Why I enjoy church hopping

[tobinatorstark]

In my early 20’s, after a few years not attending mass and staying away from the church all together, I returned with a zeal and unquenchable thirst for the lord and all he has to teach me as well as fellowship with others.

It wasn’t enough to simply have mass on Sunday, so I looked for other churches that had services throughout the week, especially in the evenings since I’m a hopeless night owl. .

Why isn’t a Sunday mass not enough??? My parish as well as having a Saturday night service and Sunday, we also having Tuesday morning, Thursday morning and Thursday night. What isn’t satisfying about the Church and its services??? Its 100% biblical.

 

[Steven_John]

Apparently, you didn’t read my last post (#115) where I addressed this. Read it and respond – or move on

Read it did not see where you quoted your source of Church teaching or scripture that called people to try a real relationship with God. Just your words.

You speak against it every single time you advocate being Catholic yet going elsewhere to find the “truth”

Please quote where i Advocated being Catholic and where i said go else where to find the truth
Maybe i did not explain well because of my English issues. Or make up your mind if i advocated being Catholic or advocate against Her, you cant have it both ways.

You claim to be deeply rooted in scripture, which is complete nonsense.

Please quote where i claim to be deeply rooted in scripture.

Your actions show that your both very confused and don’t have a grasp on what the scriptures have to say about truth.

What action? doing as our Bishop and PP suggested and encouraged? If they represent the Catholic Church you suggest they are confused.

Your Priest and Bishop told you to frequent Protestant Churches to find the truth? I think you are either lying or you are very, very confused.

**Please quote where i said our Bishop and PP said we go to other churches to find the truth? **
Ironically you will find truth if you spend time with people. example Many in our parish believed and propagated untruth about other people in other religions. The did not now abut these people and propagated singular experiences.
So while our Bishop and PP did not say it, to the best of my recollection, there is truth in saying to frequent Protestant Churches you will find truth. But i take your words “the truth” to be different.
oops hang on you say they are my words quote me.

You said

Neither of you is willing to make the committment to settle down and belong to Christ’s Church. To put it plainly - you’re playing with fire and it’s dangerous, not to mention extremely spiritually immature.

i responded

So you say, what i am doing is what our PP and our Bishop asked us to do. You really need to understand the Catholic Church better. Bishops and PP’s are placed as community leaders by its teaching. It is not good for communities to be against them

and you get

Your Priest and Bishop told you to frequent Protestant Churches to find the truth?

I am not so sure that only my English is in the way, you may read into this what you have collected from others posts and judged me to be the same.

Again – this is nonsense. The edicts about not reading scripture in centuries past were two-fold. First of all, the Church was trying to squelch confusion caused by uneducated or otherwise spiritually prideful and rebellious individuals who would lead others away from the truth – based on their twisting of scripture. This is precisely what happened as a result of the Protestant Reformation.

**That is precisely the point so it is sense, i even told you not to twist it. **This still goes on today, but today the Church supports and encourages reading the book. **She is humble and helpful. **

I don’t speak FOR the Church, in that, I am not her sole representative. I speak what the Church teaches

Then quote where She says “try a real relationship with God in the Church” That’s all i ask. If you want to help me help me.

Here we go again You say

You have never been clear about what your religious affiliation is. You have been very vague about it – for whatever reason.

I say

Catholic religion is more Christ like to me and that is what i aspire to be.

Please note i said to me, i get a feel for you she is David (pbuh) like and i guess thats ok as he was in right relationship God. I just see Catholics in action different to you.

I state as truthfully as possible where i am at with my life.

You seem to have a deep need to label me.

People are individuals that come together in one body, not by words but by action.

You now know a part of what goes on in my commitment to Catholic life, does it make more Catholic than the guy who shoots in Sunday morn during the first reading genuflection to the pew and scoots out after communion and beats his chest at work saying I AM CATHOLIC?

I dont know, i dont need to know but i have tried to be honest here.

If i am not Catholic and come here saying i am it will not represent the Catholic church well.

If i came here saying i am Catholic and did not help people, twisted their words mixed their words with the posts of others, did not take the time to see and pray about who they are and really missed the outreach concept of Vatican II what kind of attraction would i create for the Catholic church?

