Free Republic

The recent furor over President-Elect Barack Obama’s selection of California mega-church pastor Rick Warren to pray at the January 20th inauguration yields a few clues about what evangelicals can expect during the next four years. On the surface, playing the Warren card appears to be a masterstroke by Obama – one that further demonstrates impressive political skills. A day or so after the election, I was asked by someone about what Mr. Obama would do to prepare for his administration. I replied that I thought he would demonstrate significant savvy by – at least for the time being – ignoring...

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday defended his choice of a popular evangelical minister to deliver the invocation at his inauguration, rejecting criticism that it slights gays. The selection of Pastor Rick Warren brought objections from gay rights advocates, who strongly supported Obama during the election campaign. The advocates are angry over Warren's backing of a California ballot initiative banning gay marriage. That measure was approved by voters last month. But Obama told reporters in Chicago that America needs to "come together," even when there's disagreement on social issues. "That dialogue is part of what my campaign is all...

I am requesting assistance in the form of guidance to a well organized website(s) that could serve as an Evangelical Christian study guide to All of the individual books of the Bible contained in both the Old & New Testaments. The focus of the study is to present a brief summary ( condensed into 1-2 paragraphs) for each of the books of the Bible. Each summarization would need to include major events, themes, significant personalities, and genre for each separate book.

Since CNN devoted so much time to covering the Hajj, a number of prominent Muslims -- including known terrorists and jihadists -- have opined that "We are defeating these people [American "evangelicals"] through their homes in their lands." "Terrorists gush over CNN coverage," by Aaron Klein for WorldNetDaily, December 12 (thanks to Doc Washburn): JERUSALEM – CNN's extensive coverage this week of the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca is a defeat for evangelical Christians and proves it is only a question of time before Islam will be "shining all over the world," according to Muslim terrorists in Gaza speaking to...

On November 4, 2008, the people of California—in a 52 to 48 percent vote—placed in the state’s constitution an amendment that reaffirmed that marriage consists of one man and one woman. The amendment, Proposition 8, overturned the California Supreme Court’s May 2008 ruling that invalidated a statute that was passed in 2000 in a statewide referendum by a 61 to 39 percent vote. That 2008 opinion held that limiting marriage to one man and one woman, as required in the 2000 statute, violated the equal protection rights of homosexuals under the California constitution. Following the Proposition 8 victory, thousands of...

Entire headline should read: Evangelical Association Reaffirms Biblical Stance after Statements Supporting Obama, Homosexual Civil Unions By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., December 9, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) has endeavored to assuage concerns sparked last week when NAE's Chief Lobbyist and Vice President for Governmental Affairs downplayed Obama’s abortion position, and stated that he was “shifting” in favor of same-sex civil unions, and possibly “marriage.” NAE President Rev. Leith Anderson told the association's Board of Directors in an open letter that Rev. Richard Cizik's words “did not appropriately reflect the positions of the...

A good friend of mine (let's call him Bob) is convinced that unless the GOP puts abortion "aside as its focal point, it simply cannot win and regain power." That's especially interesting in light of Kathleen Parker's latest column, which disses the evangelical wing of the GOP. Bob's point is that "we've lost a majority of women over this issue as they have become one-issue voters." It's not only liberal women but also others who believe it's simply not the government's business. Kathleen Parker broadens the point considerably beyond abortion: "The evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what...

Black churches reflect, rejoice on Obama's victory Worshipers at black churches rejoiced Sunday at Barack Obama's election, although the praise was muted at one Pompano Beach service. ...Forbes, 42, a night-shift postal worker, was wide awake at the predominantly black New Birth Baptist Church in Opa-locka. ''It's an awakening,'' she said. ``He's our first black president.'' The church's pastor, Bishop Victor T. Curry, relished the mere turn of the phrase ``president-elect.'' ''That sounds good,'' he told the several hundred at the morning service. ``I just like to say it.'' At churches across South Florida and the nation, pastors asked God...

< snip > Evangelicals are a small proportion of the national population - just 7% of all adults. But they tend to capture the imagination and attention of the national media and political pundits. The survey data consistently show that evangelical Christians have among the highest rates of voting turnout. . . and are strikingly different from the rest of the population - even from other born again Christians who are not evangelical. As was true in the past two presidential elections, two-thirds of all evangelicals who were registered to vote (65%) were aligned with the Republican Party. One out...

