Free Republic

The face of American Christianity is in transition, and Rob Bell, with his evolving look and artistry, has opened a window on this hybrid horizon. Known to many for his Nooma films, a series of twenty-four twelve-minute sermons and his controversial 2011 book, titled Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, his person and work provoke visceral reactions that range from adoration to repulsion, while raising profound questions. In 2011 he was named to the Time 100 list—the 100 most influential people in the world. That same year, Bell left Mars...

Want to feel old? Talk to anyone under the age of 50 about meatless Fridays. Odds are, they will have no memory of it. They will have no knowledge of why Catholics were called “mackerel snappers,” nor will they laugh at tired George Carlin routines about going to hell for eating a hot dog. And they sure as heck won’t know why many restaurant chains still have their fish specials on Fridays. But for all you youngsters, you might get ready: Friday abstinence may be coming back. Once upon a time, children, Catholics abstained from meat on Fridays as a small act of...

The other day I ran across something I had written back during the First Gulf War. Like everybody else, I was glued to CNN's coverage of the first Nintendo War. (I even videotaped some of it.) Anyway, as I was watching the coverage, I was making notes, one of which was the observation that I was witnessing the beginning of a global power shift. I wrote; "the Soviet Union and America must decrease, so that Europe can rise to pre-eminence." I wrote a whole bunch more stuff about how I thought it would come about, but I'm only quoting the...

WASHINGTON--The Catholic Church--a politically and ethnically sprawling institution--has no natural home on the American ideological spectrum. Neither major party combines moral conservatism with a passion for social justice. So Catholic leaders have often challenged Democrats to be more pro-life and Republicans to be more concerned about immigrants and the poor. But President Obama's first term was a period of unexpected aggression against the rights of religious institutions. His Justice Department, in the Hosanna-Tabor case, argued against the existence of any "ministerial exception" to employment rules. Obama tried to mandate that Catholic schools, hospitals, and charities offer insurance coverage for contraceptives...

… and free condom distribution too! Just when you thought the controversy over the Fordham Republicans rescinding their invitation to Ann Coulter couldn’t get any weirder …A group of law professors at Fordham Law School exchanged high-fives over Coulter’s departure, then quickly segued into demanding that the University fund the Vagina Monologues, pro-abortion groups, and other oppressed, um, minorities at Catholic universities on the theory that if the University was willing to fund Coulter’s “hate speech,” it should fund the feminist agenda even if contrary to Catholic teachings.As reported at The Fordham Observer, Coulter Controversy Prompts Fordham Law Faculty...

I’m conflicted about Trinity Broadcast Network, which wrapped up its Fall Praise-A-Thon today. There is no denying that “America’s most-watched faith and family friendly network,” as TBN advertises itself, provides a service to the Christian faithful. I, for one, appreciate the platform it provides for such pastors as Ken Copeland, Charles Stanley, John Hagee, Ed Young Sr., David Jeremiah and Joel Osteen. I also enjoy the praise and worship music it presents from such Christian artists as Chris Tomlin, Paul Baloche, Michael W. Smith, Israel Houghton, Martha Munizzi and Cindy Cruse Ratcliff. Yet, my soul is troubled by news reports...

Court Halts Contraceptive Mandate for Christian Publisher Tyndale Sat, Nov. 17, 2012 Posted: 04:34 PM EDT A federal court ruled on Friday in favor of Tyndale House Publishers in a lawsuit against the Obama administration's contraceptive coverage mandate.U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton granted a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of the mandate – which requires employers to cover contraception, sterilization and abortifacient drugs in their employees' health insurance plans – against the Christian publishing company."Although there is arguably a public interest in the uniform application of the ACA (Affordable Care Act) and the contraceptive coverage mandate there is...

The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever. Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight. Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.(Psalm 9 :17-20)Many people miss the full import of the Psalms of the Bible, because they limit their understanding of them to being divine poetry, or as wisdom literature. Some correctly go further and realize that the...

