Day: October 11, 2012
FRC: How would the Pope vote? I have no idea, however . . . .
Peanut Gallery: It’s always a tenuous exercise when a member of one religious group presumes to explain the religious tenets of another religious group. Nevertheless, Tom McClusky (FRC) has ventured into this minefield.
His purpose is to prep Catholics for tonight’s Vice-Presidential Debate by providing a quasi-Catholic scorecard to rate the candidates. His effort is timely and to the point – since both vice-presidential candidates self-identify as Roman Catholics.
But does it past Roman Catholic muster? I’ll let you be the judge. Check it out – click here. For background documents – click here.
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How would the Pope vote? I have no idea, however . . . .
5 October, 2012 (17:56) | Adoption, Child Tax Credit, Economics, Education, Health Care, Human Life & Bioethics, Human Sexuality, Marriage & Family, Presidential Race ’12, Religion & Society | By: Tom McClusky |
But we have tried to put together a document to give the decision for Catholics some perspective.
Many of you know how important every vote is this year, especially the Catholic vote. Here is a scorecard, from a Catholic perspective, on the two Vice Presidential candidates. And here you can find the accompanying document that goes further into Catholic Church teaching on each subject.
For the first time in American history, two Catholic vice presidential candidates are squaring off for America’s second highest office and while both Vice President Joe Biden and Representative Paul Ryan cite their shared faith in informing their positions, on many issues they could not be further apart.
To help clarify these differences in light of what the Catholic Church teaches, where they are permissible and where they are problematic, FRCAction has compiled a Catholic Voter guide. The guide is designed to help people of faith, Catholics as well as all Christians, Continue reading “FRC: How would the Pope vote? I have no idea, however . . . .”
Life for Christians in the Middle East worsening, assembly hears
Life for Christians in the Middle East worsening, assembly hears
By ENInews – 10 Oct 2012
Life for Christians in the Middle East has “never been worse” and their future is acutely endangered, according to the leader of an evangelical church fellowship.
Rosangela Jarjour, general secretary of the Beirut-based Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches, was speaking at the 7th General Assembly of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE). The assembly met in Florence, Italy, at the end of last month.
“We don’t want to become refugees, but to live in peace and with full citizens’ rights and duties in our own land,” she declared.
Everyday life for Christians, who in the past were able to lead quite secure lives, is now fraught with fear, said Jarjour, who is from Homs, Syria, recently the site of battles between rebel and government forces.
Christians are now finding that they are no longer allowed to practice their religion and that their civil rights to freedom and free speech “are constantly violated, whilst previously secular matters are consumed by Islam,” she said.
More than 50,000 Christians have fled Egypt alone since the onset of the revolution there. Continue reading “Life for Christians in the Middle East worsening, assembly hears”
Please pray for believers in Syria – “My people are hurting…”
Peanut Gallery: The Holy Spirit has led me to pray for believers in Syria for the coming week.
This prayer request (sent to Open Doors UK) comes from a pastor in Syria and is self explanatory. See below –
Please join me in prayer…
- For peace in the country and an end to the bloodshed. For God’s rich mercies on the suffering people.
- For the safety and protection of the churches, keeping the church’s faithful witness.
- Wisdom and vision for church leaders.
- For the glory of the living God to dwell in the Church.
- To empower the Church to reach out to the suffering, to share the divine cure of the gospel, and to speak the word of the Lord in all boldness.
- That the evil powers of darkness will be defeated in our land.
- That the values of false religion will be exposed for what they are and despised and rejected by many.
- For many souls to come to know the love and forgiveness of Christ and to enjoy His saving grace.
- That the Lord would send wise, God-fearing counselors to the decision-makers in all parties in the country.
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Syria has been closed to the outside world for many weeks. We have since received this letter from a leading pastor in Syria. In it he writes of the situation in Syria, his hopes, fears and trust in the Lord. He also asks for prayer. The pastor writes to the church in the UK – he writes to you. Please read this and keep him in your prayers.
Dear Friend,
My people are hurting...
It was much unexpected turmoil. Not even in our wildest dreams did we imagine the violence that is sweeping across the country now. For many years Syria enjoyed peace and stability in the heart of the unstable Middle East. We were a safe haven for our neighbors. We received displaced people and refugees from other countries like Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Sudan, and even from Somalia and other far away areas. Yet now the violence pushed the host people out of their homes, fleeing for their lives.
Many are displaced internally and many others are external refugees living in the most humiliating circumstances, deprived of even shelter , clean water, power, food, and medical care. Millions are not sleeping in their own beds, forced out of their homes to find themselves with their children homeless and living in public parks or in the wilderness. Others are not sure if they or their children and loved ones will see the light of a new day, tens of thousands of families lost loved ones: a child, a father, a mother, or a husband. Hundreds of the injured died for lack of medical care. Thousands of children go to bed terrified of the sound of shelling. Hundreds of thousands are in camps in neighboring countries. Continue reading “Please pray for believers in Syria – “My people are hurting…””
Morning Reading: John 20.1-10 NLT
The Resurrection
“Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. Then they went home.” John 20.1-10 NLT
The Peanut Gallery 