“Step back, Satan”

The other day I was listening to the May 5, 2016 podcast of the “Calling All Catholics” talk radio show on The Station of the Cross, 101.7 FM out of Buffalo, New York with Catholic priest, Dave Baker, and moderator, Mike Denz, taking questions from listeners. During the show, the topic of conversation turned toward demonic possession and exorcism. Dave suggested that Catholics could protect themselves from demonic activity by wearing a Saint Benedict medal. I was a member of the Catholic church until around 1980 but I wasn’t familiar with the Saint Benedict medal, although its history goes back 1000 years.

The medal has the image of Saint Benedict of Nursia (480-543 or 547) on one side and the Latin inscription, Vade retro satana (“Step back, Satan”) on the reverse side. Tradition has it that Benedict was an Italian monk who lived in a mountain cave as a hermit. One day Satan visited Benedict and put lustful thoughts in his mind. Benedict stripped off his clothes and rolled in a nearby thorn-bush, completely lacerating his body and thereby purging all sinful thoughts. Another time, fellow clerics attempted to poison his food but Benedict allegedly escaped harm through miraculous intervention. Benedict is most famous for having created the rules and rituals of monastic life.

Catholics use a large variety of sacramentals blessed by priests to ward off evil and bring good favor including holy water, scapulars, medals, palm fronds, rosaries, statues, candles, crucifixes, etc. Catholicism is a religion of the concrete (physical) and action. God’s grace is received through the priest’s administration of the sacraments. A Catholic must always “do” to attempt to maintain their good-standing: go to church, receive communion, visit a shrine, display sacramentals in the home, etc. One must say the rosary so many times, go to mass on the first Fridays of the month so many times, say a novena so many times, etc. There’s a ritual for every occasion. It’s a religious treadmill. Somewhere buried deep under the rituals and religious striving is Jesus Christ. He’s the One you need.

Catholic friend, wearing a medal or any other religious object won’t protect you. You won’t find any reference to wearing blessed objects for protection in the Bible. We must come to God by faith, by accepting God the Son, Jesus Christ, as Savior by faith. Religious routines won’t make us holy. Pious rituals won’t make us acceptable before a Holy God. You could wear 100 Saint Benedict medals and it wouldn’t do any good. Protection from demons? Satan’s biggest lie is that people can earn their way to Heaven by being religious and “good.” But only God is good. Accept Christ. Rest in His righteousness, not your own. We don’t have any. After you’ve accepted Christ, then follow Him as Lord. Ask the Lord to lead you to an evangelical church in your area that preaches God’s Word without compromise. You’re no doubt a little nervous even contemplating leaving your religion. Follow Christ. Everything else is worthless in comparsion.

“For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” – Romans 10:2-4

Be wary of “bunker mentality” churches and Christians

 

After accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior, I’ve been a member of three Gospel-preaching churches. In hindsight, I can say the first two churches had some big problems but this last one has been a real blessing. Rare is the Christian who finds the “perfect” church, one that matches their beliefs and preferences 100%, but the Lord commands us to be in fellowship with other believers – we need each other – but we also need to use some discernment before affiliating with a particular church.

In the old days, all you had were the yellow pages to guide you in your search for a church. Churches were listed by denomination so if you were a nerdy type you already knew what core beliefs each church held to. Today, there’s a lot of non-denominational churches with trendy but mystifying names like Redesign Church, Movement Church, etc. You’ll have to check out their websites and peruse through their belief statements to find a church that matches up with your beliefs. There are plenty of good churches out there, so why worship at one whose teachings you can’t embrace wholeheartedly?

