You’ll never walk alone – Susan Boyle
Movie Recommend: This is a good flick about faith and hope
Category Archives: Christianity
Dear God, Help us all WALK ON WITH HOPE
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Filed under Christianity, Movies & Television, Prayer
“I can’t be a Christian and stay in the Democrat party.”
82 Yr Old Grandmother Voting Straight Republican; Tired of Democrats [2:06]
October 22, 2014: Joyce, an 82 year old lifelong black Democrat called C-Span to express her dismay with her party and announce that she voted straight Republican this year. She is dismayed with the Democrats stance on religion, abortion, and the poor effects of Obama’s policies on the black community and the country.
“I have noticed in years what the Democratic party has done to my people. Unemployment is higher in the black community….than anywhere else.
I cannot say, there’s no way I can continue to say that I was a Christian and stay in the Democrat party. They advocate the killing of babies, they advocate taking from the doers and giving to the ones sitting doing nothing…….”
She continued by saying that it is not racist to say that Obama isn’t an effective President. She said it is foolish to play the race card.
“This man is destroying this country…He said he was going to transform American and that is what he is doing.”
Source:
Lifelong Black Democrat Votes Republican Because Obama “Is Destroying This Country”
Filed under Christianity, Democrats, Elections, Race Relations, Republicans, Tea Party
Recklessly detached
The following meditation is by Kendra Tierney.
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:13-21
I don’t have any grain, myself. But you know what I do have? Baby clothes. Washed and folded, sorted by size and separated into bins. I installed built-ins in the guest room closet to fit all the little seasons and sizes.
All so I could rest easy knowing that I had enough tiny sneakers and sweater vests to last me a lifetime.
Now, fortunately for all the little sneaker-wearing people who live in this house, my life has not yet been required of me. But, nor have I required all that stuff I so carefully hoarded for so many years.
I moved winter girl clothing from the Bay Area, to Chicago, Chicago again, and two stops in LA, all so they could live in my guest room for when my next future daughter would need them.
And this while other mothers in this world didn’t have any lovely warm dresses at all to put on their babies.
I saved all of those things from a place of trying to be a responsible steward of our resources, and be able to use again things that we had bought or been given.
But, in his “Sermon to the Rich” I think St. Basil pretty specifically calls me out on it: “The coat, which you guard in your locked storage-chests, belongs to the naked; the footwear mouldering in your closet belongs to those without shoes. . . . Thus, however many are those whom you could have provided for, so many are those whom you wrong.”
They are strong words. But, to me, they ring true.
I still pass clothes from one brother to the next, from one boy’s drawer to another, and I have a few items saved that are of sentimental value. But, even though I hope to have another baby or two before this part of my life is over, all my stores of baby clothes are heading to new homes.
Packing up a huge box of my 0-12 month hoard to send to my new baby nephew, who just came to the family (with very little notice) through adoption, was a joy in all sorts of ways. It was a little hard, too. I am attached to those clothes.
But that’s exactly the problem. My Christian faith calls me to be recklessly, generously detached from my possessions. Even baby clothes.
Now I just have to steel myself to pass along the tiny little dresses. Gulp.
Sources:
http://blessedisshe.net/detached-life/
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Filed under Christianity
Pondering Jesus’ Transfiguration
I was trying to pray the fourth Luminous Mystery and realized I don’t really know much about the Transfiguration. So I googled and found an article that included this interesting bit:
In Luke 9:27, at the end of a speech to the twelve apostles, Jesus adds, enigmatically: “There are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.” This has often been taken as a prophecy that the end of the world would occur before the first generation of Christians died out.
The phrase “kingdom of God” can also refer to other things, though, including the Church–the outward expression of God’s invisible kingdom. The kingdom is embodied in Christ himself and thus might be “seen” if Christ were to manifest it in an unusual way, even in his own earthly life.
Did such a manifestation occur? Yes, and it is the very next thing that Luke relates: the Transfiguration.
Pope Benedict states that it has been “convincingly argued that the placing of this saying immediately before the Transfiguration clearly relates it to this event. Some—that is to say, the three disciples who accompany Jesus up the mountain—are promised that they will personally witness the coming of the Kingdom of God ‘in power.’
“On the mountain the three of them see the glory of God’s Kingdom shining out of Jesus. On the mountain they are overshadowed by God’s holy cloud. On the mountain—in the conversation of the transfigured Jesus with the Law and the Prophets—they realize that the true Feast of Tabernacles has come. On the mountain they learn that Jesus himself is the living Torah, the complete Word of God. On the mountain they see the ‘power’ (dynamis) of the Kingdom that is coming in Christ.”
