Christianity
EU: HANG A CRUCIFIX-GET SUED!!
08/03/09 16:48
From Dailymail: "Organisations which hang crucifixes on walls could be sued if they upset atheists under equality laws proposed by the European Union.
Any group offering a service to the public, including hospitals, charities, businesses and prisons, would be at risk.
Legislation may also allow Christians to bring an action against a hotel if it displayed something they deemed offensive - such as a poster for the 1979 Monty Python film The Life Of Brian.
There are already laws banning harassment in the workplace, but Read More...
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ARGENTINA: A CATHOLIC APOSTASY CAMPAIGN
06/03/09 06:43
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - In an effort to reduce the church's political influence, Argentine atheists and feminists are spearheading a drive to get people who were baptized Roman Catholic but disagree with the church's politics to formally renounce their faith.
The "Not in my Name" Internet campaign, also called Collective Apostasy, encourages people who are Catholic in name only to write to the bishops where they were baptized to officially register that they have left the church.
Latin America is home to about half of the world's Roman Catholics but many people who were baptized Catholic do not practice the religion.
"The church counts all those who've been baptized as Catholic and lobbies for legislation based Read More...
20,000 MUSLIMS ATTACK EGYPTIAN CHURCH
26/11/08 08:18
"For if in the green wood they do these things,
what shall be done in the dry?" Luke 23:31
FROM AINA: "One thousand Christians were today trapped inside the Coptic Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary in West Ain Shams,Cairo, after more than twenty thousand Muslims attacked them with stones and butane gas cylinders. The Church's priest Father Antonious said that the situation is extremely dangerous.
The Muslim mob that attacked the church blocked both sides of the street and encircled the church building, broke its doors and demolished its entire first floor. The mob were chanting Jihad verses as well as slogans saying "we will demolish the church" and "We sacrifice our blood and souls, we sacrifice ourselves for you, Islam", while the entrapped Christians chanted "Lord have mercy".
The incident started on the occasion of the inauguration Read More...
FROM AINA: "One thousand Christians were today trapped inside the Coptic Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary in West Ain Shams,Cairo, after more than twenty thousand Muslims attacked them with stones and butane gas cylinders. The Church's priest Father Antonious said that the situation is extremely dangerous.
The Muslim mob that attacked the church blocked both sides of the street and encircled the church building, broke its doors and demolished its entire first floor. The mob were chanting Jihad verses as well as slogans saying "we will demolish the church" and "We sacrifice our blood and souls, we sacrifice ourselves for you, Islam", while the entrapped Christians chanted "Lord have mercy".
The incident started on the occasion of the inauguration Read More...
eHARMONY WILL MATCH HOMOSEXUALS
19/11/08 21:58
Just like the
acceptance of birth control by most, if not all,
Protestant Christianity, Christian denominations will
continue to capitulate to the world's cry for false
charity toward the radical homosexual agenda.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- "Online dating site eHarmony will create a service for same-sex matching in a settlement of a 2005 complaint that the company's failure to offer such a service was discriminatory."
"Under terms of the agreement with the New Jersey attorney general's office, eHarmony Inc. will start the service, called Compatible Partners, by March 31.
"With the launch of the Compatible Partners site, our policy is to welcome Read More...
NEW YORK (CNN) -- "Online dating site eHarmony will create a service for same-sex matching in a settlement of a 2005 complaint that the company's failure to offer such a service was discriminatory."
"Under terms of the agreement with the New Jersey attorney general's office, eHarmony Inc. will start the service, called Compatible Partners, by March 31.
"With the launch of the Compatible Partners site, our policy is to welcome Read More...
AN OBAMANATION OF ERRORS
03/11/08 13:26
But what is the result of this separation? Today, we not only ignore God's commands, but we also deny God what He is due--worship in accordance with His will, and obedience to His Church. Liberty, which is based upon truth, has been replaced by license and licentiousness where the spirit of fornication and adultery dominates-- the product of which is the slaughter of innocents for the sake of convenience. The best we can do as a nation is to elect a leader who will confront the effect of our wicked and adulterous culture --and reduce abortions. There are, however, no electable leaders who perceive or understand the inherent failures of the notion of separation of Church and State.
But the the most lamentable part of an Obama victory is that it would be due to those who falsely claim to be Catholics but are instead "Americanists". We have all heard the mantra---"I consider myself a Catholic but the church has no right Read More...
WHEN THE SON OF MAN COMES WILL HE FIND FAITH ON EARTH?
20/10/08 07:07
From the telegraph: "Beatles songs as likely to explain Christianity as the Bible, says bishop"...
