Quick take away is scripture not being used in full context:

 

Reaching the Catholic with the Gospel
By Richard Bennett

I had great difficulties as a Catholic priest in listening to evangelists in my fourteen years of searching for the true Gospel. Christian radio programs continually told me the amount of things I had to do to “accept Jesus into my heart.” Christian tracts likewise told me the amount of dedication or commitment I needed in order to make a “decision for Christ.” After an agonizing search in the face of being told what I must do to be saved, I discovered that the first thing that must be understood biblically about the Gospel is that it is “concerning Jesus Christ our Lord,” in the words of Paul in Romans 1:3. While the Gospel is proclaimed to all, it is “not” about Christ being accepted in to our hearts, it is centered on the Jesus Christ the Lord, His faithfulness, His death and resurrection, and “our being found acceptable in Him” by His grace.

The Apostle Paul loudly proclaimed the Gospel as the righteousness of God manifested! He declared, “but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.”1 The righteousness of God is that perfect faithfulness to the law of God in heart and life, which the holiness of God requires. This, the Apostle enthusiastically announces, is now established—for Christ’s faithfulness (to keeping the law) is revealed! Before God’s all holy nature, sin had to be punished and true righteousness established. This has been accomplished in the faithful obedience of the Lord Christ Jesus to live perfectly under the law, which includes His perfect sacrifice on the cross. The Apostle continues, “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” 2 The great news is that this absolute faithfulness of Christ Jesus under the Law now rests upon the believer. He actually possesses it, wearing it as a robe, in the words of the Prophet Isaiah, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD…for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.”3 Romans 3:21-22 is showing in legal terms how exactly the true believer is identified with the Lord Jesus Christ. God has provided Christ’s righteousness to sinners who believe. Thus, when one understands that the faithfulness of Christ is vicariously applied to the sinner by a one time gracious act of God alone,4 he realizes that Christ satisfied the law on his behalf. The Scriptures teach that Christ was, in a strict and exact sense, the representative Substitute for His people. By divine appointment and of His own free will, Christ assumed all His peoples’ liabilities and bestowed on them all of His perfection. In the wonderful words of the Apostle John, “And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. ”5

How Not to Evangelize

The greatest obstacle to the Gospel is silence. By remaining silent and hoping that our Christian life will testify for itself we fail to keep the Lord’s commandment. The commandment, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature,” means to go and speak the Word also to the Catholic! The majority of Nuns and Priests and former Catholics that I know 1 Romans 3:21 2 Romans 3:22 3 Isaiah 61:10 4 Ephesians 2:8-9 5 John 1:16 who have been saved out of Catholicism all testify to the fact that no Bible believer ever approached them about their salvation. Christ’s commandment to give the good news is a commandment, not a request!

In evangelizing a Catholic, one must be absolutely aware not to give any “process message.” This means telling him “what he must do.” The Catholic has been continually told how to do things to be pleasing to God. The first Fridays, first Saturdays, the Blue Scapular, “The little way of St Teresa,” likewise, the apparitions are filled with messages on what to do; the Catholic’s life is full of what to do. When one approaches a Catholic, it must be regarding what Christ has done, and the simple commandment to trust and believe. Using expressions such as “Accept Jesus into your heart” and “Give your life to Christ” are quite similar to what the Roman Catholics hear inside Catholicism, sometime those exact words. These messages must be completely left aside if one is to truly evangelize. It is necessary therefore that we discuss some of the wrong ways of evangelizing that are absolutely detrimental to the true Gospel.

“Accept Jesus into your heart (to be saved).” is one of the most used sentences in modern Evangelical circles. This humanistic concept is not biblical. (It puts man in control of his salvation, when all along salvation is “entirely” the work of God. Salvation is not a decision of man; it is a decision of God in the eternal council of the Godhead.) The biblical concept of salvation is that by grace the believer is accepted in Christ. We do not accept Him, He accepts us. The whole theme of Ephesians Chapter 1 is summarized in verse 6, “To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.” He is active; we are passive, i.e., He is the Potter; we are the clay. The terminology, “accept Jesus into your heart” is backwards and dishonest. It assumes wrongly that salvation (originates, starts) in the human heart. Consistently in Scripture, salvation is shown to be in Christ and in Him alone. It is not about man and what he should do, it is about Him and what He has already done. “Accepting Jesus” places emphasis on something that man needs to do. When properly reasoned out one sees that this is work’s salvation, but believing or trusting Him for what He has done is “through faith” salvation. In Him alone is that perfect righteousness that is sufficient before the Holy God to justify unholy sinners.6

It is unscriptural to think that salvation begins by Christ first coming into the sinful heart of a man. It is essential to understand that natural man is totally deficient in and of himself. It is not that he is merely weak and needs stimulation; spiritually he is dead. In the words of the Apostle, “And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” 7 The spiritually dead and ungodly person can be made acceptable to God only as he is “in Christ,” as all the teachings of the Apostles Paul, John and Peter testify. Then, and only then, does Christ come into the human heart to sanctify the one already saved. Christ does come into our hearts as believers, thus, His Word says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” 8 This is the whole process of sanctification in us that is not to be confused with initial salvation that is to be found in Him. 6 Romans 4:5-8, II Corinthians 5:19-21, Romans 3:22-28, Titus 3:5-7, Ephesia ns 1:7, Jeremiah 23:6, I Corinthians 1:30-31, Romans 5:17-19 7 Ephesians 2:1 8 John. 15:4

The verses below are often wrongly used to evangelize. Rather, these words are addressed to believers in the Church of the Laodiceans, “and unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write… ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne….’” 9 This misuse of Re velation 3:20-21, a sanctification message, not meant to teach justification, is inexcusable. Sanctification differs from justification. Sanctification is internal and experimental, while justification is objective and legal. Sanctification is gradual and progressive (mutable) whereas justification is instantaneous and immutable. Many who misuse this passage know better, yet for the sake of what they call success in witnessing they persist. Since this abuse of Scripture is so serious and soul damning its important to give examples. Very often one hears the following,

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”(Revelation 3:20) Jesus Christ wants to have a personal relationship with you. Picture, if you will, Jesus Christ standing at the door of your heart (the door of your emotions, intellect and will). Invite Him in; He is waiting for you to receive Him into your heart and life.”

The Lord Christ Jesus does not stand waiting to come into any sinful man’s heart, He commands all men everywhere to believe in Him. Faith in Christ alone saves, not faith in some inner process that has been subtly given in its place. The sanctification text, Revelation 3:20, spoke n by the Lord to those in the Church, is totally misused. (It is no wonder that some ministries that use this message also endorse “Conversion as a process” as in Evangelicals and Catholics Together: (ECT 1)10 and other similar false Ecumenical documents). Many are deceived upon this vital matter, sincerely believing that they have received Christ as their personal Savior while in fact they have believed in a ritual.

Catholics can be deceived upon this vital matter, i.e., sincerely believing that they have received Jesus into their hearts. These people still remain in the Roman Catholic Church believing themselves now to have done the Evangelical thing to add to their many rituals in Catholicism. It is unspeakably serious to give a deceiving salvation message.

“Give Jesus control of your life (to be saved)” is another well known unbiblical approach (to evangelism). It is also man centered and involves work’s salvation. This teaching is in error because the Sovereign God of the universe controls His creation. He is the One “ In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.”11 Then there is nothing any person might think of to give God in exchange for salvation. In the words of the Apostle, “not by works of righteousness 9 Revelation 3:14, 20-21 10 “Conversion is a passing from one way of life to another new one, marked with the newness of Christ. It is a continuing process so that the whole life of a Christian should be a passage from death to life, from error to truth, from sin to grace. Our life in Christ demands continual growth in God’s grace.” Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Th ird Millennium (ECT) 1994 11 Ephesians 1:11 which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us….”12 Christ Jesus Himself was the only sacrifice for sin acceptable to the Holy God, and that sin offering was accomplished completely at the cross. The sacrifice for sin is finished. A person is made right with God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by a promise (or commitment) of “controlled behavior”. Controlled behavior is a process following salvation rather than the initiating cause of salvation.

“Give your life to Jesus (to be saved.)” This teaching is error for several reasons. First it is the exact opposite that is true. “Our Lord Jesus Christ…gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.”13 There is no Bible verse that says or teaches that a lost, spiritually dead person “gives” anything, not even his life, in order to be saved. Again, this humanistic concept is not biblical. Eternal life is a free gift from God. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”14 A person does not “give” anything for a free gift. The Lord God Almighty gives the free gift of eternal life. In the words of the Apostle John, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”15

Such a phrase as “Give your life to Jesus” wrongly presumes that a person has something worthy to give God. Because man is spiritually dead in sin he cannot give anything that will save him from his sins. (You cannot give what you do not control. Man, rather, is under the control of sin. And why would God want to receive a sinful man or a sinful man’s offering? Note the requirement on God’s priests in the Old Testament when they were ready to offer a sacrifice. A bloody sacrifice had to be offered for all their sins “before” they could approach a Holy God. This sacrifice was a picture of the bloody sacrifice of the Savior in atoning for sins. It is no different today. Therefore, a sinful man cannot “give” his sin-controlled life to God. He must first be reconciled to God by “trusting” fully in Christ’s atoning work on the Cross.) If the Catholic is taught to “give his life to Jesus” to be saved, he may think that he has to give his service, time, works, money, etc. and then he will be right with God. This can lead the lost person into a works Gospel¾that which can never save. A person is made right with God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone¾and nothing else. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” 16

These are some of the humanistic ways in which modern Evangelicals give a so-called evangelistic gospel. The examples given here are to illustrate the departure from the true Gospel, which is taking place in the modern world, and to alert the Lord’s people to give the true message.

Presenting the Gospel the way the Bible does

First, all men are commanded to believe on the Lord Jesus. The Lord put the command to believe in a nutshell when He said, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.”17 Likewise the Apostle Paul and Silas declared, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 12 Titus 3:5 13 Galatians 1:4 14 Romans 6:23 15 1 John 5:11 16 Ephesians 2:8-9 17 John 6:29 and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”18 The central importance of faith was given by the Lord in the words, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”19 In a word, the Lord summarizes the situation, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”20 The Lord Jesus Christ states clearly the reason for this, “He that believeth on Him [Christ] is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”21

Having seen the command to believe, we must then realize that without God’s grace, no person can believe. The highest expression of the loving kindness of God is grace. The term denotes the very nature of the graciousness of God.22 Therefore, the Scriptures insist, “That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”23 Salvation does not proceed from anything in the one witnessed to, but rather it issues for th from the kindness and mercy of God.

The Biblical tension between these two points¾that every person is commanded to believe, but without God’s grace, a person cannot believe¾must be clearly evident in our witnessing to Catholics. This tension is expressed in some Scripture texts, for example, John 1:12-13, “But as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Both aspects are also given in the preaching of the Apostle Paul, “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” Likewise, the Apostle Peter teaches that true saving faith by which we believe is acquired through God, “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”24 The design of the Lord in these and other verses is to show that a person must “believe on Jesus Christ” for salvation, yet to do so he needs grace. In witnessing, we (should) show a person that to believe he must look to the Lord for (His) grace. All those that come to rest in faith on Christ Jesus are not only convinced of the evil of sin, but of the fact that the very power to believe is His gift. This is a crucial understanding in the statement, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, ‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.’” A man must deny his worthless works, his egocentric efforts, his rancid righteousness, his rejected religion, and believe only in what God has done through Christ. The graciousness of the gift is highlighted by the Apostle Paul, “Being justified freely by his grace 18 Acts 16:31 19 John 6: 47 20 John 3:36 21 John 3:18-19 22 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 23 Ephesians 2:7 24 2 Peter 1:1 through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”25 Grace is a free, undeserved gift, unmerited, and stands opposed to what is obtained by one’s own efforts or as a matter of claim.

Repentance

Believing on Christ, trusting on Him, or coming to Him, has an essentially difficult side that is often not mentioned in present day tracts and witnessing. In the Bible, however, this essential aspect of faith is often first. The Lord Jesus Christ’s message is, “…repent ye, and believe the gospel.”26 He came to “call sinners to repentance,”27 and He insisted that, “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”28 The risen Lord teaches in His word, “…that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations.”29 The Apostle Peter proclaimed, “Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out!” 30 Paul went he preached, “…repent and turn to God and do works meet for repentance,”31 “…testifying to both Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”32

Repentance is so essential to saving faith that if repentance is missing a person does not have saving faith. Conviction of sin is the first work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the lost.33 Conviction is the confirming belief that what God’s Spirit shows man about his sins is true and he deserves to be punished for them. If God is drawing that man to Himself that conviction will force him to seek God’s forgiveness. John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” Without conviction of sin, a person does not have salvation. The Scripture says, “…He shall save His people from their sins.” 34 Repentance is always part of trusting on Christ because Christ came not to save a person in his sins but from his sins. “[God] now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” 35

For religious and devout Catholics the most difficult sin to repent of is that of trusting that their religion gives salvation.36 The Lord’s strong word to the Pharisees, who likewise trusted in their religion, is most appropriate in this regard, “if you believe not that I am He, you shall die in your sins.”37 Since Catholics believe that their Church has all the resources of salvation they likewise, in practice, are denying His Person. To such religious Catholics the effective word of repentance can be, “If you remain in your traditions you will die in your sins. Trust on Christ and Him alone, not in any Church, and know eternal life that He alone gives” 25 Romans 3:24 26 Mark 1:15 27 Luke 5:32 28 Luke 13:3-5 29 Luke 24:47 30 Acts 3:19 31 Acts 26:20 32 Acts 20:21 33 John 16:8 34 Matthew 1:21 35 Acts 17:30 36 This mindset is officially taught in the RC Church, “‘Believing’ is an ecclesial act. The Church’s faith precedes, engenders, supports and nourishes our faith. The Church is the mother of all believers. ‘No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother’” Catechism, Para. 181. 37 John 8:24

The Biblical Method

Biblical methodology is an important part of the Lord’s truth. The Lord’s own method of evangelising was essentially by asking questions, and by proclaiming the need to repent and believe as we have seen. The biblical method is to ask questions, as did the Lord Himself.

Some sample questions in witnessing 1. How can we sinners stand be fore the All Holy God? 2. What is your purpose in life? Then following their response, Before the All Holy God what is your purpose? 3. What is the central message of the Bible? 4. How can you and I have eternal life? 5. Why did the sinless Christ die on the cross? 6. God is all holy; we are all sinners. How can anyone have a relationship with Him? 7. Why did Christ say to Pharisees, “If you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”? (John 8:24) 8. Have you read your Bible today?

Salvation is in Christ Jesus In the Scriptures, salvation is seen clearly to be “in” Christ. For example, in Ephesians, chapters one and two, such phrases as in Christ, in Whom, in Him, in the Beloved, are spoken of 18 times. This is the same in all of the letters of Paul, the Apostle; salvation is always expressed as being in Christ. For example, the Apostle Paul’s own testimony said, “…that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”38 In a similar way in the Apostle John’s writing, eternal life is in Christ and it is by believing on Him. “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life”39 Believing in Jesus Christ is the same as having eternal life, i.e., Jesus Christ is eternal life.)

The commandment in Scripture is to, “believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved” or in the words of Jesus Himself, “he who believes and is baptized will be saved”. Salvation being in Christ and not in the believer is of utmost importance when witnessing to a Catholic.40 Any terminology in witnessing that focuses on the human heart rather than on Christ is not effective because it is not in line with the written Word. (It causes sinful man to focus upon himself rather than the One who can deliver him from sin.) The biblical principle of salvation is that of believing on Christ Jesus the Lord alone! 38 Philippians 3:8-9 39 I John 5:20 40 When we have the word “receive” as in 1 John 1:12, the word is explained as those who believe on Him, so that the receiving is the knowledge of Him, whereby we believe on Him. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”.

Coming to Christ is initiated by the Father who draws each individual to Christ.41 Salvation is accomplished by God’s grace alone. It is His free gift through faith alone. Coming to Christ (trusting in Him) is having eternal life now, and the life of the redeemed will be fully glorified in heaven. In witnessing, talking about “getting to heaven” not only changes the focus from who God is to man’s fulfillment, but it also fails to make clear that through the precious faith that is ours now as believers, we already have eternal life. Rather than talking about getting to heaven, we should say to the lost, “and this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” 42 The actual words of Scripture should be proclaimed to Catholics, whether in the supermarket, at the hairdresser, or on the telephone; “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

The Apostle Paul’s summary of the Gospel is an example of the exact meaning of salvation. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” Christ Jesus was not “made sin for us” by the infusion of vice or sin, nor is the believer “made righteous” by the infusion of holiness. The Lord Jesus was personally All Holy; yet as the substitute for the believer’s sin, He rendered Himself legally responsible to the wrath of God. The purpose of Christ’s faithfulness in all that He did, culminating in His death on the cross, was that His righteousness might be credited to the believer. God legally cons tituted Christ to be “sin for us.” In this sense, He was “made sin” because the sins of all of His people were transferred to Him. In like manner, God reckons to the believer Christ’s righteousness. Quite clearly, salvation is a judicial and gracious act of God whereby a believing sinner has legal right standing in Christ Jesus.

When full credit is given to God and His grace and when His powerful written Word is used in witnessing, He saves the sinner and gives a manifestation of His power, love, and mercy. All is as proclaimed by the Apostle, “to the praise of the glory of His grace.”43

http://www.christianbiblereference.org/faq_WordCount.htm

http://dads.org/
Steve Wood

https://www.amazon.com/Grace-Justification-Evangelicals-Catholic-Beliefs/dp/097275718X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Pro Ecclesia – Free MP3 Downloads or Listen Online – http://www.proecc.com/audio

 

Sola Gratia – “Grace Alone” – It’s through God’s gift of Grace that He sent His Son to the Cross for Salvation.

Sola Fide – “Faith Alone” – We are justified by faith through Christ and His finished work on the Cross.

Sola Christus – “Christ Alone” – Salvation is through Christ only as mediator between God and man.

Soli Deo Gloria – “To God Alone Be Glory” – Everything we do in life should be for the glory of God and not our own glory.

Sola Scriptura – “The Bible Alone” – Scripture is the sole infallible rule of faith, authority and practice for Christians.

