Posted on 12/12/2017 5:34:21 PM PST by marshmallow
This is certainly surprising!
During a recent Friday night service, a pastor at New Life Church, an evangelical Protestant megachurch in Colorado Springs, CO, reportedly led the congregation in something you wouldnt normally expect: the Sign of the Cross and a prayer of a consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Redditer /u/MarvelDCgoodwithme, who is Catholic, explained on the /r/Catholicism subreddit that his Protestant mother attends the church and thought the prayer sounded Catholic. So she took pictures of a few of the slides with the prayer, which you can see at the bottom of this article.
And sure enough, its a prayer for consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus composed by Pope Leo XIII in 1899! The slides also have a picture of the statue of St. Peter in St. Peters Square at the Vatican.
She said it happened after the sermon, the redditer explained in a private message, the pastor presented the slides and asked the congregation to read the prayer and if they agreed with it to pray it with him. The pastor also closed his prayers with the sign of the cross.
Weve reached out to New Life Church to learn more about their thinking in using the prayer but havent yet received a response.
New Life Church was founded in 1984 and has about 10,000 members. It was in the news in the early 2000s when its founding pastor Ted Haggard admitted to using drugs and regularly visiting a male escort. He was also later accused of making unwanted sexual advances on a young man in his 20s at the church. After Haggard was dismissed from his position, the church appointed a new pastor Brady Boyd who has since greatly expand the churchs reach.
(Excerpt) Read more at churchpop.com ...
frequent verb (used with object) 4. to visit often; go often to; be often in: to frequent the art galleries.
They have this new invention it is called a dictionary, you might consider using one on occasion.
Saying all that, it doesn't surprise me that that some Protestants who have no understanding of scripture and are not grounded in the Word of God would succumb to such pagan idolatry.
I might add that the website states "However, this article will attempt to skim the surface of these mysteries just a bit, so that you can appreciate this special devotion in a deeper theological way." It is astounding that one would try to explain "deeper theological" truths based upon the experiences and visions of others. They might as well join the Mormons.
There is also something called logic. When I said I “would no longer be frequenting” That means I won’t be here on a regular basis.
So to tally it up:
1) You are wrong on definition
2)You are wrong on Grammar.
3) you are wrong on logic.
Quit while you are way behind.
Excellent.
Likewise many who are stiff and cold and formal.
But God is our Abba/Daddy and Jesus Himself called us friends.
I think the danger is in getting a cavalier attitude towards sin that people, and I've heard this from those professing Christ, think that God doesn't really care what we do.
So some other Catholic called in the Catholic posse, eh?
And you answered.
IOW, it was your own personal interpretation of Scripture.
Since when it that allowed by the Catholic church? And why haven't you been condemned for it, as if I have to ask.......
Excuses, excuses......
I may be a lot of things in life....but being behind you is not one of them. Checkmate remains.
The pigeons came home!!
I guess I should be flattered that you consider me equal to a group. BTW if you go back the original comment I responded to, you will notice that YOU had already called in the prot posse.
You really have an over inflated opinion of yourself. It’s a trend I’ve observed among a couple of your fellow Roman Catholics.
And I have too. But that does not change the Scriptural truth that God is our Abba and Jesus is the One who called us friends.
Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father!
Galatians 4:4-7 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
John 15:14-15 You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
I didn’t ping any posse.
I pinged others who I knew felt the same way that I did. They left Catholicism because of the discrepancies they saw between Scripture and Catholic teaching.
Please post where I said those exact words, otherwise admit that you are mind reading and ask the mod to delete your erroneous post
Since when it that allowed by the Catholic church? And why haven't you been condemned for it, as if I have to ask.......
Since always, but you only been told this about 15-20 times. Now pay very close attention. The Catholic Church has definitively defined around a dozen verses. Depending on the version of the Bible you use there are approximately 35,000 verses. This means that the Catholic Church has defined approximately .0337 percent of the entire Bible. Further Catholic may have other interpretation of those defined verse as long as they are not in direct opposition to the clear teachings of the Church.
Thanks be to God. And this confession of faith is an overall consistent characteristic of the elect, including repentance when convicted of not doing do.
If is by grace that we get faith, and respond to it with obedience, and which God rewards with more grace, though what man really deserves ifs damnation, and the grace that God gives is not that of essentially enabling one to become good enough in character to be with God.
