Showing posts with label Roman Catholic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roman Catholic. Show all posts

Friday, November 3, 2017

Jerusalem - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Jerusalem

Now Think On This
Steve Martin


“After He had said these things, He was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.” (Luke 19:28, NAS)


Jerusalem, my favorite city in the world. And I am not even a Jew. Imagine that.

I find it fascinating when American Jews ask me why I go to Jerusalem so much. I have made 15 trips from the USA since 1987 to the land of Israel. In these later years, I have tried to make it an annual event, as we are committed to doing this. Supporting Israel is especially the main objective for us, to keep a firm stand with them, through the work of Love For His People.

Why does a Gentile, goyim (Hebrew), former Roman Catholic, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Charismatic Christian, white Caucasian, Southern 63-year-old male from Cedar Falls, Iowa, born in Minnesota (any more descriptions I need to include?) want to go to Jerusalem so much?

Because those who live there are continually in the Lord’s heart (Jesus, Yeshua), and thus being a disciple and believer in Him, Jerusalem, and His People are also in my heart.


It was in Jerusalem where He came to earth, having been sent there from His Father and Holy Spirit; where He lived, was crucified, buried and rose from the dead. And from Jerusalem He then instructed His apostles, messengers, to take His Gospel, the Good News, to the ends of the earth, before He returns for the second time.

And thus this capitol, eternal city of Israel since the days of King David, is very important to the King of all kings, Who is my King too.

“Now He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. "You are witnesses of these things.  "And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24:44-49, NASU)

Having established Jewish friends now in the Land, it surely makes my prayer life and desire for protection over them even more fervent. When you have family, you care more. At least that is how I was raised by my good mother and father. Israel is like family to me. The Jews are my friends, and I stand with them at all times.

While in Jerusalem, walking in the footsteps of Jesus is a big deal, even if the actual street level is 15-20 feet down below the current level. Centuries of ruin and captivity have layered the city. Archeological digs all over have proven this city has been the city of the Jews.


In 1917, when the Balfour Declaration was written, the homeland for the Jews once again began to be re-establish. In 1948 the Jews once again proclaimed Israel as their rightful, biblical state; and in 1967 they once again recaptured Jerusalem, never to lose it ever again. Prophetic words, spoken by Messiah Himself, had come to pass. Jerusalem is now eternally in the hands of the Chosen People. His prophesied return is thus getting real close.

“Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.

"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthews 24:3-14, NKJV)

Jerusalem is the center of the world. It is the focus of all attention, whether some like that or not. It will continue to be in the headlines, news clips, social media sites, and all airwaves. The Living God of Israel has chosen to make Himself known among the nations, and Israel, especially Jerusalem, is His main concentration point. His Name will be held in high esteem, as He shows Himself strong on their behalf.

Watch the Jews. Watch Israel. And especially watch Jerusalem. That is where it all will happen in the end. This is where it will all be fulfilled, the completion of His work, the ingathering of the Jews to establish His purposes and ultimate plans.

His eternal destinies will be accomplished and established. No one or nothing will stop Him. Jerusalem – where the King will reside on His Holy Mountain.

Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).

Now think on this,

Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.
  
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Now Think On This - in the Year of our Lord 11.03.17 - #328 – “Jerusalem”, Friday, 4:10 pm
  

Friday, October 28, 2016

'Burial Slab' of Jesus Christ Uncovered First Time in Centuries - CBN News


'Burial Slab' of Jesus Christ Uncovered First Time in Centuries
CBN News 10-28-2016


