This post was written in 2009 after an intense time of wrestling through a season of unbelief, believing that my acceptance and approval had to do with my performance for God instead of God's performance for me. The irony of this was that during this season of struggle I became further aware of the sin below the service oops surface (funny that I would accidentally type service, I'm just going to leave it there in case it speaks to you. I meant surface but many perform service thinking that service is what justifies us before God.) It was a further realization that the sin that resided in the dark recesses of my heart could not be changed by my behavior. I needed a reawakening. I was praying for more of the Holy Spirit when Christ tenderly reminded me that I have all of Him. I didn't just have some of the Holy Spirit, I have all of Him and He is completely perfect and capable to help me in my times of trouble. What I needed was to take hold of, by faith, in what I already had. It was my unbelief that kept me from taking hold of Him. It was only then that I began to realize that no matter how hard I tried I could not change my heart, only Christ can change the inner man. He also showed me that the more I focused on Me the less I focused on Him and His unfailing love for me. The temptation to make my salvation based on what I do instead of what has already been done for me is the temptation to believe I am saved by what I do instead of what Christ has already done for me so that I can then do. It was His desire to free me from myself so that I might then serve Him from a pure heart out of abundant gratitude for all He has secured for me. In light of what He has done for me, the therefore's of the Bible are not burdensome but an outpouring of my faith and love for Him.
For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants; and they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water. This one will say, 'I am the LORD's', and that one will call on the name of Jacob; and another will write on his hand, 'Belonging to the LORD,' and will name Israel's name with honor. Isaiah 44: 3-5
Jesus, stood and cried out saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.' " But this He spoke of the Spirit. John 7:37-38, 39
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." Isaiah 58:11
Are you parched? Is your Spirit in need of refreshment from the only well that never runs dry? So often, I look to the wells of the world to satisfy. I look to what the world offers and wonder why I'm exhausted, run down and discouraged. With my head hung low, I slowly come to the realization I need to look up and realize where my help comes from. I need to look up and see Him as He is and put Him in His rightful place in my life, which is in the forefront of everything. He is everything. His provisions are perfect, His water overflowing, His Spirit within me COMPLETELY PERFECT. His Spirit is more than satisfying and His Word is the means by which He satisfies. He has made provisions for every one of my days and it is up to me to trust in and take hold of these blessings, not for my glory but to be used by Him to bring Him glory and to let the Living Water within me overflow into the lives of others. Particularly my children who are walking in my footsteps and my husband who is leading the way. May my hands not tear down and instead be used to build up my family and those the Lord puts in my path. Living water, which is alive within me and bubbles up to overflowing. A fountain of grace, for no other Name could have set me free and placed my feet on the solid Rock of Jesus. His love never fails, His mercy is new every morning and His grace sufficient in weakness. As the world grows darker may my light shine brighter and the living water within me refresh those He puts in my path. May I declare with boldness all He has done for me to those who have no hope within themselves. Are you barren within, parched? Jesus has the power to satisfy and water the areas within you that are dying. He will pour down his blessing in abundance to all who ask, the blessing of Himself in the form of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit who is alive and active within us and turns our barren desolate souls into lush gardens of grace. He is our Comforter and Helper. The One who was poured out like a drink offering is the only source of life for the barren soul. The One who has declared the end from the beginning, who knew every one of our days, is the same today, yesterday and forever. No matter how dark your life is right now, He is the everlasting light. His glorious light is a beacon in darkness. For you, He has set His sights.
"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ' I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. ' Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, from the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming and the events that are going to take place. 'Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it? And you are my witnesses. Is there any other Rock? I know of none." Isaiah 44:6-8


This wasn’t submitted as a question, but I thought I’d address it because it’s seemingly a “dealbreaker” for one unchurched person I know. He could not understand why the President or any government leader should be prayed for, and also made the incorrect claim that the President is only prayed for when he is a member of a certain party.
The simple answer for why we pray for the President, along with other world, national or local leaders, is because we are directed to do so by Scripture. (1 Timothy 2:1-15). God’s Gospel message of healing, redemption, peace and justice is for all people, not just those who may share the same political views.
Second, praying for the President is hardly anything new. It’s part of a tradition that goes all the way back to the first Book of Common Prayer, when the leader being prayed for was the King of England. Since The Episcopal Church received its independence after the Revolution, every President has been prayed for, regardless of his party or religious affiliation (or lack of).
Logically speaking, government leaders should be prayed for. They have difficult jobs and have to make a lot of decisions, with a lot of pressure. In cases of leaders that some may feel aren’t being Christlike, what better way to help the situation than through prayer? Jesus didn’t act like a pundit during his earthly ministry, so why should we? (see 1 Timothy 2:1-15 for an example)


New digital outreach will profile seminary alums’ creative ministry efforts during COVID-19 pandemic
DETROIT — In-person classes might be suspended, but Sacred Heart Major Seminary’s community remains.
The Detroit seminary continues to teach classes online, prepare seminarians for ordination and train the next generation of lay leaders for the new evangelization. But Sacred Heart is more than a school — it’s a community of students, alumni, teachers and donors.
Looking to spiritually feed its community, Sacred Heart is set to launch a live video podcast showcasing how alumni in active ministry are continuing to preach the Gospel in a coronavirus-inflicted world.
Matthew Gerlach, Ph.D., dean of the seminary’s Institute for Lay Ministry, will serve as the podcast’s host.
“Many of our alumni minster as priests, deacons or lay ministers, so we’re helping them stay connected with other alums and allow them to find a sense of community in a time of isolation,” Gerlach told Detroit Catholic.
The podcast will be recorded remotely — as everything else is these days — with Gerlach hosting a video conference with guests. Audience members can submit questions during the livestream production, giving the podcast a more intimate, real-time feel, said Emily Mentock, director of creative and marketing services for the Archdiocese of Detroit, which is providing technical support for the podcast.
“We really love this platform as a way for people to join the conversation as opposed to just tuning in,” Mentock said. “People will be able to tune into the livestream, send in questions, chat and watch the conversation, which will feel more natural and conversational.”
The schedule of guests is still being determined, but Gerlach hopes to interview a range of clergy and lay alumni — he hinted a few bishops might serve as guests — to talk about the creative ways they’re ministering during the pandemic.
“Heart for Mission,” will supplement Sacred Heart’s other communication channels, such as its newsletter and magazine, Mosaic, Mentock said.
“We’re super proud of Mosaic, which is now a weekly e-newsletter, but there is something engaging about a livestream video podcast,” Mentock said.
Gerlach said the podcast has plans for three to five episodes, with a possibility of more later. If more episodes are produced, topics could expand beyond the COVID-19 crisis, he said.
“I hope our alums feel a sense of fellowship, that we’re all in this together, as we’re all trying to respond with our ministries and in our own discipleship as well,” Gerlach said. “Moreover, we want our alums to know we’re thinking about them right now.”
It’s difficult to plan for the future in the middle of a pandemic, but Sacred Heart is taking its cue from civil authorities as to when in-person classes or events might resume, Gerlach said.
“This is a time for us as a seminary to embrace digital platforms for evangelization,” Gerlach said. “I think both for students and staff, it’s been difficult, but we’re getting better acquainted with digital technology in continuing our mission.
“We’re not leaving traditional ways behind, but I think we are exploring the possibilities of digital learning, interaction and community building,” he added. “And this podcast could be a very important part of that direction.”


We have Sunday School classes for everyone! Classes begin at 9:30 AM and are held in different rooms throughout the church. We have a class for Seniors, Women, and 3 more adult classes.
We have at-home Bible studies that we call Lighthouses. They meet every other week and are studying various books of the Bible. We have 2 lighthouses this year, one in Forest Park and the other in Mt. Healthy.
Every Wednesday night during the school year at 7:00 PM our choir meets to practice songs for the upcoming Sunday. We love to have new members of the choir if you are interested, please see the Music Director Kevin Moser.
Men's Bible Study
The Men's Bible Study meets every Tuesday at Perkin's on Route 4 at 8:15 AM. This Bible Study is led by Pastor Dave,. If anyone is interested in joining, please come out to Perkin's on any Thursday.
Spice of Life
During the school year, this group of ladies meet in the Fellowship Hall on Tuesday mornings at 9:45 AM for Bible study, prayer, friendship and special occasion luncheons.


