Free Republic

Televangelist and Founder and President of Charis Bible College, Andrew Wommack, has said: The most important revelation I have ever received is the understanding that we were created by God with three distinct parts: spirit, soul, and body This idea of man as essentially “tripartite” verses the Catholic and biblical notion of man as a body/soul composite is a rather common misconception among Evangelicals and Pentecostals. They may not go as far as Mr. Wommack and say this is “the most important revelation” they have ever received, but they will be quick to defend their position nonetheless. And I...

Whoa! That was a party! Part 10 in our cultural-musical programming for PBS. Funding provided, as always, by you, the American People. “In Performance at the White House: Memphis Soul.” Appearing in full on PBS next week. We did have a little hiccup upfront when, at the afternoon pre-party in the State Dining Room, Lady M discovered the other Queen was planning on wearing the same dress she had specially constructed for her Soul-Sistah debut at the evening festivities. O.M.G.! Granny Robinson had to whip out her Singer to make some emergency alterations. Her first solution was rejected out of...

“No set of laws can eliminate evil from the world, or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society.” So said President Obama in words of comfort in Newtown. The president was right to speak of evil, but mistaken when he called the massacre “senseless.”

Soul-jazz legend Terry Callier has passed away after an extended illness. He was found dead by Luther Adams at his home. More information will be provided as this story develops, but we are deeply saddened by his passing. Terry Callier was born in the Chicago, and raised in the Cabrini–Green housing area. He learned piano, was a childhood friend of Curtis Mayfield, Major Lance and Jerry Butler, and began singing in doo-wop groups in his teens.

R. B. Greaves, an R&B singer whose 1969 hit “Take a Letter, Maria” reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop chart, died on Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 68. His death was confirmed by his son, Shiloh Greaves. “Take a Letter, Maria,” which Mr. Greaves wrote, is about a hard-working man who dictates a “Dear Jane” letter to his secretary after coming home to find his wife “in the arms of another man.” He sings, more in acceptance than in anger: “So take a letter, Maria, address it to my wife/Say I won’t be coming home, gonna start a...

Another unfortunate, unphotoshoped, photo of Obama, from Reuters of all places...

A New Mexico Woman Is Selling Her Soul On eBay People can sell their souls on eBay? A New Mexico woman named Lori is doing just that, and bidding has already jumped from $100 to $405 in just a day. Describing it as a "slightly used soul," Lori is offering buyers a "Carfax" so they can see the black and white marks her soul has accumulated over the years. Religious bidders can save Lori's soul through conversion or prayer. Pop culture abounds with examples of people selling their souls to the devil in exchange for money, however, this doesn't seem...

The world's first genetically modified humans have been created, it was revealed last night. The disclosure that 30 healthy babies were born after a series of experiments in the United States provoked another furious debate about ethics. So far, two of the babies have been tested and have been found to contain genes from three 'parents'. Fifteen of the children were born in the past three years as a result of one experimental programme at the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of St Barnabas in New Jersey. The babies were born to women who had problems conceiving. Extra genes...

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my...

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my...

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my...

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my...

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my...

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my...

Whitney Houston died at the age of 48. Most articles about her death said something like, "Houston struggled with drug and alcohol problems for years ..." But Houston also struggled with something else that black Republicans and black non-Democrats can understand: ridicule and ostracism for "selling out," or "acting white," or not being "black enough." Ebony, the black monthly magazine, wrote about the then-27-year-old: "Black disc jockeys have chided her for 'not having soul' and being 'too white.' ... She was booed at the Soul Train Music Awards. ... It's enough to drive a good Christian girl to drink, drugs...

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. - A Fergus Falls man who called himself a "soul collector" has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for attacking his neighbor. Forty-three-year-old Timothy Eugene Peterson was accused of trying to cut off his neighbor's toes and scalp him last January, in order to "collect his soul." The attack left Ivan "Skip" Mallas with multiple stab wounds. Peterson pleaded guilty to assault in July. Other counts were dismissed. KSAX-TV reports Peterson was given credit for 297 days for time served. He was also ordered to pay $731 in restitution and court fees.

As a musician, I find music touches the soul like nothing else. We are in great turmoil in this great nation and we have a long fight on our hands as people begin to waken and arise. Post your favorite music that seeks to inspire the great fight we have ahead of us. My child LOVES to play "Secret Weapons Over Normandy" ( on the old DS). I absolutely LOVE the musical score and found it the other day. It's almost a 'John Williamish' piece which is heavy on the horns and strings (as most of his stuff is). Here...

