Free Republic

Several charismatic Christian pastors and leaders who proclaimed that President Donald Trump would be reelected are maintaining that the election is not yet over and are holding fast to their predictions.Though former Vice President Joe Biden has been declared the projected winner by many mass media outlets, and Biden and his running mate, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California, have also declared victory, a cadre of charismatic evangelical leaders who prophesied that Trump would serve two terms are standing by their words and that the 45th U.S. president will yet serve another four years in office."The rocks are about to...

A new Barna poll points to a dramatic drop in biblical beliefs among American Pentecostals and Charismatics. If the findings are accurate, what are the likely causes?According to the poll, “although we proclaim ‘In God We Trust’ on our currency, a slim 51% majority of Americans believe in a biblical view of God – down from 73% thirty years ago. Increasingly, the research finds mounting evidence that Americans are both redefining – and rejecting – God.“Stunningly, Americans are more confident about the existence of Satan than they are of God. Overall, 56% contend that Satan is an influential spiritual being,...

Pastor Robert Jeffress has warned that Christians in the U.S. would be under siege if the Democrats got into power in 2020. Jeffress heads the 13,000-member First Baptist Dallas church and is a vehement loyalist of President Donald Trump. He told the conservative radio program The Todd Starnes Show that Trump has shown that he was a defender of Christians' interests through his opposition to abortion and support of Israel. "The reason they (Christians) support the president is not because they are religious hypocrites or because they think he is perfect—they know he is not perfect, just like none of...

Predictions of a looming Democratic “blue wave” haven’t soured Christian conservative activists, who say President Trump has notched so many surprise wins that they have faith he will again defy the naysayers and deliver Republican victories in November. Leaders on the religious right are more measured, saying Republican control of the House is very much in jeopardy and warning the Republican faithful not to become overconfident in Mr. Trump’s ability to deliver the impossible. The midterms could be much closer than many expect, Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, told reporters last week. “I think what you are...

Refugees are not simply impoverished migrants. A refugee is defined, by a 1951 international convention, as a person who, “owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted … is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.” The maximum number of refugees that the U.S. should accept in a given year is a fraught question. Dara Lind reports that in the final year of the Carter administration, federal officials settled on the answer 231,700. Under Reagan, the answer fluctuated between a high of 217,000...

On Monday, August 27, the White House hosted a dinner in honor of evangelical leadership. It was truly on the level of a State dinner. I attended and spoke briefly at that dinner, but when I saw the media reports about the evening, I could not believe what I was reading. As a journalist for more than 40 years, I can only describe what I read as fake news. President Trump allowed us to speak that evening. It was mostly ministers praying, preaching and praising God for His blessings. The only words I can use to describe the dinner at...

Pastor Robert Jeffress said on Monday night that evangelical supporters of President Trump don’t support his alleged “extramarital affairs” but do support his “excellent policies.” “I know a lot of people are still perplexed- why are Christians so supportive of Donald Trump?” Jeffress said during an appearance on Fox News. “Well, it’s really not that hard to figure out when you realize he is the most pro-life, pro-religious liberty, pro-conservative judiciary in history and that includes either Bush or Ronald Reagan.” The pro-Trump pastor went on to say that is why he believes so many evangelicals remain committed to the...

The Washington Post asked locals at a southern Baptist church in Alabama why they voted for President Donald Trump despite that the former reality TV star’s conduct. Their answer was short and to the point. Members of the First Baptist church of Luverne, Alabama say former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president was a no-go for them, according to a report Saturday from WaPo. “She hates me,” Terry Drew, a member of the church, said of Clinton, who lost Alabama by almost 700,000 votes. “She has contempt for people like me, and Clay, and people who love God...

For millions of evangelical Christians, President Trump’s announcement Monday night was the vision they held in their heads as they stepped into the polling booth almost two years ago: a Republican president, filling the Supreme Court with more conservative justices who might drastically curtail access to legal abortion and advance other conservative Christian priorities. As Trump prepared to announce his second nominee to the court in his 18-month term, these conservative Christians saw much of their dream realized. “It’s a generational decision,” exulted Jack Graham, a Texas pastor who is on Trump’s informal evangelical advisory board. “It’s a decision that...

The Charismatic-Pentecostal movement finds itself at a critical juncture. On the one hand, our movement is arguably responsible for the greatest ingathering souls in Church history, with well over 500 million new converts in the last 50 years. On the other hand, abuses abound in our midst, from sexual scandals to financial impropriety and from unaccountable prophecies to doctrinal deviances. It is high time that we do some self-policing. Better that we judge ourselves than be judged by the Lord (see 1 Peter 4:17; 1 Corinthians 11:31-32). I recently signed up to receive emails from a well-known "prophet," curious to...

Of all the theological squabbles that have plagued evangelical Christianity over the years, especially in the West, a particularly profound division centers on the power of the Holy Spirit and the ways in which He is at work today.Charismatics and noncharismatics who spoke with The Christian Post all concurred that steps can be taken toward mending this division, even as differences remain.Those who believe that the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit — such as prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues, the working of miracles, and the others listed in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 — have continued to this day,...

After the Washington Post reported Thursday that Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama had allegedly tried to initiate sex with a 14-year-old girl when he was a 32-year-old county prosecutor, national Republicans quickly distanced themselves. The National Republican Senatorial Committee severed fundraising ties with Moore’s campaign. More than a dozen of Moore’s would-be Republican colleagues so far have questioned whether he is fit to be in the Senate, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Even Alabama’s senior senator, Richard Shelby, called on Moore to step aside from the December 12 special election if the charges are true. President Donald Trump also...

Nearly a year ago, conservative Christians gambled on Donald Trump, a thrice-married Manhattan billionaire who bragged about sexual assault, ran casinos and used to support a woman’s right to abortion. The bet paid off. This weekend, Trump became the first sitting president to address the Values Voters Summit, a yearly Washington symposium that brings together social conservative leaders and voters seeking “to preserve the bedrock values of traditional marriage, religious liberty, sanctity of life and limited government that make our nation strong”. He duly touted his administration’s progress in “returning moral clarity to our view of the world”. “How times...

Donald Trump was forced to disband two business advisory councils and an infrastructure panel after some of America’s most prominent business leaders fled their posts, protesting against Trump’s statements appeasing white nationalist marchers at the weekend rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. But the president’s religious evangelical advisory board, a mix of radical born-again preachers, televangelists and conservative political influencers, still stands pristine. Not only have members avoided criticism of the president, while occasionally scolding the violence in general – some have been openly supportive of Trump’s statements assigning blame “on many sides” and slamming those who turned up to oppose the...

Pope Francis has invited thousands of Catholic charismatics and members of Pentecostal and Evangelical churches to Rome to celebrate Pentecost and mark the 50th anniversary of what became the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. The pope will lead a prayer vigil June 3, the eve of Pentecost, at Rome's Circus Maximus, an open field that was the site of an ancient Roman stadium used for chariot races. Participants will join the pope the next morning for Pentecost Mass in St. Peter's Square. In 2014, Pope Francis had invited charismatics and Pentecostals to Rome in 2017 to mark the 50th anniversary of the...

President Donald Trump's widespread support among white evangelicals is holding steady as he approaches his 100th day in office, and their backing is nearly double his approval rating among the general public, a new Pew Research Center analysis finds. The analysis is consistent with other recent surveys that have shown voters who backed Trump in November are still fervently behind him. But Pew's data is notable because Trump is a relative newcomer to the evangelical community, a critical voting bloc that helped power his underdog victory. Eight in 10 white evangelicals who attend church at least once a month approve...

Lately, Chavez declared himself a member of a charismatic congregation, thus allegedly belonging to his country's fastest-growing branch of Christianity. But then he angered the country's National Catholic Bishops Conference by communing at a Mass organized by a priest of pro-Communist leanings. Should you have any doubt that Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is in serious decline, consider this: His bust is being removed from the altars of his country's popular religion, a renowned anthropologist told United Press International on Monday. Less than four years ago, the syncretistic Maria Lionza cult celebrated Chavez as the reincarnation of Simon Bolivar, (1783-1830),...

LEBANON — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both have a problem winning over white evangelical Christians in Republican-rich southwestern Ohio. Most don’t like either one of them. But make no mistake: Most evangelicals REALLY dislike Clinton, the Democratic former secretary of state. They see her as too liberal, favoring abortion and same-sex marriage, and a serious threat to religious freedom through her potential appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court. Many evangelicals don’t know much about Trump, the Republican businessman, developer and reality-television star. They acknowledge being troubled by his background, multiple marriages and bravado, but they say they’re willing to...

All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.( Isaiah 56:9-12)Jeremiah...

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?(Galatians 3:1-3)In my years as a Christian and as a Pastor in particular, I have found that it is one thing to get caught up in aberrant and heretical forms of Christianity, and another...