The earliest Christian creed

There was no Bible to direct Paul on his missionary journeys or to guide his letters to the converts.  He had to tell them what he had been told in the period of time between his Damascus Road experience (about 4-5 years after the resurrection) and the beginning of his ministry.  This was a time when the disciples of Jesus were able to school him in the truths of the gospel until he was ready to go out on his own. They gave him this creed. Also, Paul’s letters were circulating before the four Gospels. He teaches using a form of a creed--a statement of belief--which had been taught to him.

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:

That Christ died for our sins
According to the Scriptures
That he was buried
That he was raised on the third day
According to the Scriptures
And that he appeared to Peter
And then to the Twelve.”

1 Corinthians 15: 3-5

He preceded that statement of faith by reminding them that this is the gospel that saved them, otherwise their belief is in vain.  And also ours.

https://carm.org/questions/about-jesus/1-cor-153-4-demonstrates-creed-too-early-legend-corrupt

 http://winteryknight.com/2009/04/03/gary-habermas-explains-the-earliest-source-of-resurrection-facts/

 http://www.evidenceunseen.com/bible-difficulties-2/nt-difficulties/romans-2/1-cor-153b-5-was-this-an-early-christian-statement-of-faith/

Cute puppy, hold him close

Sally his owner says: ". . . he was diagnosed with a very rare disease called CMO, CranioMandibular Osteopathy. We expect him to outgrow this by age 12 months. He is doing consistently well on 1/2 tsp. colloidal silver each day. The vets have no treatments to offer." 

Fresh take on old verse

"During the Christmas season I think often of that extraordinary verse in Isaiah 9:6, "For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given. The Son is not born; the SON eternally existed and is GIVEN. The CHILD is BORN and entered our time." - Ravi Zacharias

HT Pastor Dave Mann, UALC

Housing for the poor

The nation’s leading housing agency, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), reported in April 2015 that more than 7.7 million very low - income families have “worst case housing needs ”because they do not receive government housing assistance and paid more than half of their monthly income for rent, lived in severely substandard housing, or both. But how can that be? There are at least 160 federal programs at 20 different federal agencies providing assistance and affordable housing for the poor! $270 billion in 2012. There are block grants to states, special deals for mortgages, vouchers for rent assistance, thousands of regulations on special housing projects—you name it—and there are eager government employees making a good living helping the poor. If you’ve wondered why government won’t do much to lower the costs of health care by taking over insurance, just look at how government takes care of the poor who need housing.

 

160 entities involved in housing 

Chart book

Federal rental assistance

I slipped His fingers, I escaped His feet

I heard this lovely poem recited at the end of a very complex lecture on theology and history by Charles Craigmile, but without attribution.  I googled the first line, and found it is often attributed to Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, but kept looking, and found it in one of his addresses from 1940.  It is so lovely.  Some say the name of the poet doesn't matter, but she does. The Sheen source attributed it to Elizabeth Cheney (b. 1859).
    
"I slipped His fingers, I escaped His feet,
     I ran and hid, for Him I feared to meet.
     One day I passed Him, fettered on a Tree,
     He turned His Head, and looked, and beckoned me.

    "Neither by speed, nor strength could He prevail.
     Each hand and foot was pinioned by a nail.
     He could not run or clasp me if He tried,
     But with His eye, He bade me reach His side.

    "For pity's sake, thought I, I'll set you free.
     'Nay -- hold this cross,' He said, 'and follow me.
     This yoke is easy, this burden light,
     Not hard or grievous if you wear it tight.'

    "So did I follow Him Who could not move,
     An uncaught captive in the hands of Love."

         -- (Attributed to) Elizabeth Cheney (in a Sheen address found on a blog)

But I kept looking (it's a librarian thing) and found a version with a  different message attributed to Cheney--more evangelistic, perhaps more social justice, but without Christ's words. Neither poem provides the truth of the resurrection. The poet Cheney is best known for a small poem about birds and anxiety that appears on plaques. So perhaps the Sheen version and the Cheney version are not one, but different treatments of the same theme.

 Whenever there is silence around me
By day or by night—
I am startled by a cry.
It came down from the cross—
The first time I heard it.
I went out and searched—
And found a man in the throes of crucifixion,
And I said, “I will take you down,”
And I tried to take the nails out of his feet.
But he said, “Let them be,
For I cannot be taken down
Until every man, every woman, and every child
Come together to take me down.”
And I said, “But I cannot bear your cry.
What can I do?”
And he said, “Go about the world—
Tell every one that you meet—
There is a man on the cross.”

Elizabeth Cheney

Incidentally, not only is there a modern Elizabeth Cheney (daughter of the former vice president), but there was an English Elizabeth Cheney in the 15th century who because of her two marriages was the great-grandmother of Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, and Catherine Howard, three of the wives of King Henry VIII of England, thus making her great-great-grandmother to King Edward VI, the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, and Elizabeth I, the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Her first husband was Sir Frederick Tilney, and her second husband was Sir John Say, Speaker of the House of Commons. She produced a total of nine children from both marriages.

Isn't the internet amazing? It's not often you can get a 15th century royal, a 19th century poet and a 20th century priest worked into the same article.

Lectures on the Church Fathers

This morning while exercising I listened to lecture 8, St. John of Damascus, series on Early Church Fathers, held at St. Mary's Summer School in Lake Forest, IL in 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBAJoXfXZl8 The lecturer, who is not a priest or deacon but a business man, is so good, I listened to all 8.  Then I find there was another series in 2015, which I'll have to look at.

The lecturer Charles H. Craigmile holds an undergraduate degree in philosophy, with minors in Latin and Greek from the University of St. Thomas, an MA in philosophy from DePaul University, and an MBA from JL Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.   Charles has also completed three-years’ course work toward a graduate degree in Theology at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein.  Over the last 25 years, Charles has taught Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) programs across the Chicago area and led summer programs in recent years at Church of Saint Mary in Lake Forest. He is President and CEO of Revenova, LLC, the leading Cloud based Transportation Management Application built on the Salesforce.com platform. Previously, he was President and CEO of Forseva which he sold to Equifax in 2014.

The summer 2015 series:

#1 Framework for Catholic Social Teaching:  Faith, Morals and The Universal Call to Holiness

Tuesday, June 23rd (Grotto)

#2  The Dignity of the Human Person as the Foundation of Catholic Social Teaching:  Secular and Catholic Perspectives

Tuesday, June 30th (Stuart Community Room)

#3 Human Sexuality Part One:  Authentic Love in Truth

Tuesday, July 7th (Stuart Community Room)

#4 Human Sexuality Part Two:  Authentic Love in Truth

Tuesday, July 14th (Stuart Community Room)

#5 Medical Ethics:  New Technologies and the Promotion of Human Dignity

Tuesday, July 21st (Stuart Community Room)     

#6 Core Principles of Catholic Social Teaching on the Political Economy

Tuesday, July 28th (Stuart Community Room)        

#7 Catholic Social Teaching and Public Policy:  Core Principles’ Application to Contemporary Policy

The Emperor Constantine did not found the Catholic Church

 Jimmy Akin refutes the claim made by some Christian Fundamentalists that the Emperor Constantine founded the Catholic Church.  He did however allow them to be "tolerated." He didn't make Catholicism the official religion of the empire.

Did the Emperor Constantine found the Catholic Church? | Catholic Answers

 http://shoebat.com/2013/09/21/constantine-create-catholic-church/

 http://www.churchhistory101.com/feedback/protestant-myths.php

Who were the Church Fathers? | Catholic Answers

Who were the Church Fathers? | Catholic Answers

Don't panic, all you Protestants and non-denominationalists.  We share most of these. And probably all their ideas if they died in good standing with the church

Stop demeaning the Trump supporters as ignorant and uneducated

I was watching the huge crowd of Trump supporters last night as he was being interviewed by O'Reilly. Don't underestimate him by demeaning his supporters (of which I'm not one). They were all ages, genders, ethnicities, incomes, education (it's not cheap to go to those expensive tourist towns to hang out at political events) and all thoroughly fed up with the antics of both parties in Washington. The Republicans don't keep their promises to return us to good values and the Constitution, and the Democrats keep their promises to run up the taxes, regulations and drive us away from the Constitution.

We don't have RA, but these are good tips

http://www.healthline.com/health/rheumatoid-arthritis/life-hacks

13 tips for anyone who is getting up in years, or feeling some stiffness.

New on my Nook--Eusebius

"If Herodotus is the father of history, then Eusebius of Caesarea (c. A.D. 260-339) is certainly the father of church history.  He was the first to undertake the task of tracing the rise of Christianity during its crucial first three centuries from Christ to Constantine.  Since no other ancient author tried to cover the same period, Eusebius is our principal primary source for earliest Christianity and his Church History is the cornerstone chronicle on which later historians would build."  Introduction, "Eusebius: The Church History," c. 1999, 2007, 2011 translation and commentary  by Paul L. Maier, Kregel Digital Editions, Grand Rapids, MI.

I've downloaded a "sample" which seems to be 72 pages.

I've had my Nook about 3 years, and haven't done much with it. I thought I'd put some titles on a list and hand this puppy over to my daughter, who loves this stuff. (She bought it for me for Mother's Days a few years ago.)

Review at Christianbook.com "Dr. Paul L. Maier's award-winning translation Josephus: The Essential Works, now has a companion volume in a brilliant, word-for-word translation of and commentary on Eusebius's great Church History. Beginning with Jesus of Nazareth and ending with Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor in the early part of the fourth century, Eusebius presents a panorama of apostles, church fathers, elders, bishops, heroes, heretics, confessors, and martyrs. Key features in this new translation include more than 150 full-color photographs, maps and illustrations, an informative introduction to Eusebius and his works, commentaries on the significant historical developments addressed in each book of The Church History, and four indexes listing persons, places, and subjects cited, as well as photographs and illustrative material. This flowing, contemporary English translation remains faithful to the original Greek text but liberates Eusebius from previous outdated and stilted works, creating a new standard primary resource for anyone, lay or professional, who is interested in the early history of Christianity.

Christianity Today:  "There is no book more important o understanding the early church than Eusebius's The Church History.  And there is no edition more readable and engaging than this one."

Bacon or lettuce on that?

Are they pulling my leg? ""Eating lettuce is over three times worse in greenhouse gas emissions than eating bacon," said Paul Fischbeck, professor of social and decisions sciences and engineering and public policy. "Lots of common vegetables require more resources per calorie than you would think. Eggplant, celery and cucumbers look particularly bad when compared to pork or chicken."

No more lettuce on my BLT!

From masters to heads to . . .

According to R.R. Reno (First Things, Jan. 2016) Princeton has agreed to rename "masters" of its residential colleges to "heads" to protect the crybullies from feeling unsafe. One alum recommends changing "heads" to "asses" so as not to marginalize that part of the body, and to more aptly describe their role.

Is anyone in charge here?

Yesterday I came across a slick brochure advertising IF:Gathering 2016, which seems to be an ecumenical live gathering with lots of high tech underground and over reach--blogging, twiitter, Pinterest, tumblr, etc.--supposedly reaching about 400,000 women for the last event as reported by Christianity Today and Huffington Post. The brochure made no mention of the ministry or resurrection of Jesus which always gives me pause in publicity for massive "Christian" events. Is that to be "seeker" friendly, or was it an oversight by the proof reader? No theology, Christology, ecclesiology, or any isms or ologies that I'm familiar with that point back to the New Testament church. Just lots of good vibes and emotion, plus some social justice links to well known Christian groups. "A fresh, deep, honest space for the next generation of women to wrestle with essential questions that plague their generation." I can find no "authority" or church leader higher than the woman (and her husband) who organized it. I'm feeling my age today--and the multitude of events I've seen come and go in the last 40 years. Thoughts? Have you attended one of these?

Where are the adults?

They need to start hiring adults to be teachers in this district. "During a world geography lesson on Friday about world religions, including Islam, teacher Cheryl LaPorte had students complete an assignment that involved practicing calligraphy and writing a Muslim statement of faith, also known as the shahada, which translates as: "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah." Students were also reportedly shown copies of the Quran." Parents are unhappy; school board saw no problem. If it was a geography lesson, why not write the name of their city? Or their own name? Students also got to dress modestly with a scarf like Muslims. Patrick Madrid wondered what would happen if the assignment was to dress like a Carmelite nun (they still wear the black and white habit) and write "Jesus is Lord." I think someone would be fired, don't you?

Vanilla Lemon Chex Mix

Read this for the instructions; not difficult.  Great for a holiday party.  
http://mylitter.com/recipes/vanilla-lemon-chex-mix-recipe/ 

Ingredients

• 5 cups Rice Chex Cereal
• ¾ cup Vanilla Baking Chips
• 3 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice, fresh
• 1 1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

After the Ball, the PR agenda for normalizing homosexuality

 It wasn't just the book "After the Ball" which normalized homosexuality in our culture. It was the other 99%.

"It should be obvious to anyone who has been paying attention over the course of the past 25 years that the strategies proposed by Kirk and Madsen have been all too successful at normalizing homosexuality—or, at least, the idea that a homosexual “orientation” is perfectly natural.  (Homosexual practice, on the other hand, has been kept discreetly under wraps.)  But as successful as this marketing of the gay brand has been, it could not have made much headway if Americans had not already been predisposed to it by the long development of what sociologist Philip Rieff called the “therapeutic culture,” a culture rooted in affluence, consumerism, and perpetual rebellion against the old communal culture and its system of moral demands.  In the therapeutic culture each individual is liberated to pursue his own desires, convinced that he is the self-created agent of those desires, or, as Stephen L. Gardner has so aptly put it, the “demi-god of his eros and ambitions.”  Within such a culture, sexual desire has gradually become detached from its place in the natural order, and sexual “identity” elevated to an almost sacramental status.  Facebook, surely a bellwether of our free fall into mass narcissism and incoherence, now offers some 56 gender alternatives to traditional male/female sex identities, and each of these implies one or more modes of sexual satisfaction.  Of course, most Americans are boorishly indifferent to this bewildering array of options.  Nonetheless, the unending Sexual Revolution has made deep inroads in Middle America.  Consider the sex-toy industry.  David Rosen at alternet.org estimates that global profits in sex accessories now approach $15 billion annually, much of which is generated by U.S. sales.  Who is buying all those naughty products?  Well, it seems that a whopping number of them are purchased by middle-class American women."

Jack Trotter, Conservatives and the Gay Agenda

The IRS is at it again!

 What could be worse than the IRS being in charge of your medical records?  How about crushing with a burden of paper work every organization you donate to? And not just demanding donor lists for conservative groups like they did to conservatives during the 2012 campaign.  This could also hurt you Democrats who have a heart for charity. The IRS has proposed a new regulation that would require 501(c)3 charitable organizations to collect social security numbers of donors who donate $250.  Mega death organizations like Planned Parenthood would have no problem with this, or the Clinton Foundation which has accepted millions from foreign donors while Hillary was Secretary of State.  But the little church around the corner?  Your local dog breed rescue group?

 https://www.501c3.org/irs-proposal-to-provide-social-security-numbers-of-donors-worries-charities/


“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” 1 Cor. 13:13

So easy even a librarian could do it

Glenn Beck resettles Iraqi Christians in Slovakia

As I’ve said before, I’m all for resettling Christian refugees from the Middle-east. I think I read somewhere that so far, 53 Christians have been admitted to the U.S. even though they are facing genocide—we’ve probably admitted more Muslim terrorists than that. However, how to support this? 

Last night Glenn Beck showed video of his organization (Mercury One) taking 149 Christians out of a refugee camp in Iraq (I think they’d been in the camp 2 years). They contacted 11 countries, including the USA, but only Slovakia would take them. Iraqi Christians are probably descended from the apostles or someone who knew them, as are other Orthodox Christians, so it shouldn’t be an impossible job. They had their last mass with their priest, said good-bye to friends and family, and flew off to a new country, new language, new customs. It was really heart wrenching. 

These were not peasants, they are educated people with careers and homes, now all ripped away. Iraq has been their people’s home for centuries. Their community had a good life in Iraq (as I recall from pre-war days, they were protected by Saddam Hussein who was a secular Muslim). ISIS was threatening to behead them right up to the end, in fact, the first flight was delayed due to intelligence they might be attacked. (Several times Beck mentioned that ISIS was killing the handicapped, although I haven’t seen that report elsewhere. He has a physically challenged daughter, so he’s always very sensitive to that.) It was like watching the frantic flights out of VietNam after U.S. renigged on the treaty agreements. 

Anyway, we had talked before about who could we trust with money to do this? Mennonites? Brethren? Lutheran? Any of the groups we’ve supported in the past? No, plus they all cooperate with World Council of Churches for world relief, which if you’ve ever read their documents is very pro-Muslim (I saw that even in the 1970s). Beck had tried to raise $10,000,000 to do this with listener/member donations, but instead raised $13,000,000. So we knew where to send our help. God bless people like Beck who take enormous risks (he was also Iraq with the camera crew and all the people it took to organize this).

Incidentally, he said a crew from 20/20 went along to film it, but I don’t think he really trusts the MSM to get the story right. We’ll see if it gets more than a few minutes on another news show. It has been reported on Fox and in some Christian on-line publications.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/glenn-beck-johnnie-moore-evacuate-iraqi-christian-refugee-slovakia-152273/#!