NY Mosque Controversy…

While I am not overly happy that a Mosque is going to be built that close to a place that was destroyed, and in which many people were killed, by people claiming to be Muslim, I do feel that the right to purchase land, and build what you want there, be it religious or not, is your right. We should not be fighting this building, but rather, should be building a Christian Church across the street or in the same area with a “Rec area” as well. Have all faiths build a site there to bring faith back to the area.

I know this won’t sit well with many people, especially here in the US, but freedom of religion is a right given to us by our Constitution and something I hold close to my heart. Presuming that the owners are US Citizens, regardless of where they are getting the money to build it, that they are using local talent to build it, and they are obeying the laws of the US on the property, it is their right to do so.

Now, if we come to find that they are training terrorist there, or doing other illegal actions there, then the State should come in, close it down, confiscate it, if they legally can over the actions performed, and go from there.

Let’s all live in God, we appear to be praying to the same one, even if in different ways, and live in peace and love instead of in war!

Getting back on track…

Over the past year, I have been busy looking for a job, getting a job, changing jobs (twice changed), and becoming (or trying to) part of an existing family. During that time, I mainly, though not always, neglected my promises to God in reading and studying His Word, neglected my body, which has gotten even more out of shape, although through part of the falling apart, I have lost some weight, and have not kept up as well with my Martial Arts, Reading, and personal growth.

This week, after six months working at the Veteran’s Hospital, I am taking a week of leave. My plans for this week, which have already start include:

1. Restarting an exercise plan. (Started today already!)
2. Back to reading the Bible daily.
3. Returning to the Liturgy of Hours daily. (Praying a set of prayers 7 times a day, and associated readings.)
4. Martial Arts practice and reading.
5. Get my finances back in order.
6. Helping more about the house. (More reliably than I have been.)

I have been lazy of late in all of these aspects, and the change has to come! I need to get back in shape, which will stop some of the illnesses I have had (ulcers in the stomach, arthritis pain, left knee pain and giving out, etc), and I need to get back into spiritual shape as well!

I hope each of you have a life plan that includes health, wealth, and spiritual aspects and that you follow that plan, adjusting it as you need to!

(And I hope these few readers here keep me to this plan, by checking in on me, and by goading me along when I get lazy again!)

Mary, the Mother of Jesus

The Bible that is used by Christians tells us that Jesus was born of Mary. I do not think anyone in the Christian faiths disagrees with this.

All of the main line Christian faiths appear to state that the Trinity, God/Jesus/Holy Spirit, are one.

The Catholic Church, based on Mary being the Mother of Jesus, and God/Jesus/Holy Spirit being one entity, calls Mother Mary, the Mother of God. (Mainly in the Hail Mary/Rosary.) Is that a far stretch? I hear many Protestants complain that Mary is NOT the Mother of God. Do they believe that the Trinity of God/Jesus/Holy Spirit is one entity as their faith professes (in most cases)? If so, how far of a stretch is it to say that Mary is the Mother of God? At least in His human form?

Mary, in an effort to bring the people of God BACK to God, has been reported to appear before many people over the years. In each of these apparitions, she has requested that people come back to the beliefs of the Church created by her Son, Jesus Christ. In each case her message was about Jesus and coming back to him. She would often have the person(s) she was talking to do something to help improve and grow the Church in the name of her Son. (At least those apparitions that have been approved by the Catholic Church.) Many of these apparitions and the messages associated with them brought healing to the recipients.

The Catholic Church believes that Mary was of Immaculate Conception, meaning that she was born without sin, and that she lived a life without sin. This declaration was proclaimed in 1854, and in 1858, St. Bernadette, an uneducated little girl at the time, who had not heard those words before, received the words, “I am the Immaculate Conception” from an apparition of Mary who gave her various instructions to follow. These instructions again tried to point people to the Church and to help grow the Church.

The Catholic Church believes that Mary was ever Virgin. That she had no children after Jesus. Records, such as Protoevangelium of James, that were created in early times (in the case of Protoevangelium of James, it is estimated to have been completed within 60 years of the death of Mary), indicate that Mary was dedicated by her Mother Anna to the Church of God, and that she lived and worked in the Church as a virgin until she was of age and then was to be married to Joseph as her protector, who was an older male with offspring of his own already (wife was deceased). The original Greek word of “Brethren” used in the Bible transcripts meant includes half brothers/sisters, cousins and other close relatives, as was the custom in that time. While the Bible states that Jesus’ brethren were out side, it could well include His half brothers/sisters through Joseph, His cousins, etc. It is curious to me that there is never, in any of the transcripts from that time, that I have read or heard of, telling of Mary ever being pregnant again, and of her having any other child. The early Protestant Reformers, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli, all believed in the Ever Virgin status of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. It was their followers that sought to distance themselves even further from their Parent Church for various reasons that removed that doctrine from their faith.

