> dressed as Jesus and got slugged in the jaw by some "tolerant"
> catholic?
>
> What's up with that? And why is it ok that 10 other people at the
> party were dressed as the devil himself and they didn't get slugged?
> Seems kinda whacky, no?
>
> Would there be a costume that would equally cause a Jewish person to
> haul off and slug someone? A muslim? Just curious.
maybe Adolf Hitler??
bb
>
>
>
> > A few threads back, I said that my wife had some issues with the
> > Catholic Church.
> >
> > Someone asked for specifics, I said I would ask her to respond.
> >
> > Here is Nelda's commentary on "Being Faithful" as she put it.
> >
> > She wanted me to point out that this is in the context of Catholic
> vs.
> > Protestant or non-denominational Christian, and in no way is meant
> to
> > put down people of other faith traditions.
> >
> > -Ben
> >
> > ===============================
> >
> > Ben has asked me to respond to the question, “In what ways the
> > Catholic Church does not follow the ways of the Christian faith.”
> >
> > First, I need to say that all Christians and even Jews we all need
> to
> > be wary of “falling away” from our faith.
> >
> > Second, if you are interested in opinions about the apostasy
> (“falling
> > away”) of the Catholic Church, one only has to look into the many
> > books and writings about the original Martin Luther and his 99
> > treatises that he nailed to the cathedral doors in the 1700’s. He
> and
> > others, who were finally reading the Bibles that had been
> distributed
> > after the invention of the printing press, were discovering that
> many
> > things that were practiced and preached in the Catholic Church were
>
> > not according to scripture. Sadly though, even we Protestants have
>
> > “fallen away” from our faith.
> >
> > Third, we all need to get back to the “Word”, scriptures, Torah and
>
> > Tanakh (Torah, Psalms, and Prophets). We all need to have a time
> with
> > the Lord, praying, reading prayerfully, and even singing to/with the
>
> > Lord. This will bring us all closer to the divine life that is able
>
> > to get us through our daily living and even be the source of our
> life
> > supply.
> >
> > Items of concern:
> >
> > The falling away from “Justification by faith”. See Galatians, and
>
> > Romans 5.
> >
> > Faith in Christ Jesus is faith in His death and resurrection. He is
>
> > our grace to get things done. Keeping the law is not faith. No one
>
> > is good, not even one. If we could be “good” by trying harder,
> Christ
> > would not have had to come as our sacrifice. No amount of Hail
> Mary’s
> > will make you better, only faith in the Lord’s blood will wash you
> > clean. (That is a whole other email).
> >
> > Idol worship. See Exodus 20:3. Some say that Catholic statues and
>
> > icons were created to tell stories to an illiterate public. Those
> > times are over and the idols should be taken down. Especially the
> > Hollywood/Renaissance picture of Jesus should be destroyed. Check
>
> > out Isaiah 52 and 53. The Messiah was/will be not comely to look at.
>
> > He was marred beyond any other man. Some say that these statues are
>
> > not worshipped. Then why do people bow down to these idols and pray
>
> > to them instead of to the living God? See the book of Judges and
> how
> > many times the Lord tried to get people to turn back to Him from
> > lifeless idols. We all need to check with the Lord as to what
> people,
> > matters for things are modern idols in our lives and turn to God
> from
> > idols.
> >
> > Making Mary, the mother of Jesus into a God. She would be the first
>
> > one to protest this practice. Yes, she was a devout woman, knowing
>
> > the scriptures well. See her exaltation to God in Luke 1:46-55.
> She
> > quotes verses from Psalms, Samuel, Exodus, Hosea, and Daniel. She
> > obeyed God to the uttermost even to the possible loss of her respect
>
> > and dignity in the society of her time, but she was not a God.
> >
> > Claiming that Mary was a virgin all her life. Read Matthew 1:25 and
>
> > through out the Gospels. Joseph did not “know” Mary until after
> Jesus
> > was born. Jesus had brothers and sister’s. See also John 7:3. I
> can’t
> > remember where the verse is where it talks about his mother and
> > brothers were looking for him, sorry.
