Month: April 2012

England: It was Fun While It Lasted

England decay moral decline tyranny by Kyle Smith –
England and the rest of the UK are increasingly becoming mirrors of the capital. London is splitting into a land of surly immigrants and the governing-media-celebrity class of the well-shod who insulate themselves from everyone else and thus don’t care what is going on.

The working and middle class have been left to their own devices as they contend with absurd levels of taxation, decaying schools, horrific crime, and cultural devaluation. Try as Britain might to make 2012 about the queen and Lord Sebastian Coe (its chief Olympics cheerleader and gold medalist runner), its more relevant faces are Liam Stacey and Rhea Page. [Read more…]

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Prayer Must Be Our First Priority

Prayer First Priority Christianity by Fr. James Farfaglia –
Many times we turn to God only we have fallen flat on our face.

We all know that prayer is essential, but for many, prayer is the last thing that we do. At times, prayer is seen as a last resort when all of our own efforts have failed.

This pervasive attitude, so rooted in our can-do American view of self-reliance, reminds me of a charming story about a little boy who began to ride his bicycle for the first time.

As he rode around the neighborhood, his mom watched proudly from the front porch of their house. As the little boy rode past his house he yelled out, “Hey, mom, look no hands!” As he rode by the second time, he yelled out, “Hey, mom, look no hands!” Finally, as he rode by a third time, he yelled out, “Hey mom, look no teeth!” [Read more…]

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A Nation Addicted to Government – Getting Sober

Big Government addiction by Peg Luksik –
Anyone who has ever known a recovering alcoholic has probably heard the story of what finally caused that person to face his addiction and get sober. They also have probably heard that after the physical withdrawal symptoms have subsided, the emotional withdrawal process begins. Many recovering alcoholics find the emotional process much more arduous in the beginning, and much more freeing as they move further into sobriety.

They have to actually experience all the emotions and challenges they either deadened or escaped through the alcohol. They report that it’s almost a knee-jerk reaction to say, “I can’t do this!” and reach for the nearest bottle. It’s only when they begin to say, “With God’s help, I CAN and WILL do this!” that freedom from addiction begins.

Americans are now a nation of addicts. Only we are addicted to government. [Read more…]

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The Necessity of Christian Friendships

Abbot Tryphon by Abbot Tryphon –
In this age where secularism is on the rise, and materialism has become a major distraction from spiritual pursuits, Christian friendship has never been more important. The pursuit of personal fulfill…ment, entertainment, worldly pleasure, and the acquisition of material goods, has become the dominant theme of our age. Families that once placed the life of the Church as the center of their week, have drifted away from God. Having made idols of worldly pleasures and pursuits, their family life has become focused on transitory goals, leaving them in a state of spiritual bankruptcy. Parents who once brought their children to the temple, having lost their own way, watch those children stray far from faith.

Centered on worldly pursuits, we’ve allowed our spiritual life to be displaced by things that are transitory in nature, no longer thinking on the things of God. Our spiritual illness has infected our youth like a virus, leaving them with little to sustain them, when times get tough. The economic, political, and social instability of our age demands that we be spiritually fit, yet we give our youth virtually nothing that will help them through the hardships ahead. [Read more…]

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A Recovery That Never Comes

Road to Socialism Obama by Jeffrey Folks –
The President has been promising an economic recovery ever since 2008, when he promised to create 5 million green jobs and to “act quickly to help people stay in their homes.” With all the promises Obama made, many voters who supported him expected the economy to begin turning around early in 2009. But then, shortly after his election, Obama let it be known that the economy had been driven “into a ditch” deeper than he had imagined, and the recovery would take some time. Then he discovered that the economy he inherited was not just in a ditch, it was actually a “mess” as well. There were always new excuses for why the recovery never came.

