Free Republic

Last month New Life, a Protestant Church in Minsk, celebrated its victory: the authorities allowed them to pray in the cowshed. Over the last five years, this Protestant community had to go through over 30 court hearings and their success has a bitter aftertaste. Protestantism in Belarus undergoes a renaissance. Albeit the Protestant communities appear to be the fastest-growing, the case of the New Life proves how the authorities make their life difficult. Today restrictive legal framework hinders activities and growth of Protestant churches. The authorities create obstacles which prevent Protestants from obtaining buildings for prayers and unfriendly attitude of...

In his first American appearance as the Vatican's chief guardian of church teaching, the new CDF prefect Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller delivered the keynote earlier today at a Houston symposium (video) on Anglicanorum coetibus, marking a year since the establishment of the H-Town based ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter. Under the provisions of B16's 2009 constitution that carved a path for groups of Anglicans to enter the Catholic communion en masse while maintaining aspects of their spiritual, liturgical and juridical heritage, Müller's "Holy Office" is tasked with global oversight of the project, which now encompasses three diocese-like jurisdictions...

Coffee and sandwich chain Pret A Manger has withdrawn its 'Virgin Mary' brand of crisps after a flurry of religious complaints. The coffee-shop made the costly decision to pull the brand after campaigners on the Protect the Pope website pointed out the offensive crisps branding to its members. Responding to the complaints, the religious website says Pret a Manger has 'apologised for any unintentional offence they have caused and have indicted that they will give any unsold crisps to the homeless'. Posting on the website, Deacon Nick Donnelly, says: 'Clive Schlee (Pret CEO) has admitted to a reader of Protect...

Representatives of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Presbyterian Church-USA, the Christian Reformed Church in North America, the Reformed Church in America, and the United Church of Christ have signed an agreement formally pledging to recognize one another’s baptisms when water and the Trinitarian formula are used. In 1948, the Holy Office declared that “baptism conferred in the sects of the Disciples of Christ, the Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, [and] Methodists” is “presumed as valid unless in a particular case it is proven to the contrary,” as long as “the necessary matter and form have been used.” In 1993,...

Gun owners in the country tend to be men, white, married and living in the South, shows a Gallup study published Friday. The analysis of surveys for the last five years also shows that Protestants are more likely to own guns than Catholics. An average of 30 percent of Americans said they personally own a gun and another 14 percent said they did not personally own a gun but live in a household with someone who does, according to an analysis of Gallup surveys of some 6,000 U.S. adults from 2007 to 2012. The study also found that men, at...

(Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Friday the Orthodox Church should be given more say over family life, education and the armed forces in Russia, as he celebrated the leadership of its head Patriarch Kirill. Faith runs deep in Russia after the fall of the officially atheist Soviet Union and Putin has looked to the largest religion in Russia for support since he began his third term as president after a wave of protests against his rule. He has also tried to mix spirituality with his own brand of patriotism in order to unify the officially secular country where...

BUCHAREST, Romania — David defeated Goliath, again, last week in Romania’s capital city when an appeals court issued a final ruling in favor of a humble cathedral pitted against a gigantic steel office tower, concluding a seven-year legal and political struggle. In an unprecedented, definitive decision, the court ordered a 19-story skyscraper demolished and the land restored to its prior condition — a small, city park. Concurring with several lower court decisions, the judge concluded that the office tower, known as Cathedral Plaza, was illegally constructed without proper permits or authorizations in a brazen gesture that threatened the cathedral’s physical...

The Year of Acceleration Today's Scripture For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. Psalm 84:11, NIV. Today's Word from Joel and Victoria I believe with all my heart that this year, God’s people are coming into a shift. For those who have been faithful and have honored and obeyed God, I declare that He is going to put you in a position that you could not have ever gotten into on your own. He is bestowing favor and honor...

