Podcasts about allow christ

Send us a Text Message.Grab an Episode Guide for this episode! CLICK HEREWhat happens when we take a phrase or a verse in God's Word out of context? We may misinterpret the meaning altogether, which is awful, but by doing so, we may miss out on the real, rich meaning God intended all along. David Leonard's song "By His Wounds" sent me to God's Word to see how to properly interpret the phrase "by His wounds we are healed." There's a lot more there than I realized.In this episode, I discuss the following:Taking a B.I.T.E. out of Scripture – this week's Bible Interaction Tool Exercises include: Read in contextRepetitionFollow the cross-referencesMeditate on God's WordHistorical contextMake observationsMake a listEpisode GuideFocus verse that sent us to consider all of 1 Peter - 1 Peter 2:24"Christology forms the indispensable basis of his {Peter's} paraenesis" - translated "The study of Christ forms Peter's indispensable basis of Peter's advice for believers" - The Dictionary of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament - Amazon Paid Link1 Peter is full of allusions and quotes from the Old Testament, giving us plenty of cross-references to explore Compare 1 Peter 1:1-2 to Exodus 24:3-8 - the promise of obedience ratified by the sprinkling of blood1 Peter is a letter written to people who are suffering - 1 Peter 1:3-8Peter reminds the believers they are the chosen and elect people of God who are chosen for trust and obedience - consider Exodus 19:3-6The type and shadow in the Old Testament with the Hebrew people as the chosen people of God finds its complete fulfillment through Christ in us - 1 Peter 2:9-12Our focus verse in 1 Peter 2:24 references Isaiah 53, that I teach on in Episode 370Peter's advice to slaves can be applied to us - 1 Peter 2:21-25Making a list of Jesus' exampleJohn Piper's "A Look at the Book: 1 Peter 2:24-25" - YouTube VideoJesus' substitution is the basis of the illustration - 1 Peter 2:18-25The purpose of Christ's suffering that we might die to sin and live to righteousness - 1 Peter 2:24that Christ might bring us to God (thus healing our ultimate wound of separation from Him) - 1 Peter 3:18, 1 Peter 2:25We are born again. So why do we walk in death? We are healed. So why do we live wounded?Additional ResourcesLyrics - NewReleaseToday.comThe story behind the song "By His Wounds" by David Leonard - New Release Today ArticleMy favorite Bible Study Software - Logos Bible Software Affiliate LinkThis Week's ChallengeRead 1 Peter for yourself. Remember, we are born again, but we walk in death. We are healed and restored to our relationship with God but live wounded. Allow Christ's example to transform the way you live. Study it closely. Meditate on His example more than your suffering. He is a loving ShBrad Pauquette has been my trusted guide throughout my novel writing process. Grab a copy of his new book, The Novel Matrix: The Complete Novel Writing Guide HERE.

LENT WEEK 1: This Holy Week, we are asked not only to meet Christ but also to bring His presence to others through praying, fasting, and almsgiving. Let Sr. Antoniana Maria, SV, teach us how these three acts can help us make room for Christ for ourselves and our brethren.

Come and enter into the Rest of the Lord. Gain access by faith and repentance by offering a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Allow Christ to do the work of transformation in your life, as you become a creature of love, conformed not unto the world but in Jesus. As part of the fellowship of His suffering, follow the Holy Spirit in all things and unburden yourselves to find the joy of God.

Save the drama for the Llama ….Spare your marriage from drama … Drama … 1-2-3… Uno Dos Tres Quattro… Don't allow drama to ruin your marriage and your relationship with your spouse. Allow God to fill you with His love and meet your individual needs. As He does you will find contentment & leave and His love will overflow into your spouse life too. Your marriage will be filled with God's love and purpose and shine bright like a city on a hill. Your marriage is one of the greatest witnesses this world can ever see. Allow Christ to be glorified in you and your marriage. Jesus is the key to a happy life and marriage. Say no to drama and yes to Jesus. Pray in humility with your spouse, seek God together and allow God to bless your life!

All of me not a part but all of me all the Heart and Soul of me Jesus I SURRENDER

Matthew 11:28-30 – Control is an illusion. We only think that we are in control of this thing called life. A Christ follower is a life of learning to trust God and follow His leading. It is a life lived in obedience and balance. Christianity is a life lived in partnership with Christ. Allow Christ to direct your schedule this week.  

A Word of Life for our life in Christ today.

