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This is a non-denominational prayer thread for folks to gather together in prayer regarding the debate tonight. This last debate is vital to the future of our nation, and in a very real way, this election is crucial for the survival of millions of future Americans who will be in grave danger if Barack Obama is elected and does what he has promised with regard to Abortion. While in the Illinois legislature, Barack Obama worked hard to protect a type of abortion that forces babies to be born alive very prematurely (between 16 and 24 weeks of gestational age) then...

As the first decade of the third Christian millennium draws to an increasingly troubled close, the verdict of historians on its significance can already be anticipated. Two themes will predominate. The first, exemplified by the present carnage in the financial markets, will be the quickening of the west's decline relative to China and India; the second, not entirely coincidentally, will be the tensions in the relationship between the west and the Muslim world. A grim irony, that so many of the defining crises of the 21st century should have emerged from a swirl of identities and misunderstandings that reach back...

'Islamic Jesus' hits Iranian movie screens Jan 13, 2008 TEHRAN (AFP) — A director who shares the ideas of Iran's hardline president has produced what he says is the first film giving an Islamic view of Jesus Christ, in a bid to show the "common ground" between Muslims and Christians. Nader Talebzadeh sees his movie, "Jesus, the Spirit of God," as an Islamic answer to Western productions like Mel Gibson's 2004 blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ," which he praised as admirable but quite simply "wrong". "Gibson's film is a very good film. I mean that it is a well-crafted...

What Is The Nature of Man?by Doug Collison There is fable that you may or may not have heard before. It's very old and has probably been around for thousands of years. It's taken many different forms and has been told with various characters. In its most basic form it goes like this:                 One day a scorpion arrived at the bank of a river he wanted to cross, but there was no bridge. He asked a frog that was sitting nearby if he would take him across the river on his                    ...

The first four seals of the scroll bring four horsemen. The white horse brings a man of conquest. Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. Jesus - the Lamb - has the right to loose the seals on this scroll of the culmination of history. When He...

Who Were the "Great" Popes – and Why?By Fr. William SaundersSince the death of our beloved Pope John Paul II on April 2, 2005, many have been hailing him as "John Paul the Great." Three Popes have had "the Great" appended to their names: Pope St. Leo I (reigned 440–61), Pope St. Gregory I (590–604), and Pope St. Nicholas I (858–67). But the Church has never officially pronounced these Popes as "great"; rather, they have been identified as great both by popular acclamation at the time of their deaths and by history itself. Shield of GodPope St. Leo the Great...

I made my way through the crowds on the bank of the River Thames and stood in line to buy my ticket for the Tower of London tour. Yes, the Tower — that infamous prison that held martyrs such as St. Thomas More. William the Conqueror, who commissioned the Tower in 1078, intended it to protect the city against invaders.Most people in line with me at the ticket booth were probably hoping to catch a glimpse of the Crown Jewels. I, on the other hand, came to pay homage to the martyrs’ crowns earned here at all too great a...

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- American Catholic voters in 2008 tend to be more moderate and less liberal than U.S. voters as a whole, according to a survey commissioned by the Knights of Columbus and released Oct. 14. "A plurality of Catholic voters, 39 percent, are Democrats, and 45 percent describe themselves as moderate. Only 19 percent say they are liberal," the survey said. The survey was conducted by telephone with 813 self-identified Catholics Sept. 24-Oct. 3 by Marist College's Institute for Public Opinion. Those who identified themselves as practicing Catholics outnumbered nonpracticing Catholics by close to a 2-1 ratio. Interviewers polled...

St. Teresa de Avila (courtesy of Treasures of Grace) [The following quotes from St. Teresa de Avila about her devotion to St. Joseph are taken from her autobiography, and were quoted on St. Teresa of Avila's devotion to St. Joseph.] "I took for my advocate and lord the glorious Saint Joseph and commended myself earnestly to him; and I found that this my father and lord delivered me both from this trouble [a temporary paralysis] and also from other and greater troubles concerning my honor and the loss of my soul, and that he gave me greater blessings than I...

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognise them…" Matthew 7:15-16 CORRUPTION STEPHEN VII (896-897AD) "He dug up a Corsican predecessor, Pope Formosus (891-896), when he had been dead for over nine months…. He dressed the stinking corpse in full pontificals, placed him on the throne in the Lateran and proceeded to interrogate him personally….After being found guilty, the corpse was condemned as an anti-pope, stripped and minus the two fingers with which he had given his fake apostolic blessing, was thrown into the...

