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Christ Sending Out the Twelve
Jesus Christ showed and taught His followers how to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, and care for the poor and brokenhearted, then He sent them out to do the same. It seems, however, that many Christians think - "I don't have the gift of healing, I'm not a great evangelist or a pastor, so I guess I'll just be an ordinary layperson, sitting in my cushioned pew, singing hymns and listening to sermons." Why do people think that way? And what should we do about it?
We've been conditioned by centuries of social pressure, for example, under the Moslems who in the seventh century conquered the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, parts of France, Italy, Russia, the Balkans and Hungary, and who at best consigned Christians to second-class "dhimmi" status and forbade them to have any social outreach - only Moslems were allowed to do that. Christians were limited to only hold religious observances within four church walls. At worst, Christians were persecuted and killed if they wouldn't convert to Islam.
Then in Western Europe, after driving the Moslems back and after several religious wars that decimated the populations, the various Edicts of Toleration reinforced the notion that people should stop fighting and show "tolerance" to those of other religious convictions, not pushing their religious beliefs on others.
But in the Christian East, shortly after the collapse of the Moslem Turkish Empire, in the 1917 Russian Revolution, Communism took hold and at best strictly limited the Christian faith to only religious observances within four church walls, they were forbidden to have any kind of social ministry: only communists were allowed to do that. At worst, Christians who wouldn't meekly comply were tortured and killed.
And in the West it's just a bit more subtle: the ever-expanding secular humanism under the guise of "democracy", "freedom" and "tolerance" exerts strong social pressure against living out one's Christian faith in the public square. Nowadays, if any Christian suggests, "We ought to be taking care of 'the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind' like Christ did and taught His followers to do! - the standard reply is - "Oh, that's not our job: let the government do it." But government-managed "healthcare" doesn't care about your health, it's motivated by power and money: if the patient can't pay, shove him out the door. Don't think so? We've seen it happen!
And leftists now push the idea that religious freedom means only the right to attend the worship service of your choice, not "the free exercise of religion" as the First Amendment clearly states. Do you see a pattern developing here? They want to take over the Social Ministry of the Church - see our six short courses that will help you break out of these cultural stereotypes!
How often have you heard, "Don't shove your religion down other people's throats!" and Christians being labeled as "intolerant" or "bigoted" or "haters" if they speak of or live out their beliefs in public? We've internalized these social pressures, accepting them as "normal" and even come to believe in them almost as religious dogma. We must break out of this "psychological box" that we've been shoved into, and reclaim the free exercise of our religion in society, as Christ commanded us to do.
You likely don't have the gifts of healing or exorcism. Perhaps you're not a great evangelist: you get real nervous if asked to speak in public. It's OK if you don't have those spiritual gifts. Remember Christ's parable of the ten talents, five talents and one talent? The person with just one talent buried it, so the Master took it and gave it to the person who had ten.
But actually, you most likely have ten talents already! What are those things attached to your palms? Ten fingers! You have ten spiritual gifts, called the gift of helps! Learn how to start using them, and perhaps the Master will entrust you with some of the greater gifts. Break out of the box!
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NEXT, THE NEWS:
HER HEART BEGAN TO FAIL DURING PREGNANCY – BUT THEN HER BABY SAVED HER LIFE
from: LiveAction News
(24 May) Sean and Veronica Williams were thrilled about her pregnancy and looked forward to welcoming a baby. But their happiness took a sudden turn to fear when Veronica became sick and the baby had to be delivered prematurely to save her life. But in a heartwarming twist, it was little baby Brooklynn who helped Veronica’s heart heal.
According to the family’s GoFundMe page, Veronica began experiencing shortness of breath and a rapid heart rate during her pregnancy. They would soon find out that she was experiencing heart failure. At 32 weeks pregnant, doctors performed an emergency C-section in the hopes of saving Veronica’s life. Veronica, it turned out, had myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle which can lead to death.
"It appears the whole muscle of the heart was completely weak from the inflammation," cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. George Christensen told WCPO 9. But even after the delivery, Veronica was still struggling; she had to undergo multiple open-heart surgeries, and doctors thought she had less than a 50% chance of surviving.
