Sunday, October 18, 2015

Sacrilege! United Methodist and Episcopalian Churches Join in Prayer to “Bless” an Ohio Abortion Clinic

By Onan Coca / 13 October 2015 / 103 Comments

I’m not sure that anything makes me angrier than watching as self-proclaimed Christians professing to speak for God act in direct contradiction to what the Bible teaches. In recent years, this problem has seemingly grown ever more distressing, as liberal congregations embrace all manner of anti-Biblical lifestyles and philosophies. The latest example of this disturbing trend in the American church comes to us from Ohio, where leaders from United Methodist and Episcopalian Churches have come together to “bless” their local Planned Parenthood abortion mill.

The Reverend Laura Young recently led a prayer rally in front of her local abortion facility as a direct reaction to what she says is the “misguided faith” of pro-life Christians.

From Life News:

Young explained her acceptance of abortion like this: “Christianity, like most faiths, is founded on love. Watching protesters shouting judgment and hate based on what they call religion is horrible. Is that loving God? Is that loving your neighbor as yourself?”

…

image: http://cdn1.eaglerising.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Laura-Young-Abortion-Preacher-300x184.jpg

Young also says religious groups are fueling the so-called war on women. She explained, “Women are being attacked at a moral level by the radical Religious Right. They’ve hijacked the political discussion. This event is an opportunity for progressive religious leaders to stop the silence. We need to be in the conversation.”

…

She said, “It breaks my heart to know women are sitting in pews across the country feeling shamed, believing that they’re cursed for making this decision. That’s a question I get a lot on the phone, ‘Am I going to hell?’ When God instead is there to support women through it all.”

…

In a statement the clergy said, “As faith leaders committed to justice, honesty, and liberty, we are troubled by the decades-long campaign of harassment against Planned Parenthood and those they serve. Our faiths demand care for those marginalized by poverty and other oppressions. Faith leaders have supported Planned Parenthood for nearly 100 years because of our shared goals: every person — regardless of income, race, or religion — deserves access to safe, affordable, high-quality health care.”

They concluded, “Our religious traditions call us to offer compassion, not judgment. People who work for Planned Parenthood give care and respect to those in need, doing God’s work. For this we are grateful.”

analysis (and others like her) of what Scripture teaches and how it should influence our thoughts on abortion, but the primary problem here is this: she has chosen to ignore the explicit teaching in the Scripture for a philosophy that she has developed based on her interpretation of the Bible. This is an old story, and as a dear friend once told me, this is exactly how cults are started.

Young has chosen to ignore the explicit commands on sin, murder, sexuality and the preeminence of God and instead has decided that her feelings about the Bible’s general tone are more important. In a nutshell, this is exactly the problem of modern liberal Christianity today, not just on the subject of abortion, but on a wide range of issues.

The apostate church that Young and others like her belong to is destroying the very fabric of our nation and the safety and health of the American church. I shudder to think what judgment awaits these false teachers who will one day stand before our Holy and Righteous God. My hope and prayer is that they repent because the penalty they will face otherwise… is terrifying.

Read more at http://eaglerising.com/24995/sacrilege-united-methodist-and-episcopalian-churches-join-in-prayer-to-bless-an-ohio-abortion-clinic/#CcM7dmDf0mHUbToM.99

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

An Evangelical discovers the Rosary

This article was written in 2012 for a book, The Healing Rosary by Paulette Kelly.

I was skeptical.

Sitting there on the couch between my two friends, we began the Rosary.

I had been a Catholic for just over four months, a whirlwind journey that brought me to a November confirmation. It was a shortened RCIA program. I told the priest that I preferred not to wait until Easter to receive Our Lord. He granted my request because of my evangelical Theology degree and my six years as a full-time evangelical prayer missionary. As a missionary I had a dream about the Eucharist. I knew it was true.

The Rosary was a different story!

I knew it wasn’t something I ‘had’ to practice to be a good Catholic. As a former charismatic evangelical, I viewed the Rosary as an object of suspicion, a practice that Catholics felt they ‘had’ to do to be heard by God, or to gain His approval. I was wary of becoming wrapped up in “works”. After all, Jesus and I had a tight relationship and I didn’t think I needed “rote” prayers in order to get His attention.

However, as a member of a faithful parish in a vibrant Catholic community, it was almost impossible to avoid the Rosary. I knew I needed to test it. In the past when I had concerns about something, the Lord had always been faithful to show me His will. I got a sense that I was to try it and involve my two friends.

