Men of God

1
An evangelical story about a Godly Catholic

For the first time, I heard a prominent evangelical say that a Catholic was a "man of God," by which I'm sure he meant he was not only a Christian, but quite a sincere one.[1]

It was said of Fr Manning by Dr David Jeremiah on the radio show Turning Point, which I rarely listen to but stopped on long enough to hear a few minutes that included this very high praise. This was from 8-8:30am on 90.7 KAWZ, I think.

More important to me was who said it, and that it was said at all. I'd like to hear more candid (and potentially difficult) observations from evangelicals. I'll bet there are more receptive evangelicals than we might think.

You may not realize it, but evangelicals court serious controversy by granting Catholics the same status of those in the pews listening to them each week.

Read Dr David Jeremiah's story here >

I can't find a record of a "Fr Brendan Manning" that is definitely Dr Jeremiah's Fr Manning, but there was a "Fr Martin Brendan Manning" in Davenport, Iowa who passed way in 2011, and there is a more famous and former priest, Brennan Manning, who is also much admired, and though his name is "Brennan," he is sometimes mistakenly called "Brendan" in some articles.

More on Fr Martin Brendan Manning of Davenport, Iowa, who died in 2011>

More on former priest Brennan Manning >

[2012-10-30]

2
What have I added?

After finishing a thoughtful post on something, I sometimes discover entire books or lectures on the same subject, and wonder what I've added.

What do any of us add? What compels a writer to write? A singer to sing? Or a NASCAR driver to race around in circles at 200mph? It all gets swallowed in the Big Crunch, or fizzles out in the Big Freeze, notwithstanding meteors or gamma bursts or more ordinary ends like earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes.

[2012-10-08]

c0

[1]
In my fundamentalist past, in fact, that was the case. You can be a "Christian" and be nominal, but to be a "man of God" was something remarkable, and "Godly" was generally a step above that. I think Dr Jeremiah is saying something very important about not just a particular Catholic, but Catholicism, and what an evangelical response might be. I don't think he can say it aloud. That's okay. As I mentioned to someone by email recently, evangelicals are not aware that Catholics are praying for them every day to "come home." Whether we do or not, the sentiment is genuine, and I think Dr Jeremiah might have been thinking something similar but in reverse.

c0