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Steve Ray is a popular Catholic author, speaker and Holy Land tour guide extraordinaire. Here's a quick bio from his author's page at Ignatius Insight:

Stephen K. Ray was raised in a devout, loving Baptist family. His father was a deacon and Bible teacher and Stephen was very involved in the Baptist Church as a teacher of Biblical studies and lectured on a wide range of topics. Steve and his wife Janet entered the Catholic Church in 1994.

In addition to running a family business, Steve spends time researching, writing, and teaching about the Catholic Faith. He is the author of Crossing the Tiber: Evangelical Protestants Discover the Historical Church, Upon This Rock: St. Peter and the Primacy of Rome in Scripture and the Early Church, and St. John's Gospel: A Bible Study and Commentary.

Here are a few of his talks:

• Defending the Eucharist

• The Rock, The Keys and The Chair

If you like what you hear, there's still room on his Holy Land trip.

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If you think Catholics don't know the Bible, give a listen to Tim Staples. Tim Staples is a former southern Baptist, an Assemblies of God Minister and a tough-talking US Marine. Before that, he was one of those aggressive atheists you meet at parties. Growing up, he and his brothers were on a first-name basis with the local police. Now he’s a Catholic apologist with a growing reputation as an inspiring speaker.

In January of 2009 he gave a talk in Michigan about Baptism. You can download it here.

Oh, and if Tim were here he'd ask you to check out his tape sets. Lol.

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...wants to go to the February 2011 Holy Land Pilgrimage led by famed author, apologist and sometimes tour guide Steve Ray. Unfortunately, not enough folks have signed up yet to make it happen.

This is where you come in! :0)

The trip lasts 11 days and costs $3,799, a cost which includes hotel, meals and the plane trip (not including air fare to/from New York).

If you're interested -- as you should be -- you can get the details here.

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And in news related to the last post...from America Magazine:

George V. Coyne, S.J., president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, recounts the history of this institution, and explains how the Vatican became involved in the study of the planets and stars. Father Coyne also weighs in on the contemporary debate about the compatibility of science and religion, and makes the case that Stephen Hawking is wrong about the origins of the universe.

Download

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In any case...Via First Things: