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A former Evangelical blogger who has since converted to Roman Catholicism has revealed that the prosperity gospel controversies surrounding big-name preachers like televangelist Creflo Dollar are what pushed him in that direction. "The prosperity Gospel movement is bizarre given that Jesus was unequivocal about wealth but, like the secular spirituality of many popular American celebrities, the movement soldiers on," Albert Little, who describes himself as a 31-year old evangelical convert to Catholicism living in Ontario, Canada, wrote on his Patheos blog "The Cordial Catholic." "While it might be a stretch to say that someone like Creflo Dollar made me a...

"Our Father who art in heaven" (Matt. 6:9). With God as your Father, your life has eternal significance. Author H.G. Wells wrote of a man who had been overcome by the pressure and stress of modern life. His doctor told him that his only hope was to find fellowship with God. The man responded, "What? That—up there—having fellowship with me? I would as soon think of cooling my throat with the Milky Way or shaking hands with the stars." Poet Thomas Hardy said that prayer is useless because there's no one to pray to except "that dreaming, dark, dumb thing...

“Walk . . . with all humility” (Ephesians 4:1-2). Satan will tempt us to be proud of our abilities and accomplishments, but we must remember that every good thing we have is from God. We’ve just studied three steps to humility. Let’s look at the issue from another angle: What kinds of pride threaten to destroy our humility? Where will we struggle to be humble? There are several areas in which Satan will attack us. The first area I call ability pride. We’re often tempted to be proud of our strong points, not our weak ones. I’ve never been tempted...

Divine providence tells us that God actively rules over His creatures, directing their actions and decisions to bring about His purposes (Prov. 16:33; Acts 17:26–27a; Eph. 1:11). But as we have seen, the Lord does not typically govern His creation by overriding the skills, talents, personalities, and other aspects of human beings. Furthermore, in ruling and directing the universe and all that is in it, God does not usually suspend the various natural laws and processes that He has established in creation. He does not often work against the order He has put in place but normally works out His...

March 14, 2017 Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent Reading 1 Is 1:10, 16-20Hear the word of the LORD,princes of Sodom!Listen to the instruction of our God,people of Gomorrah! Wash yourselves clean!Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes;cease doing evil; learn to do good.Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,hear the orphan's plea, defend the widow. Come now, let us set things right,says the LORD:Though your sins be like scarlet,they may become white as snow;Though they be crimson red,they may become white as wool.If you are willing, and obey,you shall eat the good things of the land;But...

"Our Father who art in heaven" (Matt. 6:9). Prayer begins with the recognition that God is your Father and has the resources to meet your needs. The term Father is one of the most commonly used terms in our prayers, and rightly so because that's how Jesus taught us to pray. But as common as that term is to us, it was very uncommon to the people of Christ's day. Then, most of the people who worshiped false gods thought of them as distant, capricious, and immoral beings that were to be feared. Even the Jewish people, who should have...

“Walk . . . with all humility” (Ephesians 4:1-2). The more we comprehend the greatness of God, the more humble we will become. God is not given proper respect today. He is often flippantly referred to as “the man upstairs”—more of a buddy than the eternal God. Many see Him as nothing more than a cosmic Santa Claus or an absent-minded grandfather who winks at sin. Unfortunately, even Christians can be affected by these views. Such sin dishonors God and undermines the next step to humility: God-awareness. Instead of getting our ideas of God from the world, let’s look at...

March 13, 2017 Monday of the Second Week in Lent Reading 1 Dn 9:4b-10"Lord, great and awesome God,you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love youand observe your commandments!We have sinned, been wicked and done evil;we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws.We have not obeyed your servants the prophets,who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes,our fathers, and all the people of the land.Justice, O Lord, is on your side;we are shamefaced even to this day:we, the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem,and all Israel, near and far,in all the...

There is an alarming increase in demonic activity being reported by those who work in exorcism ministry, said the exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Although steps are being taken to increase the number of exorcists, demand is still outpacing supply. Father Vincent Lampert has been an exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis since 2005 and is the pastor at St. Malachy’s in Indianapolis. He trained at the North American College in Rome and assisted with more than 40 exorcisms with longtime Italian exorcist Father Carmine De Filippi. Although the identities of most exorcists are hidden, Father Lampert often gives...

"Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen'" (Matt. 6:9-15). Jesus gave six elements that constitute true prayer. Many people have memorized the Disciples' Prayer so they can recite it often, but as beautiful as...

