Evangelizing as a Catholic!

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copland

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I have not converted to Catholic Church YET because my wife is not ready for me to yet and she is not ready herself, but it is an event that will happen down the road. But for about a year and a half I have embraced Catholicism fully and my heart is there 110% now. I am waiting on God’s grace to touch my wife in this area to convert from Protestantism to the fulness of the faith.

But meanwhile I have studied hard about my faith in the Church, I had studied the Fathers, Catechism, Bible in the light of 2000 years of Tradition, etc. I have taught and preached in the Southern Baptist Church in the past, and I have always loved the Scriptures, and I have always loved to teach and spread the Word. But as most converts to Catholicism I have seen the weakness of the foundation of ‘Bible only’ and other Protestant traditions, and I have been full of zeal to show others the beauty and richness of the Cathoolic faith. I have never found evangelizing so assuring as I have now been sharing the faith through the eyes of the Catholic Church. Here are a couple of things I have noticed…
  1. In the past I have had tough questions arise about why someone should put their faith in what the Bible says. As a Bible only protestant it is a little shaky because how can you proclaim the Bible as authoritative all by itself if you don’t believe in Church authority. In other words who had the authority to decide what books were canon/inspired, especially since there were many other wriitings circulating early on? But as a Catholic it is more logical that Jesus appointed His apostles to lead the Church, and they appointed successors who are the bishops who carried on their mission since the apostles eventually died. And the bishops appointed successors after them, etc etc etc. And these bishops carry on that teaching authority. And when you learn about the Fathers of the Church and are able to tell some things about them and their contribution to the Church and their continuity of apostolic succession, I have noticed that makes some honest truth seekers reevaluate their presuppositions about the authenticity of the Church. It gives life and history to the sacred Bible. It atleast makes more sense then some answers they get from many believers who seem to think that the Bible dropped out of the sky from Heaven one day.
  2. Another thing that is a benefit as a Catholic is that you no longer have to make excuses for all the divisions and thousands of denominations. As a Former Southern Baptist I know from experience that that is one of the main things that causes unbelievers to doubt Christianity, and even believers for that matter. Even among Southern Baptist they can’t even agree among themselves. The church I was at had a huge blend of people who were from various denominations who believed completely different on many important doctrines. Even the Sourthern Baptist Church across town was ordaining women deacons. But the Catholic Church is universial and on the same page. It is nice to no longer have to convince people that Jesus established such mass confusion of 40 thousand denominations, but He established “the Church.”
 
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copland:
I have not converted to Catholic Church YET because my wife is not ready for me to yet and she is not ready herself, but it is an event that will happen down the road. But for about a year and a half I have embraced Catholicism fully and my heart is there 110% now. I am waiting on God’s grace to touch my wife in this area to convert from Protestantism to the fulness of the faith.

But meanwhile I have studied hard about my faith in the Church, I had studied the Fathers, Catechism, Bible in the light of 2000 years of Tradition, etc. I have taught and preached in the Southern Baptist Church in the past, and I have always loved the Scriptures, and I have always loved to teach and spread the Word. But as most converts to Catholicism I have seen the weakness of the foundation of ‘Bible only’ and other Protestant traditions, and I have been full of zeal to show others the beauty and richness of the Cathoolic faith. I have never found evangelizing so assuring as I have now been sharing the faith through the eyes of the Catholic Church. Here are a couple of things I have noticed…
  1. In the past I have had tough questions arise about why someone should put their faith in what the Bible says. As a Bible only protestant it is a little shaky because how can you proclaim the Bible as authoritative all by itself if you don’t believe in Church authority. In other words who had the authority to decide what books were canon/inspired, especially since there were many other wriitings circulating early on? But as a Catholic it is more logical that Jesus appointed His apostles to lead the Church, and they appointed successors who are the bishops who carried on their mission since the apostles eventually died. And the bishops appointed successors after them, etc etc etc. And these bishops carry on that teaching authority. And when you learn about the Fathers of the Church and are able to tell some things about them and their contribution to the Church and their continuity of apostolic succession, I have noticed that makes some honest truth seekers reevaluate their presuppositions about the authenticity of the Church. It gives life and history to the sacred Bible. It atleast makes more sense then some answers they get from many believers who seem to think that the Bible dropped out of the sky from Heaven one day.
  2. Another thing that is a benefit as a Catholic is that you no longer have to make excuses for all the divisions and thousands of denominations. As a Former Southern Baptist I know from experience that that is one of the main things that causes unbelievers to doubt Christianity, and even believers for that matter. Even among Southern Baptist they can’t even agree among themselves. The church I was at had a huge blend of people who were from various denominations who believed completely different on many important doctrines. Even the Sourthern Baptist Church across town was ordaining women deacons. But the Catholic Church is universial and on the same page. It is nice to no longer have to convince people that Jesus established such mass confusion of 40 thousand denominations, but He established “the Church.”
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Greetings copland!

