For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. ---Ephesians 6:12
"The age of casual Catholicism is over; the age of heroic Catholicism has begun. We can no longer be Catholics by accident, but instead must be Catholics by CONVICTION." ---Fr. Terrence Henry TOR, Franciscan University of Steubenville
The top video is an overview from Catholics Come Home on what we're all about, while the bottom one is a very incomplete list of famous Catholic converts, not including conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham, surprisingly, who converted from Protestant to Catholic nearly 8 years ago. Check out these two videos and see what the big attraction is...
This video is rather difficult to watch at times, but important to see. In my 15 years of trucking all over the country I've seen scenes like the ones portrayed here, and they never cease to remind me to keep mindful of safety on the road.
Some might say it all depends upon what floats your boat, and that's how I felt back in my non-denominational days with regards to the type of music played in church. Back then I wasn't going to anything remotely referred to as MASS, but rather the occasionally attended, informal gathering of casually dressed Christians seeking that "spiritual feeling" that comes from... (dare I say?) being entertained by contemporary, rock-n-roll worship music.
The Catholic Church has its own guidelines on the issue, and prefers to keep things as close to Gregorian melodic form as possible. Cardinal Arinze puts it best: "People don't come to Mass in order to be entertained. They come to Mass to adore God, to thank Him, to ask pardon for sins, and to ask for other things that they need."
Some will obviously see these guidelines as too rigid, but that's okay. There are several Protestant denominations from which to choose... Let the Catholic Church be Catholic, and the rest can choose to "float their boats."
It's nice to have a little time off on a weekend, even though my employer screwed up and left me stranded on layover. But the internet signal is good, and I have time to plug a worthy book coming out on Tuesday.
It's a book full of hard truths about President Obama and the path down which he seeks to lead us. And I cannot think of anyone bold enough to write such a book other than Pamela Geller or Robert Spencer (okay, maybe Tom Tancredo!). I expect them to pull no punches in dealing with our man-child-in-chief, exposing his true nature and intentions, and the eventual doom of this great nation once he gets his way. This book is a great wake-up call.
A trend appears to have made its way from Europe to America. That may not seem like news since many trends go that route, but in this case it seems surprising. The trend of standing up to Islamic advancement (encroachment) on western society finally got some footing in England this past March when the town of Camberley voted down plans for a Muslim group to build a mosque.
The good people of New York's Staten Island must have had this in mind when they pressured the board of trustees at St. Margaret Mary's Roman Catholic Church to vote against the sale of their convent to the Muslim American Society, who themselves had plans to convert the site into a mosque and "community center." Many expressed concerns of possible links between the MAS and the Muslim Brotherhood, a "foreign organization with alleged links to terrorism," alleged my @$$, see below.
Some of you might be wondering why an American like myself who believes in religious freedom would consider these trends a good thing. Perhaps you have been living under a rock for the past 30 years, or at least since 9-11-01. I don't know. It may be true that there have been some bad Christians in the past who claimed they did their bad things in the name of Christ. Some of those are living today, or are at least on death row. They may have blown up abortion clinics or perpetrated violence on homosexuals or whatever. But they acted alone....meaning, they did these things without approval from any organized church or their church leaders. In fact, the acts were denounced by all church leaders as soon as news of the violence spread. We don't hear denouncements from modern, mainstream muslims too often, do we? Can you name even one? See more reasons HERE.
According to Robert Spencer, a story came out today about the police in modern Indonesia tearing down a non-muslim church (Narogong Pentecostal Church), which had been accepted by most non-Christians in the area....except The Muslim Brotherhood of Limusnunggal, which has been gunning for this church since 2008. While no one was killed (not reported, anyway), ten people were detained and then released. They were much more fortunate than the Christians in not-so-modern Nigeria a short while back...
Want a mosque in YOUR neighborhood? If you live near Ground Zero in Manhattan, I hope you say NO.
Yesterday a report came out from Live Action detailing another undercover video at Planned Parenthood (Indianapolis, this time) from the Rosa Acuna Project, showing hard-sell tactics and misinformation "on the menu" at their abortion mills designed to steer fearful young women toward killing their unborn children.
This is, of course, not the first example of this. Click HERE for a post I did in April about the first of such videos, that one in Milwaukee.
I guess you've all noticed I've gone longer than normal without posting anything. Sorry about that, but life has been hectic and priorities must be set, lest I should become a slave to my blog. But in spite of the hiatus, I got a spike in readership due to some unexpected attention by Lisa Graas.
Seems that I've been included in a list of Conservatism's Manliest Blogs. Don't laugh! It's not a macho thing, but appears to have the theme of chivalry. My blog is being described as "noble" by her, and this honors me tremendously. And when I see the others on the list, I feel even more honored.
Stop by and see what else she's been up to. Looks like she's been very busy blogging.
Click on picture above for information about the author.
Also, I want to add that not everyone I link to below marches lock-step with me on every issue. But I link to them nonetheless because I think they are righteous. They have taken sides in their respective battles, political and/or religious, and have chosen wisely. May you do the same.