Free Republic

The Key to the Missionary’s Work (1) "Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ’All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . .’" —Matthew 28:18-19 The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost will...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Children and Families In The Bible Luke 15 The Parable of the Lost Son 11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began...

We must not forget the heroism of men like Roger Wrenno, who actually ran to the gallowsProducing documentaries about the Catholic faith over the past few years has been a great privilege. I love doing it and consider myself very fortunate to have the opportunity to work full-time in sharing the truths of the Catholic faith. Each project poses its trials and difficulties. It can be difficult enough producing a good film with a quality soundtrack. But the real test is ensuring that we get the content right: clear, orthodox catechesis. We don’t just want people to have enjoyed watching a...

Introduction Teresa of Avila calls for our consideration on several counts: Her writings are increasingly popular amongst unconverted but professing Protestants who find her ‘mystical spirituality’ attractive in their own ‘pursuit of God.’ We are thus alerted to a dangerous ‘enemy within the gates.’ She is revered by Romanists as ‘a quintessential Catholic’, ‘a revolutionary mystic’, ‘a saint and doctor of the Church’, and a co-patron of Spain. This gives us an inkling of the influence she wields over Roman Catholic hearts. Her works, ‘long seen as merely devotional treatises . . . are now being mined more seriously for...

Just a little chill went down my spine as I read this hour's headline on the DR. Curious if anyone felt likewise.

APOSTASY WE MUST START FROM THE ‘GREAT POSITIVE STATEMENTS OF SCRIPTURE’ John Owen is one who has written comprehensively on this subject. I have, therefore, taken his writings as the basis for what I want to say, while drawing on the contribution of others here and there, and interjecting some comments of my own. By way of definition, Owen helpfully says that “apostasy is the relinquishing of any important truth or way in religion; and heresy is the embracing of any new distinctive opinion, or principle, or way in the profession of it.” A man may be an apostate by...

Christ our righteousness The apostle Paul writes, “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of...

FAITH IS A GIFT OF GOD Fall flat before Christ, cast yourself upon him and rest upon him completely. He can support you for ever. Faith looks to Jesus Christ as he is indeed the Son of God, as he is indeed perfect, sinless, and true man. by Geoff Thomas By this phrase "faith in Jesus Christ" we are referring to a saving grace, whereby sinners receive and rest upon Christ alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel, and we are affirming that that faith is a gift of God. We are talking about a...

Peace with God and False Peace Thirty years ago today, Dr D Martyn Lloyd-Jones died, March 1 1981.1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Rom. 5:1, 2) We now proceed to look at the ‘peace with God’, that results from justification by faith, from the two sides – the God-ward, and the man-ward. Far too often it is taken even here in a purely subjective sense. While it...

One of the most hotly-contested passages in Catholic-Protestant dialogues is the “Upon This Rock� passage in Matthew 16:18. After the Apostle Simon confesses faith in Jesus as the Messiah (the Christ), Jesus says to him “And I tell you, you are Peter, [Petros] and on this rock [petra] I will build my church, and the powers of death [Hades] shall not prevail against it.� So is Jesus founding His Church upon Peter, the first pope, as Catholics say? Or is He just saying that the Church will be built off of those who confess faith in Jesus as the Christ, as...

Expounding on the importance of our actions for salvation is, I suppose, my primary “thing.” I have been in so many informal debates over the issue that I have started to lose count of them. I have written about the topic many times. And often, I become angry (like God in 1 Kings 11:9-10) at the mere thought of sola fide (“faith alone”), because I know that it is completely contrary to “what the Lord [has] commanded.” But why? “Faith alone” was, without a doubt, the primary reason that I left Protestantism. Even though I was ill-educated in theology at...

The atheist community hailed last year’s scientific confirmation of the existence of the Higgs boson, for which the British theoretical physicist Peter Higgs was co-recipient this past week of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Higgs had theorized, all the way back in 1964, that there must be something that gives subatomic particles their mass, which enables them to form atoms, which, in turn, form molecules, all of which is integral to creation as we know it. That something turned out to be the Higgs boson. And its discovery, declared Dan Barker, co-president of the so-called Freedom From Religion Foundation, an...

“. . . life is an unending dialogue between a knight of the spirit who is ever striving to soar aloft, and a squire who clings to his master and strives with might and main to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground.” - Walter Starkie (1)Miguel de Cervantes, who would one day write the great novel, Don Quixote, was born in 1547 in Spain. His family had at one time held influence in society, but by the time Cervantes was born, his father was poor and often had to travel in search of work. After studying under the...

CROOKSTON, Minn. – The lists exist, but whether they will be made public is now up to a judge. Steven Aggergaard, an attorney representing the Diocese of Crookston, argued there is no concrete harm in keeping a list of priests accused of sexual abuse private. The statement came Wednesday in Polk County Judge Tamara Yon’s courtroom. She must now decide whether the diocese is legally required to release its list as part of a lawsuit filed in June by St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson.

Thank You Heavenly Mother.

Just curious to know how many FReepers listen to this weekly show. The guy does the entire show as if he himself was actually Jesus. It sounds, on the face of it, odd at best and sacrilegious at worst, but he does have an encyclopedic knowledge of scripture, and dispenses wisdom and advice in a caring and just manner.

Anglican Episcopal Church 1269. I was taught by my parents that the Church of England has always been a distinct Church on its own right from the second century. Your parents apparently belonged to that school of Anglicans which refuses to admit that the Church of England originated only at the time of the Protestant Reformation. Those who belong to that school of thought persuade themselves that the present Anglican Church is one and the same as the Church which was established in England by the first Christian missionaries to that country. But this theory cannot stand the test...

The canonization ceremony should take place in 2015, a century after the massacre of 1,5 million Christians which was never recognised by the Turkish government “In a move that has surprised Turkey, the Armenian Church is going to proceed with the canonization of the victims of the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Turkish State in 1915, using Kurdish labourers for the massacres. The scientifically perpetrated genocide by, is described by the Turkish historian Taner Akcam as "A shameful act" (the title of his book ) . But the Ankara government has never recognized it and rejects the definition of "genocide”,”...

The Pope celebrated mass in St Peter’s square this morning in honour of the Marian Day, an event organised as part of the Year of Faith on the anniversary of the final apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima (13th of October 1917). Please find below the full text of Pope Francis’ homily in English translation. In the Psalm we said: “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things” (Ps 98:1). Today we consider one of the marvelous things which the Lord has done: Mary! A lowly and weak creature like ourselves, she was...

A reproduction of the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, also known as the Black Madonna, has come to the United States from Poland for veneration by pilgrims at American cathedrals, basilicas, parish churches and shrines across the country. "From Ocean to Ocean" is sponsored by Human Life International (HLI.org). This worldwide pilgrimage is dedicated to the defense and support of life and family through the intercession of the Blessed Mother under her title of Our Lady of Czestochowa. The pilgrimage started in 2012 in Vladivostok, Russia, then made its way through 24 countries and more than 400 cities and...

Individual Discouragement and Personal Growth ". . . when Moses was grown . . . he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens" —Exodus 2:11 Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After he launched his first strike for God and for what was right, God allowed Moses to be driven into empty discouragement, sending him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Children and Families In The Bible Luke 10 38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Stand Firm Joshua 24:15 New American Standard Bible (NASB) 15 If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

A Marian prayer vigil was held on Saturday evening in St. Peter's Square, with a special catechesis by Pope Francis. The statue of Our Lady of Fatima from the Portuguese shrine was flown to Rome for the event. The Pope was scheduled to consecrate the world to Our Lady during a Mass on Sunday. His prepared catechesis is re-produced below. Catechesis of the Holy Father“The Faith of Mary”Marian Vigil(Saturday, 12 October 2013) Dear Brothers and Sisters, We are all gathered for this event of the Year of Faith devoted to Mary, Mother of Christ and of the Church, our Mother....

The sacrament of holy orders is conferred in three ranks of clergy: bishops, priests, and deacons. Bishops (episcopoi) have the care of multiple congregations and appoint, ordain, and discipline priests and deacons. They sometimes appear to be called "evangelists" in the New Testament. Examples of first-century bishops include Timothy and Titus (1 Tim. 5:19–22; 2 Tim. 4:5; Titus 1:5). Priests (presbuteroi) are also known as "presbyters" or "elders." In fact, the English term "priest" is simply a contraction of the Greek word presbuteros. They have the responsibility of teaching, governing, and providing the sacraments in a given congregation (1 Tim....

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 144 Reading 1 2 Kgs 5:14-17 Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven timesat the word of Elisha, the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child,and he was clean of his leprosy. Naaman returned with his whole retinue to the man of God. On his arrival he stood before Elisha and said,"Now I know that there is no God in all the earth,except in Israel.Please accept a gift from your servant." Elisha replied, "As the LORD lives whom I serve, I will not take...

Getting into God’s Stride "Enoch walked with God . . ." —Genesis 5:24 The true test of a person’s spiritual life and character is not what he does in the extraordinary moments of life, but what he does during the ordinary times when there is nothing tremendous or exciting happening. A person’s worth is revealed in his attitude toward the ordinary things of life when he is not under the spotlight (seeJohn 1:35-37 and John 3:30). It is painful work to get in step with God and to keep pace with Him— it means getting your second wind spiritually....

