Free Republic

July 28, 2014Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Jer 13:1-11 The LORD said to me: Go buy yourself a linen loincloth;wear it on your loins, but do not put it in water.I bought the loincloth, as the LORD commanded, and put it on.A second time the word of the LORD came to me thus:Take the loincloth which you bought and are wearing,and go now to the Parath;there hide it in a cleft of the rock.Obedient to the LORD’s command, I went to the Parathand buried the loincloth.After a long interval, the LORD said to...

The Way to Knowledge " If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine . . . —John 7:17 " The golden rule to follow to obtain spiritual understanding is not one of intellectual pursuit, but one of obedience. If a person wants scientific knowledge, then intellectual curiosity must be his guide. But if he desires knowledge and insight into the teachings of Jesus Christ, he can only obtain it through obedience. If spiritual things seem dark and hidden to me, then I can be sure that there is a point of disobedience somewhere in...

July 27, 2014Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12 The LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.� Solomon answered:“O LORD, my God, you have made me, your servant, kingto succeed my father David;but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act. I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen,a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heartto judge your people and...

MONTREAL — Weight machines fill the space where once there were pews, and visitors sip nutritional green smoothies, not communion wine. But despite its dramatic transformation into a private gym and spa, the onetime Dominican St. Jude’s Shrine on Montreal’s St. Denis Street remains a temple of sorts. “It becomes almost a religion for some people,” Sonya Audrey Bonin, general manager of the Saint-Jude Espace Tonus gym, said this week. “I see it with yoga, with taking care of yourself, being careful about what you eat, having a healthy lifestyle.” And in a secular age when people are more likely...

I am coming up on my first year as an ordained minister in a continuing Anglican church, and I have noticed that participating on political forums (even when the topic is religious) I find that my opinions and postings more often than not generate more hatred than anything else. Among the things I often hear are that the laity are the real priests and that I am a Pharisee, that my vocation disqualifies me from offering an opinion on anything Christian because I am too narrow minded, and (my personal favorite) because I look too Catholic I must be a...

In Desire of the Everlasting Hills, the most powerful moments occur when the action of grace breaks through and changes a life. In a film that’s attempting to change the ground on which the discussion of same-sex attraction in the Church takes place, these little epiphanies are a potent witness to the truth of Catholic teaching. Desire of the Everlasting Hills is a 60-minute documentary from Courage International, the apostolate helping people with same-sex attraction to live chaste lives. The film was showcased at Courage’s national conference, July 17-20, in Philadelphia.

July 26, 2014Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary    Reading 1 Jer 7:1-11 The following message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:Stand at the gate of the house of the LORD,and there proclaim this message:Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judahwho enter these gates to worship the LORD!Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:Reform your ways and your deeds,so that I may remain with you in this place.Put not your trust in the deceitful words:“This is the temple of the LORD!The temple of the LORD! The temple...

DES MOINES, Iowa – A newspaper editor who was fired earlier this year for opining on his personal blog that the Queen James Bible is an attempt by homosexuals “to make their sinful nature ‘right with God’” has filed a complaint with the federal government. As previously reported, Bob Eschliman has worked as the editor of the Newton Daily News since 2012, and has served as the publisher of the Clarinda Herald-Journal. But he found himself out of a job this past May when he spoke his mind about the Queen James Bible on his personal blog. “It’s pretty easy...

LOS ANGELES – A legal defense organization filed a lawsuit this week against California State University, alleging that the school fired a biologist for discovering scientific evidence that contradicted evolutionary theory. Mark Armitage was a scientist at California State University—Northridge (CSUN), where he worked as a researcher and supervised the school’s electron microscope laboratory. He was also a member of several scientific organizations, including the Microscopy Society of America, the American Society of Parasitologists, and the Southern California Academy of Sciences. However, CSUN suddenly terminated Armitage’s employment two years ago after he discovered soft tissue on a Triceratops fossil. Evolutionists...

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – A prominent atheist organization has convinced an Indiana school district to end teacher-led prayer at area public schools following a complaint from an anonymous parent. The Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) contacted the Vigo County School Corporation in Terre Haute last May after receiving a complaint from a parent after teacher Jeffrey Burress at Sarah Scott Middle School allegedly led prayer at an awards banquet. “Any prayers led by teachers at school-sponsored events must be stopped immediately,” the letter, addressed to Superintendent Daniel Tanoos, read.

