The People Only Make Up The Church…
The people only make up the Church, they don’t make it. Truth makes the Church. I have two examples in two days of people missing the boat on what “the Church” is all about. First example: I just watched a video of a pastor who spoke complete blasphemy about what the Church does. He said something like “the church is one of the biggest hindrances to conversion.” Obviously, this pastor is from a church that is wishy-washy and not centered in truth. (It appeared, from the video to be an amphi-theatre style mega-church where laser lights and smoke machines play the role of sacramentals.) His church, most likely, is centered on “whatever feels good” and “whatever it takes to “save” someone”. It’s sad, really. He’s missing the boat.
He told this story about a pastor who was fear-mongoring people into not having sex. The young lady that he took with him (a young, single mother in an extra-marital affair) wasn’t ready to hear that message, so this pastor was essentially blaming the Church for this poorly-delivered message, that most likely was “off” when it comes to sound doctrine. He’s aligning everything that one or more individuals may do with the Church as a whole and totally missing the point. See, Christ set up the Church to spread the Love of the Father, the Truth. He set it up to bring people to the Father, not to push them away from it. We grow closer to God through the Church.
Second example: yesterday, I was talking with a woman who said to me “I was raised Catholic, but I don’t go anymore. Is that bad?, it’s bad, isn’t it? I don’t like going because of all the hypocrisy… I’d see people there on Sunday and then they’d be talking bad about people the rest of the week.” This lady went on and on about it being “bad” that she doesn’t go any more. Then, she said to me “I used to like Fr. S0-and-So because his sermons were good. Once he left, I haven’t been back. Is that bad?” I said to her, the people only make up the Church, they don’t make it. If the people inside the Church are bad, it doesn’t mean that the Church is bad. You should go, give it a try again. It was very obvious to me that this lady doesn’t know what the Eucharist is.
It’s frustrating when people make condemning judgments (especially when they are made out of ignorance) like this that really affect the lives of others. In the first case, the pastor is going to have to answer for his blasphemy and how he led many people astray. The lady is going to have to answer for leading her kids astray, as well as herself. If you are reading this and understand what I’m saying, you realize that it’s a big responsibility to be a servant of the Lord. What are you saying or doing that may lead others closer to Christ? What are you saying or doing that make lead others away from Christ?
Man up!
Latest BK Commercial
I can’t believe this commercial. Burger King is trying to sell food because it contains a Sponge Bob Square Pants image… they’ve taken distasteful to a whole new level. Or should I say dis-tasteless? – (I’m not a fan of BK’s food regardless of this commercial.) Watch it and see what you think.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gMZ62PsvRM]
The thing that gets me is this… with all the “booty” and sexual references throughout the video, the commercial is supposed to be selling KID’S MEALS! Can you believe this mess?
Yuck.
Man up!
Not-a-Catholic (Dame) University
Although I have some cousins that went to Notre Dame and frequently watch Irish football on NBC, I don’t have any direct ties to the school. I’ve been seeing plenty of traffic in emails, on Facebook and through the news about ND’s choice to have Obama visit and present the commencement speech in May. Lots of stink has been made about ND being a “Catholic” institution and how appalled people are at their decision(s). I heard it best from a fellow Catholic on Facebook: “Why is everyone getting upset now, after years of anti-Catholic behavior at Notre Dame? They haven’t been Catholic for a long time.” Just putting the title “Catholic” on something doesn’t make it, or any individual, actually Catholic. Being Catholic means that you profess, uphold and defend the True Teachings of the Church. [Ironically, their mascot appears to be “fighting”, but they haven’t fought to uphold Catholicism for years. I feel bad for actual Catholics that go there that have to deal with this.]
I came across this letter that backs me up on this… Thanks Bishop…
Reverend and dear Father Jenkins,
Permit me to add my name as well to the long list of Bishops of the Catholic Church who are utterly appalled at your dedication to immorality and wrong-doing represented by your support for the obscenity called “The Vagina Monologues” and your absolute indifference to the murderous abortion program and beliefs of this President of the United States.
