Free Republic

The Rev. Oral Roberts, the internationally known television evangelist and faith healer who founded Oral Roberts University, died Monday in Newport Beach, Calif. He was ­91. According to a release, his son, Richard, and daughter, Roberta, were at his side. Funeral services are pending. The often-controversial charismatic minister built Oral Roberts University, the now-closed City of Faith Medical and Research Center and the University Village Retirement Center in Tulsa.

Producer Barrie Osborne cast Keanu Reeves as the messiah in The Matrix and helped defeat the dark lord Sauron in his record-breaking Lord of the Rings trilogy. Now the Oscar-winning American film-maker is set to embark on his most perilous quest to date: making a big-screen biopic of the prophet Muhammad. Budgeted at around $150m (£91.5m), the film will chart Muhammad's life and examine his teachings. Osborne told Reuters that he envisages it as "an international epic production aimed at bridging cultures. The film will educate people about the true meaning of Islam". Osborne's production will reportedly feature English-speaking Muslim...

There is a storm brewing and this storm shall not stop or deviate from its path and the name of this storm is " Righteousness " " for my name's sake " ! My name is on my priests as a placard upon their foreheads and I shall not be defamed ! Therefore now I shall work my outstretched arm over the nations to perform this " My Will ", for The Father has said "This is my Son in whom I am well pleased !" . So watch now as I " well up " in my children yeah...

The answer to this question is unequivocally no! 1.When do Muslims reciprocate? 2.Under Islam, Jesus is supposed to come back and destroy the cross. How can any Christian show respect to a religion that says that? Unfortunately some so called Christian leaders do not have the guts to face reality. Two of them are Pastor's Brian Mclaren, and Rick Warren. Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center gets it. Should Christians Fast During Ramadan With Muslims? Church leaders and observers weigh in on a current debate. Compiled by Ruth Moon 10/26/2009

VATICAN CITY: White smoke billowed from the the chimney of the election hall this morning signaling the time honored tradition of notifying the world a new Pope has been elected. By a unanimous first round vote a hastily called session of the Vatican Council, Barak Obama has been elected Pope of the Catholic Church. "He's our best hope for world peace and bringing unity and hope to oppressed people in the world", said an unnamed Vatican spokesperson. Replaced Pope Benedict XVI was said to be in seclusion and unavailable for comment. World reaction is said to be both elation and...

In these portentous times, there are days when I feel as if I've strayed into the gloomy bits in a colorized version of Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life." In that Christmastime TV favorite, "an angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed." I definitely had that feeling this week as I read an article about a Vatican meeting of Roman Catholic bishops with the headline "Africa Bishops Speak of Obama in Religious Terms." According to that report: The archbishop of Kinshasa, Congo, Monsignor Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, told...

Health care is in the news — but you have to wonder where all the Christians are. This is one of the biggest issues facing our country and our people, yet no one seems to be bringing a Christian voice or tone to that debate. Have you noticed? During the presidential campaign, there was much talk about the 50 million or so who have no health care insurance, many of whom who forgo care altogether and then wind up in emergency rooms with more serious, more fully developed illnesses than would have been the case had they sought preventive care....

"Hear our cry, Obama." "Deliver us, Obama." Video at link.

More questions and this time some good questions...

(CNN) -- Joel Osteen is the senior pastor for the Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. It's America's largest congregation. His wife, Victoria Osteen, is the co-pastor there. The Osteens, known for their optimistic outlook on life, visited "Larry King Live" Tuesday night for a wide-ranging interview that covered President Obama, same-sex marriage, the recent outbreak of mass shootings, the state of religion in America and more. The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity: Larry King: Since you were last on, we have sworn in our first African-American president. What are your impressions [of Barack Obama]? Joel Osteen:...

Gordon Brown has made an overtly religious call for a new world order based on the 'deep moral sense' shared by all faiths. Making the first speech by a serving Prime Minister at St Paul's Cathedral in London, he quoted scripture as he urged people to unite to forge a new 'global society'. The Prime Minister argued that through all faiths, traditions and heritages runs a 'single powerful modern sense demanding responsibility from all and fairness to all'. He quoted the Christian doctrine of 'do to others what you would have them do unto you' and highlighted similar principles in...

