Free Republic

The conversion testimony of Kevin McGrane, elder of Bury St Edmunds Presbyterian church. I was raised in a Roman Catholic family, my father having been born in Dublin of Roman Catholic ancestry. Baptism, Confession, Holy Communion and Confirmation followed in regular course. After junior education under Ursuline nuns, I moved to a boys' grammar school established by Jesuits. The education was of a high standard (four years of Greek being particularly useful later). However, no student could take an 'O' Level in Religion as every examination board required study of the Bible, which was not permitted. Instead, we were fed...

Mitt Romney today announced the support of former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore.

...the US military has been prohibited from helping the local Christians by the administrations of both Bush and Obama. Two years ago, the distribution of Bibles was banned in Iraq, and even the sale to the military of assault weapons with Bible verses on them was stopped. In Egypt, the new authorities helped and financed by the Obama administration and supported internationally by Hillary Clinton, encouraged pogroms against the traditional Christian minority in the country, the Copts. It seems that one of the main strategic goals for the US military presence in the Middle East is the eradication of traditional...

How I led Catholics Out of the Church STEVE WOOD I was a Protestant for twenty years before I became a Catholic. I led many people out of the Catholic Church. My formula for getting Catholics to leave the Church usually consisted of three steps. Step 1: Get Catholics to have a conversion experience in a Protestant setting. Most Fundamentalist, Evangelical, and charismatic Protestant churches have dynamic youth programs, vibrant Wednesday and Sunday evening services, and friendly small-group bible studies. In addition, they host special crusades, seminars and concerts. At the invitation of a Protestant friend, a Catholic may begin...

... As the July 9 division of Sudan nears, the government in Khartoum is scrambling to crush any rebellious chunks of the territory that will remain its own. Its forces have been relentlessly pounding the Nuba Mountains from Russian-made Antonov bombers for weeks, demanding that tens of thousands of rebel fighters dug in here disarm and drop their insistence on more autonomy for the distinctive Nuba people. Hundreds of civilians have been killed, including many children. Bombs have been dropped on huts, on farmers in the field, on girls fetching water together, slicing them in half with buckets in their...

Christians everywhere have been responding in grief and sadness over the death of famed atheist Christopher Hitchens, who passed away late Thursday evening after a yearlong battle with esophageal cancer. From pastors to theologians alike, all expressed pain and sorrow over the recent news, which Vanity Fair was the first to announce. The magazine reported that Hitchens had died from pneumonia, a complication from his stage IV cancer. He was 62 years old. Pastor Rick Warren, founder of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., tweeted, “My friend Christopher Hitchens has died. I loved & prayed for him constantly & grieve...

Something for those who have taken an “ABSOLUTELY NOT NEWT” stance to consider; In spite of anything Newt may have said in the past, when he was lightyears away from being POTUS, I believe we are dealing with a completely converted Newt at this point. I base this on his recent books, DVD, etc. The DVD was a review of all the scriptural quotations and appeals to Providence which are sculpted into the government buildings in DC, as a rebuttal against the lie of Separation of Church and State. The latest book is “A Nation Like No Other,” which describes...

Teresa Tomeo talks about... • ... the lies of pop culture, especially about the sexuality and self-image of young women:“I bought into these lies for a long time,” Tomeo told LifeSiteNews in an interview. “I wanted to share what I have learned with other women and blow the lid off of many of the tales that have been told about these issues.”Extreme Makeover, which was released October 7 by Ignatius Press and currently sits at Number 3 on Amazon’s list of bestselling books in the “Roman Catholicism” category, addresses a host of issues that affect women, including abortion and contraception....

In the midst of a grey, damp winter, at the end of a healthy and normal pregnancy, our second child, a daughter, dies at birth. Despite 20 minutes of attempted resuscitation in the delivery room, she never draws breath outside my body. The neo-natal consultant has tears in his eyes when he comes up to the bedside where my husband and I are clutching each other’s hands in disbelief. “I am so sorry. We couldn’t save her.” Our shock is complete. There was no indication this would happen. When we are asked if we would like our baby blessed, we...

Chesterton and Saint Francis | By Joseph Pearce This essay appears in Joseph Pearce's new book Literary Giants, Literary Catholics. Chesterton enjoyed a lifelong friendship with Saint Francis of Assisi. As a small boy, long before he had an inkling of the nature of Catholicism, Chesterton was read a story by his parents about a man who gave up all his possessions, even the clothes he was wearing on his back, to follow Christ in holy poverty. From the moment the wide-eyed Gilbert first heard the story of Saint Francis, he knew he had found a friend. As such,...

