Amazing testimony of disabled young man!

This is really an amazing video, worth seeing. If you have anyone in your life going through suffering or who is physically disabled - this is quite an inspiration. Born with no arms or legs, Nick Vujicic gives an inspiring testimony about overcoming circumstances in one's life.

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God is on the move and is using all sorts of people in their different circumstances in powerful ways to get His message out there! This reminds me of the First Reading today, the Lord Jesus speaks to Paul and says, "Take courage. For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome" (Acts 23:11). Particularly the phrase "my cause" caught my eye - and made me think about this grand cause, this divine conspiracy that Jesus initiated to destroy sin and death in our lives - and bring us to life, peace, and confidence in Him and His plan for our lives now, and eternally. No matter our circumstances.

Nick's circumstances in the above video - and how he deals with them - and gives glory to God - is really the miracle. And in my own life it seems that it is particularly in those times of suffering where God uses us to broadcast his message of love to the world. A video I watched several months ago called the Megaphone of Hope by Christian speaker Louie Giglio - is all about this. If you have time check it out - it is powerful - and such an integral connection between suffering and evangelization.

ChristLife on EWTN

Dave Nodar was asked to join Ralph Martin on The Choices We Face Show to discuss Sharing Christ, the new evangelization, and the work of ChristLife. The show sponsored by Ralph Martin of Renewal Ministries, called The Choices We Face aired on EWTN last week. And due to the amazing technology of GodTube you can now view the show below:

Part I:

Part II:

Call to Mission!

I recently was able to speak with Ralph Martin about his conversion and the call to mission and a missionary spirituality! It was an incredible experience for me to speak with someone who is so knowledgeable about the faith - not just head knowledge but from the depths of his heart!

Ralph Martin is the President of Renewal Ministries, the host of the weekly television program The Choices We Face, has written several books on Catholicism and the saints, and works with several universities and seminaries.

In ChristLife's 44th podcast, Ralph shares about the call to mission in the Church. Also, Jen, a friend of ChristLife, shares the incredible things that God has done in her life! There is also great news about Ben Stein's new documentary called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.

To listen in to this podcast click here, or press play below:

Pope B16's visit to the US, get the nets ready!

This week, Pope Benedict will begin his apostolic trip to the United States with celebrations and various meetings in Washington, D.C and New York City.

The theme of his visit is, Christ our Hope. And Pope Benedict's conviction is that Jesus alone can bring humanity hope.

Whenever there have been Apostolic visits, they have been times of extraordinary grace and conversion. This visit will be a time when thousands upon thousands of people will be provoked to curiosity about Jesus Christ and his Church. A window of opportunity will be presented to us. Are we prepared to respond? Are you ready to put down the nets(Luke 5)?

I would like to encourage each of us to continue praying for Pope Benedict's mission and for personal opportunities to share with others! This visit is Apostolic. The Lord is sending the Holy Father to proclaim Jesus! And as disciples of the Lord we are entrusted with helping those who are asking questions, who are moved in their hearts with the questions of life, to serve them in knowing the reason for our hope, Jesus Christ.

May the Lord Jesus bring many to new life in him, and to a place of welcome and support in our parishes.

Be Pre-prayered and ready to help others to come to know the love of God we know in Jesus our Lord!

Lord God, we ask you to bless Pope Benedict's apostolic journey to the US. May it be a time of renewed hope and life changing encounter with you, for millions. And may we your people be ready to answer peoples questions. Give us opportunities to share your love with others. In Jesus' holy name and in the power of your Spirit we pray, Amen!

Discovering Christ Session 2

"Draw near to God and he will draw near to you." James 4:8

God makes this promise to us, and if we take that first step and seek Him, He will give us all we need. Last night we had the second Discovering Christ course at OLPH. Dave Nodar gave a talk about the person of Jesus Christ and who He is in our lives. He opened up scripture and gave examples of the many signs and wonders Jesus worked and how his disciples and followers were so amazed that they were continuously exclaiming, "who is this man!" That is the very question that everyone in my small group was asking themselves last night, who is Jesus Christ in my life? It's a question worth pondering.
One point Dave Nodar made that really hit home for me was that our faith is about a personal relationship with Christ much more than belief in some doctrine. We must first ask ourselves the same question that Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15-17), then doctrine and everything else can follow.

Please continue to pray for every person that attends this course that we may all accept Jesus into our hearts and lives and believe with our whole being that He is our Lord!

Discovering Christ Session 1

“It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.”
- St Paul to the Ephesians 1: 11-12, The Message translation

We began the Discovering Christ course at Our Lady of Perpetual Help last night, April 2nd. Father Erik Arnold, the Pastor at OLPH, gave a talk on the meaning of life and how there's a reason why were are here. He sent out a letter to the leaders of the course to sum it up and invite prayers. The letter is below:

Dear Discovering Christ team, Thank you for making our first night such a great success! The evening flowed well, the food was great, the small group leaders did a great job, the set-up created a wonderful atmosphere, and, above all, I know that much prayer went into the night. Thank you! I believe so deeply in what we are doing and I am grateful to the Lord that you share the same desire to help others experience the Lord in a life-changing way that will also bring about renewal in our parish and Church. Next week Dave Nodar will offer the teaching as we look at the question "Why does Jesus matter?" Please continue to pray, asking the Lord to open hearts to conversion. Thank you again for your hard work and dedication! You are in my prayers
In Christ,
Fr. Arnold

All in all I'd say it was a great night - good food, songs, fellowship with our small groups, and a profound teaching! During the small group discussion the Associate Pastor, Fr. Larry Adamczyk, went to the Church and prayed for each of the leaders by name. Prayers are definitely the power behind this course, please keep us in your prayers!

