From Catholic Answers Forum

I grew up “Baptiterian.” When my parents met, my dad was in the upper echelons of the I AM Movement (See “I AM Activity” in Wikipedia). I even had a “personal blessing” from foundress Edna Ballard as an infant. My mom grew up in a very Calvinist Presbyterian church in South Dakota. After their marriage, my dad gradually converted to Christianity and the three of us started going to “Eisenhower’s Church” in Denver. It was there we coined the term Baptiterian because “we preach like Baptists and sing like Presbyterians” — fundamentalist Bible-based preaching and singing every verse of every hymn.

Eventually – six kids later – we relocated to SE Denver and to a RCA church there. Our whole family was deeply involved in “church society.” My dad was on the Session (governing body), served as a deacon and later as an elder, taught Sunday school, led prayer groups and with my mom sponsored the young adults and help lead the “Two-By-Twos,” a group of young marrieds that stayed friends for over 40 years; most of them have passed on. I was in all kinds of church groups for kids, eventually became one of the leaders in the Christian Endeavor organization, and was even “pre-sem” when I started at Hope College in Holland MI (operated by the Reformed Church in America at that time). This was in the mid-60’s.

I left Hope, started at a local community college in Denver, was known as a Jesus Freak, dropped out, tuned in, turned on, and saw the Light. I was a frequent visitor to Immaculate Conception Cathedral in downtown Denver and was more strongly drawn to becoming Catholic with every visit, but did not know how. Enter Viet Nam and the draft.

I was selected, shipped off to the Air Force in San Antonio, eventually ended up in a medically-related training program, and all 13 of my classmates were Catholic. Problem solved! I was inducted April 5, 1969 by an Air Force Chaplain. Two weeks later at our Wedding Mass I married a remarkable woman who helped crystallize my new church identity (my church changed by my commitment to full-time Christian service only increased), and my family thought their son/brother had “changed his faith so he could marry her.” Not so, not so. God changed my church and along with it gave me an amazing vocation: Marriage.

My home-family accepted the idea that I was still a Christian (“Are you Christian or Catholic” is a question that has bothered me since about 4th grade), that I do not worship idols (though the statuary is still suspect in their eyes), and that I am very happy with my choice (which I see not so much as a choice but rather a luxurious gift). Around 4-5 years after we got married, I received a surprising gift from my mom: A rosary. It is still the one I use most.

We were a deeply spiritual family – praying together, church and Sunday school together, even anti-Catholic together (my dad and I spent a summer visiting Catholics trying to persuade them to come to our RCA church). I am still the only Catholic among my siblings; both parents have passed as has one sibling. One has espoused the LDS Church, two are still connected to conservative evangelical denominations, and one blames God for every bad outcome of all his foolish decisions. I never made it into the clergy – even missed my chance at the Lay Deaconate – but God has given me another ministry writing a Bible study blog at aloha-friday.org.

If you feel the Holy Spirit tugging at your sleeve to come toward the Catholic Church, I encourage you to accept that as a gift to be opened and cherished.

__________________
Age Quod Agis
Deus Solus
https://aloha-friday.org

1306AFC020613 – The Father Hears the Son

Read it online here, please.

John 11:41-42 – Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of these people standing here so that they may believe that you have sent me.”

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 – Thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he is our Father and the source of all mercy and comfort. For he gives us comfort in our trials so that we in turn may be able to give the same sort of strong sympathy to others in theirs. Indeed, experience shows that the more we share Christ’s suffering the more we are able to give of his encouragement. This means that if we experience trouble we can pass on to you comfort and spiritual help; for if we ourselves have been comforted we know how to encourage you to endure patiently the same sort of troubles that we have ourselves endured. We are quite confident that if you have to suffer troubles as we have done, then, like us, you will find the comfort and encouragement of God.

Ephesians 3:14-19 – When I think of the greatness of this great plan I fall on my knees before God the Father (from whom all fatherhood, earthly or heavenly, derives its name), and I pray that out of the glorious richness of his resources he will enable you to know the strength of the spirit’s inner reinforcement—that Christ may actually live in your hearts by your faith. And I pray that you, firmly fixed in love yourselves, may be able to grasp (with all Christians) how wide and deep and long and high is the love of Christ—and to know for yourselves that love so far beyond our comprehension. May you be filled though all your being with God himself!

Romans 8:33-34 – Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.Who then can condemn? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding [ἐντυγχάνω] for us.

Jesus prayed. He prayed to his Father. He prayed because he knew (and still knows) his Father [1] heard him and [2] listened to him. His prayers were prayers of thanksgiving, blessing, forgiveness, obedience, and much, much more. His prayers were not selfish prayers. He prayed – and lived and died – for others. In the didache, and in the dialog with the Apostles before his passion and death, he prayed that God would be glorified through him, for his disciples, and for all believers – you and me included. Here is a good resource for looking into more about Jesus’ prayers.

During that night before his crucifixion, Jesus told his disciples to follow his example. Not just the example of the washing of feet and thereby the necessity of humility, I believe, but his example of prayer, of love, of faith, and of hope. Jesus and his Father are one. So, was he praying to himself? No. Of course we can immediately see that Jesus – human, visible, flesh and blood, and only begotten Son of the Father – is separate and distinct from God the Father as well as from the Holy Spirit. No other human before or after Jesus was both human and divine. God incarnated himself in Mary’s womb. Having emptied himself of the Glory of God, he became poor, helpless, dependent on others, and – in his physical nature – mortal. And yet, all the compassion, all the mighty deeds, all the teaching, and even the suffering and dying were the very things God Almighty was doing with and in Jesus. Jesus only did what his Father did. He even told his disciples, “I can guarantee this truth: The Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing. Indeed, the Son does exactly [ὁμοίως] what the Father does.”

Beloved, we can be sure of this. Christ Jesus is the Anointed, Incarnate, Only-Begotten Son of the Living God. His presence is attested to at the beginning of Creation and at the End of all Ages. He, Jesus, is also El Shaddai (God All Sufficient), El Elyon (Highest God), Jehovah Sabaot (The LORD of Hosts), and most importantly Elohim (The form Elohim is a plural form commonly understood as a plural of majesty, therefore Most Sovereign God). He prays. He prays for, with, and about you because he is God. He expects us to pray for, with, and about each other as we pray to, with, and for him.

Jesus Prayed. Paul Prayed. Peter Prayed. Abraham prayed. Moses Prayed. The Jesus in you is the Jesus in me is the Jesus in God so we should do what we see our Father – and our Brother and our Companion – do. Pray.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.

Here’s a chance to pray for (as an intercessor), with (as a sibling), and about (as a source of blessing) a terrific eight-year-old named Micah. Recently Mikey took a fall and ended up with a spiral fracture in his lower leg. He didn’t carry on about it, but at the hospital the x-rays showed it was serious. Fortunately the doctor was able to set the break without pins. Nonetheless, this youngster, from a large and loving family, will be wearing something like this:

That’s a lot for a little guy to deal with for a month, so pray for with and about Micah and his family. Mom and dad are of course trusting in God, but you know how their hearts throb with compassion for their child – that same way God’s heart throbs for you! All his siblings, too, feel and appreciate how difficult this is for their little brother. And Micah? Well, he’s got the aching of healing bones, the itching of skin under that cast, the difficulties of sleeping and getting from here to there, and maybe a little feeling that he shouldn’t have tried to jump off the stairs.

Pray for everyone who asks for our prayers, for everyone you love, for everyone who loves you, and for anyone who loves them because the love we have comes from God through his Son, Jesus the Christ by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I promise you, you will be heard if you believe.

1305AFC020113 – A Childlike Prayer

Hebrews 4:16 ~ Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Luke 18:17 ~ “I can guarantee this truth: Whoever doesn’t receive the kingdom of God as a little child receives it will never enter it.”

Aloha nui loa, Beloved! There is a set of drawings that circulates the Internet every so often. The drawings –  which show Jesus smiling, laughing, and playing with children – help remind us he was really a real human man who knew how to have fun. I saw that collection again recently, and it reminded me that children often have the most astonishing prayers. We get a kick out of their misperceptions sometimes, but other times we see how truly beautiful it is to be able to pray with childlike confidence and innocence. I have been collecting these all over the place, and today is a good day to gather them all into a bundle and share them with you.

Dear God, Instead of letting people die and having to redo others, why not just keep the ones you have?