WASHINGTON -- How much skin can a girl show before it's a sin? Modesty can be a sticky subject, even among Christians. But experts say being modest doesn't mean a woman can't let her beauty shine. In fact, that's the point. If you look around, it's easy to think modesty is dead. Everywhere we look images tell us less is more, and the pressure for young girls to look sexy has never been more potent. . . . "It all has to do with beauty, but beauty should really come from the inside out," explained Jaime Jamgochian, a worship leader...

There's no question that Emmy-winning sitcom "Modern Family" is influencing American cultural opinions on same-sex relationships through its characters Mitch and Cam, and that influence goes all the way up to the most powerful people on the planet. . . . "President Obama mentioned in an interview like three weeks ago, just casually, that Michelle and the kids watch Mitch and Cam and they're in tears," Stonestreet said. "To hear the leader of the free world, the president of the United States, say that and to know we have that sort of reach with people and that the people in...

July 25, 2014Feast of Saint James, Apostle  Reading 1 2 Cor 4:7-15 Brothers and sisters:We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;perplexed, but not driven to despair;persecuted, but not abandoned;struck down, but not destroyed;always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.For we who live are constantly being given up to deathfor the sake of Jesus,so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh....

For over 10 years I lived the homosexual lifestyle, and for 34 years I have not. And there are very good reasons for that difference. To those who suggest that I never was homosexual, my response is, "Does sleeping with over 1,000 men count?" Oh yes. I was homosexual, though like most, I never wanted to have such attractions. I saw the narcissism and arrested emotional development all around me, and in me. Guys flitting around like Peter Pan were sometimes cute and funny, and certainly nonthreatening, but I wanted to be a grown up. I wanted to be a...

July 24, 2014Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Jer 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13 This word of the LORD came to me:Go, cry out this message for Jerusalem to hear! I remember the devotion of your youth,how you loved me as a bride,Following me in the desert,in a land unsown.Sacred to the LORD was Israel,the first fruits of his harvest;Should any presume to partake of them,evil would befall them, says the LORD. When I brought you into the garden land to eat its goodly fruits,You entered and defiled my land,you made my heritage loathsome.The priests asked...

Growing Strong in Faith Today's Scripture "No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God." (Romans 4:20, ESV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria In scripture, Abraham’s circumstances were beyond his control. He was way too old to have a child, but God promised him that he would have a son. What did he do while he was waiting? Scripture says, “He grew strong in faith by giving praise to God.” He got up every morning and said, “Lord, thank You for Your faithfulness. Thank...

Sanctification (2) " But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us . . . sanctification . . . —1 Corinthians 1:30 " The Life Side. The mystery of sanctification is that the perfect qualities of Jesus Christ are imparted as a gift to me, not gradually, but instantly once I enter by faith into the realization that He “became for [me] . . . sanctification . . . .� Sanctification means nothing less than the holiness of Jesus becoming mine and being exhibited in my life.The most wonderful secret of living a holy life does...

It is normally Yorkshire which likes to refer to itself as God's Own County. But by the look of this stunning picture, Norfolk can now lay claim to the title. Amateur photographer Jeremy Fletcher took this extraordinary photograph which appears to show a God-like bearded man in the clouds. The 56-year-old took the image during recent turbulent weather conditions and says the clouds momentarily parted at sunset to reveal the image. Mr Fletcher, of Bray, Berkshire, was in Norfolk for a three-month work attachment took the photograph on an evening stroll along the beach at Snettisham . "I realised the...

While only about 18 percent of Gen X women were married by 40, the number of their Millennial counterparts waiting till age 40 to tie the knot could now almost double, according to a recent study. Using data from the American Community Survey to estimate age-specific marriage rates, Washington, D.C.-based Urban Institute finds that the percentage of Millennials marrying by age 40 will fall lower than for any previous generation of Americans, even in a scenario where marriage rates recover considerably. In the early millennium period, from 2000 to 2004, the peak first marriage rate for single U.S.-born women at...

