M
mpjw2
Guest
wow mary was young
- Status
L
Love_is_Patient
Guest
I think there are two reasons why Catholics are cautious about their eternal destination:
- They don’t want to be presumptuous. They don’t want to start to think that there is no way that they could fall away from the faith. They want to continue to remind themselves to rely on the mercy of God and they believe in the theological virtue of hope.
- A lot of Catholics, myself included, get a wee bit irritated with the OSAS, my-sins-don’t-matter attitude that some people have. And so I think sometimes we are reluctant to state that “yes, I believe right now I’m in a state of grace and friendship with God and my ultimate destination were I to die would be heaven” because we don’t want to sound as arrogant as some of these people sound to our ears.
Whereas for Catholics, it’s more like: I accept Jesus, therefore God opens the door of heaven to me, and offers me all the grace to walk through it, but he won’t force me. I still have to make that choice, every single day, to live my life for him.
Hope that makes sense. It’s a little late and I tend to ramble.
Oh, and no, I haven’t watched the “I Can Only Imagine” video that you posted yet, but I do have a favorite one: youtube.com/watch?v=x-4H9hXGVk0
God bless you.
Love is Patient
M
mpjw2
Guest
Love is patient…thank you…you make lot of sense. People should not be arrogant about their salvation, I do not believe God offered the gift so we can be arrogant.I think there are two reasons why Catholics are cautious about their eternal destination:
Maybe it’s also just a cultural thing. I get the impression sometimes that in some Christian circles, salvation is almost like a sales transaction. I accept Jesus, therefore God gives me eternity with Him in heaven–and it doesn’t matter how i live today or tomorrow. End of story.
- They don’t want to be presumptuous. They don’t want to start to think that there is no way that they could fall away from the faith. They want to continue to remind themselves to rely on the mercy of God and they believe in the theological virtue of hope.
- A lot of Catholics, myself included, get a wee bit irritated with the OSAS, my-sins-don’t-matter attitude that some people have. And so I think sometimes we are reluctant to state that “yes, I believe right now I’m in a state of grace and friendship with God and my ultimate destination were I to die would be heaven” because we don’t want to sound as arrogant as some of these people sound to our ears.
Whereas for Catholics, it’s more like: I accept Jesus, therefore God opens the door of heaven to me, and offers me all the grace to walk through it, but he won’t force me. I still have to make that choice, every single day, to live my life for him.
Hope that makes sense. It’s a little late and I tend to ramble.
Oh, and no, I haven’t watched the “I Can Only Imagine” video that you posted yet, but I do have a favorite one: youtube.com/watch?v=x-4H9hXGVk0
God bless you.
you are so so right when you said…
as I do too. it is a shame that there are people who believe they have a free ticket to heaven. As you said…
You and I agree …it should matter…
Satan is out there to steal and destroy what we have,including our salvation
an excellent video addressing how one should live there life for God can be watched on you tube…
youtube.com/watch?v=cncEhCvrVgQ
Paul washer is addressing a youth conference. it is long but a powerful message
I watched your version of I can only imagine. The Eucharist is the focus of the wonderful presentation.
I just like to close my eyes and listen to this ssong and let my mind imagine what heaven will be like
God bless you
L
Love_is_Patient
Guest
Thanks for understanding.
I will check out the video you posted.Sometimes I like to just close my eyes and listen, too. Another favorite song of mine is “Everything” by Lifehouse. Here’s a link ( youtube.com/watch?v=fjDojEOiMcE ) but it’s a great one just to close your eyes and mediate on.
God bless you.
Love is Patient
G
Gabriel_of_12
Guest
Gabriel of 12;
The common knowledge that God loves all of us (his creation) does not just apply to only Christians but to non christians also. Every god fearer in some way acknowledges that the Creator of the Universe Knows and Loves his creation.
IMHO, what has united always the people of God, has been those chosen to enter into a covenant relationship with the Creator, so as to bring the good news to his creation.
Christians believe Jesus is that mediator of the New Covenant relationship with our Living Father.
