Posted on 07/15/2005 11:29:25 AM PDT by nypokerface
JACKSON, Miss. - A Christian adoption agency that receives money from Choose Life license plate fees said it does not place children with Roman Catholic couples because their religion conflicts with the agency's "Statement of Faith."
Bethany Christian Services stated the policy in a letter to a Jackson couple this month, and another Mississippi couple said they were rejected for the same reason last year.
"It has been our understanding that Catholicism does not agree with our Statement of Faith," Bethany director Karen Stewart wrote. "Our practice to not accept applications from Catholics was an effort to be good stewards of an adoptive applicant's time, money and emotional energy."
Sandy and Robert Steadman, who learned of Bethany's decision in a July 8 letter, said their priest told them the faith statement did not conflict with Catholic teaching.
Loria Williams of nearby Ridgeland said she and her husband, Wes, had a similar experience when they started to pursue an adoption in September 2004.
"I can't believe an agency that's nationwide would act like this," Loria Williams said. "There was an agency who was Christian based but wasn't willing to help people across the board."
The agency is based in Grand Rapids, Mich., and has offices in 30 states, including three in Mississippi. Its Web site does not refer to any specific branch of Christianity.
Stewart told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger that the board will review its policy, but she didn't specify which aspects will be addressed.
The Web site says all Bethany staff and adoptive applicants personally agree with the faith statement, which describes belief in the Christian Church and the Scripture.
"As the Savior, Jesus takes away the sins of the world," the statement says in part. "Jesus is the one in whom we are called to put our hope, our only hope for forgiveness of sin and for reconciliation with God and with one another."
Sandy Steadman said she was hurt and disappointed that Bethany received funds from the Choose Life car license plates. "I know of a lot of Catholics who get those tags," she said.
She added: "If it's OK to accept our money, it should be OK to open your home to us as a family."
Bethany is one of 24 adoption and pregnancy counseling centers in Mississippi that receives money from the sale of Choose Life tags, a special plate that motorists can obtain with an extra fee.
Of $244,000 generated by the sale of the tags in 2004, Bethany received $7,053, said Geraldine Gray, treasurer of Choose Life Mississippi, which distributes the money.
"It is troubling to me if they are discriminating based on only the Catholics," Gray said.
Scripture doesn't teach a millenial kingdom whatsoever. Jesus ain't coming back here to live. He's already in Paradise and that's His home. He resides there with, all those folks from the thief on the cross, Lazarus, all the prophets, my bro, grandparents, Mother Teresa, some of the Indians killed at wounded knee, the ones masacred just S of here by the US govm't after they had signed a treaty, almost all of the 12M killed in Hitler's camps, a bunch of folks regardless, to Mary. None of them are coming back here to live. They are at their final destination in Paradise.
Ponder and learn the meaning of the following: Matt 13:34-35
Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world."[Psalm 78:2]
Remember, Jesus is God and no one knows the Father except the Son. Learn from Him.
Remember His comments on the divorce law Moses gave? Matthew 19:8
Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. The law came from Moses, not God. If knew who God is, the Holy Spirit manifest in Jesus alone, they wouldn't make these mistakes.
Paradise is God's home, not the world.
>>Nobody is saying Catholics take a hike. <<
No? Then please explain this from the article.
>>A Christian adoption agency that receives money from Choose Life license plate fees said it does not place children with Roman Catholic couples because their religion conflicts with the agency's "Statement of Faith."
Bethany Christian Services stated the policy in a letter to a Jackson couple this month, and another Mississippi couple said they were rejected for the same reason last year.
"It has been our understanding that Catholicism does not agree with our Statement of Faith," Bethany director Karen Stewart wrote. "Our practice to not accept applications from Catholics was an effort to be good stewards of an adoptive applicant's time, money and emotional energy."
Christ gave his life on the cross so that we may have everlasting life.
Romans 10:10 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Romans 10:17 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
17Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
Ephesians 6:16 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
A good friend of mine recently told me that you only had one chance at salvation.....ever. She said that Hebrews 6 says so. I inquired about the prodigal son and was told that was talking about the unsaved.
:-)
Don't you mean all Christian religions trace their origins back to CHRIST?
So do the Jehovah's Witnesses and other sects, but do the facts back their claims?
At any rate, you're setting up strawmen and fighting them all by yourself.
I wrote that Christianity has three main branches, since I'm aware of several other minor branches.
"When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered only by repeating their words again and again. 8 Don't be like them, because your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!"
So when Jesus prayed "all night", was He babbling?
"Catholics also say the Hail Mary most every mass"
Your are blissfully ignorant of Catholicism, aren't you?