In conclusion, many people of the Catholic faith, put a lot of faith and trust in Mother Mary, talk to her (pray) often and ask her for her intercession with Christ for a better life, or help in life. Who better to ask for intercessory pray that the Mother of Jesus?

Intercessory Prayer

For the past 20ish years, and even more so this past five or so years, I have heard people say that Catholics worship Mother Mary and the other Saints above God. While this may be true for some who claim to be Catholic, those that understand the Catholic faith and live by that faith in fact do not.

Most Christian people, be they Catholic, Methodist, Nazarene, etc., believe in Intercessory Prayer. That is, the process of asking someone else to pray on their behalf, or for something they feel needs prayer. For example, if someone in their family is having health issues, they may ask their Church, friends and family to pray for the improved health of that person. This is very common by most Christians. I have even heard of many Christians talk about “talking to their deceased Mother/Father/Brother/Grandfather/Grandmother” asking them for advice/etc.

Christians, by their faith, and remember, Catholics are the first Christians and are still Christians, believe that when you pass away from this world, their soul is brought up to heaven and they live on forever at the feet of God. Many Christians believe that those that have gone on to Heaven are able to watch us and hear us here on Earth…

Catholics select those Holy people that lived a very Christian life and whom they believe have been Sainted by God as a role model for their own life. In many cases they talk (pray) to that Saint asking for their intercessory prayers to God. (Who better to talk to God on your behalf than someone sitting at His feet?) The same goes to Mary, Jesus’ Mother, and our Mother, as per Jesus Himself. Being a mother, Catholics are pretty sure she has Jesus’ ear. We ask her to intercede on our behalf with her Son and ask her to help guide us towards those things that will make her Son happy with us.

Now, if a Catholic forgets to add to their prayers a prayer directly to God, they are remittances as to their faith and may need to learn more about their faith, but as a group, they are not placing the Saints or Mother Mary above God, just asking their help in communicating with God.

You may see many Catholics wearing a medal of a Saint or of Mother Mary, and in most cases it is because that is who they wish to emulate in their actions in order to get closer to God.

Dressing right for the occassion…

When you go to visit the President of the United States at his house, you will more than likely be dressed to the best you can. If you were invited to meet the Queen of England you would put on your best suit or dress and get all cleaned up for the event. If you go to visit the President, King, Queen or leader of any nation at their home, I am pretty sure in most cases you will dress up for the event.

These last few years I have seen the clothing at the Christian churches I have gone to or go to diminish to the point of people wearing shorts, t-shirt, and shower shoes. (I don’t care what you say, flimsy, plain (and in many cases “designer”) flip flops are shower shoes. Not street shoes…) Now, I am told by many that I should be happy that the person is even coming to Church. This I have to agree with. But I don’t agree with the clothing choice, and what I feel is disrespect they are showing to God. It looks like to me they are saying “Oh, I guess I better go make an appearance, so let me through my comfy cloths on so I am at least comfortable while I am there.”

The Christian faith, in general, considers God our King. The Church is by biblical announcement the House of God, our King. Give our FOUNDING King the same respect we give our Secular Kings, if not more respect! Church is not a place to be comfortable and all relaxed. It is a place to worship God in community and a place to show your respect to God. Do so with your clothing, your thoughts and your actions, not just your actions (of showing up).

Now, don’t get me wrong. If you are of low income and can’t afford a suit, nice dress, etc. Clean your best clothes you have and come to Church. BUT, if you have a nice dress or a nice suit, or can afford the same, wear it in respect of your true King!

Look back at the pictures of prior to about 20 years ago of people in the US and around the world. (I don’t know if this is happening all over the place, but it sure is all over the US as I see it!) You see each person, from the youngest child to the oldest person present wearing, proudly, their best clothing. They are PROUD of what they are wearing and they are HAPPY to wear it. Now, I understand the kids, and many of the adults, can’t wait to go home and get out of these “uncomfortable” clothes, but they are proud of what they are wearing to Church.