Big Trouble Meets Small Shofar Monday, September 07, 2009 Posted by Rabbi Infinity What’s a nice neshamah like that doing in a nasty place like this? Why does a really nice G‑d send a poor innocent neshamah down into the world, knowing full well how messed up she’s going to get? She’s got a one-in-a-million chance of coming out unscathed. Even if she is successful and manages to do some mitzvahs in the end, look at the collateral damage incurred. I mean, is it really worth it?

Education is one of the things that nearly every American agrees is important. I am one of those people. I do everything in my power to give my children every educational opportunity. I was well-pleased with my education choices when, today in my child’s 3rd-grade class, the teacher turned on some music, and half of the children were excited because it was Beethoven, and they each spontaneously told which Beethoven piece was their favorite. However, to educate properly, the primary principle that you must operate with is this – education needs to be sensitive to the nature of humans. If...

I encourage you to set aside the burgers and dogs and soda and beer for a moment this Fourth of July and contemplate something decidedly different, maybe even as you gaze upward at the flash of fireworks. Here it is: Confirm thy soul in self-control. What do I mean by that? Let me explain. The founders of this remarkable republic often thought and wrote about the practice of virtue generally and self-control specifically, two things long lost in this modern American culture of self. Thomas Jefferson couldn’t avoid a reference to one of the cardinal virtues—prudence—in our nation’s founding document,...

Pets in Heaven? A question that comes up frequently is whether people will see their pets in heaven. Now the Catechism of the Catholic Church does not directly address this question. But it does hold principles which lead us in the direction of an answer.One principle is that all living things have a soul. Here soul is defined as what makes an organic body live. Now when any living thing dies, its soul is separated from its body. In the case of plants and animals the soul goes out of existence. But in the case of man, the soul...

If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing. (Napoleon Bonaparte)I have written on this general theme before, but let me discuss how Scientific Birtherism provides a window in Obama’s soul. I have long held that the REAL Birther Question is WHY Obama does not resolve this matter by providing a copy of his long form birth certificate. I answer that question with the KISS Matrix which provides a framework of possible reasons which analyze WHY: 1. KENYA. He is born in Kenya, or there is something embarrassing on the long form. 2. IGNORANT. Obama...

When an Indian-born man I knew a couple of decades ago expressed an intense dislike for Mohandas Gandhi, I found it a bit surprising. Wasn’t the “Great Soul,” that quintessential 20th-century icon, India’s George Washington? That certainly is the narrative created by historians — who, history has taught us, can tell a lie — and works such as Richard Attenborough’s award-winning 1982 film Gandhi. But there is a reason why Indian-born novelist Salman Rushdie responded to that movie by lamenting, “Deification is an Indian disease. Why should Attenborough do it?” And with Gandhi back in the news owing to a...

Underneath headlines about Libya, the Japanese disaster and the Republicans’ dainty attempts to nip around the edges of our massive federal debt, the culture war is raging. The left is lobbing nukes into the institution of marriage and the military. Obamacare is going forward, complete with funding for abortion and massive increases in the size of the already enormous Department of Health and Human Services. Defunding this increasingly unpopular power grab should be in every budget bill - but it’s not. Using a combination of judicial activism, executive malfeasance and

Many people suffer from compulsive, obsessive behavior. Addictions can take many forms. For some people it is an obsession with cleanliness. For others, there is pornography. The snare of pornography is different from most other addictions. Although we’re all born greedy, we’re not necessarily born with a love for gambling. We are not born with a love for alcohol, but must acquire it by beginning to drink. But because we grow up with persistent sexual appetites, sexual fantasies are never far from our minds. Our sexuality is so much a part of who we are that it is almost impossible...

Through a chat room on the internet, a woman met a man with whom she was convinced would “meet her needs.” After agreeing to meet in a hotel in a specified city, she decided to leave her husband and three children for this exciting stranger. Her decision was made six hours after that first meeting. People can have a powerful influence over us; they can either bless us or curse us; they can help us in our quest for good, or they can compel us to do evil. Some are masters of manipulation and have mastered the art of controlling...

“O God I pray that this sin might not have happened!” That’s what Sandra told me she prayed the night she gave into the suggestions and demands of her boyfriend. She was, in her words, “tired of resisting the overtures of Bob, and tired of wondering what sex would be like.” Now she knew what it was like, or at least she knew what it was like outside of marriage with a man she never wanted to marry. Not only did she feel a deep sense of betrayal and regret, but she was overcome with burning shame—the feeling that she...

