Free Republic

A 1500-year-old bible has been discovered in Turkey. Discovered in 2000, the book that contains purportedly the Gospel of Barnabas has been transferred by the Turkish government to the Ethnography Museum of Ankara with a police escort. Barnabas was a disciple of Christ, and in the work, claims that Jesus was not crucified, instead it says he ascended to heaven alive and Judas Iscariot was crucified in his place. Furthermore, the 1500-year-old bible states that Jesus Christ was not the son of God, but simply a prophet who passed on the word of God. According to a report for The...

A 10-year-old boy has managed to escape the clutches of a kidnapper by singing a gospel song until the suspect couldn't stand it anymore and let him free. Police say Willie Myrick was abducted by a man from his Atlanta, Georgia driveway, on March 31. The suspect allegedly lured him with cash and then, when he was close enough, grabbed him and pulled him into his car. They then drove around for three hours before the man dropped Willie off unharmed in East Point. But Willie's actions during that terrifying time probably saved his life.  Willie said he sang the...

Much of the world will be celebrating Easter this week. Unfortunately, in the West, secular humanism has relegated the Christian Easter to mere “Easter bunnies” and “Easter eggs.” That degeneration can be closely linked to Western society’s replacement of “thinking” with “feeling.” We have replaced the thermostat with the thermometer. We have given up on rigorous intellectual debate of facts and irrefutable truth and replaced it with “that’s fine if that’s how you feel about it.” Perhaps the trend is no clearer than when the media—and consequently, the man on the street—expresses an opinion on the resurrection of Jesus Christ....

The Story: On Sunday Bubba Watson, one of the most untraditional golfers on the PGA Tour, was the winner of the 2014 Masters Tournament. But golf isn't Watson's top priority. What he considers most important can be gleaned from the description on his Twitter account, @bubbawatson ("Christian. Husband. Daddy. Pro Golfer.") and his website, BubbaWatson.com ("Loves Jesus and loves sharing his faith").The Background: In an interview with Trevor Freeze of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Watson tells how he uses his Twitter account—along with his PGA platform—to share about his faith in Christ."For me, it's just showing the Light," said Watson....

Jesus sells. That’s why they have cover stories on Him in magazines and TV specials, even if some of them offer strange theories to try to explain away things like the original Easter. I’ll never forget the evolution of a famous TV newsman, the late Peter Jennings, the anchor ABC’s nightly news broadcasts. In 2000, Jennings hosted a special, “The Search for Jesus.” He never found Him because he relied almost entirely on liberal Bible scholars who dismissed the reliability of the Gospel accounts. The special, though well done, needlessly cast doubt on all the basics about Jesus. But in...

One of the most amazing statements by the Apostle Paul is his indictment of the Galatian Christians for abandoning the Gospel. “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel,” Paul declared. As he stated so emphatically, the Galatians had failed in the crucial test of discerning the authentic Gospel from its counterfeits. His words could not be more clear: “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be...

The day after winning two Grammys for "Best Contemporary Christian Music Song" and "Best Contemporary Christian Music Album," Christian music artist Mandisa explained why she decided to skip out on the awards ceremony. "I have been struggling with being in the world, not of it lately. I have fallen prey to the alluring pull of flesh, pride, and selfish desires quite a bit recently," she wrote on her Facebook, including a reference to 1 John 2:15-16. "Don't fall in love with this corrupt world or worship the things it can offer. Those who love its corrupt ways don't have the...

Josh had always known he was different. From his earliest memories, he looked at some boys as more than just peers. His parents knew he was "special," but they loved him for it. He learned to wear a mask and play the part of a "normal" kid until he graduated high school. In college, Josh decided it was time to be who he really was. He made friends with other gay people and embarked on sexual explorations. Josh found a refuge in his gay community and developed bonds that ran far deeper than sexual flings. Though his parents distanced themselves...

Today, the voices of Roebuck "Pops" Staples and his four children — Cleotha, Mavis, Pervis and Yvonne — are woven into America's DNA. As the Staple Singers, the family created a sound that was part blues, part gospel and part folk, breaking down musical walls and inspiring civil rights leaders. Biographer Greg Kot wrote about the Staples family in his new book, I'll Take You There: Mavis Staples, the Staple Singers, and the March Up Freedom's Highway. He says that unique sound began with Pops Staples and the musical apprenticeship he dreamed up for his offspring. "He had a cheap...