Failure and Success: Quantity Rather Than Quality But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness-God is witness. --1 Thessalonians 2:4-5 Time may show that one of the greatest weaknesses in our modern civilization has been the acceptance of quantity rather than quality as the goal after which to strive.... Christianity is resting under the blight of degraded values. And it all stems...

He might've garnered national attention for his strong election-season pastoral, but before pro-choice politicos met his crosshairs, Scranton Bishop Joseph Martino made news at home earlier this year by removing the diocese's recognition of its longtime organization of Catholic educators. After protests, the union recoursed the bishop's move to Rome... which has decided in Martino's favor: The decree from the Holy See, dated Sept. 24 in Rome, was mailed to Bishop Martino and [Scranton Diocesan Association of Catholic Teachers] president Michael Milz. It notes that the Congregation for Catholic Education is the competent superior authority in this matter, and...

Destroy Them, O God by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee." (Psalm 5:10)No less than 20 of the psalms contain what are known as "imprecations"--that is, prayers to God to judge and destroy the wicked--and this verse is the first of them. As such, it sets the pattern, helping us to understand why the Lord would include such vindictive prayers in His inspired Word. At first, they seem incongruous with a God of love...

As the Winona diocesan website says - "click here for all the details": His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, has named Bishop John Michael Quinn, former Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit, as Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Winona. The announcement was made October 15 by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, papal nuncio to the United States. Bishop Quinn will serve with and then succeed Bishop Bernard Harrington, who, upon reaching the age of 75 in September, submitted his request for retirement to the Vatican. When Bishop Harrington’s retirement is accepted, Bishop Quinn will relinquish the title of Coadjutor and...

A revelation in a new documentary film which includes interviews with the late Pontiff's secretary Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz: The late Pope John Paul was wounded by a knife-wielding priest in 1982, a year after he was shot in St Peter's Square, but the injury was kept secret, his former top aide says in a documentary film. On May 12, 1982, the pope was visiting the shrine city of Fatima in Portugal to give thanks for surviving a first assassination attempt a year earlier on May 13, 1981, when he was shot in St Peter's Square by Turkish gunman Mehmet...

The Life of Jesus film crew has gained rare access to an archaeological find that cements historical evidence early Christians worshiped Jesus as divine. Dr John Dickson, the series’ host and co-founder of the Centre for Public Christianity, will guide viewers through the remains of an ancient prayer hall unearthed at Megiddo in central Israel. “The inscriptions on the mosaic floor are remarkable,” Dr Dickson says. “One of them names a benefactor called Gaianus who is described as a centurion. Another mentions a woman called Akeptous who ‘…offered this table in memorial of the God Jesus Christ’.” The inscriptions cast...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - October 15 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "But who may abide the day of his coming?" - Malachi 3:2 His first coming was without external pomp or show of power, and yet in truth there were few who could abide its testing might. Herod and all Jerusalem with him were stirred at the news of the wondrous birth. Those who supposed themselves to be waiting for him, showed the fallacy of their professions by rejecting him when he came. His life on earth was a winnowing fan, which tried the great heap of religious profession, and few...

You all have probably heard about the grave situation in Mosul, Iraq. The email below came today from a JETS graduate living there. Please pray for our brothers and sisters. (JETS is the Jordan Evangelical Training School where Korky and Anni's friends are working, in Amman). Please pray for them and for their family back home who are also suffering in various ways - health, local fire risk, etc. + Please lift up their Iraqi friend (prof at JETS) and his family. They continue to have serious VISA issues and some things have come up today--please pray for God's protection...

How Catholic religious communities are trying to attract young people again. The Catholic Church has always seen the contemplative life as the "Air Force" in its spiritual struggle, as the Rev. David Toups of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops commented—a conduit of spiritual power. Though the number of young people entering monasteries, convents, and the priesthood has drastically dropped from the mid-20th century, some new approaches to religious vocations have inspired some young people in America to embrace this idea, replenishing several of the older religious orders and filling new ones. One such community with a young population,...

Read Jude 1:1-25 Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Jude 1:24, 25 Jude vividly describes the lives of certain immoral men circulating among the believers of his day. These men tried to corrupt the grace of God. Those who ignored the truth and taught a different gospel are likened unto dark clouds without water, trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the...

