Free Republic

Have evangelicals abandoned the Religious Right for a more moderate center? Some say yes. ... Mr. McLaren says global poverty, destruction of the environment and increasing violence in the world must be addressed and calls for the church to "change its framing story" and to start trying to change public opinion in these areas. He launched a tour called "Everything Must Change" and is currently traveling throughout the country rallying support. ... Well-known liberal evangelical Jim Wallis called evangelicals the swing voters in '08. Not everybody agrees with his statement, but political analysts do a note a shift. Some religious...

The Bible Society has said that on 13 March, Members of Parliament were presented with the first Poverty and Justice Bible to highlight more than 2,000 verses reflecting God’s attitude to poverty and justice. Thirteen MPs were presented with the Bible by David Landrum, Bible Society’s Parliamentary Officer. This comes ahead of the official launch of The Poverty and Justice Bible at the Christian Spring Harvest festival from 25 March – 20 April. Andy Reed, MP for Loughborough, said, “This is the Bible I’ve been wanting for a long time. It highlights God’s heart for tackling poverty and establishing justice....

The following statement is being issued by over a dozen Christian leaders to mark the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war. We invite you to join us in adding your name as a gesture of lamentation and repentance. »See the full statement and signers This season of Lent, we are truly living "in darkness and in the shadow of death" as we mark, on March 19, 2008, the fifth anniversary of the war with Iraq. It is a war that is being waged by our country, financed by our taxes, and fought by our sisters and brothers. As U.S....

The Poverty and Justice Bible, the latest release from Bible Society, has broken new ground as the first ever to literally highlight the more than 2,000 passages that reveal God’s sorrow over poverty and injustice, and His command to believers to act to eradicate them. Sun, Mar. 02, 2008 Posted: 12:41:18 PM EST The Poverty and Justice Bible, the latest release from Bible Society, has broken new ground as the first ever to literally highlight the more than 2,000 passages that reveal God’s sorrow over poverty and injustice, and His command to believers to act to eradicate them. The new...

If Jesus walked the earth today, he'd drink fair-trade coffee and fill his Blackberry with non-church activities. So says Brian McLaren, author of more than a dozen books on modern Christianity - most recently Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crisis, and a Revolution of Hope. In Everything Must Change, McLaren urges an examination of four critical issues: the environment, poverty, world peace and religious understanding. The book is titled Everything Must Change. Do you mean everything? Are we doing anything right?The laws of gravity and the speed of light are just fine. (laughs) But what I'm saying with "everything" is...

Cutting-edge leaders of the emerging, missional, mosaic and monastic streams are convening Thursday evening in Washington state to re-imagine ways to express the Christian faith. Thu, Feb. 28, 2008 Posted: 11:20:04 AM EST Cutting-edge leaders of the emerging, missional, mosaic and monastic streams are convening Thursday evening in Washington state to re-imagine ways to express the Christian faith. Under the banner of “The New Conspirators Conference,” attendees will contemplate what “God is conspiring” through the new generation of Christian leaders to make His kingdom relevant in a rapidly changing world. “As far as we know, this is the first time...

The Religious Left is successfully redefining what it means to be a conservative evangelical by misrepresenting what it means to be a conservative evangelical. In a recent conference call hosted by Faith in Public Life, one of the emerging voices of the Religious Left, Dr. Joel Hunter, said: There’s also a change in the voices that are defining what is conservative now, and what is evangelical. In the past couple of decades you’ve had some very loud voices on both sides – hard right, hard left – and when those were the only choices, then of course many evangelicals are...

Another category of Christian, however, is rapidly losing its traditional identity in our culture: Evangelical. While it never made distinctions on theological grounds, that term could always be counted upon to identify those Christians who are conservative, Protestant, culturally influential and outspoken about their faith. With recent developments, however, the defining elements of Evangelical may soon go the way of the much-encompassing Christian. Why? Because some who purport to speak for all evangelicals are being sucked into marginal issues that are usually harped on by America-hating liberals. And because conservative Christians are allegedly being divided, the mainstream media is eating...

John 15:18-25 Wednesday, February 13th, in the year of our Lord 2008 First let me say that I am not happy that I have been put in a position where I have to interrupt the series on the Gospel of John. But, what Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and other talking head pundits have done this year is not only beneath contempt and disgust but requires a Scriptural response as well. They have, in my humble opinion, proven who it is that they serve, and it is not the God of truth, but the father of all liars. There was a...

Pastor emphasizes path of good works, not divisive politics Author says Christianity needs 2nd Reformation By MICHELLE BOORSTEIN Washington Post WASHINGTON — Rick Warren, a megachurch pastor and philanthropist who is courted by political leaders worldwide, says he thinks Christianity needs a "second Reformation" that would steer the church away from divisive politics and be "about deeds, not creeds."Speaking Tuesday to a group of Washington Post reporters and editors, the evangelical author said he had an "epiphany" in recent years because of his wife's battle with cancer and the success of his book, The Purpose Driven Life, which has sold...

