Free Republic

BERLIN (AP) — Mohammed Ali Zonoobi bends his head as the priest pours holy water over his black hair. "Will you break away from Satan and his evil deeds?" pastor Gottfried Martens asks the Iranian refugee. "Will you break away from Islam?" "Yes," Zonoobi fervently replies. Spreading his hands in blessing, Martens then baptizes the man "in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost." Mohammed is now Martin — no longer Muslim, but Christian. Zonoobi, a carpenter from the Iranian city of Shiraz, arrived in Germany with his wife and two children five months ago. He...

I read about 100 articles a month, and my favorite piece last month was Girl in The Picture, by Emily Thomes. Originally posted on The Gospel Coalition, Thomes shares her inspiring story of lesbianism to follower of Christ. Today, Thomes stops by the site to share more of her story and give advice to Christians ministering to those who identify as LGBT. You can read the full interview below. Emily, thank you for taking time to stop by the site. I’ll start broadly. Tell us a little about your life before God saved you. Before God saved me, I was...

"He's a baby Christian." If you’re a Christian who’s been reluctant to vote for Donald Trump because of his past - shall we say - moral shortcomings, a secondhand report of his possible salvation is certainly not a reason all by itself to change that position. And as we’ve discussed in the past, it’s entirely possible God could be using Trump regardless of his faith or lack thereof. But one thing any Christian should recognize is that a person’s past is cleansed once they come to Christ, so if Dr. James Dobson is accurately reporting what he says happened recently,...

Has Donald J. Trump become a born-again Christian? That is the suggestion of James C. Dobson, one of America’s leading evangelicals, who said Mr. Trump had recently come “to accept a relationship with Christ” and was now “a baby Christian.” Dr. Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family and one of the country’s most prominent social conservatives, gave his account at a meeting Mr. Trump had in New York on Tuesday with hundreds of Christian conservatives. In an interview recorded at the event by a Pennsylvania pastor, the Rev. Michael Anthony, Dr. Dobson said he knew the person who...

I WAS AT TUESDAY'S HISTORIC "CONVERSATION WITH DONALD TRUMP AND BEN CARSON" at the Marriott Marquis on Broadway. About 1,000 evangelical leaders attended this historic event. While there, I met Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family and Family Talk. I asked Dr. Dobson his views on the meeting and he shared some things that will not only blow your mind, but should also have you on your knees, praying for Mr. Trump and our country with a fresh perspective. Click here or below to listen to this "you heard it here first" interview.

Donald Trump, according to a new report, has accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. No, you didn't accidentally click on The Onion. That's a factual statement, according to a well-respected evangelical faith leader. Dr. James Dobson, who was among the more than 900 evangelical faith leaders who met with the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting in New York City, says it happened fairly recently. He also said he knew who led the businessman to Christ. "I don't know when it was, but it has not been long," Dobson told Godfactor's Michael Anthony in an exclusive interview. "I believe he really made...

A growing number of Muslim refugees in Europe are converting to Christianity, according to churches, which have conducted mass baptisms in some places. Reliable data on conversions is not available but anecdotal evidence suggests a pattern of rising church attendance by Muslims who have fled conflict, repression and economic hardship in countries across the Middle East and central Asia. Complex factors behind the trend include heartfelt faith in a new religion, gratitude to Christian groups offering support during perilous and frightening journeys, and an expectation that conversion may aid asylum applications. At Trinity church in the Berlin suburb of Steglitz,...

Ben Carson said he thinks Donald Trump is starting to believe in "a greater power" and is praying more often. Trump's former presidential rival, a key surrogate and possible vice presidential pick, told The Hill on Friday that he believes Trump is becoming more spiritual.“I know that he has prayed. I have eyewitness,” Carson said in a Facebook Live interview.

My adolescence was a social nightmare.... .... I didn’t utter the word “gay” to describe myself until I was 19 years old, and no one prior to that time knew about my so-called sexual orientation. ....Fast-forward six years...I found myself a Christian in a new community: the church. Though my soul’s deepest need (reconciliation with God) was satisfied through being united to Jesus, the relational sphere of my life remained strangled by insecurity... .... I lingered in the shadows...attending services and then quickly escaping.... I began to sneak out of the building when some guy literally began to yell my...

"My parents were killed by a drunk driver, but my parents did not die in vain," he says in the advertisement, which was slated to start airing Friday in South Carolina. "I was transformed. I discovered my purpose by discovering the Lord. I believe the Lord put us on this earth to use the gifts that we've been given to bring about a healing. And that's the motivation for me." Kasich, who worships at an Anglican church and regularly attends a Bible study group, has always made his spirituality central to his pitch to voters, telling attendees of his over-100...

Thursday on his radio show, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh reacted to President Barack Obama’s address to a mosque in Baltimore a day earlier. According to Limbaugh, it raised a larger question about Obama, which pertained to Obama “routinely” touting Islam and why he chose Christianity over other religions.

An important new statement from the Vatican on the relationship between the Catholic Church, the Jewish people, and Jesus Christ makes many praiseworthy points. At the same time, it misunderstands Jesus' own mission to His Jewish people, thereby undermining fundamental tenets of the New Testament along with the very nature of the apostolic witness.

...During this time I was single, and friends set me up on a lot of dates. When they asked me if there were any deal breakers, I explained there was only one: No religious people. Shortly after I made that declaration, I started dating a guy who mentioned, in passing, that he attended a Presbyterian church. I flinched. But I liked him, and because I was so religiously illiterate, I didn’t understand that some Presbyterian churches are evangelical. I assumed he was a cultural Christian, like the few other Christians I knew. A few months into the relationship he confronted...

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins has been broadcasting his “Washington Watch” radio program from Israel this week, where he is helping to lead an FRC tour group. Also on the tour is former Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who joined Perkins on the program on Wednesday to share her view that biblical prophecy is being fulfilled all around her and that it was more urgent than ever to convert as many people as possible — including Jews — to Christianity to prepare for the imminent return of Christ. “Almost every article in the paper” has to do with conflicts...

A Muslim woman in Pakistan, named Nadia, left Islam and converted to Christianity. She ended up marrying up a Christian man named Aleem Masih. Her family was so enraged that they captured them, and shot Aleem to death; they shot Nadia as well, she survived but is in very critical condition, and according to the doctors she will most likely not survive. According to one Pakistani report: Nadia’s father kidnapped the couple, and he let the rickshaw driver leave while the couple remain seated in the rickshaw on gun point and then he brought the rickshaw in the farms and...

Romans 10:13King James Version (KJV) 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Justin Fivecoat, a parishioner at St. John The Apostle Catholic Church in Terrell, is one of the honorees who will be recognized Feb. 7 during a Mass for the annual Bishop’s Awards for Service to the Church. (DON JOHNSON/Special Contributor) TERRELL — A local diner, some thoughtful questions and a priest willing to listen led Justin Fivecoat to take a leap of faith three years ago that set him on a path to become an impactful parishioner at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church.“One thing I’ve always sensed about Justin is that I see him as a man after God’s...

Still, Mr. Lane underscored the advantage Mr. Cruz has with some evangelicals. Asked about the Texas senator’s faith, he responded, “Cruz is obviously born again and goes to First Baptist Houston.”

Fr. Terry is a priest in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia. Raised in the Baptist Church, he was later very active in the Assembly of God church before finding his way home to the Catholic Church at the age of 26. He graduated from Virginia Tech in 1986 with a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering. In 1995 he graduated from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook, PA, with a Master of Divinity and a Master of Arts. That same year he was ordained a priest for the Arlington Diocese. He is the brother of Catholic apologist Tim Staples.

Do you find it difficult to believe in God or accept the claims of Christianity? I did, when I was an atheist, but I changed my mind, and my reasons for doing so may be of interest to you in your own personal journey and attempts to make sense of life. I am a freelance writer and lecturer. Since graduating from Oxford in 1973, with a degree in politics and philosophy, I have spent most of my professional life in politics and journalism, loving, as I do, the world of books, ideas and debate. Two questions in particular have always...