Sign of the cross

More Christians than not use the sign of the cross as a reminder of who and whose they are. It's a custom/sign that goes back to the very earliest Christian communities. And in those days, it could have been dangerous.

“When, then, you make the sign of the cross on the forehead, arm yourself with a saintly boldness, and reinstall your soul in its old liberty; for you are not ignorant that the cross is a prize beyond all price.

Consider what is the price given for your ransom, and you will never more be slave to any man on earth. This reward and ransom is the cross. You should not then, carelessly make the sign on the forehead, but you should impress it on your heart with the love of a fervent faith. Nothing impure will dare to molest you on seeing the weapon, which overcometh all things.”

– St. John Chrysostom

"The sign of the cross is made by placing the thumb and the first two fingers of the right hand together as a reminder of the Trinity. Touch your head at the naming of the Father, then bring your hand to the middle of your chest (over your heart) at the naming of the Son. At the naming of the Holy Spirit touch your right shoulder and then your left shoulder.

But let us be clear, making the sign of the cross, or not making the sign of the cross, is part of our Christian liberty. It should never be made a criterion for being viewed as more or less confessional, more or less liturgical, or more or less Lutheran. While the sign of the holy cross is the property of each and every baptized child of God, it is up to the individual to determine when and how he or she will use it"

New Direction for Mountview Baptist

Last night as we were driving to The Church at Mill Run (UALC), I noticed the sign of Mountview Baptist Church now said Mountview Christian Church. Thinking they might just be vague about their denominational identity as we are (not identifying MR as Lutheran) I looked it up. But I was wrong; it is now a non-denominational Christian church. They have one of the best websites I've seen recently for a Christian church. Clear, concise, and well written.

Mountview Christian

Chautauqua, New York, beautiful and liberal

Lakeside, Ohio, a few years ago changed its name to Lakeside Chautauqua (which none of us actually use), but it is one year older than Chautauqua, NY. Both were at one time Methodist summer retreats steeped in Christianity and the Bible. I'm not sure when things shifted, but I know that in 1913 there was a Bible Conference at Lakeside, and by 1938 it was called Religion and Life or something like that. Old timers really squealed foul this summer when Lakeside's logo was changed and the cross removed (has since been restored). Here's an article about what has happened at Chautauqua, NY, and although Lakeside is only "interfaith" one week, it's definitely liberal.

http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/09/beautiful-liberal-chautauqua

The Nicene Creed and what is unseen

"We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all that is seen and unseen . . ." (Nicene Creed, 4th century) When the congregation repeated these ancient words this morning I thought about our programs on the universe last week at Lakeside. Dark matter. Dark energy. One speaker said there are 10 billion galaxies close enough for the light to get to us, the other said there may be a trillion galaxies. But who's counting. I know the Creator of all things seen and unseen, visible and invisible.

One of the speakers got so excited he shouted, "Hallelujah, can I hear an Amen" while talking about the 300 billion stars in the Milky Way, our galaxy.

Amen!

Horsehead Nebula (gas cloud)

Star Parker has the CURE

It's possible you've seen Star Parker on CNN, TBN, CSPAN, CBN, and FOX News, and once you learned she's a conservative Christian, perhaps you picked up the remote and looked for someone else to discuss the news of the day. But if you're a Democrat, you should also know she's had several abortions and been on welfare so she knows your side of the fence too, even if she jumped it and ran to the freedom of Christ, because that's who changed her life. Today she's head of CURE, the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, a 501(c)(3) non-profit think tank which promotes market based public policy to fight poverty.

I wonder if the IRS has investigated her status--after all, she did leave the system for a better plan and tells others how to do it. That could be a threat to the current administration.

http://townhall.com/columnists/starparker/

The race that counts

There is a fun Run/Walk race here at Lakeside this week-end. Don't forget the big one!

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God," (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV).

What does your church do about abortion?

