Free Republic

Every October, Christians trash each other on social media over Halloween. Is it harmless costumes and candy? Participation in the occult, cavorting with demons? Co-opting a pagan holiday? Christians believe demons are real. The Bible talks about them. Most Christians agree that you should stay away from them. Fallen angels lurking in your kid’s candy bag might freak out a Christian mom or dad. And the stranger-sabotaged candy scares of the 1980s still haunt some parents. Halloween remains popular among American Christians. Yet this stalking sense of the demonic has some churches holding sanitized “harvest festival” events, away from the...

A church service has been stopped by police after worshippers were told they were breaking strict lockdown rules in Wales. Churchgoers filled the packed hall yesterday despite 'firebreak' rules banning gatherings including religious ceremonies from taking place. Naomi Mclennan filmed the moment officers entered the New Hope Community Church in Llanrumney, Cardiff, and told people they had to leave.

A recent article in The Christian Post discussed findings by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University that found while 61% of American millennials consider themselves to be Christian, just 2% of them were found to hold a biblical worldview. Conducted by Dr. George Barna, the study also reported that just 6% of American adults overall hold a biblical worldview.“Profoundly disturbing”, said Barna.While disappointing, I’ll risk having angry arrows rain down on me by saying the low percentage of Christian worldview holders makes complete biblical sense. Let me explain why.A nomizo faith When confronted by numbers showing Christianity being...

John Piper has issued a blistering condemnation of President Donald Trump, warning Christian voters that the president's “deadly behavior” will lead the U.S. to “destruction of more kinds than we can imagine.” On Thursday, the influential pastor and writer published what he referred to as a “long-overdue” blog post in which he pondered the implications of the 2020 election. Piper, who pastored Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis for almost 33 years, reminded Christians that "it is not a small thing to treat lightly a pattern of public behaviors that lead to death." He pointed out that all of these sins...

WWJD? Should we always do what Jesus would do? I think the answer is obvious: No. Don’t get me wrong. I love Jesus. He’s God. There’s no person who is a greater arbiter of what’s right and wrong. There’s no person who could do better than he would do. Generally speaking, we should take our cues from his life and public ministry. But if we are honest, we shouldn’t—and can’t—always do what Jesus would do. Here are three examples where Jesus did something we should not do. Jesus made certain claims. In John 10:30, Jesus said, “I and the Father...

Today in history, a battle that radical Muslims of the ISIS variety all but venerate took place between Muslims and Christians in Spain, or al-Andalus. Context: In 1085, Alfonso VI of Leon-Castile captured the Muslim city of Toledo, thereby formally initiating the Reconquista. Great was the lamentation among Muslims and great the rejoicing among Christians. The Muslim emirs of al-Andalus — notorious for their disunity, dissipated lifestyles, and disinterest in jihad — had to act fast, for "the arrogance of the Christian dogs," to quote one Muslim, had "waxed so great." So they called on their fanatical coreligionists in North...

As Election Day draws near, President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger former Vice President Joe Biden are being scrutinized by voters who are looking at their records and positions on many issues, including abortion, religious freedom, and illegal immigration. The Christian Post has summarized Trump's and Biden's record and positions on these issues : 1. ABORTION The Trump administration has been called the “most pro-life administration” by many national advocacy groups for his actions in defending life at every stage. In January, Trump became the first president in U.S. history to ever attend the March for Life in person....

This is part 3 of a 4-part series debunking four common myths Christians use to not vote. Read myth #1: “One Vote Doesn’t Make a Difference” and myth #2: “God Is in Charge Anyway So It Doesn’t Matter if I Vote” This article tackles the myth: 'I don’t like either candidate, so what’s the point?' In an ideal world, you would always have the option to vote for really great people that you agree with in every respect. In the real world, however, your ballot may give you choices that make you feel less like you’re choosing someone to represent...

STEPANAKERT, Nagorno-Karabakh — On the front line, the stench is overwhelming. The remains of fighters have been lying there for weeks. In the trenches, there is fear. The Armenians are defenseless against the Azerbaijani drones that hover overhead and kill at will. At the military graveyard, bulldozers have scraped away a hillside. It is already lined with two rows of new graves, along with soon-to-be-filled, freshly dug, rectangular holes. The three-week-old conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over a disputed territory in the Caucasus Mountains, where Europe meets Asia, has settled into a brutal war of attrition, soldiers and civilians said...