The “Bible Alone”  – “Sola Scriptura” – This is a HUGE one for Protestants started hammered home by Martin Luther 500 years ago. It’s too deep for me to get into here, so I will provide several resources below for you to dive into on your own if you are willing to explore it with an open mind.

https://www.catholic.com/qa/didnt-the-catholic-church-add-to-the-bible
https://www.catholic.com/tract/scripture-and-tradition
https://www.catholic.com/tract/scriptural-reference-guide-0
https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/protestant-traditions-you-wont-find-in-the-bible

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/according-to-scripture

http://www.catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/protestantism/sola.htm
http://www.thecatholictreasurechest.com/protrad.htm

Top 7 Non-Biblical Beliefs of ‘Bible-Believing’ Christians

 

search oral tradtion bible verses

ORAL APOSTOLIC TRADITION

quote this http://biblehub.com/2_thessalonians/2-15.htm … where does it say in the Bible that this stops with the death of the Apostles and the death of Paul.

Biblical Evidence for Apostolic Oral Tradition

See Protestant View https://www.thoughtco.com/when-was-the-bible-assembled-363293

http://www.uscatholic.org/church/2012/03/who-decided-which-books-made-it-bible

Remember it was Catholics and saints like Saint Jerome and the Pope approved

council of hippo and carthage

120 people 3,000 added in book of Acts

Did you know that it was several hundred years

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_the_Old_Testament_canon

In the time of Jesus, the Apostles and actually up until around the 1400’s when the printing press was invented, Christians did not carry around a Bible like we do today nor did every Christian home have a family Bible.

Monks actually hand copied Bibles

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/apologetics/bible/do-christians-need-only-the-bible

Sacred Tradition – Oral Teaching – Manmade traditions little “t”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some videos below are less than 10 minutes and others are 30+ minutes.

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View More Videos On Page 2

Non-Catholics get confused about the Catholic view of Salvation. Many think Catholics believe in a WORKS based salvation. Any Non-Catholics and Catholics who are confused about the Catholic position view of Salvation should watch the video below:

I’ll start by sharing some videos:

Holy Communion, the Reason for the Gathering of the Church by Francis Chan
3 minute clip from the full 47 minute talk just below this one:

Church Together
47 minute video:

Is Francis Chan Becoming Catholic?
19 minute video from Keith Nester ( Former Protestant Pastor & Catholic Convert:

Francis Chan Goes Full Catholic – Ready for Antichrist!
12 minute video from Pastor Anderson ( I’m not a fan. I just wanted to share the other side. ):

Francis Chan, James White, and Controversy over the Eucharist
11 minute video from Trent Horn

I had never heard of Francis Chan ( that I can recall ) until Sunday, January 19th, 2020 when I started searching around YouTube.

He is a former Mega Church Pastor and some think he could become Catholic. Here’s the WIKIPEDIA on Francis Chan.

The very first video that I shared at the top of this post that is a 3 minute clip from his 47 minute longer video also above reminds me of my own journey to becoming Catholic. No, I was not a Mega Church Pastor, but I was a lifelong protestant that also never knew some of the things Francis Chan is talking about in the short segment.

Francis Chan was born in 1967 and I was born in 1966, so we are of the same generation. Although I was a Youth Pastor, I once wanted to be a regular Church Pastor and have preached in the pulpit. I can understand what he says in the short video about a pulpit, attention on the pastor and going in a room to study and prepare.

I have not watched/listened to the full 47 minute video. I’m not sure where Francis Chan is currently at on his journey. However, if he has come to the realization of the Real Presence and that worship was a certain way for 1500 years and that there was one Church for the first 1000 years, I don’t see how he cannot eventually become Catholic. For me, once I realized those three things that I just mentioned along with a few other things, I could no longer not become a Catholic Christian.

Why does it matter if Francis Chan becomes Catholic?

It will get attention both negative and positive if Francis Chan becomes Catholic. It will, IMHO, also help others who are not Catholic take a serious look into Catholicism and the Catholic Church. I think that it can lead to conversions from Protestantism to Catholicism.

Francis Chan is already getting attention like this ( from an article on ReformationCharlotte.com ) “Chan, if not on a path to full conversion to Roman Catholicism is most certainly and undoubtedly apostate. He has at the very least embraced an ecumenical view that rejects the authority of Scripture and exchanges it for the authority of Church tradition.” WOW! “undoubtedly apostate” and “rejects the authority of Scripture.” Really? But that doesn’t surprise me from those who do not understand the Catholic Christian faith.

Here’s an article on the Relevant Radio ( Catholic ) website: “Francis Chan, Evangelical Pastor, Faces Backlash After Preaching on the Real Presence.”

How will all of this play out? Will Francis Chan become Catholic? It’s all in God’s hands.

Pray for Francis Chan that God will use him to do His will whatever that is.

I have found online back and forth to typically be a huge waste of time. If you are still active on Facebook, I’m not currently, you know what I mean.

No human lead me to the Catholic Church. It was all God’s direction for my life and I cannot say “NO” to God because of professing Christians like Sean being wrong about what they think Catholicism is especially those who believe it’s a cult.

It never ceases to amaze me how so many people “do not get” Catholic Christianity. Whether they are a former Catholic or have never been Catholic, professing Christians like Sean are often confused about Catholicism, but I get that he is trying to help me based on his personal understanding of scripture and Christianity. However, with only so much time in the day and seeing  comments like this over and over, I do not engage everyone that I come across online, so I am sharing my thoughts here.

Sean wrote to me via my web form:

“How if you are a born again Christian and are living a life without any known sin can you stay in a cult? Catholic Religion sorry to inform you is a cult. To worship Mary and to pray to saints that are dead is not scriptural. God and Jesus are the only ones we should be bowing down to and worshipping. If you are still living in sin then you have either not been born again or are a backslider. Read the word for yourself and pray to God to show you the truth. We only get one life and to stay involved in a cult is not what God desires. Pray you receive this and God shows you the truth and sets you free.”

My take on what Sean wrote above:

1… Yes, I am born again the BIBLE way. Not sure what Sean’s definition is.

2… “Catholic Religion sorry to inform you is a cult.” This is not the first time I’ve come across this nonsense. The comment truly shows me that I’d have a difficult time with email back and forth trying to share why Sean is not accurate on this point.

3… Yes, Sean, the “Worship of Mary is 100% a sin.” The Catholic Church even teaches that. But to show great respect for the mother of our Lord and “not” to worship Mary is NOT a sin.

4… “Pray to saints that are dead is not scriptural.” I could really do down a path on this not scriptural part as I’m sure Sean is doing things that are not scriptural like maybe a mid-week Bible study, Sunday School, celebrating Christmas, wearing a tie to Church and all kinds of things that Christians do that are NOT technically scriptural. But I’m not saying these things are wrong. As for praying to the Saints, I believe that the Apostle Paul is with Christ in heaven, he is free of sin now in heaven and that he is more alive in Christ than anyone on earth. So if I can ask my friends and family here on earth to “PRAY FOR ME” then I can sure say, “SAINT PAUL, PRAY FOR ME.” It’s not the same as praying to Paul as if he were GOD. Paul’s earthly body is dead and gone, but most Christians should know that the soul lives forever. It only makes sense to include the saints in heaven as part of my prayer chain.

5… Bowing down to and worshipping anyone or anything but God is a sin if done for worship purposes like that object or person is God. However, if I bowed to Queen Elizabeth, it doesn’t mean that I worship her as God. I only worship Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If I bow down beside my bed holding my Bible, that doesn’t mean that I worship the bed or the Bible. Many men get on one knee to propose, are they worshipping their future spouse because getting down on one knee can be considered bowing. Do you get my point here of how people like Sean can get confused? Can you also see the double standard?

6… “If you are still living in sin, you are not born again or a backslider.” We’ll that helps me with a couple of key things about Sean’s theology. He likely doesn’t believe in once saved always saved and neither do I and saying “backslider” reminds me of my youth in the pentecostal church. Sean and I could possibly be more on the same page on a few things here. However, if anyone believes that we can live with ZERO sin in our lives, they are confused about the human flesh that is at war with the spirit. The goal is to strive for holiness and not to live freely, knowingly in sin, but we are going to slip up. When we do, we confess and turn back to God. I do believe that Christians should not knowingly live in a state sin. Sean may be surprised that I am more conscience of sin in my life as a Catholic because of the encouragement to examine my conscience and the accountability of confession. There is nothing like a good confession. I know because I was a protestant Christian. But praise be to God, I am now a Catholic Christian.

7… “Read the word for yourself and pray to God to show you the truth.” Well, I do read the word for myself and the more I learn about both the Catholic Church the more I see it from cover to cover in scripture. It’s amazing how clear the “WORD” is now that I’m Catholic. God did show me the truth. I was left with becoming Catholic or having my own form of Christianity making up my own rules because there are no other churches that I want to be a part of. That doesn’t mean that there are not some good churches out there, but for me, the fullness of truth is where I am and where I plan to stay. I cannot in good conscience turn my back on Catholic Christianity. No one brainwashed me. I took it upon myself to weigh the evidence and do the research. I encourage others like Sean to do the same whether they were brought up Catholic or not. Being raised Catholic doesn’t make someone truly understand the faith by default.

8… Sean’s last two sentences “We only get one life and to stay involved in a cult is not what God desires. Pray you receive this and God shows you the truth and sets you free.” I agree that we have one life to live, God doesn’t want anyone to be in a cult. However, I am where I am because I know that I have one life to live and the Catholic Church is key to my life. I have prayed that God would show me the truth which is why I’m Catholic. God has already set me free as a Catholic. I’m not following self like before when I picked a protestant church based on things like music, the size of the church, whether I/we liked the preacher, etc. It wasn’t easy to get past my own stubbornness  to become a Catholic Christian. I’m not sure if Sean noticed that I was a protestant Christian for over 40 years. I get both sides of this.

Closing Note: I have come to the point that if I’m NOT Catholic. I’m just going to do my own thing and not be involved in any Church. I’m going to define my own view of scripture. But there is a problem with that, Christ left us a Church and not a book. Let me repeat that, CHRIST LEFT US A CHURCH NOT A BOOK. If that it is the case, and I believe it is, then I need to remain in the Church that Christ left us and not make up my own rules about the book. Personal opinion and interpretation about scripture is why there is such a mess in the Christian community and not unity. Christ wants us all to be ONE. That’s how he set it up: One Faith, One Baptism, One Church. That’s all part of what makes communion mean so much as a Catholic.

Call to Action…
If you don’t know Christ as your Savior, turn to him now and begin the journey. Christ knows your heart and repeating a 3 sentence prayer is not the be all end all. You can begin by turning from sin, turning to Christ and praying to God in your own words. He knows your intentions. Then, I encourage you to meet with a priest at a local Catholic Parish ( Church ).

I have not watched the second video, but if the content is anything like the first one, it will be awesome.

I stumbled upon the first video around 3 a.m. or so this morning. There are many things that he says remind me about my own story / journey. Many Catholic converts from protestantism will likely find the first video to have many pieces of their own story.

If you are a protestant on a journey and considering becoming Catholic, you should spend 36 minutes listening to what Keith Nester says in the first video.

If you are not on a journey to the Catholic Church but are willing to hear a powerful story to hopefully have a little more understanding of how a protestant can convert to Catholicism, please spend 36 minutes with an open mind and let God ( not yourself ) lead you. As a Catholic convert, I never knew what I was missing by not being Catholic.

Catholic convert Keith Nester answers the question, “What’s so great about being Catholic?”

Although I haven’t watched the second video, I love the content and the way he speaks in the video above. So I’m including the video below as well.

Got about 10 minutes? Listen from 11:18 to 21:55 – A Catholic response to FAITH ALONE which is a non-Biblical, popular protestant belief.

Caller: Solid paraphrase: It’s all about Christ. Faith in Christ alone is all that matters. I can do nothing to earn my salvation. Saved by Grace by faith in Christ alone. My understanding in Catholic faith is that you believe that as well but there are also sacraments and works that need to be added to that in order for salvation to be complete.

Dr. Anders: Direct question to Christ in scripture, “What should I do to be saved? Jesus didn’t respond all you have to do is have faith in me. In Romans 2:13, Paul talks about obeying ( see also Matthew 25 or Revelation 20).

 

Join me ( David Williams ) and Rob Agnelli on Divine Mercy Radio beginning August 17th, 2019 at 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. every Saturday. Most shows will be live. We also hope to have the shows recorded to be available for listening to anytime.

Even if you are outside the reach of 540AM broadcasting from the Raleigh, North Carolina area, you can listen online at Divine Mercy Radio.

Although I do give this Pastor some credit for his approach, I want to make it clear that I am NOT in agreement with this Protestant Pastor’s take on Catholic Teachings. He doesn’t fully present the teachings in full context of the Catholic Church. Although he reads from the Catechism, he does not take the full context of the Catechism nor the full context of scripture or even provide a true Catholic definition of what sacred Tradition truly is.

If I wanted to make this article like he gave his talk about the Catholic faith, I could take parts of his Christian faith ( Calvary Chapel ) and go off in a particular direction showing it in a “not so good” light. I’ll give you a brief example after the next paragraph.

Although Wikipedia is not always fully trusted by every word written on it, you can at least get a general overview look at Calvary Chapel, but feel free to do further research. Here is the statement of faith from the Church website and their ABC’s of Salvation ( very protestant way of saying one is “Born Again” after following these steps and there is no mention of Baptism in the ABC’s ). I’m simply pointing to Calvary Chapel because that’s the Church that the Assistant Pastor in the video embedded int his article is affiliated with.

The way that I could turn the tables toward what this Pastor is saying about the Catholic Church is one of retaliation and focus on things like Calvary Chapel being founded by Chuck Smith in 1965 and finding various articles like one I found that said it’s “Chuck’s Church” and others outside the Church said that as well. I could focus on disagreements within the Church. I could do a deep dive into doctrine and negative articles online and make Calvary Chapel not look so go. However, although you may think that’s what I just did, I’m not going to do that in this article as it directly relates to Calvary Chapel. My goal is to defend the Catholic position and share how this talk is not sharing the truth of the Catholic faith.

My point to the prior paragraph above is how frustrating it gets when people only use parts of the Catechism to attempt to make a point about the Catholic Church. It’s also frustrating that people get little “t” and BIG “T” Tradition confused. But when they refer to BIG “T” Tradition they rarely ever, if ever, share the true 100% Catholic meaning of that and how Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition work together in harmony with each other.

What’s the answer? Well, if someone truly cares to learn the full Catholic perspective. They have to do a deep dive into videos, audios and resources that show the Catholic Church in proper perspective and it’s not by watching videos like the one embedded in this article. One cannot simply watch a video entitled “Roman Catholicism” given by a Protestant Pastor ( even if a Pastor happens to be a former Catholic ) and understand the Catholic Faith.

Here are a few quick ways to do a better dive into the Catholic faith if you are genuinely interested:

Catholic.com, Catholic Answers on YouTube, Check out The Journey Home on YouTube, Listen to EWTN ( Get the App – Audio on Demand: Called To Communion ), if you are a reader, buy books by Catholic Authors, if you want to see the Catholic response to Protestant objections buy this book USED. Buy the Catechism: Large Book or Small Book ( I own both. ), Buy a Catholic Bible ( Has 7 more books in the Old Testament ). The bottom line, you are not going to learn the truth about “Roman Catholicism” as the video further down is entitled by watching non-Catholics and even former Catholics talk about the faith. You have to do like I did and search for yourself. Then, and only then, will you know when someone speaking against the Catholic faith is not sharing their fallible opinion in full light of actual Catholic teaching.

The video below this paragraph is just over 1 hour. The two things that I like about it most are: 1) His demeanor. He’s very calm in his approach. Although he misrepresents Catholic teachings, he is not shouting at the top of his lungs “Catholics are going to hell.” 2)  He doesn’t put all Catholics in the same basket so to speak. He seems to understand that some Catholics “may actually worship” Mary, but that the Catholic Church teaches against the worship of Mary which he even mentions veneration ( honor ) and that other Catholics like myself Venerate ( honor ) Mary. I appreciate him not saying “Catholics Worship Mary” and putting all Catholics in the same box. FYI, I know a lot of Catholics and I DO NOT know a SINGLE ONE that worships Mary. However, out of 1.3 billion Catholics, there are likely some confused Catholics out there. Bottom line, Mary worship is against Catholic teachings and is a sin.

I’m not going to dissect every element of what the Pastor above is saying. However, I will offer up the option to contact me with sincere questions ( not to debate ). You can share the specific timeline of what he said and the rough context and I will try to view it and reply. I cannot guarantee that I can reply to everyone pending my time and the number of replies. I also reserve the right to reply at all based on your message approach ( With Love or not so loving: I don’t buy into being angry or harsh using speaking the truth in love bit ).

With the above stated, I’m not going to simply stop there. I want to shed some light on a few areas.

Pastor Mac states near the end of the video, “I am reading the Catechism, in what they believe in, we don’t believe on that, we believe on the scriptures and the one true living God.” The reason this is important before mentioning some things he previously said is because although he was reading from the Catechism, he by no means covers all 2,865 paragraphs. The Catechism can be partially read and not appear as it seems. I’ll go into that below.

Although Pastor Mac doesn’t cover this particular one, here’s an example of not using the Catechism properly: Just before paragraph 846 in the Catechism, it says “Outside the Church there is no salvation.” That is referring to the Catholic Church. So if I simply focused on those words that “Outside the “Catholic” Church there is no salvation,” I would not be shedding the full light of what it actually means.

Just below those words is paragraph 846, but I will post just 847 referring to “Outside the Church there is no salvation.” Here’s 847: “This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church: Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience – those too may achieve eternal salvation.”

If read in proper context and cross referenced with Catholic resources like Catholic Answers YouTube and Catholic.com one can understand what is meant by “Outside the Church there is no salvation.” It is also helpful to know what the Catholic Church teaches about the connection with the Church to Christ.

I’ve just shared one example of how you can read from the Catechism and make it appear that it’s saying something that it’s not. But let’s continue on.

Here’s something else Pastor Mac says, in referring to Mary, “She is also the mediator for those of the roman catholic church as demonstrated on the rosary prayer. But we’re told in the scriptures that there is only one mediator, one, between God and men – the Lord Jesus.” It’s stuff like this that blows my mind about the confusion people have with Catholics.

Since Pastor Mac likes referring to the Catechism and scripture hopping, let’s look at 480 “Jesus Christ is true God and true man, in the unity of his divine person; for this reason he is the one and only mediator between God and men.” The Catholic Church does not teach Mary is a mediator. So he misleads his listeners. Although he may not be doing it on purpose, he still misleads his listeners by the statement he made: “She is also the mediator for those of the roman catholic church.” Pastor, that’s WRONG, WRONG AND WRONG and sadly it’s not the only thing wrong with most of what he says in the video.

