Free Republic

Gay sex between consenting men in Trinidad and Tobago could soon be decriminalised following a court judgment that campaigners said might spark similar decisions elsewhere in the Caribbean. In his ruling on Thursday, judge Devindra Rampersad said sections of the Sexual Offences Act, which prohibit “buggery” and “serious indecency” between two men, criminalised consensual same-sex activity between adults, and were unconstitutional. “The judge came down on the right side of history in this case by striking down the buggery law and ruling it as unconstitutional,” said Kenita Placide, Caribbean advisor for rights group OutRight Action International, in a statement. The...

The New Yorker approaches topics like a shallow teenager: Slap a disparaging word onto a popular topic and bingo! You have journalism. Among the long, hallowed list of people, places and things the magazine has found “creepy,” the publication’s latest target is – surprise! – the Christianity of the Chik-fil-A franchise. Blogger Dan Piepenbring found the franchise’s “pervasive Christian traditionalism” with its statue of “Jesus washing a disciple’s feet” and its policy to close on Sundays just too much. Then again, The New Yorker has called many things “creepy.” From Miley Cyrus’ return to sobriety to IKEA’s aesthetic to children’s...

The ninth Psalm is eschatological. It is a celebration of the return of King Messiah, whose coming is an intervention, a deliverance of Israel from the amassed nations of the world who have united to destroy her. The psalmist taunts the enemies who have sought Israel’s destruction, O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.(Psalm 9:6)Either this is rendered as ‘Your destructions are over forever!”, or it means “You are eternally destroyed”. Perhaps it is both, for the Coming of the Messiah shall certainly produce both effects;...

The Psalms of the Bible are full of prophecy. A major theme of many of the Psalms is that of the return of the King, Messiah, and his sufferings and glory. The prophecies of the Psalms are eschatological also, describing in great detail the last great conflict of Israel, and of the world conditions at the time of the second coming of Christ. The ninth Psalm is an example of this. I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing...

…I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.(Psalm 2:7-9)In its original context Psalm 2 is a coronation psalm. Israel is the Son of God, therefore the King of Israel, who is the embodiment of Israel, is a Son of God. God has appointed the King, and...

A Wake Forest University religion professor thinks it is not just illogical to believe in God, but also immoral, according to a Wednesday report. Dr. Jarrod Whitaker specializes in South Asian religions at the North Carolina school and also allegedly asserted that belief in an objective truth “is the most tremendous evil that is responsible for all the great suffering in the world,” reported The Wake Forest Review. The professor would perpetually “explain why Christian theology is problematic, racist, sexist, imperialist, and fundamentally evil,” Whitaker’s Catholic student John told the Review, who kept his identity concealed.

The head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency is “100 percent certain” that Iran remains committed to developing a nuclear bomb and believes the international community must change or scrap its nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic. The comments by Yossi Cohen added an influential voice to a global debate over Iran’s nuclear program ahead of a deadline set by President Donald Trump for toughening the deal. Trump, like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been a fierce critic of the 2015 nuclear deal. Trump has set a mid-May deadline to reach agreement with the European nations to toughen restrictions on...

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.(Psalm 2:1-6)The Kings of the Earth and their rulers have come into open opposition against the LORD...

Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.(Psalm 2:5-6)The LORD shall speak unto the Kings of the earth in wrath, He will trouble them, addressing the true heart of the controversy, which is Lordship. Who is the true Lord of the earth? He speaks directly to those elites, the so called ‘Kings of the earth and their Rulers’ who would construct for themselves a new godless world order, an updated Tower of Babel, a godless world Unity, “I have appointed my...

US President Donald Trump's unabashed support for the Jewish state and his public recognition of Jerusalem as its capital have many Israelis electrified. The current American leader's positive attitude toward Israel seems nearly illogical, especially after decades of far more hostile trends. A prominent Israeli rabbi believes the reason for this unprecedented (at least in modern times) shift is that Trump has a big role to play in the building of the Third Temple and the coming of Messiah. Rabbi Yosef Berger is the rabbi in charge of King David's Tomb on Mount Zion, and the son of a widely...

