No. 161, June 16, 2020

This website is the home site of my criminal reformation apostolate; here you can find details about the Lampstand Foundation which I founded as a 501c (3) nonprofit corporation in Sacramento, California in 2003.

I have written twelve books, one being about Lampstand and each one of the other eleven being  a response to a likely objection to Catholicism that will be encountered when doing ministry to professional criminals; and for links to all of the Lampstand books which are available—free to members—and at Amazon, go to http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=david+h+lukenbill

I also maintain a daily blog, The Catholic Eye, https://catholiceye.wordpress.com/

Lampstand also keeps track of rehabilitative programs that fail, and the one or two that appear to work, with the findings available at https://catholiceye.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/evaluation-of-reentry-programs-3/

The work connected to the apostolate is listed under the home page categories (to your left) which I will be expanding as needed.

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The Lampstand E Letter, Old Testament Foundation

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Crazy times right now and here’s a good article from City Journal with more about the racial aspects, https://www.city-journal.org/racism-is-an-empty-thesis

That being said, let’s look at one of the sources of our faith, the Old Testament foundations.

Over the past several decades there has been a walking away—by the leaders of the institutional church—from the ancient foundation of our faith, the Old Testament and its many covenants direct from God to Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the clear denunciations against murder, betrayal, and harming the young.

Among the people, one senses these covenants are still real and obeyed.

In our last newsletter we examined the uncertainty of the prophetic words of Isaiah about the coming of Christ as expressed in the commentary of Chapter 11, considered by most as:

“The oracle of the “shoot” from “the stump of Jesse” (Is 11:1-16) is the longest and most detailed prophecy of the coming royal son and in many ways is the messianic prophecy par excellence in the book of Isaiah.” (p. 729) John Bergsma & Brant Pitre. (2018). A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament. Ignatius Press: San Francisco.

But in the commentary of the New American Bible, it notes: “The oracle does not seem to have a particular historical person in mind.” http://usccb.org/bible/isaiah/11

We all know the ancient words of the Lord concerning murder in Genesis 9:6: “Whosoever shall shed man’s blood, his blood shall be shed: for man was made to the image of God.”

Sadly, this has been challenged by many church leaders to the point that the current pope has said capital punishment is abolished within Catholic teaching.

Challenging the Old Testament, the foundation of the Church’s teaching, whether the ancient covenants or the prophecy’s, challenges the very foundation of the Church herself, though the teaching of the Development of Doctrine by St. John Henry Newman must certainly be considered here.

Be well everyone, and pray the old school rosary in the old school way, see https://catholiceye.wordpress.com//?s=15+decade+rosary&search=Go

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David H. Lukenbill, President, The Lampstand Foundation                                                                                   

Post Office Box 254794   Sacramento, CA 95865-4794

Website: https://davidhlukenbill.wordpress.com/                                                

Blog: www.catholiceye.wordpress.com  

E-Mail: Dlukenbill@msn.com

With Peter to Christ through Mary