The Lord is speaking to you. You have been touched by the Grace of God. Perhaps you should finalize your conversion process. Your wife will surely follow when it is right for her. 🙂

God Bless you!
 
As a former catholic I can say that I did,t evangelize because I didnt know how to. I wasnt given the necessary tools. I thought evangelization was for evangelists and not my calling.I was taught to live it and that was the way I evangelized. Today I see that it was not the full truth. God calls each one of us to evangelize. He COMMANDS us to go and preach the GOOD NEWS. We spend alot of our time praying but fail to go and put his commands into action. We make millions of excuses. The harvest is ready right now as we speak. I pray that it will be our desire to seek the lost and bring others to Christ. I pray that the Lord will touch our hearts to answer His call. Any christian who has no desire to bring in the lost I would question their own salvation?. 😦 God Bless
 
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SPOKENWORD:
As a former catholic I can say that I did,t evangelize because I didnt know how to. I wasnt given the necessary tools. I thought evangelization was for evangelists and not my calling.I was taught to live it and that was the way I evangelized. Today I see that it was not the full truth. God calls each one of us to evangelize. He COMMANDS us to go and preach the GOOD NEWS. We spend alot of our time praying but fail to go and put his commands into action. We make millions of excuses. The harvest is ready right now as we speak. I pray that it will be our desire to seek the lost and bring others to Christ. I pray that the Lord will touch our hearts to answer His call. Any christian who has no desire to bring in the lost I would question their own salvation?. 😦 God Bless
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Careful, SPOKES. This is the second time in two days that you’ve sounded just like a Catholic! 😉 I think one reason Catholics in particular (and other Christians to a lesser extent) are diffident about sharing their faith lies in a reluctance to engage in controversy. Sharing the “Gospel” can get you into all kinds of unpleasant or embarrassing exchanges: what if you can’t answer that challenging question? We should all remember what the Apostles felt like – despite their certainty of what they had seen. Think about it:

Jesus Christ, who was crucified for your sins, has risen from the dead and is alive.

Really? Where?

He walked among us for 40 days and then was taken up into heaven.

Yeah. Right. (Making a circle next to ear with forefinger)

No, really! And the Holy Spirit descended on us in a great rushing of wind and flames of fire. It’s really TRUE.

Whatever . . .

Spokes: you’re just one good confession away from home. We’re lookin’ for ya.
 
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mercygate:
Careful, SPOKES. This is the second time in two days that you’ve sounded just like a Catholic! 😉 I think one reason Catholics in particular (and other Christians to a lesser extent) are diffident about sharing their faith lies in a reluctance to engage in controversy. Sharing the “Gospel” can get you into all kinds of unpleasant or embarrassing exchanges: what if you can’t answer that challenging question? We should all remember what the Apostles felt like – despite their certainty of what they had seen. Think about it:

Jesus Christ, who was crucified for your sins, has risen from the dead and is alive.

Really? Where?

He walked among us for 40 days and then was taken up into heaven.

Yeah. Right. (Making a circle next to ear with forefinger)

No, really! And the Holy Spirit descended on us in a great rushing of wind and flames of fire. It’s really TRUE.

Whatever . . .

Spokes: you’re just one good confession away from home. We’re lookin’ for ya.
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Hi Mercygate. Of course I,m going to disagree with you. How did Jesus evangelize? Was Jesus controversal with those He witnessed to? Look at the rich man, the women at the well, the adultrious women,ect.Jesus witness to them without contraversy? Why? Because He presented the LAW to them. He knew there was none that was GOOD. He knew the Law was written in their hearts [conscience].Those He witnessed to came to the realization that they needed a Savior and that He was the ONE. The problem with us we dont have the boldness and we have fear. We are concerned about what others think when the reality is that it doesnt make any difference. So it really does matter when we come before the Lord. Did we do what He told us to do and bring in the Lost. Jesus said that this was His real Food[spiritual] John4;34. I pray that this also will be our real food and do the will of our Heavenly Father. God Bless
 
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SPOKENWORD:
Hi Mercygate. Of course I,m going to disagree with you. How did Jesus evangelize? Was Jesus controversal with those He witnessed to? Look at the rich man, the women at the well, the adultrious women,ect.Jesus witness to them without contraversy? Why? Because He presented the LAW to them. He knew there was none that was GOOD. He knew the Law was written in their hearts [conscience].Those He witnessed to came to the realization that they needed a Savior and that He was the ONE. The problem with us we dont have the boldness and we have fear. We are concerned about what others think when the reality is that it doesnt make any difference. So it really does matter when we come before the Lord. Did we do what He told us to do and bring in the Lost. Jesus said that this was His real Food[spiritual] John4;34. I pray that this also will be our real food and do the will of our Heavenly Father. God Bless
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You’re not disagreeing with me at all! I was just demonstrating your point: “we don’t have the boldness and we have fear.” Having the fear doesn’t make it a good thing.
 
