FAITH in Action

When Christians say we are saved by "faith alone" (as if 'faith' is simply mental ascent) I'm reminded of two scripture passages that claim otherwise. This is one of them. Faith and Works are two sides of the same coin. You can't have one without the other.

Hebrews 11 (NIV)

 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 

By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.  

What Does That Mean Anyway?

Words taken from the book,
WHAT CATHOLICS REALLY BELIEVE

Dr. Ray Guarendi & Fr. Kevin Fete 

  

 Incarnation

The greatest proof of God's desire to work through the physical world to give us grace, was the Incarnation- God taking on the form of man in Jesus Christ.

Venerate

To pay honor to someone or something, which does not detract from God's glory, but adds to God's glory. Veneration is not "adoration" or "worship" which are activities, within Catholicism, reserved for God alone.

The Great Schism

The formal split between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy in 1054.

A "woman" walks into a bathroom...

 (Dr. Stan Williams is on the road for a few weeks. 

This is his daughter, Mrs. April Thrasher, filling in.)

The latest craze of "us versus them" debate seems to be the controversy of transgender people and bathrooms, but it is not. This goes beyond the comfort status of having men in women's bathrooms. It has to do with the fact that any man can dress up as a woman and enter a woman's bathroom. But, there are bathroom stalls for privacy, right? Yes. However, you have to come out and wash your hands at some point, right? I am not saying that transgender people are pedophiles.  But now, the law has given pedophiles a "secret door" to walk through, right into the bathroom with my child.

I read something today that said.  “We have been using public restrooms for years with transgender people and no one has ever had a problem with it until now." I am not concerned about transgender people using bathrooms, I am concerned about

Mary and the Saints - Excerpt from Common Ground

Common Ground 

- What Protestants and Catholics Can Learn From Each Other

Pastor Steve Andrews & Father John Riccardo

Published and Distributed by Nineveh's Crossing. www.NinevehsCrossing.com

http://ninevehscrossing.com/CommonGround/CGOrder.php

Chapter 15 - Mary and the Saints

FR. JOHN: So, we do not worship her, we worship God alone. We do honor her, just like you honor your two friends who are back in Kenya.

PR. STEVE: Yes.

FR. JOHN: That's what we do as persons. Unfortunately you see it all too often in sports or entertainment. You know, we're going to honor people who made movies that none of us would ever go see, but somehow we're going to tell them that they were great works of art. We honor them. We honor somebody who's 6'9" who can dunk. I mean if we honor those people for doing things which have nothing to do with character, then how much more do we honor the saints, both alive and dead?

PR STEVE: For a Protestant to say I have a relationship with Jesus, that's normal. But to have a relationship with Mary, that'd be unusual. I'm really looking to understand this too. Is it to have a relationship with Peter as well? To be engaged with the history of our faith, with the people of our history?

FR. JOHN: Yeah, because our claim would be