My take on Vatican II in the fewest words possible,
pre Vatican II the church said come up here with us,
post Vatican II She says we better go down to them to see how and act how we can help them get up here .

 

[Steven_John]

Name one.

Do you bring lots of people to RCIA each year? If you have the answers you may have the fruit.

 

[elvisman]

Read it did not see where you quoted your source of Church teaching or scripture that called people to try a real relationship with God. Just your words.

Since you seem to be unable or unwilling to read it - I will bring my previous post #115 to you. Here is what I said:

"As for my comment about having a real relationship with God - I meant it. You can’t have a fractured, patchwork of a relationship with Him on your terms - it has to be on His terms. That’s where the Catholic Church comes in. The Church is the visible Body that Jesus left for us. It contains the fullness of the Gospel because it is the custodian of the deposit of the Christian faith (John 16:13-15, 2 Tim. 1:14)."

Please quote where i Advocated being Catholic and where i said go else where to find the truth

This is from your post #123:

Neither of you is willing to make the committment to settle down and belong to Christ’s Church. To put it plainly - you’re playing with fire and it’s dangerous, not to mention extremely spiritually immature.

So you say, what i am doing is what our PP and our Bishop asked us to do.

You seem to be telling me that your Priest and Bishop are advocating that you go elsewhere to seek the truth.
It’s difficult to understand your writing.

You really need to understand the Catholic Church better. Bishops and PP’s are placed as community leaders by its teaching. It is not good for communities to be against them.
Ironically you will find truth if you spend time with people. example Many in our parish believed and propagated untruth about other people in other religions. The did not now abut these people and propagated singular experiences.
So while our Bishop and PP did not say it, to the best of my recollection, there is truth in saying to frequent Protestant Churches you will find truth. But i take your words “the truth” to be different.

For the last time:
IF you are a Catholic - you need not frequent ANY OTHER CHURCH to find the TRUTH. The Catholic Church has the FULLNESS of the Gospel.
Did you get it that time? I have said this over and over and over to you yet you refuse to listen.

**That is precisely the point so it is sense, i even told you not to twist it. This still goes on today, but today the Church supports and encourages reading the book. She is humble and helpful. **
You seem to have a deep need to label me.
If i am not Catholic and come here saying i am it will not represent the Catholic church well.
If i came here saying i am Catholic and did not help people, twisted their words mixed their words with the posts of others, did not take the time to see and pray about who they are and really missed the outreach concept of Vatican II what kind of attraction would i create for the Catholic church?.

Your profile says that you are:
"Aspiring submiter to One True God who is above all religions"
What in the world does that mean? It CERTAINLY isn’t Catholic by any means

My take on Vatican II in the fewest words possible,
pre Vatican II the church said come up here with us,
post Vatican II She says we better go down to them to see how and act how we can help them get up here.

This is utter nonsense.

 

[prodigalson12]

Why isn’t a Sunday mass not enough??? My parish as well as having a Saturday night service and Sunday, we also having Tuesday morning, Thursday morning and Thursday night. What isn’t satisfying about the Church and its services??? Its 100% biblical.

I guess most people are happy with an hour or two a week, it’s just not enough for me, not by far. If you are only enjoying fellowship in that limited basis, at least to me, that’s just maintenance, and overall, I enjoy the sermons the most. Not the repetition, not the songs, the sermons. I’m getting a very rich understanding of the gospel during this process, and the cool part, even the old becomes a new each time I hear some take within the sermons themselves. This is not to say I have had some disagreements with some of them, both Catholic and Protestant alike, but overall, it’s been very rewarding.

 

[prodigalson12]

For a guy who promises to ignore my posts - you sure are argumentative.
You said the same to humble_in_doubt, yet continue to argue with him as well.

As for your relationship transcending the church - how is that possible?
Are you not part of the Body of Christ, of which he is the Head?

Didn’t Jesus identify his very self with the Church in Acts 9:4-5 when he asked Saul, “Why are you persecuting ME?”, when speaking of his Church?
How can you transcend the Church?
Read about what the Body of Christ is in 1 Cor. 12:12-31 and then tell me how you can transcend the Body of Christ.