Even the honest atheist will agree that a first cause, an original being, must have preceded the universe. This original cause or source is what so humbled Einstein, although he incorrectly described it as a religious experience. The questions of faith begin with how we understand this First Cause, its nature, and its relationship to us and to the universe.

I have always been fascinated with psychology. Psychology was my favorite subject in high school, and was the class that I looked forward to going to most. I saw some tremendous value in the class, but I saw even more than what I learned in school when I realized its root meaning. At face value this may sound confusing, but it won’t be once it’s properly explained. I always knew psychology to be the study of the mind. That’s how it was explained in school. What was even more interesting and so definitive was the fact that psychology is really...

"Burke left behind: 21 children,90 grandchildren,and 19 great-grandchildren---"

The Biblical Truth About the Immortal Soul Ideas about us going to heaven or hell hinge on belief in the immortal soul, which must go somewhere when the body dies. Yet the Bible nowhere teaches the soul is immortal. So where did the idea originate? Traditional beliefs about heaven and hell are based on an under-lying teaching—that everyone has an immortal soul that must go somewhere when physical life ends.This belief isn't unique to traditional Christianity. "All religions affirm that there is an aspect of the human person that lives on after the physical life has ended" (World Scripture: A...

Before Sly & The Family Stone came along, there was music you could dance to, and music that made you think. Once they had made their undeniable, indelible mark on the music scene, the two characteristics would never again be thought of as mutually exclusive. Beginning today and running through this Friday, Staff Writer David Bowling shines the Daily Vault's Artist Spotlight on some of the highs and lows of Sly & The Family Stone's catalog, a tenure marked by tremendously influential albums full of socially conscious songs backed with infectious beats, and also by the mercurial and ultimately self-destructive...

Salvation of the Soul 65. What precisely do you mean by the saving of one's soul? The meaning of that requires a brief analysis of man. Man consists of body and soul. The body is material and perishable; the soul is spiritual and imperishable. But the soul is the real you. It is the soul which knows and loves, is happy or miserable. Now as the soul is immortal, it enters at death into an eternal state, whether it be one of supreme happiness, or of direst misery. By "saving one's soul" I mean going from this world in the...

Determinism Absurd 45. Leaving God out of it, I still do not believe in freewill. I believe in psychological determinism. There are no facts of psychology which justify the denial of freewill. 46. Medical men say that a man is, for good or evil, what his brain cells make him. Not all medical men say that. Those who do may know their physiology, but they betray lamentable ignorance of psychology and philosophy. Brain cells are still brain cells, whether they are living or dead. If they are dead, they cannot make a man anything. If they are living, they owe...

Immortality! It has been “brought to light” by Jesus Christ and his gospel (2 Tim. 1:10). Eternal life — an immortal existence — is offered freely to the lowest of sinners who reach out and take hold of the Savior by faith. Christ himself said, “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day”(John 6:40). This must be underscored in the Church today; it is a point at which multitudes stumble. The eternal life given by our Lord is...

Of all the religious traditions which stand in the way of understanding the teachings of Jesus and the apostles is the one which substitutes the Platonic concept of the soul for the truth of Scripture. Plato’s concepts began to dominate Greek culture in the fourth century BC, and are still popular today. In most any university library you will find many more books on Plato than you will on Jesus. Plato held that “souls” are a part of the invisible and permanent realm and are not affected by the change and decay of the visible world; therefore they are immortal....

A little fun for a Friday Night. 2 great soul singers! One amazing song! Points scored or deducted for hair, costumes, lipsyncability, presence and overall cool. You decide. Have at it.

Two big questions hang over President Obama's radical "Green Jobs Czar" Van Jones. Is he still a communist? Is he a security threat? Many have assumed that Van Jones' committment to communism ended when the organization he helped to lead STORM (Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement) dissolved in 2002. Yet a 2004 treatise Reclaiming Revolution: History, Summation, and Lessons from the Work of Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement written and endorsed by a majority of former STORM members makes it clear that most ex STORMers are still committed to the revolutionary movement; From page 49. When...

Latvian Banker Taking Souls as Collateral Reuters | 03 Jul 2009 | 08:45 AM ET Ready to give your soul for a loan in these difficult economic times? In Latvia, where the crisis has raged more than in the rest of the European Union, you can. Such a deal is being offered by the Kontora loan company, whose public face is Viktor Mirosiichenko, 34. Clients have to sign a contract, with the words "Agreement" in bold letters at the top. The client agrees to the collateral, "that is, my immortal soul". Mirosiichenko said his company would not employ debt collectors...