"Catholic focus on sacrament is misplaced"
You are creating a false dichotomy. Again, you show your ignorance of Catholicism. The Sacraments are Christ's actions through the Church. Christ utilizes a physical means of granting grace, a means that we can see, feel, touch, taste. Thus, the sacraments were given to us by Christ Himself to continue His incarnational presence in the year 2005.
"And some of the doctrine about Mary as a co-redeemer is disturbing to say the least"
Well, how about this? I am a co-redeemer, as well. Not anywhere near the level of Mary, of course, but Christ allows me to help bring people to the faith, and in that sense, I am a co-redeemer.
...Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins... (James 5:20-21)
There are others, but this is good for now. If you'd like, I can post them, as well.
"speaking of praying to people Praying to saints is *EXTREEMELY* problematic"
Praying in old English means to "ask". Paul over and over asks the saints on earth to pray for him and he mentions that he prays for them. When you ask someone to pray for you, you are doing the exact same thing that a Catholic does when he asks the Virgin Mary to pray for him. You are familiar with the concept of the Body of Christ, are you not?
"Sacraments mean nothing and detract from Jesus"
Do you read the Bible?
Isn't it, too, a sacrament? It is a physical object that contains the Word of God, correct? It is not the actual Word, though, is it? The Word is Jesus Christ. Yet, you are devoted to the Bible, paper and ink. So does the Bible detract from Jesus Himself? Does your devotion to the Bible, an appearance of Christ, detract from God Himself? Apply the same logic to the Sacraments, which are basically the same thing - God continuing to act through the physical world. Both the Bible and the Sacraments are a physical means that God uses to reach out to us. Forget the false dichotomy.
Regards
And I answered that with what should have opened your eyes to something:
How do you know they are in Heaven?
And
Who are you TOLD to pray to in the Bible?
There is NOT ONE VERSE in the Bible that tells you to pray to a dead person
There are MANY that tell you to pray to God!
So, How do you KNOW that person you are praying to/through is even in Heaven?
Second, why in the world would you pray to a person when God Himself tells you to pray to Him?
petros mostly means small stone, from a marble to a comparatively small stone compared to a big stone
But, Petra is ALWAYS a BIG stone, a LARGE stone, never a small stone
And what people need to do is go back and search the Old Testament and see how many times ROCK is used to describe GOD, not men.
MEN are never called a ROCK, NEVER called a rock that men are to trust.
Only GOD is referred to as a ROCK in the Old Testament
No, I made it clear, that the BIBLE says no such thing.
And I am not a Calvinist, that shows you dont even read what I post, nor do you know about Calvin! :)
"The early church was NOT Catholic. That evolved at a later date. The early church met in believers' homes and put their faith in Jesus only."
It certainly was Catholic. They believed in the Eucharistic real presence of Christ. They believed in the monarchial role of bishops. They believed in both oral tradition and Scripture as the well spring of God's Revelation. They believed that Peter had a primacy above the other apostles. And so forth.
If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and acts like a duck...
Otherwise, you are saying that the Church totally transformed in less than 100 years after Christ's death and resurrection. Didn't He promise the gates of Hell would not prevail against His Church?
Regards
Show me where the Bible says Mary is a Saint, that She is in Heaven, that She is listening to anyone's prayers while in Heaven and that it is ok to pray to her.
The Bible says no such thing.
The Bible says we are to pray to GOD alone.
And you know that.
Perhaps you need to stay on topic instead of make a false argument for the sake of trying to play gotcha for something that you know you have no proof to defend your view.
The Bible is clear: We are supposed to pray to God, not to humans.
And for the sake of those who try to say all those saints are alive, the Bible says we are supposed to pray to God, not to humans, whether they are dead or alive.
"I've never heard of prayer groups not accepting Catholics, at least not in our area."
Yeah, as long as they keep their Catholic beliefs to themselves. Inevitably, that is what is going to happen. The Protestant group will try to convert the Catholic of the "error" of his ways. If the Catholic knows his faith, you will see how quickly the Catholic is asked to leave. I know this from experience.
Regards
But I did leave someting else
If there are NO DEAD PEOPLE, then what is the second death?
Look it up in Revelation, there is clearly dead people (using your definition)
"I believe that Christianity is a PERSONAL belief, not a church dogma, in that not all Catholics are Christian and not all Lutherans are Christian, not all Baptists are Christians (get the idea?)."
Your presumption of "who is a Christian" is incorrect. All the above are Christians...Our actions do not make us Christian. If someone has been validly baptized in the name of the Trinity, they are Christian. Certainly, it is up to the Christian to make a response in faith to God. He might be a very poor Christian, in name only, representing the weeds in God's garden, but he is still Christian.
Regards
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