Free Republic

A good illustration is in the public schools. This view is taught in our public schools exclusively -- by law. There is no other view that can be taught. I'll mention it a bit later, but by law there is no other view that can be taught. By law, in the public schools, the United States of America in 1982, legally there is only one view of reality that can be taught. I'll mention it a bit later, but there is only one view of reality that can be taught, and that is that the final reality is only material...

http://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/providence_god_in_control/providence The Psalmist asked, “Why do the wicked prosper, while the righteous suffer?” The prophet Habakkuk asked virtually the same question in his day as he witnessed his homeland overrun with the invading armies of the Chaldeans. Initially, from Habakkuk’s perspective, he did not see God’s hand in the suffering of his people. Where was the Judge of all the earth during this time of injustice, he wondered. Here Dr. Sproul explains how God’s providence and suffering go hand and hand.

Some decades ago the argument from authority was often invoked as we answered some question about the faith. It was often considered sufficient merely invoke the existence of a rule. And thus, to my nagging question, “Why should I have to go to mass?” my parents would often answer, “Because it’s a rule!” Other variations of the answer would be, “Because the Church says so,” or, “Because it’s in the Ten Commandments.”Never mind that there might actually be reasons that there was a rule, or a commandment. It was considered enough in those old days simply to say, “It is...

Mid-East Prophecy Update - January 6th, 2013 Pastor JD talks about how the inextricable link between Bible history and Bible prophecy points to the salvation of the Jewish nation in the seven-year tribulation, and the rapture of the bride of Christ before the seven-year tribulation.

Egypt’s new constitution “prepares the way for an Islamic caliphate”, according to the acting leader of Coptic Catholics, who is among three bishops to condemn the document as a fundamental attack on human rights. The bishops expressed their profound disappointment with the constitution signed into law on December 26, saying only extremist Muslims’ rights were guaranteed by the new document and that at particular risk were women, young people and religious minorities. Bishop Kyrillos William, administrator of the Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria, said: “We were waiting for a constitution that represents the whole of Egypt but instead we have...

Former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz is featured in a commercial that will air in conjunction with the Notre Dame-Alabama BCS Championship game.MIAMI — Tom Peterson, founder of Catholics Come Home, announced that his Catholic evangelization organization will be airing a new national television commercial featuring retired college football coach Lou Holtz during college football week and ending with the BCS National Championship (Notre Dame vs. Alabama) on Jan. 7. The 30-second ad features Coach Holtz delivering a half-time “pep-talk” reminding viewers to keep focused on life’s goal: heaven. “Faith is not a spectator’s sport; it must be lived. …...

Sacred Mysteries: a great modern Anglican poet features in Roman Catholic liturgy It is surprising to find the Protestant reformer Miles Coverdale’s translation of the Psalms used in a Catholic church. His version of the Bible was burnt in Henry VIII’s reign, and even on his return from exile, when Elizabeth became queen, he did not resume his office as Bishop of Exeter. Partly by accident, Coverdale’s Psalms are used in the Book of Common Prayer, not the version from the Authorised Version of the Bible of 1611. Now they are incorporated into the service book of the Ordinariate of...

Now that the dust has settled on the New Year's holiday, it's time for my annual run-down of the most under-covered Vatican stories. By that, I mean those stories that fell through the cracks in the last year or that didn't quite generate the buzz they really deserved. To be clear, this is not a countdown of the most important Vatican storylines. That list would certainly include the arrest, trial, conviction and eventual pardon of papal butler Paolo Gabriele and the crackdown by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Both stories,...

(Reuters) - France's President Francois Hollande has weighed this weekend into the war of words between his government and the Catholic Church over holding discussions in schools on the planned legalization of same-sex marriage. He defended Education Minister Vincent Peillon on Saturday for urging Catholic schools, which teach about one-fifth of all pupils in France, to stay neutral in the debate. Peillon's supporters and critics dominated the headlines and airwaves on Sunday, a week before a Church-backed protest in Paris that organizers say could draw as many as half a million people opposed to any change in traditional marriage. The...