Catholics do believe that Mary is alive in heaven and that Saints are alive in heaven. Any Christian who believes someone is alive in heaven also should believe those in heave are perfected. In other words, they are far more righteous than those of us hear on earth. James 5:16 says “…The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” Well if I can ask others hear on earth who definitely are not fully perfected but may try to live a righteous life through Christ to pray for me, I’m sure going to say to Mary, “Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.” I’m also going to ask Mary and the Saints to pray for me just like I would ask those on earth to pray for me. The proper terminology is INTERCESSOR. Most Christians have heard of intercessory prayer. Come on Pastor, please get it right. Mary intercedes for us.

Near the beginning, Pastor Mac says, “I just want to clear the air that Catholics do not worship the same, in fact, many people that call themselves Catholics are not Catholics at all based on how they worship and what they do or they can be considered bad Catholics but pretty good Christians.”  I don’t what he says here not do I appreciate the implications. I take this comment kind of like when a non-Catholic might say, “some Catholics are saved” – “some Catholics will make it to heaven.”

The reality of it is that Catholics do worship one primary way with the Eucharist being the pinnacle of the Mass. That’s what makes the Catholic faith so special to a convert like me. If a Catholic is not embracing the faith properly and would be considered a “bad Catholic” as he says then they are also likely actually “not a pretty good Christian.”

I know a lot and I mean a lot of Catholics who worship the true Catholic way and are not only “pretty good Christians” but actually “pretty great Christians.” What’s interesting is that they are not only “pretty great Christians” but they are humble about it. I will actually see many of them tomorrow morning at the Catholic Men’s group that I am a part of. True Catholics and True men of God despite a comment like Pastor Mac made.

Going back to “I am reading the Catechism, in what they believe in, we don’t believe on that, we believe on the scriptures and the one true living God.”

I’m sure out of the 2,865 paragraphs in the Catechism that there is a lot of it that Pastor Mac actually believes like maybe paragraph 1989 “The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus’ proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high. “Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.”

Yes, Catholic teaching says that we are moved by Grace. Yes, we are saved by Grace through faith but not faith alone because “faith alone” is not actually Biblical since the only time the word faith alone is used is in James 2:24 “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” Catholics know that our works don’t save us. There is NOTHING we can do to earn our Salvation. However, our life should reflect “…faith working through love” as Galatians 5:6 says.

What about maybe paragraph 432 “The name “Jesus” signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of his Son, made man for the universal and definitive redemption from sins. It is the divine name that alone brings salvation, and henceforth all can invoke his name, for Jesus united himself to all men through his Incarnation, so that “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

So are paragraph 432 and 1989 fully posted above areas that Pastor Mac might agree with? I don’t know for sure but to say from his perspective “we believe on the scriptures and the one true living God” and to make that sound like Catholics don’t believe in scripture and the ONE true living God is again misleading.

It amazes me how many people, even some prior Catholics, even some prior Priests, do not seem to truly understand the Catholic faith. It doesn’t take the amount of time that I have put in to understand Catholicism, but one cannot spend most of their time watching videos like the one in this article and expect to properly understand Catholic teachings.
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It’s time for action. 

Jesus Christ is the Son of God, born of a Virgin, died on the Cross of Calvary and shed His blood for the sins of the world. He rose again on the 3rd day and is seated at the right hand of God the father. Jesus said in John 14:6 ““I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.”

Do you know Jesus as your Savior? Have you turned from sin and turned to Him? Christ loves you. His message is not a message of hate. It’s a message of Love. But hell is real for those who reject Christ.

I Timothy 2:3-4 “….it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Yes, God desires ALL MEN to be SAVED. However, God gives us free will and we each have to decide if we will accept God’s free gift of Salvation through his Son Jesus Christ or reject Christ.”

If you are a Catholic Christian, live the Catholic faith to the fullest. Put Christ truly first in your life. Don’t be a box checker. It’s more to having a relationship with Christ than showing up one hour per week to Church. I’m not saying that’s you because I know a lot of Catholics who actively live their faith and have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

If you are “not” a Catholic Christian, I encourage you to consider the Catholic Christian faith. Start by visiting a local Catholic Church, reach out to the parish ( church ) office, find a Catholic who lives their faith, visit Catholic.com and listen to Called To Communion  on EWTN. All of these ways are a great way to get started.

If you don’t profess to be a Christian, repent of your sins, turn to Christ as Savior and see the paragraph above. The reality is that Christ knows your heart and knows if you are truly seeking Him. Although Hell is real, God is not out with the goal of sending you there. It’s up to you. It doesn’t take a bunch of fancy words to begin the journey. The key is to begin the journey with a sincere desire to let Christ be KING OF YOUR LIFE.

Please use the contact form if you’d like to reach out to me.

Today is Sunday, April 28th, 2019 which is Divine Mercy Sunday. The first video below is only 3 minutes and 29 seconds long. The second video brought tears to my eyes the first time I saw it on EWTN BEFORE becoming Catholic. It’s 21 minutes long.

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NOTE: Around the 2 minute and 44 second mark is where the music and singing starts. It’ BEAUTIFUL.
That’s how I have the video cued up. Feel free to start it at the beginning if you’d like

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I first saw the video above on EWTN before becoming Catholic. It brought tears to my eyes. The video above has had over 7.6 million views as of when I wrote this.

The image on on the left with “Jesus, I Trust in You” is the image associated with Divine Mercy Sunday and Sister Faustina’s encounter with Jesus. To learn more about Divine Mercy Sunday ( also known as the Feast of Divine Mercy ), you can visit wikipedia.

I love the words “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” If you have never prayed those words using the Rosary, you can find more information . here on how to recite the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

Fr. Larry Richards has suggested many times on EWTN radio to pray for others using “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world” but inserting name of someone like this “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on John Doe and on the whole world.”  So if you have a friend, family member or even someone you may consider an enemy or you may have come across someone like a street preacher on YouTube that’s less than kind to Catholics and/or the Catholic Church, you could pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet inserting their name.

Many non-Catholics may use scripture like “vain repetition” to argue against praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy like they would the Rosary. But they misunderstand what Jesus is saying in Matthew 6:7 about vain repetition. To learn more, just check out this article by Tim Staples.

Meditating on the Passion of Christ while asking Him to have mercy on us ( or a particular person ) and on the whole world is just one of many great ways to pray. It helps us when we focus on the Cross and God’s mercy ( compassion / forgiveness ). It helps us when we use someone’s name to focus on God’s mercy for that person ( healing, salvation, compassion, forgiveness, etc. ). It also helps us think of others beyond ourself when we say and “on the whole world.”

The way our world is today. People need God’s mercy. Each of us need God’s mercy. It’s true that God may only need to hear at one time. But for us weak humans, we help lock things into our minds by meditating over and over on the same words. If you have ever tried to learn a new Bible verse, I’m sure you said it over and over and over trying to get it to stick in your mind.

Give this Bible verse a try if you don’t already know it: Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Renew your mind by saying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. As I said earlier, you can find more information . here on how to recite the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
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How’s your relationship with Jesus?

Jesus Christ is the Son of God, born of a Virgin, died on the Cross of Calvary and shed His blood for the sins of the world. He rose again on the 3rd day and is seated at the right hand of God the father. Jesus said in John 14:6 ““I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.”

Do you know Jesus as your Savior? Have you turned from sin and turned to Him? Christ loves you. His message is not a message of hate. It’s a message of Love. But hell is real for those who reject Christ.

I Timothy 2:3-4 “….it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Yes, God desires ALL MEN to be SAVED. However, God gives us free will and we each have to decide if we will accept God’s free gift of Salvation through his Son Jesus Christ or reject Christ.”

If you are a Catholic Christian, live the Catholic faith to the fullest. Put Christ first in your life. Don’t be a box checker. It’s more to having a relationship with Christ than showing up one hour per week to Church. I’m not saying that’s you because I know a lot of Catholics who actively live their faith and have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

If you are “not” a Catholic Christian, I encourage you to consider the Catholic Christian faith. Start by visiting a local Catholic Church, reach out to the parish ( church ) office, find a Catholic who lives their faith, visit Catholic.com and listen to Called To Communion  on EWTN. All of these ways are a great way to get started.

If you don’t profess to be a Christian, repent of your sins, turn to Christ as Savior and see the paragraph above. The reality is that Christ knows your heart and knows if you are truly seeking Him. Although Hell is real, God is not out with the goal of sending you there. It’s up to you. It doesn’t take a bunch of fancy words to begin the journey. The key is to begin the journey with a sincere desire to let Christ be LORD OF YOUR LIFE.

BAPTISM: The Catholic Church teaches the necessity of Baptism as the Bible also clearly teaches. The Church will accept a valid Baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. If you have never been baptized or do not have a valid Baptism, please reach out to the closest Catholic Church near you. The Church also teaches Baptism by blood and by desire. For example, Baptism by blood is dying ( being martyred ) for the faith before one was able to be Baptized by water. Baptism by desire is having the desire to be baptized but dying before one was able to be Baptized by water.

Please use the contact form if you’d like to reach out to me.

Here are some of the actual words from the video embedded in this article from Joseph with Cleveland Street Preachers as he stands outside a Catholic Church: “Learn how to be a real lady and “SHUT YOUR MOUTH.” A godly woman is a quiet, meek spirit. She’s not “a loud mouth doggie who barks her mouth at preachers.”

Before I share the article in full as originally written, I have an update because I did receive a message from Joseph through our web form:

Hello, My name is Joseph, the street preacher you wrote the article on. Firstly, I want to thank you for the free advertising and spreading the truth to the Catholic community! The article however is very, very twisted. It is a horrible, false witness, and I am concerned with your lack of obedience to the Lord (since you said in the article you try to be holy) with Almighty God after writing it. Could you please email me? Blessings, Joseph

My Disclaimer: I’m sharing my personal opinion of how I perceive what is presented in the video embedded further down this article from Joseph of Cleveland Street Preachers but also standing firm with Catholic theology. I’ve tried to be accurate in using Joseph’s words. You have the right to disagree with my interpretation of the video. You also have the right to disagree based on your personal opinion of scripture and your personal opinion about Catholicism.

There is only so much time in the day:

I am not going to email Joseph about the article at this time, but he is more than welcome to actually point out why “The article however is very, very twisted. It is a horrible, false witness,” using our web form. I’ll leave it with the readers of this article to read what I wrote and watch the video for yourself. However, although I’ve tried to be truthful and loving, I will say that I apologize if my article offends Joseph. I am simply writing about a video that is offensive to me as a Catholic and likely will offend any faithful Catholic who views it.

I am fine with considering what Joseph writes about the article using our web form and how it is false ( according to him ) as long as it is not based on his version of theology. I don’t agree with his theology. It’s apparent by the video that he will not agree with my stand on Catholic theology. I’m not out to debate theology with Joseph, but if I actually misquoted his words from the video, I will look into what Joseph says about that particular area. The reality is that I love Christ. He’s my Savior. I just happen to be a Catholic Christian.

Finally, before getting to the article, I do not agree with Joseph on “Catholics follow people, not Christ & are NOT Christians.” Therefore, I cannot spend time in email with someone who doesn’t even believe Catholics follow Christ and are not Christian. His complete stance in the description of the video and the video itself is far to anti-Catholic for me to get into a lot of email back and forth. Too bad he’s not local. I might actually consider a face-to-face for coffee.

The article below the line is intact as originally written which is how Joseph found it when he visited our website.
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Learn how to be a real lady and “SHUT YOUR MOUTH.” A godly woman is a quiet, meek spirit. She’s not “a loud mouth doggie who barks her mouth at preachers.” ( From what I could tell, all the lady said was something like GO TO CHURCH. I don’t think she was belligerent. ) Unless someone edits it out, those are just some of the exact words that you’ll hear from Joseph, the ex-Catholic street preacher with Cleveland Street Preachers in the video posted further down in this article.

Yet, Joseph says things like holy people go to heaven. Here are some more of Joseph’s exact words, Repent, turn from your sins and become Holy. If you sin, you are not going into his Kingdom. But look at what is in the beginning of the first paragraph and press that up against what he is saying in this paragraph and press the words in the first paragraph against the word of God ( Love Your Neighbor – Do Unto Others ). To me, what he says in the first paragraph doesn’t align with what he is saying in this paragraph. But I’m not the final judge. That’s between Joseph and God.

This article is not meant to offend anyone and I apologize in advance if it does. I do commend those bold enough to stand on the sidewalk and stand up for what they believe in. However, this street preacher was outside a Catholic Church on what I believe is Easter Sunday saying a lot of things that don’t line up with someone also saying be HOLY. I’m simply using his actual words to make a point especially since Joseph seems judgmental toward others as you’ll hear by his words in the video or you can read more of what he is saying in this article.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not without sin. I do strive to be holy. But my issue is that this street preacher is disrespectful and dishonest toward Catholics ( I am one ) and the Catholic Church as he stands outside a Catholic Church.

Please pray for me to be humble and loving in my approach while defending the Catholic faith. That includes me standing up for Christ because when I defend the Church, by default, I defend Christ who founded it. Read my view of the word Catholic. Please also pray for Joseph that he will return to the Catholic Church that he left and fully embrace Christ and His Church like never before. It’s not too late for Joseph to discover something he must have missed the first time around as a Catholic.

He also says a lot of things that should be and likely are offensive to faithful, devoted Catholics who take their faith seriously and love the Lord Jesus Christ like I do. You’ll discover what I mean as you read the article.

At  the 10:31 in the video, Joseph, the street preacher and ex-catholic says, I’m not a protestant by the way. I think Protestantism is just as “damnable” as Catholicism because it’s a twisting of God’s word.

I’m sure Joseph ( Cleveland Street Preachers ) has good intentions but he rejects Catholicism and Protestantism which leads me to believe that he must be his own authority based his personal interpretation of scripture.

Should I want to believe Joseph’s interpretation of the Bible “or” 2000 years of Church history and authority? I’ll stick with the latter.

Before I dive into the core part of this article based on Joseph’s video, here’s my personal reality check: I was born and raised Protestant, continued my journey as an adult ( Pentecostal, Baptist, Some Church of Christ ), spent many years being my own authority and not active in any Church but still professing Christ except for age 17 to 21 when I focused on the flesh and not God but still had Jesus tucked away somewhere. Then, at age 50 started discovering the TRUTH of Catholicism that I had never known before. At age 51 becoming Catholic and now at 52 realizing that there are two ways that I can live out the rest of my life:

Option 1) Be my own authority and don’t go to Church anywhere nor watch televangelist nor listen to street preachers nor listen to anyone else but myself as I feel led by the spirit because I don’t think “any” of them have the fullness of TRUTH ( except the Catholic Church ). So if I’m no longer Catholic, I can just stay home with my own personal interpretation of the Bible with what is true to me being the way I live my Christian faith. Since prior to becoming Catholic, my interpretation, as an adult, ALWAYS trumped the Church I was attending or the Pastor, I’d somewhat revert to that, but honestly I wouldn’t want to listen to any other preacher on the planet. IMHO, that’s a key issue with SOLA SCRIPTURA and what many Christians have gravitated to. One becomes their own authority, but there is only ONE Truth and ONE correct interpretation. Think through what I just said and answer these questions: 1) Is this the way Christ meant it to be? 2) Is what I just said Biblical?

… or …

Option 2) Go to the Bible and ask, “Does Christ want me to live like I said in #1? Is that Biblical?” – “Did Christ found a Church?” – “Did Christ want us to all be one or do our own thing?” – “Were Christ and the apostles all teaching the same message?”

Well, when I answer those questions, I come to the conclusion that the Catholic Church is what she claims to be and has the fullness of the Christian faith. Since option #1 is not Biblical and I believe that I am at home in the Catholic Church, I’m not going anywhere. I still love the same Jesus. I’ve grown closer to Christ as a Catholic. But it’s not because I’m a blind convert. I have met many Catholics ( even cradle Catholics – been Catholic all their life ) who love Jesus and have a relationship with Him.

To continue on…

1 Peter 3:15 “…Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you;” Well, Cleveland Street Preachers started it, so I’ll defend the reason for my hope.

In this article, I’m going to defend the Catholic CHRISTIAN faith against Joseph, an ex-Catholic street preacher with Cleveland Street Preachers from YouTube but also point out some areas where Joseph is not being very Christlike. But in the end, Joseph answers to God not me. So whether my opinion is accurate or not on how Joseph is handling himself is between Joseph and God in the end.

I hope that I can do all of this with Christian LOVE and not in a judgmental, pointing fingers kind of way because I have to look inward at my own life to be sure I’m striving to be Christlike. I’ll admit that it will be challenging because the humanity (flesh) side of me wants to strike back in attack mode, but the Christian side of me wants to be able to share the LOVE of Christ by defending the faith in Love.

Joseph wrote in his description of the video: “Catholics do not follow Jesus. Catholics follow Catholicism. They follow the religious traditions and belief system set up by the institution itself.”

Joseph talks about living holy, repenting and says to stay away from sin. However, if his stance on ALL Catholics across the board is based on the statement above, Joseph unfortunately would be standing behind a lie and should re-think his stance.

Maybe Joseph didn’t follow Jesus as a Catholic, but I do and so do many other Catholics that I know. What’s the point in being a Christian if one does not follow Christ?

I am a Catholic and I follow Jesus and I know many Catholics who do as well. Actually I have not met a Catholic who does not follow Jesus. I have met some of the most Christ loving, active faith living people in the Catholic Church as I ever have in any other Church. Sorry, Joseph, faithful Catholics are Christians. Those who are only Catholic in name, I cannot speak for. But I know many Catholics who are not just Catholic in name.

I dearly love the Lord Jesus Christ and desire to do His will. Nothing Joseph can say in his description or the video can change that. So, yes, he lies if he stands firm on a blanket statement that “Catholics do not follow Jesus” because that’s not the case.

I don’t deny that SOME Catholics may get caught up in the “institution” as Joseph refers to it. But that happens in other faith traditions as well like Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostals, Street Preachers, etc. Just because someone walks through the Church doors or stands on the sidewalk doesn’t mean they follow Jesus.

Any solid, faithful Catholic who truly knows Catholic teachings will be following Jesus because in my attendance to Mass of over 200 times, I have been consistently pointed to Jesus and the Cross. In addition, it’s my responsibility ( like every Catholics ) to read the Bible, to Pray, to truly learn what the Church teaches rather than listening to a street preachers view of the Catholic Church and to spend time seeking God’s will in my life. It’s my role as a faithful Catholic Christian to have a relationship with Jesus and I do.

