Free Republic

Scripture uses wonderfully tangible language to help explain abstract spiritual concepts with examples we know with our senses to demonstrate some very complex ideas. Blood is referenced quite often in the Bible because it is something with which we all have experience. We each live, breath, and have blood flowing through our veins, and so blood is something we recognize and understand. It is likewise with water. When someone describes something as fluid like water, we know what they mean because we visualize the properties of water. This type of scriptural imagery works to make the invisible become visible. A...

Most Swedenborgians I know hesitate tackling a end times topic. Growing up, I was taught that the second coming of the Lord commenced on June 19th, 1771 and beginning then, many commenced building His New Church here on earth. From Johnny Appleseed and Helen Keller, we have inspiring stories of Swedenborgians who went out in novel ways into the world to spread the message. I joined Free Republic at the end of 2003 interested in the election and found the religious forum full of committed folks that I respect talking about end times topics... lots of things on prophecy was...

Readings: Deuteronomy 32:15-18 Sacrificing to demons Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior. They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to demons, which are not God--gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear. You deserted the Rock, who bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth. Mark 5:1-20 Jesus heals a demon-possessed man They went across the lake to the region of...

This is a story about a nearly 100-year-old book, bound in red leather, which has spent the last quarter century secreted away in a bank vault in Switzerland. The book is big and heavy and its spine is etched with gold letters that say “Liber Novus,” which is Latin for “New Book.” Its pages are made from thick cream-colored parchment and filled with paintings of otherworldly creatures and handwritten dialogues with gods and devils. If you didn’t know the book’s vintage, you might confuse it for a lost medieval tome. (See article for details) ###

Mark 4:1-9, 26-29 (New Living Translation) 1 Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. A very large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat in the boat while all the people remained on the shore. 2 He taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables, such as this one: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. 4 As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on shallow soil...

So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. Following are my reflections on Bishops Kline's Sermon. Please consider listening to his address before posting negative comments to my words. I just wish to convey how his sermon moved me to find my path. It is an open thread. Bishop Kline uses a ladder to symbolize the path to the Lord's Heavenly Kingdom. I posted on other threads some significance to that in...

The National Council of Churches has a long history of supporting Communist causes -- and condemning the United States and Israel. NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES 475 Riverside DriveSuite 880New York, NY 10115 Phone :212-870-2227 URL :http://www.ncccusa.org/     Largest coalition of leftwing religious denominations in the United States Has long record of financial support for Communist regimesRemains faithful ally of Communist Cuba  Reserves criticism on moral issues for Israel and the United States Makes common cause with environmentalist radicals Masks leftist politics in faith-based declarations  Earlier this month, the National Council of Churches condemned Israel – a nation plagued in...