ALL CHRISTIANS: How do you answer: "It doesn't matter which religion you 'pick'"

[jmcrae]

jmcrae, I was being modest geeesh. God forbid me if I said I only fall into sin once a month. I cant imagine the feed back I would get if I said that.

Thank God for that.

jmcrae, I am not picking on you when ask this, but I am also asking myself…when will we as Christians STOP looking at and picking at the little things we can point to that we find wrong with each other and **START looking at the things we have in common **so that we can then better become the one united church Jesus so wants to have?

We will become one Church when we make a decision that we no longer like having tens of thousands of Christians in schism, and join them all back into the one true Church that Christ Himself established - that day, and no sooner. As long as we can live with division, we will have it - it’s up to us to be converted to the Church. It is not God’s fault that we are not all in the Church; it is our fault, and that means that we can fix it. If we want to. The question is, when will we want to?

 

[MarcoPolo]

God

truth

I think the only difference in our views is that I believe it is possible for a person to deceive himself with regard to the state of his soul, but you do not.

 

[whatisthetruth]

Hi jmcrae

jmcrae

We will become one Church when we make a decision that we no longer like having tens of thousands of Christians in schism, and ***join them all back into the one true Church that Christ Himself established ***- that day, and no sooner.

I absolutely agree

As long as we can live with division, we will have it - it’s up to us to be converted to the Church. It is not God’s fault that we are not all in the Church; it is our fault,

nah it’s Eve’s fault. She made Adam eat the apple…just kidding …of course it is our fault

and that means that we can fix it. If we want to. The question is, when will we want to?

I absolutely agree, it is the underlying problem of most of these threads.

May I add when and if the day comes we want to be in unity with the church Jesus Christ built, here is the big question that I believe once answered will be a major step in uniting Jesus’ church …

What kind of church does God want?

Are all the ways and beliefs of the one and only RC church as it is today, the church Jesus intended to build (as RC’s believe it to be) when He said to Peter, “on this rock I will build my church”?

In the Apostles Creed it states “one holy catholic church”

Does that mean (universal) catholic church or (Roman) catholic church?

We can debate those answers for a long time and both sides can point to biblical references to support their beliefs. We all, for the most part, have stayed firm in our beliefs with few exceptions.

There have been RC’s converting to non RC christian churches
There have been non RC christians converting to the RC church

There have been conversions from christianity to muslim, hindu, buddha etc

Until the day we are united as one

May God and your family in 08

truth

 

[whatisthetruth]

Hi MarcoPolo

MarcoPolo
I think the only difference in our views is that I believe it is possible for a person to deceive himself

with regard to the state of his soul, but you do not.

I am sorry you feel I will deceive myself by saying…

"I am saved and when I die, I know I am going to heaven.

Please understand that, I believe we as man can not judge the salvation of another man, only God can. However, I believe that the same Holy Spirit who guides the priests and bishops of the church is the same Holy Spirit who lives in each and every one of our hearts. He is like a spiritual “guidance counselor” who loves and cares for each and every one of us. He wants to build a trusting relationship and lead us in our faith walk with God. It is the living Holy Spirit inside a faithful christian’s heart who will covict them of any sin they commit and lead them to confession and repentance to keep their soul right with God. Having done so, one knows where they stand with God.

I realize you probably do not believe this, it is not what the RC church teaches. Please read on.

The only thing we can do is share the good news of His word with other people and let them know the truth of His word that should they remain faithful to God, God is always faithful and gave us His word and promise that…

For God so loved the world, that he gave

his only begotten Son, that **whosoever believeth in him **should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

MarcoPolo, in talking to another catholic on this site, he mentioned to me that he needed to get to a point of righteousness and holiness before he could say he was sure he was going to heaven.

Is that kinda the case with you?

I mentioned to him I could relate because as a catholic, no matter what I did, even after confession, I did not feel righteous enough or holy enough to enter the kingdom of almighty God.

It was not until I left the RC church, that the core truth of God’s word “jumped off the pages” of the bible and into my heart.

That it’s not a matter of what I can do to make my self righteous with God, because as the bible says,

Isaiah 64:6
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and **all our righteous acts **

are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

My righteous acts are filty rags in God’s eyes No wonder I felt the way I did

*It is a matter of *my faith in Him and what He has already done for us. Jesus said “it is finished”.

