Free Republic

Pope Francis' visit with a group of refugees at the Sacred Heart parish can best be described as simple, warm, and relaxed. POPE FRANCIS "Thank you. Because by welcoming everyone as family, you make anyone that comes in feel like family. Today I am here and I feel at home, like family. Thank you very much. But I am missing one thing: Mariana hasn't offered me any mate.” To get to Italy, many of the refugees had to endure many hardships, even the loss of friends and family. Pope Francis said that to lighten the weight of their suffering, they...

“I just want what is fair for everybody…” If I’ve heard that line once, I’ve heard it hundreds of times on those occasions when I end up discussing business, economic, and public policy issues with members of the clergy. With the uptick in minimum wage worker strikes over the past few months (we saw another “round” of them at Wal-Mart stores this past week), I’ve had these conversations quite frequently. What is striking to me is that the starting point for many of these Pastors, Priests and Rabbi’s is to say that they are standing up for “workers’ rights.” But...

Two stars of 'Duck Dynasty' star in a new film that explores a student's struggle to prove the existence of God.Willie and Korie Robertson, who are well known for their family reality TV show and their staunch Christian faith, along with The actors  Kevin Sorbo, Shane Harper and Dean Cain, appear in God's Not Dead, to be released on March 21st. In the movie, college freshman and devout Christian Josh Wheaton (Harper) finds his faith challenged by his dogmatic philosophy professor (Sorbo), who requires his students to disavow the existence of God on the first day of class, signing a declaration...

Inspiring a new generation: Sadie Robertson (above)- One of the teen stars of 'Duck Dynasty' says that their show is leading students across the country to pray before meals at school.Sixteen-year-old Sadie Robertson, daughter of Willie and Korie Robertson, told an audience at a fundraiser for Prattville Christian Academy in Montgomery, Alabama, that the focus on their religious beliefs on the show is a light that others are emulating. Sadie noted that she and her family have become aware that there are “Duck Dynasty clubs” springing up at many schools across the nation and one goal of these clubs is to...

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices; and with my song will I praise Him. Psalm 28:7

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A teenager on TV's "Duck Dynasty" says the reality show is leading students to pray before lunch at schools across the country. Sixteen-year-old Sadie Robertson told an audience in Montgomery on Sunday that young people are forming "Duck Dynasty clubs" to pray before lunch at school. She said it's an awesome thing for a TV show to be able to bring prayer into schools.

The video at the bottom of this page is a rather angry discourse by a non-believer. Watch it with care and caution as he uses some profanity and a degree of uncharitable discourse, and unfair stereotyping  that is hard to take if you haven’t prayed prior to viewing it. He does disclaim at the beginning that “Not everyone who has religious faith is a complete idiot” but then goes on to so fundamentally attack the very notion of faith that he ends up saying we’re “complete idiots.”I call the video to your attention however because it is valuable at times...

The Lord redeemeth the soul of His servants; and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate.(Psalm 34:22)

One of the lesser known and lesser read works of CS Lewis is his correspondence with Rev. Fr. Don Giovanni Calabria. Few indeed have read them since they were written in Latin. And though an English translation was published in 1998, I know few who have ever heard of these letters. The full collection of these letter is here: The Latin Letters of CS LewisIn these letters, there are some very important insights that CS Lewis offers for the loss of faith in Europe that was already well underway in the 1950s when the letters were exchanged. Indeed I would...

The Lord Jesus gives a penetrating analysis of the state of the sinner and some very sobering advice to we would-be saints in today’s Gospel. Let’s look at the Gospel in two stages: The Analysis of the Sinner and the Advice to the Saints.I. ANALYSIS OF THE SINNER - The Lord Jesus describes a sinful steward in the opening lines of this gospel. Let’s look at the description:A. DELUSION (of the sinner)- Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward – Notice he is called a steward not an owner. God is the owner of everything, we...

There is an interesting, albeit at times concerning, article over at Marketwatch.com that reports the simple fact that being a member of a believing community “costs” you something. And while the article is directed to a Jewish context, its implications reach all of us who believe and belong to the Church.Underlying the article and those it interviews is a not so subtle premise that it is somehow wrong for faith to “cost” much. Never mind that just about anything in life costs something, involves tradeoffs and that the things we value are often where we chose to spend more. Somehow...

On the Fourth of July, in the United States of America we celebrate freedom. In particular we celebrate freedom from tyranny, and a government that is not representative; freedom from unchecked power and unaccountable sovereigns.Distorted and faithless notions - Yet, as Christians we cannot overlook that there are ways of understanding freedom today that are distorted, exaggerated and detached from a proper context. Many modern concepts of freedom treat freedom as something that faith limits, not enhances.Alexis De Tocqueville said Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith. In America today we are seeing the erosion of all...

Let us now praise average men. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty confronts that age-old question—does a movie get its drama through its plot or its characters? Its answer is to shrug indifferently, try to do both, and do neither. It's the complete opposite of Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken": two potential movies diverged from a famous short story. Ben Stiller took the one most travelled by. Then he changed his mind and tried to go back and take the other one, but by then it was too late... Walter's situation changes, but does his character develop? The original...

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end. Luke 1: 32-33

When word came that Phil Robertson had been "indefinitely" suspended by A&E, he was praying for a fellow church member afflicted with cancer, according to his church leader. Robertson's pastor Mike Kellett said, "There were greater things on our mind than the firestorm about this [GQ magazine] article."Speaking to CNN, Kellett said Robertson isn't worried about being suspended over what he said because he believes he told the truth: "He's very calm, and very confident that if he serves the Lord, God will take care of everything."

...The five justices’ 84-point judgment was strewn with references to 19th-century parliamentary debates and semantic disputes, but their verdict on Wednesday afternoon was clear. The couple would now be free to marry in a Scientology chapel in London, surrounded by their families and the church’s volunteers...[SNIP] There are significant practical benefits, according to Linda Woodhead, a professor of religion at Lancaster University. “There are a lot of political and economic advantages in being categorised as a religion,” she says. “Equality legislation gives protection on the grounds of religion. And if you want to set up a free school, your application...

Touching story told by Bob Welsh.... Merry Christmas

I once heard a radio preacher make the statement, “You can be religious to your fingertips and still go to hell.” This is absolutely true. Religion and salvation are two vastly different things. Religion is man trying to reach God by his own efforts, through rituals and ceremonies and keeping of the laws and rules of the religion he is practicing. It may include doing good works, it may include trying to turn others to your religion and it may include other such things that may be well and good as far as this life is concerned, but it won’t...

Psalm 100 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.

Many believers today try to manufacture and produce the heavenly joy and experiential wisdom by earthy carnal means, but the end results of these is the eventually collapse and shipwreck of the child of Almighty God on the rocks of unbelief (Matt 7:26-27, 1 Tim 1:19, Heb. 4:2, James 1:22). Only when the mind of the child of God is absolutely fixed (Is 26:3) and locked onto Almighty God’s NEVER changing Word - by faith with application (Heb. 11:1,6) - will the child of God enter into a realm of spiritual treasure and knowledge that transcends the confinements of time...