Free Republic

Doug Reuhl, president and CEO of American since 1988, blamed an unforgiving economy, especially over the past five years, for the closure and said the company would begin a going-out-of-business sale Thursday to liquidate its entire inventory of furniture, electronics and appliances. "While this is a sad moment, it is also a proud moment," Reuhl said in a news release. "It's a moment to be proud of our efforts and to be proud of what we have delivered to the community." A switchboard operator at American TV refused to answer additional questions Monday or transfer a reporter to anyone else,...

Year after year, Kansas City has one of the highest murder rates in America. But why? As The Star’s Editorial Board embarks on a closer examination of the homicide issue in 2014, it’s crucial to first review figures regarding some of the usual suspects — such as racial demographics and poverty rates — often labeled as contributing factors behind violent crimes. The frustrating conclusion: There’s no clear demographic or economic explanation for why Kansas Citians too often kill each other. Here’s a deeper look at reported murder rates for the 50 largest U.S. cities in 2012, the last full year...

Many people believe that the word "burden," when used in a prophetic context, does not refer only to prophecy in general, but also to the pronouncement of judgment. Calvin says, "Whenever this word is expressed, there is ever to be understood some judgment of God." Verhoef elaborates, "We may concede to the opinion that in prophecy the word…generally acquires an ominous sense linked up with the catastrophic nature of many prophecies. In this sense the word usually denotes a pronouncement of utmost importance, a prophecy of judgment." In Jeremiah 23, we read that the word had become a way for...

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. To me, among the most beautiful verses ever written, full of promise, promise that we can believe, promise that I try to live, it freed me a long time ago of the burden of sin, a heavy load indeed and it is all truly free,...

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Mike Huckabee says he won't be seeking the title of "America's pastor" if he decides to run for president in 2016. Instead, he would seek to be a servant leader who is both "salt and light" in today's culture. Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas who ran for president in 2008, said he won't make any political announcements until after the midterm elections. A busy speaker and the host of "Huckabee," the Fox News channel talk show, he said his concern for the nation's direction could be the deciding factor. "I just feel like our country is...

ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP) -– The conviction of a 60-year-old man for having sex with a pre-teen girl was overturned by Italy's highest court last fall according to a report by Agence France-Presse. Social worker Pietro Lamberti was sent to prison for five years for his relationship with an 11-year-old girl. The original conviction in 2011 was upheld by an appellate court but now has been overturned by the Italian Supreme Court, which ruled the original court had failed to consider the consensual nature of the relationship, according to AFP. The court ordered a retrial. The high court said consideration should...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP) -- Four Missouri taxpayers filed a lawsuit on Jan. 8 challenging Gov. Jay Nixon's executive order to permit some same-sex couples to file a Missouri combined income tax return as "husband" and "wife" for 2013 in spite of a 2004 state constitutional amendment which defines marriage as between one man and one woman. The lawsuit challenges Executive Order 13-14 as being unconstitutional and alleges that the governor is trying to thwart the will of the people of Missouri, with 71 percent of the voters having adopted "Amendment 2" in 2004. The amendment, now codified as Article...

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?