Purgatory

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Casey is surprised about this story that reports of Pope Benedict XVI offering relief from purgatory to Roman Catholics who travel to Lourdes over the next year. I thought that it might help to show this diagram and the following excerpt from catholic.com:

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a "purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven," which is experienced by those "who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified" (CCC 1030). It notes that "this final purification of the elect . . . is entirely different from the punishment of the damned" (CCC 1031).

The purification is necessary because, as Scripture teaches, nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven (Rev. 21:27) and, while we may die with our mortal sins forgiven, there can still be many impurities in us, specifically venial sins and the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven.

From Wikipedia:

Mortal sin, according to the beliefs of Roman Catholicism, is a sin that, unless confessed and absolved (or at least sacramental confession is willed if not available), condemns a person's soul to Hell after death. The phrase is used in I John 5.16 -17:

"If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one - to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal." (NRSV)

In all Catholic moral theology, a mortal sin, as distinct from a venial sin, must meet all of the following conditions:

Its subject must be a grave (or serious) matter;

It must be committed with full knowledge, both of the sin and of the gravity of the offense;

It must be committed with deliberate and complete consent.

I am not an expert in this but thought that it would be helpful to understand this theological difference when discussing the afterlife with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters.. and please do not use this post as an opportunity to bash Catholicism.. though Luther objected to the selling of indulgences.. we Protestants have our own issues around the raising of money.

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Christmas Questions

Hattip to Janna for these questions:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift Bags.. I hate to wrap.. also hate rap.. as in music.

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial.. bought one with pre-strung lights a few years ago.. man is it heavy.

3. When do you put up the tree? Week before Christmas.

4. When do you take the tree down? A few weeks after the first of the new year.

5. Do you like eggnog? Yuk!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Bicycle

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My wife.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Our church staff party gag gift.. we play a game where we pick and trade these treasures.

10. Worst Christmas gift you've ever received? Expensive electronic trinkets which I usually return.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail.. with a yearly note.. not sure that I'll have the energy this year.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? The Nativity Story.. see my review here.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Mid-December.. sometimes a few days before Christmas.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes.. those electronic trinkets.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Peanut brittle

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Pre-strung white lights

17. Favorite Christmas song? Unquestionably, Oh Holy Night.. vote for a few renditions here.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Usually we stay home.. last time we travelled we took a cruise.. it was an exercise in trust.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Maybe if I really tried..

20. Angel on the tree top or star? Angel.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? In the morning, especially when the kids were young.

22. Most annoying thing this time of year? Not really annoying but it is difficult when I remember how hard this time of the year is for so many.. how hard it is for me right now.

23. What I love most about Christmas? The music.. and thinking about the manger scene.. Mary, Joseph, the Magi, the shepherds, the animals.. and the baby Jesus.. God with us.

Feel free to comment & play along if you like. If you participate on your own blog, let me know and I'll come visit!

Iraq: Military Perspective

A few excerpts from this article titled
Military Families Question Iraq War as Support for Bush Slips

Kent Fletcher, an Iraq war veteran, says he enthusiastically voted for President George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. Now, he is a registered Democrat who questions the need for the war, the way it has been managed and the treatment of returning veterans.

"Saddam Hussein wasn't a threat and the culmination of my career was that war and it wasn't necessary," says Fletcher, 32, a financial analyst in Bluffton, South Carolina, who served almost 10 years as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.

A Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll shows that Fletcher's skepticism about the war reflects a growing disenchantment within the broader military community, long a bastion of support for the Bush administration and Republicans. Among active-duty military, veterans and their families, only 36 percent say it was worth going to war in Iraq. This compares with an Annenberg survey taken in 2004, one year after the invasion, which showed that 64 percent of service members and their families supported the war.

In 2005, Fletcher, the Marine who switched party affiliations, published an editorial in the Huntington, West Virginia Herald-Dispatch newspaper scolding critics of Bush, who he said were also insulting the U.S. fighting forces.

"You don't have to spit on an Iraqi war veteran physically to spit on one metaphorically," he wrote. "We are part and the same with the president's administration."

Fletcher is now a member of Votevets.org, a group that promotes political candidates, particularly veterans who are critical of the Bush administration's Iraq war policies.

That shift in Fletcher's view may reflect a broader trend in the military about dissent. The Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll finds that 58 percent of military families -- the same margin as the overall population -- believe it is appropriate for retired military personnel to criticize Bush even in a time of war.

Slowly I Turned..

If you are too young to have watched the Stooges.. or just need a walk
down memory lane.. you need to watch this classic vaudeville bit.

Candidates Worst Jobs

As a follow-up to this post I have listed a few excerpts from this AP article:

Mike Huckabee remembers a thankless task at Penney's as a teenager, scrubbing away fingerprints only to have customers smudge the glass all over again.

Mitt Romney worked in a sewage pipe on an Idaho ranch when the effluent was still flowing.

In Alaska as a post-grad, Hillary Rodham Clinton spooned the guts out of fish.

"Backbreaking work," Bill Richardson said of his summer of laying sod on Cape Cod.

Fred Thompson: "I've worked in a factory, I was a bouncer at my uncle's drag strip, I worked at the post office, I sold children's shoes, I sold ladies', I sold men's clothing, I was a night clerk at a motel.

John Edwards had awful cleaning duties earlier at the textile mill where he worked summers and part time during school. And the other part of that job was mopping out from under the looms — the grease."

John McCain: The Navy pilot landed in a vicious Hanoi prison and has no complaints about other circumstances of his youth: "I've never really had a bad job."

Barack Obama cleared a construction site for a summer on Manhattan's Upper West Side while attending Columbia University. But he says his worst job was scooping ice cream at a Baskin-Robbins because he ate too much of it.

Rudy Giuliani weighed the priesthood and medicine before pursuing law.

Chris Dodd did construction work for the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic. He counts his job selling clothes in a haberdashery as his worst job.

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John might disagree.. but I think his "job" in Hanoi is probably the worst of the jobs listed.. although Hillary's fish gut spooning doesn't sound like fun.

WWW: Redneck Bank Robbery

In this edition of Weird World Wednesday, I submit to you this from the Tuesday edition of WSAV TV News:

We're told around 11:40 this morning, 59-year-old Barbara Joyner, of Callahan, Florida went through the drive thru at the South Carolina Bank & Trust branch on Highway 17 and handed the teller a note demanding money. The teller notified the branch manager, who called Hardeeville Police.

Because the police station is closeby, officers were on scene in less than a minute.

Officials tell us Joyner drove off when police arrived and led them on a brief chase south on Highway 17 and then through the parking lots of the Napa and Dollar General Stores. She was finally stopped on Paynesville Road, behind the stores.

Authorities say she was arrested without incident and is being charged with bank robbery and failure to stop for blue lights.

Christmas Gift Suggestions

I think that these gifts are appropriate any time of the year:

To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect."

-- Oren Arnold

KB: The One and Only

My friend Barbara asks the question: How many people share your name?
I checked and found out that:

My formal name (Robert) yields:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 6,550 people with my name in the U.S.A.

There are 4,780,744 people in the U.S. with the first name Robert. Statistically the 3rd most popular first name. There are 415,717 people in the U.S. with my last name. Statistically the 49th most popular last name.

My nickname (Bob) yields:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 114 people with my name in the U.S.A.

There are 83,447 people in the U.S. with the first name Bob. Statistically the 585th most popular first name.

Kansas Bob yields:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are Only 1 people with my name in the U.S.A.

There are 0 people in the U.S. with the first name Kansas. There are 1,821 people in the U.S. with the last name Bob. Statistically the 16271st most popular last name.

Okay.. KB came up with a zero.. but you all know that there is only one KB!

The stats are not worldwide so the number only represents USA stats.

So, go here and tell me: How many have your name?

Muhammad Ali

I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.

I believe in the religion of Islam. I believe in Allah and peace.

If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.

I hated every minute of training, but I said, "Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."

I know I got it made while the masses of black people are catchin' hell, but as long as they ain't free, I ain't free.

I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world.

It's not bragging if you can back it up.

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.

The man who has no imagination has no wings.

