Shawn McDonald

Shawn McDonald is living proof of how Jesus Christ is active and working among us to "seek and to save the lost." I personally can relate to being lost in the world of sin and brokenness and despair... I think we all can to different degrees - but this story takes it to a new level. Abandoned by his parents at a young age, Shawn was lost in a world of endless raves and dealing drugs. This video shows how God busted into his life and saved him sin and hopelessness.

Shawn is now a well known Christian recording artist. He's got a great sound and authenticity to his music - I have his first album, Simply Nothing.

Interview with Matt Maher

Earlier this week, Christy and I had the great privilege of interviewing Matt Maher who is a leading Catholic-Christian singer/songwriter/worship leader. An awesome, down-to-earth guy.
This interview is now our latest podcast, Podcast 42. Listen below to his conversion story, how he fell in love with Jesus, a song from his new album Empty and Beautiful, and some great wisdom on being a worship leader (plus the usual news and updates from what's happening at ChristLife!).

Evangelization from a Muslim Convert

Daniel Ali is a muslim convert to the Catholic faith and very passonate about evangelization. We were able to interview him and hear his story plus practical ways to evangelize muslims from his perspective. One thing he said that really struck me was that one of the things that drew him to Christianity was when a Christian asked if he could pray with him. He said that his intiation reaction of being asked to be prayed with was not of anger or resentment but he "welcomed it!" I hope that Christians will see the power of prayer and not be afraid to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit because it changes lives!

You may remember Daniel Ali from our last podcast along with the March for Life news. He had so many amazing insights that we just came out with a second podcast with his view on scripture and practical ways to evangelize! You can listen to this new podcast here, or click play below:

You can also check out ChristLife's Sharing Christ and other Resources for Evangelization.

The Reason for the Season!

ChristLife's most recent podcast has some excellent content especially in regards to this Christmas season. Jean, a friend of ChristLife, shares a powerful conversion story, and there is some great Christmas gift ideas from a group called Advent Conspiracy. Advent Conspiracy's goal is to transform the consumerism of Christmas into the message of compassion laid out by Jesus Christ!
This podcast is very inspiring and you can listen in here, or click play below to listen.

Do you give up so easily on Jesus?

An incredible story from Iraq from the Catholic News Agency via Sherry W. at the Intentional Disciples blog.

"As Fr. Bautista continued speaking with us, he described the fascinating story of a young Muslim woman who was entering the Church under his guidance through the RCIA process. Her story was moving. While working with Americans, this woman, who must remain anonymous, was touched deeply when she realized that the U.S. medical personnel not only treated wounded Americans and Iraqi civilians, but also treated wounded enemy combatants, including one who was known for having killed U.S. Marines. As she put it, “This cannot happen with us.”

This dramatic extension of mercy even to enemy soldiers caused her to take the next cautious step. She asked Father Bautista to “tell me more about Jesus.” As Father described Jesus and his life in the Gospels, one thing stood out among the rest for the Muslim woman he called “Fatima” (not her real name) and that was how kindly Jesus had related to, as she put it, “the two Mary’s.” Fatima was moved to see how Jesus deeply loved Mary, his mother, who was sinless, but also how Jesus deeply loved Mary Magdalene, who was “a great sinner.” As these discussions continued, Fatima reached a point where she said to Father Bautista, “I want to become a Christian.”

Since Father Bautista sees himself as a chaplain for all troops, not just Catholics, he decided to introduce Fatima to other chaplains from Protestant and Orthodox backgrounds. After some time had passed, Fatima returned to Father Bautista and said, “I want to become a Catholic like you.” When Father asked her the reason for her decision, she said, “You were the only one who told me about the other Christians, so you left me free to decide for myself. That’s how I knew this was the right decision.”

As their catechetical lessons developed over time, Fatima’s family discovered her plan and was warned sternly by her father that if she continued on this path, she would be disowned by the entire family and would never have contact with them again. At this point, Father Bautista became concerned for Fatima’s well-being and cautioned her to look carefully at the consequences of her decision and to think seriously before continuing her path into the Church.

Fatima paused for a moment and then looking intently at Father Bautista asked, “Do you give up so easily on Jesus?” The question took Father aback for a moment, but then he thought, “This is incredible; this Muslim woman is already bearing witness to me about how important my own faith is!”

As he related it, this woman’s question had caused him to give greater thanks for his faith and for the great privilege of sharing Christ with others. Fatima is currently continuing the RCIA process with great courage and joy."

Amazing! Please pray for "Fatima" and all who journey toward Christ this Advent!

Making Disciples!

"Go therefore and make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20)

The calling from the Lord of every Christian is to proclaim the Gospel to the world! I have found that in my own life God provides so many small opportunities to share Him with others. It doesn't have to be standing at a podium in a huge public square (though it could be), but simple, small ways of telling others how Jesus has impacted our lives.