It is because of my faith in Him that I now have the desire to want to do the things that God loves and to stay away from doing the things which God hates. And when temptation of Satan gets the best of me, as long as I remain faithful in Christ, I am saved with my sincere repentance and confession.

God does not lie when He says

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Eph 2:8-9

I will believe in my salvation till God takes me home to :heaven:.

I believe His word is not just for me, but for you and everyone else in this world.

May God and your family in 08

truth

 

[whatisthetruth]

How do you answer: "It doesn’t matter which religion you ‘pick’"

There are many religions, but only one Jesus.

If we can agree on Jesus and who He is, it will be a tremendous start.

Jesus is after all, above all

Enjoy and be blessed by the following video
Above all

truth

 

[Rocky]

Hi whatistruth,

I am sorry you did not feel forgiven or holy enough after confessing your sins as a Catholic. I just want to say that the Sacrament of Confession is a consoling one to me, and to many Catholics who partake of the grace that the Lord has provided to us in this Sacrament.

I pray God’s blessing for you.

 

[jmcrae]

Are all the ways and beliefs of the one and only RC church as it is today, the church Jesus intended to build (as RC’s believe it to be) when He said to Peter, “on this rock I will build my church”?

Why not? It’s the only one even bothering to claim the title - who are you or who am I to say, “No, it can’t possibly be you. That would be too easy. It’s supposed to be more complicated than that.” (Remember Naaman the leper? He teaches us to be careful not to reject things for being too easy. Read II Kings 5, to refresh your memory if you’ve forgotten his story.)

In the Apostles Creed it states “one holy catholic church”

Does that mean (universal) catholic church or (Roman) catholic church?

They are one and the same; the leader of God’s Universal Church is the Pope in Rome, because he is the authentic successor of Peter.

 

[whatisthetruth]

Hi Rocky,

I am sorry you did not feel forgiven or holy enough after confessing your sins as a Catholic. I just want to say that the Sacrament of Confession is a consoling one to me, and to many Catholics who partake of the grace that the Lord has provided to us in this Sacrament.

To me the priests had access to Jesus in a way I did not.

Something to the idea of a corporate office. The managers would get better direct treatment from the CEO than I did. It is easier for the low ranking person to get quality time with his immediate supervisor than quality time with the CEO.

In a strange way Jesus was like the “CEO” of the church in my mind like I just described. I only prayed Our Fathers, Hail Mary’s and Glory be to the Father’s to Him from the missalette. On occasion we prayed the rosary at home and the frequent thank you for and bless so and so at bedtime. That was my limited prayer life

I would look at the statue of him every Sunday. But I never felt His presence in a way I do now. .

As a Catholic I was always bothered by having to confess to a priest. I wondered why I couldn’t confess my sins directly to Jesus. He is the one who bled on the cross for our sins.

I once had a priest that told me as a kid my sin of throwing stones could not be forgiven for the reason that I could of seriously injured my schoolmate. I always wondered had I been able to confess to God, if He would have told me the same. ** I mean, are we not saved by the blood of Jesus? I never reconfessed it again to a priest. I wonder in a RC’s eye that sin is still on my soul? **

thoughts???

When I watch the video, Above All I feel Jesus right in my heart. I tear when I watch it. I feel the passion and love He has for me and the reason God sacrificed His Son so that all of can be forgiven of our sin and be saved from the fires of hell. It is through that love that I have a personal relationshhip with Him. Jesus is my Lord and Saviour.

As a Catholic, I can’t even recall anyone in the church saying they had a personal relationship with God. I asked my “friend” who is catholic and it is like I am speaking a foreign language.

I am curious Rocky, do you have a personal relationship with God and do you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour?

I believe one can pray directly to God and He will forgive them by the blood of Jesus with a sincere confession and repentance from those who believe in and are faithful to Him. I know you are not taught or believe this.

Just imagine if you were able to cross that line and place your trust in Jesus and Jesus alone to wash away all your sin. Yes we need to confess to our “brother” for sinning against Him.

However, there is something special that takes place when I bow at the “cross” of Jesus and confess directly to Him and place my trust in Him by faith.

I pray God’s blessing for you.

Thank you and may God and your family in 2008

truth

 

[MarcoPolo]

I am sorry you feel I will deceive myself by saying…

"I am saved and when I die, I know I am going to heaven.

No, I said you can have reasonable certainty, but in our humanity it is possible to deceive ourselves. Only God knows for CERTAIN. We already established that Paul did not have this certainty…so unless you have special guidance of the Holy Spirit over Paul, I don’t know what to say.

