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The Flat Side of the World blog has moved and is now called "The Cage Door Blog". Please go here to check it out: www.TheCageDoorBlog.com

Thanks and God bless!
Matt Warner

Not Just Another Denomination: Part 1 of 2

Many things can be said about the modern state of Christianity, but there is one thing that is particularly divisive – the idea of the Christian “denomination.”

Denominations are just another part of the Christian vernacular anymore – and they’re all very different. But this division is not what God intended. Jesus prays in John 17:11:

“That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

Simpy put, we are to be one as Jesus is one with the Father. Our unity as Christians is fundamental to the world believing in Christ.

The attitude that has evolved in the past few decades is that we can all be “Christian” and have “Christian values,” but still believe what we want. This relativism is not only un-Christian in itself, but it also undermines our Christian testimony to the world – that the world may believe.

Jesus built a Church, not a divided religion with many “churches.” The fact that we are divided into tens of thousands of “denominations” is something that should stand out as gravely wrong...click [here] to read more.

Bella

There's a great new film out called "Bella". I saw it last weekend and absolutely loved it. Being an independent film (winning the People's Choice award at the Toronto Film Festival this year) it isn't your typical Hollywood blockbuster.

It is not going to knock your socks off with thrilling action scenes. It won't make your brain work hard to figure out the next twist in the plot line. It might seem slow at times. And it's not a happily ever after flick either. It's a movie about people...about being human.

The characters in this film are absolutely beautiful. The story gives a realistic reflection of the beauty of life, not through fairy tale miracles or dreams come true, but through the joy found at the heart of suffering embraced and a genuine love for one another. It's real. It is pro-life in the most profound sense.

I hope all of you will go and see it if you have the chance. This is a film that deserves to be shared. God bless.

Am I with Fred?

I must admit that I've lost at least a little interest in the presidential primary races in the last couple of months. Being what most people would call a "conservative" on most issues, it's been hard to really get all that excited about any of the leading candidates from any party. I watched pieces of the first few debates, and still nobody really stood out. And trying to stay plugged in is a chore when most all of the early speculation, polling, and political commentary is more media hype than substance.

In the ellipses of President Bush's surly public opinion polls, the loudest politicians, using a willing media, have moved forward with an assumption that the presidential election is simply going to be between a "moderate" and a "liberal". Any true conservatives will simply have to settle for the "lesser of two evils" so to speak. The idea is that if Republicans are going to have any chance at all at overcoming the building momentum of the Democratic party, they are going to have to focus on issues that will bring in "moderate" voters and hope that the conservative base has nowhere else to go.

This move has helped a number of not-so-conservative, but "winnable", candidates to thrive as early Republican potential nominees. That has led to an early sense of disappointment by many conservatives, especially with regard to the support of life issues. The front-page issue, the war on terror, seems to have drowned out a lot of other very important issues. But Americans do still vote on these other issues, and come election time, these issues will all be factors in the outcome.

Conservatives are scared that they have to compromise core values to be able to compete in the 2008 presidential race. I don't believe this is the case. And I think we will see this come to pass in the coming months as the race is further formed and those core values that have always been, and still are, important to the American people are brought back into the debate. There is a quietly prevailing hope that a candidate - one that can win - will arise to where we won't have to compromise on important issues. I do believe, from all I can tell, that that candidate has arrived.

He is a man that has had a lot of talk and speculation about him for some time now, but he has only recently officially entered the race to be counted. He has all of the charisma of a Ronald Reagan or a Bill Clinton, all of the values of a true traditional conservative, and, also important, he can win. He can win the primaries, and he can win the general election. And I do believe that he will.

His name is Fred Thompson. I know it's still very early, nobody is perfect, and we still have more to learn about Fred, but I'm looking forward to seeing how he does and have high hopes for him. And I would encourage everyone, whatever you believe, to learn about the candidates and get involved as this very important election gets closer. And if you aren't 100% sure about your choice of candidate yet, check out Fred Thompson.

14 Tips for Going Away to College

Well, it's that time of year again. Those “kids” are all grown up and taking that next big step out into the world – college. And many of them will be leaving home for the first time to go away to school and take on the challenge all by themselves. Here are some tips to help them adjust:

1. Decide the kind of person you want to be before you go, and stick to it. You have to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything. Of course you need to go with an open mind and be willing to learn and try new things, but do it without compromising your ethics, morals, or your dignity. Remember, if you aren't shaping the world, it’s shaping you.


