Tonight at 8pm Central I’m going to hop onto a LIVE webinar with over 400 registered participants.
It’s free and packed with information. I’m giving a LIVE personal presentation on how to share your Catholic faith with those who don’t agree and I’ll give you 7 reasons and tools to help you grow in Catholic theology. I’ll also be giving away free books to those that register. Every one who registers will also receive some downloadable resources.
In our last Catholic Webinar we had over 1,000 people. That’s once big Google Hangout webinar! Let’s make it 2,000 tonight.
Please join us. It’s super easy. All you have to do is click a link to join the live video chat room. You do have to register in order for it all to work. Here’s the link to register for tonight’s webinar:
Thank you to all of those that participated in our fun little book launch party. Also thank you to everyone who bought a copy of Sword and Serpent. Thanks to you the book hit #1 Bestseller in not one but two amazon.com categories!
Epic Selfie with copy of Sword and Serpent: Thomas McIntyre (Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card) Thomas McIntyre won the contest with a photo in Rome in front of the Colosseum (which is featured in the book).
Runner up was of Mari Webber (yes there’s also a “Mari” in the novel!) as she traveled Germany visiting the Christkindl Markets and various castles:
Official Sword and Serpent Beverage Creation Winner (Prize: $25 Amazon Gift Card) Nicholas Trandem created not just a cocktail but a homebrewed ale recipe! Wow! It’s call the Saint George Dragonslayer Ale and you can find the detailed recipe here.
Granted I haven’t tasted it yet, but as a homebrewer, I’ve studied the malt profiles and hop additions and I’m pretty impressed!
Blog Post Winner: Nathan Barontini (Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card + a promo link to your blog from my blog) Nathan Barontini won with not just a post, but an interview with me about the book. You can read our interview by clicking here.
Bought Book Winner: Sarah Harder (Prize: $100 Amazon Gift Card) Sarah Harder, whom I’ve met in real life, won the contest for those who simply bought a copy of the book. Way to go Sarah!
Facebook Winner: Alexandra Clark (Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card) Alexandra Clark won the random contest for posting about Sword and Serpent on Facebook. Thank you Alexandra!
Bought 4 Gifts Winner: Christopher Lushis (Prize: an iPad Mini mailed to your house!) Christopher Lushis was one of many who purchased multiple copies of the book to give away at Christmas.
Amazon Review Winner: Dan Cornell (Prize: $100 Amazon Gift Card) Dan Cornell won the random contest for writing an amazon review. Thank you Dan and to all of you who wrote reviews. Dan also wrote a blog post review about Sword and Serpent that you can read here.
In order to celebrate the success of the book launch, the Kindle version of Sword and Serpent will be 50% off today until midnight. You can get the discounted Kindle version at 50% off today by clicking here.
Pssst. Did you know that the medieval Catholic and Orthodox churches had a liturgy for same-sex unions and that the contemporary Church is doing everything it can to erase the historical record?
Saint Sergius and Saint Bachus have been co-opted as Patrons of Same-Sex Marriage. We’ll explain why below. (Icon by gay iconographer Robert Lentz.)
This is the claim of the homosexual historian John Boswell in his book Same Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe (Chicago).
Same Sex Marriage Liturgy = Adelphopoesis?
Boswell’s argument hinges on the existence of a liturgical ritual called adelphopoiesis. Adelphos means “brother.” Poesis means “making.” So the term in Greek literally means “brother-making.”
Now Boswell translated adelphopoesis as “same-sex union,” and made the case that these were homosexual unions sanctioned by the Church. You don’t have to be a great Greek scholar to get the agenda. Adelphopoesis most certainly does not translate as “same-sex union.”
Along the same lines, Allan Tulchin in his article “Same-Sex Couples Creating Households in Old Regime France: The Uses of the Affrèrement,” (Journal of Modern History: September 2007) made his case that Latin liturgy of affrèrement (Latin title is Ordo ad fratres faciendum, literally “Order for the making of brothers”) was a medieval “same-sex union” recognized by Europe and the Church. Affrèrement allowed two men to share living quarters, pool their finances, and have recognition from the state and church as an economic unit.