Dear God,  Did you mean for the giraffe to look like that or was  it an accident? ~  Norma

Dear God, Who draws the lines around the countries? ~ Nan

Dear God, I went to this wedding and they kissed right in church. Is that okay? ~ Neil

Dear God, Thank you for my baby brother, but what I prayed for was a puppy. ~ Joyce

Dear God, It rained for our whole vacation, and is my father mad! He said some things about you that people are not supposed to say, but I hope you will not hurt him anyway. ~ Your friend (but I am not going to tell you who I am)

Dear God, Please send me a pony. I never asked for anything before. You can look it up. ~ Bruce

Dear God, I think the stapler is one of your greatest inventions. ~ Ruth

Dear God, I think about you sometimes, even when I’m not praying. ~ Elliott

Dear God, I bet it is very hard for you to love all the people in the world. There are only four people in our family and I can never do it. ~ Nancie

Dear God, Of all the people who worked for you, I like Noah and David the best. ~ Rob

Dear God, My brothers told me about being born, but it doesn’t sound right. They are just kidding, aren’t they? ~ Marsha

Dear God, If you watch me in church Sunday, I’ll show you my new shoes. ~ Mickey

Dear God, We read Thomas Edison made light. But in Sunday school, we learned that you did it. So I bet he stole your idea. ~ Sincerely, Donna

Dear God, I do not think anybody could be a better God. Well I just want you to know that I am not just saying this because you are God already. ~ Charles

Dear God, Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my brother. ~ Larry

Dear God, I didn’t think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset you made on Tuesday. That was cool! ~ Eugene

Frank was overheard praying: “Lord, if you can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry about it. I’m having a real good time like I am.”

P.S: Please Jesus do not make me grow!! Because the teacher said today that your house belonged to the children! My God, if you give me an Aladdin lamp with a genie, I’ll give you everything you want, except my money and computer. ~ Frank

My God, do you really think it when you say “Do unto others what they would have done to you?” Because I am seriously thinking of punching my brother.

Dear God, I’m don’t know if I should thank you for getting me sick, but at least I should thank you for making the doctor, who made the medicine that made me feel better. I guess you already had all of that figured out ahead of time. See you at home! ~ Karen, 9

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. “If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, ‘Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.’ Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, “Ryan, you be Jesus!”

Dear God, Please give me a mom and a dad. (I’m a foster kid.)

God, help me walk away from the bullies at school.

Please God, help me be smarter.

Dear God, will my mom get laid off? I hope not because she works real hard.

Dear God, please help my grandmother who has all timers and it is getting worse.

Dear God, can my mommy NOT be in heaven but just at the store so she can come home soon?

A little boy was softly saying his night prayers kneeling by his Mother. “Say your prayers louder, darling, I can’t hear you,” said little Johnny’s Mother. “But I’m not talking to you” was the instant reply.

Jesus, the people next door are always fighting. You should only let really good friends get married.

Dear God, I want to look just like my Dad, but with hair on the top, and not so much everywhere else.

God is great and God is Good,
And we thank God for our food;
By God’s hand we must be fed,
Give us Lord, our daily bread. Amen.

Angel of God my Guardian dear
To whom God’s love commits me here
Both day and night be at my side
To light and rule, to guard and guide. Amen

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep:
May God guard me through the night
And wake me with the morning light.
Amen.

A father was at the beach with his children when the four-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore where a seagull lay dead in the sand. “Daddy, what happened to him?” the son asked. “He died and went to Heaven,” the Dad replied. The boy thought a moment and then said, “Did God throw him back down?”

Six-year-old Angie and her four-year-old brother, Joel, were sitting together in church. Joel giggled, sang, and talked out loud. Finally, his big sister had had enough. “You’re not supposed to talk out loud in church.” “Why? Who’s going to stop me?” Joel asked. Angie pointed to the back of the church and said, “See those two men standing by the door? They’re hushers.”

And finally this:

I had been teaching my three-year old daughter, Caitlin, the Lord’s Prayer for several evenings at bedtime. She would repeat after me the lines from the prayer. Finally, she decided to go solo. I listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word, right up to the end of the prayer: “Lead us not into temptation,” she prayed, “but deliver us from E-mail.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.

