Free Republic

EVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Maria Rosario Pilar Lorenza Emilia Eugenia Martinez Molina Baeza De La Osa Rasten — you know her as Charo — was walking through her home looking for her husband, singing, “Good morning, good morning,” when she found him. He had shot himself. Kjell Rasten was 78 when he died in February. Charo has said that he had been suffering from a rare disease called bullous pemphigoid, which is characterized by terrible blistering of the skin, and that he had become depressed. “My husband put a bullet in his head,” Charo said. “I have an invisible bullet...

The first formal "Father's Day" was celebrated JUNE 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington. Sonora Louise Smart Dodd heard a church sermon on the newly established Mother's Day and wanted to honor her father, Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, who had raised six children by himself after his wife died in childbirth. Sonora Louise Smart Dodd drew up a petition supported by the Young Men's Christian Association and the ministers of Spokane to celebrate Fathers' Day. In 1916, Woodrow Wilson spoke at a Spokane Fathers' Day service. On December 6, 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt addressed Congress: "No Christian and civilized...

String theorists, astrophysicists, and metaphysicists are just like 1st century Athenians. They now acknowledge an "unknown" God (what they call the 10th, 11th, or 26th dimension), they just won't submit to Him or acknowledge that He has anything to say to them. It seems that all of these theories require the "top" dimension (the 10th, 11th, or 26th, depending on the theory) to have the following properties: No beginning or endUnlimited energyUnlimited informationAll encompassing In biblical Christianity we'd call those: EternalOmnipotentOmniscientOmnipresent Science has come full circle, begrudgingly acknowledging what believers and theologians have already known for thousands of years. Check...

I can feel the troops getting edgy.  The battle looks grim.  For the time being we have cover in the trenches, but the enemy's horde is closing in and we're low on ammo, bloodied, and wounded.  And, it would seem, outmatched and outgunned.  But that's only as it seems. The Apostle Paul had to deal with a similarly weary regiment nearly two millennia ago.  Many voices in their midst were sowing confusion, causing disillusionment with God's prophetic promises.  That has always been the enemy's most frequent tactic: striking with subtlety from within, where attacks are least expected.  This is...

President William McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist in 1901. The next President, Theodore Roosevelt wanted the government to track anarchist groups, as well as stop sex-trafficking. This led to the creation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1908, though some Congressmen feared it might evolve into a deep-state secret police. In 1914, an anarchist shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand, beginning World War I. Beginning in 1924, the director of the FBI was J. Edgar Hoover, till his death on May 2, 1972. For 48 years, under eight Presidents, J. Edgar Hoover oversaw the Federal Bureau of Investigation, becoming famous...

President Trump Calls Prayer the ‘Most Powerful Thing There Is,’ Urges Americans to Pray for End to Religious Persecution WASHINGTON – About 100 people – religious leaders, Trump administration officials, and their guests – celebrated the “power of prayer” at the White House Wednesday night ahead of the day set aside annually for Americans of all faiths to pray for thanks and guidance. Head of Presidential Prayer Team: Why All Americans Should Participate in National Day of Prayer “America will be a nation that believes forever, and we certainly believe – more than anyone – the power of prayer,” President...

[Catholic Caucus] To Renew the Church We Must Be Guided By Her Faith, Morals – Cardinal Müller ROME - Countering critics of Benedict XVI's recent essay on the scandal of sex abuse in the Church, Cardinal Gerhard Müller on Friday emphasized that Church renewal must be centered on Christ and his teaching. “Rebuilding and renewing the whole Church can only succeed in Christ—if we get our bearings by the Church’s teaching on faith and morals,” the prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wrote in an essay published April 26 at First Things. Benedict's essay looked at...

Remember Del Hall...the guy who gave up food for Lent and chose to adopt a beer-only diet? Ringing a bell now? Well, we're back with an update because his boozey mission is done and he didn't crumble once - and he's 44 pounds lighter for it. Del, who works at Fifty West Brewing Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, has drank exclusively from an assortment of beers for 46 days - a plan which was inspired by the fasting rituals of 18th century Bavarian monks...

When I first walked into the cavernous nave of the Notre Dame Cathedral during Easter Week 1975, I was a senior on a swing through Paris with my high school French club. We were goofy teenagers, geeked out on the thrill of climbing the Eiffel Tower, seeing the Mona Lisa with our own eyes and trying to sneak wine into the rooms of our hostel when the chaperones weren’t looking. But on the cloudy afternoon of our trip to Notre Dame, we stepped off the bus and into a time tunnel whisking us back nearly a century. With the cornerstone...

