>> are you an evangelical who has always had nagging questions about the catholic church that you never have been able to get answered, or a catholic that has had doubts or questions? today on significant insights, father dimitri sala is going to answer your questions on our live show coming it right now on "significant insights." ♪ hello, and welcome to significant insights. i'm jerry rose and i want to remind you that our prayer line is open all through the hour as always, don't hesitate to call (888)235-9907. and one of our care force

volunteers will be waiting at the other end of the line to pray with you. my wife shirley is with me on the program. i almost forgot. she's kicking me. >> i wanted him to acknowledge me! >> she was kicking me on the leg, saying don't forget me! [laughter] as i mentioned at the top of the program tonight, we're going to take questions, your questions on dog rollcism. our guest is father dimitri sala, involved in a ministry. he was with us in july and we opened the phone lines for questions. then it took a while for viewers to call in, and then just as the program was nearing the end, the phone lines exploded with calls and we couldn't take them because, again, the program was about over. so we inviteed father sala back to take your calls. if you have questions or

comments on -- call us right now on our question line. (888)691-1075. you see it on your screen. (888)691-1075. before we get to, that christmas is coming up. we have very interesting facts about how people in other countries celebrate christmas. are you ready. >> yes. i want to hear. >> i feel very knowledgeable. just knowing all this. >> our producer is the one that's really smart. >> in england, the chris igle service is very important, a christ light. different versions of how it started, but it's a popular evening service and they make chris thingals, too. the candle represents jesus as

the light of the world. there is a red ribbon. you can't see it, but around the bottom. and that recommends the blood of jesus who died for the world. and the touch sticks pointing in all directions, four sticks, they're pointing that way on purpose. they symbolism north, south east and west as well four seasons. the fruit and nuts, sometimes sweets, represent the fruit of the year. are you ready for this? iraq. did you know they celebrate christmas? >> i'm sure there are christians there. i would think you couldn't do it publicly. >> you couldn't until 2008. the iraqi government declared christmas as an official holiday for the first time in the history of the nation. >> that is wonderful. >> there are a lot of coptic christians in iraq and there some percussion, but they can celebrate. on december 24 a ceremony is held in the court yard of

christian households. children read and families hold candles. that is made up of dried thorns. as soon as the story has been read, that pile is lit up and a bonfire is made. a psalm is sung for as long as the fire burns. it's believed the way the fire burns signifies the future of the household for the coming year. this thorns burn to ashes it indicates good fortunate. when the fire is reduced to ashes, every one jumps over the ashes and makes three times -- three times and makes a wish. >> that sounds a little superstitious. >> as long as you don't step into it and get burned. >> and ethiopia, this is especially the orthodox church, they use the julian calendar so

they celebrate christmas on january 7. we asked somebody what that calendar was, and they said it's the one that was used before the one we use now. thank you, there you are. the one used before, so we didn't know. that but the christmas services called began april. most people -- gana. most feast fast on christmas eve. at dawn they dress in a traditional white garment. >> that's it right there. >> yes. called a shama. and this go to church at 4:00 a.m. i don't want to fast and i don't want to get up for service at 4:00 a.m. i like our tradition of feasting better. >> we feast on christmas. 12 days after, they start a 3 day celebration called timka, celebrates the baptism of jesus. japan, like iraq, you don't think of -- since less than 1%

of the population identifies itself as christian, there is no official celebration. however, and this is -- >> we know there are christians there. >> yeah. this is interesting, though. there is widespread secular observance due to american influence, during an after world war ii and due to the fact that japanese christmas industry which provides decorations andrinets to christian nations -- and trinkets. they certainly believe in all the ornaments, so that's cool. and they have turkey with all the trimmings. got a picture here. instead of santa, hote-osha. >> that's a funny looking santa claus. >> very contemporary. shaved heads. represents -- one of the original 7 gods of good fortunate. said to have eyes in the back of

his head. that's how he watches. kids. >> i ask you, would you like to see this man coming down your chimney? >> that man wouldn't fit down your chimney. >> why don't you do australia? >> australia. let me see. because australia -- >> you'll like this. >> australia is in the southern hemisphere, christmas occurs in early summer there. and so therefore, australians spend christmas outside on christmas eve, thousands of people gather for carols by candle light. looks like fun. and they surround themselves with christmas bush, a native plant. santa arrives on a surf board. that sounds like more fun to me. >> that's just not right. that's not right. santa claus on a surf board. >> i like it. >> christmas at the beach. >> i like it. >> we're going to spend christmas in arizona. >> a different kind of christmas. >> maybe i can get rid of this cold.

