Free Republic

Egyptian-American Pastor Michael Youssef has issued a strong condemnation of “woke” pastors within evangelical churches, warning that spewing far-left ideology from the pulpit is “deadly as far as the Gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned.” In an interview with The Christian Post, the 72-year-old pastor of the 3,000-member Church of The Apostles in Atlanta, Georgia, recalled how, as an Episcopal priest in the 1980s, he watched with dismay as the mainline Episcopal denomination slowly moved away from biblical principles, eventually voting to approve same-sex marriage in the denomination. But in recent years, Youssef told CP that he’s seen the same...

President Trump and his administration facilitated a historic, world-changing peace treaty between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. The “Abraham Accord” is the first peace treaty since the Israel-Jordan treaty signed 26 years ago. This was a stroke of diplomatic genius and I applaud the hard work of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the countless others. I remember Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat’s courageous visit to Israel in 1977 and the resulting peace between the two countries. I was nearly 30 at the time, and even though I had left Egypt many years earlier, I was thrilled at the...

A segment of the American public must be yelling expletives whenever the results of our apparently incoherent foreign policy show up on their TV screens. Many can only react to our dealings with Syria, Iran, Libya, Israel, and now Russia with bewilderment and anger. The news outlets that are balanced keep replaying the words of Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney, four years apart, predicting Russia’s intentions toward Ukraine. Watching those statements leaves us baffled as to why the mainstream media lampooned them when they accurately and perceptively anticipated Russia’s deviant move. But let me explain what’s going on. It does...

For twenty years, Mr. Obama drank from a particular brand of religion—Liberal Christianity. To be sure, most Bible-believing Christians would not consider that brand to be Christianity at all. But liberal Christians would consider their brand to actually be the enlightened one. Over time, Liberal Christianity has developed a humanistic understanding of what the Christian faith is about. They claim that Christians who still believe the Bible is God’s perfect self-revelation are stuck back in the 1st century. Society has evolved, they say. And because society has evolved, God must be evolving also. After all, why else would He allow...

That’s a startling question, to be sure. But it’s a question that haunted me during my recent visit to Australia. There, political conservatism is experiencing a revival of sorts after six years of socialist wilderness. While in Australia, I kept thinking about a surprising statement made to me by a prominent American conservative leader during the last U.S. election. At that time, he said, “I will not support the Republican candidate. In fact, I hope Obama wins.” When I couldn’t hide my shock, he went on to explain his perspective: eventually the socialist ideology in our country would over-tip its...

You would have to be living on Mars to not realize that U.S. foreign policy, especially our Middle East policy, is a disaster . With the help of two misguided Republican senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, the Obama administration has managed to make America despised, disrespected, and mistrusted across the region. The Obama administration has repeatedly said that democracy took hold in Egypt through a free and fair election. That is a mirage. During the mere 12-month reign of the Muslim Brotherhood, we watched: •Churches being burnt •Christians beheaded in broad daylight •Minorities, including Shiites, slaughtered in the streets...

Politicians accuse each other of failure, which is to be expected. Each side has their “narrative,” and the truth often loses out (although I am thankful for the honest and courageous ones who do speak the truth). But since I’m not a politician, but instead have a prophetic journalistic voice, I will speak the truth and let the chips fall where they may. There is one area in particular where it is hard to find the truth spoken by either Republicans or Democrats: namely, this whole idea that Muslim people yearn for democracy. It is a glaring short-sightedness that both...

There’s been a lot of discussion within some in the media regarding the demographic changes taking place in Europe. But those of us who’ve travelled there have observed it firsthand: namely, the decreased birthrate among Europeans compared to the enormous birthrate increase among Muslim immigrants. Overall, the birthrate across the continent is far below the replacement level of 2.1 children per couple. Italy, Spain, Austria, and Germany have a fertility rate of only 1.4, while Poland and Russia languish at 1.3 and 1.2, respectively. However, as a subgroup, Muslims in Europe are producing from 4 to 6 children per couple....

In my book, When the Crosses are Gone, I warn that when a culture abandons thinking and logic in favor of feelings and emotions, it is doomed to destruction. Although emotions are a very important part of the human psyche, when they control every aspect of life, morality becomes a victim. Today, there is widespread agreement that morality in America is deteriorating with breathtaking speed. On one hand, we face a belligerent and intimidating lobby that desires the breakdown of biblical morality. On the other hand, a docile public-as well as church leadership-is terrified to stand up for truth lest...

Some in the media have popularized the term "culture war," giving the impression that the war being waged against Christianity is the same thing as a war against everything that is traditional. But in 2013, let's change the term. Let's call it what it is: "A war against Christ." Certainly there are many American traditions rooted in Christian teaching and history. But mixing some traditions with what is purely Christ-honoring -- although it may recruit support from non-Christian traditionalists or conservatives -- dilutes the Christian dye. Take for example the ACLU's war against Christians praying in public schools while obliging...