> >
> > The belief that you have to be a special person to be a “Saint”.
> See
> > 1 Corinthians 1:2. All believers in Christ are called saints. We
> are
> > all brothers and sisters. There should be no special designation of
>
> > Saint, Brother or Sister.
> >
> > There is a verse about not calling anyone “Father” except God the
> > Father.
> >
> > There are verses about there being one mediator between God and Man
>
> > the man Jesus Christ. When we mess up, we should all make
> confession
> > directly to God through Jesus Christ. (Without the shedding of
> blood
> > there can be no forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9 and Leviticus 17– but
>
> > that is a whole other topic. If we came to God directly we would be
>
> > burnt to a crisp). There should not be confessing to a priest.
> >
> > The whole clergy laity system is wrong. All should bring a Hymn, a
>
> > verse, a song. See 1 Cor. 14:26.
> >
> > The Pope is not God.
> >
> > Celibacy is only by a rare and special gift from God. It should not
>
> > be entered into except on rare occasions when one is gifted to be
> > totally dedicated to God. Without this gift sometimes negative
> things
> > happen. See the daily news.
> >
> > The assertion that Peter was the leader of the church after Jesus
> > death and resurrection. See the Acts and Galatians. Peter shrank
> > back and was wishy washy on the faith. But he kept turning back to
>
> > God. He is a model of most of us. Paul and James were the leaders
> in
> > the early days of the church.
> >
> > A religion of guilt and focus on the death of Christ more than the
> > wonderful story of His resurrection (witnessed by over 120 people
> over
> > 40 days. See Acts). A Christian life should be a life of hope,
> > renewing, and grace not death and guilt. Christ is now the
> life-giving
> > spirit. 1 Cor. 15:45.
> > The gilding and riches of the Catholic hierarchy and Protestant
> > hierarchy while it many members are starving and in a bad way. Many
>
> > theologians believe that Revelation 2:18-19 and Rev. 17 are about
> the
> > Roman Catholic Church and even the Protestant religions that have
> > followed in the same way over the years. This is a sober warning
> for
> > all of us.
> >
> > Miscellaneous items:
> >
> > “Lent” is not in the Bible
> >
> > Christmas, Easter, and Halloween (All Saints Day the day after) were
>
> > invented to attract the local people of an area by putting the
> leaven
> > of the pagan religions and mixing it with the Christian faith. See
> > Matthew 13:13, also read up on the history of the different holidays.
>
> >
> >
> > Several Catholics that I know have told me that they were told not
> to
> > read the Bible and not to read the Bible to their children, but only
>
> > to read the Catechism. All scripture is God breathed and profitable
>
> > of teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
> > righteousness, that the man of God may be complete. Fully equipped
> in
> > ever good work. 2 Timothy 3:16. Man shall not live on bread alone,
>
> > but on every word that proceeds out from the mouth of God. Matthew
> 4:4.
> > Your words were found and I did eat them and they became the joy and
>
> > rejoicing of my heart. Jeremiah 15:16. The prophet Ezra read the
> > Word to the children of Israel when they returned from Babylon and
> > they were strengthened to rebuild the Temple.
> >
> > We will not even go into the persecutions of the Jews & Christians
> who
> > would not follow the Catholic way, or forced conversions throughout
>
> > history.
>
> >
> > I hope that all Christians and Jews, including myself, will continue
>
> > to come back to the Word and treat it as a living document not dead
>
> > letters. We need to not only study it but also prayer with it. We
>
> > all need to “talk” to God about everything that is going on in our
> > lives.
> >
> > I am sorry that I am very busy right now and will probably not be
> able
> > to respond to rebuttals to this email, but I hope it gets us all to
>
> > think about being true to our faith and not falling away from it.
> >
> > Grace and peace be with you all,
> >
> > Nelda
Braver
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