God is doing a mighty work among Muslims!

Muslims need to hear the good news of Jesus, our LORD and Savior!

Jesus wants all people to know the forgiveness of sins and the power of the Holy Spirit to give us new life in the loving embrace of God the Father! And the Holy Spirit is working among Muslim people in a very revolutionary way, to bring them to the knowledge of the love of God the Father through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God! It is a fact! One that we should pay attention to and pray for!

I am including two excellent articles that appeared within days of one another. Take the time to read and pray about both! The first is a letter from a Muslim journalist who was baptized by Pope Benedict at the Easter Vigil. The letter is courageous and inspiring. It should provoke us to an eagerness to share the love of Christ with our Muslim friends. The second article is by Chuck Colson, which highlights the significant numbers of Muslims who are converting to Christianity.

I would also encourage you to listen to ChristLife’s podcast with a Muslim convert to Christ, who shares some practical advice for sharing Christ with Muslims.

Magdi Allam’s conversion to Christ and the Catholic Church
Pope Benedict joyfully baptized seven people from five countries: Italy, Cameroon, China, the United States and Peru, during Saturday’s Easter Vigil Mass.

Among those being baptized was Magdi Allam, a well known journalist who is deputy director of Corriere della Sera, one of Italy’s largest and oldest newspapers. Allam who was originally from Egypt, has lived in Italy for almost 35 years. More significant for many is the fact that Mr. Allam converted from Islam.

Explaining what led the Pope to administer baptism to the journalist, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said, “For the Catholic Church, every person who asks to receive baptism after a deep personal search, a completely free choice and adequate preparation, has the right to receive it.”

The day Mr. Allam became a Catholic was the most beautiful day of his life, according to the Muslim journalist who received the sacraments of initiation by Benedict XVI at Saturday's Easter Vigil Mass. Here is a translation of Magdi Allam’s account of his conversion to Catholicism.

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Dear Friends,

I am particularly happy to share with you my immense joy for this Easter of Resurrection that has brought me the gift of the Christian faith. I gladly propose the letter that I sent to the director of the Corriere della Sera, Paolo Mieli, in which I tell the story of the interior journey that brought me to the choice of conversion to Catholicism. This is the complete version of the letter, which was published by the Corriere della Sera only in part.

Dear Director,
That which I am about to relate to you concerns my choice of religious faith and personal life in which I do not wish to involve in any way the Corriere della Sera, which it has been an honor to be a part of as deputy director “ad personam” since 2003. I write you thus as protagonist of the event, as private citizen.

Yesterday evening I converted to the Christian Catholic religion, renouncing my previous Islamic faith. Thus, I finally saw the light, by divine grace -- the healthy fruit of a long, matured gestation, lived in suffering and joy, together with intimate reflection and conscious and manifest expression. I am especially grateful to his holiness Pope Benedict XVI, who imparted the sacraments of Christian initiation to me, baptism, confirmation and Eucharist, in the Basilica of St. Peter’s during the course of the solemn celebration of the Easter Vigil. And I took the simplest and most explicit Christian name: “Cristiano.” Since yesterday evening therefore my name is Magdi Crisitano Allam.

For me it is the most beautiful day of [my] life. To acquire the gift of the Christian faith during the commemoration of Christ’s resurrection by the hand of the Holy Father is, for a believer, an incomparable and inestimable privilege. At almost 56 […], it is a historical, exceptional and unforgettable event, which marks a radical and definitive turn with respect to the past. The miracle of Christ’s resurrection reverberated through my soul, liberating it from the darkness in which the preaching of hatred and intolerance in the face of the “different,” uncritically condemned as “enemy,” were privileged over love and respect of “neighbor,” who is always, an in every case, “person”; thus, as my mind was freed from the obscurantism of an ideology that legitimates lies and deception, violent death that leads to murder and suicide, the blind submission to tyranny, I was able to adhere to the authentic religion of truth, of life and of freedom.

On my first Easter as a Christian I not only discovered Jesus, I discovered for the first time the face of the true and only God, who is the God of faith and reason. My conversion to Catholicism is the touching down of a gradual and profound interior meditation from which I could not pull myself away, given that for five years I have been confined to a life under guard, with permanent surveillance at home and a police escort for my every movement, because of death threats and death sentences from Islamic extremists and terrorists, both those in and outside of Italy.

I had to ask myself about the attitude of those who publicly declared fatwas, Islamic juridical verdicts, against me -- I who was a Muslim -- as an “enemy of Islam,” “hypocrite because he is a Coptic Christian who pretends to be a Muslim to do damage to Islam,” “liar and vilifier of Islam,” legitimating my death sentence in this way. I asked myself how it was possible that those who, like me, sincerely and boldly called for a “moderate Islam,” assuming the responsibility of exposing themselves in the first person in denouncing Islamic extremism and terrorism, ended up being sentenced to death in the name of Islam on the basis of the Quran. I was forced to see that, beyond the contingency of the phenomenon of Islamic extremism and terrorism that has appeared on a global level, the root of evil is inherent in an Islam that is physiologically violent and historically conflictive.

At the same time providence brought me to meet practicing Catholics of good will who, in virtue of their witness and friendship, gradually became a point of reference in regard to the certainty of truth and the solidity of values. [Here Mr. Allam sites many Catholics who were witnesses to him. See full article for their names.]

But undoubtedly the most extraordinary and important encounter in my decision to convert was that with Pope Benedict XVI, whom I admired and defended as a Muslim for his mastery in setting down the indissoluble link between faith and reason as a basis for authentic religion and human civilization, and to whom I fully adhere as a Christian to inspire me with new light in the fulfillment of the mission God has reserved for me.

