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What is repentance?  Is it turning from sin?  Is it not sinning?   Is it reforming one's life?  Is it getting cleaned up first, before coming to Christ? No word causes greater trepidation and uncertainty among those considering a decision of faith and no word causes greater fear and confusion among those already in the Church. This word has caused me some of the greatest angst in my life, largely because of how I've understood it: turning from sin, reforming my ways, being perfect.  Yet I continue to fail.  Daily.  This incredible dichotomy exists in my mind between the biblical...

In what has to be a new low for the New York Times, the Gray Lady (or should we now say the Bearded Lady?) has published an op-ed piece titled “Is God Transgender?” by a New York rabbi named Mark Sameth. Cousin to a man who “transitioned to a woman” in the 1970s, Sameth contends that “the Hebrew Bible, when read in its original language, offers a highly elastic view of gender.” He marshals many purported examples of gender fluidity in the Hebrew scriptures, in order to argue that religion should not be put in service of “social prejudices” against...

This is Part 2 of excerpts from Cardinal Sarah’s book God or Nothing. See Part 1, Cardinal Sarah: ambiguities on doctrine can lead to dangerous opinions

.July 1, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – This is my second article of excerpts from Cardinal Sarah's book because of the excellent teachings for our times that it contains. These are MUST READS as far as I am concerned and provide clear guidance at this time of confusion and distortions of truth.
 Poverty is a Christian valueClearly Cardinal Sarah’s comments here address the very misguided, heavily politicized and ideological efforts of many Catholic international aid agencies as...

The Lord’s Judgment Will Not Be Delayed Forever – A Meditation on the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel Msgr. Charles Pope • June 20, 2016 • This post is a kind of follow-on from yesterday’s post as we read the stories of wickedness in ancient Israel and what God did about it.The first reading from Monday’s Mass (of the 12th week of the year) describes a crucial, crushing moment in the history of ancient Israel: the loss of the Northern Kingdom and the destruction and deportation of what came to be called the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.Shalmaneser, king...

Developed in the fifth century A.D. by St. Augustine, the doctrine of a “just war” empowers rulers to wage war only as a last resort to confront grave wrongs. As Augustine wrote: “Peace should be the object of your desire; war should be waged only as a necessity.” Later, the Summa Theologica, written by St. Thomas Aquinas in the 1260s and 1270s, clarified that war could only be waged by a properly instituted authority like the state, that it could not occur for purposes of self-gain, and that attaining peace must be its central aim.

The Book of Revelation Is a Sure Guide to What Is Really Going On Msgr. Charles Pope • April 4, 2016 • In the Office of Readings this Easter season, we are reading from the Book of Revelation. This choice might seem surprising, but there are good reasons for it.While many suppose that the Book of Revelation is merely about the end of the world, it is about far more; it is also about what is happening right now. It was not written only for the end of the ages but for all ages. It is a book of...

At a certain point in modern times, it was decided that God, the Creator of heaven and earth, should stay out of the business of running the world he created. Supposedly, men could do it much better without him.All this was done, mind you, with a certain amount of tact and propriety so as not to overly offend God or those who believed in him. It was decided that God would be given the title of the maker of a clock, where the clock was a great mechanical universe. As “clockmaker,” all God had to do was wind up...

Leading up to the 2008 presidential election, I let it be known to anyone who would listen that I was going to vote for Barack Obama. After years of leftist activism, it was exciting to be able to vote for a candidate who embodied much of what I believed to be true. For me, the previous eight years under President Bush had been a wasteland of oppression, war-mongering, and greed. Obama presented me with the voting opportunity to help usher in a new age of compassion, justice, and equality. This is, in large part, why I read with interest the...

The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?(Matthew 16:1-3)And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known,...

Every journalist in America has been secretly attending seminary, and now understands Christianity better than most Christians do. This is the only conclusion I can draw after months of theology lectures from reporters whose most recent encounter with religious terminology was Hozier's "Take Me to Church." To those of us for whom church isn't a metaphor for sex, it's been a frustrating few months. First, the chattering class endlessly assured Christian bakers, restaurant-owners, photographers, and florists that Jesus would be totally down with making same-sex nuptials fabulous (and presumably, with paying the $135,000 fine for those who felt differently)....

