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Is the Vatican on the verge of bankruptcy? It appears so. I saw this going viral online so I dug into it (because we actually do our research here, we don’t just rely on Tweets) and what I found was this is accurate: VATICAN BANKRUPTCY?https://t.co/cHpTrpv2Xb pic.twitter.com/9Z5CFz02TP — The Sacred Blue Tent (@SabrinaGal182) December 3, 2024 The AP reports the situation is dire, as admitted by Pope Francis himself: Pope Francis, who has imposed a series of cost-cutting measures across the cash-strapped Vatican, warned Thursday that the city state’s troubled pension fund needs urgent reform to guarantee future obligations. Vatican employees...

Between Luther and PelagiusWhen it comes to our role in salvation, St. Augustine sits squarely between the heretical extremes of Luther and Pelagius.Editor’s Note: This is the ninth in a series of articles on St. Augustine, one of the greatest of Church Fathers, and how his writings still apply today.A large mug arrived in the mail the other day, around which I counted twenty or so apothegms written by St. Augustine. It was a gift, anonymously sent by someone who obviously thought I wasn’t getting enough to read from the celebrated Doctor of Grace—or, that being already familiar with Augustine,...

Shelley Luther, the former Dallas salon owner who was jailed after reopening her salon during the COVID-19 pandemic, is heading to the Texas state house. Luther defeated Democrat Tiffany Drake Tuesday night, earning more than 75 percent of the vote to win in Texas House District 62. Luther made national headlines when she reopened her far North Dallas salon in defiance of countywide restrictions. She was jailed for seven days in 2020 after a Dallas County judge found her guilty of civil and criminal contempt of court. Luther was fined $1,000 for each day her salon, Salon à la Mode,...

The 95 Theses Out of love for the truth and from desire to elucidate it, the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and ordinary lecturer therein at Wittenberg, intends to defend the following statements and to dispute on them in that place. Therefore he asks that those who cannot be present and dispute with him orally shall do so in their absence by letter. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. 1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ``Repent'' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of...

This is the first time I have ever shared this in whole, I have however shared portions before. I offer this thesis as it was presented to my Church History professor in 2008, minus the bibliography or credits. This is somewhat long, but I have been told by others it flows well, so it doesn't seem as long. I'll let you decide if that is true. Mind you, I was not as polished at writing back then, so if you see any egregious errors in my punctuation or grammar you will know why. I pray everyone enjoys it, and please...

A young mother from Oklahoma was found dead on a barge in the Mississippi River after being arrested a few days earlier for making multiple 911 calls pleading for help. Hailey Silas' body was found around 7 a.m. on a Saturday as the crew of the barge was performing an inspection while navigating the Mississippi River near Shelby Forest in Tennessee, WREG reported. A week earlier, Silas was arrested for making multiple 911 calls from a gas station, requesting cops to provide her with a ride out of the city due to her fear of something. When the police arrived,...

I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. I could not believe that he was placated by my satisfaction. I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly, if not blasphemously, certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God, and said, "As if, indeed, it is not enough, that miserable sinners, eternally lost through original sin, are crushed by every kind of calamity by the law of the decalogue, without having God add pain to pain by the gospel and also by the gospel threatening us with his...

On April 18, 1521, Martin Luther was on trial and said “Here I stand, I can do no other, God help me”. At the risk of his life, he was standing for the truth of Ephesians 2:8-9, that we are saved by God’s grace alone and not by our good works. What would Luther say if he could see today's Protestant churches? I believe he would cry out against “grace abuse.” Grace abuse says “Because we are saved by grace alone, we can live like the devil.” Luther would say that nothing could be further from the truth. Luther would...

How Protestants’ Assault on Mary Dismantled Society Timothy Flanders | February 11, 2020 Since the Fall of Man, men and women have been locked in a contest of power. Instead of the order of humility and charity created by God, Adam and Eve chose pride and rebellion against God and each other. Pride produces a contest of power because pride cannot be satisfied unless it obtains more power by the accomplishment of its own will. This is Satan’s non serviam. Thus, during the period before Christ, the Prophet cries out, O Lord set a Lawgiver over them, that the heathen...

Martin Luther, to all faithful and godly pastors and preachers: grace, mercy, and peace be yours in Jesus Christ, our Lord. The deplorable, miserable conditions which I recently observed when visiting the parishes have constrained and pressed me to put this catechism of Christian doctrine into this brief, plain, and simple form. How pitiable, so help me God, were the things I saw: the common man, especially in the villages, knows practically nothing of Christian doctrine, and many of the pastors are almost entirely incompetent and unable to teach. Yet all the people are supposed to be Christians, have been...

