Free Republic

DALLAS (BP)-- Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress defended statements he made in his forthcoming book charging President Barack Obama's policies have "paved the way" for the coming usurpation of religious liberties and moral law by the Antichrist. Critics balked at naming Obama and the Antichrist in the same sentence. But noted theologians said Jeffress' example, when read in context, properly frames end-time prophecies in light of current events. "I don't sit around in my office thinking up controversies. But I do use controversy to shine the light on Jesus Christ," Jeffress, the pastor of the 11,000-member First Baptist Church of Dallas,...

NASHVILLE (BP) -- It wouldn't be Christmas without the wise men. They show up in nativity scenes, Christmas plays, carols, tree ornaments and paintings. Everyone knows about them: There were three wise men, they rode camels and they brought their gifts to the baby Jesus as He lay in a manger. The Bible, however, doesn't tell us any of these presumed facts about the wise men, other than they brought gifts to Jesus. The rest is holiday lore that accumulated over the centuries, which too many have assumed is in the Bible. The only biblical mention of the wise men...

OKLAHOMA CITY (BP) -- A satanic group from New York wants to place a shrine to Satan next to a Ten Commandments monument on the state capitol grounds in Oklahoma City. The offer from the Satanic Temple in New York comes four years after Oklahoma's legislature approved a privately funded, biblically based monument, which was placed on the capitol lawn last summer. Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union's Oklahoma chapter has filed a lawsuit to remove the Ten Commandments from the capitol grounds, claiming the monument is unconstitutional. And, on Dec. 12, the Universal Society of Hinduism, based in Reno,...

ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP) -- Two-thirds of Americans do not trust their fellow citizens, according to a survey conducted by the Associated Press and GfK Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. GfK, according to its website, is a research company "working to discover new insights into the way people live, think and shop...." A similar survey in 1972 found that half of Americans professed trust in their fellow man. I suppose the AP-GfK survey does raise one question: Did those participating in the project trust the person conducting the survey enough to provide trustworthy answers? With such a preponderance of participants exhibiting...

If congress can exempt their staffers and it appears that they can, what's to stop a conservative senator or congressman from making everyone in his district unpaid "staffers", thereby allowing but not forcing them to be exempt from the abomination called obamacare?

WASHINGTON (BP) -- A federal judge has ruled that an Internal Revenue Service exemption that gives clergy tax-free housing allowances is unconstitutional (see Baptist Press story posted Nov. 25). In her ruling U.S. District Court Judge Crabb claims, "Some might view a rule against preferential treatment as exhibiting hostility toward religion, but equality should never be mistaken for hostility." Despite the judge's claim, appealing to "equality" is not enough to make the action non-hostile toward religion nor is it in line with previous court decisions. Not only has the Supreme Court previously stated that the Establishment Clause prohibits hostility against...

Seriesly. I live across the street from a good size park that has lots of large oak trees, I'm guessing these trees are a hundred years old or more. The third one to fall in the past 5 years or so and this one was almost directly across the street from my house. From my house to the near side of the road is about 75 feet, from there to the tree that fell is another 30 or 40 feet. It fell in the opposite direction from my house, had it fallen towards my house, some of the highest limbs...

NASHVILLE (BP) -- The centrality of the doctrine of substitutionary atonement is being emphasized by Southern Baptist leaders after a state newspaper editor wrote that he does not sing certain words of a popular hymn due to its mention of God's wrath. Substitutionary atonement refers to the belief that Jesus died in the place of sinners, taking on Himself the wrath of God that they deserved. Bob Terry, editor of The Alabama Baptist, in an Aug. 8 editorial, paralleled the angst expressed by a Presbyterian Church USA hymnal committee in rejecting the song "In Christ Alone" because of the line...

NORWICH, England (BP) -- He is difficult to find and even then is barely visible, but he's there. Green Man, a symbol of ancient pagan religion, stares down from the nave of Norwich Cathedral. In a way, his presence is symbolic of how it has always been, and still is, in this medieval city. Norwich has the unique distinction of being officially classified as England's most ungodly city. That's not unusual considering it's the only English city to ever be excommunicated by a Roman Catholic pope. The excommunication came in 1274. Its "ungodly" status comes from the 2011 census. The...

NASHVILLE (BP) -- One of Christianity's most popular worship songs has been deemed too controversial to be included in the latest edition of the hymnal for the Presbyterian Church (USA). "In Christ Alone," a modern hymn written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, consistently ranks in the top 20 songs sung in churches of all stripes, according to Christian Copyright Licensing International. Yet it contains one line that the PCUSA's Committee on Congregational Song did not wish to include in the denomination's hymnal. The line in question is from the song's second verse: "Till on that cross as Jesus died/The...