Find peace in God through Jesus, in the Living Water given to us through the Holy Spirit. Pray for a deluge of the Spirit as massive as The Great Flood – a deluge that will save the world and not destroy it. And remember: If you are going to pray for rain, bring an umbrella. If you are going pray for peace, bring your neighbor.

1304AFC012513 – A Snob in the Pew

Read it online here, please

James 2:1 – “Don’t ever attempt, my brothers, to combine snobbery with faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ!”

Romans 2:11 – God does not play favorites.

Beloved, I must confess something to you. I AM A SNOB! I play favorites. I look down my colossal nose at people who say further when they mean farther, or tell me “It’s a mute point” instead of “It’s a moot point.” I wonder about preachers who refer to The Book of Revelations when the title is actually and simply Revelation as in the opening sentence of the first verse of the first chapter: “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.” I marvel that really angry people can say, “I am utterly incessed” instead of “I am utterly incensed.” I look with incredulity when somebody in a pickup with tires that cost $450 apiece and a suspension system more complex than a planetary-rover robot can whizz by at 40 mph in a 25 mph zone, but goes 0.2 mph over the speed-bump in the grocery store parking lot. What is the matter with these people anyway?!?!?

Perhaps you can see that it’s not those people, who I am judging, who have the problem. The problem is me, my pride, and my duplicious (that’s supposed to be duplicitous) behavior. I am not, it seems, the Man of Peace I wish to be, and therefore it is wrong that I fancy myself better that another. Being Christ-like and being a snob are antithetical – polar opposites. What is the matter with me anyway?!?!?

Today, we continue with our examination of prayers by famous pray-ers. I want to look at a prayer from a man who worked harder at being Christ-like than most of us could ever imagine. He lived by the most rigorous rules of poverty, chastity, and obedience – so rigorous that his lifestyle destroyed his health and hastened his death; and yet his commitment to living like Christ was so nearly-perfect that he was identified with Christ in body, mind, and spirit – even bearing the marks of Christ’s wounds in his flesh. The first such person that comes to mind is the Apostle Paul; the second is the man often referred to as “Everyone’s Saint,” Saint Francis of Assisi. Here are two versions of a prayer attributed to him. The first is a translation of the original prayer in French. The second is an adaptation of The Prayer of St Francis as expressed by Mother Theresa

Pray of St Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

Mother Theresa’s version

Make us worthy Lord to serve our fellow men throughout the world,
who live and die in poverty and hunger.
Give them through our hands, this day, their daily bread
and by our understanding love give peace and joy.
Lord, make me a channel of thy peace.
That where there is hatred I may bring love,
That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness,
That where there is discord, I may bring harmony,
That where there is error I may bring truth,
That where there is doubt I may bring faith,
That where there is despair I may bring hope,
That where there are shadows I may bring light,
That where there is sadness I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted,
To understand than to be understood,
To love than to be loved.
For it is by forgetting self that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven,
it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.
Amen.

Many of us have sung or listened to a hymn based on this prayer and written by John Michael Talbot or the more familiar tune and adaptation by Sebastian Temple, Make Me a Channel of your Peace. All Christians are instructed by the Apostle Paul to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16). Singing is the sign a cheerful heart (James 5:13). Thus Saint Augustine says rightly, “Singing is for one who loves.” There is also the ancient proverb: “One who sings well prays twice.” Sounds like I need to break into song instead of breaking a sweat over some stupid grammar rule or vocabulary boo-boo.

When I hear my Snob Voice sneering around in the back of my head, I want to hear one of these songs start up automatically so that I don’t sow discord, don’t commit wrong deeds, don’t act out of prejudice, hatred, snobbery, greed, or (O God forgive me) stupidity. Beloved, be grateful to God if you have eliminated every form of snobbery in your life! Rejoice when you see that the end of your nose it right where it belongs – in your own business and not into belittling someone else’s business. If you keep hearing those tunes from the Mightier Than Thou band, you may be like me and you need a nose-job ’cause you’re a known snob.

