Posted on 03/17/2020 8:14:12 AM PDT by Salvation
Given our current profound troubles, it occurs to me to republish an article from some years back. Like most, I have been through difficulties in my life: violent storms, an earthquake, and the loss of several loved ones. But I have never seen something quite like what we are experiencing now. It is unclear how long things will last, and the restrictions get more severe by the day. With all that in mind, I think it is important to recall the five hard truths that follow. I hope you won’t think I am trying to pour salt in our collective wounds. The message of this post is this: accepting that life has sufferings and setback is a freeing notion. Acceptance is a middle ground between resignation and approval. To accept something is be willing to pick it up and carry it for now, like a cross. Because we have not had to endure the large-scale suffering of previous eras, we have come to expect that things should be convenient and go smoothly. This actually increases our sorrow and anger when they don’t. Acceptance of the five hard truths described below can provide strange consolation. Following is the reprinted post:
The five truths that follow are indeed hard. They rock our world and stab at the heart of some of our most cherished modern notions. If they can be accepted for the truth they convey, however, they bring great peace. These truths are not only good medicine for our collective self-absorption but they also help us to have more realistic expectations as we live out our lives in this imperfect and limited world. Study these truths well. If they irritate you a bit, good; they’re supposed to. They are meant to provoke thought and reassessment.
I did not originate the following five principles, but the commentary is my own. So thank the one to whom the Holy Spirit first spoke them and tolerate my meager commentary.
1. Life is hard. We live in times of comfort and convenience. Medicine has removed a lot of pain and suffering from our lives. Consumer goods are readily available and we have a wide array of choices. Entertainment comes in many varieties and is often inexpensive. Hard labor is something that few of us are familiar with. Obesity is common due to overconsumption and underactivity.
All of these creature comforts have led us to expect that life should always be just peachy. We become outraged at the slightest suffering, inconvenience, or delay.
Our ancestors lived lives that were far more “brutish and short,” to borrow a phrase from Thomas Hobbes. Life was a “vale of tears.” They understood that suffering was a part of life. When we suffer today, we start thinking about lawsuits and who is to blame. Suffering seems obnoxious to us and hard work unreasonable! We are angered and flung into anxiety at the mere threat of suffering.
This principle reminds us that suffering and difficulty are part of life; they should be expected. Accepting suffering does not mean we have to like it. Acceptance of the fact that life will be hard at times means that we get less angry and anxious when it is; we do not lose serenity. In fact, it brings a strange sort of peace. We are freed from unrealistic expectations that merely breed resentment. We also become more grateful for the joys we do experience.
2. Your life is not about you. If you want to make God chuckle, tell Him your plans. If you really want to give him a belly laugh, tell Him His plans! We often like to think that we should just be able to do what ever pleases us and maximizes our “self-actualization.” However, we do not decide alone what course our life will take.
In this age of “nobody tells me what to do,” it is important to remember that our true happiness comes from getting not what we want, but what God wants. Our destiny is not to follow our star; it is to follow God. True peace comes from careful discernment of God’s will for us.
It is sad how few people today ever really speak ahead of time with God about important things like careers, entering into a marriage, or pondering a large project. We just go off and do what we please, expecting God to bail us out if it doesn’t go well. You and I do not exist merely for our own whims; we have a place in God’s plan. We have greater serenity when we discern that place and humbly seek God’s will. Accepting the fact that we are not the masters of our own destiny, not the captains of our own ship, gives us greater peace. It also usually saves us a lot of mileage.
Humbly accepting that our life is not simply about us and what we want is a freeing truth. We often don’t get what we want; if we can allow life to just unfold and not demand that everything be simply the way we want it, we can be more serene and free.
3. You are not in control. Control is something of an illusion. We may have plans for tomorrow but there are many things between now and tomorrow over which we have no control. For example, we cannot even control or guarantee the next beat of our heart. I may think I have tomorrow under control, but tomorrow is not promised; it may never come.
Because we think that we control a few things, we think that we can control many things. Not really. Our attempts to control and manipulate outcomes are comical, sometimes even harmful.
Thinking that we can control things leads us to think that we must control them. This in turn leads to great anxiety and often anger as well.
We usually think that if we are in control we will be less anxious. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, the more we think we can control, the more we try to control, which increases our burdens and anxiety. We end up getting angry because we discover that there many things and people we cannot control after all. This causes frustration and fear.
We would be freer and less anxious if we would simply accept the fact that there are many things—most things, in fact—over which we have no control. Our expectation of everything being under control is unrealistic. Life comes at you fast. Brooding over unpredictable and uncontrollable things amounts to bondage. Simply accepting that we are often not in control is freeing.
4. You are not that important. This one hurts. We often think that the whole world should revolve around us. We think it is only our feelings that matter and our well-being that is important. We are loved by God in a very particular way, but that does not change the fact that we must often yield to others who are also loved by God in a very special way.
Sometimes other people are more important than we are. We might even be called upon to give our life so that others may live. We must yield to others whose needs are more crucial than our own. The world doesn’t exist just for us and what we want.
There is great peace and freedom in coming to accept this. We are often made so anxious if we are not recognized while others are, or if our feelings and preferences are not everyone’s priority. Accepting the truth that we are not that important allows us to relax and enjoy caring about other people and celebrating their importance.
5. You are going to die. We get all worked up about what this world dishes out, but just take a walk in a cemetery. Those folks were all worked up too. Now their struggles are over. If they were faithful, they are with God; they are now experiencing that “trouble don’t last always.”
This truth also helps us to do the most important thing: get ready to meet God. So many people spend their lives clowning around and goofing off, ignoring our most urgent priority. In the end, this is freeing because we are loosed from the many excessive and often conflicting demands of the world; we can concentrate on doing the one thing necessary. Our life simplifies and we don’t take this world too seriously because we understand that it is passing away. There is great peace and freedom in coming to accept this.
So there you have them: five hard truths that will set you free. Think about them. Memorize them. Pull them out when life comes at you fast and hard with its agenda of self-importance and the empty promise of perfect comfort here on earth. A simple, sober, humble, and focused life brings great serenity.
Monsignor Pope Ping!
Is that really the most important thing? Jesus said the two most important commandments were to love God and love one another. At this time, we should be a comfort to those who are suffering or in need and seek to glorify God in everything, even in hardships.
Boy that’s a real pick me up.
Cheerful message...
The teachings of the great Stoic philosophers with a theological twist.
1. Life is hard.
1. We all should know that by the time we are three years old. If we don't, then we aren't paying attention.
2. Your life is not about you.
2. We all should know that by the time we are three years old. If we don't, then we aren't paying attention.
3. You are not in control.
If we don't know this then we are just stupid or arrogant.
4. You are not that important.
We all know our worth to God.
He spend three years of His Life teaching us how to live. Then He suffered an excruciating and humiliating death thereby dying for our sins. So we do know how important we are to Him.
5. You are going to die.
We know that too and with God's loving grace and our cooperation with Him our SOULS will be with Him for ETERNITY.
.
Since I was brought up as Catholic I already know all these rules. It took me some time to mature but I thank our good Lord for allowing me the opportunity to be part of His Family.
Parents with any brains would have inculcated these truths into their children by the time their little ones were THREE years old.
The fourth commandment is to keep holy the Lord's day. Catholics are OBLIGED to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days. Protestants don't have ANY of these obligations so they can diddle away Sundays, EVEN Christmases and Easters, pretending to "keep holy the Lord's day" with golf, surfing, eating out or some other non-Church event. Of course it's a farce. The Protestant version of this is their THIRD commandment.
They can explain it to our good Lord when they die and meet Him.
CATHOLIC version of the TEN COMMANDMENTS:
I-- I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have any strange gods before Me.
II-- Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
III-- Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
IV-- Honor thy father and mother.
V-- Thou shalt not kill. That does include abortion.
VI-- Thou shalt not commit adultery. This includes cheating on their spouse, fornication, which is sex between unmarried people, prostitution, pornography, homosexual activity, masturbation, group sex, rape, incest, pedophilia, bestiality, and necrophilia.
VII-- Thou shalt not steal.
VIII-- Thou shalt not bear false witness/LIE.
IX-- Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.
X-- Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.
Rome has modified the 10Cs to allow its idolatry of Mary.
And about those mandatory days....how many RC parishes have cancelled services??
Rome continues to show its errors.
Wrong. There was no "modification," they're simply numbered differently. The first (and second, in the Protestant numbering) commandments both prohibit idolatry.
Let’s post them side by side then. I’ll do that later.
SO DO YOU. You haven't clue one.
Jesus would make NO errors. Jesus is perfect and His Church isn't. It can't be since it's made up of very ordinary and women.
Jesus gave PETER (Simon bar Jonah) the keys to heaven. There has been an UNBROKEN line of popes since Peter became the first one. Not all those popes were perfect but the line is unbroken.
When GOD created Lucifer He KNEW that Lucifer would become SATAN. Yet He still created him.
JESUS chose Judas Iscariot as one of His Apostles. Jesus KNEW that Judas would betray Him yet Jesus STILL chose Judas as an Apostle.
So, YOU have the gall, the arrogance and the unmitigated NERVE to say that ROME is showing its errors. WHAT ABOUT YOUR ERRORS? Your entire premise is faulty and built on FAULTY logic PLUS a whole lot of anger towards the Pope.
You probably aren't even Catholic yet here you are FIXATED and OBSESSED with a man THOUSANDS of miles away who has NOTHING to do with your life.
I feel very sorry for you. You need a healthy dose of Jesus' love.
And if you REALLY believe that Catholics idolize Mary then your really seem to be too stupid to live.
======================
Besides, as a Protestant you don't read the Bible as it was written. Protestants have, er, edited it a little.
Well, the first break-away from the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH was started by a ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST: Father Martin Luther in the 16TH CENTURY--1541 A.D.
The Roman Catholic Church stood on its own from Jesus' death at 33 A.D. (Anno Domini= in the year our Lord) for 1,500 YEARS without a SINGLE Protestant on this planet.
Father Luther was excommunicated for heresy but a plethora of different Christian denominations popped up. If they had any value one would THINK that they would UNITE and come up with their own Catechism. But, they didn't.
It's a sick obsession you seem to have and I feel very sorry for you. You need a healthy dose of Jesus' love.
======================
Below is from the Internet:
Protestantism – 900 million Estimates vary considerably, from 400 million up to more than a billion. One of the reasons is the lack of a common agreement among scholars about which denominations constitute Protestantism. For instance, most sources but not all include Anglicanism as part of Protestantism (see below).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations_by_number_of_members--
Baptist churches – 75–105 million[20][26] o Southern Baptist Convention – 14.8 million[27] o National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. – 7.5 million[28] o Nigerian Baptist Convention – 5.0 million[29] o National Missionary Baptist Convention of America – 3.1 million[29] o National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. – 3.1 million[29] o Baptist Union of Uganda – 2.5 million[29] o Baptist Community of Congo – 2.1 million[29] o Baptist Convention of Tanzania – 2.0 million[29] o Baptist General Convention of Texas – 2.0 million[29] o Brazilian Baptist Convention – 1.6 million[29] o Progressive National Baptist Convention – 1.5 million[29] o Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India – 1.3 million[29] o American Baptist Churches USA – 1.2 million[29] o Baptist Bible Fellowship International – 1.2 million[30] o Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention – 1.1 million[29] o Baptist Community of the Congo River – 1.1 million[29] o National Primitive Baptist Convention of the U.S.A. – 1.0 million[30] o Myanmar Baptist Convention – 1.0 million[29] o Cooperative Baptist Fellowship – 0.8 million[29] o Baptist General Association of Virginia – 0.6 million[29] o Baptist Convention of Kenya – 0.6 million[29] o Nagaland Baptist Church Council – 0.6 million[29] o Korea Baptist Convention – 0.5 million[29] o Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches – 0.5 million[29] o Orissa Evangelical Baptist Crusade – 0.5 million[29] o National Baptist Convention (Brazil) – 0.4 million[29] o Baptist Convention of Malawi – 0.3 million[29] o Garo Baptist Convention – 0.3 million[29] o Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches – 0.3[29] o Ghana Baptist Convention – 0.3[29] o Union of Baptist Churches in Rwanda – 0.3 million[29] o Conservative Baptist Association of America – 0.2 million[31] o National Association of Free Will Baptists – 0.2 million[32] o Convention of Visayas and Mindanao of Southern Baptist Churches – 0.2 million[29] o Manipur Baptist Convention – 0.2 million[29] o Evangelical Baptist Church of the Central African Republic – 0.2 million[29] o Converge – 0.2 million[33] o Seventh Day Baptists – 0.05 million[34] • Lutheranism – 70–90 million[20][35] o Evangelical Church in Germany - 21.1 million (10.5 million United Protestants, i.e. Lutheran & Reformed; 10.3 million Lutherans; 0.3 million Reformed)[36] o Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus – 8.3 million[37] o Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania – 6.5 million[38] o Church of Sweden – 5.9 million[39][40] o United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India – 4.5 million[41] o Church of Denmark – 4.3 million[42][43] o Batak Christian Protestant Church – 4.0 million[44] o Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland – 3.8 million[45][46] o Church of Norway – 3.7 million[47][48] o Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – 3.4 million[49][50] o Malagasy Lutheran Church – 3.0 million[51] o The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria – 2.2 million[52] o Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod – 2.0 million[53] o Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea – 1.2 million[54] o Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia – 0.7 million[55] o Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil – 0.6 million[56] o Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa – 0.6 million[57] o The Protestant Christian Church – 0.5 million[44] o Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia – 0.4 million[55] o Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod – 0.4 million[58] o Evangelical Free Church of America – 0.4 million[59] o The Indonesian Christian Church – 0.3 million[44] o Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ – 0.3 million[60] o Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon – 0.3 million[61] o Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria – 0.3 million[62] o Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe – 0.3 million[63] o Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia – 0.3 million[64] o Christian Protestant Church in Indonesia – 0.3 million[44] o Church of Iceland – 0.2 million[65] o Simalungun Protestant Christian Church – 0.2 million[44] o Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil – 0.2 million[66] o Protestant Church of Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine – 0.2 million[67] o Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia – 0.2 million[68] o Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary – 0.2 million[69] o Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church – 0.2 million[70] • Methodism – 60–80 million[20][71][72] o United Methodist Church – 12 million[73] o African Methodist Episcopal Church – 2.5 million[74] o Church of the Nazarene – 2 million[75] o Methodist Church Nigeria – 2 million[76] o The Salvation Army – 1.8 million[77] o Methodist Church of Southern Africa – 1.7 million[78] o Korean Methodist Church – 1.5 million[79] o African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church – 1.4 million[80] o United Methodist Church of Ivory Coast – 1 million[81] o Free Methodist Church – 0.9 million[82] o Christian Methodist Episcopal Church – 0.9 million[83] o Methodist Church Ghana – 0.8 million[84] o Methodist Church in India – 0.6 million[85] o Methodist Church in Kenya – 0.5 million[86] o Wesleyan Church – 0.4 million[87] o Methodist Church of Great Britain – 0.2 million[88] o Methodist Church in Brazil – 0.2 million[89] • Reformed churches (Calvinism) – 55–100 million[20][90][91][92] o Presbyterianism – 40–50 million Presbyterian Church of East Africa – 4.0 million[93] Presbyterian Church of Nigeria – 3.8 million[94] Presbyterian Church of Africa – 3.4 million[95] Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapDong) – 3.0 million[96] Presbyterian Church of Korea (TongHap) – 2.9 million[97] National Presbyterian Church in Mexico – 2.8 million[98] Church of Christ in Congo–Presbyterian Community of Congo – 2.5 million[99] Presbyterian Church of Cameroon – 1.8 million[100] Presbyterian Church (USA) – 1.4 million[101] Presbyterian Church of India – 1.3 million[102] Church of Central Africa Presbyterian – 1.3 million[103] Presbyterian Church of Brazil – 1.0 million[104] Presbyterian Church in Sudan – 1.0 million[105] Presbyterian Church in Cameroon – 0.7 million[106] Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapDongBoSu II.) – 0.7 million[107] Presbyterian Church in Korea (BaekSeok) – 0.6 million[108] Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana – 0.6 million[109] United Church of Christ in the Philippines – 0.5 million[110] Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa – 0.5 million[111] United Church of Canada – 0.4 million[112] Presbyterian Church in America – 0.4 million[113] Presbyterian Church of Pakistan – 0.4 million[114] Presbyterian Church in Korea (Koshin) – 0.4 million Church of Scotland – 0.3 million[115] Korean Presbyterian Church – 0.3 million[116] Presbyterian Church in Rwanda – 0.3 million[117] Uniting Church in Australia – 0.2 million[118] Presbyterian Church in Taiwan – 0.2 million[119] Presbyterian Church in Ireland – 0.2 million[120] o Continental Reformed churches – 20–30 million Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar – 3.5 million[121] Protestant Church in Indonesia – 3.1 million[122] United Church in Zambia – 3.0 million[123] Evangelical Church of Cameroon – 2.5 million[124] Swiss Reformed Church – 2.4 million[125] Christian Evangelical Church in Timor – 2.0 million[126] Protestant Church in the Netherlands – 1.8 million[127] Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) – 1.1 million Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa – 0.7 million[128] United Church in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands – 0.6 million[129] Protestant