A couple of days ago I started to respond to you
concerning the questions you had to the article I wrote
titled "Who is He" and as I wrote I found myself going off
on this tangent for an hour or so and realized that I was
not really answering the questions you had raised. So I
stopped what I was writing, started again and focused on
your questions. But after re-reading the material I had
written initially I decided to finish my thoughts by adding
to that text. I felt these thoughts needed to be shared with
others in the hope of enlightening anyone who may read it.
So here is the start and the finish of the tangent I went
off on.
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/dec2012/johnb1211.htm
Gerlinda, you indicated that you are a former Catholic
and I have shared with Doves before that I am as well. I am
in my 60's now and was a Catholic for over 40 of those
years. I am not a non-Catholic Catholic basher..... but I
was a Catholic that was steeped in Catholicism having been
an altar boy and schooled in Catholic institutions. We were
taught from a very young age that the Catholic Church was
the only true church and the only way to get to heaven was
through it. We were taught to not even go into other
churches because they were all false religions. My parents,
grandparents, great grandparents, friends and relatives were
all Catholic so I assumed and concluded that there couldn't
possibly be anything wrong with the
Catholic religion or my ancestry of relatives would have
discovered it and fled the church. So I spent many years
completely unbendable in my faith and I shunned anyone who
tried to minister to me against it.........just like I was
taught to.
Flash forward 40 years.........
My wife is not Catholic and secretly prayed for many
years that God would put someone or something in my path
that would crack the Catholic barrier so to speak. And just
as God has promised.... "that the fervent prayer of the
righteous will not go unanswered" my wife's prayer was
answered.
I was sent a video tape by Dave Hunt titled...."A Woman
Rides the Beast" I watched it, was instantly convicted in my
spirit of its truth and became very very angry that my
eternal destiny had been jeopardized all these years by
belonging to this false (and after many years of
research)....evil to the bone organization. Due to my
extreme anger and my now incessant need to know the truth I
have spent an inordinate amount of time researching this
un-holiest of religions.
Now if there are Catholics reading this text right now.......they are infuriated at me.........just
as I would have been 20+ years ago. They are thinking......."How dare this John B guy mock and
disparage my wonderful church where all my friends and
relatives gather to hear the word of God from our loving
Father Francis. Our families whole lives are centered
around our beloved church. John B, you're nothing more
than a poor, hateful, no good, Catholic basher."
I grew up in a church like that and those would have been
my words (and much worse) for many decades. I am truly sorry
if I offended any of you but as in the old
saying........sometimes the truth hurts. It did for me, it
hurt a lot, I was extremely angry when confronted with the
truth.
You see we were never encouraged to read our bibles for
ourselves and the Sunday readings in church were pretty
generic from year to year never digging very deep at all
into scripture. And when I did read the bible in those days
it didn't seem all that clear for my understanding. I have
since found out that after you are filled with the Holy
Spirit the discernment factor of your understanding rises
exponentially and the meanings of the holy text flow off the
page especially after you ask the Lord to share the meaning
with you.
Recently I was presented with a statement that initially
perplexed me but after thinking about it I had to agree. And
that statement was......"The Jesus
of the bible is a different Jesus from
the one the Catholic church worships" My initial
thought was ...what's up with this.......there are not two
Jesus'......but there are.
Concerning the two Jesus'...........
Let me list some of the extreme differences between the
Jesus of the bible and the Jesus of the Catholic Church with
the applicable bible verses listed and then contrasted
against the RCC's edicts as listed in their Catechism (rule
book). Then you decide if there are two Jesus' and if the
RCC is a false brand of Christianity. And if indeed you need
to flee from that church as God instructs you to in
Rev.18:4-8
Jesus the Savior
Bible: "He saved us, not because of any righteous deeds
we had done, but because of His mercy (Titus3:5)
RCC teaches that by His death and resurrection, Jesus
Christ has "opened" heaven to us(1026). Each person attains
His own salvation by grace and good works(1477)
Jesus finished the work of redemption
Bible: "By one offering He has forever perfected those
who are being sanctified" (Hebrews10:14) "Unlike the other
high priests, He does not need to offer daily
sacrifices"(Hebrews7:27,28)
RCC denies it is finished. "The sacrifice of Christ and
the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single
sacrifice....the same Christ who offered Himself once in a
blood manner on the altar of the cross is contained and
offered in an unbloody manner"(1367) "Every time this mystery (reference
to Rev.17) is celebrated the work of our redemption is
carried on"(1405)The sacrifice is "offered in reparation
for the sins of the living and the dead"(1414)
In other words the RCC is saying
"look Jesus You didn't do it right on the cross, You
didn't pay our sin debt in full, so we the RCC are going
to re-sacrifice You millions of times per day in the
sacrifice of the Mass ( Eucharist) until that sin debt is
really paid. Can you imagine how insulted our Lord and
Savior must feel when He sees the millions of golden cups
(chalice's) and the hosts (bread wafers) lifted by the RCC
priests in the millions of daily Masses.........indicating
that He Jesus failed on the cross. Is there any doubt then
why God in Rev.17 referred to the inhabitants of the earth
(RCC church members) being "drunk with the wine of her
fornication". Or..."having in her hand a golden cup full
of the abominations and filthiness of her
fornication".(Rev.17:4) Or why in Rev.17:5 God uses the
word "Mystery" to refer to this organization when the RCC
states that every time this "mystery" (sacrifice of the
Eucharist) is celebrated the work of our redemption is
carried on. You can almost read the pleasure in God's
words when this great drunken harlot is finally destroyed
in Rev.17 and 18. On her head or her "wanted poster"
reads........"Mystery, Babylon the Great, The Mother
(spawner) of Harlots and of the Abominations of the
Earth".(Rev.17:5)
When she is destroyed by world forces inspired by God (
"For God has put it in their hearts to fulfill His
purpose"...Rev.17:17) the millions of souls in heaven that
were murdered by her and were seeking revenge
rejoice. ..."Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you
holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her."
(Rev.18:20)
Jesus, His life, death and resurrection
provided the only way to be saved
Bible: There is no salvation in anyone else, for there is
no other name in the world given to men in which we are to
be saved". Act:4:12
RCC denies this by claiming the Catholic Church "is
necessary for salvation"(846) and claiming "the plan of
salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator,
in the first place amongst whom are Muslims" (841)
Jesus' shed blood is the only remission for
sins
Bible: "Without the shedding of blood there is no
forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22) "Since these (sins) are
forgiven, there is no further offering for sin"(Hebrews
10:18)
RCC teaches "an indulgence is a remission before God of
the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already
been forgiven, which....may be applied to the living or the
dead" (1471)
Jesus our advocate and only Mediator
Bible: "God is one, one also is the mediator between God
and men, the man Jesus Christ".(1Timothy 2:5, 1 John 2:1)
RCC teaches that Mary "did not lay aside her saving
office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring
us the gifts of eternal salvation". She "is
....Advocate....and Mediatrix" (969)
Jesus...Head of the Church
Bible: "He has put all things under Christ's feet and
made Him, thus exalted, head of the church". (Eph.1:22,23)
RCC teaches that the Pope, "By reason of his office as
Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire church has
full, supreme and universal power over the whole church, a
power which he can always exercise unhindered" (882) He
exercises infallibility when "he proclaims by a definitive
act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals" (891)
Jesus the soon coming king
Bible: "This same Jesus, who has been taken away from you
into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen Him
go into heaven" Acts 1:11
RCC denies this by teaching Jesus returns daily to the
altars of the Catholic churches to be worshipped: "The body
and blood....soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ...is
truly, really and substantially contained" in the Eucharist.
(1374-78)
These are some but not all of the glaring differences
between the Jesus of the bible and the Jesus of the Roman
Catholic Church.
And just as there are two Jesus' there are also two
different Doctrines of Salvation. One from a biblical point
of view and the RCC view.
There is Salvation as proclaimed in the gospel
and........ the RCC salvation that requires and demands many
additional requirements like sacraments, (1129)
meritorious masses (1405) church membership (846) purgatory
(1030) indulgences (1498) and baptism (1256)
The bible teaches that salvation is through faith not
works (Eph.2:8,9) but the RCC teaches that it is through
faith plus works. And people can obtain their own salvation
and at the same time cooperate in saving their brothers
through good works and indulgences (1477,1479)
The bible says that salvation is by grace, not
merit....."All men are now undeservedly justified by the
gift of God" (Romans 3:24) "It is not because of their
works, otherwise grace would not be grace" (Roman11:6) but
the RCC denies justifying grace is undeserved....."We can
merit for ourselves and others all the graces needed to
attain eternal life" (2027)
There are many other examples of the vast disparity
between God's words in the bible and what man...the
RCC....has dreamt up and misused over the centuries. Many of
the doctrines and rules that the RCC has "invented" over the
centuries were sadly for monetary gain whether it be the
selling of indulgences, selling of Mass cards to get their
loved ones out of purgatory (that doesn't exist) or the man
other schemes used to generate funds for the papacy. As
written in Rev.17, 18 and other areas of the bible God is
extremely upset with the multiple century atrocities
perpetrated by the RCC. He often expresses His outrage
throughout the bible with this worldwide organization that
He describes as a drunken harlot woman riding a figurative
beast who turns out to be Satan. Meaning that this church is
literally a team with Satan. That's extremely serious
stuff..........
Soon as per scripture, call it what you will......... an
entity, an avatar, a clone, or a likeness of a RCC dead pope
will rise from the bottomless pit. This shell will be
indwelled by the king of the bottomless pit Abaddon and then
also by Satan himself. He will arrive immediately after the
rapture with all the answers to calm the world that will be
in total chaos. He will be headquartered in Rome at the
Vatican. Due to being indwelled by Satan he will perform all
manors of lying signs and wonders to deceive the planet. He
will formulate a seven year plan to bring the world back to
peace and prosperity. He will smooze and completely deceive
the planet into thinking he is a good guy while formatting
and maneuvering his death grip on world power. This will
take him 42 months or three and one half years. Then at the
42 month mark he turns into a monster. He totally blasphemes
the true God by declaring to the world that he is the one
true god of the universe who has now taken up residence on
earth. To prove he is indeed the true god he kills the two
witnesses in Jerusalem who no one could kill ending their 42
month ministry which ran concurrently with his first 42
months.
He then demands to be worshipped as the true god and
anyone who will not take his mark on their right hand or
forehead will be put to death. He brings great horror and
suffering to the planet for the remainder of the seven years
which have been shortened by the true God less no one
survive.
Gerlinda, I knew that as an x-Catholic you would indeed
relate to these facts and premises so like I said after
starting down this path while writing the previous post to
you I felt compelled to finish my thought process.
So you Catholics out there.......after reading this am I
indeed a no good rotten Catholic bashing piece of dog
du....... or.... a voice from the wilderness (today's
vernacular cyberspace) trying to throw you an eternal
lifeline?? I suggest you crack open your bibles and examine
your current beliefs very carefully........ for millions
believe, as I do, that we are rapidly running out of time
before the rapture happens. I believe God was very clear in
His warning to those that embrace the Catholic Church what
the consequences will be. He stated this warning below in
Rev.18.
Rev.18:4-8
" And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out
of her (the RCC), my people, lest you share in her sins, and
lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached
to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to
her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double
according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix
double for her. In the measure that she glorified herself
and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment
and sorrow; for she says in her heart, "I sit as queen, and
am no widow, and will not see sorrow." Therefore her plagues
will come in one day-death and mourning and famine. And she
will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God
who judges her.
There are Christian ministries out there whose sole
purpose is to evangelize Catholics and try to point out the
great disparity between God's word in the bible and whatever
the RCC has fabricated over the centuries. These ministries
hope to shed the saving light of the bible on the beliefs
and thinking of Catholics before it is too late.
One of these ministries is where I copied the above
distinctions between God's word and man's words. It's a
ministry in Plano, Texas run by Mike Gendron. I believe his
web site to be www. pro-gospel.org. I can't say enough about
the importance of his ministry and his performance of it.
Thank you and God bless you Mike for all you do and the
abuse you have endured (as a no good Catholic
basher) in trying to save these millions of led astray
people. When God passes out the crowns for achievement yours
will be special.
Blessings.........John B