Free Republic

Ask any sidewalk counselor. Odds are he or she has heard some version of this from those heading into the abortion clinic: “I know it's wrong. But I'm a Christian and I've prayed about it and I know God will forgive. His grace is greater than all my sin.” What's wrong with this picture? (Other than the fact that a baby is about to be deliberately put to death.) Most Christians instinctively sense something's desperately out of whack here. But what? Sadly, few seem able to put their finger on it. Sadder still is that after they sift through their...

Support is growing within the Church of England to rewrite its official liturgy to refer to God as female following the selection of the first women bishops Support is growing within the Church of England to rewrite its official liturgy to refer to God as female following the selection of the first women bishops. Growing numbers of priests already insert words such as “she” and “mother” informally into traditional service texts as part of a move to make the language of worship more inclusive, it has been claimed. But calls for a full overhaul of liturgy to recognise the equal...

"So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy."—Romans 9:16 "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."—Revelation 22:17 The great controversy which for many ages has divided the Christian Church has hinged upon the difficult question of "the will." I need not say of that conflict that it has done much mischief to the Christian Church, undoubtedly it has; but I will rather say, that it has been fraught with incalculable usefulness; for it has thrust forward before the minds of Christians, precious truths, which but...

FULL TITLE: Mysterious Red Mark Beneath Painting of Crucified Christ at Newport Church Leads Pastor to Speculate on Jesus' Presence ********************************************************************************* Mysterious red stain beneath painting of Jesus at St. John the Evangelist Church in Newport leads to speculation of holy presence in May 2015. A narrow red stain that has remained for years beneath a painting of a crucified Christ at the Saint John the Evangelist church in Newport, Rhode Island, has led the church's pastor to speculate on its possible meaning and the presence of Jesus. Providence Journal reported on Monday that the 140-year-old Episcopal church has recently...

Pseudonyms( it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in Me) of approach are openhearted assuredness and in these rivers you will find the truth and nature of Me. So speak to these rivers to rise up for as Ezekiel spoke to the dry bones so must you and as you declare expect the Kingdom to answer for Zion "IS yours for The Taking" for as you inhabit Me(ZION) I shall inhabit you So feed your wellspring daily for deep calls to deep even now ! Galatians 2:19-21 19 For I through the law died to the...

God is neither "she" nor "he" says Watch, a group which represents women in the church. The organisation has been accused of trying to "rewrite" Christian doctrine by encouraging people to use the female pronoun when talking about God. Rev Jody Stowell, vicar at St Michael & All Angels Church in Harrow, says she was "dismayed" by recent reports. "This is not about making God a woman. This is about creating those proper, Biblical images of God," she explains to Newsbeat. The ideas surrounding which pronouns to use when talking about God were discussed at a committee meeting in Lambeth...

Pro-choice Methodist minister John M Swomley who was the subject of a LifeNews article in May, attempts to refute the claim that preborn babies are “innocent.” The argument appeared in a book over a decade old, but it is so strange and disturbing that I’m writing about it now that it has come to my attention. The gist of Swomley’s argument is that preborn babies are not “innocent” as pro-lifers claim, but are actually guilty – guilty enough, he implies, to justify aborting them. Swomley first tries to refute the baby’s claim to innocence using theology: The first claim is...

[Originally published under the title "Notes on the Way," in Time and Tide, Vol. XXIX (August 14, 1948), it was subsequently reprinted with the above title in the posthumous God in the Dock book, published by Wiilliam B. Erdmanns, Grand Rapids, MI). "I should like Balls infinitely better," said Caroline Bingley, "if they were carried on in a different manner ... It would surely be much more rational if conversation instead of dancing made the order of the day." "Much more rational, I dare say," replied her brother, "but it would not be near so much like a Ball." We...

I am not equation homosexuality or heterosexuality with pedophilia, nor am I saying that Josh Duggar ever committed homosexual acts at any point in time in any way, shape. form or fashion. The point of this thread is like all of the others threads that I have written, and it is not meant to bash Josh Duggar. The point is to look at this situation and use it as a catalyst to continue on with other threads that I have started that deal with the following: "What constitutes salvation?" "Who is truly saved?" "Do we go by Arminianism or Calvinism?"...

A vicar in the Church of England has proposed a motion that would allow for a liturgical celebration of an individual's identity following gender transition, much like a baptism, and would include a renaming ceremony. The Rev. Chris Newlands, the vicar of Lancaster Priory, recently proposed the motion for the church's General Synod to consider. "That this Synod, recognising the need for transgender people to be welcomed and affirmed in their parish church, call on the House of Bishops to consider whether some nationally commended liturgical materials might be prepared to mark a person's gender transition," reads the motion. Newlands,...

