Free Republic

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Tuesday called for the Trump administration to launch a new U.S. military deterrence initiative in the Asia-Pacific region, similar to what is already being done in Europe, as a counterweight to China. The administration could chart a new course with an initiative that includes new military funding to realign U.S. forces in the region, increase combat power, improve bases and add more exercises, McCain said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. "I believe there is strong merit for an Asia-Pacific stability initiative which is similar to the European deterrence initiative we've pursued over the...

“Easter Joy Continues!” (John 20:19-31; Acts 5:29-42; 1 Peter 1:3-9) Alleluia! Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!) Yes, he is risen indeed! And guess what? He is still risen! Christ didn’t stop being risen once Easter Day was over. And so the Easter season continues--and with it, our Easter joy. It’s the Second Sunday “of” Easter! Thus our theme for this morning: “Easter Joy Continues!” The Easter joy was certainly evident last Sunday. Easter Day at St. Matthew’s was a day of great joy. As soon as the resurrection was announced at the start of the service, we...

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is praising FBI Director James Comey for his "independence" while investigating politicians on both sides of the political spectrum and for not kowtowing to political pressure during the 2016 presidential campaign. In a short piece published Thursday honoring him as part of the Time 100 Most Influential People list, the Arizona Republican referred to Comey's "integrity" and argued that it "never wavered" over the past year, despite the presidential campaign that made him a household name. "Integrity is a word that doesn't get used a lot in Washington anymore. But that is the quality that has...

Republican Sen. John McCain tore into Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday morning, telling CNN that Tillerson's recent comments about the US's policy in Syria represented "another disgraceful chapter in American history." Tillerson told reporters while he was in Turkey last week that the "longer-term status of President [Bashar] Assad will be decided by the Syrian people." The remark signaled a shift in the US's official position toward the Syrian strongman. Though they were criticized for failing to act against Assad's atrocities, President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State John Kerry had long called for Assad to step...

“The Raising of Lazarus” (John 11:1-53) Our text today is the account of “The Raising of Lazarus,” from John chapter 11. In this chapter, Jesus does three things: He raises the dead. He arouses faith. And he rouses the opposition. Three things, and what he does, he does for you. The most obvious thing Jesus does is to raise a dead man. Think about that. Jesus raises a dead man! Who has ever heard of such a thing? The man’s name was Lazarus. He was a friend of Jesus and his disciples. His sisters you’ve heard of, too. Mary and...

“A Real Eye-Opener” (John 9:1-41) Our text today is a real eye-opener. It’s the story of Jesus healing the man born blind, from John chapter 9. It’s an eye-opener in several senses. Just the fact that Jesus can heal the eyes of a man born blind--that in itself is an eye-opener, in the sense of it being something startling or surprising. As the guy who was healed says, “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.” But then it’s a literal eye-opener for the man born blind. He receives...

“The Samaritan Woman: A Well-Known Story” (John 4:5-26, 27-30, 39-42) Does God really accept me? I mean, I’m able to hide my faults and shortcomings from people--well, most of my faults from most people, at least. And I’m able to do it well enough so that there are people who do accept me--well, sorta, or at least they put up with me. But what about God? There’s no hiding things from him. He knows the real me. He knows my inner thoughts and my secret sins. Will God accept me? And if so, why? And what difference does that make?...

A few moments ago I spoke via telephone with a Catholic gentleman, a beloved husband, a father and dear friend. His name is John Vennari, and he was told earlier today by his doctors that he is now in the “active stages of dying.” John asked me to do him a favor and help him notify his many, many friends all around the world that he may not live to see his birthday on Friday. He wishes everyone to know that he’s not in pain. He wishes us all to know that, as he put it, “either we believe in...

[Note: The Divine Service at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Bonne Terre, Missouri, for January 15, 2017, has been iced out. So I am posting the sermon for the equivalent Sunday, the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Series A, from January 20, 2008. CH]“Three Evangelism Pointers: Point, Invite, and Find” (John 1:29-42a) The Epiphany season traditionally is a time for emphasizing the church’s work of evangelism and missions. Why is that? Well, think of the event celebrated on the Epiphany festival: Wise men from the east, being led by a star to find the Christ child--in other words, the spread...

Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham issued a blistering statement Tuesday condemning the US' failure to act to prevent the "slaughter" of hundreds of thousands of people in Syria. "The words 'never again' ring hollow today with reports that Aleppo is falling to Assad regime forces," the senators wrote, amid reports that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were on the brink of fully recapturing the besieged city of Aleppo from opposition forces. "For four long years, Aleppo has been at the center of the Assad regime's war on the Syrian people," the statement continued. "Together with its...

