+JMJ+

Hello CI family,

Short version: things are very, very difficult in our family right now. We have an opportunity to make some little income, but have no way to fuel our vehicle to get to the place we need to. There are some positive developments, but next month I will have been unemployed for a full year. Providentially, Our Lord removed me from a VA (Veterans' Administration here in the US) -affiliated job right before dozens of cases of corruption, embezzlement and mismanaged resources have come to light. Please continue to pray for us.

NOTE: Yes, there are people from CI with whom I have been in contact about items I posted for sale some months ago. Some people have received their items; others have not. Our financial situation took a serious turn for the worse over the last couple of months, and we have continually had to choose between paying for postage and having food. I am doing my best to send the aforementioned items as soon as I possibly can. Please forgive my inability to handle this better, and forgive my lack of communication.

Now, then... a friend (friendly acquaintance, really) is a philosophy student and is studying at a Prot "seminary". He is also an active Internet blogger.

Lately, he has been posting articles concerning such issues as

Can we trust the Canon of Scripture?
How were the contents of the Bible preserved?
Did Emperor Constantine decree or influence the Canon of Scripture?

and more.

There are some laughable things about these articles; namely, the fact that the people who complied the Canon belonged to a Church that believes almost NOTHING in common with the Prots, especially concerning the doctrines of salvation.

Hilarious, too, is the constant quotation of "experts" and "theologians" as if the case for XYZ doctrine could be established by having a greater number of positive opinions on the subject. Of course, there are thousands of Prot denominations that don't even recognize half of these "experts" as legitimate teachers anyway... ahh, you've just got to love Protestantism.

Meanwhile, I get a weekly dose of stupidly-worded rock songs played by amateur-level musicians, all talking about how God is supposed to

increase our "awareness of His Presence" - by some mystical Charismatic goings-on, I'm sure
"awake the Kingdom seed in us" - whatever that means
"come and flood this place" - that doesn't sound good

All of this subjective reasoning and experiential "spirituality" is driving me nuts lately, but I have an increasingly hard time dealing with people in my life who are convinced of the "power" of reading a Prot Bible alone and "being led" to understand things that make sense sometimes to them alone...

Please continue to pray for us.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, triumph soon!

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.