Free Republic

Gaza (Agenzia Fides) - The ruins of an ancient Byzantine church, re-emerged during construction work of a shopping center, have been removed by bulldozers and the local authorities did nothing to protect the precious historical and archaeological site. The episode of severe neglect, which took place last week, has provoked strong reactions of condemnation from some Palestinian Christians, launched by Israeli press. The workers, with their bulldozers, according to reconstructions provided by local sources, found the remains of a large Byzantine church of at least 1500 years ago, but continued their work of digging to prepare the foundation of the...

After 30 years and millions of dollars of restoration, 1500-year-old Santa Maria Antiqua, buried beneath the Roman Forum by an earthquake in 847, has finally reopened to the public, and it is stunning: “This church is the Sistine Chapel of the early Middle Ages,” Maria Andaloro, an art historian involved in the project, told Reuters. “It collected the very best of figurative culture of the Christian world between Rome and Byzantium.” Being buried by the earthquake saved the church from being altered in later centuries, particularly during the Counter-Reformation, said Prof Andaloro. Among the most significant frescoes is a depiction...

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - Memphis police are investigating a person with several guns at Bellevue Baptist Church. Police said security told them they saw a man in the sanctuary who was carrying multiple guns. Officers arrived on the scene and took the suspect into custody without incident. This is an ongoing investigation. Easter service at Bellevue Baptist continued as planned. Bellevue Baptist tweeted the following statement regarding the incident:

A British father has been banned from taking his son to a church after the boy's Muslim mother won a controversial court order preventing the boy from attending. The father – a non-practising Muslim who has forged close connections to his local Christian community and is divorced from the boy's mother – has been warned that he could be denied access to the nine-year-old if he attempts to take him to church or to a leisure centre it runs. Now the father, who was born in the UK to Pakistani parents, is challenging the ruling made by District Judge Williscroft...

The last thing you expect on Easter week is a church vandalism. But as 13 News discovered, defacing Jesus on the cross had some calling for jail, others for mercy. During Lenten season, Liz Trabandt was one of Ashland's Holy Family Church volunteers who washed the 666 and upside down cross spray painted on the parish garage. During Easter holy week, spray painted on the large crucifix that welcomes all to the catholic church, another 666 and upside down cross. Police said so far, their ongoing criminal investigation into the vandalism has no leads and no suspects. Right now the...

A bizarre lawsuit, filed by the reliably leftist Rev. Michael Pfleger, was dismissed by Cook County judge Franklin Valderrama on February 25th. Other leftist activists had joined Rev. Pfleger in filing the lawsuit against three municipalities outside of Chicago.  From chicagotribune.com: A lawsuit filed by Rev. Michael Pfleger and a group of activists last year that said lax local gun laws in Lincolnwood were to blame when guns sold by the town’s only firearms dealer ended up at Chicago crime scenes has been dismissed by a Cook County judge. The lawsuits tried to make the claim that black people...

In new faith film Miracles from Heaven, which is based on a true story, actress Jennifer Garner plays Christy Beam, the mother of a young girl Annabel (Kylie Rogers) who is diagnosed with an incurable and painful disease. Because of the illness, pressure on the young family was high as Annabel had to undergo numerous hospital appointments and procedures. However, one day Annabel was involved in a freak accident and fell from a tree and hit her head. When she came to, doctors discovered she'd somehow been cured. "I mean there's reason there's a movie and a book about it,"...

With an eye toward divorced-and-remarried Catholics, Pope Francis has recently changed protocol for heads of state who are visiting the Pope at the Vatican. Catholic heads of state who are in an irregular marital situation may now take part in an official visit to the Pope as a couple, accompanied by their irregular spouse. The Pope made the change in February. By chance, the first to benefit from the new protocol was Argentina’s President Mauricio Macrì. He made an official visit to Pope Francis Feb. 27, accompanied by his third wife, Juliana Awada. Before the change in protocol, the Catholic...

Become a Nomad for Christ: NEVER let political pastors be the cause of YOU losing YOUR faith. Better they should lose theirs than yours If you are one of the faithful still going to church on Sunday, don’t be the fertile ground that lets your pastor politicize you. Even if it’s only for the sake of situational awareness, take stake of what is happening in many of the mainline churches, whose pastors have become the latest breed of political activists, trading the Gospel of Christ for politics, all for the 30 pieces of silver called government grants. Political activists at...

A woman has filed a lawsuit against a Florida megachurch after it reportedly did not pay her the promised hush money to keep her alleged affair with a pastor a secret. Church member Arlene Miranda filed the suit against Orlando Baptist Church based in Orange County, saying the church failed to pay the agreed $3,000 so she would keep quiet about her alleged affair with Pastor David Janney, 61, married, and the church's president. "They threatened me. If I didn't sign it, they threatened me," Miranda told WFTV. Miranda denied she filed the lawsuit for the money, saying "I committed...

