That's My King! - SM Lockridge

Rebellion Sunday

Last year Patrick Madrid published this story on Reformation Sunday.  It really touched me then and I wanted to share it now as tomorrow is when this sad event is celebrated by Protestants. 

In all actuality, the Reformation is the saddest event ever to happen in all of Christian history.  It is the rupturing of the unity that Christ wanted and still wants for His Bride.  It grieves me to see Protestants wishing each other a "Happy Reformation Sunday" while their supposed Lord grieves over their rebellion. 

I am reminded of Fr. Baker's Prayer:

O, Victorious Lady,

Thou who hast ever such powerful influence with thy Divine Son,

In conquering the hardest of hearts,

Intercede for those for whom we pray

That their hearts be softened by the rays of Divine Grace,

That they may return to the unity of the true faith,

Through Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

Or the Prayer of Fatima:
 

"My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You.

 I beg pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You."

(The Angel to three children of Fatima, spring 1916)

 

 

Or the prayer of Our Lord in John 17:

 

"that they may all be one, as You, Father are in me and I in You that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that You sent me.

 

Protestantism is the the greatest obstacle to the conversion of the lost that Satan has ever devised.  1 Cor 14:33 "For God is not a God of confusion but of peace."

Vivificat!: Video: Isn’t this special?

Vivificat!: Video: Isn’t this special?: "Folks, check this interview with Imam Anjem Choudary on CNN: “My invitation is a peaceful one to people to embrace Islam, and to warn them ..."

Murky Message

Someone once said . . .

Someone once said to me, "The harder it is, the more you know you need to do it." I've never been overjoyed to hear that statement, but I do know that it is true. What is the hardest part about what you're going through right now? Is it forgiving? Is it letting go of the relationship you had with your ex-spouse? Is it watching your children leave with your ex-spouse, knowing you have no control over what will happen while they are gone? There are many difficult things about divorce that we don't want to accept; and in turn, we run the risk of drowning in anger and resentment.


But I extend the same challenge to you that was extended to me: "The harder it is, the more you know you need to do it." Just as exercising flabby muscles is painful, so will be doing what is difficult. But the results will be AMAZING! You will purify and strengthen your will in such a way that you will become a different person... a better, stronger person. And that, my friend, is something no one can take away from you!

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence - and in your moral excellence, knowledge - and in your knowledge, self-control - and in your self-control, perseverance - and in your perseverance, godliness - and in your godliness, brotherly kindness - and in your brotherly kindness, love. 2 Peter 1:5-7

Daily Journey of Hope messages are brought to you by DivorcedCatholic.org.

Runaway Slave Movie Teaser

Flipsyde - Happy Birthday

Remember to vote for Life!

Dr. David Janda explains rationing and why Dr. Rob Steele must defeat Di...

The Wounded Lover

The Wounded Lover Stands at the door
waiting for His beloved to let Him in,
knocking with blood on His knuckles
while His beloved keeps clinging to sin.

Singer, songwriter, story teller W. Keith Moore. 

Attitude of Gratitude

Trying to view each moment of your life as a gift when you are going through a divorce is hard... maybe even impossible. But you will come to see this is a necessary exercise if you want to truly heal from the pain you are suffering through. It all comes down to working on the virtue of gratitude. When you can be grateful for all that has happened, even the bad things that's a sign that you are making good progress in your healing. Why? Because even the bad things that happen to us in life are good - they cause us to learn, grow, and become stronger.


Relationships fail when God is not present in them. You may not be able to bring God back to your marriage, but you can certainly include Him in your everyday moments, thoughts, desires, prayers... right now! Let God be a part of all aspects of your life so He can bring good things out of your situation. He loves you so much!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17).

Daily Journey of Hope messages are brought to you by DivorcedCatholic.org.

How Did She Do It?

More than 2,000 years ago, a young 14-year-old girl named Mary, was visited by the Archangel Gabriel and learned of her glorious new role as the mother of God. Can you imagine what an incredible event that must have been? A momentous day, yes, and although she was to be the Mother of God, that was the only heavenly apparition she would have until she got to heaven.


When she had to explain to Joseph why she was pregnant and endure the pain of his decision to quietly divorce her, there was no angel present to back her up. When she and Joseph discovered that Jesus had been missing for three days and she was overcome with the natural anxiety a mother feels when her child is lost, there was no angel to guide her back to her Son. Mary endured the greatest pains and sufferings a mother could endure, especially standing at the foot of the cross as Christ was so brutally and unjustly crucified. How did she do it? How did she get through it all? When Jesus was placed in the tomb and there was nothing left of her family, where did she find the hope and the strength to go on living? Mary found her strength in her unshakable trust in God. He was her rock at all times. She trusted the plan He had put in place.

