Free Republic

A pastor in England faced a hearing in court in which he is accused of keeping a woman as a sex slave and forcing her to have an abortion. While abortion is legalized in many nations under the auspices of a “right to choose,” the reality is that a large percentage of women who get abortions are forced, pressured or coerced into getting them. In this case, Gilbert Deya, 61, who runs a ministry outfit named after himself, is charged with four counts of rape, one of attempted rape, two of sexual assault and one of battery. His church reportedly...

Pro-choice Pastor Roger Paynter, in a sermon to his congregation: “… Abortion is not the automatic breaking of God’s will… In general, we should say that God is against the ending of all life, but that in some tragic circumstances, he understands – even allows – and certainly forgives the choices we have to make.” Robert M Baird and Stuart E Rosenbaum, editors The Ethics of Abortion, 3rd edition (Amherst, New York: Prometheus books, 2001) 236

From The Wall Street Journal: Americans aren’t building churches like they used to anymore.Construction of religious buildings in the U.S. has fallen to the lowest level at any time since private records began in 1967. Religious groups will build an estimated 10.3 million square feet this year, down 6% from 2013 and 80% since construction peaked in 2002, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. In terms of dollars, spending on houses of worship totaled $3.15 billion last year, down by half from a decade earlier, according to Commerce Department figures.As the economy heals, churches, synagogues, mosques and temples may move...

So much for the seventh commandment. Unholy crooks better pray the big man upstairs wasn’t watching when they swiped a 5-by-3 foot crucifix from a Bronx church during services on Wednesday. The $5,000 German-made wooden cross was lifted from the lobby of Padau Roman Catholic Church — near a sign proclaiming, “Jesus wants all of us to come to him” — between 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., police sources said. “I’m distressed. That crucifix means so much to the people here … I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Josu Iriondo, 75, pastor of the church on East 166th Street...

Have you noticed that nobody loves modern churches? Nobody. I mean NOBODY.Seriously. Have you ever met anyone who sees a church like this and and heard them whisper, “I just love that church! It is so inspiring!”.No. Never.Have you ever gone into a “worship space” like this and heard someone say how awed they were to be in the presence of God? I doubt it.  That’s because these buildings were not designed to inspire awe or to remind you about the presence of God. They are people centered, not God centered. They are auditoria not temples.There is a gut level...

Contrasts between the confessing church and the compromising church. 1. In the confessing church, Christ is over culture. The compromising church accommodates Christ to culture. The confessing church believes Jesus is Lord over all creation. 2. The confessing church holds fast to the Word of God in spite of opposition. The compromising church alters the Word of God because of opposition. 3. The confessing church puts the kingdom of God above their culture and ethnicity. The compromising church puts their ethnicity before the kingdom of God. 4. The confessing church alters their methods of preaching. The compromising church alters the...

The inflammatory billboards show a young girl writing a letter to Santa. The letter reads, “Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is to skip church! I'm too old for fairy tales.”

The Missouri church attended by Michael Brown’s father and his family was one of a dozen or so buildings burned to the ground during Monday night’s protests in the wake of a grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson. While the majority of the buildings destroyed on Monday were in downtown Ferguson, the Flood Christian Church is located some three miles away from the protests in a remote section of Country Club Hills. Pastor Carlton Lee, who has been a vocal advocate for the Browns since their son was shot in August, has said he believes that white...

FERGUSON, Mo. — At Greater St. Mark Family Church, a brick and wood building a short drive from where Michael Brown was killed, the Rev. Tommie L. Pierson Sr., the pastor, paused and surveyed the congregation of 100. He had a complicated task. He wanted to inspire and uplift his flock in a familiar, fiery way, but he knew that he also was addressing the world.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley made national news last year when he fought to pass and signed a tax bill that levied a tax on Marylanders, businesses and churches for the amount of “impervious surface” they have on their property. Roofs, driveways, sidewalks, and parking lots qualify for the “rainwater remediation fee” to “protect the Chesapeake Bay.” Though the O’Malley administration calls it a “fee,” it is commonly called the “rain tax” throughout the state. It is wildly unpopular and the promise to fight to repeal the tax was a large factor in Maryland electing Republican Larry Hogan governor this month....