A stone slab believed to have once held the body of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion is being unveiled for the first time in centuries at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. 
For the first time in 200 years, experts began renovating the tomb supposed to have held the body of Christ. They also removed the marble that encased the slab since at least 1555, according to National Geographic.
"We were surprised by the amount of fill material beneath it," Fredrik Hiebert, archaeologist-in-residence at the National Geographic Society, said.
"It will be a long scientific analysis, but we will finally be able to see the original rock surface on which, according to tradition, the body of Christ was laid," he said.
The church is considered to be one of the most revered sites in Christianity. It also includes the location believed by many to be where the crucifixion took place. 
Tensions have been high between several Christian denominations, including Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, delaying repairs. The Israeli government was forced temporarily to shut down the church over fear of possible collapse. 
The different sects eventually agreed to a nine-month renovation to fix the crumbling chapel built over the revered site.
The renovation will be featured in a National Geographic Channel "Explorer" episode in November.  
"We are at the critical moment for rehabilitating the Edicule" (which encloses the tomb), Antonia Moropoulou, with the the National Technical University of Athens, told National Geographic.
"The techniques we're using to document this unique monument will enable the world to study our findings as if they themselves were in the tomb of Christ," he said.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Is God 'God' By Any Other Name? - Brian Hennessy ISRAEL TODAY

Is God 'God' By Any Other Name?

Monday, August 29, 2016 |  
Brian Hennessy   ISRAEL TODAY
In a recent interfaith video, Pope Francis argued that all religions worship God, whether we call Him God, Buddha, Jesus Christ or Allah. He then suggested we should lay aside our theological differences and all celebrate our Deity together. To quote him: “In this crowd, in this range of religions, there is only one certainty that we have for all: we are all children of God.”
I couldn’t help thinking of Zerubbabel’s response to a similar invite to come together, this one by the enemies of Judah who’d offered to help rebuild the second temple. After they told him that “we like you, seek your God,” Zerubbabel replied: “You have nothing in common with us in building a temple to our God; but we ourselves will together build to the Lord God of Israel” (Ezra 4:1-3). Apparently, he didn’t consider them to be children of the same God Israel served. 
But could the Pope be right? Does God not care much about what we call Him? Or how we worship? Is it enough just to acknowledge He exists and be sincere in our religious beliefs? Or is our God more particular about how He wants to be addressed and worshipped?  
We don’t have to look far in the Bible to get the answer. There’s an account of God’s prophet, Elijah, confronting Israel and the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel. Elijah is obviously one who also does not embrace the big religious hug fest as proposed by Pope Francis. For we find him here challenging Israel to choose: “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahweh is God follow Him; but if Baal, follow him” (1 Kings 18:21).  
If Baal was indeed Israel’s God by another name, it shouldn’t matter, right? But clearly our God didn’t see it that way. Because after Israel voted to follow Him, He had Elijah slay all the priests of Baal!
It seems Israel never learned its lesson at Mt. Sinai where God instructed them on how to  worship Him. For while Moses was off getting the instructions in writing, Israel decides to worship God Egyptian style. And they set up a golden calf. As a result, three thousand died that day. What were they thinking? Hadn’t God just told them: “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them, for I, the LORD [Yahweh] your God, am a jealous God” (Ex. 20:4,5).
Still the people did not depart from their idolatry: “It was not Me that you offered victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was it O House of Israel? You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of Rompha, the images which you made to worship” (Acts 7:42,43).
So we see God will not identify with the names of other gods. Not then. Not now. To begin, God has only one proper name, which is Yahweh – or Jehovah. It is written as the Tetragrammaton YHWH, but translated as “LORD” (all caps) in our Bibles out of deference to Jewish belief the name is too holy to be written or spoken. When speaking of Him, Jews today usually call Him HaShem (The Name). Before His true name was revealed the Patriarchs called Him El Elyon orEl Shaddai.
We can also address our God by His title, which is “Lord” (Heb. Adonai).Or as “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” which is the only family on earth to whom He has forever linked His name (Ex. 3:15). But the most intimate way to speak to Him is to call Him “Father” (Heb. Abba). That’s how Yeshua talked to Him, and no one knew Him more intimately than he.
But Satan is a deceptive marketer who doesn’t quit. He knows if we approach God any differently than how God has prescribed we’ll be serving him. “I say the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I don’t want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?” (1 Cor. 10:20- 22).
As a former Roman Catholic, for example, I was taught that, at the incantation of the priest, the bread and wine at Mass were transformed into the actual physical body and blood of Jesus. Jesus could then be offered over and over on their altars as a bloodless sacrifice. The Council of Trent declared this sacrifice to be “propitiatory,” that is able to “pardon even the gravest crimes and sins” (Twenty-Second Session, Chapter II). After I started to read the Bible I found Hebrews 10:10-14 totally refuted this false doctrine. How deceived I was to think that worshipping a piece of bread as God, as we were taught, was any less idolatrous than worshipping a golden calf. 
We live in the Age of Grace right now. But one day this grace period will end and the wrath of God will begin. We don’t want to be found at that time hesitating between two opinions.
Brian Hennessy is author of Valley of the Steeples
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Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Exclusive: Marco Rubio's Detailed Faith Confession to a Pastor's Group - DAVID BRODY/CBN NEWS CHARISMA NEWS