Here we try to run one of the best free christian chat rooms and religious chat room on the internet.
Our staff are dedicated to giving you an amazing christian chatting experience.
The Grove Church of Christ in Grove, Oklahoma seeks a full-time minister who passionately desires to preach, teach and equip the members for service to God.
We are a congregation of 80 members with a very nice modern building who are strongly committed to grow.
For a monthly fee, dating sites claim they'll do the math for you and spit out your soul mate in return.
Some websites gather data about you and crunch the numbers with all kinds of mathematical formulas and algorithms in order to fill up your inbox with compatible matches.
The ideal candidate will have an in-depth knowledge of God’s word, hold fast to biblical truths and is able to effectively communicate those truths for the edification of the saints and growth of the church.Technology and competition for this lucrative market has made a mockery of it.To the average person, thanks to bad press and other contributing factors, online dating has become somewhat of an un-trusted source for meeting people.In future there are also rooms for christian singles chats and christian singles dating.christian singles are a group of people that are often overlooked, so here we try to provide opportunities for christians who are single (christian singles) to get to know eachother in a normal and respectful way.If you desire to be considered for this position, please submit your resume`, contact information, salary requirements, three professional references and two of your most recent recorded sermons (preferably in front of a congregation) on DVD, Flash Drive or Thumb Drive formatted for Windows NLT 31 July 2017 to: The Grove Church of Christ, Attn: Minister Search Committee, 1001 S. For further information: (918) 786-2495 or email: [email protected]: Housing Allowance, Paid Vacation, Travel Allowance Salary: TBD Based on Qualifications Size of Congregation: 80 Elders: No Deadline: July 31, 2017 Contact Person: Gary Lane Address: 1001 S.


“Mama, can we have a tea party right now?”
“Mama, can we paint with watercolors [right now]?”
“Mama, can we make a snack (with 8 different ingredients)?”
Because my children don’t help with every aspect of preparation and clean-up in our daily lives, they don’t understand how much work is involved for each activity. Thus, I repeat often, “Almost everything takes preparation and clean-up.” Perhaps in their minds, tea parties magically assemble and then afterwards the tea cups wash themselves like we see in Beauty and the Beast. Or, paints appear when my children want to use them and disappear when they are finished. Snacks float down from the counter without effort.
But real, responsible life isn’t like that. If we want to thrive, we prioritize much of our time in preparing and cleaning up. If I want my daughter to have clean clothes for when she dresses herself in the morning, we have to wash, dry, and put away her clothes the day before. If I want to feed my family tacos before noon, I will likely need to brown and season the hamburger the night before. Then, I look to chop the veggies soon after breakfast.
Some days I step back and marvel that all five people in our family are fed and clothed. What really amazes me is that the apples went through 8 steps to become the applesauce that’s on each plate–and the dishes will go through at least 4 more steps before they are clean in the cupboard. Phew! My life is often spent (not wasted, but spent) in these simple, mundane rhythms of preparation and clean-up.
I used to theorize, “If only I didn’t need to eat every day. I would save so much time and energy for more important things!” Yet, God in all His wisdom created me with this need. In Ecclesiastes 3, He even gives us a glimpse through sagacious Solomon:
“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven…
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted…
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-7 (NASB)
While there’s a lot more to this incredible list, these three sound a lot like preparation and clean-up. God listed these among the rhythms He chose for us, His beloved children. On purpose, He created food for my body (1 Cor. 6:13). On purpose, there are seasons to plant the garden and seasons to compost the dead stalks in the garden. On purpose, there are times to build block castles and times to take them apart.
To be honest, I often find these rhythms of preparation and clean-up monotonous. Yet as I remember that all of life is marred by Adam’s fall, I realize that sin probably made these daily tasks much more cumbersome than they once were (Gen. 3:19). A fruit salad dinner is no longer just a stroll down to the orchard section of Eden. Instead, it requires months (or years) of planning, planting, and cultivating. Yet because Jesus has not abandoned us to our fallenness, but has come to live life with us, He desires to redeem these daily rhythms of preparation and clean-up. He desires to use these dish-washing and fruit slicing times to help me be the woman He created me to be. Added on top is the concept of restoration– elevating each person to the place originally intended for him or her. I can be a woman filled with grace and love while I make pancakes for my family. So, instead of cursing that I have pancakes to make and a friend I feel obligated to entertain while I make them; now, I commonly invite my people into the mess of preparation and clean-up. “Come, spend time with me and do the ordinary things I’m doing. I’m making pancakes. Up for whisking the batter?”
Just as an athlete expects drills day after day, so I expect that my today and tomorrow will be filled with preparation and clean-up “drills”. But I don’t have to stay stuck in the illusion that repetition translates into meaninglessness. Instead, I trust that these rhythms are my daily drills meant to restore me to the loving wife, mother, and woman I long to be.


During Catholic Schools Week, the Mater Dei community raised an amazing $3,033.52 for our Shave the Stash Challenge! The challenge was held for the benefit of the education fund established for the children of the late Michelle Varel, Mater Dei Class of 1997. Our students enjoyed the shaving festivities during our... Read More
On Wednesday, February 1, the Mater Dei community celebrated Vocations Appreciation Day. We were blessed to have Fr. Jim Deiters, Class of 1983, celebrate Mass and share a sermon focused on wisdom and gratitude. The junior high students of All Saints Academy and St. Paul Catholic School (Highland) also joined... Read More
On Tuesday, January 31, the Mater Dei community celebrated Faith in our Nation Day. Because we are crazy about our faith, students and faculty enjoyed wearing crazy clothing. In addition, in their English classes, students wrote letters of gratitude and prayer to our service men and women as a means of... Read More
For Catholic Schools Week Parish Appreciation Day, the following expressions of gratitude were included in the bulletins of local parishes: “In celebration of Catholic Schools Week, I express my gratitude to all the parishes that generously donate to Mater Dei. Mater Dei helps me not only build character, but also... Read More
On Monday, January 30, the Mater Dei community celebrated Student Appreciation Day! Because we have a winning combination of faith, knowledge and service, students enjoyed wearing clothing of their favorite sports teams. In addition, recognizing the continued dedication of our students, we began the day with a bit of relaxation... Read More
On Sunday, January 29, the Mater Dei community began their Catholic Schools Week celebration with Parish Appreciation Day. During Masses at their parishes, student representatives offered their gratitude to parishioners for supporting Mater Dei and Catholic education with the following speech: “Today is the beginning of National Catholic Schools Week. ... Read More
English Department Chair Mrs. Pam Zurliene (left) accepts a $500 Touchstone Energy grant from Clinton County Electric Cooperative representative Carrie Trame (right). To supplement a non-fiction unit for her English II Honors students, Mrs. Zurliene will utilize the funds to purchase titles that include biography, history, human rights, science, environmental,... Read More
On January 27, two groups of our students demonstrated their dedication to protecting life! Attending the 44th annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. were (front row from left) Katie Wieseman, Taylor Goring, Katherine Goring, Maddison Hodous, Kierstan Wascher, Susy Cowgill, Sophia Lager, Tori Voyles; (back row from left) Mr.... Read More
Please join us in congratulating our students who earned recognition on the 2016-2017 Second Quarter Honor Roll and First Semester Honor Roll.
Catholic Holy Family Society members Theresa Jansen (left) and Jim Richter (right) present a $200 donation to Director of Advancement Fr. Chuck Tuttle (middle). Catholic Holy Family Society’s generosity is greatly appreciated, as it truly makes a difference for our students!


