding while struggling with his own beliefs. Finally, he said, it was his own relationship with his wife and the many same-sex couples they know and spend time with that persuaded him that the primary purpose of marriage is about spiritual growth. He also wrote that homosexuality is "almost never...

June 13, 2015Saturday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 2 Cor 5:14-21 Brothers and sisters:The love of Christ impels us,once we have come to the conviction that one died for all;therefore, all have died.He indeed died for all,so that those who live might no longer live for themselvesbut for him who for their sake died and was raised. Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh;even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh,yet now we know him so no longer.So whoever is in Christ is a new creation:the old...

Actor Morgan Freeman is set to visit pastor Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Texas as part of National Geographic's upcoming "The Story of God" project, which will examine beliefs about God and the divine throughout the world. "God is arguably the most important topic of our time," said executive producer Lori McCreary of Revelations Entertainment. "National Geographic's unprecedented inside access will allow us to explore the global mystery behind God and religion. With Morgan as our storyteller, we're going to produce a visually stunning and thought-provoking series that will spur meaningful conversations about God and faith, by believers and nonbelievers...

NASHVILLE (BP) -- It's common for proponents of gay marriage to claim that Scripture condemns only promiscuous, predatory and pedophilic homosexual behavior, as if the biblical authors had no knowledge of consensual, adult, monogamous homosexuality. In some cases, LGBT advocates state explicitly that the ancient world was ignorant of modern forms of homosexuality. But that claim is false. And believers should be prepared to engage its advocates in the ongoing cultural debate over same-sex marriage. The suggestion that Scripture doesn't condemn modern homosexuality is one component of the controversy surrounding Weatherly Heights Baptist Church in Huntsville, Ala., and its alleged...

June 12, 2015Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus    Reading 1 Hos 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9 Thus says the LORD:When Israel was a child I loved him,out of Egypt I called my son.Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,who took them in my arms;I drew them with human cords,with bands of love;I fostered them like onewho raises an infant to his cheeks;Yet, though I stooped to feed my child,they did not know that I was their healer. My heart is overwhelmed,my pity is stirred.I will not give vent to my blazing anger,I will not destroy Ephraim again;For...

As the institution of marriage faces unprecedented challenges, the Catholic Church continues to promote and defend marriage as being between one man and one woman, said Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone. As chairman of the bishops' Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, Archbishop Cordileone gave bishops at the Spring General Assembly an update on the U.S. Supreme Court's impending decision whether same-sex marriage should be made legal nationwide along with related public policy and the Church's catechetical efforts. The Supreme Court is considering two issues: whether the constitution should require a state to license a civil marriage between two...

June 11, 2015Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle    Reading 1 Acts 11:21b-26; 13:1-3 In those days a great number who believed turned to the Lord.The news about them reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem,and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch.When he arrived and saw the grace of God,he rejoiced and encouraged them allto remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart,for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.And a large number of people was added to the Lord.Then he went to Tarsus to look for Saul,and when he had found...

In this episode, we pick up where we last left off on the concept joy, and what it has done (promising you what it can do) for people who truly find it in the Lord. Then, we discuss how God provides restoration to the soul, showing us, through personal experience, how he accommodates, aides, and provides purpose, and companionship, satisfying (and completing) our soul’s overall longings and yearnings, as we have discussed throughout this series. (The program can be accessed by clicking on the "Source" link, or by clicking HERE.)

PRESENT TENSE: CONTINUOUS ACTION, HABITUAL ACTION, OFTEN REFLECTS A LIFESTYLEEXAMPLE OF PRESENT TENSE: 1Peter 1:5 who are protected (word study) (PPPMPA) (5746) by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last timePPPMPA: Present Tense, Passive Voice, Participle, Masculine, Plural, Accusative From Peter's use of Present tense one can see that in context. He is referring to born again ones, describing them as those who are "continually being protected by the power (dunamis) of God". God's protection of His children isn't fickle, present one day and absent the next. You can see...