Free Republic

Taylor Benge and his sister survived the massacre in Las Vegas Sunday night, where a gunman killed 58 people and wounded 500 more outside a country music festival. The shooter, who eventually killed himself, aimed at the concertgoers from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. His rampage appears to have been meticulously planned.Still shaken, Taylor spoke with CNN anchors John Berman and Kate Boduan Monday morning to offer his eyewitness account. The 21-year-old was at the concert when he said he heard what sounded like fireworks. It wasn't until he saw a man next to him bleeding from...

The director of the National Institutes of Health revealed Wednesday that confronting death sparked his journey from atheism to Christianity. Dr. Francis Collins, NIH director and leader of the Human Genome Project, recounted to Bloomberg’s David Rubenstein how facing the reality of death and the questions it posed during his third year at medical school led him to become a Christian. The conversation, published Wednesday, revealed that Collins initially settled on agnosticism and then shifted toward atheism before ultimately placing his faith in Jesus Christ. Collins said that his spiritual journey began in college where he first confronted differing ideas...

Christianity is making a comeback in Europe – and it’s mostly thanks to Muslims, say experts in Islam and faith leaders. A soaring number of Muslims, many of them refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, are converting to Christianity, breathing new life into Europe’s once floundering Christian churches. The Muslims are flocking to various Christian denominations, experts said, including becoming Protestants, evangelical or Catholic. As many parts of Europe are becoming more secular and houses of worship are seeing congregants leave in droves, it is Muslim converts who are reviving struggling Christian churches

Question: "I am a new Christian. What is the next step?" Answer: Congratulations! If you are a new believer, you have just experienced the beginning of your new, eternal life (John 3:16; 10:10). Your sins have been forgiven and you have been given a fresh start (Romans 4:7). You have now been given inexpressible, glorious joy (1 Peter 1:8-9). In addition to the wonderful blessings of knowing Christ, you are probably thinking, “Now what? What is the next step?” The Bible offers some important principles for those who have begun a relationship with God. First, as a new Christian, begin...

Most of us know the story of the 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt who held fast to their faith and were beheaded by ISIS in February, 2015. But did you know that only 20 of them were actually Copts from Egypt? Did you know that one of the martyrs was from Chad, and he had not been a Christian prior to the day of his beheading? This story was previously reported. But I had not heard it before this week, when I attended the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians hosted by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. A Coptic...

Erin Moran's limo driver, Barton T. Wade, has shared with Breaking Christian News that years ago, Moran told him about how her friend and fellow actress, Lisa Welchel had led her to the Lord, and that she had accepted Christ.

Give it all to Him and he will give you rest When I was young I was not a nice fellow. Snakes would cross the street when I sauntered down the sidewalk. My all consuming passion was getting enough alcohol and drugs to help me forget something I couldn’t remember. Playing music and living in a 24/7 party atmosphere was all I cared about. Other people were collateral damage on my way to a buzz. I had the name of my guitar tattooed on my arm so women would know where my loyalties lay. Spiritually I was dead inside. I...

Jesus loves the little children, All the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, All are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Thousands of Muslims are turning to Jesus Christ and what they view as the “religion of freedom” amid ongoing bloodshed in the Middle East, reports indicate. Some churches hope that millions of people will accept Christ amid a “spiritual hunger” that is forming in the wake of persecution. Voice Of the Martyrs Canada, which supports Christian radio broadcasts in the region, told BosNewsLife that despite the mass exodus of Christians from Iraq and Syria due to terrorism, persecution, and war, scores of Muslims are making the decision to embrace Christianity. “There are thousands upon thousands coming to Christ,” VOMC revealed....

Full title : God’s Hand Is At Work- Many Muslims Are Renouncing Islam In The “Refugee” Camps And Turning To Christ Even While Other Muslims Openly Threaten To Torture And Murder Them Right There BosNewsLife featured several stories of Christians who are speaking about their treatment in camps across Europe, with one group of believers stating in a letter that they “fled from the Islamic Republic of Iran because we have been accused of being Christians and, therefore, have repeatedly been threatened by torture, imprisonment and the death penalty.” They added: “Here, where we have been accommodated presently, we are...

Full Title : Millions Of Muslims Are Giving Their Lives Over To Christ And It Is Becoming So Huge That The Muslim World Can Barely Hide It Any Longer According to a Christian convert named Reza, in 1994 there were about 100,000 Christ followers in Iran. “Right now, there are 3 million,” he told CBN News. Reza believes this is the handiwork of the Holy Spirit that is sweeping over the predominantly Muslim Middle East country of more than 79 million people. CBN News recently met and talked with Reza and other Iranian believers outside of their country in central...

