Heywood Broun was one of the most distinguished newspapermen in America. Often he had been described as "Looking like an unmade bed" or a "one man slum." One Sunday I was passing the Plaza Hotel in New York with Fulton Oursler. In the main dining room of the Plaza Hotel we could see Heywood Broun. Fulton Oursler said: "Did you ever try to make a convert of Heywood?" When I answered in the negative, he said: "Try it."

The next weekend when I came to New York from Washington, I phoned Mr. Broun: "I should like to see you." He said: "About what?" "Your soul." "When?" "Three o'clock Saturday at the Navarro Hotel on Fifty-ninth Street." Mr. Broun explained: "Yes, I am interested in the Church for the the following reasons: I am convinced that the only moral authority left in the world is the Holy Father; second, I made a visit to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico and was deeply impressed by the devotion to the Mother of Christ. Finally, and most important, I do not want to die in my sins."

While I was instructing Mr. Broun he would often said: "Do not go into detail; I am not going to live long, just long enough to be absolved from my sins." Incidentally, he was the first person to receive Confirmation from Archbishop Spellman when he came to New York from Boston. About a month after I received him into the Church, I phoned him and said: "Heywood, you have run about a thousand miles; you had better come in and let me service you." He came in for Confession and a short time after that, he died. I preached his eulogy at Saint Patrick's Cathedral, and in the course of the sermon told the reasons he gave for wanting to become a Catholic. The next day the Communist Daily Worker carried the headline: "Monsignor Sheen reveals the secrets of the confessional." What were given, of course, were the reasons Mr. Broun gave me when I first met him.

Herbert Hoover and Al Smith were the principal candidates in the 1928 campaign for President. The Hoover campaign was directed by Horace Mann. Bigots during the campaign warned Americans that if Catholic were elected President, the Pope would sit in the White House. Al Smith answered the bigotry, when he attributed to Mann, in a famous speech delivered in Oklahoma City. In the meantime I was very friendly with Al Smith, and for years took dinner with him every Sunday night. Sometime after the election, I called on Horace Mann and proposed instructions. He said that he could not accept the authority of the Church, for his authority was the Holy Bible.

I told him the Holy Bible is not a book, but a collection of books. Someone had to gather them together and authenticate their authorship as inspiration. As the Supreme Court interprets the Constitution, so the Church safeguards the Holy Bible. Furthermore, the Church was established throughout the Roman Empire before any book of the New Testament was written. Later on, Horace Mann and Mrs. Mann were both received into the fullness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Al Smith sent them both a telegram of congratulations on the day of their First Communion. Horace Mann told me that he was in no way responsible for the anti-Catholic side of the Hoover campaign.

Many letters were received in the course of one week asking me to visit friends and relatives in various hospitals in New York. I spent one afternoon and evening making the visitations. The last patient whom I saw this day was on the eleventh floor of Memorial Hospital. I was very happy that the evening was over, for I was hungry and tired. When I descended to the first floor, the elevator man said: "Oh, I forgot to tell you, there was a nurse on the eleventh floor who wanted to meet you." It was one of those moments when you wonder whether or not you should trouble yourself.

But I went back. the nurse said: "Oh, I saw you on television, and I just wanted to meet you." "Are you a Catholic?" I asked. "No." "Are you engaged?" "Yes." "Is he a Catholic?" "Yes." I said: "What does he do?" "He is a doctor studying a specialist." I said: "Very well, you and the doctor come to my home tomorrow night for dinner, and begin instructions." I finished instructions for the nurse and later went to Canada to witness their marriage, and in the course of the years, baptized their six sons: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, and Paul.

I was told about a leper in New York City. Being interested in that work, on account of visiting leper colonies and because of my association with the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, I spent about six months searching for him. He was put out of his home by his parents when they discovered the disease. His hands and feet were badly twisted and his face bore the marks of the disease. It took several months to drive hatred out of his soul, but then, under the inspiration of grace, he was received into the Church and it has been the happiness of my life to help support him ever since. I had him to my table very frequently and we became close friends.

One evening a well-dressed woman with a rather affected accent called on me. She explained: "I would like to become a Catholic, but I would not want any ordinary priest to instruct me, for I am an intellectual. Knowing your background, would you intellectualize your faith for me?" "Madam" I am willing to instruct anyone who comes to me. As a matter of fact, a young man with leprosy who just finished instructions sat in that very chair on which you are seated now." She literally flew out of the house and I never heard from her again.

I put in a telephone call one day to Congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce and invited her to dinner. After dinner, as we got into the subject of religion, I said: "Give me five minutes to talk to you about God, and then I will give an hour to state your own views." About the third minutes, when I mentioned the goodness of God, she immediately bounded out of the chair, stuck her finger under my nose and said: "If God is good, why did he take my daughter?" Her young daughter, a short time before, had been killed in an automobile accident. I answered: "In order through the sorrow, you might be here now starting instructions to know Christ and His Church."

Never in my life have I been privileged to instruct anyone who was an brilliant and who was so scintillating in conversation as Mrs. Luce. She had a mind like a rapier.

If I added up all the summers I spent in Saint Patrick's Church, Soho Square, in London, they would amount to six or seven years. Being an American, I opened the church in the morning, for the Americans rose earlier than the English did. This particular Epiphany morning in January, a limp figure fell in - that of a young woman about twenty-four or twenty-five years of age. "How do you happen to be here?" "Well, where am I, Father?" "Oh, 'Father'?" She said: "Yes, I used to be a Catholic, but not anymore." I said: "Were you drunk?" She admitted she was. I added: "Men drink because they like the stuff; women drink because they do not like something else. Who are you running from?" She said: "Three men - and they they are beginning to find out, so I got drunk."

 It was one of those typically cold January mornings in London; she had been exposed to the cold all night long; I made a cup of tea and asked her name. I pointed to a billboard across the street, asking: "Is that your picture over there on the billboard?" "Yes, I am the leading lady in that musical comedy." I invited her to come back that afternoon before the matinee. She agreed on one condition: "that you do not ask me to go to Confession." I said: "I promise not to ask you to go to Confession." She said: "I want you to promise me faithfully not to ask me to go to Confession." I said: "I promise you faithfully not to ask you to go to Confession." That afternoon before the matinee, she returned. I then told her that we had a Rembrandt and a Vick Dyck in the church: "Would you like to see them?" As we walked down the side aisle, we passed a confessional. I push her in. I did not ask her to go, for I had promised not to ask her to go. Two years later I gave her veil in a convent in London, where she is to this very hour.

Mr. Louis Budenz was the editor of the Communist Daily Worker in New York City. He had written a series of articles in the paper attacking me. Many of the articles asked rhetorical questions. I answered all of them in a booklet entitled "Communism answered the Questions of a Communist" - but not in my own words, only by quotations from Marx or Lenin. When Budenz would lecture in Union Square, New York, many would use my pamphlet to refute him. But a short time after the publication of the pamphlet, he asked to see me. I did not know until years later that the Central Committee of the Communists asked him to contact me in the hope that they could win me over to their cause.

