My Faith: Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), from Catholic to Muslim

CNN ^ | 9/1/11 | Chris Welch

[marshmallow]

Minneapolis, Minnesota (CNN) –Prior to 2006, few people even knew that then-Minnesota state legislator Keith Ellison was a Muslim. Because of his English name, he said, no one thought to ask.

But five years ago, when he ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives - a race he would go on to win - word of his religious affiliation began to spread.

“When I started running for Congress it actually took me by surprise that so many people were fascinated with me being the first Muslim in Congress,” said Ellison, a Democrat now serving his third term in the House.

“But someone said to me, ‘Look Keith, think of a person of Japanese origin running for Congress six years after Pearl Harbor–this might be a news story.’”

Though Ellison's status as the first Muslim elected to Congress is widely known, fewer are aware that he was born into a Catholic family in Detroit and was brought up attending Catholic schools.

But he said he was never comfortable with that faith.

“I just felt it was ritual and dogma,” Ellison said. “Of course, that’s not the reality of Catholicism, but it’s the reality I lived. So I just kind of lost interest and stopped going to Mass unless I was required to.”

It wasn’t until he was a student at Wayne State University in Detroit when Ellison began, “looking for other things.”

[Judith Anne]

Well, I can only conclude you did not read Hebrews 13. So, what more can I say?

[smvoice]

I do trust your opinions, but where in Scripture does it say that most of the “saints” were Christians who had already been baptized?

[Judith Anne]

I guess I have your answer. Since Paul shook the dust off his clothes, you have, also. That’s clear.

[boatbums]

"......for Christ Jesus indeed cleansed us from ALL sin..."

Yes, He did, but not with His blood. His blood paid for our sins.

I John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

[boatbums]

I am certain if being accountable to a group of self-appointed men was was required I would look at Christianity in a very different light....actually whose to say then who the "real" leaders should be in any religion, cult or false religion..for they'd all claim they are the authority...and many do.

I'm starting to think that the main reason there seems to be so much resistance to the doctrine of the indwelling Holy Spirit leading us into truth through God's revealed word by some here, is they have never needed or thought they needed to rely on that. Instead they have been thoroughly convinced that they can trust their hierarchy for everything and all they need to do is give their total and complete assent to whatever this hierarchy decides is true, regardless of whether or not they have the authority of the Bible to back it up with. They have been convinced that to question is to commit a sin and since only their leaders can forgive their sin and get them all the way to Heaven, they have been controlled by fear and dread of what can be done to them at the whims of this hierarchy.

It is no wonder why we meet so much resistance to the very clear teachings of Scripture and why month after month, year after year, we find ourselves arguing the same points with the same people whom, it seems, have had total amnesia of all these past conversations. We can only pray that God touches some hearts with the truth of the Gospel that we speak, because we know very well that those who have hardened their hearts against the truth will never break free from the paranoia such overlords implant. Only by God's grace and a willing heart can the truth ever get through the walls erected. All we should be doing is to continue to speak the truth in love, gentleness and respect and not ever give them cause to reject Jesus when they reject us.

[boatbums]

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: [to Igor] Now that brain that you gave me. Was it Hans Delbruck’s?

Igor: [pause, then] No.

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Ah! Very good. Would you mind telling me whose brain I DID put in?

Igor: Then you won’t be angry?

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: I will NOT be angry.

Igor: Abby someone.

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: [pause, then] Abby someone. Abby who?

Igor: Abby... Normal.

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: [pause, then] Abby Normal?

Igor: I’m almost sure that was the name.

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: [chuckles, then] Are you saying that I put an abnormal brain into a seven and a half foot long, fifty-four inch wide GORILLA?
[grabs Igor and starts throttling him]

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Is that what you’re telling me?

[boatbums]

You are probably quite secure because you are probably not a huge sinner. I don’t know just remarking.

I have done things in my life for which I am deeply ashamed and sorry for and I am so grateful that God has totally forgiven me and cleansed me from all unrighteousness. As I have matured in age as well as in faith, God has brought me closer to him than I have ever been before. I still am not perfect in my behavior, but I can say I sense the grace of God working in my heart to always be mindful of honoring him with my life. It is NOT so that I can be saved, but because I am saved.

But, what if you did something really wrong? You have been saved, (you said the sinners prayer or whatever it is you did) you still believe in Jesus but, you do something really wrong. Where is your salvation? Are you still going to heaven? You just said that a person is saved by God’s grace APART from their own works.