I’m not judgemental or mentally ill - as you have accused me. I am pointing out that you are wrong according to the Word of God - and you can’t handle it.

I respond because you won’t shut up and continue to slander me regardless of if I respond or not, so, so be it, if your obsessive compulsive disorder will not allow for you to bow out, so be it.

I see you have moved onto twisting scripture as well with your arguments, have you no shame man? Your version of church in your mind is NOT the same church that Christ was about, not by far. Sure you attend mass in body, but not in soul, not at all. This is what I’ve been trying to avoid myself back in the day, and you know what, I very much have. There are luckily not a lot like you out there, I classify your type as fundamentalists, or radicals.

My relationship with the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with religion of any kind, it is between him and I, it’s when people like you insist they cannot possibly have a relationship with the Holy Spirit unless they walk into some place, follow some edict, or any of that, that is when you have just placed God into a box, and we all know, God is not limited like that, just as it’s written, the Kingdom of Heaven is within, it’s no longer anything about a destination, or place you have to travel to. Concepts like that are devoid in your thinking, and you continue to lie to yourself, thinking you are this good Catholic when in reality you are not even a good Christian, much less anything more, for you lack the basic understandings of what it means to be it, you may know the words, but in your heart, reject what is being taught to you because you do not practice it.

Even the demons in hell know the bible, and I wouldn’t be surprised if indeed, you are being influenced by demonic forces themselves. You really need to get medical help, you need a lot of mental help, and apparently, spiritual as well.

 

[elvisman]

I respond because you won’t shut up and continue to slander me regardless of if I respond or not, so, so be it, if your obsessive compulsive disorder will not allow for you to bow out, so be it.

I see you have moved onto twisting scripture as well with your arguments, have you no shame man? Your version of church in your mind is NOT the same church that Christ was about, not by far. Sure you attend mass in body, but not in soul, not at all. This is what I’ve been trying to avoid myself back in the day, and you know what, I very much have. There are luckily not a lot like you out there, I classify your type as fundamentalists, or radicals.

My relationship with the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with religion of any kind, it is between him and I, it’s when people like you insist they cannot possibly have a relationship with the Holy Spirit unless they walk into some place, follow some edict, or any of that, that is when you have just placed God into a box, and we all know, God is not limited like that, just as it’s written, the Kingdom of Heaven is within, it’s no longer anything about a destination, or place you have to travel to. Concepts like that are devoid in your thinking, and you continue to lie to yourself, thinking you are this good Catholic when in reality you are not even a good Christian, much less anything more, for you lack the basic understandings of what it means to be it, you may know the words, but in your heart, reject what is being taught to you because you do not practice it.

Even the demons in hell know the bible, and I wouldn’t be surprised if indeed, you are being influenced by demonic forces themselves. You really need to get medical help, you need a lot of mental help, and apparently, spiritual as well.

There you go again, spewing out your anger just because somebody calls you on the carpet for perverting the Catholic view.

**My only problem with you is that you identify yourself as a Catholic, which you obviously are not. ****I couldn’t care less which Protestant services you want to attend - it’s your soul.

**Maybe sitting down and taking a few deep breaths might help with the anger . . .

 

[prodigalson12]

There you go again, spewing out your anger just because somebody calls you on the carpet for perverting the Catholic view.

My only problem with you is that you identify yourself as a Catholic, which you obviously are not. **I couldn’t care less **which Protestant services you want to attend - it’s *your *soul.

***Maybe ***sitting down and taking a few deep breaths might help with the anger . . .

Ok, will limit my wasted time on you to three posts tonight, will ignore the rest of what you spew forth afterwards. You still post allogations with no substance to back them, I’m not alone here obviously, but we have these filters in our minds, where we limit what we want to say, and I guess your filter doesn’t exist. If you and I were in person, it would be highly doubtful we would even have this conversation in the first place. I simply don’t get any negative feedback from both Catholics and Protestants in this regard, heck, a good friend of mine “also happens to be a Catholic Priest” has zero issues with me attending protestant services. He’s strictly into the Latin rite, so I guess you would say kind of “hard core” himself…

I’m also into spiritual warfare, the protestants as well as Catholics have been invaluable in that area, within this realm, it’s simply not for the faint of heart at all, especially if you are only luke warm with your faith.