Cipriano de Valera was instrumental in giving Spaniards the Scriptures in their own language at the time of the Reformation, so much so that his name still adorns the spine of many Spanish Bibles today (along with that of Casiodoro de Reina). But for the last twenty-two years the name of Cipriano de Valera has been associated with one of the very few annual Reformed conferences held in Spain. Originally organised under the auspices of Editorial Peregrino, it has passed through various hands, until recently returning to its second guardians, AMRE (Reformed Ministerial Association of Spain). Since its inception, European...

In His Presence is Fullness Today's Scripture “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy…” (Psalm 16:11). Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Do you need something from the Lord today? The scripture tells us that Jesus came so that you could have life, and have it abundantly, or to the full. Everything you need, spiritually, physically, and emotionally is found in the presence of Almighty God. He wants to show you the path of life and pour out His abundance and favor on you. The scripture tells us that God inhabits...

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  )....

Wuerl: 'Conceptually possible' not to support Roe v Wade ban By JOHN ALLEN JR. NCR: Speaking of engaging the issues of the day, as you and I speak we’re 25 days away from election day in the United States. What should pastors across the country be saying in the pulpits? Archbishop Wuerl: I think one of the things that all of us need to recognize is that in a democracy, in the United States, every single person bears responsibility for what happens in the country. We may be multiple levels removed from final decisions, but every one of us bears...

October 15, 2008                                Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus,                                virgin and doctor of the Church       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Gal 5:18-25 Brothers and sisters:If you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.Now the works of the flesh are obvious:immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry,sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy,outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness,dissensions, factions, occasions of envy,drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.I warn you, as I warned you before,that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.In contrast,...

WHO IS ST. TERESA OF JESUS? Mystic - Teacher of Prayer - Doctor of the Church St. Teresa of Jesus, also known as St. Teresa of Avila, lived in Spain during the 16th Century. Her life as a Carmelite, though far removed from the mainstream of modern culture, still speaks powerfully to us today, as we enter the third millennium.                 Teresa entered the Carmelite Monastery in 1535, at the age of 20. After years of struggling with her prayer life, Teresa felt that she was still living in shadow rather than in God's light. Repeatedly, she asked...

Catechism by the Catacombs   t | t | t | t by Philip M. Hannan It was one of those paralyzing days in full spring when the air was as thick as porridge with mental inertia. We were supposed to be explaining the Mass. In desperation I began a description of the earliest picture of the celebration of the Mass (the famous Fractio Panis, or Breaking of Bread, in the Catacombs of St. Priscilla in Rome) by remarking on the importance of the lady's hairdress in determining the date of the picture. The effect was electrical. The girls became...

The Modern Phase We approach the greatest moment of all. The Faith is now in the presence not of a particular heresy as in the past_the Arian, the Manichean, the Albigensian, the Mohammedan_nor is it in the presence of a sort of generalized heresy as it was when it had to meet the Protestant revolution from three to four hundred years ago. The enemy which the Faith now has to meet, and which may be called "The Modern Attack," is a wholesale assault upon the fundamentals of the Faith_upon the very existence of the Faith. And the enemy now advancing...

The Protestant Heresy By Hilaire Belloc What Was the Reformation? The movement generally called "The Reformation" deserves a place apart in the story of the great heresies; and that for the following reasons: 1. It was not a particular movement but a general one, i.e., it did not propound a particular heresy which could be debated and exploded, condemned by the authority of the Church, as had hitherto been every other heresy or heretical movement. Nor did it, after the various heretical propositions had been condemned, set up (as had Mohammedanism or the Albigensian movement) a separate religion over against...

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 14, 2008 (Zenit.org).-The big news today was Pope Benedict's lesson at this morning's session of the synod of bishops. After listening to the first round of 11 cardinals and bishops deliver their five-minute talks, we heard the solemn pronouncement "Fiat intervallum." (Let there be a break!), which we have heard many times over the past 10 days. While many of us are used to hearing "Fiat lux" from the Genesis account of creation, or responding with "Fiat mihi senundum verbum tuum" (Be it done to me according to your word) during the Angelus, the words "Fiat intervallum"...

