Free Republic

In June, the world anxiously watched as the nation of Israel extraordinarily executed the largest targeted military campaign in the country’s history since its reestablishment in 1948. Following months of failed negotiations between the United States and Iran to broker a new deal intended to curtail Iranian aspirations to acquire weapons-grade enriched uranium, Israel took the initiative to decisively eliminate the Iranian nuclear program. Throughout an intensive and concentrated campaign that lasted twelve days, Israel engaged in precision strikes on nuclear enrichment facilities, destroyed ballistic missile launchers, eliminated scientists, top-ranking military officials, and other assets related to Iran’s nuclear program....

Author’s note: This article was first published on Monday, June 12, 2006. Considering we are, I believe, in the time that’s “as it was in the days of Noah” foretold by Jesus (Luke 17:26), I believe it’s good to again think a bit on the obvious invasion from the evil dimension the world faces. We know of the violence taking place in the world today. It might even be equal to the violence of those antediluvian times. However, the other primary evil of Noah’s day is a bit harder to equate to this day and time. The other “evil” I...

Temptation has been with mankind since the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3, the serpent tempted Eve, and in Matthew 4, satan tempted Jesus. Both were approached with the same schemes, but their responses were drastically different. Eve yielded and fell, while Jesus stood firm, rebuking satan by quoting Scripture. The Apostle John explained this pattern in 1 John 2:16, identifying satan’s threefold method of attack: “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” These are the enemy’s tools—whether in the garden, in the wilderness, or today in our technology-driven world. With every...

Prophetic progression has suddenly accelerated, but not exactly in the direction many Bible prophecy “watchers on the wall”—including yours truly—anticipated. For a number of years, we’ve heard Israel is prophetically destined to be the victim of an attack from its immediately surrounding enemies. This is termed the “Psalm 83 war.” I have tried to see this threat in order to agree with many of my colleagues who propose that passage is about a literal military assault on the verge of taking place. But I have continued to maintain that the Psalm 83 matter is an imprecatory prayer by God’s chosen...

As the time of Jesus’ appearing approaches, our understanding of Bible prophecy continues to grow. For example, we have much greater clarity today regarding the mark of the beast (see Revelation 13:16-18). The combination of technical advances in the following areas during the past twenty years not only makes it possible for one man, antichrist, to control worldwide buying and selling, but also increases its likelihood of happening in the not-too-distant future: 5G cellular technology that may increase to 6G. The creation of gigantic databases. Artificial Intelligence (AI). Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Other biblical signs of the times are...

Paul’s description of last days attitudes and negativity in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 bears reviewing. “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid Such People.” (ESV – all emphasis is mine) The fact is that being hated for being a Christian is not a...

Daniel had predicted the exact day Israel’s Messiah would arrive (69 weeks of years; 173,880 days after the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem on the Jewish calendar; Dan. 9:25; Neh. 2:1-8). That day had arrived. He and His 12 disciples were walking toward Jerusalem. They were approaching the towns of Bethpage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives (Luke 19:29). He sent two of the 12 ahead to look for a colt that had never been ridden and to bring it to Him. They found the colt, took it back to Jesus, cast their garments on the colt, set...

I am amazed by how many Christians seem unsure of where they should stand on the topic of Israel. Others openly oppose it altogether. And yet, the God we serve—the God of Israel—is using the Jewish State to try to get the attention of the world. That is what we read in Ezekiel 36:19-24, when God speaks about the Jewish people living in disobedience: “So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My...

I was deeply moved by a Terry James’ article recently titled, “Warning the Clueless.” We all deal with them—the clueless and unaware. Many are clueless by choice! His point was that we as “watchmen on the wall,” who know what’s coming, must warn clueless people—Christians and non-Christians—that time is running out. As Terry says, “These believers are not being taught about Christ’s return—about the rapture—from most pastors in most pulpits. This is a neglected teaching in even well-known evangelical church bodies today.” Terry continues, “When Christians truly understand the nearness of the call from Jesus Christ, many will have a...

Brian Niccol, I call on you to bargain a fair contract with Starbucks Workers United baristas! I support Starbucks baristas in their fight for a union and a fair contract, and pledge not to cross the picket line. That means I will not patronize any Starbucks store when baristas are on strike. Why is this important? Baristas are the most important part of the Starbucks experience. Baristas open the stores every morning and close them every night. They greet customers, make the coffee, clean up the spills, and remember customers’ names and favorite orders. Yet, it’s too hard for baristas...