This is a great time for you to look to your heavenly mother for help. Your suffering now may seem as if it will never end, but follow Mary's example and trust in God's plan for you. Just as Mary lived to experience the joy of the Resurrection after such incredible pain and suffering, so will God bless you with the peace and joy you are seeking.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior (Luke 1:46).

Daily Journey of Hope messages are brought to you by DivorcedCatholic.org.

Fr. John Has a Blog!

Well, I just discovered that Fr. John is on blogger!  Yeah!  So just click here and you can keep up with his commentary on the Catholic faith.  Welcome to blogger, Fr. John!

I Wish My Brother Had Been At Mass This Morning

Fr. Erich gave a homily this morning that would blow the minds of most anti-Catholics who spend their time telling folks that Catholics think they are working their way to heaven.  Sola Gratia!  I looked on our Parish website and I don't see the sermon.  If I see it later, I'll post it.  Feel free to browse his sermons that are linked in the side bar.  See Fr. John's Homilies.

Fr. Oliver's Ordination

I'd like to invite you all to visit the web site for my Parish.  It is a wealth of information on the Catholic faith.  Our Pastor, Fr. Erich is a teaching Priest and he stands strong in the defense of the faith. 

Recently, we were blessed with the ordination of a married man who had been a Priest in the Anglican communion.  I'm sure you don't remember back that far, but a year or two ago, I encountered a very sweet family in the book store of our Parish that was looking for a missal.  We had none in the bookstore, but I gave them mine.  They said they were there getting to know the Catholic Church because their own Episcopal Priest was converting here at St. Thomas.  I was delighted to hear that and have prayed for these folks that they would come to see the historic reasons for becoming Catholic.  Well, I imagine they were folks from Fr. Oliver's former Parish.

Here you will find a page dedicated to his ordination.  It's a beautiful slide show and music by our choir.  You get to know my home Parish and also several Priests who mean so much to me, like our Pastor Fr. Erich and also Fr. Lorig, who is a married Priest.

Oh Lord, hear our prayer!  Bring the wanderers home and let us be one as you prayed we would be.

Halloween Politics

Boys Meet Monster Truck

The Prolife Tea Party Vote

What did the miners in Chile say on their shirts?

No, You Can't!

I'm Personally Opposed

THE speech!

Rich Mullins Screen Door

Rich Mullins Hold me Jesus

Muslim blasphemer dances on the high altar at the Florence Cathedral

Muslim blasphemer dances on the high altar at the Florence Cathedral

I just snagged this off of Patrick Madrid's blog.

Phoenix Catholic Priest Known To Have Fathered Six Children

Catholic Phoenix: "When I notice priests and their activities in the headlines, it’s rarely pleasant reading, and I suppose that makes a certain kind of sense. It isn’t really news when someone fulfills his duties and avoids abusing power. It’s corruption and perversion that catch the reader’s attention.

That’s why it’s nice to put a headline about a priest out there which is completely and totally edifying.
The priest in the headline is Fr. Oliver Vietor." (Read the rest of the article about our wonderful new Priest here.)

Islam and Pornography

A few months ago I started a series on the satanic stronghold of masturbation.  Since that time, this blog has experienced up to twice as many hits per day as it did previous.  As I've mentioned before, I have a tool that allows me to see who is visiting the blog, where they are from and what led them to the blog.  I've been literally nauseated to find that most of the increase in traffic is from foreign countries (mostly Muslim countries) and it is from search engines where obscene searches for child pornography involving masturbation have led them here.  Now I'd rather they stop by here and get some truth about the dangers of what they are enslaved by, but I am also sickened by the shear numbers of hits looking for this perverse material.

I wrote previously about muslim hypocrisy and how they claim they are terrorizing us because of our immorality all the while searching the Internet for the most perverted of images.  Then I received this article from my tireless research assistant.  It seems that my own experience here on ALG is just the tip of the iceberg of Islamic addiction to pornography.  It might just be their own undoing. 

So do they really believe our women should be covered from head to toe?  Or do they just want free Internet access?  Either way, their understanding of female sexuality and female worth is woefully lacking and their respect of and protection of their children must be nonexistent.

God, hear the cry of the weak and the innocent.  Bring justice on those who prey on the defenseless.  Purge our world from the scourge of pornography!

A tribute to the Papacy

Psychotherapist: Porn Addiction Prevalent, Curable

STEUBENVILLE, OH, October 15, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) — "Pornography is a silent epidemic in America," said Dr. Peter Kleponis, a Catholic psychotherapist who spoke on the dangers of pornography before a full house at Franciscan University of Steubenville on Thursday, September 30.

Kleponis gave a richly informative talk that covered everything from the scope of the porn problem to the virtues men need to engage in healthy relationships and move past pornography.

"The damage to men from pornography use and masturbation is extensive," said Kleponis, who specializes in marriage and family therapy, men's issues, and pornography addiction recovery. "Among other wounds, it turns men in upon themselves, thereby damaging their self-giving as spouses and fathers … thus preventing them from fulfilling their role as protectors and leaders and physical and spiritual fathers; damages male confidence; and harms their ability to see and to respect the true beauty of women."

Pornography use has become ubiquitous in recent years, he said. "Any statistics we have are probably gross under-estimates of it, because so much of it is unreported … It’s men late at night alone with their computers.

"The pornography industry earns over $97 billion every year, more than Microsoft, Google, Amazon, EBay, Yahoo, Apple, Netflix, and EarthLink make combined. Child pornography generates $3 billion of that revenue."

Kleponis is the assistant director of Comprehensive Counseling Services in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Based on his years of private counseling, he offered a number of ways for men to heal, emphasizing above all else that healing is in fact possible.

"The field of positive psychology that employs the use of forgiveness and other virtues has significant potential to help those with addictions not only with their recovery from compulsive behaviors, but also from associated disorders," said Kleponis. "The ability of addicted persons to learn how to overcome selfishness, grow in confidence, address loneliness and anxiety, and resolve and control excessive anger is essential in their recovery and in protecting them from relapse."

For Catholics, Kleponis recommends some of the classic remedies for sin, including making a good confession and receiving the Eucharist at least once a week; daily prayer and spiritual reading; daily Scripture study, especially in the form of lectio divina; monthly spiritual direction; annual retreats; being active in one’s parish; a strong relationship with Our Lady as a loving, affectionate spiritual mother, and a strong relationship with St. Joseph as an affectionate and protective father.

More information from Dr. Kleponis is available at www.maritalhealing.com.

Jewish lawyer defends Pope against paedophilia claims

Jewish lawyer defends Pope against paedophilia claims: "A famous American Jewish lawyer would seem an unlikely defender of the Pope, but Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz is just that."

The Godless Delusion by Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley

It's a real battle for me to get time to read.  The other day I was trying to get some reading done and my Grandson Gabriel ran into my room at least three times with something earth shattering to tell me, like "I found this in my mommy's bathroom."  Which of course was followed by my yelling, "Kim, he's got your mascara again.!" Then Isaac comes in to tell me he has found his kitty and he gives the kitty a kiss and a hug and I just have to stop and say "oh my goodness you are just the cutest thing ever!"  And so it goes.  So it can take me forever to finish a book.

Patrick Madrid, being one of my favorite authors as well as one of my favorite people, collaborated with Kenneth Hensley to write a book on a subject that I just can't get my mind wrapped around.  Atheism has always seemed like the craziest world view I've ever been exposed to.  I was raised a Christian and have always viewed  human life, nature, science, and history from a theist point of view.  I've never looked at the ocean or a beautiful scenic overlook on a mountain side and not thought of God as the author of that beauty.  So for me to try to get inside the mind of someone who believes that all of nature is an accident and that there is no intelligent artist at work in the wild flowers of spring or the birth of a baby is a real experience in mind bending culture shock.

Take that bias and add to it the fact that as a child in a fundamentalist family, I was taught that philosophy was the futile attempt of mankind to explain life and that the study of such things is a waste of time at best and dance with the devil at worst, you might be able to understand how much I struggled to keep up with Madrid and Hensley as they pursued the errors of atheism down every philosophical path. In fact, I text messaged Patrick at one point and told him I now had stretch marks on my brain.

While I had been aware that Darwin had dealt Christianity a blow by eliminating God as creator for most of the scientific community and thus for the last couple of generations through scientific education in the public school system, I was not as up to speed with the atheistic philosophers who were even more influential in how society began to perceive human existence.  Science and philosophy, together have taken a world that once assumed God's existence to a world that assumes that the only reality is the physical world.  If you can't taste it, touch it, see it or conduct a test to prove it's existence, it doesn't exist. 

What I found interesting is that atheists don't necessarily live consistently with their beliefs.  While they may have adopted a more "modern" form of morality; one more consistent with Hollywood than with Vatican City; they still adhere to many moral standards that truly have no basis in their naturalistic world view.  They are appalled at the rape of a child and delighted at the rescue of 33 miners in Chile, but neither of those reactions are consistent with a naturalist world view that sees our existence as simply a natural result of sperm meets egg, cell divides, yada yada yada, then you die.  The End.