Anyway, that’s it for the night from me to you, you can now rest for the evening, knowing this. Man, just please, do yourself a favor and get some counseling, you really need it!!!

 

[Steven_John]

Since you seem to be unable or unwilling to read it - I will bring my previous post #115 to you. Here is what I said:

“As for my comment about having a real relationship with God - I meant it. You can’t have a fractured, patchwork of a relationship with Him on your terms - it has to be on His terms. That’s where the Catholic Church comes in. The Church is the visible Body that Jesus left for us. It contains the fullness of the Gospel because it is the custodian of the deposit of the Christian faith (John 16:13-15, 2 Tim. 1:14).”

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

Dont see the word try here its about having.

This is from your post #123:

Just highlight the bit where i say, “i said go else where to find the truth”

You seem to be telling me that your Priest and Bishop are advocating that you go elsewhere to seek the truth.

No this idea of going elsewhere to seek the truth is what you have brought to our discussion.

IF you are a Catholic - you need not frequent ANY OTHER CHURCH to find the TRUTH.

Again i never claimed to be Catholic or that people NEED to frequent other communities to find “the truth”

You just keep pushing your words on me.

The Catholic Church has the FULLNESS of the Gospel.

I never disputed this in this thread. Your posts leave me pondering if you can see how to act on the fullness She has.

“Aspiring submiter to One True God who is above all religions”
What in the world does that mean? It CERTAINLY isn’t Catholic by any means

here we go again, i never said it was Catholic, it was supposed to represent me. Maybe you see me as Catholic and want me to say I am.

This is utter nonsense.

Fair enough for you, I wonder what the prostitute who was to be stoned felt like when Yahooshua (pbwh) stood next to her where she was. Are we called to do the same or is calling ourselves Catholic more important?

Peace and blessings to you and yours.

 

[Steven_John]

Elvis man, peace and blessings to you and yours bro,

When you asked to name one question i assumed you would answer it.

Originally Posted by elvisman View Post
Name one.
Quote:
Do you bring lots of people to RCIA each year? If you have the answers you may have the fruit.

But you did not, so maybe you could answer this one

your signature is tagged
Quote:
Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ
I guess this means knowledge of scripture is knowledge of Christ.

Paul speaks of knowledge of Jesus (pbwh) and of God many times.

I have been told In the Greek language there are two types of knowledge.

Given that the Catholic Church lives these scriptures from Greek text, so i can better understand you, when you first quoted it which did you believe it refer to?

Has your interpretation changed? and if it has could you share how, when and why it changed.

If i may ask in the context of your answer do you and did you consider your self ignorant?

By His will may God bless and guide you to be honest in your helping me if you submit unto Him.

 

[tobinatorstark]

I guess most people are happy with an hour or two a week, it’s just not enough for me, not by far. If you are only enjoying fellowship in that limited basis, at least to me, that’s just maintenance, and overall, I enjoy the sermons the most. Not the repetition, not the songs, the sermons. I’m getting a very rich understanding of the gospel during this process, and the cool part, even the old becomes a new each time I hear some take within the sermons themselves. This is not to say I have had some disagreements with some of them, both Catholic and Protestant alike, but overall, it’s been very rewarding.

I suggest if you can’t get enough then start a Bible study or get more involved with the Church in general. I am sure your parish has Eucharistic adoration among other things to keep one in prayer. I also suggest buying the Liturgy of the Hours and praying them.

 

[elvisman]

Ok, will limit my wasted time on you to three posts tonight, will ignore the rest of what you spew forth afterwards. You still post allogations with no substance to back them, I’m not alone here obviously, but we have these filters in our minds, where we limit what we want to say, and I guess your filter doesn’t exist. If you and I were in person, it would be highly doubtful we would even have this conversation in the first place. I simply don’t get any negative feedback from both Catholics and Protestants in this regard, heck, a good friend of mine “also happens to be a Catholic Priest” has zero issues with me attending protestant services. He’s strictly into the Latin rite, so I guess you would say kind of “hard core” himself…

I’m also into spiritual warfare, the protestants as well as Catholics have been invaluable in that area, within this realm, it’s simply not for the faint of heart at all, especially if you are only luke warm with your faith.

