WOW.
Impressive report.
Thanks.
Thankfully, Holy Spirit is having HIS way in South America in the lives of millions formerly bound by such ideologies and idolatries.
Praise God.
Ping.
Praise God for a first person report.
Indeed, Mr. Easter. Are we to infer that you had no trouble seeing past the log in your own eye?
Being that I don’t have a dog in this fight, I nevertheless have more respect for those who proselytize in China and the middle east than to get the easy pickings among the Indians in Peru. Remember that the Indians (throughout the Americas) are notorious for mixing religions and/or changing their denomination depending on the latest missionary to show up.
AMEN!
Same old, same old. Men love the calluses on their knees more than the wounds through Christ's hands.
The closer you get to the third world the more pagan Catholicism becomes. (Or does it appear less pagan the closer you get to middle class America?) You don't need to leave the States, just go into any of the missions built by the conquistadors and you'll see it first hand.A prime example is the Mission San Xavier del Bac on the Tohono O'odham reservation South of Tucson. It is downright morbid inside.
It is not idolatry, just a little token to focus the thoughts.
I see you continue to post the “rants” of your dear friend. I’m pretty sure his first rant from Lima set a Freeper Religion Forum record for being pulled. It’s sad that uneducated people like him have followings.
C.S.Lewis
He whom I bow to only knows to whom I bow
When I attempt the ineffable Name, murmuring Thou,
And dream of Pheidian fancies and embrace in heart
Symbols (I know) which cannot be the thing Thou art.
Thus always, taken at their word, all prayers blaspheme
Worshipping with frail images a folk-lore dream,
And all men in their praying, self-deceived, address
The coinage of their own unquiet thoughts, unless
Thou in magnetic mercy to Thyself divert
Our arrows, aimed unskilfully, beyond desert;
And all men are idolators, crying unheard
To a deaf idol, if Thou take them at their word.
Take not, O Lord, our literal sense. Lord, in thy great
Unbroken speech our limping metaphor translate.
Mr. Randall seems to miss the point here. I kept expecting him to search inwardly about idolatry, but he continues to point fingers instead.
The ten commandments are not about how others should live their lives, but are about how I am to live. They are not rules for them, but rules for us. Any question that directs the problem of not following the ten commandments to others and not ourselves misses the point entirely.
Perhaps a definition of just what idolatry is would help.
Look at the fifth chapter of Matthew.
28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
So just what is the 'intent' of the commandment forbidding idol worship?
God wants us to worship him and nothing else. The American Heritage Dictionary defines worship as "the reverent love and allegiance accorded a deity, idol, or sacred object." The Greek words for worship combine the ideas of "falling down before," "paying homage to," and "serving." From these definitions it is obvious that worship involves recognition of worth in God, and the offering of our honor, praise, and adoration to the One who is altogether worthy.
So following Jesus' example of expounding on the commandments it is reasonable to define 'idol worship' as anything that we put above God or between ourselves and God that prevents (or inhibits) our reverent love and total allegiance to Him.
An idol is anything that comes between ourselves and God. Both inanimate objects and abstract pursuits (money, pleasure, sports, relationships, even religion) can come between us and God and become forms of idolatry. Religion you say? Yes, The pharisees became so consumed with how well they followed God’s commands that they forgot to have a relationship with God. They were prideful about how well they obeyed the law and in doing so, forgot the intent of the law.
We need to examine ourselves regularly to see if there is anything that we wouldn’t be willing to give up if God asked. If it is more important to us than God, then it is an idol in our lives. It may not be wrong in itself. It’s wrong because it’s taken priority above God.
Many see statues, icons, crucifixes, crosses, relics, etc. as idols, but they are not idols. It is what we make of them in our own hearts that determines if they are idols. Because we lack the ability to judge what is in another person's heart, it is impossible for us to tell just what is and what isn't a idol in their lives.
but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Mr. Randall need look no further than this verse for the answer in how to deal with idolatry in the world today. We are to first practice His commandments and secondly teach. If we do not approach this introspectively first, then all of our teaching is for nothing. If we are not an example of our own teachings, then we are nothing, but hypocrites.
We must repent of our sin and turn ourselves over to Christ, removing our own idols. Only then is the pathway to Christ cleared where we can enter into eternal fellowship with our living Savior and be the salt and the light for others to follow.
My favorite are the newspaper ads:
“Thank you St. Jude - for prayers answered”.
1) It’s one thing to say that only God the father answers prayers, as he is sovereign over all events and affairs of men; not the deceased.
2) It’s one thing to say that we have only one intercessor to God the Father, and that is Jesus Christ.
3) It’s one thing to say that dead people can’t hear you, nor respond to your prayers.
It’s entire something new to suggest that they read the newspaper from beyond the grave. Just sort of takes RCC idolatry to a whole new level!
I am not a Catholic, but I'm quite sure the Pope would be distressed at this practice.
Wonderful article. Thanks for posting it. All too true, I’m afraid. Sigh.
Sorry, but the stakes are too high here, and time is running out. F-— Mexico and F-— Peru. They will never...NEVER get better. We have to try to save this country.
BTTT
1. Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That I am not my own,[1] but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death,[2] to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.[3] He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil.[5] He also preserves me in such a way[6] that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head;[7] indeed, all things must work together for my salvation.[8] Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life[9] and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him.[10]
[1] I Cor. 6:19, 20 [2] Rom. 14:7-9. [3] I Cor. 3:23; Tit. 2:14. [4] I Pet. 1:18, 19; I John 1:7; 2:2. [5] John 8:34-36; Heb. 2:14, 15; I John 3:8. [6] John 6:39, 40; 10:27-30; II Thess. 3:3; I Pet. 1:5. [7] Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18. [8] Rom. 8:28. [9] Rom. 8:15, 16; II Cor. 1:21, 22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13, 14. [10] Rom. 8:14.
2. Q. What do you need to know in order to live and die in the joy of this comfort?
A. First, how great my sins and misery are;[1] second, how I am delivered from all my sins and misery;[2] third, how I am to be thankful to God for such deliverance.[3]
[1] Rom. 3:9, 10; I John 1:10. [2] John 17:3; Acts 4:12; 10:43. [3] Matt. 5:16; Rom. 6:13; Eph. 5:8-10; I Pet. 2:9, 10.
BTTT
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Jews don't believe in Jesus as a savior.
To hell with them, per the Word.
I arrived back at home wondering how I should respond to all the idolatry that I have beheld in these last three weeks.
When the Pope moves, the media covers it.
I'm sure he's a nice guy, but let's not pray to a man, shall we?