RENEW International: Rebuilding the Catholic Faith

RENEW International is a Roman Catholic ministry that has been working for over 30 years to help over 150 dioceses in the United States find and foster spiritual renewal in the Catholic church.

RENEW International works with each diocese by providing programs and materials to help the diocese meet better serve their communities by encouraging people to draw closer to God in their daily lives. The impact of RENEW International is remarkable. They've already touched the lives of over 25 million people globally.

Christians, especially, those in the United States, have suffered from the "bad publicity" received in the media. Some of it, of course, has been deserved as church leaders from many denominations have fallen publicly. But it's refreshing to know that the Roman Catholic church, who has been hit harder than most, is rebounding. We pray that ministries such as this one continue to bring renewal and restoration to the Church.

Edgy humor or sacrilege?

There's a new "comedy" coming to HDNet on April 26. It's called "Sex, God, Rock 'n Roll" and will feature indie rocker Stuart Davis performing "stand up comedy, news, sketches, and music" according to their press release.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that where my faith is concerned especially, I'm very conservative. And I have no qualms about stating publicly that promoting a show about a man with a "twisted mind and a sensitive soul" under the guise of religion troubles me. The title alone by my standards, is sacriligious. There are just some things you shouldn't make fun of. God is at the top of that list.

I know nothing about this man's musical talent, song-writing abilities or personal characteristics. That's not my issue nor my concern. What does concern me is that this is just one more instance of minimizing God's greatness and omnipotence. We can and should laugh at ourselves and much of life, and I do so frequently. But I don't believe there is ever a time we should laugh at God. To do so makes Him seem smaller somehow. How can you lessen the greatness of the Creator of all?

While I realize that not everyone believes or thinks the way I do, when people claim to be "religious" people, I do look for some form of reverence in them. Somewhere. But the title of this series leads me to wonder if there is any to be found in Mr. Davis. And as a pastor and a minister, this is one more on my long list of things I would never watch.

When Did Atheism Become a Religion?

I was surfing the Net considering what to blog about today, looking at options, when I came across a Christian blog post that talked about increasing blog traffic. It suggested signing up with Blog Toplist. So I clicked on the link which took me to the religion section of this site. Below the religious news sites, a few Islamic sites, and a couple of New Age sites, there were several atheist sites. When did atheism become a religion?

To my understanding, atheism is the lack of belief in God, so how can we call that a religion? Wouldn't it be a non-religion or an anti-religion?

The world is changing too much to suit me. Maybe I'm just getting old.