After following Madrid and Hensley down all the atheistic byways to meaninglessness, I was reminded of the quote they used from G. K. Chesterton:  "I had always felt life first as a story - and if there is a story there is a story teller."  I can only hope that some of the atheists who pick up this book in order to pick it apart, slow down enough to look inside themselves for that Story Teller.  He's ever patient and always ready to join them in writing a richer more meaningful life story.

Never Gonna Stand For This by Teachenor Clark

An open letter to Gloria Estefan

An open letter to Gloria Estefan: "An open letter to Gloria Estefan


By Victoria Jackson
© 2010
Editor's note: The following open letter was first submitted to the Miami Herald, but the paper opted not to publish it.

Miami is my hometown. When I was born at Hialeah Hospital in 1959, you were 2 years old and moving here from Cuba, to escape Communism.
America and its freedom, free enterprise and capitalism gave you the opportunity to become a superstar, to be financially and vocationally successful.
America is now under siege by a Marxist, progressive, leftist, radical, socialist, communist dictator drunk with power. His name is Obama."

Read the rest of this great letter here.

I love Victoria Jackson. Tell 'em, Vickie!

I Thirst

“’I thirst,’ Jesus said on the cross when Jesus was deprived of every consolation, dying in absolute Poverty, left alone, despised and broken in body and soul. He spoke of His thirst—not for water—but for love, for sacrifice. Jesus is God: therefore, His love, His thirst is infinite. Our aim is to quench this infinite thirst of a God made man.”

Mother Teresa

Come Be My Light, Doubleday

Why Me?

"“When it is all over, you will not regret having suffered; rather you will regret having suffered so little, and suffered that little so badly.” Blessed Sebastian Valfre

Mike Aquilina
Why Me? When Bad Things Happen, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division"

The Right Angle: British Humanitarian Murdered In the Name of Allah...

The Right Angle: British Humanitarian Murdered In the Name of Allah...: "Linda Norgrove, a British humanitarian, was murdered by Muslims on Friday, October 8th, in Afghanistan. Linda was kidnapped in September by..."

Silent Monks Singing Halleluia

I Always Believe The Accuser

I had a real freaky experience the other day.  A coworker and I were talking about relatives and stressful family relations.  I told her a little about my own experience and she launched into her sister's accusation that her father had raped her when she was a young teen.  This coworker went on about how crazy her sister was and how she had done things like report her brother for beating his kids and trying to get her father to admit his guilt.  She was completely bitter against her sister and called her crazy for the lengths she had gone to to try to get the family to deal with the truth and reconcile. 

My heart sank.  I thought to myself, "its like sitting here listening to my brother belittle me and tell the world that I'm crazy for having spoken out about my father's abuse."  I felt for her sister, but I knew I could not persuade her of her sister's claim any more than I had been able to convince my own sibling.  So I just offered up prayer for her sister and her family.

So why do I assume that my coworker is wrong about her sister?  After all, this coworker said that her sister was in the care of a psychiatrist from time to time and that they had put her on medication for a while, etc.  So if that's the case, why don't I chalk her accusation up to her illness? Why is it that any time I hear a person claim to have been sexually abused I believe them?  After all, I am sure there are some people who make such a claim for reasons of profit or manipulation.  But unless that possibility is glaringly clear, I always accept the word of the accuser. 

My question is, where did her illness come from?  Isn't it very likely that if you have experienced something so traumatic as sexual abuse, you could very well develop some mental health issues?  Actually, it would be pretty amazing if you didn't have some kind of mental issues as a result of the abuse.  I suffered for years with OCD and other issues that were a direct result of my experience.  So which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Let me tell you why I believe that very few people make false accusations of sexual abuse.  The cost is too high.  I don't care if you have accused a multi-millionaire of abuse, it's not worth the cost. 

No one ever looks at you the way again.  If you're married, the chances are it will destroy your marriage.  It changes the way your spouse looks at you.  You're bruised fruit, damaged goods.  No matter how much they may try to think otherwise, it changes everything.  If you're not married or in a relationship, having declared yourself a victim gives potential partners pause.  They can't be sure you are not somehow damaged by what you have been through.  In reality, you are likely to find you have impediments to a normal, healthy sexual relationship in the future.  Not that healing is not real or that help cannot be found to make these things right.  But assumptions and made about you as soon as you say you have been a victim of abuse.

People make assumptions about you.  If you were abused over a long period of time, they assume you must either be weak willed, easily controlled or worst of all, that you asked for what you got.  Unless a person has found themselves in a similar situation, they cannot understand how anyone can be manipulated into cooperating with an abuser over any length of time.  So very twisted assumptions are made about your character or strength of will, or again, you mental health.