Visit several churches. Be wary of settling on the first church you visit. Different things are important to different people but some of the most important questions I ask about a church are:

• Does the pastor preach the Gospel and the entire Word of God? Some of today’s preachers preach the world (prosperity) instead of the Word.
• Is reaching the lost with the Gospel the priority?
• Does the church participate in ecumenical activities with “churches” that teach a different gospel? Run, don’t walk, away.
• Are members challenged to live the Word and to deepen their relationship with Christ and to serve, and are there opportunities for growth and service?
• Is some accountability in place or is the pastor a mini alpha and omega? If the church seems like it’s all about the pastor and elders instead of all about Jesus, keep looking.
• Is there joy in Lord when members gather together to worship and serve? Is love for Christ Jesus and the brethren and sistren palpable?

Put your trust in the Lord to lead you to a faithful and nourishing fellowship.

Maybe you’re thinking, why’s he bringing all this up? Well, I recently ran across a news item about a group of Christians who were picketing outside of Joel Osteen’s church. I’m not a fan of Osteen or his prosperity gospel so I was curious about the protesters. They turned out to be members of the Church of Wells down in Wells, Texas. I read the information below and this is some dangerous stuff, folks. Read and study the Word for yourself. Be discerning. Don’t become subservient to some controlling pastor who seeks his glory rather than the Lord’s. Be cautious. This church thrives on rancor. They have a “bunker” mentality rather than a “reaching the world for Christ” mentality. The mandatory ankle-length dresses and long hair for women is a flashing red light. Paul Washer has some good advice regarding churches like the Church of Wells in the video above.

“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” – Acts 17:11

Men Arrested for Heckling Joel Osteen at Lakewood Church Found Not Guilty

Church of Wells – Wikipedia article

Church of Wells – Website

Grace or Truth? Or both?

My Roman Catholic friends often say Protestant churches can’t be of the Lord because there are literally thousands of denominations, all with their differing secondary beliefs and modes of church polity. They say such “confusion” and “disunity” can’t be of the Lord. I would respond that the Lord has done His greatest work amidst this disorganized evangelical patchwork, where He is acknowledged as the Head of the church. The world admires monolithic institutions with authoritarian hierarchies but history has shown that has not been the best channel for the Gospel of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

Protestantism covers a very wide spectrum. At one end are churches that have drifted into liberal modernism and no longer preach the Gospel. At the other end are very conservative, fundamentalist churches where the Gospel of grace sometimes comes in second to a list of rules. There’s always a tension between grace and doctrinal truth. But God’s Word says Jesus was full of grace and truth and we must also strive to find the balance between love and freedom in the Lord and right doctrine.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14

Readers of this blog know how much I admire churches and pastors who uphold sound biblical doctrine. Way too many evangelical churches are downplaying doctrine these days in favor of undiscerning ecumenism and shared emotional experiences. But on the other hand are those churches and people who emphasize doctrine so much that they lose all their appeal. Their arrogance and lack of humility becomes offensive to everyone: to the unsaved and the brethren. They become harsh. They’re so busy erecting walls to defend and preserve the truth as they understand it that they forget about reaching out to the lost and the brethren. Jesus had a perfect way about Him of not compromising His Truth but also of reaching out to sinners in a loving way. He’s our example.

There have been times when writing for this blog when my zeal for the truth was lacking charity and grace. Lord, help me to lean into your grace more. Help me to keep striving for that balance that You show us in your Gospels.

I began writing this post prior to worship service this morning and I had no idea what the sermon was going to be about. As the Lord would have it, the pastor’s message was on the tension between grace and truth for a believer. It’s still amazing to me how the Lord reaches directly into our lives like that.

This was our pastor’s last message. He’ll be moving on to a different ministry about 1000 miles away. My wife and I will miss him a lot. We were a bit disillusioned after leaving our last church a year ago. My wife would have been happy to never attend church again. But I put my trust in the Lord and asked Him to find us a new church home and He came through BIG TIME. My wife and I look forward to the great blessings we receive at every service, every week. We pray the Lord gives us a new pastor with a similar heart for Him.

Weekly Roundup – News and Commentary

Following are some news stories that caught my attention during the week, along with some gentle commentary of course!

• One Priest’s Concern About Recent Remarks by the Pope
• Enough is enough, Pope Francis should resign
• Pope Francis Comes Under Heavy Criticism for Comments on ‘Null’ Marriages

Disapproval of pope Francis among conservative Catholics began as a whisper and has snowballed into outraged dissent. Catholics like to present their church as a unified, spirit-led monolith but the reality is something entirely different.

• English martyrs’ relics to tour America
• Relics of 16th century martyrs hold modern significance to Catholics
• Saints’ relics seen as reminder of today’s threats to religious liberty

Relics of two 16th- century English Catholic saints are currently making the rounds in America. A bone from St. Thomas More and a ring worn by St. John Fisher will tour Catholic churches in Miami, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Denver, Phoenix, and Los Angeles before ending in Washington, D.C. Fisher and More are being touted as champions of religious freedom but the Catholic church persecuted evangelical Christians in countries where it held the political majority well into the 20th-century. Why do Catholics trot around the bones of long-dead people? Catholics are taught they will receive blessings by venerating the body parts or personal belongings of canonized saints.

• Why charismatic gifts are so important

This Catholic article doesn’t mention it, but in the past pope Francis has recognized the Catholic charismatic movement as an important bridgehead in the church’s ecumenical efforts with evangelicals, starting with Pentecostals and charismatics.

• John Stott, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien: Why American Evangelicals Love the British

This article, first published in 2012, sheds some light on why some American evangelical pastors are so enamored with C. S. Lewis and other less-than-orthodox British intellectuals. The Anglican author traces the appeal to the evangelicals’ struggle “to overcome an intellectual inferiority complex.” I actually think that’s about right.

• Southern Baptists are going to need a bigger tent
• SBC to consider joining National Association of Evangelicals

My wife and I joined a Southern Baptist church in May 2014. Joining that church was one of my first steps in returning to the Lord after a prolonged absence. We had been members of an independent fundamental Baptist church in the 1980s but I definitely didn’t want to return to that type of legalism again. We thought the SBC would be a much better option but it turned out to be way too ecumenical for us. We left in June 2015. Watch for the SBC to continue down this ecumenical path.

• Survey: White evangelicals say US no longer a Christian nation

I know that many evangelicals (and most fundamentalists) don’t want to accept it, but the United States was never a Christian nation. People can become Christians, not countries. America is not the New Israel. God never entered into a covenant with America. This mixing of faith with nationalism has no precedent in the New Testament. When believers get to Heaven, the Lord won’t care if the town they lived in was 100 yards north or south of the U.S.-Canadian border.

• Londonderry pastor opposed to ‘Romanism’ and ‘mariolatry’ of the EU

This Northern Ireland pastor encouraged his congregants to vote for Britain to leave the EU. He states the EU has some “Romanist” leanings. He makes a few good points but most readers would see his comments as far too heavy-handed. There’s no telling what Britain’s decision to leave the EU could lead to. The world is an unstable place. Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior.

 

I thought I’d seen Someone, Who seemed at last, to know the Truth. I wasn’t mistaken.

 

In a couple of previous posts I mentioned that I’d been a huge fan of the rock bands, The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, and Nash way back when I was a teenager. David Crosby was a member of both groups and I liked his music quite a bit. Crosby was an excellent singer and wrote some outstanding tunes. But he was also an atheist and occasionally preached his godless worldview via his songs.

Yesterday, I had Pandora playing in the background as I was washing a few dishes and Crosby’s song, “Laughing,” from his 1971 solo album, “If I Could Only Remember My Name,” started playing. I remember I used to love that song. It seemed so full of wisdom at the time. Crosby actually wrote the song in response to ex-Beatle, George Harrison, and his deep involvement with Hindu guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and later, with the Hare Krishna sect.

Check out the song’s lyrics below. Crosby was/is a man searching for truth while denying the truth.

---

“Laughing”

I thought I met a man,
Who said he knew a man,
Who knew what was going on.
I was mistaken,
Only another stranger that I knew.

And I thought that I found a light,
To guide me through my night,
And all this darkness.
I was mistaken,
Only reflections of a shadow that I saw.