To muddy the waters, same-sex marriage advocates have coupled Saint Sergius and Saint Bacchus as the patron saints of this alleged arrangement. These two men were known in Byzantine history to be holy men with a great brotherly affection for one another. They are mentioned in the Greek liturgy of adelphopoesis, and Boswell argues that they were likely an early same-sex pair joined together in homoeroticism.
Regrettably, modern scholars feel that sexuality must be the incentive for any relationship in history. David and Jonathan or Sergius and Bacchus are “proof” that religious male friends were secret lovers between the pages of history.
Adelphopoesis or Affrèrement was Not Homoerotic
Boswell’s analysis fails when we recall that both Catholic Europe and Orthodox Byzantium punished homosexuality with death (Byzantine codes of law call for convicted homosexual men to be burned). Boswell is right, though. There is ample evidence of homosexuality in the medieval era. Unfortunately for him, the Christian and liturgical norms never reveal the slightest tolerance for homosexual acts.
In the middle of the 1000’s you have Saint Peter Damian’s book Liber Gomorrhianus circulating with a crying condemnation of both homosexuality and masturbation among the clergy.
Saint Hildegard of Bingen in the 1100s wrote against lesbian acts in her work Scivias.
The same condemnation against homosexuality is reiterated in penitential manuals and again by Saint Thomas Aquinas in the 1200s. In the 1300s, the heretical reform sect of the Lollards in England cited priestly celibacy as a cause of homosexuality in society.
Saint Peter Damian and Saint Hildegard’s explicit teachings over explicit acts certainly reveal that homosexuality was practiced among the laity, the clergy, and the religious – even the women religious. So Boswell is correct in identifying homosexual activity in his period. He is simply wrong in pointing to adelphopoesis as a sanctioned form of homosexuality.
It would be odd for both a civil society and a universal religion to criminalize homosexual acts on one hand, but also provide a “wink-wink” liturgy in order to establish a sexual relationship between two men on the other hand.
Understanding Adelphopoesis as a Kind of Monasticism
The formation of a social unit in which food, finances, and shelter are shared is not unique to matrimony. The Christian tradition also established monastic brotherhoods where men would gather to share all possessions, income, and shelter equally. These social units were protected liturgically, ecclesiastically, and civilly.
Adelphopoesis is the same kind of arrangement – but more suited for two men who wished to live in the world. The liturgies for Adelphopoesis or Affrèrement from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries establish pneumatikous adelphous or “spiritual brothers.” Chastity is assumed. If the Emperor Theodosius ruled that homosexual acts received the punishment of being burned to death, I don’t think that such a society would have assumed that “spiritual brothers” were anything more than consecrated men pooling their resources for the common good.
Could the arrangement of adelphopoesis be abused by homosexual men seeking to find a civil form of tolerance? Of course! Did it ever happen. Probably. Men have used monasteries to cloak improprieties and escape the glare of the society. Read Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales for more details.
The take away is that adelphopoesis never was intended to be a “same-sex marriage” for homosexuals, even if Boswell translated it that way…
Question: Had you heard of this debate over adelphopoesis? Are you now able to explain the truth about it? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
My goal this week is to answer a question that I get pretty regularly: “Is Saint George still a saint?” Or “Is Saint Christopher still a saint?” Or “Is Saint Philomena still a saint?”
As you know, these saints were removed from the liturgical calendar and so you quite often hear people claim that Saint George or Saint Christopher are no longer saints. We’re going to look at this question from a historical, liturgical and theological point of view. Oh, and don’t worry, I’ll definitely explain why George is depicted with a dragon and why would should take that seriously. So if you’ve wondered “What’s up that dragon?” this is the podcast for you.
Click to Listen: #060: Is Saint George Still a Saint?
(This podcast is out of order because I goofed and made two Episode 57’s! So this episode which was announced as 57, has been moved and renumbered as Episode 60. Sorry about the confusion.
Looking for a solid Advent Devotion this year. Give a gift to Christ. Consecrate yourself to Mary with the 33 day consecration. We have everything need for it at 33Mary.com. Please visit 33mary.com and sign up.