The Old Testament & the New TestamentThe Old Testament is the shadow of the New (Hebrews 10:1), but still useful (Romans 15:4, 1 Corinthians 10:11). To disregard it is to blaspheme. [link] Jesus Christ not only fulfilled the OT (Galatians 3:13-14, Hebrews 8:6, 9:10), but also John the Baptist's ministry (John 1:6-8). [link] Faith, Works, and Salvation"But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves." - James 1:22 [link] Those who believe that Abraham was saved by "faith alone" in Genesis 15:6 should read about his prior works in Genesis 12-14. [link] God did not...

The Lord Jesus give a penetrating analysis of the state of the sinner and some very sobering advice to we would-be saints in today’s Gospel. Let’s look at the Gospel in two stages: The Analysis of the Sinner and the Advice to the Saints.I. ANALYSIS OF THE SINNER -  The Lord Jesus describes a sinful steward in the opening lines of this gospel. Let’s look at the description: A. DEFINITION (of the sinner)- Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward  – Notice he is called a steward not an owner. God is the owner of everything,...

For those who want the nightclub scene without the drinking and solicitations for sex, Club for Jesus in Waldorf, Md., offers a fun atmosphere where believers and nonbelievers can have a good time. "Just because you're saved doesn't mean you can't dance," Yolanda Darby told The Christian Post in an interview on Friday. Darby said she was inspired to create Club for Jesus when she discovered the need for "an alternative place to go dance or party without drinking, without being picked up." Traditional churches end up stifling people, Darby said. "Ninety-nine percent of church people are the ones who...

In what sense do some people “save” their own lives, only to lose them? Likewise, how is it that some are willing to ‘lose their lives’, and save them in the process? To Jesus those who ‘save their own lives’ are those who seek to preserve their standing before the world, by distancing themselves before the reproach of identification with the Lord and Saviour. They are said to have “gained the world” in some way. Because there is a very real tension between the world and Christ, confessing Christ is a form of repudiation of this world, whether the confessor...

......"The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life has put hard numbers on the anecdotal evidence: One out of every 10 Americans is an ex-Catholic. If they were a separate denomination, they would be the third-largest denomination in the United States, after Catholics and Baptists. One of three people who were raised Catholic no longer identifies as Catholic........."Thankfully, although the U.S. bishops have not supported research on people who have left the church, the Pew Center has. Pew’s data shows that those leaving the church are not homogenous. They can be divided...

What people don’t know is that the Christmas special almost didn’t happen, because some not-so-smart television executives almost didn’t let it air. You see, Charles Schulz had some ideas that challenged the way of thinking of those executives 46 years ago, and one of them had to do with the inclusion in his Christmas cartoon of a reading from the King James Bible’s version of the Gospel of Luke. The more things change, the more things stay the same. There was a standoff of sorts, but Schulz did not back down, and because of the tight production schedule and CBS’s...

It's hard to believe that the greatest message the world will ever hear is contained in one simple scale. (Voice over by Willie Minor.)

"For as man, disobeying, drew death upon himself; so, obeying the will of God, he who desires is able to procure for himself life everlasting. For God has given us a law and holy commandments; and every one who keeps these can be saved, and, obtaining the resurrection, can inherit incorruption." - St. Theophilus of Antioch, to Autolycus (Book 2, Chapter 27) [link] Are we still under a Law? Yes. However, we are not under the Mosaic one. The Mosaic Law worked for a while, but ceased to be the best option after the "time of reformation" (Hebrews 9:10). At...

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.And now send...

Two suspected terrorists are being held in Kosovo after a Nov. 3 attack on two American women serving as missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A total of six men were arrested Nov. 5 in connection with an alleged terrorist plot "inspired by extreme Islamist ideology." Two of the six are suspects in the investigation of the attack on the LDS missionaries, a senior police official involved with the investigation told the Associated Press. The attack took place in Pristina, Kosovo's capital. "We can confirm two sister missionaries were beaten in Kosovo and have been moved...

Patrick Blute is no Andrew Lloyd Webber. Webber was 23-years old when he famously staged the rock musical “Jesus Christ Superstar,” which debuted on Broadway in 1971. Blute, a 23-year-old Columbia University grad, is the creator of “Spears The Musical – The Gospel According to Britney,” for which there is a funders preview this week. “Jesus Christ Superstar” was fairly faithful to the Gospel account of the last week in the earthly life of Christ before He went to be with the Father. It featured such notable songs as “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” “Gethsemane,” and, of course,...