Robin55

I must really apologize. I wasn't asking whether forgiveness was right, I wasn't commenting positively or negatively about the Catholic church. I was simply interested something the Catholic church practices, something that wouldn't be in the Bible since the Catholic church didn't exist at that time. I think a trip to the library is in order.

Ok, this is all really interesting. I'm finding out way more than I intended when I posted the original question. Yay! And it has jogged my memory about something. I'm going to have to look it up, but isn't it in the Old Testament, I think in Deuteronomy (hope I spelled that right) where it lays out for the Jews how sins were forgiven? I think that's where Jesus dying on the cross replaced all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices that the Jews had to give in order to be absolved of their wrong doing. Ok, off to get my Bible.....

Alas, I think I'm misunderstood. I absolutely believe in confessing my sin to God whether or not there's anyone else around to hear it. I'm a Methodist by the way, not Mennonite. I appreciate all the responses, I think I have the answer I was looking for. As I stated, I'm very curious about the differences between denominations and believe that much insight is to be gained by learning all I can about all of them so that I can also see the similarities that unite us all as Christians. Also, this will keep me from developing any misconceptions about any one religion. I had always heard that in the Catholic church you had to go to the Priest in order to be forgiven, that he had the power to grant you forgiveness. I wanted to know if that were exactly true or what the deal actually was. Now I know and I'm grateful for the information. Thanks again to all and thanks be to God for all you smart people on here who can help me gain knowledge!

1Tim 2:3-5 This is good and acceptable, in the sight of our saviour God, 4. Who desires all men to be saved and come to the full knowledge of the truth. 5. for there is One God and one Mediator of God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. 6. who gave Hiself a ransom on behalf of all, testimony to be borne in it's own times. read more........... All priests are born sinners like everyone, so where in the bible is the authority for sinners to absolve another man's sin. Some may be born again and forgiven like any other repentant sinner, like myself, but no one can usurp the authority of God, to forgive sin, Not even the pope. Eric, thanks for responding but I'm afraid that that doesn't really answer my question. I know that God forgives us our sins, but I'm curious as to where in the Bible it gives permission for any man or woman for that matter to grant forgiveness, especially in relation to Confession in the Catholic church. I'm not here to stir up trouble, I'm simply curious about how that all came about. There maybe I phrased it better this time. LOL. A few hours of sleep will do that for you.

I think that this is an excellent discussion and one that is so very important, especially in this day and age. One problem that seems to persist is that we sometimes forget that this life here on Earth is not the be all and end all of us. What we do here and how we conduct ourselves helps to determine where we will go but also what kind of work we will do in Heaven. Oh yes! This life is not the end, we will live on but we need to decide where we want to be in Heaven. Our troubles, our pain, all of that will be washed away when we go to meet Jesus. I, too, have much pain in my life. I have fibromyalgia, severe arthritis in many places, bulging discs in my neck, chronic migraines, COPD, as well as not being able to conceive a child. I lost my mother in January to lung cancer and I could go on and on. But see what I finally learned is that God doesn't make us suffer. We have free will, He gave us that. He didn't tell my mom to put those cigarettes in her mouth and smoke them. He didn't tell her to drink alchohol to the extent that it was abused. Satan is alive and well, my friends. Sorry if I'm digressing there a little, but it's true. Our faith needs to be steadfast. We can't just expect God to do something because we want it. He created us, not the other way around. He's not the guy behind the counter at MacDonald's saying, "Would you like fries with that?" Nope just doesn't work that way. But through all of our suffering, we can know that God loves us and wants the best for us even if we don't know what is best for ourselves. We may not receive our reward here on Earth, but rest assured, we will be rewarded in Heaven. This life on this planet is not the end of things, not by a long shot. So for Dan and all who are out there who are sick at heart and discouraged and suffering, remember and believe that as much as you are suffering here, you will have just as much reason to rejoice when you are taken to Heaven. But you must believe that it will be so. The things of this life will pass away but the things of Heaven are eternal. I don't mean to be redundant but we don't seem to get things until we've seen or heard them several times. God Bless you all and He will, even if it's not in the way you exactly want. God loves you and so do I.

I'm curious about all of the differences in the denominations and one thing iI'm most curious about is where did the "practice" for lack of a better word, come from as far as priests having the authority to absolve people of their sins? I'm sure this is in here somewhere, but couldn't find it in the other threads. Sorry if this is redundant.

I think this is an awesome thread and I'd like to thank all who have listed their tips here. One thing about saving money in other areas of our lives is that we have more to give to our churches. One thing that I do to save money is to watch the papers for free clothing givaways at churches and sometimes schools. These have been great money savers for us, especially when there are no extra dollars to buy necessities like a winter coat and such. Hope this helps!

Recently, my brother and I had the wonderful experience of taking Basic Lay Speaking classes. I would encourage anyone who has any interest in serving the Lord as a lay speaker to take the classes. There are so many wonderful ways to serve the Lord and you will learn so much by taking this class, not only about yourself, but about the Lord and others, too. If anyone has any questions about these classes, feel free to PM me and I'll be glad to answer them. During this coming year, we are hoping to get some sermons under our belts and then go on to take the Advanced course and become certified Lay Speakers. Thanks be to God!

I would like to thank each and every one of you who responded. This has been very enlightening for me and also the support is simply wonderful. I definately feel something pulling me in the direction of at least lay speaking. I have been praying about this and will continue to do so. I've felt this pull at me for years now. I'm 36 and about ten years ago I was president of a church council and led services there, although I did not do sermons because the pastor that I was studying under didn't feel I was ready for that yet. Unfortunately, the church had to close due to financial reasons and the pastor passed away. I've been adrift for several years, struggled through many things but now I find myself ready to turn myself over the the Lord and I know that I need to learn more and do more within the church where I've just become a member. It's not that my friends don't love me, but my temperment is not what most think of when they think of a pastor. I have a temper and it's hard for me to keep it under wraps sometimes, but I've been doing better at this with the Lord's help. Your responses have been so helpful. I will keep my heart, mind and soul open to the Lord and let him work within me.

I'm sure this topic has arisen elsewhere on the boards, but I couldn't find it, so here goes: How do you know when you're being called to be a minister? I'm signing up for lay speaking classes and some friends have doubts about me doing this. There are a lot of different reasons why I'm doing it and I feel that perhaps at the end of these classes I may have an answer about continuing with a theological education. Any guidance and feedback on this subject is very welcome.