“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called TODAY…” - Hebrews 3:12
One of my most favorite times of the year is just around the corner! It’s when the school doors are flung open wide and my nearly 600 high school students come pouring into the school building to greet friends, welcome new students and share of the summer escapades. The synergy is electrifying!
I have come to believe that for students, high school life is often correctly characterized by Charles Dicken’s opening line in “A Tale of Two Cities” when he said, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” While I love being a high school principal, I have not met many adults who wish to return to their teen years, as most would agree with the simple fact that “life is hard,” let alone life back in high school! While a new school year is exciting, it doesn’t take long before the “grind” begins and the struggle, anxiety, pain, frustration and wounding that inevitably arrives at many students’ doorsteps will come to light. The brokenness of this life cannot be avoided; but I do believe there is another way. It is possible to soften the blow and make life more bearable and even enjoyable!
To begin to uncover the answer, we must go back to when the world was perfect and God gave Adam his wife, Eve, because He said, “It was not good for man to be alone.” This is the first sign we are given that we NEED others in our lives! We were never meant to try and go at life alone. When Jesus invites us into His story, this relationship is vital and life giving...but the story gets even better as we are invited to join with a community of believers. Our faith was never meant to be individualized and privatized, but it must be rooted both in vertical community (between God and His people) and in horizontal community (among groups of Christians).
This sounds good at the onset, but here is where things get messy in high school and in Christian communities in general. The moment we really lean in and become vulnerable and honest, what quickly happens is that fear, pride and brokenness are either felt or revealed. It is then that too many recoil and withdraw from this community. For years I have watched good Christian kids play the part to try and get it right, but all the while reservedly holding back, hiding and faking that all is fine when of course it is not! Who really is fine after all? I’m not! What a weight we ask our young people to carry! This is not reasonable! Life isn’t fine, it is hard and yet young people are so afraid that if the truth came out on them, that they wouldn’t be accepted, welcomed, valued or affirmed. I have known so many teens over the years that would have loved to have confessed, “I smoked” or “I drank” or “I had sex,” or to simply say, “I feel a lot of pressure to perform and I’m pretty sure I can’t keep it up!”
If you have ever been around someone like this, words really don’t have to be spoken. If you will just stop and look for a moment, you can see it in their eyes. It happens when their “emotional cup” is full and about to run over, when the pressure is just too much. This year, like my past 23 years as an educator, I will ask a student if they are doing well and they will nod, or flash a fake smile, but I can see this is not true, for their eyes betray them and tell a different story. They are really crying out, “Who will be my friend?” “Am I important to you or anyone?” “Where is my significance? Is significance wrapped up in my success or lack thereof?” “Do I have any value?” “Will someone notice me?” “Am I worthy of anyone’s time, attention or affection?” Gentle pressing will cause the tears to begin to flow and then words of hurt, pain and sadness follow.
Today it hit me that so much of my life has been to climb a ladder: academic degrees, certifications, athletic championships, positions...just like I was trained to do...and like I am training students to do...as parents expect us to do! We challenge them to climb the ladder academically in the classes they take, their grade point average, their class rank, their ACT score, to win championships, to run for class office, to engage in a myriad of extra-curricular activities so their college resume is second to none. So they climb and climb and climb and when they climb that ladder better than anyone else, we applaud them and lift them even higher. At this point, who is really going to be honest and admit weakness or struggle?
All my life I have been extremely competitive and even enjoy climbing, BUT I am beginning to think that climbing detracts from communing. It is not in all of my goodness, that Scripture refers to as “filthy rags,” but in my poverty or great need that I meet Jesus and experience the presence of God. In places of poverty or situations of great struggle and pain, we see Jesus kneeling down in the dirt with the leper, the poor, the weak, the children, the publican, the poor in spirit. This is where Jesus seemed most at home. In fact, according to what I read in Scripture, Jesus seems to be doing a lot of hanging out at the bottom rung of the ladder. I should note that “climbing” and achieving is not an inherent evil and can actually be a great thing. But it also is the very thing that has been the downfall of great men and nations as competition and achievement can turn to idolatry and the pursuit of “lesser gods.”
While not a good school marketing pitch, I do wonder what our school would look like if our school community was more defined by being at the bottom of the ladder where Jesus regularly seemed to go. I believe a community that is more focused on what I'll refer to as the “ascent downward,” where greatest means least and first means last and strength means service, will then possibly begin to realize that:
My vision and my hope and prayer is these will be marks of our christian school community this year. Should we embrace these principles, I believe that students’ lives will be transformed and God’s kingdom will be advanced for “as long as it is called TODAY!”
(Refer to We Became Men and Ch. 8 “The Pressure of Performance” for further reading on this topic. I have seen countless men and women, young and old, paralyzed by this pressure - but it doesn’t have to be this way!)
Written by: Shawn Brower. 7/31/16
“…show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God…” – I. Kings 2:2
In a world where boyhood and adulthood are ill-defined and clear rites of passage have become close to non-existent, we see new words and ideas emerge to attempt to make sense of the quandary our male population finds itself in as it struggles for identity. Now the teen years and adult years have been blurred and extended. The term “adultscence” has emerged to define or describe this new generation of “men,” now in their late 20s and early 30s, that are paralyzed by indecision and a sad lack of understanding of what it means to be a man today. Identity confusion and exploration distract, sidetrack and stall men from good movement forward. Once again, we must return to the “old paths” to uncover or rediscover what it means for modern men to truly be men. How is this defined and who defines it for us?
Too many books have been written, pictures taken, court opinions rendered, television shows broadcasted and billboard space purchased to try and define this for us! Frankly, the answer is quite simple, and it has been right before us for thousands of years! The answer to true manhood is found in God’s word. We catch a glimpse of this when King David is looking to pass his kingship on to his son. Before he dies, he calls Solomon to his side and deliberately tells him, “Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in His ways and keeping His statues, His commands, His rules, and His testimonies…that you may prosper in all that you do and where you turn.” (I Kings 2:2-3) Look at how David six times directs his son, Solomon, toward God as the answer to true manhood. We see this similar type of thinking in I Corinthians 16:13 where Paul says, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”
While there are other similar passages in Scripture to support this, it is clear that to MAN UP and act like a man or to show yourself to be a man means to be one who clearly is both grounded and growing in his faith as he intentionally follows after God! Psalms 37:23 reiterates this by declaring, “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, WHEN he delights in His way.”
There is no enduring culture in which lazy men are celebrated, cowardly men are esteemed, insecure men are elevated, or non-principled men are leading for very long.
However, men that are firmly grounded and consistently growing in God’s word will radically change not just marriages, family units, and local communities but could change the entire trajectory of a nation. We know this from Psalms 33:12 where the Psalmist declares, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord!” This happened in America over 200 years ago and it needs to happen once again. This is why it is necessary for men today to “man up" and step up by being immersed in God’s word and letting it be their constant guide if we ever expect to have God’s favor rest upon us once again!
Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. – Jeremiah 6:16. The latest, greatest, quickest, fastest, newest “thing” can quickly captivate our emotions, attract our attention, allure our senses, seduce our fascinations and entice our temptations. This is the age we now live in. There is no time to reflect, ponder, consider, muse, contemplate or meditate, as one might miss a moment or an opportunity to get ahead, or at least to maintain status quo with societal expectations and norms. So forward not back, progressive not reflective, new not old is the thinking of the day, because the antiquated or even primitive thinking, values and principles will hold one back from modern, innovative, dynamic, enlightened viewpoints for living.
But wait! The passage above says to stand, look and ask! In a “ready, fire, aim” world, this is disquieting to the soul for this takes patience and requires one to stop and question, examine, and deeply and thoroughly investigate the current realities. As you stand by the road watching life flash by, ask for one thing.
In a frenzied pace world where satisfaction is elusive and brief and momentary happiness is tied to cheap thrills, quick jolts and fixes of pleasure, we are told that it comes down to this ONE THING that is the “good way” that we are to pursue if we truly want to “find rest for our souls" or real life satisfaction. Isn’t it something, that the secret to life is hidden right in this passage like a buried treasure to be discovered! Interestingly enough, there is nothing that must be built, created, developed or manufactured. Instead, it is a return to the past! The Lord says this, “Ask for the ancient paths…to find rest for your souls!” How similar to the Savior’s invitation “Come unto me … and I will give you rest”(Matthew 11:28.) In Jeremiah 30:21 we see the Lord wanting to be gracious to a rebellious people that turns and returns to these ancient paths of following after him. He promises to be our Guide and Teacher as he says, “And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” Psalms 17:5 offers a promise to following these ancient paths, “My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.” Can you say that?!
You want to live the truly good life? You want to find lasting satisfaction and fulfillment? Well, what I can promise you is that the “American Dream” will turn into a personal nightmare if you have neglected the one thing most important in life. To follow these “ancient paths” found in God’s word will lead you to being a follower of Christ. You must be warned that the path is less worn and, though clearly visible, it is more rugged and perilous. Yet it is a path previously traversed by our Savior. It leads up a blood-splattered hill called Calvary to the cross where our sin-burdens are released so we might truly find “rest for our souls” and life everlasting. Yes, our very best days are yet before us!


