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In an August 3rd Chicago Tribune article, Archbishop Blaise Cupich of Chicago suggested that the widespread outrage ignited by the revelations that Planned Parenthood was selling body-parts extracted from aborted children represented an opportunity for Americans to reaffirm our commitment as a nation to a consistent ethic of life. While commerce in the remains of defenseless children is particularly repulsive, we should be no less appalled by the indifference toward the thousands of people who die daily for lack of decent medical care; who are denied rights by a broken immigration system and by racism; who suffer in hunger, joblessness...

Prison officials in the state of Kentucky have told chaplains that they are not allowed to speak of homosexual activity as sinful. The Department of Juvenile Justice revoked the credentials of a Baptist chaplain, citing his refusal to comply with a policy that forbids reference to homosexuality as sinful. Chaplains who do not agree to abide by that policy will not be allowed to work in prisons, officials said. The Kentucky policy stipulates that "staff, volunteers, interns and contractors shall not imply or tell LGBTQI juveniles that they are abnormal, deviant, sinful or that they can or should change their...

In the politically charged language of the present, Bishop Vitus Huonder is a “conservative” if not an “extremist.” In fact, he is simply a faithful Catholic Christian. And for that he’s being threatened with three years in jail. It’s happening in Switzerland, but the conflict epitomizes a wider phenomenon of anti-Christian secularists on both sides of the Atlantic using the courts to target Christians for simply standing up for biblical truth.In 2011, Huonder, the Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Chur in Switzerland, supported parents being able to opt out of having children as young as four subjected to...

Last week, I wrote about “unconditional love.” I claimed that it was a myth. In truth, love as such cannot occur absent conditions. All emotions are a response to preconceived values, and values are by nature conditional. We love what we love because it is what it is.Reaction to the piece was mixed, as reflected in the comments section. Some followed the argument. Others disagreed. Of particular interest to me, since I am a Bible-believing Christian, was this response from “Harald”: Christ loves me unconditionally. He died for all of us, no exceptions.Is that a myth too? Yes, Harald. Yes,...

Under heavy public pressure, a Swiss Catholic bishop has issued a public apology for a statement in which he referred to homosexual activity as an abomination and cited Old Testament passages saying that offenders should be put to death. Bishop Vitus Huonder of Chur sent a 3-page letter to clerics in which he said it had been a “mistake” to make his comments—which he had delivered at a forum in Germany—“on a theological and academic level.” He said that he should have shown a draft of his talk to colleagues, who would have warned him on the likely outcry. The...

Proceedings of an un-publicized series of workshops at the Vatican earlier this year reveal controversial conversations taking place ahead of this fall’s Synod on the Family. There is a storm warning ahead for the Ordinary Synod on the Family, scheduled for October 2015 in Rome. Can there be “the possibility of an evolution of the ecclesiastical doctrine of marriage” in the Catholic Church without the Synod fathers “betraying their own traditions”? That evolution is the goal of some prominent theologians and canonists who met for three separate workshops earlier this year, under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for the...

Good evening and happy Friday. I was recently shown the difference between Romans 13 in the King James, and Romans 13 in the NIV. These differences are stark and their meanings are fundamentally different. I'll give you the verses and let you find the difference. [Rom 13:1-7 KJV] 1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3 For rulers are not a...

No one can deny the explosive impact of the Planned Parenthood videos painstakingly obtained over three years of undercover reporting by the Center for Medical Progress. A GOP that had shoved the abortion issue to the political back burner has suddenly seen it boiling over, with major Republican candidates (such as Marco Rubio) now speaking loudly about the “barbarism” of “murdering babies.” As Jason Jones and I wrote here last week, if you tune out the Trump-induced static at the last Republican debate, you will hear one message loud and clear: The Republican party has committed itself to advancing protection...

When the Church gathers in Rome from October 4-25 for a much-publicized Synod, the centerpiece topic will be “The Family.” We are living in a time when the family unit, which is at the heart of the human experience, has taken on “hot button” status. That is troubling enough. But other fiery issues are also on the table for consideration, such as giving communion to Catholics who are divorced and remarried (without an annulment) and making accommodations to practicing homosexuals. At the same time, politicians and the secular media—even some Church leaders—are pressuring the Church to modernize her notion of...

Nearly half a million Catholics have signed a petition urging Pope Francis to condemn same sex unions as unnatural and rule out allowing divorced believers who remarry to receive communion, organisers claim. The Filial Appeal on the Future of the Family, launched by a group describing itself as an alliance of lay Catholics and pro-Life organisations, has also secured the backing of more than 100 senior clerics, including many bishops from the developing world and American cardinal Raymond Burke, an arch-conservative who has been sidelined within the Vatican hierarchy since Francis was elected two years ago. According to the Appeal’s...