when he started preaching as a toddler. folks said he would grow out of a stage. but 34 years later holly started to him he started as a boy. that is our chicagoland church of the month. ♪ >> bishop hudson, you have an interesting past. you started preaching at, what, the age of 3? is that correct. >> yes, ma'am. >> you were preaching on the playground. >> about 3 1/2. i had a picture bible. my sister read me the stories. and i used the pictures to preach and god called me at an early age. >> isn't that amazing? so when did you stat preaching in a church? >> my first public sermon was at 8 years old. i remember going to my pastor, and they said this is wonderful, he's preaching. he'll grow out of it. a lot of children do this. i'm 37. still doing it!

that's amazing. did you come from a family of ministers? >> actually, my parents were saved through my ministry. they received jesus. they were church goers, not really committed to the lord. after i started the ministry they received their personal relationship with jesus. >> what also makes you unique, you had a star role in the well-known sit come, amen. how did you get into acting and how did you get out of it. >> i was interviewed on the larry king show for doing a wedic at 12 years old. this producers called me in. at first i failed. they called me too serious. they called me back again and i got the part. i could preach in about 31 states to bring the gospel to a lot of young people. >> what made you get out of the acting business? >> i never was a professional actor. i was a real minister. and i just was a good fit for

the part so i was full-time in ministry. >> what about this church? when did you start? >> at the age of 7, i started with 2 of my neighbors in the backyard of my neighbor's home and people came from the community, all around, preaching, giving god praise. many lives were changed. my founding members are still with me today. >> okay. and how long have you been in this building. >> since 2006. >> and you have another location? >> yes, at 6907 south homestead, and we have one of our spiritual sons who is there, and we're active in the community at the school program, helping people, charging lives there in engle wood and here, washington heights. 944 west 103rd street. >> sounds like your church is very active in the community. i know you have a food pantry going on. how often are you distributing food? >> well, we're open every day and we serve about 200 families a week.

times are difficult and we believe in going -- taking the church to the community. some never come to church. if we can show them to love jesus, their lives will be changed. >> is every one welcome. >> every one, yes. >> i know music is a big part of your ministry. do you write your own praise an worship songs. >> i'm a worshiper. and i believe in bringing people into the presence of god. i believe one of my assignments is to get people in god's presence. and worship is a vehicle we use for that. when we bring people in the presence of the lord they're healed and delivered and set free. so sometimes the spirit of god moves and we create new music and songs. people are changed. >> you have a christmas concert. >> yes. christmas day at 8 and 10. we're excited. going to be a great time. 944 west 103rd street. celebrating the life 06 jesus. >> wonderful. encourage people to go to that. in addition to music, drama plays a key role.

your wife writes and produces some of her own plays; is that right. >> yes. my wife is an avid play writer and does it in her women's conference. we use it for outreach, and to bring people to jesus through drama, make them laugh and give them the gospel in that way. >> tell us about these annual conferences. >> one conference we do every year, ten times better conference, when the men of judah were compared to the men of the world, the men of god were ten times better. our goal is to make people ten times better. we do the ten times better family conference, leadership conference, and also we have a youth and children's conference that's dynamite. we have young preachers, singers, and minister to encourage our youth. >> and contact information. >> prayer and faith outreach, 944 west 103 street. website is www.prayer and

faith.org. (773)445-7600. >> wonderful. thank so much! >> thank you. >> i'm really impressed with these churches. they're reaching out doing community things, really excited. when we return, father dimitri sala is going to answer your questions on catholicism. our question line, and we're already getting people calling in. (888)235-9907 (888)691-1075. if you don't get through right away, keep trying. (888)691-1075. for the last several weeks on her aspiring women blog.com, shirley has been giving her health tips to help consier aging. we have been showing them on this program as well. and on this blog, she emphasizes way to increase your balance. as you age, you'll find