The conversation at dinner opened by his saying: "I tell you what we have against you; you do not believe that Russia is a democracy." I answered: "How can you say that Russia is a democracy in light of Article 118 to 124 in the Soviet Constitution?" He retorted: "What are those articles?" I told him I was not interested in discussing communism; I wanted to talk about his soul. Six or seven years passed. Then he wrote and asked to see me again, and returned to the Faith. Only recently did I learn from Mrs. Budenz that he would not allow any radio in the house to be turned on to me while I spoke - so much did he detest me. Later she asked him why he chose to contact me since he bore such animosity. His answer was: "He told me that he was interested in my soul."

Instructions had to be conducted by stealth. I would drive at night to his home in Westchester and sit around the table with him and his wife. She was a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and also was willing to take instructions. The instructions went on for several months and were held in the greatest secrecy. Then came the night of his reception into the Church and the eve of his Communion. About seven o'clock that night, I sent word to the Associated Press that Louis Budenz had been received into the Church. A short time afterward, one of the members of the Communist party called me and asked: "Is it true you have received Louis Budenz into the Catholic Church?"

I said: "Don't tell me that the Communist Daily Worker is at last interested in the truth?" His retort cannot be found in any manual of prayer. The following morning, Budenz and his wife and children were received into the Church at Saint Patrick's Cathedral. It might be added that the conversion of Louis Budenz took the Communist party so much by surprise that the masthead of their Daily Worker had his name as editor in chief the day of his coming to Christ.

Continuing other historical incidents of the spirit of God in souls, I recall a surprise visit made one day from a German who told me that he had been with his country's Army in World War I. During a heavy bombardment he said that he jumped from shell hole to shell hole to escape. Immediately after leaving one, a shell exploded in the hole he had left. Most of his companions in the shell hole were Catholics who recited the Rosary. He heard them recite the Rosary so often that he knew the prayers by heart. He promised God that he would become a Catholic if he were preserved safe from the war. That was the reason for his visit to me. Later on we gave him instructions, and he became a professor in one of our American universities.

When I was hearing confessions in a church on the eve of the first Friday each  month, a young woman entered and began: "I am not here to go to Confession; I am here to kill time." I asked: "How much time would you like to kill?" She said: About five minutes." Again I inquired about whom she was trying to fool besides God. "My mother" she said; "she thinks I am going to Confession. She is waiting outside for me." I asked her if she were afraid to go to Confession and she said that she was. I said: "Well, if I could see you, I could probably make your confession for you. Will you let me take down this veil between us and turn on the light?" She agreed. I said to her: "You are a streetwalker." "Yes" she answered. "Well, that is your confession, is it not?" "No" she said, "there is something else." I begged and pleaded with her for twenty minutes or more to tell me - but to no avail. I then asked her to kneel at the Communion rail for a few minutes before leaving church. She said that she would think it over.

On leaving the Church, I met her on the steps. I pleaded with her again for a half hour to tell me why she would not go to the Sacraments. "I will tell you" she said, "and then I will leave. Because I was arrested for street walking, I was put into the home of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. I promised the devil that I would make nine sacrilegious Communions if he would get me out of the home. On the ninth day I escaped." With that she ran away. When I went back that evening for confessions, I asked every penitent to recite the Rosary for the conversion of a sinner. All agreed except one. I finished hearing confessions about nine o'clock, went to the Communion rail and knelt there from nine until twelve-thirty praying for her. At twelve-thirty the front door opened. I was almost afraid to look, thinking it might be a policeman worried about lights in the church after midnight. It was the girl, who walked immediately into the confessional, to make her peace with God.

While I was teaching at Catholic University, I used to receive letters almost every few weeks from a baroness in New York. The name was in big letters on the outside of the envelope. Each letter invited me to dinner. I had made it a rule practically never to accept social engagements. The more you become known in the world, the more you have to stay away from it. In any case, having despaired of the invitations that were not accepted, she wrote stating that she was interested in becoming Catholic.

Each weekend I would go up from Washington to instruct her. About the fifth visit, she inquired: "Are you always going to give me instructions?" I said: "Yes" "You know, I have no money." "I am not giving you instructions because of money; I am only interested in your soul." She pointed to a bracelet around her wrist: "This is not gold; it is made out of thorns that are gilded. You see this necklace about my neck; it is not gold, it is made out of seashells that are gilded." It was probably her intent to convince me that she had no money that prompted her to show me the trinkets. I finished the instructions and received her into the Church. That summer she invited me to visit her in Paris. Another priest friend and I went over to visit her. She was living in a chateau that once belonged to Louis XV, located about fifteen miles outside Paris. It was a tremendous edifice with a moat around it and white deer grazing in the park. She was quite elderly when I received her into the Church, and I had the pleasure of supporting her soul with sacraments and prayers at her death.

                                                                  Page 2
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

A bishop or a priest never touches reality until he touches a soul. The Lord balanced the universe against a soul and the soul won: "What will a man gain by winning the whole world, at the cost of his true self?" Or: "What can he give that will buy that self back?" Saint James assures us that "any person who brings a person back from his crooked ways will be rescuing his souls from death and canceling innumerable sins." - My brothers, if one of you strays away from the truth, and another brings him back to it, he may be sure that anyone who can bring back a sinner from the wrong way that he has taken will be saving a soul from death and covering up a great number of sins. - James 5:19-20 - Saint Paul pronounced a woe against himself if he did not save souls. "It would be misery for me not to preach." The world is in a tragic state when salesmen do not believe in their products and soldiers are not on fire with their cause.

But the subject of making converts and saving souls is a very difficult one, for it is easy to believe that we are the agents who cause the results, when actually all we are at best are instruments of God. As it has been said - He can write straight with a crooked lines. Pope Pius XII once asked me: "How many converts have you made in your life?" I answered: "Your Holiness, I have never counted them. I am afraid if I did count them. I might think I made them, instead of the Lord Jesus Christ."

"Conversion" in Greek is metanoia, or a complete turning around from the direction which we are facing. Talking once to a group of drug addicts in Harlem, I gave this example: Suppose I took a ball and rolled it down the center of this hall; it would evidently go in a straight line, unless it was diverted by some outside force. When we are living our lives in the direction of selfishness and lust and pride, there will be a continuity in that way of life unless some superior force intervenes from the outside, and that is grace - to know things which we did not know before.

It is possible for a human being to live on anyone of three levels - the first level is the senate, in which one cares for the flesh and its pleasures. Peoples can live also on a second or higher floor, and that is the rational, Here he will pursue the good pagan life and practice natural virtues with enthusiasm. Under the inspiration of reason he may be tolerant, contribute to the needy and to community enterprises, but he refuses to believe that there is a Knowledge above that which he possesses and a Power above that which he experiences.

