Muslims are Converting to Christianity in Record Numbers

National Catholic Register ^ | Patti Armstrong

[GoldenState_Rose]

We are in a time of the first ever mass conversions of Muslims,” Father Mitch Pacwa SJ told me in a phone interview. “God is doing a mighty work among them.”

Pacwa said that mass conversions are happening even in very fundamentalist countries. There is rapidly growing number of conversions especially on the edges of the Muslim world in the western and southern parts of Africa, he said. “Africa is now growing predominantly Christian despite crackdowns,” Pacwa said.

Some of the noteworthy countries he mentioned include Iran, reported to have 3 million Christians, and Indonesia with reports of 2 million a year converting.

“In Mongolia, the president opened the country to Christians and there’s even an archbishop,” Pacwa said. “They built a Catholic school there too. If I was younger, I would have gone.” He said that the desire for a Western education was the impetus to open up the country to the Catholic Church.

There are even conversions happening in many strict Muslim countries, according to Pacwa. He did not want to go on record with particulars for fear of increased retribution. Mass conversions are also being reported among refugees that are filling up the Christian churches left empty by Europeans. Many wonder if those are authentic conversions or just a response to improving their chances for amnesty, but time will tell.

Signs of this conversion are showing up in the U.S. too, Pacwa said. “I was about to celebrate Mass at a Maronite church in San Diego and I said hi to a man who introduced himself as Achmad. I asked if he was a Christian. He said: ‘Yes, I was recently baptized.’ He said he from Morocco. Christians do not have the name Ahmad—that’s a form of Mohammad.”

[Elsie]

And are you under the impression that you will automatically go to heaven *no matter what you do from here on out*, simply because you say so?

This is a quite interesting tangent to postulate!

Is it made of straw or just a lack of belief in what John etal have written?

[Elsie]

How MUCH water? ;^)

[Elsie]

Christ saves us by His sacraments. Refuse them, and we refuse Him.

There are MANY (I hpe!) reading thus far that have NO idea what a 'sacrement' is; let alone know what they all are.

Could you list these divine requirements that Jesus endorsed for the curious; want to be Heaven bound; lurkers and (by inference) lost PROTS?

[Elsie]

That's a pretty big change on the part of Roman Catholics considering non-Roman Catholics disagree with much of Roman Catholicism.

Heck; so many FR Catholics disagree with their properly chosen leader!

What theological conundrum has CAUSED this mutiny in the ranks??

[Elsie]

Baptism is not just a symbol but leaves an indelible mark on the soul. It effects what it signifies. It removes original sin and opens the gates of heaven.

And you guys are keeping the verses that indicate this out of public view; right?

[Elsie]

It removes original sin and opens the gates of heaven.

HMMMmmm...

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Revelation 21 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)

 

 

¹² And it had a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and in the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

 

¹³ On the east, three gates: and on the north, three gates: and on the south, three gates: and on the west, three gates.

 

²¹ And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, one to each: and every several gates was of one several pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

 

²⁵ And the gates thereof shall not be shut by day: for there shall be no night there.

 

[Elsie]

If you were baptized as a child (say in a Methodist church), that had a real and permanent effect. If you had died the next day you would go straight to heaven.

Hey Folks!!

Ferget that 'dead-in-Christ' thing and being resurrected at the last trump and sleeping in the earth.

(Probably skip puragatory; too!)

[Elsie]

You were within the Catholic Church, just invisibly.

You've finally done it.

I am speechless!

[Elsie]

Adults can commit all kinds of personal sins that will exclude them from heaven...Paul lists a few

A few; eh?

I guess the Unforgivable Sin has a few identical siblings.

[Elsie]

If any Christian adult--Catholic or Protestant--dies with these sins unrepented of, he will be damned.

Could could I have EVER been so error prone to think that it was UNBELIEF that would keep me from Heaven??

[Mark17]

Probably skip puragatory; too!

I went to Purgatory once, in January. It was a tad chilly. ⛷

[Elsie]

Southern Baptists baptize in the name of Jesus only? Odd.

In any case, yes, if it was in Jesus's name only that was invalid.

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It was addressed in the local churches.

“That baptism was not biblical, but we are proud of our students for winning the lost. The new believer will need to be baptized biblically in church.”(She eventually was, as I recall.)

We students talked it over during lunch and in our dorm rooms. The general thought among the freshmen was that it seemed pretty biblical, and pretty sincere, but you can’t buck authority.

 

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(Snipped from --->  http://sbcvoices.com/who-is-authorized-to-baptize-by-stephen-m-young/    Emphasis mine)

 

[Elsie]

I know he meant well, and was very sincere.

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Deconstructing Linus: Portrait of a True Believing Pumpkinist as a Young Man

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What does the Great Pumpkin offer Linus? Why does Linus spend every Halloween in the pumpkin patch, waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear? Is it about the toys?

"Each year on Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere and flies through the air with his pack of toys for all the good little children in the world."

No. This is about sincerity, a subjective standard by any definition.

 

 

I wonder if Linus blames himself every year for not picking the most sincere pumpkin patch for his vigil?

I wonder if other Great Pumpkinists castigate Linus by asserting if he were more in tune with the Spirit of the Great Pumpkin, if he were more prayerful, if he read the Holy Writ of the Great Pumpkin with a greater sincerity, that he could indeed rise to the challenge and, via the Spirit, be lead to choose the most sincere pumpkin patch?

I wonder how many years Linus will feel guilty for this failure and blame himself for receiving no answer no matter how sincere he believes himself to be?