(Jesus of Nazareth, vol. 1, p. 317).
We thus may have the key to understanding Jesus’ mysterious statement just before the Transfiguration. He wasn’t talking about the end of the world. He was talking about this. In fact, Luke notes that the Transfiguration took place “about eight days after these sayings,” thus stressing its proximity to them and suggesting that it was the fulfillment of this saying, concerning the fact that some of them would see the kingdom of God.
Mark gives a different number of days, saying it was “after six days” (Mk. 9:2), but these both approximate a week.
Read the rest @ http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-jesus-transfiguration
Filed under Bible History, Christianity
Speculating about the great sign
In studying the messages given to the seers at Garabandal and Medjugorje, I noticed a great similarity between the two concerning permanent signs that Mary has promised will appear over the sites of the apparitions.
Garabandal, Spain (1960s): A great miracle will appear above Garabandal. The sick will be cured. Unbelievers will be converted. It will be able to be filmed, photographed and televised. Afterwards, a permanent sign will remain at Garabandal in memory of the miracle and as visible proof of our Blessed Mother’s love for all humanity. It will be a thing never before seen upon the earth. It will be able to be photographed but not touched.
Medjugore, then Yugoslavia/now Bosnia and Herzegovina (1980s): A great sign will appear on the Hill of Apparitions in Medjugorje as evidence of the apparitions and as a call to faith and great conversion. This sign will be visible and permanent, the last call for those who have not yet converted. Even non-believers will be unable to deny it.
One night, well over a year ago, I woke from a dream about the McDonald’s golden M appearing in the sky, its two long legs touching down at Garabandal and Medjugorje. It struck me that this made sense. The similarity between the two prophesies does suggest they are parts of a single sign. A golden M of light would be something that could be seen and photographed, but not touched.
The idea intrigued me and the dream wouldn’t leave me alone, so I opened up Google Earth and looked at the two apparition sites. I already knew they were both small, mountain villages, but I was positively gobsmacked to find they are situated on the SAME LATITUDE! What are the chances?!
Garabandal = Latitude 43.2008° N
Medjugore = Latitude 43.2000° N
Each degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles wide.
69 x .0008 = 0.0552 mile = 291.456 feet.
A football field is 300 feet long.
Supposing my dream has any cosmic meaning, the next obvious question is where the middle of the M would point.
Garabandal = Longitude 4.4219° W
Medjugorje = Longitude 17.6800° E.
The midpoint longitude is at 6.62905° E.
(I had Mama Buzz check all my maths on this. Twice.)
Funny thing … there is yet another small mountain village at that latitude and longitude. It’s called Ramatuelle, France.
Ramatuelle is on the French Riviera, but it’s up on a cliff and hasn’t got a lot in the way of history or glamor, so it isn’t one of the hot spots for vacays. There are only two buildings with any historical interest – an old prison and a 16th century church dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption. Oddly, for such an out of the way spot, I found a whole web page devoted to detailed photos of the altarpiece in the church.
But wait. It gets even weirder and more wonderful. We’ve been given enough hints about the actual date of the Garabandal miracle to expect it to occur on Holy Thursday, April 13, 2017. On the Hebrew calendar, this day will be Nisan 17, 5777. Look again at the Hebrew year. 5777. 5 is Mary’s number. 777 is the sign of the Trinity. Now check out what is at the top of the altarpiece.
Sources:
- http://www.garabandal.com/the-prophecies/prophecy-the-world-wide-warning
- http://www.medjugorjeusa.org/aboutmedjugorjesecrets2008.htm
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Sebasti%C3%A1n_de_Garabandal
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medjugorje
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramatuelle
- http://www.divine-name.info/worldwide/france/ramatuelle.htm
- http://www.virgendegarabandal.com/conferencia_jose_luisENGLISH.htm
- http://aronbengilad.blogspot.com/2012/08/garabandal-miracle-april-13-2017.html
- http://romanchristendom.blogspot.com/2013/04/13-april-2017-forthcoming-miracle-at.html
- http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/calendar/?hebrew=5777
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altarpiece
http://www.medjugorjeusa.org/lightphotos.htm
Filed under Catholic Church, Christianity
Is reincarnation consistent with Christianity?
The Catholic Catechism says no.
Many years ago, I looked into this stuff very closely. I obtained copies of both the MacGregor and Origen books (mentioned in the article linked below), plus another that recorded what each Ecumenical Council did and another about early heresies in the Christian church. The article linked below summarizes nicely what I found. In short:
- Origen did not teach reincarnation as New Agers teach it. What he did teach that they claim was suppressed for political reasons was the idea that souls might be created in Heaven and thus pre-exist their bodies.
