Archbishop: Women Clergy Need Not Divide Anglicans, Catholics

IHS »

Fri Nov 20, 2009 5:30 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 1

Mickey,

Lest you forget we serve a Trinitarian God. So, the other poster doesn't serve Paul as you state but God.

Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, spoke these words about women's roles under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures are without error and are divinely inspired.

God the Holy Spirit, third person of the Trinity, authored what Paul spoke and wrote. Paul was only the messenger, your beef is with God.

Gay Marriage Supporters Threaten to Strip Churches of Tax Exemption

IHS »

Fri Nov 20, 2009 2:58 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 1

http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2009/11/manhattan-declaration58-a-call-of-christian-conscience

THE MANHATTAN DECLARATION JUST CAME OUT! Catholics, Orthodox and Evangelicals sign AGREEMENT!!!

Archbishop: Women Clergy Need Not Divide Anglicans, Catholics

IHS »

Fri Nov 20, 2009 2:56 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 2

Some women and men accept their God ordained roles and some fight against God's will.

Women have all the faculties to be a Priest or bishop or Deacon, but while they have the ability this is NOT their calling from GOD. Women were made perfect in their role as "Helpers" to the ordained. Men were made perfect in their role as "Leaders". Whether this is in the Family or the Church. The Man is the Leader, the Woman is the helper.

This is God's will for harmony in the Church and in the home. We should all do well to serve God in our appropriate roles.

The Catholic or Orthodox Churches, being the eldest Christian churches founded on the Apostles never ordained women to have headship over men. It is unnatural and not in God's will. While women can teach and preach in a non-ordained fashion, it is clearly not their VOCATION or calling by God to serve in an ordained role.

Planned Parenthood Clinic Director Resigns After Witnessing Abortion

IHS »

Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:14 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 2

Freedom of Choice still exists until your poor decisions affect others.

No married women get abortions, only single fornicators who want to cover their mistakes.

It is not a Fetus, it is a CHILD!!!!!! YOU MURDERERS.

United Methodist Court Affirms Stance Against Homosexuality

IHS »

Mon Nov 09, 2009 7:01 pm Agree: 3   Disagree: 6

As an evangelical pastor becoming Catholic, neither Mickey or Norman have done their due dilligence.

I actually have done my due dilligence, and the Catholic molestation cases while tragic only amount to 1.6% of all Pastors, compared to 4-6% in evangelical churches. If you mix in their adultery and fornication, we evangelicals based on claims against insurance agencies are unfortunately considerably higher than our Catholic counterparts.

Also, Limbo was never defined by the Catholic Church. So it never came and went, but rather Limbo was a discussion, not a doctrine or a dogma. The Catholic Church in the 2nd century was trying to define where the souls of the Old Testament went before Jesus resurrected. This is where Lazarus and the rich man went called by theologians "the bossom of Abraham". This place is not Heaven nor is it hell. It is some THIRD Place. Some called it Limbo, but it was never formally defined and is not a part of the faith.

Purgatory has not come and gone. Purgatory, or the cleasing period after death for those going to Heaven has always been defined by the Catholic Church since the very beginning, but later defined formally after this doctrine was attacked. So, this doctrine has always been an apostolic belief and always will be.

Bernard Law and Cardinal Mohoney are horrible men and they will get theirs'. The political workings of the Catholic Church are not perfect and this is a prime example. But we should not as evangelicals set a higher bar for Catholics than we do ourselves. We have plenty of immoral pastors engaged in prosperity Gospel, adultery, Homosexuality, etc. The plank of wood is plenty large enough in our eyes.

I am excited to join the Catholic Church and worship as the Apostles did and have the confidence that Christ through his Church will never fail and will always been lead into all truth as the scriptures promise.

Churches Celebrate 10th Anniversary of 'Justification' Agreement

IHS »

Wed Nov 04, 2009 5:01 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 5

Scripture showing that we must remain in God's friendship to be saved, means that we must cooperate with His Grace through our works.