Priests for Life lists 28 actions priests can take in their local parish. I looked through the list and found ONE thing our church (Lutheran) is doing--brochures (#17) in the ladies' room about a crisis pregnancy center. Some things, of course, we don't do at all--like special masses, holy-hours and rosaries, but we do have sermons, Bible Studies, guest speakers, committees, literature racks, memorials, plaques, newsletters, bulletin inserts, special prayer events, etc. Two things hobble us: 1) our collection plate, and 2) the IRS. I don't think we're that different than other churches.

http://www.exposeabortion.com/


1) Offer Masses for Pro-life intentions. This can either be a "special event" or a regularly scheduled Mass, the intention of which relates to pro-life.

2) Establish a pro-life prayer group in the parish, dedicated specifically to

prayers and teachings on the value of human life.

3) Offer Pro-life holy hours, Rosaries, Scripture Services. Priests for Life provides some devotional materials.

4) Promote the Be Not Afraid Family Holy Hours. For information, contact the Apostolate for Family Consecration, 3375 County Rd.36 Bloomingdale, OH 43910 Phone: 1-800-77-FAMILY.

5) Preach frequently on abortion, both by entire homilies on the topic and by reference to it in other homilies.

6) Include mention of abortion in the General Intercessions at Mass.

7) Place inserts into the bulletin about pro-life. These can be full-page inserts that can be given to the bulletin company in advance, or short (1-3 line) messages. These are available from Priests for Life. You can order a free monthly pro-life insert for your bulletin, which will be sent to you camera-ready. Call American Life League at 540-659-4171 and ask for the "Pro-life Bulletin Board."

8) Present pro-life topics in Bible Study, RCIA, meetings for school parents, marriage preparation, instructions for sponsors, etc.

9) Invite pro-life speakers to make presentations at meetings which people are required to attend, such as those for the parents of school or CCD children.

10) Have special educational evenings with speakers and/or videos.

11) Have a "Life Mission" with a guest speaker/workshops for several days.

12) Use the parish bookrack to make good pro-life literature and tapes available.

13) Use parish bulletin boards inside and outside the Church to convey a pro-life message. Set up a permanent pro-life sign on the property.

14) Make pro-life resources (Precious Feet Pins, Bumper stickers and Buttons, Pro-life Bank checks, etc.) available to the parishioners. You can get order information from Priests for Life (888-PFL-3448 or 718-980-4400)

15) Add the words "born and pre-born" to the Pledge of Allegiance when it is recited in the schools and at other functions.

16) Sponsor a pro-life essay/poster contest among the children of the school and CCD programs. Display winning posters in the school or in the Church vestibule, and print winning essays in the bulletin.

17) Have readily available at all times concrete information about alternatives to abortion. Place one of more of these numbers on the cover of your parish bulletin as a standard item. Get this information to women in need, to local doctors, and to the secular press. Some of the national hotlines ready to help women anywhere in the country are:

CARENET/HEARTBEAT 1-800-712-HELP

CRISIS PREGNANCY HELPLINE 1-888-4-OPTIONS

BIRTHRIGHT 800-550-4900

PREGNANCY HOTLINE 1-800-848-LOVE

BETHANY CHRISTIAN SERVICES 1-800-238-4269

NURTURING NETWORK 1-800-TNN-4MOM

SEVERAL SOURCES FOUNDATION 1-800-NO-ABORT

AMERICA’S CRISIS PREGNANCY HELPLINE 800-67-BABY-6

GOOD COUNSEL HOMES 800 723-8331(Answering machine for this number after business hours.)

18) Have information available on post-abortion healing programs like Project Rachel. Call 414-483-4141 or 1-800-5-WE-CARE.

19) Bring people out for a Life Chain or peaceful prayer vigil on the street or at an abortion mill.

20) Encourage a parish pro-life committee to form and grow. Give it constant encouragement.

21) Commission the pro-life committee at a special liturgy. Priests for Life provides a suggested prayer for such a commissioning.

22) Read good books and periodicals on the issue, consult with experts, and take advantage of resources provided by the local diocesan pro-life office, the Bishops' office for pro-life activities, and Priests for Life.

23) Have a plaque or monument erected in memory of the children in the community who died from abortion. Have a school yearbook dedicated to those killed by abortion.

24) Establish some sort of memorial to mothers who have been killed by their abortion. A list of the names of some of these women is available either in printout or poster form. Contact Priests for Life for information.