"The Rt Rev Nick Baines, Bishop of Croydon, has urged churches to use hits by bands such as U2 and the Beatles in their services.
"In a book backed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, he argues that pop music writers can convey deep theological concepts in a way that is more accessible to the younger generation.
"Hundreds of evangelical churches have already turned to guitar-based songs instead of traditional hymns, but the bishop suggests that clergy still need to be more creative in appealing to non-churchgoers.
"Artists highlighted for exploring Christian themes in their music include Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and John Lennon, who famously claimed the Beatles were bigger than Jesus.
"For many people the language of the Bible has become inaccessible and yet pop song writers can make a connection with people because their language is fresh," he said.
"They are able to open our imagination to a way of thinking about God that we've become deaf to in church language."
Another article is about the new trend in many Protestant denominations of "Open Read More...
DOES ANYONE GO TO HELL ANYMORE?
13/10/08 19:06
"Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!" Matt 7:13-14
The bible also provides evidence of the few numbers of those who are saved: "In the time of Noah, the entire human race was submerged by the Deluge, and only eight people were saved in the Ark. Saint Peter Read More...
KOSOVO: CATHOLICS IN HIDING FORMALLY RETURN TO THE CHURCH
29/09/08 09:12
Excerpts from (Reuters)Kosovo - "Hundreds of Kosovar Albanians gather on Sundays to attend religious services in a still unfinished red-brick church in the Kosovo town of Klina.
"Turning away from the majority Muslim faith imposed by the Ottoman Turks centuries ago, these worshippers are part of a revival of Catholicism in the newly independent Balkan state.
"We have been living a dual life. In our homes we were Catholics but in public we were good Muslims," said Ismet Sopi. "We don't call this converting. It is the continuity of the family's belief."
"Sopi has commuted 40 km (25 miles) every Sunday from central Kosovo to Klina to attend a morning mass since he formally became a Roman Catholic five months ago. This September was the first holy Read More...
A GAFFE OR TRUTH?
10/09/08 13:21
As a Catholic I could never slip and say "My Muslim Faith" or inadvertantly refer to myself as having a different religion. This so- called gaffe reveals the depth of Obama's connection with the Christian religion and Jesus Christ, while exposing his attachment to Islam. Could any of you--who are Christians slip in such a manner?
HOLLYWOOD WRITER ESZTERHAS FINDS JESUS AND THE EUCHARIST FULFILL MAN'S BASIC INSTINCTS
28/08/08 15:24
It is always fascinating when conversions seemingly come out of nowhere...
Excerpts from the Toledo Blade: "Mr. Eszterhas was diagnosed with throat cancer. Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic removed 80 percent of his larynx, put a tracheotomy tube in his throat, and told him he must quit drinking and smoking immediately.
At age 56, after a lifetime of wild living, Mr. Eszterhas knew it would be a struggle to change his ways.
One hot summer day after his surgery, walking through his tree-lined neighborhood in Bainbridge Township, Mr. Eszterhas reached a breaking point.
"I was going crazy. I was jittery. I twitched. I trembled. I had no patience for anything. … Every single nerve ending was demanding a drink and a cigarette," he wrote.
He plopped down on a curb and cried. Sobbed, even. And for the first time since he was a child, he prayed: "Please God, help me."
Mr. Eszterhas was shocked by his own prayer.
"I couldn't believe I'd said Read More...
JESUS BUILT A CHURCH AND GAVE HIS PRIESTS THE POWER TO FORGIVE SIN
14/08/08 07:46
Jesus indeed came to ransom the human race and made a general atonement for all sins by His bloody death upon the cross. The price was paid and accepted by the all-just God. But the merits of the redeeming Blood were to be applied to the individual soul through the Church which Christ established.
Jesus stated to the Apostle Peter: "thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." (Matt., xvi. 18, 10)
Thus Jesus came to build a visible church--despite all those who want to do away with religion and the notion of "church" and simply be "spiritual". "They err in a matter of divine truth who imagine Read More...
ANGLICAN LEADER SAYS HOMOSEXUAL SEX SAME AS MARITAL SEX IN EYES OF GOD
07/08/08 08:02
"According to The Times and The Daily Telegraph, Rowan Williams argued in the letters, written in 2000 and 2001, that biblical prohibitions on homosexuality were targeted at "heterosexuals looking for sexual variety in their experience."
"I concluded that an active sexual relationship between two people of the same sex might therefore reflect the love of God in a way comparable to marriage, if and only if it had about it the same character of absolute covenanted faithfulness," Williams was reported to have written.
