The link between church and state or theology and culture is so immensely strong in the U.S. it shapes our national identity. If we mess up the religion part it, in turn, messes up our society. While it would be wonderful to have a Government forced to keep the Christian moral code as our founded fathers wanted for us, that sadly isn’t so. People talk about the constitution. It is a separation OF religion, not a separation FROM religion. Liberals like to pick and choose which parts of the constitution to believe and try to form it around the way they think. This simply means you’re making up your own constitution that fits your feelings. Take for example the right to life…we have abortion being not only legal but PAID FOR. If these are truly lives, which you must believe if you’re a Bible believer, then we are in deep trouble.
There is a distinct connection between what we believe and what we do. There has never been an open atheist elected to office for a reason…because we as Americans know they are poor decision makers. If you’re too stupid, in love with yourself, scared to answer to anyone, or any of the many other reasons people don’t believe in a God that is so present you have to look away not to see him, then you obviously can’t see truth if it smacked you in the face.
What can we as Christians learn from this besides how to vote?
You and I can see what happens when we pick and choose what we believe in. If we can see this so clearly, why do we continue to do it? Why do we make up our own religion when we pick and choose what we believe?
This “Catholic” doesn’t believe in Confession, this “Catholic” thinks being a little racist is okay. You and I have to believe in everything or nothing. Either the Bible is true, infallible, love, God, real…or it’s not. Either the Holy Spirit guides our Church, or it doesn’t.
I leave you with this thought – There is one truth and that truth may be different than what we want it to be…we have to accept that truth and put our foolish ideas aside. Do I believe that?
May you grow in the love of Jesus Christ forever
-Brian
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Grey or Black and White
The problem with teaching simply behavior modifications is it doesn’t get to the actual issues. The actual actions aren’t the core of sin. We sin in our minds first. Dressing up the outside while the inside is a mess is simply stupid. It’s like putting duck tape on a cracked sealing. The drip might stop for a while but the water keeps seeping in and eventually the entire sealing will come crashing down.
You and I put on this act. Make sure everyone on facebook knows I’m a Christian. Make sure I pray when others are around. Make sure I announce all my good deeds to the rest of the world. Then, we are ready to judge everyone else. This person does this wrong or that wrong. Someone who is divorced, gay, etc comes up to the Eucharist and we say ohh Father you know this one or that one. #1 it’s none of our business and #2 we are not to judge and ridicule. That is not our job or even the job of a Priest.
See, sins are different for everyone. Like life, they aren’t black and white. Things may be sinful for me and not for you.
-It’s a sin to steal…not if you’re starving
-It’s a sin to kill…not in just wars, protecting yourself or your home
-It’s a sin for me to have sex with Susie Q but not for her husband to have sex with her
This list could go on forever…
If you get nothing from what I write, take this. The church is for EVERYBODY…Divorce, married, straight, gay, bi, liar, honest, free, addicted, whore, virgin, intellect, retarded, ignorant, theologian etc
How does this apply to you and me today at this moment?
The church isn’t there for us to go on Sunday because our Lord requires us to or there so we can feel self righteous because we went to Mass. It develops a community which is a big part of not only the sacrament of confirmation but our lives. These people are our support group. A video my friend posted said “The church isn’t a museum for good people; it’s a hospital for the broken.”
When our sealing cracks or comes crashing down remember to look to God, look to who God has brought into your life and simply say “help me.”
May you grow in the love of Jesus Christ forever
-Brian
You and I put on this act. Make sure everyone on facebook knows I’m a Christian. Make sure I pray when others are around. Make sure I announce all my good deeds to the rest of the world. Then, we are ready to judge everyone else. This person does this wrong or that wrong. Someone who is divorced, gay, etc comes up to the Eucharist and we say ohh Father you know this one or that one. #1 it’s none of our business and #2 we are not to judge and ridicule. That is not our job or even the job of a Priest.
See, sins are different for everyone. Like life, they aren’t black and white. Things may be sinful for me and not for you.
-It’s a sin to steal…not if you’re starving
-It’s a sin to kill…not in just wars, protecting yourself or your home
-It’s a sin for me to have sex with Susie Q but not for her husband to have sex with her
This list could go on forever…
If you get nothing from what I write, take this. The church is for EVERYBODY…Divorce, married, straight, gay, bi, liar, honest, free, addicted, whore, virgin, intellect, retarded, ignorant, theologian etc
How does this apply to you and me today at this moment?
The church isn’t there for us to go on Sunday because our Lord requires us to or there so we can feel self righteous because we went to Mass. It develops a community which is a big part of not only the sacrament of confirmation but our lives. These people are our support group. A video my friend posted said “The church isn’t a museum for good people; it’s a hospital for the broken.”
When our sealing cracks or comes crashing down remember to look to God, look to who God has brought into your life and simply say “help me.”
May you grow in the love of Jesus Christ forever
-Brian
Monday, January 9, 2012
The love of God
Blessings come very clear sometimes and very unclear sometimes.