Catholic Teaching? Let me give you a real world example from the Catechism:

432 The name “Jesus” signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of his Son, made man for the universal and definitive redemption from sins. It is the divine name that alone brings salvation, and henceforth all can invoke his name, for Jesus united himself to all men through his Incarnation, so that “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

1989 The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus’ proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high. “Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.

Wow! Did you know that Catholic teaching says that we are saved by Grace through Jesus because “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved?” Catholicism is NOT a work your way to heaven system. There is nothing ANYONE can do to earn Salvation. That’s a false belief many have about Catholicism.

The Catholic Church also teaches the necessity of Baptism as taught in the Bible. However, I’m not going to go into every aspect of Catholic teaching in this article. I only want to skim the surface and highlight a few things.

One of the key differences in Catholic beliefs is that our faith must be an active faith. Yes, we come to Christ by Grace through faith, but our faith includes works. James 2:24 “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” and Galatians 5:6 “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love.” It’s NOT our works that save us, but if our faith is not working through love and we are not following the commands of Christ then do we truly have a relationship with Christ? Cleveland Street Preachers believes faith without works is dead which is one area of common ground.

I spend hours every week reading scripture and praying. Oh, but a “born again bible believing Christian” might ask “do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ and have you invited him into your heart?” My answer is that I do have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I am not going through the motions. I am as saved and headed toward heaven as ANY other professing Christian on the planet or anyone that would ask that classic protestant question.

I do believe Matthew 24:13 “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” In other words, I, like anyone, can choose to reject Christ and end up in HELL. And NO, I don’t believe in the false teaching of “once saved always saved.”

Interesting that the video just below from Joseph of Cleveland Street Preachers was posted within 24 hours of the video jus below it of the conversion story. The one of Joseph with Cleveland Street Preachers lacks Christian love. If I were not already a Christian that dearly loves Jesus Christ, the second video from Salty Tribe Company shows me someone who is in love with Jesus Christ and also understands the Catholic faith. It’s actually quite moving. Watch it and see for yourself.

As a Christian, it brings joy to my soul to hear the young lady talk about her conversion story whereas the one from Joseph is completely opposite. His seems more derived from anger and judgment. Watch them both and you be the judge.

WARNING! FALSE STATEMENT ( see the purple part on the video below ): “Catholics follow people, not Christ & are NOT Christians.” I don’t know a single Catholic ( and I know a lot of them ) that do not follow Christ. Catholics are as Christian as anyone else who professes Christ as their Savior. I cannot speak for Catholics, Baptists, Street Preachers, etc. who may be confused about their faith because “not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” Final judgment is up to God Almighty not us as individuals. Although I firmly, without a doubt believe that some of what Joseph is saying and how he is acting is both UNHOLY and SINFUL, I’ll leave it between Joseph and God. I’m not perfect. Some people may think I’m committing sin within this article, but I’ve tried to keep my words Christlike. As a Christian, I cannot say things like “a loud mouth doggie who barks her mouth at preachers” and feel that I’m not wrong.

The video below is purposely larger because I think it brings more value and is more genuine of what I would expect of someone who professes Christ as their Savior. I’m not judging the street preachers soul. I’m simply making a comment based on my own personal opinion. Watch both videos and decide for yourself.

From the description:
It is truly amazing and yet sad to see how many Catholics will go to the lengths they do to defend their religion. They will fight tooth and nail to defend the institution of the Catholic church more than defending Jesus Himself. Catholicism breeds spiritually dead bricks that have no real faith, no spiritual power through the 9 gifts, and no true love for Jesus.

My take:
If Joseph truly knew the Catholic faith that he left, he would understand the defense better Although Joseph doesn’t believe it, Catholics who know their faith do believe the Catholic Church was founded by Christ, so when we Catholics defend the Catholic Church, we are defending JESUS and HIS Church. If you’d like to learn more, this is one place to start.

As for the spiritual dead bricks with no real faith, no spiritual power, no true love for Jesus. I take offense to that. My faith is solid and I truly love Jesus Christ in the depths of my soul. As for the 9 gifts, Yes, Joseph, I speak in tongues as a Catholic Christian and it’s the Holy Spirit. I first spoke in tongues nearly 40 years ago. That doesn’t make me a better Christian. I simply brought it up because tongues is one of the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit. I know my relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It’s not your place or anyone else’s for that matter to judge my faith walk simply because I’m a Catholic. Hopefully this article will not sound like I’m judging. That’s why I often repeat things like GOD IS THE FINAL JUDGE. Judgment is not my place.

Now getting into the video…..…

For the first several minutes Joseph repeats Holy, Holy, Holy. You have to be Holy. Holy people go to heaven. Since he was raised Catholic maybe he remembers singing the Holy, Holy, Holy since he mentions Holy so much or maybe he remembers the part of the Mass when we say, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” Then, we kneel.

What Joseph says is in bold and italics below:

Repent, turn from your sins and become Holy. I do believe that we have to repent and should strive to be Holy. But repentance is not a one time thing. Living Holy is not going to happen by accident. As long as we are on this earth, we are prone to sin and will sin in some form. There is intentional sin ( getting drunk on purpose, sex outside of marriage ), there is slip up sin ( I snapped at my wife and yelled at her. ) and there is the sin of omission which is something I failed to do ( love my neighbor, do unto others, etc. ) just to name a few to help you with my thought process.

Holy people obey Jesus. I think sometimes people forget when they say OBEY JESUS that we are to “Love our neighbor as ourselves” – “Do unto others as we would have them to do unto you” – and Matthew 7 ( NIV) “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” But then people like to come back with things to justify their judgmental words. Again, if you want to strive to be holy, follow all that Jesus commands and not just what you pick and choose. If Joseph is truly loving his neighbor, doing unto others and not being overly judgmental, it is hard for me to see. I’m just calling it like I see it in that he seems angry and very judgmental.

At 1:42, he finally says, “You have to follow Jesus if you want to go to heaven.” But he has not said who Jesus is, why I should follow him or how to follow him. He’s only been saying you have to be holy, you have to repent. But he has not told me who Jesus is.

Jesus calls Mary woman. See Why did Jesus always call Mary woman?

Holy people do not swear, do not use foul language, do not fornicate. If you sin, you are not going into his Kingdom. I pulled up Revelation 21:27 “But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Nothing unclean will enter heaven is a key Catholic teaching.

Jesus never started the Catholic religion, man did. Jesus was not a Catholic. I’ll use this same link again for those who care to explore this from a Catholic perspective.

How come Mary didn’t Baptize Jesus as a baby? ( and later at 8 minutes in, Jesus never taught Baptism for Babies. ) Easy answer. Mary and Joseph were Jewish. They took Jesus to the Temple. As for infant Baptism, it’s clear in the New Testament that whole households were baptized. There is no evidence that babies were not included in that baptism. ( Learn more )

This Church is not teaching you the truth. The blind follow the blind and they both fall into the ditch. I’m sorry that Joseph missed the truth somehow along the way as he was brought up Catholic. I’ve never discovered more truth anywhere else than in the Catholic Church. One has to seek the truth and be open to the truth to truly discover it. I got myself out of the way and stopped being my own authority. I let the spirit lead me to the truth. Christ did establish ONE Church. Whether someone believes that’s the fullness of the truth in the Catholic Church is that ONE Church doesn’t make the fact that is it true any less true.

Eat a little Eucharist wafer, you get to go to heaven. Joseph must not understand the teaching of the Eucharist. He is also very disrespectful in his approach to the Eucharist. I firmly believe that he will be more accountable to God as a former Catholic than those are are truly ignorant of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is so in depth that it’s difficult to go into it here, so I’ll share one of my favorite videos: Dr. Brant Pitre, Jesus & the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist

You don’t care about God. Jesus says you have to love God more than anybody. If you love me keep my commandments. You don’t keep the commandments of God. You don’t read the Gospels. So Joseph can stand on the sidewalk outside a Catholic Church and pass judgment like this? He does not know the persons heart and how much they love God. He’s putting everyone in his same little box.

Lot of you are going to go home and watch pornography. Masturbate to Pornography. I’m not sure of his point, but the reality is that the Catholic Church says masturbation is a grave sin. It’s a no brainer that pornography is a sin and the Catholic Church doesn’t approve of either one. They are both sin. PERIOD!

You know why they are playing those bells. It’s because of me. They don’t want you to hear me. Wow! Really? Joseph, you and I both know that’s not why they are playing the bells. That’s obviously a lie or either you’ve deceived yourself into thinking that’s why they are playing the bells. If someone intentionally lies, is that a sin? Do you really, truly deep down believe the bells are playing because of you?

Those priests of darkness. The priests of the devil. Wait, is this obeying the command of Jesus in doing unto others? Would you want to be called the street preacher of darkness, the street preacher of the devil? Please show some respect. These type of comments are not Christlike.

The priests are trying to shut me up with the bells. They love Easter. Most profitable day of the year for them ( Priests ). Resurrection day is a big business day for the Priests as he says is kind of snarky. Take your money. Take you to hell. Big business day for the priests. You know why they ( Priests ) love you because of you wallets and your purses make them so happy. They’ve got easy lives these priests. This whole segment of comments is odd and falls back under “do unto others” which is a command of Christ. Joseph seems a  little snarky sounding during this portion of the video. But watch and listen for yourself.

They don’t care about your soul. That’s why they don’t tell you the Gospel. They could care less about you. Really? I’m sorry that you didn’t get that as a Catholic. But it’s not too late to come back to the Catholic Church and realize that’s not the case. Joseph, please come home. I have met some wonderful Catholic Priests. I have heard more scripture reading at Mass than any other Church which includes the Gospel readings. As far as caring, when I was in the hospital recently, the Priest from the Cathedral where my wife and I attend had another Priest who was assigned to the hospital show up in my room within 2 hours or less of getting an email. The hospital priest also showed up the next morning. Then, the Priest from the Cathedral followed up by phone the day after I was released from the hospital. Caring? Please re-think your position.

6 Minutes In:
At this point, he’s 6 minutes into the video and I have yet to hear much solid substance of what I would call the Gospel message explained coherently.

I was brought up Pentecostal. The 1970’s Pentecostal preaching was a lot of fire and brimstone preaching. It was more about FEARING GOD and going to hell than the LOVE of GOD.

If someone is going to preach on the street trying to win souls for the Lord, how about a clear message that “God created us to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him?” ( FYI, that’s from the Catholic Baltimore Catechism. )

Continue on with, God loves you so much that He sent His only begotten Son who shed His blood on the Cross so that we could spend eternity in heaven. It’s God’s will that ALL BE SAVED. That’s Biblical.

They try to tell you that you can drink a little bit of wine and a little bit of wafer and go to heaven. That’s not what Jesus teaches. I’ve already addressed his lack of respect for the Eucharist, but this time I will link to Catholic.com.

You pray the Our Father, thy will be done. You don’t want God’s will to be done. You want your will to be done. You think it’s easy to go to heaven. If Joseph thinks that Catholic faith teaches an easy road to heaven, he definitely doesn’t understand Catholicism.

7 Minutes In ( Not bolding what he said in this paragraph ):

“No little wine and a wafer made in a factory is going to take you to heaven.” He somehow gets this confused as the Eucharist being a FREE ticket into heaven. “He says you have to be Holy. If you are not holy, you are not getting into his kingdom.” At this point, he’s over 7 minutes into this and has yet to share the message Christ on the Cross, that Christ loves you or any truly helpful scripture that points people to Christ. If I had been standing on the corner listening to him for the first several minutes, I would still not have a clear message of Christ and the Cross.

He does go on to say, “Not everyone who calls me Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven only those that DO the will of my Father.” Right after that, he says, “Are you doing the will of God when you masturbate gentlemen?” and he continues with fornication, etc. – There is nothing wrong with calling sin-sin and the Catholic Church teaches masturbation and fornication are sin. Sure, not everyone who calls me Lord, Lord shall enter heaven, but why not share how to get to heaven?

Read the Gospels. Follow what Jesus says. Well, Jesus never says, “Don’t smoke. Don’t masturbate.” So how is one to know? He has mentioned smoking and masturbation but Jesus never mentioned either by name which is why I bring it up. There is a key reason that Christ setup a Church with authority beyond the individual. There is a 2000 year history of that authority still alive and well today: The Catholic Church. Sorry, I’m not relying on some individuals interpretation of scripture including my own. I’ve been there. Done that. It doesn’t work. There is freedom in knowing there is an authority greater than me that Christ Himself established.

The words Pope, Cardinal and Purgatory are not in the Bible. You are following teachings created by men. So with this reasoning, Trinity, Incarnation, and several other common Christian words are not in the Bible either. How about this one? The word Bible is not in the Bible. The Bible does not tell us within itself what books belong in the Bible. Where did we get the list of  books? What about marriage vows? They are not in the Bible: Do you take this man? Do you take this woman?

Pope comes from the latin word “papa” which means Father. And please don’t go down the path of “call no man Father.” As for purgatory, just like trinity and incarnation are in the Bible in concept, so is purgatory. Finally, no where does the Bible say if a word is not in the Bible it cannot be used in the Christian faith. Just do some research on Catholic.com if you want to learn about purgatory, call no man father, etc.

This prayer direct from Cleveland Street Preachers is not in the Bible: “Lord Jesus, forgive me of all my sins. I am a sinner and repent for all the wrongs I have done. Thank you for dying for me on the cross. Thank you for your mercy and kindness. I want to follow you from now on and accept you as my Lord, my Savior. Please help me to overcome my sins. Please fill me with the Holy Spirit. Guide me, teach me. I want to serve you now. Thank you for your grace. Amen.” The paragraph before the prayer says, “By praying this prayer, you tell God you want to be humble right now and communicate with Him.” Where is that in the Bible? FYI, I’m not saying the prayer is wrong. If you don’t know Christ, I encourage you to pray it and find a Catholic Church to continue your journey. I’m simply saying that Christians do use words and concepts that are NOT clearly in the Bible.

That dirty mouth that just took the Eucharist saying the “F” word in front of kids. I couldn’t hear what the guy said. If he did say the “F” word, he was out of line and does set a bad example. FYI, I don’t use the “F” word. But what I find interesting is that Joseph knows enough about the Eucharist to seem to think it’s not right to say the “F” word after receiving it. Interesting? Maybe he’ll come back to the Catholic Church?

10 Minutes In ( Not bolding his words ):
Guy comes up and says you need a hug and Joseph says don’t touch me. Joseph responds with you need Jesus and the guy responds with I’ve got Jesus.

I like the fact that Joseph is bold enough to stand on the street, but I don’t like his approach nor do I agree with all of his theology. I’m sure we have some common ground and that’s where the conversation among Christians should begin: Common Ground.

For example, did Christ die on the Cross and rise from the dead for the sins of the world? Let’s start that conversation.

Go into Church on Sunday is not going to get you into heaven. Doing the sign of the cross is not going to get you to heaven. Jesus never taught his followers to do the sign of the cross. Well, Jesus never taught his followers to hand out tracts ( pamphlets ) on the sidewalk, but that doesn’t stop Joseph from doing it. Jesus said GO PREACH – GO TEACH. He never said “GO HANDOUT.”I’m not saying that it’s wrong to hand out pamphlets, but don’t say Jesus had to say it for us to do be able to do it.

If you want to know more about reasons to make the sign of the cross, here’s an article 21 Things We Do When We Make the Sign of the Cross. So be careful about saying things Jesus never said do. “For example, Jesus never said don’t smoke weed or watch pornography on the internet.” But I know through His teachings and the word of God that they are both wrong in the eyes of God.

It sounds like someone yells out “Go to Church.” 

Joseph responds and if holy people say what you see below, I’d hate to see unholy. If what you see below is not sinful, then please feel free to call me out on it. FYI, I’m not judging Joseph’s eternal soul. I’m simply making a valid point to this particular part of the video that seems unholy and sinful to me. Maybe I’m completely clueless?

Joseph responds with Church is right here. Come join me. I’m the Pastor. Learn how to be a real lady and “SHUT YOUR MOUTH.” A godly woman is a quiet, meek spirit. She’s not “a loud mouth doggie who barks her mouth at preachers.”

Really? Someone who claims to be a Pastor says, “a loud mouth doggie who barks her mouth at preachers.”

Jesus commanded us to love your neighbor as yourself and do unto others. Joseph has said follow the commands of Christ. Did he just commit a sin on the video? He’ll have to face God for his words not me. However, Joseph can repent and I hope he does.

If saying “a loud mouth doggie who barks her mouth at preachers” is an example of living a Holy life, that’s a new one on me. That’s not the spirit of God speaking. It seems like sinful behavior to me. It seems like human nature ( the flesh fighting against the Spirit ) coming out.

Real godly women say God Bless you brother. Hmm, I wonder if this comment from a woman on this video is considered to be one of those godly women? “Wow. Brother, you are one brave man of God. You stand in front that satanic place and speak raw truth….” – As a Catholic Christian, I find “SATANIC PLACE” offensive. But does this woman care? My guess is probably not. There are many professing Christians that seem to be angry, hateful and even sinful in their words especially toward Catholics or those they don’t agree with. I hope that I’m not that way. I don’t want people to perceive me as angry, hateful or sinful. I want others to see Christ in me by my words and by my actions. Am I always successful at that? NO. But thanks be to God, I can repent and continue to strive to live Holy.

You don’t really believe that wine is Jesus’ blood do you? How come at Passover Jesus didn’t slit His wrist and put His blood from His wrists in the cup. His blood is spiritual. It’s not a literal thing. Why didn’t the apostles literally start drinking Jesus’ blood when they took him off the cross. His blood is the fulfillment of perfect obedience to God. I sent a donation of $13 to Joseph via Pay Pal so that he could buy “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper” at my expense not his. However, I asked him to refund the money if he was not going to use the money for that purpose. My $13 was refunded in about 15 minutes.

At about the 14 minute mark, he says he is Saint Joseph and he is there to tell you the truth of what my beautiful Lord and Savior has told me in his Gospel message. He quotes Luke 13:3 “… repent or perish …” Yes, repentance is part of Salvation and striving to live Holy is part of Christian living but “repent or perish” ( although Biblical ) is not sharing the love of Christ. I would say “repent or perish” is a fairly good summary of the tone of this video.