What shall I do about this? Well, if I sing my prayer and pray my song, perhaps I will in that way pray twice. I can sing this Prayer of St. Francis, and I can pray it as I sing. It doesn’t sound difficult; in fact, I am sure I will enjoy that. How about you, Beloved? Is there some prayer you could sing as a song you can pray? Are there any which come to mind? Let me offer these for your consideration:

• Just as I Am
• Amazing Grace
• The Lord’s Prayer
• Open the Eyes of My Heart
• Have Thine Own Way Lord
• My Jesus I Love Thee
• The Doxology (Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow – all verses)
• Jesus Loves me
• Put Hand in the Hand

HINT: There are nine hymns here, more than one-a-day for you to try.

I’m going to try to sing The Prayer of St. Francis all next week. It’s a great song because it’s a great prayer. If it is a prayer that’s sung, and one who sings prays twice, then maybe singing a great prayer is

2 X 2 = 4.

What do you think? Will you pray for me, Beloved? Will you pray that the snob in the pew next to you remembers his (or her) heart is made for Jesus’ Peace, and not for judgment? Will you ask God, on my behalf, to make me a Channel of His Peace? Please do, and I shall sing a prayer for you as well.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.

GOD does not play favorites. Neither should we. Well, not among persons anyway. Favorite hymns? That’s another matter!
chick

1303AFC011113 – The Prayer of a Righteous Man

Read it online here, please.

James 5:16 – “Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.” {WEB}

1 Peter 3:9-17 – “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?  But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.” {NIV}

Today we have a “guest author,” The Reverend Doctor Peter Marshall who emigrated to America from Scotland in 1927. Here indeed was a righteous man, though he often protested against such a name or title for himself. Dr. Marshall was the Chaplain of the United States Senate from January 4, 1947 until his sudden death at age 46 on January 4, 1949. In that short time, he delivered sermons and prayers that stirred the hearts of not only Capitol Hill, but the whole nation, and even in places around the world his words evoked deepened faith and firmer resolve.

Today I am not going to add much in commentary. The scriptures above and Dr. Marshall’s own prayers speak well enough for themselves; the links supplied will give additional elucidation. You may wish to read through these prayers and then set them aside and to return to them later; these prayers are older than many of us but hold enduring value and truth. You can find more here, and also here. You’ll get the gist of this here.

“For the President of the United States”

We Pray, Lord Jesus, for our President. We are deeply concerned that he may know the will of God, and that he may have the spiritual courage and grace to follow it.

Deliver him, we pray, from all selfish considerations.

Lift him above the claims of politics.

Fill him with the Spirit of God that shall make him fearless to seek, to know, to do the right.

Save him from the friends who, in the name of politics or even friendship, would persuade him from that holy path.

Strengthen and empower his advisers. Bring them, too, to their knees in prayer. May their example and their influence spread, that we, in these United States, may yet have a government of men who know Thee, the Almighty God, as their Friend, and who place Thy will first in their lives as well as in their prayers.

Hear and answer, we pray Thee, forgiving us all our unworthiness; cleansing us from every ignoble thought and unworthy ambition that we may be renewed in spirit and mind and heart, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

“America Confesses”

Our Father, bring to the remembrance of Thy people Thine ancient time-honored promise: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

We – this company of Thy people assembled – would begin now to meet the conditions that will enable Thee to fulfill Thy promise.

May all of America come to understand that right-living alone exalteth a nation, that only in Thy will can peace and joy be found. But, Lord, this land cannot be righteous unless her people are righteous, and we, here gathered, are part of America. We know that the world cannot be changed until the hearts of man are changed. Our hearts need to be changed.

We therefore confess to Thee that:

Wrong ideals and sinful living have cut us off from Thee.

We have been greedy.

We have sought to hide behind barricades of selfishness; shackles have imprisoned the great heart of America.

We have tried to isolate ourselves from the bleeding wounds of a blundering world.

In our self-sufficiency we have sought not Thy help.

We have held conferences and ignored Thee completely.

We have disguised selfishness as patriotism; our arrogance has masqueraded as pride.

We have fritted away time and opportunities while the world bled.

Our ambitions have blinded us to opportunities.

We have bickered in factory and business, and sought to solve our differences only through self-interest.

Lord God of Hosts, forgive us! O God, by Thy guidance and Thy power may our beloved land once again become God’s one country, a nation contrite in heart, confessing her sins; a nation keenly sensitive to all the unresolved injustice and wrong still in our midst.