Over at FiveThirtyEight, Farai Chideya takes a crack at analyzing Trump's strong showing with South Carolina's Evangelicals. He accurately notes that Evangelicals aren't necessarily voting on their faith:' Trump's win among evangelicals was a bit of a surprise to the media - the cable networks hammered away at the issue, and on Sunday's "Meet the Press," Chuck Todd peppered Cruz with questions about why he lost the group that had supported him in Iowa. But the South Carolina results show evangelicals are a diverse group with sometimes differing priorities. Trump did well among less-conservative evangelicals but not among those who...

Church architecture reflects the faith of the people who build churches.These days many of the modern Catholic churches I have seen look more like municipal airport buildings than structures to house the most sacred thing humans can undertake, the place where heaven and earth meet.I was recently sent a link to a site about a new church in Moscow. The church was recently completed and consecrated by Patriarch Kirill in December 2015. A Miracle of Liturgical Art: The Church of the Protection of the Mother of God at Yasenevo[…]But most astonishing by far was the project to decorate the interior...

If you are a Christian, you better brace yourself for great persecution. It has gotten very little attention from the mainstream media, but federal authorities have uncovered an ISIS plot to 'shoot up' a Detroit megachurch. 21-year-old Khalil Abu-Rayyan of Dearborn Heights, Michigan told authorities that he actually intended to take a gun into a very large church in Detroit that can seat up to 6,000 people and start killing Christians. He has been charged with supporting the Islamic States and with "illegally having a firearm while using a controlled substance". Abu-Rayyan actually admitted that since he can’t be part...

Although I’ve been a content atheist for a decade, somehow God has found a way to stick around in my mind. Not the God of the Bible who created heaven and Earth — the God that lingers with me is harder to explain. The idea of God pesters me and makes me think that maybe I’m not as devoted to my beliefs as I’d like to think I am and would like to be. Maybe I’m still subconsciously afraid of hell and want to go to heaven when I die. It’s confusing and frustrating to feel the presence of something...

Moscow, Fabruary 2, Interfax - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has said the inquiry into the killing of the family of Nicholas II will be completed once the truth is found. "I have received highest-level reassurances that there will be no hurry and no tying down of the end of the inquiry to any particular date. The inquiry will last as long as is necessary in order establish the truth," the patriarch said at the current Bishops' Council in Moscow on Tuesday. Unlike the situation in the 1990s, the state has given representatives of the Church - archbishops,...

It has been more than a year since the Obama Administration promised to investigate a California order that forces churches to fund abortions through health insurance plans. Despite the repeated urging of pro-life lawmakers and religious groups in California to act on that promise, the administration appears to be doing nothing. The troubling situation began in 2014 when the California Department of Managed Health Care reclassified abortion as a “basic health service” under the Affordable Care Act and ordered all insurance plans in the state to begin covering surgical abortions immediately. Even churches are not exempt from funding abortions. The...

The American church has a problem. It's one part fear, one part confusion and one part apathy. Pastors, priests and rabbis have long swallowed the false notion that all things religious and all things political are somehow mutually exclusive - that never the twain shall meet. Leading up to Ronald Reagan's landslide presidential victory in 1980, Rev. Jerry Falwell, the founder of Liberty University, captured the crux of the church's apathy problem. "I'm being accused of being controversial and political," he said. "I'm not political. But moral issues that become political, I still fight. It isn't my fault that...

ABOUT CAGED NO MORE CAGED NO MORE is an entertaining feature film that will raise awareness of human trafficking, aid in connecting anti-trafficking organizations, equip parents, schools and churches to aid in prevention, and assist in eradicating trafficking. Starring Kevin Sorbo, Emmy-Award winner Loretta Devine, Alan Powell, and Cassidy Gifford with appearances by Kathie Lee Gifford, Gov. Bobby Jindal and Natalie Grant. Inspired by real events, CAGED NO MORE is the story of Aggie Prejean, a grandmother on a desperate search to find her two granddaughters, Skye and Elle, who have been kidnapped by their sinister father. As the details...

One of the United States' most influential evangelical leaders blasted Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr. on Monday for hosting Donald Trump to give a campaign speech. Russell Moore, who heads the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, let fly a series of tweets after Falwell gave a glowing introduction to Trump, calling him "one of the greatest visionaries of our time" and saying Trump "lives a life of helping others ... as Jesus taught in the New Testament." Moore appeared incredulous at Falwell's language, which was more effusive than he had...

Evangelical Influencer Supports Cruz for PresidentHOUSTON, Texas – Presidential candidate Ted Cruz today announced the endorsement of Paul Blair, President of Reclaiming America for Christ and the pastor of Fairview Baptist Church.Blair was raised in Edmond, Oklahoma, and spent five years in the NFL. Since 2001, he has served as the Senior Pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma. Pastor Blair speaks around the United States on the topics of Christian apologetics, a biblical worldview, Islam, and the nation's Christian heritage. He is also a member of the Council for National Policy.Pastor Blair was named Oklahoma's Pastor of the...