A Brief Biblical Manual on the Problem of Deception Msgr. Charles Pope • August 13, 2015 • 0 Comments A great clarion call goes up quite often in Scripture: “Do not be deceived!” And indeed, this call must go up as never before, for we live in times of great deception. So many have been deceived about marriage, sexuality, life, the existence of God, and what our life is really all about. And while our current times show widespread deception, it must also be noted that deceiving and being deceived are common human tendencies, especially in our fallen condition. Scripture...

PORTLAND, Ore. — At least six Christians were attacked with a cleansing agent on Wednesday while preaching the gospel and standing for life outside of a Planned Parenthood facility in Portland, Oregon, but the man who committed with the act was not arrested and was let go without charges. The pro-life outreach was part of the Biblical Church Evangelism Conference hosted by Beaverton Grace Bible Church and organized by its pastor, Chuck O’Neal. As over 20 Christians stood on the public sidewalk to proclaim the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ through preaching and the holding of...

The Potter's House Pastor Clarifies Positions After HuffPost Live Interview Prompts Confusion Among Some. Bishop T.D. Jakes has clarified that his method of ministering to gay people who choose to attend The Potter's House church was "evolving" and said he does not endorse same-sex marriage, after a recent HuffPost Live interview led some viewers to believe he had "shifted" in his biblical convictions regarding human sexuality and marriage. Christians and Americans in general remain divided in their opinions on the morality of homosexuality and the legality of same-sex marriage, and the Supreme Court's ruling in June effectively affirming same-sex marriage...

Marriage can be a long and difficult journey, full of obstacles trying to keep you from being happy in your relationship. But don't be discouraged or distracted. If you want to keep your marriage and family together, learn to recognize and avoid these six pitfalls: < excerpted questions: >1. Your heartbeat speeds up but not because of your spouse.2. Your spouse is a little worse for wear.3. Someone else is a more preferable option. 4. You deserve better.5. There is no physical romance. 6. The honeymoon stage is over. < snip > We are constantly told how divorce and infidelity...

<p>DENVER (AP) — A suburban Denver baker who would not make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple cannot cite his Christian beliefs in refusing them service because it would lead to discrimination, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.</p>

Rorate is pleased to publish, for the first time, a memorandum that was written by the late traditional Catholic publisher Neil McCaffrey in February 1976. Addressed to Fr. Edward J. Berbusse, S.J. (first chaplain of Christendom College), Fr. Robert Bradley, S.J., Fr. Vincent P. Miceli, S.J., Dr. & Mrs. Dietrich von Hildebrand, and Dr. & Mrs. William A. Marra, this memo reduces to shreds the "papolatry" that has become such a characteristic feature of neo-Catholicism. Though written almost 40 years ago, it is perhaps more pertinent today than ever. (Published with permission of Roger A. McCaffrey.) February 25, 1976 Memo...

Good entry at One Peter Five on the disastrous approach the Synods on the Family seem to be taking towards the topic of divorce and remarriage. I very much agree with the author below that many modernist Synod fathers and their advisers seem to believe that divorce is just something that happens to people, like getting the flu, and that the Church owes it to those people to not ostracize them for such an unfortunate accident. There is almost no recognition of the evil of divorce in and of itself and the moral culpability of souls who fall into it...

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) – It was an unscripted moment like few others on the presidential campaign trail Monday in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Ted Cruz paused for a moment and looked into the audience at a community center for a man who changed his family’s life. “I was told Pastor Gaylon Wiley was here,” he told the crowd. “I haven’t seen Brother Wiley since I was a kid.” Then as the room with a thousand people fell silent, Cruz said “Brother Wiley led my dad to the Lord.” Out in the audience that day was Gaylon Wiley, who now lives in nearby...

Yesterday, a news story broke where an undercover video was shown allegedly capturing a Planned Parenthood worker brokering a deal to sell the body parts of their aborted fetuses. The woman on the video goes into graphic detail about how the tiny organs are harvested while she casually sips her wine and eats her salad. The viral video has propelled outrage all over the internet and launched hashtags such as #PPSellsBodyParts. This story has put the abortion debate back into the national spotlight. As a Christian (and a pastor), I’ve never seen abortion as a “political” issue, but rather as...

The [Center for Medical Progress investigative] tapes [about the collection and sale of fetal organs and parts] have generated a visceral reaction independent of how they were made or whether Planned Parenthood was making a profit. Rather, the widespread revulsion over the tapes arose because they unmasked the fact that, in our public conversation about abortion, we have so muted the humanity of the unborn child that some consider it quite acceptable to speak freely of crushing a child's skull to preserve valuable body parts and to have that discussion over lunch.... This newest evidence about the disregard for the...