To invite a person who lives on the second floor of reason to the third floor above is often to invite ridicule of what is called supernatural order. These critics are willing to admit an evolutionary process on a horizontal plane until man is produced but they refuse to mount to the third floor, sometimes denying its possibility. Two tadpoles were discussing the possibility of any kingdom above their own. One little tadpole said to the other" "I think I will stick my head above the water to see what the rest of the world looks like." The other tadpole answered: "Don't be stupid; don't try to tell me that there is anything in the world besides water!"

Conversion is an experience in no way related to the upsurge of the subconscious into consciousness; it is a gift of God, an invasion of a new Power, the inner penetration of our spirit by the Spirit and the turning over of a whole personality to Christ. If I begin to recall some instances of conversion during the course of my life, it will not be to shed any glory upon myself, for I could no more make someone else a Christian by my own influence than I could turn a sawdust doll into a pretty little child of six. I am, nonetheless, grateful that God used me to bring others to Himself. I have always had a deep passion for helping others to find faith.

When I was stationed in Washington I would go to New York almost every weekend to instruct converts on Saturday and preach on Sunday, in either the Paulist Church or St. Patrick's Cathedral. Because I was on national radio at this particular time, many wrote asking for instructions. These classes were first held in the rectory if the cathedral, in Saint Patrick's Cathedral and later on a small auditorium. I was constantly warned by my fellow professors at the university that I was shortening my life. It was universally agreed that I would never live to reach the age of forty-five. During holidays I would accept engagements throughout the country. I once spent seven consecutive nights on "sleepers" and I can testify that those were the only moments I ever doubted that a man was made to the image and likeness of God-for that resemblance is forfeited as he tries to take off his trousers in an upper berth!

During this period When I would hold two convert classes annually (one in New York City, and the other in Washington) there would be an average attendance of between fifty and one hundred who would eventually become members of the Mystical Body of Christ. The period of instruction either for an individual or for a group would be at least twenty to twenty-five hours. A very noticeable change would come over a group as the instructions developed. At the first meetings, each would seek out the best seat and was reluctant to allow another to take his place. But once an instruction was given on Christ, the group immediately changed - offering a place to one another, helping each other with coats and accepting everyone in the group as all bent on a common purpose: an encounter with Christ.

Though I give here a few examples of metanoia, I must remind you that there were hundreds of others besides these whom I recall: housekeepers, flight attendants, ministers, beggars at the door, businessmen, housewives, alcoholics and college students. Some few cases, however, will illustrate the following three points:

First, many are seeking God without being aware of it. As Newman said: "I knew the Church was the true Church, but I did not know that I knew." Pascal noted: "Console thyself, thou wouldst not seek Me if thou had not found Me."

Second, some may acknowledge the existence of God, but He is on the circumference of their lives. As Voltaire said of God: "We nod, but we do not speak." Though a convert may be described in the last stages as a rose that bloomed, it must ever be kept in mind that the one who explains the Creed and commandments is nothing more than the gardener with a hoe and a rake.

Third, the one who receives enlightenment always experiences in his soul a sense of repentance or a discovery that life as lived until now was not right in the sight of God. I recall with what Tertullian said: "Penitence is a certain passion of the mind which comes from disgust at some previous feeling." Christ becomes not just the agent of repentance to the convert, but also the agent of forgiveness. I have never known a convert who did not say two things: "I am a sinner" and "I am forgiven."

The following recollections about those who embraced Christ in His Church prove the truth of the above statements.

Bella Dodd was the lawyer of the Communist party, and had considerable influence in the labor unions of New York City. She was testifying one day before the Un-American Activities Committee in Washington, and Senator McGrath of Rhode Island asked her to pay me a visit. "What has he to give me?" Senator McGrath answered: "He teaches communism at the Catholic University, that is to say, he knows the philosophy of Marx and Lenin." The senator then asked her if she was afraid to visit me. She accepted the challenge and telephoned me that she was on the way. We met in a small outer room at my residence and exchanged generalities, after which I observed: "Dr. Dodd, you look unhappy." She said: "Why do you say that?" I said: "Oh, I suppose, in some way, we priests are like doctors who can diagnose a patient by looking at him." When the conversation came to a dead end, I suggested that she come into the chapel and say a prayer. While we knelt, silently, she began to cry. She was touched by grace. Later on, I instructed her and received her into the Church. With Marx behind her, she began teaching law first in Texas and later at Saint John's University in Brooklyn.

My first convert as a young priest was in Washington, D.C. and it illustrates how much Divine Light in the soul, rather than the efforts of the evangelist, produce the harvest. When I went to the Catholic University to begin graduate studies, an aunt of mine asked me to visit a relative of hers who was ill. She was a fairly young, married woman with two children. I had been warned, however, that she was not well disposed to Catholics. When I introduced myself at the front door, she spit in my face and told me to leave. That was in the month of September. Every single morning in Holy Mass I begged God to give her the grace of conversion. In February I received a telephone call from her. I asked: "Why did you send for me?" She said: "I do not know. I went to the doctor yesterday and he told me that i would be dead in two weeks." She drew her two young children to herself and wondered who would care for them. I assured her that she was not going to die in two weeks and told her of the prayers I offered for her conversion. "The Lord, I believe, is frightening you into the Church." The next day I began explaining the teachings of the Church, baptized her in May and continued to keep in touch with her for many years.

I remember the first convert I made in France, after two years of graduate study in Europe. In preparation for the University of Louvain in the autumn, I spent the summer at the University of Paris to train my ear to French boardinghouse in the Latin Quarter: rue Jules Chaplain. There were about five or six other boarders in the pension, most of whom were American. After a week, Madame Citroen, who managed the boardinghouse, knocked at my door and said something in French which I could not understand. I called two schoolteachers from Boston who were residents in the pension, and asked them to interpret. Madame had said that she was baptized a Catholic, married in the Church, but after marriage and World War I, her husband left her. One daughter, who was born to them, became a woman of the streets. She added that the boardinghouse was a financial failure, and she felt no reason to live. Then, pulling a small bottle out of her pocket, she said: "This is poison; I intend to take it and do away with my life. Can you do anything for me?" I said, through the interpreter, "Madame, I cannot do anything for you if you intend to take that stuff." I asked her, however, to postpone her suicide for nine days.

I the began a novena to the Sacred Heart at the Church of the Notre Dame des Champs. Kneeling before the statue of the Sacred Heart, I pleaded: "If you really love souls - and you do - then save this one." Every evening of the novena, I would take a dictionary on my left hand, thumb it with my right, and with a contemptuous disregard for tenses, would attempt to stammer out some simple, elementary Christian truth in French. However, knowing that she could not be brought back to the Faith by my poor instructions in French, I had recourse to the confessional. I reasoned that if she would humble herself, and go to Confession, the Good Lord Jesus would give her grace.

Two nights before the novena ended, I took her to the Saint Joseph Church near the Etoile and asked one of the Irish priests there who spoke French to hear her confession. But she did not receive the gift of Faith. In the meantime, I asked one of the servant girls in the house how long she had been away from the sacraments. I then begged her to go to Confession the final day of the novena with Madame. During the confession, the night before the novena ended, she received the gift of Faith, and the following day I gave her Communion; the French maid also received Communion.