The letters were apparently written to Deborah Pitt, a psychiatrist and evangelical Christian, while Williams was still archbishop of Wales.
He was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Church of England and the leader of the world's 77-million-strong Anglican Communion, in 2002.
According to the newspapers, Williams apparently wrote that the church "has shifted its stance on several matters -- notably the rightness of lending money at interest and the moral admissibility of contraception so I am bound to ask if this is another such issue."
Relativism lies at the heart of protestantism as clearly revealed by Williams' statement and over time by the abandonment of all orthodoxy by one protestant denomination after another. Without the rock Protestant Christianity is battered and shaken until it concedes to the world on every sin that man seeks to engage in.
A MOVING LETTER FROM A PREGNANT NUN WHO WAS RAPED
31/07/08 16:29
Here is an
extraordinary letter written by a young nun, Sister
Lucy Vertrusc, to her mother superior. Sister
Vertrusc became pregnant after she was raped in 1995
during the war in the former Yugoslavia. The letter
appeared in an Italian newspaper at the behest of her
Mother Superior.
"I am Lucy, one of the young nuns raped by the Serbian soldiers. I am writing to you, Mother, after what happened to my sisters Tatiana, Sandria, and me.
Allow me not to go into the details of the act. There are some experiences in life so atrocious that you cannot tell them to anyone but God, in whose service I had consecrated my life nearly a year ago.
My drama is not so much the humiliation that I suffered as a woman, not the incurable offense committed against my vocation as a religious, but the difficulty of having to incorporate into my faith an event that certainly forms part of the mysterious will of Him whom I have always considered my Divine Spouse.
Only a few days before, I had read "Dialogues of Carmelites" and spontaneously I asked our Lord to grant me the Read More...
"I am Lucy, one of the young nuns raped by the Serbian soldiers. I am writing to you, Mother, after what happened to my sisters Tatiana, Sandria, and me.
Allow me not to go into the details of the act. There are some experiences in life so atrocious that you cannot tell them to anyone but God, in whose service I had consecrated my life nearly a year ago.
My drama is not so much the humiliation that I suffered as a woman, not the incurable offense committed against my vocation as a religious, but the difficulty of having to incorporate into my faith an event that certainly forms part of the mysterious will of Him whom I have always considered my Divine Spouse.
Only a few days before, I had read "Dialogues of Carmelites" and spontaneously I asked our Lord to grant me the Read More...
WHY LIBERALS MUST INDOCTRINATE OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN
31/07/08 14:16
"[G]o to the streets of a liberal enclave like San Francisco, Seattle or Vermont. There will be plenty of expensive boutiques, antique dealers, health spas, sushi bars and upscale coffee shops. But you won’t see very many children. The reason is not that right-wingers have dumped buckets of birth control pills into the San Francisco municipal water supply. The simple fact is that many on the liberal left today just don’t want to have children.
"A 2004 U.S. survey showed that a typical sample of 100 unrelated adults who called themselves liberal will have 147 children. That contrasts with the typical conservative, who is likely to have 208 children per 100 unrelated adults. That’s 41% more.
"The liberal Northeastern states — Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York — have the lowest fertility rates in the country. They also have the lowest percentage of population under the age of five. In progressive San Francisco, there are more dogs Read More...
WITHOUT THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS SATAN SIFTS CHRISTIANS LIKE WHEAT
30/07/08 07:07
According to the late Fr John Hardon S.J., only those who would profess the following are Christian--"No one else is":
"I believe in my heart and openly profess that the bread and wine placed upon the altar are, by the mystery of the sacred prayer and the words of the Redeemer, substantially changed into the true and life-giving flesh and blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, and that after the consecration, there is present the true body of Christ which was born of the Virgin and offered up for the salvation of the world, hung on the cross and now sits at the right hand of the Father, and that there is present the true blood of Christ which flowed from his side. They are present not only by means of a sign and of the efficacy of the Sacrament, but also in the very reality and truth of their nature and substance." Composed by St Gregory VII for the profession of the heretic Berengarius in 1079.
Fr Hardon recommended that the above be memorized along with the following by all:
"Surely the word of Christ which could make out of nothing that which did not exist, can change things already in existence into what they were not. For it is no less extraordinary to give things new natures than to change their natures." St Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.
ANGLICAN ARCHBISHOP: CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE IS OFFENSIVE TO MUSLIIMS
16/07/08 07:36
From mailonline: "Dr Rowan Williams...criticised Christianity's history for its violence, its use of harsh punishments and its betrayal of its peaceful principles.
He also said the Christian belief in the Trinity - that God is Father, Son and Holy Ghost at the same time - 'is difficult, sometimes offensive, to Muslims'.
