Category: Faith

Agreeing to Disagree

~ Laura ~ 2 Comments

Ever participated in a discussion which ended with the other person saying “Well, I guess we agree to disagree”? I have. Many times. And it really bugs me.

The conversations were all the same: I posted something (article, graphic, status), the person commented on it, we talked, they couldn’t refute what I said, then they ended the conversation by saying “I guess we agree to disagree.”

Funny thing? I never agreed to disagree. I simply stated my opinion on something. By commenting and starting a discussion, people invite me to explain my point of view and listen to theirs. When things get a little more intense, however, people tend to shy away and just shut the conversation down when they don’t know what to say. Why? I think people do this because there’s nothing else to do. If you don’t have statistics and facts backing your point of view up, it’s pretty hard to support your argument for long. You can only repeat rhetoric the media tells you for so long.

When you get to that point in a conversation where you realize things are getting intense, a decision has to be made: Will you continue to support your opinion which has been proven to be flawed? Will you take your new-found information and re-evaluate your position? Or will you shut logic and facts out of your mind and cut off the conversation? To me, shutting down the conversation is a sure sign of weakness in your argument. If you can’t support your position, either you don’t know enough about what you’re saying, or what you’re saying is wrong.

If you get into a conversation and it looks like you might not be right, have the character to admit you might be wrong. However, when you get into a discussion about something you have a strong opinion about (abortion or gay marriage for example) and do have facts and logic to back you up, don’t falter. Show the truth.

“Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all you do be done in love.” ~ 1 Corinthians 16:13 – 14

Have you ever gotten into a conversation like this? Tell me about it!

 

How Old is Your Church?

~ Laura ~ 1 Comment

Found this online and had to share…[Here‘s a link to a neat table of the dates.]

 

If you are a Lutheran, Martin Luther, an apostate of the Roman Catholic Church, founded your religion in Germany, in the year 1517.

If you are a Mennonite, your church began in Switzerland with Grebel, Mantz, and Blaurock, in the year 1525.

If you belong to the Church of England, also know as Anglican, your religion began with King Henry VIII in 1534, who established his ownchurch because the Pope could not grant him a divorce with the right to remarry.

If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded by John Knox, in Scotland, in the year 1560.

If you are a Congregationalist, your religion was founded by Robert Brown, in Holland, in 1583.

If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam, in 1606.

If you are a Unitarian, John Biddle in London founded your religion in 1645.

If you are an Episcopalian, your religion was an offshoot of the Church of England, founded by Samuel Seabury in the American Colonies in the 17th century.

If you are a Quaker, your religion was founded by George Fox, in England, in 1647.

If you are a Methodist, your religion was founded by John and Charles Wesley, in England, in 1739.

If you are a Universalist, John Murray founded your religion in New Jersey, in 1770.

If you are an Evangelical, you owe the founding of your religion to Jacob Albright, in Pennsylvania, in 1803.

If you are a Mormon (a “Latter Day Saint”), then Joseph Smith started your religion in Palmyra, New York, in 1829.

If you are a Seventh Day Adventist, your religion originated in New York, by William Miller, in 1831.

If you worship with the Salvation Army sect, then you acknowledge William Booth in London as your originator, in 1865.

If you are a Jehovah Witness, then your church was founded by Charles Taze Russell, in 1872, and renamed in 1931 by Judge Rutherford, his successor.

If you are a Christian Scientist, then Mary Baker Eddy founded your religion in Massachusetts, in 1879.

If you belong to the Assembly of God religion, then a General Assembly in Arkansas started it in 1914.

If you claim the Church of the Nazarene as your religion, then Union at General Assembly launched it in 1919.

If you are an Evangelical Reformed, then Union at General Assembly created it in 1934.

If you belong to “Pentecostal Gospel,” your religion is one of the hundreds of new sects founded by men in the last 100 years.

If you are a Roman Catholic, you know that your religion was founded in the year 33 by Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now…does Catholicism rock or what? It’s the only religion that traces DIRECTLY back to Jesus Himself!!

Now tell me…how old is YOUR church?

Fortnight for Freedom: Day 5 – Speak Up

~ Laura ~ 1 Comment

Check out this fact sheet on the HHS Mandate for answers to a couple key questions on it, and great suggestions for action against it. One important thing to do: Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask your Congressman and U.S. Senators to support legislation overturning the HHS Mandate. Our voices will be heard if we speak up about this injustice!

What are you waiting for? Pick up the phone! Email and snail mail addresses coming soon so we can contact them as much as possible!

Also, check out this article for some great pictures from the Fortnight around the country.

Fortnight for Freedom: Day 4 – Our First, Most Cherished Liberty

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

In a statement titled Our First, Most Cherished Liberty, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops tells us:

“Religious liberty is not only about our ability to go to Mass on Sunday or pray the Rosary at home. It is about whether we can make our contribution to the common good of all Americans. Can we do the good works our faith calls us to do, without having to compromise that very same faith? Without religious liberty properly understood, all Americans suffer, deprived of the essential contribution in education, health care, feeding the hungry, civil rights, and social services that religious Americans make every day, both here at home and overseas.”

This Fortnight for Freedom is not about being able to go to mass. It’s about having the freedom to live our lives according to our consciences. If that right is taken away, we have no right to live our own lives. We’d just be a bunch of bodies controlled by our government. But we’re not that weak. As Robert J. McCracken said “We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls.” The faithful are standing up and saying “no” to this unjust mandate. We as Americans have a history of fighting for our freedom, and that’s not about to change.

Pray for our freedom to be protected, and spread the word about this mandate. People can only stand up against this if they know it exists. Spread the word!!

Fortnight for Freedom: Day 3 – It’s Not Just Birth Control

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

If you’ve read much about the HHS mandate, you know people who are against it are upset at the idea of haing to pay for birth control, sterilization procedures, and abortion-inducing drugs. Here’s yet another reason to oppose it:

The mandate would help establish in-school health clinics across the country. These clinics would have qualifications to meet, and guess who is pretty much the only organization to qualify? Um huh. Planned Parenthood. 

If you don’t want more stories like the one below happening, it’s time to speak out about this!!