In the fall, I went to the University of Louvain. Madame wrote to me, telling me that her daughter was seriously ill in Chartres. She was willing to give up anything, provided God would spare her daughter. I asked her to make an offering of her daughter; it might be a means of reconciling her and her husband. So it happened. Her husband, whom she had not heard from in years, came to visit the sick daughter. The husband and wife were reconciled at the sickbed. The daughter recovered. In the end, grace triumphed as the mother and daughter restored the husband to the Church. The following summer on my way to Lourdes, I stopped at Dax and was driven away to a beautiful chateau in the mountains where, for three days, I enjoyed the hospitality of Monsieur and Madame and Mademoiselle Citroen. When I visited the village priest I asked if the Citroens were practicing the Faith. He did not know the story but answered: "They are the most wonderful Catholics in the Pyrenees. Isn't it beautiful when people keep the Faith all during their lives!"

Then there is the beautiful story of the conversion of Fritz Kreisler and his wife. I received a letter from a stranger who asked me to call on her uncle. His wife had committed suicide a short time before by throwing herself out of the window. The writer asked that I try to bring some consolation to the uncle. The apartment house in Manhattan alongside the East River was the type that had only two apartments to a floor. I went to the apartment where I expected to visit the man in question, but he was not at home. I asked the elevator man who lived in the other apartment, and he told me - Fritz Kreisler.

I rang the bell, introduced myself to Fritz and Mrs. Kreisler, and after a short conversation, asked them if they would like to take instructions for the Church. Fritz Kreisler was one of the finest and noblest men I ever met in my entire life. When I would quote a text from the Old Testament, he would read it in Hebrew; when I would quote a text from the New Testament, Fritz would read it in Greek. One evening during an auto trip together, I observed: "Fritz, tomorrow you are playing your violin on 'The Telephone Hour.' "Yes." "Will you practice?" "No." "Will you practice before the concert?" "No." With that, Mrs. Kreisler said: "I always contended that if Fritz had practiced, he would have been a great violinist."

When I began mu television series, I asked Fritz to write me a theme song for my programs. He gave me about forty or fifty manuscripts that had never been copyrighted. He told me to choose from anyone of these, and he would give me the copyright. The one that I chose, as I remembered it, was the "Vienna March." I took it back to Fritz. "This is the one that I like, but I cannot march on stage. Can you change it to waltz time?" Fritz said: "It cannot be put in waltz time." I said: "Fritz, you can transpose anything; please sit down at the piano and try it." "No" he said, "It can't be done." I begged him and he sat down at the piano, played one measure and said: "See, I told you; it cannot be done." With that, Mrs. Kreisler said: "Fritz is in his 'no' mood tonight." She then took him by the hand, walked him down the corridor to another studio at the other end of the apartment. A short time later I heard the strains of my theme song coming from the piano in waltz time. It later became my theme song on television.

I was a very close friend of the Kreislers from the time of their reception into the Church, and it was tragic to see Fritz in his last days, blind and deaf from an automobile accident, but radiating a gentleness and refinement not unlike his music. I visited them every week for some years until the Lord called them from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant, where I am sure the music of Fritz Kreisler is in repertoire of Heaven.

                                                                    Page 1

Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless. 

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

Roman Empire was the powerful pagan empire that controlled most of the known world during New Testament times. The unique laws and judicial codes by which the Roman Empire governed itself and the various nations and foreign provinces under its control.

Judicial authority ranged from the absolute power of the emperor to the function of the senate and the imperial civil service [Governors, Procurators, prefects, magistrates, etc]. Judicial procedure in Rome generally included appearance before a magistrate, a trail, and the selection of a judge who would then render judgment on a case.

In the province, Roman law was administered by Roman officials. Pontius Pilate, for example, was the Roman governor involved in the trial of Jesus. The Gospel accounts of this episode give considerable insight into the judicial procedure of the Romans and how they related to local Jewish officials. - Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 18-19 -

The apostle Paul's Roman citizenship granted him privileges as well as protection from Jewish and Roman fanaticism. - Acts 16:35-39, 22:22-29 - His imprisonment in Caesarea and defense before Felix, Festus, and king Agrippa, as well as his specific appeal to plead his case before Caesar - Acts 25:10-12 - are good examples of Roman civil and legal law.

Christianity began in Roman territory and expanded into additional areas controlled by Rome. Christians were expected to observe Roman law and not to get involved in any disorderly, suspicious, or treasonous activity. The Book of Acts shows that the early Christians were protected and acquitted by the Roman authorities. They recognized Christianity as a legal and valid religion with the right to exist. Saint Paul affirmed that he had not broken any Jewish, religious, or Roman law. - Acts 25:8 -

Rome was founded in 753 B.C. by Romulus, who became its first king. The little kingdom grew in size and importance, absorbing its immediate neighbors through the reign of seven kings, until the tyranny of Tarquinius Superbus drove the people to revolt and to take the government into their own hands. A republic was established, and Roman citizens had a voice in government affairs. During the period of the republic, Roman extended her borders throughout all of Italy and the known world.

In 63 B.C. Judea became formally subject to Rome and this was the case during the entire New Testament period.

The republic was subject to internal strife which eventually led to the decline of a people-oriented government. The emperor Octavian, who was also known as Augustus, became emperor in 27 B.C. He was still reigning at the time of Jesus' birth.

The religion that was native to Rome was basically primitive in nature. The Romans believed that impersonal spirits or supernatural powers inhabited such natural objects as trees, streams, and earth. They believed that these spirits affected one's personal life for good or evil. But the most striking feature of Roman religion was its ability to merge the best features of several religions. As the empire expanded, it imported and assimilated many religious ideas, and pagan gods from Greece and the Orient. Roman gods were fused and identified with the gods of the Greeks. Buildings, temples and monuments to these gods were erected. Astrological beliefs and magical practices flourished.

An "imperial ruler cult" developed in the first century B.C. when the Roman senate voted to deify Julius Caesar and to dedicate a temple to his honor. Among all the emperors, only Julius Caesar, Augustus, and Claudius were deified. This phenomenon apparently had more political than religious meaning.

Throughout the entire New Testament period, various emperors ruled over the Roman Empire. During the reign of Augustus, Jesus Christ was born. His crucifixion occurred during the reign of the succeeding emperor Tiberius. The martyrdom of apostle James, took place in the reign of the emperor Claudius. - Acts 11:28, 12:1-2 - It was to the emperor Nero that Saint Paul appealed. - Acts 25:11 - The destruction of Jerusalem prophesied by Jesus Christ was accomplished in the year A.D. 70 by Titus, who later became emperor. Thus, all of the New Testament phenomenon or story unfolded under the reign of Roman emperors.