2. Make friends that have the same values as you do, even if that means not settling for the first group of friends you meet. In new situations, we often cling to the first group of people that notice us - don't. Get to know people that are different than you, but make sure the people you build friendships with are people who share your values and will make you a better person.


3. Schedule your classes early. Or at least have something in the morning that you need to be awake for most days of the week. Otherwise, it is likely that you will be up late every night wasting time - or finding trouble. Don't spend these valuable years of your life sleeping in. There's nothing wrong with staying up late every once in awhile and hanging out with friends, but have a routine that gets you up in the morning.


4. Get regularly involved with at least one, good Catholic organization. It is very beneficial to have an activity during the week - besides mass on Sundays - where we interact with other Catholics. It keeps us grounded in our faith, gives us an automatic support group of people with the same values, and motivates us to learn or think about our faith in a new way during the week.


5. Don’t believe that everyone has pre-marital sex and that it’s no big deal as long as you’re a “good” person. It still is a big deal, contrary to popular opinion. There has been no repeal on this commandment from God – it is a very serious sin. What has happened is that we are a weak culture who has enabled each other to believe that it is “OK.” That's not an excuse. Trust God. And if you are struggling with this, learn more about your faith, and check out John Paul II's “Theology of the Body.” It will really open your eyes and give you a better understanding and strength to persevere.


6. Get involved. Join a club and run for an office. If there isn’t a club you are interested in, start one of your own! This is a very unique time in your life to take on new challenges, meet new people, and better yourself. Once you graduate, opportunities like that get more difficult because our focus becomes our work, family and children (depending on your vocation of course). Take advantage of this time. It also helps build character and other skills useful for after you graduate.


7. Call your parents and your best friend at least once a week - if not more. It’s easy for the whole “out of sight, out of mind” thing to kick in when you get busy and caught up in your new life in college. Don’t forget about your family - they are an important foundation in every stage of life. Keep them updated with all of the things you are involved with and include them as much as possible – even if you don’t feel like it sometimes.


8. .....Click here to read the rest of this article!

Writing on Helium

Hello all, I just wanted to let you know about a pretty neat website called http://www.helium.com/. I just found it this last week and found it to be, at the very least, entertaining and interesting. So I signed up.

Basically, you can write articles on a huge variety of topics and submit them into their rating system on the website. Once on the website, your article "competes" with other articles written under the same heading by the votes of readers. So naturally the better articles on the topic rise to the top. Now of course the Truth doesn't always rise to the top, but such is democracy.

Anyway, it's a great way to practice writing (my main purpose for doing it) and then to see what kind of approval you get from readers and peers on the topic by the way your article gets ranked.

Helium also shares some of its profits with you in that a portion of the money that they earn from advertisements on pages with your articles on them gets paid back to you. So it's a way to perhaps earn some extra money. Although, I wouldn't be quittin' your day job yet. It's a small amount of money (and of course depends on the number of articles you have on there), but still fun none-the-less.

Here is my page so far with a few artciles I've submitted on there for fun. http://www.helium.com/user/show/283906

Check it out if you get the chance! And if you're interested in joining Helium to write for fun, let me know and I will formally invite you and we can link up on there.

But the Greatest of These is...

So often non-Catholics get caught up on the Catholic Church’s doctrine of salvation by faith and works. Most protestant denominations believe in salvation Sola Fide, or by faith alone. However, not only is this principle of salvation by faith alone not found in scripture anywhere, it is actually contradictory to scripture. Further, it would seem to me to also be very contradictory to reason as well.This has been debated on a scripture verse-by-verse basis plenty of times in the past. I don’t want to recount that entire argument here, but, instead, hopefully get the reader to look at the issue from a little different perspective. It’s easy to take a scripture passage out of context and make it seem to say something that it really doesn’t say. Scripture always and everywhere must be taken in its entire context – not just the context of the paragraph, or the chapter, or the book, or even the entirety of scripture – but in it’s place in salvation history as the Word of God, the entire deposit of Faith, and natural law. In other words, how does it fit into all that is Truth, whether divinely or naturally revealed?However, even just looking at scripture by itself as a whole, the written Word of God, the overwhelming message from God is very clear: Jesus redeemed every one of our sins, at no cost to us. There is nothing we can do to earn it. However, God doesn’t force it on us, but always respects our free will. We must accept this gift of salvation. In other words, it requires a response on our part. And what response does it ask of us? Catholics would say that this response is to be one of faith and works. Protestants would say that it requires a response of faith alone. What does scripture say? .......

Read the full article at Catholic Outpost. Click here: http://catholicoutpost.com/site.php?view=column_archive.php&writer_id=1&column_id=5