Posted on 03/11/2015 3:13:32 PM PDT by NYer
In the fifth grade I decided to follow Jesus. Not join a church, but to follow Him.
It amazes me catholics cling to the name catholic, identify with it....yet very rarely do they mention how they came to follow Christ.
I think this is the one fact that MOST Christians (Catholic or not) do not understand. However, the dichotomy is not between "greatness" or "good", but of glorifying God in ALL things. We aren't Christians for our own greatness OR good, we are Christians because we have been called by our Good Shepherd to be His flock, His sheep. We were known by Him before the foundation of the world, predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. As long as we are in this mortal coil, we will suffer - if not physically then emotionally and spiritually because we are not yet HOME.
This world is not my home I'm just a passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.
Oh Lord you know I have no friend like you.
If heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do?
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.
Don’t bother feeling sorry for us.
We are just fine.
The Value and Meaning of Redemptive Suffering
Redemptive suffering is any trial or tribulation (physical or mental) we offer up and UNITE to Jesus- as a "gift" to Him to express our love - thru a costly way, in exchange for some other good.
Notice the key elements: we consciously choose to embrace suffering;
it is precious (a "gift") because it is painful (not fun or "easy");
it brings us closer to Jesus in an intimate and intense way;
and the suffering may "spiritually repair" my own soul or others-and thereby help in the work of redemption (Christ's allowing me to help Him save souls).
Other names/descriptions of this phenomenon include: vicarious atonement (Jesus, Who alone can atone the sins of the world, chooses others to "vicariously assist Him" and thereby weave more people into the plan of salvation; victim souls (a person whose primary call as a disciple in life is to especially suffer for the saving of other souls); and co-redemption.
Ask yourself these questions:
How can I intensely merge my sufferings with Christ (i.e., more deeply)?
How can I more readily blend my trials with Him (i.e. not hesitating in offering suffering to Him)?
How can I consistently entwine my difficulties with Him (less sporadically)?
The Bible and Suffering:
There are many verses in the Bible referring to redemptive suffering. The following verses are a few of those most quoted: "Whoever follows me must take up his cross..." (Mt 10: 38).
"So they departed from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus." (Acts 5:41) "
"Therefore we are not discouraged, rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. (II Cor 4: 16). "
"With Christ I am nailed to the cross. It is now no longer I that live but Christ Who lives in me" (Gal 2:19-20).
"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, for I fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ." (Col:24).
“This indeed is a grace, if for consciousness of God anyone endures sorrows, suffering. unjustly." (I Pt 2: 19).
“For the Spirit Himself gives testimony to our spirit that we are the sons of God. And if sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of God and joint heirs with Christ: yet so, if we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified with Him. The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us.” (Rm 8:16-18)
“What we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed in us...We know that all things work for good for those who love God...For I am convinced that neither life nor death...nor future things, nor powers nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus" (Rm 8:18, 28,38).
That adjective "Catholic" was added, again at Antioch, within 20 years of the death of the last Apostle.
That adjective "Catholic" was added, again at Antioch, within 20 years of the death of the last Apostle.
Proof required.
Could you site that in Gods word in the bible?
Not if it was first and existed for 1,600 years before the wannabe's showed up....
your denomination is man made and has been around for a few hundred years....and you refer to Catholics as a cult???????
Fifth grade...age 10-11...a perfect time to invent your own version of Christianity.....no need for those 2,000 year old churches....nope, I'll make up my own rules, interpret the Bible (which I fully comprehend at age 11) and set off on my own....O.K., I guess???
Fifth grade...age 10-11...a perfect time to invent your own version of Christianity.....no need for those 2,000 year old churches....nope, I'll make up my own rules, interpret the Bible (which I fully comprehend at age 11) and set off on my own....O.K., I guess???
But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matt 19:14
your denomination is man made...
I’m confused by that statement.
Not if it was first and existed for 1,600 years...
Maybe I should say that Catholicism is not a cult, but to those within the organization that believe that only those within the organization have received eternal life it IS a cult.
Regarding its age, time doesn’t take away a cults status as a cult. It just makes it an old cult.
I didn't realize that you were Catholic....that's the ONLY non-manmade Christian religion EVER
Usually you don't start your own storefront version of Sears and then claim that you are the real sears and they are just lookalikes.....doesn't work that way
I didn’t realize that you were Catholic....that’s the ONLY non-manmade Christian religion EVER
My wife was counseling her deceased first husbands father, who is now over 90, about eternity. He’s been a devout Catholic his entire life but he’s afraid he’s going to hell. He admitted he’s never read the bible because he “can’t possibly understand it” because it is for his church leaders to tell him what it says.
And then she was counseling HER father a few months ago, who is in his late 80’s. He went to mass on almost a daily basis and the family is so Catholic that they almost didn’t go to our wedding because it was not in a Catholic church.
Her parents went to mass on a daily basis and their Catholic church and church friends are a major part of their life. They are very proud of their new church building in an outer suburb of Chicago. They perform the rosary, have the statues, all the trimmings.
He also doesn’t read the bible because it is not for the little people, but for their priests to interpret for them. HE’S AFRAID HE’S GOING TO HELL BECAUSE OF HOW HE TREATED HIS PARENTS WHEN HE WAS A TEENAGER!
I hang around Christians and this is not where they live in their mind and spirit. One of my CHRISTIAN friends was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He lasted a little over 9 months and the entire time, right up to when he took his last breath, he was looking forward to seeing Jesus.
See the difference?
BTW, He was AG. I was at the time. I’ve been a member of many different “congregations” as we’ve moved around, though we did leave a Baptist church when we’d been in Kentucky for three years. My problem there was just the lack of depth of teaching and the attitudes about my views (my view of the fate of the lost as annihilation started a bad argument with a deacon).
For me there are two reasons to go to church: “help others and be helped by others within a ‘we are fellow Christians’ paradigm”. You can worship God anywhere and any time. You can take communion anywhere and any time. You don’t need to go to a church building or belong to a particular congregation to do that.
Usually you don’t start your own storefront version of Sears and then claim that you are the real sears and they are just lookalikes.....doesn’t work that way
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