The Holy Spirit guiding the Church as a teaching office is a different matter.

I won’t ask you for a short post again… We’ve exhausted it…you have others to chat with now.

 

[Rocky]

Hi Rocky,

To me the priests had access to Jesus in a way I did not.

Something to the idea of a corporate office. The managers would get better direct treatment from the CEO than I did. It is easier for the low ranking person to get quality time with his immediate supervisor than quality time with the CEO.

In a strange way Jesus was like the “CEO” of the church in my mind like I just described. I only prayed Our Fathers, Hail Mary’s and Glory be to the Father’s to Him from the missalette. On occasion we prayed the rosary at home and the frequent thank you for and bless so and so at bedtime. That was my limited prayer life

I would look at the statue of him every Sunday. But I never felt His presence in a way I do now. .

As a Catholic I was always bothered by having to confess to a priest. I wondered why I couldn’t confess my sins directly to Jesus. He is the one who bled on the cross for our sins.

I once had a priest that told me as a kid my sin of throwing stones could not be forgiven for the reason that I could of seriously injured my schoolmate. I always wondered had I been able to confess to God, if He would have told me the same. **I mean, are we not saved by the blood of Jesus? I never reconfessed it again to a priest. I wonder in a RC’s eye that sin is still on my soul? **

thoughts???

When I watch the video, Above All I feel Jesus right in my heart. I tear when I watch it. I feel the passion and love He has for me and the reason God sacrificed His Son so that all of can be forgiven of our sin and be saved from the fires of hell. It is through that love that I have a personal relationshhip with Him. Jesus is my Lord and Saviour.

As a Catholic, I can’t even recall anyone in the church saying they had a personal relationship with God. I asked my “friend” who is catholic and it is like I am speaking a foreign language.

I am curious Rocky, do you have a personal relationship with God and do you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour?

I believe one can pray directly to God and He will forgive them by the blood of Jesus with a sincere confession and repentance from those who believe in and are faithful to Him. I know you are not taught or believe this.

Just imagine if you were able to cross that line and place your trust in Jesus and Jesus alone to wash away all your sin. Yes we need to confess to our “brother” for sinning against Him.

However, there is something special that takes place when I bow at the “cross” of Jesus and confess directly to Him and place my trust in Him by faith.

Thank you and may God and your family in 2008

truth

I am sorry that when you were a child a priest told you that your sin of throwing stones could not be forgiven. I too as a child had a bad experience in the confessional with a priest telling me that I had not prepared well for my confession. Looking back on it now as an adult, I realize that the priest was listening probably to more than 100 children’s confessions that day. Poor man.

But anyway, I have grown up now and when I go to confession I talk directly to Jesus, as He is the one who is granting me absolution (through the priest). Again, I find comfort in hearing the words of absolution spoken aloud.

 

[Rocky]

I realize I did not answer your question, whatisthetruth,

Yes, I have a very personal relationship with my Lord and Savior. I have been blessed by Him in so many ways, and He has shown much kindness to me. The greatest gift He has given me is my faith, handed on to me by my parents at my baptism. He gives me all of Himself in the Eucharist. When He said that He is meek and humble of heart, He really meant it. He is willing to wait for me to come to Mass to receive all of Him—Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. He does not withhold any of Himself from me, but gives me all He has! How I thank and bless Him for His grace and faithfulness!

 

[whatisthetruth]

Hi jmcrae

Are all the ways and beliefs of the one and only RC church as it is today, the church Jesus intended to build (as RC’s believe it to be) when He said to Peter, “on this rock I will build my church”?

Why not?

the reason I ask, RC’s had the same structure over all the centuries where as the other christian chuches (some 30,000+ is a number that pops up) offers a different structure.

Yes, one can question, why so many denominations and only one RC church.?

I do believe that all christian churches can agree on Jesus. He is the name Above All names

By the way did you see the video?

I have a sense on why there are so many denominations. I do not know if it will be acceptable or not but only one way to find out, here it is,

Imagine being hungry and going out to eat at an all you can eat buffet. Everyone there paid the $25.00.

After you paid for your dinner, you are told by the manager that you can only have one entree off the buffet one dessert.

All the other patrons have a choice of the whole buffet, whatever meets their tastebuds.

How would you feel, if you were limited like that.

I would say give me my money back I am not coming back thank you very much

In a strange way, could it be non-catholics believe that as long as they believe in Jesus and trust Him like the bible says, God will be faithful to those who are faithful to Him?

