Are there any Catholics here besides me?

[Dennis1209]

16 hours ago, Margo1945 said:

I am not bashing Catholics either but I was raised Catholic and left the RCC in my latter 40s and have had NO regrets .. I do believe the RCC has a lot of problems and I was exposed to some of them .. I shall be 75 at the end of this month and in my childhood and early 20s, the RCC was something many today have no knowledge of . . I am not one who supports denominations as they are man-made and cause a lot of problems and I see RCC as such .. I am for God and God ALONE, not for man UNLESS he/she is in full accordance with God

 

Hi Margo!

I totally agree, all denominations have problems and have different views, some more than others. That's why we have so many 'denominations'. It has become almost as if it is us against them. If we have the same core tenets of our faith, that Salvation comes from Jesus Christ alone, believing Christ is our Savior; died on the cross for our sins, was born of a virgin, lived a perfect and sinless life, conquered death and rose from the grave on the third day, and have belief and faith of whom He is, "the Son of God", put our faith and trust in Him alone... We're all brother and sisters in Christ, and are family.  

I attend a Baptist church and became a member. Because their beliefs, doctrine, church covenant, preaching and teaching and statement of faith, mirror my own belief's. They are in my local community which I believe is important for a variety of reasons. Christianity is not a religion or a denomination or man-made traditions; it's a belief and faith in the One true living God, in three Persons; and what Christ did and suffered for us on the Cross. Believing it in your heart and following Him, putting your total faith and trust in Him, whom He says He is, what He has done for us, and what He promised He will do. 

I don't label myself a Baptist, but an unashamed follower of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Denominations are a division and not unity.

[Blood Bought 1953]

 

 

I don't label myself a Baptist, but an unashamed follower of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Denominations are a division and not unity.

 

When people ask me what I am, I simply tell them that I am a “ Jesus-Man”........

[johnthebaptist]

2 hours ago, Margo1945 said:

I don't only prefer but demand that pastors not lead their congregations astray .. IF they stay only in and with God and His Word, they won't .. once they deviate, heaven knows where they will end up - into what pit did they fall  

It would be nice if all pastors were like that, but it would seem there are plenty out there who are more concerned with their careers than doing the Lord's will, and they likely will lead their congregations astray.

[BeauJangles]

3 hours ago, johnthebaptist said:

But you are still maintaining that men are superior to women when it comes to teaching, even if you are open to having a woman teach if no man is available..

No, John. I never said men are superior spiritually speaking to women. Look at our church attendance in America for instance. Who seems to be the backbone in the spiritual leadership of families across the nation? Men? Phht. Nonsense! It's sad to say, far too many men would rather watch sports on TV while the wife and kids go to church. Okay, I've made my point here. More than adequately. Now I'm done with this topic.  

[missmuffet]

Just because this member is a Catholic does not mean we should be unkind to Him. Please hand him some grace those of you on Worthy. 

[Guest K9Buck]

19 hours ago, Margo1945 said:

...and young adult years, we were not allowed to read the Bible...

 

My remark was ignorant and so I edited to remove it.

Edited January 23, 2020 by K9Buck
Stupidity

[JohnD]

I agree with both missmuffet and maryjayne on this subject.

We must not back down from the truth, but we must also take care not to clobber our 'victim' with truth either.

If you will go to my original response to K9Buck you will see that I pointed out there are enough heresies in every denomination 

to send everyone to hell a dozen times.

The main mission / main goal is to get at the Truth.

I also showed the biblical way (which is the only way) to do so...

ALL else is second hand / hearsay (heresy) evidence... let's get it rather from the

horse's mouth (the Holy Spirit who wrote the Bible).

THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM

2 Peter 1:20–21 (KJV)
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

This one point (that we are to know first) is overlooked by most.  The Holy Spirit wrote the Bible, he Holy Spirit interprets the Bible. It matters not how far up the theological ladder one climbs if it is the wrong ladder.

Matthew 7:21–23 (AV)
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

If there is anything in this life we must be absolutely certain about, it's that we believe in the genuine Jesus. Jesus himself warned of false Christs and false prophets (Matthew 24:24). But I fear the most damning passage is:

Mark 7:7–13 (AV)
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:
11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.
12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;
13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Believing in the genuine Jesus does matter. A false Jesus cannot save.

2 Corinthians 11:3–4 (AV)
3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Paul was ridiculing their toleration of these. In another epistle he cursed the teachers of these:
Galatians 1:8–9 (AV)
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

How can we be certain we believe the genuine gospel?  The Holy Spirit interpreted scriptures.
And how can we be certain what we believe in the Holy Spirit is actually him?

1 John 4:1 (NASB)
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Great. How do we do that? The scriptures:

Acts 17:11 (NIV)
11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

The Thessalonians have the recorded admonition of Paul:

1 Thessalonians 5:21 (AV)
21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

But, it was the Bereans that apparently applied this.

Further keys in scripture to unlocking God's Word are:

Proverbs 25:2 (NIV)
2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.

Deuteronomy 29:29 (NIV)
29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

Isaiah 28:9–13 (AV)
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

 

[Guest K9Buck]

1 hour ago, missmuffet said:

Just because this member is a Catholic does not mean we should be unkind to Him. Please hand him some grace those of you on Worthy. 

 

Thanks but, unless I missed it, I don't believe anyone has been unkind to me.  For what it's worth, I don't think the Catholic Church has ever done anything for me.  

[Guest K9Buck]

3 hours ago, Blood Bought 1953 said:

Denominations are a division and not unity.  When people ask me what I am, I simply tell them that I am a “ Jesus-Man”........

I'm where you're at.  

[AngelInTraining93]

On 1/22/2020 at 12:38 AM, K9Buck said:

I'm 53 and grew up in central Ohio.  We were never taught Latin.  

Catholics believe in Christ.  Provided they believe in Christ and try to live a life like Christ, why wouldn't they be saved?  

Pure Catholicism requires a person to commit idolatry regularly. The Rosary opens with "Hail Mary," they pray to "saints" and angels instead of God. That contradicts the commandment, "You shall not have any other Gods before me," as well as Matthew 11 and Luke 6, in which Jesus commands we pray only to God using His name.