Here are some of our staff who you might meet while you’re at SMACC (in alphabetical order).
Andrew Cheah is the Dean of St Mary’s Cathedral. He trained as medical doctor in Adelaide before embarking on a ministry apprenticeship followed by 4 years at Moore Theological College in Sydney. With his family he returned to Kuala Lumpur to serve the church full-time. Andrew is passionate about reaching the unreached with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus and is keen to see God’s people discipled to maturity in Christ and equipped for works of ministry. He loves to eat and can often be seen tucking into a hearty banana leaf lunch. Andrew is married to Judi and they have two daughters, Hannah and Beth.
In addition to those above, SMACC is served by a long list of leaders who partner together with our full-time staff team to glorify God together by making disciples of Jesus Christ.
To find out about other leaders from the rest of St Mary’s Cathedral, please visit the St Mary’s Cathedral directory.


The Devil’s Advocate: Martin Shkreli vs. Mark Cuban
A pharma provocateur thinks he’s God’s Gift…but which one is it?
This tract will be subdivided into seven parts, in keeping with the seven deadly sins. In my religiously-themed testimony, I have been called to testify on behalf of the devil— Martin Shkreli— in the matter of the Sainthood of Mark Cuban, blessings be upon him.
Book 1: The Book of Mark (Cuban)
When the Catholic Church is considering a new saint, even in this day and age, they have to go through an ecclesiastic trial. This must include evidence of their miracles. These miracles must be attributed to their divine intervention, after their death. It is worth noting that what counts as a miracle has been adjusted downward over the years. Mother Theresa, for example, is now Saint Theresa, after this “one-two punch”:
…healing an Indian woman's cancer of the abdomen.
The woman, Monica Besra, said a beam of light had emanated from [a locket containing Theresa’s picture], curing her cancerous tumour.
Her second miracle was also oncological in nature:
This was the healing in 2008 of a 42-year-old Brazilian man with a number of brain tumours — moments before he was due to undergo surgery.


Our own Andrew Schaefer has been accepted to serve with NET Ministries. On August 16 he will be joining 150 additional young men and women in Minnesota for 6 weeks of training before being sent out to lead retreats around the US. These retreats help facilitate leading youth to a deeper relationship with Christ. Andrew is responsible for raising at least $7,000 of the $20,000 needed to fund his 10 months of evangelization. Please scan the attached QR code or click here to help fund his mission and see more about what NET Ministries is about. Andrew will be speaking more on this at the May 20/21 masses here at Holy Redeemer.
What is NET Ministries?
NET was started in 1981 in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, by its founder and president, Mark Berchem. Mark pioneered a team of 12 young adults to travel in a van around southern Minnesota, conducting high school retreats. Moving from town to town, parish to parish, this experimental team conducted 18 retreats in a three-week period during January 1980. The response was extremely positive. Additional requests came from Fargo, North Dakota, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The following January, three teams were sent to serve in Winona MN, Fargo ND, and Sioux Falls, SD. In September 1981, the first year-long team was sent out, adding Wisconsin, Louisiana, and several other dioceses in Minnesota to the itinerary.
In 1982, the name “NET,” or National Evangelization Teams, was officially adopted. It was inspired by the scriptures: “Come after me, I will make you fishers of men,” Mark 1:17, and “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch,” Luke 5:4.
Since then, NET Ministries has expanded how it carries out its mission from just Retreat Teams to adding Discipleship Teams and acquiring YDisciple.
NET Ministries has been replicated in Canada, Australia, Scotland, Uganda, and Ireland. Please see Andrew's video below for further details & information about what NET Ministries is all about.


Herman Rednick not only painted from his spiritual experiences, he also wrote about them, in narrative accounts, poems, and impressions of mystical encounters. He wrote also to teach and to help, works including instruction or lessons on the path (more than 1500), a treasury of practical advice for the sincere seeker, a study guide to the New Testament, vignettes of intense spiritual transformation in those coming to him for help. Some of these writings Herman made into books while he was alive; others were compiled from his handwritten manuscripts by students after his death.
In the link here, (www.hermanrednick.com) you will find books by Herman—of personal experience and of teachings; books about him by students; and books by his students. The book site you will go to was created by a student, to whom we are very grateful. You can learn more about these books and also purchase if you like. When you wish to return to this page, use the tabs on the top of your screen.


I came upon this audiobook by mere happenstance at a sale at my local library. 10 discs about a girl mystic hunted down by the friars of a medieval inquisition? Right up my alley. Medieval religious history is something that has always fascinated me as well as learning more about the martyrs of the reformation, so I hoped I had struck gold after reading the back of this new book.
It is dangerous for women to have visions of God in this age, and Dolssa knows this, but can she really remain silent about a loving God when so many fear the angry God preached from the pulpits? She has had visions of “her Beloved” ever since she could remember and now, she has gained a following. Soon, this following comes to the attention of the priests of Provensa and one priest will stop at nothing to see her burned as a heretic. Fearing for her life, Dolssa flees to a village where she meets a peasant girl named Botille, a local matchmaker, and her sisters, who learn Dolssa’s story and witness the miracles that surround her. Agreeing to hide her, the sisters soon learn who their true friends are and what they are willing to sacrifice for faith and friendship.
- Well-written. The author knew her history about the local culture and customs of the medieval era. I rarely come across books about medieval peasants, just nobility, so this was a breath of fresh air. I’m glad that I listened to this story versus read it, since Berry also used French words in place of other words like “sister”, “father”, “holy woman”, and even “what” or “yes”—to tell the story and I’m sure I would have gotten lost.
- Non-smutty for a medieval story. It seems that all the stories I find nowadays set in medieval or renaissance times have gratuitous sex and vulgarity. I know that at the time, it was a short life from the cradle to the grave, so sex was a “commonality” among the simple medieval folk but come on…you don’t have to show us, I get it! Okay, rant done. The point is, I’m glad that the author did not focus on this as a main commonality in her story, she instead focused on other cultural aspects, like the vocations, the lifestyle, and the belief system of the common medieval folk of the story.
- Multiple points of view. Berry put readers in the minds of main as well as side-characters through different processes, like interviews or meeting with the friars as they searched for Dolssa. This was a new way of storytelling that I thought effective, especially since the bulk of the story revolved around religious men interrogating others to find their run-away martyr. The audiobook also uses a variety of voice-actors for each viewpoint, which I think adds to the voice of each character well.
- Friendship as a key theme. FINALLY! A story where the main characters don’t fall in love. I was hoping the story between the two main characters would remain platonic (especially given the fact they are both girls and I feared a lesbian relationship would form, since that seems to be a running theme in popular culture nowadays), and luckily, they viewed each other as sisters instead of lovers. Strong friendships are shrinking in literature—everybody wants romance! (Okay, rant #2 done).
- Author notes. Historical fiction novels always need these in my opinion, since some of the author’s interpretations of history could get confused with real history. This is the author’s way of sort of offering a disclaimer regarding what was researched versus what was not for their novels.
- The way Dolssa was portrayed. She seemed more like a damsel in distress than I would have liked. Also, I understand that some mystics during this time viewed their relationship with Christ in a romantic kind of way, but that disturbed me, since I always viewed Christ as a brother to humankind…not a husband like nuns and other mystics of the era believed. Consequently, this view of Christ wasn’t too detailed, which I was grateful for; it left things open to interpretation.
- The ending. There were about three different endings, and I failed to see how they all connected to one another. The first two, I could sort of see the ties, but the last one threw me for a loop and had me asking more questions: Who was the old woman locked in the dungeon? Why was it important that the boy she spoke to deliver her message? Who was the person she was delivering this message to? What did these people have to do with the story we just read?
Overall, I’m happy I now get to add a medieval novel to my list of read books that is a worthwhile read and I recommend it to readers of historical fiction, especially those who enjoy medieval history.


