On praying for our leaders

Encouragement and counsel from Darlene, a member of my church, on praying for our leaders. She maintains a prayer group by e-mail.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I Timothy 2:1-2 - I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

What happens when you pray? We do not really know but above all, it changes me. The other day a friend asked,”Would you pray for my cousin, Donna? She is going through a total mastectomy.”
While most of my life, I would say, “Yes.” Obedience to my promise has drastically changed over the years. There was a time when I would say, “Yes.”, but then forget to pray. As I grew in my faith, I was convicted of my disobedience and I would dash off a thirty second prayer over the woman. Deeper in my faith, that thirty second prayer catapulted in love for the person requesting the prayer and my prayers became sincerer. Now the Lord has made me love others as soon as I think of them. I have some understanding of the process this woman is going through and the feelings I would feel enduring the same process and I pray for her and her family, although I would not know her if I saw her on the street. Even moreso…..

The more in love we grow with Jesus, the more in love we grow with each other and our prayers increase. PRAISE GOD! The more in love we grow with others, when we love each other as ourselves, we pray as if we are in the place of the person we are praying for. God allows us to be in their situation in the Spirit. THANKS BE TO GOD! We pray with fervor just as Jesus does for us. How beautiful is that? He draws His body together in prayer for each other.

As you sit to pray for leaders or a leader, ask Holy Spirit to guide you or listen as He does to not only who you should pray for today but how to pray for them and watch the beautiful tapestry that He weaves for you as your pray and your unity with this person and the body of Christ…HALLELUJAH You grow in understanding His love, the love He wants you to have for the rest of the body but also how much you have grown in prayer and through prayer. . . I am constantly amazed at how He has put together every detail for our growth in Him. . . if we just follow Him.

Brings new meaning to the song...SHOW ME YOUR WAYS...THAT I MAY WALK WITH YOU..
Please pray for me and my Psalms Bible study. I am constantly amazed where the Lord takes me in these Psalms. Deeper in love with Him. . . I want to be ignited, set on fire and be able to take others on that journey....

Transgenda; abuse and regret in the sex-change industry

The sex-change industry is a fraud, according to Alex P. Serritella.  They are hustlers in lab coats, peddling a product that doesn't exist.  There is no such thing as a sex change, but it is a billion-dollar industry.  You're being duped if you believe this.

Q.  What is the most shocking thing you discovered in researching the book?

A: The fact that child abuse is rampant in the sex-change industry. This is not a matter of “consenting adults only”, as people are led to believe. These are drastic, life-altering treatments done on children as young as nine. It sterilizes them for life and causes permanent damage to their bodies during crucial years of growth. Are children really capable of making such a huge decision? Obviously not. They will inevitably regret it, as most of them do.

Q: It seems like the transgender population has exploded in recent years. Why is that?

A: It all goes back to the reclassification of gender identity disorder in the DSM-5. The American Psychiatric Association had originally declared transgenderism to be a mental illness in 1980. Then they did an inexplicable reversal in 2012, and stated that it is no longer a mental illness. There is no medical or scientific justification for the change. There was no new evidence or discovery on which the change was based. It was purely a decision made to serve a hidden agenda. Since gender identity disorder, now called gender dysphoria, is officially not a mental illness, it is now considered a medical condition, meaning that it is covered by most insurance plans, and is now included in most anti-discrimination policies. This is basically an invitation for people to try a sex change.

Q: How prevalent is sex-change regret?

A: A lot more than people realize. From what I’ve seen and read, the rate of regret is virtually 100%. Transitioning will only bring a short-term, superficial satisfaction that will inevitably fade away when reality sets in. These people are delusional and they are being exploited. The doctors make a fortune on sex-change treatment, then they make another fortune on reversal treatment. That’s why it’s so unconscionable to perform this treatment on children. Eventually, trans people will accept themselves for who they are. It’s unfortunate that they will have mutilated bodies by the time they do.

 These and other trans-related issues are probed in the book, Transgenda; abuse and regret in the sex-change industry, by Alex P. Serritella.    It paints a far different picture of transgenderism than the one you hear in the news.

Bookstand Publishing, 2016
ISBN 978-1-63498-355-6, $17.95

What's at stake in the coming election

Father Michael Orsi, now on the pastoral team of St. Agnes Church in Naples, Fl said, “For too long, pastors and churches have been bullied into believing that they can say nothing political from the pulpit,” said Orsi. The regulation that is used to silence them “was a piece of spite work” against non-profits that had opposed President Lyndon Johnson, he said.

“Let me remind you: the Bible is a political document,” the priest said. “The prophets, including John the Baptist, and Jesus, lost their lives because they spoke the truth to power."

“The Constitution is quickly being destroyed,” warned Orsi, and “unless the right choice is made in November, we may not have a court that is fair and balanced in its interpretation of the Constitution.”

“Too many of the pastors—too many, practically all—in Germany refused to speak against national socialism,” continued Orsi. “And look [at] the result: millions of Jews, pastors, priests, homosexuals, gypsies all lost their lives because everyone was afraid. What are you afraid of, a couple of bucks? Your tax-exempt status? What’s that going to do to you? Your churches may be closed anyway, because if a certain party gets elected, this certain party said, if the churches do not agree with our interpretation of women’s reproductive rights, they’ll just have to change their doctrine.”

“If a certain party gets elected, I can assure you what kind of judges are going to be on those appeals courts,” he said. And those judges will be charged with deciding whether the government may force churches and religious institutions to pay for abortion, contraception, and abortifacient drugs, he noted.

Furthermore, “I’m not going to vote for a candidate who decides that we can redefine the meaning of marriage,” proclaimed Orsi. “Our opponents believe once they destroy the family, once they destroy the churches, they can re-create society in their own image and their own likeness. That, my friends, is not just political. That is diabolical. Get it straight, for crying out loud! The devil is in this!”

“We are in a battle for the soul of America,” he said.

“Somehow, [Christians] have come to buy the story that you cannot be political in church,” said Orsi. “Let me tell you right now, oh yes, you can, and oh, yes, you better be. Because you might not have a church to go to if you don’t vote the right way in November.”

Agreed. 

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/priest-you-might-not-have-a-church-to-go-to-if-you-dont-vote-the-right-way

Pope's in Armenia

A little history about the Pope's visit to Armenia:

"In 301 AD, twelve years before Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire, King Tiridates III made Christianity the official religion of Armenia, the first national ruler to do so. The Armenians were subsequently conquered by the Romans, Arabs, Persians, Ottomans, and Soviets. In 1915, the Young Turks government attempted to exterminate them, massacring 1.5 million. In 1988, an earthquake killed up to 50,000 Armenians. That same year, a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan claimed tens of thousands of lives. . .According to a 2012 survey, 92 percent of Armenians consider themselves religious, the third-highest percentage anywhere (in the United States it’s 60 percent)." https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2016/06/25/pope-francis-and-the-armenian-church/

If you read the whole article, you'll notice the author isn't a fan of Pope Francis.    He has dual citizenship, U.S. and Poland. Big fan of John Paul II.

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/4850/how_saint_john_paul_ii_conquered_communism.aspx


 

Christianity is revolutionary, then and now

 The first century vision is breathtaking, given our divisions today.

"After his death and resurrection a fellowship of followers of Jesus came into being which was called The Church. Beliefs about it arose almost immediately and it took a variety of visible forms.

The ideal of the Church appears again and again in the early Christian documents which compose the New Testament and which reflect the convictions of leaders in the primitive Christian fellowship. To these leaders the church was to be inclusive and one. They shared the purpose of Jesus which was transmitted through The Gospel according to John that all believers in him should be as united as were he and the Father. More than once, carrying out this same conception, Paul spoke of the Church as the body of Christ. Obviously, as he saw it, it was to be one, knit together, each member contributing to the whole. The Epistle to the Ephesians declares that Christ is the head of the Church and dreams of the Church as ultimately being without spot, wrinkle, or blemish. The Christian fellowship, so the New Testament held, was to be a new Israel, a chosen people, but it was to be drawn from all mankind. In Christ both Jews and Gentiles were to be members of "the household of God," growing into "an holy temple." Not only was the Church to embrace both Jews and Gentiles, but in it there was also to be no distinction on the basis of race, national, cultural status, servitude, freedom or sex. It was to be gathered from every nation, and from all tribes, peoples, and tongues." (A history of Christianity, vol. 1, beginnings to A.D. 1500, rev. ed., 1975 by Kenneth Scott LaTourette

