Free Republic

It’s easy to be a Scrooge about Christmas movies, especially these days. Streaming platforms have shamelessly muscled into the Hallmark market, churning out quick, cheap holiday romcoms with C-list casts every year, hoping to land on something so irresistibly cheesy it briefly becomes a seasonal phenomenon. Put that cynicism aside, however, and most of us can admit that we all have at least one movie we return to every December – the one that allows us to embrace nostalgia unapologetically and lets us know that the most wonderful time of the year has arrived. It doesn’t have to be schmaltzy...

This is a chapter from my book, "Sleuthing The Scriptures". I wrote the book in late 2022. It's Christmas time again, so I am offering it to me fellow freepers. I pray you enjoy it. When you think of the first story of Christmas, it’s usually about Mary and Joseph looking down at their new born son in a manger, surrounded by barn animals and maybe a shepherd or two looking on. Angels singing praises of joy to the Lord Most High, and maybe even the star that is guiding the wise men from Babylon to the destination of the...

The Gospel Coalition (TGC) sounded the alarm over a growing number of Protestant intellectuals, pastors, and influencers converting to the Catholic faith. Written by TGC’s Andrew Voigt, the article is framed as a strategic response to stem the tide of conversions. It warns of the effectiveness of Catholic apologetics, particularly online, and urges Protestants to develop a more robust counter-narrative. According to Voigt, Protestant apologetics has focused more on addressing atheism and secularism while Catholic evangelization efforts have been more directly aimed at engaging Protestants. An Italian Protestant pastor, Leonardo De Chirico, is quoted in Voigt’s article as saying that...

Join together with Fellow FREEPERS to Pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media.'And this is the Confidence that we have in Him, that, if we Ask Anything According to His Will, He Heareth us.' 1 John 5:14 Religion Forum Threads Labeled [Prayer] are Closed to Debate of Any Kind.

Not going to hell is easier than you think. ... The Bible is clear on how a person can avoid going to hell after death.

The Christmas tree tradition emerged from the “sacred trees” of Northern European mythology such as Yggdrasil, the giant ash tree at the center of the Norse cosmos that holds all the worlds in its roots and branches. It is said that St. Boniface came upon one such sacred tree during his mission to the Germanic tribes in 723. Upon finding devotees preparing to sacrifice a child to Thor at the “Thunder Oak,” Boniface intervened and miraculously chopped down the tree with one swift swing. He used its wood to build a Christian chapel, and in the spot where the oak...

this is a video of a Jewish man who had lived his life going to the synagogue, and he said that as he read several verses, he came to the conclusion that Jesus indeed is the Messiah. I like this video because it’s short, but it’s also very powerful. In fact, if you were ever talking to a Jewish person, you might want to bring these Old Testament verses up to them. It’s exceptionally powerful when he talks about the temple being destroyed and the Messiah being cut off before that because that happened in AD70

Join together with Fellow FREEPERS to Pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media.'I Urge, then, First of All, that Requests, Prayers, Intercession and Thanksgiving be Made for Everyone: for Kings and All those in Authority that we May Live Peaceful and Quiet Lives in All Godliness and Holiness.' 1 Timothy 2:1-2Religion Forum Threads Labeled [Prayer] are Closed to Debate of Any Kind.Revelation 1:5,6Unto Him that Loves us,And Washed us from our Sins in His Own Blood,And hath Made us Kings and Priests unto God and His Father;To Him be...

Question: What happens after death? Answer: Within the Christian faith, there is a significant amount of confusion regarding what happens after death. Some hold that after death everyone “sleeps” until the final judgment, after which everyone will be sent to heaven or hell. Others believe that at the moment of death people are instantly judged and sent to their eternal destinations. Still others claim that, when people die, their souls/spirits are sent to a “temporary” heaven or hell to await the final resurrection, the final judgment, and the finality of their eternal destination. So, what exactly does the Bible say...

The Chosen’s Dallas Jenkins doesn’t just impact viewers but also changes the lives of those who work on the show. Half of The Chosen’s cast and crew are not believers. “We’re always just looking for the best people to do the job,” Jenkins said. Elijah Alexander, who plays Roman investigator Atticus, “through the process of making this show, he has come to understand Jesus more,” Jenkins said. “And last year he texted me and he said, ‘Dallas, for the first time in my life, I fully believe and I am His now.’ And he said: ‘And I have you to...