Craven County Democratic candidates for the North Carolina Legislature and an Onslow County Democrat running for the U.S. House must at moments have felt like Daniel in the lion’s den in front of Craven-Pamlico Christian Coalition Monday. The expressly conservative and mostly Republican group’s meeting packed about 50 people into a New Bern Golden Corral room, which usually sees a smaller crowd, to hear and question U.S. District 3 House candidate Marshall Adame; N.C. Senate District 2 candidate Carr Ipock; and N.C. House District 3 candidate Whit Whitley. The meeting opened with a prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- An evangelical Christian group plans to try to convert children as young as 5 at Portland apartment pools, public parks and dozens of other gathering spots this summer -- a campaign that's got some residents upset. They've banded together in recent weeks to warn parents about the Child Evangelism Fellowship's Good News Club, buying a full-page ad in the local alternative weekly to highlight the group's tactics. "They pretend to be a mainstream Christian Bible study when in fact they're a very old school fundamentalist sect," said Kaye Schmitt, an organizer with Protect Portland Children, which...

The National Organization for Marriage is calling for a public response to an employee survey conducted internally by J.P. Morgan Chase Bank. Workers at the financial institution leaked information on the so-called confidential survey, which asked in part if they identified as LGBT and whether they were an ally of the LGBT community (see earlier story). Joe Grabowski, with the National Organization for Marriage, tells OneNewsNow that this survey was intrusive into the private beliefs of the employees. “It's a very invasive question,” he says. “And one could certainly imagine - especially in the wake of things like the forced...

Over the past five years, an underground movement has been burgeoning on evangelical Christian campuses. Although many of these colleges explicitly ban “homosexual behavior,” they are now home to dozens of LGBT-friendly student groups. The umbrella organization Safety Net, founded in December 2011, encompasses groups from approximately 75 different evangelical Christian colleges. Some of these groups are tiny, and many operate in near-secret. But over the past two weeks, an LGBT group at Gordon College has made itself impossible to ignore. When we, the authors, attended Gordon College over a decade ago, the vast majority of administrators, faculty, and students...

A new reality show called "Married at First Sight" is legally marrying two complete strangers as part of a "social experiment," all in the name of entertainment. The show debuted last week on the FYI channel and follows three couples who are thrown into a legal marriage the moment they meet. A sexologist, psychologist, sociologist and spiritual adviser use "scientific matchmaking" to pair up the couples, then watch to see what happens. According to the show's publicist, the marriages are indeed binding. But the couples can have their divorces paid for by the show within six months if they choose...

During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods' appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. "What's the rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, "Oh, that's easy. It's grace." After some discussion, the conferees had to agree....

All of us will, at times, be called to endure humbly a leader’s mistakes and sins. Nonetheless, should you find yourself in a church where the leadership is characteristically abusive, I would, in most cases, encourage you to flee. Flee to protect your discipleship, to protect your family, to set a good example for the members left behind, to serve non-Christian neighbors by not lending credibility to the church’s ministry. How do you recognize abusive leadership? Paul requires two witnesses for a charge to be leveled against an elder (1 Tim. 5:19), probably because he knows that leaders will be...

July 23, 2014Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Jer 1:1, 4-10 The words of Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah,of a priestly family in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin. The word of the LORD came to me thus: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,before you were born I dedicated you,a prophet to the nations I appointed you.“Ah, Lord GOD!� I said,"I know not how to speak; I am too young.� But the LORD answered me,Say not, “I am too young.�To whomever I send you, you shall go;whatever I command you, you...

GAZA (Reuters) - About 1,000 Palestinian Muslims fleeing Israeli shells devastating their Gaza neighborhood have found shelter in a building they otherwise would rarely if ever enter, the city's 12th-century Greek Orthodox Church. Despite its thick walls dating back to the Crusades, the Church of Saint Porphyrius was still not a very safe haven. Shortly after they arrived, Israeli aircraft bombed a nearby field, spraying shrapnel on the church and damaging graves. But children from the Shejaia district, where some 72 Palestinians - many of them women and children - were killed during fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants...

His Ways are Higher Today's Scripture "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria A lot of times, we have our own ideas about how things should work out in life. But God’s ways are not our ways. In scripture, God brought water out of a rock. Jesus told Peter to go catch a fish, open its mouth, and there was the money he needed for taxes. Another time, God caused a young lady named Mary...

Sanctification (1) " This is the will of God, your sanctification. . . —1 Thessalonians 4:3 " The Death Side. In sanctification God has to deal with us on the death side as well as on the life side. Sanctification requires our coming to the place of death, but many of us spend so much time there that we become morbid. There is always a tremendous battle before sanctification is realized— something within us pushing with resentment against the demands of Christ. When the Holy Spirit begins to show us what sanctification means, the struggle starts immediately. Jesus said,...