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mercygate:
You’re not disagreeing with me at all! I was just demonstrating your point: “we don’t have the boldness and we have fear.” Having the fear doesn’t make it a good thing.
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Thank you Mercygate,We are on the same page. 👍 I believe we both agree we make many excuses on why we dont witness our faith verbally. I also agree we are not to be controversal. We dont have to be.If there are question we cannot answer then we are to be honest and tell them we will find out…Its really simple when we witness like Christ did God Bless
 
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copland:
I have not converted to Catholic Church YET because my wife is not ready for me to yet and she is not ready herself, but it is an event that will happen down the road. But for about a year and a half I have embraced Catholicism fully and my heart is there 110% now. I am waiting on God’s grace to touch my wife in this area to convert from Protestantism to the fulness of the faith.

But meanwhile I have studied hard about my faith in the Church, I had studied the Fathers, Catechism, Bible in the light of 2000 years of Tradition, etc. I have taught and preached in the Southern Baptist Church in the past, and I have always loved the Scriptures, and I have always loved to teach and spread the Word. But as most converts to Catholicism I have seen the weakness of the foundation of ‘Bible only’ and other Protestant traditions, and I have been full of zeal to show others the beauty and richness of the Cathoolic faith. I have never found evangelizing so assuring as I have now been sharing the faith through the eyes of the Catholic Church. Here are a couple of things I have noticed…
  1. In the past I have had tough questions arise about why someone should put their faith in what the Bible says. As a Bible only protestant it is a little shaky because how can you proclaim the Bible as authoritative all by itself if you don’t believe in Church authority. In other words who had the authority to decide what books were canon/inspired, especially since there were many other wriitings circulating early on? But as a Catholic it is more logical that Jesus appointed His apostles to lead the Church, and they appointed successors who are the bishops who carried on their mission since the apostles eventually died. And the bishops appointed successors after them, etc etc etc. And these bishops carry on that teaching authority. And when you learn about the Fathers of the Church and are able to tell some things about them and their contribution to the Church and their continuity of apostolic succession, I have noticed that makes some honest truth seekers reevaluate their presuppositions about the authenticity of the Church. It gives life and history to the sacred Bible. It atleast makes more sense then some answers they get from many believers who seem to think that the Bible dropped out of the sky from Heaven one day.
  2. Another thing that is a benefit as a Catholic is that you no longer have to make excuses for all the divisions and thousands of denominations. As a Former Southern Baptist I know from experience that that is one of the main things that causes unbelievers to doubt Christianity, and even believers for that matter. Even among Southern Baptist they can’t even agree among themselves. The church I was at had a huge blend of people who were from various denominations who believed completely different on many important doctrines. Even the Sourthern Baptist Church across town was ordaining women deacons. But the Catholic Church is universial and on the same page. It is nice to no longer have to convince people that Jesus established such mass confusion of 40 thousand denominations, but He established “the Church.”
Click to expand...
Welcome to His Church! What a wonderful and powerful testimony. It may be helpful to begin the RCIA; your wife may be encouraged by your action. Also, Scott Hahn can probably help answer many of your questions and concerns.
 
When I was converting, Mary and the Confessional were my two big sticking points…

What are yours (and/or your wife) that we can help with?
 
Ignatius,
Welcome to His Church! What a wonderful and powerful testimony. It may be helpful to begin the RCIA; your wife may be encouraged by your action. Also, Scott Hahn can probably help answer many of your questions and concerns.
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I have taken most of RCIA, but my wife supported me up until time to move on. So I dropped out until I can get her consent down the road. She made it clear that it would cause problems right now if I converted. But God has a plan!!!

Meanwhile, I have consumed Scott Hahns teachings, he has been a huge inspiration for me along with Carl Olsen.
 
You state Copland that you are already Catholic in your heart (110%) and judging from your other remarks your mind has already come to believe that the Catholic Church is the one true Faith. I see you are delaying because your wife is not ready. She may never be. Get with the program right now - if you truly believe what you say, then don’t delay any longer. There is such a sin - one of the Seven Deadly sins - called sloth. In your case you may argue that sloth is not the issue, but in actual fact it is. I delayed converted for decades and only took the decision to convert 8 years ago - once a Catholic - and I’m a Catholic who attends principally the traditional mass - you quickly wonder why you didn’t convert many years before. I suggest seriously that you get with your program - convert immediately (on the basis of ewhat you say about yourself) and your wife can then see for herself the wisdom of your choice and what she is missing.
 
Has your wife read Rome Sweet Home…ask her to read it. Kim shares her heart when she and Scott were going through your exact situation. It might help her.

Praying for you both…you’ll be home soon…welcome.

God bless,
chris
 
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