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As superb look at suffering by Dr. Peter Kreeft, courtesy of Prager University. I agree with his division of suffering into what Man causes through our actions, wars are a classic example, and suffering caused by nature, the type of suffering caused by the seizure that took the life of my son Larry on May 19, 2013. He is also correct that when we complain about such suffering afflicted by nature we are appealing to a standard that presupposes a God, since nature cares not a whit about human suffering or the lack whereof. It is only by belief in...

Job | The Great Unknown

Say What He Says Today's Scripture “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3, KJV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria When God created the worlds, He didn’t just think them into being. He didn’t just believe there would be light and land and oceans and animals. He had it in His heart, but nothing happened until He spoke. He said, “Let there be light,” and light came. His thoughts didn’t set it into motion; His words set it into motion. It’s the same principle today. You can believe all day long and not...

The Key to the Missionary’s Work (2) "He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world" —1 John 2:2 The key to the missionary’s message is the propitiation of Christ Jesus— His sacrifice for us that completely satisfied the wrath of God. Look at any other aspect of Christ’s work, whether it is healing, saving, or sanctifying, and you will see that there is nothing limitless about those. But— “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!�— that is limitless (John 1:29). The missionary’s message...

Also, three Evangelical NT scholars from North America will participate in symposium sponsored by Joseph Ratzinger Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation >Although he might not be well known outside of certain theological circles, Dr. Hans Boersma is one of the finer young Evangelical theologians writing today. He is the J.I. Packer Professor of Theology at Regent College, one of the best Evangelical schools in Canada, and he is the author of some books that engage deeply and thoughtfully with Catholic theology, notably Nouvelle Théologie and Sacramental Ontology: A Return to Mystery (Oxford, 2009), and Heavenly Participation: The Weaving of a Sacramental...

The Virgin of the Navigators is an alterpiece painted in 1536 by Alejo Fernandez for the chapel at the House of Trade in Seville. Under the protection of the Virgin are depicted King Ferdinand II of Aragon, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and, kneeling on the viewer’s right are Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci and one of the Pinzon Brothers. In the background are gathering the peoples of the New World. The painting was made five years after the appearance of Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico in 1531, and I wonder if word of this miracle had made...

Ever since the Protestant Revolt in the 16th century, the Catholic Church has been accused of ignoring, opposing, hiding and even destroying the Bible in order to keep it from the people. Allegedly, copies of the Bible were chained to the walls of churches during the Middle Ages so that people could not take them home to read. Supposedly the Church during the Middle Ages also refused to translate the Bible into the various tongues of the common people, the vernacular languages, in order to further hinder personal Bible reading. Furthermore it is claimed that the Church even went as...

Choose Blessings for Your Future Today's Scripture “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19, NKJV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Your words have creative power. With your words, you can either bless your future or curse your future. If you want to know what your life is going to be like five years from now, just listen to what you’re saying about yourself today. Too many people go around saying,...

The Key to the Missionary’s Work (1) "Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ’All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . .’" —Matthew 28:18-19 The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost will...

One of the most hotly-contested passages in Catholic-Protestant dialogues is the “Upon This Rock� passage in Matthew 16:18. After the Apostle Simon confesses faith in Jesus as the Messiah (the Christ), Jesus says to him “And I tell you, you are Peter, [Petros] and on this rock [petra] I will build my church, and the powers of death [Hades] shall not prevail against it.� So is Jesus founding His Church upon Peter, the first pope, as Catholics say? Or is He just saying that the Church will be built off of those who confess faith in Jesus as the Christ, as...

Expounding on the importance of our actions for salvation is, I suppose, my primary “thing.” I have been in so many informal debates over the issue that I have started to lose count of them. I have written about the topic many times. And often, I become angry (like God in 1 Kings 11:9-10) at the mere thought of sola fide (“faith alone”), because I know that it is completely contrary to “what the Lord [has] commanded.” But why? “Faith alone” was, without a doubt, the primary reason that I left Protestantism. Even though I was ill-educated in theology at...