And I thought I’d seen someone,
Who seemed at last,
To know the truth.
I was mistaken,
Only a child laughing in the sun.
Ah! In the sun.

Well, David, I finally did meet the Man who not only knows the Truth but Who is the Truth! His name is Jesus Christ and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Praise the Lord, I accepted Jesus Christ a decade after filling my head with “Laughing” and similarly-themed existentialism from the high priests of rock and roll.

“Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” – John 6:68-69

“Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” – John 18:37-38

Postscript: That’s Jerry Garcia playing the stunning pedal steel guitar part.

“This is the way, walk in it.”

Last night, my wife and I attended our oldest grandchild’s high school graduation. We were, of course, very happy to be there and help her celebrate this important milestone. She’ll be heading off to college in two months to begin the next chapter in her life.

Without going into great personal detail, our granddaughter has weathered a very unsettled upbringing. Her parents separated when she was two-years-old and, in shuttling between the two, she’s experienced a dizzying array of ever-changing home addresses and schools along with having to deal with both parents’ assortment of live-in partners. I could write more but I’ll leave it at that. Despite the very challenging circumstances, our granddaughter’s grown up to be a very sweet, optimistic young woman. We’ve had no relationship with our daughter-in-law after the separation, but she has accepted Christ as her Savior and has given our granddaughter some godly spiritual training. We’re very grateful for that.

As I looked out over the thousands of people in the large arena last night, I wondered how many knew Christ? All the speakers challenged the graduates to make a contribution to the world in whatever field or endeavor they chose. We know the world honors those who achieve great fame, wealth, and power. But what is a life without Christ? When the dirt hits the casket, what does the fame, wealth, and power amount to?

Lovely granddaughter, do well. Learn much in college. Have an enjoyable career. Have a family (Lord willing) you can love and who loves you back. But most importantly, walk with the Lord constantly. Read His Word daily. Talk to Him in prayer throughout each day. Get to know Him intimately. Follow Him. He is the only firm foundation. Everything else is sinking sand. The distractions, temptations, and disappointments in life will be many but don’t go down to Egypt (the world) seeking sanctuary and fulfillment. Its promises are hollow. Walk with Christ. Walk with Christ. Walk with Christ.

“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.” – Isaiah 30:21

“Holy doors” guaranteed to make your head spin

Yesterday I was listening to the April 21, 2016 podcast of the “Calling All Catholics” talk radio show on The Station of the Cross, 101.7 FM out of Buffalo, New York with Catholic priest, Rick Poblocki, and moderator, Steve Quebral, taking questions from listeners.

During the show, Kim from Rochester, New York called in with a question regarding the Catholic church’s “Holy Doors.” Before I get to Kim’s question, I need to give my evangelical friends some background on the holy doors. This gets a little complicated so please fasten your seat belts and stay with me.

Generally speaking, the Catholic church has designated specific doors in eight churches – four of the churches are in Rome – as “Holy Doors.” During “jubilee” years, which normally occur every 25 or 50 years, Catholics may walk through the specially blessed holy doors and receive a “plenary indulgence” for their sins. What is a plenary indulgence you ask? Catholics confess their mortal and venial sins to a priest in the sacrament of reconciliation, but what many Catholics don’t even realize is that while the priest may forgive all of the sins in the confessional, not all of the punishment for the sins is remitted. Any remaining (temporal) punishment for sins will be meted out in purgatory after death. How long someone must suffer in purgatory is sketchy business but Catholic writers in the past spoke about the duration extending to even hundreds of years. But the church grants indulgences – remission of temporal punishment – if the Catholic performs certain acts. Partial indulgences remove some of the punishment while “plenary” (full) indulgences remove all of it. The church is able to issue indulgences from its “treasury of merit” consisting of the superabundant spiritual merit of Jesus, Mary, and the saints. By making a pilgrimage and walking through one of the eight holy doors, a Catholic is granted a full, plenary indulgence.