James Dobson may be the only Evangelical whose Sunday school teacher apparently never warned him to be careful what he prayed for. Two weeks before Election Day, the Focus on the Family founder chatted with Sarah Palin on his radio show and shared his backup plan for the struggling GOP ticket. He was, Dobson told her, praying for "God's intervention" and that "God's perfect will be done on November the 4th." Unless Dobson has undergone a dramatic political conversion, it's safe to assume he does not consider Barack Obama's election on Tuesday to be divinely ordained. In June, Dobson delivered...

Today is Halloween — and, as you may have noticed, many of our Evangelical friends now shun America’s October spook festival altogether. They tell their children that Halloween is “the devil’s holiday” and that trick-or-treating is little better than dabbling with a Ouija board or consulting an astrologer.Contemplating the Idea of DeathThough such extremism might seem odd or funny to many of us, it’s really, in one sense, quite admirable. If I thought Halloween was what they think it is, I’d keep my kids away from it, too — no matter how odd it might seem to others. But I’m...

In any age, there are end-of-the-world predictions in time of societal upset (as well as unusual elections). When there is turmoil -- as there is now turmoil -- the prophetic pulse quickens. It grows dramatic. Or, past dramatic prophecies are rehashed. The question becomes: when does it go beyond credibility? Events such as September 11, the Iraq war, and the Asian tsunami caused a flurry of apocalyptic prophecy, and now we have the "9/11 of finances" (occurring, again -- for those with ears to hear -- in Lower Manhattan). And so now there are many prophecies circulating. Some are extreme...

There is a branch of Catholic prophecy that predicts a series of events prior to the rise of Antichrist that lead to a unified Catholic Europe. Generally speaking, the events that lead to this foretold conversion are horrendous. Economic collapse, civil war, more war, an Islamic invasion of Europe, pestilence, and natural disasters. Death on an unprecedented level. It is at the point that Europe (and the world) are forced to admit that this was all the result of the godless world of their own creation. In their desperation, they finally turn back to God. From this turmoil rises two...

EXCLUSIVE: AL QAEDA TARGETS LEADING ARAB EVANGELIST OPERATING IN THE U.S. FOR PREACHING THE GOSPEL TO MUSLIMS (Washington, D.C., September 9, 2008) -- You have probably never heard of Father Zakaria Botros.

  M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E Have You Been Born Again?By Brent L. TopAt a large gathering of Latter-day Saints several years ago, something was said to me by one of the guests that both surprised and troubled me.  The speaker was addressing the important doctrinal topic of salvation by grace and spiritual rebirth--being "born again." After the talk was completed, one of the people in attendance approached me with this question, "We don't believe that stuff, do we?"The "we" in his question meant Latter-day Saints, and the "that stuff"...

Evangelical Christians living in Jerusalem on Sunday voiced unflinching support for presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, and heaped praise on his surprise selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. "McCain has a depth of understanding of foreign policy - including in the Middle East - which makes him the best choice for Israel," said Michael Mott, a native of Colorado who has lived in Israel for the past 12 years. McCain's choice of Palin was a "strategic move" that "blew away" last week's Democratic National Convention, he said, adding that it was certain to win him more...

In 1943 during WW2, an army Sgt., Ed Davis, was working in Iran near the Turkish border, in charge of locals hired by our army to build a road through Iran to the Soviet border, which would carry supplies to the Soviets instead of flying them in. In short, Ed did a tremendous favor for a little Kurdish village near Ararat. His workers were mostly Kurds and the chief of the village came to Ed and asked if he would like to see Noah's Ark. He said the summer on the mountain had been hottest in many years and the...

The denial of the One True Church:"John to the seven Churches that are in Asia..." Rev 1:4 "Anyone can see from the very beginning of Christianity that there were many denominations, for the Bible is 'very clear' to show us this in that verse, and in many others!" This is what I have been told by those who refuse to believe that the Catholic Church is the one true Church which Jesus Christ founded. It is too bad that non-Catholics cannot understand the fact that all of those Churches were founded by the Apostles who were all infused with the...

Democrats have invited more than two dozen religious leaders to pray or speak at their upcoming conventioin with a notable exception: Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, a policy wonk and the leader of Colorado's largest religious denomination. Several Catholics, including former Colorado state Sen. Polly Baca, "Dead Man Walking" author Sister Helen Prejean, social justice lobbyist Sister Catherine Pinkerton and Pepperdine University professor Douglas W. Kmiec, are on the program. Organizers are also flying in Greek Orthodox Archbishop Demetrios from New York to give the opening prayer Wednesday. But Archbishop Chaput's only contact with the convention has been a meeting...