Supernatural Beings( Angels)are about to arrive on the scene assisting My children according to My Kingdom and now more than ever before they shall begin to naturalize before you as they truly are " Heaven on Earth " . Honor them as they honor you as My Creation and realize they ARE part of My Kingdom, My Power, and My Glory on Earth as it is in Heaven for now they shall be assisting you in this battle as never before. I have opened the Heavens now for you as I did for Jacob, as I did at My Resurrection...

Introduction Recent scholarship on Arminius has pointed out that he was a theologian of grace. Of course, I am yet to read of a Christian theologian who would not wish to be described that way. Some scholars have also tried to narrow the gap between Arminius and the Reformed tradition, with some suggesting that Arminius was correct to view himself as Reformed.  Historically speaking, according to the judgment of many Reformed divines, Arminius, and his Remonstrant successors, deviated from the Reformed doctrine of justification by faith alone in a significant way. Arminius thought his difference was only minor. In fact,...

I have read the following 'fact filled book': Possessed: The True Story of an Exorcism by Thomas B. Allen (ISBN 038542034X). In the book, the boy tries to reach his dead aunt using a OUIJA board. He instead is possessed by 10 demons. Fast forward to today. Children are playing a new game: The Charlie Charlie Challenge. One basically builds a 'OUIJA' board using a sheet of paper and two pencils. There is a YouTube Video that explains how to do this. There are also articles on the Internet about the 'Charlie Charlie Challenge': The Charlie Charlie Challenge - what...

Catholic teaching on contraception will always be a "sign of contradiction" and it will always point to an inconvenient, counter-cultural truth: more contraception means more divorce and more abortion.In his preface to A Man for All Seasons , playwright Robert Bolt describes protagonist Thomas More as "a man with an adamantine sense of his own self. He knew where he began and left off… but at length he was asked to retreat from that final area where he located his self. And there this supple, humorous, unassuming and sophisticated person… was overtaken by an absolutely primitive rigor, and could no...

Rev Timothy Chaitanya Murmu, Pentecostal minister in the village of Manohar (Odisha), has been in prison for the past four days on false charges of forced conversion. Police in Anandpur arrested the clergyman last Wednesday for baptising 16 tribal people. According to the indictment, he allegedly "forced" them to embrace Christianity in exchange for money. "In September 2014, Rev Murmu celebrated the baptism of 16 tribal residents in the village of Baniajodi,” Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), told AsiaNews. “The ceremony took place only after obtaining 16 notarised affidavits in which the catechumens said...

Harriett Louise Croft Bancroft passed away at 2100 hours, May 24, 2015. She died peacefully and at rest My mother was born Oct 15, 1924 in Worcestor, Massachusetts. Her mom was named Ethel Fudge Croft, her dad Morrell Croft. Both were originally from Canada. Her mom's family came from Ireland in the mid 1800's, her Dad's family came from Holland in the 1600's on a ship named THE ANN and they spelled their name KRAFT then smile emoticon I was with her alone when she passed. My sister Jeannie was on the phone saying goodbye to her and she told...

Serious evangelical dialogue with Roman Catholicism finds it virtually impossible to avoid the issues raised by the institution of the papacy. These issues were central in the sixteenth-century division, and they remain problematic for modern discussion as well. It is hard for many Catholics in the West to understand the serious concerns evangelicals have regarding the papacy, since they often think of John Paul II as a benevolent and kind gentleman who warmly radiates love for Christ and non-Catholics. In a special commentary on the Feast Day (1971) honoring St. Peter and St. Paul, the Vatican radio declared, “The Church...

No, this is not a joke:  The Church of England is to debate plans to introduce a ceremony akin to a baptism to mark the new identities of Christians who undergo gender transition.The Rev Chris Newlands, the vicar of Lancaster Priory, has proposed a motion to the General Synod to debate the issue, after he was approached by a young transgender person seeking to be “re-baptised” in his new identity.The motion, which was passed by Blackburn Diocese last month, calls on the House of Bishops to consider whether it should introduce a new service to mark the milestone in the...

Submit to the Lord and you will find, Breakthrough of a new kind, For in submission Heaven becomes clear, And you will see into things others fear, For The Father's Heart is Pure Above All, And only The Holy may access and call, For The Eyes of The Cherubim guard what is pure, So only the Holy are able to endure . . . Isaiah 6:5-8 5 Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone and ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for...

Presbyterians Collapsing, or “Settling Into The New Thing God is Creating”? The 2014 numbers reveal the PCUSA's largest statistical decline to date. A slimmed-down Presbyterian Church (USA) is apparently getting ready for beach season after shedding unwanted excess members, according to a cheery report by the denomination’s top official. “The PC(USA) is a church made up of vibrant congregations doing their best to live out the gospel of Jesus Christ in their communities and in the world,” an apparently unfazed Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PCUSA, soothed. “Membership declines continue, but on a whole the...