Philippians 1:1-6 Bro. Tom Curry I. Have the Joyful Posture. II. Find a Way to Participate Joyfully. III. Allow Christ to Perfect Joy to You. www.ekronbaptistchurch.com https://fb.watch/gMV_pnMS3d/

As we come to the end of the first part of Introduction to the Devout Life, Fr. Gregory and Fr. Jacob-Bertrand walk us through a profession to serve God. They also help us in understanding the continued need for purification and letting go of attachments. In addition, they share some advice on making a general confession. To get your copy of the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/catholicclassics or text "INTRO" to 33-777.

Just a quick reminder for easter. It's time to say goodbye to that sin that has been dragging you down. Allow Christ to take it away and set you free. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/andy-kenya/message

Let God Have the Last Word in Your Life Today's readings are I Samuel 14, I Chronicles 4, and II Corinthians 13.  We are reading from the New Living Translation.  Famous last words.  These last words of Paul at the end of this book have to be some of the finest ever spoken.  Be joyful. Grow to maturity.  Encourage each other.  Live in harmony and peace.  Then the God of love will be with you.  These are beautiful amazing words to live by and aspire to.  That is the with-God life that Paul has just described.  That kind of life can only be achieved by the presence and the power of Christ in you.    Paul is hoping for a third visit with the Corinthians.  And this time, like the other times, he is trying to point this troubled little church to the important truth of the abiding, saving life of Christ in you.  He tells them to examine and test themselves to see if they are in the faith because to be in the faith is to recognize your life in him.  And to participate with his saving life in the world.  In other words, if you don't have Christ in you, you don't have the faith.    “Be joyful. Grow to maturity.  Encourage each other.  Live in harmony and peace.  Then the God of love will be with you.” Those beautiful and compelling last words of Paul are out of our reach.  The ESV says,  Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? (II Cor 13:5)  Consider these last words of Paul, today. Be joyful.  Grow to maturity.  Encourage each other.  Live in harmony and peace.  Then the God of love will be with you.  This is only achieved by the presence of Christ in you.   Receive these last words.  Examine yourself.  And rejoice in the fact that Christ has come to reside in you. He makes it possible.  Allow Christ to live his life in and through you, so that you can experience all those amazing things described by Paul.  Let God have the last word in your life.

When we are in a community, how can our creativity be an encouragement? And how do we find where to use our creativity? Emma shares some great, practical steps to get creative in your place. 1. Learn and Share Fresh Ideas (Humbly)First and foremost, we need to seek God to teach us. Then, we can look at the lives and innovation of others to motivate us in our own creativity. When trying new ideas, we should always approach in humility and respect. 2. Where Are Areas of Need in Your Community?It is always good to ask “Where is there an area of need?” Maybe you are serving in a place that is not your norm, but God had called you to it. Ask Him for help to be creative and serve well. 3. What's in your hand? What has God given you? Is it a paintbrush? An instrument? A confident voice? Strength? Great patience? An ability to think through problems? Whatever the Lord has given you, give it back to Him. He is your Creator and you are His creation who is modeling and pointing the world to His existence and His sacrifice for all sins. Don't waste your creativity by setting it aside. Allow Christ to work through you for the benefit of the church body, the blessing of those around you, and to meet needs that come into your path.Key Bible Passage: 1 Corinthians 13:5-6 says, “There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work."Call to Action: • How are you serving others creatively right now?• Who are you learning from and being influenced by in your craft and skills?• Is there an area of need in your Christian community that you can step out in faith and meet the need with the help of God?• What's in your hand? How has God called you like Bezalel to create for Him? How can you be obedient to His leading and His gifting?Follow Emma: https://emmadanzey.wordpress.com/

Luke 17:11-19 - In this story, Jesus reminds us that He offers salvation to everyone regardless of circumstances and background.  He also warns us that people can experience Christian things without possessing Christ.  Genuine Christianity involves a relationship with Christ, not an experience of religion.  Allow Christ to be seen in you this week.  

