Mid-City Christian

Evangelical pastor details how he expects Trump’s foreign policy to ‘kick-start the end times’

https://www.alternet.org/evangelical-pastor-details-how-he-expects-trumps-foreign-policy-kick-start-end-times?src=newsletter1097835

California, Mexican border bishops meet in Tijuana

Vatican cancels US bishops’ vote on sex abuse reform measures: Instruction to delay consideration of a new code of conduct for bishops and the creation of a lay-led body to investigate bishops accused of misconduct came directly from the Holy See

Ground broken on campus of Christ Cathedral for Our Lady of La Vang shrine: The shrine and plaza commemorating an ancient apparition of the Blessed Virgin in Vietnam are expected to be in place in time for the dedication of Christ Cathedral in July 2019

C alifornia, Mexican border bishops meet in Tijuana: Bishops from California were San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto, Fresno Bishop Armando Ochoa and San Diego Auxiliary Bishop John Dolan

Fastest growing religion is 'none'

Fastest growing religion is 'none'
The (Minneapolis) Star-Tribune: One in four Americans now belong to no religion, a trend fueling church closings, mergings. They reveal a major force behind the empty pews in churches across Minnesota and the nation

Faith leaders describe the 'inner conflict and turmoil' they've experienced since Trump took office
Deseret News: Amid increasing political polarization, faith leaders are searching for a way to proclaim religious values without tearing people apart.

WWI ended 100 years ago; Here's how Christianity, religion played a role in The Great War
Lancaster Online: Although World War I was a geopolitical conflict, one aspect that has gained traction in recent years is the role Christianity played.
Commonweal: Lessons after long wars

Open letter to the US Catholic bishops: It's over
National Catholic Reporter: All the manipulations and contortions of the past 33 years, all the attempts to deflect and equivocate -- all of it has brought the church, but especially the bishops, to this moment.

Why being transgender is not a sin
Baptist News Global: Transgender identity is about who a person is, says Mark Wingfield. It is about their fundamental being as humans created by God in God's image -- an image that God has declared to be good.

Fear God, not Rome – advice for the US bishops

· Sr Thea Bowman's cause for canonization could open at US bishops' meeting

Sr. Thea Bowman was the first African American woman to address the U.S. bishops' conference. Most likely, she was also the first person to get them to hold hands and sing and sway to a Negro Spiritual.

· Pope Francis marks World War I centenary with message of peace

· After 100 years, US Catholicism still bears the stamp of World War I

· With US adoption needs high, Kansas looks to restrict religious agencies

· Half of countries have fertility rates below replacement level, study finds

· ‘Whispered in the dark’ conference aims to help fight porn

· What do Catholics expect from USCCB meeting on abuse crisis?

· U.S bishops welcome new HHS mandate exemptions

· Trump signs rules restricting asylum for illegal migrants

· Pope and Assyrian Patriarch: Blood of Middle East martyrs is ‘seed of Christian unity’

· Archbishop Gomez after Thousand Oaks shooting: Jesus cries with us

· Fear God, not Rome – advice for the US bishops

· Pope Francis warns Catholic journalists against pessimism

· Daily Readings

· Saint of the Day

Mothers of the Reformation

These Pastors Loved America So Much, They Wanted It to Stay British

Why the Christian case against the Revolutionary War deserves better than mockery and neglect.

John D. Wilsey

When a person dies, that person is usually forgotten as time advances. The Book of Exodus opens with the memorable saying: “Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” (1:8, ESV). Let’s face it, when most of us are laid low by the sweeping of the dread sickle, ...

Mothers of the Reformation

These early Protestant women saw Luther’s priesthood of all believers as reason to write and teach the Reformation.

Kristen Padilla

“It is the duty of every Christian to espouse the cause of the faith, to understand and defend it, and to denounce every error.” – Martin Luther

Martin Luther’s doctrine of the priesthood of all believers reverberated against the three “paper walls” of the Roman papacy ...

Entertainment

Even for Christian Combat Veterans, No Easy Answers

What two recent films get right, and what they miss.

Preston Jones

The recent films Unbroken: Path to Redemption and Indivisible center on spiritual responses to the personal toll of war. Those responses are, first and foremost, personal and individual. It would be a mistake to think that the transformations we see in the films can be generalized to all, most, or even a significant minority of war-zone veterans. But, however limited their perspectives, the films are helpful in that they show us two of the paths war veterans can take—two of the ways the Lord ...

Religious Freedom vs. Religious Feelings

William Kilpatrick

After nine years in prison, a Christian woman was acquitted of blasphemy by the Pakistan Supreme Court in mid-October. Almost immediately, however, massive street rallies and protests organized by Tehreek-e-Labaik—the anti-blasphemy party—forced the government to reconsider. The government agreed to ban Asia Bibi from leaving the country, and it agreed to allow her blasphemy acquittal […]

Matthew Nickel

It is this silent swerving from accuracy by an inch that is the uncanny element in everything. ∼ G.K. Chesterton In the digital age of LED lighting, we risk losing all sense of the uncanny. Of course, in the age of science in general, we tend to grow numb to the mystery that calls us […]

Paul Joseph Prezzia

To know and love one other human being is the root of all wisdom. ∼ Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited Wisdom is indeed a wonderful thing, but the knowledge and love that produce it are, like roots, usually better left underground. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh is a story of the cultivation of wisdom and even salvation. Where it […]

Her Prayers Helped Pull Me Out of Occult-Fueled Madness

Testimony | CT Magazine

Her Prayers Helped Pull Me Out of Occult-Fueled Madness

While I plunged further into darkness, a middle-school classmate kept lifting me up to God.

Heath Adamson

I started walking in the valley of the shadow of death at a very young age. In first grade, I became aware of something: What you see is not all there is.

The spiritual world was real to me, even as a child, because of my engagement with the occult. What started out as intrigue and entertainment quickly led to a lifestyle of encounter with the stuff of Hollywood lore. I remember watching a chair slide across the floor and a candle floating off the coffee table. I saw things no one should see.

You ...

Freddie Mercury's family faith: the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism

Synagogue shooting prompts Muslims to act charitably -- and humbly
Religion News Service: El-Messidi, a Muslim author and activist, talks about balancing the need to publicize fundraising efforts and other charitable acts with the Muslim teaching that they should be as discreet and quiet as possible.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Clergy shows solidarity with Jewish community at 'We Have To Talk' event

The day of fate
The Atlantic: Kristallnacht, on its 80th anniversary today, still offers a potent lesson: We all face the choice between right and wrong, responsibility and recklessness, conscience and complicity.
Haaretz: The heartbreaking suicide notes Jews left their loved ones after Kristallnacht

The Johnson Amendment's fate after the 2018 Elections: The fight continues
National Council of Nonprofits: The House flipped to Democratic control and the sponsor of the anti-Johnson Amendment appropriations rider lost his seat, so is the fight by the White House and others to do away with the amendment over?

Have all our short-term mission trips to Latin America shaped our response to the migrant 'caravan'?
Baptist News Global: Researchers estimate nearly 13 million American Christians have participated in a short-term mission trips to Latin America since 2007. Why aren't they pushing back against the dehumanization of people labeled in high places as "animals" and "invaders"? asks Chris Ellis, of Second Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Freddie Mercury's family faith: the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism
UF News: The rock star, subject of a new biopic, was born into a religion that influenced Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and that despite its small numbers, counts famous musicians, scientists, scholars, artists and entrepreneurs among its ranks.

On the Prudence of Borders

The Final Conversations of a Dying Priest

Austin Ruse

Father Arne Panula died quite publicly and for a very long time. We kept hearing the end was near, but he kept on going and going. Besides in his coffin, the last time I saw him was when he took the podium at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast and offered a prayer. This movie-star-handsome man […]

Robert F. Gorman

Advocates for open borders argue that guarded and regulated borders are signs of closed societies and ultimately a violation of the dignity and rights of persons to move wherever they wish to work, to live, to seek welfare assistance, and especially to seek asylum from violent societies. But often overlooked in this new globalist creed […]

Why Divinize the Pope?

James Kalb

Last month, I discussed the tendency among prominent supporters of Pope Francis to speak as if he had very special and even divine qualities. Where does that come from? Some possibilities seem obvious. Any argument looks good if it favors the result wanted, so people convinced the pope’s new initiatives are right are easily tempted […]

John Horvat II

In our polarized nation, an “us versus them” scenario naturally arises. We are not supposed to frame the debate in this way. “Us” should refer to all Americans. “Them” is a term that is better not used at all. This is the central message of Sen. Ben Sasse’s new book, Them: Why We Hate Each […]