If you listen carefully, you can hear echoes of the resurrection in the great, epic stories we return to again and again. Those stories lead us to a poi­nt of despair where all seems to be lost, only then to erupt into uncontainable joy as good triumphs over evil. There is a reason these stories resonate with us. In one way or another, they model and mimic the true story of our world. A story of perfection and paradise, corrupted by human sin and wickedness, redeemed by a selfless sacrifice, and restored through a triumphant return. This is the true...

A city mayor in Spain has refused to bow to intimidation by Muslims in response to the breaking up of property illegally being used as a mosque. The city offered another property to Muslims for religious properties, but was refused."The rules of the city and the country are mandatory for everyone, and Mollet del Vallès will be uncompromising toward any kind of radicalism or blackmail." — Josep Monràs, Mayor of Mollet del Vallès, Spain Police in Spain have forcibly removed Muslim activists from an illegal mosque in a small town in Catalonia, an autonomous region in northeastern Spain that is...

(CNSNews.com) – European lawmakers this month will vote on a measure that promotes abortion as a fundamental human right, while taking aim at the conscientious objection rights of pro-life doctors and health workers. Critics see the move as an attempt to dictate abortion policy to individual European Union governments, despite an acknowledgement by leading E.U. institutions that there is no consensus on the matter across the 28 member-states. The controversial draft report, which is being promoted by socialist members of the European Parliament (MEPs), was passed last month by the legislature’s committee on women’s rights and gender equality. According to...

The most common objection I get to Mary as Mother of God, especially from Fundamentalists, but not limited to them, is, “The words ‘Mother of God’ are nowhere to be found in the Bible. Therefore, I will not accept it as true.” This line of reasoning fails in dramatic fashion when carried to its logical conclusion when we consider the central mystery of the Christian Faith, the Trinity, is not found in Scripture verbatim as well. And we could go on. The Incarnation would fall by the wayside. Essential terms we use to do theology, like homoousios (Gr.—same nature, Jesus...

You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing. (Psalm 65:9-13)

When it comes right down to it, President Obama is lawless in the majority of ALL his doings and is as base a man as one can find. This truth could not be seen anymore clearer than current dealings with the government shutdown crisis and his past Planned Parenthood speech in June in which he gave his full support; and "to boot" at the end of his speech asked Almighty God's blessings on the most barbaric organization in the world. The spirit of anti-Christ dominates this man and as time goes by we can see his darkened heart manifesting its...

Pope Francis met on October 11 with representatives of the Jewish community in Rome, led by Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, to mark the 70th anniversary of the date when Nazis rounded up the Jews of Rome for deportation to Auschwitz. Recalling the genocidal campaign, the Pope said: “We remember and pray for the many innocent victims of human barbarism, and for their families. It will also be an occasion to recall the importance of remaining vigilant in order that we do not regress, under any pretext, to any forms of intolerance and anti-Semitism, in Rome and in the rest...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Children and Families In The Bible Luke 2 39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. The Boy Jesus at the Temple 41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After...

My friend's mother is 73 and she is having dizzyness and high BP. She was admitted to the hospital. My friend is living in a southern state and she is in a northern state.

The Archbishop of Birmingham, the Most Rev Bernard Longley, signalled that restrictions, which can be traced back to the Reformation, might be “reconsidered” as a result of “deeper sharing” between the two churches. Although he insisted that he was expressing a “personal view”, the Archbishop’s comments will be closely watched as he is the senior Catholic cleric responsible for dialogue with the Anglican churches. His remarks were warmly welcomed by leading figures in the Church of England who said it was time for closer ties.

The Synod of bishops proposes a different pastoral approach to marriage: Less bureaucracy, speedier processes and above all, universal access to causes for the annulment of marriages ANDREA TORNIELLI vatican city Shock declarations, such as the ones contained in the document issued by the Diocese of Freiburg which offers recommendations on communion for remarried divorcees end up complicating rather than facilitating reflection on the issue. Pope Francis’ intention is for this issue to be discussed at an Extraordinary Synod in October 2014. The Synod will be broken down into various sessions and could be followed by another meeting involving a...

Hazelmary and Peter Bull Hazelmary and Peter Bull are taking their case to the U.K. Supreme Court this week. At a time when so many of our Christian leaders are guilty of compromising the gospel before the media, dishonoring the Lord as they try to make God’s Word palatable to the world, it was an older British woman—nearly 70 and the owner of a bed-and-breakfast—who displayed a backbone of steel, a deep and consistent faith, and a theological clarity while being grilled on national TV. Cheers for Hazelmary Bull! Hazelmary and her husband, Peter, already in his 70s, owned and...