Isn’t Jesus the core of oour beliefs?

For a christian to be limited to the structure of the RC church,
does it not seem like the RC church is saying in order to be spiritually filled you need to be in the RC church?

On this site I have been told that by a number of catholics or I have seen replies which state just that.

doesn’t that take away His choice on how he wants to worship God?

Maybe a christian needs something more than what the catholic church can offer. The structure of the Catholic church may not fill His spiritual needs.

i.e. How many RC’s lift their hands during worship song at mass?

When a priest makes a good point during a sermon, how often are an audible “amen” or “alleluia” or a hand clap heard.

How can a christian be wrong as long as He keeps Jesus as the center of their life and honors God according to His word the way they believe the Holy Spirit is guiding them?

Because here is a question that all Catholics can not agree on the answer.

In order to be saved does a Christian have to be of the RC faith?

as a matter of fact that is my question in a new thread.
All contributions welcomed

(Remember Naaman the leper? He teaches us to be careful not to reject things for being too easy. Read II Kings 5, to refresh your memory if you’ve forgotten his story.)

Thank you, I will read the story again to reaquaint myself

In the Apostles Creed it states “one holy catholic church”

Does that mean (universal) catholic church or (Roman) catholic church?

They are one and the same; the leader of God’s Universal Church is the Pope in Rome, because he is the authentic successor of Peter.

As previously mentioned, we can debate this answer for a long time and both sides can point to biblical references to support their beliefs. We all, for the most part, have stayed firm in our beliefs.

Thank you and may God and your family in 2008

truth

 

[jmcrae]

With regard to your “buffet” image, it is really the Protestant who is limited; not the Catholic.

If a Catholic wants to study the Bible, he can go and find a Jesuit priest, and he will be taught. If a Protestant wants to study the Bible, he first has to become a Baptist or else a Presbyterian, and then he will find a teacher who can help him.

If a Catholic wants to pray in tongues, he can go to his nearest Life in the Spirit gathering, and freely do so. If a Protestant wants to do this, he first has to become a Pentecostal.

If a Catholic wants both to read the Bible and to pray in tongues, he does not have to change his religion each time he changes his activity - he can just go ahead and do both, quite freely.

If a Catholic wants to join a society that feeds the poor, he can just go ahead and do so. If a Protestant wants to do that, he has to join the Salvation Army.

If a Catholic wants to become engaged in social justice activities, he can just go ahead and do so. A Protestant would first have to join the Methodist church.

Each Protestant denomination specializes in one thing, and one thing only. But the Catholic Church encompasses all things. If someone wants to have a well-rounded spiritual life, his best (and really his only) bet is the Catholic Church.

 

[Delraek]

Hi Rocky,

To me the priests had access to Jesus in a way I did not.

Something to the idea of a corporate office. The managers would get better direct treatment from the CEO than I did. It is easier for the low ranking person to get quality time with his immediate supervisor than quality time with the CEO.

In a strange way Jesus was like the “CEO” of the church in my mind like I just described. I only prayed Our Fathers, Hail Mary’s and Glory be to the Father’s to Him from the missalette. On occasion we prayed the rosary at home and the frequent thank you for and bless so and so at bedtime. That was my limited prayer life

I would look at the statue of him every Sunday. But I never felt His presence in a way I do now. .

As a Catholic I was always bothered by having to confess to a priest. I wondered why I couldn’t confess my sins directly to Jesus. He is the one who bled on the cross for our sins.

I once had a priest that told me as a kid my sin of throwing stones could not be forgiven for the reason that I could of seriously injured my schoolmate. I always wondered had I been able to confess to God, if He would have told me the same. ** I mean, are we not saved by the blood of Jesus? I never reconfessed it again to a priest. I wonder in a RC’s eye that sin is still on my soul? **

thoughts???

When I watch the video, Above All I feel Jesus right in my heart. I tear when I watch it. I feel the passion and love He has for me and the reason God sacrificed His Son so that all of can be forgiven of our sin and be saved from the fires of hell. It is through that love that I have a personal relationshhip with Him. Jesus is my Lord and Saviour.

As a Catholic, I can’t even recall anyone in the church saying they had a personal relationship with God. I asked my “friend” who is catholic and it is like I am speaking a foreign language.

I am curious Rocky, do you have a personal relationship with God and do you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour?