- This very specific teaching is what the Council at Constantinople condemned, not for political reasons, but because the Bishops concluded it was not consistent with the teachings of Jesus.
According to Catholic doctrine, we are created uniquely once and only once, as material-spiritual hybrids, each with a unique body-soul combo that belong together forever. At death, the soul leaves the body and goes to Hell, Heaven, or the mudroom of Heaven we call Purgatory, where souls dwell as amputated spirits until the End Time when Jesus taught that everyone who has died will be resurrected into their original unique, but now perfected bodies, and that the bodies of everyone who is still alive will be changed instantly from mortal to immortal.
I had a Christianizing New Age friend who tried to convince me once that Jesus’ Resurrection was proof of reincarnation. But the soul of Jesus was not reborn into a different, mortal, baby body. He rose from the dead into the same body that Mary bore and raised, but which was now perfected and immortal. Far from being evidence of reincarnation, Jesus’ Resurrection is proof of His promise that we will be given perfected bodies at the end of time.
The article linked below includes some very interesting excerpts from early church documents on reincarnation. I particularly like this one, just cuz it’s so snarky LOL:
“[I]f one should search carefully, he will find that their doctrine is of necessity brought down to this. They tell us that one of their sages said that he, being one and the same person, was born a man, and afterward assumed the form of a woman, and flew about with the birds, and grew as a bush, and obtained the life of an aquatic creature—and he who said these things of himself did not, so far as I can judge, go far from the truth, for such doctrines as this—of saying that one should pass through many changes—are really fitting for the chatter of frogs or jackdaws or the stupidity of fishes or the insensibility of trees” (The Making of Man by Gregory of Nyssa 28:3. A.D. 379).
Reincarnation at Catholic and Proud – September 28, 2014
http://catholicsay.com/reincarnation/
Filed under Catholic Church, Christianity
Listen and Live
I got this in my Facebook feed: “Nothing about my birth–or yours—was random or accidental. I was born for this time–and so were you. We were each chosen for a particular, cosmically important task that can be done by no one else. We need to be diligent in listening to God’s voice calling us to that task—and in encouraging others to be similarly obedient.
That means that we can no longer overlook the grocery clerk at the checkout stand or the downcast person we pass on the street. Instead, we should choose to recognize their value, and call out their worth. It means caring enough to help the mom at preschool whose child won’t come when called, loving enough to offer a word of cheer or humor to the receptionist at the doctor’s office struggling to answer phones and still respond to every question at the counter. It means thanking the garbage man lifting bins at the curb, and recognizing the God-made-and-paid-for-soul in every person we encounter throughout the day.”
– Christine Caine @ https://www.biblegateway.com/devotionals/devotions-christine-caine/2014/08/06
Filed under Christianity
UPDATE: Iraq and Canon Andrew White
I’ve been following Canon Andrew’s Facebook feed so I can share first-hand stuff about the ISIS situation with all y’all. Today, he posted this video. You should watch it. And, if you have not already read Son of Hamas, find a copy! I finished it last night. It’s a compelling, personal story that astonished me. I really thought I knew what the biography of the eldest son of the founder of Hamas would be like. It’s not.
Iraqi TV Host Breaks Down in Tears at Plight of Christians [1:51]
Recently, Canon Andrew has been in the United States. The following is from his Facebook Timeline.
Sept 12: I am in England just about to leave for the US in the morning. Whilst back in Iraq the huge crisis for the Christian community continues. The enormity of it is just beginning to sink in. At least 250,000 people have been forced from their homes their churches and their towns. They have been persecuted in ways too awful to describe. Their children have been killed mutilated and made to suffer in ways we never thought possible. Yet in the midst of all this G-d’s glory has never left us.
Sept 15: Today was another amazing full day in DC. … We had a very high profile visit (to the National Holocaust Museum] that was all filmed followed by a lecture we gave. It was hard being in a place to remember the greatest tragedy in history, and yet being so aware of the disaster facing our Iraqi Christians and others. Let us remember the past to try and prevent it from ever happening again.
Sept 17: It is a big day for me today. I begin by opening the [U.S.] Senate in Prayer. Have a series of meetings in the Senate and Congress then this afternoon am presented with the Ann Frank Award by the Dutch Government at the US house of Congress. To have the Dutch Government present one with an award in memory of the great young Anne Frank in the US Congress is truly wonderful. Yesterday we had a great celebration dinner at the Embassy of the Netherlands in DC now today is the great day, a very humbling experience.