I am a waitress at a restaurant and one day I was waiting on an elderly man sitting by himself. He asked me why I seemed so happy, and I ended up telling him about my relationship with the Lord. It was a great conversation and he talked about his life in the military, and how he knows he needs the Lord more in his life. It is these daily, small opportunities God puts in our lives that can have a lasting impact on people's lives, and I need to be more open to them!

The beautiful thing about sharing Christ is that we are not expected to do it on our own. The Holy Spirit comes and anoints our words so that we are simply instruments of the Lord. Dave Nodar expands on how to share Christ with others through the power of the Holy Spirit in Christlife's most recent podcast "Called to Share Christ". I hope this podcast will inspire us all to enter into the mission field of making disciples by sharing Christ with others!

Listen in to the latest podcast here, or click play below:

This is my Friend

From an old manuscript.

Let me tell you how I made His acquaintance.
I had heard much of Him, but took no heed.
He sent daily gifts and presents, but I never thanked Him.
He often seemed to want my friendship, but I remained cold.
I was homeless, and wretched, and starving and in peril every hour; and He offered me shelter and comfort and food and safety; but I was ungrateful still.
At last He crossed my path and with tears in His eyes He besought me saying, Come and abide with me.

Let me tell you how he treats me now.
He supplies all my wants.
He gives me more than I dare ask.
He anticipates my every need.
He begs me to ask for more.
He never reminds me of my past ingratitude.
He never rebukes me for my past follies.

Let me tell you further what I think of Him.
He is as good as He is great.
His love is as ardent as it is true.
He is as lavish of His promises as He is faithful in keeping them.
He is as jealous of my love as He is deserving of it.
I am in all things His debtor, but He bids me call Him Friend.

I thought I would share that. What a great testimony of conversion! It is anonymous and serves as the introduction of a book written by Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson called Friendship with Christ written in 1912. Good Stuff!

Got God?

First, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Chad and i'm on staff here at Christlife as an intern for the 2006-2007 school year. As a student at UMBC I was fascinated by the fact that this week is "athiesm week" and last night's event was a forum where religious topics could be addressed in a safe environment. This event led me to some interesting considerations about what makes people athiests vs. believers. I have find that some athiests (not all!) have an intense aversion to religion. There seems to be something utterly hateful that they find in the lives of faith. Now, what I'm about to say must be read very carefully as it will come across rather condemningly either.

I often wonder if people who reject God have an intense fear or repentence. I only say this because in my own experience, the times that I feel furthest from God are the times when I really don't feel like repenting. However, when I can be brought to that point of inner surrender to God's will, I come to see that my fears were imaginary, and that the God of love is unimaginably more powerful than my greatest fears. And so, my spiritual life seems to be a roller coaster ride of learning to die to myself... learning to let that wretched part (the part that, for reasons I can't explain, simply loves darkness) of me die and only through this type of death to I find freedom in the life of God through Christ. Why Christ? Because I see in him the fulfillment of every human need given by God: love, intimacy, truth etc... I'm sure there's so much more to be discovered in knowing and loving Christ, but I am still towards the beginning of my journey (and I imagine will be until I die).

So anyways, about athiesm.... I wonder if in some cases people are so possessed (however you want to interpret that) by a spirit of fear that they have lost sight of the awesome glory and power of God's love. I remember reading Conversion by Malcolm Muggeridge, who, in recalling being rescued from suicidal despair wrote,

"Suddenly, without thinking or deciding, I started swimming back to shore . . . I shouted foolishly for help, and kept my eyes fixed on the lights of Peter's Cafe and the Costa da Sol. They were the lights of the world; they were the lights of my home, my habitat, where I belonged. I must reach them. There followed an overwhelming joy such as I had never experienced before; an ecstasy. In some mysterious way it became clear to me that there was no darkness, only the possibility of losing sight of a light which shone eternally; . . . that our sufferings, our affliction, are part of a drama - an essential, even an ecstatic part - endlessly revolving around the two great propositions of good and evil, of light and darkness. A brief interlude, an incarnation, reaching back into the beginning of time, and forward into an ultimate fulfilment in the universal spirit of love which informs, animates, illuminates all creation, from the tiniest particle of insentient matter to the radiance of God's very throne . . . Though I scarcely realised it at the time and subsequently only very slowly and dimly, this episode represented for me one of those deep changes which take place in our lives; as, for instance, in adolescence, only more drastic and fundamental. A kind of spiritual adolescence, whereby, thenceforth, all my values and pursuits and hopes were going to undergo a total transformation - from the carnal towards the spiritual; from the immediate, the now, towards the everlasting, the eternal. In a tiny dark dungeon of the ego, chained and manacled, I had glimpsed a glimmer of light . . ."