Benedictions in the Bible

Today I was looking up Blessings and Benedictions in the New Testament, and came across this nice list.  We often hear these words in the liturgy, but don't know exactly the source.  This site also didn't list the translation. Sounds KJV. This is copied in full with the links; it is not my work.

A Listing of Familiar Benedictions Given in the Bible

1.  The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.  The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.   Psalms 121:7,8

2.  Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.  Romans 15:13

3.  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:  That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.   Romans 15:5,6

4.  The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.  Psalms 29:11

5.  Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.  And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you; to the end he may stablish your heart unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. 

I Thessalonians 3:11-13

6.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 4:7

7.  God shall supply all you need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever.  Amen.  Philippians 4:19,20

8.  The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.  Amen.  Philippians 4.23

9.  Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.  II Peter 1:2,3

10.  Blessed be the Lord for evermore.  Amen and Amen. 

Psalms 89:52

11.  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.  Amen. 

Jude 1:24,25

12.  Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever.  Amen.  Hebrews 13:20,21

13.  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  I Thessalonians 5:23

14.  Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

II Thessalonians 2:16,17

15.  Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.  Ephesians 6:24

16.  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

II Corinthians 13:14

17.  God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.  II Corinthians 9:8

18.  The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:  The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.  Numbers 6:24-26

19.  Be not conformed to this world:  but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.  Romans 12:2

20.  Finally, brethren, Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.  II Corinthians 13:11

21.  Beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.  Jude 1:20,21

22.  Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.  Psalms 4:6

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If you know of a benediction given in the Bible that is not on this list e-mail the reference to wadetisdale@msn.com so that it may be added.

                            ------- 

What exactly is a benediction?    It is pronouncement of divine blessing given in the Bible.  It represents a joyful, unifying call to faith, patience, and practice for the faithful, based on the Certainty, divine Principle, God.

A benediction is a short, concise statement given in the Bible in the form of a petition, an assurance, a promise or principle.  It voices images of protection, or comfort, or abundance, or some other word of assurance.

The word benediction means to say good, to voice good thoughts, to pronounce.  What makes good thoughts good is that they are based on Truth, based on Principle, God.  Whatever is true fulfills itself.  Good is the inevitable result of the certainty and righteousness of Truth, God, who is all good.

The reading aloud of a benediction at the conclusion of a church service is joy expressed, and cherished, and shared with the all in its hearing.  It is a feast.  It is the essence of genuine, heartfelt joy and commitment, seen in the exalted light of spiritual interpretation.  It is impersonal; it is positive; it is healing; it is eternal.  It is part of "the morning meal" that blesses all.

This brief narrative on a subject that is truly infinite in theme is intended to be a step toward awareness of the importance of benedictions in our life, and an appreciation of the glory they portend and the good they can do. Readers are invited to share their insight into this fun-to-consider topic. 

"The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:  The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." (Numbers 6:24-26.) 

THE FOUNDATION STONES OF CHRISTIANITY

Mass from Sydney, Australia

St Mary's Church, North Sydney (Our Lady of the Way)

Mass on Demand comes to you every day from the Jesuit church of St Mary's via the CathNews YouTube channel.

People who are frail, aged, ill, or isolated, can access Mass of the day through modern technology via the Internet.

https://www.youtube.com/user/cathnews

 I've watched this a number of times (before 6 a.m. our time) and the priests have been quite elderly with a variety of accents. The lectors and servers also seem to be senior citizens. If there is a cantor, usually she has a lovely voice.  However, it is a faithful way to hear linked Bible passages of the day from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the Gospel and the Epistles. Catholic services have a lot more scripture than Protestant.  Maybe the shortest homilies I've ever heard--about 2 sentences.