As he drew near and came in sight of the city he shed tears over it and said, 'If you in your turn had only understood on this day the message of peace!' But, alas!, it is hidden from your eyes! Yes, a time is coming when your enemies will raise fortifications all round you, when they will encircle you and hem you in on every side; they will dash you and the children inside your walls to the ground; they will leave not one stone standing on another within you - and all because you did not recognise your opportunity when God offered it!' - Luke 19:41-44 - Matt. 24 - Mark 13 -

The Roman Empire reached the height of its power from about A.D. 100 to 175. By the end of the century, however, the Roman and their power had begun to decline, because of the vast expanse of its territory, the Empire grew increasingly difficult to administer. High taxation and political infighting also took their toll. Morally, Rome was also a sick society; its life of sin and debauchery served to hasten its collapse from within, even as barbaric tribes moved in to challenge the Romans; military rule. By A.D. 450 the Roman Empire was only a skeleton of its former self, reduced to a third-rate power among the nations of the ancient world.

Contact between Rome and Jews took place when some of the Jews were scattered to various parts of the Mediterranean world and when Rome moved into Palestine as part of its eastern expansion. Technically, however, contact between the Romans and the Jews began in 63 B.C. when Pompey marched into the land of Palestine. From the time of the Captivity in Babylon - or perhaps even earlier - many Jews made their homes outside Palestine. While some of them did this for economic reasons; others had been deported as prisoners of war to such places as Assyria and Babylon. The prophet Jeremiah indicated that some Jews had settled in Egypt during his time. - Jer. 44:1 -

Under Rome rule the Jews were given a special status with certain legal rights. They were permitted to practice their own religion and to build their synagogues. They also were exempt from military service and were not required to appear in court on the Sabbath. Relationship between the Jews and the Romans were mostly positive. But a few major disturbances did occur. The emperor Caligula alienated the Jews by opposing their belief in one God and forcibly erecting a statue of himself in their synagogues. In A.D. 19, the emperor Tiberius expelled some Jews from Italy. This edict was renewed under Claudius in A.D. 49. - Acts 18:2 - Apparently this edict did not last long, because Jews were living in Rome when apostle Paul arrived there about A.D. 62.

The situation of the Jews varied considerably under the different Roman rulers. Basically, the Romans treated the Jews fairly. Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple in 20 B.C. and Herod Agrippa sought Jewish favor by persecuting the Christians. Archelaus, on the other hand, was a cruel and tyrannical ruler who massacred many Jews.

It was about this time that king Herod started persecuting certain members of the Church. He beheaded James the brother of John, and when he saw that this pleased the Jews he decided to arrest Peter as well. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread, and he put Peter in prison, assigning four squads of four soldiers each to guard him in turns. Herod meant to try Peter in public after the end of Passover week. All the time Peter was under guard the Church prayed to God for him unremittingly....... It was only then that Peter came to himself. 'Now I know it is all true' he said, 'The Lord really did send his angel and had saved me from Herod and from all that the Jewish people were so certain would happen to me.'........ Herod put out an unsuccessful search for him; he had the guards questioned, and before leaving Judaea to take up residence in Caesarea he gave orders for their execution. - Acts 12:1-19 - Matt. 2:22-23 -

Resentful of the presence of these foreign oppressors, the Jews refused to recognize anyone but God as sovereign. Revolutionary activities of Jews nationalists such as Zealots increased and threatened the peace in Palestine. By A.D. 66, Rome was forced to subdue a Jewish revolt in Judea. And in A.D. 70, Titus, a Roman general who later became emperor, marched on the city of Jerusalem to destroy Jewish resistance. Many Jews lost their lives by crucifixion and other violent means. A small group of freedom fighters held out at Masada, but they took their own lives just before the Roman soldiers broke into their fortress.

The destruction of Jerusalem did not wipe out the Jewish state or religion. In some ways, it made the Jews more determined to resist. During the next 60 years Rome and the Jews clashed on a number of occasions. From A.D. 132-135 a second rebellion was led by a self-proclaimed messiah, and emperor at the time, issued an edict which virtually destroyed Judaism. Jerusalem was rebuilt as a Roman colony, complete with a pagan Roman temple, erected on the site of the Jewish Temple. The province of Judea was replaced by Syria Palestine. In this rebellion, some 500,000 Jews were killed and many others were sold into slavery. Those who survived were scattered beyond this new province.

The birth and development of Christianity took place within the borders of the Roman Empire. The New Testament contains references to Romans who were ruling at this time. Among them was Caesar Augustus - Luke 2:1 - Quirinius - Luke 2:2 - Tiberius Caesar - Luke 3:1, 20:22 - Other minor officials ruled on behalf of Rome, particularly those of the Herodian dynasty.

The Book of Acts shows how Christianity spread throughout Roman Empire. Under apostle Paul, the great missionary to the Gentiles, the Gospel may have been preached and proclaimed as far west as Spain. - Rom. 15:28 - Christian Church existed in Rome as early as A.D. 50 - Acts 18:2-3 - By the time Saint Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans [A.D. 58] a large Christian community existed in the imperial city.

Paul's appearance in Rome was ironic because he came as a prisoner and not as a missionary. Here he was held in confinement awaiting a trail that apparently never took place. According to tradition, Paul lost his life under Nero's persecution about A.D. 64.

If I am guilty of committing any capital crime. I do not ask to be spared the death penalty. But if there is no substance in the accusations these persons bring against me, no one has a right to surrender me to them. I appeal to Caesar. Then Festus conferred with his advisers and replied, 'You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go.' - Acts 25:11-12 - Acts 28:11-31 -

In its early stages, Christianity was regarded by Rome as a sect of Judaism. This is why it was ignored during its early years. On several occasions, Roman authorities viewed conflicts between Jews and Christians as an internal matter, not worthy of their attention. - Acts 18:12-17 - When Christians were accused by the Jews of breaking the law, they were acquitted. - Acts 16:35-39 - Rome even protected Christians from Jewish fanatics and assured apostle Paul the right of a proper trial. - Acts 19:28-41, 22:20-30, 23:23-24, 23:26, 28:31 - Most Christians had a positive and respectful attitude toward Roman authority.

The first known persecution of Christians by the Roman authorities took place under Nero. But this was an isolated case and not a general policy. Many Christians, including apostle Paul, lost their lives at this time. Tacitus, a Roman historian, refers to vast multitudes of Christians who were arrested, tortured, crucified, and burned. Hardship came to Christians in parts of Asia while Domitian was emperor. Later, under Trajan, they were further problem, especially in Bithynia where Pliny was governor (A.D. 112) Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, was martyred during this persecution. Rome may have feared that Christians could become a political threat because they would not acknowledge Caesar as lord.

Marcus Aurelius took official action against Christianity. As emperor, he was responsible for the death of Justin Martyr (A.D. 165) Celcius (A.D. 249-251) launched attack against Christians and, like Nero, used them as scapegoats for his own failures. While under Diocletian intense persecution of the Church took place for three years (A.D. 303-305) Many Churches were destroyed and Christians were martyred. With the coming of Constantine, however, this policy of persecution was reversed. His Edict of Milan in A.D. 313 made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.

                                                                     Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

The need for salvation goes back to man's removal from the Garden of Eden. - Gen. 3 - After the Fall, man's life was marked by strife and difficulty. Increasingly, corruption and violence dominated his earthly world.