Captain Carol Lewis
The Salvation Army Crystal Lake
290 West Crystal Lake Avenue
Crystal Lake, IL 60014
The Salvation Army is an International, Evangelical Christian Church dedicated to providing individuals worldwide with spiritual, physical, social and emotional support. Our organization is made up of thousands of officers, soldiers, adherents, employees, volunteers and other individuals all working together to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people, as well as struggling to meet the physical needs of those less fortunate.
The Salvation Army is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.


Jerome n : (Roman Catholic Church) one of the great fathers of the early Christian Church whose major work was his translation of the Scriptures from Hebrew and Greek into Latin (which became the Vulgate); a saint and Doctor of the Church (347-420) [syn: Saint Jerome, St. Jerome, Hieronymus, Eusebius Hieronymus, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus]
EtymologyEnglish vernacular form of the saint's name Hieronymos, from Ἱερώνυμος hieros "holy" + onoma "name".
- A given name.
Jerome (ca. 347 – September 30, 420) whose real name in Latin was Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus (also known as Hieronymus Stridonensis), and in ). A Christian apologist, he is presumed by some to have been an Illyrian, but this may just be conjecture. He is best known for translating the Vulgate, a widely popular Latin edition of the Bible. He is recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as a canonised Saint and Doctor of the Church, and his version of the Bible is still an important text in Catholicism. He is also recognized as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church, where he is known as St. Jerome of Stridonium or Blessed Jerome.
In the artistic tradition of the Roman Catholic Church, it has been usual to represent him, the patron of theological learning, anachronistically, as a cardinal, by the side of the Bishop Augustine, the Archbishop Ambrose, and the Pope Gregory I. Even when he is depicted as a half-clad anchorite, with cross, skull and Bible for the only furniture of his cell, the red hat or some other indication of his rank is as a rule introduced somewhere in the picture. He is also often depicted with a lion, due to a medieval story in which he removed a thorn from a lion's paw, and, less often, an owl, the symbol of wisdom and scholarship. Writing materials and the trumpet of final judgment are also part of his iconography. Obviously, the later resurgence of Hebrew studies within Christianity owes much to him.
Jerome sometimes seemed arrogant, and occasionally despised or belittled his literary rivals, especially Ambrose. It is not so much by absolute knowledge that he shines, as by a certain poetical elegance, an incisive wit, a singular skill in adapting recognized or proverbial phrases to his purpose, and a successful aiming at rhetorical effect.
He showed more zeal and interest in the ascetic ideal than in abstract speculation. It was this strict asceticism that made Martin Luther judge him so severely. In fact, Protestant readers are not generally inclined to accept his writings as authoritative. The tendency to recognize a superior comes out in his correspondence with Augustine (cf. Jerome's letters numbered 56, 67, 102-105, 110-112, 115-116; and 28, 39, 40, 67-68, 71-75, 81-82 in Augustine's).
Despite the criticisms already mentioned, Jerome has retained a rank among the western Fathers. This would be his due, if for nothing else, on account of the great influence exercised by his Latin version of the Bible upon the subsequent ecclesiastical and theological development.
Prophetic exegesisJerome's Commentary on Daniel, 407 AD, was expressly written to offset the criticisms of Porphyry (231-301) who taught that the book of Daniel related entirely to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes and was written by an unknown individual living in the second century BCE. Jerome's exposition of Daniel was incorporated into the Glossa Ordinaria of Walafrid Strabo, the standard marginal notes of medieval Latin Bibles. Against Porphyry, Jerome identified Rome as the fourth kingdom of chapters 2 and 7, but his view of chapters eight and eleven was more complex. Chapter eight describes the activity of Antiochus Epiphanes who is understood as a "type" of a future antichrist; chapter 11:24 onwards applies primarily to a future antichrist but was partially fulfilled by Antiochus.
Both of these views fail in light of Jesus' quote of the last prophecy of Daniel in the first part of Matthew 24 when answering the question of when the then third temple would be destroyed. Daniel identified the "abomination of desolation" as that which would permanently "end the daily sacrifice" of the Jews, which did not occur when Epiphanes destroyed the second temple as it was rebuilt by the Macabees and expanded by Herod, but did occur in 70 A.D. when the third temple was destroyed by the Romans, so it is not a future event either. This was one of seven items that Jesus said would occur in His answer to the disciple's first question in Matthew 24, all of which did occur by 70 A.D.
The works of Hippolytus and Irenaeus greatly influenced Jerome's interpretation of prophecy. He noted the distinction between the original Septuagint and Theodotion's later substitution
Jerome's writings about the book of Daniel have been analysed by L. E. Froom.. Froom demonstrated that Jerome identifies the four prophetic kingdoms symbolized in Daniel 2 as Babylon, Medes and Persians, Macedon and Rome. Jerome understood the partitioning of the Roman Empire into fragments by the barbarians, as fulfillment of the feet of iron and clay. According to Froom, Jerome identifies the stone cut out without hands as "the Lord and Saviour" Jerome identifies the four beasts of Daniel 7 as the same kingdoms of Daniel 2.
Froom also commented on Jerome's understanding of the antichrist. He shows that Jerome refuted Porphyry's application of the Little Horn to Antiochus, and expected that Rome would be divided into ten kingdoms before the Little Horn can appear. Jerome held that the Antichrist would appear in the near future, and taught that he would come from within the church, not the Jewish temple. The antichrist would rule for three and a half years, and his rule would end with the second coming
According to Froom's analysis, Jerome believed that Cyrus of Persia is the higher of the two horns of the Medo-Persian ram of Daniel 8:3. The hairy goat is Grecia smiting Persia. Alexander is the great horn. Which is then succeeded by Alexander's half brother Philip and three of the generals.
Jerome applied chapter 8 first and foremost to Antiochus Epiphanes but also observed that "our [people] think that all these things are prophesied of Antichrist who will be in the last time." With others, Jerome surmises that he will arise from the Jews and come from Babylon, and mentions the belief of "many of ours" that he will be Nero.
Froom showed that, in Jerome's understanding, "Babylon" refers to Rome in the book of Revelation.
Jerome's commentaries on Isaiah 14 in connection to his mistranslation of Luke 10 started the false idea that Satan was "Lucifer" and a fallen angel. The passage in Isaiah is referring only to the then king of Babylon, there is no basis for applying it to anyone else. His error in Luke is still in all translations today; he quotes Jesus as saying "I BEHELD" Satan cast down when the Greek is clearly present tense, i.e.- "I SEE" Satan cast down. This fits with the two passages in John's gospel that state Satan was to be judged soon and with Revelation 12 (which is parallel in time to Acts 2) where Satan was cast out of heaven AFTER Christ's ascention and defeated by Christ's blood (which was shed on the cross). Also, both Peter and Jude declare that all angels who fell are held in chains of darkness in hell until judgment day, and Satan is in the earth (again Rev. 12). Jerome also popularized the false idea that "antichrist" is a being when the only author that used the word (John) defined it himself as a teaching. John wrote his gospel and epistles in order to refute the first apostasy, that of the Gnostics. They believed that material is evil and spiritual is good and that the two could never meet or have direct contact. Thus they denied that God actually created the universe, but rather He sent "eminations" out that did it for Him. The Gnostics were divided into two schools of thought about Jesus. One group declared that he was material, only a man, to which John directed his gospel affirming repeatedly the Deity of Jesus (examples: "the Word was God" and seven times quoting Jesus saying "I AM" with the same Greek as the Septaguant uses for God's reply to Moses...) and the other group saying that He really wasn't human, He just looke human and didn't even leave footprints in sand, to which John directed his epistles, defining such teaching as "antichrist".
Jerome apparently acquiesces in the application of the year-day principle to the seventy weeks as made by others whom he quotes at great length; but he himself refuses to set forth an interpretation of the seventy weeks, for "it is dangerous to judge concerning the opinions of the masters of the church." He thereupon gives the interpretations of Africanus, Eusebius, Hippolytus, Apollinaris of Laodicea, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian, and "the Hebrews," so that the reader may choose for himself.
- I praise wedlock, I praise marriage, but it is because they give me virgins. (Jerome's Letter XXII to Eustochium, section 20 on-line)
- Be ever engaged, so that whenever the devil calls he may find you occupied.
- Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. (Jerome's Prologue to the “Commentary on Isaiah”: PL 24,17)
- Chronological list of Jerome's Works with modern editions and translations cited
- Opera Omnia (Complete Works) from Migne edition (Patrologia Latina, 1844-1855) with analytical indexes, almost complete online edition
Google Books' Facsimiles:
- English translations of Biblical Prefaces, Commentary on Daniel, Chronicle, and Letter 120 (tertullian.org)
- English translation of Jerome's De Viris Illustribus
- The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary by St. Jerome
- Lives of Famous Men (CCEL)
- Apology Against Rufinus(CCEL)
- Letters, The Life of Paulus the First Hermit, The Life of S. Hilarion, The Life of Malchus, the Captive Monk, The Dialogue Against the Luciferians, The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary, Against Jovinianus, Against Vigilantius, To Pammachius against John of Jerusalem, Against the Pelagians, Prefaces(CCEL)
- J.N.D. Kelly, Jerome: His Life, Writings, and Controversies (Peabody, MA 1998)
- S. Rebenich, Jerome (London and New York, 2002)
- Biblia Sacra Vulgata Stuttgart, 1994. ISBN 3-438-05303-9
- This article uses material from Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religion.
- birth/death dates from The Later Roman Empire
wikisource author Jerome
Jerome in Arabic: جيروم
Jerome in Belarusian: Еранім Стрыдонскі
Jerome in Bulgarian: Йероним
Jerome in Catalan: Sant Jeroni
Jerome in Czech: Svatý Jeroným
Jerome in Welsh: Sierôm
Jerome in Danish: Hieronymus
Jerome in German: Hieronymus (Kirchenvater)
Jerome in Estonian: Hieronymus
Jerome in Spanish: Jerónimo de Estridón
Jerome in Esperanto: Sankta Hieronimo
Jerome in French: Jérôme de Stridon
Jerome in Galician: Xerome de Estridón
Jerome in Korean: 히에로니무스
Jerome in Croatian: Sveti Jeronim
Jerome in Indonesian: Hieronimus
Jerome in Interlingua (International Auxiliary Language Association): Jeronimo
Jerome in Italian: San Girolamo
Jerome in Hebrew: הירונימוס
Jerome in Latin: Hieronymus
Jerome in Lithuanian: Šv. Jeronimas
Jerome in Hungarian: Szent Jeromos
Jerome in Malayalam: ജെറോം
Jerome in Dutch: Hiëronymus van Stridon
Jerome in Dutch Low Saxon: Hiëronymus van Stridon
Jerome in Japanese: ヒエロニムス
Jerome in Norwegian: Hieronymus
Jerome in Norwegian Nynorsk: Hieronymus
Jerome in Polish: Hieronim ze Strydonu
Jerome in Portuguese: Jerónimo de Strídon
Jerome in Romanian: Sophronius Eusebius Hieronymus
Jerome in Russian: Иероним Стридонский
Jerome in Albanian: Shën Jeronimi
Jerome in Slovak: Hieronym
Jerome in Serbian: Јероним Стридонски
Jerome in Finnish: Hieronymus
Jerome in Swedish: Hieronymus
Jerome in Thai: นักบุญเจอโรม
Jerome in Ukrainian: Ієронім
Jerome in Chinese: 耶柔米


