Stephen K. Ray's Blog, page 505

Free Holy Heroes CD

From my friend, and founder of Catholic Scripture Study, Gail Buckley:

My friends Kerri and Ken Davison, are making a great offer that I want to pass on to you, especially those of you who have children or grandchildren or friends with children or grandchildren :)  They are offering a FREE CD on their Holy Heroes website: www.freeglorystories.com – all you pay is the shipping.

Their Holy Heroes apostolate is family-owned and loyal to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.  They have a great assortment of CDs. DVDs, games, coloring books, prayers, music, bibles, tee shirts, etc. for children and families.  This is a great  (and fun) way to help your children learn and grow in their Catholic faith."

Click here or on the image below.

My Friend Peter Williamson on Journey Home

Peter Williamson is a convert to the Catholic Church and now a Scripture scholar who teaches at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit Michigan. Recently he was with Marcus Grodi on the EWTN's The Journey Home.

Peter wrote, "A little over a week ago I told the story of my becoming a Catholic on The Journey Home.  The Lord really seemed to anoint the interview, and I've gotten a rather extraordinary response from complete strangers, as well as distant acquaintances.

I think it may be pretty helpful to evangelical Protestants considering the Catholic Church.

Muslim Student …

… reveals the real intent behind her hajib.

Muslim Student's True Opinion

Neoconservative thinker David Horowitz was put on the spot by a Muslim student during a speech at the University of California San Diego. His comeback revealed her true goal.

Anglican Bishop Says Good-bye to 75 Parishes …

… as he says Hello to Rome. Here is Bishop Burnham's "Farewell Sermon." For the whole story and text of the sermon, click here.

One has to respect the sacrifice and integrity of such a man! We welcome him and pray for God's blessing.

On our last pilgrimage-cruise, Fr Stephen Gideon told us his agonizing and joyful story of moving from Episcopalian priest to Roman Catholic priest. We all had tears in our eyes.

Eucharist Means Everything!

Cory wrote me yesterday and said I could share this with everyone:

Hi Steve: I've never written to you before but felt I just had to this time. I watched to your 7 Footprints of God DVD's and your Defending the Eucharist, and it was awesome.

I am a new Catholic. I became Catholic as of last Easter vigil. When I went to the R.C.I.A classes I was very upfront with why I was there. I said I just wanted to know what the Catholic church believed and why my Grandmother believed what she did. To me it was very strange. I told everyone in the class I had no intentions of becoming Catholic. I was just curious.

I was baptized Catholic as an infant, but never grew up in the Faith because my Parents died when I was 3 or 4 years old. My mother was Catholic, but my Dad was an Atheist. I lived in 15 different foster homes before I was 10 years old. My foster parents were Christian Reform. But thru out my childhood, I always had a memory of my Grandmother praying her Rosary everyday. I needed to find out why.

It took me over 50 years to walk into a Catholic church. All my years as a Protestant, I took the Lord's Supper for granted. And why not. After all, its just a symbol, right. We had it the first Sunday of each month. I kept looking to the clock at the back of the church thinking…"For crying out loud, will you hurry up with the bread and wine. I want to get out of here." Steve, I just wasn't into the Lord's Supper at all. If its just a symbol…why do it?

Easter vigil came, and there I was, doing the one thing I said I would never do. I was becoming Catholic. I fully understood what the Eucharist was, is, and will always be, and when I took it for the very first time, I cried my heart out because for the first time in my life, I knew I was truly taking the Body and Blood of Christ. What an awesome Blessing this is.

I'm now part of the Eucharistic Ministry in my Church. I'm the only one in my family who is Catholic, but I'm working on them. For now I will not just BE Catholic…but LIVE my Catholic Faith as a witness for my family and friends.

Thank you so much for your videos Steve. They hold a lot of meaning for me. Your Friend in Christ….Cory

What Council of Church "leaders" Collected the NT Books?

I was just going through the Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps & Time Lines. I find the book very helpful in many respects but was struck by the deceptive "factual" statement about the list of books in the New Testament.

On page 17, under the heading "How We Got the Bible: Ten Key Points," it says, "The books of the Bible were collected and arranged and recognized as inspired sacred authority by councils of rabbis and council of church leaders based on careful guidelines."

Really?!?!

Then I am curious about a few things. First, who were these "church leaders"? Were they Protestant professors or pastors? Or, might they be the Bishops of the Catholic Church? Hum!

Second, who were these rabbis? Might they be the mythical "Council of Jamnia" which even Protestant scholars admit did not decide the books of the Bible? Those rabbis debunked by Jesus in favor of the Church's authority?

Third, if we accept the authority of the Bible Alone — where in the Bible does it say that there will be inspired writings added to the already existing Old Testament? Where does it give us the list of New Testament books or the criteria for knowing what books should or should not be included? And even if it did, wouldn't that be circular reasoning?

Fourth, what were the "careful guidelines" that were used in making this determination? Where can we find this mythical list? :-)

If you want to learn more on this, check out my list of 36 "Questions for 'Bible Christians'".

Protestants don't want to admit it, but the problem of the canon of Scripture is the Achilles Heel of Protestantism and one of the reasons I joined the Catholic Church!

Daylight Savings Time

Only government …

Chinese Episcopal Ordination Valid?

My friend and Canon Lawyer Ed Peters writes:

"Was the Chinese episcopal ordination valid? I almost blogged about the Chinese episcopal ordination ceremony last Saturday, but held off for lack of concrete facts and because of the eruption of another story the same day. But a line in the HSPO press release today suggests that maybe my earlier hunches were correct. So here goes: If I were the Chinese government, I would not be so sure that Saturday's episcopal ordination ceremonies had, in fact, resulted in the ordination of a bishop."

Read more here: http://canonlawblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/was-chinese-episcopal-ordination-valid.html

What do you think …

… of our cool new trailer for Egypt & Jordan?

For more information, call Suzanne at 800-727-1999 or at sparran@ctscentral.net.

Comedian with a Secular Audience…

… this was NOT in a church. Attached is a short video showing Steve Harvey, a comedian, addressing a secular audience.

The subject is "How Would You Introduce Christ to a Room Full of People?"

It's hard to imagine that this is a comedian and not a preacher, and this is an audience… and not a congregation.

With all the vulgar, four-letter-word laced profanity that so many comedians spout today… this introduction from comedian Steve Harvey to a secular audience was absolutely awe-inspiring.

I thought it might brighten your day. Enjoy…