The following item was today posted on the Italian "Pontifex" site of Bruno Volpe (NLM translation). While what it says about the Instruction being submitted by Ecclesia Dei to the Holy Father agrees with the public declarations of the leadership of PCED, the rest should still be regarded as a rumour, as yet unconfirmed by any of the prestigious vaticanistas. The tone of the article, which is not exactly impartial, would suggest some caution, lest some wishful thinking is mixed into the reporting, and the last paragraph, to me at least, sounds somewhat confused. Still, if this is indeed accurate,...

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 14, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The Holy See has approved three alternatives to "Ite, missa est," the final words said by the priest at Mass.Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, today notified the participants in the synod of bishops on the word of God about the new alternatives. The final message is currently rendered in English: "The Mass is ended, go in peace."Benedict XVI has approved the alternatives, which were requested at the 2005 synod on the Eucharist to express the missionary spirit that should follow from the celebration of Mass.According to...

BHUBANESWAR, India (UCAN) -- Christian leaders in Orissa have jointly dismissed as "cooked up" a document released by a Hindu group claiming that Christians conspired to kill a Hindu religious leader. The release of "a forged and fabricated document by the Hindu fundamentalist organization was made with a purpose of maligning the Christians," said a Church press statement issued Oct. 9 at a press conference. Catholic and Protestant leaders jointly conducted the event in Bhubaneswar, the state capital, 1,745 kilometers southeast of New Delhi.Their press conference followed an Oct. 6 press statement from Hindu Jagaran Manch (front to awaken Hindus). The statement...

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Even making a plan to buy a Bible in Zimbabwe is enough to work you up into a sweat, says Jesuit Father Oscar Wermter.Morgan Tsvangirai, the Movement for Democratic Change leader, greets supporters at a rally in Harare, Zimbabwe, Oct. 12. Zimbabwe's opposition will walk away from a power-sharing deal if new mediation efforts fail to break a deadlock over Cabinet posts, Tsvangirai said. (CNS/Reuters) At last, the Bible has been translated into Shona, a local language, and is selling for $6. So, like other parish priests, Harare-based Father Wermter wants to order 20 for those in...

VATICAN CITY — The Synod of Bishops on the Bible heard an unusual suggestion Tuesday morning when a Hong Kong observer asked Pope Benedict to start up his own daily blog on Scripture.Agnes Kam Leng Lam, president of the Catholic Biblical Association of Hong Kong, said people need to experience Scripture in small but significant doses.“To put it in a nutshell, I’d like to suggest to you Holy Father to start a multi-language blog to shepherd today’s world by scriptural verses, daily verses,� she said on the synod floor. The pope’s blog should include simple reflections that relate Scripture to...

Failure and Success: Size Matters Little And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God." --Luke 16:15 To God quality is vastly important and size matters little. When set in opposition to size, quality is everything and size nothing.... Man's moral fall has clouded his vision, confused his thinking and rendered him subject to delusion. One evidence of this is his all but incurable proneness to confuse values and put size before quality in his appraisal...

The Importance of Reading by Henry Morris, Ph.D.   "Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine." (1 Timothy 4:13)In this video age, Christians are in grave danger of forgetting the importance of reading. The word translated "reading" in this verse is the Greek anagnosis, a compound word meaning essentially "renewed knowledge." A sermon or lecture is knowledge heard; an educational film or video is knowledge seen; but reading is knowledge that can be read, rehearsed, reviewed, and renewed again and again, until fully and securely learned. In fact, it is necessary for students to take...

Cardinal Emmanuel Delly of Baghdad, Iraq Vatican City, Oct 14, 2008 / 10:48 am (CNA).- Tuesday morning’s meeting of the synod of bishops on the Bible saw Cardinal Emmanuel Delly of Baghdad, Iraq and Bishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Lihn of Thanh Hoa, Vietnam speak about how their flocks remain faithful to the Word of God amidst persecution. “I am a son of the land of Abraham, Iraq,” Cardinal Delly began as he spoke passionately about the seemingly impossible struggle to bring peace to his country. Saying that the Church has “tried everything to obtain peace and serenity for the...

Fresno, CA (AP) -- Officials at St. Paul Newman Center are looking for a replacement for the Rev. Geoffrey Farrow, who was removed last week for telling congregants he opposed a ballot initiative that would ban same-sex couples from marrying. . . . a letter from the Bishop calling Farrow's comments a contradiction to the teachings of the Catholic Church. He said the comments "brought scandal to the parish." Before the Oct. 5 Mass at which Farrow revealed his opposition Proposition 8, he told a Fresno television reporter he was gay.