Please note that the vast majority of Catholics would have no idea what you were talking about if you asked them about “partial and plenary indulgences” for “temporal punishment.”

Pope Francis declared November 2015 to December 2016 to be an Extraordinary Year of Mercy for the faithful. As part of this special jubilee year, church doors in dioceses around the world were designated and blessed as holy doors. Pilgrims don’t have to make the distant trip to Rome or to one of the other four locations this year, they can receive their full indulgence by walking through holy doors in their own diocese. Pictured are some faithful Catholics walking through designated holy doors to receive their indulgence.

Is everyone still with me? Good, now let’s get back to Kim’s question. Regarding the holy doors, Kim asked Rick, “Are you only supposed to walk through the doors once to receive the indulgences?” Evidently, this holy door business is too complicated even for pious Catholics. Rick laughed off the question, commenting that of course you only need to walk through the holy doors once to receive the plenary indulgence. But, he added, a person could make pilgrimages to holy door sites several times throughout the year and thereby keep up with any additional temporal punishment that had accumulated in their spiritual in-basket.

Catholic friend, if the above seems outrageously complicated you would be right. God didn’t make salvation into this kind of religious calculus to be administered by ecclesiastical “experts.” Saving faith is trusting in Jesus with a child-like faith.

“And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 18:2-4

Purgatory, indulgences, temporal punishment, and holy doors are all man-made religious traditions. Walking through doors someone calls “holy” won’t do a silly thing. Jesus Christ made salvation as simple as the thief on the cross. God is holy and we are sinners. We deserve eternal punishment for our sins. But God loved us so much He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sins on the cross. But Jesus rose from the grave and offers the gift of salvation to all who repent of their sins and accept Him as their Savior by faith. Accept Jesus today. Religious rituals and traditions don’t save. You can’t merit your way to Heaven. No one is good enough to merit Heaven, that is why Jesus died for us. After you’ve accepted Christ, ask Him to lead you to an evangelical church in your area that teaches the Word of God without compromise.

http://www.gotquestions.org/sinners-prayer.html

Evangelical friend, when Catholics talk about Jesus and “faith,” we might get a warm fuzzy thinking we’re all on the same page, but when a Catholic talks about their “faith,” they’re talking about something entirely different from the Gospel we know. When a Catholic talks about faith they’re referring to their religious system which requires participation in church sacraments, obeying the Ten Commandments and church rules perfectly, along with a lot of extremely complicated ritualism such as this holy door process. That is not the Gospel. A faithful Catholic won’t say they’re saved because – lip service to grace aside – they believe their salvation depends on how well THEY “cooperate with grace” and merit their own salvation right up until the moment of their death. That is not the Gospel.

---

See below for an example of a brochure handed out to pilgrims to one diocese’s holy doors.

Click to access pilgrimage_to_the_holy_door_at_the_cathedral_2015.pdf

Behind convent doors

My Life in the Convent
By Margaret Lisle Shepherd
Book and Bible House, 1946, 258 pages

Protestant books examining alleged abuse in Roman Catholic convents proliferated in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of these books were written by ex-nuns. Catholic spokespersons naturally categorized these books as “Puritan pornography” and accused the authors of fraud.

An example of the genre is “My Life in the Convent” written by Margaret Lisle Shepherd (aka Sister Magdalene Adelaide), first published in 1892. As an English girl living in India, Shepherd learns from her dying mother that her deceased father was a Catholic priest. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree so years later, after she has returned to England, Shepherd herself succumbs to the advances of a determined priest. Father Egan abandons his vocation and the two enter into a common-law marriage, which produces a baby girl. Egan eventually regrets his decision and abandons his family to resume his religious calling. With no means of support, Shepherd turns to thievery. She is apprehended but it’s too late for the baby who dies from the effects of malnutrition. After a few detours, Shepherd ends up at the penitential Convent of St. Arno’s Court in Bristol, England. It’s already a difficult existence for the contrite nuns but Shepherd describes how priests ministering at the convent occasionally take advantage of their charges. After two years at the convent, Shepherd discovers a Protestant Bible and is shocked to discover the many differences between Scripture and Catholicism and decides to leave. She is given sanctuary by Salvation Army ministers and accepts Jesus Christ as her Savior. She journeys to Canada and the United States, giving her testimony on the Protestant lecture circuit and assisting Christian charitable organizations.