The Labour government in the United Kingdom is moving ahead with a sweeping plan to require every working citizen to carry a digital ID card — the “BritCard.” Prime Minister Keir Starmer pitched the initiative as a solution to illegal immigration and bureaucratic inefficiency, but critics argue it is nothing less than the foundation for a national government surveillance system. A digital ID is a government-linked identity system designed to consolidate personal information, from banking and shopping data to health and vaccination records, into one centralized account. Unlike a physical driver’s license or passport that you keep in your wallet...

Americans have long evinced a fascination with the end of time and the role that they would play in such an apocalypse. Even Christopher Columbus invested the discovery of the New World with millennial significance. “God made me the messenger of the new heaven and the new earth of which he spoke in the Apocalypse of St. John after having spoke of it through the mouth of Isaiah,” Columbus wrote in 1500, “and he showed me the spot where to find it.” Apocalyptic ideas have issued in the expectation that human history might screech to a halt at any moment...

You have likely heard of the Jewish 'Ten Days of Awe' that occur from Tishri 1 (Rosh Hashana, or the Feast of Trumpets) to Tishri 10 (Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement); however, do you realize that Christians have their own 'Ten Days of Awe'? Let's first examine the Jewish ten days of awe before we delve into the Christian version. Israel The Jews today have three basic calendars: a civil calendar, a religious calendar, and the Gregorian calendar. Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets, is the fifth feast of the Lord. It occurs on the first day of...

“Wherever dispensationalism has gained ground, Christian culture has lost ground.” Although the claim that dispensationalism has hurt the church is not new, it was interesting to see how much agreement the post garnered in the comments. Some commenters labeled dispensationalism as the worst heresy the church has seen. Others said dispensationalism is a damnable heresy which has single-handedly lost the American culture war. In this post I would like to analyze the argument that dispensationalism itself is dangerous and responsible for the cultural loss we see in Western culture today… Setting aside exegetical and interpretive arguments about Scripture for a...

I used to work in a parish religious education office, and once when I was at that job, a parishioner asked me when the rapture would happen...Now, when this person asked me about it, I was initially surprised, but then after a few moments, I realized that the question actually wasn't as odd as I thought it was. See, the rapture is a Protestant idea; we Catholics don't believe in it. In fact, even most Protestants don't believe in it. The belief is barely a few hundred years old, and it's found mainly in American strands of Protestantism. In other...

From the publication of Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth (1970) to the end of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins’s Left Behind series (2007), premillennial dispensationalism promoted Christian Zionism steadily until it peaked under the presidency of George W. Bush. As the final volumes of the Left Behind series appeared, the Pentecostal pastor John Hagee formed Christians United for Israel (CUFI). With over 10 million members, CUFI is currently the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States. Even with Christian Zionist organizations like CUFI, the movement has waned as increasing numbers of evangelical younger Millennials and Gen Zers withdraw support...

The three main schools of Christian eschatological thought are all related to the controversial theme of the Millennium. Perhaps the key text for explaining the differences between the Pre-Millennial, Post-Millennial and Amillennial camps is found in Revelation 20:1-7 where mention is made of Satan being bound for “a thousand years” (v. 2) and of those who “lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years”. Let’s underline the differences. 1.- Premillenialism The premillenialists can be divided up into two groups: the classic pre-mills and the dispensationalist pre-mills. On the one hand, Classic Premillenialism, stemming from the time of the Church Fathers,...

The Prophet of all Prophets, who just happens to be the very Word of God (John 1:1), described the human condition at the time of the first phase of His Second Coming. Jesus said: “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man” (Luke 17:26). Those are strong words, and they open an avenue that runs directly to a signal around which we can build a case for how near this generation must be to the Rapture. I write of the Rapture, and not Christ’s Second Advent,...

Psalm 2 reads: “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath...

WHAT?! The BIBLE GATEWAY the most popular online Bible website/app in the world, which is used by millions and millions of Christian’s around the world to find Bible verses bas been removed in the UK due to the ONLINE SAFETY ACT.