Mt.7:21 Not everyone saying Lord Lord will inherit ...(showing just because you believe doesn't mean you will inherit eternal life)

Mt 24:13 those who PERSEVERE to the end will be saved

Rom 11:22 REMAIN in His Kindness OR YOU WILL BE CUT OFF(This epistle is all about salvation and cut off means no salvation unless you work and remain in his kindness because of your faith)

Phil 2:12 WORK OUT your Salvation with Fear and Trembling

1 Cor 9:27 drive body for fear of being DISQUALIFIED(not saved)

1 Cor 10:11-12 Thinking they are secure, may fall

Gal 5:4 Separated from Christ, you've fallen from Grace(you can lose your grace by your sinful actions)

Heb 6:4-6 describes sharers in the Holy Spirit who then fell away
Heb 10:26-27 IF SIN AFTER receiving Truth, judgement remains.

Churches Celebrate 10th Anniversary of 'Justification' Agreement

IHS »

Wed Nov 04, 2009 4:53 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 4

As a third generation evangelical pastor who is becoming a Catholic, it is amusing at best to see how people interpret what Catholics believe.

Online was the closest. Yes, we are infused with God's Grace NOT imputed as my fellow evangelicals believe. This Grace must be cooperated with by Faith. This faith is not Cheap faith of intellectual assent alone, but rather it is a True Faith which requires a response of the will which produces good works.

By faith we cooperate with God's grace and we change our lives. This infused Grace remains within us so long as we cooperate with it. If we choose to fall back to dark days and choose evil over God, then it is our Free will that no longer freely chooses God but rather we choose the flesh over the Spirit.

You can lose your salvation. If you fall into Mortal sin, which the Gospel of John describes that some sins are not deadly and others are. You will lose your salvation if you do not persevere to the end in faith. Again, real faith means transforming your will and keeping God's commandments.

If you say you have faith and have nothing to show for it, then you do not have faith at all.
If you have faith and while you are not perfect but you strive to be holy, keep the commandments then you will be saved by His Grace through faith working in love.

Maine Voters Repeal Gay Marriage Law

IHS »

Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:24 pm Agree: 4   Disagree: 1

Children are already punnished by exposing them to two homosexual parents!

Families are Mom, Dad, Children NOT MOM< MOM and Children.

By depriving children of both male and female parents, children are deprived of what God intended for their formation as a healthy person.

Two homosexual parents show a disordered relationship which is not good for children to see and be exposed to.

They are not families.

Anglican Leaders Welcome Vatican Move; Raise Questions

IHS »

Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:09 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 5

Darshan and Believer,

I find your posts lacking any authority.

Where in scripture does it say that scripture is the "ONLY" authority.

Or how about, where in scripture does it say that scripture is the final authority?
Since many parts of scripture say that the Church of the Living God is the final authority when there is a disagreement, just like the Old Covenenant.

Sola scriptura was not a hebrew doctrine and nor is it a Christian doctrine. Many evangelicals like myself are waking up to the fact that for this doctrine to hold water it must be explicit and stand alone on its own.

If you believe in Sola scriptura, then which scriptures???? As evangelicals we ACCEPT the findings of the Catholic Church choosing 27 books for the New Testament and rejecting some 50 other Epistles and Gospels. It is the Authority of the Catholic Church that decided our Christian Canon.

The Word of God is authoritative and it is only because followers of God attested to its veracity and inspiration of certain scriptures over others, which explicitly defines the authority of the Catholic Church.

All these Epistles were not always seen as the Word of God in the first 300 years, but when the Catholic Church officially spoke and decided the Canon of scripture, that was it.

Sola scriptura didn't exist in the first covenant. Moses and God's prophets were in charge and scripture was their foundation as well as oral tradition. Similarly, sola scriptura didn't exist with the New Covenant Christians either. The Hierarchy was in Charge and the oral and written tradition was its foundation as it was in the first covenant.

Lastly, the original Christians didn't have any scriptures till some 40-80 years later. They were not sola scriptura then either. When Jesus said search the scriptures, 52 times he was referring to the Old Testament. Not sola scriptura there either. The Chosen hierarchy of God always had the final say on God's Word and how it should be understood.