The fact that you have some sort of past connection with the State of Nebraska makes it all the more painful that the Catholic people here have to see your betrayal of the moral teachings of the Catholic Church.
I can assure you of my prayers for your conversion, and for the conversion of your formerly Catholic University. I am,
Sincerely yours in Christ Jesus,
The Most Reverend Fabian W. Bruskewitz
Bishop of Lincoln
Man up!
Pontius Pilate, What You Did Was NOT Manly
I thought several times throughout Holy Week, as well as when I watched “The Passion of the Christ” on Friday night, that Pontius Pilate (pronounced pon-chus pi-lot) was not manly in his decisions to condemn Jesus to death. He tried, yes, at first, to tell the people that Jesus had done nothing wrong. Where he went wrong was when he worried about what sort of uprising the Jewish high priests would start and what the people would do. He let self-preservation win out over justice.
He’s infamously remembered by Catholics in our Creed (our profession of faith) “…He (Jesus) suffered under Pontius Pilate…“. This is because Pilate had the power to prevent Christ’s horrible torture, scourging, carrying of His cross and His death, but failed to act; all out of fear. He was a coward. Even the movie “The Passion of the Christ” (picture above from a scene with Pilate and Jesus) shows Pilate’s wife as a hero and a servant, with compassion and deep sorrow while Pilate simply looks on, worried about himself. Pilate leaves us with a good example of what not to do.
Christ tells us that we’ll be persecuted because of Him, because we follow Him and because we love Him. We should be ready and prepared to persevere. We prepare for this by training (prayer and fasting, mostly). When it comes down to it, who will you side with? Will you take the easy way out and deny Christ or will you stand firm in your beliefs, in your faith and in HIS love and witness for Jesus? Only time will tell.
Again, society tells men that we must look out for ourselves and self-preservation. Christ, the Church and TrueManhood.com say something different. We all say “defend Christ, defend Mother Church, defend Truth” – God will provide for us and will raise us up on the last day. A True Man does this. A man like Pontius Pilate doesn’t. What kind of man are you?
Man up!
Business Owner
I just came from the tax guy this morning and received great news – a refund! (I can’t believe I waited this long!) I wasn’t sure this year because things changed for us in several ways and I went from having part-time businesses to being fully self-employed. I highly recommend that you (everyone) becomes a business owner – at least a part-time home-based business. The business can be anything you want (I recommend something that you are passionate about), and the distinction of business vs. hobby is simple. You ask the question: “Am I in the pursuit of profit?” and if so, whatever you are doing is a business. The IRS doesn’t care what you are doing to be in the pursuit of profit, they simply put the laws out there and if someone chooses to take advantage of it, great.
Here are the reasons why you want to own a business: tax deductions! It’s all about the tax deductions. Not to mention that you can create your own schedule, you are solely responsible for the success/failure of the business and you don’t have to work for the man. Why tax deductions are important: tax deductions decrease the amount of income that you are taxed on. So, if you are an employee, you are taxed first and then left with whatever you are left with to pay your bills and have fun BUT if you are a business owner, you pay your expenses first, then are taxed on the smaller amount and then have more left over to have fun with! (Or, if you are prudent and responsible, more to invest, save, and plan with.)
As I was sitting across from Ed today, I realized that a great number of people who belly-ache about taxes and money and the “rich people getting richer” and so on, don’t take advantage of the tax laws. The rich own businesses. The tax laws date back long ago, when land and possessions determined a person’s wealth. The government wanted to benefit those who were involved in commerce, so the tax law is written in a way that does so. You can reap the benefits of owning your own business and you can start today, with no money out of pocket. Do it today for yourself, for your family and for your future. Wanna know how? Shoot me an email. proveritasspeakers@gmail.com.
Man up!
What Does it Mean to Be Manly?