Anyway, that’s it for the night from me to you, you can now rest for the evening, knowing this. Man, just please, do yourself a favor and get some counseling, you really need it!!!

Again, with the insults and accusations of mental illness - simply because I don’t accept your very skewed and perverted views on Catholicism and ecumenism. This is what is known in the psychiatric world as “paranoia”. Perhaps it is you who needs the counseling.

I’m not surprised that you know a lot of people who believe as you do. Birds of a feather all flying in the wrong direction.

**Finally - tell me what you mean by, "I’m also into spiritual warfare". I’ve never heard it put that way . . . **

 

[elvisman]

Dont see the word try here its about having.

Just highlight the bit where i say, “i said go else where to find the truth”
No this idea of going elsewhere to seek the truth is what you have brought to our discussion.
Again i never claimed to be Catholic or that people NEED to frequent other communities to find “the truth”
You just keep pushing your words on me.

I never disputed this in this thread. Your posts leave me pondering if you can see how to act on the fullness She has.

here we go again, i never said it was Catholic, it was supposed to represent me. Maybe you see me as Catholic and want me to say I am.

Fair enough for you, I wonder what the prostitute who was to be stoned felt like when Yahooshua (pbwh) stood next to her where she was. Are we called to do the same or is calling ourselves Catholic more important?

Peace and blessings to you and yours.

Our entire conversation has been a very confusing one because with your broken English and fractures sentence structure, you can’t get your point accross. I don’t say this as an insult - it is a simple fact.

**You accuse me of making things up about what you believe in, but I am only stating what you SEEM to be telling me.
You speak of your Parish Priest and your local Bishop, yet you say you’re not Catholic.

You STILL have not given your religious affilitation - which, on a religious discussion board is cowardly.**

 

[elvisman]

Elvis man, peace and blessings to you and yours bro,

When you asked to name one question i assumed you would answer it.

But you did not, so maybe you could answer this one

your signature is tagged
Quote:
Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ
I guess this means knowledge of scripture is knowledge of Christ.

Paul speaks of knowledge of Jesus (pbwh) and of God many times.

I have been told In the Greek language there are two types of knowledge.

Given that the Catholic Church lives these scriptures from Greek text, so i can better understand you, when you first quoted it which did you believe it refer to?

Has your interpretation changed? and if it has could you share how, when and why it changed.

If i may ask in the context of your answer do you and did you consider your self ignorant?

By His will may God bless and guide you to be honest in your helping me if you submit unto Him.

I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about here. I tried reading this several times and it makes no sense whatsoever.

If you can rewrite it so that it will make some sort of sense, I will respond.

 

[josie_L]

The really pathetic thing here is how you accuse people of mental illness and mud-slinging simply because they disagree with you. How very sad.
The ultimate** tragedy****, though, is that you actually consider yourself to be a strong Catholic. If you were – you would embrace the Church – instead of practicing spiritual infidelity against her.**

My hope is that someday you’ll grow up spiritually.

 

[prodigalson12]

Again, with the insults and accusations of mental illness - simply because I don’t accept your very skewed and perverted views on Catholicism and ecumenism. This is what is known in the psychiatric world as “paranoia”. Perhaps it is you who needs the counseling.

**I’m not surprised that you know a lot of people who believe as you **do. Birds of a feather all flying in the wrong direction.

Finally - tell me what you mean by, "I’m also into spiritual warfare". I’ve never heard it put that way . . .

Well, part of you clearly shows you have a psychosis, just with all of the funny type you are using in the fonts. That is not normal behavior, do you see anybody else doing this? It’s an obsessive trait that clearly shows how off balance you are. Like if you did not spend the time with it in that manner, some how something is missing, so you compulsively continue to the point of obsession. You do the same with your persecution of me, you just cannot stand others that don’t fit right in line with your way of thinking, and it drives you nuts that you don’t have an exclusive.