Now it seems, just as the President was prepared to declare “mission accomplished,” the economy is slipping back into the ditch, only it’s no longer George Bush’s ditch. This ditch is entirely of Obama’s making. [Read more…]

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Christian Resurgence in Russia, Patriarch Kirill Leads Day of Prayer

Russian Orthodox Christian Bishops Patriarch Kirill by Deacon Keith Fournier –
There is a growing recognition that there is more that joins theologically faithful Catholics and theologically faithful Orthodox than that which separates us. The cultural decline compels our collaboration in Christ. It is leading us to a growing mutual respect which may pave the way toward some form of restored communion. Patriarch Kirill sees the Orthodox and Catholic Churches as “sister churches”. That is a welcome sign of the work of the Holy Spirit. We ask our readers around the globe to pray for the Patriarch and for Christians in Russia. …

We welcomed the selection of Patriarch Kirill as the 16th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in 2009. It was the first election of a Patriarch since the fall of the atheist Communist regime which governed the former Soviet Union for so many years. We, along with millions the world over, hoped it was a sign of the revitalization of the ancient faith in this critical time in history.

Patriarch Kirill is theologically and doctrinally solid – said to be a man of deep faith and courage. He is a champion of the authentic Orthodox Christian Tradition and a stalwart defender of the doctrine of the ancient Christian Faith of the First Millennium – before the first split in the Church occurred. [Read more…]

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A Society That Persecutes Christ is Heading for Terrible Trouble

Christian Persecution in the West by Charles Moore –
Politicians in the West – and atheists – ignore at their peril the benefits and power of organised religion.

This week before Easter, I chanced upon the following two quotations. The first says: “Not for 2,000 years has it been possible for society to exclude or eliminate Christ from its social or political life without a terrible social or political consequence.” The second says: “Religion taught by a prophet or by a preacher of the truth is the only foundation on which to build a great and powerful empire.”

The first is by Margaret Thatcher, opening her foreword to a book called Christianity and Conservatism, which appeared in 1990. The second appears in Tom Holland’s outstanding new book In the Shadow of the Sword (Little, Brown), which traces the rise of Islam from the ruins of the Roman and Persian empires. It comes from Ibn Khaldun, the great Muslim historian and political counsellor of the 14th century. [Read more…]

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Charles Colson: 1931-2012. May His Memory Be Eternal

Charles Colson Memory Eternal by Fr. Johannes Jacobse –
Charles Colson died today. He was 80 years old. I first met Colson at a conference at Washington, DC and was struck by his magnanimous character and intelligence. Everyone knows his story. Colson was a ruthless political operative in the Nixon administration, got caught up in the Watergate imbroglio during the Nixon administration and went to jail.

I heard him explain his experience in prison during one of his talks. It was the lowest point in his life where he had lost everything and began to question purpose, decisions, and direction. He was visited by a friend (former Minnesota Governor Al Quie) who shared with him how Jesus Christ came into the world to redeem man. Colson listened, cried out to God for help and, as his life would later prove, God heard him. His repentance was deep and lasting.

Prison opened his eyes not only to God, but the desperate conditions of other prisoners. He founded Prison Fellowship, an organization they helped prisoners while incarcerated, after they got out, and their families. The Russian Orthodox Church called on Prison Fellowship after Communism fell to help them build viable prison ministries in Russia. [Read more…]

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Remembering Chuck Colson: 1931-2012

Chuck Colson Memory Eternal
Evangelical Christianity lost one of its most eloquent and influential voices today with the death of Charles W. “Chuck” Colson. The Prison Fellowship and Colson Center for Christian Worldview founder died at 3:12 p.m. on Saturday from complications resulting from a brain hemorrhage. Colson was 80.

A Watergate figure who emerged from the country’s worst political scandal, a vocal Christian leader and a champion for prison ministry, Colson spent the last years of his life in the dual role of leading Prison Fellowship, the world’s largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families, and the Colson Center, a teaching and training center focused on Christian worldview thought and application. [Read more…]

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Religion in the Public Square: Russia Yes, America No!

Russian Orthodox Church Education by Eric Metaxas –
Two years ago, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced a pilot program in which Russian public school students would be required to take classes in either religion or ethics. The plan is part of an effort to re-moralize Russia after seventy-plus years of atheistic Communist rule.

Under the plan, students would study the history of one of the four religions termed “traditional”: Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism. Or they could take a course in secular ethics.

The two-year trial involving twenty percent of Russia’s schools went so well that, according the Asia News, Vladimir Putin, the next president of Russia, plans to expand the program to every Russian school later this year. [Read more…]

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