Free Republic

Sometimes, life has this way of turning down the volume on all the chaos, and in that stillness, we get a clear glimpse of what truly matters. One of these moments occurred in my life last month. It was a quiet January night, just a few days before the presidential inauguration. I was lying in bed in the middle of the night with my 6-year-old, Echo, gently calming her after a night terror had awakened her. As she finally drifted back to sleep, I felt a heaviness settle over me, thick and suffocating, like the air before a storm. It...

In a post on X Tuesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vice presidential running mate for their independent campaign, Nicole Shanahan — a 39-year-old patent attorney, Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur and ex-wife of Google founder Sergey Brin, announced that she had been baptized as a Christian. Shanahan's X post, titled "My Baptism Story," recalls how one night in January, she "felt a heaviness settle over me, thick and suffocating, like the air before a storm" after waking up in the middle of the night to calm her young daughter who had experienced a "night terror." While she's always "believed in God,"...

Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards' youngest daughter, Lola, recently got baptized and publicly declared Jesus as her Savior, revealing He saved her from “battling severe anxiety” and gave her a “peace that makes no sense.”Earlier in January, the 19-year-old shared footage of her baptism on Instagram. In a follow-up post on Jan 22, she opened up about the reasons behind her decision, which she said "made my life worth living."“When I was in my deepest depression, there was a moment where I realized I hit rock bottom. I felt so lost and hopeless, and was just doing my best to...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope tells grandmother not to ‘insist’ on grandchildren’s baptismWriting to an Italian women concerned for the spiritual wellbeing of her grand-daughter, Pope Francis told her to accompany the child's parents without 'insisting' the children be baptized.Writing to a grandmother distressed about her children’s lack of attention to religion for their own children, Pope Francis told her to “accompany” them but not to insist they baptize their children.In the inaugural edition of a new Vatican magazine, Pope Francis downplayed an Italian grandmother’s concerns about her grandchildren not receiving the Sacrament of Baptism. The Pope’s reply came in direct response...

Thousands of University of Mississippi students packed into the campus’s arena to worship and make declarations of faith in Jesus Christ at an October 10 event, the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) reported. An impressive 6,500 “Ole Miss” pupils filled the Sandy and John Black Pavilion in Oxford to partake in singing praise music, hearing the gospel, and get baptized, Unite US event organizers said with photos on social media:

Southern Baptist congregations saw growth in baptisms, worship attendance and small group participation in 2023, while membership decline slowed compared to recent years, according to the Annual Church Profile (ACP) compiled by Lifeway Christian Resources.The 2023 ACP, a statistical census of Southern Baptist congregations that included responses from about 7 in 10 churches in the denomination, found that membership dropped for the 17th consecutive year, dipping below 13 million for the first time since the 1970s. However, the 1.8% decline was smaller than in previous years.Total baptisms grew by nearly 26% to more than 226,000, approaching pre-pandemic levels. Average weekly...

Comedian and actor Russell Brand recently announced that he is going to be baptized as a Christian. The famous actor, comedian, and podcast host made the announcement in a brief video he shared to social media on the morning of April 26, In it, he also remarked on how it seems that other people are also turning to Christianity as the modern world loses meaning. "This Sunday, I’m taking the plunge. I’m getting baptized," he declared while filming himself standing outside. Noting his fascination with the Christian sacrament, he continued, "What’s been explained to me is, it’s an opportunity to...

Hulk Hogan and his wife, Sky Daily Hogan, were baptized at the Indian Rocks Baptist Church in Florida. The wrestling icon announced the news through an Instagram post on Wednesday. Two-time WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan is clearly saying his prayers and eating his vitamins, even as he enters his seventies, proving it by getting baptized alongside his better half. The Hulkster and Skye performed a Swanton bomb off the top rope and dove headfirst into their faith. No, not literally. The couple were fully submerged in water as part of the holy christening process. Hogan described the experience...

A Georgia high school football coach was fired after he held a baptism on school grounds for his players. Isaac Ferrell was terminated from his coaching position at Tattnall County High School after 20 players were baptized on October 23 behind the Battle Creek Warriors football field by a local pastor. Ferrell has admitted to organizing the ceremony for the team after he posted videos of it on his Facebook that have since been deleted. Tattnall County Schools Superintendent Kristen Waters said Ferrell was fired from his coaching position after the baptism and another undisclosed incident but still works in...