Hear this our prayer and grant that we may confidently expect to see it answered in our time, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

“For the Leaders of Our Nation”

Our Father, bless, we pray Thee, the leaders of this nation. Strengthen the courage of the representatives in Congress assembled – sincere men and women who want to do the right, if only they can be sure what is right. Make it plain to them, O Lord. And then wilt Thou start them out on the right way, for Thou knowest that we are hard to turn.

Forgive them for the blunders they have committed, the compromises they have made. Give to them the courage to admit mistakes. Take away from us as a nation and as individuals that stubborn pride which, followed by conceit, imagines itself to be above and beyond criticism.

Save our leaders, O God, from themselves and from their friends – even as Thou hast saved them from their enemies.

Let no personal ambition blind them to their opportunities.

Help them to give battle to hypocrisy wherever they find it.

Give them divine common sense and a selflessness that shall make them think of service and not of gain.

May they have the courage to lead the people of this Republic, considering unworthy the expediency of following the people.

Save them from the folly of man-made schemes and plans. Give to them the faith and the courage together to seek God’s inspired plan and, finding it, to propose it, knowing that when it is God-inspired, Thou wilt open the way for it through all obstacles.

As Thou hast made and preserved us a nation, so now mold us into a people more worthy of a great heritage. In Thy strong name we make these prayers. Amen.

*+=+*+=+*+=+*+=+*

I urge you to use these, and your own prayers, often. Only then can you know that “Peace which surpasses all understanding.” Let us at once admit that we have done wrong, individually and as a nation, and therefore let us offer sincere and effective repentance, individually and as a nation, in the blessed hope that God will see our contrition, and once again rest his hand upon us as a people called to be his own.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.

1302AFC 011113 Words from the Son of the Preacher

Read it online here, please. And please click on the links!

Mark 4:12 – I speak everything in parables so that ” WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN.”  See also Isaiah 6:9-10

In the past six weeks, the newscasts on TV, the blogs on the Internet, whole sections in newspapers, or just about every kind of media outlet has reported about the heinous activities of mass murderers, horrible weather events on every continent, financial catastrophes, political intrigue and ineptitude, and other disturbing news. Meanwhile there are a bewildering number of so-called “entertainment” products that feature scenes or references to gory violence, pornography, physical and mental abuse – including torture – rampant immorality, cursing and other inappropriate language, and many affronts against traditional values of God, family, and country. There are untold numbers of persons who abuse their own bodies, the bodies of others, and expect to be appreciated for their vulgarity. Sexual promiscuity is so pervasive it is considered an integral part of life. Think about these media offerings:

• A lawyer whose unfaithful husband is still having sexual liaisons despite being supposedly exonerated, and a bisexual coworker whose provenance must be from the King of Liars. The lawyer is herself involved in an extramarital relationship with a coworker.
• A self-professed homosexual plays the role of a womanizing bachelor whose one-track mind focuses completely on gratuitous sex with any woman that can fog a mirror. He is constantly urging his comrades to join his endless pursuit of debauchery.
• A videogame marked M for Mature features scores of ways to score by violently murdering other characters, while another allows the player to take up the role of a rapist planning and carrying out disgusting crimes. Another video game is an endless orgy of murder and bloodshed with satanic themes throughout.
• A long-running series features a team of investigators that profile the most severely disturbed humans on the planet and neatly bring them to justice within an hour. Some of the antagonists in this “entertainment” are shown committing horrible acts of violence on other humans.
• We have seen a rash of senseless mass murders committed by people who seem to have no moral compass whatsoever, and the trend is escalating.
• No point in going into the porn on the Internet or even on your cable TV network. It is ubiquitous and utterly unnecessary.

This is a very, very short list. What is behind all this? Or is the better interrogative “who?” Why is there so much evil, and is there more now than there was 5 years ago, 10 years ago, fifty years ago, a thousand years ago?

Evil is always with us, and those who give their lives to evil and think nothing will come of it are in for one hell of a surprise. 1 Peter 4:1‐11: The World wants us to be like them, and constantly entices us to live “in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.” They make fun of us for being “religious nuts,” but when Judgment comes, they will have one hell of a time coming to them. As for us, we are to “keep loving one another earnestly,” since love covers a multitude of sins (theirs and ours). Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another. Jesus blood cleansed you of your sins – the ways you have hurt yourself, your community, and your God. His sacrifice covers all completely, permanently, eternally.