something in this one that really has to do with balance. >> hi there. maxine says don't let old age get you down. it's too hard to get back up. that's true but if you've ever had a bad fall it's not a laughing matter. i was holding one of my little granddaughters. i was dancing around the kitchen floor on flip flops. my foot slipped, i went down on my head. i couldn't break my fall. i was protecting the baby. she didn't get a statute. i had a huge hematoma and 2 black eyes. i was very lucky. it's common for falls to cause serious injury and even death. so let's talk about balance. it's very complex. it involves your eyes, ears, your muscle reaction time, your neuro system. a lot of systems of the body that the brain has to integrate in order to make you stable on your feet. and there are things that can

negatively effect your balance. the medications you're taking, or maybe low blood sugar, blood pressure. or even bad feet or stress can cause you to be wobbly. but the good news is you can improve your balance. there is a lot of ways to do it. one, of course, the magic word "exercise" which we don't like to hear. the good news is exercise helps you improve your balance, any kind of exercise. even walking is very good for your balance. and you're improving your balance without realizing it. another thing you can do is to practice balance. you can get better over time. try standing by chair and balance, holding on at first, and try liftling a leg like this. or like this. and then try it without holding on to the chair. practice standing on one foot. and then close your eyes! and that's a lot harder. i've gotten better. i've practiced it. you can, too. don't you dare sit on the bed to put on your jeans, stand in the

doorway. practice putting on those jeans without holding on or without sitting down. same with your socks. if you start to fall you have a door frame to catch you. but practice makes perfect. another thing that's great is these balance balls which i talked about last time. the balance balls are not only kind of fun to exercise on, sit and watch tv, and you're actually improving your balance and you're burning calories at the same time. now, they come with a list of very basic exercises that you can do. just sitting here bouncing is actually improving your balance. they have exercises where you lift one leg at that time. a lot harder than it looks. work on your balance. the 4 areas that are so important to conquer aging, stamina, flexibility, strength, and balance. so get yourself one of these balls. make exercise fun. that's life changing. i hope this has been helpful,

and remember, i'm here for you! that was a real fall.

>> welcome back. father dimitri sala joins us on the program. as i mentioned, father sala was with us in the summer. phones lit up with calls, only too late for the program. father sala is a franciscan friar involved in full-time preaching and ministry. he conducts retreats, healing services, missions, revivals, and has been involved in

international efforts of reconciliation between evangelicals, protestants and catholics, also the auteur of the "stained glass curtain." -- author of the "stained glass curtain." good to have you. >> great to be back. >> we got incredible response. >> glad to hear it. >> tell us how you, as a catholic, came into the born again experience. >> well, anyone who comes into the born again experience has a testimony. all roads lead to the cross. different roads. i was born into a hurting family, had a big love shape hole. seeking something to fill it. raised in church, had a fascination with god. and when i was in high school i went to a bible study. the guy leading the bible study said jesus loves you. the information went from here to here. and it started a quest for me. i started reading the bible. i developed a personal relationship with christ even before i received salvation, had

gone to prayer meetings, and heard a lot of talk about receiving south carolina -- receiving your lord and savior. one night the lord said i want you to surrounder your life to me. that was a moment of decision. i responded yes, but my life didn't change about a year-and-a-half later when i had a personal encounter with the holy spirit. september 18, 1978. 7 something p.m. holy spirit came into me, and then soon after that convicted me of sin. i got the information about the gospel, repented once and for all before god for my sin, trusted christ and had told him i'd submit me life to him. >> i'm so glad you're with us. i missed that on the program last time. i grew up in new orleans, very healthily catholic.