A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.

Dale Carnegie

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you."

"“Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare."

"Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain - and most fools do."

"When we hate our enemies, we are giving them power over us: power over our sleep, our appetites, our blood pressure, our health and our happiness. Our enemies would dance with joy if only they knew how they were worrying us, lacerating us, and getting even with us! Our hate is not hurting them at al, but our hate is turning our days and nights into a hellish turmoil."

"Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get."

"Fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind."

"Most of us have far more courage than we ever dreamed we possessed."

"Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition, is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have."

"If you want to gather honey, don't kick over the beehive."

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."

Unlavish Joel Osteen

A few excerpts from an Orlando Sentinal article titled Televangelist Joel Osteen shuns lavish lifestyle, visits Orlando today and Friday:

If the evangelical world is looking for a poster child to offset the negative publicity surrounding rich televangelists, Joel Osteen would be a good choice.

Osteen lives a much different life.

He has not taken a salary from his Houston megachurch for two years. He owns one house -- the same one he and his wife, Victoria, have lived in for 13 years -- and until recently he drove a 9-year-old car he inherited from his late father. Osteen pays his own hotel bills, and there is no private jet.

Although the upbeat minister does take collections at services, netting an estimated $43 million a year, Osteen does not ask for money on his broadcasts, which reach an estimated 7 million viewers weekly in the U.S. and 100 other countries. Nonetheless, an additional $30 million comes through the mail. His most recent book deal earned him a $13 million advance.

"We make plenty of money from our books," said Osteen, 44. "But we just live normal lives. We try to be conservative and honor God with our life and with our example."

Evel Knievel: His Last Leap

The man immortalized in the Smithsonian as "America's Legendary Daredevil" passed away on Friday at age 69. I will always remember him as the man who spoke these words in the spring of this year:

"I don't know what in the world happened. I don't know if it was the power of the prayer or God himself, but it just reached out, either while I was driving or walking down the sidewalk or sleeping, and it just—the power of God in Jesus just grabbed me. … All of a sudden, I just believed in Jesus Christ. I did, I believed in him! … I rose up in bed and, I was by myself, and I said, 'Devil, Devil, you bastard you, get away from me. I cast you out of my life.' … I just got on my knees and prayed that God would put his arms around me and never, ever, ever let me go."

Pray for Kelli

12/1 Update: A final excerpt from Kelli's blog:

Apparently, once they opened up my back, they discovered that my condition had worsened since my MRIs. Dr. Borkowski said the rupture was "huge", and that the whole mess was within days of another "explosion".

This explosion would have sent additional shards of bone and jagged disc material cutting through my spinal cord, and could have caused paralysis, as well as complete loss of control of the bowel and bladder.

In other words, I was just days away from a colossal medical emergency.

Kelli is back on her feet these days will small residuals left from her back injury. An amazing climax to this great story. Thanks for praying.

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11/23: Two Short Video Updates from Kelli: To God be the Glory!


From Kelli's 11/16 Update: Kelli's friends have raised all of the money needed to cover her back surgery.. WooHoo.. and the money is still coming in. She is scheduled for surgery on Wednesday. This video is a great one to watch in preparation for Thanksgiving. Please give thanks and pray for Kelli.
10/30: Please pray for Kelli who writes:

I'm thirty-one years old, and I cannot get around without a walker. I cannot sit at a desk for more than ten minutes without blacking out from the nausea and pain. ... My life has been condensed to a few bleak moves. A restricted dance of shuffle, shuffle, step, step. Of agony when I sit. Agony when I lay. Agony when I stand.

Courage Under Fire

12/1 Update: Kirk passed away last Sunday. Please pray for his family.


If you are wondering what courage looks like these days please take 11 minutes to watch this moving video. In it Kirk and Angie Rogg speak of the impact that Kirk's April 2007 ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.. also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) diagnosis had on their lives, their family and everyone around them. It is a hard video to watch.. watch it anyway.. let their heart's touch you.. let your heart mourn with them.. and let your mourning cause you to pray.

The companion video that Kirk refers to is posted below. Here is a link to
Kirk's page and one to his church's page on him.