God contemplated the earth: it was corrupt, for corrupt were the ways of all flesh on the earth. God said to Noah, 'The end has come for all things of flesh; I have decided this, because the earth is full of violence of man's making, and I will efface them from the earth.' - Gen. 6:11-13 -
 
Thus, salvation is deliverance from the power of sin. When God destroyed the earthly world with the Flood, He also performed the first act of salvation by saving Noah and his family. These eight people became the basis of another chance for mankind. The salvation of Noah and his family was viewed by the apostle Peter as a pattern of that full salvation which we receive in Christ Jesus.

The central Old Testament experience of salvation is the Exodus 12:40-14:31. But just as the Exodus symbolized their salvation, the Captivity of the Israelites in Babylon was a disastrous return to bondage. The people responded to this plight with expectations of a new and better Exodus in which God would forgive their sins and restore their hearts to faithfulness. - Is. 43:14-16; Jer. 31:31-34 -

Why, Christ himself, innocent though he was, had died once for sins, died for the guilty, to lead us to God. In the body he was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life, and in the spirit, he went to preach to the spirits in prison. Now it was long ago, when Noah was still building that ark which saved only a small group of eight people 'by water' and when God was still waiting patiently, that these spirits refused to believe. That water is a type of the baptism which saves you now, and which is not the washing off of physical dirt but a pledge made to God from a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has entered heaven and is at God's right hand, now that he has made the angels and Domination and Powers his subjects. - 1 Peter 3:18-22 -

You have been buried with him, when you were baptised; and by baptism, too, you have been raised up with him through your belief in the power of God who raised him from the dead. You were dead because you were sinners and had not been circumcised: he has brought you to life with him, he has forgiven us all our sins. - Col. 2:12-13 -

When he died, he died, once for all, to sin, so his life now is life with God; and in that way, you too must consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus. - Rom. 6:10-11 -

This news is about the Son of God who, according to the human nature he took, was a descendant of David: it is about Jesus our Lord who, in the order of the spirit, the spirit of holiness that was in him, was proclaimed Son of God in all his power through his resurrection from the dead. Through him we received grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith to all pagan nations in honour of his name. - Rom. 1:3-6 -

So a new understanding arose: the full realization of God's purpose of salvation would involve the coming of a completely new age. This doctrine of salvation reached its fulfillment in the death of Christ on our behalf. Jesus' mission was to save the world from sin and the wrath of God.

Now I know, brothers, that neither you nor your leaders had any idea what you were really doing; this was the way God carried out what he had foretold, when he said through all his prophets that his Christ would suffer. Now you must repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, and so that the Lord may send the time of comfort. Then he will send you the Christ he has predestined, that is Jesus, whom heaven must keep till the universal restoration comes which God proclaimed, speaking through his holy prophets. Moses, for example, said: The Lord God will raise up a prophet like myself for you, from among your own brothers; you must listen to whatever he tells you. The man who does not listen to that prophet is to be cut off from the people. In fact, all the prophets that have ever spoken, from Samuel onward, have predicted these days. - Acts 3:17-24 -

So we have confirmation of what was said in prophecies; and you will be right to depend on prophecy and take it as a lamp for lighting a way through the dark until the dawn comes and the morning star rises in your minds. At the same times, we must be most careful to remember that the interpretation of scriptural prophecy is never a matter for the individual. Why? Because no prophecy ever came from man's initiative. When men spoke for God it was the Holy Spirit that moved them. - 2 Peter 1:19-21 -

This hope for a new salvation merged with expectation of a full realization of the rule of God. Since God was Lord and had shown Himself to be righteous and faithful. He must one day overpower His enemies and perfect the life of His people. This hope is expressed through the concept of the "Day of the Lord." Our experience of salvation will be complete when the Lord Jesus Christ returns and the kingdom of God is fully revealed.

But there is one thing, my friends, that you must never forget: that with the Lord 'a day' can mean a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not being slow to carry out his promises, as anybody else might be called slow; but he is being patient with you all, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to change his ways. The Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then with a roar the sky will vanish, the elements will catch fire and fall apart, the earth and all that it contain will be burnt up. - 2 Peter 3:8-10 -

Since men only die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, too, offers himself only once to take the faults of many on himself, and when he appears a second time, it will not to be to deal with sin but to reward with salvation those who are waiting for him. - Heb. 9:27-28 -

For us, our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes the saviour we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body. He will do that by the same power with which he can subdue the whole universe. - Phil. 3:20-21 - 1 Tim. 6:14 - Matt. 13:41-43 -

                                                                     Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

The Greek word translated as Gospel means "a reward for bringing Good News" or simply "Good News." Thus, the gospel is not only a new plan of salvation; it is the fulfillment of God's plan of salvation which was begun in Israel, was completed in Jesus Christ, and is made known by His Universal Church.

This you can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ, when he used it to raised him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name that can be named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet, and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation. - Eph. 1:20-23 -

Jesus is more than a messenger of the gospel; He is the gospel. The 'Good News' of God was present in His life, passion, death, resurrection, teaching, and atoning death. Therefore, the gospel is both a historical event and a personal relationship. It is more than a biography intended to provide information about a historical character. It is the presentation of the life of Jesus Christ to show His saving significance for all peoples and to call them to faith in Him.

Saint Paul warned that the serpent, with his cunning, seduced Eve, and he was afraid that in the same way our ideas may get corrupted and turned away from simple devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. He vehemently warned in the letter which he wrote to the Christians of Galatia, and in it apostle Paul systematically arranges all his new ideas that had emerged from the argument, especially on those who had turned away from the one who called them and have decided to follow a different version of the Good News.

Because any newcomer has only to proclaim a new Jesus, different from the one that we preached, or you only receive a new spirit, different from the one you have already accepted - and you welcome it with open arms. - 2Cor. 11:4 -

I am astonished at the promptness with which you have turned away from the one called you and have decided to follow a different version of the Good News. Not that there can be more than one Good News; it is merely that some troublemakers among you want to change the Good News of Christ; and let me warn you that if anyone preaches a version of the Good News different from the one we have already preached to you, whether it be ourselves or an angel from heaven, he is to be condemned. I am only repeating what we told you before; if anyone preaches a version of the Good News different from the one you have already heard, he is to be condemned. So now whom am I trying to please - man or God? Would you say it is men approval I am looking for? If I still wanted that, I should not be what I am - a servant of Christ.

That fact is, brothers, and I want you to realize this, the Good News I preached is not human message that I was given by men, it is something I learnt only through a revelation of Jesus Christ. - Gal. 1:6-12 -

The 'four Gospels' ( Matthew, Mark, Luke, John ) at the beginning of the New Testament tell the saving work of God in His Son Jesus Christ. The gospels are not exactly biographies, because apart from certain events surrounding His birth - Matt. 1&2 - and one from His youth - Luke 2:41-52 - they record only the last three years of Jesus' life. Moreover, the material included is not written as an objective historical survey of Jesus' ministry. The gospels present Jesus in such a way that the reader realizes that God acted uniquely in Him. The gospels is written not only to communicate knowledge about Jesus as a person and and also to call us to commitment to Him as Lord.