I believe one can pray directly to God and He will forgive them by the blood of Jesus with a sincere confession and repentance from those who believe in and are faithful to Him. I know you are not taught or believe this.

Just imagine if you were able to cross that line and place your trust in Jesus and Jesus alone to wash away all your sin. Yes we need to confess to our “brother” for sinning against Him.

However, there is something special that takes place when I bow at the “cross” of Jesus and confess directly to Him and place my trust in Him by faith.

Thank you and may God and your family in 2008

truth

Hi Whatisthetruth,

While reading your post, 2 thoughts came to mind.

One has to do with this quote:

I mentioned to him I could relate because as a catholic, no matter what I did, even after confession, I did not feel righteous enough or holy enough to enter the kingdom of almighty God.

I’m at a loss as to why so many people leave the Catholic Church because of “feelings”! I don’t always “feel” good after confession or at other times, but that doesn’t take away the effect of the sacrament. Jesus started a Church and gave men the ability to forgive sins in His name.

John 20: 21Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

I guess I just believe in Jesus’ words no matter how I “feel”!

The second thought is in response to this quote:

It is a matter of my faith in Him and what He has already done for us. Jesus said “it is finished”.

When Jesus said the words “It is finished” before He died on the cross, He was referring to the Passover. He had celebrated the Passover with His disciples, but stopped the celebration before the last ceremonial cup of wine. He waited until He was on the cross dying before tasting the wine to signify that **He **was the sacrificial lamb. Even though He suffered and died for us, He still expects us to take up our cross and follow Him…

I have a friend who left the Catholic faith (I say that loosely, because she never really put forth much effort in the Church and had very little knowledge about what the Catholic faith teaches) for the Baptist faith, and it seems her most prominent belief (and probably the main reason for her conversion) is that she now KNOWS that she is going to heaven! As if changing Christian religions somehow changes the way God judges us - give me a break!

God bless!

 

[St_Aloysius]

ALL CHRISTIANS: How do you answer: “It doesn’t matter which religion you ‘pick’”

That it’s perfectly true–so long as you don’t care about the fullness of truth…

 

[episcogirl]

Each Protestant denomination specializes in one thing, and one thing only.

I would really, really, really have to take issue with this comment.

During our average Wednesday night service a healing service “broke out.”

My very very close friend spoke in tongues one day right in front of me.

Our church is VERY involved in social issues in our town, and, in fact, we help to provide housing for homeless people in our town. And other causes as well.

Our priest, a very learned man, has studied the Bible at seminary and helps us find ways to either learn from him or on our own through personal and “official” studies at universities or the like.

This is all at ONE church. ONE denomination.

 

[Alexius]

Each Protestant denomination specializes in one thing, and one thing only. But the Catholic Church encompasses all things. If someone wants to have a well-rounded spiritual life, his best (and really his only) bet is the Catholic Church.

I understand your point, but my own past experience proves your blanket statement false. There were soup kitchen and homeless programs, street ministry programs, youth programs, bible studies, etc. all at one church…

Prayers and petitions,
Alexius

 

[Alexius]

ALL CHRISTIANS: How do you answer: “It doesn’t matter which religion you ‘pick’”

Don’t know if anyone posted this, but it’s knida funny…

Stephen Colbert:

“I believe all religions are equal. By equal, I mean Catholicism is first and all others are tied for second.”

In an interview with candidate Mitt Romney:

“Now I’ve got nothing against Mormons; in my view, all religions are equal in that they’re tied for second after Catholicism.”

 

[whatisthetruth]

That it’s perfectly true–so long as you don’t care about the fullness of truth…

And only Roman Catholics have the fulness of truth???

Then why do many non RC’s believe in assurance of salvation (eternity in heaven when they die) and many RC’s do not?

Seems Non RC’s beleive in God’s ultimate reward presented in the bible (salvation) moreso than RC’s do

thank you ,

truth

 

[Delraek]

And only Roman Catholics have the fulness of truth???

Then why do many non RC’s believe in assurance of salvation (eternity in heaven when they die) and many RC’s do not?

Seems Non RC’s beleive in God’s ultimate reward presented in the bible (salvation) moreso than RC’s do

thank you ,

truth

Catholics believe in heaven, just not necessarily in a total assurance of it on an individual basis. Even Paul tells us “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling”. Whether or not I personally believe I will go to heaven is not going to change God’s judgment of me one iota!

Why do you believe that God will use your own opinion of the condition of your soul when He judges you concerning your salvation?