That is why it is so important to pray zealously for those who state, with pride, that they want nothing to do with God and want God to have nothing to do with them. It rips my heart to pieces to hear this! It makes me physically ill to see such blatant affronts to the Mercy and Holiness of God because it means that these people doing these things stand an excellent chance of living for the rest of eternity without and outside of the joy of being in the Presence of God, the Holy Trinity.

I want to share something with you that’s dated 5/5/67. It was written back in the days when people called me a Jesus Freak. In April of that year: Surveyor 3 had landed on the moon a few weeks earlier. There was a military coup in Greece. Abortion was legalized in my home state, Colorado. Nuclear testing recommenced in Nevada. Aretha Franklin’s recording of RESPECT stormed the charts. Muhammad Ali lost all his title because he refused to be drafted. On May 1, Elvis married Priscilla. Altogether these events produced:

Words form the Son of the Preacher
Go now deeply, darkly, slowly
into the dust-impregnated sky
and hold your light
to perforate darkness.
Then plummet and crash
deeply scarring the virgin breasts
of all our raspy ancient seashores.
Pierce them to the depth of Hades
and cross that river, gain that shore
where life and all its petty drooling
wrings its tongue to quench the burning
souls of men who died for knowledge,
breaching doors of God’s own wisdom.
From there, scrape a taste of sulfur
and grind it bitter in your belly.
Mix it well with soot from Heaven
gathered on your learning heart
and vomit them upon the morrow.
Earthly rantings then will bore you
‘til at last you see your quest
and fly with fury ‘round the planet
giving more than you can hold
to sullen hands of death incarnate
blindly waving God away.

When I see all this corruption in the world, when I cringe at the tsunami of evil that is crashing down on it, I see … “sullen hands of death incarnate blindly waving God away.” That I why I want you to PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!! Pray for the conversion of sinners. Pray for full conversion, conversion that includes believing in the heart, confession with the mouth, repentance with the soul, and charity with the body. Here is a prayer I found that may help you:

Father all Merciful,
let those who hear and hear again
yet never understand,
hear Your Voice this time
and understand that it is You, the Holy of Holies.
Open the eyes of those who see and see,
yet never perceive,
to see with their eyes this time
Your Holy Face and Your Glory.
Place Your Finger on their hearts
so that their hearts may open
and understand Your Faithfulness.
I pray and ask you all these things, Righteous Father,
so that all the nations be converted and be healed
through the Wounds of Your Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.

God’s Spirit Poured Out according to Joel 2:28-32

²⁸ Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. ²⁹ Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit. ³⁰ I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. ³¹ The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. ³² Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

The LORD is calling you to call others. Pray, Beloved! Pray for the complete conversions of sinners everywhere! Here’s a short and simple prayer – easy to memorize – that you’ve seen before: We pray for the conversion of sinners everywhere. Help them to nurture and cherish the spark of your Spirit that dwells in every living soul.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.

Do it for them out of love, Beloved!

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Read it online here, please.

Matthew 2:16-18 – When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.

This is the last Friday of 2012, and the last Aloha Friday message of the year. It is also the Feast of the Holy Innocents, a recollection of the murder of young male children and youths. Some ancient sources place the number of lives lost at many thousands – 64,000 or even 144,000 – but that seems unlike as Bethlehem was a pretty small town at the time of Jesus’ birth. Many scholars now scale that number down to a more likely number – two dozen or less. There is no way of knowing exactly when the Magi came and went, and therefore no way to fix a date for this murderous campaign against children. Even the geography is sketchy – “Bethlehem and its vicinity.”

There were two places in Israel named Bethlehem (Beit Lehem לֶ֣חֶםבֵּֽית־ which means “House of Bread”). One was in the northern part of the country, and the other – referred to in the Old Testament as “Bethlehem Ephrathah (אֶפְרָ֗תָה לֶ֣חֶםבֵּֽית־ – Ephrathah is the personal name “Fruitful”)” was in the southern part and very close to Jerusalem. It was this Bethlehem toward which Jacob and Rachel were traveling after leaving Bethel (אֵ֖לבֵֽית־, The House of God), and in that vicinity Rachel died giving birth to her second son Benoni (“Child of My Suffering) but his father renamed him Benjamin (בִנְיָמִֽין׃ – “My Favorite,” or “My Right Hand.”) The word Ephrathah appears only in the Old Testament and in only in Genesis (35:16,19; 48:7), Ruth 1:2 (Bethlehem-Judah’s citizens were called “Ephratites.”), and of course Micah 5:2

