Crossed The Tiber

Religion >Jeff Bethke

2012-01-27T20:12:00.000-05:00

Long after this recent You tube viral heresy (Why I Hate Religion) has been forgotten, true religion will continue to change the world. Those who choose to assist the orphans and widows and keep themselves unstained from the world will be practicing a religion that God tells us in scripture is pure and undefiled.
But in the meantime, check out the tee shirts ;)
Here's Jefferson's

Here's mine

Christian Bookstores and Sola Scriptura

2012-01-26T18:08:00.002-05:00

"If Protestants truly believed in the Bible Alone(sola scriptura),
then shouldn't "Christian" bookstores only be stocked with Bibles?" Michael McCleary, former evangelical, now Catholic convert asks.

Bryan Kemper Pro-life Presbyterian Now Catholic

2012-01-25T21:50:00.001-05:00

Bryan Kemper recently shared his conversion story on the Journey Home. Saved out of a horrendous drug addiction he found Jesus. 20 years later he found His Church through his associations with Catholics in the pro-life movement like Father Pavone, Lila Rose, Theresa Tomeo and others. Check out his story:

An Evangelical Pastor Lauds Catholic Seminarians: "A Visit To Heaven"

2012-01-25T19:49:00.003-05:00

Peter J Hamm, a worship leader and evangelical pastor in western PA spent sometime at Mount St. Mary's Catholic seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland last May, at the invitation of his brother, a Catholic seminarian. He wrote about it here. What a breath of fresh air to hear a Protestant say that Catholicism has been misrepresented and misunderstood by his fellow Christians! May God use Peter Hamm to help others re-consider the Catholic faith.

March For Life 2012

2012-01-23T22:40:00.001-05:00

A bonus was running into former Bob Jones graduate now Catholic priest, Fr. Dwight Longenecker

Deborah and I had the privilege of going with our parish to the March for Life again this year. Every seat on the chartered bus was packed with young and old and our pastor Monsignor Wargo, once again joined us. Needless to say, it was beautiful and moving to see the Church in action. Priests, nuns, seminarians, religious friars in their robes and sandals, Knights of Columbus all came out in the rain and cold to support the cause of Life and to protest the 1973 Roe Vs Wade decision. There were huge amounts of young people from K-through college. These young people really "get it" since they are the generation that is missing 1/3 of their peers as the result of legal abortion. They themselves are only here now because their parents chose life. Continue to pray that our politicians and Americans in general will learn to respect the dignity of life from conception to natural death. The Mass for today was a liturgy especially written by Blessed Pope John Paul 2 to pray for the realization of the sacredness of life.

here's a link about the March

Both Sides Now

2012-01-22T19:20:00.002-05:00

Reason #563 To Be Catholic; Losing A Priest Doesn't Shipwreck Our Faith

2012-01-22T19:11:00.002-05:00

This weekend, one of our assistant priests announced that the bishop has called him to become administrator and pastor for a parish in a nearby city. He has become a bit of a "favorite" because of his warm personality, charismatic preaching style and ability to relate to young people. He's also a good confessor. During his announcement he told the congregation that he will be fine and we will be fine. Why? Because "it's all about Jesus", he said. He reminded us that we still will receive the body and blood of Christ from the other priests and that the parish will do just fine without him.

In my near 7 years of being Catholic I have seen many priests we came to love move on, and guess what? The membership didn't decline, parishioners didn't "backslide" and most importantly, the Lord was still reserved in the tabernacle and the Real Presence of Jesus was made present in the sacrifice of every Mass. Did we feel sadness and miss the personality and friendship? Absolutely, but our faith was not tied up in the personal charism of this priest. We didn't need to move on and find another Catholic Church where we could find a priest with the same personality and style. Regardless of an individual priest's personality, charm, charism or teaching /preaching ability, the Church goes on through time and space carrying out the great commission and feeding the sheep as He commanded, even with less-than-charismatic priests.

As Protestant Christians, we often felt the rug pulled out from us when the pastor left. Somehow, it wasn't going to be the same and the service would lose its ability to make us feel like it use to. In two of the former Protestant churches I was a member of, when the pastors left, there was often a falling out of membership and or a split where half the congregation would follow the old pastor.(Sadly in both cases, the pastors were involved in sexual immorality) In other churches I know of, the congregation never rebounded and one had to call the old pastor out of retirement because none of the new pastors could "measure up." Sadly, this is because of the "cult of personality" which often forms around religious leaders and is what causes the fall of many sects and rise of new ones. This is not a new phenomenon, because people are people and tend to create the "cult of personality." Saint Paul cautioned the Corinthians to not follow after this one or that one or even Paul himself, but Christ. The Catholic Church has been successful for 2000 years and one of the reasons is that the growth and maturity of a parish comes from the grace in the sacraments and is not totally dependent on one individual pastor or priest alone. We will always love and miss Father Scott, but he reminded us of the bigger picture. Our faith is always "all about Jesus" and not the individual priest. This is just reason # 563 that I am thankful to be Catholic.

Yet Another Catholic/Biblical Response to "I Hate Relgion"

2012-01-20T18:50:00.002-05:00

The Catholics keep putting it out there. Praise God for another great video.

Give Us Rest-A Requiem Mass in C

2012-01-19T22:27:00.000-05:00

What does it mean that the # 2 album in the world right now borrows from the liturgy and theology of the Catholic requiem Mass? Would it surprise you that it is written and produced by an evangelical worship leader, David Crowder? Hmmm....Can anyone say "Rich Mullins pray for this guy!"
Check it out here

The World Without a Magisterium: "An everlasting pile of conundrums."

2012-01-19T21:32:00.000-05:00

"It seems strange so many Christians think the Apostles fulfilled their commission by writing the New Testament, leaving behind them no successors, nor any need for successors, with the authority Our Lord had given themselves. It seems strange, for one reason, that it would mean only five of the Twelve had obeyed their Master…
It would seem strange for another reason- that the Church Christ founded would have been a teaching church only for a half-century or so, in all the centuries since merely a library.
Circumstances change and someone must have the authority to apply the teachings to the new circumstances; otherwise they end up as frustrations rather than teachings. Even in the doctrines themselves there are depths which the believing mind can explore, with all the danger of error but all the rich possibilities of development. With every operation of the unstagnant mind of man upon the truth, the question must arise, “What did Christ mean?” So it has proved. There is not a word uttered by Christ which has not met a number of diverse interpretations, some of them intelligent, some immensely attractive, but contradicting each other. How are we to know? It is not enough to have Our Lord’s words; the words themselves can only be a kind of talisman without the meaning. Without a teacher- to tell us, beyond the possibility of error, which of the various meanings is Christ’s- we should have no revelation but only an everlasting pile of conundrums." ~Frank Sheed, "Theology for Beginners"

Reformed Baptist Couple Find Their Way Home to the Catholic Church

2012-01-19T20:54:00.002-05:00

Check out Katie's story here.
These folks wanted to follow Jesus wherever He led them, even at the cost of their livlihood. How many of us are that willing to give all to be obedient to His call?

The Best Response to Jefferson Bethke's New Non-Religion

2012-01-19T18:03:00.000-05:00

Thank the Lord that the Catholic Church has taken the new social media by storm to combat the heresiarchs that continue to rise up.

Father Barron on 'Why I Hate Religion" Video

2012-01-18T19:15:00.000-05:00

Father Robert Barron once again hits the nail on the head. He says that this "Jesus without religion" leads to an abstraction, not the real Jesus who is the incarnate Christ, who continues to make Himself known to us through the sacraments of the Church. You won't regret the 8 minutes to watch this:

One More Proof of the Need For A Magisterium

2012-01-17T21:50:00.004-05:00

The Why I Hate Religion video continues to be a dynamic example of modern American Christianity without an anchor, Christianity without roots, Christianity without a history, Christianity without a brain- a theological decapitation, if you will. Yes, I understand what Jefferson Bethke is trying to say at some level. But guess what? Many of his co-non-religionists followers don't. If you read just a few of the comments on his fb page, he has encouraged an entire new generation of people who are very quick to adopt the "Outback Steakhouse Theology of Christianity" No Rules Just Right! Some of the comments on his fb page will reveal the extent of this "rule-less" culture of Christianity. Jefferson has simply taken an age-old technique of mis-labeling institutional Christianity (AKA The Church) in favor of a "all you need is Jesus" non-religion. In the process he has denigrated 2000 years of the Holy Spirit's action in the hearts and lives of holy and faithful men and women who in and through the Church change the course of peoples' lives. Bethke attempts to paint religious "rules" such as no divorce (which Jesus taught I might add) as something "old school" by creating a false and misleading non-sequiturs. "Tells single moms God doesn't love them if they ever had a divorce...." Huh? My religion doesn't do that. My religion opens homes for single unwed mothers and provides food, clothing and shelter for them (Mary's Shelter, Reading and Bethlehem, PA)
Sincere Christians already know that one needs to have a relationship with Jesus, but historically that relationship with Christ never came at the cost of severing the head from the body. Jesus established His Church to be a visible, real, entity against which he promised to never let the gates of Hell prevail against. This Church is also known as the body of Christ, the scriptures tell us. One can't say to this body, "I have Jesus, therefore, I have no need of you!" St Cyprian in the third century (258 AD) said that "He cannot have God as his Father who does not have the church for his Mother." Obviously, the early Christians saw there was not to be a separation between believing in Jesus and being part of his Church, part of the Christian religion of which there was only one at the time.

Partly because of this emerging view of Christianity (we only need Jesus, not a messy bunch of restrictions), many American sects are poised precariously on the precipice of total theological relativism. One needs to look no further than the ELCA, the PCA the Methodists, the Anglicans, the new evangelicals (emergents) to realize this. They are voting out the "rules" of religion to keep up with the changing mores in our society, rather than trying to stand against them.

Who can oppose these attacks on orthodoxy? Who can reel in the errant prophets? Who has the authority to get a hold of our latest hip YouTube Prophet and tell him he is wrong and hold him accountable? If his own church attempts to rein him in, guess what? He will go out and start a new religion, oops, I mean non-religion and the _____thousandth new protestant sect is born and history repeats itself again. Without a magisterium, these churches that hold themselves separate from the Church of antiquity will continue to splinter and produce teachings that satisfy their itching ears but sadly bring no healing to their soul.

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear."

Conversion Story by Michael McCleary

2012-01-16T08:48:00.001-05:00

I never tire of reading stories of lives changed by God's grace and seeing how He brings them into the Catholic faith. This story by Michael McCleary is a bittersweet story of God pursuing a restless heart, in the way He always does. Kudos to Michael for sharing a difficult but ultimately beautiful journey!

A Lesson To The "I Hate Religion" Fellow

2012-01-15T18:07:00.001-05:00

"Why I Hate Religion" A 3rd Century Heresy Rears Its Ugly Head...Again

2012-01-15T13:03:00.002-05:00

"I hate Religion , but I love Jesus" is an old re-treaded heresy that actually has its roots in a movement in the 3rd century by a Catholic Christian named Montanus who believed God spoke to him directly with new prophecy and instruction. The Montanists felt they could forgive sins without the hierarchy of the Church and removed themselves from the authority of the Church that had been started by Jesus and the apostles. They called themselves the "spirituales" (spiritual ones) while everyone else was "carnal." Though the movement slowly faded out and was declared a heresy, this idea pops up every generation or so. The idea that one doesn't need anything but a personal relationship with Jesus creates a false and misleading dichotomy. Either you love Jesus=Good, or you are Religious=Bad. Christianity has been a hierarchical RELIGION (there I said it) since Jesus set up His Church built on Peter and his successors(later called Fathers/papas or popes).
In the 1970's this old rant re-appeared in evangelical contemporary Christian music artist's Scott Wesley Brown singing "There's no doubt about it, I just want to shout it. I'm not religious anymore, I just love the Lord." (By the way, does anyone else think this tune is a bit similar to Garden Party?)

Clearly this young man, Jefferson Bethke, is passionate about his faith, but a passionate faith that divorces itself from the historical faith and good theology is a dangerous recipe for further heresy. He misunderstands what religion truly is. What does the bible say about religion? "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." James 1:27 So if scripture makes the conclusion that pure, true religion involves doing good and avoiding sin, why should we hate religion? There is no dichotomy between being religious and loving God. True religion manifests the love of God by doing good in this world, helping widows, orphans, unwed mothers, street people, hookers and bums.

This recent rant on YouTube has encouraged folks to say "yeah, I can keep sinning and I don't have to follow rules. As long as I love Jesus, I'm ok." And that, my friends, is Outback Steakhouse Christianity; "No Rules, Just Right." Much more popular than "unless your righteousness exceeds that of the pharisees, you won't enter the kingdom of God."

Yet Another Response to "I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus!

2012-01-14T13:11:00.004-05:00

Keep it coming my brothers. You guys are amazing!

"Cue the Gregorian Chant"

Untitled from John Hollowell on Vimeo.

An Excellent Response to Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus video

2012-01-14T10:32:00.000-05:00

Found this video after coming home from mass this morning. A young Catholic responds to the claims made by the "I hate religion but love Jesus" guy. Check it out:

Infallibility and Protestantism

2012-01-13T19:47:00.001-05:00

"I find it amusing that those who reject the Catholic claim of infallibility for the Pope and magisterium are absolutely positive THEIR interpretation of Scripture is the only correct one!"

(Robert Schoneman on Catholics ARE Christians! fb group)

Mega Church Pastor Streams Scenes From His Bedroom.....

2012-01-12T23:22:00.000-05:00

You can't make this stuff up.

File under "What happens when you are your own pope."

Religion is Good

2012-01-12T22:44:00.001-05:00

There's a video on utube that is called "Why I hate religion but love Jesus." It's the typical fundamentalist screed aimed at the Catholic Church, and organized religion in general. It's more of the "Just Jesus and me" mentality that is ultimately going to sink evangelical Christianity. There are actually a few points that a Catholic could agree with but they are buried in a lot of righteous-sounding pablum. Here's my response:

Second Anniversary of Haiti's Earthquake

2012-01-12T21:45:00.000-05:00

Today marks the second anniversary of the quake in Port-Au-Prince that took the lives of over 300,000 souls in a few short moments. I will remember my two friends in prayer today who lost their lives in the quake.
Sadly, I haven't seen major changes in the three trips I've taken since the quake. Some of the rubble is being removed but many people are still living in tattered tents that were never meant to be more than temporary.
Keep them in your prayers please.

Here is a litany for the people of Haiti:

Heavenly Father,

We know you love all of us and have given your only son Jesus for our salvation. The Haitian people have suffered greatly yet despite such suffering, never cease to praise your name and call on you for their salvation.

We pray first for the souls of those who died as a result of the earthquake. We pray that you bring their purification in purgatory to its completion and we offer our prayers and daily sufferings for them, so they may soon see you face to face.

Let us pray to the Lord… Lord Have Mercy

We pray for those survivors who continue to suffer from poverty, homelessness, malnutrition and the ravages of cholera.