At 14:50, my bible came from heaven. John 6:41 “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” Interesting that Joseph is quoting from John Chapter 6 from the bread of life discourse which is a huge foundation for the Catholic teaching on the Eucharist. He says Jesus is the Word which is true. But the written Bible as we know it didn’t just drop from heaven. Yes, it is the inspired, infallible word of God written by men lead by the Holy Spirit, but it didn’t come with a concordance with a list of books to be in it.

Christ didn’t leave a printed Bible with the apostles when he ascended to heaven. The New Testament was not fully written until around the year 100 ( nearly 7 decades after the crucifixion ). The canon of the bible was not FULLY decided on until around the year 400. The bible was not readily accessible to many until the 1400’s after the invention of the printing press. For centuries, the common man could not read. The false doctrine of the Bible alone did not become popular until the 1500’s after Martin Luther and the other reformers started implementing their own personal interpretation of scripture. So yes, John 1:14 is correct “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of  the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” But that doesn’t prove the physical written Bible as we know it dropped from heaven.

At the 15 minute mark through the end of video ( 20 minutes ) is when a Catholic finally spends some time talking with Joseph.

Joseph doesn’t seem interested in talking with the guy. He says “Sir, I want to keep preaching. I’m trying to help you guys because you guys are going to hell. I’m trying to help you sir because I care for your soul. There’s more bricks inside that building than outside.”

I guess Joseph is referring to people as bricks? Well, here we go again Joseph. Hmm… be holy? Is it holy to make a blanket statement “you guys are going to hell and there are more bricks inside the building that outside?” Really, I’m supposed to want to know the Christ that you speak of when you talk like that? Yes, hell is real but not everyone in the Catholic Church is going to hell. God will decide that in the end.

If Joseph is referring to people in the Church being bricks ( hard headed is the way I take it ) by saying there are more inside the Church than out, he is pretty well saying everyone in the Church is a brick. Come on Joseph stick to the word of God and don’t say things that make you look bad.

I expect to see Christ in someone professing Christ as Savior. I hope the Holy Spirit will move in Joseph’s life to help him look more inward at his own life more than outward at the lives of others as he seems to do on this video.

“I have anger against evil as he points to the Church.” So he just admitted that he has anger at about the 19:20 mark. To me, he has sounded angry since the first minute of the video. So at least he admitted that he has anger although justifying it with “against evil.” I don’t appreciate the Catholic Church being called evil. I wouldn’t think Christ would approve of it either.

I’ve tried not to be overly harsh or overly judgmental in this article. I don’t want to be accused of being non-Christlike. That’s why there have been numerous times that I have said it’s up to God not me.

At the 20 minute mark, Joseph refuses to shake a guys hand after the guy took one of his pamphlets then quotes the Bible says be not quick to lay hands on people.

In the final seconds of the video. Joseph tells the Catholic man that Jesus says “You’re a fool” and he justifies using the word fool from Matthew 23:17 that says “You blind fools!…” and says it’s OK because Matthew 5:22 says don’t call a brother a fool and he tells the Catholic guy that he’s not his brother. Joseph goes on to tell the guy that he doesn’t know the Gospel, you don’t know Jesus. You are blinded by religion.

As I close out this article……

Overall what has the video accomplished? Watch both videos that I posted and judge for yourself.

For me, the author of this article, I am a sinner saved by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ but not faith alone which is not Biblical: I have been saved. I am being saved. I hope to be saved. My life is not without problems or without sin, but I strive to live holy. So although I’ve pointed things out about Joseph in the video as a defense from my perspective, I am not a hypocrite to say that I’m without sin. Thanks be to God, I have Christ to turn to and confession. Thanks be to God, I’ve discovered His Church. I’m at home this side of heaven.

One day I hope to be in heaven with Christ. “Oh, I want to see Him, look upon His face, There to sing forever of His saving grace;”
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It’s time for action. 

Jesus Christ is the Son of God, born of a Virgin, died on the Cross of Calvary and shed His blood for the sins of the world. He rose again on the 3rd day and is seated at the right hand of God the father. Jesus said in John 14:6 ““I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.”

Do you know Jesus as your Savior? Have you turned from sin and turned to Him? Christ loves you. His message is not a message of hate. It’s a message of Love. But hell is real for those who reject Christ.

I Timothy 2:3-4 “….it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Yes, God desires ALL MEN to be SAVED. However, God gives us free will and we each have to decide if we will accept God’s free gift of Salvation through his Son Jesus Christ or reject Christ.”

If you are a Catholic Christian, live the Catholic faith to the fullest. Put Christ truly first in your life. Don’t be a box checker. It’s more to having a relationship with Christ than showing up one hour per week to Church. I’m not saying that’s you because I know a lot of Catholics who actively live their faith and have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

If you are “not” a Catholic Christian, I encourage you to consider the Catholic Christian faith. Start by visiting a local Catholic Church, reach out to the parish ( church ) office, find a Catholic who lives their faith, visit Catholic.com and listen to Called To Communion  on EWTN. All of these ways are a great way to get started.

If you don’t profess to be a Christian, repent of your sins, turn to Christ as Savior and see the paragraph above. The reality is that Christ knows your heart and knows if you are truly seeking Him. Although Hell is real, God is not out with the goal of sending you there. It’s up to you. It doesn’t take a bunch of fancy words to begin the journey. The key is to begin the journey with a sincere desire to let Christ be KING OF YOUR LIFE.

Please use the contact form if you’d like to reach out to me.

Although my wife and I became Catholic together at the Easter Vigil 2018, I’m mainly writing this short article from my perspective of coming full circle as a Catholic from Vigil 2018 to Vigil 2019.

I have now experienced 1 full year of the liturgical seasons being in full communion with the Catholic Church during every season. Although my 1 year anniversary as a Catholic was 3.31.2018, I really didn’t come through everything ( full lent, etc. ) until 4.20.2019 since Easter fell 3 weeks later this year.

What a joy it has been to be a Catholic Christian experiencing the fullness of the Christian faith for the last year. If I went through every detail of the last 12 months and 3 weeks, it would likely be a book and not an article that’s just under 800 words.

The 2019 Vigil had an additional blessing tied to it as I served as a sponsor for a young man ( in his 30’s – I’m in my 50’s ) to walk with him through his journey of coming into full communion with the Catholic Church.

He has a Baptist background but spent many years away from Church blaming God, but thanks be to God he found his way not only back to Church but to the fullness of the Christian faith in the Catholic Church.

It was a privilege and an honor to present him to Bishop Zarama of the Raleigh Diocese at the Easter Vigil to be anointed with Chrism as he received the Sacrament of Confirmation and later to be kneeling beside him after he received the Holy Eucharist for the first time. It was just last Easter Vigil that I was in his place.

It has been an exciting journey and my Christian faith has only grown stronger. I have spent more time in Prayer, more time in Church, more time on my knees, more time thinking of others, more time seeking and desiring God’s will, more time reading scripture and more time in my overall faith walk ( Adoration, Weekday Mass, Catholic Men’s Group & More ) than likely any single full year ever in my Christian walk. Catholicism has helped me a better person and a better Christian.

As I continue my journey, I still spend many hours per week diving into the Catholic faith. That’s just how I’m wired. Apologetics is a big interest of mine. I want to know as much about the Catholic faith as I can and because of this website and me engaging others online, I have been challenged more than once.

I’ve been called the Son of Satan, accused of having the mark of the beast, accused of being in a Cult and some other not so nice things. However, Jesus suffered far more than I ever have by death on the cross. But thanks be to God, we serve a risen Savior which is very fitting to say as I am writing this on Easter Sunday 2019 ( 4.21.2019 ).

Jesus said in Luke 9:23 “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Christ didn’t promise us that we’d have it easy following Him. It’s my desire to continue to seek Christ and His will for my life.

In closing, I have been blessed in so many ways that I would forget something if I tried to name them all, so I’ll only mention a few:

1) I have a loving, faithful, Catholic wife by my side. Brenda and I are less than 90 days away from 30 years of marriage.

2) I have slowly moved into being a core member of the RCIA team ( Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults ) and get to teach the session One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church during the Summer RCIA session. I take that very seriously and even bought a 300+ page book on the topic. But as a convert ONE – HOLY – CATHOLIC – APOSTOLIC is key to why I’m Catholic which is one reason that I chose to teach that particular class.

3) Before 2019 is over, I will likely have a regular radio segment on Catholic Radio 540AM.

4) And finally, I just confirmed this week, that I will be speaking at a Catholic event in October where the venue seats 800 people.

God is Good!

I want all my blessings to point others to Jesus. It’s all about Christ. I want others to see Christ in me. One of my prayers is to empty me of me and fill me with more of YOU ( JESUS ). My goal is to surrender everyday to Christ. Living for Christ is not a once a week, go to Church on Sunday and check the box. Living for Christ is a DAILY walk.

If I can be of assistance, please feel free to CONTACT ME.

I met both Fr. Larry Richards and Fr. Dwight Longenecker at the 2019 Ignited by Truth Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina which is my home area.

I’m looking forward to reading both of the books that I bought “Surrender” by Father Larry Richards and “Catholicism Pure & Simple” by Fr. Dwight Longenecker.

Fr. Larry Richards is currently on Open Line on EWTN on Thursday’s a 3 p.m. EST. You can listen live on Sirius Channel 130 or in the Raleigh NC area from about Danville VA to close to Wilmington NC on AM Channel 540. You can also listen live on the EWTN app or listen to audio on demand via the app with several past episodes available. Fr. Larry’s website is The Reason for Our Hope.

Fr. Dwight Longenecker’s website can be found here and Fr. Longenecker also has a very low cost subscription membership option found here. Fr. Longenecker was brought up in an Evangelical home and was an ordained Anglican Priest. He and his family were received into the Catholic Church in 1995.

I think some people get confused that I may put my faith in men instead of Christ because I share pictures like these or talk positively about a Priest. However, my faith is in Jesus Christ not in man. But we need to pray for our Priests and bring attention to those standing firm in the Catholic faith.

I encourage you to pray for me and this website along with all the Catholic faithful but especially for those who are lost without Christ and those who know Christ but are seeking the TRUTH.

I was in a nutrition store recently with one of my Catholic Transformation t-shirts on. I’m not sure if that’s what got the guy started giving me and the cashier his version of some Christian thought or not. As he was sharing about faith, he also used a few words that sounded more like a bar room conversation. That was intriguing to say the least.

One of the things that he said that stood out was something close to this paraphrase, “I don’t attend Church. The Church is right here.” I took that to mean that me, the cashier and him discussing faith was what why he said the Church is right here. I also believe that statement could have come from his thoughts on Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Jesus said, “I am there among them.” He didn’t say, “The Church is there among them.”

I don’t believe it’s all that uncommon for Matthew 18:20 to be used as a reason to not attend Church. Yes, it’s true that two or three are gathered in Christ name, he is there among them.  But Christ is also there with me on my own in my vehicle and many other places of solitude. With just me, Christ is there.

I don’t think me, the cashier and the guy talking represented THE CHURCH: Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:15 “if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” ( NIV ) Hmmm…. “…the pillar and foundation of the truth.” Well, I don’t believe the three of us standing at the front counter of a nutrition store represented the pillar and foundation of truth as THE CHURCH. I do believe we could represent Christ as a small group of believers. I believe we could have shared the Gospel with anyone entering the store. I believe we could have prayed together and read scripture in the nutrition store but that didn’t make us THE CHURCH.

No, Mr. “I don’t attend Church.” I’m sorry the three of us were/are not THE CHURCH.

One of the many disagreements in Christianity is whether THE CHURCH is a particular Church or THE CHURCH is the complete body of believers in Christ throughout the world. I’ve been on both sides of this disagreement and see it different as a Catholic than I did as an evangelical.

I do believe in the 4 marks of the Church: The Church is ONE. It is HOLY. It is CATHOLIC. It is APOSTOLIC. Just like the creed states,””I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.”

Rather than getting into whether Christ founded a Church or not, I’ll leave you with this video from Steve Ray that’s just under an hour. If you don’t believe Christ established ONE Church, I ask you to at minimum watch this video, pray for the truth to be revealed regardless of your personal opinion and re-read the New Testament looking for whether Christ founded A CHURCH or thousands of Churches that don’t agree with each other and continue to split.

Doesn’t it make logical sense that there would be ONE Church in existence since the time of Christ?

Clyde Wrote To Me Via My Contact Form: Not everything has to be in the bible this concept thing is a addition to the bible from your mind for whatever reasons you have I urge you to read 2 Timothy 3: 16 and stop groping around in the dark.

My reply to Clyde is below and I’m sending him this link. If he responds, I may include his reply below my message.

Good Morning Clyde,

Thanks for taking the time to send me a message and helping me create some extra content for my website based on your message. I really appreciate that.

I don’t know if you profess Christ as your Savior or not because I find “stop groping around in the dark” not to be a very Christ like approach. Personally, I prefer to try and live out “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” I’m not always successful at that, but it is my goal to reply to you as I would want someone to reply to me.

You mentioned 2 Timothy 3:16 and I know the verse you are referring to: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (KJV) or the NRSVCE: “All scripture is inspired by God and is^[a]useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,”

But don’t make the verse say something it is not saying. That’s the problem with private interpretation of scripture.

Just to set the record straight, I do believe that ALL scripture is inspired by God.

But let’s look at 2 Timothy 3:16 – In Context:

Paul was writing to Timothy. But before verse 16, you’ll find that verses 14 and 15 say “14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (KJV) or the NRSVCE:  “14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, 15 and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Paul wrote his epistles in the 50’s. The Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John had not even been written yet. The New Testament was not even completed. If Paul is telling Timothy “from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures,” he would have been referring to the Old Testament scriptures because the New Testament scriptures had not even been written when Timothy was a child. So if you actually put verse 16 into the proper context as written, the New Testament would not apply at all. However, I don’t deny that the New Testament is the inspired word of God. I’m just not using verse 16 out of context.

Not in the Bible?
Below, I have listed some things that are not in the Bible that Christians practice, believe in and/or live by. I am NOT saying and I repeat NOT saying, these are all wrong. I’m simply saying that these things are not clearly in the Bible or in some cases not at all in the Bible, but I would guess that many of them apply to your personal belief system as it relates to Christianity.

…Just before Christ ascended to heaven, did he say “Go hand out Bibles and tell people to read what I have taught you and allow them to come to their own fallible conclusions?” OR Did he say “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,?” Which one is actually in the Bible? Read or Teach? I’m not saying reading scripture is wrong, but your point was things outside the Bible as you wrote “this concept thing is a addition to the bible.” If that’s true, shouldn’t you reject some of what I just wrote about handing out Bibles and everything that I have below that are common Christian practices?

…Marriage vows are not in the Bible, but any good Christian holds marriage vows as sacred.

…The wedding ring is of a pagan beginning ( look it up ). Yet millions of Christians wear wedding rings.

…The concordance of the Bible, how did we get it? Where did the list of books come from? Is the list God inspired? How do we know?

…Where is Sunday School in the Bible? Where is Wednesday night Bible study in the Bible?

…Where is singing a hymn or playing music when a collection is taken up in Church in the Bible?

…The sinners prayer that many say at an altar call and the altar call itself. Where is that in the Bible?

…Children’s Church – Where does the Bible say Children should be separated in worship?

…Bowing heads, closing eyes, holding hands to pray. Where are these practices in the Bible?

The above are very popular Christian practices that are not clearly in the Bible. Does that make all of them wrong?

Bonus – Take time to think about the following:
Did the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th century Christians all own Bibles and walk around handing them out or could they have relied on oral teaching and hearing readings from a Bible that would cost 2 or 3 years wages because it had to be hand copied by monks? Were most common people for centuries mostly illiterate ( not able to read )? When was the Bible first readily available to the common man? Hint: The printing press was invented in the 1,400’s. How did people get by for 1,400 years?

If you are trying to say 2 Timothy 3:16 proves sola scriptura which is a man made doctrine of the Protestant reformation, I encourage you to read https://chnetwork.org/2018/02/06/im-catholic-sola-scriptura-isnt-scriptural.

Much of what I wrote above are things that I never thought much about for my 40+ years in the Evangelical / Fundamental Protestant world. I simply accepted a lot of it because it was tradition of the Churches I was involved in and I never really dug into early Church history. You don’t have to agree with me and you probably don’t based on your message. But you owe it to yourself to see both sides of the argument that you tried to make unsuccessfully with 2 Timothy 3:16.

I’ll leave you with a blessing:

Numbers 6 – 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

I also just prayed for you.

From one who is not groping in the dark, but letting the light of Christ shine, blessings,

David
Sold Out For Christ
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Article Add On Note: In case I’m not clear above. I do believe what 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All scripture is inspired by God and is^[a]useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” But I don’t believe it solidifies the manmade doctrine of sola scriptura. That’s forcing the verse to say something that it does not say.
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Clyde and I did share several emails after I sent him the link to this page, but I have only included two highlights below with Clyde’s verbatim replies:

In one of my emails that I wrote to Clyde, I included that I’m ( me ) heaven bound and hope you ( Clyde ) are as well.

Clyde sent this:

“I have no dream of living in heaven but to live on a paradise earth under creators rule. If you feel you have that calling which I doubt carry on believing you can orchestrate your own salvation.” ( That’s verbatim with no edits. )

Since there is only so much time in the day and after several emails with Clyde, I felt that it was time to bring our communication to a close and I wrote:

Our communication has been interesting but not as far out there as some I’ve had.

I’ll leave you with this as I bring our unfruitful communication to a close:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

I’ve prayed for you and wish you the best.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.
( That’s verbatim with no edits. )

The response that I got from Clyde:

“I do not need not your prayers for it is the living god jehovah who in his mercy provided a son to bring us back to him your prayers I know only goes as far as the clouds. So I put my trust in the son and pray to the creator through him. So your prayer dosent go anywhere to me so it’s worthless. Good bye” ( That’s verbatim with no edits. )
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Hmmm…. And the above came from someone who pointed me to 2 Timothy 3:16 that “ALL Scripture Is Inspired By God” and suggested that I stop groping in the dark.

Well, my Bible says, “to love one another,” “to do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” “to pray without ceasing,” “to pray one for another” and “that God hears our prayers.” So it’s interesting to get the type of responses that I got from someone pointing me to 2 Timothy 3:16.

It’s not uncommon at all for the Clyde’s of the world that I communicate with online to not profess ( or be willing to profess? ) a particular Church affiliation. I don’t know if some of them are ashamed to or just don’t have one because all they need is their Bible. Christ didn’t set up a “All I need is my Bible and my interpretation” form of Christianity. That’s not Biblical, but a lot of Christians don’t see it that way. Again, I don’t know one way or the other about Clyde. But I do know that I’m not ashamed to be a Catholic Christian.