I am currently on an around-the-globe trip, going from the West Coast, to Down Under, Singapore, London, and then home again. From the vantage point of this journey, the one striking and overwhelming image I get is of two runaway trains moving in opposite directions. And yet, in some strange way, they are about to cause a global collision. Let me explain. On one train, Islamists are violently demanding that the West bow to them as they seek to take the world back to the Arabian dark ages of the 7th century. On the other, humanists, atheists, greens, and extreme...

This is the sixth and final post in my blog series, titled: The Price of Liberty. If you’re just now starting the series, you can begin with the first post here. During the middle of the nineteenth century, spiritual conditions in the United States deteriorated considerably. Conditions were quite different then because the nation had moved away from its early days of godliness. Moreover, people became obsessed with making money, and as they prospered they turned their backs on God. Then a man named Jeremiah Lanphier began a prayer meeting in the upper room of the Dutch Reformed Church in...

The extreme naivety of our foreign policy makers toward countries like Libya and Egypt is not only embarrassing, it is dangerous and disastrous. With yesterday's storming of American diplomatic offices in Egypt and Libya, the world is now watching the true colors of Islamists -- something that those of us with experience have known all along. Unfortunately the Obama administration has been doggedly colorblind to the Islamists' true colors. We give Egypt $2 billion a year. We give Libya military and financial aid to topple their dictator. But what do we get in the way of thanks? Death and destruction....

In my last blog, Obama's Religion, I explained the new religion that is taking American churches by storm. That new religion is articulated and exalted by no less than President Obama himself. The religion adheres to the following belief: "Yes, Jesus is my Savior, but He's not the only one. Other religions are equally valid and accepted by God. Christianity is one way to God, but not the only way." An even greater travesty is that so many well-meaning Christians are buying into that preposterous belief. Why do I call it preposterous? Because it's equivalent to believing 2 + 2...

When President Obama recently completed his “evolution” on homosexual marriage, he ambushed not only some of his friends, but the majority of Americans who still hold to the truth of heterosexual marriage. For years, pundits have debated the “culture war.” The term war, however, implies that two equal sides are duking it out. But is that really true? How can the sides be equal when one side is simply trying to maintain territories of ancient and biblical truth—a truth that has served civilization for more than 6,000 years? No, what is happening now—championed by no less a figure than the...

Recently I read a masterful article in The Christian Post by Dr. Albert Mohler, who is nothing short of a modern-day prophet. In the article, Dr. Mohler warns, “The urgency to reach people with the Gospel can, if the church is not faithful and watchful, tempt us to subvert the Gospel by redefining its terms.” Specifically, Dr. Mohler drew attention to how some evangelical megachurches appear to be softening their positions on homosexuality. He calls on evangelical leaders to steer clear of the sinking sand of celebrating homosexuality—a quicksand that the mainline churches, I believe, have fallen into. Many evangelicals...

The evangelical church is under constant threat to compromise its reliance on biblical truth. The human desire to be accepted, to not be seen as “outside the mainstream,” can be overwhelming. But that desire is our weakness, our downfall. It does not always immediately destroy the dam we build to protect the waters of truth, but instead it leads to tiny fissures that grow until destruction is inevitable. Twenty years ago, I experienced the painful demise of the Episcopal Church, who once was a bastion of biblical truth. It was not a pretty picture. It was a picture painted in...

The evangelical church is under constant threat to compromise its reliance on biblical truth. The human desire to be accepted, to not be seen as "outside the mainstream," can be overwhelming. But that desire is our weakness, our downfall. It does not always immediately destroy the dam we build to protect the waters of truth, but instead it leads to tiny fissures that grow until destruction is inevitable. Twenty years ago, I experienced the painful demise of the Episcopal Church, which once was a bastion of biblical truth. It was not a pretty picture. It was a picture painted in...

Many of us who are biblical scholars have watched Mr. Obama’s use, or should I say abuse, of the Bible with dismay. Who can forget when he gave a speech mocking the ceremonial law of the Old Testament then saying something to the effect of, “How can you govern by the Sermon on the Mount?” Well, he did it again at the National Prayer Breakfast. I never understood that name since very little prayer, if any, takes place. Instead, perhaps it should be called the National Breakfast Gathering. The president quoted the Bible to justify punishing those who have worked...

True democracy can no more take hold in Islamic soil than a rose can grow in a glass vase ... no matter how much water it contains. This is a true statement and many Islamists know that this is a true statement. Tell that to the politically correct segment of our society. This segment, whether it is the mainstream media or foreign policy makers, is afflicted with "opposite disorder ' or better described as "Islamophilia." "What is Islamophilia?," you ask. It is the irrational and self-destructive desire to show how enlightened and morally superior you are by bending over backwards...