Free Republic

Very long... suggest reading at the link. Basically he seems to blame women and feminization for the ills of the church, for loss of manliness, and even for homosexuality!

Few points of faith can be more satisfactorily traced back to the earliest ages of Christianity than the veneration of relics. The classical instance is to be found in the letter written by the inhabitants of Smyrna, about 156, describing the death of St. Polycarp. After he had been burnt at the stake, we are told that his faithful disciples wished to carry off his remains, but the Jews urged the Roman officer to refuse his consent for fear that the Christians "would only abandon the Crucified One and begin to worship this man". Eventually, however, as the Smyrnaeans say,...

We live in daily submission to a host of authorities who circumscribe our freedom: from parents to traffic police officers to dog catchers. All authorities are to be respected and, as the Bible declares, honored. But only one authority has the intrinsic right to bind the conscience. God alone imposes absolute obligation, and He does it by the power of His holy voice. He calls the world into existence by divine imperative, by holy fiat. He calls the dead and rotting Lazarus to life again. He calls people who were no people “My people.” He calls us out of darkness...

Nearly three-quarters of the public (72%) now thinks religion is losing influence in American life, up 5 percentage points from 2010 to the highest level in Pew Research polling over the past decade... The share of Americans who say churches and other houses of worship should express their views on social and political issues is up 6 points since the 2010 midterm elections (from 43% to 49%). .. It finds a slight drop in support for allowing gays and lesbians to marry, with 49% of Americans in favor and 41% opposed – a 5-point dip in support from a February...

January 13, 2015Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Heb 2:5-12 It was not to angels that God subjected the world to come,of which we are speaking.Instead, someone has testified somewhere: What is man that you are mindful of him,or the son of man that you care for him?You made him for a little while lower than the angels;you crowned him with glory and honor,subjecting all things under his feet. In “subjecting” all things to him,he left nothing not “subject to him.”Yet at present we do not see “all things subject to him,” but we...

"And God heard their moaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God looked upon the Israelites and God took notice of them." The Divine took notice, a verse in this week's Torah reading tells us. What does it mean to take notice, especially to notice something or someone others fail to notice? Andy Warhol once said, "I always notice flowers." Well, Andy, flowers are almost always noticeable. We are drawn to look at that which brings us pleasure, not that which brings us pain, especially inanimate objects of beauty which don't challenge our sensibilities. We turn...

To utterly despair of oneself is infinitely more difficult for a man than to invent some kind of good works.generated self-salvation project. Human beings irresistibly gravitate toward a works or karma-based system because it gives man the false hope that his redemption is within his own reach. But a salvation that is all of grace, a gift earned by Someone else, is so utterly offensive to human nature, so humbling to our pride, that only a supernatural work of grace will bring a person to yield to it. Contrary to popular and cultural concepts of God, the Bible declares that...

“The angel of the Lord also said to her, ‘I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for a multitude’” (Gen. 16:10). - Genesis 16:7–10 Fleeing from Sarai, Hagar comes to a spring on “the way to Shur” (Gen. 16:7), which was the name of the desert bordering Egypt in the northwestern corner of the Sinai peninsula. Hagar was plainly seeking to return to her homeland (16:1), stopping at the spring for refreshment. The sons of Jacob newly freed from Egyptian slavery knew Sinai was a special place, as it is the locale where the Lord...

January 12, 2015Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Heb 1:1-6 Brothers and sisters:In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through the Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being,and who sustains all things by his mighty word.When he had accomplished purification from sins,he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high,as far superior...

There are many religions in the world today such as: Baha'i, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Shinto, Sikhism, Taoism, Wicca, Zoroastrianism, and Druidism and it is politically correct and acceptable to mention them or their “prophets” such as Buddha, Mohammed, Hare Krishna and even Ron Hubbard.

As humanity continues to out-work their godless subjective delusions, ideologies and philosophies here in time, the ETERNAL spiritual absolutes (truths) and natural (moral) laws of Almighty God never change, nor will they ever. That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation (Hebrews 6; 18a). For I am the LORD, I change not (Malachi 3:6a). My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips (Psalm 89:34). Almighty God and His Word can be totally relied upon. In Romans 1:18-32 Almighty God...

