Why There Can Be No Union With Roman Catholics

This must be addressed by someone, and I have yet to see it.
It is important because there are quite a lot of young promising Christian people, both male and female, who are drifting into the Roman Catholic Church feeling that the Roman Church is the  "better way' to do Christianity.
It is my contention it is not.
Of course, I am assuming something primarily. That is that you are a Christian.
Define terms.
I was taught to define terms so that the one you are discussing things with is understanding what is being said.
Christian. The way I define it is a person who has a living relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
An Evangelical would say --a person who has been born again as Jesus explained to Nicodemus as recorded in John chapter 3.  By grace through faith.
On the other hand, a Catholic would say one is saved by grace plus works.
Define grace.
Sola gratia , which the evangelicals who are saved, means by grace alone. Without works. And then grace is not something we have. It is a gift from God.
Let us look at that word Evangelical.
It is a word the Protestants use because the term Protestant started to get a bad name..  Protestant is a name the Roman Church gave a group of people who didn't agree with them.
But that is off the subject.
A Catholic believes that the church is the authority to believe when it comes to proper study and understanding of what the Bible says. Since they believe, without any scriptural proof, just some idea the Pope came up with, that they were given the authority to determine what is and is not 'Bible".
Let us use the term Christian for the other group, the one that consists of people who have a relationship with God through the finished work of Jesus Christ.
The Christian says the Bible is complete and does not need to have a group of people decide what is or is not 'Bible'.
Sola scriptura.
And let us look at this question:. Is there salvation in the Catholic church? Not if you adhere to their teachings which are not able to be located in scripture. They base their understanding on scripture plus tradition as taught by the priest who is stating what tradition, or the church, has determined it means. They are lost, not able to guide the blind since they are one themselves.
Enough for now. That is enough for a person to chew on. Be sure to leave a comment which I can see and respond to, if you desire to. If not, well, don't.

Research The Question

Creation In Time

Created

in the beginning- Creation had a beginning. At a point of time, which was created at the same time as creation, the world came into being.
The Bible informs us that it took six days to create all that is here. If the days were actual 24 hour periods of duration or periods of time, I am not going to discuss that here.
Time is a product of creation. Before creation there was no time. Just eternity. eternity does not need time to measure it.  It is outside of that restraint.
God exists in eternity but also is not part of eternity.
But that is for a further discussion in another post.
And you may ask, if God is existing in eternity, why does He need to create in His  creation of time?
I think that HE wanted to share His Love. God is love. Love must have something to love.
Sure, God exists in a trinity. Three in one. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
He wants to share His love with others. He wanted to share outside the Godhead. That is why He created angels. That is why He created man. These creations were in time.
He wanted to share His love with those things He created.
So he created with time. Both together. It takes time for true love to work out.
Keep those messages coming. I enjoy posting these posts and would like to know how you are enjoying them. If no response after a period of time, like say, three weeks, I will move on to other subjects to post under For Your Information.

God Has Decreed

The Bible Says

This is a subject that not many preachers preach on, but it is in the Bible.
This doctrine is found mainly in the Reformed Theology books and the Presbyterians hold to a form of it.
As I understand it, God has decreed certain things. God decreed to create. He decreed to give man free will with which he, man, can choose to obey or disobey.
In His decreeing it is not the same as the action. If God decreed and there was no free will, man would only be a puppet. God would pull the strings and man would jump.
There is the decree to save those who come to God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Jesus said, I am the door. I am the way. No one comes to God but through Me.
God allowed sin to come into the world. I don't see him as someone cruel  enough to decree sin and then walk away.. He is not responsible for man's disobedience. Man must pay the penalty for his disobedience. And that penalty is recorded in Romans 6:23- which is death, or separation from God.
The decreed is not the act. Let me keep saying that.
He has decreed that all who come to God are saints. Not perfect but forgiven sinners who will spend eternity in heaven.
Please, respond to me. I promise to answer as soon as I can.