Mine was a journey that began when at four years old, my mother Safeya -- a believing and practicing Muslim -- in the first in the series of “fortuitous events” that would prove to be not at all the product of chance but rather an integral part of a divine destiny to which all of us have been assigned -- entrusted me to the loving care of Sister Lavinia of the Comboni Missionary Sisters, convinced of the goodness of the education that would be imparted by the Catholic and Italian religious, who had come to Cairo, the city of my birth, to witness to their Christian faith through a work aimed at the common good. I thus began an experience of life in boarding school, followed by the Salesians of the Institute of Don Bosco in junior high and high school, which transmitted to me not only the science of knowledge but above all the awareness of values.

It is thanks to members of Catholic religious orders that I acquired a profoundly and essentially an ethical conception of life, in which the person created in the image and likeness of God is called to undertake a mission that inserts itself in the framework of a universal and eternal design directed toward the interior resurrection of individuals on this earth and the whole of humanity on the day of judgment, which is founded on faith in God and the primacy of values, which is based on the sense of individual responsibility and on the sense of duty toward the collective. It is in virtue of a Christian education and of the sharing of the experience of life with Catholic religious that I cultivated a profound faith in the transcendent dimension and also sought the certainty of truth in absolute and universal values.

There was a time when my mother’s loving presence and religious zeal brought me closer to Islam, which I occasionally practiced at a cultural level and in which I believed at a spiritual level according to an interpretation that at the time -- it was the 1970s -- summarily corresponded to a faith respectful of persons and tolerant toward the neighbor, in a context -- that of the Nasser regime -- in which the secular principle of the separation of the religious sphere and the secular sphere prevailed.

My father Muhammad was completely secular and agreed with the opinion of the majority of Egyptians who took the West as a model in regard to individual freedom, social customs and cultural and artistic fashions, even if the political totalitarianism of Nasser and the bellicose ideology of Pan-Arabism that aimed at the physical elimination of Israel unfortunately led to disaster for Egypt and opened the way to the resumption of Pan-Islamism, to the ascent of Islamic extremists to power and the explosion of globalized Islamic terrorism.
The long years at school allowed me to know Catholicism well and up close and the women and men who dedicated their life to serve God in the womb of the Church. Already then I read the Bible and the Gospels and I was especially fascinated by the human and divine figure of Jesus. I had a way to attend Holy Mass and it also happened, only once, that I went to the altar to receive communion. It was a gesture that evidently signaled my attraction to Christianity and my desire to feel a part of the Catholic religious community.
Then, on my arrival in Italy at the beginning of the 1970s between the rivers of student revolts and the difficulties of integration, I went through a period of atheism understood as a faith, which nevertheless was also founded on absolute and universal values. I was never indifferent to the presence of God even if only now I feel that the God of love, of faith and reason reconciles himself completely with the patrimony of values that are rooted in me.
Dear Director, you asked me whether I fear for my life, in the awareness that conversion to Christianity will certainly procure for me yet another, and much more grave, death sentence for apostasy. You are perfectly right. I know what I am headed for but I face my destiny with my head held high, standing upright and with the interior solidity of one who has the certainty of his faith. And I will be more so after the courageous and historical gesture of the Pope, who, as soon has he knew of my desire, immediately agreed to personally impart the Christian sacraments of initiation to me. His Holiness has sent an explicit and revolutionary message to a Church that until now has been too prudent in the conversion of Muslims, abstaining from proselytizing in majority Muslim countries and keeping quiet about the reality of converts in Christian countries. Out of fear. The fear of not being able to protect converts in the face of their being condemned to death for apostasy and fear of reprisals against Christians living in Islamic countries. Well, today Benedict XVI, with his witness, tells us that we must overcome fear and not be afraid to affirm the truth of Jesus even with Muslims.

For my part, I say that it is time to put an end to the abuse and the violence of Muslims who do not respect the freedom of religious choice. In Italy there are thousands of converts to Islam who live their new faith in peace. But there are also thousands of Muslim converts to Christianity who are forced to hide their faith out of fear of being assassinated by Islamic extremists who lurk among us. By one of those “fortuitous events” that evoke the discreet hand of the Lord, the first article that I wrote for the Corriere on Sept. 3, 2003 was entitled “The new Catacombs of Islamic Converts.” It was an investigation of recent Muslim converts to Christianity in Italy who decry their profound spiritual and human solitude in the face of absconding state institutions that do not protect them and the silence of the Church itself. Well, I hope that the Pope’s historical gesture and my testimony will lead to the conviction that the moment has come to leave the darkness of the catacombs and to publicly declare their desire to be fully themselves. If in Italy, in our home, the cradle of Catholicism, we are not prepared to guarantee complete religious freedom to everyone, how can we ever be credible when we denounce the violation of this freedom elsewhere in the world? I pray to God that on this special Easter he give the gift of the resurrection of the spirit to all the faithful in Christ who have until now been subjugated by fear. Happy Easter to everyone.

Dear friends, let us go forward on the way of truth, of life and of freedom with my best wishes for every success and good thing.

Magdi Allam

'They Want Jesus Instead' - Why Muslims Convert

In church yesterday, as you celebrated Easter, did you notice anything or anyone unusual?
In churches all over the world, there were millions of people celebrating the resurrection of Christ, who were not there just a few years ago because they were worshipping in a mosque instead.

It is thrilling evidence that God is doing a mighty work among Muslims.

According to the website Islam Watch, in Russia, some two million ethnic Muslims converted to Christianity last year. Ten thousand French Muslims converted, as did 35,000 Turkish Muslims. In India, approximately 10,000 people abandoned Islam for Christianity.