Sen. John McCain JOHN MCCAIN Senate votes to elevate Cyber Command in military Senate sends annual defense bill to Obama's desk Trump really can't do much to reduce tensions with Putin's Russia MORE (R-Ariz.) is pledging to break his silence on President-elect Donald Trump next year. "On the first of January, I promise to start answering these stupid, idiotic questions," he told reporters on Tuesday. McCain has largely refused to talk about Trump for months, despite a constant stream of questions from Capitol Hill reporters. A reporter on Tuesday again began to ask McCain about Trump, but McCain interrupted him,...

Washington (CNN)Ohio Gov. John Kasich doesn't want to take Donald Trump's place as President-elect of the United States. The former Republican presidential candidate, who ran against Trump in the primary, tweeted Tuesday asking that electors in the Electoral College not cast their votes for him when they meet December 19. Kasich tweeted a statement that said, "I am not a candidate for president and ask that electors not vote for me when they gather later this month. Our country had an election and Donald Trump won. The country is divided and there are certainly raw emotions on both sides stemming...

Former Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Gov. John Kasich is hitting back against the claim that the election is “rigged” -- an allegation that GOP nominee Donald Trump has repeatedly made in recent days. When asked in an interview with “CBS This Morning” early Wednesday whether he believed Trump’s assertion of a cooked election was correct, Kasich replied with an emphatic “no.” “Look, to say that elections are rigged and all these votes are stolen -- that’s like saying we never landed on the moon, frankly,” said Kasich. “That’s how silly it is.” The Ohio governor further criticized Trump’s position...

John Kasich has a simple message for Republicans who are struggling with how to respond to the 2005 tape that leaked last week of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump boasting about using his celebrity status to grope women. "Lead by example," he told Business Insider in a Thursday interview. The Ohio governor and onetime 2016 presidential hopeful, who was the last Trump challenger to drop out of the GOP primary, released an extended response to the tape over the weekend. In that response, he said the tape was not "surprising to me or many others." "Many people were angry and...

U.S. Senator John McCain said on Tuesday he would use his power to block the confirmation of a key cybersecurity official if necessary to prevent any Obama administration move to separate the U.S. Cyber Command from the National Security Agency. "I do not believe rushing to separate the 'dual hat' in the final months of an administration is appropriate, given the very serious challenges we face in cyberspace," McCain, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said at a hearing. "Dual hat" refers to one individual holding both positions. Current and former U.S. officials told Reuters in August...

Tuesday on CNN’s “The Lead,” Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told a reporter that ObamaCare was “unraveling and at a rapid rate.” McCain said, “It’s clear that Obamacare is unraveling, and at a rapid rate. We’re going to have to go back to square one. We’re going to have to go back and not only repeal, but replace and make health care available to every American.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – John Kasich will return this month to New Hampshire, site of one of his brightest moments as a Republican presidential candidate earlier this year. The Ohio governor will be in the state Aug. 28-29 for a reunion with his supporters there and to campaign and raise money for GOP gubernatorial hopeful Chris Sununu. Sununu is competing in a September primary. His brother, former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu, was one of the highest-profile surrogates for Kasich's unsuccessful White House bid. "It's been too many years since New Hampshire has had a Republican governor and Chris Sununu is...

Of the 17 candidates who ran for the Republican nomination, perhaps only two can honestly say they ran the races they intended to run. Donald Trump, the victor, is certainly one of them. John Kasich's aides argue that he's the other. Following his unceremonious departure from the presidential primary in May, the Ohio Republican governor is carrying forward with a sense of vindication, embracing his new role as the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" for vulnerable swing-state Republicans. On Thursday, that found Kasich in Chicago, helping to raise money for Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, who is in a tough re-election...

Hillary Clinton received the backing of Rep. Richard Hanna of New York on Tuesday. Hanna is the first Republican member of Congress to say explicitly that he will vote for Clinton in the fall rather than just expressing opposition to Trump. Hanna may not be the last elected Republican to jump to Clinton, but he illustrates the contours of anti-Trump Republicans nicely: The most anti-Trump GOP voters look a lot more like John Kasich’s supporters (and Hanna) than Ted Cruz’s.1 There seem to be two main camps of Republican opposition to Trump. One, embodied by Kasich, objects to Trump on...

Washington (CNN)Sen. John McCain accused Donald Trump of defaming Khizr Khan and argued the Republican presidential candidate does not represent the GOP. "While our Party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us," McCain said in a statement Monday. Did Trump go too far? Trump's criticism of Khan after he spoke from the stage of the Democratic convention last week resurrected the billionaire developer's past comments accusing McCain of not being a war hero because he was captured in Vietnam.