Inspiring Philosophy: Different Genealogies? – Bible Contradiction #1

Saint Peter instructs believers to “[a]lways be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence’ (1 Peter 3:15). Over the course of its existence, the Church has called the process of explaining, arguing for, and/or answering questions about, the Christian Faith apologetics (see here). Apologetics is defined as the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Someone who engages in apologetics is an apologist.

Perhaps my favorite apologist on Youtube is Michael Jones who creates videos for the channel Inspiring Philosophy. I find his work engaging, his arguments sound, and the topics he covers broad and interesting. As a result, I have decided to post his videos here and, as I usually do for these sorts of things, I will keep a running list of links to prior videos with each post of a new video.

Past videos:

• What Atheists Confuse
• God’s Hand was not Forced
• Refuting Weak Anthropic Principle Arguments
• The Ontological Argument (Question Begging?)
• Answering Objections to the Ontological Argument (Part 1)
• Refuting Objections to the Trinity (Part 1)
• The Trinity in the New Testament
• The Trinity in the Old Testament
• The Teleological Argument (What it really says)
• The Ontological Argument (The Introduction)
• Why Christianity is Different – Dr. Timothy Keller
• Why There is No Proof of God
• Christianity vs. Evolution?
• Answering Objections to the Ontological Argument (Part 2)
• The Truth about the Council of Nicaea
• The Case for Free Will
• What is the Trinity?
• Refuting Objections to the Trinity (Part 2)
• Why Didn’t Jesus & the Holy Spirit Know the Hour?
• What Some Still Confuse
• The Cosmological Argument
• Digital Physics Argument for God’s Existence
• Quantum Physics Debunks Materialism
• The Introspective Argument
• How Free Will Works
• Believing in Free Will is Better
• Delayed Choice Quantum Eraser Experiment Explained
• Afterlife – A Christian Response
• Is Christianity Slavery?
• Man or Rabbit?
• The Book of Job Explained
• Christianity and Panentheism
• The Measurement Problem
• A Critique of the Many Worlds Interpretation
• Worst Objection to Theism: Who Created God?
• The Next Phase of Apologetics
• The Case for the Soul (Neuroscience)
• Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism (An Introduction)
• The Reliability of the New Testament (Introduction)

Please be edified by this video:

COVID 19’s IMPACT ON SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY BENEFITS CONTINUES

An Object Lesson for Those Touched Personally, Professionally and Medically by the Enduring Nature of COVID-19 Symptoms

Most people do not envision that their earning years will be cut short by illness, and they will be required to apply for Social Security disability benefits. Everyone is eligible to file for these benefits, but the amount they will receive, if they are awarded benefits, varies, based on certain requirements. If you receive long-term disability benefits (“LTD”) from an insurance company, through an employment-based or privately-paid policy, the insurance company will require you to apply for Social Security disability benefits. If you are awarded these benefits, that amount will partially offset the amount you receive from LTD benefits. Currently 8.2 million disabled workers are collecting Social Security benefits which average $1,277 a month.

COVID-19 related issues have increased the number of Social Security disability applicants, especially those with lasting symptoms (long haulers), including workers who were already working with medical problems, but were furloughed or terminated during the pandemic, and decided to apply for these benefits. The increase in applicants, plus the disruption in the workflow of government workers, has considerably delayed the entire Social Security disability process.

The Social Security disability application process has always been challenging, and is designed for people who suffer mental or physical conditions that have lasted, or are expected to last, at least 12 months. There are five decision-making levels to this process:

• Initial Application
• Reconsideration
• Administrative Law Judge Hearing
• Appeals Council
• Federal Court

Currently, the standard waiting periods are three to five months to receive an initial decision.

If the initial application is denied, it can take four to six months to be reconsidered.  If the reconsideration request is denied, and a hearing is requested, it can take at least a year just to schedule a hearing, and considerably longer to actually attend a hearing, in person or virtually. The long delay in the process means that about 50,000 people declare bankruptcy or pass away before receiving their final decision each year.