I don't know what your idea of "really wrong" is but I can tell you that sin is sin in God's eyes. No one sin is worse than any other because any sin at all separates us from God and had it not been for the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross in our place, dying for our sins, none of us would be going to Heaven. You quoted the verse in Revelation that says, "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Rev.21:27) Did you notice that last one? Even a lie is enough to keep us from heaven? So how do we get in that Book of Life? How do we get cleansed of all our sins so that we can enter a sinless place in the presence of God? The answer is what the Gospel is all about. We are saved, made clean, justified, sanctified, made righteous by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ and accepting him as our Savior. By his shed blood we have been bought with a price, we have been redeemed and we are in that Book of Life.

I think I’d rather not take that chance if you don’t mind. I would rather have been saved, am being saved and will be saved on my last day. That I persevere to the end living out my salvation. And going to confession. It’s a good thing. lol

By no means am I suggesting you go out and "live it up" because you don't have to worry about being saved anymore. Not at all! Through the grace of God we have been adopted into the family of God, born again into his family. And just as any good father would, God disciplines and conforms us into the image of Christ. Although we are NOT saved by our good deeds, that doesn't mean God has no plans for our lives. He does, and through the indwelling Holy Spirit, we grow in grace and faith. God is always there to forgive us but no matter what we may do, we will never be lost, cast out, plucked out or forsaken. His love and mercy and grace is THAT great.

I really do believe that there is a huge difference in what we believe about the Gospel. It comes down to "motive". Am I living a clean life for God because I'm afraid I'll go to hell if I don't or am I driven to live a life pleasing to God because I love him and I am so grateful for his grace and love? If it is the former, then I have to wonder if I am really trusting in Jesus Christ to save me or am I relying on my own righteousness to get me there. And it is NOT both. It is either by grace or it is by works that we are saved, not both:

Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

So, my thinking is if we really have placed our trust in Jesus Christ as our savior, we have accepted the GIFT of eternal life that God has given to us by grace through faith, then we WILL be saved and then God works in us to do his will when we surrender ourselves to him. He has CREATED us to do good works (Eph. 2:10). When we live to serve him and obey his commandments we show our love and our lives are a testimony to the world around us of the power of God to change us from the inside out.

I hope you have a great day tomorrow.

[boatbums]

Thank you. Seeeeee...we CAN get along. :o)

[boatbums]

Does that mean that whatever evil you do (once you have been saved) that you are automatically guaranteed a spot in heaven? Is that what you believe?

What I believe is what the Bible clearly says, I am not saved by my own righteousness. Any chance I might have had to be a perfect human was first of all, lost before I even knew I WAS sinning. Secondly, God says we have ALL sinned and come short of his perfection. Only the perfection of God merits being with him in Heaven. With human beings that is IMPOSSIBLE. That is why Jesus HAD to come because, unless he died for us and our sins, we would be eternally separated from God. "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23).

So since we can do nothing to be saved, to earn eternal life in Heaven with God, it only stands to reason that we do not do anything to KEEP us saved. When we accept Christ we are saved even though we have not gone to Heaven yet. So saying we are saved by grace but then we must work to stay saved is no different than saying we work for our salvation. And God has already said we can't ever earn it or merit it.

[Not gonna take it anymore]

To: boatbums
Does that mean that whatever evil you do (once you have been saved) that you are automatically guaranteed a spot in heaven?

Is that what you believe?

3,344 posted on September 14, 2011 7:38:09 PM PDT by Not gonna take it anymore

boatbums, I’ve been looking for your answer to post 3344 but seem to have missed it. Did you give me an answer? If not, what is your answer to the question?

Because in the current post you are sounding very anti-Catholic and posting in a not very charitable manner. You are stating untruths as facts. That is not cool. You forget which entity protected the OT and wrote the NT. Why on earth would you think that any Catholic teaching would go against the very Bible that came through the CC?

We as Catholics understand that our separated brethren are not at fault because for 500 years you have been taught falsehood. And after so many generations many of the posters here do not even believe in what the first Protestants taught. In fact, if Martin Luther came back today, he would not recognize Protestantism.

Though you do keep protesting. lol

[Not gonna take it anymore]

This is interesting:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/14/entertainment/main20106425.shtml?tag=cbsnewsTwoColLowerPromoArea;fd.morenews

Pat Robertson: Divorce OK over Alzheimer’s

(AP) Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson told his “700 Club” viewers that divorcing a spouse with Alzheimer’s is justifiable because the disease is “a kind of death.”
During the portion of the show where the one-time Republican presidential candidate takes questions from viewers, Robertson was asked what advice a man should give to a friend who began seeing another woman after his wife started suffering from the incurable neurological disorder.