As the current Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza continues, the worldwide propaganda assault against Israel grows exponentially. In the light of this, it's important to review a little history about Gaza. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza and completely turned its administration over to the Palestinian Authority. All of the Jewish settlements were disbanded and their residents forcibly removed. The Israeli agricultural, commercial and residential assets – which were considerable – were left for the Palestinians. They promptly trashed and destroyed these valuable assets that would have greatly helped them feed their own people. They were given the...

When one observes the difference between what President Obama says and what he does you begin to wonder if we elected Sybil. His word and deeds are so widely diverse that if he is not suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder then he is simply being a typical disingenuous politician.

OTTAWA—Twice in less than a decade we have all been Americans. Once was on 9/11, the other is today. There's more to our conversion than Canadian rapture over a new U.S. president. Barack Obama's visit is a second transformational moment steeped in crisis. By endorsing shared solutions to common threats, he is recreating the opportunity George W. Bush missed. Eight years ago in September, Al Qaeda made a sympathetic victim of the superpower much of the world demonizes. In downing the twin symbols of global financial dominance, Osama bin Laden handed Bush moral authority and plausible justification for the muscular...

Filmmaker Ron Howard was chatting in Maureen Dowd's living room, saying he didn't mind spending hours in the cold for the inauguration and that even his conservative brother had come to admire Barack Obama. Outside on the chilly Sunday night, Tom Hanks decided against venturing into the jam-packed row house, mock-announcing to a small crowd on the Georgetown street that the party was paralyzed: "No more hot dogs! The Chinese food never got here!" The country's big-name anchors, actors, commentators, news executives, producers, editors and scribes have been celebrating the quadrennial event -- and themselves -- at one glitzy gathering...

Someone tell me again about how the Religion of Peace is tolerant of other religions. Christians who went to observe their Christmas at Nazareth, the birthplace of Jesus, were greeting with a giant banner announcing that Allah has no son right in front of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Just wait to see what will happen if the gain control of all of the west bank holy sites. Read the full story below:

Right-wing politicians have protested at the inclusion of Islamic symbols in nativity scenes in northern Italy. Elaborate cribs with figurines enacting the nativity decorate most Catholic churches in Italy at this time of year. A priest at a Genoa church put a mosque and minaret in his crib, while a crib at a Venice school also had a mosque. The Genoa branch of the anti-immigrant Northern League reacted with fury. But a senior church figure said there are no firm rules on what can be included. 'Gesture of inclusivity'

The current Newsweek has an article by Lisa Miller pretending to take seriously the idea that the Bible looks favorably upon homosexual love and is properly used in support rather than rejection of same-sex marriage.  Here's the final paragraph. My friend the priest James Martin says his favorite Scripture relating to the question of homosexuality is Psalm 139, a song that praises the beauty and imperfection in all of us and that glorifies God’s knowledge of our most secret selves: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.� And then he adds that in his heart he believes that...

NAPLES, Italy, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- A vendor spokesman in Naples, Italy, says police shut down a shopping area offering nativity figurines, including one of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama. The unidentified spokesman said police shut down the Via San Gregorio Armeno shopping area of the city in an attempt to stop certain open-air vendors who are suspected of operating without authorization, the Italian news agency, ANSA, reported Wednesday. Among the nativity statue offerings set to be offered by the Christmas vendors were ones featuring the U.S president-elect. Also included in the holiday theme are Inter Milan soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic...

A filmmaker who recently released an independent project about a formula that turns all heterosexuals into "gays" now has announced he's working on "The Princess Diana Bible" in which "God" ordains homosexuality as the better lifestyle. "There are many different versions of the Bible; I don't see why we can't have one," stated Max Mitchell in a statement on a website for his new project. The "gay Bible," produced by the New Mexico-based Revision Studios, states God instructs "it is better to be gay than straight." Mitchell said he developed the idea for the "Bible" from his new movie project,...

Adulation of the Democratic nominee is building to a crescendo. Offering a prayer before a rally in Columbus, Ohio today, Cornal Garnett Henning, an AME bishop for parts of Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, compared him to Moses and Martin Luther King in the same breath He thanked God for having "given us a Moses and a Martin called Barack Obama" and asked the Almighty to "grant that we together this nation under God may have the will to bring about the change we need" and ensure that "those who cast their sacred vote will not be deprived this right"....

