Free Republic

In a recent survey of about 50,000 Iranians over the age of 20, a Netherlands-based secular research group found that 1.5% of respondents identify as Christian.Applied across Iran’s population of more than 80 million, the number of Christians in Iran is “without doubt in the order of magnitude of several hundreds of thousands and growing beyond a million,” the research group GAMAAN said after the study.Open Doors USA, a global persecution watchdog organization, says until now, there was no in-depth research to substantiate the claims about the number of Christians in Iran. “Given the high-stakes consequences of leaving Islam in...

A new viral video has thousands of people praising God after a TikTok user said she was once an atheist but has since come to God due to the Christian content the popular app exposed her to. Last week, 32-year-old user Inkydoeshair, who identifies as Felicia on her profile, posted an emotional video that has since gone viral. The user pleaded with her followers for “help” because she was feeling conflicted after identifying as an atheist for so long. “Now I’m really confused because all I see are videos about God and Jesus, and I actually prayed the other night,...

A bill which would outlaw gay conversion therapy passed its preliminary hearing in the Knesset Wednesday afternoon. The bill, which was drafted by MK Nissan Horowitz (Meretz), would ban the controversial practice of treating homosexuals with the aim of reversing same-sex attraction. In its preliminary vote, the 120-member Knesset backed the bill by a margin of 42 to 36, after the coalition split, with Blue and White backing the proposed law, while haredi lawmakers and the Likud opposed it - with the exception of Likud minister Amir Ohana. After the vote, haredi lawmakers fumed at Blue and White chief and...

Vatican cardinal exhorts faithful to channel St. Francis (not Pope Francis), convert others Cardinal Angelo Comastri has been a beautiful encouragement and witness to the Faith during these months of trial. May 29, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Angelo Comastri, the pope’s vicar for Vatican City, stated on May 28 that we need to recover the “courage” of Saint Francis of Assisi, who, in 1219, went to the Sultan of Egypt inviting him to believe in Jesus.” We should all have that courage and become missionaries, even unto death, the elderly cardinal added. Today, the last day of his daily Angelus...

A lesbian mother changed her name and packed homemade banana bread before crossing the Channel in a dinghy to smuggle her children into Britain. Lauren Etchells, 33, triggered an international manhunt when she left her wife in Canada and took her son and daughter to start a new life with her 'sperm donor', who fathered one of them.

Utah is on its way to becoming the 19th state to ban the discredited practice of conversion therapy in January after state officials formed a proposal that has the support of the influential Church of a Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Republican Gov. Gary Herbert announced Tuesday night that church leaders back a regulatory rule his office helped craft after legislative efforts for a ban on the therapy failed earlier this year. The faith known widely as the Mormon church opposed a previous version of the rule because it wanted assurances that church leaders and members who are therapists would...

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — Should parents legally be able to send their children to therapy to "pray the gay away"? Right now, some Oklahoma lawmakers are looking to ban the controversial practice of conversion therapy for minors. As Deputy Director of Oklahomans for Equality, Jose Vega is dedicated to fighting for the rights of the LGBTQ community, and one reason why -- there's a time in his life he fights not to think about every day.

In his famous A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God (1737), Jonathan Edwards took stock of the revival that blazed through Northampton and its neighboring villages in 1734-35. In conversion accounts such as those told by Abigail Hutchinson and Phebe Bartlet, the Northampton pastor found great encouragement from the local awakening. However, he also discovered that this outpouring of the Spirit looked differently for different people: “There is a vast difference, as observed, in the degree, and also in the particular manner, of persons’ experiences, both at and after conversion, some have grace working more sensibly in one...

Kanye West has had several friends preach at his Sunday Service, but since he started making them public, one little-known pastor from Los Angeles has started catching the ear of many of those gathered -- but who is he? Adam Tyson is the senior pastor of Placerita Bible Church, 30 miles northwest of LA, and for the past few months, he's been leading West in a Bible study before sharing the gospel with thousands at Sunday Service events in Detroit, New York City and, this past Saturday, in Salt Lake City, Utah. "Kanye started visiting our church back in mid-May,"...

Kanye West is one of the best-selling artists of all time, with more than 140 million records sold. He has been described as a “rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, and fashion designer.” His latest album, Jesus Is King, debuted at No. 1 on the charts. Every song on the album has appeared on Billboard’s Hot 100 this week as well. His faith is making as many headlines as his albums. West launched Sunday Service, a Christian worship group, earlier this year. Its first public performance was on Easter Sunday. At a service this past Friday, more than a thousand...

Kanye West’s move from saying “Jesus walks” to confessing “Jesus is King” has divided Christians. The early church in Acts had its share of surprising transformations and celebrity conversions, which stirred a range of reactions. But ultimately, the text points to acceptance over distrust. It also emphasizes the importance of perseverance for these unexpected converts. Paul represents the first surprising conversion in Acts. He was killer of Christians...Understandably, Paul’s conversion is met with some hesitation and fear. Each reaction is different based on context. But it helps to consider their concerns in light of the pattern we see throughout Scripture:...