ORLANDO – A federal judge has given a secular organization the green light to distribute more atheistic and anti-Christian materials to Florida public school students, in spite of the materials’ graphic content and offensive language. As previously reported, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) learned last year that a Christian ministry had made Bibles available to Orlando high school students on “Religious Freedom Day.” To counter the Bible distribution, FFRF sought permission from the school district to give students a variety of atheistic and anti-Christian materials. According to reports, the Orange County School Board permitted FFRF to distribute several books...

Jesus certainly was not a “Bible believer,” as we use that term in the post Billy Graham era of American fundamentalist religiosity that’s used as a trade-marked product to sell religion. Jesus didn’t take the Jewish scriptures at face value. In fundamentalist terms, Jesus was a rule-breaking relativist who wasn’t even “saved,” according to evangelical standards. Evangelicals insist that you have to believe very specific interpretations of the Bible to be saved. Jesus didn’t. He undercut the scriptures. A leper came to Jesus and said, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.” If Jesus had been a good...

WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has reached a settlement with a prominent atheist organization, agreeing to crack down churches and religious groups for infringements of its prohibition against ‘electioneering.’ As previously reported, the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, sued the IRS in 2012, asserting that many non-profit religious organizations have been “blatantly and deliberately flaunting … electioneering restrictions,” but the government has not enforced its rules pertaining to the matter. According to the IRS website, “Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or...

In the Hobby Lobby decision handed down last month, the Supreme Court was asked to strike a balance between women’s rights and religious freedom. But the major conflict that has erupted in the wake of that decision has been between religious freedom and gay rights. The resulting controversy has split gay-rights and faith groups on the left, with wide-ranging political fallout that some now fear could hurt both causes. One chapter of the controversy is set to close on Monday, when President Obama plans to sign a long-awaited executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against gays and lesbians, according...

Rows of candles were set up last week at the home of Rabbi Zalman and Toba Grossbaum, co-directors of Chabad of Livingston, N.J., so community members and family could welcome in Shabbat and pray for the people of Israel.With the Sabbath approaching, Israel Defense Force troops are on the ground in Gaza, with Jews everywhere praying for their safety. Throughout the world came calls for prayer and good deeds on behalf of the Israeli soldiers, and all people threatened by ongoing missile attacks, with special emphasis on Jewish women and girls lighting Shabbat candles, and for families to join with...

July 22, 2014Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene  Reading 1 Mi 7:14-15, 18-20 Shepherd your people with your staff,the flock of your inheritance,That dwells apart in a woodland,in the midst of Carmel.Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,as in the days of old;As in the days when you came from the land of Egypt,show us wonderful signs. Who is there like you, the God who removes guiltand pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;Who does not persist in anger forever,but delights rather in clemency,And will again have compassion on us,treading underfoot our guilt?You will cast into the depths of...

He Doesn’t Need a Cloud Today's Scripture "Is anything too hard for the LORD? . . ." (Genesis 18:14, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria One day, we were in the backyard on a beautiful, sunny day. We were just enjoying the blue sky when all of the sudden, out of nowhere, it began to rain even though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was as blue as can be. The sun was out and very bright. But for about three minutes, there was this downpour. We thought, “Where in the world is this rain coming...

The Doorway to the Kingdom " Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . —Matthew 5:3 " Beware of thinking of our Lord as only a teacher. If Jesus Christ is only a teacher, then all He can do is frustrate me by setting a standard before me I cannot attain. What is the point of presenting me with such a lofty ideal if I cannot possibly come close to reaching it? I would be happier if I never knew it. What good is there in telling me to be what I can never be— to be “pure...

It’s hard to tell if the near-constant stream of millennial-centric political think-pieces are perpetuating or reflecting growing curmudgeonly fears about the future of the country. Maybe it’s a little of both, and Fox is probably observing within its competency when it pegs more than a handful of us as “deluded narcissists” – but it appears there’s room for some political optimism among all the moral panic and the reign of the religious right. With millennial religious and political attitudes in flux compared to our predecessors, the upcoming years could be the Christian left’s big moment. Which isn’t to say the...

Conservative groups have denounced the recently signed executive order by President Barack Obama on LGBT employment discrimination, arguing that the measure does not offer sufficient religious liberty protection. Peter Sprigg, senior fellow for Policy Studies at the Family Research Council, said in a statement that with the executive order "Obama has ordered employers to put aside their principles, and practices in the name of political correctness." "This level of coercion is nothing less than viewpoint blackmail that bullies into silence every contractor and subcontractor who has moral objections to homosexual behavior," stated Sprigg. "This order gives activists a license to...