JOHN SHELBY SPONG, whose books have sold more than a million copies, was Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark for 24 years. His admirers acclaim him as a teaching bishop who makes contemporary theology accessible to the ordinary layperson. A longtime champion of progressive Christianit y, Spong is a visionary voice in the religious communit y, calling people to step beyond boundaries of tribe, prejudice, gender and even religion to create a new humanit y. He is a committed Christian who has spent a lifetime studying the Bible and whose life has been deeply shaped by it. Now he...

FRANKFORT — Public misconception is widespread in Kentucky about Barack Obama's faith, a Herald-Leader/WKYT Kentucky Poll shows.Despite heavy national media attention about Obama's faith, more than half of likely Republican voters — 54 percent — and one of every four Democrats in the state do not know that the Democratic presidential nominee is a Christian, the poll found.The poll showed that 14 percent of likely Kentucky voters — 28 percent of Republicans, 4 percent of Democrats and 11 percent of independents — think Obama adheres to the Muslim faith."With all the media attention to the fact that Obama is...

With Barack Obama about to head into the general election, he’ll need to re-introduce himself to the American people. Many folks just don’t know that much about him. One thing we do know is that Obama is a Christian, not a Muslim. He talks about his Christian faith quite a bit but because of some of his liberal positions (read: abortion, civil unions) he’s going to need to really work hard to convince religious moderates and religious conservatives that they have common ground. In 2004, he gave an interview to Cathleen Falsani who was the religion reporter at the Chicago...

New York Senator Hillary Clinton acknowledges a 3-minute ovation during the Democratic National Convention 2008 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, August 26. Democratic women Senators appears on stage at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, August 26, 2008. U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) is expected to accept the Democratic presidential nomination at the convention on August 28. US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama watches New York Senator Hillary Clinton addressing the Democratic National Convention on a TV screen in Billings, Montana on August 26. Vice Presidential candidate Senator Joe Biden (R) (D-DE) stand at the podium...

Eye of the storm Wednesday, 13 August 2008 By his very existence, the Reverend Gene Robinson – the openly gay Anglican bishop of New Hampshire – is an agent for change in his church, and society at large. He spoke with Peter Hackney. He is friendly, mild-mannered and avuncular. He doesn’t seem like someone who’d tear an entire church apart. Yet Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the history of the Anglican Church, has been accused of doing just that. So controversial is he that at the recent Lambeth Conference, the decennial conference of Anglican bishops from across...

OK we've discussed this before. But I just got a link to this video. Now we all now Farrakhan is a kooky Nation of Islam leader. Here he calls Obama "the messiah" and says the youth following him is a "sign". FWIW

The Obama Madness Is Over By Rev. Lainie Dowell Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is not going to be the President of the United States. He is never going to be qualified. He has not only said in his own mind that he will be the President but much worse. He believes that he is already the President. However, many citizens of the United States recognize him for the destroyer he really is. Instead of being a healer, he brings with him all the hurt, pain, and harm not only for Americans but for the world. Americans are crying out to...

Further to the recent revelations from one of C Peter Wagner’s apostles Robert Ricciardelli about Todd Bentley and the Lakeland deception, here is some more information from Ricciardelli’s latest posts on the Charisma Magazine forum here. (Please note that I in no way endorse Ricciardelli, his beliefs, or the movement he is attached to. However I attach this for information purposes as he has interesting insider information, that confirms what we already know - that Todd lies and falsely speaks for God and manipulates for money.) “If you are going to lie or stretch truth like Todd does on a...

"...This is pretty extraordinary. A candidate for the American Presidency is using flyers printed in German to turn people out for his campaign rally in Berlin on Thursday. This flyer can be found on a bilingual page on BarackObama.com advertising the event: The German flyers bear Obama’s campaign logo and say “Paid for by Obama for America"..."

Verified” Lakeland Resurrection from the Dead was a Lie Thanks to poster ’Arise My Love’ for pointing this video out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toGYy-H3pCw&feature=related From 6.20 minutes onwards on the video explains how the Fresh Fires Ministries passed through their ‘audit’ process an email, and Todd Bentley read out this same email of an alleged raising from the dead, without even attempting to check out any of the facts, let alone verifying them. Update 17th July: despite explictly being told the story was false, they haven’t retracted this story from their website or verbally.