Despite the fact that Jesus Himself said in words recorded in three different gospels that the poor would always be with us, Warren says he believes the eradication of poverty can be accomplished through the combined efforts of governments, businesses and religious institutions working in harmony with one another. So he has teamed up with ONE. Not the One, mind you, but the well-funded, well-publicized, celebrity-endowed organization known audaciously and only as ONE. And what is ONE all about? .... There's more, but you get the point. ONE is about promoting the forcible confiscation of property by government and redistribution...

“Evangelicals are going to vote this year in part on climate change, on Darfur, on poverty,” said Jim Wallis, the author of a new book, “The Great Awakening,” which argues that the age of the religious right has passed and that issues of social justice are rising to the top of the agenda. Mr. Wallis says that about half of white evangelical votes will be in play this year. ... Look, I don’t agree with evangelicals on theology or on their typically conservative views on taxes, health care or Iraq. Self-righteous zealots like Pat Robertson have been a plague upon...

Rick Warren loves to apologize for things he didn't do, for things other people did that weren't wrong, even for things that occurred hundreds of years before he was born. For instance, he recently apologized to Muslims worldwide for atrocities committed against their ancestors during the Crusades. He also recently apologized for American "excesses in the war on terrorism." And he has apologized for the church because it hasn't done enough about the spread of AIDS and problems like global warming. Yet, I must observe that despite his predilection for apologies, he has a great deal of trouble owning up...

LAKE FOREST, Calif. – Rick Warren says he never wanted fame or celebrity, but when murder, bewilderment and grief engulfed a missionary base and church in Colorado this week, national media looked to the Southern California megachurch pastor to help make sense of it. Whether or not there is such a thing as "America's pastor" or an "evangelical spokesman," the man called by Newsweek one of "15 People Who Make America Great" fits the bill for many mainstream journalists. "I hate fame, but I love making an influence," Warren told WND. "So you put up with some stuff." Some of...

I believe that Dick Cheney is a liar; that Donald Rumsfeld is also a liar; and that George W. Bush was, and is, clueless about how to be the president of the United States. ...They have shamed our beloved nation in the world by this war and the shameful way they have fought it. Almost 4,000 young Americans are dead because of the lies of this administration, tens of thousands more wounded and maimed for life, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis also dead, and 400 billion dollars wasted—because of their lies, incompetence, and corruption. But I don’t favor impeachment, as...

A Different Dialogue for 'Values Voters' (by Jim Wallis) I'm preparing for a dialogue with Richard Land at the FRC Action's Values Voter Summit tomorrow. This has caused me to reflect on how the definition of "moral values" has changed. Evangelical activism to protect God's creation is now publicly visible in a new way, including Christian concern over global warming. A host of other issues are now part of a broadened and deepened evangelical agenda—most connected to poverty, human rights, and social justice. Even American military and foreign policy has begun to come under critique by Christian scholars (including evangelicals),...

Black Church Leaders Mobilize to Combat HIV/AIDS A collective of Black church leaders called upon the U.S. government Tuesday to declare HIV/AIDS crisis in the African American community a “public health emergency” and introduced legislation that would address the epidemic. Wed, Oct. 10, 2007 Posted: 11:48:15 AM EST NEW YORK — A collective of Black church leaders called upon the U.S. government Tuesday to declare HIV/AIDS crisis in the African American community a “public health emergency” and introduced legislation that would address the epidemic. Following a two-day conclave, over 150 African American leaders proposed the National HIV/AIDS Elimination Act, which...

Religious Leaders Fast in Protest of Iraq War A number of religious leaders are participating in an interfaith fast Monday to call for the end of the Iraq war. Mon, Oct. 08, 2007 Posted: 13:28:58 PM EST WASHINGTON – A number of religious leaders are participating in an interfaith fast Monday to call for the end of the Iraq war. From dawn until dusk, leaders and adherents of Christianity, Judaism and Islam across the country will join in the anti-war fasting, which takes place as Muslims celebrate the “Night of Power” – the holiest night in Ramadan. “When you are...

Theologian Says Bible Does Not Condemn Gays An evangelical theologian is visiting several churches this fall refuting the common Christian interpretation of the Bible that Jesus and Scripture opposes homosexuality. Sat, Oct. 06, 2007 Posted: 09:44:38 AM EST An evangelical theologian is visiting several churches this fall refuting the common Christian interpretation of the Bible that Jesus and Scripture opposes homosexuality. Jack Rogers, professor of Theology Emeritus at San Francisco Theological Seminary, is trying to get a positive word out in the Christian churches about the gay and lesbian community and thinks churches should be leading the charge for their...

Young Americans today are more skeptical and resistant to Christianity than were people of the same age just a decade ago, says a new study. Tue, Sep. 25, 2007 Posted: 11:19:17 AM EST Young Americans today are more skeptical and resistant to Christianity than were people of the same age just a decade ago, says a new study. Negative perceptions toward the Christian faith have outweighed the positive as a growing percentage of younger Americans associate with a faith outside Christianity. Only 16 percent of non-Christians aged 16 to 29 years old said they have a "good impression" of Christianity,...