What seperates christians is not the Love God has for his children, but how each Christian child of God obeys the New Covenant Jesus made in his body and blood sacrifice. And how the child of God lives out the New Covenant by obeying Jesus commands once one enters the Kingdom of God.
The entrance into the Kingdom of God and how one lives the New Covenant that Jesus instituted in his Kingdom from obedience. Is where you will find unity among Christian believers.
The question is? Which body of Christian believers hold to the True Teachings of Jesus Christ in the New Covenant? This new covenant way of life is what divides christians in their community belief systems, whether they be from man/woman founders or Jesus himself. The term Christianity has layed claim to many diverse “christian” teachings.
The bible teaches their is only one faith, one baptism, one Lord and one Church Jesus built upon Peter, this biblical teaching will never change, only the interpretation of the scriptures from man.
God is Love; we are all sharers in his love both Christian and non.
G
Gabriel_of_12
Guest
Your good post reminds of the quote; “The one thing Catholics fear most is loosing God”I think there are two reasons why Catholics are cautious about their eternal destination:
Maybe it’s also just a cultural thing. I get the impression sometimes that in some Christian circles, salvation is almost like a sales transaction. I accept Jesus, therefore God gives me eternity with Him in heaven–and it doesn’t matter how i live today or tomorrow. End of story.
- They don’t want to be presumptuous. They don’t want to start to think that there is no way that they could fall away from the faith. They want to continue to remind themselves to rely on the mercy of God and they believe in the theological virtue of hope.
- A lot of Catholics, myself included, get a wee bit irritated with the OSAS, my-sins-don’t-matter attitude that some people have. And so I think sometimes we are reluctant to state that “yes, I believe right now I’m in a state of grace and friendship with God and my ultimate destination were I to die would be heaven” because we don’t want to sound as arrogant as some of these people sound to our ears.
Whereas for Catholics, it’s more like: I accept Jesus, therefore God opens the door of heaven to me, and offers me all the grace to walk through it, but he won’t force me. I still have to make that choice, every single day, to live my life for him.
Hope that makes sense. It’s a little late and I tend to ramble.
Oh, and no, I haven’t watched the “I Can Only Imagine” video that you posted yet, but I do have a favorite one: youtube.com/watch?v=x-4H9hXGVk0
God bless you.
M
mpjw2
Guest
hi gabriel,
you are right on point with your last comment. I also believe God loves everyone unconditionally…(christian, non christian, atheists, all the criminnals of the world, no exception).
problem is there are too many people in this world who do not realize God’s love for them.
I had a co-worker teach me something…
about three months ago, He said to me “Jesus loves me” while at work.
I replied back …He sure does.
I do not know about you but have you ever been told by someone who you did not know their faith share with you the love they feel from Jesus?
It was a first time experience for me.
I share this with you because of not what happened that day but what happened last month.
Ken passed away.
it was then I found out he was catholic.
At his funeral, I shared with Ken’s parents what Ken told me at work that “Jesus loves me”.
Upon hearing this, his mom began to have tears of joy.
When I mentioned to them that I believe it was because of his faith in Jesus, that he is in the presence of God in heaven.
his parents could not thank me enough for sharing this with them.
They told me theey were concerned about their son’s faith because he rarely attends church.
I then encouraged them that I do not believe that God would not accept him into heaven because he has not gone to church.
They also told me how they were surprised when a bible was found in his car.
I thought to myself later …how true the statement is that we should not judge peopleby what they project to us.
Honestly, I was pleasantly shocked to learn all I did about Ken which I am quite sure i would not know had he still been alive.
I am sorry I went long but this one incident at work, made me realize how God works in mysterios ways.
He knew that He would be calling Ken home and I believe He inspired Ken to speak those words to me, we were not even talking about his faith, to let me know where Ken is today.
Thank you God
That said…
I believe with you about what the bible teaches…
one baptism
one faith
one Lord
one church
and that interpretation of scriptures change from man
I agree 100%
Interpretation? Could you imagine if we all had the exact same interpretation?
There would not be any need for christian debate forums
Does the bible teach the roman catholic way or doesn’t it?
was Christ’s church built upon Peter or was it built upon Christ Himself?
Is catholic mass the only way to attend church or isn’t it?
