Free Republic

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Germany's government said Friday it will cut off aid to Zimbabwe unless illegal and violent occupiers are removed from a farm owned by a German national. In a Friday protest note to the Zimbabwe foreign ministry, Germany noted the occupation of the eastern Zimbabwe property owned by German investor Heinrich von Pezold violates a decade-old investment agreement between the two countries.

You have always been so faithful to pray for Ken and me – especially for my health. But today I bring before you a new concern. I have breast cancer. Ken and I have been assured by our doctors that there are many new treatments for breast cancer, and we are very hopeful for a successful surgery and a full recovery.You have heard me often say that our afflictions come from the hand of our all-wise and sovereign God, and although cancer is something new, I am content to receive from God whatever He deems fit for me – even...

Recent discourse concerning the Chinese People’s Liberation Army's (PLA) modernization has principally focused on technological advances and less on the human dimension of PLA force transformation. In particular, a review of these discussions revealed the absence of a publicly available database of Chinese military leaders with the rank of full general (shangjiang). Against the backdrop of the PLA’s stated intention to reorient the armed forces as part of its modernization efforts, an analysis of promotion patterns of the 118 PLA generals (1981 - 2009) may yield important insights into the foci of PLA force transformation. PLA to Build Up Navy...

A Phoenix-based youth pastor is worried that his ministry could face legal troubles under Arizona’s new immigration law. “We don’t ask people for their documents to come hear about Jesus,” said Ian Danley, youth pastor at Neighborhood Ministries, during a conference call with immigration reform advocates Wednesday afternoon. The evangelical pastor said regular ministry work, such as driving teens to worship events, could be “criminalized” under the new Arizona law if a church worker knowingly transports youths who are illegally residing in the United States. “The local community here feels under attack,” Danley said. “Recent high school graduates in my...

What's Bringing So Many Catholics Home? (Part 2) Interview With Campaign Founder Tom Peterson By Andrea Kirk Assaf ROME, MAY 5, 2010 (Zenit.org).- When God chooses a methodology to bring fallen away Catholics back to the Church, he can certainly choose to spread the success from one country to another. That seems to be his plan with a campaign started by Tom Peterson, an American former advertising executive, who has put his expertise and experience at the service of the Church through the creation of the Catholics Come Home ad campaign and Web site. ZENIT spoke about the future of...

4/7/2010 - JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (AFNS) -- As the final rotation of the 732nd Air Expeditionary Group chaplain office draws to a close, the two-person team went on a final mission to neighboring forward operating bases around Baghdad International Airport. Although the purpose of this last trip was to provide pastoral care and help facilitate the best means of continued chaplain corps care for joint expeditionary tasking Airmen, Chaplain (Capt.) Steve Fisher and Staff Sgt. Dewey Landers, a chaplain assistant, focused on one squadron in particular, a group of individuals who put their lives in danger every time they...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, February 24, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After 33 years at Focus on the Family, psychologist Dr. James Dobson bids farewell on Friday to the Christian ministry he founded, and brings his radio presence at the organization to an end. But the famous Christian commentator is not finished with the airwaves, as he has announced plans for a new, independent radio ministry following his departure. Focus on the Family CEO and President Jim Daly told listeners of Focus on the Family’s radio program Wednesday that "this week marks the completion of a transition period that probably started more than...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (BP)--A reported 40,127 Haitians have made professions of faith in Jesus Christ since a major earthquake hit the impoverished nation in January, according to pastors and directors of missions within the Confraternite Missionaire Baptiste d'Haiti (CMBH). "Haiti is ripe for a spiritual movement from God," said Craig Culbreth, director of the Florida Baptist Convention's partnership missions department, which coordinates the work of the CMBH, upon his Feb. 22 return from Port-au-Prince. During a Feb. 16-17 citywide holiday observance in Cap Haitien, Haiti's second largest city, Culbreth saw "thousands upon thousands filling the streets where people are seeking God...

N. Pierce: “Great metropolitan regions...not nation-states--are starting to emerge as the world’s most influential players.” Cities are growing in the ‘Third World’ at an enormous rate and are regenerating in the U.S. and Europe. In the U.S. even smaller cities have seen a renaissance of their downtown cores, as professionals, immigrants, international business leaders, empty-nest baby-boomers, artists, and the ‘young and hip’ move back in. The coming world ‘order' will be a global, multi-cultural, and urban order. So globalized city-centers are the strategic ‘leading edge’ of world culture. So what are they like? Would we say that young city-center dwellers...