"This is one of those times that St. Elizabeth stood up, and took the opportunity to do what was best for mom and baby," Lindsay Calderon, cardiac surgery recovery nurse manager at St. Elizabeth Edgewood Hospital, explained. "And that meant stepping out of our comfort zone. That meant doing things we’d never done."
Baby Brooklynn had been kept in the NICU, but hospital staff decided to let her see her mother in case Veronica didn’t survive. That encounter changed everything. "They brought her up to me… when they weren’t sure if I was gonna make it or not, and they laid her in my arms," Veronica said. "I don’t remember it, but they did do that."
Incredibly, at the moment that Brooklynn reunited with her mother, Veronica’s vital signs improved. "It was probably a moment none of us will ever forget – just the vital sign reactions of mom and baby," St. Elizabeth NICU Manager Keri Hinson said. Calderon added, "And I don’t think there was a dry eye in the [nurses] station. And getting to actually watch it, and be a part of it … was an amazing feeling." [read more...]
COMMENTARY: This amazing story illustrates the instinctive bonds of love between mother and child. The unborn baby expects to be kept safe in the womb and fights against any attempt to harm him or her. This bond works both ways: the baby brings a sense of purpose, safety and comfort to the mother as well!
PEOPLE NEED TO START USING 'THEIR BRAINS’ ABOUT ABORTION, BEN CARSON SAYS
from: The Daily Signal
(30 May) A little bit of logic and brain power might go a long way in solving the controversy over abortion, Ben Carson says. "I wish people would just take a step back from all this emotional rhetoric, and just use their brain, and look and see what is in that mother’s womb," Carson, a renowned brain surgeon, said.
Through modern ultrasound technology, we know that a child in the womb is "a human being with a head, and a face with eyes, a nose, and a mouth, and arms, and legs, and fingers, and a heart beating, and it can move, and it can react to the environment," Carson said on "The Daily Signal Podcast."
As a doctor, Carson, who is also the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development, says it’s hard for him to understand how medical professionals can perform abortions knowing what we do about a baby in the womb. Abortion is "barbaric," he said.
Abortions performed in the first trimester often use a thin tube to vacuum the baby out of the womb. This method is also called suction aspiration and "frequently the baby’s trying to move away from [the suction] before it tears off an arm or leg, and you see all the blood and stuff going down a tube," Carson explained.
For abortions performed in the second trimester, 14 to 26 weeks, and third trimester, 29 to 40 weeks, the physician often uses forceps to reach in and forcibly pull the baby out of the uterus.
"We want to talk about ancient civilizations and how barbaric they are," Carson said, but "how are we not worse than that? And I think in the future, people will look back on this time and they will just shake their heads and say, ‘How could those people be like that?’" [read more...]
COMMENTARY: Senator Robert Marshall (R-KS) who is also an OB/GYN doctor has introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate that would require abortionists to show patients an ultrasound prior to abortion. Planned "Barrenhood" states that ultrasounds are a form of "terrorism" because 78% of women who view an ultrasound of their baby when considering abortion choose to keep the baby. It's the anti-life, pro-abortion leftists who have promised real terrorism, publicly stating they are planning a revolution this summer. Be prepared!
KAZAKHSTAN: POST-PRISON – "THERE'S A BLOCK EVERYWHERE!"
from: Forum 18 News Service
(20 May) When individuals complete prison or restricted freedom sentences for exercising freedom of religion or belief and other rights, punishment does not stop. Many still face often vague bans on specific activity, including exercising freedom of religion or belief. "The Financial Monitoring Agency List says it relates to finance, but it's in fact about everything," one said. "When you want to get a job or open a bank account... there's a block everywhere!" Restrictions include bank account blocks, driving bans and being unable to work in many jobs.
Nine individuals are known to be serving prison sentences to punish them for exercising freedom of religion or belief. A further four are known to be serving the rest of their sentences on probation or under restricted freedom after being released early from prison. Yet even when sentences are complete, punishment does not stop. Many individuals who have completed prison terms or restricted freedom sentences are still under often vague post-jail bans on specific activity.
Post-prison bans on specific activity, such as visiting specific places or sharing faith, can be handed down when the prison sentence is imposed. For those convicted of exercising their freedom of religion or belief, such bans – which can be vaguely worded - often include bans on visiting places of worship or sharing their faith with others. Prisoners facing post-prison bans on unspecified "social activity" have been left without any information about what is banned, or only told of specific conditions two days before release.
Five of the nine currently (May 2022) known prisoners of conscience jailed for exercising freedom of religion or belief were punished for participating in an online religious discussion group. The other four are also Sunni Muslims. Dadash Mazhenov and Abdukhalil Abduzhabbarov are facing torture by being held in prolonged solitary confinement. Mazhenov has been physically tortured, most recently in a January 2022 beating with truncheons which broke his jaw. Abduzhabbarov was not allowed to attend his father's funeral, while Galymzhan Abilkairov was not allowed to attend his wife's funeral.
Such post-prison bans are also used against individuals punished for activities other than exercising freedom of religion or belief. On 4 February 2021, prisoner of conscience Maks Bokayev left his prison in Atyrau after completing a five-year term to punish him for planning to hold demonstrations against proposed changes to the Land Code which would have allowed the sale of farmland to foreigners. Part of his sentence was a post-prison three-year ban on engaging in then-unspecified "social activity." [read more...]
COMMENTARY: Religion is being used as a tool of state power: those who don't adhere to the state-approved religions are sent to prison and/or blacklisted from religious, social, and/or financial activities. The approved religions get special favors from the state. See also – The Russian Orthodox Leader at the Core of Putin’s Ambitions.
ED DEPARTMENT RAMPS UP DISABILITY RELATED COMPLIANCE REVIEWS
from: Disability Scoop
(24 May) With a slew of new actions and additional resources, federal education officials are taking steps to ensure that students with disabilities and their families can access school services.
The U.S. Department of Education said that its Office for Civil Rights will "soon launch" 100 compliance reviews focused on digital accessibility. The reviews will target K-12 schools and districts, postsecondary institutions, state departments of education, libraries and vocational rehabilitation services, the agency said.
Officials indicated that they will be looking at whether everything from online learning to school websites and platforms used to communicate with parents or provide them resources are in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The crackdown was announced as the Education Department held a first-ever virtual summit aimed at helping schools and communities support students with disabilities and mental health needs.
In addition to the new compliance reviews, the Office for Civil Rights said it is introducing a 20-part series of how-to videos to help educators understand their responsibilities in terms of website accessibility and what technological barriers exist for parents and students with disabilities in modern education. [read more...]
COMMENTARY: As you might know, I am a big fan of online interactive distance education: I've been doing it for over 20 years and have developed my own software system for teaching online about ministering to the disabled. But adapting online course software for people with disabilities is something else!
"NO REASON TO BELIEVE UOC-MP STOPS BEING AN INTEGRAL PART OF ROC" – STATEMENT OF THE OCU SYNOD
from: Religious Information Service of Ukraine
(31 May) The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) welcomes and supports all efforts aimed at the final withdrawal of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC-MP) from subordination to the Moscow Patriarchate, considering this subordination non-canonical, forcefully imposed and detrimental to Ukrainian Orthodoxy.
This is the Statement of the Holy Synod of the OCU on the recent events in the Moscow Patriarchate’s jurisdiction in Ukraine (UOC-MP). The OCU notes that, based on the publicly available documents, it cannot be stated with confidence that the UOC-MP has ceased to be an integral part of the Russian Orthodox Church. At the same time, the Synod of the OCU is pleased that the UOC-MP agrees about the need for a dialogue between the two Orthodox jurisdictions in Ukraine.
"On our part, we reiterate that such a dialogue should begin without preconditions or ultimatums. We are looking forward to explicit proposals from the other side regarding the first steps in the dialogue and the appointment of persons responsible for conducting the dialogue," the document says.
