Women’s
Build Sponsored By PCHFH
Pontotoc County Habitat for Humanity
(PCHFH) is about to begin a unique undertaking, at least in its own local
history the undertaking is unique. Pontotoc’s local affiliate of Habitat
for Humanity International is gearing up for a Women’s Build, which
is Habitat’s way of stating the obvious, a house built largely by women
volunteers.
Habitat for Humanity helps provide affordable housing to those whose income
is too low to qualify for a conventional mortgage. In fact, to qualify for
a Habitat home, the annual family income for the applicant must fall within
the range of 25 % to 50% of the median income for a resident of Pontotoc
County, which presently is $42, 900. Basically, this means the annual family
income of the applicant would be somewhere between $10,725 and $21,450.
Qualifying applicants must have a need for affordable housing. The need may
be that the applicant is living in substandard housing or perhaps paying
monthly rent that is greater than the mortgage of a Habitat built home.
Applicants must be capable of paying a monthly mortgage and be willing to
partner with Habitat for Humanity and are pledged to complete a specific
number of hours of work on their home. Other factors are also considered
in the selection process.
Volunteers comprise the bulk of Pontotoc County Habitat for Humanity’s
construction workers, and PCHFH presently has only one staff member, Barbara
Carter, Executive Director, who is on the payroll. Bro. Joe Steen, construction
supervisor, is a Glenmary Missioner, and Ryan Fuoss’s position as volunteer
coordinator is funded by Americorps.
Pontotoc County Habitat for Humanity has grown tremendously in the past six
years, partly through grants which the Executive Director has been successful
in obtaining, but also through local fundraising events, contributions from
area churches, and the work of volunteers both locally and those from out
of state. Habitat is also fortunate to have a dedicated Board of Directors.
Last year one house was built by appealing to churches to become a part of
an Apostles’ Build. In prior years, Blitz Build has been a successful
approach, utilizing large groups of volunteers to construct one or more houses
in a week. This year, PCHFH has chosen to emphasize a Women’s Build,
where women become the primary laborers.
Many women are as capable with a hammer or a power tool as their male
counterparts and have often acquired their carpentry skills from necessity.
Sorry guys, but some of us take to the field or stream, motocross or speedway,
and leave our spouses to "make-do" with home repairs or projects that are
traditionally considered the male’s responsibility. Some women work
alongside their husbands in completing home improvement projects and already
have a degree of skill that can be applied as a volunteer for Habitat for
Humanity.
Having recognized the underutilized abilities of roughly half the over-sixteen
population of Pontotoc, PCHFH conducted a training session last weekend.
Bro. Joe Steen found an interested and appreciative audience of approximately
thirty volunteers, women willing to participate in the building of the new
house, which is already a work in progress with the foundation out of the
ground, floor joists in place and decking completed. The first scheduled
work day for women is Saturday, July 28th, and there remains plenty
of nails to be driven and much more before the house will be ready for the
new owner in about ten to twelve weeks.
Peeples Building Supply of Pontotoc, allowed the use of their front parking
lot as a training and work site. Volunteers received safety tips pertaining
to use of various ladders and power tools, as well as common-sense admonitions
such as "keep an eye out for the other person."
WTVA news of Tupelo sent one of their top field reporters, Wayne Herford,
to cover the event. Mr. Herford interviewed several of the participants and
a brief segment of footage was shared on both the six o’clock news and
the ten o’clock news Saturday evening. Yes, Ridge Rider News was well
represented, also.
Volunteers took turns driving nails into two by six boards forming part of
an exterior wall. Some volunteers did quite well with the tasks and others
are sure to improve with practice. After receiving brief instructions in
the safety and operation of a power circular saw, Brother Joe patiently guided
each volunteer, who was willing, in cutting along a straight line through
a two by six.
From what I could tell, all the women present for the training were anxious
to get a chance to showcase their willingness to work on the next new Habitat
house. My wife reminds me that training is not a prerequisite for participating
in the Women’s Build, and while it’s called a Women’s Build,
men will be allowed to help, also.
Catholic v.
catholic Essay By Mark Alexander
Joseph Alois Ratzinger became the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church
on 19 April 2005, taking the name Benedict XVI, which is Latin for "the blessed."
In the two years since his election to lead the largest denomination of
Christians in the world, Benedict has been outspoken in his decrial of
theological relativism and has been a strong advocate for the authority of
Scripture.
The Pope has been resolute in his discernment of controversial social issues,
especially his denunciation of the killing of unborn children and the
normalization of homosexuality.
We praised Benedict last September when he boldly and rightly called attention
to Islam and its history of violent conversion. Although Benedict was quoting
a 14th-century Byzantine emperor when making his case, the Muslim "street"
responded all too predictably—with violence.
A week later, Benedict retracted his rhetorical critique of Islam, stating,
"These in fact were quotations from a medieval text, which do not in any
way express my personal thought." He added, "I would like today to stress
my total and profound respect for all Muslims." Benedict even made an appearance
in Istanbul’s Blue Mosque, where he prayed with the Grand Mufti.
Giving him credit where due, however, Benedict is a man in pursuit of
reconciliation among all people, and his retraction indicates that he is
called to make peace with Muslims, not condemn them.
In 2005, Benedict proclaimed, "I place my ministry in the service of
reconciliation and harmony among peoples, profoundly convinced that the great
good of peace is above all a gift of God, a fragile and precious gift to
be invoked, safeguarded and constructed, day after day and with everyone’s
contribution."
Admirably, the Pope has taken steps to heal the 1054 schism between Catholics
in the Roman Church and those in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the 1517
schism between Catholics and believers in the Protestant Reformation Church.
Arguably, the most significant doctrinal difference between the Catholic
Church and the Protestant and Reformed churches is that the Catholic Church
has proclaimed itself, as an institution, the intercessor between laity and
God, while Protestant Reformation churches promote individual relationships
with Jesus Christ.
Breaking with tradition, however, "Friendship with Jesus Christ" has been
thematic in many of Benedict’s homilies and sermons. "We are all called
to open ourselves to this friendship with God... speaking to Him as to a
friend, the only One who can make the world both good and happy... That is
all we have to do is put ourselves at His disposal." In his book Jesus
of Nazareth, Benedict’s underlying theme is "to help foster [in
the reader] the growth of a living relationship [with Jesus Christ]."
On the subject of unity, Benedict noted in a recent sermon, "The divisions
which exist among Christians are a scandal to the world."
Indeed they are—which is why I take exception to the Pope’s recent
reaffirmation of an edict proclaiming the primacy of the Catholic Church.
In doing so, Benedict served no purpose other than to widen those divisions
between Catholics and Protestants.
On 29 June 2007, the canonical Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
issued a 16-page decree titled "One Church," on the approval of Benedict
XVI "because some contemporary theological interpretations of Vatican II’s
ecumenical intent had been ‘erroneous or ambiguous’ and had prompted
confusion and doubt."
Vatican II (1962-1965) was the 21st ecumenical council by the Roman Church,
and though its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church states that "the sole
Church of Christ... subsists in the Catholic Church," it noted, "Nevertheless,
many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside its visible
confines."
Catholic legalists protest that the Second Vatican Council, and subsequent
interpretations of its decrees, undermined the certainty that the Catholic
Church was and remains the one and only true Christian church as founded
by Jesus Christ.
In response, the latest decree restates the key sections of a 2000 text the
Pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation, Dominus Iesus,
and notes in part that "Christian Communities born out of the Reformation
of the sixteenth century... do not enjoy apostolic succession in the sacrament
of Orders, and are, therefore, deprived of a constitutive element of the
Church. These ecclesial Communities which, specifically because of the absence
of the sacramental priesthood, have not preserved the genuine and integral
substance of the Eucharistic Mystery cannot, according to Catholic doctrine,
be called ‘Churches’ in the proper sense," or "how the title of
‘Church’ could possibly be attributed to them."
In other words, "the full identity of the Church of Christ... established
here on Earth" is the Roman Catholic Church, and Protestant and Reformed
congregations do not constitute churches, because the Catholic Church alone
has "the fullness of the means of salvation." Notably, however, the decree
does concede, "The Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as
instruments of salvation, whose value derives from that fullness of grace
and of truth which has been entrusted to the Catholic Church."
To comprehend Benedict’s divisive decree, one must have some understanding
of events leading up to the Protestant Reformation.
The word "catholic" is from the Greek meaning "universal," and the earliest
surviving reference to the "Catholic Church" appears in a letter from Saint
Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, to Christians in Smyrna (AD 107). In context,
Ignatius used the term to reference the whole Christian Church.
Continuity in the early church was based on apostolic succession beginning
with Simon Peter, Apostle to Jesus, whom Jesus called upon (as recorded in
the Gospel of John 21:15-19), to "Feed my lambs... Take care of my sheep."
In Matthew 16:18, Jesus says, "And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it."
In AD 380, the term "Catholic" was defined under Roman Imperial law by Emperor
Theodosius in an edict declaring Catholic Christianity as the official religion
of the Roman Empire—what many theologians would argue was an unfortunate
wedding of church and state.
In the centuries that followed, doctrinal and papal authority disputes resulted
in splits from the Roman Church, and the establishment of the Eastern Orthodox,
Oriental Orthodox and the Assyrian Church of the East.
However, the most significant split was the Protestant Reformation, beginning
with Martin Luther’s 1517 posting of his "Ninety-Five Theses On the
Power of Indulgences" to the Wittenberg Castle Church door. Luther’s
objective was not to divide the church, but to call attention to its gross
pontifical and institutional corruption, particularly malpractices and false
doctrines like the teaching and selling or indulgences, the practice of buying
and selling church positions and the Church’s doctrine on purgatory.
Other notable reformers like Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin followed
Luther’s lead.
But in the century that followed, it became clear that "Catholic Reform"
was not possible, given that the Church of Rome would not divest itself of
corruption and false doctrines related to purgatory, particular judgment,
devotion to Mary, the intercession of the saints, sacramental rituals with
no biblical basis, and papal authority.
As a result of the Protestant Reformation, which was cemented in 1648 with
the Peace of Westphalia, the Roman Church declared that apostolic succession
could not be claimed by the Protestant Church. Consequently, Pope asserts
that the administration of the sacraments is not authentic or legitimate,
and thus no church really exists outside the Roman Church.
The World Alliance of Reformed Churches issued rebuttals calling into question
"whether we are indeed praying together for Christian unity," and concluding
the "exclusive claim that identifies the Roman Catholic Church as the one
church of Jesus Christ... goes against the spirit of our Christian calling
toward oneness in Christ."
In the current Protestant and Reformed theological vernacular, "catholic"
with a lower-case "c" connotes oneness—the "full Body of Christ" —all
believers united as one church—as it was used in the early church.
"Catholic" with a capital "C" refers to the institution of the Roman Church.
The question remains, "Is the Pope, first and foremost, a Catholic or a
catholic?" A more essential question might be, "Which would Jesus be?"
(Note: Mark Alexander is a fifth-generation Episcopalian, who broke with
his beloved church in 1994, when it became clear that the Episcopal Church
USA would not reform its heretical teachings. Today, ECUSA is considered
heretical by most of the World Anglican Communion. Currently, Mr. Alexander
is a "permanent visitor" with a Presbyterian Church in America congregation.)
Source: The Patriot Post July 13, 2007
Bodock Beau
Thirty Smiles
I can’t guarantee everyone a smile for each of the following, but I
can guarantee everyone will find something to smile about in the following.
Thirty Lines To Make You Smile
-
My husband and I divorced over religious differences. He thought he was God
and I didn't.
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I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.
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I work hard because millions on welfare depend on me!
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Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.
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I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.
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Don't take life too seriously; no one gets out alive.
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You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me.
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Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
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Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.
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I'm not a complete idiot -- Some parts are missing.
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Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.
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NyQuil, the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.
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God must love stupid people; He made so many.
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The gene pool could use a little chlorine.
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Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.
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Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
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Being "over the hill" is much better than being under it!
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Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew up.
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Procrastinate Now!
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I Have a Degree in Liberal Arts; Do You Want Fries With That?
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A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
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A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.
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Stupidity is not a handicap. Park elsewhere!
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They call it PMS because Mad Cow Disease was already taken.
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He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless dead.
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A picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up three thousand times
the memory.
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Ham and eggs. A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.
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The trouble with life is there's no background music.
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The original point and click interface was a Smith and Wesson.
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I smile because I don't know what the heck is going on.
Shared by Vickey Murphree
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