Man could not and would not believe on the Lord Jesus or follow Him unless God gave him life, and breath, and all good things he has, (Acts 17:25) and convicted him, (Jn. 16:8) drew him, (Jn. 6:44; 12:32) opened his heart, (Acts 16:14) and granted repentance (Acts 11:18) and gave faith, (Eph. 2:8,9) and then worked in him both to will and to do of His good pleasure the works He commands them to do. (Phil. 2:13; Eph. 2:10)
Thus man owes to God all things, ( (1 Chronicles 29:14; 1 Corinthians 4:7) and in conversion enables and motivates man to do what he otherwise would not and would not do, and while man is guilty and rightly damned for resisting God contrary to the level of grace given him, (Prov. 1:20-31; Lk. 10:13; 12:48; Rv. 20:11-15) - which disobedience is the only thing man can take credit under grace (which denotes unmerited favor) God has chosen to reward faith, (Heb. 10:35) in recognition of its effects, which obedience (again) God both enabled and motivated.
And which means that God justifies man without the merit of any works, which is what Romans 4:1-7ff teaches, with works of the law including all systems of justification by actually properly meriting it by works, for, if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. (Galatians 3:21)
Thus the penitent publican and the contrite criminal, both of whom abased themselves as damned and destitute sinners and cast all their faith upon the mercy of God (which ultimately is Christ), were justified, and as such could go directly to be with the Lord at death, even before they did any manifest works of faith. However, saving faith effects obedience by the Spirit, (Romans 8:12-14) and justify one as being a believer, and fit to be rewarded under grace for such, (Mt. 25:30-40; Rv. 3:4) though only because God has decided to reward man for what He Himself is to be actually properly credited for. While Catholics can agree with some of this, salvation by grace is not that of man actually becoming good enough to be with God thru a ritual and a postmortem purification process, but by being accounted righteousness as Abraham was, (Gn. 15:6) by faith which does purify the heart in the washing of regeneration, (Acts 15:7=9; Titus 3:5) which motivates and enables him to live accordingly as one who is positionally in Heaven, (Eph. 2:6) and awaits actually being there at death (Phi;l./ 1:21-23) or the Lord's return, (1Ths. 4:17) though in his flesh dwells no good thing, (Rm. 6:18) and it is at death that he will surely cease to sin. (Rm. 6:7)
That is an absurd, bombastic assertion. As a former practicing faithful RC i can attest, by God's grace, that he more one understands Rome as well as Scripture then the more they may see the manifest contrast. The question is where to begin? Even the current debate we have Roman "salvation by grace," in which one is regenerated by ritual, without personal repentant faith, and "by grace" rendering the subject to be formally justified by his/her own righteousness, and at that point (it is conceded) the subject is thus fit to enter glory.
But since the sinful nature remains and see its outworking, then the subject of this ritual usually most endure an indeterminate time in postmortem purifying torments to atone for sins he failed to sufficiently provide for on earth, and also become actually good enough to enter Heaven. "By God's grace" of course.
Want substantiation?
In contrast is salvation by grace in Scripture, in which the heart is purified by personal repentant faith, this being the effectual salvific faith which is expressed in baptism and otherwise confessing the Lord Jesus by the Spirit of God, but which act of baptism does not effect regeneration (Acts 10:43,47; 15:7-9) - though that may be the occasion of conversion - nor are the effects thereof that which obtains imputed righteousness and acceptance with God (though the indwelling Spirit of regeneration sanctifies him and is part of salvation in the full sense: 1Co. 6:11);
for it is faith which is counted for righteousness, making him "accepted in the Beloved" and seated together with the Lord Jesus in Heaven, (Eph. 1:6; 2:6) with access with boldness into the holy of holies in Heaven, from which he awaits the only transformative cleansing change in Scripture after this life, that of the return of Christ,
Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:21)
Which is what Paul yearned for, not purgatory, in order to be as much like Christ - whom he would be with at death - as possible, while striving to be as much like a resurrected believer as possible in this life. PHil. 1:21-23; 3:7-21; 2Co. 5:8)
And at which time (the resurrection of believers) is the only suffering for the mentioned, that of the judgment seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Timothy. 4:1,8; Revelation 11:18; Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Peter 1:7; 5:4) and which is the suffering of the loss of rewards (and the Lord's displeasure) due to the manner of material one built the church with, which one is saved despite the loss of such, not because of. (1 Corinthians 3:8ff)
Are works necessary for salvation" Not to obtain justification but yes, as necessary fruit attesting to saving faith which justifies a believer as being so.
And which faith God rewards in recognition of the works done by man due to God enabling and motivating Him, thus only God is rightly worth to glory, and the only thing man really deserves is damnation.
Takes me back 50 years to my seminary days.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.