Prayer Helps to take the Sadness Away.

Holidays can be emotional for some people who are lonely or who are grieving lost opportunities or people that they lost this year or over the years. Sadness is a natural emotion, and we should allow ourselves to feel it. I have suffered with clinical depression for many years now, but my faith seems to always pull me from the terror that invades my mind sometimes. When we have been deeply hurt or had our hearts broken we can related to what the bible calls a broken spirit. What we do with our hearts when they have been hurt determines our recovery. I am 45, and I am convinced that having a broken heart makes us more human. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. (Psalm 51:17) May I suggest that this Christmas we all be mindful of those who have no home, or are struggling in life. Our churches this year should be filled with people who have never entered a church before, of course it is up to them to come in. Jesus offers forgiveness to all, and maybe all someone needs from you is to pray for them. When I came to Christ in my 20's, I was a very churched catholic person, but God wants a real relationship with us. A relationship that is based on grace and forgiveness, and no matter how hard it is, we need to show that same unconditional love to those who are still hurting in the world. The Lord is with those that are broken, we all want a family and peace. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. (Psalm 68:6 NIV) I admit, we have all had times in our lives when we just didn't understand our own brokenness, but it is an act of humility to see past another's brokenness and let them into your family and heart. The excuse we give ourselves is that we are just going to end up getting hurt, but that is a very small way to think. We all need to see our pain in the light of a broken and crucified God, and laugh and cry along with all the pain in the world.

Embrace a faith that is universal in the sense that Jesus welcomed the saints and the sinners. If I never experienced heartbreak, I wouldn't know the joy that is in my heart that comes from seeing the world as essentially broken. Brokenness isn't shame. Shame keeps us attached to our guilt, but brokenness can lead us to release our shame and guilt and begin to truly live in the light and love of God. Believers, the world is hurting and they need us to show it that we love each other, and we are not ashamed to make ourselves look silly. When we show our vulnerability, it makes us more human and helps open our hearts (not to sin) but the heart that longs to trust God and relieve the pain and suffering of others. This is Mike.

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Catholic Identity.

I was born into the Catholic Church and was baptized as an infant, I had my first communion and reconciliation as a child, and was confirmed as a teenager. Although I was never devout, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour when I was 21 through an evangelical Christian radio ministry, which in turn gave new life to my Catholic faith. Although I remained a Catholic, I identified as a born again Christian. It wasn’t until much later in my life that I learned the difference between the two denominations and what they taught about being born again. Regardless, there was a significant change in my life back then, which continues to this day. Being Catholic is much like an identity to me and I remember growing up under the papacy of St. Pope John Paul II. The culture I grew up in was largely affected by his papacy, and the way the culture viewed the church was significantly different from the way the current culture views it. Growing up, the pope didn’t try to be rele...

Age of Brokenness.

We are living in an age of brokenness, no matter what age you are, you probably have been touched with relationships falling apart, which causes more and more people to live in isolation. In this generation there is less of an incentive to heal and reconcile relationships, but that doesn’t excuse the amount of people who are broken. Why people don’t seem to be motivated to heal relationships is because our beliefs about faith and God have changed, really giving us less of an incentive to do what our religion says. If I act from my personal beliefs, but the person that I am responding to has abandoned religious beliefs, than the response to my wanting things to be better can be misinterpreted and rejected then by someone else. Generally when a society has expectations about broken relationships, loneliness and isolation, and the beliefs are generally accepted, society becomes a more compassionate society, because all value the same things. When religious values are undermined and ...

The Biblical Meaning of “Life in the Spirit.”

“Life in the Spirit” is an example that the Apostle Paul gives in the book of Romans starting in chapter 5 and going through to chapter 8. He begins by telling us we are justified by faith (5:1), and have gained access by faith into the grace of God (5:2). We have been delivered from God’s wrath (5:9) and we have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son (5:10). He goes on to explain that through Adam all die (5:12), and that the free Gift of God brings justification and righteousness to the believing sinner (5:15-17). Through our conversion we are baptized into Christ and into his death, which frees us from the law and makes us dead to sin (6:2-4). He explains that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we are given new life in Christ (6:4). Our old unregenerate self was crucified with Christ so that our body of sin might be done away with (6:5-6). Because we have died to sin, we now submit ourselves to God being that we are now under grace, not the law (6:8-1...

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