Please remember that you bless us with your presence, and may the Holy Spirit bring you His comfort and His peace. Join us!!!
Zoom Link:
For Study, Prayer and Fellowship - 8:00 AM PDT 08/23/2025:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82968961343?pwd=LzcwVjJKcWVESDRURlhDcXlNV0JUdz09
Meeting ID: 829 6896 1343
Passcode: 77299ere:
08/23/2025 – Prologue – The most important spiritual question we must ask is, how do I live the Good News today? It is to try to do exactly as the Gospel says: 1) Follow Christ; 2) Respect people not of our circle and whom society rejects; [John 4:9] 3) Do all that is possible to deal with demonic urges within yourself and society; [Matt. 6:13] 4) Do something about aggression, narcissism, jealousy, greed, and violence. [Gal. 5:19-21] Live with a mind that fails to justify those things, and seeks alternatives; [Gal. 5:24] 6) Be a healer, the word therapy appears many times in the NT. [James 5:16] “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”; 7) In all our work and interactions, copy Jesus; [1 Cor.11:1] 8) Be aware and do not copy the attitudes of the world today; [Rom. 12:2] and 9) Help others to live a thoughtful life that is convivial, fresh and original; [Gal. 6:2; Phil. 2:4] If we follow Jesus and listen for our destiny, we will go our own way and adapt Jesus’ teachings - simple and radical. We will evoke God’s kingdom in our own style and make our lives a tiny mustard seed.
We are reaching the end of this study of Christian culture. Understandable. However, please remember what we study is not static, but dynamic – always in motion and which tends in one direction. In other words, it is trending toward a peak or toward the bottom. At some point, the elements of the undulation change and the undulation crests or bottom’s out. If the story below is an indication of the trend line for Christianity in America, then we are still seeking the bottom; there are huge forces pushing the practice of Christianity downward. Fortunately, there are many, many positive signs, but insufficient to counter the negative pressure.
“Loyola University Chicago (LUC), a private, Jesuit, Catholic school (N B - I will comment on this next week.), hosted a drag queen show for its students. The event, on 04/29/25, featured Misty Terrain, and an official LUC, LGBTQ student organization hosted the event. “It is no secret how overtly sexual these drag events are. LUC has hosted shows where performers mock the Catholic faith by having a nun dressed in the pride flag. This is a Catholic University, and we host events that go against Catholic principles and teachings on a moral level,” said a student activist. “They make fun and attack Christians and Catholicism. It is an anti-Christian, biased campus. Nowhere in education, especially a Catholic institution, is a drag event appropriate. Students pay thousands of dollars to attend an institution that claims to align with their morals and faith, and with Catholic doctrine. This is the Left trying to insert their grotesque practices among young people. And they complain and rage when conservative events are hosted at LUC.”
A video of a protest shows several young men praying outside the performance hall. They were being harassed by a larger group of young women. Those women were spitting, screaming, using obscene gestures and language that would make a dock-worker blush. The passion displayed by the young women led me to conclude they were attendees at a faux church which worshipped ‘open sexuality’. The above event does not describe a strong, vibrant, faithful church. It describes a church that is weak and a world that is dying. One is justified in making that statement because only a few in attendance were saints. (The young men) But imagine if more people were called to imitate Mother Teresa. What would that do to the world? Or perhaps imitate Martin Luther? If not, how did 12 nice Jewish boys conquer the Roman Empire? Perhaps it is because they followed Christ’s command, “All authority in heaven and earth, has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples …” [ Matt. 28: 18-20] If you can imagine that, then you can imagine yourself becoming a saint.
The word saint is derived from the Latin word sanctus and means "holy." Throughout the NT, saint is used to refer to all who believe in Jesus Christ and whofollowed His teachings. Saint Paul often addresses his epistles to "the saints" of a particular city [Eph. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:1]. The Acts of the Apostles, written by Paul's disciple, Luke, talks about Peter going to visit the saints in Lydda [Acts 9:32]. The assumption was that those men and women who followed Christ had been so transformed that they were now different from other men and women and, thus, should be considered holy. In other words, sainthood always referred not simply to those who had faith in Christ but more specifically to those who had faith andfollowed Jesus’ teachings and thus lived lives inspired by that faith.
No one can stop you – it is totally a free choice. William Law (Brit., 1686 – 1761) wrote, “If you look into your own heart in utter honesty, you must admit that there is one and only one reason why you are not, even now, as saintly as the primitive Christians: you do not wholly want to be.” That insight is brutal in its indictment. It is also hopeful because it is an offer with an open door. We each can become a saint. Really? Think – Is there really anything else? If we are not – Why not? Fear! Fear of paying the price. What is the price?
T. S. Eliot, (Amer./Brit., 1888-1965) defined the condition of being Christian as costing every-thing. This means everything you have – give Christ 100%. This includes your heart, your mind, your soul, and your time. Hold back nothing, absolutely nothing, anytime, anywhere, ever. The result is martyrdom and for most of us that is a more extended, more difficult martyrdom than we may visualize. It means dying daily, dying every minute for as long as we live, dying to all our desires and plans – dying to self. This includes our plans on how to become a saint. What does this mean? This means not dying to your desires, but dying to the “you” in your desires. It means giving God a blank check and allowing Him to enter the amount. Allow me to be more precise: it means going – “islam,” – a complete submission [James 4:7] or surrender [John 1: 12-13; 2 Cor. 5:20-21]. Both of these are designed to be a reconciliation with God.
In assuming those attitudes, it will impact our work, preaching, teaching, writing, catechizing, missioning, mothering, fathering, nursing, doing business, and pastoring – everything. The human soul is like a tube connecting heaven and earth. (Not a tower.) If the tube is open and empty to allow God’s abundant grace to enter, then and only then, will the tube be filled to pour grace out. So, why can you not become a saint? Does it take ‘know how’? We are ‘know how’ people! We need a technique – a means to an end. N.B. Always remember a means must be easier than an end. So, if we seek a means to an end – sanctity [Gen. 1:26; 1 Thess. 4:3-8] – sanctifying grace, means we are set apart, made holy, and it leads and convicts us. Thus, getting there will be easier than being there. There is no magic button, no prayer, no meditation, no novena, no twelve step program, no trick, no device, and no esoteric method. It is as it is in love – no magic button. The expression of sanctity is love and charity, and loving God [Mark 12:30] with all your heart and soul and mind and strength and your neighbor [Mark 12:31] and your enemy [Matt. 5:44] as yourself. How do you love? You go Nike! You just do it!
A cause cannot produce an effect greater than itself. And nothing is greater than sanctity. Nothing is greater than love. There is no cause, no human cause, that can produce sanctity. It is without technology. God is its cause, grace is its cause, the Holy Spirit is its cause. AMEN
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