I have not attended Sunday mass in ages. I been to more catholic mass funerals in the past thirty years than I have sunday mass.
Did Mary have other children AFTER Jesus or not?
Is there purgatory or not?
on that matter…
Is our eternal destination determined by the choice we make on this side of eternity or not?
As I was attending Ken’s funeral, we prayed that God would accept him…“may the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace”
If Ken’s soul is already in heaven, why pray?
I believe the above questions are just a few examples of why there is a division of christian beliefs.
Again I believe God loves you as much as He loves me.
I believe it is our relationship with God and how we willingly show our appreciation of His sacrafice of His son Jesus on the cross so that our sins are forgiven so that we may reign with Him for eternity in heaven
God bless you…
meet you in paradise
M
mpjw2
Guest
Hi all
to add to previous post…
show our appreciation???
First is to accept His wonderful gift of love and salvation.
Then, since we have His gift, living our lives in a way that the world can be a witness to Jesus’s love by the way we live, the words we say and the way we treat others.
My prayer,
God…may there be more Kens in this world who are not hesitant to proclaim “Jesus loves me”
Amen
Does anyone agree with me in prayer?
just respond…
“amen”
thank you and God bless
to add to previous post…
show our appreciation???
First is to accept His wonderful gift of love and salvation.
Then, since we have His gift, living our lives in a way that the world can be a witness to Jesus’s love by the way we live, the words we say and the way we treat others.
My prayer,
God…may there be more Kens in this world who are not hesitant to proclaim “Jesus loves me”
Amen
Does anyone agree with me in prayer?
just respond…
“amen”
thank you and God bless
G
Gabriel_of_12
Guest
Peace be with you mpjw2hi gabriel,
you are right on point with your last comment. I also believe God loves everyone unconditionally…(christian, non christian, atheists, all the criminnals of the world, no exception).
I believe it is our relationship with God and how we willingly show our appreciation of His sacrafice of His son Jesus on the cross so that our sins are forgiven so that we may reign with Him for eternity in heaven
God bless you…
meet you in paradise
God bless you for sharing your story with us;It appears we have reached common ground that God is Love and God loves all his creation including believers and non believers.
So what constitutes a relationship with God? in the One faith, One Lord, One Baptism and the One Church Jesus built upon Peter?
For me it is the New Covenant relationship that constitutes The One faith of Christianity. How one lives out this New Covenant Jesus established in his body and blood is what dictates who are the ones in heaven and on earth in the body of Jesus Christ according to Revelation 7:8.
As Catholics we have the hope and believe Kens with the departed with those in Revelation 14:13.
God is calling humanity back to himself, maybe this can explain the reformers protesting the only One Catholic Church in all of Christendom at the time, who were seeking a presence of God, when the Liturgy because of laxity and much cradleness of Catholics that the True presence of God became mundane to humanity.
God is always calling his people into his presence. For me the Catholic Church is finally waking up to this eternal reality of God’s New Covenant presence. Non catholics yearn for such an encounter with God, that is probably why protestants and non catholics continue to splinter and invite new teachings labeling them “christian” when they are not, causing much confusion to the body of Jesus Christ.
I believe as you do a relationship, but not a relationship in human terms, but in Spiritual reality which is eternal divine terms which never end. Unity can only be accomplished in, through, by and of the body, blood, soul, divinty of Jesus Christ himself which suffices all thirsts of humanity.
The stumbling blocks are but not limited too, is recognizing Jesus authority on earth, the definition of Church, and one becomes a Christian and how one is to live out his Christianity.
The only answer is Jesus. Having Jesus True presence among all his followers who worship in Spirit and Truth is the biblical teaching of how God desires his Children. I can only give witness that the Catholic Church fulfills the New Covenant in Jesus Christ.
We can all have our opinions, but in the end there will be a seperating of sheep from the goats.
Understanding the biblical principle of the New Covenant and how the first Jewish Christians understood it, and lived it can only be found today in the Catholic Mass, where the True presence of Jesus Christ has never left his Church as Jesus Promised to be with her until the end of time.
Peace of the Lord be with you
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