what is the best way to draw closer to Christ?

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*stay away from non-Christians (meaning those who do not scrupulously practice the tenets of Christianity, the Words of Christ)
 
Prayer.

Deuteronomy 4
29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

In prayer, I not only find Him, but I draw near to Him and He draws near to me.
 
Jars_of_Clay said:
Prayer.

Deuteronomy 4
29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

In prayer, I not only find Him, but I draw near to Him and He draws near to me.
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simply talking to God does not save a person. salvation comes through Christ… through His Church… the RCC, the only Church He established…

i was NOT a devout Christian and could not be one until i came back to the Church… i didn’t know Jesus intimately until i did that…

and i am no different from anyone else, really…

there is only ONE Church***
 
guanophore said:
His Holy Word says to “call for the elders of the church”, and that the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous has great power it it’s effects. Is there some reason we would NOT ask those who have already been joined to their heavenly reward?
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No reason at all, be sure you know how to judge people well. For me i can only judge the actions i see. I know not with what is truly in the heart of another. I took your quote to mean of the living.
My question was as to the teaching of Yeshua (pbwh) who to did he teach we pray to?

Bless you
 
distracted said:
simply talking to God does not save a person. salvation comes through Christ… through His Church… the RCC, the only Church He established…

i was NOT a devout Christian and could not be one until i came back to the Church… i didn’t know Jesus intimately until i did that…

and i am no different from anyone else, really…

there is only ONE Church***
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**I see you prefer larger print so let me accommodate you.

Well, I think our God is a big and loving God. Perhaps you’d like to tell our friends in nations where bibles and churches of any type are banned and Christians are persecuted and tortured that simply talking to God doesn’t save a person. I’m sure tapping out a prayer in code on the wall of prison could indeed be the road to salvation.

I’m not really sure why you even mentioned salvation or directed it to me, as I read through my reply and I don’t think the word salvation is even in there. The QUESTION I see in the title was “what is the best way to draw closer to Christ?” Prayer brings you closer to Christ. That is what I responded to.

I hope that clears things up a bit.**
 
the best way to draw closer to Christ is to study and meditate upon the Christmas stories from the Gospels and the fact that He gave up His glory for a short time to come down to Earth to die so as to save us from our sins.
 
Re: what is the best way to draw closer to Christ?

maybe we could all invite some one who has no family or has fallen to drugs or drink home to our house for Christmas lunch.

By the narrated words of Yeshua (pbwh) this would go step toward the second commandment.
 
The best way is always to go direct. Thats why God bestows the Holy Ghost to His people as their personal guide and counselor. You dont need anybody else when you already have God’s spirit with you. That is provided you are bestowed with Him
 
Jars_of_Clay said:
**I see you prefer larger print so let me accommodate you.

Well, I think our God is a big and loving God. Perhaps you’d like to tell our friends in nations where bibles and churches of any type are banned and Christians are persecuted and tortured that simply talking to God doesn’t save a person. I’m sure tapping out a prayer in code on the wall of prison could indeed be the road to salvation.

I’m not really sure why you even mentioned salvation or directed it to me, as I read through my reply and I don’t think the word salvation is even in there. The QUESTION I see in the title was “what is the best way to draw closer to Christ?” Prayer brings you closer to Christ. That is what I responded to.

I hope that clears things up a bit.**
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Catholics especially priests are tortured and killed around the world. Remember that in Poland alone, 2,000 priests were killed one by one. Catholics were killed in the Holocaust, hundreds upon thousands. People are dying to destroy the Catholic church. It will never happen. If Christ, above all, established the Catholic church, it will never fail because God doesn’t fail.
Speaking about things written on a wall, the Catacombs in which I were there in Rome have all the writings and drawings of how their beliefs were thoroughly Catholic, from day one (actually day 33).
 
RomanCath379 said:
Catholics especially priests are tortured and killed around the world. Remember that in Poland alone, 2,000 priests were killed one by one. Catholics were killed in the Holocaust, hundreds upon thousands. People are dying to destroy the Catholic church. It will never happen. If Christ, above all, established the Catholic church, it will never fail because God doesn’t fail.
Speaking about things written on a wall, the Catacombs in which I were there in Rome have all the writings and drawings of how their beliefs were thoroughly Catholic, from day one (actually day 33).
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Hey there Roman Cath:

I appreciate your comments. Suffering by all Christian faiths happen all over the world - every day. Evil will never destroy a Christian.