Ready to give your soul for a loan in these difficult economic times? In Latvia, where the crisis has raged more than in the rest of the European Union, you can. Such a deal is being offered by the Kontora loan company, whose public face is Viktor Mirosiichenko, 34. Clients have to sign a contract, with the words "Agreement" in bold letters at the top. The client agrees to the collateral, "that is, my immortal soul." Mirosiichenko said his company would not employ debt collectors to get its money back if people refused to repay, and promised no physical violence....

For centuries, humans have imagined they are the only animals with morals. But humans are not alone in the moral arena, a new breed of behavior experts says. Natural historian Jake Page said some scientists are acknowledging what pet owners have told their canines all along: "Good dog." Dogs are full of natural goodness and have rich emotional lives, said animal behaviorist Marc Bekoff, professor emeritus at the University of Colorado, Boulder. A dog's code of ethics is on display daily in parks, backyards and family rooms. "We're not trying to elevate animals," Bekoff said. "We're not trying to reduce...

The animating and vital principle in humans, credited with the faculties of thought, action, and emotion and often conceived as an immaterial entity.

It has been said that Tradition and Philosophy is very often much more captivating than the plain and simple truth found in the Bible. This is demonstrated at almost all funerals where the one officiating speaks eloquently about how the deceased is now more alive than when living on earth. It is said of the deceased that they are now in Heaven looking down at their own funeral scene while in the company of angels. Of course, that only reflects on those who are carried up into Heaven; the others who...

BOOK REVIEW : The Spiritual Brain : A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul By Mario Beauregard and Denyse O'Leary HarperOne. 368 pp. $25.95 Neuroscience is a combat zone. It is here, in the human brain, that the final conflict between materialism and, to invent a word, soulism is being fought. For materialists, the outcome is not in doubt. Our minds, our selves, our awareness are merely the outcome of the electrical activity of the few pounds of hyperconnected matter between our ears. All claims to the contrary are wishful thinking or superstitious remnants. But the materialists have...

Folks, I want to keep commenting on the article published in this month's Discover magazine by Jane Bosveld, titled Soul Search, which I began reviewing in One monk goes up over the rainbow. The article goes on to narrate a 1921 experiment perform by Duncan MacDougall, a physician, who claimed he was able to weigh a human soul. He accomplished this by measuring how much a person weighs before and immediately after death. After monitoring six deaths, he reported that people lost between 11 and 43 grams at death, which he attributed to the material weight of the soul. Others...

Recently, a friend of mine announced that dogs don't have souls. Inasmuch as I nearly always agree with her, I found it surprising that we were in opposing camps on this particular subject. Because I respect her opinion, I found myself questioning my own belief system somewhat more than usual. Is it possible, I asked myself, to have four legs, a tail, fleas and a soul? While I'm not absolutely certain what souls are, I finally decided that if they are what I think they are, dogs definitely have them...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAREZ ? Mail clerks in the 27th Brigade Support Battalion mailroom have been noticing a steady stream of boxes with blankets being shipped to one of the Soldiers in C Company. Combat medic Spc. Steve Stephens, a Portland, Ore., native, with the help of a blanket drive committee made up of fellow Soldiers in the BSB, has started a blanket drive to make a difference in the lives of the people living in northern Iraq. ?There are a large number of displaced Iraqis living in Mosul and the surrounding areas that don?t have a lot and could...

NEW YORK - Pallbearers lifted the gold casket carrying the "Godfather of Soul" into a horse-drawn carriage Thursday for a procession through Harlem to the historic Apollo Theater, where thousands of fans waited to pay their respects to the late James Brown. As the carriage began rolling, people followed in the street singing the chorus of Brown's anthem, "Say it Loud — I'm Black and I'm Proud." Brown, who died of heart failure Christmas morning at 73, will lie in repose from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday on the stage where he made his 1956 debut. As Norman Brand...

Contrary to popular belief, it's not true that the percentage of part-timers in the U.S. workforce is increasing. But the sheer number of part-timers is growing significantly, and with the nation's largest private employer, Wal-Mart, now seeking to shift more of its employees to part-time status, some economists see growing hardship ahead for more low-income families. The proportion of part-time workers in the United States has held steady at about 17 to 18 percent over the past decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But because the U.S. workforce has grown during that time, the current number?about 25 million?actually...