If the abuser was a family member or a friend of the family or a spiritual authority, your accusation will no doubt shatter many relationships.  For most young people, security comes from their family and religion.  When they have to make an accusation, it divides the family between the accuser and the accused and forces everyone else to choose a side.  I have read many stories like my own where the victim was not believed by a single family member and the abuse went on until adulthood when the victim could break free from the family and seek help.  This separation from the family absolutely destroys the security a child should be able to find in their family.  Even if they still live in the home and participate in the family unit, they are still isolated from the family by the family's rejection of their claim. 

If the accused is a spiritual authority figure, the child finds themselves separated from the religion they were taught to believe from infancy.  This creates a feeling that they are separated from God Himself.  It almost always results in anger against God and religious authority, leaving the young soul adrift without any sense of God's sorrow over what has happened to him or her. 

Basically, coming forward with an accusation of sexual abuse ends life as you know it.  It means declaring your independence from all forms of security, protection, and nurturing.  It means forever marring your own reputation.  It gives everyone who comes in contact with your life reason to doubt your stability and your normalcy. 

So when things like this deal in the south with "Bishop" Long (give me a break.  He's not a Bishop!) or my co worker's sister or any of the numerous stories that hit the news every week, and folks start talking about how these guys are making accusation to get money or because they are crazy, I always believe the accuser.  Mr. Long and his entire empire doesn't have enough money in all the world to make living your life with a big red "M" on your chest worthwhile. 

May God hold close to His heart those who have cried out to be heard and still stand alone with the truth.

The Injustice of it All

Your daily Journey of Hope message for Friday, October 8, 2010.


Christ suffered more than you will ever know. He was the true, innocent victim, convicted and punished unjustly. But He suffered out of His love for us. If there is anyone who can understand our anger and our outrage at what has happened to us, it is Christ. Not only did He suffer every injustice as a completely innocent and loving human being, but he knows all that you have been through better than anyone. He knows the pain, the frustration, the insanity. Go to meet Him in the garden and kneel down with Him at the rock, and talk to Him about your situation. Unite your pain to His and embrace your cross with His help.

"Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he would deny himself and take up his dross daily and follow me."" Luke 9:23

Daily Journey of Hope messages are brought to you by DivorcedCatholic.org.

You Are My Hiding Place ( With Lyrics )

Photo Contest

Patrick has this picture of himself on his blog this week.  Not his best look, but I guess Nancy doesn't have time to dress him every day.  I photoshopped this other picture of me for fun and for Twitter.  Feel free to use the comment box for votes, boos, thumbs up/down, etc.  Just keep it civil.

I Don't Often Call Anyone An Idiot, But . . .

I just have to make this exception.  The cult members at Westboro "Baptist" "Church" are allowing themselves to be used as a pawn of Satan to force a high court case to decide if they can insult, demean, and falsely accuse people as an act of religion.  These loons have taken fundamentalism to new depths of heresy by misinterpreting scripture so badly that they have created a god of hate that is out to murder everyone for the sins of some.  Forget the concept of Jesus standing at the door of men's hearts patiently knocking to be let in.  These folks have a god that carries a sword and a hammer and hates everyone except the little band of angry cult members at Westboro. 

What these folks have not taken any thought of is that when this case hits the courts, it is going to force the judiciary to either allow their venomous hate speech in the name of the First Amendment and freedom of religion, or do what anyone who watches these hate mongers feels compelled to do and try to limit their ability to be so disgustingly vile in their attacks on grieving families of service men who gave their lives to protect their right to be hateful.  It's mind bending, isn't it?  But this is going to test the strength of all of our religious freedom.  It might also be just what Satan has been looking for to drive the first stake in the heart of Christianity in America.  So good work, folks, you've found a way to finally bring down the hammer of government on the freedom of every religious group in America. 

Might I suggest you all go home to Westboro, get down on your knees before your open Bible and ask God to reveal Himself to you.  Because you have no idea who He is.

The Godless Delusion

“…Christians must wake up to the crisis of godlessness. They must begin taking the challenge of atheism seriously and learn how to effectively evangelize our increasingly atheistic culture. Given the West’s steadily-growing acceptance of the notion that science and technology—not God—are the real answers to society’s many problems, it’s more imperative now than ever that Christians understand how to answer atheism and defend the truth of the Christian theistic worldview.”


Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley
The Godless Delusion, Our Sunday Visitor

Stay With Me - Catholic Speaker and Musician Justin Stroh

Stay With Me - Catholic Speaker and Musician Justin Stroh