Free Republic

Last week, a young Christian male asked me a pretty direct question. He wanted to know whether I ever worried that my blunt commentary on social media was “turning people away from Christianity.” I thought it was an honest question. So I gave him an honest answer. I told him that I believe the problem is just the opposite of what he considers it to be. In other words, it isn’t occasional blunt commentary that turns people away from Christianity. It is the constant displays of Christian cowardice that make people both reticent to join and quick to attack us....

<p>A church in Des Moines has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to strike down as unconstitutional a portion of a 2007 Iowa law and a similar Des Moines city code section that could apply transgender bathroom rules to churches.</p> <p>The Fort Des Moines Church of Christ filed the lawsuit Monday in federal court in Des Moines against the Iowa Civil Rights Commission and the city. The church asks for an order that keeps the state and the city from enforcing the rules that would allow biological males who identify as women from using women's bathrooms, showers or changing rooms and the same for females identifying as men.</p>

A muezzin’s call to prayer reverberated inside the sixth-century Istanbul landmark Hagia Sophia for the first time in 85 years on July 1. The building in the city’s historic Sultanahmet district broadcast the azan from its minarets following July 1’s Laylat al-Qadr, or night of power, marking the first revelation of the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad. The broadcast of the morning call to prayer from within Hagia Sophia is likely to reignite controversy over the use of the building, which was designated a museum in 1935 under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic. Although the...

Is a church a place of public accommodation and if so – are congregations required to follow anti-discrimination laws regarding gender and sexual orientation? That’s the issue raised by a brochure published by the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. They contend that any church that opens its doors to the public would be required to comply with sexual orientation and gender identity laws. It’s unclear when the Commission’s brochure was published, but it clearly outlines their interpretation of the 2007 Iowa Civil Rights Act – known as Iowa Code

The assembled Presbyterians no doubt thought they were being wonderfully open-minded and ecumenical; they did not realize that Wajidi Said was openly proselytizing for Islam. “Lead us on the straight path” is straight from the Fatihah, the Opening, the Qur’an’s first chapter and the most common and oft-repeated prayer in Islam. Islamic scholars identify the straight path with Islam itself. And in invoking “Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad,” Said sounded beautifully ecumenical himself to the ranked Presbyterians, aglow in their bloomin’ primness, but in reality he was reflecting the Islamic belief that those figures and the other Biblical...

The Bishop of Stockholm has proposed a church in her diocese remove all signs of the cross and put down markings showing the direction to Mecca for the benefit of Muslim worshippers. Eva Brunne, who was made the world’s first openly lesbian bishop by the church of Sweden in 2009, and has a young son with her wife and fellow lesbian priest Gunilla Linden, made the suggestion to make those of other faiths more welcome.

Official Documents of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church Back Encyclical of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church ΕλληνικάEnglishрусскийfrançais ENCYCLICAL OF THE HOLY AND GREAT COUNCIL OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH Crete 2016 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit With a hymn of thanksgiving, we praise and worship God in Trinity, who has enabled us to gather together during the days of the feast of Pentecost here on the island of Crete, which has been sanctified by St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, and his...

Christian homes and property have been attacked by a Muslim mob in Egypt over rumours a house under construction was being turned into a church. A large group of Muslims gathered around the house, owned by Coptic Christian Naim Aziz, in Qarayat al Bayda village near Alexandria after Friday prayers on June 17, chanting: "By no means shall there be a church here". "A great deal of fanatic Muslims gathered in front of the new house of my cousin, Naim Aziz, during its construction because of a rumour spread in the village that this building would be turned into a...

U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford – who was running unopposed for the Palmetto State’s first congressional district (following a hard-fought 2013 special election win) – saw an abnormally-high percentage of people oppose him via write-in votes. Specifically, 6.59 percent of the first district electorate wrote in the name of someone other than Sanford on their ballot. That total dwarfed the write-in percentages put up against other unopposed GOP candidates at the statewide level – including treasurer Curtis Loftis (1.25 percent) and adjutant general Bob Livingston (1.03 percent).

Southern Baptist churches in the United States will no longer display the Confederate battle flag.