In his book Epicenter, author Joel Rosenberg details amazing stories of Muslims converting to Christianity. In Algeria, the birthplace of St. Augustine, more than 80,000 Muslims have turned to Christ in recent years. This, despite the stiff opposition from Islamic clerics who have passed laws banning evangelism.

In Morocco, newspaper articles openly worry that 25,000 to 40,000 Muslims have become followers of Christ in recent years.

The stories are even more amazing in the heart of the Middle East. In 1996, the Egyptian Bible Society sold just 3,000 video copies of the JESUS film. In the year 2000, they sold an incredible 600,000 copies.

In Sudan, as many as five million Muslims have accepted Christ since the early 1990s, despite horrific persecution of Christians by the Sudanese government. What is behind the mass conversions? According to a Sudanese evangelical leader, "People have seen real Islam, and they want Jesus instead."

In Iraq, "More than 5,000 Muslim converts to Christianity have been identified since the end of major combat operations," says Islam Watch. And just a few days ago, the first-ever Roman Catholic church was consecrated in Qatar, a Sunni Muslim state where the Wahhabi brand of Islam is practiced. This was the first time Christians in Qatar have been allowed to practice their faith openly. Ten thousand people attended the opening mass.

These conversions have not escaped the notice of Islamic leaders. In 2001, Sheik Ahmad Al Qatanni, a leading Saudi cleric, delivered the disturbing news on Al-Jazeera: Every day, he said, "16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity . . . every year, that is six million Muslims becoming Christians . . . A tragedy has happened." It is possible the sheik was inflating high numbers to incite a reaction against Christianity. But clearly, something is happening.

How thrilling to learn that so many Muslims have been set free from the chains of their sins˜just as you and I have˜by the power of Christ's blood! We must pray for these new brothers and sisters; many are being violently persecuted for their new-found faith.
These millions of conversions give us one more reason to rejoice this Easter season. Yes, we may be in a great clash of civilizations; battling Islamic-extremists who threaten to kill us. And the future may at times look bleak. But never despair: God is on His throne, bringing people into His kingdom from the very heart of Islam.

In Closing:

At this time when we rejoice in our Lord’s victory over sin and death, may we pray for the Muslim people and ask the Holy Spirit to give us opportunities to share the good news of our Lord’s mercy and grace with them!

"Lord Jesus, we praise and thank you for your cross and resurrection. We thank you that you are the Savior of the world. We pray for our Muslim friends to come to know the love of the Father and life changing power of your Holy Spirit as they turn to you to receive grace and mercy that you freely give to all who ask. And we thank you for the joy of allowing us to know you and make you known to all! Amen, Alleluia!"

Reaching Young People for Jesus!

"The need to proclaim Christ boldly and courageously is a continuing priority for the Church; indeed it is a solemn duty laid upon her by Christ who enjoined the Apostles to 'go out to the whole world, proclaim the Good News to all creation.'" -Pope Benedict XVI, December 2007

Many young people do not know the basic Gospel message of Jesus Christ - either they have never heard it or it has never hit home in their personal lives. It is the duty as laid out for us by our Pope to share the gift we have received with everyone we encounter. Jesus said if we trust in Him and spread his message he is able to do "far more than we could ever ask or imagine, according to His power at work within us" (Ephesians 3:20).

He is the same God of the Gospels, he can perform the same healing and miracles in and through His people as He did then - but we have to ask in faith! I went on a nine month Catholic evangelization trip around the US with NET ministries. I traveled on a team with 10 other young adults (ages 18-30) in a huge van with destinations to Churches and schools to perform retreats for high and middle schoolers. During that time I was able to see God work in ways I never thought possible, in my own life and the lives of the people I was ministering to.

I specifically remember one instance that may seem trivial but God worked in such an amazing way that I will never forget it. I was giving a talk on a retreat and I was nervous because I had just come back from a two day trip home for my friend's funeral, so I felt like I had nothing to give at that point. After my talk one of the high school girls asked if she could talk to me, she didn't know why but while I was talking she had this feeling that she could trust me and should share some things that were on her heart. She told me about how her father had died and she just wanted to know there was a father figure who loved her. After experiencing the loss of a friend my heart went out to her and we cried and prayed together for almost the rest of the retreat. When I left she thanked me, and I asked for what, and she said "for being there".

It's amazing how small situations can greatly impact our lives and the lives of people around us if we are just open to the healing power of Christ! A friend of mine, Danielle, shares in ChristLife's newest podcast about God's healing power in her brothers life. Also on this podcast is an interview with Mark Berchem and Christopher Kraker, the Director and Associate Director of NET ministries, and a news story about a man who was raised from the dead by the power of prayer! To listen to this podcast click here, or press play below:

The Lord's strategy

We are now moving forward with Discovering Christ on several fronts now. Exciting stuff!

What's our strategy? Well, I hope the Lord's. During morning praise & prayer at ChristLife last week I shared a Scripture I was reminded of-

"Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish." John 21:4-6

The lesson I took from this "word" is that we could "fish" all day long and not get anything - unless we are in tune with the right way of doing things - with Jesus Christ.

Back to Discovering Christ...

We want to make available the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all humanity. And we want to equip Catholic communities to enthusiastically and intentionally do this.

So we are now praying for God's anointing to rest upon the Discovering Christ course. We also - following up from our meeting with Archbishop O'Brien - are focusing our efforts here in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Part of the strategy is to hopefully see great fruitfulness here locally and then leverage this to others across the nation.