Christian leaders and conservative commentators denounced Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's support for allowing children as young as 8 years old to self-identify as transgender. At an ABC News town hall Thursday night, the former vice president was asked a question by a mother who claimed one of her children identified as transgender and wanted to know Biden's views on the subject. "The idea that an 8-year-old child or a 10-year-old child decides to, 'You know, I decided that I want to be transgender, that's what I think I'd like to be, it would make my life a lot easier.'...

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,[a] my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who...

RUSH: I keep hearing people complain to me — and, by the way, this is not a new complaint. I’ve had people complain to me about George W. Bush along the same lines. What the complaint is… It’s from suburban women or it’s about suburban women and the argument takes many forms, but there’s always a consistency to it. The argument used to be, “Well, you’ve gonna get rid of abortion!” (sigh) I can’t… (stuttering) Sorry for the stuttering. I just can’t tell you the number of times either after we have won an election or lost one, people who...

Jack Denton will get back his salary as student senate president for the remaining few weeks of his term. What he won’t get back is his job as student senate president. A federal court refused to reinstate the Florida State University student to the position he was removed from because of his Catholic beliefs, saying it “could produce tumult and chaos.” U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor essentially ratified the heckler’s veto issued by the student government when it removed Denton (above) and refused to let him appeal his removal. “Some might say this only rewards the senate for its discriminatory...

Over four in 10 American Christians believe the Bible is “ambiguous” on abortion, according to the Cultural Research Center of Arizona Christian University.The findings, released Tuesday, are part of the CRC's American Worldview Inventory 2020 survey.Conducted by CRC Director of Research George Barna, a noted evangelical pollster, the report found that 44% of respondents said they believe the Bible “is ambiguous in its teaching about abortion,” while 34% said “abortion is morally acceptable if it spares the mother from financial or emotional discomfort or hardship.”Barna said in a statement that the findings on opinions about abortion were part of a...

William Wilberforce experienced a spiritual rebirth on Easter 1786 that led him to discover his life’s purpose. As he wrote later in his diary, “My walk is a public one. My business is in the world, and I must mix in the assemblies of men or quit the post which Providence seems to have assigned me.”He soon came to see the horrors of the English slave trade and became so convicted that he wrote, “Let the consequences be what they would: I from this time determined that I would never rest until I had effected its absolution.”He was vilified by...

Communist authorities in southwestern China’s Yunnan province sent a notice to a village warning that any resident who converts to Christianity will face financial penalties or even the confiscation of their land. The notice sent to Huang Fei village in that province’s Yingjiang County, which is close to the China-Myanmar border, states that the residents of the Dai ethnic group are Buddhist and Christianity is an “evil cult,” according to the U.K.-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide, which says that converts in several other villages might've received similar threats either by notice or in-person. It adds that “believing in Jesus Christ and...

Question: How should a person’s religious faith, or lack thereof factor into their fitness for office? As we anticipate President Trump’s nomination of a candidate to replace the late Associate Justice Ruth Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, this is a valid and relevant question to ask. Odds are high that the nominee will be a Roman Catholic, although at least one of the final five is an Evangelical. In the case of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, the question of her devout Catholic faith was raised rather infamously by Sen. Feinstein (D-CA) when she said, “Whatever a religion is” the “dogma...

Today in history, on September 25, 1396, a major military encounter with Islam that demonstrated just how disunited Christendom had become took place. In 1394, the Ottoman Turks "were doing great injury to Hungary," causing its young king, Sigismund, to appeal "to Christendom for assistance." That appeal came at an opportune time. The hitherto quarreling English and French had made peace in 1389, and a "crusade against the Turks furnished a desirable outlet for the noble instincts of the Western chivalry." Matters were further settled once "men of all kinds" — pilgrims, laymen, and clerics returning from the Holy Land...

A new study has revealed that 22% of U.S. evangelicals appear to reject the Bible’s teaching that the gender of a person as male or female is given by God, the Creator, and instead believe in “gender fluidity.”While 73% of American evangelicals disagree that “gender identity is a matter of choice,” 22% say they believe in that statement, according to the LifeWay Research “State of Theology” poll released Sept. 8.The survey, sponsored by Orlando-based Ligonier Ministries, and conducted by surveying more than 3,000 Americans in March, also showed that Americans with evangelical beliefs (73%) are more likely to disagree that...

I remember when Christians used to actually believe in Christianity. Those were the days. (Some still do, but their numbers are shrinking.) Back then, you could still visit an average (Protestant) church and hear a pastor actually teach real doctrine and share authentic insights. You could hear his thoughts on how to live an upright Christian life, or on why bad things might happen to good people, or how Christian marriages might be improved. And you could hear it all supported by actual Bible passages. After the sermon, you could hear the congregation sing hymns affirming the importance of obedience,...