In a radio interview on Saturday, evangelist Franklin Graham said that Christians shouldn’t necessarily be concerned by Donald Trump’s history, because the GOP presidential candidate was one of “many people” who “gave their hearts to Christ” at his father Billy Graham’s 95th birthday party in 2013. Graham was the guest on Saturday’s episode of “The Christian Worldview,” a program hosted by David Wheaton. Wheaton asked Graham, “What do you say to the Christian who has hesitancy for Donald Trump?” “Well, first of all, three years ago this coming Monday my father celebrated his 95th birthday,” Graham replied. “Donald Trump was...

The late, great Father Ted Hesburgh used to tell incoming students, "Come to Notre Dame and lose your faith." Many would be confused by that line, given that Notre Dame is a Catholic university, but the point Father Ted was making was that faith is more than a list of ideas or concepts and that it needs to be challenged by rigorous thinking and translated into action. All talk and no action does not make for a faithful Christian, and that's why Donald Trump's condescending words to an evangelical audience in Orlando took my breath away.

I was asked on Reddit about a topic that I blogged about at some point in the past, but not finding the post in question, I thought I would revisit the topic. The phrases “personal relationship with Jesus” and “personal savior” are not only not found in the Bible, but are much more recent than that. Here is what Joel Miller discovered by performing an ngram to see how frequently the phrases appear in books (HT Scot McKnight):

Superstar swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, nearly committed suicide two years ago. His athletic prowess and success had brought him so much attention over the last decade that sports media nearly worshiped him as a kind of god, but Phelps was struggling to find peace in his heart. He felt empty inside and sought to fill his pain with drugs and alcohol, which sent him into a downward spiral. In 2009 he was suspended from swimming for three months after a photograph of him using a bong went viral, but that didn’t stop him...

BERLIN (AP) — Mohammed Ali Zonoobi bends his head as the priest pours holy water over his black hair. "Will you break away from Satan and his evil deeds?" pastor Gottfried Martens asks the Iranian refugee. "Will you break away from Islam?" "Yes," Zonoobi fervently replies. Spreading his hands in blessing, Martens then baptizes the man "in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost." Mohammed is now Martin — no longer Muslim, but Christian. Zonoobi, a carpenter from the Iranian city of Shiraz, arrived in Germany with his wife and two children five months ago. He...

I read about 100 articles a month, and my favorite piece last month was Girl in The Picture, by Emily Thomes. Originally posted on The Gospel Coalition, Thomes shares her inspiring story of lesbianism to follower of Christ. Today, Thomes stops by the site to share more of her story and give advice to Christians ministering to those who identify as LGBT. You can read the full interview below. Emily, thank you for taking time to stop by the site. I’ll start broadly. Tell us a little about your life before God saved you. Before God saved me, I was...

"He's a baby Christian." If you’re a Christian who’s been reluctant to vote for Donald Trump because of his past - shall we say - moral shortcomings, a secondhand report of his possible salvation is certainly not a reason all by itself to change that position. And as we’ve discussed in the past, it’s entirely possible God could be using Trump regardless of his faith or lack thereof. But one thing any Christian should recognize is that a person’s past is cleansed once they come to Christ, so if Dr. James Dobson is accurately reporting what he says happened recently,...

Has Donald J. Trump become a born-again Christian? That is the suggestion of James C. Dobson, one of America’s leading evangelicals, who said Mr. Trump had recently come “to accept a relationship with Christ” and was now “a baby Christian.” Dr. Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family and one of the country’s most prominent social conservatives, gave his account at a meeting Mr. Trump had in New York on Tuesday with hundreds of Christian conservatives. In an interview recorded at the event by a Pennsylvania pastor, the Rev. Michael Anthony, Dr. Dobson said he knew the person who...

I WAS AT TUESDAY'S HISTORIC "CONVERSATION WITH DONALD TRUMP AND BEN CARSON" at the Marriott Marquis on Broadway. About 1,000 evangelical leaders attended this historic event. While there, I met Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family and Family Talk. I asked Dr. Dobson his views on the meeting and he shared some things that will not only blow your mind, but should also have you on your knees, praying for Mr. Trump and our country with a fresh perspective. Click here or below to listen to this "you heard it here first" interview.