Church in Western Indonesia – 0.6 million[130] Evangelical Christian Church in Tanah Papua – 0.6 million[131] Protestant Church of Maluku – 0.6 million[132] Reformed Church in Hungary – 0.6 million[133] Reformed Church in Romania – 0.6 million[134] Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa – 0.5 million[135] Toraja Church – 0.4 million[136] Reformed Church of France – 0.4 million[137] Lesotho Evangelical Church – 0.3 million[138] Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera – 0.3 million[139] Christian Church of Sumba – 0.3 million[140] Karo Batak Protestant Church – 0.3 million[141] Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria – 0.3 million[142] Reformed Church in Zambia – 0.3 million[143] Evangelical Reformed Church in Angola – 0.2 million[144] Reformed Church in America – 0.2 million[145] Christian Reformed Church in North America – 0.2 million[146] Kalimantan Evangelical Church – 0.2 million[147] Javanese Christian Church – 0.2 million[148] Indonesia Christian Church – 0.2 million[149] Church of Christ in the Sudan Among the Tiv – 0.2 million[150] Church of Lippe – 0.2 million[151] Evangelical Church of Congo – 0.2 million[152] Christian Evangelical Church of Sangihe Talaud – 0.2 million[153] Central Sulawesi Christian Church – 0.2 million[154] Evangelical Reformed Church in Bavaria and Northwestern Germany – 0.2 million[155] o Congregationalism – 5 million Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola – 0.9 million[156] United Church of Christ – 0.8 million[157] United Congregational Church of Southern Africa – 0.5 million[158] • Seventh-day Adventist Church – 20.0 million[159] • Restoration Movement – 7 million o Churches of Christ – 5 million o Christian churches and churches of Christ – 1.1 million[30] o Community of Disciples of Christ in Congo – 0.7 million[160] o Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) – 0.4 million[161] • Anabaptism – 4.0 million o Mennonites – 2.1 million[162] o Schwarzenau Brethren (German Baptists) – 1.5 million[163] o Amish – 0.3 million o Hutterites – 0.05 million • Plymouth Brethren – 1 million[164] • Hussites – 1 million o Moravians – 0.825 million o Czechoslovak Hussite Church – 0.14 million o Unity of the Brethren – 0.035 million • Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) – 0.4 million Modern Protestantism – 400–500 million • Pentecostalism – 280 million[20] o Assemblies of God – 67 million[165] o Apostolic Church – 15 million o International Circle of Faith – 11 million[166] o Fangcheng Fellowship – 10 million[167] o China Gospel Fellowship - 10 million o Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) - 6 million o International Church of the Foursquare Gospel - 9 million o Church of God in Christ - 6.5 million[168] o Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide – 5 million o International Pentecostal Holiness Church – 4 million o The Pentecostal Mission – 2.5 million o Christian Congregation of Brazil – 2.5 million o True Jesus Church – 2.5 million o The Church of Pentecost – 2.1 million o Universal Church of the Kingdom of God – 2 million o Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa – 1.2 million o Church of God of Prophecy – 1.5 million o Association of Pentecostal Churches of Rwanda – 1 million o God is Love Pentecostal Church – 0.8 million o Association of Vineyard Churches – 0.3 million[169] • Nondenominational Christianity / Evangelicalism – 80–100 million o Calvary Chapel – 25 million o Christian and Missionary Alliance – 6 million[170] o Born Again Movement – 3 million[171] o Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) – 1.2 million • African initiated Protestant churches – 60 million[172] o Zion Christian Church – 15 million o Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim – 10 million o Kimbanguist Church – 5.5 million o Redeemed Christian Church of God – 5 million[173] o Church of the Lord (Aladura) – 3.6 million[174] o Council of African Instituted Churches – 3 million[175] o Church of Christ Light of the Holy Spirit – 1.4 million[176] o African Church of the Holy Spirit – 0.7 million[177] o African Israel Church Nineveh – 0.5 million[178] • New Apostolic Church – 10 million[179] • Chinese-originated and Chinese Independent Churches – 10 million Groups listed have origins in the Lord's Recovery movement associated with Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. The Shouters are an offshoot of the Local churches, considered a dangerous sect by the Chinese government; due to the extremely decentralized nature of both groups, there is controversy over which house churches should be actually considered part of each. Eastern Lightning, which is in turn an offshoot of The Shouters, is very hierarchical (in contrast to its predecessors) and teaches that Christ has already returned as a woman named Lightning Deng. o Local churches or Church Assembly Hall – between 1 and 10 million o Eastern Lightning – 1 million o The Shouters – unknown, probably less than 1 million
==============================
So, tell me how wonderful your particular brand of Protestantism is and how it differs from other Protestant denominations.