Sept 19: I’m on my way to Texas to appear today live on Daystar TV on the Marcus and Joni Show it will be great. Yesterday was a great Day in New York incredible meetings, they worked me hard all day I was up from 4am to1am today. In the evening had an amazing dinner with friends from around the world. Sunday morning I am preaching at Christ Church Plano Texas do come if your in that part of the world.
Canon Andrew’s Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/apbw2
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Filed under Christianity, Iraq, U.S. Senate
Sometimes you just need your Mama
Gospel reading for September 15, 2014, Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows: But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. -John 19:25-27
Meditation by Heather Anderson Renshaw
Five years ago, my husband and I prayed the Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows for the first time. We began on The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Sept. 8th) and culminated on the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, which the Church celebrates today. In typical “us” fashion, we began the Novena a day late and scrambled to catch up. We agreed that it was a good thing God operates in kairos, and not chronos time.
Anyway, this powerful series of prayers invited us to ponder the seven sorrows throughout Mary’s life as Theotokos – the God-bearerer. It was a truly beautiful experience to find a deeper kinship with she whom I had often thought almost too perfect to even approach. I mean, Mary was born without sin, after all, and I was (and am) a wretched sinner! I couldn’t even make it out of the parish parking lot after Mass some Sundays without getting perturbed by
some lousy drivera fellow parishioner! We – Mary and I – weren’t exactly running in the same circles. Or were we?In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells John, his beloved disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And, further, John took Mary into his own home once Jesus died.
I have heard this passage several times, yet while praying the Novena, I heard something else – something interesting. I was reminded that, like John, I am beloved of Christ. And, like John and St. Joseph before him, I shouldn’t be afraid to invite Mary into my home, and my prayer life, as my Mother. Nothing gives Mary greater joy than when we obey her Son! It was a most beautiful epiphany. I felt compelled to intentionally invite Mary to watch over me as a wife and mother, and to cover me and my family in her loving mantle of grace and peace. I was no longer afraid to call her, “Mama.”
Just like all of us, Mary experienced profoundly difficult challenges throughout her life. Consider what it must have been like for her to watch helplessly as Jesus suffered and died right before her eyes!
God never told Mary her life would be easy, but He was with her in her sufferings, as He is with all of us when we struggle and stumble. I am so very grateful for A Heavenly Father thoughtful enough to send us a Mother to comfort and intercede for us in times of trial, because – as everybody knows – sometimes, you just need your Mama.
Take some time today to consider your relationship with Our Blessed Mother. When was the last time you gave her a call? She would be so very glad to hear from you!
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Filed under Christianity, Prayer
There is no middle ground
I got the following in my Christian Movie Newsletter today:
Hi Chrissy,
This week, I was asked to share my bravest moment with a group of ladies. I chose the day that my heart raced with fear and my stomach turned with the prospect of what lay ahead. At the top of beautiful mountain in Alaska, my sister and I learned that the only path to the bottom was down a huge (I mean huge!) gravel mountainside. How do you hike down that? Well…you don’t. You run. My experienced friend told us, “It’s the only way to keep from falling.”
Sometimes with God, we have to run when we only ever wanted to walk. He calls us to things that are too big for us to handle on our own. It’s part of the privilege of living life WITH him and not FOR him. Kind of like prayer. If God knows our need and can answer with a thought alone, why pray? Is it that he can’t do it without us? Or is prayer the way He chooses to live WITH us, instead of FOR us? We are on a journey with a father that would rather know his children than write a check to solve their problems. So next time something seems too big, be brave and run down that gravel mountainside with Him. He will keep your foot from falling.
From the screening room,
Melinda Ledman
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Sept. 5, 2014 – From sports legends, to coaches, to entire sports teams excitement and praise continue to roll in for WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL in theaters nationwide now.
Across the country as football season gets into full swing, jersey-clad teammates are seeing WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL together. The film features Jim Caviezel (THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, Person of Interest) as Coach Bob Ladouceur, who led his De La Salle High School Spartans to the nation’s longest win streak with a focus on commitment, character and giving a “perfect effort.”
“Coach Lad’s” teams posted a 151-game win streak that shattered all previous national records. Yet their toughest challenge was overcoming loss and tragedy to “stand tall.” Inspired by a true story, WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL is a film about brotherly commitment besting adversity that inspires audiences of all ages.
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Filed under Christianity, Movies & Television, Prayer
polination.blog 