I wonder if Linus ever gets frustrated because there is no objective way to measure sincerity?

And if he realizes there is no objective standard for such a thing, I wonder if it ever creeps into his mind that his annual mission is nothing more than mindless busywork?

I wonder... does Linus ever have doubts?

 

For the time being, however, Linus will put aside his doubts and, perhaps as a means of proving his sincerity, begins to proselyte among his friends for converts. Most shrug him off. But Sally, who has a crush on him, believes Linus and agrees to spend Halloween in Linus' Pumpkin Patch.

Linus then explains that by using positive language and positive thinking, they may be able to attract the Great Pumpkin to their Patch. He also cautions Sally that negative language and negative thinking will cause the Great Pumpkin to pass them by.

There is no room for doubt when one is a Great Pumpkinist. One should never say if the Great Pumpkin comes but always when the Great Pumpkin comes. "One little slip like that, can cause the Great Pumpkin to pass you by!"   It's hard to imagine a benevolent icon such as the Great Pumpkin punishing TBPs (True Believing Pumpkinists) for such a minor infraction, but there you have it.

Sally: The Birth of an Ex-Pumpkinist

Because Sally loves her "sweet baboo" Linus, she sets aside her own Halloween plans of trick-or-treating and a Halloween party in order to spend the evening in the Pumpkin Patch. She converts to Great Pumpkinism because she loves Linus. She respects his opinion. And she wants to make him happy and be supportive. And besides, if it's really true, WOW! Wouldn't that be fantastic?

But in the end, the only Being that shows up in the Pumpkin Patch is Snoopy. Linus, believing Snoopy to be the Great Pumpkin, swoons into an ecstatic faint, happy in the knowledge that he has finally deciphered the Great Pumpkin's standard for sincerity. But, alas, it is a misplaced hope, and when Linus regains consciousness, there is not only no Great Pumpkin there to reward him, there is one upset little girl.

"I was robbed! I spent the whole night waiting for the Great Pumpkin when I could have been out for tricks or treats! Halloween is over and I missed it! You blockhead! You kept me up all night waiting for the Great Pumpkin and all that came was a beagle!"

"I didn't get a chance to go out for tricks or treats! And it was all your fault! I'll sue! What a fool I was. And I could have had candy apples and gum! And cookies and money and all sorts of things! But no, I had to listen to you! You blockhead. What a fool I was. Trick or treats come only once a year. And I missed it by sitting in a pumpkin patch with a blockhead. You owe me restitution!"

                                                                                                              

 

 

Luckily for Sally, she only missed one Halloween. And though she is demanding restitution, because her participation was voluntary, she will never receive said restitution. She'll simply have to accept the experience as one of life's absurdities and move on.

However, one can hope that this experience has made Sally a more skeptical person, so that the next time she is presented with such fantastic claims, she'll perhaps be inclined to do her research before committing any time, money or emotion.

After all, fantastic claims should be supported by fantastic evidence, right?

The question now becomes, has this experience made Linus a skeptic? After yet again not having his Pumpkin Patch recognized as sincere and after having endangered his friendship with Sally, will he continue to believe?

In spite of a complete and utter lack of evidence pointing to the existence of the Great Pumpkin, and a complete and utter lack of the Great Pumpkin's Promise ever having been fulfilled, Linus is a True Believing Pumpkinist to the core. To even admit the possibility that he may be wrong would be to negate all those years of hard work and sincere belief. Linus simply cannot turn his back on his belief.

So if Linus doesn't become an ex-Pumpkinist, what is his strategy? Well, he's going to keep on trying, isn't he?

"What do you mean, 'stupid'? Just wait until next year. I'll find a pumpkin patch, and I'll sit in that pumpkin patch and it'll be a sincere pumpkin patch, and the Great Pumpkin will come! Just you wait and see! I'll sit in that pumpkin patch, and I'll see the Great Pumpkin. Just wait until next year!"

 

 

 

[ShadowAce]

In any case, yes, if it was in Jesus's name only that was invalid.

Really? In what Name was Jesus baptized? What His baptism invalid?

[Elsie]

I can’t remember what the Chaplain said, but I think I will be ok.

[Mark17]

What does the Great Pumpkin offer Linus?

I don’t know, but was it the same Great Pumpkin who gave Snoopy a new battle plan?

[Elsie]

Really? In what Name was Jesus baptized? What His baptism invalid?

 

 (Gotta have them sins taken away if yer gonna claim to be SINLESS.)

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Matthew 3:13-17 New International Version (NIV)

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
 

 

 

 

Mark 1:9-11 New International Version (NIV)

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
 

 

 

 

Luke 3:21-22 New International Version (NIV)

21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
 

[Elsie]

Why is Snoopy superimposed on an outline map of Germany?

[Mark17]

He and I were both very sincere about my baptism. I always thought, if I was really sincere, I would be OK. 😀 It doesn’t matter whether I am right or wrong, as long as I am sincere. 😀😆😄😇😝
There was an added benefit too. As you know, it can get a bit warm in Vietnam, so when the baptism was finished, I just stayed in the pool. There were three of us that got baptized that day, all of us were air traffic controllers. We made the Stars and Stripes, and PACAF/7th AF news. It was a beautiful thing. 😁

[Elsie]

Snoopy chased after the ace called Red Baron;
The apex of avian war-farin’.
Crisscrossing the sky;
(oh how could these boys FLY!)
But never a root beer be sharin’.