“Eleutherios: Free Indeed!” (John 8:31-36) Today, October 31, along with millions of other Christians around the world, we are celebrating Reformation Day. Why? What’s so special about this day? Well, 504 years ago today, on October 31, 1517, Dr. Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses against the sale of indulgences on the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany. And what Luther did that day started the movement known as the Reformation, which corrected many bad practices that crept into the church. Ever since, we observe the last Sunday in October as Reformation Day, and we thank God for using...

The BBC's diversity chief has claimed Idris Elba's TV detective Luther 'isn't black enough to be real' because 'he doesn't have any black friends and doesn't eat any Caribbean food'. Miranda Wayland said the hit crime drama, which won plaudits for having a strong, black lead character, was only superficially diverse and that corporation bosses are now looking to portray minority groups in a more convincing and rounded way. Elba, who first made his name across the Atlantic starring as Stringer Bell in The Wire, cemented his status as a worldwide star by picking up a Golden Globe, among other...

Guest Op-Ed: 500th anniversary of the excommunication of arch-heretic, Martin LutherThis Sunday, January 3, 2021, is the 500th anniversary of the excommunication of Martin Luther as a heretic and schismatic – the greatest damage ever done to the Holy Catholic Church. He died unrepentant, without the sacraments and outside the One True Church.Yes, Pope Leo X, who issued the excommunication decree and the previous Exsurge Domine warning (6/15/1520) to Luther, had a mixed record of papal righteousness – but in this event he is nearly unsurpassed and fairly vindicated. In this writer's view, these documents are two of the most...

WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) - While election season slowly comes to a close, there’s still one race in Texas we won’t know results for until late December. Shelley Luther is up against current House District 68 Representative Drew Springer for Texas Senate in District 30. Luther gained national attention when she was jailed after opening her Dallas salon amid COVID-19 restrictions. She visited Wichita Falls on Nov. 5, addressing voters at a Tea Party meeting. The former teacher wants Wichita County residents to know she’s not a politician. “What I say I mean, and when I look people in the eye,...

istory is the account of vast social movements and cultural changes. To be sure, individuals play their part. But they are usually understood to be products of their times. The Reformation, though, whose five-hundredth anniversary we observe this year and whose impact on not only the church but the world has been monumental, was largely precipitated by one man: Martin Luther. Yes, vast social movements and cultural changes were at work in sixteenth-century Europe. But Luther caused many of them, such as the educational explosion that would lead to universal literacy, the rise of the middle class, and eventually democratic...

Wheaton theology professor Jennifer Powell McNutt, in her article An Unsung Inspiration for the Protestant Reformation: the Ethiopian Church, recounts how the Reformation–far from being an exercise in individualism–saw itself in the context of the historical church and global Christianity.  The Reformers looked to the Orthodox churches of the East and of Africa as providing a precedent for many of their reforms. When Rome insisted that there can be no church without a Pope, the Reformers pointed to the Orthodox churches, which have no Pope and whose practices pre-date those of Medieval Catholicism.  Those churches do not emphasize Purgatory and do not...

NBC 5 Dallas salon owner Shelley Luther, who made national headlines by reopening her shop during the pandemic in defiance of business closure orders by Gov. Greg Abbott, announced Saturday that she is running for Texas Senate District 30. Luther’s announcement comes after Republican activists elected Pat Fallon to replace Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe as the GOP nominee for Texas’ congressional District 4. If Fallon wins, as is widely expected, he would be ineligible to be a state senator once sworn into Congress, creating an opening for the seat in Austin.

A Dallas salon owner – who was jailed for opening her shop during the coronavirus outbreak – called Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer a “tyrant” after traveling to the state in support of a barber who had his license suspended for defying “stay-at-home” orders. Shelley Luther arrived in Owosso, Mich., on Monday to back 77-year-old Karl Manke, who has attracted national attention as a symbol of resistance after reopening his barbershop despite Whitmer’s shutdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. Manke and Luther struck back at Whitmer during a press conference, calling on small business owners across the state to reopen....

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - After Dallas salon owner Shelley Luther was released from jail Thursday afternoon, the question remained about what she would do with the $500,000 that a GoFundMe page raised for her since the situation began two weeks ago. **SNIP** Throughout her fight, supporters have been donating to a GoFundMe page that was set up for her. It eventually met its goal of $500,000. Now, Luther says she wants to spread that wealth to those who need it. After using some of that money to help pay her legal fees and mortgage, she says she has other plans in...

“It’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees!”Emiliano Zapata was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution. As a revolutionary, he commanded the Liberation Army of the South, an important brigade on a mission to force the Mexican government to return lands taken by the elite ruling class to local peoples. Zapata was known as an unrepentant champion of equality for the poor. His famous quote, “It’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees,” provides modern day scholars a view of his resolve for a cause that remains relevant in political debates....