25) Call for special parish days of voluntary prayer and fasting to end abortion.

26) Establish a parish pro-life newsletter for the parish or community.

27) Participate as a parish in the National Night of Prayer, held each December across the country to pray for an increased respect for life. For information, call Anne in New York at 516-234-6921.

28) Take part in The Gabriel Project, a pastoral program whereby the local parish directly assists pregnant mothers. Contact Priests for Life for more information.

Bernadine of Siena, May 20

Whether you're Protestant or Catholic, a "saint of the day" book is an inspirational daily read. Most of these people lived and worshipped before the splits in the church. May 20 is Bernadine of Siena. I think what impressed me about him was he could draw crowds of 30,000 when preaching about sin and vice. No loud speakers, no apps on cell phones, no cameras held up to catch his photo. (no port-a-potties) When he told people to throw their gambling tools into a community bonfire, the manufacturers of playing cards complained he was ruining their livelihood. But in many of our churches we see his work on vestments and paraments. He's the one who promoted the IHS symbol, the first 3 letters of Jesus' name in Greek.

"Worship" is one of those pesky exceptions about not doubling the p. I have to look it up when I use it. The rule is, most verbs ending in ‘p’, like develop or gallop, after an unstressed vowel, have no doubling of that final consonant in standard received British English or American English. But there are exceptions: worship, handicap, kidnap.  I have no idea why.  Just one of the joys of our spelling system.

According to Wikipedia “A Parament or Parement; (from Late Latin paramentum, adornment, parare, to prepare, equip), a term applied by ancient writers to the hangings or ornaments of a room of state. Later it has referred to the liturgical hangings on and around the altar, as well as the cloths hanging from the pulpit and lectern, as well as the ecclesiastical vestments and mitres. In many usages, it is synonymous with altar cloth.”

You may recall (or not) there was a mini-scandal about the IHS being covered up and replaced by the Presidential symbols when Obama spoke at Georgetown (a Catholic university) in April 2009. Just the beginning of many such incidents involving religion. Factcheck confirms this.

Georgetown honored the White House staff’s request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind Gaston Hall stage. The White House wanted a simple backdrop of flags and pipe and drape for the speech, consistent with what they’ve done for other policy speeches.

Very much the monarch.

From George Washington's speech to the Delaware Indians, May 12, 1779

Brothers: I am glad you have brought three of the Children of your principal Chiefs to be educated with us. I am sure Congress will open the Arms of love to them, and will look upon them as their own Children, and will have them educated accordingly. This is a great mark of your confidence and of your desire to preserve the friendship between the Two Nations to the end of time, and to become One people with your Brethren of the United States. My ears hear with pleasure the other matters you mention. Congress will be glad to hear them too. You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do every thing they can to assist you in this wise intention; and to tie the knot of friendship and union so fast, that nothing shall ever be able to loose it.

Link

The ascension of Jesus in the creeds

Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after he rose from the dead (Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:1-11) , so that would be May 9, however, we're starting a new sermon series at UALC, so today's topic was the Ascension in the creeds (next Sunday is Ascension Sunday in the church calendar). There are three creeds accepted by all Christian churches (Apostles, Nicene and Athenasian), and the ascension of our Lord phrase is in all of them. " He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;" "and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father;" "He ascended into heaven; He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty;".

http://www.rca.org/page.aspx?pid=2765

Creeds, Book of Concord

St. Cyprian, Ch. 27

Chapter 27

Let us rouse ourselves in so far as we can, most beloved brethren, and, breaking the sleep of old inertia let us awake to the observing and keeping of the Lord's precepts. Let us be such as He Himself ordered us to be when He said: 'Let your loins be girt, and your lamps brightly burning, and you yourself like to men waiting for their Lord, when He shall come from the wedding, that when He comes and knocks, they may open to Him. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when He comes, shall find watching.' We ought to be girt, lest, when the day of departure come, it finds us burdened and entangled. Let our light shine forth in good works and glow, so that it may lead us from the night of this world to the light of eternal brightness. Let us always with solicitude and caution await the sudden coming of the Lord, so that, when He knocks, our faith may be vigilant, ready to receive from the Lord the reward of its vigilance. If these mandates are kept, if these warnings and precepts are maintained, we cannot be overtaken while sleeping by the deceit of the devil; we will reign as vigilant servants with Christ as our Lord.

About Mary

The last few mornings I’ve been watching “Catholic Canvas” on EWTN which is an explanation of the art of the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican museums. I had known about the restoration of the frescoes, but the restoration of the tapestries is less known (at least to me).   The cape that appears to surround God in the most famous panel of Michelangelo (God reaching to touch Adam’s finger with his other arm around the baby Jesus), says a doctor, is a model of the human brain.  My minimal understanding of perspective puts me in awe of the “foreshortening” of his style, where the viewer looks up and the figures move into our space, with arms and legs and clothing hanging down.  Michelangelo knew his Bible and Christian theology. But you can’t watch much EWTN without a lot of “Mary,” adoration and stories completely unfamiliar to Protestants—at least this Lutheran.  We Lutherans give Mary a lot of attention at Christmas as an obedient, chaste young woman, and some at Easter as a grieving follower of Christ, but otherwise, not so much.  I was looking up a quote of St. Leo today, one of the few Popes ever elected who was not a Bishop, who had to deal not only with barbarian invaders of the Roman empire, but terrible fights within the church.  I came across this interesting item about Mary as the Mother of God.

Pope Leo wrote many letters and instructions in his lifetime. 140 of these letters and numerous sermons he preached exist to this day. He is known as one of the prime witnesses for the Primacy of the Pope and his authority to lead the Catholic Church. This was a controversial fact and in great dispute in his day. One of his greatest writings is known as the "Tome of St. Leo" and was a defense of the belief that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine. This defense of the Incarnation of Jesus also had implications on the Church's understanding of Mary. The Church Council of Ephesus had debated the identity of Jesus and it's discussion was based on the role of Mary, was she "Christokos", i.e., the mother of Jesus the man, or was she "Theotokos", i.e., the mother of God. The sway in the Council was about to declare that she could only be the mother of the human part of Jesus, but this would imply a split in the reality of Jesus. For this to be a fact, Jesus would have only been human until his birth when at that moment the divine took form in the newborn human. Thankfully, the people of Ephesus intervened and refused to allow the Bishops to conclude their vote. They had a powerful attachment to Mary as she had spent her last years of life on this world in their city. The Council was deadlocked until delegates from Leo arrived and announced by his letter that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine. This belief, would later become a formal part of our Nicene Creed. When the letter was read the delegates declared that truly "St. Peter speaks though Leo."

http://www.stleo.com/Patron.htm

Today all Christians  agree on the Nicene Creed; those on the fringes who do not may still argue about the divinity and humanity of Jesus. That he was born human and became divine is just one of the many heresies still floating today. Thank you, Pope Leo, for battling both the outside evil and the inside fighting.

Why do we say Amen?

This is in the Catholic catechism, but seems to be the same for all Christians.

"Why do we say "Amen" to the profession of our faith?

We say Amen—“Yes”—to the profession of our faith because God appoints us witnesses to the faith. Anyone who says Amen assents freely and gladly to God’s work in creation and redemption.

The Hebrew word amen comes from a family of words that mean both “faith” and “steadfastness, reliability, fidelity”. “He who says amen writes his signature” (St. Augustine). We can pronounce this unconditional Yes only because Jesus in his death and Resurrection has proved to be faithful and trustworthy for us. He himself is the human Yes to all God’s promises, just as he is also God’s definitive Yes to us."

John MacArthur's anti-Catholicism

What's the current flap about John MacArthur, an evangelical pastor, I wondered? So I googled what he said about Catholics and the Pope. Actually, there were so many entries going back 7 or 8 years, I couldn't even find the reference I was looking for and had to go to his website and click on his blog. If Christians wonder why youth, gays, non-Christians and young families are leaving the sanctuary and Sunday classroom for feel-goodism, Eastern meditation routines and la-la spirituality, they only need to look at their own nasty in-fighting and name calling. And he calls his web site, "Grace to you?" I wonder if this Bible believing teacher/preacher has heard of St. Jerome? Does he know that before the canon, there was tradition, liturgy, priests, bishops? His rants are like people libeling their great grandparents whom they never met. Evangelicals believe in the pope--the one they see in the mirror every morning.