“Walk . . . with all humility” (Ephesians 4:1-2). We are to walk as Christ walked. Our lack of conformity to His standard ought to make us humble. What was your most humiliating experience? Life is full of embarrassing moments, but the most truly humbling experience I ever had was preaching through the Gospel of John. For two years—eighty-eight sermons, about one hundred hours of preaching, between two and three thousand hours of study—I was constantly faced with the deity of Jesus Christ. Living with the deity of Christ day after day and comparing yourself continually to Him is one...

Many today argue that we can’t preach with authority because we need to have a flexible approach to all aspects of theology. By “flexible” they mean accommodating all beliefs, but truth is not “flexible” when it comes to absolutes; it’s solid and unyielding—an anchor. Truth liberates. Truth rebuilds. Truth restores. Truth heals. Truth transforms. Truth prevails…you don’t change truth; truth changes you! During The Yale Lectures on Preaching (1891) by James Stalker, Stalker rightly noted Martin Luther’s list of qualifications for being a minister. Two of the top ten were: 1) “He should be sure of what he means to...

The Gospel According to Mark recounts the circumstances that led to the beheading of John the Baptist by order of Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee. “Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Phillip’s wife; for he had married her. Because John had said to Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’” Beau Biden, the eldest son of former vice president Joe Biden died of brain cancer in May 2015. Not even two years later, Beau’s younger brother Hunter has left his...

One archeologist was quoted as saying that ISIS's act of “destruction has actually led us to a fantastic find.” A find that shows the Bible to be correct once again. ...snip So here's how it happened. In 2014, ISIS destroyed a site believed by many to be the burial site of Jonah in Mosul because...that's what ISIS does. They destroy. For some reason they went to town on the place, even using dynamite to destroy it. But a few weeks ago, the area was liberated by Iraqi forces from ISIS. But because the site was blown to smithereens, what was...

March 12, 2017 Second Sunday of Lent Reading 1 Gn 12:1-4aThe LORD said to Abram: "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolkand from your father's house to a land that I will show you. "I will make of you a great nation,and I will bless you;I will make your name great,so that you will be a blessing.I will bless those who bless youand curse those who curse you.All the communities of the earthshall find blessing in you." Abram went as the LORD directed him. Responsorial Psalm Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22.R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on...

The Presbyterian Church (USA) is looking into ways to handle an apparent drop in satisfactory rates in Bible test scores among people preparing for ministry within the Mainline denomination. Earlier this month, a task force created by the executive committee of the Committee on Theological Education released a statement on the Bible Content Examinations and a trend of lower than average evaluation rates that began in the summer. The Presbyterian Church (USA) is looking into ways to handle an apparent drop in satisfactory rates in Bible test scores among people preparing for ministry within the Mainline denomination. Earlier this month,...

WILL ROGERS ONCE OPINED that a sure way to prevent war would be to abolish peace conferences. Of course Will, as usual, had his tongue in his cheek; he meant only to poke fun at the weak habit of substituting talk for action. Still there is more than a little uncomfortable truth in his remark. This above all others is the age of much talk. Hardly a day passes that the newspapers do not carry one or another of the headlines "Talks to Begin" or "Talks to Continue" or "Talks to Resume." The notion back of this endless official chatter...

"O Lord, in accordance with all Thy righteous acts, let now Thine anger and Thy wrath turn away from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people have become a reproach to all those around us. So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Thy servant and to his supplications, and for Thy sake, O Lord, let Thy face shine on Thy desolate sanctuary. "O my God, incline Thine ear and hear! Open Thine eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by...

“Walk . . . with all humility” (Ephesians 4:1-2). The first step to humility is understanding our sinfulness. I’ll never forget a meeting I had at my house with some seminary students. One student asked me, very seriously, “John, how did you finally overcome pride?” I said jokingly, “Well, it was two years ago when I finally licked it, and it’s never been a problem since then. It’s so wonderful to be constantly humble.” Of course, I have not completely overcome pride; it’s a battle I face every day. Satan makes sure we always struggle with it. Overcoming pride in...

March 11, 2017 Saturday of the First Week of Lent Reading 1 Dt 26:16-19Moses spoke to the people, saying:"This day the LORD, your God,commands you to observe these statutes and decrees.Be careful, then,to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.Today you are making this agreement with the LORD:he is to be your God and you are to walk in his waysand observe his statutes, commandments and decrees,and to hearken to his voice.And today the LORD is making this agreement with you:you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you;and provided you...