psalm123

I've heard about this priest. I need to learn more about his story. The video claims he has a 60 million dollar bounty placed on his head by extremist Muslims.


http://patrickmadrid.blogspot.com/2009/11/and-now-meet-other-father-z.html

For the last several years, I've been following with great interest the astonishing success that Father Zakaria Botros, a Coptic priest, has had in evangelizing the Muslim world — in Arabic, using the Koran. As an Arab, he understands the mindset that so many Muslims have toward Christianity, and he exploits that knowledge quite effectively, not by simply presenting the claims for the divinity of Christ, as an example. Rather, he firmly turns the tables on Muslim apologists by relentlessly critiquing and refuting their own claims, using mainly the Koran as his tool. The reports are, he is successfully converting large numbers of Muslims (albeit secretly, for fear of deadly reprisals from their erstwhile co-religionists), and this is causing a lot of consternation among many Muslims who see Father Z as a real threat to Muslim hegemony.

And they are right to think this.

We should all be praying for this courageous priest. For one thing, he is almost single-handedly evangelizing hundreds of millions of Muslims every day through his television program. Anyone in that situation needs a lot of prayer. As one would expect, his life is in danger because of his work. May the Lord bless and protect this worthy servant of His

This should be interesting to follow.

“We are getting a glimpse of what happens when Muslims who refuse to accept American values and principles gain political power in an American community. Failure to renew coach Marszalek’s contract had nothing to do with wrestling and everything to do with religion.”

Wrestling coach charges Muslim principal with anti-Christian bias after losing job

Dearborn, Mich., Jul 29, 2009 / 06:09 am (CNA).- A federal lawsuit has been filed against a Michigan high school and its Muslim principal, charging that a respected wrestling coach’s contract was not renewed because of anti-Christian bias and his association with another coach who ran a wrestling camp where a young Muslim converted to Christianity.

( Read more... )

This article reminds me of many conversations I have had with people who were trying to find "the right church for me".  Frequently, people simply shop around their geographic area in order to find a church that will "suit my needs" rather than research a church/ faith history and authoritative foundation by which it stands by its teachings.  With the seemingly never ending division of Protestant churches....I think the last count is somewhere around 35,000 denominations, it isn't surprising that people feel the need to shop around.  What always amazes me is what people consider important attributes of the 'church' they are seeking in order to "suit their needs". I would think that truth and authenticity would be the highest priority when seeking out a church.  As the first step in in 'church shopping', shouldn't you ask yourself why you are searching for a 'church' at all?  What is it that you are looking for?  If the answer is wrapped up in things like fellowship, a nice sounding choir, or teachings that are convenient to ones lifestyle, perhaps you should spend your time searching out a social club or maybe join a community group rather than a 'church'.   For these social groups or clubs could serve to meet your needs without running the risk of belonging to a false church.

If your goal in joining a church is to seek out truth in a relationship with Jesus, then your journey should take you towards the Church that best reflects what Jesus taught and commanded while he walked the earth.  Jesus clearly established a Church during his ministry. He defined a hierarchical structure of authority within his Church.  He initiated Sacraments, gave teachings on how to live a good and moral life, and showed humanity how to attain supernatural life with him in heaven.  The teachings and Sacraments of Jesus are from a divine source and by virtue of this cannot change. Changing cultural attitudes over time cannot alter the truth...the divine truth of what Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity taught and commanded.  So then, where can you find the same truth as taught by Jesus Christ himself?  Well, of course in the Church he established 2000 years ago....The Catholic Church. 

Many people choose a 'church' for all the wrong reasons...many of which are bound up in pride and selfishness. Others create their own religion and adopt the 'spiritual' but not religious angle. As if making up ones own truth has any real significance.  Truth is truth whether or not one believes it. Truth is not subject to personal opinion or majority rule. I could tomorrow establish MY own church around the idea of Zorcon the space god.  Why would my 'church' have any less validity than someone pridefully following 'their own version of truth'? ...or even one of the 35,000 Protestant Christian denominations founded by fallible men who make up doctrines, twist scripture to meet their needs, and ignore whole passages of the one and only thing they say they need for salvation....The BIBLE!    See how confusing it can be for someone who doesn't know the history of the Church Jesus established? Jesus founded one Church. He didn't found 35,000 christian churches all interpreting His Divine Word written in scripture in a way that "suits their own needs".  35,000 contradictory versions of the truth?  ....I don't think so.  

This went longer than I thought it would. As usual, I didn't do much editing on this. I will post the article separately under a cut. 

Take care.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I would like to spend a little time on one of the oldest  heretical 'religions' Gnosticism. Nowadays, you might run into someone who claims to practice or be a student of gnosticism.  What that means I really don't know. Actually, I bet they really don't know either. They may study or practice some sort of pseudo-gnostic faith. As far as 'religions' go, the beliefs of gnosticism are extremely varied and tend to be based on ones own personal opinions. 

 In this respect, gnosticism is comparable to modern day protestant Christianity.  In the limited contact I have had with so called gnostics, there were several different versions of 'secret knowledge' that was thrown at me. I have experienced a lot of intellectual pride and elitism when conversing with so called gnostics. Such is the way of gnosticism for they think they have access to secret knowledge of a superior 'spirituality'. I use the term spirituality loosely here.  Some of the gnostic  people I have dealt with were obviously educated in Greek philosophy, world history, and metaphysics. I also found that creative writing was a talent that one particular 'gnostic' likes to exploit. 

You can get a basic understanding on some Gnostic beliefs by reading the previous post. So, rather than rehash much of what was written in the article, I thought it would be beneficial to read an exchange that took place on a Catholic apologetic website run by Jimmy Aiken. The purpose of checking out this exchange is to see how easily the claims of gnosticism are shot down. There are many an assertion made by gnostics yet they always have a hard time coming up with reliable evidence to back up their claims.  Often the more educated gnostic will try and wow you with lofty philosophical language....but pay attention and don't get caught up in the philosophy and metaphysic-speak or you will miss the revisionist history that gnostics like so much. Anyway, if such a thing interests you, give the blog a look. The discusssion on the blog is a couple of years old.  I believe the 'gnostic' in the discussion is the same person I have had a couple of short discussions with on here. sophia_sadek  She was pleasant with me during our exchanges.   The point here is that gnosticism is a bunch of nonsense all wrapped up in a nice philosophically attractive package ......attractive that is to the gullible.

http://jimmyakin.typepad.com/defensor_fidei/2006/05/a_very_naughty_.html


This was written quickly so no editing was done.  Ehh to tired. 
[Unknown LJ tag]

 Well, the intention was to break away from the usual topics of the day and devote a little time in discussing gnosticism. Undoubtedly, many of you have either read the Da Vinci Code or have heard something about it. Surprisingly, I have run into several people who actually believe the ridiculous claims contained in this book which is full of error. These are the same people who tune me out as we discuss how the so called gnostic gospels fail miserably the test of historicity. One small example of this.  The gnostic gospels are heretical writings of the 2nd and 3rd centuries...much to late to be the work of eyewitnesses.

  Anyway, as my schedule is pretty hectic at the moment, I will simply post a random article I found on http://www.catholic.com  . Hopefully, I can get back to this topic in the near future.