Teen group promotes "Day of Purity"

The group described in this article have the right idea of how to evangelize. We do it by our actions and being proud of our good actions.

It cracks me up the groups that are critical. I think it is to their own detriment. The gay and lesbian groups are always trying to point out that their normal, good, moral people is a great example. In many ways, they're correct. I know many gay people who are very good people outside of their sinful sexual behavior. But we're all sinners, and although I condemn their sexual actions, I celebrate the rest of their lives. I would hope they would extend me the same courtesy and look beyond my sinfulness to see the good in my life.

But these same groups that are talking about how good and moral they are, are condemning a group that is advocating teen sexual abstinence. It really hurts their credibility and the societal view of gays. It re-enforces that they really don't care about morality. They'd be wiser to support the "Day of Purity"'s goals in every way. Add to that statement, that they don't see homosexuality outside of that laudible goal.

kencraw on 02.13.04 @ 09:15 AM PST [link]

Quote of the Day

"Evangelize always. When necessary, use words."

-St. Francis of Assisi

kencraw on 02.13.04 @ 08:57 AM PST [link]

Another Satire

With so many Jewish groups voicing their dismay at "The Passion" an article like this is needed now and again.

kencraw on 02.12.04 @ 07:22 PM PST [link]

The Onion always cracks me up

Saddam Hussein Rules Over Cell With Iron Fist. The picture with the article was enough to get me to bust a gut!

kencraw on 02.12.04 @ 07:18 PM PST [link]

Idiots in SF think they can sidestep the Law

I can't believe that all this has happened in the last FEW DAYS. First the Mayor says he's going to disregard State Law and change the city's marriage licenses to allow for Gay Marriages. Then not two days later, they had the first wedding ceremony and issued the first license.

According to this article "City officials, in fact, rushed to issue the first marriage licenses to same-sex couples as quickly as possible for fear that opponents would seek a court injunction to stop them."

I don't care what you think about Gay Marriage, completely disregarding the law is not the right way to go about it. If you really thought you were in the right, you wouldn't feel the need "rush to issue" these licenses. To further illustrate their subversiveness the article said, "Officials alerted only a handful of people that they were ready to act, wanting to keep it secret until the papers were signed and the "I do's'' were spoken."

Now on the issue of whether we should be allowing Gay Marriage, I'll let the article (written by the ever Gay-Friendly SF Chronicle staff) speak for itself:

"In place of "bride'' and "groom'' on the application were the words "1st applicant'' and "2nd applicant.''"

Yeah, that's really a sacred union.

kencraw on 02.12.04 @ 07:08 PM PST [link]

Is Kerry an Adulterer?

This article from the Drudge Report is reporting that Presidential hopeful John Kerry has been hiding a long time affair, even going to the extent to encouraging her to leave the country.

Very interesting. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Along these lines though, although I suspect it'll have a substantial effect on the Democratic Primaries, I have to say that I think far too much gets made of the persomal lives of our politicians. Not that I endorse adultery, but I'd rather have a human being in office that is passionate, has made mistakes and had repented than a drone who has spent their whole lives making sure they look squeeky clean. They spend so much time being squeeky clean they care more about not getting dirty than they do about doing the right thing. Said a different way, it's the difference between trying to do the right thing and trying not to do the wrong thing. It seems similar, but it's not.

I think that's what everyone didn't like about former governer Gray Davis. The man was so squeeky clean he could get down into mud slinging without getting a spot on his suit. The problem was that in the end, he couldn't inspire anyone. A leader who can't enspire, can't solve any problems.

Maybe that should be tomorrows Quote of the Day.

kencraw on 02.12.04 @ 06:52 PM PST [link]

CA prevented from Murdering... for now

I forgot to report on this on Tuesday but the man who was scheduled to be executed on Tuesday was sparred for now. PRAISE THE LORD! From what I understand, the man is a cold hearted murderer. But nevertheless it is good to see that we haven't yet dipped to this man's level quite yet. Hopefully he can continue to hold out on appeal and hopefully find the forgiveness of The Lord!

kencraw on 02.12.04 @ 06:40 PM PST [link]

Quote of the Day

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

-John Adams

kencraw on 02.12.04 @ 06:32 PM PST [link]

And while we're on the topic of altar calls

I've been to a few churches that use the altar call at every service. In some ways I think it is wonderful because they are consciously reaching out to the new people in the church that day. I often think to myself when at Mass, "There must be 10 - 20 new people here today amongst the 800 perishioners. How do I find them to reach out to them?" Mass isn't very condusive to this.

On the other hand, what I dislike about the altar call is how casually it is presented to those in the community who are being asked to come forward. There is a contradiction between how significant the believers view it (they talk about it being the moment they were Saved) and the way it is being presented (if you felt moved today by this service).

Just because someone was moved, doesn't mean they are really going to turn to Christ. In my opinion, if you're going to do an altar call, it should be after you've really come to understand what it means. I think when you ask them to come forward, you still pray over them, but ask them to come to a few hours of what we Catholics would call Inquiry before making an altar call in a week or two. That'll help ensure that the altar call is more sincere.

Also, if you had those making the "prepared altar call" come forward to do their altar call before you asked those who were new to come forward, I think it would make coming forward that much more appealing.

Anyone know churches that do it that way?

kencraw on 02.11.04 @ 10:22 AM PST [link]

Britney Spears responds to Altar Call

In this article they report that Britney Spears and her mom went to a Evangelical Christian Church in Southern California and responded to the altar call.

Is this a good thing? In many ways I think so. I don't even think the sincerity of her being there is of issue. What the message is in the end is: When you need to repent, where do you go? You go to Church. If her altar call is is indeed not sincere, I think it'll reflect poorly on her, not on Christianity.

I was also glad to hear that the church refused to get caught up in the publicity and answer reporters inquiries. I would also hope that they would do their best to refuse to let her use it for publicity or to let her continue to live as though nothing has changed while continuing to attend as if she has responded to the altar call.

What continually comes to my mind when stories like these come up is where is the Catholic Church for these type of people? If the Britney Spears of the world want to come to God, are we providing a good ministry to reach out to them. I usually conclude a resounding NO!

kencraw on 02.11.04 @ 10:06 AM PST [link]

Quote of the Day

"If I swear to him, then all that I am is dead already." -William Wallace

"You will die, it will be awful." -Princess of Wales

"Every man dies. Not every man really lives." -William Wallace

-From Mel Gibson's best movie to date in my humble opinion, Braveheart


kencraw on 02.11.04 @ 09:42 AM PST [link]

Mel Gibson to be on PrimeTime

I saw on TV the other day that Mel Gibson is doing an interview with Diane Sawyer next Monday on PrimeTime (I believe it said 10 PM) talking about "The Passion". It should be pretty interesting to see. I'll give an update after I watch it.

kencraw on 02.10.04 @ 11:26 AM PST [link]

Quote of the Day

* "The search for the Cup of Christ is the search for the divine in all of us. If you want facts Indy, I've none to give you. At my age I'm prepared to take a few things on faith."

-Marcus Brody from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

kencraw on 02.10.04 @ 10:24 AM PST [link]

New color scheme

Well, I'm still trying to get the color scheme just right. Ordinary time with its difficult Green! I would say I can't look forward to Lent, but that Violet is no easy Web color either. Easter on the other hand, will look very nice.

Along those lines, you'll notice that I have the current Liturgical day of the year on top of the page along with its color. For all you computer geeks out there, I did that programatically. So this page automatically updates (both the text and the colors) for Feast days and changes in seasons. That way I don't have to exert any more effort to keep this page in sync with the Liturgical seasons. The logic will work up untill 2099 when its ability to calculate when Easter is goes down the tubes. I'll make sure my grandson fixes it!

kencraw on 02.09.04 @ 08:31 AM PST [link]

The governments of the world continue to be more secular

This article highlights a number of incidents around the globe that further point to the de-Christianization of western governments. Sometimes I'm not so sure that is a bad thing. There are good reasons for The Church to not be overly tangled in governmental politics. I think it was a very good thing for the Vatican to no longer be the capital of Italy and more concerned with religious affairs.

But what news like this does clearly show, is that we can no longer count on society to evangelize for us. It is now up to us, the consciously faithful, to spread Christ's word to the world. No one is going to do it for us. Not our public schools, not our holiday cheer at the mall, not our employers and definitely not our government. It's time we all picked up our crosses and followed Him by making a more concerted effort to bring Him to our increasingly secular society. We need to do this not to de-secularize society, but to help all find divine mercy.

kencraw on 02.09.04 @ 07:38 AM PST [link]

Quote of the Day

"When we evangelize women and children, we get women and children in the churches. When we evangelize men, we get families in the churches." -Unknown Protestant Pastor

kencraw on 02.09.04 @ 07:27 AM PST [link]