Statement from Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted and Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo A. Nevares Regarding the Orlando Mass Shootings PHOENIX — We join the Holy Father in encouraging the faithful to pray for the victims, families and first responders of those involved in the tragic events of the Orlando mass shootings.We express our profound condolences for the victims of this senseless act of terror, and support the statements made by Pope Francis, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville and the President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Orlando Bishop John G. Noonan, shared below:A statement from Archbishop Joseph E....

One year, that seems as if it passed in the blink of an eye. It can rush by in the day-to-day chaos that all too often defines our busy lives. One year can slip by unnoticed, as imperceptible as the beating of a heart, the flutter of a loved one’s memory through the mind. I know this because I have lived it. For me, it seems baffling, almost impossible to consider that it was a full year ago this week that nine innocent lives were cut down by a savage murderer inside Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South...

An angry war of words has erupted between Greece and Turkey after Turkish authorities permitted a daily Koran reading to be broadcast from Turkey’s famous Hagia Sophia, a former Byzantine cathedral. Turkish national broadcaster TRT Diyanet will broadcast the sahur or Islamic predawn meal along with daily readings from the Koran during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan which began Monday. Greece’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the move in a statement calling it “bigotry” and “not compatible with modern, democratic and secular societies.”

This is the last in a series of essays on the duty of Christians in civic affairs, adapted from Kevin Kookogey’s weekly radio address and podcasts at www.advancingchurch.com 8. Which responsibilities of providing help to our citizens are the government's and which belong to the Church? The duty of government is plainly described in our founding documents. The Declaration of Independence establishes the philosophical and moral basis for our system of government, famously asserting that governments are instituted among men to secure their rights, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. The Constitution then enumerates those powers,...

Expecting the peaceful pastor to cave, they were shocked and enraged when he not only refused to remove it, but offered the perfect response. Belmont Drive Missionary Baptist Church in Oregon has caused a disturbing stir in self-important hypocrites who believe that Islam is a supreme religion that should never be criticized. The church in Hood River has caused the thought police to sound the alarm on bigotry, proving their own intolerance. WSBT rushed to the scene of a political correctness crime, in which the Baptist church displayed a message on their sign declaring, “Wake up Christians. Allah is not...

Last February, archaeologists unearthed a unique rock-carved underground church in Nevsehir, in the central Turkish region of Cappadocia. The church was decorated with never before seen frescoes depicting Jesus’ Ascension, the Final Judgement, Jesus feeding the multitudes, and portraits of saints and prophets.The discovery, made during excavations and cleaning operations in an underground city recently uncovered as part of an urban project in Nevsehir, is located within a castle that might date back to the fifth century. Authorities expect it will make Cappadocia an even more important pilgrimage center for Orthodox Christians. Semih İstanbulluoğlu, the archaeologist who heads the works for...

KERSHAW COUNTY, SC An Elgin woman was arrested Monday after deputies say she admitted to stealing more than $97,000 in church funds and using the money to buy drugs on the streets of Columbia. Debora Barfield, 53, was charged with breach of trust with fraudulent intent and forgery, according to a news release. Barfield served as church secretary for St. John’s United Methodist Church in Lugoff, and oversaw church funds. Investigators determined Barfield forged about 145 checks to steal the money. “Drug abuse makes no distinction on who it destroys – black, white, rich, poor, young or old,” Kershaw County...

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – The pastor of a church in southeast Albuquerque says someone broke in, robbed and vandalized the building. It happened at the Sandia Church of the Nazarene near Central and Wyoming between Friday night and early Saturday morning. The church says the burglars broke doors and equipment, even making off with several laptops.

FOLEY, AL- Calvary Baptist Church on West Magnolia Avenue was hit by thieves last week. The burglars broke into the church office, damaged an A/C unit, stole $135 from the safe, took a laptop and destroyed a desktop computer. Pastor John Pratt documented the damage on his smart phone. Not only did the thieves steal from a house of worship, they also vandalized it. The crooks grabbed fire extinguishers off the walls and sprayed the chemicals all over the building, including inside the church nursery.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A central Arkansas church was targeted yet again by vandals. The vandalism took place at Christ Little Rock on South Hughes Street. The graffiti was spray painted on the church's electronic sign. This isn't the first time the church has been tagged. Pastor Dan Hauser says it happens every few months. In fact, it happened just last week, but he refuses to give up hope.