I came across a few videos today on YouTube that were a bit frustrating to watch. I’m not posting them here because 1. they are frustrating 2. they are inappropriate for my site and 3. I don’t want to promote the males that made these videos. What I found in these videos was a misconstrued image of manliness, but not in the normal sense (aka – “cultural manliness”, as I refer to it –> money, power, women, stuff…) but in a sense of bashing overly manly activities, ideas, thoughts and practices. Taking it to the other extreme; calling men to be more feminine. Yuck.
Let me make it clear to the readers of this blog what I mean when I say words like MANLY, MANLINESS, TRUEMAN, TRUEMANHOOD, etc. In essence, I mean virtue. In none of the three videos that sparked this post did they ever mention anything about virtue. It might get old hearing about virtue, and yes, I write about it frequently, but virtue = manliness. TrueManliness. Plain and simple.
Others can blog/vlog about whatever they want, but when it comes to talking about manliness, they aren’t my compass. My compass points are Christ and St. Joseph, combined with other saints and men who are alive (both literally and figuratively) in the faith. These men live(d) out “the greatest of these” – Love. Prudence, Temperance, Justice, Fortitude, Faith, Hope and Love. Live them.
If you would like a copy of some virtue materials, contact TrueManhood.com at proveritasspeakers@gmail.com.
Man up!
An Explanation on Ephesians Chapter 5
On semi-regular occasions, I come across stories of men and women who look at Ephesians Chapter 5 in a different way than the Church does. It often appears that they take the writings out of context and make them something that they are not. I want to take a few minutes to explain portions of this sometimes mistaken portion of Scripture. Note: I am not a Biblical scholar – I recommend that you cross-check my words here with other sources for full understanding.
Starting at verse 21 in chapter 5, St. Paul tells Wives and Husbands “Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the Church, He Himself the savior of the body. As the Church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.” A few hard-hitting verses. If we stop at this verse, we see the writer (St. Paul) asking women to be subordinate to their man in everything. It almost appears that a woman should blindly follow her husband simply because he is 1. her husband and 2. the head of his wife. We might look at this and say that a wife needs to be “below” her husband and always do as he tells her. The image of a slave and a master comes to mind here. After all, it’s right there in Scripture – right?
Not quite. We need to continue reading to finish out this section. 25: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed Himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the Church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the Church, because we are members of His body.” We see a much different story when we continue reading. St. Paul isn’t writing this to women alone. Most importantly, he is writing this to husbands; husbands are the readers who especially need to heed these words.
Look at this with me: scripture tells us that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the Church. Christ didn’t love the Church out of dictatorial power… He loved the Church out of service, out of self-sacrifice and out of pure virtue. If we leave this part out of our understanding, our understanding lacks truth and our relationship with our spouse suffers. Again, St. Paul is speaking to the men, saying “Men, serve your wife! LOVE you wife! Give up what you want for the sanctity and holiness of your wife! Love her as you love yourself! Want what’s best for her, never thinking about yourself first!” I can imagine him being incredibly frustrated with men who were lacking as husbands, trying to get them to see that Christ set the example of being a real husband (a TrueMan) for them and that they simply need to emulate Him in order to succeed.
This means, for us men who are or who will be husbands, that we MUST act as Christ acted. We must be perfected so that our actions, thoughts, words and deeds line up with how Christ would have done them. We must be sacrificial in the way that we treat our wife. Christ was a servant leader, He said “I come to serve, not to be served.” Do that… don’t live to be served.
On a practical note: as you look at your marriage and begin to digest what you are reading, realize that countless blessings will come from being a servant leader for your wife. Being a servant leader means that you are serving while leading. Service comes first. Want respect from your wife? Respect her first. Want your wife to honor you? Honor her first. Want your wife to trust you? Trust her first. It’s a simple formula and this formula will change your life. Christ calls us to act in the manner He acted, so guess what… if you are trying to act as Christ acted, you can’t be selfish, ever. Serve your wife, serve your kids, serve your co-workers, serve everyone, and do it ahead of yourself and your needs. It will change your life.
Man up!