Indi Gregory was mandated to die by the courts despite offers of continued treatment and legal protection by the Italian government and Vatican leaders. Indi Gregory, the 8-month-old infant who was forced off life support by the United Kingdom courts system, was baptized before her death despite her family not originally being religious. Dean Gregory, Indi's father, said before her death that he was inspired to baptize his daughter by Christian legal volunteers who fought to keep her alive. Dean said he became convinced of the existence of the devil by his family's treatment in the courtroom. "I am not...

On Oct. 3, the famed tattoo artist and “LA Ink” star posted a video of her getting baptized on Instagram, more than a year after she announced she was giving up witchcraft. The clip, which is captioned only with a sign of the cross, captures some of the people at the baptism, while angelic music plays before the camera settles in on her.... On Oct. 3, the famed tattoo artist and “LA Ink” star posted a video of her getting baptized on Instagram, more than a year after she announced she was giving up witchcraft. The clip, which is captioned...

World-renowned makeup and tattoo artist Kat Von D has shared with the world that she has given her life to Jesus Christ. The 41-year-old shared a video to Instagram of her getting baptized, publicly declaring she was putting her faith in the Lord. "Katherine von Drachenberg, upon your profession of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in obedience to His Divine command, I baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit," the pastor said before submerging a white robe-clad Von D.

More than 200 students at an Alabama college were baptized in one night this week after a campus worship program that was reportedly attended by hundreds. The baptisms took place Tuesday night in a lake at Auburn's Red Barn venue, which is located about half a mile from Auburn University's Neville Arena, the site of a "Unite Auburn" worship event that drew a massive crowd. The "Unite Auburn" event featured performances by Christian worship band Passion and saw speakers such as Jennie Allen, a Christian author, and Rev. Jonathan Pokluda, lead pastor of Harris Creek Baptist Church in Waco, Texas....

“The Sacrament of Holy Baptism: How Can Water Do Such Great Things?” Today we continue our series on the six chief parts of the catechism, and we come to the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. And the catechism has some pretty impressive things to say about Baptism: “It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this.” “Wow! That’s quite a list! And you’re telling me that Baptism does all of that? That Baptism actually works? That it accomplishes such marvelous things? You’re kidding me, right? Just pouring some water over...

The differences between traditional baptism and the new rite matter: here’s whyAll of the new sacramental rites bear the mark of ecumenism, but one of the most striking is certainly the new rite of baptism.(LifeSiteNews) — Since Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum, released in 2007, many more Catholics and clergy have had the opportunity to discover the Traditional Latin Mass. Those who discover this rite are led, sooner or later, to compare it to the Novus Ordo Missae of Paul VI. The recent restrictions placed on the old rite by Pope Francis have perhaps intensified these comparisons. Any such comparative study...

“Final” is not a word you often hear in Christian teaching. Most Christians leave the final things until, well, the End. But this is not the language of the fathers nor of the Church. A good illustration can be found in the Orthodox service of Holy Baptism. During the blessing of the waters the priest prays: And grant to [this water] the grace of redemption, the blessing of Jordan. Make it the fountain of incorruption, the gift of sanctification, the remission of sins, the remedy of infirmities; the final destruction of demons, unassailable by hostile powers, filled with angelic might....

“The Centrality of Baptism: On Pentecost and in Your Life” (Acts 2:1-42) Today is the Day of Pentecost, one of the three great festivals of the Christian church year, along with Christmas and Easter. This festival commemorates the day of Pentecost that we read about in Acts chapter 2. And what happened that day--the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Peter’s preaching of Christ crucified and risen and repentance and forgiveness in his name--what did that result in? The baptism of 3,000 souls that day. And we even see what happened in the life of the newly baptized in the days...

MOSCOW, ID — To accommodate people who prefer sprinkling donuts with coffee instead of fully immersing their donuts in coffee, Dunkin’ Donuts recently announced plans to open new branches of their popular donut shops in communities with a large number of practicing Presbyterians.

A man suspected of being a member of El Chapo's Sinaloa drug cartel was arrested last week in the middle of a baptism being held in a Mexican church. Jose Bryan Salgueiro Zepeda was in attendance at the baptismal Mass at a church in Culiacán, Sinaloa, when agents interrupted the proceedings to arrest him. Widely-shared footage of the dramatic events shows Salgueiro Zepeda standing alongside three other people in the church while a priest can be heard speaking off-camera. See the footage below: In the clip, the priest can be heard saying in Spanish: 'Do you renounce Satan? Do you...

The Diocese of Phoenix said 'all of the baptisms he has performed until June 17, 2021, are presumed invalid'"The issue with using ‘We’ is that it is not the community that baptizes a person, rather, it is Christ, and Him alone, who presides at all of the sacraments, and so it is Christ Jesus who baptizes," Olmsted said.