I used to be a Mormon missionary in Latin America before joining the Catholic Church. Mormons send missionaries to Catholics because they feel they have the one true church and the people needed the true gospel of Jesus Christ rather than the corrupted gospel they believe the Catholics have. It’s as simple as that. The same is true for many evangelicals – some of them even think the Catholic Church is a non-Christian cult.
That’s exactly it…they think they are converting non-Christians, or they like to pretend to believe that, but it’s more about growing the congregations, and then straightening out the misguided Catholics along the way. It’s been very easy for them to gather in Hispanics, who ethically have had a lot of emotion woven into religious practices, and the Pentecostals just ramp up the excitement level for them. It’s more about ME, how I feel about this, what I get out of it, lots of personal promises that appeal to the poor of what you can obtain from Jesus, now. To me, it’s not true WORSHIP aimed towards God for Gods sake and nothing else. It’s kind of like the New Age meets Christianity. But it works, unfortunately.
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What do you mean? Why wouldn’t we, I’m not sure what this question means.I think if you are not so sure, don’t say about this at all because it is greatly offending others without proof.
This is an excellent question, and one with many answers.
I think for the most part, you’re right, most Catholics don’t look around very much to see what’s going on. But I’ve notice more and more starting to ask questions about what’s going on, especially with many of the new ‘super Church’s’ etc, since they get so much TV coverage. It’s a topic that comes up in CCD and RCIA now more and more, which is interesting. I think I’ve seen more re-verts in the last five years than in a long while, so Allweather, just keep it up, God knows we need you, and more like you.
Catholics, or the Church in general is so, hands off, or low key in this area, we just don’t evangelize like others do, we don’t get the word out or counter these other groups in a well co-ordinated fashion, but man if we did, or ever do, look out! Thank God for EWTN and all the great web sites springing up, like this one. Lots of people are where you were, my own sister (although she’s going through a amazing transformation), other people I know, so let’s pray they get enlightened.That’s actually a part truth, but not entirely correct. What has happened, at least in a few rare instances, is that some extremely poor villages have gotten smart and learned how to “work the system”. They agree to let Protestant missionaries come to their town, and their charitable organizations build water supplies, homes, and community centers. This lasts for a while, and then another missionary group, often the Maryknolls, come in and “convert” them back, bringing more aid to the community. In a small number of cases, this flip-flop has happened a couple of times, with one group or the other eventually winning out, but with the town receiving competing aid which improves it to a greater extent than a single agency would. Whether the Protestants or Catholics end up successful varies from case to case.
That’s not always true. Remember that evangelicals have a very pragmatic approach to the Church. They tend to see church primarily as a means of saving souls. “Sheep-stealing” consists of luring away from other churches people who are truly saved (and alas, not all evangelicals see the evil even of this). If a person does not have a living relationship with Christ, then they are not a “sheep” and can’t be “stolen.” From the evangelical point of view, what matters is that the person be brought into a relationship with Christ, and whatever church can do that is the right church for that person.
Sometimes I think that Protestant pastors can be ***too ***sensitive to the problem of “sheep stealing”. When I left one church seeking another, I spoke to the pastor of a church I was considering and he must have told me three times that he did not want to steal sheep. I had to convince him that this sheep had left its former pen and was looking for a new residence before he would really engage with me.
Well, I disagree. In my opinion he ought not to have received you unless he was convinced either that your former church had cast you out unjustly against your will or that it was utterly and irredeemably apostate.Sometimes I think that Protestant pastors can be ***too ***sensitive to the problem of “sheep stealing”. When I left one church seeking another, I spoke to the pastor of a church I was considering and he must have told me three times that he did not want to steal sheep. I had to convince him that this sheep had left its former pen and was looking for a new residence before he would really engage with me.
I agree with this. Here, in AZ, as all well know, we have an abundance of Hispanic people.
But of course they are sheep stealers as far I’m concerned.