'We can together speak for those who have no voice or leverage in society - for the poorest, the most despised, the least powerful, for women and children, for migrants and minorities; and even to speak together for the great encompassing Read More...
ISLAM'S GROWTH IS THE RESULT OF RELATIVISM IN THE WEST
28/05/08 20:46
If I could
shout this from the mountain tops --I would.
Relativism is so pervasive in the West--it has even
penetrated good and holy people who have become
uncertain and even afraid to assert the existence of
truth and condemn lies and false religions. Truth is
not subjective--nor is it up to man to decide what is
true and what is false. Truth exists outside of man
and despite man's assent or acquiescence to it.
The dissolution and rejection of absolute truth is precisely due to the disunity of Christianity and the creation of personal religion. Over the last 500+ years we have accepted the notion that everyone is free to create their own version of Christ, Christianity and ultimately their own truth. As a result we now as a culture, lack standing to condemn those who personally and sincerely believe they possess the fullness of truth but in reality lack Christ who is truth. To condemn personal religion and thereby false religion would amount to a condemnation of what the West itself has become.
Recent Catholic convert, Magdi Allam, recently asserted that it is relativism that has caused the growth of Islam in the West. Excerpts from (CNA).- "Magdi Allam, warned this week that Islam is growing as a result of the ideology of relativism that pervades the West and claims that there are many truths instead of one unique Truth.
In an article published by the magazine Mundo Cristiano and quoted by Analisis Digital, Allam Read More...
The dissolution and rejection of absolute truth is precisely due to the disunity of Christianity and the creation of personal religion. Over the last 500+ years we have accepted the notion that everyone is free to create their own version of Christ, Christianity and ultimately their own truth. As a result we now as a culture, lack standing to condemn those who personally and sincerely believe they possess the fullness of truth but in reality lack Christ who is truth. To condemn personal religion and thereby false religion would amount to a condemnation of what the West itself has become.
Recent Catholic convert, Magdi Allam, recently asserted that it is relativism that has caused the growth of Islam in the West. Excerpts from (CNA).- "Magdi Allam, warned this week that Islam is growing as a result of the ideology of relativism that pervades the West and claims that there are many truths instead of one unique Truth.
In an article published by the magazine Mundo Cristiano and quoted by Analisis Digital, Allam Read More...
CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOP CONDEMNED BY HIS OWN FOR ADVOCATING THE CONVERSION OF MUSLIMS TO CHRISTIANITY
26/05/08 12:24
From the Telegraph: "The Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, the former Bishop of Hulme and the newly appointed Bishop of Urban Life and Faith, said: "Both the Bishop of Rochester's reported comments and the synod private members' motion show no sensitivity to the need for good inter-faith relations. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs are learning to respect one another's paths to God and to live in harmony. This demand for the evangelisation of people of other faiths contributes nothing to our communities."
A Church of England spokesman added: "We have a mission-focused Christian presence in every community, including those where there are a large number of Muslims. That engagement is based on the provisions of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Read More...
CHURCH OF ENGLAND TRAINING PRIESTS TO USE DR WHO IN SERMONS AND ADAPT TO CULTURE
04/05/08 21:00
Excerpts from Telegraph.co.uk: From "They have been urged to use examples from the programme in their sermons in an attempt to make Christianity more relevant to teenagers.
"At a conference last week, vicars watched Doctor Who clips that were said to illustrate themes of resurrection, redemption and evil.
"It analysed the similarities between the Doctor and Christ, and whether daleks are capable of change."
When will liberals learn that when they attempt to adapt Christianity to the culture they will fail miserably, and always end up looking absurd to youth. It is precisely the counter-cultural message of Jesus that is attractive to young people who are immersed in a culture of hedonism and nihilism.
"The Rev Andrew Myers, vicar at St Aidan’s in Leeds, attended the course and said that he would use Doctor Who in future sermons.
The Rt Rev Tony Porter, Bishop of Sherwood, said it was vital that clergy adapt to the culture around them.
"And the people will be like the priest..."(Isaiah 24:2)--it is no wonder that so many are perishing when their foolish leaders have altered Christ's message to fit in with the world.
THERE IS NO RELIGION CALLED CHRISTIANITY --JUST THE CHURCH OF CHRIST AND THE ANTI-CHRIST
25/02/08 07:46
"There is and always has been the Church, and various heresies proceeding from a rejection of some of the Church's doctrines by men who still desire to retain the rest of her teaching and morals. But there never has been and never can be or will be a general Christian religion professed by men who all accept some central important doctrines, while agreeing to differ about others. There has always been from the beginning and will always be the Church, and sundry heresies either doomed to decay, or, like Mohammedanism, to grow into a separate religion. Of a common Christianity there never has been and never can be a definition, for it has never existed."