Where locally? Well, we've done the course at Crucifixion Parish, St. Agnes (for young adults), UMBC campus ministry (Newman club), and now we are preparing to get started at Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH). And, we are really excited about doing it at OLPH! Our Board member, Fr. Erik Arnold, is the pastor here and has a really solid vision for parish renewal and evangelization. Plus, my friend Erin, is the youth minister and has been doing some awesome stuff with the youth there! Our Lady pray for us!

At the national level - we are working with two other Board Members - Bert Ghezzi and Michael Timmis. Bert, a senior editor for the Word Among Us, is helping us put together a manual - so we can make Discovering Christ exportable - in a similar fashion as Life in the Spirit. Michael, who is connected with a lay apostolate who does some great work - Regnum Christi - hopes to run a version of Discovering Christ down in Florida for men in his pseudo-theology on tap series (or he might call it beer n' bible - "stealing" the name I used for a bible study I did in Baltimore at J. Patrick's pub).

So, we are excited about all of this, please pray for us and if you have any comments, suggestions, connections, etc. - please let us know! It may be all a part of the Lord's strategy.

"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts." Zechariah 4:6

Ministering to Young Adults

“Fewer than one out of ten young adults mention faith as their top priority” (UnChristian, 23).

A shocking statistic - yet one that should challenge Christian young adults and youth leaders to evangelize! As a resource for my own Christian discipleship and for leading others I found some interesting statistics as well as great ideas in the books UnChristian and Googling God:

• Ministers too often give a quick fix approach to God and introduce the “born again” mentality rather then consistent truth. (Googling God)

• Our generation often follows teachings of the Church without even understanding why we believe those things, thus not having true conviction. (Googling God)

• Web site resources for Ministering to young adults: www.bustedhalo.com; www.sacredspace.ie; and www.rejesus.com (Googling God)
  

• We must provide venues for all the Catholics we are dealing with: adoration/ sacraments, volunteer opportunities, videos, Q & A, Theology on Tap, etc. (Googling God)

• There needs to be young adult events where they can unite with the Church, bishops and Pope/ young adults need to know that the Church cares about them. (A young adult, Googling God)

• “Jesus didn’t put a sign on a palm tree and say, ‘All those willing to be disciples, please meet here at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday; refreshments will be served.’ He personally invited people!" Ministers must: “be in the world but not of the world” so as to understand where young adults are coming from, use technology but not as an only means rather to draw them into the richness of the Church, also invite personally. (Googling God)

• "84 percent of young people say they know at least one Christian personally, and only 15 percent see a lifestyle difference in that Christian." (UnChristian)
  

• Living with integrity starts with being transparent. Doing what you say you are going to is the number one quality young people admire. (UnChristian)

• “We have experienced the presence of a living God, but outsiders are wary of feeling brainwashed or manipulated." (UnChristian)

• Many people do not associate with Christianity as something new but as something old and commonplace, they have “been there, done that”. Many young people have been involved in a church and then left, so evangelizers must keep that in mind and not try to portray Christianity as something that they have never heard of before. (UnChristian)

• Nearly one third of Americans believe that there are some crimes and sins that God cannot forgive. (UnChristian)

• “It is more important than ever to think about and respond to political issues in light of a biblical worldview.” (UnChristian)

• Be creative – Jesus was, He attracted people who were unaccustomed to His style, ability, message, etc. (UnChristian)

• 2 Corinthians 7: 11-12 – Christians should respond well to correction. (UnChristian)

My point in these statistics and ideas is not to discourage Christians, but rather to challenge them - and myself - to be able to respond well to correction and be more faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ. These books really opened my eyes to new ways of approaching people with understanding and respect, but without watering down the truth. I think it is helpful for anyone working with or ministering to young people to be aware of these things.

There are so many stereotypes of Christianity that sometimes repel people from it. “Jesus said Christians would be known by their love” (UnChristian), let us make that our stereotype!

Pink Flamingoes and the Pearl of Great Price

When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. St. Paul - I Corinthians 2:1-5

When I was a young boy my family traveled down the east coast of the U.S., from Maryland to Florida, to go on vacation. Back in those days we didn't have the interstate highways we now have and there were places where you had to travel along two lane roads that ran through small towns. I can remember in some of those areas you would see homes where the owners had decorated the yards with all kinds of things. Mirror balls, pin wheels, antique (abandoned) cars, statues of all kinds of things, dwarfs, deer, people and pink flamingo's. Now some of those lawns were so filled with 'decorative items' that it was hard to figure out how to get from the road to the house! Some home owners had gone even farther in their extravagant decorating and had affixed all kinds of things to the front porch walls. Flags, hubcaps, beware of dog signs, and other creative wall mountings! Kind a like the yard, some homes had so much stuff on the wall that you couldn't even see where the front door was!


Sometimes we as Catholic Christians feel compelled to immediately share with friends who, perhaps do not know the Lord or are not church goers, about the treasures of the Church,- Mass, the sacraments, Mary and the saints, Apostolic succession, etc. We feel the need to get it all out in front of them immediately. Sort of like the yards with the pink flamingos. By attempting to get it all out there immediately we run the risk of not establishing first things first. We can easily put the horse before the cart. We certainly want people to know all about the treasures of the Church, but we want them to know first and foremost about the Pearl of Great Price, who is the person that our faith is all about. We want them to know the reason for all of the wonders of the Church, His Body! When we share with others about the joy of knowing Jesus Christ personally as our Lord, as the center of our lives and of all creation, it puts first things first. We want them to know the way into house of God, and Jesus is that way! We want them to know the meaning of life which is found in union with the Trinity through what our Lord has done for all by his life, death and resurrection! If in fact our friends come to know the love of God in Jesus our Lord, the forgiveness of sins and, power of the Spirit given in baptism, then they will hunger to learn more and, live in the truths of the Church!

Let's growing in learning to share about the Lord Jesus, and look for opportunities to tell others why He is the pearl of great price and the joy of our lives!

“This is the principal proclamation of the Church, which remains unchanged down the ages. The Christian faith, therefore, is not an ideology but a personal encounter with the Crucified and Risen Christ. From this experience, both individual and communitarian, flows a new way of thinking and acting: an existence marked by love is born, as the saints testify.”
Pope Benedict XVI, Parish of God the Merciful Father, Rome, March 26, 2006

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.

March 4 Life and Muslim Convert

Greetings from the backroom of ChristLife! I hope all that browse our blog and our Web site are encouraged in their faith in Jesus Christ and their commitment to share this wonderful gift to others!

Last week I had the great opportunity of going with some friends to the March for Life in Washington DC. A tremendous event that has drawn up to 200,000 people in previous years. Though headlines of secular news outlets say things like "thousands of anti-abortion protesters gathered in DC" or even worse "protesters on both sides of the abortion debate gathered in DC to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade" - considering there are usually about 10 pro-choice supporters to 100,000 pro-life supporters.

When we reached the Supreme Court I actually walked by two pro-choicers surrounded by a bunch of pro-lifers - engaging in "dialogue." Anyway, right as I walked past I noticed a team of network news walking over to interview the pro-choicers - to get "balanced coverage." That's unfortunate. But some perspective for myself kicks in - things could be much worse of course - we could be openly persecuted or killed for our beliefs if we were in other countries.

And beyond bad press coverage there were some really awesome things that happened during the March. The following 3 minute video from David Bereit of 40 days for Life gives a great "grassroots" view of the March and covers a really neat "sign" of hope for America - tremendous!!

And you may be wondering why the subject of this blog post includes the part about "Muslim Convert" - well that's because our most recent podcast includes a live clip of me and some friends from the Supreme Court at the March for Life - as well as a really exciting interview I had with Daniel Ali, a Muslim Convert to Jesus Christ and to the Catholic Church.

This was such a privilege! Daniel is a passionate layman and evangelist and author. He recently wrote a book about his conversion called Out of Islam: Free at Last. Here's the podcast with all this stuff in it. Click play below or listen in here.

Know and Confess that Jesus is Lord!

"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11)

As Christians we are called to know and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! The first step to evangelization is knowing who Jesus is as the Lord of the world, but also personally as the Lord of our hearts. This means having a personal relationship with Him and getting to know Him better every day.

During training for a nine month evangelization ministry I was a part of, the leader told us that we "can't give what we don't have". Basically, If we plan on telling people about Christ, we better know who He is first! This really struck me and it has helped me remember that the foundation of any evangelization ministry is my own relationship with my Lord Jesus.Fr. Francis Martin discusses this basic and crucial truth in ChristLife's most recent podcast. He has been a priest for many years, and is now a part of Mother of God Community. He speaks with great wisdom and his insights really challenged me in my own relationship with Christ.

You can listen in to ChristLife's most recent podcast here, or press play below:

Why did shepherds get invited to His birth?

And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!" When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." Luke 2:8-15

Why Did Shepherds Get Invited?

Have you ever wondered why shepherds, - out in a field on night watch, minding their own business, - were the first to receive the good news that the Savior of all people, Christ the Lord had been born?

Why them? Why did God tell them, why did He invite them to see the Birth of all Births? The Miracle of all Miracles,- the Incarnation of God!

What do you think?

I have some personal thoughts, from meditating on this passage and study, that I wanted to share with you on why they were invited. But before sharing them, I can tell you a personal reaction, - wouldn’t it have been awesome to have been there with them that night!? Wouldn’t you have loved to have been there? Can you imagine it! Put yourself there! That is part of how we start to prayerfully enter into why they were invited.

So why shepherds?

God has an affinity for shepherds.

Think about it. Abraham, Issac and Jacob were shepherds. So was David (he may have shepherded in the same fields where these guys were when the angel appeared to them). God was referred to by his people, as the Shepherd of Israel. The Psalmist personally exclaimed, “the Lord is my shepherd.” St Peter referred to Jesus as the Chief Shepherd. Jesus referred to himself as the good shepherd who was willing to lay down his life for the sheep (that includes you and me). See John 10. He is the Shepherd King of all humanity, and by the way, he happens to have a special love and longing for straying, misbehaving, knuckleheaded, lost sheep (that includes you, me and our family and friends and non friends)! See Luke 15.

God has the heart of a shepherd. God was coming in person to gather the lost sheep of Israel, and all of humanity to himself. He told the news to fellow shepherds first! There is probably something there that he wants us to pay attention to.

They were the low life's who were not part of the ‘in crowd.’

On the other hand, some Jewish wisdom during the time of Jesus’ birth advised father’s against shepherding as an occupation for their sons. It was not considered a good livelihood. Additionally many Jews frowned upon shepherds. They were looked down upon, not trusted, even scorned. Apparently they were often peripheral to Jewish life and culture. Outcasts. Low life’s.

What was it that Mary exclaimed about God exalting the lowly?

They were certainly not who you would invite to a party. Certainly not to T-H-E BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Shepherds were the types of people you don’t invite to parties. They’re people who were not part of the ‘in crowd’ of synagogues or social groups, and get this,- they were the only ones God invited to the birth of Jesus the Savior and Lord! Gentiles, the wise men, would come later! If it were wise women they probably would have been there in advance and helped to clean up the stable, prepare meals and, help with the delivery!