Most Protestants DON'T KNOW how they differ from each other. All they might say is that "Baptists don't dance." But, THEOLOGICAL differences? Not a clue. Do YOU know how they differ?
In the end it is God who will decide...not you.
I trust in Him. HE IS THE JUDGE and I refuse to claim any higher ground. YOU go ahead and do so. You were given free will, so EXCORIATE away!
Lambaste Catholicism. Jesus founded HIS Catholic Church but you are free to say that Jesus erred.
By the way, "Catholic" means UNIVERSAL.
PAX TIBI!
Ut benedicat tibi Deus!
They mean "Peace be with you" and "God bless you."
Sometimes I mis-write it and say PEACH be with you. :o) I like peaches too.
Loving God and our neighbor is the way we “get ready to meet God.”
| Exodus 20:3-17. | Beginning Catholic 10 Commandments |
| 2 I am the LORD your God. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve. | |
| 3 You shall have no other gods before Me | I am the LORD your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me . |
| 4“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5“You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,6but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. | |
| 7“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. | You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. |
| 8“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11“For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORDblessed the sabbath day and made it holy. | Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. |
| 12“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you. | Honor your father and your mother. |
| 13“You shall not murder. | You shall not kill. |
| 14“You shall not commit adultery. | You shall not commit adultery. |
| 15“You shall not steal. | You shall not steal. |
| 16“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. | You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. |
| 17“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” | You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. |
| You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods. | |
|
***** And if you REALLY believe that Catholics idolize Mary then your really seem to be too stupid to live. Proving yet again it is usually, though not always, the Roman Catholic who first resorts to the personal attack and/or profanity when the argument goes against them....which is often. But again, let's see what Romans do.
PLUS a whole lot of anger towards the Pope. You probably aren't even Catholic yet here you are FIXATED and OBSESSED with a man THOUSANDS of miles away who has NOTHING to do with your life. < You seem to have me confused with one of your fellow Roman Catholics. You know, the one who daily posts numerous articles AGAINST your pope. Yet, I rarely see any Roman Catholics criticize him for his efforts AGAINST your pope. Besides, as a Protestant you don't read the Bible as it was written. Protestants have, er, edited it a little. Nope. Rome is the one who has added to the Scriptures at Trent. We can review why the Apocrypha was not included even among the early ekklesia. We can also review the false teachings and errors in the Apocrypha. You really don't want to go there. ***** So, tell me how wonderful your particular brand of Protestantism is and how it differs from other Protestant denominations. I don't get into denominations. However, the correctness of those you mentioned, as any church, needs to be determined by their accordance with the Word. That's Most Protestants DON'T KNOW how they differ from each other. All they might say is that "Baptists don't dance." But, THEOLOGICAL differences? Not a clue. Do YOU know how they differ? And again you would be incorrect. Now, shall we review the various strains of Roman Catholicism....just on these threads? You have Roman Catholics denying there has been a pope since 1958. Perhaps you're one of those. Then there are the Vatican 1 Roman Catholics and the Vatican 2 Roman Catholics....which are you? You see...the game can be played two ways. What I can do, and Roman Catholics cannot, is point to Scripture to support by beliefs. The Roman catholic cannot.
|
The idols of Mary, etc, are not commanded by God. It's the same problem the Jews had in the OT when they mixed in Baal worship with that of Jehovah.
Not trying to move the goalpost....but that’s usually one of the arguments I’ve seen from RCs in support of the “statues” of Mary among other things.
That’s a lot different tone than your freepmail.
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