I used to have the same misconceptions about the catholic church you do. Much of is misunderstood or false. I agree that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, Catholicism does not disagree with this.

I like your posts smiley. I wish we could all unite rather than divide.

I suggest you look into the history of the protestent (whom I love) church before you point fingers. Believe me it has not always been pretty. Remember that God will look throughly at the heart. Christianity has a sad history, becareful when you point the finger.



What was there before Catholicism separated?

For those who do not take catholicism seriously and shrug it off as less than Christianity I suggestive you look into the conversion of Francis J. Bechwith. All Christians should read G.K. Chesterton as well C.S. Lewis. To those who are called to defend the faith read William Lane Craig as well as Peter Kreeft. Bechwith returned to Rome, C.S. Lewis was heavily influenced by Chesterton (a Catholic) and was pivotal in his conversion to Christianity, William Lane Craig and Peter Kreeft contend earnestly alongside each other in the defense of the faith (one a protestant and one a Catholic).


Then you have probably the greatest philosopher today, Alvin Plantinga. A protestant teaching in the philosophy department at the University of Notre Dame.












Suggested reading:

FROME THE LIBRARY OF
C.S. LEWIS
SELECTIONS FROM WRITERS WHO
WHO INFLUENCED HIS
SPIRITUAL JOURNEY



COMPILED BY
JAMES STUART BELL
with ANTHONY PALMER DAWSON

I am a born again believer. My spiritual journey toward Catholicism was not born out of ignorance. I used to believe as many of you do that the Catholic church is the harlot church.

WHat if I were to tell you that my desire to convert to Catholicism was led by the Holy Spirit.

I think what most people don't get is that there is no denomination in God's eyes. Denominations are man-made significances that create divisional differences of those with like faith. Denominations don't work, and they are not created by God. They are created when one human cannot agree with another human, bah-duh-bing, we create a new denomination.

I think we do not need a brick building to walk in to in order to serve and love God. If you cannot serve and love God Monday through Saturday, what good does it do to walk into a brick building on Sunday? God is not contained in any brick building, even the scriptures tell us he cannot be contained in such a structure. I don't even think building a brcik building for "God" is of God. It is nice to have a common place to get together and worship and discuss the Bible, but I think what is wrong with the system is that it no longer happens in the home, folks think they need to wait until Sunday when they get to church to worship.

A better way would be to worship constantly, every minute of every day. Make your life's experience a worship to God. Dedicate everything about your life and everything your life does, achieves, all the gunk we buy, everything, give it all to God in prayer, and truly become a follower of this man Jesus.

I don't need a church building or a denomination in order to pick up the Bible and read it for myself, in order to talk to God, I don't need a Priest or any Pastor standing between me and God, as it is written, 1st Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" That pretty much says it all... no need for prayers to Mary, no need for a Priest sitting on the other side of a confession booth... its much much more simple than that.

What of the man that lives in a rural place where there is no Priest? Is he not forgiven if he simply calls upon God?

Our faith path is one of the most simplest things possible. Why would God make it confusing and complicated? Indeed it is not God who makes it confusing and complicated, it is man, or a group of men who want to be considered special. To me, there is none special but God. Men, with cruel evil in their hearts, would wish to steal and usurp God's authority. I give it all to Christ. He alone is worthy of glory honor and praise. Sorry, I have zero need for a Pope. Jesus is much more important than the Pope.

In the last day, when you breathe your last breath, and you stand before God, there will be no church building standing behind you. It will be just you and God. Whatever you claim to believe will be all on your shoulders on that day. If you were convinced by some men or group of men to believe this way or that way, it will at that moment be your own accountability for having sought out the truth in your lifetime, and if you allowed yourself to be led satray by denominations and the evil that they can bring into your faith, then in that day you will be accountable for what you allowed yourself to be exposed to... and there is no denominational sign over the door of heaven.

Heaven is not a "Catholics-Only" gathering spot, neither is it any other denominational heritage ending place. Heaven is the place where we, as followers of Jesus Christ, will end up after our life here on Earth expires.

The race to run is a one-on-one faith with God alone. When you wake up Monday morning, you are given the choice to either choose to live in the way and on the path as one who follows Christ, or, you can choose to follow any number of man-made paths.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I will not attend any denominational gathering, and I will not pay any monies toward some church building which burdens the folks who gather at the church with a huge financial burden. I also believe that the legalistic way the current church governance system clings to the ten percent tithe law is completely and utterly against what the Bible teaches. It is a clinging to the law in one matter, but discarding all of the other sacrifices prescribed in the Law of Moses. Tithing is Old Testamnet Law, and it is written that Christ fulfilled ALL of the Law and the Propehts, so there is no need to be fed a huge guilty burden by evil preachers who use the Old Testament at their discretion to generate funds for their own trumped up plans for their particular denomination. All of this gunk is tied to denominations, and another great r4eason to steer clear of all denominations, including the (ahem) "Non-Denominational" denomination. (which is merely yet one more group of people who can't get along with whichever other group of people they are disagreeing with when they group themselves together as non-denominationalists.

The simple Gospel is to believe on Christ and be saved. It doesn't get any easier than that. Of course men who want to feel special and important need to have us believe that there is much more to it than all that. I prefer not to follow men. I follow Christ.

Organized religion is a poison, not a blessing. The reason being that ultimately men are claiming to be in charge when in fact God is already in charge. Therefore, the organization rises up as a conflicting government proclaiming man as the king instead of simply allowing God to be in charge.

I walk everyday of my life as a Christian. I talk to God often and perhaps all day. God blesses everything I do. I am not in debt to the church for past tithes I never paid. I do not agree that I need to share the burden of some multi-million dollar building some preacher or set of church elders decided the group needed to build.

I am a Christian as I walk, just God and I, down the street. No man can take what I have away. I have Christ, and I wouldn't trade what I have for a million dollars worth of crappy tradition.

God is everywhere, the Bible tells us that. So everywhere I go, God is there. In fact, God is inside of me. He lives in my heart. When I decided to follow Christ, or more accurately, when Chrost chose me to folow him, I became a changed man. As an evil sinner I would never have chosen to follow Christ.

Are you wanting to follow Christ, or are you wanting to bow down to a system of religion?

One is what God wants, one is akin to idol worship.

Do not worship or give much creedance to the traditions of man.

Follow Christ with all of your heart. Give when you can, and as much as you can. The New Testament folks in the book of Acys threw everything they had (as in ONE HUNDRED PERCENT... NOT JUST TEN PERCENT!!!!!!!) in to whatever need the community of believers had at the time. We've slipped away from that example, and now we are taught )incorrectly) that we are supposed to divey out only 10 percent. Then we are put under the binding teaching of the law that DEMANDS a ten percent. It is like a Chrsitian tax on all of our income.

One day I will die and I will not have to pay taxes to the government anymore... yaayyyyyy, and.... I won't have to be beaten up at church by well-meaning people about paying my church tax tithe. (double yayyyyy)

The last church I went to actually sent me tacky envelopes in the mail, dated by the next three months worth of Sundays, stamped on each tithing envelope.

It reminded me of the Internal Revenue Service.

You don't need a church to follow Christ.

You don't need to become a Catholic to follow Christ.

You don't even need to call yourself a Protestant to follow Christ.

Its wayyyyyyy more easy than all that.

Just follow Christ.

It is literally THAT simple.



TM