The book’s epilogue circumspectly alludes to the Loyal Women of American Liberty, which Shepherd founded in Boston in 1888. The LWAL was a semi-secret patriotic society which promoted nativism and Protestantism. An internet search of Shepherd and the LWAL revealed Chicago newspaper reports of the period alleging Shepherd’s “deceit and immorality” regarding her account of her previous years, leading to her resignation from the organization in 1891. She wrote this book as an answer to her growing number of Catholic critics. Shepherd continued on the lecture circuit but faced mounting opposition from Catholic groups. She was arrested in Columbus, Ohio in 1902 on charges of selling “lewd and obscene” books, disorderly conduct, and inciting to riot. All charges were dropped when she agreed to leave the city. Shepherd subsequently traveled to Australia where she continued her lectures on Romanism but soon found herself sick with cancer. Returning to the U.S., she died alone and penniless in a Detroit hospital in 1903 at the age of 43. I only hope she had genuinely accepted Christ as her Savior.

Reprints of “My Life in the Convent” were made available for many years. My 1946 edition was published by Book and Bible House owned by L. J. King, a passionate Protestant nativist. This book may have been slightly scandalous, “adults only,” reading in 1892 but it’s certainly quite tame by 2016 standards.

With the number of Catholic nuns rapidly declining since the 1960s, convents are becoming increasingly few and far between. But were some nuns scandalously abused and mistreated over the centuries as this book and many others claimed? There’s no doubt. The church’s mandatory celibacy discipline for its priests and nuns couldn’t erase their sexuality. Refer to the excellent “The Nuns of Sant’Ambrogio: The True Story of a Convent in Scandal” by prize-winning, German historian, Hubert Wolf. Wolf used documentation from the vaults of the Vatican’s very own Office of the Holy Inquisition (the name was changed to the much more PR-friendly “Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office”) for his research. See here for my review. For other verifiable examples of clerical turpitude one need only recall the headlines over the last thirty years dealing with predatory pedophile priests and the subsequent cover-up by the church hierarchy.

At my Catholic grammar school, I was taught by members of the Sisters of Mercy who lived in a convent adjacent to the school. I was very curious about those women who wore stiff, uncomfortable medieval habits and lived together in a strict community with hardly any connection to family. They wore wedding rings as a sign that they were virginal brides of Christ. People point to peculiarities of extreme religious sects, but is there anything more cultish than a convent full of nuns? These women were attempting to merit their salvation through great personal sacrifice and pious religious devotion. But in nine years of schooling, the sisters never once mentioned to us the Gospel of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone as taught in God’s Word. Instead, they taught us the Catholic formula of salvation through the sacraments administered by the priests followed by obedience to the Ten Commandments (impossible!) and church rules. It was all about ritual, formalism, and religious legalism.

The nuns were not happy women. We students saw a side of them that our parents and adult parishioners were not privy to. There is no peace in religious striving. No one can possibly obey the Ten Commandments. The Law only condemns us as the sinners we are. Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. He paid the penalty for your sins and He’s waiting for you to receive Him as Savior.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” – Revelation 3:20

Growing up Catholic, turning to Jesus

Growing Up Catholic: The Pursuit of Truth
By Tim Lott
Abundant Publishing, 2007, 192 pages

This book is an interesting testimony from ex-Catholic, Tim Lott. Lott grew up in the Catholic faith, receiving the sacraments and attempting to merit his way into Heaven by trying to obey the Ten Commandments, as his church taught. He married an evangelical Christian and began attending his wife’s church although still identifying as a Catholic. But when Lott began reading the Bible for the first time in his life, he discovered there were many differences between God’s Word and Catholicism. Over time, he was convicted of his sin by the Holy Spirit through Scripture and received Jesus Christ as his Savior by faith alone. Lott briefly examines some of the unbiblical beliefs of Catholicism including purgatory, confession of sins to a priest, praying to saints, worshipping Mary, and eucharistic transubstantiation and the sacrifice of the mass.