I summoned all my courage and asked Linda and Margarita if they would pray the Rosary with me on Easter Sunday. We would do it together because I didn’t know how. They would guide me through the prayers and I would follow along.

Sitting on the comfy leather couch, with Linda on my right and Margarita on my left, we began the centuries-old prayer. I really wanted to give it an honest try, so I timidly prayed the prayers with a focused heart, while a part of me was still asking God to keep me from any deception or idolatrous worship.

As we prayed through the decades, it was just as I suspected it would be, I didn’t feel any particular “anointing”.

As we entered into the concluding prayer, “Hail Holy Queen”, something stirred deep within me and I began to cry. It quickly escalated into something that I can only describe as loud, wailing, desperate pleas for help, as my spirit cried out loudly, “Help me Jesus! Help me Father!” This was similar to an inner healing experience I had before becoming a missionary, except this was more powerful. It was like a wrecking ball was knocking down walls I didn’t even know were there, places that hadn’t yet healed.

I found out later my friend Linda was panicking about what the neighbours would think. She handed me a pillow and I gladly used it to muffle the sound of my cries. After several minutes, it was done. I was more whole, somehow, on the inside. Many of the barriers that kept me from the Father and Jesus were no more.

Without even realizing it, I had tapped into a mystery that countless faithful souls before me had experienced: the hidden strength of Our Lady who declares in the Bible, “my soul magnifies the Lord”; and magnify, she did! That experience was all I needed; I decided to pray the Rosary daily. It was the beginning of a beautiful relatiionship with Mary.

I believe that the barriers that were removed that day (whether from childhood self protection or deep wounds, I don't know) enabled me to walk more fully in the Father's will for my life. Now I’m married, and praying the Rosary daily with my husband not only strengthens our relationship with Jesus, but also with one another. We’re convinced that this prayer will help us to live a future marked by unity, faith, hope and love.

PS - Diane was married to Hugh (of this website) January 1st, 2011.

Lord Jesus, let Your prayer of unity for Christians
become a reality, in Your way.
We have absolute confidence
that you can bring your people together,
we give you absolute permission to move.
Amen

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Giving of free bibles to Pastors and Clergy in Nueva Vizcaya from the Bible League Philippines

The Director of BLP

Bible League Philippines,Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity!

Friday, August 7, 2015

Hold the Ropes: Why We Should Financially Support Missionaries

It has been a great joy to me that after all this time you have shown such interest in my welfare.” I don’t mean that you had forgotten me, but up till now you had no opportunity of expressing your concern, Nor do I mean that I have been in actual need, for I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances may be. I know now how to live when things are prosperous. Philippians 4:10-12

William Carey, who was a missionary, once said to his financial supporters, “I’ll go down into the mine, if you’ll hold the ropes.”

SAMS missionaries are all around the globe serving in the Anglican community responding to God’s call. We have a call too; to support them and hold their rope for them. Why should we support missionaries, especially financially?

1.Missionaries Teach Us: SAMS missionaries have a passion for serving. They come from several different backgrounds. For instance, Cathy Donahoe serves through physical therapy ministry, Ana Reid serves through community development and has a gift for leadership, and David Chaves has a background in videography and he and his wife, Lucy, minister to young adults. They co-founded i-hope Photography where these young people have learned photography skills to start their own businesses. When we support our missionaries and see what they are doing on the field, we actually learn new things. We learn how people are medically treated, or what the culture is like in the places they serve. We read and see new ways of living, and we discover a new scope on life in general.

2.Missionaries Encourage Us: When we support missionaries, we receive encouragement. We are able to see the work that God is doing through them. When Todd McGregor, a SAMS missionary and the Bishop of Toliara in Madagascar, announced that they were able to open a school last year, imagine what joy his Senders felt. Children can now attend school in that area because of the financial support of a Sender. When our missionaries send prayer requests we feel encouraged to partner with them. Although they could be thousands of miles away we can be uplifted by the bond he we have with our missionaries. When we see what is happening around the world it inspires us to get involved in our communities.

3.You Can Get Involved: When we support missionaries financially there are opportunities to get involved with their ministry. Missionaries are always looking for ways to participate in their service. When we are Senders, they may reach out to us to help on a short-term or team mission partners with our missionaries. We are seeking to see the fulfillment of the Great Commission alongside them.

Before considering getting involved financially, PRAY. If you are feeling called to support SAMS, or a SAMS missionary please visit our giving page.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

New York Archdiocese Will Close 7 More Churches

By ANDY NEWMANMAY 8, 2015

Noon Mass on Friday at St. John the Martyr on the Upper East Side.CreditChristopher Gregory for The New York Times

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York announced on Friday the shuttering of seven more churches as part of the biggest reorganization in its history, a process of parish consolidations that will leave the archdiocese 20 percent smaller than it was last year.

Three of the churches on the latest list to be closed are in the Bronx, one is in Manhattan and the other three are north of the city. They are added to more than 30 church closings that were announced in November.

The churches whose closings were announced Friday are St. John the Martyr on East 72nd Street on the Upper East Side; St. Joseph on Bathgate Avenue, St. Anthony on Richardson Avenue and Our Lady of Grace on Bronxwood Avenue, all in the Bronx; St. Mary in Newburgh; and St. Joseph in Clinton Corners and Immaculate Conception in Bangall, both in Dutchess County.

Regular Masses and sacraments will no longer be offered at these churches, though they might be open on special occasions. Instead, nearby churches will become parishioners’ new “home” churches.

St. John the Martyr is among those the archdiocese plans to close.CreditChristopher Gregory for The New York Times

Church officials had announced in November a much larger round of mergers and closings, involving more than 110 parishes that were being combined to create fewer than 60 new ones. This time, 31 parishes are being consolidated into 14. In most of these mergers, however, the church buildings of the former parishes will remain open for Masses and sacraments.

Falling attendance, a shortage of priests and other factors are behind the push to consolidate parishes across the archdiocese, which covers Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and seven counties north of the city. The new round of cuts, however, stands out because of how the archdiocese arrived at the decisions. The earlier group of closings followed more than a year of discussions between parishes and an advisory panel. In the new cases, however, the proposals came directly from Cardinal Timothy M. Dolanand other senior archdiocesan officials.

But the number of churches that are being effectively closed is more modest than expected: In December, the archdiocese released a list of more than a dozen churches it was considering closing.

These from the December list were spared: St. Thomas More on the Upper East Side; St. Gregory the Great on the Upper West Side; St. John Neumann on Staten Island; St. Francis in the northeast Bronx; Our Lady of Carmel in White Plains; and Our Lady of Pompeii in Dobbs Ferry.

No more church closings or mergers are planned, officials said. The decisions are set to take effect on Aug. 1. Combined with the shifts announced last fall, the archdiocese is merging 143 parishes into 69 new ones.

St. Joseph in the Bronx is also slated to close. No more church closings or mergers are planned, officials said. CreditChristopher Gregory for The New York Times

The result is an archdiocese of 296 parishes — 20 percent smaller than a year ago, when the archdiocese had 368 parishes.

“For too long,” Cardinal Dolan said in a statement, “we have been in the business of maintaining buildings and structures that were established in the 19th and early 20th centuries to meet the needs of the people of that time, but which are not necessary to meet the needs of the church and its people as it exists today.”

At St. John the Martyr on the Upper East Side, a modest church with wooden arches and wallpapered columns, three people came to the noon Mass on Friday. One of them, who gave her name only as Diane and said she had been attending the church “forever,” was realistic and resigned about the closing. She said she would worship instead at St. Jean Baptiste Catholic Church a few blocks away.

“What are you going to do?” she said. “It costs a lot of money to keep it open.”

But another longtime parishioner, Lutzea Satin, said she was devastated.

“My heart is bleeding,” Ms. Satin, who works in finance, said through tears on the telephone. “Right now, my faith is questionable. As a parishioner, and as a Catholic, I’m just hurting. It’s like losing a member of your family.”

Friday, May 1, 2015

North Carolina Church Receives Heartwarming Note With 18-Cent Donation

Good Morning America

North Carolina Church Receives Heartwarming Note With 18-Cent Donation (ABC News)

Sunday's service was business as usual for First United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

But it was one offering that warmed the hearts of everyone at the congregation, and it wasn't the amount of money that moved them.

"After the service we have a couple of people called counters who process the offerings and put them in our safe," Pastor Patrick Hamrick told ABC News. "The secretary called me over and in the envelope was a dime, a nickel, and three cents. That was the 18 cents. We flipped it over and the note was there."

87-Year-Old Publishes Heartwarming Letter to Celebrate 61st Anniversary

Colorado Teacher Shares Heartbreaking Notes From Third Graders

The note, written by an anonymous donor, said:

"Please don't be mad. I don't have much. I'm homeless. God Bless."

"We were very touched by it," Hamrick said. "I just had a phone call from the person who says that he's the one.”

Barry Collins, a long-time church member and office volunteer, believes the man had eaten breakfast with the church Sunday morning and left the note behind afterwards.

“Every Sunday morning, we serve breakfast to our homeless neighbors,” Collins told ABC News of what is known as the “Muffin Ministry.”

Hamrick, who posted the note on the church Facebook page, told the mystery man that the community could rally together for him should he reveal his identity, but the man chose to remain unnamed.

"He's asked me to keep it between me, God, and the church," Hamrick said. "He's not upset about it, he just feels that he wants to be private. I have to honor it professionally.

"It warmed our hearts because proportionally that gift could be an average middle class person giving a 1,000 dollars," he added. "I feel like he gave everything he had that morning and it's a touching example of someone” who has so little to give.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Rogue Catholic bishops plan to grow schismatic challenge to Rome

By Stephen Eisenhamme

French Bishop Jean-Michel Faure (2nd R) gives holy communions during a mass in Nova Friburgo near Rio …

NOVA FRIBURGO, Brazil (Reuters) - Two renegade Catholic bishops plan to consecrate a new generation of bishops to spread their ultra-traditionalist movement called "The Resistance" in defiance of the Vatican, one of them said at a remote monastery in Brazil.

French Bishop Jean-Michel Faure, himself consecrated only two weeks ago by the Holocaust-denying British Bishop Richard Williamson, said the new group rejected Pope Francis and what it called his "new religion" and would not engage in a dialogue with Rome until the Vatican turned back the clock.

Williamson and Faure, who were both excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church when the former made the latter a bishop without Vatican approval, are ex-members of a larger dissenting group that has been a thorn in Rome's side for years.

Their splinter movement is tiny - Faure did not give an estimate of followers - but the fact they plan to consecrate bishops is important because it means their schism can continue as a rebel form of Catholicism.

"We follow the popes of the past, not the current one," Faure, 73, told reporters on Saturday at Santa Cruz Monastery in Nova Friburgo, in the mountain jungle 140 km (87 miles) inland from Rio de Janeiro.

"It is likely that in maybe one or two years we will have more consecrations," he said, adding there were already two candidates to be promoted to bishop's rank.

The monastery had said Williamson would ordain a priest there at the weekend but he was not seen by reporters, and clergy said it was impossible to talk to him. Faure ordained the priest himself.

Asked what the new group called itself, Faure said: "I think we can call ourselves Roman Catholic first, secondly St Pius X, and now ... the Resistance."

SPLINTER OFF THE SSPX

The Society of St Pius X (SSPX) is a larger ultra-traditionalist group that was excommunicated in 1988 when its founder consecrated four new bishops, including Williamson, despite warnings from the Vatican not to do so.

It rejected the modernizing reforms of the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council and stuck with Catholicism's old Latin Mass after the Church switched to simpler liturgy in local languages.

Former Pope Benedict readmitted the four SSPX bishops to the Catholic fold in 2009, but the SSPX soon expelled Williamson because of an uproar over his Holocaust denial.

In contrast to Benedict, Pope Francis pays little attention to the SSPX ultra-traditionalists, who claim to have a million followers around the world and a growing number of new priests at a time that Rome faces priest shortages. Their remaining three bishops have no official status in the Catholic Church.

Faure said the Resistance group would not engage in dialogue with Rome, as the SSPX has done. "We resist capitulation, we resist conciliation of St Pius X with Rome," he said.

Faure said he was not sure what it would take for Rome to return to its old traditions but conflict could be a catalyst.

"If there is another World War ... maybe the Church will go back to the way it was before," he said.

The prior of the monastery, Thomas Aquinas, explained the split simply: "The Pope is less Catholic than us."

Under Catholic law, Williamson and Faure are excommunicated from the Church but remain validly consecrated bishops. That means they can ordain priests into their schismatic group and claim to be Catholic, albeit without Vatican approval.

By contrast, women supposedly made priests by dissident Catholic bishops are not validly ordained because Catholic law reserves the priesthood only for men.

(Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Tom Heneghan and Richard Chang)