Many of the Clyde’s of the world like to point to scripture and seem to use it as they see fit but then seem to conveniently overlook others especially these two: “love one another” and “do unto others.” In Clyde’s case, he took it so far as to say “I do not need not your prayers” and “your prayers I know only goes as far as the clouds.” In addition to many of the other things he said, I could be offended, but I’m not. However, I don’t find that very Christ like and it doesn’t seem like a very “do unto others as you’d have them do unto you approach.” I’d call it more of a slap in the face, but I’m willing to “turn the other cheek” on Clyde’s not so kind words.

It was kind of difficult to figure Clyde out by email. Some of his wording was disjointed like the original message at the top of this page. If you look at what I copied in this section verbatim, my guess is that you may have difficulty figuring Clyde out as well.

With me, it’s easy. I am a Catholic Christian Convert who spent well over 40 years on the protestant side of Christianity. I hope to endure to the end, loving God until my last breath and spend eternity in heaven.

Note: I have only changed the body of my original reply to Clyde with a typo(s) correction and removing very short paragraph that I may was a little less kind than I should have been. I’m still working on my wording and try to be charitable.

Here’s the short paragraph that I removed from the original link that I sent Clyde:

“I’m not groping around in the dark. I love the Lord Jesus Christ with all my being. He is the light of the world, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. If you call that groping around in the dark, you must not have a relationship with the same Jesus that I do.”

I enjoy listening to Father John Hollowell’s  homilies on YouTube. You can find his  YouTube channel here.  However, like many Catholic centric videos that do not have the comments disabled, you’ll likely see some over the top, not so friendly, even judgmental, sometimes downright hateful, comments.

Here’s an example of a comment from another channel:

“Another fact is, Catholics are going to hell along with all the Catholics who have already died.”

Although I could just choose to ignore silly comments like the one above, I prefer to not see any comments at all. I don’t want any additional distractions on YouTube which is why I’m glad that I found an extension for Chrome.

If you use Chrome, you can install the extension “Hide YouTube Comments” and avoid seeing all comments. The comments section becomes completely blank which doesn’t hurt my feelings.

NOTE: If the extension above doesn’t work on your Chrome browser or you don’t use Chrome, do like I did and do a Google search. I wish that I had thought about this option months ago.

With Lifted Hands
Ryan Stevenson

I have tasted
All that this world has to offer
The here and gone that leaves you wanting more
But can’t satisfy

Father, forgive me for taking so long to see
That You’re all I need

With every heartbeat in my chest
Lord, I surrender all that I have
The days yet to come, the days in the past
I’m giving You all I am
With lifted hands, with lifted hands

You show me mercy
When I’ve done nothing to deserve it
You see the best in me beneath the dust
Because that’s how You love, that’s how You love

You rush through my veins
I’m wrecked and I’m changed and
My soul will sing

With every heartbeat in my chest
Lord, I surrender all that I have
The days yet to come, the days in the past
I’m giving You all I am
With lifted hands, with lifted hands

Heaven or grave
There is no place
I can go to escape
Your love, no-no
Heaven or grave
There is no place
I can go to escape
Your love!

So with every heartbeat in my chest
Lord, I surrender all that I have
The days yet to come and the days in the past
I’m giving You all, all that I am
I’m giving You all, all that I am
With lifted hands
With lifted hands
With lifted hands
With lifted hands

Songwriters: Christopher Stevens / Ryan Stevenson
With Lifted Hands lyrics © Warner-tamerlane Publishing Corp., Goes Something Like This Music

If you don’t think Catholics are being attacked for being Catholic, just spend a little time on Social Media. There are a lot of things said that is appalling and sadly coming from many who profess Christ as Savior. It’s even more saddening to find out that some of those attacking Catholics are former Catholics who often claim that reading the Bible and/or having a “Born Again” experience opened their eyes to the evil Church of Rome.

I have personally been accused of being the Son of Satan, in a cult, a fool according to scripture, one who denies Christ and having the mark of the beast just to name a few things that come to mind as I type this. However, my faith is well formed and I have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I also understand and embrace the sacraments. So I try to respond in love and share how much I love Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In my opinion, many of the former Catholics who attack Catholics and the Church fell short somehow in all 3 of these areas: The Sacraments ( 7 in the Catholic Church ), Catechesis ( Faith Formation ) and Evangelization ( Relationship with Christ ).

Do you have a relationship with Christ?

There is more to the Christian life than going through the motions: When a faithful Catholic understands and embraces the Sacraments, is fully formed through proper Catechesis and is both Evangelized and Evangelizes, it’s difficult to “not have” a relationship with Jesus Christ.

I’m a convert and the more I learn about the Catholic faith the more I realize how it ALL points to Jesus Christ and the love of others. As a Catholic, my personal walk with Christ is as strong as it has ever been. Actually I dare to say, my walk with the Lord is even stronger than my protestant days.

A faithful Catholic who understands the sacraments and regularly receives the Eucharist with full knowledge of the position of the Church, sincerely receives the sacrament of Reconciliation as often as needed, knows the Catholic faith as taught by the Church, embraces and reads scripture regularly and seeks sincerely to have a relationship with Jesus Christ through prayer, adoration, obedience, etc., should not be moved by outside influences. However, it’s in moments of weakness like questioning ones faith that outside influences can begin to plant seeds of doubt. That’s why all faithful Catholics need to receive and understand the Sacraments especially the Eucharist ( Biblical ) which is the source and summit of the Catholic faith as well as going to reconciliation ( Biblical ) as often as needed and at minimum once per year during the Easter season. A faithful Catholic should also be fully Catechized and Evangelized.

These are the exact words from a commenter on YouTube: 
“Another fact is, Catholics are going to hell along with all the Catholics who have already died.” …Well, that’s a perfect example of “righteous judgment” ( often condemning one to hell ) and “speaking the truth in love” ( often hateful – not loving – not actually sharing the Gospel ).

God knows everything about all of us inside and out. He knows the heart and the intent of the commenter above. I’ll leave final judgment to God and God alone.

I’m not going to use the words “righteous judgment” ( often condemning one to hell ) and “speaking the truth in love” ( often outright hateful ) in this article as some do online. I do believe that sin is sin and a life of intentional sin and rejecting Christ is the path to hell, but I don’t know what one does with their last breath crying out sincerely to God if that’s how one exits this life. Again, I’ll leave final judgment to God. But it is my job and yours to share the Gospel.

I said all that to help clarify what “I” mean when I’m using the terms below. Obviously, I do not know where every Catholic stands on these points. I simply wanted to share some thoughts for your consideration:

7 Sacraments: From the Catechism: The Sacraments ( CCC 1210 ): “Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony. The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life: they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian’s life of faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life.”

For my purposes, I’m referring to someone who has been Baptized ( sacrament – Father, Son, Holy Spirit ), Confirmed ( sacrament – when one who has been baptized affirms Christian belief and is admitted as a full member of the Church ), receives the Eucharist( sacrament – the source and summit of the Catholic faith ) regularly on Sunday or Saturday Vigil and goes to Reconciliation ( Confession – sacrament ) at least once per year during the Easter season ( minimum recommendation of The Church ) but hopefully more than just annually. Both Baptism and Confirmation are one time sacraments. Receiving the Eucharist is ongoing and reconciliation can vary. The only 3 sacraments that are left are Holy Orders, Marriage and the Anointing of the Sick.

Our Pastor ( Priest / Rector ) wrote back to me in an email and stated that Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist are part of “being immersed into the Life of grace, confirmed with the gifts and fruits of the Spirit for the mission of Christ, fueled by His Presence He gives us, par excellence among us in the Holy Eucharist.”

As a convert, I began to desire being in full communion with the Catholic Church along my journey and receive the Holy Eucharist which the more I understood the more my soul longed for it. I believe what the Church teaches concerning the Holy Eucharist and I take my “AMEN” before receiving the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord through the Holy Eucharist very serious.

Rather than dive deeper into the 7 sacraments, I encourage you to use Catholic.com to do searches for the Sacraments including individual searches for Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Reconciliation / Confession, Holy Order, Marriage and Anointing of the Sick.

Catechized ( Faith Formation ): It’s important to be well formed in the Catholic faith. Knowing the “actual” teachings of the Church based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church but also “actually” understanding what those teachings mean and fully living the teachings to the absolute best of ones understanding. Knowing and understanding the teachings of the Church includes both scripture and the Catechism as a fundamental starting point. Verbal instruction is also an important part of faith formation which is why the Church has RCIA in place for adults desiring to become Catholic.

Here’s an example: The Eucharist becomes the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ through transubstantiation and we are to only receive the Eucharist in a state of grace. Furthermore, when we say “AMEN” just before receiving the Eucharist, we are saying “AMEN” to affirm that we believe everything the Catholic Church teaches. We are re-confirming that we are in full communion with the Catholic Church and we believe that we are truly receiving the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist as taught by the Bible and interpreted as such by the Church. We are not picking and choosing teachings of the Catholic Church and saying “AMEN” falsely. Personally, I take my “AMEN” very seriously and don’t want to receive the Eucharist unworthily.

I’m sure some Catholics may not realize what the “AMEN” before receiving the Eucharist truly means. They may have not have been properly catechized ( taught and/or learned ).  The Catechism is available online to explore for free. It can also be bought for under $10 online and sites like Catholic.com make it fairly easy to study the faith especially for specific questions like Mary, the Pope, Purgatory, etc.

Evangelized: Having a relationship with Jesus Christ. Giving all to Christ daily. Walking with Christ daily. Seeking Christ daily.

Ones relationship with Christ is not just based on 1 hour per week on the weekend attending Mass. If I only spent 1 hour per week with my wife, I don’t think that I’d be approaching my 30th wedding anniversary.

As a convert coming up on my 1 year anniversary of becoming Catholic, my 2 plus year journey at this point has helped me better understand the 3 points that I am making above as they relate to Catholics including my walk with Christ as a Catholic Christian. I want to be the best Christian that I can be. So I seek to grow through embracing the sacraments, continuing my faith formation and having a relationship with Jesus.One Catholics Story:

I have no doubt that the man that I’m referring to in the paragraph below this one loves the Lord and is trying to work through a turning point in his life. Although I don’t agree with him on many points, I hope to continue to show the love of Christ and pray for him as well as other fallen away Catholics. He has been relatively easy to have back and forth with, but we definitely don’t see eye to eye on a lot of points.

A 45 year old man contacted me through this website in late 2018. He came from a devout Catholic family and he was (is) also Catholic. He shared that God woke him up in the middle of the night in October 2018 and he was SAVED on a specific date. Since I’m a former evangelical, I took that what he meant in saying SAVED is as evangelicals explain the salvation experience which is often a specific date and location. For example, one might say, “I was saved on February 14th, 1995 at an altar call at First Baptist Church located in any-town USA.” That’s not uncommon in evangelical Christianity.

In his message to me, he pointed out all kinds of things, in his opinion, about the Catholic Church that were WRONG with the Church and even sent some offensive videos. Some of his words were offensive ( NOT cursing ). He had come to the conclusion through his Salvation experience and journey ( that was influenced by someone that I consider a radical street preacher who doesn’t believe in the trinity and teaches baptism in the name of Jesus Christ ) that he didn’t need any Church whether it be the Catholic Church or any other Christian Church. He had decided that reading the Bible and interpreting it for himself was sufficient enough. He just needs his Bible and Jesus: No Church!

What’s interesting is that he doesn’t believe in a lot of the theology of the Street Preacher that influenced his journey. He seems to have come to a point where he is his what I call his own Pope/Magisterium because he defines what the Bible is saying for himself. Sadly, I see this kind of theology way too often. It’s hard to reason with anyone who has no foundation in any Church, any particular theology and determines his own theology based on his interpretation of scripture: My own father shares some of this mentality.

It seemed to me based on what this 45 year old wrote in his first email and several thereafter that he may have not fully embraced the sacraments in the sense of going through the motions but not fully understanding the sacraments.  For example, it’s one thing to regularly receive the Eucharist, but it’s another to fully understand and embrace the Eucharist. As for confession, I don’t know how often he went, but my feeling based on the email is that he must have never had a confession like I had when I came into the Church because I surely felt the presence of God as tears flowed down my cheeks. Confession with a contrite, sincere heart is a wonderful blessing. Also, based on back and forth, I could see a HUGE lack of proper faith formation ( Catechesis ). Furthermore, with the first two areas being weak, he did not have a solid relationship with Jesus Christ as a Catholic.

His story helped me understand the 3 points of this article:

I believe that he may have received the sacraments ( going through the Catholic motions – but not fully embracing the sacraments ). I don’t believe he was fully Catechized ( cannot clearly articulate the TRUTH of Catholic teaching nor fully understand it ). And finally, I believe that he was NOT Evangelized ( had a relationship with Jesus Christ ). Sadly, I’ve experienced former Catholics online that I believe fall into these same 3 categories. However, this phenomenon is not exclusive to Catholics.

Saved as a Catholic:

Catholics talk about salvation differently than evangelicals, but that doesn’t make a faithful Catholic any less saved and headed to the same heaven as someone who says, “I was saved on this date and time or I was born again on this date and time.” Sadly, Catholics who lack understanding fall for a religious experience and the terminology of evangelicals when in reality they can remain Catholic and receive the sacraments, be fully catechized and be evangelized as well as evangelize others. That requires more than going through the motions.

The reality for me is that my RELATIONSHIP with Christ and love for Him is as strong as it has ever been in my Christian life. Actually, I believe that I am more faithfully serving Christ than I have ever been. My prayer life is strong ( could be stronger ). My Bible reading is strong ( could be stronger ). My faithfulness in attending Mass and embracing the sacraments is solid ( could be stronger ). There is always room to step up more.

Thankfully, during my 2+ year walk in the Catholic faith, I have met a LOT of Catholics who get it. They are not just going through the motions. They don’t have to have an evangelical style salvation experience remembering a date and location because they know that they have been saved, are being saved and hope to be saved as a Catholic Christian. They know that they don’t have to leave the Catholic Church to have a relationship with Christ.

If this 45 year old was fully understood the sacraments as taught by the Church and was fully catechized in understanding the “actual” Church teachings as taught by the Church, then he should have, could have, ought to have had a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ. For me, I cannot see how one cannot have a relationship with Christ if they are fully embracing the sacraments as taught by the Church and fully catechized, but someone how the evangelization part can come up short and people can miss the forest for the trees.

Call To Action – Our Responsibility:

As an individual Catholic, I have the personal responsibility to be accountable for my Christian faith. I should seek to know my faith, understand my faith, live my faith and have a relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s my individual personal responsibility because I am the one who answers to God for me.

I also believe that when I can talk face-to-face with someone or through this website or through other means that I have a personal responsibility to help other Catholics who may be weak in their walk with the Lord. In addition, I believe that I should foster relationships with other Catholics who are strong in their faith, so that we can all work together to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. I also believe that I should share my faith with the lost and other Christians in a loving way to help them see Christ in me through my life.

Coming from a Protestant background of 40+ years, the terminology may be  different, but don’t be fooled. There are plenty of Protestants going to Church on Sunday that do not fully understand their Christian faith nor have a true relationship with Jesus Christ.

As Christians, we are called to do two key things:

1) Obey the commands of God.
2) Worship God.

A Simple Closing Prayer:

“Lord Jesus, help all of us to not simply go through the motions, but to have a daily relationship with you. Amen”

If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ, please feel free to contact me.

According to text on Catholic.com, the Greek roots of the term “Catholic” mean “according to (kata-) the whole (holos),” or more colloquially, “universal.” At the beginning of the second century, we find in the letters of Ignatius the first surviving use of the term “Catholic” in reference to the Church. At that time, or shortly thereafter, it was used to refer to a single, visible communion, separate from others.

The reference to  the word Catholic above from St. Ignatius refers to this text:

“See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is administered either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude of the people also be; even as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” —Letter to the Smyrnaeans, Ch 8 ( This is from 107 AD. That’s not very long after the death of the Apostle John. )

Before diving in, I want to set the record straight:

I haven’t actually heard someone that I can recall as of this writing say “I’m not Christian. I’m Catholic” which to me is NOT a correct statement. That statement to me would make me wonder about the person saying it because I believe that faithful Catholics who get it are also Christian. In other words, “I’m both Christian and Catholic. Yes, I am a Catholic Christian.” Now, let’s get started with “I’m Catholic.”

Using the word Catholic:

Many Catholics may say things like “I’m Catholic” – “The Catholic Church says…” – “Catholic this or Catholic that” all of which to an outsider can be looked upon as why don’t Catholics just use “I’m a Christian?” or “The Bible Says?” or some other non-Catholic way of talking about their faith? I believe that it’s because millions of Catholics who are serious about the Catholic faith know that using the word Catholic is all inclusive: “I’m Christian,” “The Bible is the infallible word of God,” “The Church is visible and founded by Christ,” “Sacred Tradition plays a role in the Christian faith,” “Yes, I have a relationship with Christ,” “Yes, I embrace the sacraments. I’m catechized and evangelized,” and more. The one word Catholic assumes ALL and encompasses ALL:  Greek roots of the term “Catholic” mean “according to (kata-) the whole (holos).”

Non-Catholics may ask isn’t “I’m a Christian” all encompassing? Although I understand why someone would ask that, there are so many different Christian beliefs that saying “I’m a Christian” which at it’s core is a follower of Jesus Christ doesn’t mean the same thing. It’s hard enough to get all Christians to get very far in a discussion just past Christ on the Cross before it quickly goes down a path of ones theological understanding of the Bible.

When I say “I’m a Catholic” it’s because I identify with all that “Catholic” means which includes being a “Catholic Christian.” And NO, a Catholic Christian is not an oxymoron, they are one in the same. Just because some Catholics may embrace the sacraments and not fully catechized and some may not fully evangelized doesn’t mean that all Catholics without exception should be placed in the same box.

There’s nothing wrong with saying “I’m a  Christian” if it’s true. I can see how that could minimize theological arguments among Christians by saying “I’m a Christian.” But for me, although I am a Christian and follower of Jesus Christ, I like identifying as a Catholic because of all that it includes within that identity.

I believe that most faithful Catholics who are not simply Catholic in name have very similar views of what I’m sharing in this article about Catholic being ALL inclusive of many things in just the one word: Catholic.