Belloc goes on to state, "[t]here is no essential doctrine such that if we can agree upon it we can agree to differ about the rest: as for instance to accept immorality but deny the Trinity. A man will call himself a Christian though he denies the
unity of the Christian Church; he will call Read More...
A LA CARTE CHRISTIANITY AND SHARIA LAW
12/02/08 11:04
From Simon Heffer at the Telegraph: "The archbishop seems to imagine that sharia law's adoption could be confined to matters such as financial transactions and divorce.
"But why should it stop there? Indeed, how could it?
"The Church of England has long dined à la carte from the menu of Christian doctrine. The Ten Commandments have become mostly optional. Homosexuality, divorce and abortion are demanded as rights by certain sections of the Anglican communion, and no prelate seems to dare to contradict them. The Church has brought itself into contempt by acting in this way. Now, though, perhaps Dr Williams imagines Muslims will dine à la carte from the Koran. He must be mad.
"A man in his position should defend our way of life and, above all, defend the unity of our society. That unity is already fragile: and this disgraceful act of appeasement, as well as showing the archbishop is unfit to occupy St Augustine's Throne, threatens to shatter it. If the Church of England has any point, it is to stand up for the prevalence of English and Christian values."
The Reformation did away with unity of peoples and certainly Christianity. Now we have non-believers clamoring for unity and Christian values but perpetually dividing Protestantism will only fail civilization.
THE CHRISTIANITY THAT SCATTERS RATHER THAN GATHERS
21/01/08 13:08
So many "Christians" have come to hold the view that it does not matter what one believes but rather that one is simply sincere and a "good person". But without a firm creed and an authority established by God Himself one is open to compromise with the world, the devil, and the flesh. Surely Christ will not abide with those who compromise and strip His word of all hard teachings--we must either accept or reject Him, we are either for or against Him. Compromise is incompatible with a firm faith that Christ is God, whose word is true and whose promises are as sure as God is sure.
Protestantism's rejection of authority has scattered souls by forcing them to fend for themselves to determine what the essential revealed truths of Christ are. Instead of confidently grasping hold of truth, Protestant Christians must agree to differ as to what truth God intended to reveal. Without the confidence that can only be found when authority is recognized, Protestants are inexorably driven to compromise due to the eternally endless divisions. How ironic it is that "bible believing" "sola scriptura" Christians are on the whole more unsure of truth and the requirements of salvation than prior to the Reformation. As a result Christians have never been so lax, and so lacking in faith.
Many Protestants have come to reject the ten commandments and even baptism as necessary Read More...
CONSUMING CHRISTMAS WITH GREED AND MATERIALISM
18/12/07 11:24
Why has the celebration of the birth of Christ been adulterated to such an extent that we act as if we are deserving of so much more materially than He had on His day of birth?
Christ "so loved poverty that He chose for His mother not a rich and powerful queen, but a poor and humble Virgin. He willed to be born, not in a palace, but in a bleak stable, the manger of which, covered with a little straw, was His only couch." The Sinner's Guide, Venerable Louis of Granada.
The Pope also recently cautioned the world about materialism: Too many children are growing up in a world saturated with "false models of happiness" and being lured by unscrupulous adults into the "dead-end street of consumerism".
Where did it all go wrong? The West's wealth Read More...
AN ALL ENCOMPASSING RETURN TO TRADITION
15/12/07 09:59
A recent article focusing on the return to tradition in all religions appeared in U.S. News and World Report. It seems that it is not just Catholicism that is returning to tradition-- every major religion is undergoing "a return to tradition and orthodoxy, to past practices, observances, and customary ways of worshiping".
One could have guessed that this would eventually take place since the last 50 years have seen Christianity stripped of all mystery tradition and even orthodoxy. From Catholicism, to the store front inner city Baptist church, to the mega churches that resemble stadiums, we see a "Starbucks effect" where Christianity has became homogenized. The focus has been on feelings and emotions of congregants rather than the sacrifice of Jesus.
But the generation that ushered in the fad of barren and individualistic Christianity is aging and its rebellion against tradition seems like nothing more than an ugly trend to the younger generations. This elderly generation however will not concede loss quietly...
"Some liberal Catholic clergy are completely skeptical about the scope and meaning of the traditionalist turn. "It's more hype than reality," says the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and political scientist at Georgetown's Woodstock Theological Center. Reese thinks the church should focus less on the Latin Read More...
WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT CHRISTIANITY?
28/11/07 18:30
Here is an interesting interview with Catholic Dinesh D'Souza about the reported growth of atheism and the common falacies which are spread by atheists about Christianity. D'Souza's recent book, What's So Great About Christianity is intended to counter the flurry of pro-atheist books that are now on the market. I have heard that it is an incredible defense of the faith. It is currently on the N.Y. Times bestseller list.
THE FRUIT OF THE REFORMATION--ATHEISM
24/11/07 19:27
The town of Wittenberg Germany where Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church has undergone enormous changes including what some may call the curse of atheism. From chicagotribune:
"The wooden doors of Castle Church were long ago replaced by ones made of bronze, but what comes as a far greater disappointment to Protestant pilgrims, especially those from America, is that only about 15 percent of Wittenberg's inhabitants identify themselves as Christian.
"Most of the others proudly celebrate their atheism.
"We knew that Christianity had taken a hit during communist times, but to come here, to the land of Luther, and to find so many people outside the church, yes, it was a surprise," admitted Stephen Godsall-Myers, a Lutheran pastor from Pennsylvania.
"The situation is even starker when the pilgrims make their way to the town of Eisleben, Luther's birthplace. There, only 8 percent of the population calls itself Christian.
"What theologians and academics describe as the de-Christianization of Europe began more than a century ago, but in eastern Germany the process was greatly accelerated under the communist rule of the former German Democratic Republic."
Yes, Germany suffered through the devastation of communism--but this cannot account for the domination and speed with which atheism has spread in the historical heart of the Reformation and throughout the entire continent. What Germany suffers from is de-Christianization brought on by the Reformation. It is indeed the Reformation itself that has led to the devastation of faith and the growth Read More...
ORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY EMBROILED IN SCANDAL
06/10/07 20:57
"Twenty years ago, televangelist Oral Roberts said he was reading a spy novel when God appeared to him and told him to raise $8 million for Roberts' university, or else he would be "called home."
Now, his son, Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, is facing lurid allegations in a lawsuit that threatens to engulf the 44-year-old University in scandal.
"Richard Roberts is accused of illegal involvement in a local political campaign and lavish spending at donors' expense, including numerous home remodeling projects, use of the university jet for his daughter's senior trip to Read More...
WHY ME? THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST IN YOUR LIFE
22/09/07 21:17
CONFRONTED WITH SCHISM ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY HOLDS CLANDESTINE HOMOSEXUAL COMMUNION SERVICE
17/09/07 19:00
From Timesonline: Dr Williams will celebrate the eucharist at St Peter’s, Eaton Square – the Church of England parish that is known as the spiritual home to some of the country’s most liberal and wealthy Anglican elite. There he will give an address titled “Present realities and future possibilities for lesbians and gay men in the Church”.
How about the present reality and real possibility that one's church is on the brink of having no future at all due to an unbiblical and anti-Christian embrace of homosexuality?
The event has been organised under Chatham House rules, which prevent any disclosure of the discussions. The event will take place at 10am on November 29. A list of the names of those who will be present will be seen only by Dr Williams. It will be shredded afterwards.
The disclosure of the event could not have come at a time more likely to destabilise Read More...
POLL: RELIGION CAUSES HARM
03/09/07 06:12
"Only 16% of those polled called themselves atheists; 28% believed in God; 26% believed in “something” but were not sure what; and 9% regarded themselves as agnostics
“Even though the dominant faith - by a massive margin – is Christianity, only 17% thought the influence of religion was beneficial. That is even fewer than those who claim that they believe in a personal God. And yet when we asked which of the main religions was ‘most effective’ in getting its message across, most thought it was Christianity. Only 10% cited Islam compared with 32% who said Christianity.”
"In the survey 43% said they never prayed, 31% hardly prayed, and 10% prayed every night. “More than half of those who say they believe in a personal God cannot be bothered to pray to him every night,”
Many have come to view religion as harmful but irreligion is more harmful to humanity than religion is. It is the irreligious Read More...
"THE PERFECT CHURCH FOR THOSE WHO AREN'T"---THE AGE OF CHURCHES THAT TICKLE THE EARS
24/08/07 21:02
Randy and Paula White are a husband wife team of pastors who attracted tens of thousands to Without Walls International Church--a 22,000 member mega-church. The White's built their multi-million dollar evangelical empire by offering what they called "the perfect church, for those who aren't."
"[T]he perfect church for those who aren't" message catapulted Paula White to international stardom as a televangelist and author.
But at Thursday night's service, they announced plans to end their 18-year marriage.
