Free Republic

"Elements of the U.S. military are clearly aware that much of what the U.S. is doing in Yemen is aiding AQAP and there is much angst about that," said Michael Horton, a fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, a U.S. analysis group that tracks terrorism. "However, supporting the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against what the U.S. views as Iranian expansionism takes priority over battling AQAP and even stabilizing Yemen," Horton said.

The American Captivity of the Church by Michael Horton What would things look like if Satan really took control of a city? Over a half century ago, Presbyterian minister Donald Grey Barnhouse offered his own scenario in his weekly sermon that was also broadcast nationwide on CBS radio. Barnhouse speculated that if Satan took over Philadelphia, all of the bars would be closed, pornography banished, and pristine streets would be filled with tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other. There would be no swearing. The children would say, “Yes, sir” and “No, ma’am,” and the churches would be full every...

Radical. Epic. Revolutionary. Transformative. Ultimate. Extreme. Emergent. Alternative. Next. Impactful. On The Edge. Beyond. Awesome. Legendary. Innovative. Breakthrough. Everything has to have an exclamation point to catch our attention these days. For many of us, the worst word in our vocabulary is “ordinary.” Who wants a bumper sticker that announces to the neighborhood, “My child is an ordinary student at Bubbling Brook Elementary”? Who wants to be an ordinary person in an ordinary town, a member of an ordinary church with ordinary friends and callings? Our life has to count. We have to leave our mark, a legacy, make a...

In my experience with those who wrestle with conversion to Roman Catholicism—at least those who have professed faith in the gospel, the driving theological issue is authority. How can I be certain that what I believe is true? The gospel of free grace through the justification of sinners in Christ alone moves to the back seat. Instead of the horse, it becomes the cart. Adjustments are made in their understanding of the gospel after accepting Rome’s arguments against sola scriptura. I address these remarks to friends struggling with that issue. Reformation Christians can agree with Augustine when he said that...

In his interview with Larry King (CNN, June 20, 2005), Joel Osteen said that he is not sure what happens to people who reject Christ. King followed up with the question about Jews, Moslems, and other non-Christians. “They’re wrong, aren’t they?” Osteen replied, “Well, I don’t know if I believe they’re wrong. I believe here’s what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God will judge a person’s heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don’t know all about their religion. But...

In Chapter 5 of Evangelicals, Catholics and Unity, Dr. Michael Scott Horton, Vice Chairman of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, admits that Protestants are not too much into history. He has proven the validity of this statement — in regard to his own knowledge. Dr. Horton claims that Protestantism has been the true faith since the Church's inception. In chapter 2, Dr. Horton incredibly classifies himself and other Protestants as members of the "early Catholic Church". He defines the "early Catholic Church" by saying: "Catholic means universal, and it refers to those truths that are, as St. Paul identified them,...

Growing up in evangelicalism, I was one of those kids who felt mediocre at meetings where ex-drug addicts gave their "testimony" of suddenly losing their craving for LSD. My grandmother used to speak of two groups of Christians: those who were "saved" and those who were "gloriously saved." Everything a good, clean Baptist youth is supposed to be, I didn't "dance, drink, smoke or chew, or go with girls who do." So unimpressive was my testimony that I did not even remember the day I was "saved." That, of course, was a problem...a big one. From time to time, I...

Grace: How Strange the Sound Michael S. Horton As recounted in the recent film, the author of "Amazing Grace," John Newton, not only knew about grace, but every line of the famous hymn was part of his experience. Born in 1725 to a Protestant mother and a mariner father who had been educated by Spanish Jesuits, John Newton was taught by his mother to read and to memorize the Westminster Shorter Catechism by the age of four. With his mother's death and a distant and stern father, Newton became rudderless and eventually captained his own slave ship. After reading Thomas...

I'm told that 90 million people tuned in to Oprah Winfrey's interview with Michael Jackson not too long ago. That piece of depressing news made me think of what would happen if one of the apostles appeared on a major daytime TV talk show. As a matter of fact, the Apostle Paul did get a spot on the ancient world's equivalent: the Areopagus, where, as Acts records (Ch. 17), the Athenians did nothing but debate the latest idea. As one stupid thought leads to another, my imagination moved to an ad for the program: "Next, on The Oprah Winfrey Show:...