The gospels produce four distinctive portraits of Jesus rather than an exact photographic likeness. Thus, there are four gospels of the one gospel. (the Good News of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ) Why, though, are there four versions of the same story? Why not one gospel? This question is as old as the Church itself.  Around A.D. 150, Tatian compiled a life of Christ , called the Diatessaron, by harmonizing the four gospels. His contemporary, Marcion, attempted to resolve the problem by choosing one gospel, Luke, and discounting the others.

The Church, however, resisted Tatian's artificial life of Jesus and Marcion's choice of one gospel to the exclusion of the other three. Prior to Tatian and Marcion, the Church had accepted each of the four gospels as a faithful and complementary witness to Jesus Christ, and the Church adopted symbols for the gospels - Matthew a lion, Mark an ox, Luke a man, John an eagle (or variations thereof) - from the fourfold witness to God in Sacred Scripture. - Ezek. 1:4-5; 10:12-14; Rev. 4:6-8 - At an early date the Church realized that the combined witness of the four gospels was required to declare the full significance of Christ Jesus.

If one sets the four gospels side by side, it becomes apparent that Matthew, Mark, and Luke have much in common. Each gospel arranges its material in a similar fashion, and each gospel casts the life of Jesus within the framework of a Galilean ministry that extended from Jesus' baptism to His Passion, Death, Resurrection, and with the emphasis of His final days in the flesh.

The first three gospels recount many of the same incidents or teachings, and often in the same or related wordings. The similarity of the gospel of Matthew, Mark and Luke also includes their content. For example, at the baptism of Jesus as related by Matthew 13:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; and Luke 3:21-22 will quickly demonstrate their agreement. Because of this similarity in agreement, content, and wording, the first three gospels are called synoptic Gospels (from the Greek synopsis, "a seeing together")

But the Gospel of John presents a more independent account of Jesus Christ. John's relationship to the first three gospels can be considered only after a thorough discussion of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The synoptic problem arises from the attempt to explain the general similarity of Matthew, Mark and Luke, while accounting for their individual differences. Two of the four gospel writers [Mark and Luke] were not eyewitnesses of the events they relate, and some question remains about the other two [Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of John] This means we cannot assume that the similarities and differences among the gospels come solely from their personal perspectives as interpreters of Jesus and His ministry. Other sources also probably contributed to the composition of the four gospels.

The important awareness that the early Church did not look upon Jesus merely as an historical figure of the past, but as the living God/Lord of the present. Since the early Church maintained its treasure of tradition of Jesus primarily through proclamation, preaching, and teaching. The contents of the gospels are shaped by the faith of the early Church. It is especially evident in the Gospel of John, which blends the remembrances called to mind by the Holy Spirit with the events of Jesus' life.

Judas - this was not Judas Iscariot - said to him, 'Lord, what is all this about? Do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?' Jesus replied:

If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him
and make our home with him.
Those who do not love me do not keep my words.
And my word is not my own:
it is the word of the one who sent me.
I have said these things to you
while still with you;
but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you. - John 14:22-26 -

This is not to say the Good News were 'made up' by the early Church in order to preach about a Jesus who was a figment of someone's vivid imagination. It means, instead, that the early Church kept some memories about Jesus alive, while it did not continue others; and one of the reasons for this is that certain events and sayings were much more important in the early Church's eyes than others were.

Is it possible to know whether the early Church distorted or preserved the intent of the historical Jesus? Fortunately, the New Testament contains certain checks that provide reasonable certainty of careful handling on the part of the early Church.

We may be assured that eyewitnesses, including some of the apostles, were alive when the gospels appeared in writing. Such eyewitnesses would have encouraged historical accuracy and prevented distortion in the gospels. Another important fact is that rabbis of Jesus' day trained their disciples to commit their teachings to memory, in fact, to the point of perfect recitation of long passages. Therefore, we have no reason to assume that Jesus was less diligent about the transmission of His preaching and teaching than the rabbis were about theirs. We also may be assured that the early Church did not project upon the gospels any teachings or concerns foreign to Jesus. The synoptic gospels, for example, record more than 50 parables of Jesus, but not one parable is recorded in the remainder of the New Testament. This observation demonstrates that the Church was faithful to record them.

Expressed respect for the words of Jesus can also be found in the apostle Paul, who distinguishes between "commands of the Lord Jesus Christ" and his own opinion. In a similar vein, we have no instances where the words of apostle Paul, Peter, John, or any of the 'pillars' of the Church are placed in Jesus' mouth. Nor do we find the teachings of the apostles included in the gospels. Jesus commands centre stage, and He has no successors.

For the married I have something to say, and this is not from me but from the Lord: a wife must not leave her husband - or if she does leave him, she must either remain unmarried or else make it up with her husband - nor must a husband send his wife away. The rest is from me and not from the Lord. - 1Cor. 7:10-11 -

Furthermore, we know that the early Church faced a series of crises as it began to evangelize the Gentile world. One such crisis concerned the conditions of accepting Gentiles into the Church, and especially "Circumcision". But such questions are scarcely mentioned in the gospels. - Matt. 8:10 - Finally, inclusion in the gospels of confusing statements [such as the second coming] - Mark 9:1 - or matters unimportant to the early Church [little children] - Mark 10:13-16 - or even embarrassing remembrances [Peter's denial - Mark 14:66-68 - indicate that the early Church was more on preserving the tradition it received than on improving its own image.

Whatever sources and traditions the writers may have inherited, redaction studies have revealed that the gospel writers were more than chroniclers or witless transmitters of the material they received. Each is an important link in the chain connecting us with Jesus. Each offers a unique and complementary portrait of Jesus, because each writes to a different audience and emphasizes different aspects of Jesus' life.

For Mark's, Jesus is the Suffering Servant who reveals His divine Sonship on the cross. Matthew's major concern is to present Jesus as a teacher who is greater than Moses and continually present with the disciples. For Luke's, Jesus is the keystone in the history of salvation, beginning with Israel, fulfilled in Jesus, and communicated by the Church. The Gospel of John penetrates the mystery of the incarnation [Jesus as God in human form] who brings life to the world.

In the beginning was the Word:
the Word was with God
and the Word was God. - John 1:1 -

The Word was made flesh,
he lived among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth. - John 1:14 -

All four gospels portray Jesus Christ through selected events in His life, climaxing in His Passion, Death and Resurrection. But John features an independent, unique presentation of Jesus. Thus, there are four gospels (accounts) of the one gospel (the Good News of Salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ)

                                                                    Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

Anyone who blasphemes [speaks evil] against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation. Such slander of the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ implied, reveals a spiritual blindness, a warping and perversion of the moral nature, that puts one beyond hope of repentance and forgiveness. Those who call the Holy Spirit Satan reveal a spiritual cancer so advanced that they are beyond any hope of healing and forgiveness.