The Compelling Majesty of His Power "The love of Christ compels us . . ." —2 Corinthians 5:14 Paul said that he was overpowered, subdued, and held as in a vise by “the love of Christ.” Very few of us really know what it means to be held in the grip of the love of God. We tend so often to be controlled simply by our own experience. The one thing that gripped and held Paul, to the exclusion of everything else, was the love of God. “The love of Christ compels us . . . .” When you...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem A New Journey…The Names of God in The Scriptures Elohe Mauzi - GOD of My Strength(Psalms 43:2 For You are the God of my strength; why have You rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

February 4, 2013 Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Heb 11:32-40 Brothers and sisters:What more shall I say?I have not time to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,of David and Samuel and the prophets,who by faith conquered kingdoms, did what was righteous, obtained the promises;they closed the mouths of lions, put out raging fires,escaped the devouring sword;out of weakness they were made powerful, became strong in battle,and turned back foreign invaders.Women received back their dead through resurrection.Some were tortured and would not accept deliverance,in order to obtain a better resurrection.Others endured mockery, scourging, even chains...

Mid-East Prophecy Update - February 3rd, 2013 Pastor JD talks about the significance of the Israeli strike on a convoy on the Lebanon-Syria border as it relates to Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49.

I am creating a Regime change , though I bring you pastors, though I bring you prophets and leaders and though I bring through My Spirit and Messengers miracles , signs and wonders "KNOW" I AM Your First Fruit and "TRUE SHEPHERD " ! Heed My words that are about to come for I am constructing , pruning and restoring My Bride into one "AS ONE" . Do not struggle with this but welcome it for you are about to be joined together into My River Of Life as " ONE BODY IN CHRIST " and this shall be a...

Prophets are those who speak for God. They Love God, and they love his people, and speak the very true (and often painful) truth of God to his people. They do so not to win an argument, but because of their love and conviction that only the undiluted truth of God can save us in the end.People-pleasing and other forms of human respect cannot supplant the reverence for God and His truth. Thus Prophets are willing to endure pain and suffering to proclaim God’s truth to an often unappreciative segment of God’s people. But out of love for God and...

On the frigid night of FEBRUARY 3, 1943, the overcrowded Allied ship U.S.A.T. Dorchester, carrying 902 servicemen, plowed through the dark waters near Greenland. At 1:00am, a Nazi submarine fired a torpedo into the transport's flank, killing many in the explosion and trapping others below deck. It sank in 27 minutes. The two escort ships, Coast Guard cutters Comanche & Escanaba, were able to rescue only 231 survivors. In the chaos of fire, smoke, oil and ammonia, four chaplains calmed the sailors and distributed lifejackets: Lt. George L. Fox, Methodist; Lt. Clark V. Poling, Dutch Reformed; Lt. John P. Washington,...

've been asked more times than I can remember by secular people and the secular press if Christianity is now, truly...finally...a dying religion. The scenario plays out a bit like this. A reporter, after rattling off a steady stream of apocalyptic examples "supported by research," then asks something like: "Given the decline of Christian influence in our society, and around the world, is Christianity on a respirator?" At this moment, I think they expect me --us -- to jump on the blame bandwagon, and moan on about why Christianity is in danger of being relegated to history's dustbin. If you're...

The decidedly secularist Sports Illustrated – evidenced by the busty swimsuit models it teasingly features on the home page of its web site (alongside the latest sports news, which is what “SI” is supposed to be about) – thought the occasion of the Super Bowl would be the perfect time to weigh in on the subject of Christianity and football. The cover of its February 4 issue, still available on newsstands, has a picture of Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, under the headline: “Does God Care Who Wins the Super Bowl?” In the cover shot, Lewis is up to his...

(Vatican Radio) More than six centuries after it was founded by Pope Nicholas V, the Vatican Library announced this week that it has made a first selection of ancient manuscripts available for consultation online. The first 256 documents to be digitalised form part of a broader project to make a large section of this prestigious archive freely available to students, scholars, researchers and teachers. The library, founded in 1451, has been supported in this work of digitalisation by a £2 million grant from the Polonsky Foundation and other sponsors. Speaking to Vatican Radio on Wednesday, the prefect of the Vatican...

Christian faith and an impulse to charity are “intimately linked” and can never be in conflict, Pope Benedict XVI writes in his Lenten Message for 2013. In his message-entitled "Believing in Charity Calls Forth Charity”—the Pope reminds readers that during the Year of Faith he has called upon Catholics to reflect on the fundamental doctrines of faith. Faith, he writes, is a “personal adherence…to the revelation of God’s gratuitous and ‘passionate’ love for us, fully revealed in Jesus Christ.” The Christian response to God’s love, the Pope says, “is always open-ended; love is never ‘finished’ or ‘complete.’” Rather, Christians find...