Individual Discouragement and Personal Growth ". . . when Moses was grown . . . he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens" —Exodus 2:11 Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After he launched his first strike for God and for what was right, God allowed Moses to be driven into empty discouragement, sending him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that...

Getting into God’s Stride "Enoch walked with God . . ." —Genesis 5:24 The true test of a person’s spiritual life and character is not what he does in the extraordinary moments of life, but what he does during the ordinary times when there is nothing tremendous or exciting happening. A person’s worth is revealed in his attitude toward the ordinary things of life when he is not under the spotlight (seeJohn 1:35-37 and John 3:30). It is painful work to get in step with God and to keep pace with Him— it means getting your second wind spiritually....

If you listen carefully, you can hear echoes of the resurrection in the great, epic stories we return to again and again. Those stories lead us to a poi­nt of despair where all seems to be lost, only then to erupt into uncontainable joy as good triumphs over evil. There is a reason these stories resonate with us. In one way or another, they model and mimic the true story of our world. A story of perfection and paradise, corrupted by human sin and wickedness, redeemed by a selfless sacrifice, and restored through a triumphant return. This is the true...

The most common objection I get to Mary as Mother of God, especially from Fundamentalists, but not limited to them, is, “The words ‘Mother of God’ are nowhere to be found in the Bible. Therefore, I will not accept it as true.” This line of reasoning fails in dramatic fashion when carried to its logical conclusion when we consider the central mystery of the Christian Faith, the Trinity, is not found in Scripture verbatim as well. And we could go on. The Incarnation would fall by the wayside. Essential terms we use to do theology, like homoousios (Gr.—same nature, Jesus...

9/11 for the Magisterium: The Francis interviews Posted October 11, 2013 by Anthony Cekada by Rev. Anthony Cekada NO ONE who follows the religious or secular press is unaware of the firestorm that Bergoglio (“Pope Francis”) ignited with his recent press interviews and public letters. Understandably, the discussion centered on the meaning of Francis’ particular pronouncements (on atheism, proselytism, “judging,” conscience, no Catholic God, etc.) What in the world did this or that statement mean? How did it square up with previous Catholic teaching? Or did it at all? Because each pronouncement seemed so surprising in itself, though, a larger...

Who God Rewards Today's Scripture “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria When God is first place in your life, and you make pleasing Him is your highest priority, then you can fully expect to live a blessed, fulfilled life! In today’s verse, notice who God rewards. It’s not people who half-heartedly seek Him. It doesn’t say “people who only think about Him when they’re having a problem”...

God’s Silence— Then What? "When He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was" —John 11:6 Has God trusted you with His silence— a silence that has great meaning? God’s silences are actually His answers. Just think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany! Is there anything comparable to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking Him for a visible answer? God will give you the very blessings you ask if you refuse to go any further without...

Welcome homosexual people to fellowship with your congregation, but be very careful how you show them the “love of Christ.” If you welcome them into church membership and/or give them leadership positions of any kind while they are still living a homosexual lifestyle, you will be, in effect, affirming and endorsing their lifestyle and helping them along a path that can only result in their spending their eternity in hell. (1 Corinthians 6:9). How is that showing them the “love of Christ”, who died to save them from their sins, not to save them and their sins?

I, perhaps like you, have to see folks I love and care about through some difficult periods in their life. One neighbor and parishioner just lost her eight year old daughter to cancer. A number of parishioners are seeking work and praying daily for it, but no work offers seem forth-coming. Still others cry out for the alleviation of any number of different crosses. I too have lots of things for which I pray, and sometimes I get discouraged or even angry when God seems to say, “no� or, “wait.� One thing I have surely learned about true prayer, and...

One of the pamphlets LDS missionaries hand out is entitled, “The Plan of Salvation”. As it title indicates, it summarizes Mormonism’s plan of salvation. Interestingly, when it deals with eternity, it only mentions the LDS three kingdoms of glory. There is no mention of hell or outer darkness. Rather it states: “After you are judged, you will live in a state of glory. Because everyone’s works and desires vary, heaven includes different kingdoms, or degrees of glory.” (p.14) Note, as that states, the kingdoms are all part of heaven. With that in mind listen to whom, according to Mormonism, inhabits...