I enjoyed the author’s testimony. Lott is not a trained scholar so there are other books that do a much better job of critiquing Catholic theology, but I praise the Lord that he came out of religious error and accepted Christ as his Savior by faith. Especially interesting was his struggle regarding baptism. Most Catholics are baptized as infants. Catholicism teaches the sacramental waters actually wash away original sin and incorporate the infant candidate into the church. Lott’s evangelical church taught that baptism is not a sacrament that imparts any grace but that it’s a public profession of faith in Christ by an adult or a child old enough to fully understand the Gospel. Lott had been baptized as an infant, like most Catholics, and wrestled quite a bit with being baptized again after accepting Christ. I personally had a hard time relating to his struggle. I accepted Christ. I got baptized. No drama. But each believer’s journey is different.

For those who desire to read a thorough critique of Roman Catholicism in comparison to God’s Word, order The Gospel According to Rome by James G. McCarthy from Amazon.com. See here. For a list of over 300 books which compare Catholicism to God’s Word, see my Books tab here.

IFB Memories #8: Beating up people for Jesus

My wife and I attended an independent fundamental Baptist (IFB) church back in the 80s. We have many good memories of the church as well as some disturbing ones. I became so increasingly upset by some of the things that went on at that church that we finally stopped attending and I even walked away from the Lord for a couple of decades. That was obviously a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE mistake. If I had been walking closely with the Lord, I would have just asked Him to find us another church right away.

Anyway, over the last couple of months I’ve been able to look back at some of the unusual, outrageous, and even comical events that we witnessed at that church. Here’s another one.

The pastor of our IFB church was on the short side but somewhat hefty. His suit jackets strained to contain his bulky chest and arms. He wasn’t someone you would want to mess with from his appearance. He was also a black belt karate master. Karate classes were eventually started at the church and many of the youth signed up. A couple of times the pastor put on his “karategi” (white karate uniform) and black belt and gave karate demonstrations, breaking wooden boards and cement cinder blocks, during church services.

The pastor’s sermons were usually peppered with references to physical fighting. He became especially animated when he preached on Old Testament passages in which one of God’s followers beat the snot out of some deserving pagan. Oftentimes, he would speak about desiring to straighten out some wayward Christian or some unsaved God-mocker he knew by “kicking their butt, in Christian love of course.” He always added that last part to make his aggression “okay.” He frequently encouraged the congregation by telling us, “if you don’t like my preaching, don’t let the door hit you in the behind.” Nice.

Initially, this in-your-face style of Christianity was an entertaining novelty. I was used to limp-wristed priests and brothers in Catholicism so this macho-man brand of Christianity was refreshing. The pastor often said Jesus was a tough guy, a carpenter-mason with thick, calloused hands who wasn’t afraid to go nose to nose with the religious big shots. But after the novelty wore off, the pastor’s tough guy approach became increasingly annoying. The Jesus who I read about in the New Testament was nothing like the he-man caricature the pastor spoke of.

As I remember, many other independent Baptist pastors took the crack-the-whip approach in their ministry back in the 80s but I think a lot of that has fizzled out. Our old pastor made tough guy, Mark Driscoll, look like Joel Osteen.

Application: If there’s a megalomaniac in the pulpit, don’t give up on God, find another church.

Post script: A wealthly church member bequeathed a large sum of cash to the church sixteen years ago. The money was used to build a large recreation center on the church campus. The pastor retired about five years ago because of health reasons and handed down the pastorate to his son, predictably, another martial arts enthusiast. The son has turned the rec center into a training facility for mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting. Can anyone imagine Jesus Christ beating someone’s face to a pulp in an MMA cage?