Both have been divorced Read More...
ARRANGED MARRIAGES MAKING A COMEBACK
29/06/07 11:07
“Today is the era of the arranged couple who fall into love around the birth of the first child," said Marian Salzman, co-author of "Next Now: Trends for the Future."
"It sounds traditional, but in some ways so much of the future is back to the past, turbo-charged,” she said.
Arranged marriages have been part of many cultures for thousands of years, primarily born Read More...
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RELIGIOUS FEELING AND FAITH
29/05/07 19:54
"Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord': shall
enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will
of my Father in heaven shall enter the kingdom of
heaven. Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord
did we not prophesy in thy name, and work many
miracles in thy name?' And then I will declare unto
them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers
of iniquity!'
Matthew 7:21-23
How can a person who
lacks the true faith, or for that matter lacks
essential truths, appear zealous and dutiful in the
practice of their religion? From the muslim who kills
in the name of allah, to the thrice divorced born
again, or the contracepting Catholic--how can they
appear to be religious while failing to follow God's
commands? I recently stumbled upon an excellent
explanation for this in a book called
Letters To A Mother
by Father
Emmanuel Marie Andre.
"A
religious feeling is...of the natural
order. A religious feeling
is the natural consequence of being creatures, just
as respect for parents is natural to the child."
"The religious feeling, being natural to man, is
found in all men, faithful and infidels;
for
HOLINESS & HANDGUNS--THE PATRON SAINT OF HANDGUNNERS & MARKSMANSHIP
15/05/07 13:53
“Guide our aim to strike at the center. Protect
us from the enemies of love, justice and liberty.”
Despite liberals wimpy view of Christ and
Christianity, we are called to be soldiers for Christ
and defend the innocent against evil. St Gabriel
Possenti shows us that holiness is not opposed to
bravery, manhood, and even handguns. He came to the
defense of a young girl who was being attacked and
drove a gang of mercenaries out of town at gunpoint.
To honor his deeds the St. Gabriel Possenti
Society, Inc. was established and each
year a person is chosen who lives according to the
principles which St Gabriel Possenti exemplified.
This year Charl van Wyk of Cape Town, South Africa
was chosen for his bravery in fighting off
Marxist-Lenninists who attacked a
church:
From
News Release
Wire: "In July 1993,
Charl, relying on his faith and a .38 caliber
special revolver, caused a gang of terrorists to
flee a church in Cape Town in what became known as
the St. James Massacre. The terrorists were part
of the Azanian People’s Liberation Army, the
military wing of the Pan
African
PRESIDENT OF EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY REVERTS TO CATHOLICISM
06/05/07 15:16
From Spero: Dr. Francis Beckwith, the president of the Evangelical Theological Society, tendered his resignation yesterday as a result of his coming back into communion with the Catholic Church. The potential for a backlash within the Society led him to his decision to resign from his post as president.
According to Beckwith’s blog, “I no longer think that it is possible for ETS to conduct its business and its meetings in a fashion that advances the Gospel of Christ as long as I remain as its president.” “For this reason, effective May 5, 2007, I resign as both President of the Evangelical Theological Society and a member of its executive committee.”
Dr. Beckwith’s journey back to the Church (Beckwith was raised Catholic) was sparked by his reading of some the bishops and theologians of the early Church. “In January, at the suggestion of a dear friend, I began reading the Early Church Fathers as well Read More...
EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS SEEK FORGIVENESS OF SINS ONLINE
03/05/07 08:08
How tragic it is to lack the fullness of faith and to seek deliverance and release from sin, to no avail. How many of our modern day psychological ailments are due to unconfessed and unforgiven sin? So many in the emotional hype of being "born again", presume upon the mercy of God, without the assurance of forgiveness of sin that can only come from Christ through His Church. Sacramental confession is no mere human tradition or invention, as is online confession, rather it is the merciful creation of Christ which cleanses the sinner and absolves the conscience. Anything less is a cruel abuse of a sincere desire to be loosed from sin.
"The Catholic religion does not compel indiscriminate confession of sins; it allows us to remain hidden from the sight of all other men, save one to whom she bids us reveal the depths of our heart, and show ourselves as we are. There is only this one man in the world, whom she bids us undeceive, and him she binds to inviolable secrecy, so that this knowledge remains with him as if it were not. Can anything be imagined more charitable, more tender. Pascal: Pensees.
From Indian Catholic:
MIAMI (CNA): Evangelical Christians seem to be finding the value of confession. But they’re not lining up for the confessional or for a minister — they’ve headed online.