Vatican City, Oct 11, 2013 / 07:25 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Anticipating Pope Francis' entrustment of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Oct. 13, a specialist in Marian apparitions reflected on how the Blessed Mother serves to bring people to Jesus. “It is necessary to have recourse to the Virgin because she can only bring you to God. That's her whole mission. She has nothing of self in it at all. She lives only for God and to bring you to God,” said Marian expert Tim Tindal-Robertson during an Oct. 10 interview with CNA. Tindal-Robertson is currently the...

Staying Rock Solid Today's Scripture “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria When we have rock-solid faith, we won’t be moved by what’s happening around us. We have peace in our hearts and minds because our hope is in God. We have an attitude that says: “I’m not moved by this medical report. I respect and honor people that are trying to help me, but I know God can do what medical...

How Will I Know? "Jesus answered and said, ’I thank You, Father . . . that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes’" —Matthew 11:25 We do not grow into a spiritual relationship step by step— we either have a relationship or we do not. God does not continue to cleanse us more and more from sin— “But if we walk in the light,� we are cleansed “from all sin� (1 John 1:7). It is a matter of obedience, and once we obey, the relationship is instantly perfected. But if...

In defiance of Deuteronomy 17:17, Matthew 19:4-6, and other Biblical passages, the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, endorsed the practice of polygamy. However, the largest Mormon church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), later outlawed the practice. This presents a problem for LDS theology. In verses 61-63 of Section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants, Joseph Smith reveals a "revelation" about polygamy supposedly given to him by God. The verses teach that a man "cannot commit adultery" -- even if "he have ten virgins given unto him by this law" of polygamy -- as long as his...

Q: My sister stopped practicing her faith, and married a Greek Orthodox man in his church in Greece. Now their marriage has ended, and she has returned to the Church. She might want to remarry…. We both assumed that she could easily get an annulment, because she wasn’t married in a Catholic ceremony, and so her first marriage wasn’t valid. But her parish priest is insisting that it was! He says if she wants an annulment, she has to “find other grounds.” What is the best way to resolve this, should she join a different parish, or try to reach...

Featured Term (selected at random):EXARCHA title originally used by civil and ecclesiastical rulers. An ecclesiastical exarch was a metropolitan with jurisdiction beyond his own province, the most important of whom were those of Ephesus and Caesarea. "Vicar Apostolic" in the West has replaced the title "Exarch." The name today is given to the heads of the Russian and Greek Catholics of the Byzantine Rite, and to the Melkite patriarchal vicar of Jerusalem. Some Ukrainian bishops in North America today are called exarchs. (Etym. Latin exarchus; from Greek exarchein, to begin, take the lead.) All items in this dictionary are...

There’s an odd backwards moral reasoning to which our modern age seems particularly susceptible. Surely you’ve heard it: Y does X. Y is a basically good person. Therefore, X must be okay. You hear it from all sides of the cultural divide. “Joe and Fred are married. They’re good people. How can you say that that kind of relationship is wrong?” “Cindy does that. She’s a good person. So how can that be racist?” Think back a bit, and you’ll see that a huge number of the casually-made moral arguments one hears these days boil down to this. There are...

(ThyBlackMan.com) For several years now, every Tuesday evening I have had the great privilege of addressing the Christian and Mormon listeners of Worship FM 101.7 in Monrovia, the capital City of Liberia, West Africa. I have come to know several of the station managers and a number of the more frequent callers to the weekly program. Through their comments, questions and photographs, I have been genuinely moved to see the application of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Over the past few months the question of racist teachings in the Book of Mormon and from the past Leadership of...

God Has the Final Say Today's Scripture But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:24, NKJV. Today's Word from Joel and Victoria God is a faithful God! You may be praying for things that haven’t happened yet, but just because things aren’t happening on your timetable doesn’t mean they aren’t going to happen. Don’t give up on that promise; God...

Building on the Atonement ". . . present . . . your members as instruments of righteousness to God" —Romans 6:13 I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot make atonement for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot right what is wrong, purify what is impure, or make holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Do I have faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made the perfect atonement for sin. Am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The greatest need we have is not to do things,...