i was pentecostal, but all my friends were catholic. but i always had a lot of questions, still do. so apparently our audience does, too. >> i have some questions as the program goes about the charismatic renewal movement within the catholic church. we have a lot of calls. martha is calling from chicago with our first question. yes, what is your question? >> my question is doesn't praying to saints take jesus place as our intercresser and our high priest in heaven? and how can saints intercress prayers when they're awaiting salvation themselves. >> it was a doctrine that was defined called the communion of saints. and what basically that says is that when a person receives

jesus christ and the holy spirit lives inside them, they are alive to christ, as jesus said whoever believes in me, even though he died, yet shall he live. we believe the saints that have crossed the line into the kingdom of heaven are one with us, in some spiritual bond. therefore as i can turn to you as the saints on earth, that's what paul calls us, to ask you to pray for me, that doesn't take the place of jesus, does not replace his unique role as a mediator between god and man. we can turn toward the saints in heaven. i think a lot of evangelicals might have an issue with this because it seems like a lot of catholics go to the saints and don't go to jesus. that's really what energizes my ministry. people need to get introduced to a saving knowledge. >> the problem that protestants have, they think they're praying to the saints instead of jesus.

it's not the same thing at all. >> exactly. >> cynthia is calling from st. paul, minnesota. >> hi, in your book, the "stained glass curtain," you use the phrase our common heritage. and from what i understand, you're referring to the gospel message of salvation, and we as catholics share that in common with non catholic christians. i was wondering if you see baptism as part of our common heritage. because in the vatican 2 documents, that's what it says. i found that same phrase. and i don't know if you want the quote -- >> you probably know it. >> i can respond without the quote if you'd like. >> go ahead. >> well, the phrase "our common

heritage" refers to the part of christianty that all christians share. there are difference between protestant evangelicals and catholic evangelicals, but there is a basis, the whole thesis of my book here that at least the gospel, the message of salvation, there are many dimensions. so baptism would be one of them. there are differing opinions as to what role baptism plays. the lord wants us to be baptized if we can be. it is immediately connected to saving knowledge, sieving personal salvation for yourself. that's what our catholic church teaches is the normal president obama. >> what about infant baptism? >> that's really a complicated question.

but the basic issue is this. in the catholic church teaching, even though we baptize infacts as well as evangelical protestants. we teach that it does not get you from having to hear, decide for yourself, vis-a-vis the salvation. if a person is baptized as an infant. later they have to hear this message and make a decision and choose personally bus salvation is a covenant that only a person can choose for themselves. >> so infant baptism, is it more like a dedication like the protestants do? what's the benefit of it, then? >> it's actually stronger in our teaching. it basically answers the question what do we do with people in our families? who have not yet heard and understood and responded to the salvation message. so that could be an infant, or a child

before the age of reason, a person who is mentally handicapped or somebody who has emotional challenges. so -- >> like a safety net. >> it's actually a more profound statement. it's saying -- it's like what joshua said about the covenant. as for me and my house, we will serve the lord. so the way i understand that, he's basically saying the benefits of the covenant that i have entered into, in relationship with my god, are extended to my family until such time my family says no, i'm out of here. >> let me mention that if you have a question, the number to call (888)691-1075. and we welcome your call. we're committing this program to answering your questions, so if you have any kind of a question, call us. (888)691-1075. >> don't wait until thent of the program! >> don't wait. one of the questions i have is

the whole question of salvation. salvation by works or salvation by grace? in the protestant tradition, belief, faith is sufficient. works happen but that's not part -- that's not the salvation experience. it's understood by a lot of evangelicals that works is -- that's how you arrive at salvation. what really is is that today in the catholic church? >> well, maybe what helped to distinguish between two terms. justification and salvation. justification happens when we personally enter into the covenant that god offers -- >> accepting jesus christ. >> exactly. being born again. the catholic church, first and

fundamental conversion. we say along with classic protestant thinking, and just recently -- well not recently. it was in '99, the catholic church and world federation of lutherans came together and they issued a statement called the joint declaration on the doctrine of justification. for detads, theologians were hammering this out. it says we have come to agree that justification happens by grace alone, through faith alone, because of christ alone. and so the question, then, becomes what role do works play in that? and as far as i understand the teaching, that's also articulated in that document, it says that works show us or are the fruit of the fact that we are in a saving knowledge of jesus christ. >> pretty consistent with the evangelical teaching. >> exactly. >> now, is that -- did that become catholic