Romans 12:1-21 https://pastorsteverhodes.com/2021/09/18/do-not-be-conformed-to-the-world-but-be-transformed-by-renewing-your-mind-and-out-of-that-live-different-lives-than-those-of-the-world-romans-121-21/

Message: Ananias and Sapphira of the early Christian church have been caught in a lie and compared to Barnabas who acted honorably, each in a case of a land transaction. This brings into focus quality of character, one a holding back for personal gain producing a dampening effect on the church and the other a laying down of position to do what God has called him to do. Allow Christ in you to produce a good name instead of status. Scripture: Acts 5:1-4 "But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." KJV

When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.  Proverbs 3:24, KJVIn Day 47, join Apostle ID and Overcomers in Christ to believe God for sweet sleep.   In order to enjoy sweet sleep, Believers must have peace, but scripture reveals that righteousness proceeds peace, and peace proceeds joy.  Righteous living entails discarding things that contradict peace and do not glorify God.  In this message, Believers are encouraged to do an inventory of their homes and remove anything that contradicts righteousness including artifacts, literature, images.  Allow Christ to establish peace in your home, and enjoy sweet sleep in the name of Jesus.  For each midnight, I will be sharing one day of Biblical principles and strategies from my new book: 100-DAY PLAN TOWARDS REAL DELIVERANCE. You are strongly encouraged to take the time during this 100-day midnight (EST) series to embark on some days of fasting and prayer. Intermittently, do a 3-day or a 7-day fast as you are led by the Spirit of God.And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force - Matthew 11:12​​​​. 

TIME WITH PROPHET JACOB BERCHIE LIVE ON EZRA TV/EZRA FM 94.1 EVERY FRIDAY 8PM-9PM FACEBOOK AND YOUTUBE LIVE@ PROPHET JACOB BERCHIE INFO.0243819756 / 020579695

Wednesday of the First Week of AdventThere is no darkness too dark for Christ. There is no past of ours that is too dark for Christ to enter. When Jesus died on the Cross he descended into the dead. Whatever darkness we are worried about is not as dark as the realm of the dead. Jesus went there! He went there for us, to show us that no darkness of ours is too dark for Him. Allow Christ to enter into those dark areas of our lives and He will bring light and life.Click here for today's readings.

Life is choice driven, make the most decision of your life by allowing Christ into your heart. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/betty-stallings/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/betty-stallings/support

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy / Christ has conquered death / Suffering isn't meaningless-----------------------------------------IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN: Death in Christ has become an antidote for fallen humanityIllness is permitted by God for a greater goodGod cares more about our eternal salvation than our temporal healthSuffering can configure us to Christ and unite us to him-----------------------------------------WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Think of something really affecting your life right now that you've been holding onto and confide it in someone you trust. Allow Christ to walk with you through someone else.-----------------------------------------EPISODE LINKS:Leave a voice message hereMacebell WorkoutPassion of the Christ SceneFather Mike Schmitz: Insecure HomilyPARAGRAPHS COVERED:CCC 1500-1501CCC 1009-1010CCC 1505WEBSITE:Thecatechismguy.comSOCIAL MEDIA:InstagramFacebook-----------------------------------------OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE:[9:56] Episode Topic Introduction[10:34] Xavier's Faith Journey [16:14] Illness in Human Life (Paragraph 1500-1501)[27:50] Xavier's Advice to Others [45:16] The Meaning of Christian Death (Paragraph 1009-1010)[55:55] The New Meaning of Suffering (Paragraph 1505)[1:14:47] Suffering Purifies Our Love[1:29:43] Why It Might Be Hard For a Rich Man to Enter the Kingdom of Heaven[1:40:27] A Challenge for this Week

APRIL 13th,  Let God Have the Last Word in Your Life Today's readings are I Samuel 14, I Chronicles 4, and II Corinthians 13.  We are reading from the New Living Translation.  Famous last words.  These last words of Paul at the end of this book have to be some of the finest ever spoken.  Be joyful. Grow to maturity.  Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace.  Then the God of love will be with you.  These are beautiful amazing words to live by and aspire to.  That is the with-God life that Paul has just described. That kind of life can only be achieved by the presence and the power of Christ in you.    Paul is hoping for a third visit with the Corinthians.  And this time, like the other times, he is trying to point this troubled little church to the important truth of the abiding, saving life of Christ in you.  He tells them to examine and test themselves to see if they are in the faith because to be in the faith is to have Christ in you. In other words, if you don't have Christ in you, you don't have the faith.   Those beautiful and compelling last words of Paul are out of our reach.  The ESV says,  Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? (II Cor 13:5)  Consider these last words of Paul, today. Be joyful.  Grow to maturity.  Encourage each other.  Live in harmony and peace.  Then the God of love will be with you.  This is only achieved by the presence of Christ in you.   Receive these last words.  Examine yourself. And rejoice in the fact that Christ has come to reside in you. He makes it possible.  Allow Christ to live his life in and through you, so that you can experience all those amazing things described by Paul.  Let God have the last word in your life.

LIke the blind man in the Gospel, we might feel that we are in the dark during this coronavirus pandemic. Allow Christ to reach out to you to bring healing and peace

We remember the sacrifice of Christ as we celebrate together in Communion. We often try to sweeten our lives with all the tastes of this world. But nothing it has to offer ever lives up to the hype. Allow Christ to take control and turn your life of water into the sweetness of His wine. The post Water to Wine appeared first on Living Water Adventist Church.

Allow Christ to help you with to forgiveness

Jesus Christ did not come to save us from HellHe came to save us from sin. Has the power of sin been broken in your life? Or does its residue control you? Allow Christ to work in your life and free you from sin's control, corruption, and condemnation so you can be a conquering Christian. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/135/29

John the Baptist had been sent to bear witness of Jesus Christ. God had personally revealed to John who Christ is. Jesus is the propitiation of the sins of the whole world, to take away your sin through faith. Have you beheld the lamb of God? Have you followed Him yourself? It is a work of grace by the power of the Holy Spirit to awaken your conscience. We must individually know that we have found the Messiah. You may begin to follow Christ based on the testimony of others, but have you had the truth of the Gospel revealed to your own heart? Why do you come to church every week? What are you seeking? You cannot follow Christ purely based on the testimony of someone else. Jesus is ever ready to meet with you and will not cast you out. You must be convinced yourself that Jesus is the Messiah. The disciple Philip didn’t need any convincing to follow Christ himself. Like Philip, some people will follow Christ quickly without needing any other information. Others need to search and have their questions answered before believing. Nathanael was only focused on his preconceived ideas of who the Christ would be and where He would come from. Beware of these prejudices because they can be barriers to believing the Gospel. Lay down your prejudices and examine the evidence of Christ for yourself. If you have any preconceived ideas of Christ and Christianity, come to Christ and see for yourself. The Lord personally revealed Himself to Nathanael, and he believed. We all need this type of revelation. We must know in the depths of our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God and the King of Israel. Allow Christ to speak to the secret place of your heart.

On this day that we celebrate the birth of a being who exemplified compassion, kindness and generosity, let us honor him by exemplifying these divine characteristics in our own lives. Let his life and physical death not be in vain. Allow Christ consciousness to be rebirthed within you, create a space within you where it is welcome. Express it in every word, every thought and every action. Be the gift in the present on this Christ-mass day. More than 2,000 years later, we should be more than capable of being kind, generous and compassionate. Merry Christ-mass! On today's show we will discuss Jesus and anchoring the Christ-Consciousness as well as rebirthing a new you in 2014.

Allow Christ to TRANSFORM you on the INSIDE and produce FRUITFUL words on the OUTSIDE.

Allow Christ to TRANSFORM you on the INSIDE and produce FRUITFUL words on the OUTSIDE.