As you finally turn off the light and roll wearily into bed every night, do you ever think about the billions of people who are just starting their day? Do you ever consider the fact that as you sleep, millions of other people will be experiencing the same trials and challenges that you faced during your day? Skin colors,climates,altitudes,foods,languages,family structure,dwellings,financial status - these aspects may be completely different but yet we all have so much in common...

This is a thread for the live streaming of Heart of the Matter an outreach to the LDS. A link with the archive will be posted when it is up.

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — Two men ministering on the streets of Boynton Beach were allegedly gunned down by an 18-year-old man. Police say 24-year-old Tite Sufra and 23-year-old Stephen Ocean were preaching to Jeriah Woody for about 15 minutes, until he got a phone call. Woody left, but then allegedly started walking toward the two. When Sufra approached, Woody allegedly shot him in the head. Ocean ran, and police say Woody shot him in the back, then walked up and shot him again — this time in the head at point-blank range.

Should local churches support and equip young men in their congregation who feel called to ministry, or should they be sent to seminary? It's a rare church that would be able to provide all the training that, I think, a pastor needs in our day, alone in their church without the help of a seminary. So, yeah, I really believe in seminaries. I believe in what seminaries offer. I believe in systematic theology, I believe in church history, I believe in Greek and Hebrew, I believe in preaching, and other kinds of courses: apologetics, philosophy of religion, etc. I think...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – The Saudi Interior Ministry says an investigation has shown that three Saudi militants were killed in a Sept. 14 blast outside the country. The official Saudi Press agency quoted a ministry statement as saying Monday that DNA tests showed the three were militants who had fled the country to join militants abroad. It did not say in which country the blast took place.

Fledgling group ministers to Muslims behind bars By Frank Green A seven-year-old prison chaplain group recently was awarded a one-of-its-kind, $25,000 state subcontract to minister to a rapidly growing faith behind bars: Islam. But the all-volunteer Muslim Chaplain Services wants more state funding... The Chaplain Service of the Churches of Virginia, a Protestant group established in 1920, has the full, $780,000 contract... Relations between the two chaplain groups are cordial... So, too, do some secular experts... Mark Hamm ... said that "Islam, by all accounts, is the fastest-growing religion among prisoners in the Western world, including the United States." And...

Pastor Paul Sheppard, senior pastor of the large Bay Area Church, Abundant Life Christian Fellowship, abruptly resigned this past weekend. Sheppard who is widely credited for growing the church from 300 members to well over 6,000 resigned due to a "moral crisis" in statement read to the congregation on Sunday. According to sources who were in attendance at the church on Sunday, an associate pastor stood up for the morning announcments and read a letter from Pastor Paul Sheppard to the church. In the letter, Sheppard admitted having an extra marital affair. In addition, he asked forgiveness from his wife,...

This video is arranged with a short instrumental medley of the hymns; Softly and Tenderly, Lord I’m Coming Home! Also with an animated hummingbird!

Animated tropical puffer fish with a inspiring message!

"Rich-ieee!" the gleaming Caribbean ex-addict sings my name as the worship music soars and pounds to start the service. We embrace and I can feel the crazy coming off of him. We stand back and I look wildly into his wild-eyed grin, yelping, "Yeah! God likes the crazy people!" And he yelps back, "Rich-ieee! Because we'll get crazy for him!"And I let out a cackling bipolar howl as the music blares. This man knows something about "crazy." He decided to get clean only after a drug deal got him thrown into the trunk of a car; driven into a field...

Please keep my son Gabriel and I in your prayers as we work here in China. Here are some updates. Denny China Diary Entry #4 November 03, 2009 "Don't you hate it when you go to wash some clothes in the bathroom sink and the sink falls off of the wall and shatters on the floor at your feet? Only in China. I think I should forget the room deposit!" Posted: 04:58 AM China Diary entry #3 November 03, 2009 (Nov.1)The children are very curious around us in these areas. The roads to get here were mostly dirt and rough....