Free Republic

The United Methodist Church’s financial leaders are sounding the alarm that the denomination is about to be in a world of financial hurt, declaring ‘The church’s financial house is on fire’ during the UMC’s Finance and Administration meeting last week. The ominous comments were made by Bishop David Graves, General Council on Finance and Administration board president, who added ‘My intent is not to create fear but to address the reality with honesty and urgency.” The UMC has lost more than 7500 churches over the last three years, the result of church mass departures and disaffiliations over the denomination’s all-out...

On Nov. 10, 2025, the Prophecy News Watch (PNW) staff posted an article that contained the following (and more): Something is changing in the heart of America–quietly, steadily, and with consequences that will touch every church and every family. In the last half-century, the number of Muslims in the United States has multiplied many times over. A simple truth hides behind all the statistics: in just two or three generations, America will not look the same spiritually. In 1970, about nine out of ten Americans identified as Christian. Today, that number has dropped to around six in ten–and falling fast....

What’s the allure of the views of Bible prophecy that dismiss God’s promises to Israel and exalt the church as God’s kingdom on the earth? Why do many teachers go astray from what the words of Scripture tell us about our future as well as that of the world? These questions again came to my mind after I received an email boasting that “dispensationalism is on the decline.” By that, the writer meant that many Christians are turning away from our belief in Jesus’ thousand-year rule on the earth. As evidence, he cited Kirk Cameron’s apparent switch from belief in...

Daniel 9:24-27 (Dateline: circa 500 BC) 24 “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.” A specific time period of “seventy sevens” or 490 years (70 x 7=490) is given to Daniel for the completion of this prophecy. (Note: Heb. ‘shabua’ simply means seven.) Notice who it is directed to – “your people” – or specifically the Jewish nation (cf. v.16). Notice that it speaks of “your...

What’s the allure of false teaching, particularly in regard to future things? Why do so many people go astray from what the words of Scripture tell us about what lies ahead for us and the world? These questions again came to my mind after I received an email boasting that “dispensationalism is on the decline.” By that, the writer meant that many Christians are turning away from our belief in Jesus’ thousand-year rule on the earth. As evidence, he cited Kirk Cameron’s apparent switch from belief in a pre-Tribulation Rapture to Dominion Theology, which teaches that the church will usher...

I receive dozens of e-mails from Rapture Ready readers every day. A few readers send me several e-mails every day. They want to be sure that I didn’t miss important reports, and some hope that I will alert others. I have already read most of the articles they send, but I receive a few articles about things that I was unaware of. I try to pass on reports about things that I believe people should know. I receive a few e-mails from readers that tell me they are anxious for the Rapture to happen. Quite often, they want to join...

More than 2.8 million Brits have signed a petition as of Wednesday, calling on the U.K. government to reverse its mandatory Digital ID system over concerns it will lead to "mass surveillance and digital control." The ID program, dubbed "Brit Card" and announced last week by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, is set to be rolled out by August 2029 in an attempt by the Labour government to crack down on illegal immigration as it would bar anyone who doesn’t have a digital ID from working in the U.K. But critics of the plan argue its effects on illegal immigration...

I guess I haven’t been paying enough attention, at least not to the extent I thought. The other night, I was listening to talk-show host and attorney Mark Levin—his program that I don’t often catch. He was coming hard against some in this nation who are calling Christians and Jews in support of Israel evil, or at least ignorantly misdirected. Specifically, he was talking angrily against podcast host Tucker Carlson, former star of Fox News. Levin said Carlson and a guest on his podcast were saying they hated Christian and Jewish Zionists more than any others in the entire Israel-vs-its-enemies...

Be honest. You’re seeing things every day that you didn’t think you would see in your lifetime! It must be the last days. Up is down, and black is white. Evil is good, and good is evil. But some of these items listed, I never could have imagined. Here is just my latest short list of things I didn’t think I would see: 1) Per Tucker Carlson, I have a brain virus because I support Israel. Who could have imagined such an accusation? As a self-proclaimed Christian, Tucker surely doesn’t know the Bible, which is as pro-Israel as you can...

AlongID is a global digital ID. AlongID is a cross-border digital identity platform developed by international software company Deverium. The platform is currently in its early validation phase and will be showcased next week at GITEX Global, the world’s largest technology and AI exhibition, targeting policymakers and investors. Deverium (stylised as “deverium”) is a global software development company founded in 2019 by Erika Maslauskaite, Edvardas Maslauskas and Darius Liubinas. It is a privately held company registered in Lithuania with offices in Lithuania, the United Kingdom and Sweden. The company is known for its work in digital transformation, with flagship projects...

Any serious student of Bible prophecy from the pre-Trib point of view knows how deep this generation is within the end of the Church Age (Age of Grace). Much of Christ’s Olivet Discourse was devoted to the subject of Israel’s future time of unprecedented trouble, as the prophecy said in Jeremiah 30:7. Jesus said the time of Tribulation (Daniel’s seventieth week) will be the worst period of human history (Matthew 24:21). We can certainly surmise that—with the recent hatred much of the world has shown against the tiny nation of Israel—the stage is at this very moment being set for...

Some of my recent articles have mentioned the growth of Islam in Minnesota, Texas, Pennsylvania, and other places in the U.S. Some have mentioned the activities of CAIR, the Squad, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the likely election of Zohran Mamdani (son of a Marxist Columbia professor) as the next mayor of New York City. This prompted the following response from a knowledgeable reader: To me, it does not matter what the People of the great state of Texas do; the Islamic takeover of Texas (and the rest of the U.S. and other regions of the World) has been allowed, most...

“I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you.” (Proverbs 1:26) When God laughs, it is never lighthearted. His laughter is the echo of justice in a world that has mocked Him too long. Somewhere this past weekend, a drag clown twirls beneath stained glass, and the people who should be trembling before His name instead clap for caricatures of women in corsets. The sanctuary has become a stage for blasphemy and pulpit, a prop for sexual deviancy. And God looks down—not with amusement, but with fury restrained only by mercy. Yet, when He looks...

It was around the middle of October. Our church was preparing to celebrate “Hallelujah Night” instead of Halloween. Our pastor was seeking volunteers to supervise games in the gym and lots of candy for prizes and participation. I went to our local Dollar Store to buy some bags of candy. I expected to see candy and also a few Thanksgiving Day supplies. I saw the candy, and then some Halloween products: costumes, artificial pumpkins, fake ghosts, etc. But before I got to any Thanksgiving Day supplies, there it was: Artificial Christmas trees, lights, rope, wrapping paper, ribbon, sacks, etc. I...

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...