St. Justin Martyr, a Palestinian, was personally familiar with Bethlehem. He lived a little over a 100 years after Christ and writes that the stable Jesus was born in was a cave in the hillside. That is where the Shepherds would have headed in response to the message of the angel. They were humble folks and I imagine they didn’t even notice the outrageous conditions that the Christ was born into. Most likely they had to bow down to enter the cave,- no problem for lowly shepherds. And they knew who this baby was!

God has come among us.

The Creator of everything became the creature,- fully God, fully man,- so we could see what God is like, up close and personal. And he humbled himself so that EVERYONE could identify with him, even the low life’s of the world. The outcasts, the broken hearted, sinners and totally broken people. God was and, is at eye level for anyone willing to bow down and “see this thing that the Lord has made known to us.”

If you encounter the stirring of grace to know who it is that is born in the manger, in this food trough for animals(the Bread of Life), then you will join the angels and shepherds in adoration.

God had become one of us, in order to rescue humanity and creation!

When the angel told the shepherds this momentous, historic, outrageous, fantastic news that God had personally come as Messiah to rescue humanity, the angel hosts could not contain themselves and burst into our world in adoration. Why?

Because of His great mercy! He had become one of us, in order to die for our sins, so that we might have peace with God! The angels worshipped, singing, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!" Our peace with God is the result of what He has done for us in Jesus Christ. Coming down from heaven, becoming a man to die for our sins, to be raised as the glorious Lord who would pour out His Spirit to empower us to live new lives as his children, at peace with him. It is His gift to you and me to receive, if we respond and acknowledge that Jesus as the Lord and Savior of my life and of all.

It was not hard for the Shepherds. They were the lowly who God exalted. They were use to stooping down to enter stables. They simply responded to the message the angel had told them. You can too! He loves us so much that he became one of us in order to forgive our sins and give us the gift of his peace and of new life.

A couple of closing questions.

Would I (you) invite these guys to the party? Do I share the heart of God the Father for the lost and brokenhearted? For those who are not part of my 'in crowd?'

On the other hand, if I (you) feel like I can identify with the shepherds, not a part of the in-crowd of church or society, do I know that Christmas is all about shepherd types! That you are personally invited to join this celebration and come to know the Savior who is Jesus Christ the Lord? You are invited! It is God's wonderful gift to you right now in this moment! You may feel like you are out in a field by yourself, but there is a party just about to get underway and you are invited!

If you have never known the love that God has for you personally below is a simple prayer you can pray, asking Jesus to be your Lord, to be the leader and Savior of your life. Even if you were baptized as a Catholic-Christian, you may have never known that you can enter into personal relationship with God through what Jesus has done for you and for all of us. You can pray for release of the power of the Spirit given to you in Baptism right now, at this point in your life.

Lord God,

Please forgive me for all the things I have done wrong. I turn to you and turn away from sin (here you can pause to think of anything particular you might want to ask forgiveness for).

Jesus, please be the center of my life. I welcome you personally as Lord and Savior of my life.

I ask you Holy Spirit to fill me and empower me to live as a son/daughter of God. I want to have your grace to truly live a new life.
Thank you, Lord! Amen!

If you do pray this prayer for the first time, entering into personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, please contact us so we can support you and help you connect with the Church!

Have a very blessed Christmas!

ChristLife
12280 Folly Quarter Road
Ellicott City, MD 21042, USA

The Vatican on Evangelization

The Vatican recently issued an important statement regarding the missionary mandate of the Catholic Church. Such a document helps clarify many areas of dispute over the last few decades with regard to the relationship between evangelization and ecumenism. I will begin to comment upon this by saying that anyone who has come into a personal knowledge of the absolutely boundless and infinite mercy of God as revealed by Jesus desires to share it--for the simple reason that Jesus is Savior. What does this mean? It means He is the one upon whom we can cast our fears and receive healing, rather than the judgement we all too often expect from God. Let us take a moment to survey the landscape of these issues to see where we can go wrong.

These days, the term "proselytization" gets a bad reputation. Although the dictionary definition seems benign, perhaps we can elaborate on the legitimate concerns with regard to this mistaken form of evangelization. In Matthew 24:15 Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for making converts. Why? The chief error the pharisees was really no different than that of every clique in society. They sought to create a microcosm of the "righteous" and the "chosen" in society to separate themselves from the outcast. The same as happens everywhere--in exclusive fraternities and sororities, business clubs, and the like. In every case we see people who are imprisoned by their fear of shame and so they seek to create a group set apart in order to place themselves above others in an illusory and futile effort to be saved from disgrace (imagine the "cool kids" at school). When this happens in religion, as it did with the pharisees, it is the worst because it causes us to fashion an image of God rooted in fear, rather than love. Thus any attempt to spread faith that builds upon people's fears and distorted images of God is counter- productive.

We face the other extreme when ecumenism slides into syncretism, in which the essential distinctions that preserve our understanding of God from anything less than infinitely boundless love, are ignored. As a result, we can forget important doctrines like the Incarnation, for example, which reminds us that God's heart is big enough to live with us under our circumstances. Only when our hearts are afraid of humility are we afraid of the Incarnate God.

This brings me to the final point that true evangelization lies in coming to recognize that God's love is far greater than our greatest fears, and going out to share that freedom with others. That is the good news, and all calls to repent from sin and error derive, not from the need to appease an angry God who is about to smite us, but rather from benevolent love that desires to set us free from our habits of enslavement to fear--aka sin. Thus true evangelization shares the good news of Jesus--the Son of God who died on a cross to save us--for the simple reason that it is the most beautiful and liberating message humanity has ever heard.

Be not afraid... A Savior is born, Christ the Lord!

We are about to enter the season of Advent this Sunday. The time of potential, prayerful and active preparation for the first and second comings of the Lord Jesus!

We are told by St. Luke that an angel of the Lord declared to shepherds, who had the night shift, "good news of great joy "(see Luke 2:1-20). These men who were minding their business out in a field, were quite freaked out by directly encountering the glorious presence of God, can you imagine, wouldn't you be? The angel reassured them and told them why he was there, to announce what God was doing right there in Bethlehem. Further the angel told them, they would find this good news in a cave, in a manger, and that the good news was a new born baby, who was Messiah and Lord! Many of the heavenly host who apparently were listening in, couldn't contain themselves any longer, and burst upon the shepherds praising God for his great glory and for initiating his long awaited saving mission of all creation in ultimate humility becoming a human child.

The shepherds ran to "Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened!" They stooped to enter the cave. Stooping is no problem for shepherds who are use to living a lowly and out of the lime light type of lifestyle. But for some of us, the idea of humbling ourselves to stoop down to see this good news..? Well, it just doesn't seem right or in keeping with our views of greatness, what we see 24/7 on the tube or perhaps aspire to for our own way of living! MTV's show, Cribs will not be carrying this crib, for sure! This is not the type of 'crib' the messiah should be born in or that I should be found hanging around. Well it was.

Humbling ourselves to see Jesus is something worth praying for during this season. Drawing close to the Word who created all things, and has now become human and gladly humbled himself to be born in manger for me and you. Who was seen by the lowly and poor, who gladly bowed down to see this sight. Lowering ourselves in gratitude, praise and worship of Emmanuel, the Messiah and Savior, Jesus, the Son of the Most High. Take the opportunity to carve out specific time on your calendar, in this busy season, to prayerfully read the infancy narratives in Matthew and Luke. Place yourself in the fields with the shepherds and in the cave before the Son of God, pondering with his mother what all of this means for me.

One other observation, the Shepherds having seen this miracle of God become man, "made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child;and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them." (Luke 2:17-18) They could not keep it to themselves, they personally encountered God's work of salvation and told others the good news they had heard and seen.

Advent and Christmas is a grace laden season, where many people who are broken hearted, lost and confused approach the 'holidays' with apprehension. Many are brought to a place where they can stoop to see this thing that God has done, if only some messenger of the Lord would tell them the good news. Be open and praying for opportunities to make known what was told to you! This Good news of God's love becoming a man, Jesus, born to save each one of us, and how he loves you!

During this Advent, let's give glory to God, like the angels and shepherds and, make known his love to those around us in words and witness of his love.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (Luke 2:20)

Many have never had the chance to know Christ

Dave's blog account isn't posting - so here are his latest thoughts...

“Sometimes Catholics have lost or never had the chance to experience Christ personally, not as a mere value, or paradigm, but as the living Lord, the way the truth and the life.”
- Pope John Paul II, address to US Bishops


Recently I attended a meeting (non-religious in nature) at which a woman shared how she had been raised as a Catholic, gone to Catholic schools, and yet had never come to know God personally until she had been an adult for many years. And, she went on, it was not in the Catholic Church that she learned about this loving relationship that brought her great peace and change of life. I have heard similar stories hundreds of times over the years.

This weekend I participated in one of our Discovering Christ retreats for young adults. It was a wonderful time in which there is time for prayer, teaching, fun, laughter, fellowship and explicit opportunity to ask Jesus to be the priority of their lives - the Lord and Savior of all they are. Additionally it was a time when people could ask Jesus to baptize them in the Holy Spirit. See Luke 3:16. (In theological terms, the participants were praying for renewal of the grace of the sacraments of initiation ). It was wonderful to be there and witness the work of grace among us!

Now here is the point I would like to make, many Catholics in and outside of our parishes, have never had the chance to have a personal relationship with Jesus. Many have never even been told that this was a possibility. They need to hear clearly proclaimed the person of the Jesus Christ, and the explicit invitation to personally encounter him as Lord of their lives. And they need to be told how to do this. We as Catholics - clergy, religious and laity, who have been graced with knowledge of the Lord, must take up the commission of Christ (Matthew 28:18-20) to make him known, loved and followed.

The call of the Catholic Church presently to make evangelization, once again, the essential mission of the Church, in practice and not just in theory, calls for everyone of us to pray and to take action to help the many who do not personally know him to have the opportunity that Jesus made possible by his death and resurrection.

People are hungry for God. As Catholics we have been entrusted with a missionary mandate to tell them Who is the bread that will satisfy their hunger!

Father, use us we pray! Grant us courage to be fools for Christ, not ashamed to share the Good news with others who have the right to know. Grant us the power from on high to be witnesses to Jesus, in our lives and explicitly in our words. Grant our parishes and organizations fire to move and make available the means of helping others to know, Jesus is Lord! Amen.

Proofs for God

In the face of a new breed of books on atheism, most notably "God is not Great: How religion poisons everything" by Christopher Hitchens and the "God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins - we, as Christians need to hear again the words of Scripture:

"Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence; and keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are abused, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame." (1 Peter 3:14-16)

And speaking of the most basic "defense," which is an apologetic for God, most of us can probably say with the writer-convert Andre Frossard "God exists, and I have experienced Him." That is our best defense, or even offense :)

And just like I can say "love exists," not primarily because of a series of argument, but because I "have experienced it," so I can witness to the experience of knowing God. This is what our Sharing Christ series is all about.

BUT. Ah, yes, the long-awaited "but." The Church (the visible communion of those who believe in Jesus Christ) has always valued "reason." So recently I came across a great video by Fr. Robert Barron, a most excellent priest and teacher of the faith whom I had the pleasure of podcast-interviewing him last year, who gives a great series of arguments from reason for God's existence. Its one clip from a series of fifty clips on Christianity called Faith Clips. Enjoy!