Brazil's March for Jesus Draws 1.5 Million Evangelicals

IHS »

Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:56 am Agree: 1   Disagree: 5

What a welcome for Money smugglers!

Is this what Evangelical Christians see as their founders of their Church. So, their founders put thousands of dollars in a Child's back pack? And they are being welcomed home as heros?

Well, I'm sure they are judged on whether they are great speakers who have a really fun and entertaining worship service. How low has the bar gone?

Anglican Leaders Welcome Vatican Move; Raise Questions

IHS »

Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:01 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 4

Matthewr1,

As an evangelical pastor who is converting to the Catholic faith I am suprised by your posts. You butt in and throw scripture around like it is yours'. And you give your own interpretation more authority than Chiesa's.

It is quite apparent from the way you write, that you have no Protestant or Evangelical Seminary training and you have no formal theological education either. So, all you have is your own thoughts that you try to shove down people's throats.

Yes, some people throw out their opinions, but many evangelicals debate using exegesis which you do not. You seem ill-equipped to actually have an intelligent debate without trying to chastise others who disagree with your position. You basically offer nothing except your opinion. You don't offer research, linguistics, chronological context, how was it said and why.

If your interpretation bears so much authority, then show me and others where in scripture you personally received the gift to be lead into all truth? Last time I checked the scriptures, the Apostles personally received this gift and passed it to their successors of whom you have no connection.

Your interpretation has no authority. What has authority is the Word of God and that Word of God was entrusted by specific men to understand and interpret. You were not one of these men and nor were any of your church founders.

Upgrade your posts from ranting and raving and chastising others, to truly researching the information you post. You make all of us evangelicals look very unsophisticated by your poor skills of debate. Once you do this, we will allow you to come to the Adult's table.

German Protestant Body Elects First Female Head

IHS »

Thu Oct 29, 2009 11:40 am Agree: 0   Disagree: 3

The Sweedish Lutheran Church just announced that it is going to offer gay weddings in their churches.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

German Protestant Body Elects First Female Head

IHS »

Thu Oct 29, 2009 11:34 am Agree: 4   Disagree: 5

I guess their members don't read scripture much do they? Woman shall have no headship over men, and she is a divorced woman as well.

God hates divorce and woman are not ordained by God for headship over men.

Anglican Leaders Welcome Vatican Move; Raise Questions

IHS »

Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:40 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 5

LP,

That was funny, but you don't have to whisper. The eastern Church and the western church were one church my friend for the first 1000 years.

They were both of the original apostolic origin;however, the bishop of Rome always had primacy. This is a fact, recently attested to at a Orthodox/Catholic meeting in Ravenna, Italy. Because the Orthodox accept the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome in a united church, they are today speaking together on the Island of Cyprus discussing what that Primacy would look like if the two church became one again like the first 1000 years.

They accept the Pope's primacy, and now they are defining what that means from an eastern perspective based on scripture and tradition.

Anglican Leaders Welcome Vatican Move; Raise Questions

IHS »

Tue Oct 27, 2009 11:24 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 5

Online,

I actually took New Testament Greek. Your translation for Rock is incorrect. Again, you are not a linguist, I AM.

In the 1st century the word of Rock is Petra in Greek which is because rocks are given a femaile gender; however, when any female name is given to a male you take the a off and put the "os" on it so Petra becomes Petros. You cannot call Simon, Petra for he is a man.

You sound like you are getting frustrated because of your lack of linguistic knowledge, so you should pray about it. Jesus gave His own personification of Rock to Simon in front of a gigantic rock in Caeserea Phillipi. I've seen this Rock and it is huge. So, Jesus is not going to make in your opinion Simon a smaller rock than Pagan Rock. No, he will make Simon THE ROCK-Shimon Kepha.

Jesus spoke in aramaic and there are other accounts where even Paul calls Simon Cephas which means Rock in Galatians.

Small rock in this time was LITHOS not Petros. This is a language historical fact and not open to discussion.

Here is the deal. I objectively searched out the language, did a historical reference of the language and also did a grammatical reference on the sentence structure in Greek and Hebrew. The fact is I came up with the Truth that Peter is the Rock on which the Church is built.

You came up with evidence with a prior motive. You tried and failed to bend the scriptures because you wanted it to say what you wanted. I am a pastor, and a third generation pastor to boot. I came at this as objective as anyone could. I did not want to become Catholic AT ALL. I had no desire. Catholic clergy make no money at all to keep a family. I would also lose friends by doing this, so I truly researched everything out and triple checked it. Every time I did, the Catholic position was affirmed.

What I did was exegesis. What you did was eisegesis. I objectively drew out the Truth of the scriptures and you subjectively drew in your own meaning. Big difference!

Anglican Leaders Welcome Vatican Move; Raise Questions

IHS »

Tue Oct 27, 2009 11:05 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 4

Believer,

The Pope is not extravagant. He wears the same "Uniform" everyday. You know..the White habbit. Wow! It must cost a couple of hundred dollars and he wears it everyday. Based on that alone, you dress better believer!

Any of the vestments he wears do not belong to him but his office and gets passed down. They are beautiful vestments for certain, but he does not own them. The Church owns them and these vestments helps the people immagine what Heaven will be like since all of the vestments have pictures of angels, Jesus, Mary, the Apostles, the Holy Spirit, etc. The vestments are scriptural events in clothing. Pretty cool having clothing that is bible based!!!!

Online,

So you don't accept Purgatory. Either did I at first. Then I asked where all the old saints who died before the resurrection went??? It wasn't heaven and it wasn't hell, what was this third place that the rich man and Lazarus went to? Was it a place or a condition?
This made me think that if there was a place or a condition after death that was neither heaven or hell, then what was it??? It was a holding place, until the resurrection. After the resurrection did this holding place or condition just cease to exist. Maybe. We don't know.

What we do know from scripture is that Paul specifically says that we will be judged and that what we did that was good will be merit and what we did that was bad or didn't do will be burnt. WE WILL SUFFER LOSS, but be saved as through FIRE!!!!!

So Paul specifically says we will suffer loss after we die, but be saved through FIRE!!!! This sounds like Purgatory to me.

Death maybe immediate, but judgement in front of the Lord may take some time if we can say time. Maybe not Chronos, but Kiros time. In this judgement we may suffer loss, and yet be saved as through fire. God's love will purge us so we may enter heaven.
When we die we are forgiven if we accept Jesus, but we still have attachments to sin and those attachments will be purged from us for as we know "Nothing Unclean Shall Enter Heaven" Rev 21:27

Anglican Leaders Welcome Vatican Move; Raise Questions

IHS »

Tue Oct 27, 2009 10:49 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 4

TL,

As an Evangelical I mostly went to Church on Sunday and then did Wed. night bible studies at Church. Now that I am becoming a Catholic, I actually go to Mass everyday. This is so amazing to worship Adonai everyday. I worship Elohim on the Sabbath too, including Sundays of course. The Catholic Church is the only church I know that worships God 7 days a week in every country in every land in every language on the planet. If you know anything about Jewish customs, then you will know also from the scriptures how Jesus prayed at specific times. This is a very Jewish thing to do. As I am becoming a Catholic, I have learned to do the Liturgy of the Hours. This is where I pray at 6am, 9am, noon, 3pm, 6pm and 9pm. I have readings from the Old Testament, then I sing a psalm, read a few lines from an Epistle and a few lines from the Gospels. I chant the readings rather than saying them. It is all very Jewish, but then again this is where the Catholic church came from. All its founders were Jews like Yeshua, Saul Paul and Shimon Kepha for example. The lit candle is always by the Tabernacle where God is present, which is also very Jewish.

In my conversion process, I have met well over 100 Jewish people who became Messianic Jews then became Catholics. They feel so much more at home in the Catholic Church, and in the Catholic Church they can truly see the fulfillment in scripture in worship and practice. If you are every curious of a few converts like these, let me know! :)

Anglican Leaders Welcome Vatican Move; Raise Questions

IHS »

Tue Oct 27, 2009 10:48 pm Agree: 3   Disagree: 6

Believer,

The "Us" in God has given us the ministry of reconciliation was for the Apostles and their appointed elders alone. Context . Not everyone received this gift and there is no mention of anyone interpreting your way for 1500 years. So, it seems to me that the earliest Christians got it right and you are just misinterpreting it because...."YOU HAD TO BE THERE". I am not surprised how we evangelicals make exegetical mistakes like this when we were not there to experience it.

A priest has every right to not loosen sins if someone acts impennitant. The Priest will say come back when you are really serious. This is a very rare occurence. 1 in 200 million chance maybe. Really the only times this happens is if someone has liquor on their breath and really don't know what they are doing. You must have your faculties sound to confess, so no one is being condemned.

Hman,

I'm not sure if you, like others, are going off misinformation but neither the Catholic Church in the Catechism nor any speeches by Priests or bishops call for the murder or killing of homosexuals. In fact, the largest outreach to homosexuals is by the Catholic church. Some come into www.couragerc.com to seek to be celibate or relearn to be heterosexual. Courage has not hundreds, but thousands of people who have successfully been healed, but this is the smallest portion of people who are served by the CC. The vast majority of gays are helped through our hospitals, counseling services, half-way homes, soup kitchens, etc. The Catholic Church, in this perspective, is the biggest provider of human services to gays. Sometimes the Catholic Church is the only true unconditional love any gay people experience.

Anglican Leaders Welcome Vatican Move; Raise Questions

IHS »

Tue Oct 27, 2009 6:58 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 3

Hman,

Peter denied Jesus three times, and Christ restored Peter asking him three times do you love me Peter more than these? Feed my sheep, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.

The Rock was restored by Christ power, and not by his own. Evangelical churches today come and go based on the charismatic leader of their church, while the Catholic Church has lasted 2000 years built on one of the weakest leaders.

You see, Christ picked wisely his leader, because Peter knew how weak he was personally and only through Christ authority could Peter lead; by contrast, so many political leaders and evangelical pastors think they are the "Stuff" because people treat them like rock stars and they truly think they did it all on their own. God's church is best served by the weakest and most humble so they might understand the power of God in their ministry and accept it, so they know it is not of their own doing but of God's Lordship.

Anglican Leaders Welcome Vatican Move; Raise Questions

IHS »

Tue Oct 27, 2009 6:52 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 3

TL,

The Catholic Church also never claims to be the only Church. It claims to be the one true church of Christ having the fullness of Truth. The Catholic Church also says that Christian Truth may reside outside her walls in other Christian communities like us Evangelicals and Protestants.

The Catholic Church also never claimed that you must be Catholic to be saved, as I heard as a pastor's kid.

This type of misinformation of what you think the Catholic Church teaches and what she actually does are miles apart, as my research found. As a person who likes to do their own research, I was not satisfied with conjecture or hypothesis. I feel like all these years as a Protestant/Evangelical that I have been lied to. As a third generation pastor, I asked my dad and granddad why they told me some of these things growing up. Bottom line, they never intended to lie but they just kept the misinformation train going because some pastor they respected told them this was the truth and they didn't do their own research to see if it was true. So, they unknowingly propigated a falsehood to me and many others. This happens a lot!!!

Here is the Online Catechism of the Catholic Church. The First time I read it I agreed with everything in it. Mind you, I was a fundamentalist evangelical too. The CCC is so biblically and historical sound that it is my favorite book after the bible. The CCC is also extremely reasonable. So, if you are a person who uses faith and reason you will like the Catholic faith a lot.

Thousands of evangelical pastors like myself are discovering the truth of Catholicism and converting and we intend to stop the misinformation and evangelize the truth from an objective, well researched, evangelical, historical and scriptural based position. It is easy to argue going by scripture alone, but not easy when you see this all this evidence including scripture.

http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm