AFR | St. Ambrose | July 20, 2009
While listening to Ancient Faith Radio today I heard a really insightful quote from St. Ambrose. I don’t recall the exact wording, but here’s the gist of it.
St. Ambrose exhorted Christians to not only take care of the poor but also to share the truth with others. He said that those that know the truth and fail to share it are just as culpable, or more so, than those that do not do acts of charity for those in need. [Read more…]
BreakPoint | John Stonestreet | June 3, 2009
What Diana West is suggesting in The Death of the Grown-Up: How America’s Arrested Development Threatens Western Civilization will undoubtedly sound ridiculous to thousands of youth pastors, family therapists, and advertising gurus whose livelihoods depend on entertaining, counseling, and selling to teenagers.
Nevertheless, West argues that adolescence didn’t always exist. In fact, it is a quite recent phenomenon. The word “teenager” wasn’t really used until 1941, after all. In virtually every other culture in the history of the world prior to late 20th century Western culture, kids became adults. Not so anymore. They now become teenagers, or, to put it in more sociologically acceptable terms, they become adolescents. [Read more…]
AFR – The Illumined Heart | Kevin Allen | Jun 5, 2009
This is one of the most perplexing questions for all Christians. In this episode of The Illumined Heart, host Kevin Allen engages author and theologian Dr. Jerry Sittser, author of the book “When God Doesn’t Answer Your Prayer”, in an honest conversation about this often ignored question. His answers are not academic or simply formulaic and come from the deep and hard places.
Why Doesn’t God Answer My Prayer? – 6/5/09 http://audio.ancientfaith.com/illuminedheart/ih_2009-06-05_pc.mp3|titles=Why
BreakPoint | Stephen Reed | May 29, 2009
Chuck Colson is fond of saying that the church shines brightest in tough times. History appears to support BreakPoint’s founder on this, as Christians have served extraordinarily well in a variety of ways during economic difficulties and social unrest. John Wesley, William Wilberforce, Mother Teresa—none of them had ideal circumstances in which to operate. That is why their respective ministries were so needed.
So what happened to America? Here we are, known far and wide as the most religious country in the West, and yet people constantly turn to the government more than the church in times of crisis. President Obama’s approach of having the federal government bail out banks, the automotive industry, and now perhaps even credit card users makes him the man of the moment. Obviously, even if the nation’s churches banded together and gave sacrificially to bail out all these entities, we probably couldn’t pull it off. [Read more…]
Life, Liberty Blog | Daniel | April 22, 2009
Is the Christian Faith compatible with a Free Market economy? Many lay people and most clergy would probably answer that question negatively, especially during these times. But is this really the case?
Kevin Allen, at Ancient Faith Radio, discussed these topics and much more with Chris Banescu. The answers Mr. Allen received are very enlightening. This is a must listen to anyone, not just Christians, who work for a living, which means it is a must listen for everyone. [Read more…]
BreakPoint | John Stonestreet | May 15, 2009
A major project for those of us who work with students is to help them “get” Christianity. While a significant number of Christian students reject Christianity during their university years, far more struggle to embrace a faith that is not really authentic or orthodox. Theirs is a “moralistic therapeutic deism,” as Christian Smith put it—a tame faith that is privatized and perhaps personally meaningful but which is not publicly true, culturally significant, or fundamentally informative to the rest of their lives.
Rather than trying to make Christianity as attractive and entertaining as possible, we ought instead to be sure that what we are communicating to them is actually Christianity. As I noted, this is very challenging in a culture of information overload, where students are bombarded daily with a multitude of messages, most of which, encourage them toward a mentality of adolescence.
Still, there is good news. Adolescently minded cultures like ours inevitably have a leadership vacuum. So, there remains a terrific opportunity for influence for those who produce the leaders, especially if they produce networks of leaders who can think deeply and contribute broadly to a wide variety of cultural institutions.
How can we do this? [Read more…]
OrthodoxyToday.org | John Kapsalis | May 2009
If any of us ever found ourselves in a situation where we witnessed a car accident, I’d like to think that we would all stop and help, no matter how inconvenient. Or if we had to intervene to save someone from being assaulted, surely we would get involved no matter what the cost to us. It would be the right thing to do. After all, if we didn’t we would be wracked not only by guilt but also by shame. Who could live with themselves as a coward in such circumstances?
Yet everyday most of us act like cowards. Not because we don’t stop to help someone in need, but rather because we stand idly by while millions of people die moment by moment without knowing that God loves them. We are cowards because there is family and friends who have no relationship with Jesus Christ and we casually spend endless hours and years talking about everything under the sun, except telling them about the treasures of knowing Christ. [Read more…]
BreakPoint | Stephen Reed | May 6, 2009
The weeks following Easter can be filled with both joy and intrigue for the believer who tries to figure out the mysteries, especially those which may not always yield so easily to the mind’s constant prodding. Anyone, even non-believers, can resonate with the story of Jesus triumphing over this world, walking and talking among His followers again, then ascending to the Father who saw Him through it all.
However, when the routines of life pick up again, we can either return to them, though with a bit more spring in our step, or we can wish for a life that really reflects the new hope. [Read more…]
London Telegraph | Michael Nazir-Ali | April 2009
Britain is suffering because we have been too willing to forget what made us who we are, writes Michael Nazir-Ali.
I have resigned as Bishop of Rochester after nearly 15 years. During that time, I have watched the nation drift further and further away from its Christian moorings. Instead of the spiritual and moral framework provided by the Judaeo-Christian tradition, we have been led to expect, and even to celebrate, mere diversity. Not surprisingly, this has had the result of loosening the ties of law, customs and values, and led to a gradual loss of identity and of cohesiveness. Every society, for its wellbeing, needs the social capital of common values and the recognition of certain virtues which contribute to personal and social flourishing. Our ideas about the sacredness of the human person at every stage of life, of equality and natural rights and, therefore, of freedom, have demonstrably arisen from the tradition rooted in the Bible. [Read more…]
Islam will overwhelm Christendom unless Christians recognize the demographic realities, embrace life, have more children, and share the gospel with Muslims.
[Read more…]