Saying I’m Catholic in the TRUEST sense to me is an understanding by that one word CATHOLIC that “I am a Christian” that “I believe Sacred Scripture ( Bible ) as the infallible word of God” that “The Catholic Church ( not me ) interprets and protects scripture” that “Sacred ( Apostolic ) Tradition is part of the Christian faith” that “The Catholic Church has authority greater than my individual authority” that “Being Catholic is the Fullness of the Christian faith” and much, much more. So that one simple word CATHOLIC means so much more than just assuming that I identify with a group of people.

Sadly, NOT everyone who says “I’m Catholic” means the same thing!

Many use the phrase “I’m Catholic” far too loosely. They may have been baptized Catholic and still identify as a Catholic. They may have fallen away from their Catholic faith and be a non-practicing Catholic. They may, like many Protestant Christians, pick and choose what they want to believe rather than being a TRUE Catholic. It’s Catholics that fall into these categories or Catholics that have left the faith completely that cannot explain what being Catholic really is all about. That can create confusion when someone says, “I’m Catholic,” but the individual is not fully embracing the fullness of the Christian faith as lived out by faithful Catholics who get it. As a convert, I feel like I get what being Catholic is all about. I’m a Catholic by choice. I was already a Christian. I’ve simply taken my Christian faith to another level by now being a Catholic Christian.

There is also a lot of confusion in what comes to mind from others that have never been Catholic. For example, “I’m Catholic” can lead to things like “You worship Mary” – “You are not Christian” – “You believe a lot of things that are not biblical” and much more. But I must admit that when someone says “I’m Southern Baptist” that I think “once saved always saved.” When someone says “I’m Pentecostal” that I think “speaking in tongues.” When someone says “I’m Church of Christ” that I think no music in services and weekly ( symbolic ) communion. So all of us can fall into assumptions based on what we think we know about how someone identifies with a group in their Christian faith. Oh and I almost forgot, when someone says, “I stay at home, read my Bible, let the spirit lead me and don’t need organized religion” that my mind can go in many directions on that one.

Whether someone says “I’m Catholic” or “I’m Christian,” I want to know what that means. I also want to know about their theology. I’m not here to judge people. That’s not my job. But I would like to know the basis behind “I’m Catholic” or “I’m Christian” or even “I’m Baptist, etc.”

My challenge to Catholics and non-Catholics:

If you identify as Catholic, I challenge you to not use that term loosely: Be a TRUE Catholic and live your faith daily. That also means having a relationship with Jesus Christ which to me is a no brainer, but some people miss that critical piece somehow. Don’t just check the box and go through the motions. God wants all of you.

If you are not Catholic, ask someone when they identify as being Catholic. Why they say “I’m Catholic.” What does saying “I’m Catholic” mean to them? Is it ALL inclusive as I have mentioned in this article? Is it I was raised Catholic but have not lived the faith in over 20 years? There is a difference. For me, when I say “Catholic,” it goes deep and is ALL inclusive of the fullness of the Christian faith. Don’t assume you know them simply based on “I’m Catholic.” Get to know them and you may have more common ground than you think.

In closing……..

Saying I’m Catholic means that I believe what The Nicene Creed says:

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

I’ll get back to justification in just a moment, but first, let’s look at few things that are relevant to the doctrine of justification.

On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther ( a Catholic Priest and Monk ) lit the flame for for what became known as the Protestant Reformation. Notice that I said “what became known as the Protestant Reformation.” That’s because Luther’s initial intent was not to separate The Church. And to Martin’s defense, the Church needed to be reformed, but Luther ended up beginning what many Catholics consider a revolution.

The real reform of the Catholic Church came through the counter reformation like Council of Trent, the Catholic reformers like St. Catherine of Genoa, St. Thomas More, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis Xavier, St. Philip Neri, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Pius V, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross and St. Francis de Sales and many other things that took place within the Catholic Church in the years just after the reformation.

Rather than stick with the Catholic Church that had been around for nearly 1500 years before Luther’s 95 thesis and had never taught justification like Martin Luther defined it, Martin Luther ended up creating his own doctrine of justification based on his own personal interpretation of scripture. The sad reality is that it lead to the last 500 years of countless men teaching their own doctrines based on their personal interpretation of scripture. Furthermore, it has led to many professing Christians thinking that all they need is their Bible, maybe a good commentary and the spirit moving on them to interpret scripture. Where is that in the Bible? Oh, John 16:13 “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth” is likely a defense of that belief. However, there is too much disagreement among Christians that all cannot be guided properly into the truth.

Continuing on about the last part about a Bible, maybe a good commentary and letting the spirit move didn’t work in the first several centuries, so why would it work today? The reason that it didn’t work in the first several centuries is because the common man of the day did not have a Bible in their home like our modern times. There were not numerous commentaries to choose from which by the way will often have the twist of the theology believed by the author. But I don’t deny that men were filled with the spirit. There are many reasons that individuals should not come up with their own interpretations of scripture, but that’s too deep to cover in this article.

Now, I’ll move into Martin Luther’s doctrine of justification. This is one of the major differences in Catholic theology ( 2000 years ) vs. Protestant theology ( 500 years ).

Many protestants may agree with the Catholic Catechism on paragraph 1989 which states “The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus’ proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high. “Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.” And many protestants may agree on paragraph 432 which states “432 The name “Jesus” signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of his Son, made man for the universal and definitive redemption from sins. It is the divine name that alone brings salvation, and henceforth all can invoke his name, for Jesus united himself to all men through his Incarnation, so that “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” But when diving deeper and deeper into Catholic teachings, protestants will begin to have issues with those teachings. What’s interesting to me is that it ALL comes from what Martin Luther started in 1517. There was no solid formal teaching like Luther’s in place ( to my knowledge ) prior to what Martin Luther came up with.

I have copied paragraphs 1987 to 1995 from the Catechism on Justification at the bottom of this article for you to read for yourself.

Luther’s theology is that we are “justified by faith alone” and that’s not what scripture says. Catholics believe that we are “justified by faith” but not by faith alone which is biblical. There is a fine line in some of this and in this case, it’s the use of the word “alone.” The only time the the word alone is used in conjunction with faith is in James 2:24 “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” That verse is likely one key reason that Luther called the book of James a book of straw and wanted to remove the book of James. Luther also wanted to remove Hebrews, Jude and Revelation. The proposal to remove books from the New Testament should give you some idea about Luther beyond what protestants proclaim about his true understanding of Justification.

Luther was a heretic that went about things his own way based on his own personal view. Luther was not willing to back down from his convictions which although can be commendable in one sense lead to what can be seen today as mass confusion among Christians. I believe his teachings opened the door to private interpretation of scripture and what one personally believes as they feel led by the spirit is correct.

Just remove the Catholic view for a moment and look at the confusion known as protestantism and all the different churches that exist mostly because of different views on doctrine like baptism, communion, salvation, speaking in tongues and much, much more. Don’t get me wrong, my protestant background taught me to love Christ, the importance of prayer and the importance of scripture reading. However, it’s all the rest of the stuff that makes me glad to be a Catholic Christian.

Rather than continue on, I’m going to provide several links for anyone who cares to take a look with an open mind on the Catholic view of Justification.

If you click on Justification and Salvation, it will take you to Catholic.com and several links to articles from a Catholic perspective on Justification. Even if you believe in the protestant ( Luther ) view of Justification, you should at least read with an open mind about the Catholic view which was in place well before Luther came along. I’m not sure that Justification and Purgatory? and Justification ( Jimmy Akin ) are linked to from the page referenced, so I have added them here.

Before getting to the part where I copied the paragraphs from the Catechism, I’m going to share several short videos ( all under 10 minutes ):

1. Justification

1987 The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ” and through Baptism:³⁴

But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves as dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.³⁵

1988 Through the power of the Holy Spirit we take part in Christ’s Passion by dying to sin, and in his Resurrection by being born to a new life; we are members of his Body which is the Church, branches grafted onto the vine which is himself:³⁶

(God) gave himself to us through his Spirit. By the participation of the Spirit, we become communicants in the divine nature…. For this reason, those in whom the Spirit dwells are divinized.³⁷

1989 The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus’ proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”³⁸ Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high. “Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.³⁹

1990 Justification detaches man from sin which contradicts the love of God, and purifies his heart of sin. Justification follows upon God’s merciful initiative of offering forgiveness. It reconciles man with God. It frees from the enslavement to sin, and it heals.

1991 Justification is at the same time the acceptance of God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. Righteousness (or “justice”) here means the rectitude of divine love. With justification, faith, hope, and charity are poured into our hearts, and obedience to the divine will is granted us.

1992 Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy. Its purpose is the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life:⁴⁰

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.⁴¹

1993 Justification establishes cooperation between God’s grace and man’s freedom. On man’s part it is expressed by the assent of faith to the Word of God, which invites him to conversion, and in the cooperation of charity with the prompting of the Holy Spirit who precedes and preserves his assent:

When God touches man’s heart through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, man himself is not inactive while receiving that inspiration, since he could reject it; and yet, without God’s grace, he cannot by his own free will move himself toward justice in God’s sight.⁴²

1994 Justification is the most excellent work of God’s love made manifest in Christ Jesus and granted by the Holy Spirit. It is the opinion of St. Augustine that “the justification of the wicked is a greater work than the creation of heaven and earth,” because “heaven and earth will pass away but the salvation and justification of the elect . . . will not pass away.”⁴³ He holds also that the justification of sinners surpasses the creation of the angels in justice, in that it bears witness to a greater mercy.

1995 The Holy Spirit is the master of the interior life. By giving birth to the “inner man,”⁴⁴ justification entails the sanctification of his whole being:

Just as you once yielded your members to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now yield your members to righteousness for sanctification…. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life.⁴⁵

I recently started posting short videos on our Instagram account @CatholicTransforamtion and below is just one example that I posted a few days ago on January 1st, 2019. The priest focused the homily around saying “YES” to Christ. I summed up some key points in 36 seconds. Will you say “YES” to Christ?

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Catholic Transformation (@catholictransformation) on Jan 1, 2019 at 8:26am PST

I have included exactly what Lana wrote to me word for word at the end of this post, so that you can see it word for word, but I’ll be pulling out segments of it as I write this article.

Lana mentioned that her journey was being raised a Christian, then going into the New Age for many years, then becoming a Catholic ( in order to marry one )  and now being a born again baptized Christian and daughter of the King.

I have yet to find “ANY” former Catholic that truly knows the Catholic faith and actually lived it properly and faithfully. I’m not talking about Catholics in name only because they were baptized Catholic. I’m not talking about Catholics who say I’m Catholic and only go to Church on Christmas and Easter. I’m not talking about Catholics like an elderly man who told me in the 1990’s that “I am a BLANK BLANK ( profane words ) Roman Catholic” and I could see no sign of his faith lived out. I’m not talking about the person who becomes a Catholic to marry one and may have never truly known and lived the faith because RCIA will NOT make one a faithful Catholic. I’m not talking about the box checking Catholic that says I do this, this and this, so I’m a good Catholic but they don’t truly know Jesus Christ. They are just a box checker. Oh, if you think this doesn’t go on in other non-Catholic Churches think again.

I am talking about Catholics like the Catholic men’s group that I’m going to this morning full of many men that Love the Lord Jesus Christ, know their Catholic faith, live their Catholic faith and know Jesus Christ as Savior. I am talking about men like many priests that I have met that preach a solid message of Jesus that I have heard many times in the Catholic Church. I am talking about Catholic men like my friend Barry who lives for Christ, loves Jesus and knows his Catholic faith. I am talking about men like my friend Jeff who is converting to Catholicism out of a love for the Lord Jesus Christ who knows his faith. I am talking about people like my wife and I who love the Lord Jesus Christ and serve Him better than we ever have in our Christian life. The reason that I did not mention women other than my wife is because as a man most of my contact and conversation is with Catholic men. However, I have met several Catholic women that know their Catholic faith and love the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lana made some comments that are not uncommon: 

“the Catholic church is not of God”
“the vatican serves satan”
“who else do you think Revelation refers to as the harlot church?”
and closes these comments with “The Clues Are There!”

Lana goes on to write:

“Catholic church follows pagan tradition, why not just follow Jesus?”
“No add ons, no rosary, no genuflecting no kissing statues (and veneration is the same as worship – look into that one!).”
“Your pope and priests cannot save you, only Christ Jesus.”
“you have years of a strong hold with this church”

Continuing On: I’m not going to go in any particular order and I’m not going to directly address everything that Lana wrote.

Lana must have not read about me to say “”you have years of a strong hold with this church.” Let’s see about that: I’m just shy of two years of attending my first ever regular Catholic Mass and I haven’t even been a Catholic for a full year as of this post.

I have been a Christian since before the age of 10. My mother attended a protestant Church when she was pregnant with me and I was a protestant Christian most of my life until becoming a Catholic Christian ( became Catholic at age 51 ). I cannot ever remember not knowing who Jesus is. I got sent to the principals office in sometime around the age of 7 or so for trying to sell Church pens at elementary school. I have preached from the pulpit of a Protestant Church on a Sunday morning and I have served in Protestant ministry as an ordained Youth Pastor. So Yes, I know Jesus and I know the Christian faith.

I love and serve the SAME Jesus Christ as I have loved as long as I can remember. The ONLY difference is that I’m now a Catholic Christian and my Christian faith and service to the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior has only grown stronger. It’s not my place to judge someone’s interior faith and love for Jesus whether they are Catholic or non-Catholic. Jesus hasn’t changed. He’s the same yesterday, today and forever. I have changed my religious affiliation because I feel that I have discovered a truth in serving the Lord Jesus that I have never known before. I’m sold out for Christ. ( FYI, Lana, I know the “pope and priests cannot save you, only Jesus Christ” but thanks for mentioning the obvious. )

Much of what Lana wrote is not even worth addressing because it’s the same type of stuff that I have been exposed to over and over and over. It doesn’t weaken my Catholic faith. It only makes me grow stronger, so thanks Lana for strengthening my faith.

I know the Catholic faith after well over 500 hundreds of hours of reading, listening, studying, comparing, reviewing many of the arguments, praying about it, etc. In addition, I probably have 150+ hours at this point attending Mass and hearing many wonderful homilies with a very high percentage of them focused on the LORD JESUS CHRIST.

A new one on me though is “veneration is the same as worship.” Let’s see about that one. Worship is reverence or adoration to a DIETY. The only DIETY is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Veneration is to show great respect or reverence and it DOES NOT say in the definition “to a DIETY.” Since reverence is listed in both definitions, I will include the definition of reverence which is deep respect for someone or something.

There is NOTHING in Catholic Church teaching and I repeat NOTHING that says we are to worship anything or anyone but GOD alone. Period! And no Lana, veneration is not worship. I can venerate my parents who are still alive. I can venerate my wife. I can venerate our two daughters. I can venerate anyone that I have GREAT RESPECT for. That doesn’t mean that I worship them. My worship is to GOD and GOD alone. Having respect for those who have gone before me like my Grandfather who was a wonderful Christian man ( not a Catholic ) or Mary the Mother of My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ or even the saints, many of whom DIED for their faith, is not worship and there is no need to twist something into what it is not or say the Catholic Church teaches the worship of anything or anyone but God when it clearly only teaches the WORSHIP of God.

In Closing…

I’m not sure why someone would send a message like this if they are hoping that I would become a “born again baptized Christian” and leave the Catholic faith because they think I’m not a Christian. It’s not a very friendly message. I’ll use some of Lana’s actual words below to show what I mean.

Imagine if I were trying to witness for the Lord Jesus Christ and of His great love especially His command of loving your neighbor as yourself and I wrote something like this:

“You need to listen to Joel Osteen on TV. He is sound in the Lord. He is correct that YOUR CHURCH is not of God. It may seem that way but YOUR CHURCH serves satan (who else do you think Revelation refers to as the harlot church? The clues are there). YOUR CHURCH follows pagan tradition.”

Hmmmm…. What do you think? Because in a nutshell that is just some of what Lana said to me as a “Born Again Baptized Christian Who Follows Jesus!” Is that Christian love? And NO, speaking the truth in love is a poor excuse to send a message like this to someone. There is a better way and a better approach to sharing your faith if you truly love the Lord Jesus, want to do His will and follow His commands like loving your neighbor as yourself.

Now let’s look at a more Christ like approach when contacting someone:
______________________________________________________________
Hi,

I just found your website and see that you are a Catholic. I have to be honest. I’m not a huge fan of Catholicism. However, Christ commanded us to love one another and so I’ve decided to make this a loving message.

I was once a Catholic because I became one to marry Catholic. But I now consider myself a born again baptized Christian. However, I will not point fingers and make judgments since I don’t truly know you or your love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

What I would like to know is why you are a Catholic vs. some other Christian faith?

I’m hoping to first understand your reasoning before I judge you or your Church which I really shouldn’t do anyway since the Bible says “judge not lest you be judged” and like Christ said “let him is who is without sin cast the first stone.”

Once you reply, I’d like to share why I believe what I believe and share my love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

I sincerely want to see if we have some common ground to begin some Christ like dialogue.

Blessings,

Lana
______________________________________________________________

But in Lana’s defense, she may have not liked what I wrote about GABE THE STREET PREACHER which was simply refuting how he comes at Catholics so harshly and showing their are two sides to everything.

There is a right way and a wrong way to share the love of Christ. Based on past experience, if Lana reads this full article, I don’t anticipate a loving, kind, Christ like reply. I’m not judging her. I’m simply saying that I don’t expect that type of reply if she does read this post. I’m hopeful that if she does reply that it will be more Christ like than her first message to me.

Just for the record:

I am a born again baptized Christian. That’s just not the way Catholics generally say it. But any faithful Catholic serving the Lord Jesus Christ is headed toward the same heaven as those who like to point fingers about everything that is wrong with the Catholic Church and share their fallible human opinion of their own personal interpretation of scripture.

Lana’s Comments In My Web Form:

Hello,

I suggest you listen to Gabe the Street Preacher. He is sound in the Lord and it is correct that the Catholic church is not of God, it may seem that way but the vatican serves satan (who else do you think Revelation refers to as the harlot church? The clues are there).

Gabe is out day after day with the Word of God out of love and wanting to awakened the blind. Catholic church follows pagan tradition, why not just follow Jesus?

No add ons, no rosary, no genuflecting no kissing statues (and veneration is the same as worship – look into that one!).

Your pope and priests cannot save you, only Christ Jesus. May those who have hears to hear, listen to truth. Not just of Gabe but of other strong born again Christians.

I know it is hard, you have years of a strong hold with this church but Jesus is the redeemer, our only saviour and will bring us to truth.

Praise God!