I don’t know if you realize - I didn’t start a discussion of salvation - the original person who started this thread did. I simply posted (in my first posting in this thread) how I draw near to Christ. My answer was prayer.

Merry Christmas.
 
Jars_of_Clay said:
Hey there Roman Cath:

I appreciate your comments. Suffering by all Christian faiths happen all over the world - every day. Evil will never destroy a Christian.

I don’t know if you realize - I didn’t start a discussion of salvation - the original person who started this thread did. I simply posted (in my first posting in this thread) how I draw near to Christ. My answer was prayer.

Merry Christmas.
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Our Salvation started from our baptism at birth. I to truly believe that prayer is necessary and that it draws you closer to Christ. I also believe the Holy Mass with the Eucharist draws us closer also. And not necessarily in that order.
 
PRmerger said:
Not overblown at all. Underestimated, in fact.

Here’s something from a non-Catholic Christian affirming this:

Appendix

Email from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary “Global Christianity” to XXX

Received 9/28/2007 11:17 a.m. MST

Hello Ms. XXX

Thank you for your inquiry. [SIGN]I can assure you that the figure of 39,000 is in no way inflated[/SIGN]. This number represents our most current, up-to-date data. As we are constantly updating this figure, it is not published in print form. The figure of 33,800 from the year 2000 was printed in our book World Christian Trends, (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001). Part 12 of World Christian Trends (WCT), Table 12-1 gives figures of denominational totals for all 238 countries of the world. These figures are also represented graphically in WCT on page 917, Global Map 14. The definition for denominations used in WCT, and also in our publication World Christian Encyclopedia (Oxford, 2001) is as follows:

“Any agency consisting of a number of congregations or churches voluntarily aligning themselves with it. As a statistical unit in this survey, a ‘denomination’ always refers to one single country. Thus the Roman Catholic Church, although a single organization, is described here as consisting of 236 denominations in the world’s 238 countries.”

More precise listings of denominations can be found in the World Christian Encyclopedia, under the article for each country. These lists are not exhaustive, as there are too many small denominations to list separately, but they should help give a clearer picture. Furthermore, the Southern Baptist Convention has over 40,000 congregations in the US alone; not to mention the Baptist General Conference, Baptist Bible Fellowship International, etc. So we are definitely not counting each congregation as its own denomination. We are also not lumping all Baptists into a single denomination, but counting each organization separately. I hope this information helps.

Justin J. Evans
Research Assistant
Center for the Study of Global Christianity

Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
130 Essex Street #228
South Hamilton, MA 01982 USA
E-mail: csgc@gcts.edu

www.WorldChristianDatabase.org
www.GlobalChristianity.org
www.GCTS.edu
World Christian Encyclopedia

Source: here(signage added by PRmerger)
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You ignore the obvious. Catholics are just as prone to splintering beliefs as any Protestant. If you want to talk church doctrine, any church can have a concrete doctrine as Catholicism does and many do, but it does not halt the differing beliefs. I personally know Catholics who do not believe in the Immaculate Conception or the Real Presence. At this point, the belief system becomes irrelevant to the question. Catholics are no more immune to this than anyone. As far as concrete doctrine goes, my chuch professes the Nicene Creed as you do.
 
Justy90 said:
You ignore the obvious. Catholics are just as prone to splintering beliefs as any Protestant. If you want to talk church doctrine, any church can have a concrete doctrine as Catholicism does and many do, but it does not halt the differing beliefs. I personally know Catholics who do not believe in the Immaculate Conception or the Real Presence. At this point, the belief system becomes irrelevant to the question. Catholics are no more immune to this than anyone. As far as concrete doctrine goes, my chuch professes the Nicene Creed as you do.
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Ya but the Creed is thoroughly Catholic. AND, if you know a Catholic who does not believe in the Immaculate Conception, or the Real Presence, they must of converted from another religion and still hold the Protestant beliefs. Otherwise for every one you mention as a bad Catholic, there are a hundred good. 👍
 
Mosacked said:
God bestows the Holy Ghost to His people as their personal guide and counselor.
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No, Mos., this promise was made to the Church. Individuals can only benefit from it to the degree they are in unity with the Church.
Mosacked said:
You dont need anybody else when you already have God’s spirit with you.
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This is one of the most serious heresies of the Reformation. It is saying that Jesus’ founding His Church was useless, and that His appointment of pastors and teachers for bringing the individual to maturity was unnecessary.

Jesus did nothing unnecessary.
 
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