Marco Rubio

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican running for the 2016 GOP Presidential nomination, shared intimate details of his faith with a group of pastors in Iowa recently, CBN's David Brody reports. (Reuters file photo)


Exclusive: Marco Rubio's Detailed Faith Confession to a Pastor's Group


In video obtained exclusively by The Brody File, Marco Rubio provided a stirring and moving explanation of the gospel along with illuminating the significance of Jesus Christ in his life in front of dozens of Iowa pastors during a closed-door meeting in Iowa last week.  It is a MUST WATCH video. 

Rubio is Roman Catholic but he and his family also attend (from time to time) Christ Fellowship, a non-denominational evangelical church in the Miami area. "I didn't learn about the Catholic Church until I went to a non-Catholic church (Christ Fellowship) and became infused in the Bible and became infused in the written word of God and then, and only then did the liturgy of the church start even making sense," Rubio told the pastors. "I am fully, theologically and doctrinally aligned with the Roman Catholic Church and we attend it. But we retain our relationship with Christ fellowship and I'll tell you why: because they preach from the same Bible."
As for presenting the gospel, he didn't hold back and thoroughly enjoyed talking about Jesus. "Imagine the fear of knowing you're about to be scourged, nailed to a cross, hung naked, humiliated, spit upon, rejected by your friends," Rubio told the pastors. "There is nothing that we will ever face that He did not face times infinite amount. To me, that is the personal relationship. It's a personal relationship with a God that knows anything we faced because He faced it more than we are able going to be able to face it." 
He continues: "It (your faith) has to be infused by the Holy Spirit because the gift of the Holy Spirit is transformative... it's not just about having a relationship with Jesus, it's about allowing the Spirit to infuse you, to completely control you and guide you."
Rubio uses Peter's life as an example of being infused with the Holy Spirit. "Peter was s deeply flawed man, impulsive, angry, given to judgment. God turned his weakness into his strength. Peter saw Jesus walk around and he dove at Him. Lunged at Him because that's how impulsive he was. They came to arrest Jesus in the garden, first thing he  (Peter) did, pulls out the knife and cuts Malchus' ear off. Impulsive. 
But once he was infused in the Spirit, that impulsiveness was used as a tool for God's plan. All the gifts that God had given him that at one time were a liability God turned into strength. And so that's where the Spirit comes to play in our life. We are all gifted with different things, and they could very well be a weakness today, but God can turn that into strength."
The Brody File had exclusive access inside this meeting with pastors in Iowa. He held two private closed sessions, one in Cedar Rapids and one in Des Moines. Between the two meetings, he probably spoke to about one hundred pastors or so. The meeting was arranged by the influential American Renewal Project. Their purpose is to return America to its Judeo-Christian principles and is currently in the process of recruiting hundreds of pastors to run for political office around the country. Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee and Bobby Jindal are some of the presidential candidates that have spoken at their events.
You can watch the video below along with a partial transcription.
Rubio's explanation of the gospel is a thing of beauty and after he was finished, he left pastors in the room thoroughly impressed with not just his head knowledge about the Bible but his heart as well.  He changed some minds after those sessions with pastors. He showed an authentic faith walk and these pastors liked what they saw. Watching this below will not disappoint. This man knows his Bible and theology for sure.
I'll have a complete report on our inside access with Rubio and the pastors this Wednesday on The 700 Club. My story will air nationwide and will also include clips from my one-on-one interview as well. Rubio is really starting to make a concerted outreach to evangelicals and evangelicals are definitely intrigued the more they hear him speak.
There are two versions below. The longer version is first and includes his faith upbringing. The second version is Rubio's gospel presentation only. 
Watch here: Marco Rubio speaking to Iowa Pastors