I can remember seeing people wearing those clothes to the after Church events such as picnics, etc, playing in the Church yard, etc. After Church and the events afterwords were over they went home and changed. If the Church had a Church meeting that evening, they remained dress and would go back to Church again, still dressed up.

Why have we gotten so self centered and moved away from showing God, our King, the respect we would show our secular Kings (Presidents/etc)?

In Christ…

The Sabbath

Over the last few weeks I have had some pretty heated and long discussions about “The Sabbath” and the 3rd Commandment of “Honor the Lord’s Day” with several people.

I am aware that the Old Testament day for the Sabbath is the 7th day of the week, from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. This is the day that the Jewish and I believe the Muslims still follow as the Sabbath. Somewhere between 75AD and 321AD Christians began celebrating the Sabbath (which translates to “day of rest”, not 7th Day, etc.) on Sunday in memory of the day Christ rose from the dead. So, for at least 1700 years now, Christians, under the Bishop or Rome (now called Pope) and the head of the Christian faith in 321AD, Christians have their Sabbath (day of rest and prayer to God) on Sunday.

Those that follow the Christian faith mostly have Sunday as their “Holy” day. There are of course exceptions, by some sects (all religions are sects in my reading of the word sect) that claim Christianity, that are on a Saturday Sabbath.

This leads to the point of honoring God’s commandment of resting 1 in 7, which for “main line” Christians is Sunday.

I can remember when I was younger that almost every store was closed on Sunday, by law, and those few that were open, mainly grocery stores, couldn’t sell some items. I’m not a big fan of having laws made by our government saying that we can’t be open on a certain day and certain items can’t be sold on that day, but I do think that ALL Christians that own a business should close on Sunday, the “official” Sabbath for most Christian faith systems. I also think that all Christians that wish to follow their faith fully should stop going to business on Sunday. Buy your groceries and gas on Saturday, go to a park and enjoy God’s creations after Church/Mass/Services instead of going to the mall and shopping or…. Go up into the mountains and enjoy the day. Sit on your porch and get to know your family again. Slow down and enjoy the life God gave us and find Him again through your faith community and His creations.

UPDATE AND CORRECTION (July 9th, 2009): I was corrected on the Muslim Holy Day. It is Friday.

???What to do…???

Well, in my post a couple days ago (here), I posted the 10 Commandments as given to us by God in the Old Testament (Exodus 20:2-17 [show]Exodus 20:2-17 [2]"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. [3]"You shall have no other gods before(1) me. [4]"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. [5]You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, [6]but showing steadfast love to thousands(2) of those who love me and keep my commandments. [7]"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. [8]"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9]Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, [10]but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. [11]For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. [12]"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. [13]"You shall not murder.(3) [14]"You shall not commit adultery. [15]"You shall not steal. [16]"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. [17]"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." (ESV) Footnotes 1. [20:3] Or 'besides' 2. [20:6] Or 'to the thousandth generation' 3. [20:13] The Hebrew word also covers causing human death through carelessness or negligence
), and made reference under the 3rd Commandment (Exodus 20:8-10 [show]Exodus 20:8-10 [8]"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9]Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, [10]but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. (ESV)
) about some issues I was having at work.

Today those issues blew up in my face (so to say). Our week at Crisp’s Dairy Treat (where I am cook, Ice Cream Man, Cleaner with the rest of the crew) goes from Thursday through Wednesday, and we get our schedules for the next week late on Wednesday. Today we got our schedule for tomorrow through next Wednesday. Each Monday, before 16:30 hours (4:30PM), we are required to post a note stating what time we need off. We do this weekly for the next weeks schedule.

At my interview, I informed the owners (Crisp be their last name) that I was a very devout Christian and that I tried to live by the Bible and Christian faith, which includes the aforementioned 3rd Commandment (as well as the rest), and that I also went to Church from 9 to 12 each Sunday (first to a Catholic Church, then to my wife’s Nazarene Church), but IF I had to, I could work in the evenings if really needed. Each Monday I turn in a note stating that I am requesting off Sunday for Religious beliefs and Religious reasons. So far, I had gotten them off.