Church leaders are upset after a recent article in The New York Times revealed that the Internal Revenue Service can use undercover agents disguised as members of the clergy as a means to gather privileged information. Following the Times' report last weekend that over 40 federal agencies use undercover agents disguised as attorneys, doctors, news media and other positions to gain access to privileged information, church leaders are appalled to find out that IRS agents are also allowed to pose as clergy, even though the agency doesn't have a crime-fighting function that warrants such a use of undercover tactics. In...

AuthorÂ’s note: The following is an actual letter I sent to my pastor. If your church is involved in the fight against human trafficking but silent on the issue of abortion then, please, feel free to plagiarize this letter and send it to your pastor. My sole motivation in republishing this letter is to help those who wish to approach their pastors on this issue but have difficultly framing the issue in a respectful manner. Mike, it is good news to hear that our church getting involved in the issue of human trafficking, which is evil for one very simple...

MIT professor and Obamacare consultant Jonathan Gruber conducted a government study to determine whether or not church attendance impacts voter turnout, and whether repealing state laws banning retail commerce on Sundays could diminish voter turnout. Gruber drew fire after The Daily Caller published a video Monday in which he revealed that certain aspects of Obamacare’s design were concealed from the public because the “stupidity of the American voter” would have killed the law’s chances at passage. (RELATED: Gruber: Lack of Transparency Was Key For Obamacare) A second video then emerged in which Gruber credited Obamacare’s passage to the American people...

I was talking with a friend a few weeks ago about a church she used to attend. She stopped going because the pastors, who called themselves “team leaders,” never wanted to deal with any topics that might be controversial, like abortion. In fact, their stated goal was that they wanted the church to be safe for people. The thought of a “safe” church has bounced around in my head off and on since then. What in the world is a safe church, especially given that the gospel itself, is not safe. Jesus isn’t safe. God Himself, is not safe. In...

1) You learned how to spell with this song: [video] 2) You survived a Fear Factor inspired eating game. 3) You’ve been to Mexico for a mission/service trip. 4) You’ve given your “testimony” to a large group before. 5) Your public prayers are filled with “Father God” and “just…” 6) You learned just enough on the guitar to lead worship songs with 4 chords.

Obama has summoned the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – making manifest his goal of "fundamentally transforming America.” Part I of “The Four Horseman,” described the growing power of Obama’s plans for the “fundamental transformation” (destruction) of our nation, and the “Four Horsemen” he employs to affect that transformation: Death, War, Conquest, and Famine. We examined in detail Obama’s Magnum Opus, Obamacare, its intended destruction of our healthcare system and the consequent enslavement of the population to the whims and caprice of the Administrative State, and, more alarming than this, Obamacare’s comprehensive obliteration of most freedoms Americans still take for...

Why Did Paul Get Arrested at Philippi, and What Can a Sometimes Timid Church Learn From It? By: Msgr. Charles PopeThere is a story of St. Paul’s arrest, beating, and imprisonment at Philippi that serves as a kind of metaphor for the radical nature of true Christianity and why it so perturbs many in this world. The Christian faith, its message, and the transformation it can effect can be very unsettling to a world that figuratively and literally “banks on” sin. Let’s consider this lesser- known story of Paul and see what it ought to mean for us if we take the Christian...

… a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.(Joel 1:6-8)The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O...

It was not Luther’s intention to divide the Church, much less to start a brand new church. To the end of his life, he considered himself to be a faithful and obedient servant of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. Though Luther renounced his monastic vows and married a former nun, Katarina von Bora, he never forgot that he had received a doctorate in Holy Scripture. His vocation was to teach the written Word of God and to point men and women to the Lord of Scripture, Jesus Christ. On this Reformation Day, it is good to remember that...

The question we must understand, and answer properly, is, "Are the people to serve the Government, or, is the government to serve the People?" Do you understand the difference between Rules and Laws? Laws are enacted in accordance with the Constitution, where the House of Representatives and the Senate concur on a Bill. The Bill then goes to the President, who can sign it into law. We needn’t discuss veto, here, as that has nothing to do with what we need to understand. A Rule (Note: Rule includes regulations) is the desire of unelected officials in Administrative Agencies to implement...