A baby who survived an abortion only to be disposed of in a biohazard bag filled with bleach and left in a closet is now getting a funeral. The Miami Herald is calling it a "fetal funeral." That wording just jumped out at me. They can't even call her a baby. She was born. She kicked. She screamed. She was discarded. It's amazing how much can be done with a word. A baby must be loved and cared for. A fetus can be thrown in a closet. And now, even this baby's funeral is being co-opted into a political event....

This past summer, from evangelical churches nationwide, more than one million of the faithful departed for the mission field, taking up Jesus' "Great Commission" to "go and make disciples of all nations." The churchgoers hoped to convert souls, establish churches and meet other human needs. But they did not intend to serve for years or whole lifetimes, like such pioneers as Jim Elliott, who was killed in Ecuador in 1956 evangelizing to native people; or Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission; or even the awful fictional caricatures of African missionaries in Barbara Kingsolver's novel "The Poisonwood Bible."...

[Dignare Me Laudare Te, Virgo Sacrata began four years ago on 4 October 2004. This post is therefore 10 days late, but I still want to mark this occasion by posting a commentary on Psalm 129, my favorite psalm, from the 1948 reprint of a 1914 edition of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, printed by E.J. Dwyer, from which I found a commentary on the Ave Maris Stella.] Psalm 129 De profúndis clamávi ad te, Dómine: Dómine, exáudi vocem meam. Fiant aures tuae intendéntes: in vocem deprecationes meae. Si iniquitátes observaveris, Dómine: Dómine, quis sustinébit. Quia...

At a certain point, even radical eugenicists have to realize there's something wrong with creating frankenbabies in labs, only to kill them when they become a nuisance to the convenience of the bourgeiosie:The Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday denied a father's appeal to keep his six frozen embryos alive, and ordered that the embryos be destroyed by thawing, as ordered by his ex-wife. The court also ruled that the embryos' fate fell under the issue of "property rights." The court unanimously agreed that the father, orthodontist Dr. Darrell Angle, had no right to "impose a genetic parental relationship"...

Read Matthew 7:15-23 Beware of the false prophets…You will know them by their fruits. Matthew 7:15-16 If you’ve ever engaged in more than a casual conversation with members of an aberrant Christian group and especially if you’ve challenged the truth claims of their organization, no doubt you’ve heard them quote at least part of this passage in Matthew. It is a common response to one or more specific challenges regarding certain events or policies in the history of the -----(*name redacted) Church; for example, their missionaries refer to all the good their church does around the world or they cite...

The Miracle of the Dancing Sun at Fatima which was seen by 70,000 people on October 13th, 1917 has been written about often. I truly do enjoy reading about all the "scientific" explanations for the "anomaly of Fatima." The way that science has bent itself into a pretzel to explain away the vision of the sun dancing in the sky at a foretold time is always fun. So, last year, I got together my top ten "scientific explanations" for Fatima that I was able to find on the internet. First I'll start with a little history history: A writer named...

The Lord taught that “except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.�1 Baptism is, therefore, essential for our salvation. Before the resurrected Savior ascended to heaven, He instructed His disciples, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.�2 At the time of the Restoration, He repeated His mandate: “Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people.�3 The Lord’s Church has...

The fictional fantasy in The Club of Queer Trades reflects Chesterton’s genuine hope for a just society. He spent his life arguing that such a society was really possible. Argumentation is about persuasion. Chesterton wanted to convince the world that there was a better social structure than either Socialism or Capitalism. But it was not a system that could be imposed on a society; it was something a society had to learn about and then choose. Distributism, he argued, is not something “done to people,” but “done by people.”56 Like Christianity, Distributism has not been an ideal tried and found...

Peace, Be Still Today's Scripture “Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39 NKJ). Today's Word from Joel and Victoria What do you do when the storms of life seem to be raging against you? One time Jesus was with His disciples in a boat out on the water when they encountered a great storm. The disciples were very afraid, but Jesus on the other hand, was fast asleep. When the disciples woke Him up to see if He could...

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...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - October 14 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." - Philippians 3:8 Spiritual knowledge of Christ will be a personal knowledge. I cannot know Jesus through another person's acquaintance with him. No, I must know him myself; I must know him on my own account. It will be an intelligent knowledge-I must know him, not as the visionary dreams of him, but as the Word reveals him. I must know his natures, divine and human. I must know his offices-his attributes-his works-his...