Lena Dunham isn’t exactly the first person you’d expect to see singing hymns in the pew behind you. Starring in the raunchy HBO show ‘Girls’ and bragging that voting for President Obama during the 2012 election for the “first time” was like losing her virginity are just a couple examples of Dunham’s racy behavior that would make any Christian blush. But, the controversial actress is embarking on a tour for her new book, “Not That Kind of Girl,” coming out in September, that will take place in some churches around the country. On her tour, Dunham will be reading excerpts...

by Matt SlickOne of the objections raised by critics of biblical inspiration is that the Bible is not the word of God, but that it contains the word of God.  Is this accurate?  No.  First of all, this doesn't fit what the Bible says about itself.  The collection of 66 books that the Christian Church recognized as being inspired speaks as the very words of God in many places. "Thus says the Lord" occurs over 400 times in the Old Testament. "God said" occurs 42 times in the Old Testament and four times in the New Testament. "God spoke"...

July 21, 2014Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Mi 6:1-4, 6-8 Hear what the LORD says:Arise, present your plea before the mountains,and let the hills hear your voice!Hear, O mountains, the plea of the LORD,pay attention, O foundations of the earth!For the LORD has a plea against his people,and he enters into trial with Israel. O my people, what have I done to you,or how have I wearied you? Answer me!For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,from the place of slavery I released you;and I sent before you Moses,Aaron, and Miriam....

Naeem Fazal was born and raised in the deserts of Kuwait. He is the son of Pakistani parents who grounded him and his siblings in Islam. Naeem moved to the United States after the first Gulf War, following his older brother Mahmoud, who had previously enrolled in Spartanburg Methodist College in South Carolina. While attending the college, Mahmoud found the Lord. And on a visit to Kuwait to see his family he announced he had converted to Christianity. Naeem was furious with his brother, cursing him for renouncing the Islamic faith they grew up with. He even went so far...

Have you ever heard the claim "all smart people are atheists", or maybe its inverse: "people who believe in God are dumb"? It's quite a pervasive urban legend, and one which I've known is false for a long time, but I didn't realize just how false until the other day. I recently decided to do a quick cataloging of the ten highest IQ's on earth, and discovered that it's nearly the exact opposite of the truth! Before reading the list, however, I want to remind you of the caveat that IQ test results are not in any sense the measure...

Dependent on God’s Presence " Those who wait on the Lord . . . shall walk and not faint —Isaiah 40:31 " There is no thrill for us in walking, yet it is the test for all of our steady and enduring qualities. To “walk and not faint� is the highest stretch possible as a measure of strength. The word walk is used in the Bible to express the character of a person— “. . . John . . . looking at Jesus as He walked. . . said, ’Behold the Lamb of God!’ � (John 1:35-36). There is...

July 20, 2014Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Wis 12:13, 16-19 There is no god besides you who have the care of all,that you need show you have not unjustly condemned.For your might is the source of justice;your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved;and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity.But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency,and with much lenience you govern us;for power, whenever you will, attends you.And you taught your people, by these deeds,that those who...

The Submission of the Believer " You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am —John 13:13 " Our Lord never insists on having authority over us. He never says, “You will submit to me.� No, He leaves us perfectly free to choose— so free, in fact, that we can spit in His face or we can put Him to death, as others have done; and yet He will never say a word. But once His life has been created in me through His redemption, I instantly recognize His right to absolute authority over...

July 19, 2014Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Mi 2:1-5 Woe to those who plan iniquity,and work out evil on their couches;In the morning light they accomplish itwhen it lies within their power.They covet fields, and seize them;houses, and they take them;They cheat an owner of his house,a man of his inheritance.Therefore thus says the LORD:Behold, I am planning against this race an evilfrom which you shall not withdraw your necks;Nor shall you walk with head high,for it will be a time of evil. On that day a satire shall be sung over you,and...

A Glimpse of Heaven Today's Scripture “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria God longs to give you a glimpse of heaven while you are here on earth. He wants to show you His plan and bring it to pass in your life. Have you ever thought about how God’s will is accomplished in heaven? In heaven, God’s will is automatic. There are no opposing forces, no doubt, no enemy or anything that would come against His will. On earth, His will is...