11 Biblical Tests of Genuine Salvation: Test #3 - Do you Obey the Scriptures? SO4J ^ | John MacArthur Posted on 01/05/2013 7:35:55 AM PST by xzins Test #1 of Series: 11 Biblical Tests of Genuine Salvation: Test #1 - Do you enjoy Fellowship with God and Christ? Test #2 of Series: 11 Biblical Tests of Genuine Salvation: Test #2 - Are you Sensitive to Sin in your Life? Is It Real? 11 Biblical Tests of Genuine Salvation by John MacArthur - 11 Questions to help one see if they are Biblically Saved. Helps to Examine Their Faith with God's...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem A New Journey…The Names of God in The Scriptures GuidePsalm 48:14 For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.

Your Absolute Best Today's Scripture And on going into the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then opening their treasure bags, they presented to Him gifts--gold and frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:11 AMP. Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Can you imagine what it must have been like for the Wise Men when they saw Jesus? He was just a child in a stable surrounded by animals, but these Wise Men recognized that He was the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords; the Savior of the world....

Intimate With Jesus "Jesus said to him, ’Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?’" —John 14:9 These words were not spoken as a rebuke, nor even with surprise; Jesus was encouraging Philip to draw closer. Yet the last person we get intimate with is Jesus. Before Pentecost the disciples knew Jesus as the One who gave them power to conquer demons and to bring about a revival (see Luke 10:18-20). It was a wonderful intimacy, but there was a much closer intimacy to come: “. . . I have called you...

(Reuters) - Pope Benedict said on Sunday that Roman Catholic leaders must have the courage to stand up to attacks by "intolerant agnosticism" prevalent in many countries. The pope and the Church have come under increased attack because of their opposition to homosexual marriage and women priests. The pope has repeatedly denounced what he says are attempts to push religion out of public debate. The 85-year-old pontiff celebrated Mass on the day Christians in the West mark the Epiphany, and ordained four new archbishops including his personal secretary. In a homily to about 10,000 people in St Peter's Basilica in...

Psalm 7:10 My Defense is in God, Who Preserveth the Upright in Heart.

January 10, 2013   Thursday after Epiphany     Reading 1 1 Jn 4:19–5:4 Beloved, we love God becausehe first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,”but hates his brother, he is a liar;for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him:Whoever loves God must also love his brother. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God,and everyone who loves the Fatherloves also the one begotten by him. In this way we know that we love the...

Last weekend, Father Gabriel Nadaf, 39, a Greek Orthodox priest from Nazareth, challenged a boycott against him and attempted to enter the church there to recite a prayer and light a candle. He was accompanied by Israeli Border Police officers and supporters, who came to ensure his safe passage into the church. Nadaf was excommunicated by the Orthodox Church Council after he expressed his belief that Christian youth in Israel should fully integrate into Israeli society, serving in the IDF or in the National Service. Since then, he and others, like Father André Alamiya, have been the target of virulent...

January 9, 2013   Wednesday after Epiphany   Reading 1 1 Jn 4:11-18 Beloved, if God so loved us,we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,and his love is brought to perfection in us. This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,that he has given us of his Spirit. Moreover, we have seen and testifythat the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,God remains in him and he in...

January 8, 2013   Tuesday after Epiphany   Reading 1 1 Jn 4:7-10 Beloved, let us love one another,because love is of God;everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.In this way the love of God was revealed to us:God sent his only-begotten Son into the worldso that we might have life through him.In this is love:not that we have loved God, but that he loved usand sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Responsorial Psalm Ps 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8 R. (see 11) Lord, every nation on...

Bl. John Henry Newman said it best: “To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.” History paints an overwhelming picture of St. Peter’s apostolic ministry in Rome and this is confirmed by a multitude of different sources within the Early Church. Catholic Encyclopedia states, “In opposition to this distinct and unanimous testimony of early Christendom, some few Protestant historians have attempted in recent times to set aside the residence and death of Peter at Rome as legendary. These attempts have resulted in complete failure.” Protestantism as a whole seeks to divorce Christianity from history by rending Gospel...