“I know it sounds cruel, but if he’s going to do something, he should divorce her and start all over again, but make sure she has custodial care and somebody looking after her,” Robertson said.

The chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network, which airs the “700 Club,” said he wouldn’t “put a guilt trip” on anyone who divorces a spouse who suffers from the illness, but added, “Get some ethicist besides me to give you the answer.”

Most Christian denominations at least discourage divorce, citing Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Mark that equate divorce and remarriage with adultery.

Terry Meeuwsen, Robertson’s co-host, asked him about couples’ marriage vows to take care of each other “for better or for worse” and “in sickness and in health.”

“If you respect that vow, you say `til death do us part,”’ Robertson said during the Tuesday broadcast. “This is a kind of death.”

There is more at the link.

[Iscool]

Your posts have made it clear that you follow Paul, and his “dispensation of Grace” and not Christ and the other apolstles, and their “dispensation of Law. You have made a clear differentiation in your posts, and we pretty much get it. If you don’t like what you posted, post something else.

HaHaHa...How did Paul get into the bible...That dirty rascal...

[Iscool]

Just as protestants accuse Catholics of worshpping Mary, it appears that some protestans worship Paul and think that Paul has a better gospel than Christ. Paulicians are fairly obvious, you can know them, as Christ said, “by their fruits.”

Just as Jesus told the Apostles to go into the world and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, Jesus told Paul to go to the Gentiles and preach the Gospel of the Grace of God...

And it is a better gospel...A far better gospel...And it came straight from Jesus...

[CynicalBear]

>>That is your interpretation, and I disagree with it.<<

You disagree with all those verses of scripture?

[Mad Dawg]

+++++++++
“......for Christ Jesus indeed cleansed us from ALL sin...”
***
Yes, He did, but not with His blood. His blood paid for our sins.
+++++++++

Would you please develop this? I think I disagree and I’m intrigued.

I base my musing, not rigorous or learned enough to be called thinking, on:
— “For the blood is the life”
— The OT sacrificial system including sometimes ‘asperging’ the congregation with the blood of the victim.
— the meaning of the word KaPhaR, from which “kippur” comes and which is translated “hilasmos”.
— “they have washed their robes and made them clean in the blood of the Lamb.”

And the risk of being flippant, I would venture that the blood of the lamb is multi-purpose.

[Mad Dawg]

++++++++
Only by God’s grace and a willing heart ...
++++++++

“And a willing heart”? Is that “good works” sneaking in the backdoor?

[Iscool]

Heresies, no matter how popular or pervasive are still heresies. We must each choose to be in communion with the Church to become or remain Catholic. Choose wisely.

I have chosen wisely...Your Church is the biggest heresy of them all...

[Mad Dawg]

++++++++
I think part of the reason catholics get stuck is becuase they believe in purgatory....which is to believe that the shed blood of Jesus Christ was not sufficient to cleanse us of our sins. .......
++++++++

I think part of the reason non-Catholics get stuck is that they are so sure they know what we teach that they can’t learn what we teach.

[Iscool]

I am not saying that Jesus' death on the cross did not result in our redemption, I am only pointing out that His blood was not a cleansing, but an atonement or payment for our sins.

1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

Thanks for your opinion but I'll stick with the inspired words of God...

Not only does the shed blood of Jesus cleanse us of all sin, we are sanctified by His blood...

Heb 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

The shed blood of Jesus purges our conscience...

Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

We are redeemed by the shed blood of Jesus...

1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

[CynicalBear]

First of all Jesus commanded His disciples to baptize.

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Paul’s letter to the Romans indicates they were baptized.

Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Paul was writing to “saints”, “Christians” most of whom had been baptized by someone else.

1 Corinthians 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our's:

Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

Ephesians1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

Colossians 1:2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 1:1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 1:2 Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

Titus 1:4 To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

All of Paul’s letters were to those already in the faith. No one could argue that the Apostles baptized those who repented and believed.

The verse you point to that Paul was thankful that HE had not baptized them indicates that he was thankful he had not baptized them because then they would claim to be followers of him rather then followers of the person who did baptize them. He was exhorting the to be followers of Christ rather then followers of the person who baptized them.