Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Michael Voris and Real Men






Michael Voris, as always is batting a thousand. God bless him.

http://www.churchmilitant.tv/premium/index.php?vidID=vort-2013-07-30

This program is from ChurchMilitant.TV




This program is from ChurchMilitant.TV

Friday, July 26, 2013

The Cinderella Story of a Protestant and a Catholic







The Protestant Cinderella Story

Once upon a time, young Cinderella worked among the ashes in the house and among the animals out of doors. Her hair was dusty, her clothes were dirty and odorous. Some would call her life totally depraved. 


The king of a great country loved the ash-covered Cinderella. Kissing her hand, he promised one day to marry her and make her a queen. No one else heard the king make the promise to Cinderella, but she knew he did, she could feel it.

To think that one day when the king returned, she would wear luxurious clothes and exotic perfumes and speak and walk and think and dance like royalty! She would dine on fine foods and sleep in a huge bed in the castle. These thoughts gave her eternal security as she daily scrubbed the floors and emptied the ashes and took care of the animals in her dirty and musty clothing.

A milkmaid asked Cinderella how she was so secure about her future in the kingdom for the king left her without anything but a promise.

“I know it in my heart.” Cinderella grabbed her chest and smiled dreamily.

“Just where is his kingdom, have you seen it?” the milkmaid was skeptical.

“No, it’s far, far away. We can’t see it.” Cinderella mused with a twinkle in her eye.


“Oh, it’s an invisible kingdom....” The maid scoffed. “What if you find out you hate the king once you get to know him or what if you hate the people in his kingdom? Can you leave?”


“Why no. I can’t,” Cinderella responded irresistibly, “the king chose me unconditionally and only me and there is nothing I can do about it. He is sovereign.”

Cinderella happily persevered tending the animals in her tattered clothes and dirty hair. She awaited the return of her king singing, “Someday my prince will come” and had faith they would live happily ever after.





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The Catholic Cinderella Story
Once upon a time, young Cinderella worked among the ashes in the house and among the animals out of doors. Her hair was dusty, her clothes were dirty and odorous. 

Yet, what had been forgotten was that Cinderella came from a royal bloodline.

The king of a great country loved the ash-covered Cinderella.


Kissing her hand, he asked her to marry him and he would make her a queen. When Cinderella accepted, the king brought her to the castle and gave her a warm bath and clothed her in a beautiful white robe and the marriage contract was signed and indelibly sealed and she was anointed queen. 


Though legally betrothed, the king went away to prepare their home and ready the wedding guests for the marriage supper. 

Queen Cinderella lived in the castle as she prepared for the wedding ceremony, learning how to be a perfect queen. Her trousseau was ordered of the finest silk in purples and gold. Cinderella must be taught to walk and talk and dance and speak and even think and feel like a queen. 

It certainly wasn’t magic, it took a great deal of discipline and sacrifice day in and day out. She listened to her teachers and practiced until she was exhausted.
One of her maids in waiting who watched Cinderella working so hard to be perfect wondered if the queen was worried about failing?

The queen thought that an odd question. “I trust my king, I will follow his lead. I cannot fail, for if I stumble, he is there to pick me up.”

The maid quizzed, “Do you then feel trapped? I mean, what if you find you hate being queen, can you leave the kingdom?” 


“What an odd question, an unthinkable question?”

Cinderella answered, “The king has given me the freedom to leave if I wish to, for he loves me.”

The maid assured the queen that there would be plenty of time after the marriage supper to become perfect. She should relax, after all, the king couldn’t have that high of expectations from Cinderella who had lived in ashes all her life.


As often as she could the queen would put on a veil and go into the castle’s chapel and the king would secretly meet her there in street clothes and they would rehearse the wedding feast. Although she never actually got to see him, for that was being saved for the wedding ceremony, she could hear his voice as he promised would not be long till he would come again and receive her unto himself that where he was, there she may be also...and they would live happily ever after. 



Thursday, July 25, 2013

To Veil or Not To Veil, That is the Question.


[E]very woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered....For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. ...Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? I Cor. 11: 5-13

After reading this text as a Seventh-day Adventists I began putting a covering on my head at home, a veil or something, while having my morning devotions and would wear a hat to church. 

I continue covering my head today in mass as a Catholic as well as in my home at prayer. My husband loves all the different veils and mantillas I wear. He is getting to be more determined I wear it than I am.   

Though it is no longer a canon law for Catholic women to wear a head covering in church, I personally think they are reverent and after all... if it is for the angels? I gladly do it for them. 

To be frank, I find it not only reverent but also very elegant and feminine. I think if women began reaching back and gleaning the gems of our Catholic history and recapturing some of the beauty of Catholic traditions, we'd find mass more sacred. We might experience a new level of holiness. It worked for me. 


Saturday, July 13, 2013

Am I first a Christian or an American?



IN  THE  DISTANCE, HAVE  YOU  SEEN THIS  coming, this split in the American road? Well, here it is. And no one can go back. We must all choose on which path we are going to continue. 

Secular Citizen or Citizen of Heaven
You are either going to be American first and give your prime allegiance to the state, or you are going to be a Christian. No longer can these two remain in equilibrium. One must grow while the other diminishes. We can only be fully loyal to one. As Christ said, "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other: or he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Our secular culture is seeing to it that our patriotism and loyalty to God are being pitted against each other. We are now seeing that rent in the garment of our futures. You cannot serve both God and America without compromising your loyalties to one.

How Did We Get Here?

Until recently, Americans had a Judeo-Christian worldview which permeated everything from how we educate our children to the rites of our marriage ceremonies to how we conducted our businesses to how we bury our loved ones. 

Generally, Americans had a commonly shared view of what was morally evil, and within the Judeo-Christian context we could safely allow the freedom of personal conscience and religious conviction on matters that fit within that worldview. When we agreed the Bible was the Word of God, our moral codes basically aligned.

America's God-given rights and freedoms were understood within Christian culture. When we sent our husbands and sons to war, Americans understood that they were not fighting to defend a person's right to lie, steal, cheat, rape or watch child porn. Americans shared a belief in the sacred dignity of human life and the value of the traditional family. 

We are no longer being powered by a historical Christian perspective. A humanistic worldview is fueling America's laws and policies.

Today, secular relativism demands U.S. citizens have the right to live according to their personal view of morality which is not  necessarily based in scripture or any commonly-held moral code. Judeo-Christian values (basically, the Bible) are no longer the community standard. In the shattering of Christianity, American rights have taken on a new meaning. 

In the Judeo-Christian worldview, the purpose of the right to free speech, press and religion was that we all may be allowed to pursue truth! Our assumption was that within this free market of ideas and reason we would reach truth. In a secular worldview there is no goal of truth to the freedom of speech. Lies are valued and protected the same as truth. Truth becomes a casualty of secular freedom.

Our present culture of individualized morality has led to us casually dismissing lying politicians, lying commercials, lying bosses because truth itself has no meaning or anchor. Many no longer believe it is a sin to lie. Many do not believe in the idea of sin itself. 

While Americans in the past have fought noble battles over paying too much in taxes, today we don’t protest because we no longer share a common idea of a work ethic or private property. Instead many Americans simply cheat on our tax return to avoid what we believe is oppressive taxation. 

Relativism is the polar opposite of the gospel. The gospel preaches repentance and turning from sin and sin is clearly outlined by God, not individuals.

Abortion Brings Grisly Clarity
How clearly we see the radical collapse of our mindset when we used to debate whether or not to baptize babies--now we are debating whether or not to kill babies.

Those who have placed their citizenship above their Christianity argue: "I personally believe that abortion is murder. I personally wouldn’t have an abortion or encourage anyone else to have an abortion. But everyone in this country has a right to do what they want so I would never impose my personal beliefs on others. That is not democracy’s way. That is not America’s way." 

That was the reasoning of German citizens during WWII about  Naziism. The German Christians placed the state before their faith. That conviction is clearly condemned in scripture where we are often commanded to actively seek justice for the innocent. We cannot know murder is evil and then support the right of others to murder. Those two positions cannot peacefully coexist. One loyalty must take precedence while the other must be submissive. Like 1940 Germany, Americans are finding it impossible to reconcile our patriotism with our Catholicism. 




Tuesday, July 2, 2013

VERICAST with Tim Haines




Can I just cry?
What? You three people who actually read this are going to be surprised? I weep over everything about God! You guys know that.





You see, I've only been a Catholic for a few years and they have been hard years. My husband is a travel nurse (yes, I am writing this in case someone outside my family might read this someday) and every three to six months we are back on the road to another city. I have been to a lot of Catholic parishes in the last five years. And most of them are not super conservative-friendly. 

But I knew that from the beginning.

My husband and my RCIA directors didn't even seem to want us in Catholicism. We were too conservative. They were sweet people, but RCIA seemed more like a pro-Democrat, de-conservative program. We were told we were of the devil for watching FOX news and the focus many Tuesday nights was on the plight of the illegal immigrants or how the church needed to be ecumenical or some other Catholic-lite subject. 

In most Catholic parishes the Protestant converts stick out and we find each other like magnets. We seem to be the only people who love what Catholicism teaches! Of course I'm exaggerating, because the Sunday masses are packed. But when you talk about Catholicism, Catholics would rather talk about football.

We converts whisper to ourselves about pro-life issues and how we love Michael Voris (shhhh, that really ticks off a lot of Catholics and we don't know why...) We giggle with love for the bishops and the priests and all the great traditions, as we are being eyed with suspicion by the Catholics who are fearing a former-Protestant takeover.

So when some angel posted Vericast on my Facebook wall, I just clicked without thinking. And I wept. Somebody actually loves the Catholic Church and is willing to say it aloud. Now I am totally going to hide behind Tim Haines and use him for my voice and occasionally stick my head out and point my finger at all you who dislike Catholicism and shake my head in agreement saying,"yeah"and then jump back behind Mr. Haines. 

He's a cradle Catholic and now nobody can say I just don't know what I am talking about, since I haven't been a Catholic all my life like they have. 

With watching Michael Voris and Tim Haines and Wilson O. and Scott Hahn and Marcus Grodi and Dave Armstrong and Patrick Madrid and Peter Kreeft and Father Mitch Pacwa one day I will be lethal.... 

For right now, I am just weeping and thanking God for Catholics who love being Catholic--like Mr. Haines.

Check Tim Haines out at Vericast


http://www.vericast.net
Vericast Youtube Channel

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