Category: Religion

On The Feast of Stephen…

Good King Wenceslaus went out
On the Feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even.

O.K., Christians of the world: Church history for one hundred. When is the Feast of Stephen and to whom does it refer? (Pause for hemming and hawing.)

It’s December 26, the day after Christmas, when the death of the church’s first martyr, Stephen, is traditionally commemorated. Trivial, yes, but most Christians can’t give me the correct answer.

Source: The Feast of Stephen: Christmas Traditions: – John Loeffler – Koinonia House

For over 60 years I did not know this. The reference to the “feast of Stephen” in the carol was lost on me. Therefore I didn’t really understand the carol. Proof (to me) that Western culture and traditions have not been passed down to the younger generations. We are seeing the results of this now. Ignorance is causing societal chaos.

Today is traditionally the “Second Day of Christmas” in the Western church, or St. Stephen’s Day, aka the “Feast of Stephen”, as referenced in the carol “Good King Wenceslas.”
Stephen was the first Christian martyr as recorded in Acts 7:
58. And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.
59. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Acts 7:1-57 is basically Stephen bearing his testimony of the risen Christ, which is what enraged the crowd.

Pope says Christians should never seek to convert unbelievers, anyone who proselytizes “is not a disciple of Jesus”

Anti-Christ in the Vatican

In a dialogue with Catholic high school students in Rome this weekend, Pope Francis responded to a question about how to deal with atheists and people of other faiths by saying that Christians should never proselytize — and any who do are not truly Christians.

  • “If someone says they are a disciple of Jesus and comes to you with proselytism, they are not a disciple of Jesus.”

  • “The Church does not grow by proselytism.”

Pretty sure it is supposed to grow that way. Has the Pope ever read the New Testament? One of the risen Christ’s last orders was…

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Source: Pope says Christians should never seek to convert unbelievers, anyone who proselytizes “is not a disciple of Jesus”

German Bishops Pronounce Homosexuality ‘Normal’ and ‘Unchangeable’

Both the homosexual and heterosexual orientation “belong to the normal forms of a sexual predisposition that cannot and should not be changed by any specific socialization,” the Dec. 5 communiqué stated.

The bishops embraced the findings of a study group on sexual morality chaired by Berlin Archbishop Heiner Koch, which will form a starting point for the “Synodal Way of the Church” in Germany to rethink Catholic teachings and praxis for the present day.

I’ve said for years that the Catholic church has a homosexual problem—homosexuals infest its clergy—so of course they support this anti-Christian perversion.

Note that they are ‘rethinking’ Catholic teachings… not waiting for a new revelation from God… who they don’t believe in anyway.

This is why the punishment for homosexuality is so severe in the Scriptures. Any ‘tolerance’ of it leads to this.

Source: German Bishops Pronounce Homosexuality ‘Normal’ and ‘Unchangeable’

The Democratic Cold War on Christianity Heating Up

Any public person, group, company or church that identifies as Christian will be forced to take a stand on the question of whether or not they celebrate the LGBTQ lifestyle regardless of whether they want to or not, even if they barely care about the issue.  That’s the plan.  Because the Bible presents a clear position that is counter to the prevailing culture, it is an easy avenue of attack.  The hate on this issue is one-sided.  Christian theology teaches to love the sinner while hating the sin.  Anti-Christian leftists practice hating the Christian while celebrating the sin.  Christian unwillingness to celebrate the sin is the offense that cannot be overlooked.

Source: The Democratic Cold War on Christianity Heating Up

Attorney General William P. Barr Delivers Remarks to the Law School

So the Founders decided to take a gamble. They called it a great experiment.

They would leave “the People” broad liberty, limit the coercive power of the government, and place their trust in self-discipline and the virtue of the American people.

In the words of Madison, “We have staked our future on the ability of each of us to govern ourselves…”

This is really what was meant by “self-government.” It did not mean primarily the mechanics by which we select a representative legislative body. It referred to the capacity of each individual to restrain and govern themselves.

But what was the source of this internal controlling power? In a free republic, those restraints could not be handed down from above by philosopher kings.

Instead, social order must flow up from the people themselves – freely obeying the dictates of inwardly-possessed and commonly-shared moral values. And to control willful human beings, with an infinite capacity to rationalize, those moral values must rest on authority independent of men’s will – they must flow from a transcendent Supreme Being.

In short, in the Framers’ view, free government was only suitable and sustainable for a religious people – a people who recognized that there was a transcendent moral order antecedent to both the state and man-made law and who had the discipline to control themselves according to those enduring principles.

Source: Attorney General William P. Barr Delivers Remarks to the Law School

From today’s Scripture reading

Each day (well, almost) my wife and I read the scriptures out loud to each other. Today we read 2 John:

9. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

10. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:

11. For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

As I pointed out to my wife, here we find that it is, indeed, very Christian to exclude some types of people. ‘Inclusiveness’ and ‘diversity’, for their own sakes,  are NOT Christian teachings. I won’t receive him in my house. I won’t ‘bake the cake.’

I mention this because I was recently castigated by some atheist on Facebook for being unChristian for my lack of inclusiveness.

I’m always amused by non-Christians, who apparently have never read the Scriptures, telling Christians what they should believe.

Democratic Party Passes Resolution Against Christianity | The Stream

The Democratic National Committee has passed a resolution in favor of religiously unaffiliated Americans, and strongly against Christian beliefs and values.

Christianity gets criticized for aligning with the Republican Party. I’m not comfortable with that myself. There’s great danger in tying ourselves to any political group. But what choice do Democrats leave us now? There are only two major parties. One of them has made its stand. It’s against us. We can’t vote Democrat and hold to our Christian values and beliefs.

Democrats are evil. They support a culture of death. Look at the cities they’ve ‘governed’ for decades; Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, San Francisco, etc. Squalor, misery, and death are the rule under Democrats.

Source: Democratic Party Passes Resolution Against Christianity | The Stream

Reverend Amy Butler Outliberals Her NYC Church

Amy Butler managed to get fired for degeneracy and greed, despite being popular on the “Christian” Left.

The sex toy incident was apparently the final straw amid mounting concerns from the Riverside Church Council about Butler’s judgment, as she was seeking a $100,000 raise. She has a $250,000 annual salary and $8,000 monthly housing allowance — on top of other cushy benefits.

Obviously this is not a ‘church.’ A quarter-million salary AND 8k housing allowance? So much for helping the poor…

Source: Reverend Amy Butler Outliberals Her NYC Church

Near Death, Seeing Dead People May Be Neither Rare Nor Eerie

“I said ‘Dad, what are you laughing at?’ He said, ‘Oh, we’re all together.’ “

The bewildered Roncevich and her mother wondered who and what he was seeing. He was even giggling.

“He said, ‘Everybody’s together and we’re all just having a wonderful time. We’re having so much fun’ … and those were the last words he spoke,” she recounted last week between her visits to patients of UPMC Family Hospice and Palliative Care. “I said to my mom, ‘What more could we ask for than that?’ Wherever he was going, he was in a good place and happy.”

Source: Near Death, Seeing Dead People May Be Neither Rare Nor Eerie