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Now is the time, tomorrow may be too late

By Mark Wilmoth In her book, No Ordinary Time, author Doris Kearns Goodwin tells about Franklin Roosevelt’s handling of World War II and its effect on Roosevelt at a personal level. Goodwin notes that Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s marriage changed dramatically after Roosevelt admitted to an affair with Eleanor’s personal secretary, Lucy Mercer, in 1918. After that, the Roosevelts were political partners only; their marriage was dead. Later, as WWII progressed, Roosevelt felt the stress and needed the support of his wife, but in 1942, when Franklin asked Eleanor to come to the ...

Learning to get along with one another

By Mark Wilmoth Do your prayers usually begin with a phrase like “Dear Father in Heaven”? Bible scholar R.C. Sproul wrote in 1996: “A few years ago, a German scholar was doing research in New Testament literature and discovered that in the entire history of Judaism—in all existing books of the Old Testament and all existing books of extra-biblical Jewish writings dating from the beginning of Judaism until the tenth century A.D. in Italy—there is not a single reference of a Jewish person addressing God directly in the first person as “Father.” The Jews might refer to God ...

Love your neighbor as yourself

By Mark Wilmoth Two hundred years ago, Walter Scott was given the responsibility of preaching the gospel on the western frontier, which at that time was…eastern Ohio. Scott wanted a simple way to present God’s plan of salvation and have folks remember it. He came up with the five-finger plan of salvation. Scott would go to a school and ask the students if they knew what to do to be saved, and then he would tell them to hold up a hand. Using the fingers on one hand, Scott explained that to be saved, one must (1) hear the gospel, (2) believe the gospel, (3) repent of one’s sins and ...

Take responsibility for your spiritual maturity

Peter Pandemonium (not an official diagnosis) is the term some psychologists use to describe adults who refuse to act like grownups. Like the fabled Peter Pan, they choose to remain children forever, at least in how they engage with the outer world. Also known as Peter Pan Syndrome, the term describes those who avoid responsibility, blame others for their problems and behavior, throw temper tantrums when disappointed and can’t commit in relationships. Someone quipped that these folks can be easily recognized because they buy SpongeBob SquarePants underwear to wear as adults. (Yep, ...

Vatican prosecutors suffer embarrassing loss as tribunal says their appeal is inadmissible

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican appeals tribunal put an end Thursday to prosecutors’ efforts to salvage their claims of massive fraud in the Holy See’s “Trial of the Century,” in which a once-powerful cardinal and nine others were accused of fleecing tens of millions of euros from the church. The tribunal declared the prosecutor’s appeal in the case was inadmissible, meaning the court refused to admit prosecutors’ requests to overturn acquittals on more than two-dozen charges. The court said prosecutors had failed on a basic procedural point: to provide specific reasons ...