It’s an interesting summation of the argument. One might accuse Tipler of transmogrifying the dispute away from “Is there a God?” to “Is there a causative agent existing outside of space and time?” But if you’ve ever watched people wrestle with these accusations that the faithful are the ones displaying incompetence, you know that this is exactly what’s being debated. It’s chicken-and-egg, with “things that exist in space and time” being the egg.

Muslims are the new Jews. You can find this offensive claim repeated everywhere in the media. The Jews, a small ethnic minority of millions that was stateless for thousands of years, are a terrible analogy for a global Muslim population of 1.6 billion and around 50 countries that do not comprise a single ethnicity or race. Comparing the two makes as much sense as comparing the Finns to all of Asia. The only thing the Muslims and the Jews have ever had in common is that the former conquered, persecuted and enslaved the latter. Any religious similarities are the product...

Revd Scott McKenna, minister of Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church in Edinburgh, openly denies one of the most accepted teachings of mainstream Christianity and told his congregation that it was "ghastly theology" to believe that Jesus Christ died for sinners. Following the comments, the footage was uploaded online and the current Free Church Moderator Revd David Robertson responded by writing a blog post on the subject, saying such preaching was profoundly anti-Christian. Mr McKenna, who has the potential to be a Church of Scotland Moderator, then contacted Robertson and the men met to discuss theology. A debate has been set for...

Glenn Beck said a very revealing thing on the radio today, which illustrates the difference between Mormonism and Christianity. He was talking about speaking at a Baptist Church this weekend on his Never Again is Now campaign. And as usual, he was making the case that Christian churches should align with him on his refugee campaign to bring thousands of middle eastern refugees (he says Christians only, although he openly says he'd like to bring in muslims if he could only tell the good ones from the bad ones). And in the course of his speech he expressed frustration with...

As a Christian and watchman this new isis video release is quite creepy yet stunning.. would like to hear from my brothers and sisters in Christ who are interested in bible prophecy . Watch this video

“The Catholic Church is intolerant.” That simple thought, like a yellow-fever sign, is supposed to be the one solid reason which should frighten away any one who might be contemplating knocking at the portals of the Church for entrance, or for a crumb of the Bread of Life. When proof for this statement is asked, it is retorted that the Church is intolerant because of its self-complacency and smug satisfaction as the unique interpreter of the thoughts of Christ. Its narrow-mindedness is supposed to be revealed in its unwillingness to cooperate effectively with other Christian bodies that are working...

Catholic Church traces its origins back to Jesus Christ himself. Jesus Christ established a church nearly two thousand years ago. (1 Timothy 3:15) He said he will build one church not multiple churches. He said “Upon this Rock I will build My church." (Matthew 16:18) and "There shall be one fold and one shepherd." (John 10:16).The Holy Spirit will guide the Church.( John 16:13) through Apostles(Acts 4:8).Jesus Christ is the truth, then the Church which He founded and guides has all truth (John 14:6).If all denominations claiming to bible based churches all those 38,000 denominations teach and preach differently for...

Was The Papacy Established By Christ? (Part 2) Because neither the apostolic nor the earliest post-apostolic Christians refer to a jurisdictional primacy of the bishop of Rome, Catholics often cite references to any type of primacy of the Roman church. But a non-jurisdictional primacy of the Roman church doesn't prove a jurisdictional primacy of the Roman bishop. Even Peter himself isn't referred to as having papal authority among the early post-apostolic sources. Terence Smith explains: "there is an astonishing lack of reference to Peter among ecclesiastical authors of the first half of the second century. He is barely mentioned...

For those who don't have much familiarity with the dispute between Protestants and Catholics over the doctrine of the papacy, I want to post two introductory articles on the subject today and tomorrow. The first article, this one, will be about the Biblical evidence, and tomorrow's article will be about the early post-Biblical evidence. Roman Catholicism claims the papacy as its foundation. According to the Catholic Church, the doctrine of the papacy was understood and universally accepted as early as the time of Peter: "At open variance with this clear doctrine of Holy Scripture as it has been ever understood...

Can Fallen Man Do Anything to Please God? Question: Can fallen man do anything to please God? Can the natural man make choices all the time for things that are good and evil? Response: All fallen, unregenerate human beings are endowed with many of God's common graces. God has blessed all men with a conscience and the capacity to promote virtue and civil righteousness. It is abundantly clear that many beautiful aspects of the world we live in have been brought forth by those which are unredeemed by God's regenerative grace. God has gifted natural men and women with the...