Free Republic

Courtney writes on Facebook: Meet Roger Barrett. This gentleman is a patient of mine who just started coming to our office this week…little did I know this man would change my life. Mr. Barrett was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2009 and was told that he could receive treatment but if the cancer spread outside the bladder there wasn’t much the doctors could do. Well, as months went on and the doctor visits and follow ups continued, Mr. Barrett’s cancer began to get worse. ~snip~ A few months later it was the month of December and every year Mr. Barrett...

“How do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” (1 Corinthians 15:12). Without the truth of bodily resurrection, the Christian faith would not make sense. Even though Paul and the other apostles made the resurrection of Christ and His followers from the dead a central part of the gospel message, some new Gentile converts (the Corinthians especially) had difficulty accepting the idea of bodily resurrection. That struggle resulted mainly from the effects of Greek dualism, which viewed the spiritual as inherently good and the physical as inherently bad. Under that belief, a physical resurrection was...

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Matt. 5:9). Christ’s atonement made it possible for man to be at peace with God. After World War II the United Nations was created to promote world peace. But since its inception in 1945 there has not been a single day of global peace. That's a sad commentary on man's inability to make peace. In fact, someone once quipped that Washington D.C. has so many peace monuments because they build one after every war! It hasn't always been that way. Prior to the Fall of man peace reigned...

April 24, 2016 Fifth Sunday of Easter Reading 1 Acts 14:21-27 After Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed the good newsto that cityand made a considerable number of disciples,they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.They strengthened the spirits of the disciplesand exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying,“It is necessary for us to undergo many hardshipsto enter the kingdom of God.”They appointed elders for them in each church and,with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lordin whom they had put their faith.Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia.After proclaiming the word at Perga they...

A federal government agency has blasted “recent state laws passed, and proposals being considered, under the guise of so-called ‘religious liberty’ which target members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (‘LGBT’) community for discrimination.” “Religious freedom is an important foundation of our nation,” said Martin Castro, chairman of the US Commission on Civil Rights. “However, in the past, ‘religious liberty’ has been used to block racial integration and anti-discrimination laws.” Castro added: The North Carolina and Mississippi laws, and similar legislation proposed in other states, perverts the meaning of religious liberty and perpetuates homophobia, transphobia, marginalizes the transgender and...

“And last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also” (1 Corinthians 15:8). The resurrection power of Christ transformed Paul into a preacher of the gospel. Throughout history, reliable eyewitness testimony about a person or event has been one of the most accepted forms of courtroom evidence. The apostle Paul appeals to the eyewitness record as an important confirmation of the Resurrection’s reality. He cites the examples of Peter, the apostles (twice), 500 believers, and James (1 Cor. 15:5-7). And with today’s verse, Paul presents himself as a special eyewitness to the fact of...

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Matt. 5:9). Sin and falsehood hinder true peace. Just as righteousness and truth are the noble companions of peace, so sin and falsehood are its great hindrances. The prophet Jeremiah said, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately [evil]; who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9). Jesus said, "Out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and...

April 23, 2016 Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter Reading 1 Acts 13:44-52 On the following sabbathalmost the whole citygathered to hear the word of the Lord. When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousyand with violent abuse contradicted what Paul said. Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said,“It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first,but since you reject itand condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life,we now turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us,I have made you a light to the Gentiles,that you...

- Catholic internet evangelist Michael Voris, the founder of Church Militant and known worldwide for his famous show The Vortex, “where lies and falsehoods are trapped and exposed,” has revealed for the first time that he was actively involved in homosexuality “over a prolonged period of time.” The internet sensation who has been zealous in exposing error and falsehood even where bishops are concerned, has long admitted he was a revert from a sinful sexual lifestyle, but never before revealed its specific nature. “I have said many times — in public — that I was in a state of mortal...

Much of ancient Israel’s plight, well documented throughout the Old Testament, was its insatiable thirst for pagan nature worship. This of course was in direct violation of the first two commandments of the Mosaic Law which commanded Israel not to worship any other false god or idol (Exodus 20:3-4). The reason why Israel was forbidden to worship other gods, the natural created order, and idols, was given in Genesis. Genesis 1 presents to the reader an ultimate Creator who made the universe out of nothing through His omnipotent spoken word, and then climaxed the creation process with the making of...