Where can he go now and live in peace? He will forever have a big target on his back for every racist hoodie wearing thug in the country. How will he be able to support himself now? He cannot just fade into obscurity/anonymity. I hope that his concealed carry rights are quickly restored. He will need it now, more than ever.

WASHINGTON (BP) -- A widely diverse coalition headed by Southern Baptist and Roman Catholic leaders has called on the Obama administration to reverse the religious coercion in its abortion/contraception mandate. In an open letter to Americans released Tuesday (July 2), the collection of about 100 religious, pro-family and religious freedom leaders urged the administration to extend the conscience protections to include individuals and organizations with objections to the mandate. The mandate, which is a part of regulations implementing the 2010 health care reform law, requires nearly all employers to carry insurance plans that cover drugs defined by the federal government...

There is a Relay For Life event coming up in our community (Pekin, Illinois). I recently found out that our church is involved in it. My question is: Is this event, in any way affiliated with the Susan G. Komen foundation? I have "Binged" it and do not find mention of Susan G. Komen anywhere but knowing the deceptiveness of liberals, they might try to hide their participation. It seems to be solely an American Cancer Society event, in which case, I haven't ever heard a bad thing about them. Any insights out there?

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (BP) -- California Baptist University is engaged in a legal battle against a transgender former student who is charging expulsion because of discrimination based on gender identity. Former nursing student Domaine Javier, a male who identifies as female, charges he was kicked out of the Baptist school because he revealed on an episode of MTV'S "True Life" reality show, that he is biologically male, the Press-Enterprise reported. The school counters Javier was expelled for falsely claiming on his application that he is female. A lawsuit Javier filed after the August 2011 expulsion has survived the university's attempt to...

Golfer Phil Mickelson made national headlines this year when he dared to grouse about his ever-growing tax burden. Faced with yet another tax increase in California, he threatened to relocate rather than lose 63 percent of his earnings to greedy governments. Naturally, he was set upon by the news-media horde, who without the benefit of even a peek at his books, declared his tax rate was only 50 percent. To journalists and other lefties, 50 percent doesn't rise to the level of "fair share" for a man of Mr. Mickelson's means. And though they didn't say so, down deep, you...

For a long time now, something has puzzled me, not a faith shaking puzzlement but puzzling nevertheless. The genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew shows Jesus, descended from King David, through his son Solomon thusly: 6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; 7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; 8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; 9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; 10 And...

Apartheid, as practiced in South Africa from the late 1940s until the early 1990s, was a body of law that ensured the supremacy of the white minority and deprived generations of black Africans of the most fundamental rights and government protections. Using this term to describe current practices in the United States and other Western nations is tantamount to applying the "Nazi" label to anyone with whom one disagrees on matters of policy. Deploying such a loaded term discredits the speaker. Consider the NAACP's New Haven branch discredited. The branch got a bit of news-media buzz last week upon releasing...

Hollywood comes out this week with "42," its first feature movie on the life of Jackie Robinson since the hero himself starred in "The Jackie Robinson Story" in 1950. Despite the 63 years between the movies, Robinson's is an oft-told tale, always at risk of being too self-congratulatory and smug, of celebrating the country's getting over race. But the new movie looks like it may at least depict the great drama of a time when no one really knew what would become of the Robinson experiment — the fearless Robinson provocation, actually, engineered by baseball executive Branch Rickey. In any...

When America was liberalizing divorce in the 1960s, the conventional wisdom was it would produce myriad benefits, especially for women, children and the economy. The arguments survive to this day. Women are better off because they no longer are "trapped in bad marriages"; unshackled from their tormenters, they are free to pursue their careers and otherwise live the happy, productive lives that marriage once denied them. Children are happier and more relaxed when their parents aren't fighting, and get more one-on-one parenting through shared custody. And the economy benefits because divorce creates two households where there was one, while supporting...

I bought a new desk top today, Gateway and it has Windows 8 as the O.S. This is in addition to the desk top I already have, not to replace one. I ignorantly assumed that I'd be able to hook it up and pick up my wireless router signal, not so.. Can anyone tell me what I need to do so? I get a box from widows saying I need an Ethernet cord (not card) and to hook the computer to a modem that's connected to cable, which would make it not wireless at all. Years ago, when I first...