The founder of Operation Rescue, Randall Terry is in Denver today to distribute his organization’s new flyer, “Is it Immoral to Vote for Obama for President?” His mission for the visit is simple: “hand out 100,000 copies of the brochure, ‘Is it Immoral to Vote for Obama for President?’ to Catholics and Evangelicals. It has a profoundly jolting effect on readers, explained Mr. Terry. Mr. Terry and his staff are recruiting volunteers to help with the distribution from Tuesday 8/19 – to Sunday 8/24. They will go to malls, shopping centers, streets, and churches to hand out the brochure. “It...

It’s all over the net. All kinds of talk about Anglicans swimming, put on swim trunks, taking the plunge, testing the waters, dipping the toe, crossing over, etc. It will be a wonder if the Tiber can handle the traffic as well as it handles the copious references to the metaphor … if they all come.Those who do come are deserving of a hearty welcome from those of us standing along the shore. They certainly will have paid a hefty price in strained and even lost friendships as they have made a momentous and meaningful journey to the Catholic...

15-July-2008 -- Catholic News Agency   Religious Voters Favor McCain, Poll Claims Princeton, Jul 15, 2008 (CNA).- A new Gallup Poll claims to show that registered voters who say religion is important in their lives tend to support presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain by a margin of 50 to 40 percent, while those who say religion is unimportant to their lives tend to support presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama by a margin of 55 to 36 percent. About two-thirds of the registered voters surveyed by Gallup said that religion is important to them. According to...

An open letter to Mr. Stephen A. Baldwin, Actor, and “born again” Christian. Dear Mr. Baldwin, Praise God, you have become a strong voice in winning souls for Jesus as one who has experienced the saving grace of the Redeemer. May you always use your notoriety to spread the Good News. It has been my experience that when an individual submits themselves to Christ, they undergo a deep conversion of heart. A tremendous weight is lifted, and they receive a sense of inner peace and joy. There is also the need to share this wonderful experience with others in the...

Good reasons exist not to support Mitt Romney as John McCain's running mate, but religious grounds should not be one of them, asserted the Standard-Examiner's lead editorial on Aug. 5 ("The campaign's religious bigotry"). The "B" word was repeatedly used to describe evangelical Christian leaders dead-set against Romney due to his Mormon faith. Their opposition was called a "sour rationale" done in "a rather un-Christian manner," and it was also suggested that Mike Huckabee's supporters should "put aside their prejudices against the Mormon faith." It would be wonderful if voters made their decisions only on the issues, but it has...

< snip > Understanding Evangelicals One of the most frequently reported on groups of voters is evangelicals. Most media polls use a simplistic approach to defining evangelicals, asking survey respondents if they consider themselves to be evangelical. Barna Group surveys, on the other hand, ask a series of nine questions about a person’s religious beliefs in order to determine if they are an evangelical. The differences between the two approaches are staggering. Using the common approach of allowing people to self-identify as evangelicals, 40% of adults classify themselves as such. Among them, 83% are likely to vote in November. Among...

Evangelicals: Change of Heart toward Catholics Evangelicals have been going through a major change of heart in their view of Catholicism over the past 15 years or so. In the 80’s when I was in college I lived in the Biblebelt and had plenty of experience with Evangelicals–much of it bad experience. The 80’s was the height of the “Are you saved?� question. In Virginia, the question often popped up in the first 10 minutes of getting to know someone. As I look back, Isurmise that this was coached from the pulpit or Sunday school as it was so well...

I recently visited a local Bookstore and in the Religion section noted the following title “They like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations”. In a quick review of its contents, I saw nothing new. This claim emerges repeatedly in some Christian circles, the notion that you can separate Jesus from His Church. The very concept would have seemed nonsensical to the early Christians and it still should to those who choose to stand on their shoulders and carry forward the fullness of Christianity into a waiting world... The very notion that we can “shop” for a church...

Judged on the basis of the Reformed confessions and the classic reformed of theology of the 16th and 17th centuries, there can be no doubt that the Reformed theology, piety, and practice, is evangelical. The great difficulty in this discussion is that, in our time, the word the evangelical no longer denotes what it did in the 16th have the 17th centuries. Since the 18th century, and particularly since the middle of the 19th century, the word of evangelical has come to denote what I call ”the quest for illegitimate religious experience” (QIRC). By that I mean to say that...

At the start of every presidential race, the Democrats perform a masochistic ritual. They promise to take a stand in Dixieland, get in touch with their inner NASCAR, sweet-talk the Southerners with a heavy emphasis on faith and flag. The aim, every time, is to capture some of those states and thereby clinch the election. Care to guess how well the Democrats have fared lately? Eleven Southern states compose the Old Confederacy. The last Democratic nominee, John Kerry, won zip and lost 11. The previous nominee, Al Gore, won zip and lost 11. Indeed, all the Democratic nominees since 1980...

This is a Gospel video, with a balloon message and is created with scenic pictures of autumn and the song is, “ Higher “, sung by: Evangelist Ezekiel Cash.

A Watertown pastor suspected tonight of having sexual contact with a child. KSFY obtained these court documents which lays out the case against Dennis Hayes. In documents released by Watertown Police, we're told the suspected contact happened last Friday when Hayes took a juvenile boy he had been mentoring from the "Southwest Youth Services Center" in Magnolia, Minnesota to a library in Luverne, Minnesota. The boy claims during the drive to Luverne, Hayes held his hand and told him he loved him. While at the Luverne library, he claims Hayes rubbed his back outside his shirt. During the drive back...

Autumn Balloon is a message video of the soon return of Jesus Christ for his Church.

Autumn Balloon is a message video of the soon return of Jesus Christ for his Church. Song of this video is, “One Day”, sung by Evangelist Ezekiel Cash.

The Catholic Church’s teaching on papal infallibility is one which is generally misunderstood by those outside the Church. In particular, Fundamentalists and other "Bible Christians" often confuse the charism of papal "infallibility" with "impeccability." They imagine Catholics believe the pope cannot sin. Others, who avoid this elementary blunder, think the pope relies on some sort of amulet or magical incantation when an infallible definition is due. Given these common misapprehensions regarding the basic tenets of papal infallibility, it is necessary to explain exactly what infallibility is not. Infallibility is not the absence of sin. Nor is it a charism...

Is William Wilberforce your ancestor? What does it mean to be an evangelical? Decade after decade new declarations and explanations emerge, and some are mouthfuls of mush. But the latest, titled "An Evangelical Manifesto: The Washington Declaration of Evangelical Identity and Public Commitment," scheduled for unveiling on May 7 by a group including Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, and leading lights Rick Warren, Os Guinness, Dallas Willard, Timothy George, and Richard Mouw, is likely to do some good. Although "manifesto" is an arrogant-sounding word, this one's confessions are credible, its hopes holistic, and its goals generous....

Ah, spring. Fresh flowers, fresh leaves, fresh leases on life...and, in step with a tradition dating back to around 2004--the year when Christian "values voters" reportedly seized our fragile nation's helm--there's also a fresh crop of new books unabashedly bashing evangelicals. Leading the pack is "The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power," which is yet another entry in the behind-the-scenes, just-like-Skull-and-Bones Christian conspiracy genre. Luckily for yawning readers, there's also a newer, cuter, echoes-of-Jon-Stewart form of Christian-bashing on the 2008 market, which involves shelving the drama, loading up on the irony, going undercover and making merciless...

They were not the most confident lot, this group of early followers of the One who was crucified and then raised from the dead. Even though they had seen Him defeat the final enemy, death, they were afraid as they gathered in that upper room. Right before He ascended He had promised that He would not leave them orphans but would send another comforter once He returned to the Father. He told them they would receive power from on high and be able to continue His work on earth until He returned. In that Cenacle, along with His mother, they...

The Holy Father addressed representatives of other Christian communities during an ecumenical encounter at St. Joseph's Church, New York, 18 April 2008. Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, My heart abounds with gratitude to Almighty God - "the Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all" (Eph 4:6) - for this blessed opportunity to gather with you this evening in prayer. I thank Bishop Dennis Sullivan for his cordial welcome, and I warmly greet all those in attendance representing Christian communities throughout the United States. May the peace of our Lord and Savior be...

One of the fundamental principles of Christianity is that nothing is sacred. No thing. No part of creation is God. God is separate from the creation. Creation is only to be respected (made holy) as the handiwork of our God. It is never to be worshiped. This is why western civilization holds nothing sacred. Not king, not country, not flag, not clergy. This is the basis of our freedoms. The first ammendment rights are based on this idea. This is where the founding fathers got this stuff. Fundamentalist evangelicals violate this basic principle every time the put the printed Bible...

April 7 - Rosalind Moss Former Jew and Evangelical Christian A rolled-away stone gathers Moss: from Judaism to CatholicismHow does a Jewish person of faith convert to Catholicism? To judge by Rosalind Moss’s eighteen-year journey into the Church, the answer is . . . very slowly. Raised in Brooklyn, in a conservative Jewish home with one older brother and one younger sister, Moss never even considered that she would ever be anything other than Jewish. “It’s what I was. We were God’s people. That was my identity,” says Moss. “We waited for the Messiah to come,” adds Moss, “but...

