Free Republic

And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. (Revelation 5:1-4)Revelation chapter Five is the continuation of...

DAY 10 – MOTHER MOST AMIABLE, PRAY THAT WE RECEIVE THE GIFT OF UNDERSTANDING! GOD’S WORD “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130) “Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints …” (Ephesians 1:18) HEROES’ WORDS “Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that thou mayest believe, but believe that thou mayest understand.” -St. Augustine “Understanding is the sure and clear knowledge of some...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Stand Firm It is “God who changes the times and seasons; He sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.” Dan. 2:21

An Air Force major, who was accused of civil rights violations for having a Bible on his work desk, has been cleared of any wrongdoing, according to military officials at the 310th Space Wing in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Maj. Steve Lewis, a supervisor at the Reserve National Security Space Institute, agreed to voluntarily remove the Bible pending a military review. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation had filed a complaint against Maj. Lewis -- accusing him of "harboring and encouraging a truly abhorrent example of First Amendment civil rights violations." But a public affairs spokesman told me late Tuesday that Maj....

"[Love] bears all things" (1 Cor. 13:7). Love confronts sin but protects the sinner. In 1 Corinthians 13:7 Paul mentions four qualities of love that are closely related: bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, and enduring all things. That might sound like love is indiscriminate and accepting of anything that comes along, but "all things" in that verse is qualified by the context. Love rejects jealousy, bragging, arrogance, and so on (vv. 4-6), but it bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things that are within the parameters of God's Word. "Love bears all things" speaks of love's...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible John (Revelation 11) The Two Witnesses 11 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. 2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand...

“‘Do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on’” (Matthew 6:25). To worry about the future is to sin against God. Someone has said, “You can’t change the past, but you can ruin a perfectly good present by worrying about the future.” Worry does ruin the present, but even more important for the believer is to recognize that worry is sin. Let’s look at why that is so. Worry means you are striking out at God. Someone might say, “Worry...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for Presidential candidate DONALD TRUMP and Vice Presidential candidate MIKE PENCE. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14 Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

[Jesus] said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.’” - Luke 11:2 Misplaced priorities plague all of us at different points in our lives. After all, while it can be relatively easy for us to identify good things that we should do, we sometimes miss the most important things we should do. We are finite and cannot do every good deed that it is possible to do. Thus, we need a way to rank our priorities, to make sure we focus on the most important deeds out of all the good things that...

August 24, 2016 Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle Reading 1 Rev 21:9b-14 The angel spoke to me, saying,“Come here.I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”He took me in spirit to a great, high mountainand showed me the holy city Jerusalemcoming down out of heaven from God.It gleamed with the splendor of God.Its radiance was like that of a precious stone,like jasper, clear as crystal.It had a massive, high wall,with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationedand on which names were inscribed,the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.There were three gates facing...

Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas initially thought it was a prank when he was told in May that Pope Francis was on the line, but it was really him, telling Farrell to head up a new Vatican department. In part, his marching orders are to make sure lay people hold prominent Vatican positions, and to help the pope hear directly from the laity.Sometimes when new Vatican appointments are announced, it’s a bit opaque who actually called the shot. That’s definitely not the situation, however, with Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas, named last week to be the first-ever head of a...

Moscow, August 23, Interfax - A number of cases of terrorist reprisals and actions against Christians in the Middle East increased by 300% in the past seven years, Konstantin Dolgov, Russian Foreign Ministry Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, said. "According to estimates of a variety of human rights organizations, a number of cases of terrorist reprisals and actions against Christians, including in the Middle East, increased by 300% in the past seven years," he said during a roundtable meeting on Tuesday. "Russia reserves for itself the key role in defending the interests of Christian people....

TEHRAN – A senior Iranian religious scholar on Saturday wrote to Pope Francis, the current Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, thanking him for his recent remarks that Islam is free of violence.

And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.(Revelation 4:9-11)The Apostle John has been ushered into the very center of reality, the throne room of Almighty God. God is there,...

In his second epistle, Saint John teaches. “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him in your house or even greet him” (2Jn 10). But Francis dictates other norms of conduct for our times – if not with words, at least with his notorious gestures and, above all, in everyday life. Everyone must be received, regardless of the doctrines they profess, even if they are overtly rebellious, or even hostile, toward the Faith of the Church of Christ. Everyone must be greeted, and special attention must be paid to those who lead a...

AN INCREASING NUMBER of Byzantine churches are observing the Feast of the Dormition by conducting the Burial Service of the Theotokos. This observance comes to us from the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the traditional site of her death and burial.On the morning of August 14 a procession sets out from the Patriarchate, bearing the icon of the Dormition. They leave the Old City and cross the Kedron Valley, arriving at Gethsemane and the tomb of the Theotokos. There the people, passing beneath the icon, enter the church where the burial shroud of the Theotokos has been displayed for veneration. On the...

"[Love] rejoices with the truth" (1 Cor. 13:6). Love never compromises God’s Word. Paul has just given us a list of things that love does not do: become jealous, brag, act arrogantly or unbecomingly, seek its own, become provoked, keep track of wrongs suffered, or rejoice in unrighteousness. Now he comes to the first of five things love does: "[Love] rejoices with the truth" (v. 6). The contrast in verse 6 is between love's inability to rejoice in unrighteousness and its joy when truth prevails. "Truth" refers to God's Word, which is the standard of righteousness. Paul could have said,...

“‘Do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on’” (Matthew 6:25). God’s Word commands us not to worry. A story I once read reminded me that worry is like fog. According to the article, dense fog covering seven city blocks a hundred feet deep is composed of less than one glass of water—divided into sixty billion droplets. In the right form, a few gallons of water can cripple a large city. Similarly, the object of a person’s worry is usually...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible John (Revelation 10) The Angel and the Little Scroll 10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2 He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices...

Essential Catholic Teachings on the End Times Msgr. Charles Pope • August 22, 2016 • We are currently reading from St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians in daily Mass, and given the focus of on the “end times,” it might be good to review certain basic Catholic teachings on this matter, the theology of which is called eschatology.The Catholic approach to the end times is different from that in certain (but not all) Protestant circles, especially the Evangelicals, who have a strong and often vivid preoccupation with signs of the Second Coming of Christ. Many of the notions...