Rachel is the archetypical matriarch of the Children of Israel just as her husband, Jacob/Israel is the archetypical patriarch. She becomes the personification of the Nation of Israel and weeps to see her children hauled off to Babylon, to be overrun and defeated so often, and to be subjugated to seemingly endless indignities. Her grief is particularly heartbreaking because she had waited so long to have children and then died in the process of delivering her second son. Ironically she had said to Jacob, “Give me children or I shall die!” (See Genesis 30:1-8)

Traditionally, the town of Ramah is named as the place of Rachel’s tomb (1 Samuel 10:2). It was/is about 5 miles north of Jerusalem on the West Bank. Rachel and Jacob were immensely in love with each other and ended up waiting 14 years just to get married, then several years more waiting for children to be born. Rachel’s sister, Leah, was given first to Jacob by their father Laban. Leah persecuted and mocked Rachel because she was childless. Rachel finally had her maidservant, Bilhah, become a surrogate mother for her. Bilhah bore two children – Dan and Naphtali. In a sort of pay-back, Leah offers Jacob her maidservant, Zilpah, who then also bears two children – whom she named Gad and Asher. Finally, after many more years of waiting, Rachel is able to conceive and bear a son – Joseph. This Joseph was the one sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. He eventually became the most powerful many in Egypt after Pharaoh. You will recall that when famine struck the land, Joseph brought all of Jacob’s (remember, by now Jacob had earned the name Israel) children where they settled in the Land of Goshen – a fertile and stable area east of the Nile and north of Cairo.

Bringing all of this background together, this day commemorating the heinous act of Herod is a reminder of the connectedness of the Bible. It calls to mind the rescue of Moses at the time when the Pharaoh had ordered all male children of the Hebrews killed. We can also see that the shedding of blood by other innocents actually protected and saved the life of Jesus, possibly a toddler at the time, or even still just an infant as we might imagine it. Recall that by the time the Magi came, and therefore at about the same time as the massacre, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were in a house, not in the stable at the inn. It is difficult to discern exactly where and when all this took place; we assume Bethlehem and probably just around 40 days after Jesus birth because his parents took him to Jerusalem after Mary’s 40 days of purification were done. Herod was a particularly brutal man who would stop at nothing, even executing his own children, to protect his power and his throne. That he would willingly have innocent infants murdered is not at all out of character. Yet, he did show constraint; only male children aged two and under were murdered.

We may wonder why the life history of the Christ began with a massacre and a daring escape to the land of Egypt – perhaps even to the land of Goshen? – and we may speculate about how such things are God’s will. For some of us, this horrific event strengthens our resolve the preserve the sanctity of all life from conception to natural death. For others, we may be reminded of the recent horrible incident in New Town, and wonder if it is a portent for this present age. For some, the senseless murder of children is a foreshadowing of the suffering of the church for the spread of the Gospel, something which Jesus himself predicted. Remember that Herod was expecting the Magi to return to him and tell him where Jesus was. With that knowledge, he could have just had Jesus executed quickly and quietly; but, because the Magi did not supply him with that information he felt compelled to cast a wider net to ensure he “caught” Jesus and his family.

And so it came to pass that the prophecy of Jeremiah had been fulfilled in the actions of Herod. The life of the child Jesus was spared because Herod could be reasonably certain he had “solved” his problem. All the pieces of all the prophecies about the Messiah would eventually fall into place until Jesus endured his Passion, death, and Resurrection. In just a few days we will remember his Epiphany – the revelation to the world the Jesus is the human Son of God. In the Western churches, that would be the day the Magi (representing the gentiles) visited Jesus. In the Eastern Rite Churches, that would be the day John baptized Jesus in the Jordan at which time God proclaimed him to be his own Son. Whichever even you have in your heart and mind on January 6^th, remember that the Messiah has been revealed to you in Scripture, and you have the opportunity to reveal him to others in your own life.

Indeed, Joy to the world! The LORD is come!

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.