You are the one that started the insults, each post you make is an insult, not only to me, but to the church you think you represent. You are in no position of authority here, not at all, you need to learn some humility, you need to learn some tolerance. We each have special, and unique relationships with God, we each are at varying levels within these relationships, and this is a concept you don’t understand.

It is not my fault that you cannot, nor will not understand because your pride has gotten in the way, that’s really the bottom line here, and with your continuation here, it’s clearly showing that you are suffering from mental illness.

I shouldn’t have to explain to you about spiritual warfare, the fact you have to ask shows me that you are by no means ready for it, not by a long shot. Stick with what ever you have and pray that you never have to face a situation where it has to be implemented.

 

[elvisman]

Well, part of you clearly shows you have a psychosis, just with all of the funny type you are using in the fonts. That is not normal behavior, do you see anybody else doing this? It’s an obsessive trait that clearly shows how off balance you are. Like if you did not spend the time with it in that manner, some how something is missing, so you compulsively continue to the point of obsession. You do the same with your persecution of me, you just cannot stand others that don’t fit right in line with your way of thinking, and it drives you nuts that you don’t have an exclusive.

You are the one that started the insults, each post you make is an insult, not only to me, but to the church you think you represent. You are in no position of authority here, not at all, you need to learn some humility, you need to learn some tolerance. We each have special, and unique relationships with God, we each are at varying levels within these relationships, and this is a concept you don’t understand.

It is not my fault that you cannot, nor will not understand because your pride has gotten in the way, that’s really the bottom line here, and with your continuation here, it’s clearly showing that you are suffering from mental illness.

I shouldn’t have to explain to you about spiritual warfare, the fact you have to ask shows me that you are by no means ready for it, not by a long shot. Stick with what ever you have and pray that you never have to face a situation where it has to be implemented.

**Weak, my friend. **Is that the best you have?
"I can’t defend my position, so - ummm . . . you’re crazy. Yeah . . . that’s it - you’re insane!"

Instead of hurling immature insults, try defending your position from a Biblical and Catechetical standpoint.

As for the colors - my world has a lot of color in it. Yours must be very gray, indeed . . .

PS - I’ve never insulted you - I’ve exposed you - and that angers you.

 

[prodigalson12]

Weak, my friend. Is that the best you have?
"I can’t defend my position, so - ummm . . . you’re crazy. Yeah . . . that’s it - you’re insane!"

Instead of hurling immature insults, try defending your position from a Biblical and Catechetical standpoint.

As for the colors - my world has a lot of color in it. Yours must be very gray, indeed . . .

**PS - I’ve never **insulted you - I’ve exposed you - and that angers you.

biblegateway.com/passage/?search=II%20Timothy%203&version=9;

If you want a reference point, it talks about you clearly. This is #2 that I’ll post to you, you only get one more before I stop for the day, contemplating responding to your trolling post on the other thread, but will hold off, thinking you are going to put your foot in your mouth on this one yet again.

I wonder if you can post without the elaborate fonts, I bet it will be very hard for you…

 

[elvisman]

biblegateway.com/passage/?search=II%20Timothy%203&version=9;

If you want a reference point, it talks about you clearly. This is #2 that I’ll post to you, you only get one more before I stop for the day, contemplating responding to your trolling post on the other thread, but will hold off, thinking you are going to put your foot in your mouth on this one yet again.

I wonder if you can post without the elaborate fonts, I bet it will be very hard for you…

Although I’m not a big fan of the Protestant King James version (I’m not surprised you chose a Protestant interpretation) ** and find the Catholic Douhay more to my liking - these verses seem to fit you to a tee - especially verse 7:**
"Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

---

As for your accusation of my trolling on the pther thread - there you go again making false accusations because I exposed you as a fraud.**

You made an unfounded, libelous accusation about President Bush and refused to back it up with proof. I simply illustrated that you lie when you can’t debate the facts.

 

[humble_in_doubt]

Hey … I liked Bush (even though he was a little too religious for my taste). Bush minus the religious diatribe was great … well particularly if he would have paid more attention to the domestic economy.

How’s that … an atheist who thinks democrats are generally a bunch of drooling idiots!