Every year the Social Security Administration publishes a chart that shows the percentage of cases that have been awarded or denied benefits at the different levels of the SSD process. This is known at the Waterfall Chart. The 2021 Waterfall Chart states that:

• At the Initial Application level, where 1,943,600 people applied, 34% of applicants were awarded benefits and 64% of applicants were denied benefits.
• At the Reconsideration level, where a denied application is reviewed again by a different disability examiner, there were 503,700 applicants, 87% of whom were denied, and 13% of whom were awarded benefits.
• Of the 301,000 applicants for an Administrative Law Judge hearing, 51% of the applications were approved, 42% were denied, and the remainder, were dismissed.
• Of the approximately 150,000 denials, only about 78,000 continued to the Appeals Council level where a written argument is submitted, but a hearing does not take place. At this level 1% of the applications are granted benefits, but 11%, or about 8500 applicants, are granted a remand back to a hearing judge.
• The last step of the appeal process – the Federal Court level- is reached by only about 17,000 applicants. reach. Although only 1% of applicants are awarded benefits at this level, 59% receive a remand back to a hearing judge.

THUS OUR OBJECT LESSON FOR SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY APPLICANTS: KEEP APPEALING TO THE LAST LEVEL, AS STATISTICALLY THIS LEVEL REPRESENTS THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO WIN THE BENEFITS YOU DESERVE.

For nearly five decades, Faye Riva Cohen has provided personalized, creative, and zealous legal representation to clients in the areas of Employment and Labor Law, Civil Rights and Discrimination, Estate Planning and Litigation, Real Estate, and Family Law. She enjoys a well-earned reputation for successfully litigating multi-faceted, complex cases against large and powerful adversaries, often in David and Goliath situations. Please feel free to contact her at: 215-563-7776 or frc@fayerivacohen.com.

Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine Bars Court From Interpreting Foundation’s Bylaws

This is from religionclause.blogspot.com which you can find here:

In Foundation for the Advancement of Catholic Schools, Inc. v. The Most Reverend Leonard P. Blair, (CT Super, June 15, 2023), a Connecticut trial court held that “the constitutional bar on court jurisdiction over religious matters” required it to dismiss a suit over interpretation of the bylaws of an organization that provides scholarships for students attending Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Hartford. At issue was whether the Archbishop could appoint Board of Trustee members other than those recommended by the Governance Committee. The court said in part:

Notwithstanding its formal status as a nonstock corporation, the court finds that FACS is a religious organization with ecclesiastical doctrine and practices. While FACS may be akin to a mutual fund in how it accepts contributions, diversifies assets, and distributes money, the mission and character of the organization is wholly marked by “clear and obvious religious characteristics.”…

[T]he court cannot neutrally apply principles of corporate bylaw interpretation without intruding upon the archbishop’s religious decision-making authority. Instead, the court is being asked to entangle the Superior Court of the State of Connecticut into matters of religious doctrine, religious practices and church polity.

You can learn more about this issue here.

Templeton Project: Authority

Back in October 2015 I wrote about the inauguration of the Abington Templeton Foundation (see here).  The project is now underway (see here) and I will be posting our writing here.

Check out the latest piece entitled “Authority.”

See also:

• Grounds for the Project
• The Biblical Foundation – Apology
• Apology in the New Testament II
• Apology in the New Testament III
• With Gentleness and Respect
• Elect Exiles of the Dispersion – the Importance of Identity
• The Present Cultural Environment in America
• Flannery O’Connor’s ‘Push Back’
• Saint Paul’s Civility
• Unbelievers
• Christ, Culture, and Christians
• Jesus and His Opponents in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew
• The Holy Spirit as Apologist
• On Listening to God and One Another
• Deep Conviction and Commitment
• Questions Unbelievers (especially Atheists) May Ask in Dialogue
• Waning Faith and Yearning Heart
• The Apostle on Mars Hill (Areopagus)
• A Fire, a World of Unrighteousness
• Civil Blood Makes Civil Hands Unclean
• Examples of Uncivil and Civil Speech
• Of Self-Control
• Humor in Dialogue
• Utopian Dreams
• Do we understand each other?
• When We Differ
• Dialogue and Personality
• Of Anger
• Discipleship and Apologetics
• Nurturing Christian Disciples
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics I
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics II–Wise as Serpents and Innocent as Doves
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics III–Endurance
• Discipleship and Apologetics IV–Family Conflict
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics V–Doing the Will of the Father as Peacemakers
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XII–“The Tree is Known by Its Fruit”
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics VI–A Sword, Not Peace
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics VII–Repentance and the Forgiveness of Sins
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics VIII–Mission to the Gentiles
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics IX–The Parable of the Sower
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics X–“Fear not, do not be afraid
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XI–“Come to me, . . . and I will give you rest
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XIII–Humility
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XIV–Woes Turned to the Wisdom of Christ and the Blessings of the Kingdom
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XV–The Sign of the Cross
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XVI–The Resurrection
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XVII–The Judgment
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XVIII–The Vision
• Templeton Project: Inside the Heart and Mind of an Atheist
• Spare, Knowledgeable, and Wise Speech
• Truth as the Only Solid Foundation for Inquiry and Dialogue
• What is Bigotry
• What is Bigotry? Part II: Ideology
• Establishment and Distortion of the Facts
• Confused Mind and Inconstant Heart
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–John the Baptist
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Mother of Our Lord
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Nicodemus
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Samaritan Woman
• The Need for Self-Control
• Self-control and American Culture
• Is Transformation Possible?
• Values and Virtue–the Difference
• The Coronavirus
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Healing of an Official’s Son
• Coronavirus Update
• A Prayer in a Time of Pandemic
• A Troubled Nation
• Articulation of the Faith in Times of Crisis
• Father Seraphim on Nihilism
• Day to Day Nihilism
• Who or What is Absurd?
• Christian Leadership
• The Power of the Invisible
• The Great Revolution
• Religious vs. Spiritual
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Man at the Pool of Siloam, the Blind Man, and the Dead Man
• The Ideological Use of a Virus (Covid-19)
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–His Enemies
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–His Enemies Part 2
• What Fire Cleanses?
• Babel–A Confusion of Tongues
• Babel and Jerusalem
• The American Olympians
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Pilate
• Who and What is Evil?
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Peter
• Gratitude, Humility, and Wonder–Key Words for Christian Living
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Thomas the Doubter
• The Early Christian Apologists–The Letter of Mathetes to Diognetus
• Dogma and Bigotry
• Squeeze Out the Spiritual Life–A Dictum of Our Secular Culture
• The Early Christian Apologists–Aristides
• Our Aspirations
• The Promise
• To Be Like God
• The Misuse of the Word Eternal
• The Sacred Obscure Amidst the Secular
• An Overall Idea
• Symbolism and Orthodoxy
• Witnessing and Division in the Church
• Camus, Absurdism, and the Faith of the Church
• Overcoming Evil without Being Overcome
• The State of the United States
• Did the Last Post Show Disrespect?
• With Gentleness and Respect
• Athenagoras’ A Plea for the Christians
• Defy and Deify
• At Present
• At Present Revised
• Musings during the Hours of Night
• Mysterium Tremendum–A Day at Hawk Mountain
• The Lower Yellowstone River Falls
• He Turned Aside
• Emptiness (A Sonnet)
• The Brazen Eagle Soars
• Emptiness Part II
• Lenten Reflection
• Chaos Set Right
• The Holy Sepulcher
• A Press of Leaves
• The Prairie– The Flint Hills
• The Sanctuary Light
• The World and the World

_____________________________

These days, many American seem to have great trouble with authority of any kind whether it be religious, familial, educational, governmental, etc.  Some educational leaders and civil servants have supported this tendency of disrespect. The result of this erosion of respect for authority is increased public disorder, crime, and contempt for others. Those in authority have encouraged this distress because of their own bad behavior.  Almost daily in the news are instances of the irresponsibility and hypocrisy of the elite.  Rather than encouraging order, they have become factors in the general malaise.

Added to this is the rise of the despisers of Western, and specifically American, culture.  While some of culture deserves criticism, the modern critique seeks the dissolution of much that is worthy of our attention and respect.  Like the nihilists of Russia in the late 19th century, they would dispense with the past in favor of their own cultural preferences whatever they may be (see John Strickland, The Age of Nihilism). This contempt invites chaos.

The fundamental problem is the growing nihilism and godlessness in our society.  Many of us have accepted the idea that life has no meaning.  Without God we venture into chaos, moral and otherwise.

How do we witness in this cultural environment?  We witness with commitment to bring people to Christ.  No challenge is to prevent us from loyalty to Christ’s commission to baptize the people of all nations.  The early Christians also lived in a hostile cultural environment.  Despite this hostility, they witnessed to Christ, eventually producing an empire officially Christian and a population with a Christian majority. Are there any special ways we should witness in this difficult situation.  Yes.  Show gentleness and respect. Listen carefully, trying to understand the intellectual and spiritual fixes people have gotten themselves into and provide help appropriate to the specific situation.

How will order return to our society?  The church’s part is to call the people to follow Christ. It may be that this will take much time to work out, if Christ doesn’t return before then.

Michael G. Tavella

Court Says Center’s Food Distribution Is Likely a Religious Exercise Under RLUIPA

This is from religionclause.blogspot.com which you can find here:

In Micah’s Way v. City of Santa Ana, (CD CA, June 8, 2023), a California federal district court refused to dismiss a suit by a center that provides aid to impoverished and disabled individuals claiming that the city has violated its rights under RLUIPA and the First Amendment by refusing to issue it a Certificate of Occupancy unless it agrees to stop providing food and beverages to its clients. While the center had operated for 5 years without a certificate of occupancy, the city began a concerted effort to get Micah’s Way as well as a needle exchange program nearby to move out of the neighborhood after the city’s mayor who lived nearby experienced a break-in at his home. The court held that Micah’s Way plausibly alleged that its food distribution activities are a “religious exercise” under RLUIPA and that the city has substantially burdened that religious exercise. The court also concluded that plaintiff has plausibly alleged a violation of the 1st Amendment’s Free Exercise clause. Voice of OC reports on the decision.

You can learn more about this issue here.

Templeton Project: The World and the World

Back in October 2015 I wrote about the inauguration of the Abington Templeton Foundation (see here).  The project is now underway (see here) and I will be posting our writing here.

Check out the latest piece entitled “The World and the World.”

See also:

• Grounds for the Project
• The Biblical Foundation – Apology
• Apology in the New Testament II
• Apology in the New Testament III
• With Gentleness and Respect
• Elect Exiles of the Dispersion – the Importance of Identity
• The Present Cultural Environment in America
• Flannery O’Connor’s ‘Push Back’
• Saint Paul’s Civility
• Unbelievers
• Christ, Culture, and Christians
• Jesus and His Opponents in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew
• The Holy Spirit as Apologist
• On Listening to God and One Another
• Deep Conviction and Commitment
• Questions Unbelievers (especially Atheists) May Ask in Dialogue
• Waning Faith and Yearning Heart
• The Apostle on Mars Hill (Areopagus)
• A Fire, a World of Unrighteousness
• Civil Blood Makes Civil Hands Unclean
• Examples of Uncivil and Civil Speech
• Of Self-Control
• Humor in Dialogue
• Utopian Dreams
• Do we understand each other?
• When We Differ
• Dialogue and Personality
• Of Anger
• Discipleship and Apologetics
• Nurturing Christian Disciples
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics I
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics II–Wise as Serpents and Innocent as Doves
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics III–Endurance
• Discipleship and Apologetics IV–Family Conflict
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics V–Doing the Will of the Father as Peacemakers
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XII–“The Tree is Known by Its Fruit”
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics VI–A Sword, Not Peace
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics VII–Repentance and the Forgiveness of Sins
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics VIII–Mission to the Gentiles
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics IX–The Parable of the Sower
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics X–“Fear not, do not be afraid
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XI–“Come to me, . . . and I will give you rest
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XIII–Humility
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XIV–Woes Turned to the Wisdom of Christ and the Blessings of the Kingdom
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XV–The Sign of the Cross
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XVI–The Resurrection
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XVII–The Judgment
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XVIII–The Vision
• Templeton Project: Inside the Heart and Mind of an Atheist
• Spare, Knowledgeable, and Wise Speech
• Truth as the Only Solid Foundation for Inquiry and Dialogue
• What is Bigotry
• What is Bigotry? Part II: Ideology
• Establishment and Distortion of the Facts
• Confused Mind and Inconstant Heart
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–John the Baptist
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Mother of Our Lord
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Nicodemus
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Samaritan Woman
• The Need for Self-Control
• Self-control and American Culture
• Is Transformation Possible?
• Values and Virtue–the Difference
• The Coronavirus
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Healing of an Official’s Son
• Coronavirus Update
• A Prayer in a Time of Pandemic
• A Troubled Nation
• Articulation of the Faith in Times of Crisis
• Father Seraphim on Nihilism
• Day to Day Nihilism
• Who or What is Absurd?
• Christian Leadership
• The Power of the Invisible
• The Great Revolution
• Religious vs. Spiritual
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Man at the Pool of Siloam, the Blind Man, and the Dead Man
• The Ideological Use of a Virus (Covid-19)
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–His Enemies
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–His Enemies Part 2
• What Fire Cleanses?
• Babel–A Confusion of Tongues
• Babel and Jerusalem
• The American Olympians
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Pilate
• Who and What is Evil?
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Peter
• Gratitude, Humility, and Wonder–Key Words for Christian Living
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Thomas the Doubter
• The Early Christian Apologists–The Letter of Mathetes to Diognetus
• Dogma and Bigotry
• Squeeze Out the Spiritual Life–A Dictum of Our Secular Culture
• The Early Christian Apologists–Aristides
• Our Aspirations
• The Promise
• To Be Like God
• The Misuse of the Word Eternal
• The Sacred Obscure Amidst the Secular
• An Overall Idea
• Symbolism and Orthodoxy
• Witnessing and Division in the Church
• Camus, Absurdism, and the Faith of the Church
• Overcoming Evil without Being Overcome
• The State of the United States
• Did the Last Post Show Disrespect?
• With Gentleness and Respect
• Athenagoras’ A Plea for the Christians
• Defy and Deify
• At Present
• At Present Revised
• Musings during the Hours of Night
• Mysterium Tremendum–A Day at Hawk Mountain
• The Lower Yellowstone River Falls
• He Turned Aside
• Emptiness (A Sonnet)
• The Brazen Eagle Soars
• Emptiness Part II
• Lenten Reflection
• Chaos Set Right
• The Holy Sepulcher
• A Press of Leaves
• The Prairie– The Flint Hills
• The Sanctuary Light

_____________________________

In the Gospel of John, the Greek word for world can mean two things.  First, world describes the inhabited universe.  We humans are in and part of the world.  It is stated in this gospel that the world needs a Savior.  This implication connects it to the second meaning that suggests the opposition between the world and God and His redeeming activity in Christ.  The world is opposed to the love of God and represents the darkness of Satan.

We live in the world, both as inhabitants and disciples committed to the work of God who has redeemed us and wishes to draw others into a relationship with Him.  It is in opposition to the world that we experience derision and even persecution.  Our temptation is to lash back at those who wish us ill.  Our obligation is to turn the other cheek.  Our witness involves both word and action.  We represent the Christian community and should act accordingly.  I Peter in particular and  the New Testament as a whole should be our guides.

The devil wants his following and will take every opportunity to gain new disciples.  Evil has many good evangelists.  Its devotees are always at work.  They would engulf the world (our inhabited reality in its need of a Savior) with disorder, hate, injustice, calamity, and especially our sin (the world as opposed to God).

We are in the ranks of those that will stand against evil no matter what.  In the warp and woof of daily life we respond and act for the Lord until He comes again with final victory over His foes.  Christ is indeed the Savior of the world!

Michael Tavella

May 10, 2023

Court Tells Catholic Bookstore to Litigate Over Religious Organization Exception to Nondiscrimination Law

This is from religionclause.blogspot.com which you can find here:

In The Catholic Bookstore, Inc. v. City of Jacksonville, (MD FL, June 9, 2023), a Florida federal district court found that a Catholic bookstore has standing to challenge Jacksonville’s Human Rights Ordinance on free speech grounds.  It also concluded that the claim is ripe. The bookstore wants to publicize its policy requiring its staff to address co-workers and customers only by “pronouns and titles that align with the biologically originating sex of the person being referenced….” The city’s Ordinance provides in part that it is unlawful to publish, circulate or display any communication indicating that service will be denied, or that patronage is unwelcome from a person because of sexual orientation or gender identity. The court, however, concluded that it is unclear whether the Human Rights Ordinance’s religious organization exception applies to the bookstore.  The court went on to deny plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction, dismiss plaintiff’s complaint without prejudice, and ordered plaintiff to file an amended complaint followed by a motion for summary judgment limited to the religious exception issue so it can resolve that issue before dealing with the rest of the case.

You can learn more about this issue here.

Templeton Project: The Sanctuary Light

Back in October 2015 I wrote about the inauguration of the Abington Templeton Foundation (see here).  The project is now underway (see here) and I will be posting our writing here.

Check out the latest piece entitled “The Sanctuary Light.”

See also:

• Grounds for the Project
• The Biblical Foundation – Apology
• Apology in the New Testament II
• Apology in the New Testament III
• With Gentleness and Respect
• Elect Exiles of the Dispersion – the Importance of Identity
• The Present Cultural Environment in America
• Flannery O’Connor’s ‘Push Back’
• Saint Paul’s Civility
• Unbelievers
• Christ, Culture, and Christians
• Jesus and His Opponents in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew
• The Holy Spirit as Apologist
• On Listening to God and One Another
• Deep Conviction and Commitment
• Questions Unbelievers (especially Atheists) May Ask in Dialogue
• Waning Faith and Yearning Heart
• The Apostle on Mars Hill (Areopagus)
• A Fire, a World of Unrighteousness
• Civil Blood Makes Civil Hands Unclean
• Examples of Uncivil and Civil Speech
• Of Self-Control
• Humor in Dialogue
• Utopian Dreams
• Do we understand each other?
• When We Differ
• Dialogue and Personality
• Of Anger
• Discipleship and Apologetics
• Nurturing Christian Disciples
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics I
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics II–Wise as Serpents and Innocent as Doves
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics III–Endurance
• Discipleship and Apologetics IV–Family Conflict
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics V–Doing the Will of the Father as Peacemakers
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XII–“The Tree is Known by Its Fruit”
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics VI–A Sword, Not Peace
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics VII–Repentance and the Forgiveness of Sins
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics VIII–Mission to the Gentiles
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics IX–The Parable of the Sower
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics X–“Fear not, do not be afraid
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XI–“Come to me, . . . and I will give you rest
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XIII–Humility
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XIV–Woes Turned to the Wisdom of Christ and the Blessings of the Kingdom
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XV–The Sign of the Cross
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XVI–The Resurrection
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XVII–The Judgment
• Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XVIII–The Vision
• Templeton Project: Inside the Heart and Mind of an Atheist
• Spare, Knowledgeable, and Wise Speech
• Truth as the Only Solid Foundation for Inquiry and Dialogue
• What is Bigotry
• What is Bigotry? Part II: Ideology
• Establishment and Distortion of the Facts
• Confused Mind and Inconstant Heart
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–John the Baptist
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Mother of Our Lord
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Nicodemus
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Samaritan Woman
• The Need for Self-Control
• Self-control and American Culture
• Is Transformation Possible?
• Values and Virtue–the Difference
• The Coronavirus
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Healing of an Official’s Son
• Coronavirus Update
• A Prayer in a Time of Pandemic
• A Troubled Nation
• Articulation of the Faith in Times of Crisis
• Father Seraphim on Nihilism
• Day to Day Nihilism
• Who or What is Absurd?
• Christian Leadership
• The Power of the Invisible
• The Great Revolution
• Religious vs. Spiritual
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Man at the Pool of Siloam, the Blind Man, and the Dead Man
• The Ideological Use of a Virus (Covid-19)
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–His Enemies
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–His Enemies Part 2
• What Fire Cleanses?
• Babel–A Confusion of Tongues
• Babel and Jerusalem
• The American Olympians
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Pilate
• Who and What is Evil?
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Peter
• Gratitude, Humility, and Wonder–Key Words for Christian Living
• Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Thomas the Doubter
• The Early Christian Apologists–The Letter of Mathetes to Diognetus
• Dogma and Bigotry
• Squeeze Out the Spiritual Life–A Dictum of Our Secular Culture
• The Early Christian Apologists–Aristides
• Our Aspirations
• The Promise
• To Be Like God
• The Misuse of the Word Eternal
• The Sacred Obscure Amidst the Secular
• An Overall Idea
• Symbolism and Orthodoxy
• Witnessing and Division in the Church
• Camus, Absurdism, and the Faith of the Church
• Overcoming Evil without Being Overcome
• The State of the United States
• Did the Last Post Show Disrespect?
• With Gentleness and Respect
• Athenagoras’ A Plea for the Christians
• Defy and Deify
• At Present
• At Present Revised
• Musings during the Hours of Night
• Mysterium Tremendum–A Day at Hawk Mountain
• The Lower Yellowstone River Falls
• He Turned Aside
• Emptiness (A Sonnet)
• The Brazen Eagle Soars
• Emptiness Part II
• Lenten Reflection
• Chaos Set Right
• The Holy Sepulcher
• A Press of Leaves
• The Prairie– The Flint Hills

_____________________________

The flickering flame was the only light in the darkened church,

When I arrived to take a seat in a choir pew,

Away from the spiritual amnesia that comes from daily life.

In this holy place the soul can hear God speak anew.

The hours fled swiftly, as I fell more deeply into my thoughts.

Aware of my troubled spirit and where to find relief,

And in mind of the multitude of things that distract my heart,

I asked the Holy Spirit to bring me to stronger belief.

As I looked up from my prayers, the muted flame turned bright,

Uncanny and mysterious in its ardor and serene in its glow.

What kind of ghostlike visitor at this hour might I expect?

I waited in silence with ears to hear in order to know.

But, only silence ensued as I gazed at that steady lamp.

The holy Lord speaks not in this secular age of the trite;

The gate is shut against Him by the inmates of the keep.

No longer does the Lord of hosts appear in might.

Not so–these thoughts became so obnoxious to my mind.

How do I get around myself to see and hear,

When the Lord draws nigh and with compassion speaks to me?

He said to them, “It is I. Take heart and have no fear.”

It was then that from the rack I took up the Holy Writ

And read and re-read a text mundane wisdom cannot transcend.

God planted eternity in our hearts, but we can’t know,

So says the Preacher, what God has done from beginning to end.

Not all is said by the words of the Jerusalem king and sage.

Again I read in the holy Apostle: God’s light has shone

That gives knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

In His life and death and rising the Son made the Father known.

I realized once again God has revealed Himself in His strength

Through His authoritative Word that appears in the sacred text.

It is not that God is silent but that we are adverse to hear.

Christ Jesus has come to bring understanding to us, the perplexed.

In the early hours of morning flickers the light in the dark.

I sit in the stillness of the place where I in joy abide,

With thanks to God that He is present to give us new life.

We can hear Him if we but listen with ears and eyes open wide.

Michael Tavella, Day of Saint James and Saint Philip, 2023

YesSource: Yes Tribute 10/9/15 – Caballero Reynaldo – Close to the Lounge

Here are my latest uploads to YesSource, my Yes rarities youtube page (about which you can read here).  This post is another addition to my series of Yes music posts and a collection of all my Yes-related posts is here.  Yes, of course, is a, if not the, premier progressive rock band, and I am an enormous fan of it.

You can see all of my Yessource uploads here.

My latest YesSource uploads can be found here:

• Yes Tribute: 10/9/15 – Caballero Reynaldo – Close to the Lounge – Wonderous Stories
• Yes Tribute: 10/9/15 – Caballero Reynaldo – Close to the Lounge – We Can Fly
• Yes Tribute: 10/9/15 – Caballero Reynaldo – Close to the Lounge – Tempus Fugit
• Yes Tribute: 10/9/15 – Caballero Reynaldo – Close to the Lounge – Soon
• Yes Tribute: 10/9/15 – Caballero Reynaldo – Close to the Lounge – Roundabout
• Yes Tribute: 10/9/15 – Caballero Reynaldo – Close to the Lounge – Owner of a Lonely Heart
• Yes Tribute: 10/9/15 – Caballero Reynaldo – Close to the Lounge – Onward
• Yes Tribute: 10/9/15 – Caballero Reynaldo – Close to the Lounge – Nous Sommes Du Soleil
• Yes Tribute: 10/9/15 – Caballero Reynaldo – Close to the Lounge – Long Distance Runaround
• Yes Tribute: 10/9/15 – Caballero Reynaldo – Close to the Lounge – I’ve Seen All Good People
• Yes Tribute: 10/9/15 – Caballero Reynaldo – Close to the Lounge – Don’t Go
• Yes Tribute: 10/9/15 – Caballero Reynaldo – Close to the Lounge – Close to the Lounge

Ministerial Exception and RFRA Defenses Rejected in Suit Over Firing of Bible Translation Company IT Employee

This is from religionclause.blogspot.com which you can find here:

In Ratlliff v. Wycliffe Associates, Inc., (MD FL, May 26, 2023), a Florida federal district court refused to dismiss a Title VII employment discrimination suit brought against a Bible translation company by a software developer who was fired after the company learned that he had entered a same-sex marriage. The court rejected defendant’s reliance on RFRA, concluding that “s RFRA does not apply to lawsuits in which the government is not a party.”  It rejected defendant’s “ministerial exception” defense, saying in part:

… Plaintiff does not qualify as a minister.

… Plaintiff was seemingly hired for his technological aptitude…. Accordingly, Plaintiff’s role was to employ his knowledge to develop software, not to act as a source of religious conveyance…. While the software’s purpose may have been to translate the Bible, Plaintiff himself was not doing so…. Further, Plaintiff’s direct interactions involved other software and database developers—not the individuals seeking out Defendant’s mission….

… [A]t bottom here, Plaintiff is a software developer, with no idiosyncratic religious title, background, education, or function…..

You can learn more about this issue here.