Lana

Lana’s Religious Background: Raised as Christian, then went into new age for many years along with becoming a Catholic in order to marry one. Now a born again baptised Christian and daughter of the King. Halleluia! No more spiritual darkness or counterfeits. Christ alone!

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Now that I have finished the article and shared Lana’s thoughts, let’s close on what the Christian faith is about which is being or becoming a follower of Jesus Christ.

It’s time for action……

Jesus Christ is the Son of God, born of a Virgin, died on the Cross of Calvary and shed His blood for the sins of the world. He rose again on the 3rd day and is seated at the right hand of God the father. Jesus said, “I am the truth and the way.” Do you know Jesus? Have you turned from sin and turned to Him? Christ loves you.

If you are a Catholic Christian, live the Catholic faith to the fullest. Put Christ truly first in your life. Don’t be a box checker.

If you are not a Catholic Christian, I encourage you to consider the Catholic Christian faith. Start by visiting a local Catholic Church, reach out to the parish ( church ) office, find a Catholic who lives their faith, visit Catholic.com and listen to Called To Communion  on EWTN. All of these ways are a great way to get started.

If you don’t profess to be a Christian, repent of your sins, turn to Christ as Savior and see the paragraph above. The reality is that Christ knows your heart and knows if you are truly seeking Him. It doesn’t take a bunch of fancy words to begin the journey. The key is to begin the journey with a sincere desire to let Christ be KING OF YOUR LIFE.

It’s important to share some other insights before I get back to the title of this article.

The image above kinda, sorta, reflects what I see regularly online and especially recently as I’ve been seeing more finger point among non-Catholic Christians toward each other.

What’s interesting is that ALL well meaning, faithful Christians who love Jesus  and want to be in heaven for eternity with Him cannot completely agree on what the word of God says. That within itself is interesting because we are all using the same book except for the Catholic Bible having 7 more books in the Old Testament that were in there before the revolters ( not reformers ) took them out in the 1500’s, but that’s another story.

This advice to a new Christian always gets me:  “We recommend you read your Bible faithfully every day. Start reading God’s Word – and get a great Study Bible if you can to help you understand the meaning of the scriptures…” – “Find a good, Bible-believing Church that teaches God’s Word…” – Let’s see Seventh Day Adventist, Jehovah’s Witness, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Southern Baptist, Free Will Baptist, Church of Christ, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Church of God, Assemblies of God and the non-denominational Church that meets at the school on the weekend all use the Bible. Oh, and maybe to the surprise of many, even Catholics use the Bible and read it. And personally, I believe that the Catholic Church is a good Bible believing Church, but the site that listed this would likely not agree based on what they have posted about Catholicism.

So if a new Christian starts reading the Bible, what conclusions will he or she come to? The answers is a lot of confusing ones. Then, when he or she starts asking questions, the slant of the individual answering the question will be based on one of two things what Church he or she attends or in a lot of cases, their own personal interpretation of scripture that may not even be in agreement with the Church they attend. I’ve been there as a former Southern Baptist who never believed in once saved always saved.

Is it simple?
It’s partially true what my father recently said ( paraphrasing ) “It’s so simple. Christ on the Cross. I don’t know why people complicate it.” Although I do agree with Christ on the Cross and Christ is the only way to God, I don’t agree with anyone who says walking with Christ is simple. Jesus said in Matthew 16:24 “…If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Taking up our cross and following Christ is not simple. Did Paul have a simple life as he wrote from prison? Did Peter have it made when he was crucified upside down? Did John the Baptist losing his head have it simple? Did Jesus have it made during his 3 years of ministry and His death on the cross? Although the message of Christ is simple, walking with Christ does not guarantee us a life without problems, but walking with Christ does give us hope of eternity in heaven. I say hope because I have never believed in once saved always saved. Also, don’t get me wrong. I don’t believe my father meant our life is simple because we follow Christ. I believe he was really saying more about all the deep theological debates people get into and bringing it all back to the message of Christ on the cross.

If we walk with Christ, we must DO!
Contrary to what others might think based own their fallible interpretation of scripture, we are commanded to DO! Jesus said in John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Keeping the commandments of Christ means we have to live out our faith through actions. James 2:24 says, “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” That looks like a conflict of Paul’s writing Ephesians 2:8-9 ( the counter argument ) “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— not because of works, lest any man should boast.” However, when one studies the word of God in context based on proper interpretation ( magisterium and history ), it’s not all that hard to see that we are not to sit on our butts being lazy Christians.

False Prophet…False Teacher…The Wrong Way
Take Catholicism out of the equation for a moment. I’ve come across YouTube videos recently of other non-Catholic Christians pointing fingers at other professing Christians and in some cases Pastor vs. Pastor making statements like false prophet. In one particular case, I would consider the Pastor being accused of being a false prophet very mainstream evangelical in his approach to Christianity. I even came across a video where the guy was saying things like wrong, wrong, wrong in steps to leading someone to Christ. People seem to get hung up on sinners prayer vs. no sinners prayer, should it be believe, repent, have faith or should it be repent, faith, believe or should it be faith, believe, repent.

Really?
I mean come on people. Christ knows the intent and the heart. As a Catholic Christian, it’s true that I may share a different approach to coming to Christ than say this sinners prayer and find a good Bible believing Church, but I don’t believe that God is going to send anyone to hell that came to Him with a sincere heart trying to live for Him through His Son Jesus Christ. I do believe once someone turns from sin and turns to Christ for their salvation with a contrite heart and continues moving in the right direction that God knows the heart. He knows if one is faking it or truly seeking Him. Yes, as a Catholic, I believe that path goes a certain way to God through Christ, but I also believe we serve a loving merciful God that is not out to send us to hell if we are seeking Him through His Son Jesus Christ the best we now how.

Now, Why Am I Catholic?

Confusion – Although confusion was not in the title, much of what I’ve shared above about confusion among Christians and all the numerous Churches in the world is why I’m Catholic. I have never come across any other Church that can be as supported by the Bible, by History, by Logic and by it’s Teachings as I feel the Catholic Church can be when one opens themselves up to the truth of Catholicism. I have also yet to find a former Catholic that truly KNEW their faith. Going through the motions and understanding/living the Catholic faith are two different things.

The Bible – Yes, the Bible is part of the reason that I am Catholic. Gaining a better understanding of the infallible word of God and the false teaching of sola scriptura which I have seen come to life more than ever in 2018 has changed my Christian walk. Realizing that Christ left us a Church with authority to interpret scripture and Christ didn’t leave us with a book when he ascended to heaven has made a key difference in my understanding of the Bible.

History – It’s difficult to dive into early Church history with the writings of the Church fathers and not see the Catholic Church wrapped up in those writings. Just like the Bible, it’s necessary to view the FULL context. There are times that some of the Church fathers may look like they are saying things that they are not saying when read in full context. So for those who interpret them differently, just like many do the Bible, they can come to a different conclusion like the teachings on the Eucharist. I believe that not only the Bible, but the early Church fathers have the Eucharist correct as the Catholic Church teaches it. In addition, learning more about the Saints who have lived before us has made a difference.

Logic – There are a lot of things that just make logical sense about Catholicism. One of those is that Christ left us with a Church ( ONE ) that has authority to interpret scripture. It’s not up to the individual. Yes, individuals can read scripture and should but the conclusions should be in light of the interpretation of the Church. 1 Timothy 3:15 “…the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.” The Church is the pillar of truth. Notice, it says CHURCH, not churches. There is no way all the Churches with countless Bible interpretations can be the ONE Church Christ established.

The Teachings – Despite what others get confused about when they say things like “Here’s a non-bible teaching of the Catholic Church” which by the way, they often miss just enough to not fully explain the teaching from a Catholic perspective or to see it’s biblical foundation, there are many Catholic teachings that have made me a more faithful follower of Christ. For example, confession to a priest is one that some non-Catholics have a problem with and don’t see it as Biblical. As a former evangelical of over 40 years, I made my first confession out of obedience to the Catholic Church teaching on it. It was an amazing experience and I’m sold out on confession the Catholic way which is also the Biblical way. The Eucharist ( Holy Communion ) is another key teaching, but there are so may Catholic teachings that just make sense both biblically and logically.

Universal – Like confusion, universal was not in the title, but the church being universal ( what Catholic means ) blows my mind as a former evangelical. My wife and I have attended several different Catholic Churches in our area and outside of our state. The fact that the same scriptures are read and the service flows the same way ( with minor exceptions ) makes us feel at home in any Roman Catholic Church we go to. It’s amazing to me and a great joy to have that level of consistency. I think that plays into being ONE and in communion as Christians.

NO RANTS – OK, I have to add NO RANTS. I have heard ZERO negativity come from any homily ( sermon ) out of the pulpit about any other Churches. However, I believe it happens regularly in non-Catholic Churches. You can go online to YouTube and see sermons of preachers not only talking negatively about the Catholic Church but many other Churches. The pulpit is not a place to talk negatively about other churches. And it’s sure not a place to talk about incorrect views of Catholic teachings that cause the congregation to see a skewed view of Catholicism.

Finally…..

When I say “I’m Catholic,” I’m not separating my Christianity from the fact that I am Catholic. I am a Catholic Christian who loves Jesus Christ. My faith, my hope, my desire, my inner being, my love, my joy, my peace, my comfort all comes through the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

I’m Catholic because I believe it’s the one TRUTH established by Christ and the Apostles.

I’m Catholic because I’m tired, actually sick and tired, of private interpretation of scripture and seeing what it has done to Christendom.

I’m Catholic because I believe it’s the fullness of the Christian faith.

I met with a non-Catholic Christian friend this morning and one key thing that came out of the conversation was to TELL THE STORY. As Christians, we are called to tell the story of Jesus.

We cannot say, “YES, to GOD” for anyone that we share the story of Christ with. The Holy Spirit has to move the person toward that Yes. We cannot brow beat someone with a Bible by quoting 101 Bible verses expecting to force them into a YES.

One thing that we didn’t get into was how to share the story. The simplest form that I can think of is John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Saying Yes to God in it’s simplest form means believing John 3:16 and turning away from sin ( repentance ) and turning ( believing ) toward Christ as the first key step. But it doesn’t stop there.

My friend did make a good point that once someone says Yes to God that the next logical step is to WALK WITH THEM. That ties into Matthew 28:19 “… go and make disciples …” That simple advice is far better than saying congrats, here’s a KJV Bible, now go find a good Church and best of luck to you and yours.

What I shared above is a streamlined version that works whether someone is a Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, etc. telling the short version of John 3:16 and someone turning from sin and turning to Christ should be something we can all agree on as Catholic Christians and non-Catholic Christians.

Two key paragraphs that I know the numbers of from the 2,865 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church are #432 and #1989.

#432 The name “Jesus” signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of his Son, made man for the universal and definitive redemption from sins. It is the divine name that alone brings salvation, and henceforth all can invoke his name, for Jesus united himself to all men through his Incarnation, so that “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

#1989 The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus’ proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high. “Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.

What my friend and I didn’t get into are the differences in walking with them from a Baptist ( my friend ) perspective and a Catholic ( me ) perspective. There may be things about #432 and #1989 above that my friend and other non-Catholic Christians don’t agree with, but I think those 2 of 2,865 paragraphs are fairly common ground based on my prior 40+ year protestant background which is one reason that I know the numbers: COMMON GROUND.

Rather than my friend and I getting into disagreements about theology and which of the 2,865 paragraphs of the Catechism he disagrees with and what the walking with them would look like, my friend and I both seem to believe the most important part for Christians to do is lead people to Christ: COMMON GROUND!

Don’t get me wrong. I love being a Catholic Christian and I would love to see everyone embrace Catholicism. In addition, I’d like to see former Catholics come back to the Catholic Church and those who are thinking about leaving to remain Catholic. However, my key point in this article is for ALL Christians to find common ground and lead people to Christ. Let me repeat that loudly, FOR ALL CHRISTIANS TO FIND COMMON GROUND AND LEAD PEOPLE TO CHRIST. If my friend and I spent all of our time arguing theology and trying to sway each other to become Baptist or Catholic, how is that helping the truly lost who need to hear John 3:16?

I’m a Catholic Christian and my friend is a Baptist Christian, but we are both CHRISTIANS commanded by Christ to tell the story.

Sure, the story goes deeper than John 3:16. If you are a faithful Christian, you likely know the deeper version of Christ being born of a virgin, having a ministry, performing miracles, making disciples, shedding His blood on the Cross at Calvary for the sins of the world, His resurrection and His ascension to heaven. You may even know key verses to quote and have a plan all laid out. However, you can always lead the conversation with John 3:16.

Would my friend likely invite someone to the local Church ( Baptist ) that he attends after sharing the story? Yes. Would I likely invite someone to the local Church ( Catholic ) that I attend? Yes. That is only logical. Again, walking with them will look different as a Baptist and a Catholic.

Remember, you don’t have to have all the answers to tell the story of Christ. If someone asks questions that you cannot answer, you should either tell them you’ll get back to them ( and do ) or pull in another brother or sister in Christ who may be able to help.

Let your light so shine before men in your words and your actions.

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If you feel lead to learn more about the Catholic faith, please feel free to contact me.

This is a 53 minute YouTube video from Catholic Answers Live. I have found Catholic Answers to be very beneficial in learning about the Catholic faith and objections that Protestants bring up about Catholicism.

John 6:68 “Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life;”

That was Peter’s answer to Jesus from the verse before in John 6:67 “Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?”

The words “Lord, to whom shall we go?” have been in my thoughts a lot recently and will likely be words that I continue to come back to based on my own walk with Christ. Take a look below to see why I now say “Lord, to whom shall we ( I ) go?”

I was a Pentecostal because that’s how my parents raised me and because there were many family members on my dad’s side who were Pentecostal. In my early 20’s, I chose not to become Church of Christ ( my wife’s background ) because it was too different from Pentecostalism. My wife chose not to become Pentecostal because it was too different from Church of Christ. So in our 20’s, my wife and I both chose to become Baptist because of what we considered middle ground between Pentecostalism and Church of Christ. And although we had a short stint back in the Pentecostal Church after a split that happened, we have considered ourselves Baptist for most of our married life until we became CATHOLIC.

All of my adult life, I never believed 100% of any of the church teachings of the churches above which is part of the reason my wife and I ended up not going to any “organized religion” churches for just shy of 7 years straight before beginning our Catholic journey. FYI, the just shy of 7 years also includes NO Christmas and NO Easter services.

We had come to the point that it seems many protestant Christians come to: 1) We didn’t need a church. 2) We believed in Jesus, had repented of our sins and had been baptized. 3) We knew the key parts of the Bible well. 4) As long as we had Jesus, our Bible, prayed and repented if we really messed up, we had NO desire to attend a church because we were all set. The go to verse for many who give excuses for not going to church or being a part of “organized religion” is Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” So my wife and are two people which means we didn’t really need any other Christians to fellowship with because where TWO are gathered in Christ name, he’s there in the midst of them.

Depending on where you have been, where you are now or where you are headed, the above paragraph may sound familiar in your own life or you may recognize it in the life of another Christian you know. But is it Biblical? Is it TRULY what Christ wants from those who are called to take up their cross and follow him? I think the answers are NO and NO. However, rather than get into a very long article about that, I’m going to share where I’m at now and why I have come to “Lord, to whom shall we go?”

Catholic Journey…”Lord, to whom shall we ( I ) go?”

My serious Catholic journey started just after I turned 50 and I just turned 52 about 5 weeks ago. It’s the first time in my life that I truly searched for the TRUTH and actually made a well thought out decision in my faith journey.

It was a decision that did not look like this. 1) I’m Pentecostal because it’s how I was raised. 2) I’m not Church of Christ because it was too different from how I was raised. 3) I’m now Baptist because it’s middle ground. 4) It’s time to reject organized religion because I’m tired of “That’s not what it means” when it comes to scripture interpretation and I’ll just do my own thing with me and my wife and Jesus.

Catholic Discoveries…”Lord, to whom shall we ( I ) go?”

I discovered that the Catholic Church taught it is the Church founded by Jesus Christ which I didn’t blindly accept. I discovered that the Catholic Church taught the real presence of Christ body, blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist which I did’t blindly accept. I discovered an understanding of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition which caused the confusion of private Biblical interpretation and all the “that’s not what it means” of protestantism to make a lot of sense.

Coming To A Conclusion…”Lord, to whom shall we ( I ) go?”

I came to the conclusion that there has to be ONE TRUTH. There had to be ONE WAY Christ set this all up. There had to be an authority still here on earth to speak for Christ. The confusion of protestantism made sense like never before. The Catholic position made things come to life like never before. After 50 years, it was all coming together and I was coming home to the Catholic Church: The fullness of the Christian faith.

No one knocked on my door to convince me. No one sat down with me for hours and hours trying to convince me. I discovered all of this on my own in search of the TRUTH.

At Home In The Catholic…”Lord, to whom shall we ( I ) go?”

The reason that I keep coming back to “Lord, to whom shall we ( I ) go?” is because I’m (we’re) at home in the Catholic Church. I cannot walk away from the Church Christ founded and the REAL PRESENCE of the Eucharist. I cannot walk away from the TRUTH that I have discovered. I cannot walk away from the fullness of the Christian faith to sit at home doing my own thing again because I have NO desire to be a part of any other Church.

Although there was a lot of good that came out of my first 50 year faith journey and I’m thankful for it, I’m not returning that side of my Christian walk. I have no where else to go. I have found Christ like never before in a place that many may think is not possible: The Catholic Church. Yes, I’m home at last on this side of heaven.

An old hymn from my youth comes to mind, “Oh, I Want To See Him.”

Here’s the Chorus:

“Oh, I want to see Him, look upon His face,
There to sing forever of His saving grace;
On the streets of glory let me lift my voice,
Cares all past, home at last, ever to rejoice.”

1) As I journey through the land, singing as I go,
Pointing souls to Calvary—to the crimson flow,
Many arrows pierce my soul from without, within;
But my Lord leads me on, through Him I must win.

2) When in service for my Lord dark may be the night,
But I’ll cling more close to Him, He will give me light;
Satan’s snares may vex my soul, turn my thoughts aside;
But my Lord goes ahead, leads whate’er betide.

3) When in valleys low I look toward the mountain height,
And behold my Savior there, leading in the fight,
With a tender hand outstretched toward the valley low,
Guiding me, I can see, as I onward go.

4) When before me billows rise from the mighty deep,
Then my Lord directs my bark; He doth safely keep,
And He leads me gently on through this world below;
He’s a real Friend to me, oh, I love Him so.