Inside Tehran’s newest metro station, Iranians who can be imprisoned for owning bibles will soon walk past a plaque that declares, “the message of Jesus Christ was the salvation of humans from darkness, ignorance, corruption, depravity and discrimination.”Elsewhere in the Maryam-e Moqaddas station, or Holy Mary station, a relief of Christ walking on water decorates a vestibule, and his mother Mary is depicted, larger than life, praying among flowers. Estimates of Iran’s Christian population varies widely but a 2020 survey from the Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran (GAMAAN) reported 1.5 percent of respondents identified as Christian. That...

President Donald Trump is comfortable telling you what is on his mind. For good or bad, that means there is a long history of recorded statements from Trump, giving his frank and unfiltered thoughts on a variety of topics. For the last ten years, I have been particularly interested in noting whenever he has spoken about his personal views on spirituality, salvation, and his own eternal destiny. It reveals a decade-long spiritual journey in relationship to the gospel of grace that is both fascinating and, at times, tragic. …In his earlier celebrity years, 1990 profile for Playboy magazine, he said:...

Despite Mr. Trump’s urging to move on from discussing the Epstein List, Americans still are demanding accountability for what happened, and who participated in it… As Christians, we understand that many times wicked deeds go unpunished in this present evil age. The Psalms testify repeatedly that evildoers seem to prosper because of their wealth and power, while those who are seeking the Lord suffer injustice and persecution.. Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 10:26, “Therefore, do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known” People engage in...

A woman who has organized a local farmers' market for years in the city of Pataskala, Ohio, was prohibited from putting on a live nativity display for a Christmas-themed market until officials backed down. Susan Conley requested in September to be allowed to set up the nativity scene on public grounds this year after previously having it located on private property. The city denied the request, despite allowing other displays that included the Grinch, Santa Claus, and Buddy the Elf. The First Liberty Institute, which represents Conley, said in a press release that city officials backtracked after the organization sent...

Join together with Fellow FREEPERS to Pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media.'I Urge, then, First of All, that Requests, Prayers, Intercession and Thanksgiving be Made for Everyone: for Kings and All those in Authority that we May Live Peaceful and Quiet Lives in All Godliness and Holiness.' 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum Threads Labeled [Prayer] are Closed to Debate of Any Kind. Hebrews 4:16Let us therefore Come Boldly unto the Throne of Grace,That we May Obtain Mercy,And Find Grace to Help in Time of Need.

Next week my firm will hold its annual health insurance information meeting. The news won’t be good. Premiums are expected to increase 10-15% after increasing a similar amount last year. If only my 401(k) could grow like that! The bottom line is that my paycheck will become smaller and my health care costs will become larger. My wife and I have also spent most of this year scurrying through the endless maze of our byzantine and befuddling health care system. Our journey began when my wife’s father had a stroke in April… Over the past seven months we have had...

It’s not so much the idea that rich Christians are bad people. It’s more the idea that we live in a land that is quite literally the richest nation that has ever been and yet, we are surrounded by a large population of people who lack basic necessities. It raises the question – Why? …It doesn’t matter if we are hearing prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah, or Jesus’ own words. The message is the same – God cares how the poor are treated and does not look kindly on those who exploit the poor for their own benefit because when...

"Unless you eat my body and drink my blood, you have no life within you." — John 6:53 (The disciples who would turn against you, interpreted this as cannibalism. One of the plagues of Egypt had been the river turning into blood, because the Egyptians consumed the blood of sacrificial animals to gain their life strength, a kind of bodily idolatry, against your command. So the Lord God made that blood one of the plagues, to choke in their craws.) Then when you totally reversed that, Jesus, in the new dispensation, saying "unless you eat my body and drink my...

If wealth were altogether bad, why would we give it to the poor? That would only make their situation worse, right? The very fact that God wants us to give wealth to those who do not have it proves it is intrinsically good. So we must affirm the “good of affluence,” as John Schneider has put it, even as we also reckon with its dangers. We can be “godly materialists” (again, Schneider) but must always remember that our godliness should drive and control our pursuit of and use of material things. It is possible to have holy ambition that is...

“He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.... And the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice.” The Eastern shepherd does not drive his sheep. He depends not upon force or fear; but going before, he calls them. They know his voice, and obey the call. So does the Saviour-Shepherd with His sheep. The Scripture says, “Thou leddest Thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” Through the prophet, Jesus declares, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” He compels none to follow Him....