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue” (2 Peter 1:5a). - 2 Peter 1:2-11 Martin Luther said that believers are simul justus et peccator, or “simultaneously just and sinner.” He was saying that believers, while declared just by God, remain sinful creatures. However, their salvation places upon them the responsibility to seek to become more like Christ, forsaking sin and submitting to His commandments. This is what we call sanctification, that lifelong process of growth in righteousness that begins at the point of salvation and lasts until death. It is very uncommon today...

January 11, 2015The Baptism of the Lord    Reading 1 Is 42:1-4, 6-7 Thus says the LORD:Here is my servant whom I uphold,my chosen one with whom I am pleased,upon whom I have put my spirit;he shall bring forth justice to the nations,not crying out, not shouting,not making his voice heard in the street.a bruised reed he shall not break,and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,until he establishes justice on the earth;the coastlands will wait for his teaching. I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,I have grasped you by the hand;I formed you, and...

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” - Romans 8:16-17 We become God’s sons and daughters in Christ via adoption, and this truth helps us maintain a proper understanding of humanity and the depth of God’s grace. Most people, at least in Western society, would a‹rm that we are all children of God. If this were true, however, there would be no reason why anyone would...

Very few, if any, false teachers come into the church announcing their plans to lead Christ’s sheep astray or proclaiming that they are there to overturn the gospel. In fact, history proves that false teachers are often some of the most charismatic individuals you will meet. They have a “way with words,” able to sound mostly orthodox while denying, perhaps subtly, particular points that are necessary for faithfulness to our Lord. If they are confronted about this, they will often make a sweet-sounding appeal to unity, preying on people’s inclination to avoid controversy whenever possible.Of course, there is nothing wrong with...

January 10, 2015Saturday after Epiphany    Reading 1 1 Jn 5:14-21 Beloved:We have this confidence in himthat if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask,we know that what we have asked him for is ours. If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly,he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin,about which I do not say that you...

Sometimes, what is not said speaks more loudly than actual words. The silence, as we say, is deafening. In the opening verses of his letter to the churches of Galatia, the apostle Paul employs this communication technique to underscore the seriousness of the subject at hand. As he does in all of his letters, Paul begins by identifying himself as the author, naming the intended recipients, and pronouncing a blessing on them (1:1–5). It is what comes next that is so uncharacteristic for him. Immediately after his introductory comments, and before launching into the body of the letter, Paul writes…nothing....

Today ten journalists and two police officers were murdered by terrorists wielding AK-47s in broad daylight in Paris. As of this writing, they have gotten away with it. The officers who arrived on the chaotic scene were forced to flee rather than intervene. They weren’t just outgunned. They were unarmed. There is a lot that I get about guns, the love of guns, opposition to guns, and varying opinions on guns. I get that generally Transatlantic discussions about guns are plagued by situational differences that too often don’t get highlighted. I get (while many of my European friends don’t) that...

January 9, 2015Friday after Epiphany    Reading 1 1 Jn 5:5-13 Beloved:Who indeed is the victor over the worldbut the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the one who came through water and Blood, Jesus Christ,not by water alone, but by water and Blood. The Spirit is the one who testifies,and the Spirit is truth. So there are three who testify,the Spirit, the water, and the Blood, and the three are of one accord. If we accept human testimony,the testimony of God is surely greater. Now the testimony of God is this,that he...

Bespectacled, balding, and thin, the Australian scholar Peter Singer has the looks of a stereotypical college professor. You would never be able to tell simply by his unassuming persona that his mind holds some of the most controversial ideas in American academia.  Singer has spent a lifetime justifying the unjustifiable. He is the founding father of the animal liberation movement and advocates ending “the present speciesist bias against taking seriously the interests of nonhuman animals.” He is also a defender of killing the aged (if they have dementia), newborns (for almost any reason until they are two years old),...