Do you ever wonder if the Christian faith is true? Perhaps it’s late at night just before you fall asleep. Maybe you’re going through a tough time or an unbelieving friend questions your faith and you think (but of course, would never say) that all of this might just be some gigantic con game and I’ve believed a bunch of lies. God knew you would wonder. From the very beginning, God knew he would do something so astounding, so wonderful, so unbelievable and so incredible that nobody would believe it without some kind of space and time evidence. The resurrection...

“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand” (1 Corinthians 15:1). The true church has consistently testified to the power of the Resurrection. Kenneth Scott Latourette observed in his History of the Expansion of Christianity: “It was the conviction of the resurrection of Jesus which lifted his followers out of the despair into which his death had cast them and which led to the perpetuation of a movement begun by him.” This statement was true for the church at Corinth, even with its many problems....

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Matt. 5:9). True peace exists only where truth reigns. People often define peace as the absence of conflict, but God sees it differently. The absence of conflict is merely a truce, which might end overt hostilities but doesn't resolve the underlying issues. A truce simply introduces a cold war, which often drives the conflict underground, where it smolders until erupting in physical or emotional disaster. James 3:17 says, "The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable." Godly wisdom, purity, and peace go hand- in-hand. Peace is wisdom...

“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.” - Daniel 12:1 God’s people in every generation have had to be careful lest their views on spiritual matters conform to the culture around them and not the Word of God. Today, we are no less immune to the influence of nonbiblical thinking, particularly in...

April 22, 2016 Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter Reading 1 Acts 13:26-33 When Paul came to Antioch in Pisidia, he said in the synagogue:“My brothers, children of the family of Abraham,and those others among you who are God-fearing,to us this word of salvation has been sent. The inhabitants of Jerusalem and their leaders failed to recognize him,and by condemning him they fulfilled the oracles of the prophetsthat are read sabbath after sabbath. For even though they found no grounds for a death sentence,they asked Pilate to have him put to death,and when they had accomplished all that...

Life simply won’t work without the safety net of God’s grace. If you’re like me, what defines you and your life includes your issues, your secrets, your need to achieve, your desire to please people and your ambition. It is therefore important to place grace at the very foundation of such a life to understand God’s unconditional acceptance and love. If you don’t and then fail big time (and we all will), your life will end up meaningless and empty. Grace does more than that though. I hate religion (and I’m a religious professional) because I’ve seen what toxic religion...

“‘Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said’” (Matthew 28:5-6). The fact of Jesus’ resurrection is the culmination of redemptive history and the essential basis of the Christian faith. Without the Resurrection, our Christian faith would just be a lot of wishful thinking, no better than human philosophies and speculative religions. In fact, the noted seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke, some of whose ideas were incorporated into the Declaration of Independence, wrote, “Our Saviour’s resurrection is truly of great importance...

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Matt. 5:9). God’s peace cushions the soul during difficult times. I remember reading about what is called "the cushion of the sea." The ocean surface is often greatly agitated, but as you descend, the water becomes increasingly calm. At its greatest depths the ocean is virtually still. Oceanographers dredging ocean bottoms have found animal and plant remains that appear to have been undisturbed for hundreds of years. Similarly, Christians can experience a cushion of peace in their souls regardless of their troubled surroundings. That's because they belong to...

Continuationism is not a non-essential doctrinal issue Posted on April 19, 2016 By Fred Butler I am becoming convinced more and more every day that continuationism/charismaticism is not just a non-essential doctrinal issue for Christians. My thinking about this started shortly after the Strange Fire conference as I engaged continuationist critics on social media. .... In fact, with what I was seeing, the TBN and Sid Roth style charismatic continuationists are the standard majority, whereas the ‘balanced,” sober-minded continuationists were the true fringe.

“On each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second . . . like an ox, the third . . . with the face of a man, and the fourth . . . like an eagle in flight. . . . Each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within” (vv. 6b–8a). - Revelation 4 It would be hard to underestimate the interest that people in our day have in the book of Revelation. There exist countless prophecy seminars,...