Oprah Winfrey may have gone too far in exploiting and distributing the teachings of a questionable New Age writer. On Monday night, Winfrey conducted her weekly Web "event" seminar with New Age writer Eckhart Tolle. His message: "Life is the dancer and you are the dance." Got that?

CNN 13:53-58 (New International Version) A Prophet Without Honor 53When Barack Hussein had finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54Coming to his hometown of Chicago, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" they asked. 55"Isn't this the goat herder's son? Isn't his mother's name Ann, and aren't his brothers Teddy, Hugo, Saddam and Fidel? 56Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" 57And they took offense at him. But Barack Hussein said to them, "Only...

As director of the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative at Brigham Young University, Daniel Peterson has overseen the translation of many documents from Arabic to English, providing Western scholars with a rich new library of research materials that were previously inaccessible. Now he's written a book designed to help Western laymen understand the founder of Islam, free from the cynical characterizations that have grown up around Muhammad among some in Christianity and Judaism. That is according to Muslim scholars who have praised the book as "the best scholarly text on the prophet Muhammad written by a Christian." "Muhammad: Prophet of God,"...

Perhaps it was appropriate this was announced on 9/11 through a campus-wide e-mail, but we were informed that the University of Dayton (OH), a Catholic University established by the Society of Mary, has now set up a "prayer room" for Muslim students and staff, including Korans and "prayer rugs." I do not know if the university felt this was mandated by government regulations (unfortunately, we take government money) or simply an bent knee toward "diversity," but I imagine the Fathers are rolling over in the cemetary.

A packed house welcomed Minister Louis Farrakhan to St. Sabina Catholic Church on Friday night with a standing ovation and cheers for his health. The 74-year-old provocative Nation of Islam leader, who has endured a series of health setbacks, didn't speak from the Quran but from the Bible. "Even though I am a Muslim -- I don't apologize for that -- I'm also a Christian," he told the crowd at 1210 W. 78th Pl. "Islam considers the Bible a sacred book." "A good Muslim is a Christian, and a good Christian is a Muslim," he added later, stressing the common...

Rick Warren: “Any church that fails to fulfill the five purposes...is not really a church!” by Chris RosebroughYes you read that headline correctly. That is a quote from Rick Warren in Mark Kelly’s latest spin piece for Saddleback entitled “Seven myths about ‘Purpose Driven’” The piece itself has two wildly surreal statements in it, that if you consider what is really being said, ought to make you question the entire ‘Purpose Driven’ church concept. The first is a quote from Rick Warren himself: Rick Warren says: “The five purposes of the church commanded by Jesus in the Great Commandment and...

TROY, MICHIGAN The Bible teaches that in the end times there will be 'wars and rumors of wars.' While popular Bible prophecy teacher Jack Van Impe has no control over the first part of that statement, he definitely believes he can contribute to the last part, and thus plans now to devote his ministry to the spread of 'rumors of wars.' "I feel it is my calling and my duty to hasten the end times." Said Van Impe. "I can't start a war. I'm not the leader of a nation. But I can start 'rumors of wars,' and that's what...

only a comment with no additional information. Developing story on drudge (4th story under gore's picture in the center of the page)

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The minister has the number 666 tattooed on his arm. But Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is not your typical minister. De Jesus, or "Daddy" as his thousands of followers call him, does not merely pray to God: He says he is God. "The spirit that is in me is the same spirit that was in Jesus of Nazareth," de Jesus says. De Jesus' claims of divinity have angered Christian leaders, who say he is a fake. Religious experts say he may be something much more dangerous, a cult leader who really believes he is God....

Vern G. Swanson, longtime director of the Springville Museum of Art, knows some readers will think he's crazy. Others will be intrigued, and still others may be offended. That's because Swanson has written a provocative new book theorizing that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene, that they bore children and that LDS Church founder Joseph Smith was their direct descendant. Swanson also suggests that this heavenly birthright gave Smith spiritual authority as a prophet and affirms the historical legitimacy of the LDS Church. Titled Dynasty of the Holy Grail: Mormonism's Sacred Bloodline, the book was published in November by...