Around the world the fame of Christ spreads. Men and women lift their hands to praise the name of Jesus, worshiping him as the King of kings and Lord of lords. Full of the Holy Spirit, they lift him up as their savior, redeemer, and advocate. His gospel is preached, his word is believed, and his death and resurrection are celebrated in the Lord's Supper. Millions are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, trusting in the person and work of Christ for forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and the transformation of their heart. Hundreds of...

The Vatican put a German diocese on notice Tuesday that it disapproves of its challenge to church teaching on whether Catholics who remarry can receive Communion, saying the issue will be discussed by the whole church at a meeting next year of the world's bishops. The diocese of Freiburg issued an official set of guidelines this week explaining how such divorced and remarried Catholics could receive the sacrament. It said if certain criteria are met — if the couple was trying to live according to the faith and acted with laudable motivation — they could receive Communion and other sacraments...

There is something strange going on in the Vatican by Hilary White, Rome Correspondent Mon Oct 07, 2013 18:28 EST ROME, October 3, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – I don’t know if I’m the only one to have noticed, but there seems to be something strange going on in the Vatican. No, I’m not talking about all that, at least not directly. I’m talking about the strange, long, almost awkward and, dare I say it, embarrassed silence, that has reigned from the Vatican’s press office on all of Pope Francis’s extraordinary statements and actions since his election. I’m not going to go...

Growing in the Waiting Today's Scripture We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. Hebrews 6:12 NIV. Today's Word from Joel and Victoria If God made everything happen right away, or whenever we wanted it to happen, it wouldn’t require anything of us. We would miss the opportunity to grow because we grow in the difficult times. We grow when our faith is being stretched, when we have to believe when we don’t see any reason to believe, when we stay in faith when our...

Coming to Jesus "Come to Me . . ." —Matthew 11:28 Isn’t it humiliating to be told that we must come to Jesus! Think of the things about which we will not come to Jesus Christ. If you want to know how real you are, test yourself by these words— “Come to Me . . . .� In every dimension in which you are not real, you will argue or evade the issue altogether rather than come; you will go through sorrow rather than come; and you will do anything rather than come the last lap of the race...

One of the most overlooked facts of the American Civil War Era is the sympathy the South gained from Europe's most influential monarch - the pope of Rome. Pope Pius IX never actually signed any kind of alliance or 'statement of support' with the Confederate States of America, but to those who understand the nuance of papal protocol, what he did do was quite astonishing. He acknowledged President Jefferson Davis as the "Honorable President of the Confederate States of America." News of this reached the North, and the Whitehouse was considerably irate about it, prompting a response from the Vatican...

One man's story of how he came to understand the true meaning of Christ's commandment to love your neighbor and turn the other cheek.If you would have told me ten years ago that it was possible for me to form a genuine, lasting friendship with one of the protesters outside general conference, I would have questioned your testimony and standing in the Church. Perhaps I would have nodded my head and agreed that Jesus would have us love our enemies, but it wouldn’t have registered in my mind that actually doing so was possible or even expected. Instead, I would...

2,000 signees join The Exorcist author in requesting that the Vatican require the university to implement Ex Corde Ecclesiae.WASHINGTON — When William Peter Blatty won a four-year scholarship to Georgetown University in the 1940s, he arrived at the Jesuit campus with a sense of relief. During his childhood, Blatty and his mother suffered through more than 20 evictions for non-payment of rent. For the first time, he knew he could stay put without unwelcome interruptions. More than a half century later, after winning an Academy Award for the screenplay adaptation of his bestselling novel The Exorcist, Blatty still calls Georgetown...

New York City, N.Y., Oct 4, 2013 / 03:43 pm (CNA).- Each of the last three Popes has had a different but complementary emphasis, highlighting different aspects of the faithful and the Church, said Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York. “A good way to understand the different gifts of each of these recent pontiffs might be to use the imagery of soul, head and heart,” the cardinal explained in a Sept. 30 opinion piece for the New York Post. The three most recent Popes – Blessed John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis – “are all giants,” Cardinal Dolan...