Kanye West’s Sunday Service events keep hitting the news. This time, a pastor at Sunday's Baton Rouge event reported that 1000 people gave their lives to Jesus during the altar call at the concert. Tonight, @candacebrewington & I got to experience Kanye West’s Sunday Service at @bethany_church in Baton Rouge. If you’ve ever doubted the legitimacy or spiritual impact of this #sundayservice project, simply look at this incredible shot taken by @the.smitan during the altar call. YES, I said ALTAR CALL. 😲 Tonight, worship was lifted, the name of Christ was exalted, the Word of God was preached, a...

Every Christian and their dog apparently has an opinion about Kanye West, and it's been a bit depressing and somewhat amusing to see some of the discussion. For those who have landed from a holiday on Mars, Kanye West is a controversial rapper whose latest album is entitled Jesus is King, and who has made a very public profession of faith in Christ.I think my favourite negative comment was the fundamentalist pastor attacking Reformed (Calvinist) Baptists who welcomed Kanye as "Lordship salvation, heresy preaching, drunken tattoo, ESVfests" and who announced he was preaching a whole sermon against Kanye –...

Halloween Week’s bedlam (demonic parades and gratuitous candy commercials and other occult celebrations in the media) confirm the millennium’s casual godlessness, so the release of Kanye West’s new album and film, both titled “Jesus Is King,” intrudes on that party. Its impact will be long-lasting. West’s gospel revival coincides with his political independence. So far, this is West’s most powerful statement since President Trump and wearing a MAGA cap in public. By reviving his faith in the word of God and the independence of black Americana gospel, he forces others to remember the moral foundation of the civil-rights movement, which...

Pope Francis says he felt ‘bitterness’ when introduced to Catholic converts in Africa VATICAN CITY, September 27, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) ― In a question-and-answer session with Jesuits in Mozambique, Pope Francis underscored his dislike of “proselytization” by condemning the actions of a Catholic woman he had met that day.  The Argentinian pontiff’s September 5 remarks were published yesterday in the Holy See’s news website Vatican News. “Today I felt a certain bitterness after a meeting with young people,” Pope Francis told the assembled Jesuits.   “A woman approached me with a young man and a young woman. I was told they...

“The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community’s Response” Committee on Homeland Security - US House of Representatives March 10, 2011 Thank you very much for allowing me to come here and tell the country what happened to my son. This hearing today is extremely important to begin the discussion about the issue of Islamic radicalization in America and my hope is that this Committee can somehow address this issue in a meaningful, productive way. First, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the family of Private William Long, and to the wounded soldier,...

Like all accounts of God’s faithfulness, mine begins with a genealogy. In the late seventeenth century, my mother’s Congregationalist ancestors journeyed to the New World to escape what they saw as England’s deadly compromise with Romanism. Centuries later, ­American Presbyterians converted my father’s great-­grandmother from Coptic ­Orthodoxy to ­Protestantism. Her son became a Presbyterian minister in the Evangelical Coptic Church. By the time my parents were ­living in ­twenty-first-century Illinois, their families’ historic Reformed commitments had been replaced by non-denominational, ­Baptistic ­evangelicalism. This form of Christianity dominated my Midwestern hometown. My parents taught me to love God, revere the Scriptures,...

Maybe he should convert to YouTube. A pastor and self-proclaimed “former homosexual” is suing Vimeo after the video-sharing website shuttered his account for posting clips lauding conversion therapy. Church United pastor James Domen’s Manhattan federal court suit says Vimeo shut down his account for posting five videos relating to “religion and sexual orientation” — but claims the video platform actually did it as part of an effort to silence him. “Church United’s account was deleted in an effort to censor James Domen from speaking about his preferred sexual orientation and his religious beliefs,” says the lawsuit, which says Domen spent...

How does a committed and passionate follower of Islam reconsider his faith and become an outspoken apologist for Christianity? This is a story of being introduced to Jesus through friendships, investigations, dreams, and visions. What follows is a conversation between the late Nabeel Qureshi (@NAQureshi), author of Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus (Third Edition) (Zondervan, 2018)—the first book to win ECPA Christian Book Awards® in both New Author and Non-Fiction categories—and his friend David Wood, who led Nabeel to consider the veracity of the claims of Jesus Christ. The discussion took place in Atlanta, Georgia, during the Evangelical Theological Society’s annual...

For 20 years, McKrae Game led Hope for Wholeness, a faith-based conversion therapy program in South Carolina. The discredited practice was intended to suppress or eradicate a person’s LGBTQ identity through counseling or ministry, reports The Post and Courier. Game was fired from the group and in June announced he was gay. Game, 51, told The Post and Courier that he is coming to terms with the harm he inflicted while he was working to change people’s sexuality. “Conversion therapy is not just a lie, but it’s very harmful,” Game told The Post and Courier. “Because it’s false advertising.” Game...