Mandatory courtesy: CBN News/The Brody File
Longer version complete with Rubio's faith background and the issue of doubting God (You'll need to watch the entire clip to get the full transcription and impact)
Partial Transcription:
Question from evangelical pastor: "You're in a room full of Christians and you mentioned God and you mentioned the King of Kings but tell us about your experience with the Lord Jesus Christ using that name...and also tell us what you'll do to ensure our right to use that name in public."
Marco Rubio: "I've always been interested in theology, even as a child. One of the reasons we left the Mormon Church and went back to Catholicism was at my instigation. I became interested in the theology of the Catholic Church, learned about it as well as a 13 year old can before the Internet, and decided I wanted to go back to it for a lot of different reasons. And yet I still didn't fully understand my faith and I've said this publicly, I think too many Catholics don't fully understand their faith. The result is I didn't learn about the Catholic Church until I went to a non-Catholic church and became infused in the Bible and became infused in the written word of God and then, and only then did the liturgy of the church start even making sense. 
I started to begin to understand the richness of the church and so today I am fully, theologically and doctrinally aligned with the Roman Catholic Church and we attend it. But we retain our relationship with Christ fellowship and I'll tell you why: because they preach from the same Bible."
Marco Rubio: "As far my relationship with Jesus Christ the best way I've been able to describe it to people that are not believers is God became a man, came down to earth and died for our sins. He provided the ultimate sacrifice because up to that point we lived under the law and the law meant that we had to sacrifice an unblemished lamb to cover our sins, not erase them. God was the ultimate sacrifice. It was His own son. In essence, He was willing to do what He didn't ask Abraham to do, almost asked Abraham to do but at the last second spared Abraham that pain. 
God was willing to sacrifice His own son and just imagine how painful that was and He became a man and the reason that He had to become a man was not just the element of becoming a man and dying for our sins as the ultimate Pascal lamb that as a result didn't cover our sins but completely erased them, but also because He's a God that understands us. He has felt everything we've ever felt. He has wept. He wept in pain because a friend that He loved died. He felt compassion for people. He probably had the flu or the cold. He felt pain in his flesh not just on his crucifixion but multiple times throughout His life. He was a human being in every way and yet He was free of sin. 
So, there is nothing that we're going to be asked to do in life that He didn't do himself. One thing is to be a distant God that sits on a throne removed from the everyday suffering of man; another is to be a God-Man who actually lived as we lived, who felt all the pain and all the hurt and all the emotions and everything we've ever felt. Jesus had fear, not fear in an unbiblical way but He knew what was about to happen to him and He prayed that if it was possible could this cup pass? How many times have we made that prayer? And obviously it wasn't facing crucifixion. 
It could be like, 'God, if I could get out of this ticket. I just got pulled over. If you can get me out of this ticket this one time, I won't speed again.' Well, imagine the fear of knowing you're about to be scourged, nailed to a cross, hung naked, humiliated, spit upon, rejected by your friends. There is nothing that we will ever face that He did not face times infinite amount. To me, that is the personal relationship. It's a personal relationship with a God that knows anything we faced because He faced it more than we are able going to be able to face it. 
There is no fear, no emotion, no worry, no anxiety, no obstacle, no adversity that He didn't face before we did, and in fact, much more so. And so that's how you have a personal faith and then it has to be infused by the Holy Spirit because the gift of the Holy Spirit is transformative. Peter was s deeply flawed man, impulsive, angry, given to judgment. God turned his weakness into his strength. Peter saw Jesus walk around and he dove at Him. Lunged at Him because that's how impulsive he was. 
They came to arrest Jesus in the garden, first thing he  (Peter) did, pulls out the knife and cuts Malchus' ear off. Impulsive. But once he was infused in the Spirit, that impulsiveness was used as a tool for God's plan. All the gifts that God had given him that at one time were a liability God turned into strength. And so that's where the Spirit comes to play in our life. We are all gifted with different things, and they could very well be a weakness today, but God can turn that into strength. And so it's not just about having a relationship with Jesus, it's about allowing the Spirit to infuse you, to completely control you and guide you and the end result of all this is what in Catholicism, we have this thing in our liturgy 'peace be with you.'
 A lot of people think 'peace' means like, 'peace' (Rubio throws up the peace sign), like the hippie peace, or peace like no one's shooting at each other, or peace like everything's happy.  That's not peace. True peace is it doesn't matter what's happening. The winds could be swirling and Jesus is asleep on the boat, not worried about a thing, that's peace. The peace is in knowing that two things are going to happen anytime you face adversity: One is God is going to shield you from the adversity; he's going to protect you from it. And the other is God's going to make you go through the adversity, but He's going to give you what you need to get through it. 
And if you honestly believe that, and that's hard to believe. You can't force yourself to believe it. You have to pray for that. That is a gift. That is a fruit of the Spirit. If you honestly believe, if you truly become to have that, then you have this supernatural peace that can only come from the Spirit. I know I've gone too long, now I sound like the preacher so let me close with this, I apologize, but I rarely get to talk about this at campaign events. 
The thing about that peace that's so important is, I honestly believe, it was a major contributor to the growth of the early church. The early church grew in a pagan world, and despite the fact that everyone knew if you become a Christian, they feed you to lions; you know Nero set them on fire like torches. Terrible suffering. And yet people kept joining. 
And I am convinced, this is not necessarily deeply biblical, but I am convinced, you may disagree with me, but I am convinced that one of the things that got so many pagans to become Christians is they looked at the Christians and said: 'What is up with these people? They're being fed to lions and they're singing for joy. They're being led to their death, and they're happy. There's something wrong with these people. I need to find out what's going on with them. 
Why is that they have so much peace because we keep praying to our Gods, and we never have peace. What is it about these people?' And when that peace is true in you, people want to know about you. They're curious what is it about you? What does that person have because I want some of that, and that's how you bring so many people to the faith. It really is."
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Friday, October 9, 2015

We Need To Hear God - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

We Need To Hear God
- Now Think On This
by Steve Martin


“My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.”
(Proverbs 4:20 Complete Jewish Bible)


How often do you need direction? Ever take a wrong turn because the GPS or Google maps app led you to a dead end road? It has done it to me.

Do you ever need wisdom to know what is the right thing to do, when to do it and how to do it? Probably everyday if we admit it.

As it happens often, I personally have to choose to give the Lord the opportunity to speak to me, so who and what I hear is coming from Him. Yes, He is speaking – through His Word, by way of other people sharing a thought with me, or having His Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh in Hebrew) drop a word in my brain at any given moment. If I am spiritually open, I will know it is Him.

Choosing to hear the Lord is up to each individual. Being raised a Roman Catholic, I thought it was the priest’s job to hear God. If God wanted to say something to me, of course He’d tell the priest and I’d hear it during his little sermonette given once a week at Sunday Mass. I could just sit back and let the man of the cloth do it. He was closer to God, right? (While at the University of Northern Iowa in the fall of 1973, my one and only year of college at the age of 18, the Lord revealed Himself to me big time. I then divinely understood what He meant when He told Peter Who the Rock was. It was Jesus Himself.)

For the “Protestants”, those having a pastor or teacher of the Bible can easily expect him to just tell you what to do during your weekly meeting. So why read your Bible or pray daily during a daily quiet time with the Lord? Let someone else do it for you. Or so many mistakenly think.

We can allow the constant onslaught of noise to so occupy our thoughts that even when He does speak we may not know it. That is our loss. It will cost us now and later.

The Almighty God, Creator of the universe, wants to communicate with His children. He desires to give us direction and wisdom, but we must give Him a quiet break in our lives to be able to hear Him.

It takes time to learn to hear the Lord’s voice. It is a discipline we must have. Being able to discern when He speaks is an ongoing process, even as we learned to listen in our youth. As a young child growing up, given time over the months and years, each child becomes accustomed to the sound of their parents’ voices. I heard once that even the unborn baby begins to recognize the voice of their mother. They respond accordingly when she talks. (Yet another reason to protect the unborn in their mother’s womb at any stage of their living growth.) So it is with the Lord. It takes time, but we can learn to hear His voice.
I often find myself during the day asking the Lord for help in my office accounting work for three businesses. It becomes especially necessary as the years have gone by and my memory banks do not seem to be as easily able to access the info needed. I like the joke I heard once of the aged one who said, “It takes a little longer to get the answer to a question nowadays. With all the information I have packed in my mind, those memory banks have more to process through.”

We need to hear God for our own personal lives. We need to hear God for our families. We need to be a part of the “working” Body of Christ, that rises up in our culture and declares His truth, opposing the deception rampantly spreading throughout the world. Only by hearing His voice will we be able to do it.

For the congregation we are connected to, we need to hear God. For the nation we abide in, we desperately need to know what the Lord is saying, so we can hear, obey and move forward with His directives.

Hearing God is especially more true today as His written Word has been replaced in all areas of society, including our government and the arts. Knowing what is now going on in the educational system, which presses upon our children’s minds a godless, humanistic, crumbling foundation; and Islamic and other false religions subtlety and blatantly showing up in text books and teachers’ lessons - we have got to hear the Lord, so we can act properly, and be sure our kids know the truth, and are raised right!

I encourage you to do whatever it takes for you to hear God. My practice is to give Him the first hour of the day. In order to do that I personally have to cut back the time I stay up at night watching TV. It is worth it, as He shares His heart with me in the morning hours.


How about you? Do you want to hear the Lord speak to you? Then give Him that time to do so. Believe me, He is waiting and willing to speak to you.

Now think on this,

Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People. Inc.

Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA humanitarian organization started in 2010 to share the love of the Father in the nations.
 

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Now Think On This #185 “We Need To Hear God” by Steve Martin 
Date: In the year of our Lord 2015 (10.09.15) Friday at 6:30 pm in Charlotte, NC

All previous editions of Now Think On This can be found on this Blog, and on the website: Now Think On This


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Wednesday, May 20, 2015

WATCH: Is Pope Francis the Last Pope Before Christ's Return?

WATCH: Is Pope Francis the Last Pope Before Christ's Return?




Author Tom Horn says the Catholic Church is trying to bring about the end times by following certain prophecies regarding the pope. 
More than 50 years ago, a Jesuit priest predicted the resignation of Pope Benedict—to the day—and now Horn and others are looking at his research.
"Was he divinely inspired? Was he demonically inspired?" Horn asks. "Because we know demons know things about times and dispensations, too."
Horn's taking a closer look, as should you. Watch the video and sound off on if you think Pope Francis is the last pope. 

Friday, March 14, 2014

Patrick, Ireland and His Love For God

St. Patrick of Ireland

"If I have any worth, it is to live my life for God so as to teach these peoples, even though some of them still look down on me."
– St. Patrick

St. Patrick is Ireland's patron saint, known for spreading Christianity throughout the country as a missionary during the 5th century.

Born in England arguably in the late 4th century A.D., Patrick was captured by pirates as a child and brought to Ireland. During his enslavement, he was called to Christianity and escaped his captors after six years. He returned to Ireland as a missionary, and in his teachings, combined Irish pagan beliefs with Christian sacrament, devising the Celtic Cross. He is annually honored on March 17.

Early Life

St. Patrick, apostle of Ireland, was born in England circa 385. His father, Calphurnius, was a deacon from a Roman family of high social standing. His mother, Conchessa, was a close relative of the great patron St. Martin of Tours. Patrick's grandfather, Pontius, was also a member of the clergy. Surprisingly, Patrick himself was not raised with a strong emphasis on religion. Education was not particularly stressed during his childhood either. Later in life, this would become a source of embarrassment for Patrick, who in the early 440s, would write in his Confessio, "I blush and fear exceedingly to reveal my lack of education."

When Patrick was 16 years old, he was captured by Irish pirates. They brought him to Ireland where he was sold into slavery in Dalriada. There, his job was to tend sheep. Patrick's master, Milchu, was a high priest of Druidism, a Pagan sect that ruled religious influence over Ireland at the time.

Patrick came to view his enslavement as God's test of his faith. During his six years of captivity, he became deeply devoted to Christianity through constant prayer. In a vision, he saw the children of Pagan Ireland reaching out their hands to him. With this, he grew increasingly determined to free the Irish from Druidism by converting them to Christianity.

Missionary Work

Circa 408, the idea of escaping enslavement came to Patrick in a dream. In the dream, a voice promised him he would find his way home to England. Eager to see the dream materialize, St. Patrick convinced some sailors to let him board their ship. After three days of sailing, he and the crew abandoned the ship in France and wandered, lost, for 28 days—covering 200 miles of territory in the process. At last, St. Patrick was reunited with his family in England.

Now a free man, Patrick went to Auxerre, France where he studied and entered the priesthood under the guidance of the missionary St. Germain. As time passed, Patrick never lost sight of his vision: he was determined to convert Ireland to Christianity. C. 431, Pope St. Celestine I consecrated Patrick Bishop of the Irish, and sent him to Ireland to spread "The Good News," or Christian Gospel, to the Pagans there.

Upon his arrival in Ireland, Patrick was initially met with hostile resistance. But Patrick quickly managed to spread Christian teachings far and wide. Through preaching, writing and performing countless baptisms, he convinced Pagan Druids that they were worshiping idols under a belief system that kept them enslaved. By accepting Christianity, he told them, they would be elevated to "the people of the Lord and the sons of God."

Throughout his missionary work, Patrick continued to promote the conversion of Ireland to Christianity by electing Church officials, creating councils, founding monasteries and organizing Ireland into dioceses.

Patrick died circa 461 in Saul, Ireland. He is said to have been buried in Ulster, County Down, Ireland.

Though he was never formally canonized as a pope, Patrick is on the List of Saints, and was declared a Saint in Heaven by many Catholic churches. Patrick was also venerated in the Orthodox Catholic Church.

The Episcopal Church annually honors St. Patrick with the celebration of St. Patrick's Day on March 17, which falls during the Christian season of Lent. For more than 1,000 years, the Irish have observed St. Patrick's Day as a religious holiday. Traditionally, on St. Patrick's Day, Irish families would attend church in the morning and celebrate later—including eating a traditional meal of cabbage and Irish bacon.

QUICK FACTS
NAME: St. Patrick
OCCUPATION: Saint
BIRTH DATE: c. 385
PLACE OF BIRTH: England, United Kingdom
AKA: Saint Patrick
AKA: St. Patrick



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Love For His People Editor's Note: I was raised a Roman Catholic, and attended St. Patrick's School, grades 2-8, in Cedar Falls, IA. With most of my teachers as nuns, we learned about Patrick and his love for the Lord. I appreciate his example of laying down his life so that others would know of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

And...it was fun playing football in 7th and 8th grades there. We were the Shamrocks! 
Steve Martin