In Six Days

The Bible tells us it took God only six days to bring the earth, as we know it with plants, animals, fish, trees, man, into existence. Some hold to a big bang theory.
Without God,there is n o way it could have happened. It just couldn't have. Even a false idea of a big bang is hard to believe if there wasn't a first cause. It had to be a cause for which there is no cause.
The first people were Adam and Eve. Of course the Hebrew words Ish and Isha  may only infer male and female and Adam only refers to man and Eve is the mother of all born, But come on now, allow the Bible to say what it says.
Since it is God breathed, that is, God spoke it, it is truth. I don't see anything like a mistranslation.
Itsays six days. Evening and morning were the first day. note- the day is counted from night and day not day and night. This is he Hebrwew way of day,. Night coming before day.
Were these days like 24 hours each or a mass period of time?  The reference to night and day seem to suggest they were a specific period of time and not long eras.
Were these real people? Yes.
Did it really happen? Yes.
Keep up your Bible study and feel free to comment to me. I would like to hear from you.

A Line To The Almighty

A long time ago I posted on this subject. Labels with prayer mentioned in them keep popping up. So I guess it is time, once again, to mention the subject.
Everyone prays. The eastern belief system refers to this as chanting instead of prayer. And I realize it is not the same, but they chanters expect to make contact with some spiritual being whom they hope will happen to help them.
No, prayer ,as I am talking about it, true prayer, is only done successfully by the Christian.
Definition: Christian. One who has a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, whom has said, No one comes to the Father by through me.
Of course you would want to talk to God if you have a relationship. Just as you would talk to a friend.
What should you talk to Him about? Everything. Your day's events. Your worries. Your joys. Your needs.
He wants to hear from you. He is waiting to hear your voice.
Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you.
It is a line to the Almighty.
When you have a relationship with Him it is like you belong to a family. If you are normal you talk to your family. In return your family talks to you.
God talks to those who have a relationship with Him by the Bible. God overshadowed the writers and what we have is what He wants to communicate. I think that is a great deal.
Please consider talking to God on a more regular basis. But to be heard you must have a relationship with Him. Otherwise He is not obligated to hear and answer.

Being A Deacon Has Honor

I was doing my morning devotions and I was do my study in First Timothy. In chapter three it details what an overseer and a deacon should have as qualifications. Since, as I see it, it is a great responsibility to be either an overseer or a deacon. They don't seem to be the same although the requirements seem close.  But as leaders, they should be someone you can look up to for direction. So they are important positions.
I don't see them as the elder. Requirements for an elder come in chapter four.
Only here and I guess in Titus is a deacon mentioned. They appear in the life of the church when the tables needed to be waited upon. There they were set up to help the apostles. Today they are set ujp to help the pastor.
Deacons should not try to dominate or take the place of the pastor. They don't run the church. They weren't set up to do so and are not presently in that position.
Honor comes in the way they conduct themselves. Details are given in first Timothy and in Titus. These two letters were written  by Paul to pastors who were ministering in newly formed Churches. They are still good letters to read for the purpose of forming up a new or established deacon and overseer. Therefore, it is worthy of being studyed.

New Year Coming

Long May It Wave

A new year is coming. 2020 is around the corner. God has been good to America. We don't deserve it.  Not after the way we are treating Him. We were founded, true, not as a Christian Bible based experiment but most of our original documents, which have been parsed and parsed so many times to be practically meaningless, were based on the idea that we had a blessing of a supreme being over us. We based our documents on there being standards that are God given and as such can't be taken away by government. Such standards as right and wrong. Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, not given by the state. For if the state gave us these rights they can be taken back by the state. No. God gave us these three rights and only God can take them back.
So 2020 is before us. Don't allow the state or even the government in Washington DC to take away your rights. A chance to prove what you can do is fine. But there is no right to sponge off the cities and nation you live in. Work ethics is good. Pan handling is not a right.
Helping others get back on their feet and become productive is right. The state taking money from your pocket to do programs for the ones who won't work,  that is questionable at best, and down right stealing at the worst.
I have more to say but I will allow this to seep into your mind first before I venture to share them.