Whenever a new moon would come around, Saachi Mehta’s behavior changed. For five days starting on the day of the new moon, she could not hear or talk, and her body would shut down as if she was suddenly paralyzed. Worried for their 20-year-old daughter, Saachi’s parents took her to see witchdoctors and temple priests, but neither could offer her a cure. For years, these intervals of unexplained sickness disrupted Saachi’s and her family’s lives. Even after Saachi married and had children, her condition did not improve. When Saachi’s mother-in-law, Gajra, met Gospel for Asia-supported Bible college student Sanjay Nigam,...

Brethren: Peace be with you, the Peace of Christ, the Peace that is unlike that which the world gives, the Peace surpassing all understanding. Today is the tenth anniversary of the terrorists attack in New York and Washington, and of the first resistance to the forces of evil resulting in the death of the passengers and crew of Flight 93 on a field in Pennsylvania. This September 11th is unlike any other I’ve observed because I am here, in Afghanistan, as a direct consequence of those attacks. I’ve been here for most of the year and will be until early...

On August 26, Pastor Lutzer had the privilege of baptizing ten Muslims who, over a period of time, came to accept Christ as Savior through the Iranian ministry at Moody Church. Friends of these converts wept as they rejoiced in the power of Christ to transform those who had been brought up in another religion, proving that the Gospel is for all the people of the world. A few of their testimonies are given below. “I was born in Tehran, Iran in 1974. I came to the U.S. in 1994. After a year in this country, my sister-in-law introduced me...

Okay I am already a Christian as far as believing in Jesus and that he is the son of God. But I've never really been a church goer, raised Catholic but I have some problems with the religion and want to convert to basic christianity. I don't know where to start as far as finding a church or local group. Any help?

Renowned playwright, writer, director David Mamet talks with Sean Hannity about his transformation from "brain-dead Liberal" to Conservative, and discusses his new book about Leftist politics in Hollywood, The Secret Knowledge. Mamet, who happens to be Jewish, also shares his thoughts about Netanyahu and Israel. Very good interview.

B.P. Terpstra Another week. Another shocker. Yes all is revealed in Bishop Edward S. Little’s post on Christianity Today, about how one anti-Christian philosopher prepared him to hear the gospel. Her name: Ayn Rand. The Bishop explains: Ayn Rand changed my life. When I embraced her philosophy, Objectivism, the conversion was far more dramatic than my decision, several years later, to follow Jesus Christ—more dramatic, but in the end transitory. Yet Rand, the novelist, philosopher, and uncompromising atheist, inadvertently opened a door for the gospel. I don't believe dead people spin in their graves, but if they did and she...

This perhaps has been asked on Free Republic previously and if so, I apologize. But to the extent we are populated with any converted liberals, briefly explain what brought you over to the conservative side. I have heard 9/11, parenthood, maturity, marriage etc. as reasons, but as a "cradle conservative," I have to ask on behalf of my continuing efforts to convince liberals (and moderates) that their ideology is fuzzy-headed at best and terribly harmful to the future of the United States.

What gorgeous freedom looks like. Rifqa made it. She's free. The case of Rifqa Bary resonated nationally at a time of tense Muslim-Christian relations. One of Rifqa's primary supporters is a blogger who a year later led a campaign against the development of an Islamic center in New York City near ground zero. AP [Christian should come before Muslim, just sayin'] And they can't bring themselves to write my name -- bloody cowards.Despite intense pressure from the Islamic supremacist machine, charges will not be filed against those righteous souls who helped Rifqa Bary escape her devout Muslim household after...

The Church of Sweden has advised pastors to avoid christening asylum seekers that have converted to Christianity due to the risk of reprisals in the case of repatriation, reported news agency TT. One of the reasons for the recommendation is because it can cause danger and increase risks if a person who has converted to Christianity is later sent back to their home country. Another reason is that the motive for the christening can be questioned by some who suggest that asylum seekers convert to Christianity to increase their chances of staying in Sweden. The issue is being addressed in...

No. 257, November, 1915, Vol. XXI., No. 11., pp. 124-125. The last fourteen chapters (35-48) of Ezekiel contains such clear and concise prophecies concerning the restoration, conflicts, conversion, and establishment of Israel in their own land, on their own soil, that, were there no other testimony in the Word (and we have produced abundance), we venture to assert that no one, except by the most flagrant system of spiritualization, could deny that such restoration either had taken place, or must be relegated to the future. And that it is to the future we must look for the fulfillment is certain,...