When Charles Darwin finished The Origin of Species, he thought that he had explained every clue, but one. Though his theory could explain many facts, Darwin knew that there was a significant event in the history of life that his theory did not explain. During this event, the “Cambrian explosion,” many animals suddenly appeared in the fossil record without apparent ancestors in earlier layers of rock. In Darwin’s Doubt, Stephen C. Meyer tells the story of the mystery surrounding this explosion of animal life—a mystery that has intensified, not only because the expected ancestors of these animals have not been...

Catholic High School video project

Not living one’s faith can become a threat to religious liberty, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said while speaking on a panel Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “One of the greatest challenges we have to religious liberty in this modern day is people that actually claim a faith and don’t live a faith,” Lankford said. “Having a culture that is a vibrant culture of faith for people that not only have a faith, but they choose to live it, matters in our culture.” “There are a whole group of people that say you can have a faith—just leave it...

On Hallmark Channel 10pm E/9 C 02/25/19 Could not find it streaming anywhere

A letter on God and the Constitution written by George Washington is up for sale after spending decades in a private collection. The letter to Richard Peters, speaker of the Pennsylvania Constitution, is signed Sept. 7, 1788, and praises God for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Written a week after Washington told Alexander Hamilton that he would likely accept calls to assume the presidency, the letter came at a time when the Constitution was under attack. Some states wanted to hold a second Convention that may have undermined the Constitution. “It would seem from the public Gazettes that the...

“Meg is extremely faithful,” a longtime friend tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “We pray a lot together...She has had, and especially has now, a very close relationship with God.” Meghan, 37, was baptized into the Church of England in a secret ceremony last spring ahead of her wedding to Prince Harry. And the intimate service, which was a significant nod to Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth’s role as head of the Church of England, had special meaning for Meghan, as faith is a key pillar for her. “A deep sense of gratitude and humility has guided her,” the friend...

There are so many religions, let alone Christian denominations, how can anyone know what to believe?  And even if Jesus is the truth, which denomination can honestly claim to be the "closest" to the truth?  Who are the real Christians? Everything is Counterfeit Christianity For starters, it is important to understand that Judeo-Christianity predates all modern religions, beginning in the 20th century BC when Abram heeded God's call to migrate to Canaan.  His monotheistic faith not only set the stage for the Bible to be written, but also for the coming of the Messiah (the Redeemer of mankind).  Judaism proper—adherence to the...

These are some of the most common lies that many Christians have fallen victim to.  I hear many of these quite frequently and in years past have even fallen for some of them myself.  The enemy has used each of these lies to sow great discord, apathy, and fear in the Body of Christ.   It's time to dispel them all. 1. "I must do _____ to be saved or keep doing _____ to stay saved." This is what virtually every religion teaches, but not true Christianity.   Unsurprisingly, every "Christian" cult teaches this as well.  The very definition of...

Fasting sounds so simple, and yet the world, our flesh, and the devil conspire to introduce all sorts of complications that keep it from happening. In view of helping you start down the slow path to good fasting, here are six simple pieces of advice... 1. Start small. Don’t go from no fasting to attempting a weeklong. Start with one meal; maybe fast one meal a week for several weeks. Then try two meals, and work your way up to a daylong fast. Perhaps eventually try a two-day juice fast. A juice fast means abstaining from all food and beverage,...

Those who fan the flames of divisiveness and disunity within this nation, do not rest on the foundation of Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy In the wake of the day designated to honor the contributions of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., intelligent Americans can wonder about the legacy of this incredible man of God. And, the embattled political spheres demonstrated they are not prepared to see the same vision as Dr. King. Even if only the “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial is used as a measuring stick, one can understand the words and intent that...

Last month, The Conversation published biologist Jerry Coyne’s article, lovingly served up for audiences at Christmastime, “Yes, There is a War Between Science and Religion.” Coyne fancies himself a participant in a perceived war between faith and reason, science and religion. His mission: To show people they can’t believe the account of Christ’s birth—as depicted, for example, in the Book of Luke, Chapter 2—while simultaneously believing there’s crackers in the pantry. You use your eyeballs for the latter, but not the former, and it’s simply irrational to go through life with a bifurcated mind!It is of course odd to enlist...