Confession websites are not new — they’ve been around for at least a few years — but they continue to increase in number Read More...
ARE CHILDREN WITH RELIGIOUS PARENTS BETTER BEHAVED AND ADJUSTED?
27/04/07 18:42
This is such a wonderful study. I think I will cite to it next time I hear the oft repeated objection that homeschooled children are not socialized.
"Kids with religious parents are better behaved and adjusted than other children, according to a new study that is the first to look at the effects of religion on young child development."
"The conflict that arises when parents regularly argue over their faith at home, however, has the opposite effect.
"John Bartkowski, a Mississippi State University sociologist and his colleagues asked the parents and teachers of more than 16,000 kids, most of them first-graders, to rate how much self control they believed Read More...
GO FORTH--EMBOLDENED TO SHARE THE TRUTH WITH ALL!
15/04/07 21:50
We are all guilty, at one time or another, of failing to reveal God's truths to a fellow human being who needed to hear it. But here are some words of wisdom to encourage our faint-heartedness:
"If we do not tell others the truth, it is perhaps because we feel they are not disposed to accept it, but also it is often through cowardice, through self-centeredness, because we have not the courage to face up to their displeasure. Because we fear to offend them we do not dare to love them truly and to the bitter end. For loving others means seeking what is for their good, even in spite of themselves. Loving others means helping them to bring about within themselves the triumph of truth over their paltry day-to-day "reality". Loving means helping every man to learn God's plan for him. Indisputably, charity of this kind forbids us to allow others what we know is not for their own good. The true lover is he who faithfully, patiently, realistically and in silence...strives to help others to bring to fruition what is best within them. Read More...
GLUTTONY AND ITS REMEDIES
30/03/07 07:57
The so called wisdom of the world erroneously concludes that the cause of our obesity epidemic is food--trans fats, fast food and soft drinks. However, Godly wisdom reveals it is our own inordinate love of eating and drinking aka, old fashioned gluttony.
Thomas Aquinas argued that gluttony could include an obsessive anticipation of meals, and Read More...
GOD'S CONTINENT: CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, AND EUROPE'S RELIGIOUS CRISIS
22/03/07 14:24
Here is an excerpt of a recent interview with Phillip Jenkins, a professor of History at Pennsylvania State University, about his new book, God's Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe's Religious Crisis, that appeared at Virtue. His book is about the religious future of Europe. Portions of the interview follow:
Explain the "rule of ten."
Jenkins: If you're trying to track the decline of institutional Christianity in Europe, you can take a point in 1960 or 1965 and compare that to today. Whether you are looking at vocations or number of seminarians, we are now at one tenth of where we were, across the continent. People are not going to seminaries. They're not choosing vocations in anything like the number they used to.
How effective was the Soviet Union at stomping out religious belief, in Russia and in its satellite countries? Read More...
THOSE WHO ARE MOST TEMPTED & THOSE WHO ARE FRIENDS OF THE DEVIL
10/03/07 12:49
The folllowing is excerpted from a sermon by the Cure d' Ars, St. John Vianney.
"[T]emptation is necessary for us, because it teaches us to know ourselves.
“Now what does God do to bring us to a knowledge of ourselves, to make us conscious of our unworthiness? He allows the devil to approach us....O my brethren, how little are we, and how wrong it is for us to rely upon our fine resolutions!”
“[T]emptation is necessary to convince our mind of our unworthiness, and to prevent pride from becoming master over us. Now, you may think that the people who are the most tempted, are the drunkards, the slanderers, the unchaste, who wallow in the mire of their shame, or perhaps the misers. No my brethren, these are not the people who are tempted the most. On the contrary, the devil may even try to restrain them, for fear that they may not live long enough to do evil and help cast souls into hell by their bad example. St Augustine teaches us that the devil does not tempt such people particularly: he rather despises and neglects them.
Read More...
Nihilism and Faith
02/03/07 12:40
The following is an excerpt from Salt Of The Earth, an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, before he became Pope.
“[I]t seems generally easier not to believe than to believe. It is paradoxical: on the one hand faith is present in principle, man is a religious being; on the other hand he has to struggle with it constantly.
The ease of unbelief is nonetheless relative. It exists in the sense that it is easy to throw off the bonds of faith and to say, I am not going to exert myself; this is burdensome; I’m leaving that aside. This first stage is what you call the easy part of unbelief. But to live with this is not at all so easy. To live without faith means, then, to find oneself first in some nihilistic state and then, nonetheless. to search for reference points. Living a life of unbelief has its complications. If you examine the philosophy of unbelief in Sartre, Camus, and so forth, you see that readily.
Read More...