'I tell you solemnly, all men's sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies; but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sins.' This was because they were saying, 'An unclean spirit is in him.' - Mark 3:28-30 - Matt. 12:22-32 - Luke 12:10 -

If, after we have been given knowledge of the truth, we should deliberately commit any sins, then there is no longer any sacrifice for them. There will be left only the dreadful prospect of judgment and of the raging fire that is to burn rebels. Anyone who disregards the Law of Moses is ruthlessly put to death on the word of two witnesses or three; and you may be sure that anyone who tramples on the Son of God, and who insults the Spirit of grace, will be condemned to a far severer punishment. We are all aware who it was that said: Vengeance is mine; I will repay. And again: The Lord will judge his people. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. - Heb. 10:26-31 -

Sin is a real and positive evil. Sin is more than unwise, inexpedient, calamitous attitude, behaviour that produces sadness, sorrow, grief and distress. It is rebellion against God. Sin is thus the faithless rebellion of the creature against the just authority of his Creator. Sin involves the denial of the living God from whom human beings draw life and existence - Acts 17:28 - the consequence of this revolt is death and the torment of hell. Death is the ultimate penalty imposed by God for sin. For this reason, sinning against God and breaking His commandments at any point involves transgression at every point.

Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven. - Matt. 5:19 - James 2:10 -

For the wage paid by sin is death; the present given by God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Rom. 6:23 -

Apart from Christ Jesus, all are 'dead in trespasses and sins.' But this does not mean that people who committed sins and behave as wickedly as they might, for God restrains the outworking of the sinful heart. God has provided through His Son, Jesus bears the penalty of sin in place of His people. "For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many." - Mark 10:45 - He also redeems us from sinfulness and lawlessness.

And you were dead, through the crimes and the sins in which you used to live when you were following the way of this world, obeying the ruler who governs the air, the spirit who is at work in the rebellious. We all were among them too in the past, living sensual lives, ruled entirely by our own physical desires and our own ideas; so that by nature we were as much under God's anger as the rest of the world. But God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy: when we were dead through our sins, he brought us to life with Christ - it is through grace that you have been saved - and raised us up with him and gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus.

This was to show for all ages to come, through his goodness towards us in Christ Jesus, how infinitely rich he is in grace. Because it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; not by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit. We are God's work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live in. - Eph. 2:1-10 -

Grace is one of the key attributes of God. Therefore, grace is almost always associated with the spiritual gifts: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness, self-control, compassion and justice. The grace of God was supremely revealed and given in the person and work of  Jesus Christ. Jesus was not only the beneficiary of God's grace, but He was also its very embodiment, bringing it to mankind for salvation. By His passion, death and resurrection, Jesus restored the broken fellowship between God and His peoples. The only way of salvation for any person is 'through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.'

Peter stood up and addressed them. 'My brothers,' he said, 'you know perfectly well that in the early days God made his choice among you: the pagans were to learn the Good News from me and so become believers. In fact God, who can read everyone's heart, showed his approval of them by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he had to us. God made no distinction between them and us, since he purified their hearts by faith. It would only provoke God's anger now, surely, if you imposed on the disciples the very burden that neither we nor our ancestors were strong enough to support? Remember, we believe that we are saved in the same way as they are: through the grace of the Lord Jesus. - Acts 15:7-11 -

The Holy Spirit is the One who binds Christ Jesus to all peoples so that they receive grace, forgiveness, and newness of life as well as the spiritual gifts. "Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, through all and within all. Each one of us, however, has been given his own share of grace, given as Christ allotted. - Eph. 4:3-7 -

The theme of grace is especially prominent in the epistles of Saint Paul. He sets grace radically over against law and works of the law. Saint Paul makes it abundantly clear that salvation is not something that can be earned or merited; it can be received only as a gift of grace. Grace, however, must be accompanied by faith, hope and love.

In short, there are three things that last: Faith, Hope and Love; and the greatest of these is love. - 1Cor. 13:13 -

Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people's sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes. Love does not come to an end. - 1Cor. 13:4-7 -

In the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, a person is accepted by the grace, mercy, or love of God through faith and repentance. When it is mentions individuals being accepted by God, offerings frequently are mentioned. In the Old Testament, offerings were acceptable to God when made as prescribed, but they were unacceptable when God's instructions were ignored. However, they were rejected when the attitude of one's heart was wayward and irreverent.

Time passed and Cain brought some of the produce of the soil as an offering for Yahweh, while Abel for his part brought first-born of his flock and some of their fat as well. Yahweh looked with favour on Abel and his offering. But he did not look with favour on Cain and his offering. - Gen. 4:3-4 - Lev. 1:1-17, 7:1-10, 19:7, 22:1-30 - Amos 5:21-23 - Jer. 14:10-16 - Mal. 1:6-14, 2:1-9 -

It was because of his faith that Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain, and for that he was declared to be righteous when God made acknowledgement of his offerings. Though he is dead, he still speaks by faith. It was because of his faith that Enoch was taken up and did not have to experience death: he was not to be found because God had taken him. This was because before his assumption it is attested that he had pleased God. Now it is impossible to please God without faith, since anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and rewards those who try to find him. - Heb. 11:4-6 -

In the primary New Testament passage of acceptance, Saint Paul explains that God has fully accepted believers through the merits of Christ Jesus. God will not reject them; He opens Himself to His own by welcoming them. Saint Paul speaks also of a teaching 'worthy of all acceptance' or deserving of universal. God accepts us fully in Jesus Christ because of His offering and receives what we return to Him.

Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.
Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ,
to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence,
determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ
for his own kind purposes,
to make us praise the glory of his grace,
his free gift to us in the Beloved,
in whom, through his blood, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
Such is the richness of the grace
which he has showered on us
in all wisdom and insight.

He has let us know the mystery of his purpose,
the hidden plan he so kindly made in Christ from the beginning
to act upon when the times had run their course to the end:
that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head,
everything in the heavens and everything on earth.
And it is in him that we were claimed as God's own,
chosen from the beginning,
under the predetermined plan of the one who guides all things
as he decides by his own will;
chosen to be,
for his greater glory,
the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.
Now you too, in him,
have heard the message of the truth and the good news of your salvation,
and have believed it;
and you too have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit of the Promise,
the plede of our inheritance
which brings freedom for those whom God has taken for his own,
to make his glory praised. - Eph. 1:3-14 -

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, and who judged me faithful enough to call me into his service even though I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could to injure and discredit the faith. Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus. Here is a saying that you can rely on and nobody should doubt: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I myself am the greatest of them; and if mercy has been shown to me, it is because Jesus Christ meant to make me the greatest evidence of his inexhaustible patience for all the other people who would later have to trust in him to come to eternal life. - 1Tim. 1:12-16 -

Whether we are living in the body or exiled from it, we are intent on pleasing him. For all the truth about us will be brought out in the law court of Christ, and each of us will get what he deserves for the things he did in body, good or bad. - 2Cor. 5:9-10 -

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -