Free Republic

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.And there was great joy in that city.(Acts 8:5-9)Who was Phillip? Not one of the Apostles, nor yet was he an evangelist, Phillip was one of the first Deacons of the church, he served God and the church in practical...

Expounding on the importance of our actions for salvation is, I suppose, my primary “thing.” I have been in so many informal debates over the issue that I have started to lose count of them. I have written about the topic many times. And often, I become angry (like God in 1 Kings 11:9-10) at the mere thought of sola fide (“faith alone”), because I know that it is completely contrary to “what the Lord [has] commanded.” But why? “Faith alone” was, without a doubt, the primary reason that I left Protestantism. Even though I was ill-educated in theology at...

Nine Words that Changed the World             There are nine words that irrevocably changed the course of life on planet Earth, the implications on philosophy, theology, and life are that significant. They are three sentences, each containing three words and each illustrating three aspects of a single man that touched the world in a manner so astounding it still echoes to this day: 1.         “Peace, be still.”             Imagine, for a moment, that you are a seaman, that you have experienced the dangers of the winds and the waves and a man says to these literal forces of nature “peace, be still”… and...

The Bible identifies several kinds of sexual sin, including fornication, adultery, incest and homosexuality. Homosexual behavior is unequivocally and consistently portrayed in the Bible as sin (Genesis 19:5 with Jude 1:7; Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; I Corinthians 6:9-10; and I Timothy 1:10). The biblical witness on this point could not be any clearer.

John 3:14-18 doesn’t necessarily support the “faith alone” position. For Protestants, John 3:14-18 might seem like the ultimate “Gotcha!” passage to use against Catholics. But if you look a little deeper, you’ll recognize that the passage does not defend the “faith alone” position and is totally in line with Catholic teaching. The passage reads as, “‘As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes...

A look at last Sunday's readings in the context of the position that faith and works are both directly important for salvation. ... "Good works are extremely important for our salvation. We will be judged 'according to [our] deeds' (Revelation 20:13)." ...

"What do we do about our kids?" The group of parents sat together in my office, wiping their eyes. I'm a high school pastor, but for once, they weren't talking about 16-year-olds drinking and partying. Each had a story to tell about a "good Christian" child, raised in their home and in our church, who had walked away from the faith during the college years. These children had come through our church's youth program, gone on short-term mission trips, and served in several different ministries during their teenage years. Now they didn't want anything to do with it anymore. And,...

Full Title: Let the Little Ones Come to Me — Social Justice Gone Awry This is an anti-gospel—learning morality from nature and being successful from within ourselves, without depending on the Creator and Redeemer of nature. _______________ A further danger lurks—that Christian good works can be recuperated by movements of pagan utopianism. A case in point. In January 2013 World Vision (WV) sent an Easter funding appeal to those sponsoring needy children. WV began as an evangelistic ministry of Bob Pierce, a powerful preacher whom I heard preach when I was just a lad in my hometown in Liverpool in...

According to Essence magazine, the GRAMMY Award winning gospel dou Mary Mary will Join Stevie Wonder in his Florida concert boycott following the acquittal of former neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. "We will stand with Stevie Wonder & boycott Florida until the Stand Your Ground Law is changed," the pair reportedly told their Twitter followers. The pair explained "We love our fans but we MUST do something. We understand that a No from us isn't as big as a 'No' from Stevie Wonder, but if all our voices join together we can REALLY change things." Before the announcement, Mary Mary singer...

The Bible pretty much lays it on the line. When the Bible speaks, it's God talking. Hard to argue with God. Proverbs 11:10 - When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is glad shouting. So, when Hitler, Stalin, Khadafi, Kim Il Sung, Hugo Chavez, Osama Bin Laden, Che Guevara, Arafat, Saddam Hussein, Peter Jennings and Helen Thomas died, a lot of folks rejoiced. And, many of us are waiting for others to pass on like ANY of the leftists who have turned this nation upside down morally and in every way....

Here’s an exerpt from Reaching Muslims with the Gospel of God, an interview with Abdul Saleeb from the June issue of Tabletalk. Tabletalk: Tell us how the Lord led you out of Islam to Christianity. Abdul Saleeb: My first encounter with the gospel and the Christian faith was through the ministry of a group of American missionaries in Europe. When I discovered that Christians did not believe that Jesus was simply a prophet but God incarnate who had died on the cross for our sins, my first reactions were: 1. Christians are insane. 2. How can anyone believe such blasphemies?...

I was flying from Los Angeles to Miami when I found myself sitting next to two women. Sarah was sitting closest to me. She was 29, inappropriately dressed, with a ring through her nose, and she wasn’t the friendliest person I have sat next to on a plane. After we took off I couldn’t help but notice that her friend kept kissing her on the cheek, holding her hand, and rubbing her shoulder. They were gay, and that little revelation lifted my planned witnessing encounter up a big notch on the awkward-meter. I really didn’t want an angry gay couple...

According to an article published at Breitbart.com., entitled "Pentagon May Court Martial Soldiers Who Share Christian Faith, Christians in the military, including chaplains, could be court martialed and charged with treason for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't pretend to be an expert on constitutional law, but I would think that this would be unconstitutional for many reasons. Of course, I felt that way about Obama Care until Chief Justice John Roberts weighed in, much to my utter surprise and disappointment. (I may never get over that) But if I can be allowed to reason in my common...

Thought this would be more relevant now. This is a compilation of interviews of sincere Boston Street evangelists, reduced to 9 minutes from 3 hours. Asa shown below, Boston and MA in general is one of most resistant (and antagonistic to) the gospel, being liberal and mostly institutionalized religion (except for many recent immigrants). Video: http://youtu.be/AO6SIDZ4RNM

In his first public Mass, Pope Francis urged the Catholic Church on Thursday to stick to its Gospel roots and shun modern temptations, warning that it would become just another charitable group if it forgot its true mission. Addressing cardinals in the frescoed Sistine Chapel the day after his election there, Jorge Bergoglio said the Church should be more focused on the Gospels of Jesus Christ. "We can walk all we want, we can build many things, but if we don't proclaim Jesus Christ, something is wrong. We would become a compassionate NGO and not a Church which is the...

Let’s not be naive, we’re not talking about a simple political battle; it is a destructive pretension against the plan of God. We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God. –Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) on the issue of gay marriage A frightful cataclysm may be about to change the face of the world. Let us trust wholly in God...corruption and evil are indeed rampant, but I still maintain that God will triumph in the end. –Blessed Aloysius Orione,...

This animated video of a Northwestern rough legged hawk, brook fish, farm pig and Galapagos tortoise is to inspire faithful and dedicated living in Christ Jesus our Lord!

This animated video of a Northwestern rough legged hawk, brook fish, farm pig and Galapagos tortoise is to inspire faithful and obedient living to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!

We were having lunch together, and I was praying like mad. My friend had been in a committed same-sex relationship for about 15 years. He was interested in Jesus; attracted to his teaching and message. But he wanted to know how becoming a Christian would affect his gay lifestyle. I had explained, as carefully and graciously as I could, that Jesus upheld and expanded the wider biblical stance on sexuality, that the only context for sexual activity is heterosexual marriage. Following Jesus would mean seeking to live under his word, in this area as in any other. He had been...

And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of...