The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. (Psalm 9:14-15)The ninth Psalm is an eschatological revelation. The Psalmist ,by the Holy Spirit celebrates the coming of the LORD . At his Arrival, the united international enemies of Israel fall, they are turned back and routed! They had besieged her in their fury, but God rebukes them,”putting out their name” forever! The LORD comes...

Creationism or Evolution?by Sebastian R. Fama Is it possible to know that God exists even though we cannot see or touch Him? Well, we believe that radio waves exist and we can’t see or touch them. And we believe it because the evidence allows for no other conclusion. We turn on a television and we see and hear someone who is many miles away. Adjusting the antenna changes the quality of the picture. Disconnect the antenna, and there is no picture. Obviously the television is receiving the pictures and sound from the air. Thus we can know that radio...

Winning into Freedom "If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed" —John 8:36 If there is even a trace of individual self-satisfaction left in us, it always says, “I can’t surrender,” or “I can’t be free.” But the spiritual part of our being never says “I can’t”; it simply soaks up everything around it. Our spirit hungers for more and more. It is the way we are built. We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin—...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem A New Journey…The Names of God in The Scriptures Yashar...The Upright One Isaiah 26:7 The way of the righteous is smooth; O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.

Nestorianism 1248. Will you explain the teachings of Nestorius? As opposed to the Arians who would not admit that Christ was God, Nestorius insisted that we must adore Christ as God. But in explaining how Christ is God, he fell into error; and as he had become Patriarch of Constantinople in 428 A.D., his very influence demanded immediate decision by the Church. Nestorius said that we must adore Christ as God because God dwelt in Christ. However we could not identify Christ with God, and apart from the indwelling of God within Him, Christ was a merely human Person. There...

A Veterans Day parade this weekend featured a high school marching band that played the song most known for marking the death of soldiers. Ironically, one pro-life advocate caught the band playing the song as it happened to stop front in front of a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic located on the parade route. “Went out to Planned Parenthood to pray,” pro-life advocate Jennie Stone said. “There was a huge Veterans Day parade going on. Hearing “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” “My Country Tis of Thee,” and “America the Beautiful” over and over while standing in front of it actually put...

November 18, 2012   Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Dn 12:1-3 In those days, I Daniel,heard this word of the Lord:"At that time there shall ariseMichael, the great prince,guardian of your people;it shall be a time unsurpassed in distresssince nations began until that time.At that time your people shall escape,everyone who is found written in the book. "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake;some shall live forever,others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace. "But the wise shall shine brightlylike the splendor of the firmament,and those who lead the many to...

Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death: That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.(Psalm 9:13-14)Psalm 9 is an eschatological psalm. It describes the coming of the Lord to this earth to deliver a besieged people, Israel, surrounded by menacing enemies on the verge of destroying her. The Psalmist reveals that Israel’s enemies will be routed by the very presence of the Lord, the perousia spoken...

Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings. When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.(Psalm 9:11-12)The message of Psalm 9, is the coming of the Lord. He comes to deliver Israel from the enemies who besiege her in the last days. He comes to Judge the world in righteousness. He comes to put an end to the wanton destruction of the enemy. Here we see another of the reasons the Lord comes again, He comes as the judge to to make inquisition for...

The ninth Psalm is eschatological. It is a celebration of the return of King Messiah, whose coming is an intervention, a deliverance of Israel from the amassed nations of the world who have united to destroy her. The psalmist taunts the enemies who have sought Israel’s destruction, O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.(Psalm 9:6)Either this is rendered as ‘Your destructions are over forever!”, or it means “You are eternally destroyed”. Perhaps it is both, for the Coming of the Messiah shall certainly produce both effects;...

My mom went in for a check-up and she's not doing well. She is 80 and a two-time cancer survivor. Please pray for her, my family, my sister & her family. Thank you.

Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. (Psalm 27:7-10)