Free Republic

RNS) — The Rev. Carma Wood didn’t become LGBTQ-affirming overnight. Rather, she said, it was due to the Holy Spirit’s prompting over several decades, not to mention personal experience, study and Scripture. “I have found the primary emphases woven throughout biblical texts to reflect a radical inclusivity found perhaps most profoundly in the person and ministry of Jesus,” she told Religion News Service. Now, Indiana Ministries — a jurisdiction of the Christian movement known as Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) — is investigating Wood, a retired Church of God pastor living in Anderson, and 16 other ministers for signing a...

A former church youth leader who was recently a PTA president in Tennessee has been arrested and extradited to Troup County in Georgia. Dustin Spillers, 34, has been charged with one count of aggravated sexual battery and three counts of child molestation. “On December 20th, a victim of Dustin Spillers came forward and told their parents what happened to them,” says Sydney Moore on a GoFundMe page for Spillers’ wife, Whitney. Moore identified herself as Whitney’s friend, saying, “All of this information came out while [Whitney] and her family had gone to Georgia for her Aunt Dot’s funeral, who was...

FULL TITLE: Iowa pastor, 44, is arrested on child sex abuse charges just hours before his Christian rock band was due to perform at Minnesota music festival An Iowa pastor was arrested for child sexual assault, just hours before he was due to perform with his Christian rock band at a music festival on Saturday. Emanuel J. Rodriguez, 44 is accused of inappropriately touching two girls known to him, believed to be 11 and 12. The alleged incidents took place while he and they were covered in blankets. Rodriguez also assaulted the minors inside two of his former homes in...

FULL TITLE: Tennessee pastor who was facing 72 years in prison for repeatedly raping his adopted daughter, 14, is jailed for just 12 after dozens of parishioners show up to court to support him A former Tennessee pastor who repeatedly raped his adopted teenage daughter has been given an effective 12 year prison sentence after dozens of parishioners showed up to court to support him. Prosecutors had sought the maximum term of 72 years behind bars for 41-year-old David Richards, The Knoxville News Sentinel reports. But a judge cited his longtime ministry and the support he still receives as mitigating...

President Donald Trump publicly rebuked German Chancellor Angela Merkel on July 11 for Germany’s decision to buy a massive amount of gas from Russia. “I think it’s very sad,” he said. "Germany is totally controlled by Russia,” he later said, “I think it’s a very bad thing for nato and I don’t think it should have happened.” Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 are key components of Putin’s plan to tighten his grip on nations in Eastern Europe that used to be part of the Soviet Empire. Since these pipelines travel directly from Russia to Germany, they enable Putin to...

When Kendall Oliver made an online appointment for a haircut, the last thing the Army reservist who served six years in Afghanistan expected to receive was humiliation. Oliver, who self-identifies more as a man than a woman, was turned away from The Barbershop in Rancho Cucamonga, California. She booked the appointment online. When she came in, I told her we don’t cut women’s hair,” Richard Hernandez, the owner of The Barbershop, told Fox News Latino. Hernandez said that Oliver made the appointment under the name of Brittany. As a member of the Church of God, Hernandez says it is against...

...Many today use innuendo, outright lies and other forms of deception to confuse and divide in order to control followers... The end result?...About 80% of the Church succumbed to lies and deceit, and either followed Joe Tkach or went home in confusion...-most...became “lost to history,” spiritually dying where they sat. The remaining 20% fell into following various bickering, disagreeing splinter leaders teaching selected—preferred!—parts of the truth... Fast forward to 1993-1998, to sample one splinter. An evangelist (Roderick Meredith) arose and came to power in the Global Church of God. This second new leader also promised...he would uphold the truth as...

...Never before...have so many people become so deceived in such a comparatively short time of less than a decade. How could this unprecedented end-time deception have happened with such lightning rapidity? The success of this...apostasy was due, at least in part, to mass defections in the ministry, but...also partly due to the power of modern means of communicating and disseminating information. At the time of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong’s death in January 1986, about 130,000 members of the Worldwide Church of God regularly observed God’s weekly and annual Sabbaths, as well as other important laws and commandments of God. During...

Robinson proposes marriage of Church and State? Gay Episcopal bishop endorses Obama Washington DC, Aug 3, 2007 / 10:31 am (CNA).- Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the nation's first openly gay Episcopal bishop, has given his endorsement to presidential hopeful Barack Obama, citing the Illinois Democrat's experience with racism and discrimination. Obama's campaign put out a news release announcing Robinson’s support. It identified Robinson as "a civil rights leader and a leading voice in the faith community." The bishop says he hopes to persuade Obama to embrace same-sex marriage. Obama supports civil unions and rights for gay couples, but...

Cites concerns about Roman Catholics, other faiths KEN GARFIELD Staff Writer One of Charlotte's best-known churches has withdrawn support for a food pantry that serves the needy because the pantry works with Roman Catholics. Central Church of God explained its decision in a letter March 1 from minister of evangelism Shannon Burton to Loaves & Fishes in Charlotte: "As a Christian church, we feel it is our responsibility to follow closely the (principles) and commands of Scripture. To do this best, we feel we should abstain from any ministry that partners with or promotes Catholicism, or for that matter, any...

California has just experienced another crisis. It has just seen its biggest outbreak of wildfire—it broke all past records. Some 750,000 acres were burned, about 3,600 homes destroyed and 20 lives lost.     Here is what U.S.News & World Report wrote about it: “Throughout the American West, trees already short of nutrients because of crowding are suffering from A FOUR-YEAR-OLD DROUGHT, THE WORST IN 300 YEARS. Bark beetles have attacked the weakened trees across much of the West, killing up to 70 percent of them in some areas. In San Bernardino National Forest, beetles have ravaged half a million acres so...

Click here for printable version of storyE-mail this article to a friend Record highWest Virginia contractor wins largest single lottery jackpotThursday December 26, 2002 By Gavin McCormickThe Associated Press A 55-year-old West Virginia water and sewer contractor has won the $314.9 million Powerball jackpot, the largest single lottery jackpot in history.Andrew Jackson Whittaker Jr. received a $10 million advance check from Gov. Bob Wise Thursday at a news conference. The balance of Whittaker's $314.9 million won't be presented for another two weeks.Whittaker said he originally thought he had lost the jackpot because the numbers came up wrong on the televised...