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.(Psalm 2:1-4)According to the Divine Psalmist, the Kings of the Earth and the rulers have embarked on an all-encompassing liberation movement, seeking to use their influence to break society free from the “bands” and “cords” of the religion of the LORD and his...

I saw a line between the month of march leading into April then Jesus on The throne as described in Ezekiel with the wheels within the wheels beneath him and The Spirit of The Lord in the wheels moving Him forward . Then I heard this word come forth . . . My kingdom has come upon the Earth now through my Chosen ones so get ready for a shift and acceleration in the spiritual realm for truly I AM about to shake all creation until all that is left is My Kingdom come. I saw many left behind as...

I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.(Psalm 22:22-23)We are suddenly transported into an entirely different scenario. The righteous servant had just been hanging between heaven and earth, or perhaps even heaven and Hell. His enemies have been jeering, exulting over and mocking Him. He has called out to the LORD on whom He has long relied to save His soul from the savages who encompass...

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.(Psalm 22:1-2)WHY?The Righteous sufferer cries out, in a state of utter dereliction. Abandoned by friends, lovers and evidently, he is even abandoned by His God. The Question is Why? Why is God silent, unresponsive to his cries, why has he been abandoned in this severe trial? The greatest agony of all is abandonment by...

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.(Psalm 2:1-3)The first two Psalms go together. Perhaps it isn’t immediately apparent, because in some ways they are completely different, but I believe the Holy Spirit led those who placed them side by side as the opening of the Psalter. Psalm one examines a lone individual, a God worshipping , scripture meditating disciple who has made...

There is breaking news out of Jerusalem that descendants of Moses' brother Aaron, called Kohanim, have just conducted a Passover sacrifice at the foot of the Temple Mount, just yards from where the Jewish Temple once stood. The sacrifice is a groundbreaking moment in modern Israeli history and likely the first time since 68 AD that a Passover sacrifice was conducted in such close proximity to the Temple Mount. Religious Jews have been increasingly eager to build the Third Temple and restart sacrifices, but have been prevented from performing sacrifices in the area in years past by Israeli police...

Religious Jewish factions say they are moving ever closer to the realization of the Third Temple in Jerusalem. The latest evidence of this is police authorization, granted on Sunday, for a Passover sacrificial ceremony to be held just tens of meters from where the Second Temple once stood. Religious groups have been holding public Passover sacrifices, in accordance with the biblical outline, for years. But never before have they been permitted to conduct the ceremony so close to the Temple Mount, which the Muslims claim as their own, even as they deny the holy site holds any religious or historical...

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will open in May to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel declaring its independence, Trump administration officials said Friday. A senior State Department official said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson approved a security plan late Thursday for an embassy location to open in Jerusalem. “We are excited about taking this historic step, and look forward with anticipation to the May opening,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Friday. Officials told Fox News the embassy would initially be located in the neighborhood of Arnona on a compound that currently houses the...

Pres. Trump says he "may" travel to Jerusalem for the opening of the U.S. Embassy. "If I can, I will." https://t.co/gwOZC0D5zc pic.twitter.com/gGsI5MsGgC — ABC News (@ABC) March 5, 2018 ______________________________________________________________________________________ President Trump said Monday he may travel to Israel in May to attend the opening of the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. "We're looking at coming. If I can, I will,” Trump said during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. The president said the U.S. will have the embassy “built very quickly." Trump’s decision last year to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital pleased Netanyahu’s...

Nevertheless I have a few things against you, for you have there those who hold to the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication… (Rev 2:14)By the end of the fourth ‘parable’ of Balaam, both he and Balak the king were fully aware of God’s purposes for Israel. The utter impossibility of using any kind of divination against Israel was now obvious to the badly shaken king and to the seer also – whose eyes God had opened. They would go...