I evidently missed a huge milestone in our corporate Christian life here in America. My fave Christian apologist of the millennial era, Ravi Zacharias, ended his earthly pilgrimage on May 19 and went home to Our Lord. Rev Zacharias was diagnosed with malignant sarcoma a few months ago as a result of what appeared at the time to be routine back surgery. He wrote on his Facebook page that he experienced continued, severe pain after the surgery. Then, the results... Read more
I sing this hymn a lot, especially when I’m feeling down. Jesus really does raise us up. Corrie ten Boom said that what she learned from being in the Nazi Concentration Camps is that “there is no pit so deep that He is not there.” No matter what happens to you, He is there. And He will raise you up. Read more
I bought this book several years ago and. put it aside in frustration after reading a few pages. It really is a diary, or perhaps more exactly, a journal. After a couple of years, I started it again. This time, instead of reading it straight through like a novel, I just read a single entry every night before going to sleep. It took me a couple of years to read it this way, but by the time I finished, I... Read more
I’ve told you about the few things I know from lived experience. I know that God is real. I know that God is love. I know that our existence is meant. I know that the Holy Spirit will walk with each one of us. I know that the Holy Spirit teaches us the nature of our sins and shows us what we must do to follow Christ. I also know that if you refuse the guidance of the Holy... Read more
If someone says I love God, but hates other people, that person is a liar. John the Apostle. I wrote yesterday about my conversion experience. It was an encounter with God in the Holy Spirit that has given me a certitude about a few things that, based on what I read and see on the internet, seem to bedevil other people. The first of these things is the most basic. Does God exist? This question is the basis for all... Read more
Knowing something and believing it are different degrees of faith. I believe a lot of things, but I only know a few things. The things I know have come to me through lived experience, personal encounter. Here is what I know — and how I know it — about God. God is real. God is love. God is Love. God is all the Reality there is. God is Love and Love is the unifying theory of everything. God is Love... Read more
Once, several decades ago, I heard a homily that was preached by an Episcopalian priest about the Trinity. This particular priest was one of the most Godly, kind and just plain good religious leaders I have ever known. He was also unabashedly humble before the Lord and unconcerned about what people thought of him. I’ve come to the conclusion that those traits go together to form genuine holiness, kind of like hydrogen and oxygen go together to form the life-giving elixir... Read more
How does a saint die? This video gives us a bit of insight into how St Pope John Paul II died. It sounds as if he died the way he lived; doing the work that was in front of him faithfully and in peace with God. Read more
It was around 20 years ago. My mother got a call from a man who introduced himself as her cousin from Tennessee. He had spent considerable time tracking down our branch of the family and wanted to make her acquaintance. He and Mama had a nice visit. She introduced him to my Aunt Mary and they got caught up on the family doings for the past 130 years. That’s how long it had been since our branch of the family had... Read more
Twenty-one centuries. We’ve had a lot of popes in that time. Some of them have been wonderful. Others have been a scandal and a shame, a blot of Christianity and the Church. Catholic history is human history woven around a pillar of divine teaching. It is as fallible as fallen humanity. What holds it together is not the perfection of the popes. It is bound together by the Holy Spirit that lets each of us fall, and then pick ourselves... Read more
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