Posted on 04/30/2010 8:03:48 AM PDT by Quix
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7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. 8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! 9 Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, --New Living Translation 7And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking. [I Kings 18:25-29.] 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. 9Pray, therefore, like this: 15But if you do not forgive others their trespasses [their [j]reckless and willful sins, [k]leaving them, letting them go, and [l]giving up resentment], neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses. --Amplified Pray with Simplicity 5"And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat? 6"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. 7-13"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: 16-18"When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don't make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won't make you a saint. If you 'go into training' inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn't require attention-getting devices. He won't overlook what you are doing; he'll reward you well. |
Mark Kirby: O Mother of Good Counsel, I am all thine, Most Holy Mary, There is no part of my life that is not open to thee, I want to be completely transparent with thee, Praying in this way, I can be at rest, |
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Chocolate ones. Chocolate is the cure for all stress.
We are debate teams :).. so the Protestants will always have my loyalty..
Hey we can shake hands when the thread is over :)
Splitting hairs.
Take the Blessed Virgin Mary out of the Bible and watch what happens...the Incarnation and mankind's subsequent salvation fail to happen.
And yes, I am familiar with the argument that God could have just picked any woman who was of the House of David, but He DIDN'T, he picked the Blessed Virgin Mary. The REALITY is that our Lord didn't need to be born of a woman at all, He could have just appeared as an adult, He CHOSE His mother.
Anyone who says that indulgences have to do with purchasing forgiveness, as you did, either is ignorant or is mendacious. Sorry, those are the only choices. And I knew that before I became a Catholic.
I cannot speak to your intent. And by the justice and the rules of the forum, I may not speak to your intent.
But I not only can but ought to say that when you present indulgences as being about forgiveness you squander your credibility as an authority on the Catholic Church.
It is possible to make the mistake of reasoning from the particular to the general. That is, careless thinkers may say, "I was taught such and such, therefore everyone is taught such and such." But responsible adults "test [or prove] all things [and] hold fast to that which is good." Throughout my time as an Episcopalian I continually educated myself about my communion. In the process I learned about other Christian fellowships.
So I learned that it was simply a falsehood to present indulgences as being about the purchasing of forgiveness. Anyone who says that simply does not "know what the Catholic church teaches and what it's about."
Refute what? That there is a statue of the goddess Diana in the Vatican? Was it specified that it is in the Vatican Museum? Is there some protestant problem with that? Are we supposed to check with all y'all protestants to find out what's okay to have in the Vatican museum,and what's not? LOL! Not likely.
I think we have friends on many levels ..I have many Catholic friends and family..I love them..
These are friends from my gym, from clubs and just old friends from school
We are friends in that situation.. I worry about there eternity, but unless one of them brought up religion, we do not discuss it..
One recently told me she believed there were many ways to heaven..I winced and said something like” the bible does not agree with that”...and we went back to the original discussion ... if she had an interest in discussing that we would have continued ..you know what I mean ...
I believe God opens doors, we do not break them down
You consarned Papist! Sit still so we can tell you what you believe, and prove how wrong it is! Dad rat it!
/jk
I think most reformed Protestants see the early reformers as only 1/2 step from Rome.. They really did want to stay Catholic and reform the doctrine to bring it more in line with scripture..
At heart they held fast to much of the catholic tradition.. especially Luther
I look at that church as an antiquity
It's not just here. A local Baptist pastor went on a sermon series which was explicitly anti-Catholic. Another large and prosperous Baptist Church had an anti-Catholic radio ad.
I felt kind of honored!
However, I have never known you to utter some of the anti-Catholic slurs that others have. If you did, would your really expect your Catholic friends to remain friends?
Yes, but basically everything in the church is from the late 19th century or later.
That’s a perfect illustration of one of my chief frustrations with discussing anything with a protestant. There are literally thousands of “reform” or “protestant” sects, and then splits off of them, and splits off of splits.
All of them are vociferous, insistent on their own theology, and all of them have as an avocation criticizing the Catholics. I can’t keep them straight, and find it pointless to try. I suspect if all y’all didn’t have Catholics, you’d be trashing one another worse than you do us.
The Vatican Museums are the among the world’s most important art museums. What are they supposed to do with major works of art? Should they destroy pieces they don’t agree with like the Taliban did with the Buddhas in Afghanistan?
The example of Saul thinking he was contacting Samuel does come to mind immediately.
That's not quite true. You will seldom see Lutherans or Anglicans on these threads unless they are here to support Catholics.
True.
I do not think most Catholics can see the depth of their devotion to Mary is as strong or stronger than it is to Christ. They just take all the prayers and devotions and novenas and the rosaries and the traditions (like the ave maria and the bride dedicating herself to Mary) , and the May crowning as part of their faith..they do not consider the energy and time they devote to her as opposed to the time and energy they give Christ..
As a Catholic I denied I worshiped Mary, it is only retrospectively I can see that there was no difference in the time or devotion between her and God
I think it starts with the TJTM at the top of papers in Catholic schools (to Jesus THROUGH Mary)..then there is the rosary you get with your 1st communion kit ..and the honor of crowing mary in your first communion outfit ...it is just ingrafted into Catholic kids so it seems right.. and the church names it veneration ... so to you thats what it is, even though the time spent on her steals time from Christ
My son, although but a fallible human, does not see honor paid to me as stealing honor from him. Honoring my husband does not mean I do not honor Christ. Honoring a parent’s teaching is not demeaning Christ.
Just keep straight all of us hold some commonalities ... we all believe the 5 solas from the reformation and salvation by faith not works..
The doctrinal difference between Reformed churches is pretty nil ... like the OPC only sing psalms my PCA loves guitars and drums and hymnal and contemporary worship song .. basically we and the OPC , EPC and the BPC all use the same confession of faith.. the Westminster confession ...
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