"We regret the decision of the Assembly on May 27 to approve all previous decisions, by which, following the schismatic actions of the Moscow Patriarchate, the jurisdiction of the UOC (Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine) severed communication with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Church of Cyprus and the Church of Greece. This, as well as the form of commemoration of Primates at the Liturgy, which Metropolitan Onufriy chose last Sunday, de facto confirmed the dependence on the decisions and position of the Moscow Patriarchate," the OCU notes.
The hierarchs of the OCU also express "disappointment" that the Council of the UOC-MP failed to find the right words to condemn the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the position of Russian Patriarch Kirill.
"The expressions chosen in the text of the resolutions are too short and soft compared to the tragedy that our people are experiencing. Also, not a single word was said about condemning and separating from the Russian World ideology – a heretical ethnophyletic teaching and a cornerstone in Russia's justification of the war against Ukraine," the authors of the Statement note. [read more...]
COMMENTARY: This appears to me to be like the opening gambits in a chess game: the opposing players attempt to stake out a defensible position from which to advance their aims. The OCU is saying in effect – "Reverse your break of communion with those Orthodox Churches that have recognized us (the OCU), then we will see that you are sincere in wanting to enter into a dialogue with us." As long as the UOC maintains the Moscow Patriarchate's above position, it remains subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate.
A BLUE ROSE IN A BOUQUET OF FLOWERS
from: Disabled World
(21 May) The Blue Rose, authored by Gerda Klein and published in 1974, is a beautiful children's book about Jenny, a young intellectually disabled girl. Because it is an older book, Jenny is described as mentally retarded and the pictures appear outdated. Still, it is a vivid description of the world of a child with an intellectual disability. At the end of the story, Gerda Klein compares Jenny to a blue rose, "Delicate and lovely. And because there are so few blue roses, we don't know much about them. We only know that they have to be tended more carefully and loved more."
Like Jenny in the above book, Tricia has multiple disabilities. She is like a blue rose. She is dependent on others for her personal care and safety. She requires specially designed instruction to learn new skills. Like a gardener who specializes in growing blue roses, Tricia feels most comfortable around people who understand her disability.
What truly describes Tricia is a bouquet of flowers. There are blue roses in her bouquet, but there are other beautiful flowers too. Her bouquet has baby's breath for her innocence and purity of heart. Yellow tulips and Gerbera daisies show her cheerful thoughts and her beautiful smile. Bundled with the blue roses are red roses for love, yellow roses for joy and warmth, and pink roses for her innocence, sweetness, joy, and gratitude. Filling out Tricia's bouquet are delphiniums for her big heartedness and fun, snapdragons for her strength and endurance, and zinnias for her goodness and lasting affection.
The blue rose defines Tricia's disability, while the bouquet of flowers shows her strengths and personality. People are like a bouquet of flowers. No one is the same. If someone is disabled, their bouquet contains rare flowers like the blue rose. Show care for the rare flowers, but enjoy and respect the entire bouquet. [read more...]
COMMENTARY: Christians believe that each person has intrinsic worth in God's eyes, and therefore we should value and treat each person as someone created in the image of God, not as an economic unit of production or consumption. This article reminds us of the unique value of each and every human being, regardless of age, ability, or social standing.
NOW, OUR VIEWS:
Backgrounder on the Religious Aspect of the War in Ukraine
Why is the (former) UOC-MP's becoming independent from Moscow such a "big deal," as I wrote in last week's "SPECIAL EDITION: UOC Declares Independence From Moscow Patriarchate"? Religion plays a much larger part in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine than it does in the West. It is being used by Moscow as an ideological justification for their war in Ukraine, claiming that Ukraine is overrun by homosexuals and fascists, that the new OCU is not legitimate, and that only the UOC[-MP?] is the true Orthodox Church in Ukraine. But now, if the UOC has really broken with the MP due to Russia's invasion, Moscow lost that ideological prop. Here's some background information:
The difficulties and differences between the UOC-MP (Moscow Patriarchate) and the new OCU (Orthodox Church of Ukraine) go back many centuries. Cyril & Methodius, missionaries to the Slavs in the 800s, developed the "Glagolithic" alphabet for the Slavs, which soon developed into the Cyrillic alphabet, so they could translate the Bible and the Liturgy into the language of the people. But Frankish (western) church hierarchs resisted their missionary work in Bohemia, thus beginning the tension between Eastern and Western church centers in Slavic lands: see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_and_Methodius.