Not this coming week. I work Sunday day… This does not have me happy and is against my belief system. I was told by Mr. Crisp that today’s society doesn’t allow for “not working on Sunday”. My response is, “that’s why there are problems in today’s society”. I was further told that he had wanted Sundays off for years after he converted to Christianity but that his company laughed at him and made him work on Sundays. This is a bad reason to make others work on Sunday if it is against their beliefs. (And what gets me is he is a Nazarene which is a Church that is trying to take their people back to Christ in a very pure way, and their by-laws very clear state, on page 41 of their manual dated 2005-2009, section 27.2.2 “Profaning of the Lord’s Day by participation in unnecessary secular activities, thereby indulging in practices that deny it’s sanctity.”) Mr. Crisp further went on to say that they stayed open because his son, who owns part of the business needed the money to pay off debt and Sunday was a busy day so they were going to stay open for that day.

Now, if I were Jewish or Muslim (and the day was Saturday) and I was told I had to work, there would be recourse. I feel that right now there is no recourse. Why is that?

I REALLY feel that I should not be made to work Sunday days. (Or evenings, but will give him that per our agreement at our initial interview.) I REALLY feel it is God’s wish that we not be working on the Sabbath, and I very much want to follow his ways.

What should I do about this issue? Sigh…

Following Christ, and what it means to me.

This past few weeks I have been looking at my actions, and how I profess my faith to the outside world… To be a Christian, one must accept God and His Son, Jesus into their heart and follow the Commandments of God (Exodus 20:2-17 [show]Exodus 20:2-17 [2]"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. [3]"You shall have no other gods before(1) me. [4]"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. [5]You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, [6]but showing steadfast love to thousands(2) of those who love me and keep my commandments. [7]"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. [8]"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9]Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, [10]but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. [11]For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. [12]"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. [13]"You shall not murder.(3) [14]"You shall not commit adultery. [15]"You shall not steal. [16]"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. [17]"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." (ESV) Footnotes 1. [20:3] Or 'besides' 2. [20:6] Or 'to the thousandth generation' 3. [20:13] The Hebrew word also covers causing human death through carelessness or negligence
being the Commandments). The rules of faith are simple:

1. I am the Lord your God, you shall not have strange gods before me.

This one seems pretty easy to do. And for me it has been.

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Again, this one is easy for me.

3. Keep the Sabbath (Sunday for Christians people, Saturday for Jewish people) holy.

This one goes on to say “No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your beast, or by the alien who lives with you”. This commandment is proving hard for me these past few months. For the past few months I have been working at a place that is ran by Christians, but is open on Sundays and expects everyone (but them) to be there if scheduled to work. When I interviewed, I said that I was a devout Christian, and could not work on Sundays. So far, they haven’t made me do so, but this past week I was originally put on the schedule for Sunday, God intervened and changed it to another day.

It appears that many people that claim to be Christian do not take this part of their faith to heart, as there are way too many businesses open for business on Sundays (or Saturdays). I would be VERY happy to work Monday through Saturday, forgo over time pay, getting straight hourly pay, but I would like to be off from 0000 Sunday morning until 0000 Monday morning. It is part of my faith (and that of many of the employers out there!), and something I should be allowed to follow!?

4. Honor your father and mother.

This one I have not followed to well for the past 40ish years. (And I’m only 47 as I type this!!) I am working on honoring my parents better and trying to mend fences with them and become better with the whole family. Pray for me on this one!

5. You shall not kill.

Easy for me, I have no desire to kill anyone!

6. You should not commit adultery.

Not a problem for me. Many people fail in this area, and I have in the past, I have come to understand this commandment better, and have fixed this part of my life! May God forgive me for my past!

7. Do not steal.

Not a problem for me. Many people fail in this area, and I have in the past and have felt bad each time I did, often finding a way to pay for what I stole after the fact, I have come to understand this commandment better, and have fixed this part of my life! May God forgive me for my past!

8. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.

I have some issues of not telling the whole truth, but endeavor to always tell the truth or try not to talk. I pray on this one daily!

9. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife.

Easy for me.

10. Do not covet your neighbor’s goods.

This one is hard as I like things I see and often want what others have. I need to go back to the time I began my Postulate stage with the Brothers and Sisters of Reconciliation and re-purge my items, keeping only what I need for day to day life and for work. I pray on this one daily as well.

And the 11th “new” commandment that Jesus gave us:

11. Love one another as I have loved you.

This one is hard for me. There are many people out there that do things or behave in such a way that it makes me hard to love them. This one I really need to dig down inside myself, trust in God and love everyone. Easier said than done though…