Posted on 12/10/2014 6:32:20 AM PST by marshmallow
"Christian unity" is one of those terms that stir up a whole spectrum of—sometimes emotional—opinions.
On the one hand, we know that Jesus prayed to the Father concerning future believers "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you" (John 17:21a, NIV).
On the other hand, charismatics know it is almost pointless to discuss the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12, 14) with Baptists or most anyone else from a mainline denomination. And Protestants of just about any stripe get riled up when they hear Catholics talking about papal infallibility or their adoration of the Virgin Mary.
It's on this latter point that Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, and successful author, has waded into a hornet's nest of controversy by telling a Catholic News Service interviewer that Protestants and Catholics "have far more in common than what divides us" and that Catholics do not "worship Mary like she's another god."
Regarding Warren's view that Catholics do not worship Mary, Matt Slick, writing on the website of the Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry, goes into great detail with material from Roman Catholic sources that say Mary is "the all holy one," is to be prayed to, worshipped, that she "brings us the gifts of eternal life" and she "made atonement for the sins of man."
If that's not putting her in the place of Christ as a god-like figure to be worshipped, then what is it?
"We believe in Trinity, the Bible, the resurrection, and that salvation is through Jesus Christ. These are the big issues," Warren says. "But the most important thing is if you love Jesus, we're on the same team."
To Warren's point about being on the same team, Slick.....
(Excerpt) Read more at charismanews.com ...
see how self interpretation can lead to questionable conclusions???
A "marketing technique"? Blame God, I guess! Try looking for the phrase "my savior". That, at least to me, gives us the impression that receiving and believing in Christ is a personal decision. Here, I found a few for you:
Psalm 38:22 Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior.
Psalm 18:46 The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God ... ... Exalted be God my Savior! .... ... Thanks be to my rock! May God my Savior be honored. ...
Psalm 51:14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who ... Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. ...
Psalm 25:5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. ...
Micah 7:7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. ...
2 Samuel 22:47 "The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!
Psalm 89:26 He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.' ... ...
2 Samuel 22:3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield ... ... He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior-- from violent people you save me. ... He is my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence. ...
Habakkuk 3:18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in in God my Savior. .... ...
Psalm 43:5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. ... I will praise him again--my Savior and my God! ...
Psalm 42:11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Psalm 42:5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within ... ... Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Psalm 27:9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior. ... Do not angrily turn me away. You have been my help. Do not leave me! Do not abandon me, O God, my savior! ...
Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves ...
Yup, that whole prayer is a result of self-interpretation.
It shows the dangers quite clearly.
Heh, the Twilight Zone is nothing compared to this thread.
We do not allow such claims, e.g. we do not allow the "Jesuit Extreme Oath of Induction" to be posted here.
If vet would read the Gospel of John, or even the small snippet I told him about (John 1:13), he’d be able to plainly see that believing in Christ and accepting thereby eternal life is a PERSONAL decision. Rejecting Christ is also a PERSONAL decision.
But, vet is not Christ’s sheep; he refuses to hear Christ’s voice, he does not follow him and, therefore, does not have eternal life and cannot claim he shall not perish.
Catholics have no concept of a personal saviour or relationship.
Your gobbeldy gook means nothing to me, and nothing to God.
YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN.
Do you believe that?
Well, Jesus isn’t a group Savior.
He saves on an individual basis, not en masse.
Nobody is saved on the basis of the group they belong to.
Almost everything Jesus did in Scripture in dealing with people was on a one on one basis.
I still can not believe anyone on this site would say what that character did. It is beyond sick. Does he have a gun? That would be scary with his mentality. He should apologize to everyone on here for that junk but that would serve no purpose since that is what he really believes. His true colors show.
It does happen, though!
A friend, for whom I prayed at least 20 years, became born again while still a Catholic. The Holy Spirit reached her, somehow. Prior to that, she believed she was a Christian going to heaven, though she had never accepted Christ as Savior.
She subsequently left the Catholic church and has now been attending Christian churches and is growing mightily in the Lord.
Dude....you really need to take a course in logic.
You're implication, and a weak one at that, is that catholic gals aren't having abortions.
You need to go pour yourself another cup of Sanka.
Maybe catholics should quit voting for liberal pro-abortion candidates....
Maybe the catholic church should practice what it preaches and deny pro-abortion politicians communion.....
Maybe the catholic church should clean up the priesthood...
You clean up your garden and then come to everyone else.
You do not know one thing about Protestants if you even consider we back abortion. Y’all seem to be doing that all on your own with people like Kennedy, Pelosi, etc. Set your own group straight before being critical of any other.
oh good, a copy of Elsies naughty pope list...remember I also included America in my comparison...got any naughty presidents that we can condemn the entire country for??
You say the Catholic church is not perfect because 10 of her 266 leaders were less than perfect....I guess you could make that judgement but since you don't follow the church, I don't see how it makes any difference to you.
12 But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:
13 Which were born, NOT OF BLOOD, nor of the WILL of the FLESH, nor of the WILL of MAN, but of God.
You’re right. Bizarro, indeed. ;)
Absolutely not.
You don't when you have a works based religion.
I remember how foreign it sounded to me at first and how incredulous I was at the thought that you could go right to Jesus or God without going through the church or a priest. I didn't think it was possible.
And yes, at that time I DID believe in the real presence and thought that I was eating Jesus.
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