More recently, in the late 16th century, the Roman Catholic Church became dominant in Central and Eastern Europe and formed a hybrid "Union" that allowed the Orthodox believers there to retain their eastern liturgy and married priests if they would commemorate the Pope in the liturgy as head of the Church instead of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, calling these Christians "Uniates." the Ruthenian Uniate Church. The Moscow Patriarchate has struggled against the Uniates for centuries: the Russian Empire eventually expanded and absorbed the eastern part of Ukraine but the western part still has many "Uniates" – now called Greek Catholics.
The "Ruthenes" are the Latin name for the Rusyns, sometimes called the Carpatho-Rusyns who are found in today's southern Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Hungary. When millions of them immigrated to Pennsylvania and Ohio in the early 1900s, they were still "Uniates" or more recently called "Greek Catholics" but when a Roman Catholic bishop insisted that they stop allowing priests to marry and begin using the Latin liturgy (Mass), about half of them returned to Orthodoxy. Some joined the Orthodox Church of America (started by Russia), some joined other Orthodox jurisdictions, and some started the Carpatho-Russian (Rusyn) Orthodox Church under the Ecumenical Patriarch, which we have attended for several years here in Pittsburgh. I have a copy of the Greek Catholic liturgy in which I've pasted "the Ecumenical Patriarch" over "the Pope of Rome" in 6 places, and presto! It's an Orthodox liturgy again!
For some years after WW1, Ukraine had its own autonomous Orthodox Church under the Ecumenical Patriarch but the Bolsheviks eventually took over Ukraine and exterminated those clergy, then established the UOC-MP there. This situation lasted until the collapse of the USSR when Ukraine gained its independence and a few versions of an autonomous Orthodox Church formed again. This was formalized in 2019 by the Ecumenical Patriarch recognizing the new "Orthodox Church of Ukraine" (OCU). Of course, the UOC-MP strongly resisted this, broke off relations with the Ecumenical Patriarch, calling him just "the Patriarch of Constantinople," not "Ecumenical" (Russia has long contended that it is the "Third Rome" after Constantinople fell to the Turks). Then Russia invaded Ukraine, which caused many Moscow-oriented parishes in Ukraine to join the OCU. Now the UOC is dropping the "-MP" in its name but still maintaining friendly and subordinate relations with Moscow. It's a complicated, convoluted affair: why can't Christians come together in peace, harmony, humility, and agape-love?
St. Paul preached on the Areopagus (Mars Hill) in Athens, saying that God has made "every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings" (Acts 17:26). God sets the timeline for a nation's existence – Russia's population is projected to fall to about 80,000,000 by 2050 from the high of 148,650,000 when the USSR collapsed; abortion is the most common type of birth control and alcoholism is one of the highest causes of death in Russia. God also sets the boundaries for a nation to dwell in – why does Russia need to expand its boundaries, if its population is falling so drastically?
As Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said when someone asked him why such terrible things took place – "The people have forgotten God, that is why such things are happening." The Epicurians and Stoics that the Apostle Paul mentioned in the above sermon on Mars Hill were philosophers that taught that life's meaning was to be found in self-indulgence or in self-control. But when we try to find the meaning of life, our existence, in "self" – whether it's pleasure or power, we come up against a dead end, circular reasoning of "it's fun to have fun" or "it's good to be good" – neither option explains the "why" of life. Only when we center our lives on the Absolute Who has revealed Himself do we find meaning and satisfaction in our fleeting existence on this planet Earth.
(Get this as a separate article in our "ARC-News" blog at blogspot.com.)
A fascinating article on the push to bring about social and demographic collapse in the West is "Talking our Way out of Rocky Horror: Why Gender Restoration is the Culture War." It begins with these words – "Will there be any culture left when the culture war is over? Our culture is what we hand on to our children, but the West isn't having [enough] children. The birth rates are down, and people are wondering why we aren't having babies. Our men and women aren't making big families and our communities are becoming sterile and childless." It's worth reading and thinking about!