An “evangelical consultant” has been hired by Hillary Clinton to help attract Christian conservatives in her likely 2008 presidential campaign. More than one-quarter of the USA's voters identify themselves as evangelical, a voter bloc that has long been courted by Republicans. In addition, a similar political operative has successfully aided Democratic candidates in several states in the midterm elections. Clinton’s new hire is Burns Strider, an evangelical Christian who directs religious outreach for House Democrats and is the lead staffer for the Democrats’ Faith Working Group, headed by incoming Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina. Incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi...

Mahmoud AhmadinejadÂ’s Letter the American People November 29th, 2006 In the name of God, the Compassionate, the MercifulO, Almighty God, bestow upon humanity the perfect human being promised to all by You, and make us among his followers.Noble Americans,Were we not faced with the activities of the US administration in this part of the world and the negative ramifications of those activities on the daily lives of our peoples, coupled with the many wars and calamities caused by the US administration as well as the tragic consequences of US interference in other countries;Were the American people not God-fearing, truth-loving, and...

Official state news report quotes 'Purpose-Driven' author criticizing U.S. Syria's Grand Mufti Sheik Badr al-Din Hassoun and Rick Warren California mega-church pastor Rick Warren, author of the best-selling "Purpose-Driven Life," reportedly told a Syrian-controlled news agency the U.S. should have been holding dialogues with Damascus; Syrian Muslims and Christians co-exist peacefully; and the Syrian leadership is responsible for the nation's tolerance and stability. That's according to the news agency SANA, which has issued a number of reports this week as Warren visits Syria and meets various leaders and officials, much to the dismay of many in the U.S. "We at...

A Fatwa on the Truth http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10481 It is one of those uniquely modern Western paradoxes, to wit, that the most courageous Europeans are those forced into hiding. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Salman Rushdie, the Danish editorial cartoonists -- all are paying the price for freely expressing their opinions and beliefs -- or lack thereof. Add to that exalted list one Robert Redeker. M. Redeker, a high school philosophy professor in suburban Toulouse, is in the bouillabaisse for a commentary he wrote last month for Le Figaro in which he accused Islam of "exalting violence," and christened the Muslim prophet Muhammad a...

CAIRO, Egypt — The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah exposed divisions across the Arab world, not only between Shiites and Sunnis but also between Arab governments and their citizens. Key Arab allies of the United States, predominantly Sunni countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, fear the rising power of Shiites in the region: Hezbollah militants who virtually control southern Lebanon, Iraq's majority Shiite government, and — most worrisome — the Shiite theocracy that has run Iran for decades. Yet many ordinary people, Sunnis as well as Shiites, are cheering the Lebanese guerrillas because of their willingness to stand...

The Italian author Oriana Fallaci, who once wrote that Muslims "breed like rats", may be facing up to three years in prison after she vowed to blow up a mosque.Ms Fallaci, 75, who has cancer, is due to appear in court next week charged with the lesser offence of vilifying Islam, punishable with a £3,450 fine. But after her latest outburst in the New Yorker last week Muslim leaders are demanding that she be tried for inciting religious hatred, which carries a three-year jail term. The former journalist, who has said she will not attend Monday's hearing in Bergamo, told...

The wife of the man who died soon after he was said to have been healed by American televangelist Benny Hinn seven years ago had this bit of advice for sick people who plan to attend Hinn's crusade this month: Visit a doctor instead. "Don't believe in any man. Believe that Jesus can help you," Molly Chance said on Monday. Chance's ailing husband, Marcano Siewkumar, went to Hinn's crusade at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain in 1999. Struggling to walk, he was chosen as one of the people to be healed that night, and was lifted onto the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is "The Most Influential Man in the World," according to Esquire magazine. The magazine has designated him as "the most powerful agent of change in the world" despite his lack of electoral standing and the fact he was laid low by a heart attack ahead of last year's presidential election. The magazine highlights Clinton's accomplishments in its December issue, which goes on newsstands on Thursday, profiling the world's "Best and Brightest" men and women. Since leaving office, Clinton has been so active that his post-presidency amounts to "a third term" for...