The Nature of Regeneration "When it pleased God . . . to reveal His Son in me . . ." —Galatians 1:15-16 If Jesus Christ is going to regenerate me, what is the problem He faces? It is simply this— I have a heredity in which I had no say or decision; I am not holy, nor am I likely to be; and if all Jesus Christ can do is tell me that I must be holy, His teaching only causes me to despair. But if Jesus Christ is truly a regenerator, someone who can put His own heredity...

“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” - James 4:7 On Wednesday, spurred by advance notice of that night's topic on Think Tank – a weekly vlog hosted by Wilson Orihuela on Vericast – I finally found time to watch The Exorcist, the famous film from 1973. The movie revolves around an irreligious, divorced woman and her daughter, who becomes possessed by a demon. The mother looks to science and medicine, but finds no true answer. Eventually, like the woman in Mark 7:25, the mother “whose little daughter had an unclean spirit” seeks the...

In response to Pope Francis’ latest interview, I urged people not to read Francis’ words too closely: After two recent interview with La Repubblica and La Civiltà Cattolica, it has become clear that the dialogue he desires will be informal and unguarded. It is the kind of dialogue usually reserved for close friends and, of course, very susceptible to misunderstanding when it isn’t. This is why Francis has delivered his beautiful daily homilies ex tempore and chosen intimate interviews rather than public speeches as his preferred way of communicating with his Church and the world. Francis has decided to approach...

Russell Moore says the pope’s latest interview in an Italian newspaper “is more than just confusing. It’s a theological wreck.”The head of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission says Pope Francis is soft on sin. Russell Moore, president of the moral-concerns agency for the nation’s second-largest faith group behind Catholicism, criticized the pope’s comments published in la Repubblica, the largest Italian daily general-interest newspaper. Responding to a question about whether there is a “single vision” of good and, if so, who decides, the pontiff replied: “Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We...

The Nature of Degeneration "Just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned . . ." —Romans 5:12 The Bible does not say that God punished the human race for one man’s sin, but that the nature of sin, namely, my claim to my right to myself, entered into the human race through one man. But it also says that another Man took upon Himself the sin of the human race and put it away— an infinitely more profound revelation (see Hebrews 9:26). The nature...

Dream Without Limits Today's Scripture Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.' Matthew 19:26, NIV. Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Too many times we limit God with our thinking. God puts big dreams in our hearts, but in our eyes they look impossible and too big to accomplish. Although we want to see our dreams come to pass, we end up focusing on the mountain of obstacles before us. Maybe you dream of starting a business but you don't know where to begin. Perhaps years of physical...

The Vision and The Reality ". . . to those who are . . . called to be saints . . ." —1 Corinthians 1:2 Thank God for being able to see all that you have not yet been. You have had the vision, but you are not yet to the reality of it by any means. It is when we are in the valley, where we prove whether we will be the choice ones, that most of us turn back. We are not quite prepared for the bumps and bruises that must come if we are going to...

The Trinity of Salvation Faith Alone, Faith is void Works Without faith, works are useless Grace Without grace, both faith and works are meaningless God is a trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Man is also a trinity—Soul, Body, and SpiritOur spirit is our life force. It is the part of us that was born again when we put our faith in Jesus. The default sin nature was taken out and we were give a new spirit that is identical to Jesus. Romans 6:6-7For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin...

The points that I am taking from these Old Testament passages are that 1) it is God who closes their ears, 2) it is God who opens their ears, and 3) it is God who will open their ears so that His chosen people, the Elect, will be able to hear the Good News that Jesus will bring, repent of their sins and be saved (healed). Jesus, himself, made this connection clearly when He said to His disciples, “This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or...

(Reuters) - Hans Kueng, Roman Catholicism's best known rebel theologian, is considering capping a life of challenges to the Vatican with a final act of dissent - assisted suicide. Kueng, now 85 and suffering from Parkinson's disease, writes in final volume of his memoirs that people have a right to "surrender" their lives to God voluntarily if illness, pain or dementia make further living unbearable. The Catholic Church rejects assisted suicide, which is allowed in Kueng's native Switzerland as well as Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and four states in the United States. "I do not want to live on as...