My new book Sword and Serpent is coming out around December 1 in time for Christmas!!!
SHOUT OUT: A huge “shout out” to all 253 (!) of you who wrote amazing 5-star reviews at iTunes. Please rate this podcast by clicking here and then click “View in iTunes.” From there you can leave a review. I appreciate you for this! Thank you!
SUBSCRIBE: Please subscribe (FREE) to this podcast in iTunes and get a new podcast every Wednesday.
There’s an easy secret to making goals for the New Year. Did you know that 25% of people give up on their New Year’s Resolution within the first seven days of January? A majority will not see their resolutions past February 1!
God made humans to be goal-oriented. Our ultimate goal is Heaven, but there are sub-goals along the way. Today I’ll share how I attain goals using the “S.M.A.R.T.” (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, time-bound) system of goal making. When I learned this system, it literally changed my life. I will also share how making these kind of goals for the New Year can lead to a breakthrough in any category with which you struggle: spiritual, marital, familial, economic, health, etc.
How to Make S.M.A.R.T. Goals for the New Year
Please watch the video below as explain how you can make goals for the New Year and make this next year the most productive of your life:
Do you have family and friends who need help with goals for the New Year? Please share this article on Facebook by clicking here.
Question: What’s your goal this year? What could you change this New Year with a system of written-down goals? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Merry Christmas. Here’s a free book about Christ being born on December 25:
Secular magazines and “experts” on the History Channel love to gloat over Christians every December and “prove” how Christ was not born on December 25. Recently, the same “Christ wasn’t born on Dec 25” argument was taken up by Bill O’Reilly in his book Killing Jesus.
In order to offer a biblical and historical argument for Christ’s birth on December 25, I’m offering all my readers a Christmas gift. It’s a free ebook copy of my book God’s Birthday: Why Christ was born on Dec 25 and why it Matters.
You can download the entire (short) book for free by clicking here. Here’s what you’ll get:
How to answer the 3 most common objections against a December 25 Birthday
A Biblical Argument from Luke’s Gospel locating Christ’s birth in late December
An analysis of Church Fathers who defended the birth of Christ on December 25
An explanation of how the Jewish historian Josephus got the dates wrong
How and why Christ was born on Dec 25 in the year 1BC
My new book on Saint George hit #1 Bestseller on Amazon.com!
Speaking of books and Christmas:
My new Christmas novel hit #1 Bestseller on amazon.com in two genres (Young Adult Religious Historical Fiction; and Action).
This novelSword and Serpent about Saint George and Saint Nicholas is selling great and getting awesome reviews.
The first 3,000 copies are special edition printed versions with a bonus chapter about Saint Nicholas and a map! You can still order one and get it before Christmas! If you’d like to read sample chapters, read reviews, or get your own limited edition copy, please click here.
Are you making these 5 mistakes when you defend Catholic teaching or the Catholic Church?
In this video I retell how I as a Protestant once (aggressively and rudely) challenged the Catholic philosopher Dr. Peter Kreeft in person and how Dr. Kreeft’s calm and researched replies demonstrated the BEST in Catholic apologetics and technique. Wouldn’t you know it – I’m Catholic now! I’ll also explain the 5 common mistakes that you might make and how to avoid them:
PS: You can get hours of videos like this and earn a Certificate in Catholic Theology or a Certificate in Catholic Apologetics by joining the New Saint Thomas Institute – an online member community with Catholic classes and thousands of Christians from over 25 nations! Don’t miss the enrollment window! Join now at: New Saint Thomas Institute.
Are you looking for manly Christmas gifts for your husband, son, or grandfather? For the fifth year in a row, I am featuring the ever popular and politically incorrect Top Ten Manly Christmas Gifts for Men – stuff that men want but don’t ask for.
Like last year I have an improved list with more information on knives and how a lady can choose the right knife for the man in their life.
* If you received this post by email, you’ll want to click “Always Display Images” in your email client so that you can see the manly gift images.
When your man gets back to work after Christmas and someone asks, “So what did you get for Christmas?” let him say something more than “Oh you know, a couple of new shirts and a tie.”
Top Ten Manly Christmas Gifts for Men (drumroll)
Below is a guide for Manly Christmas Gifts for Men: your husband, brother, or grandpa. Seriously, you can’t wrong with the following ten gifts. They’re all winners. So here we go:
10) Cigarette Case for Business Cards
This is a new one for our 2014 Manly Christmas Gifts for Men. Almost every man carries his business cards in his wallet where they get rounded corners, warped, and stained. Those last 2 or 3 business cards in your wallet have been sat on thousands of times. Nobody wants that. So instead…
Place your business cards nicely in a cigarette case!
Nothing says “cool” like a cigarette case – but few men smoke cigarettes…so why not get one anyway and fill it with business cards?
First of all, your cards will remain fresh, crisp and unabused.
Secondly, you’ll look totally legit when you pull out an old school Victorian cigarette case and give someone your business card.
This gift idea is something that men will love and will later reflect, “Why didn’t I think of this earlier?”
This one was a huge hit in last year’s 2013 Christmas Gifts for Men. I have had several women walk up to me and say, “Thanks for recommending the thermos last year. My husband loved it.”
This “Manly Christmas Gift” also has a backstory:
I was fly-fishing in Montana last year. It was fun, but it was cold. I was catching monster trout, but my body temp was diving.
Our fishing guide pulled out three timeless thermoses from his bag. They could have been 100 years old. They were beautiful. He offered us coffee or, get this, hot chicken broth to drink from these old beautiful thermoses. I don’t drink coffee, so I reached for the chicken broth. Wow. It warmed me from the outside in.
I admired the fly fishing guide’s amazing collection of thermoses. “They just don’t make them like that anymore.”
This is a big hit every year. If you want your man to feel like a total stud, get him this manly Christmas gift. It’s an old school shaving kit just like your grandfather used to use. Real Badger hair brush. Soap bowl. Cool stainless thing to hang your razor up to dry.
Still not convinced? Check this out. Soon-to-be-Saint John Paul II used a razor just like this:
By the way, the badger hair brush will smell like a wet animal the first several times he uses it. It’s okay, the smell goes away after a few uses. It’s all part of the manly appeal. He feels cool, you get to pet his clean, smooth face. Everybody wins.
I love this money clip. I finally gave up the big fat back-breaking leather wallet and now carry this minimal lightweight money clip. It holds my drivers license, my concealed carry gun license, and my business and personal cards. I don’t know how I lived without this clip before.
This money clip is the perfect stocking stuffer for teens and men:
Studies shows that the amount a person reads usually correlates with his income level. When your Kindergarten teacher told you that “readers are leaders,” she wasn’t pulling your leg.
If you want to grow spiritually, practically, or economically, you need to read…often!
Check out the new Kindle Fire HD. It’s $79 right now at amazon. That may sound like a lot, but when you realize that you can get almost all of the great English classics and spiritual classics for either $0.99 or FREE, then you’ll save lots of money in only a matter of months! You can also get the great spiritual classics.
It’s easy to use – even Grandpa can use it since you can make the text bigger and it will robotically read all your books through its built-in speakers.
My new super-manly novel Sword and Serpent is out on Kindle this weekend.
This Kindle version includes a map and other cool stuff. If he likes war, Rome, history, battles, legend, etc. then he’ll love Sword and Serpent.
This historical fictional novel is 100% but it does have some blood and death it. Not recommended for audiences under the age of 12.
Read a sample or read over 100 5 star reviews about Sword and Serpent by clicking here.
5) A Nice Leatherbound Pocket Bible
This is another great gift that makes the list year after year. About 30 years ago, people starting making lame paperback Bibles. If it’s the inspired, inerrant Word of God, at least wrap it in real leather and gild the page edges…
Here is the one you need to get him. It’s Douay Rheims (Catholic, yet old school language), but it’s only Psalms and New Testament published by Baronius. It fits perfectly into the side pocket of a suit or blazer. I carry it in my sports coat, and it holds up to use. It’s absolutely beautiful and has a ribbon to mark your place.
UPDATE: Either they have sold out already or they have hiked the price for this nifty little Bible. The deal that was there is gone. Instead I recommend this Bible until they can get the New Testament back in stock: Full Douay Rheims Leather Bible.
Oh, and please buy him the black leather version. If you buy him a white Bible, you might as well throw in ballet lessons.
Baronius also makes an impressive real leather Family Bible. I’ve done a lot of research and this is the one that every Catholic home should have. Baronius makes wonderful Bibles.
4) A Hip Flask
Here’s the situation: Life in the American South calls for attending Baptist weddings. Baptist wedding receptions are dry. Yes, I know, if Our Lord Jesus Christ were there, he would turn the water into wine, but that policy is not observed at teatotalling wedding receptions…so…he needs this:
An 8 oz hip flask. It’s stainless and the perfect size.
Let’s do the math, a normal serving of scotch is 1.5 oz. So 8 oz / 1.5 oz = 5.33 servings. With this hip flask, you can save the day for your man and four of his friends. How cool is that. Scotch sold separately.
PS: Don’t forget to also get the hip flask funnel or he may get irritated trying to fill the tiny mouth of the flask and spill some! Here’s the funnel – sold separately.
Your Top 3 Manly Christmas Gifts
Like last year, the top 3 Manly Christmas Gifts are Knives. The knife is the most popular manly Christmas gift – year after year. I tried to think of something that would knock it out of first place. I couldn’t do it.
A man without pocket knife…woe is he. You can use a pocket knife to cut string, pull out splinters, slice apples on a picnic, etc. Growing up, my dad always carried a knife in his pocket. And if a thug jumps you, you’ve got something rather than nothing.
You can slip a knife into his Christmas stocking and he’ll be thrilled when he discovers it. It will be the first time in a long time that he had a toy to play with on Christmas morning. If you have a son who’s coming of age, you should slip a Swiss Army knife into his stocking. If you get your husband a knife for Christmas, he can use it all morning to open up Christmas gifts, toys, cards, and packages. He’ll be happy to use his new gift all morning.
I’m recommending three knives this year depending on your need:
1) A Fancy Gentlemen’s Knife for the pocket of his suit or slacks 2) An Every Day Carry Knife for the pocket of his jeans and khakis 3) Swiss Army Knife for your 8-18 year old young man
3) The Fancy Gentleman’s Knife
I call it the “gentleman’s knife.” It’s the very nice wooden or bone handled knife.
This is a knife that he only carries for special occasions. Think of it like this, this isn’t a knife that you wear in your jeans, you wear it in the pocket of your slacks or suit. It’s the kind of knife that is passed from Grandfather to Father to Grandson. An artifact. An heirloom. Usually, a manly-man won’t buy himself this knife (he buys useful knives for himself as tools – see knives below), but he loves to receive a fine knife like this as a gift.
It’s the perfect manly Christmas gift and I recommend this for your dad or husband. Ladies, think of it as the closest thing to masculine jewelry.
Case is the old school man’s knife brand. Your grandpa probably owned one like this at some point in his life. Here it is at amazon.com.
2) The Everyday Carry Knife
This is the knife that a man carries in his pocket every single day. With this knife he opens mail, cuts string, cuts tags off clothing, removes splinters, and all the other odd jobs suited for a knife.
My one criteria for an “every day carry” or “EDC” is that it have a pocket clip that keeps it from falling out of your trousers at the baseball game. The other important thing about an every day carry knife is that it be lightweight. You don’t want to carry a heavy lump in your jeans pocket. The pocket clip also keeps the knife high in your pocket so it’s comfortable whenever you sit down or drive.
If your man is a gadget guy then he’s probably a fan of the multi-tool or Swiss Army.
These are the knives that have many, many other tools attached: bottle opener, saw, tweezers, toothpick, pliers, etc. The Swiss Army knife if perfect for a boy’s first knife (age seven). If he’s reached the age of reason, he should have a knife.
PS: If you want your man and/or boy to get out into the outdoors and use their knifes, then check out our new Catholic apostolate for men and young men: The Troops of Saint George! He’ll learn how to use a knife, start a fire without matches, and prayers in Latin. It’s legit and fun.
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