J.S. Bach Day

Today may be Presidents' Day (Washington's Birthday Observed), but yesterday at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church (UALC), Lytham Road, it must have been JS Bach day. For the Prelude we enjoyed Prelude in F Minor; the Offertory was In thee O Lord have I put my trust; and the Postlude as we left the sanctuary was Salvation unto us has come. Allan Willis, organist, Paul Ulring, Senior Pastor, preaching at the traditional services.

Eat your hearts out contemporary service worshippers.

Why did Catholics support Obama

Fifty seven percent of practicing Catholics (attend mass at least once a week) voted for Romney.  Forty three percent who call themselves Catholic but rarely attend services, voted for Obama, the pro-abortion president. Every U.S. Bishop opposed the HHS mandate,  and it clearly looked like Obama stabbed them in the back after they’d supported him on immigration, taxes, etc.  But they just couldn't fight the fact that Catholics have been primarily Democrats for way too long.  I can’t imagine that they couldn’t see this coming when they supported a pro-abortion candidate in 2008.  So that also means that 43% of practicing Catholics think it is OK for Catholic charities and schools and hospitals to go under because of Obama's mandates.

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/02/15/why-did-so-many-faithful-catholics-vote-for-obama-again/

The Book of Judith films

Protestant Bibles don’t contain the book of Judith, although it was part of canon for the Eastern and Western Church until the Reformation.  (and still is for Caholics and Orthodox Christians). It seems, though, St. Jerome had a bit of a struggle—I looked it up and he had to translate from the Chaldean texts to Latin.  (We saw his cell when we were in the Holy Land.)

There is a web site that focuses just on Biblical films, Bible Films Blog. It is amazing, or maybe not, how many films have been made about Judith.  The author, Matt Page (UK), is going to be writing about Judith the next week or so, and begins with a collation of all the films he could find, and the first 3 are silent films.

He lists 13 films about Judith—it has everything for today’s audience; religion, sex, violence, and politics.

Instead of tossing a garter

Try footwashing.

"Matt and Julie married last week, and when the time came for the garter to be removed, Matt did something unexpected. As Julie sat in her chair, Matt approached her with a water basin and a towel. With perfect tenderness, he humbled himself and made a beautiful gesture of his service to her.
As husbands and the spiritual head of our households, we are called by Christ to imitate the same dedication of service to our wives. Service doesn’t simply mean helping out, but means humbling ourselves, putting our wives before us always, and heroically attending to her needs."

Abby Johnson on the Sandy Hook murders

"I watched a child fight for his life in his mother's womb. I watched him curl up his body in an attempt to protect himself from the abortion instrument. I watched him attempt to move away and try to get find a safe place. Then I watched his body twist and turn like you would ring out a dishcloth. I watched his arms and legs detach from his body. I watched as his perfectly formed backbone crumbled underneath the powerful suction.

How can I compare the shootings in Connecticut with abortion? Because just like these children who were killed violently in their school, thousands of children are killed violently in their mother's wombs. These unborn children are frantically trying to save their lives before they are killed. There is no difference...except for the number that are killed EVERY DAY.

20 children are killed and it is called a massacre. 1.2 million children are killed in a year and it is called a "medical procedure" and labeled as "choice."

Yes, what I am saying may not be comfortable. But the tragedy of abortion is very real to me. I have seen the terror of the unborn. It is time for us to stop being so uncomfortable with the truth and start shouting it from the rooftops."


Abby formerly worked for Planned Parenthood and now is a Pro-Life Advocate.

Baptism

I heard today on Catholic radio that a baptism administered "in the name of the Creator, and of the Redeemer and of the Sanctifier" is not valid. So I looked it up; it was decided in 2008. Liberal Christians who are afraid of words like Father and Son or masculine pronouns, have invented this.