On Sunday, Likud opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu described Christian Zionists as Israel’s best friends: This is a friendship of the heart, a friendship of common roots, and a friendship of common civilization. The comments came at an Evangelical event in Jerusalem organized by the San Antonio, Texas-based Christians United for Israel and led by evangelical Pastor John Hagee. There’s always a lot of grumbling about the Jewish-Evangelical alliance in support of Israel.

WASHINGTON, March 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pope Benedict XVI will lead an ecumenical prayer service April 18, at St. Joseph's Church in the Yorkville area of Manhattan. Participants at the service will include 250 national and local Protestant and Orthodox Church leaders. St. Joseph's Church was built in the 19th century by the immigrant German community that settled in the area and today serves a diverse population. A Sunday Mass is still celebrated in German. The pope will address the group after a reading from Paul's letter to the Ephesians (4:1-6) and before the congregation prays the Lord's Prayer. At the...

What is Sola Scriptura? "We believe in the Bible alone and the Bible in its entirety as the sole rule of faith for the Christian!" You may have heard these words or something very similar to them from a Fundamentalist or Evangelical Protestant. They are, in essence, the meaning of the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, or "Scripture alone," which alleges that the Bible – as interpreted by the individual believer – is the only source of religious authority and is the Christian’s sole rule of faith or criterion regarding what is to be believed. By this doctrine, which is one...

My first personal encounter with the Blessed Virgin Mary happened while I was a student at an Evangelical Anglican seminary in England. I had been brought up as an Evangelical and found my way into the Anglican church. There I was preparing for ordination. A Catholic friend who was a Benedictine oblate suggested that I might like to visit a Catholic Benedictine monastery. While there I told one of the monks that during a time of contemplative prayer I had sensed God’s presence in a very real, but feminine way. The femininity disturbed me because I knew God isn’t feminine....

When I read of Deal Hudson’s outreach and encounter, I rejoiced. It shows that the work of authentic ecumenism continues. Deal used a difficult situation to make progress with another Christian.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An evangelical group that wants to reshape the movement's political reputation for being focused on opposing abortion and same-sex marriage is hoping that a series of meetings stressing its roots in women's suffrage and abolition will help it break out of the mold. The stated goal of the first three-day "justice revival," one of several to be held around the country, is to tackle poverty in the city through a collaboration with Big Brothers Big Sisters. But the broader idea is to energize the relatively small liberal end of the evangelical spectrum by linking religious faith...

Seeing the Secular Light by: Malcolm A. Kline, March 18, 2008 College professors trying to make young Evangelicals see the secular light might be making some headway, at least, according to the more left-leaning of these people of faith. “The majority of young Evangelicals polled say that James Dobson and Pat Robertson do not speak for them,” Dr. Robert Jones said in a conference call on March 10.... “There are 5% more Democrats and 10% more independents.” Jones, the author of Progressive and Religious, spoke in a teleconference organized by the Center for American Progress.... “Young Evangelicals do not agree...

Sen. John McCain Washington DC, Mar 9, 2008 / 02:01 am (CNA).- Exit polls from the Republican primaries in Texas and Ohio illustrate that evangelicals voted overwhelmingly for Mike Huckabee, though McCain was already dubbed the “presumptive nominee”, reports Cybercast News Service.  Analysts predict that McCain will have to win the support of evangelicals to win the presidency in November.MSNBC’s exit polls showed that in Texas, 60% of those who attend church more than once a week voted for Huckabee while only 33% supported McCain.  Ohio demonstrated a similar trend with 54% of church attendees choosing Huckabee and 45%...

Fasting, and giving up chocolate and favorite pastimes like watching TV during the 40 days before Easter are practices many evangelical Protestants have long rejected as too Catholic and unbiblical.But Lent -- a time of inner cleansing and reflection upon Jesus Christ's sufferings before his resurrection -- is one of many ancient church practices being embraced by an increasing number of evangelicals, sometimes with a modern twist. The National Community Church, which has three locations in the District and one in Arlington County, updated the Lenten fast by adding a Web component: a 40-day blog, where participants from as far...

Saturday night in midtown Manhattan, and 25 college students are packed into the living room of a small apartment. The festivities are about to get underway, and in this demographic, in this town, that typically means mind-altering substances, which segue to deafening music, which ultimately leads to nudity. That's not happening here. There isn't a bong in sight, or a drop of liquor. Just 7Up and Edy's ice cream. And when the student in charge of this shindig says it's time for the evening to begin, he doesn't bust out a cooler of Smirnoff Ice. He asks everyone to bow...