Today's host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O'Connor Today's topics: Pope Benedict's visit to Germany Summary of today's show: Scot and Fr. Chris read two very different addresses from Pope Benedict XVI in his visit to Germany last week, to the Parliament and to young people. To Parliament he called them to remember that the root of law is a respect for human rights and dignity born out of the natural law. To young people, he called them to live as saints, joy-filled and reflecting the light of Christ; not dour, boring, and naïve caricatures of unhappy and unsmiling and far apart from us. 1st segment: Scot and Fr. Chris talked about the ailing Red Sox and whether more prayers in New England are going up to God for them. They also discussed how the seminarians at St. John Seminary get involved in sports. Fr. Chris said they have formed four intramural teams and will compete for the Rector's Bowl. He said it's important because exercise clears our heads and helps us to think and pray better. It's also good competitive spirit and fosters community. In October, they also have a softball tournament versus the seminarians at Blessed John XXIII Seminary, who the St. John's seminarians affectionately call the Relics. There was also recently the Family Day at St. John's. Fr. Chris celebrated the Mass and saw how prayer works. Seven or eight years ago there were just 28 men and today there are more than 80. At this family day, the refectory was filled with family of all kinds. Scot said most priests describe their family experience as their first seminary, which makes it so difficult for the men whose parents aren't supportive of their vocation. Scot said Pope Benedict went home to his native Germany over the past half-week. He's been writing for years about the crises of Europe losing its Christian roots. Scot thinks it's a highlight for the Pope to be able to go to his homeland and address these issues. Fr. Chris said Pope Benedict carried important messages back with him. Scot noted that Pope John Paul's first return to Poland after his election was described as nine days that changed the world. Perhaps this is Pope Benedict's five days that changed Europe. 2nd segment: Scot said the Pope's most significant address in Germany was reflections on law to the German Parliament. Scot said he was pushing back against any kind of secularism that tries to minimize the importance or place of faith in society. At this moment I turn to you, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, not least as your fellow-countryman who for all his life has been conscious of close links to his origins, and has followed the affairs of his native Germany with keen interest. But the invitation to give this address was extended to me as Pope, as the Bishop of Rome, who bears the highest responsibility for Catholic Christianity. Fr. Chris said the Pope made clear that he is coming as the Vicar of Christ, St. Peter's successor, and he had something to share with the leaders of this powerful nation. Scot said Americans can imagine the Pope standing in the well of the House in Congress addressing the same audience as the State of the Union. He began with a reflection from the Book of Kings: In the First Book of the Kings, it is recounted that God invited the young King Solomon, on his accession to the throne, to make a request. What will the young ruler ask for at this important moment? Success – wealth – long life – destruction of his enemies? He chooses none of these things. Instead, he asks for a listening heart so that he may govern God's people, and discern between good and evil (cf. 1 Kg 3:9). Through this story, the Bible wants to tell us what should ultimately matter for a politician. His fundamental criterion and the motivation for his work as a politician must not be success, and certainly not material gain. Politics must be a striving for justice, and hence it has to establish the fundamental preconditions for peace. Naturally a politician will seek success, without which he would have no opportunity for effective political action at all. Yet success is subordinated to the criterion of justice, to the will to do what is right, and to the understanding of what is right. Success can also be seductive and thus can open up the path towards the falsification of what is right, towards the destruction of justice. “Without justice – what else is the State but a great band of robbers?”, as Saint Augustine once said. We Germans know from our own experience that these words are no empty spectre. We have seen how power became divorced from right, how power opposed right and crushed it, so that the State became an instrument for destroying right – a highly organized band of robbers, capable of threatening the whole world and driving it to the edge of the abyss. To serve right and to fight against the dominion of wrong is and remains the fundamental task of the politician. At a moment in history when man has acquired previously inconceivable power, this task takes on a particular urgency. Man can destroy the world. He can manipulate himself. He can, so to speak, make human beings and he can deny them their humanity. How do we recognize what is right? How can we discern between good and evil, between what is truly right and what may appear right? Even now, Solomon's request remains the decisive issue facing politicians and politics today. How do we determine what is right from what appears right? What is the foundation of law? Fr. Chris said you can see where Pope Benedict is going already. There are three major arguments in philosophy: Truth vs. opinion, nature vs. convention, appearance vs. reality. Those are the arguments Pope Benedict is setting up here. Scot also noted that the Holy Father references the evil of the Nazis that Germans remain very aware of. He also said so clearly: Man can destroy the world and manipulate humanity. Fr. Chris said Pope Benedict is making clear to politicians that their role is not to do what is expedient or popular but to do the common good by upholding the dignity of every human person. For most of the matters that need to be regulated by law, the support of the majority can serve as a sufficient criterion. Yet it is evident that for the fundamental issues of law, in which the dignity of man and of humanity is at stake, the majority principle is not enough: everyone in a position of responsibility must personally seek out the criteria to be followed when framing laws. For most laws, the sense of the majority is a fine basis for what makes a good law. But on the fundamental issues of life and the dignity of the human person, majority rule is not sufficient. Fr. Chris said the truth must prevail, even if everyone is doing something other than the truth. Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Fides et Ratio makes it clear that truth is not built on consensus. Every person has a conscience and if it's properly formed and working, then it can lead us to the truth. Scot said our Declaration of Independence affirms that we have inalienable rights that come from God, not the state. How do we recognize what is right? In history, systems of law have almost always been based on religion: decisions regarding what was to be lawful among men were taken with reference to the divinity. Unlike other great religions, Christianity has never proposed a revealed law to the State and to society, that is to say a juridical order derived from revelation. Scot said the Pope is comparing it to Sharia law in Muslim societies, where civil law is religious law. Christianity has never proposed that. Fr. Chris said Christianity proclaims the truth and leaves the creation of laws to politicians. Instead, it has pointed to nature and reason as the true sources of law (common sense) – and to the harmony of objective and subjective reason, which naturally presupposes that both spheres are rooted in the creative reason of God. Christian theologians thereby aligned themselves with a philosophical and juridical movement that began to take shape in the second century B.C. In the first half of that century, the social natural law developed by the Stoic philosophers came into contact with leading teachers of Roman Law.[2] Through this encounter, the juridical culture of the West was born, which was and is of key significance for the juridical culture of mankind. This pre-Christian marriage between law and philosophy opened up the path that led via the Christian Middle Ages and the juridical developments of the Age of Enlightenment all the way to the Declaration of Human Rights and to our German Basic Law of 1949, with which our nation committed itself to “inviolable and inalienable human rights as the foundation of every human community, and of peace and justice in the world”. Fr. Chris said he is making clear that law has to involve reason and has to be explained to people in ways they can understand. If it's not explainable to people or violating the common good, it creates chaos and tension within the community. Scot said advocacy of human rights doesn't just have its basis in Christian theology, but in natural law which predates the Church. 3rd segment: Scot said Pope Benedict is so forceful on this issue, not just because he thinks it undermines Christianity, but that it will also destroy society as a whole. The idea of natural law is today viewed as a specifically Catholic doctrine, not worth bringing into the discussion in a non-Catholic environment, so that one feels almost ashamed even to mention the term. Scot said for almost two millennia, when the Church taught something that came through common sense and the natural law, it was never seen as specifically Catholic. Now secularists claim that any reference to natural law is code for Christianity. Pope Benedict is drawing a clear distinction. Fr. Chris said so many people tell us to leave our faith at the door to the public square, but Pope Benedict says natural law is beyond religion. Scot said natural is based on “nature”. Scot gave the example that saying traditional nuclear families are ideal for raising children is natural law, not Christian theology. Let me outline briefly how this situation arose. Fundamentally it is because of the idea that an unbridgeable gulf exists between “is” and “ought”. An “ought” can never follow from an “is”, because the two are situated on completely different planes. Scot said “is” is how things are and “ought” is how things should be. Fr. Chris said what is (truth) versus how man takes it (convention). Scot said the “ought” is what are our values and where do we want to go as a society. When there is no objective values to build on, how can any decision stand? There are always belief systems in place in the public square and today it's often atheism that's antagonistic toward any theistic belief system. Fr. Chris said Cardinal Seán recently said in the early Church we fought over big theological ideas. Today we find ourselves battling against ideas over what it means to be human and what it means to be free. The Holy Father talks about positivism, a philosophy that says we don't need God, but that man will always be better and do good. [T]he positivist understanding of nature has come to be almost universally accepted. If nature – in the words of Hans Kelsen – is viewed as “an aggregate of objective data linked together in terms of cause and effect”, then indeed no ethical indication of any kind can be derived from it. Fr. Chris said this way of thinking claims that people do bad things because they are hardwired for it and we just need to find the right chemical to fix it. A positivist conception of nature as purely functional, as the natural sciences consider it to be, is incapable of producing any bridge to ethics and law, but once again yields only functional answers. The same also applies to reason, according to the positivist understanding that is widely held to be the only genuinely scientific one. Anything that is not verifiable or falsifiable, according to this understanding, does not belong to the realm of reason strictly understood. Hence ethics and religion must be assigned to the subjective field, and they remain extraneous to the realm of reason in the strict sense of the word. Where positivist reason dominates the field to the exclusion of all else – and that is broadly the case in our public mindset – then the classical sources of knowledge for ethics and law are excluded. This is a dramatic situation which affects everyone, and on which a public debate is necessary. Indeed, an essential goal of this address is to issue an urgent invitation to launch one. Scot said the Holy Father seeing the roots of how thinking develops over time, the foundations of