The foundation of the Christian's peace is everlasting...

The foundation of the Christian's peace is everlasting; it is what no time, no change can destroy. It will remain when the body dies; it will remain when the mountains depart and the hills shall be removed, and when the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll. The fountain of His comfort shall never be diminished, and the stream shall never be dried. His comfort and joy is a living spring in the soul, a well of water springing up to everlasting life. ...Jonathan Edwards image by Jeff Attaway

Obama’s Infanticide Votes

Newt wasn’t 100 percent right — but he was about 95 percent right.
February 29, 2012
By Patrick Brennan

In last Wednesday’s debate, when the Republican candidates were asked about their positions on birth control, Newt Gingrich parried with one of his usual tactics, a fusillade against the mainstream media. He told CNN’s John King, “You did not once in the 2008 campaign, not once did anybody in the elite media ask why Barack Obama voted in favor of legalizing infanticide. If we’re going to have a debate about who is the extremist on these issues, it is President Obama, who, as a state senator, voted to protect doctors who killed babies who survived the abortion.”

Two points of Gingrich’s barrage warrant assessment. First, did Barack Obama, as a state senator, vote “in favor of legalizing infanticide,” by voting “to protect doctors who killed babies who survived the abortion”? And second, has no one in the elite media ever discussed his record on the issue? Yes; and no, but essentially

Gingrich’s assertion rests on then–State Senator Obama’s opposition, in 2001, 2002, and 2003, to successive versions of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, an Illinois bill that was meant to provide protection for babies born alive after attempted abortions. The bill gave them protection as legal persons and required physicians to provide them with care, rather than allowing doctors to deal with them as they would, literally, with medical waste. In 2008, Obama’s campaign repeatedly claimed that he opposed the bill because it was unnecessary, since Illinois law already provided protection for infants born alive. However, as Ramesh Ponnuru pointed out on NRO at the time, this extended only to babies whom physicians deemed to have “sustainable survivability.” Thus infants who were not expected to survive could be killed or left unattended to die. Obama, Ponnuru wrote, “did not want the gap filled.” (The National Right to Life Committee has a report on Obama, Illinois’s legal loophole, and its horrific consequences here.)  the rest

Thus, while one cannot say, as Gingrich did, that the media have literally never questioned Obama’s extreme record on abortion, we can certainly say that there has not been a sufficiently revealing discussion of his views. An honest appraisal would depict him as having voted repeatedly to protect a form of infanticide. Instead, the media have willingly accepted explanations that don’t stand up to scrutiny.

France Goes Halal

The halal issue is about more than just meat.
by Soeren Kern
February 28, 2012

A French television documentary has revealed that all of the slaughterhouses in the greater Paris metropolitan area are now producing all of their meat in accordance with Islamic Sharia law.
The exposé broadcast by France 2 television also alleged that much of the religiously slaughtered meat known as halal is not labeled as such and is entering the general food chain, where it is being unwittingly consumed by the non-Muslim population.

The revelation has sparked political controversy in France, where Islam and the question of Muslim immigration has become a central issue in the presidential campaign.

Halal, which in Arabic means lawful or legal, is a term designating any object or action that is permissible according to Sharia law. In the context of food, halal meat is derived from animals slaughtered by hand according to methods stipulated in Islamic religious texts. the rest

U.S. mosque count grows by 74 percent in decade

Numerous Tea Party chapters claim IRS attempts to sabotage nonprofit status

By Perry Chiaramonte
February 28, 2012

Tea Party chapters around the nation are blasting the Internal Revenue Service after the federal agency sent them letters demanding information about their politics, contributors and even family members.

In letters sent from IRS offices in Cincinnati earlier this month, chapters including the Waco (Texas) Tea Party and the Ohio Liberty Council were asked to provide a list of donors, identify volunteers, financial support for and relationships with political candidates and parties, and even printed copies of their Facebook pages.

"Some of what they (the IRS) asked was reasonable, but there were some requests on there that were strange," Toby Marie Walker, president of the Waco Tea Party told FoxNews.com. "It makes you wonder if they do this to groups like ACORN or other left-leaning groups.” the rest

Have we reached a tipping point on abortion?

Two events last week suggest that its ideological appeal is tottering and about to fall.
Michael Cook
Tuesday, 28 February 2012

From 1917 to 1991, for more than 80 years, Russia was ruled by an ideology of oppression which paraded as a beacon of liberation. But within 40 years, the masquerade was over, even if the misery remained. Novels like Dr Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak; One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn; or Life and Fate, by Vasily Grossman, exposed the Soviet system for what it was, a band of thuggish mummified old toads lying to the people they governed. It took another 30 years to shake off Communism despots, but their ideology was dead.

Events last week suggest that we may have reached a similar tipping point with the ideology of abortion. Nearly 40 years ago Roe v. Wade pressed a button which opened the floodgates in the US and around the world. Now legalised abortion is being exposed as a republic of lies governed by another band of toads.

First of all, it emerged in the British press last week that UK abortion clinics are falsifying paperwork so that they can carry out their clients’ requests for sex-selective terminations. Undercover reporters for the London Telegraph accompanied pregnant women and taped doctors arranging an abortion after an unequivocal request to abort a child because it was of the wrong sex.

The reporters visited nine clinics; at three of them they were able to obtain sex-selective abortions. At the Calthorpe Clinic in Birmingham, one of the oldest in Britain, a doctor was initially reluctant.

“It’s like female infanticide isn’t it?” he said. But the pregnant woman suggested that he record a different reason for the termination. “That’s right, yeah, because it’s not a good reason anytime,” he replied. “I’ll put too young for pregnancy, yeah?” The patient agreed and the doctor continued, “It’s common in the Third World to have a female infanticide.” the rest

Journal editor defends pro-infanticide piece: Killing newborns is already legal in Holland

February 28, 2012

(LifeSiteNews.com) – The editor of an ethics journal that recently published an article advocating infanticide (what the authors call “post-birth abortion”), has responded to widespread criticism by pointing out that promoting the killing of newborns is nothing new: in fact, in the Netherlands infant euthanasia is already legal and practiced.

Editor Julian Savulescu also criticizes what he calls the “hate speech” directed at the authors of the article, arguing that the public’s response to the piece shows that “proper academic discussion and freedom are under threat from fanatics opposed to the very values of a liberal society.”

In the journal article Alberto Giubilin, a philosopher from the University of Milan, and Francesca Minerva, an ethicist from the University of Melbourne, made the case that “after-birth abortion” should be permissible in all the cases where abortion is, including cases where the newborn is perfectly healthy. They base their argument on the premise that the unborn baby and the newborn do not have the moral status of actual persons and are consequently “morally irrelevant.”
 the rest

A.S. Haley: Does Obamacare Negate Its Own Insurance?

posted February 28, 2012

A brief recently filed by the Institute for Justice as a friend of the court (amicus curiae) in the Obamacare case now pending before the United States Supreme Court raises a most interesting point: contracts must be entered into voluntarily to be valid and enforceable. (This is what lawyers call "hornbook law": it is fundamental to the law of contracts, and has been with us since the very beginnings of the legal system.)

A contract entered into under duress, such as threat of sanctions, retaliation or punishment, on the other hand, is unenforceable, and may be set aside in court. That is because to make a valid contract, the law requires a "meeting of the minds" -- two individuals must come freely together, and freely decide and agree on the same terms for their contract. If one of those minds is under duress, it cannot meet the other in the free and voluntary sense which the law requires to make a contract.

The so-called "individual mandate" in Obamacare requires that everyone purchase a healthcare insurance policy, under threat of fines and, eventually, imprisonment for refusal to pay the fine. A more classic case of forcing people into a contract under duress could scarcely be imagined. the rest

Obama: Pastor-in-Chief

The Curate’s Egg: Political Language in Religion Reporting

Tuesday, February 28, 2012
by George Conger

Reporting on the Anglican Communion and its religious wars is a tricky business. The path of least resistance for most reporters is to secularize the fight, splitting the combatants into liberals and conservatives and placing the dispute within the context of America’s culture wars.

Now this is not wrong, merely incomplete. There are partisan political considerations at work in the fight within the Episcopal Church — one faithful gauge of the theological temperature of an Episcopal congregation are the bumper stickers found on the cars in the parking lot on Sunday mornings. In 2008 Obama or McCain stickers were good indications of the political and theological sentiments of the parish.

The Episcopal Church’s statistical office has reported — for years — that in the aggregate the lay people (the folks in the pews) are evenly divided between self-identified liberals and conservatives. But congregations are for the most part monochrome. This lack of diversity at the roots is also represented in the bureaucracy at the national and diocesan church offices. They are a mirror to their masters.

So on one level, the left/right split is a useful shorthand for reporters when covering the Episcopal Church. And when you go to the sources for information in an Episcopal or Anglican story you will likely speak to someone on a particular side. the rest

Anglican Unscripted Episode 30

Posted February 29, 2012

Kevin and George bring you tragic news from the Diocese of Recife and the murder of Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti and his wife Miriam. They also recall their memories of Bishop Robinson and his ministry in Brazil and the Anglican Communion.

Ethicists Argue in Favor of ‘After-Birth Abortions‘ as Newborns ’Are Not Persons’

Is it a keeper?

February 27, 2012

Two ethicists working with Australian universities argue in the latest online edition of the Journal of Medical Ethics that if abortion of a fetus is allowable, so to should be the termination of a newborn.

Alberto Giubilini with Monash University in Melbourne and Francesca Minerva at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne write that in “circumstances occur[ing] after birth such that they would have justified abortion, what we call after-birth abortion should be permissible.”

The two are quick to note that they prefer the term “after-birth abortion“ as opposed to ”infanticide.” Why? Because it “[emphasizes] that the moral status of the individual killed is comparable with that of a fetus (on which ‘abortions’ in the traditional sense are performed) rather than to that of a child.” The authors also do not agree with the term euthanasia for this practice as the best interest of the person who would be killed is not necessarily the primary reason his or her life is being terminated. In other words, it may be in the parents’ best interest to terminate the life, not the newborns.

The circumstances, the authors state, where after-birth abortion should be considered acceptable include instances where the newborn would be putting the well-being of the family at risk, even if it had the potential for an “acceptable” life. The authors cite Downs Syndrome as an example, stating that while the quality of life of individuals with Downs is often reported as happy, “such children might be an unbearable burden on the family and on society as a whole, when the state economically provides for their care.” the rest  image

First Things: Infanticide Moves Off the Fringe

SHOCK: Ethicists justify infanticide in major medical journal

I bet Pete Singer is happy.

California govt. mailing condoms to teenagers at home in unmarked envelopes

by Thaddeus Baklinski
Mon Feb 27, 2012

(LifeSiteNews.com) - The California Department of Public Health has begun a program of providing free condoms by mail to children as young as twelve.

The Condom Access Project (CAP) was rolled out the week of February 14th in Alameda, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Kern and parts of San Francisco counties under the direction of the California Family Health Council. These areas were chosen, according to the STD Control Branch of the Department of Public Health, because of the high rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and infections among teens in these counties.

Teenagers are directed to a website, TeenSource.org, where, after filling out the request form, they can have a free package of ten condoms along with lubricant and sex-ed literature mailed to their home addresses in a plain yellow envelope. the rest

Church Ordered to Stop Giving Away Free Water

By Todd Starnes/TWITTER
posted February 28, 2012

A Louisiana church was ordered to stop giving away free water along Mardi Gras parade routes because they did not have the proper permits.

“We were given a cease and desist order,” said Matt Tipton, pastor of Hope Church in Metairie, LA. “We had no idea we were breaking the law.”

Tipton said volunteers from his church were handing out free coffee and free bottles of water at two locations along a Mardi Gras parade route when they were stopped by Jefferson Parish officials. The church volunteers were cited for failing to secure an occupational license and for failure to register for a sales tax. the rest-sales tax on free water?

The sheriff’s department said there was “no validity to their complaint whatever their complaint may be.”

Albert Mohler: The Santorum Predicament: A Sign of the Times

Monday, February 27, 2012

Excerpt:
You do not have to agree with the way Rick Santorum chooses to argue on all issues to recognize the central predicament he represents. Far more Americans that we would like to think agree with Maureen Dowd more than with Rick Santorum. The moral convictions Santorum articulates are deeply rooted in the Christian inheritance of Western civilization, but the denial of that inheritance has been a central aim of moral progressives for years. Even many who style themselves as moral conservatives live like moral liberals, with the rules intended to regulate the lives of others, rather than their own.

When moral conservatives reveal their reasoning, the elites hear the launch of a new Inquisition. It is simply incomprehensible to them that sane, rational, educated people might still believe in the Father of Lies. When Catholic Rick Santorum speaks theologically at Catholic Ave Maria University, the secular elites go into toxic shock. The same would be true of an Evangelical politician who would speak theologically of such issues at a truly evangelical college. Speak on love and you will not be in much trouble, but admit that you believe in the Devil and the press corps will go into apoplexy.

Pete Wehner of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington recently argued that Santorum’s main problem is “his rhetorical approach to social issues.” As he explained, “The danger for Santorum is that, fairly or not, these statements and stands, separately and (especially) combined, create a portrait of a person who is censorious and sits in critical judgment of the lifestyle of most Americans.”
the rest  image by Marc Nozell

Finally, Rick Santorum attracts protests on college campuses because people believe him when he speaks. William McGurn of The Wall Street Journal pointed out recently that, even as Rick Santorum opposes same-sex marriage, so did Barack Obama when he ran for the White House in 2008 (and, at least in terms of official statements, even now). But Santorum gets jeered and Obama gets a pass. Why? McGurn understands: “There’s no mystery why. Mr. Santorum is attacked because everyone understands that he means what he says.”

Cardinal George: All Catholic hospitals will close in two years under HHS mandate

by Ben Johnson
Mon Feb 27, 2012

(LifeSiteNews.com) – Chicago’s Francis Cardinal George is warning the HHS contraception/abortifacient mandate will close Catholic hospitals and universities or force them to secularize, a process he calls “a form of theft.”

If the regulation is not rescinded, the Catholic Church will be “despoiled of her institutions,” he said in a column printed on CatholicNewWorld, likening the proposed policies to the restrictive “freedom of worship” allowed in the Soviet Union.

“What will happen if the HHS regulations are not rescinded?” he asked. A faithful ministry must choose between selling itself to a non-Catholic group, paying “exorbitant annual fines” until going bankrupt, breaking its ties to the Church’s “moral and social teachings and the oversight of its ministry by the local bishop,” or closing down.

He urged people to purchase a copy of the Archdiocesan directory “as a souvenir,” pointing to the page containing a list of Catholic hospitals and health care institutions.

“Two Lents from now, unless something changes, that page will be blank.” the rest

Cardinal Dolan Signs the “Unacceptable” Statement
Today, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Archbishop of New York, His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan, joined Cardinal Newman Society president Patrick Reilly and more than 500 leading scholars, university presidents and other academic administrators, activists, and religious leaders from a multitude of faiths in a statement rejecting the federal government’s contraceptive mandate...

Are the mainline Protestant splinter churches a new Reformation or old news?

By Daniel Burke
February 27, 2012

There’s a popular saying in church-planting circles: It’s easier to make babies than to raise the dead.

That principle applies to denominations as well, said the Rev. Paul Detterman, who helped found the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians in January.

“We thought it was easier in the long run to create something new rather than to keep on trying to modify existing forms,” he said.

The “existing form,” in Detterman’s case, was the Presbyterian Church (USA), which remains the nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination despite a decades-long plunge in membership.

The ECO may steepen that decline. Thousands of conservative Presbyterians, upset over the PC(USA)’s vote to lift its ban on partnered gay and lesbian clergy last year, are eyeing the new group. Planning for the ECO, which will not ordain sexually active gays and lesbians, preceded the gay clergy vote, Detterman said.

Nonetheless, the ECO represents the third new mainline Protestant denomination since 2008 to split from a national church following votes to permit partnered gay clergy.

The Anglican Church in North America formed in late 2008, five years after the Episcopal Church consecrated an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire. In 2010, a year after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to allow partnered gay and lesbian clergy, conservatives formed the North American Lutheran Church. the rest

The Case for the Bible

posted February 27, 2012

What is the Bible to us, and why is it important?

Why do we use the Bible as the primary source of wisdom to guide our church? Isn’t it rather dated, and reflecting mostly the values and biases of the ages in which it was written? Can’t we somehow find something more inspiring which is a bit more contemporary?

At our church the Bible is considered the primary and most authoritative way in which God speaks to us. It was written by various writers from roughly 3000 BC to about 90 AD. Many of the older parts, such as Genesis, Job, and the Psalms were originally passed on through oral tradition, and predated their written form by several hundreds of years. Yet in both the oral and the written forms, and through each of the writers, we believe that the Holy Spirit inspired the entire process to insure that what we have in our hands is the word of God and God’s principal way of revealing his will to us.

Human nature does not change with technology or with cultural differences and so the fundamental dealing between God and man is no different today than it was when God spoke to Abraham, or when the prophets cried out against the sin of Israel in the Old Testament. How we deal with God, or marriage and sexuality, or money, or the authority of one person over another has not changed in all of human history. We are counseled by David’s great Psalm 51 of the need for repentance of sin, Jesus’ words at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 for practical applications of our faith walk and having a right heart, Paul’s Epistle to the Romans describing how we are saved by faith and not by doing good works and much more. The Bible gives us the path to salvation, first through the people of Israel who he called to have a special relationship with him, and now through Jesus Christ who calls all to know God through Jesus’ atoning death, and through his live-giving resurrection.

We at Holy Trinity find the Bible to be God’s revelation to the world. We are not free to ignore it, change parts of it which we find uncomfortable, or to come up with tortured interpretations of the Bible which allow us to accommodate it to the cultural fads of the day. As the second epistle of Peter reminds us, the Bible can sometimes be “hard to understand,” and people can “twist" the scriptures "to their own destruction”. We dare not do that!"

We believe it takes disciplined reading, study, and prayer to deal properly with the Bible and to help us plumb its meaning today. The Bible can speak equally to an uneducated man with only an 8th grade schooling, or to the scholar with advanced college degrees and letters after her name. For a Christian to be faithful to God, approaching the Bible with a discerning and inquiring heart and taking it seriously is a must, not an option.

This article will appear on the new Holy Trinity Church Website (temporary website here) which is in development. -PD image

AU: Bishop defends gay priest appointment

The Anglican Bishop of Gippsland has defended his decision to appoint an openly gay priest to a local parish, saying he has acted appropriately
27 February, 2012
By ABC Gippsland

Bishop John McIntyre, says his decision to appoint Reverend David Head, who formerly held a position within a Melbourne parish, to the parish of Heyfield is in line with the policy of his diocese.

Bishop McIntyre's decision was criticised by a group called the Anglican Church League who, according to reports, had claimed that the appointment was in conflict with a resolution made at the Anglican Bishop's 1998 Lambeth Conference.

But Bishop McIntyre says the recommendation from that conference pertained particularly to the ordination of gay priests.

"If they think that I have acted against the Lambeth resolution, they need to think again, because I didn't actually ordain this man. He was ordained over 30 years ago in the diocese of Melbourne," Bishop McIntyre said.

"For the last nearly ten years, David has been a priest in a parish in the diocese of Melbourne where, when he was inducted into that parish the bishop of the day welcomed not only him, but his partner Mark into the life of the parish and the people of that parish were well aware that David was in that relationship, living in the vicarage of that parish.

"I see myself simply as having appointed to a position in this diocese a person who was, to use the formal language, 'a priest in good standing in his previous diocese.' To that extent I don't see myself as having acted against either the Lambeth statement, nor do I see myself as having acted against a resolution of the general synod of our national church here in Australia."

He said the Gippsland diocese had a policy of welcoming gay and lesbian people and he himself had declared that policy in a speech to his synod last year. the rest

Brazil: Bishop Cavalcanti murdered

Recife bishop and wife killed by their adopted son
February 27, 2012
By George Conger

The Diocese of Recife reports that Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti and his wife were murdered in their home in Olinda in Northeastern Brazil last night. The bishop's adopted son is alleged to have knifed his parents following a quarrel.

On 26 February 2012, at approximately 10:00 pm the bishop returned to his home in Olinda after having visited a parish earlier in the day. The bishop’s son is alleged to have pulled a knife on his father and stabbed him.

Mirian Cavalcanti, the bishop’s wife, attempted to intercede and was stabbed also. The two died at the scene.

The bishop’s son, who had lived in the United States, sources tell Anglican Ink, is believed to have had a history of drug abuse and petty crime. His parents took him into their home in Brazil after the son was deported from the U.S. the rest

Documents: PETA kills more than 95 percent of pets in its care

02/24/2012
By Alexandra Myers

Documents published online this month show that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an organization known for its uncompromising animal-rights positions, killed more than 95 percent of the pets in its care in 2011.

The documents, obtained from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, were published online by the Center for Consumer Freedom, a non-profit organization that runs online campaigns targeting groups that antagonize food producers.

Fifteen years’ worth of similar records show that since 1998 PETA has killed more than 27,000 animals at its headquarters in Norfolk, VA.

In a February 16 statement, the Center said PETA killed 1,911 cats and dogs last year, finding homes for only 24 pets. the rest

Seven U.S. soldiers wounded after Afghan NATO base attacked

By Fraidoon Elhaam and Hamid Shalizi
 Sun Feb 26, 2012

KUNDUZ/KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Seven U.S. military trainers were wounded on Sunday when a grenade was thrown at their base in northern Afghanistan, police said, as anti-Western fury deepened over the burning of the Koran at a NATO base.

Despite an apology from U.S. President Barack Obama, riots raged across the country for a sixth day on Sunday against the desecration of the Muslim holy book at a NATO air base at Bagram. Some protesters hoisted the white Taliban flag.

The Afghan Interior Ministry identified one of its employees as a suspect in the fatal shooting of two U.S. officers in its headquarters a day earlier, an attack that prompted NATO to recall its staff from ministries.

One civilian was killed, 15 more were wounded and three policemen injured in riots near the NATO base in northern Kunduz province, where the blast that wounded the Americans took place, regional police chief Samihullah Qatra told reporters. the rest

Afghan protesters hurl grenades at US base

Insult to WWII heroes: Graves of British troops smashed and desecrated by Libyan Islamists in protest over U.S. soldiers' Koran burning

Canada: Madness after girl, 4, draws gun pic at school

Dad: 'I'm picking up my kids and then, next thing you know, I'm locked up'
Sunday, February 26, 2012

A father has been arrested, strip-searched and hauled in for questioning – all because his four-year-old daughter drew a picture of a gun at school.

“I’m picking up my kids and then, next thing you know, I’m locked up,” Jessie Sansone, 26, told the Waterloo Region Record in Canada. “I was in shock. This is completely insane. My daughter drew a gun on a piece of paper at school.”

Sansone, a Kitchener resident, had arrived at Forest Hill public school to pick up his children when he was called to the principal’s office. Three police officers informed him he was being charged with possession of a firearm. Then he was escorted out of the school, handcuffed and locked in the back of a police car.

According to Sansone, he didn’t learn what had caused the investigation until hours after his arrest. Other officers arrived at his home, where they instructed his wife to come to the police station and took his other three children to Family and Children’s Services to be questioned. the rest

Where’s the liberal media when a child’s hand drawing of a gun leads to strip searches?

The Case for Liturgy

Why Liturgy Rather Than a Service of Spontaneous Prayer?
posted February 25, 2012

Why does our church engage in worship using a liturgy of written prayers handed down and compiled in a Prayer Book?  Isn’t spontaneous prayer a much better way to connect with God?  These are excellent questions which deserve thoughtful answers.

Our Sunday morning worship follows a pattern of liturgical prayer which is two thousand years old.  Our liturgy seeks to touch all the bases of how we relate to God through confession, thanksgiving, praise, petition, intercession, and adoration.  In the creeds we are reminded of the nature of the Holy Trinity (our namesake) and what each of these three persons of God does in our lives.  In the confession we are called to reflect upon our sin and to confess to God and to amend our ways.  In the Eucharistic prayer we recall what Jesus did to redeem us from sin and how he makes a covenant with us between God and man.  Holy Communion allows us a time to partake of Jesus just as the apostles did at the Last Supper.  Our hymns and songs (some traditional, others contemporary) contain words and music which seek to engage us with God in his many aspects.  The lectionary of three Bible readings, Old Testament, New Testament Epistles, and Gospels, seeks to walk us through the entire Bible so that we don’t pick and choose our scripture readings based on the personal preferences of a pastor.

Each of the seasons of the church which we celebrate reminds us of a different aspect of God’s work among his people.  We have Advent for a time of waiting and anticipating the LORD’s coming to us.  We celebrate Christmas for the incarnation of God coming to be man.  Epiphany is a day and a season for the revelation of God to all mankind and the need for evangelism to proclaim his Gospel.  Lent is a time for penitence and a turning back to God from our sin.  Holy Week reminds us of Jesus’ passion and death.  Easter celebrates Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.   Pentecost shows us the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit with us.  Other seasons and feasts of the church are there to remind us of each part of our faith, or notable saints who  have served Christ by their lives and deaths.

We are not slaves to our liturgy.  It is an aide to worship, not the ultimate end to worship.  There are plenty of times when we can and should spontaneously pray to God in our own words, both in our worship services, and in our private prayer times. The liturgy reminds us of each aspect of God and our faith in him.  It frees our personal and private prayer times to engage God fully in all of his many facets.

Our liturgical prayer is not a hindrance to personal spontaneous prayer, but rather it enables us to get the most out our of improvisational prayer time with God.  It also helps to guide us so that our prayer is not ruled by our personal preferences and choices, but rather by the time-honored way that men and women of God have focused their prayer life over the entire history of the church.  The Holy Spirit works through both liturgy and through spontaneous prayer.  Using both we seek to tap all of God's resources for our worship services.

This article will appear on the new Holy Trinity Church Website (temporary website here) which is in development. -PD
(Picture by Raymond Dague)

'Voice of God' Alarms Installed in England Churches to Scare Away Thieves

By Setrige Crawford , Christian Post Reporter
February 24, 2012

Many churches in England plan to install "voice of God" alarms to their roofs to scare away thieves who strip off lead and copper.

The churches plan to hide movement sensors in the structures of their roofs that will set off a booming voice to startle intruders, according to the Telegraph. The "voice of God" alarm will let them know that they have been detected and that security is on their way.

The initiative in response to the "catastrophic" rate of metal thefts with an average of seven churches targeted every day. The plan is backed by the Church of England, the Association of Chief Police Officers and Home Office. the rest

Cat knows how to sign 'eat' and get attention

7 states sue to block contraception mandate

February 24, 2012

Lincoln, Neb. – Seven states filed a lawsuit Thursday to block the federal government's requirement that religious organizations offer health insurance coverage that includes free access to contraception for women.

The attorney generals of Texas, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Carolina jointly filed the lawsuit in a Nebraska US District Court.

Two private citizens, two religious non-profit organizations and a Catholic school also joined the lawsuit against the contraception mandate, which is part of President Barack Obama's sweeping health care law. the rest

 Pharmacists: No, birth control will not pay for itself under Obama mandate

Praised by Vatican official, 'Doonby' hitting screens

Rome report calls movie 'thriller with a haunting finale'
Anita Crane

As religious ministers and lay people across America protest President Obama’s abortion drugs mandate, on Friday the life-affirming movie “Doonby,” starring John Schneider, opens in Dallas, Texas, and Chattanooga, Tenn., with high praise from a Vatican official and other Christian leaders.

In its Feb. 12 edition, L’Osservatore Romano, the semi-official newspaper of the Holy See that typically focuses on official church and papal affairs, included a most unusual feature: a glowing review of “Doonby.”

Father Gianfranco Grieco, O.F.M. Conv., office head of the Pontifical Council for the Family, declared that “Doonby” is a “moving and thought-provoking psychological thriller on many levels with a haunting finale that will linger in your mind and obsess your consciousness as you tackle a puzzle that will challenge each and every perception or conviction while you experience forlorn feelings of speechlessness and shock, but ultimately of liberation!” the rest

Abortion's toll tackled in the film 'Doonby'

Homeschooling families can’t teach homosexuality a sin in class says Alberta gvmt

by Patrick B. Craine
Thu Feb 23, 2012

(LifeSiteNews.com) – Under Alberta’s new Education Act, homeschoolers and faith-based schools will not be permitted to teach that homosexual acts are sinful as part of their academic program, says the spokesperson for Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk.

“Whatever the nature of schooling – homeschool, private school, Catholic school – we do not tolerate disrespect for differences,” Donna McColl, Lukaszuk’s assistant director of communications, told LifeSiteNews on Wednesday evening.

“You can affirm the family’s ideology in your family life, you just can’t do it as part of your educational study and instruction,” she added. the rest

Bill to Allow Organ Farming from Unconscious Patients!

Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wesley J. Smith

Good grief! A Maryland state legislator has filed a bill that would allow surrogate decision makers to “donate” kidneys and liver lobes. From HB 449:

THIS SUBSECTION APPLIES ONLY TO A PATIENT WHO HAS BEEN CERTIFIED UNDER § 5–606(B) OF THIS SUBTITLE TO BE IN A PERSISTENT 8 VEGETATIVE STATE.
(3) A PERSON AUTHORIZED TO MAKE HEALTH CARE DECISIONS FOR ANOTHER UNDER THIS SECTION MAY AUTHORIZE THE DONATION OF A NONVITAL ORGAN IF THE DONATION IS BASED ON:
(I) THE WISHES OF THE PATIENT AS PREVIOUSLY EXPRESSED BY THE PATIENT; OR
(II) A DETERMINATION BY THE SURROGATE THAT THE DONATION IS CONSISTENT WITH THE PATIENT’S RELEVANT RELIGIOUS AND MORAL BELIEFS AND PERSONAL VALUES.

Unconscious patients would hardly seem to be in a state of health to permit such surgeries. But surely when people can’t make their own decisions, surrogates–as fiduciaries–must work solely for the medical benefit of the incompetent person. the rest

Iran’s grand ayatollahs: Earth belongs to Muslims, end is near

02/23/2012
By Reza Kahlili

Iran’s economy is struggling because of crippling new restrictions on the country’s financial system, but no amount of sanctions will keep the mullahs from their headlong pursuit of nuclear weapons, which they hope will help usher in Islamic dominance of the world. The religious leaders believe it is their responsibility, as foreshadowed by the Quran, to bring about nuclear war to facilitate the coming of the last Islamic Messiah.

Two Iranian grand ayatollahs are now saying that the Earth will soon be under the feet of Muslims, as promised by the Quran. the rest

Richard Dawkins: I can't be sure God does not exist

He is regarded as the most famous atheist in the world but last night Professor Richard Dawkins admitted he could not be sure that God does not exist.
By John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor
24 Feb 2012

He told the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, that he preferred to call himself an agnostic rather than an atheist.

The two men were taking part in a public “dialogue” at Oxford University at the end of a week which has seen bitter debate about the role of religion in public life in Britain.

Last week Baroness Warsi, the Tory party chairman, warned of a tide of “militant secularism” challenging the religious foundations of British society.

The discussion, in Sir Christopher Wren’s Sheldonian Theatre, attracted attention from around the world. the rest

UK: Occupy Protesters outside St Paul’s lose their eviction appeal

PROTESTERS outside St Paul’s Ca­thedral are expected to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, after the Court of Appeal refused on Wednesday to allow them to appeal against a High Court eviction order.

The Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, dismissed claims by Occupy London that the eviction planned by the City of London Corporation contravened their rights of freedom of expression and association, as set out in the European Convention on Human Rights.

The “unusually persuasive” case for eviction “easily outweighs” that of the protesters, he said, citing the extent and duration of the obstruction of the highway, the public nuisance, and the impact of the camp on the rights of worshippers at the cathedral. the rest

Time To Stamp Out Ugly Polyphobia

Bill Muehlenberg
23.2.12

Excerpt:
This is the twenty-first century after all. We are no longer back in the Stone Age. We all now know that marriage is about love only, not gender, or number, or even object. Love is whatever you want it to be, so let’s go the whole hog here.

Indeed, many homosexual activists have long championed such a complete liberationist view of marriage. For example, back in 1972 the US-based National Coalition of Gay Organizations issued its Gay Rights Platform. It offered, in part, this list of demands:

“7. Repeal of all laws governing the age of sexual consent.

8. Repeal of all legislative provisions that restrict the sex or number of persons entering into a marriage unit; and the extension of legal benefits to all persons who cohabit, regardless of sex or numbers.”

There you have it folks. The sky’s the limit. They have been arguing this for decades now. Yet whenever our side mentions the obvious slippery slope from same-sex marriage to group marriage, the other side spits chips and claims we are fear mongering and making all this up.

The truth is, the one follows on perfectly from the other. The arguments for one are exactly identical to the arguments for the other. This sexual anarchy is all of a piece. Once you decide that marriage must be dismantled, then anything goes. Everything is now up for grabs. the rest

Nothing tends more to cement the hearts of Christians...

Nothing tends more to cement the hearts of Christians than praying together. Never do they love one another so well as when they witness the outpouring of each other's hearts in prayer. ...Charles G. Finney image by Piotr Drabnik

Christian Clubs Told to 'Stop Whining,' Meet in Homes Like in Communist China

Stephanie Samuel , Christian Post Reporter
February 22, 2012

NASHVILLE – An Americans United for the Separation of Church and State official told Vanderbilt University Christians to "stop whining" about the institution's all-comers policy and hold their meetings in private homes like Christians in communist China.

During the 2012 National Religious Broadcasters Convention's public policy debate on Tuesday, AU Executive Director Barry W. Lynn defended Vanderbilt's right as a private institution to impose a campus-wide nondiscrimination policy that could potentially drive religious student organizations off campus.

Those who oppose the policy, he said, should "get over it" and "stop whining."

"I would suggest that people in this position – to use a phrase on a button in my dentist office that he always wears when he works, it says, 'stop whining.' I'd say stop whining here. Why not do what evangelicals do: go out into the world, out into the community [and] have your meetings, if you have to, off campus. Show your faith [and] meet with students not in a club room somewhere in the university, but in those home churches that kept Christianity alive during the darkest days of communist China." the rest

Parents Sue: Sperm Bank Sperm Resulted in Cystic Fibrosis

by Rebecca Taylor
2/23/12

A couple in Texas is suing a sperm bank in New England because their child has cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is a devastating disease that is caused by mutations in the CFTR gene. People with cystic fibrosis have mutations in both their copies of the CFTR gene; one mutation from their father and one mutation from their mother. The Kretchmars are suing because the sperm they purchased to have their son, Jaxon, carried a cystic fibrosis mutation. So did Mrs. Kretchmar. Now Jaxon has CF. the rest

1500 year-old ‘ Syriac ‘ Bible found in Ankara, Turkey

23 Şubat, 2012

Ankara / Turkey – The bible was already in custody of Turkish authorities after having been seized in 2000 in an operation in Mediterranean area in Turkey. The gang of smugglers had been charged with smuggling antiquities, illegal excavations and the possession of explosives and went to trial. Turkish police testified in a court hearing they believe the manuscript in the bible could be about 1500 to 2000 years old.After waiting eight years in Ankara the ancient bible is being transferred to the Ankaran Ethnography Museum with a police escort...

...The bible, whose copies are valued around 3-4 Mil. Dollars had been transferred to Ankara for safety reasons, since no owners of the ancient relic could be found.

The manuscript carries excerpts of the Bible written in gold lettering on leather and loosely strung together, with lines of Syriac script with Aramaic dialect. Turkish authorities express the bible is a cultural asset and should be protected for being worthy of a museum. the rest

Turkey's 1500-Year-Old, $28M Bible Linked to Gospel of Barnabas?
The Vatican has made an official request to gain access to a 1500-year-old Bible worth $28 million currently held by the Turkish government in Ankara, Turkey. There is speculation that the Bible may be a copy of the Gospel of Barnabas – a telling of Jesus' ministry Muslims believe is part of the original Gospels.

Photocopies of the holy book's pages are reportedly worth about $1.7 million, but the relic isn't so extremely valuable just because of its age, but also because of its construction and its contents. The Bible is handwritten in gold lettering on loosely strung together animal hide and written in Syriac. Syriac is a dialect of Aramic – Jesus' native language. Aramaic itself is rarely present in today's society, as it is now only spoken in a small village near Damascus...

First robin of 2012!

Feb. 23, 2012

I have been watching for the first robin of spring and saw one in our backyard late afternoon today-Raymond grabbed his camera of course. I don't ever remember seeing one this early, but am not surprised because of the mild winter. -PD

The Coming Age of the Laity

February 22, 2012
by Christopher Manion

On the first Sunday in February, Catholics across the country heard homilies condemning the HHS mandate requiring Catholic institutions to subsidize free contraceptives for their employees. A friend of mine, shaking her head, wondered why the diktat had caught our bishops by surprise.

“How could they not see it coming?”

There are three aspects to the answer: The mandate, the bishops, and the laity.

True to form, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius cynically timed the mandate to coincide with the March For Life. No wonder her bishop barred her from the Eucharist – she could hardly have made the scandal more pointedly public. The mandate was immediately condemned and rejected by Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, USCCB President, and my own Ordinary, Bishop Paul S. Loverde of Arlington. Our bishops appear to have suddenly realized that we are at war. Good for them.

But how could they not see it coming? the rest

Pope to tweet one message a day for 40 days of #Lent

February 22, 2012

Hey there, media savvy generation -- as we enter the Lenten season, Pope Benedict XVI would like your attention, and he and the Pontifical Council for Social Communications think they know just how to get it: with one Papal tweet a day throughout the 40 days of Lent.

After all, as Msgr. Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications points out, "many of the key Gospel ideas are readily rendered in just 140 characters."

Anybody can sign up to follow the pope, whose papal message will be tweeted in English, Spanish, Italian, French, German and soon in Portuguese via @Pope2YouVatican, but this effort was conceived to bring the unfaithful back to the fold. the rest

Today's tweet:
BXVI: The Lenten season offers us once again an opportunity to reflect upon the very heart of Christian life: charity. #Lent

Euthanizing the Elderly With Macular Degeneration in the Netherlands

Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Wesley J. Smith

Excerpt:
And this is a real indictment of Dutch medical “ethics:”

The committee must therefore decide whether the patient’s suffering was caused by a medically recognised condition. In this connection it notes that, under the existing due care criteria, suffering that is unbearable with no prospect of improvement must be largely due to a medically recognised condition. However, there is no requirement that this should be a serious condition…The committee noted that macular degeneration is a medically recognised condition. There is no effective treatment for it, or any prospect of improvement. What this means is that this case is not a ‘finished with life’ situation as defined above, and that the physician’s actions lay within the medical field…The committee found that the physician acted in accordance with the statutory due care criteria.

Good grief. Culture of death, Wesley? What culture of death?
Full Essay

Albert Mohler: Casino Culture and the Collapse of Character

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Excerpt:
But all the glitz cannot hide the damage caused by casinos. Casinos attract and produce those described as problem and pathological gamblers, along with a host of others. In Gambling in America: Costs and Benefits, Grinols developed a sophisticated cost-benefit analysis in order to determine whether casinos are actually helping society, or causing harm.

His verdict: “The evidence indicates that casino gambling fails a cost-benefit test by a wide margin.”

Grinols’ research led him to estimate that the introduction of casinos in a community would produce about $34 per adult, per year. At the same time, gambling exacts a toll of far greater dimensions, estimated at between $180 and $289 per adult citizen, per year. The casinos do usually produce income, but this income is canceled out by social costs.

As Grinols documented, other problems associated with casinos include marital breakup, the abandonment of children, psychological stress, loss of employment, and suicide. the rest  image

You can dress a casino up to look like a family resort. You can disguise a casino as a high-end hotel. Nevertheless, the casino remains what it is — an engine for capturing wealth from those who are enticed to enter. State governments that authorize casino gambling are also authorizing the fleecing of their own citizens.

Archbishop Duncan’s Ash Wednesday Message

So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled with God. [I Cor.5:20]
22nd February, A.D. 2012

Ash Wednesday
Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil. [Joel 2:13]
So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled with God. [I Cor.5:20]

TO ALL WHO SHARE IN THE LIFE OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA:

Beloved in the Lord,

We have come again to the awesome season of Lent. The name of the season comes from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning spring. Our English word lengthen comes from the same root, for this is the season when days lengthen in the Northern Hemisphere. This is the season when we, too, are lengthened or stretched because we are invited to get our relationship with our God and our relationships with each other restored and renewed. Getting things right is hard work, often painful work, but from the effort comes the immense fruitfulness of an Easter and Pentecost – a summertime, if you will – of our souls. Lent is when I must prune my roses – and when I need to allow my Lord to prune me – so that a riot of color and beauty and fragrance can occur in a couple months’ time.

As I have said my prayers in recent days, I have had a very strong sense that it was time to write you again, both to invite you into the opportunity of Lenten discipline and devotion and to share with you the results of some of the corporate pruning our God has already been engaged in. the rest

Christ is the wisdom of God...

Christ is the wisdom of God; and in the knowledge of this Christ there is wisdom for you. Not wisdom only, but life, forgiveness, peace, glory, and an endless kingdom! Study Him! Acquaint yourself with Him! Whatever you are ignorant of, be not ignorant of Him. Whatever you overlook, overlook not Him. What ever you lose, lose not Him. To gain Him is to gain eternal life, to gain a kingdom, to gain everlasting blessedness. To lose Him is to lose your soul, to lose God, to lose God's favour, to lose God's heaven, to lose the eternal crown! ...Horatius Bonar image

BREAKING NEWS: Iran Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani Facing Execution “Firm In Christ”

By Stefan J. Bos
Wednesday, February 22, 2012

TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani facing imminent death has urged his church to remain "firmly in Christ" shortly after a court apparently ordered his execution, a church official told BosNewsLife.

Nadarkhani was still alive Wednesday afternoon local time, February 22, but it remained unclear when he would be hanged on charges of "apostasy" or "abandoning Islam", confirmed the pastor's Church of Iran council member Firouz Khandjani.

The Lakan Prison, near the pastor's northern home city of Rasht, is viewed as notorious by rights activists as several inmates were allegedly "secretly hanged" their, without a fair trial. Nadarkhani, who is married with two children, was however "allowed yesterday to speak with his wife from prison," said Khandjani.

"He did not speak with her about the court order. However he urges his church to stay firmly in Christ," the church official added. A lawyer of Nadarkhani was informed about the execution order, although the defense team has not yet received official written notification from the court. the rest

PAKISTAN – Christian students discriminated at University because they “do not know the Koran by heart”

Epic Skies: time-lapse of the American southwest

 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. Isaiah 35:1-2

Story

Finding Lent resources at Lent & Beyond

The links below to the blog Lent and Beyond are great place to go to help make a Holy Lent! -PD

ALL LENT ENTRIES

Ash Wednesday resources

Lent Devotionals

Lent Prayers

Lent Quotes

Lent Resources (including family and children’s activities)

"Take up thy Cross," the Savior said...

"Take up thy Cross," the Savior said,

"If thou wouldst my disciple be;

Deny thyself, the world forsake,

And humbly follow after me."

Take up thy cross, let not its weight

Fill thy weak spirit with alarm;

His strength shall bear thy spirit up,

And brace thy heart and nerve thine arm.

Take up thy cross, nor heed the shame,

Nor let thy foolish pride rebel;

Thy Lord for thee the cross endured,

To save thy soul from death and hell.

Take up thy cross and follow Christ,

Nor think till death to lay it down;

For only those who bear the cross

May hope to wear the glorious crown.

...Charles W. Everest image by Elise Wormuth

Essay: A scary and simple fact: Pro-aborts don’t like people

by Kristen Walker
Mon Feb 20, 2012

Excerpt:
So I sat down just now to write and — I swear this is true — I opened up a P.J. O’Rourke book for absolutely no reason, and literally opened up to a page that said this:

The real message of the conservative pro-life position is, as the prefix indicates, that we’re in favor of living. We consider people — with a few obvious exceptions — to be assets. Liberals consider people to be nuisances. People are always needing more government resources to feed, house, clothe them, pick up the trash after their rallies on the National Mall, and make sure their self-esteem is high enough to join community organizers lobbying for more government resources.

Bingo!

Is it as simple as that? Maybe it is. Maybe abortion advocates see every accidental pregnancy as a welfare check or an unfulfilled woman who has to has to take precious time out from her freelance graphic design career to rinse out baby food jars. Whereas you and I see a baby as a beautiful joyous gift of possibility and hope and love and adorable magicness that one day grows into a man or woman who maybe invents a cure that works in 30 seconds for those sores you get on your tongue that make you feel like the world is ending.

The simple and scary fact: all those people who have turned free or cheap abortion and contraception on demand into a right and a sacrament? They don’t like people. the rest

A Convergence of Conscience and Command

Feb 21, 2012
Elizabeth Scalia

Excerpt:
This brings us to what is fractured, which would be the previously sound relationship between the U.S. Government and religious entities that—for the past 230 years—have been considered efficient and helpful co-deliverers of social services beneficial to the public good, but are suddenly become public hindrances. On January 31, the administration amended the policies of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: those working for church-related schools, or charities are no longer eligible. An administration-supporting associate informs me that the move “was showing sensitivity to the establishment clause.” As a similar explanation seems to lay behind the administrations refusal to allow the USCCB’s continued assistance in providing aid to victims of human trafficking, I suspect such “sensitivities” will soon render ineligible for federal loans those students attending church-related schools. One wonders if such a hyper “sensitivity” will eventually find religious interests ineligible to parade (or protest) on public streets.

This is of a piece with the administration’s unprecedented assault on First Amendment rights to freedom of religion and the exercise thereof, a move calculated, some believe, to eventually push the churches out of the public arena altogether and redefine freedom of religion as mere freedom of worship. That notion seems a great deal less paranoid than it did, even a week ago as, at a recent congressional hearing, Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro appeared to suggest that religious liberty doesn’t extend beyond the right to worship. the rest 

The Catholic Betrayal of Religious Freedom

In Hawaii, it’s 1984 all over again

Monday, February 20, 2012
by James Hochberg

The Hawaii Legislature is currently considering the “Hawaii Safe Schools Act,” which claims to target bullying and harassment at schools. In reality, it is a mechanism for imposing a pro-homosexual, state-mandated orthodoxy on students and teachers.

The Board of Education already has a much more balanced policy that would be uprooted by this legislation. BOE Policy 2210 requires that student discussion of issues which generate opposing points of view shall be considered a normal part of the learning process in every area of the school program. It also mandates that teachers refer students to resources reflecting all points of view, that discussions—including contributions made by the teacher or resource person—be maintained on an objective and factual basis, and that stress be placed on learning how to make judgments based on facts.

This balanced policy would be uprooted by the act. The problems start with its definition of bullying, which includes behavior that a student finds “intimidating” based on his or her “gender identity or expression [or] sexual orientation.” Even worse, “harassment” is defined simply as “annoying, or alarming…expression that causes another student…to feel uncomfortable.” Rather than focusing on the bullying activities (name-calling, physical aggression), the act focuses on how the victim feels. the rest

This means that if two students were privately discussing, for example, biblical teachings on homosexual behavior, and another student overheard the conversation and claimed to feel “annoyed” or even moderately “uncomfortable,” then the two students could be punished for bullying. The act thus poses a real danger to the First Amendment protected rights of such students

NJ: Clergy will offer ashes at train stations and shops, mobilizing Lenten ritual

Tuesday, February 21, 2012
By John Heinis

Clergy and lay members of Episcopal churches across the state will hit the streets on Wednesday, Feb. 22, to distribute ashes to mark the start of the Christian holy season of Lent.

The Church of Our Saviour in Secaucus is one of 20 churches in Northern New Jersey participating in the “Ashes to Go” program on Ash Wednesday.

The Rev. Barbara Lewis of the Secaucus church will perform the service at the Frank R. Lautenberg Train Station, located at the intersection of County Road and County Avenue, from 7 to 8 a.m.

“I thought this was a great way to reach out to people who normally would not walk into a church,” Lewis said, noting this is the first time she has participated in the event. the rest

Hey, if the people are not coming to the church you can always go to the people...

Obamacare vs. the Constitution

By Charles Krauthammer
02/21/2012

Give him points for cleverness. President Obama's birth control "accommodation" was as politically successful as it was morally meaningless. It was nothing but an accounting trick that still forces Catholic (and other religious) institutions to provide medical insurance that guarantees free birth control, tubal ligation and morning-after abortifacients -- all of which violate church doctrine on the sanctity of life.

The trick is that these birth control/abortion services will supposedly be provided independently and free of charge by the religious institution's insurance company. But this changes none of the moral calculus. Holy Cross Hospital, for example, is still required by law to engage an insurance company that is required by law to provide these doctrinally proscribed services to all Holy Cross employees.

Nonetheless, the accounting device worked politically. It took only a handful of compliant Catholic groups -- Obamacare cheerleaders dying to return to the fold -- to hail the alleged compromise, and hand Obama a major political victory. the rest

Anglican Unscripted Episode 29

Posted February 20, 2012

This week Kevin and George discuss completely outdated materials that were Indispensable 10 years ago. They also banter about Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and her role in Christian England. Also in Episode 29 your hosts delve into the differences between 815 and ACNA and provide updated announcement from AMiA Bishops and PEARUSA. After commemorating Whitney Houston and a word from Bishop Nazir-Ail on the Arab Spring your host seek help from the Unscripted viewing Audience.

Robert S. Munday: What will the Episcopal Church look like in 2030?

Common Prayer, Uncommon Beauty

By Jonathan Aitken
from the February 2012 issue

The magnificent Book of Common Prayer has been going strong for 350 years.

Last year, this column and the world celebrated the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. This year brings the 350th birthday of another magnificent monument of early modern English—the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (BCP). All who savor the riches of our common linguistic heritage should rejoice in its commemoration. For the BCP's combination of spiritual wisdom and literary beauty gives it a following far beyond the ecclesiastical frontiers of Anglicanism, Episcopalianism, and the Church of England that originally commissioned it.

The BCP was the creation of Thomas Cranmer, a Tudor statesman blessed with a genius for the writing of prose bordering on poetry. A court favorite of King Henry VIII, who made him Archbishop of Canterbury, Cranmer compiled the various prayers, collects, and orders of worship that eventually emerged as the 1662 prayer book. However, before it could be published in its final form its principal author was burned at the stake for his Reformist sympathies during a period of Catholic repression.

Although these power struggles have long since been forgotten, Cranmer's majestic command of the English language lives on. In the words of his leading biographer, Diarmaid MacCulloch: "Millions who have never heard of Cranmer or of the muddled heroism of his death have echoes of his words in their minds."

These echoes of Cranmer's gift for language ring down the centuries because he had a perfect ear for cadences that are both beautiful and eternal. He wanted "a mere ploughboy" to be able to remember the BCP's most powerful phrases. He did not hesitate to borrow from the finest spiritual writers of his time such as Miles Coverdale, an early translator of the Psalms, and Archbishop Reynolds, who authored the prayer of General Thanksgiving. the rest  image

Cananda: Catholic students can't boycott religion course, top court rules

February 19, 2012

Catholic parents in Quebec cannot keep their children out of an ethics course at school that teaches them about other religions, the country's top court has ruled.

The Supreme Court of Canada on Friday rendered its decision in a controversial case that was cast by some observers as a matter of religious freedom versus a bid by the province to increase tolerance.

The case pitted a set of Catholic parents against the school board and the province of Quebec.

Quebec's Ethics and Religious Culture program became mandatory for schools in May 2008. the rest

Albert Mohler: When the Accounts Are Called: A Christian Understanding of Gambling

Monday, February 20, 2012

The nationwide explosion of legal gambling may well be the most underrated dimension of America’s moral crisis. With the expansion of state lotteries, casino gambling, and new technologies, the gambling industry is poised to grow even further in the next decade.

According to some estimates, as much as one-third of the nation’s money supply now moves through the gambling industry each year. Looking at a recent annual economic report, management consultant Eugene M. Christiansen determined that “Americans spent more on gambling than they did on health insurance, dentists, shoes, foreign travel, or household appliances.”

The Bible is clear on this issue. The entire enterprise of gambling is opposed to the moral worldview revealed in God’s Word. The basic impulse behind gambling is greed—a basic sin that is the father of many other evils. Greed, covetousness, and avarice are repeatedly addressed by Scripture—always presented as a sin against God, and often accompanied by a graphic warning of the destruction which is greed’s result. The burning desire for earthly riches leads to frustration and spiritual death. the rest image

Gambling corrupts the culture, polluting everything it touches.

The Sacred Dogma of the Left

Feb 27, 2012
By JONATHAN V. LAST

In the conflict between the Obama administration and the Catholic church over mandated contraceptive coverage in health insurance policies, it’s easy to understand the motivations of the church. Catholics object to artificial contraception—and to abortifacients and sterilization, reimbursement for which is also mandated—as a matter of doctrine, owing to their beliefs about the dignity of the human person.

The church’s allies—evangelical Christians, Tea Partiers, and other non-Catholic conservatives—are motivated by a conviction that, theology aside, the Obamacare edict forcing the church to pay for procedures it finds morally objectionable is an unconstitutional trespass on the free exercise of religion.

But what is it that motivates those on the left? Why do they care so deeply about the kind of insurance coverage Catholic employers provide? It’s not as if NARAL and Planned Parenthood devotees are heavily represented in the workforce of Catholic institutions. And you don’t see petitions from leftwing pressure groups calling on the church to provide better dental and vision coverage, or mental health benefits. Which would, as a pragmatic matter, be much more helpful for more of the workforce than the contraceptive mandate. No, for the left, the fight isn’t about social justice or the proper scope of the state. It’s about the contraceptives. It’s about sex. the rest

A.S. Haley: General Convention, Same-Sex Blessings, and +Bennison

February 18, 2012

At its national level, the Episcopal Church (USA) becomes more and more absurd each day. Consider just the following stories:

1. Last August, two leaders of the Church's Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music (SCLM), who were involved in developing materials for same-sex blessings, presented their case in Canterbury, England for a meeting of the International Anglican Liturgical Consultation. Their presentation was not well received.

2. The SCLM went on to approve a report to and proposed resolution for General Convention 2012 on same-sex blessings. The resolution proposes a trial rite for use over the three following years, and calls for a further report to be made to General Convention 2015.

3. That paragon of episcopal virtue, the Rt. Rev. Charles E. Bennison, Jr. of Pennsylvania, immediately jumped on the bandwagon and told his clergy that approval of a rite for blessing same-sex unions at the upcoming General Convention is a certainty, and any priest in his diocese who thereafter fails to perform them on demand could face disciplinary proceedings.

Isn't that remarkable? To go from polite rejection to mandatory usage within the space of six months? As they say, it could happen only in the Episcopal Church (USA) - where the Canons mean nothing and the Constitution is play. the rest