9/11 for the Magisterium: The Francis interviews Posted October 11, 2013 by Anthony Cekada by Rev. Anthony Cekada NO ONE who follows the religious or secular press is unaware of the firestorm that Bergoglio (“Pope Francis”) ignited with his recent press interviews and public letters. Understandably, the discussion centered on the meaning of Francis’ particular pronouncements (on atheism, proselytism, “judging,” conscience, no Catholic God, etc.) What in the world did this or that statement mean? How did it square up with previous Catholic teaching? Or did it at all? Because each pronouncement seemed so surprising in itself, though, a larger...

Who God Rewards Today's Scripture “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria When God is first place in your life, and you make pleasing Him is your highest priority, then you can fully expect to live a blessed, fulfilled life! In today’s verse, notice who God rewards. It’s not people who half-heartedly seek Him. It doesn’t say “people who only think about Him when they’re having a problem”...

God’s Silence— Then What? "When He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was" —John 11:6 Has God trusted you with His silence— a silence that has great meaning? God’s silences are actually His answers. Just think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany! Is there anything comparable to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking Him for a visible answer? God will give you the very blessings you ask if you refuse to go any further without...

I went to confession on Saturday. I think the last time I celebrated the sacrament in a traditional Saturday afternoon setting was more than a decade ago. When someone asked me why I was going, the answer was simple: I was compelled to go because of the pope.Not because Pope Francis has asked Catholics to get back in the confessional, but because his recent interviews and heartfelt actions as pastor in chief have made me want to be a better person and a more fulfilled, better practicing Catholic. I've felt like I've not only been given hope for the church,...

This billboard is turning a few heads in Texas: A billboard showing a tattooed Jesus Christ has stirred up quite a bit of buzz in the heart of the Bible Belt.The ad, which is the work of the website Jesustattoo.org, popped up along a West Lubbock, Texas, highway, and it’s got people talking. It shows a man, ostensibly Jesus Christ, with outstretched arms tattooed with such words as “Outcast,” “Addicted, “Jealous.”“I don’t like the picture. I think it’s very derogatory,” a local-area resident told the CBS affiliate KEYE-TV.On the website, a video casts Jesus as a tattoo artist and shows...

Next week is the author’s 35-year reunion at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. What follows is adapted from the commencement address he gave to Gorman’s 2011 graduates.   Although I have learned many lessons since I graduated in 1978, there are three that I wish I had fully grasped when I was your age. First, be intellectually serious about your faith.  Bishop Gorman is a Catholic high school, which means that it is tethered to a rich intellectual tradition, one that has been, and is, the home of some of the greatest thinkers the world has ever...

A nasty Norwegian diplomat at the UN frequently badmouths the Holy See. He wonders why Holy See diplomats are allowed into the room during negotiations. He says outright that the Holy See ought to leave. This has happened more than once.It’s amusing a Norwegian would say such a thing. The development of Norway is rather murky and it is hard to figure when Norway really became Norway. Norwegians might claim it was when Harald Fairhair unified disparate tribes and clans in 872 after the Battle of Hafrsfjord. Even so, it is questionable when the people living there began to...

A new text for the Catholic Mass which integrates centuries old Anglican prayers into the Roman Rite was officially introduced in a London church on Thursday. The new liturgy, known as the Ordinariate Use, has been devised for the personal ordinariates – the structures set up by Benedict XVI to allow Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Pope, while preserving elements of their distinctive Anglican liturgical and pastoral traditions. The Mass, at the church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street, was celebrated by the leader – or Ordinary – of the Personal Ordinariate...

My friends know that I appreciate candor, and that I can be frank to a fault. I don’t tolerate it well when everyone in the room is desperately trying to ignore the proverbial eight-hundred pound gorilla sitting in the corner. Author Sherry Weddell does not tolerate this well either. And she would like us – “active” and presumably committed Catholics, lay, religious, consecrated and clergy – to focus on one rather large gorilla sitting in the corner of our contemporary Church: the reality that a disturbingly large proportion of Church-going Catholics fail to live as disciples of Jesus – as...

Welcome homosexual people to fellowship with your congregation, but be very careful how you show them the “love of Christ.” If you welcome them into church membership and/or give them leadership positions of any kind while they are still living a homosexual lifestyle, you will be, in effect, affirming and endorsing their lifestyle and helping them along a path that can only result in their spending their eternity in hell. (1 Corinthians 6:9). How is that showing them the “love of Christ”, who died to save them from their sins, not to save them and their sins?

I, perhaps like you, have to see folks I love and care about through some difficult periods in their life. One neighbor and parishioner just lost her eight year old daughter to cancer. A number of parishioners are seeking work and praying daily for it, but no work offers seem forth-coming. Still others cry out for the alleviation of any number of different crosses. I too have lots of things for which I pray, and sometimes I get discouraged or even angry when God seems to say, “no� or, “wait.� One thing I have surely learned about true prayer, and...