what makes us what we are will undergo fundamental deterioration if we don't discuss how reason goes into making good law in these democracies. Fr. Chris noted that it was Nietzche's philosophy of the Super Man that influenced Hitler to launch the Third Reich. Marxism and Nietzchism are positivist philosophies that see Christianity and all religion as the enemy. Positivists say to live now in this life because their is no afterlife. At this point Europe's cultural heritage ought to come to our assistance. The conviction that there is a Creator God is what gave rise to the idea of human rights, the idea of the equality of all people before the law, the recognition of the inviolability of human dignity in every single person and the awareness of people's responsibility for their actions. Our cultural memory is shaped by these rational insights. To ignore it or dismiss it as a thing of the past would be to dismember our culture totally and to rob it of its completeness. The culture of Europe arose from the encounter between Jerusalem, Athens and Rome – from the encounter between Israel's monotheism, the philosophical reason of the Greeks and Roman law. This three-way encounter has shaped the inner identity of Europe. In the awareness of man's responsibility before God and in the acknowledgment of the inviolable dignity of every single human person, it has established criteria of law: it is these criteria that we are called to defend at this moment in our history. He has called Europe to defend those criteria. The idea that God created us gave rise to the concept of human rights and inviolable dignity before the law. Fr. Chris said we live in positivism where we go along and forget where we came from, the principles that formed our nation-states. He's saying Don't forget your roots, who made you, and where you come from. Pope John Paul in Fides et Ratio said, Reason and faith are the two lungs of one body and both are essential to every human person, because both have come from God. Scot said the Church doesn't tell us just to blindly accept teaching, but to internalize it and think it through, asking God's help so we can embrace the teaching because it's true, not just because someone in authority says so. Fr. Chris said our faith can withstand any approach of reason. It's a natural part of reason to come to understanding. 4th segment: Scot said Pope Benedict's address to the youth has garnered the most attention in the Catholic world. Dear friends, again and again the very notion of saints has been caricatured and distorted, as if to be holy meant to be remote from the world, naive and joyless. Often it is thought that a saint has to be someone with great ascetic and moral achievements, who might well be revered, but could never be imitated in our own lives. How false and discouraging this opinion is! There is no saint, apart from the Blessed Virgin Mary, who has not also known sin, who has never fallen. Dear friends, Christ is not so much interested in how often in our lives we stumble and fall, as in how often with his help we pick ourselves up again. He does not demand glittering achievements, but he wants his light to shine in you. He does not call you because you are good and perfect, but because he is good and he wants to make you his friends. Yes, you are the light of the world because Jesus is your light. You are Christians – not because you do special and extraordinary things, but because he, Christ, is your life, our life. You are holy, we are holy, if we allow his grace to work in us. Scot said this address is extremely down to earth in comparison. It's a wonderful, warm address that we're all called to be saints and tells us how to live holiness by letting Christ shine through and joy-filled, in the world and connected, not boring and naïve. Fr. Chris said he captures sanctity. We're called to be saints, which means to enjoy the beatific vision in heaven with God our Father. Every saint has a past and every sinner a future. Pope Benedict reminds us of the great mercy of Christ. Scot said many modern saints, including those might be canonized at some point, in their biographies you see them desire to tell the whole story, warts and all, to show how often they turned back to the mercy of God. The saint knows they don't fall less than others; they just recognize that God picks them up each time. Fr. Chris recalls in the biography of St. Therese of Lisieux how there was a sister in the convent who drove her crazy, but she showed so much love to the nun that she believed that Therese loved her best. Saints are called to take the hand of the Lord, cling to it and walk as He does. Dear friends, this evening as we gather in prayer around the one Lord, we sense the truth of Christ's saying that the city built on a hilltop cannot remain hidden. This gathering shines in more ways than one – in the glow of innumerable lights, in the radiance of so many young people who believe in Christ. A candle can only give light if it lets itself be consumed by the flame. It would remain useless if its wax failed to nourish the fire. Allow Christ to burn in you, even at the cost of sacrifice and renunciation. Do not be afraid that you might lose something and, so to speak, emerge empty-handed at the end. Have the courage to apply your talents and gifts for God's kingdom and to give yourselves – like candlewax – so that the Lord can light up the darkness through you. Dare to be glowing saints, in whose eyes and hearts the love of Christ beams and who thus bring light to the world. I am confident that you and many other young people here in Germany are lamps of hope that do not remain hidden. “You are the light of the world”. Where God is, there is a future! Amen. Scot said Pope Benedict would say the same to all of us: Dare to be saints. Fr. Chris said don't be afraid to make sacrifices and renunciations. We can never outdo God in his generosity, love and goodness. All He asks is that we live in him and follow him. Scot said the crisis of faith in the Church is because we don't have enough saints, average everyday person who turns to God each day asks to be his vessel. With just a few saints in Boston we would change the perception of the Church in society. Scot noted how so many people at the Celebration of the Priesthood last week said that priests' holiness have inspired them to live a deeper faith.