The Coming Catholic Ad Blitz

It is coming. Among the largest religious media blitzes in U.S. history---scheduled to air more than 400 times during a three-week run---these commercials will depict humanity's experience of hopelessness before presenting redemption in Jesus Christ as the answer. Millions will view them on major television networks from December 16 through January 8. The program is called Catholics Come Home.

The primary audience---men and women who grew up Catholic, and are now inactive or "lapsed"---is 27.5 million strong, according to the Pew Forum. They constitute roughly 10 percent of the U.S. population, making them the second-largest religious demographic in America behind Roman Catholics at 77.7 million and ahead of the Southern Baptist Convention (at 16 million plus). These former Catholics are among your church's elders, nursery workers, and often compose a sizable portion of your congregation.

The Message of Catholics Come Home

If you have watched one of the commercials or visited the website, you were probably impressed by the "evangelical" tone. It is unmistakably warm and inviting with a refreshingly clear focus on the person of Jesus. These programs are the fruit of the Second Vatican Council's vision for mobilizing the laity for outreach (see the encyclical, Evangelii Nuntiandi, by Pope Paul VI), along with recent statements such as John Paul II's Redemptoris missio and the current agency dedicated to evangelism.  Keep Reading >>>

Between Allah and Jesus: What Christians Can Learn from Muslims

Warning 1: Kreeft writes this piece presupposing Christians and Muslims ultimately worship the same God, yet they simply understand him differently. In Chapter 3 entitled Jesus and Muhammad, a conversation between Fr. Heerma and Isa arises concerning this very issue and the conclusion is simply that the God of the Muslims and the God of Christians have the same essence. Fr. Heerma argues on page 52 that “Jesus never told the Jews they were worshiping a false God” thus he will not say the same thing of Muslims whose God historically stems from the Jewish faith. As Christian readers our antennae should go up here. It seems as if the Catholic father neglected such clear teaching as John 8:19 when Jesus says to the Jews, “You know neither me nor my father, if you knew me, you would know my Father.” Thus this basic assumption is ill founded and has erroneous outcomes for the entire book. Read the whole review HERE