Welcome to Freedom Biker Church Foothills!! We are glad that you decided to throw down the kickstand and hang out for a while. Please feel free to browse around our site and get to know us a little better.
We are located at 125 N. Freeman Road Liberty, SC 29657. We would love for you to come out and hang out with us for our Worship Rally which kicks off at 11AM on Sunday mornings. We start hanging out at 10AM on Sundays so get here early!!
Wed. evening we have what we call Refuel. This an intense Bible study designed to fire you up and get you excited about riding with Jesus!! This starts with hangout at 6:30PM and the study kicks off at 7PM.


Mission Songs Project
Jessie Lloyd’s profoundly moving and very important Mission Songs Project reveals what daily life was like for Indigenous Australians on Christian missions and state-run settlements. Through discovery of rare secular songs that were sung after church, audiences gain a deeper understanding of the history of Indigenous elders, families and communities.
|Friday January 11th||SETAC Community Concert||SETAC|
|Saturday January 12th||Evensong||St Mark's Church|
|Sunday January 13th||3:59 PM||The Upstairs Crowd||Supper Room|
|Friday January 11th||11:00 AM - 3:30 PM||Mission Songs Project - Masterclass||St Mark's Hall|


Bilingual Mass: 4th Saturday of Month
Sundays: 11:30am - 12:30pm
Located in the Education Building; Northeast of Church
10:00am - 11:15am
During School Year
Thank you for visiting Saint William Church!
Saint William Catholic Community is happy to provide you information on our website. We hope you find your time spent here a blessing. The Catholic faith offers warmth, love, grace, peace and compassion. We pray that you experience Christ’s uplifting words of hope, comfort and joy in our celebration of the Holy Eucharist. We welcome you as our guest for Sunday and weekday Mass or Eucharistic celebrations and for all Church activities.
As the Parish-Priest of Saint William I welcome you all with words of Jesus Christ “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Mt 11:28-30 “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied” Mt 5: 6 “If the Lord does not build the house, man works in vain.” Ps 127:1
“The Lord bless you and keep you!
The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!” Nm 6: 24-26
With Prayerful wishes and Kind regards, God bless you
Yours in Christ
Rev. Valerian Gonsalves


For learning purposes only, this blog photo album is about adding Holy biblical passages from the Holy word of The Most High God and pertaining them to the photos presented within this blog photo album. Each photo goes along with each epistle & scripture that's pertained to it & to describe it from the Holy word of The Most High God.
NOTE: (KJV) means King James Version.
Genesis 3:1 (KJV): Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Revelations 12:9 (KJV): And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Revelations 20:2 (KJV): And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,


You will make known to me the path of life. In Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
P S A L M 1 6 : 1 1
Welcome to Augustine College on the web – of course, only a
pale imitation of the real Augustine College, which is composed of
flesh and blood characters the likes of whom, the students tell us, are
rarely encountered elsewhere in the decaying vestiges of the erstwhile
Here we travel together “the path of life.” This is not
just travel for the sake of adventure, though adventure there most
surely is. It is “the way of understanding” (Isaiah 40:14),
on which we seek together what it was given to us to learn.
On such a journey loneliness is unthinkable and boredom impossible.
On the road we travel our students insist there is genuine collegium. The
reasons for this are not hard to find. We teach because we love to
teach and our reward is the good that is already beginning to flow from
In September of 1997 Augustine College opened to its founding class,
realizing the vision of a number of local university professors and
laymen who felt called to found a new kind of institution for higher
learning. Our intent is to provide qualified students with a time of
rich and integrated study, food for both the spirit and the mind.
Augustine College offers an opportunity for dedicated students to
study, for one year, the basic foundations of Western intellectual and
cultural tradition. We are convinced that such study is done best in an
atmosphere of sincere and articulate Christianity, which has sustained
both faith and humane culture since the days of the early Church.
Christians have always recognized that to achieve a fully articulate
faith demands familiarity with the great achievements in the arts and
sciences. Augustine College answers the need for a place in which the
enduring questions of human life can again be studied at the level they
deserve and against the background of the Christian story.


At The JenAd Group we love to partner with leaders in business and ministry to coach, train and empower them to overcome obstacles personally and professionally. It is our highest objective to set them on a course from where they currently are to where they want to be. In other words, help them discover life through transformational living. We are equipped with everything we need to step into our purpose for this life. The two greatest days in anyone’s life is the day they were born and the day they discover why. Intentional living is the key that unlocks the door to growing as individuals and communicating authentically with others.