Things that are seemingly terrible may be a blessing. Take, for example, an overweight person having a heart attack. Seems awful and scary. That might be what it took for this person to make a serious change in their life.When people fall away from the Lord, which happens to everyone, there must be something to bring you and me back to Him. Sometimes God makes it clear to us; sometimes not. It may take him having a “religious heart attack,” as I call it, to find and see clear what was shady before.
How does this work and apply to us today?
Our Lord sends us messengers in many forms…sometimes to talk to us, sometimes to make mistakes with, sometimes simply to be a role model. As I said in my last post, Mary is our model in holiness. Since Mary and our Lord are not physically here in the human form to talk and guide us, He sends others into our lives. It’s no coincidence when someone comes into your life and mine and want to help us. There’s a joke about a man drowning and he isn’t worried because he thinks God will save him. He swims and swims and finally a boat comes by and the driver says come aboard and I’ll bring you to safety and the man says, “no no God will save me.” The same thing happens with a ski jet and a helicopter and eventually the man drowns. He gets to heaven and says “God, I trusted in you and you let me down.” God says to the man “you fool – I sent you a rescue three times and you denied it each time.”
The excuse of I wasn’t raised believing or it was forced on me or all of these reasons to disregard truth is simply wrong. The Holy Bible tells us seek and you shall find. If you truly want God in your life, He will come into it. He’s not going to give you a pony or appear at your beside. We need to be less close minded in our search for Him because God comes to us in A LOT of ways today.
God comes to us in prayer, love, confession, the eucharist, marriage, the Gospel, and the rest of the sacraments. Remember the Latin word sacramentum means "a sign of the sacred."
The two last points are number one we need to be able to say I was wrong. Sometimes we let feelings get in the way of truths. To that I’ll be the first to say I was wrong, I am sorry, please forgive me Lord. Number two if we fall away from God because of temptation in one way, it doesn’t disregard all the other things we do correctly. If you fight the demon of lust, it doesn’t make your prayers for say abortion, murder, etc any less important or helpful. As I said in my last post, not one thing defines our relationship with God. We are more than married, divorced, gay, straight, liar, honest ect. We are first followers of a Lord who loves us more than we can begin to imagine. Sins don’t make God love you and me and less. It means we are weak because we are human. Every single one of us sins every day. What we can do about that is not feel sorry for ourselves but work on ourselves by listening to God. Say God I have tried to love you, what to do you want for me today – here and now.
May you grow in the love of Jesus Christ forever
-Brian
Things that are seemingly terrible may be a blessing. Take, for example, an overweight person having a heart attack. Seems awful and scary. That might be what it took for this person to make a serious change in their life.When people fall away from the Lord, which happens to everyone, there must be something to bring you and me back to Him. Sometimes God makes it clear to us; sometimes not. It may take him having a “religious heart attack,” as I call it, to find and see clear what was shady before.
How does this work and apply to us today?
Our Lord sends us messengers in many forms…sometimes to talk to us, sometimes to make mistakes with, sometimes simply to be a role model. As I said in my last post, Mary is our model in holiness. Since Mary and our Lord are not physically here in the human form to talk and guide us, He sends others into our lives. It’s no coincidence when someone comes into your life and mine and want to help us. There’s a joke about a man drowning and he isn’t worried because he thinks God will save him. He swims and swims and finally a boat comes by and the driver says come aboard and I’ll bring you to safety and the man says, “no no God will save me.” The same thing happens with a ski jet and a helicopter and eventually the man drowns. He gets to heaven and says “God, I trusted in you and you let me down.” God says to the man “you fool – I sent you a rescue three times and you denied it each time.”
The excuse of I wasn’t raised believing or it was forced on me or all of these reasons to disregard truth is simply wrong. The Holy Bible tells us seek and you shall find. If you truly want God in your life, He will come into it. He’s not going to give you a pony or appear at your beside. We need to be less close minded in our search for Him because God comes to us in A LOT of ways today.
God comes to us in prayer, love, confession, the eucharist, marriage, the Gospel, and the rest of the sacraments. Remember the Latin word sacramentum means "a sign of the sacred."
The two last points are number one we need to be able to say I was wrong. Sometimes we let feelings get in the way of truths. To that I’ll be the first to say I was wrong, I am sorry, please forgive me Lord. Number two if we fall away from God because of temptation in one way, it doesn’t disregard all the other things we do correctly. If you fight the demon of lust, it doesn’t make your prayers for say abortion, murder, etc any less important or helpful. As I said in my last post, not one thing defines our relationship with God. We are more than married, divorced, gay, straight, liar, honest ect. We are first followers of a Lord who loves us more than we can begin to imagine. Sins don’t make God love you and me and less. It means we are weak because we are human. Every single one of us sins every day. What we can do about that is not feel sorry for ourselves but work on ourselves by listening to God. Say God I have tried to love you, what to do you want for me today – here and now.
May you grow in the love of Jesus Christ forever
-Brian
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