2017 – 2018 District Theme.
“Reclaiming Our Impact”
- In The Community- This summer we cleared out an overgrown vacant lot in the Englewood community. This is Faith in Action.
Please plan to pray with us for the North Woodriver District Association’s Adopt-A-School prayer gathering. We will continue to pray over the Martin Luther King Jr. Academy for Social Justice located 644 W. 71st Street (Chicago, Illinois). We met at the school Wednesday August 23, 2017 at 10:00 AM to begin the process, but we need to continue!
We prayed in each class room and hallway. We prayed for the safety, well-being and the hearts of the students, faculty, support staff and parents. Remember our District’s theme focus for this year is “Reclaiming Our Impact”. As we set our goal on impacting the community for the Kingdom of God, let us begin with assembling as one church, on one accord, praying as one.
We are looking for all to support this prayer ministry, Pastors & Ministers, Laypersons & Leaders, Young & Old, Men & Women, Students & Non-Students, District Members & Non-District Members!
Thanks you for your support.


We believe in order to have any sort of conversation that we set the stage for getting to know each other. From there we can navigate the rest of the classes with specifics and tailor each session to be meaningful for everyone
Jesus modeled for the world what it means to be fully human. In this class we will discover the way of Jesus and how ones life can be modeled after his life and key principles to embrace.
The Holy Scriptures
It's the number one selling book. Billions of people all over the world read it, apply it, and swear by it. Yet this powerful ancient text has the ability to do great good or great harm. In this class we will learn how one can read this text and encounter the depths of its literary beauty and power.
Talking to God
How does one pray? What's the point of prayer? In this class we give practical tools to creating a thriving prayer life that have been practiced for centuries. We talk about the benefits of prayer and deepening your connection with God through it.
Going Deeper with the Bible
Holy Scriptures 2.0
In this class we go a step further into the power of the Bible. For centuries people have been reading and interpreting this text. In this class we revive an ancient practice to allow you to experience a fresh new depth to the ancient scripture.
Being Present with the Eternal Presence
Finding a Rhythm To life
Life is bombarded by all kinds of chaos and plans. Yet since the beginning of creation, God has shown us a rhythm to life. That Rhythm starts with rest for the sake of being present. The power of rest and presence will help further our recovery and ability to say yes to what matters most.


What is the Doctrine of Christ?
2 John 1:9 - Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
It will take time to fully comprehend the different levels of understanding that are found within this verse. But it is enough for now to understand that the pure Doctrine of Christ, is that we seek as much as possible to: repent of all earthly errors we may have ingrained into our mortal selves, to be taught and emulate the characteristics and behaviors of Christ, understand and follow the good examples of prophets found in scripture, to be baptized by water AND of the Spirit (be cleansed by and obtain gifts of the Spirit), obtain your own connection and revelation with the Savior, then do what ever it is He asks you to do. Then press forward, continue building your own relationship with the Lord, until you really KNOW Him. The true word of repentance means to come back or to return. Unless we do all these things we are not following the doctrine of Christ and the examples left by those in scripture since Adam. Any other beliefs or tenets of truth are gospel principles. We understand that people are at different points along their personal journey. Some may understand more than others. Some may have greater connection or experiences with heaven. Though there may be differences in understanding certain principles, we all do agree on the primary Doctrines of Christ.
The following scripture is a good summary of the Doctrine Of Christ:
2 Nephi 31: 12-21 And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism-yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel. But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should deny me, it would have been better for you that ye had not known me. And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved. Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost. And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive. And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.
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The title of this post is the title of a superb article by Kimberley C. Patton that was published in The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 93, No. 4 (Oct., 2000), pp. 401-434. Patton is Professor of the Comparative and Historical Study of Religion at Harvard Divinity School. I discovered the article several months ago, and I’ve been meaning to sing its praises ever since, but I kept getting sidetracked. There is a passing reference to it, and its author, in this earlier post, for which I had intended a followup, i.e. part 2, but which I never got around to writing. This is not that promised part 2, but in rereading Patton’s article last night, I was sufficiently shamed by the near-criminality of my not sharing some of her writing here that I composed this post instead. I also think it “fits” nicely here, right after my last post (translating Jensen, expounding on Løgstrup).
Patton’s key insight is her recognition of the importance of construing animals “as theological subjects rather than as mediated objects.” Patton is careful to distinguish herself and her inquiry from “animal rights-oriented scholars [who] tend to ignore the character of God in monotheistic traditions as so much apologetic drapery for chronic human narcissism and eco-exploitation.” She states (her emphasis): “A traditional monotheistic schema does not theologically denigrate animals. Rather, it elevates human beings and frames their moral choices as being of ultimate importance.”
Nevertheless, Patton acknowledges that, in practice, the monotheistic traditions have, over time, allowed their hierarchical valuation of God, humans, and animals (in decreasing order of importance) to rigidify to the point that animal exploitation has occurred, with religious sanction. Sometimes this has been a matter of interpreting older religious authorities in a one-sided way. As an example she cites Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica who wrote, “… the Divine Ordinance of animals and plants is preserved not for themselves but for man … as Augustine says … both their life and death are subject to our use.” Patton:
This passage is often cited as a kind of proof-text for a Christian hierarchical model whereby animals are assigned their place in the cosmos as resources and objects rather than as theological subjects. In dwelling on the second half of Aquinas’s assertion in its apparently utilitarian cosmology, however, it is easy to overlook the burden of the first. It is God who orders the schema that gives dominion (“benign or just sovereignty,” as Bernhard Anderson suggests; compare Isa 11:6-8) to humanity over the animals. Yet, as sung by Psalms 145:9, and so often quoted by the rabbis, “His tender mercies are over all his works.” God remains eternally invested in the well-being of all His creatures.
Thus we are poorly served by a chart that places God at the top, humanity at the next level down, and animals at the bottom, with the directionality of devotion, liturgical praxis, communication and ultimately of relationship charted only between those levels. Instead I believe that a closer examination of the sacred literatures of these traditions, including scriptural, commentarial, and mystical writings, yields a different and rather arresting theological proposition.
Both as species and as individuals, animals have their own special, consecrated, differentiated and highly charged relationship to God. That is, even when the moral predicament of human beings is the focus of a given narrative, the divine/animal relationship is not always humanly mediated. Nor, as has been argued, can we construe animals that appear in monotheistic religious narratives or in sacred images solely as didactic vehicles.
She goes on to suggest that “what lies at the heart of God’s sanctified and charged relationship to animals … is the idea of divine ipseity, namely, the inexhaustible and reflexive creativity of God, His self-origination, self-sufficiency, and self-referentiality as expressed through the myriad forms of his creation.”
[“Blessing of the Animals” at The Episcopal Church of St. Benedict, Bolingbrook, Illinois.]
I would like to end this post with the following extended passage from Patton’s article, because it is so beautiful, and because it is so theologically challenging and uplifting. (Note: I have had to convert some of the special characters in her text to their nearest English equivalents.)
From “‘He Who Sits in the Heavens Laughs’: Recovering Animal Theology in the Abrahamic Traditions” by Kimberley C. Patton:
Divine Compassion and Special Regard for Animals
It is not surprising that human beings are so special to God. In all three Abrahamic traditions, human beings alone are created in God’s image. This is clear in Genesis (Gen 1:1-2:3). It is clear in Patristic, particularly in Athanasian, Christology, especially as it treats the redemption of the Fall through the Incarnation. It is clear in the theological synthesis of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, which took as its starting point the uniqueness of Adam as God’s own creation from clay, imbued with His spirit (S 38:71-72). Like human beings, animals are also God’s inventions, participating in the self-emptying of the divine nature as creative expressions of that mighty will and energy. God alone subsists in Himself, while “things through their own essence have nothing but non-existence, and existence comes to them only from something else, by way of a loan. But the existence of Allah is essential, unborrowed. This reality of self-subsistence belongs to Allah alone.” Thus despite their highly different moral stature and metaphysical potential, Adam and Eve share dependent origination with leopards and egrets. The diverse streams of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all indicate that once established by creation, God’s relationship with animals does not stop then, but rather continues in an ongoing, vital way.
Although the inhabitants of Nineveh dwell outside the Mosaic covenant, it is not surprising that God upbraids Jonah with His concern for the people of “that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left. …” (Jon 4:9). It is surprising when God adds, “and also many animals!” But these are the animals who, only hours before, fasted and put on sackcloth alongside their human owners in penitence before the God of Israel. It is not surprising that in the synoptic Gospels, Jesus iterates divine concern for the individual human being, even to the point of numbering the hairs on his or her head; it is surprising that He does so, as we have noted, by first iterating God’s awareness of the fall of a single sparrow – an individual (Matt 10:29). It is not surprising that through the revelation of the Quran to the Prophet, God expresses His love for His people. It is surprising that Surah 6:38 extends human religious organizational categories to the animal world: “There is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but (forms part of) communities (ummam) like you.” A hadith qudsi reported by Abu Hurayrah reveals the radical sense of the word “communities”: The Prophet told of the stinging of another prophet in the past by an ant; in anger, he ordered the whole of the ants’ nest to be burned. God reprimanded him: “Because one ant stung you, you have burned a whole community which glorified me.” The groups in which animals, birds, and insects are constituted are themselves worshipping communities, in some sense analogous to human ummam, insofar as their collective well-being matters to God. Ants and other creatures emerge as groups in their own right, worthy of divine regard. As al-Hafiz Masri points out, this valuation seems to exist “not in relation to human species or its values,” including the human criteria of insignificance or dangerousness. Furthermore, God did not find it just that the action of one individual ant should catalyze destruction for its entire ummah of ants.
In Judaism, the ancient principle of sa’ar ba’ale hayim, of refraining from harm to living things, safeguards individual animals in predictable ways, as for example, when in both the Sefer ha-Mitzvot and the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides summarizes rabbinical legislation requiring the unloading of a beast that struggles under an overtaxing load. But the theme also startlingly breaks forth in the direction of theological subjectivity in the Talmudic account of the encounter of the great Judah ha-Nasi, redactor of the Mishnah (simply “Rabbi” in the tradition), with a calf on its way to kosher slaughter. “When it broke away, [it] hid his head under Rabbi’s skirts, and lowed [in terror].” Unmoved by the little creature’s plight, Judah ha-Nasi sent it away, saying, “Go, for this you were created.” The Gemara tells us that the angels heard this: “Thereupon they said [in Heaven]: ‘Since he has no pity, let us bring suffering upon him'” (Baba Mesi’a 85a).
Judah ha-Nasi is then afflicted for thirteen years with excruciating bodily suffering. He is only freed when, as the account in Baba Mesi’a continues, “One day Rabbi’s maidservant was sweeping the house; [seeing] some young weasels there, she made to sweep them away. ‘Let them be,’ he said to her; ‘It is written, and his tender mercies are over all his works.’ Said they [in Heaven], ‘Since he is compassionate, let us be compassionate to him.'”
The calf is bolting from its assigned social role, namely that of being killed in a kosher manner to be eaten. This is what lies behind Rabbi’s heartless statement to the calf: “Go, for this you were created.” Yet in the calf’s transgressive act of breaking ranks, in its flight, and its search for refuge under the skirts of a great religious authority, it becomes a religious supplicant, in dialogue with another person who could be thought of as a stand-in for God – a potential source of divine mercy. Judah ha-Nasi here is called upon to make the choice made by God Himself in Berakot 7a, where He prays that his mercy might overcome His justice and all His other attributes. Instead Rabbi allows religiously determinative justification (“the order of things” established in Genesis) to overrule compassion, and sends the little calf to its doom.
On behalf of the calf, heaven exacts revenge. Through years of chronic illness and suffering Judah ha-Nasi is cruelly, one might say even disproportionately, punished by the angels. Nothing can redeem him except a later act of compassion toward animals – and, unlike the edible calf but like the stinging ant of the hadith qudsi, socially useless ones at that! One notes not only the symmetry of the punishment and its amelioration – cruelty to one animal must be balanced by kindness to another animal – but the degree of keen ethical attention accorded to this situation by heaven. In the end, Judah ha-Nasi suffers because he apparently failed to act as God would have. Psalm 145:9 first condemns him in his pitilessness and then vindicates him in his tasuba with respect to the weasels. In this story, God’s creatures are established as autonomous entities rather than merely as emblematic members of their species. The calf is, surprisingly, an individual with whom God has a real and religiously defined relationship. In God’s eyes both, calf and weasels have standing, have worth, can petition; above all, they can attract God’s protection and his mercy.
In the theomimetic heart of the mystic as it is alchemically refined in holy fire, human compassion, of necessity, imitates that of the Creator. It overflows covenant and category like the banks of a river. It naturally encompasses not only suffering humanity but all of God’s creatures, even the undesirable, the lost and fallen, the evil. This was surely the vision of Isaac the Syrian, bishop of Nineveh, who in the eighth century wrote the following:
An elder was once asked, “What is a compassionate heart?” He replied: “It is a heart on fire for the whole of creation, for humanity, for the birds, for the animals, for demons and all that exists. At the recollection and at the sight of them such a person’s eyes overflow with tears owing to the vehemence of the compassion which grips his heart; as a result of his deep mercy his heart shrinks and cannot bear to look on any injury or the slightest suffering of anything in creation. This is why he constantly offers up prayer full of tears, even for the irrational animals and for the enemies of truth, even for those who harm him, so that they may be protected and find mercy. He even prays for the reptiles as a result of the great compassion which is poured out beyond measure – after the likeness of God – in his heart.”
Nothing that he has made escapes his regard. As God’s tender mercy is over all His works, so might the human heart made in His image also burn “for the whole of creation,” even for the reptiles. In imitating Him, the scope of our prayer widens beyond imaginable limits, for He is inescapably everywhere, and “… Everything (that exists) will perish except His own Face.”
[“Princess” and young friend at “Celebration of Pets/Blessing of the Animals,” Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts.]


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- Friday, 11 Feb 2022 10:15 - 16:00 GMT
In an age when the person of Jesus Christ is often marginalised even by those professing the faith that bears His name, we need to rediscover that Jesus Himself is the heart and soul of what it means to be a Christian. Join us at this one-day conference to explore how the centrality of Christ in the Christian faith influences our lives as believers and the life of the church.
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
Dr. Ferguson is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow and Chancellor’s Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary. He has written many books, including The Whole Christ, Maturity, and Devoted to God’s Church.
Rev. Mark Johnston
Rev. Johnston is minister of Trinity Church, EP Richhill and a trustee of Ligonier Ministries UK and of Banner of Truth. He has also authored several books, including Let’s Study John, Our Creed, and The Church: Glorious Body, Radiant Bride.
Friday 11 February 2022
10:15 a.m. — Registration and Coffee
11:00 a.m. — Session 1: Christ at the Centre of the Bible by Sinclair Ferguson
12:30 p.m. — Lunch
1:15 p.m. — Session 2: Christ at the Centre of the Christian Life by Mark Johnston
2:30 p.m. — Questions & Answers with Ferguson and Johnston
3:15 p.m. — Session 3: Christ at the Centre of the Church by Sinclair Ferguson
An extensive book stall will be present, supplied by the Evangelical Bookshop, Belfast.
Ample onsite parking is available at the venue.
This conference will operate in compliance with the COVID-19 guidelines that are current at the time of the event.
For further information: email@example.com


Sunday Worship Service - 10 am
Sunday, December 1, 2013 Sermon:
"Three Life Changers" Frank Wray
On behalf of the congregation, we want to take this opportunity to welcome you to Bethlehem Community Church's web site. We sincerely trust you will find BCC to be a church that truly honors God in all His majesty.
Bethlehem Community Church is made up of people - young and old, individuals and families - who love the Lord Jesus Christ and love people. We hold to a simple all-encompassing commitment: to bring glory to God in all we do!
The heart of Bethlehem Community Church's vision is to see God's Kingdom expand. We base this on what Jesus told His disciples before He ascended back to the right hand of the Father, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20).
We are located at 201 Elm Avenue, Delmar, NY, 12054.
The church office number is (518) 439-3135.
Our email address is email@example.com.
Please call or email if you have any questions!
We want to pass along a heartfelt thanks for your visit to our website and interest in Bethlehem Community Church. We look forward to serving you.
Yours in His service,
- The Pastoral Staff
What to Expect on Sunday Morning
During the adult worship time, we have programs for children from Nursery thru 10th grade.
Everyone is welcome--we hope to see you there!