A regrettable decision to “dialogue” with spiritually deadly error

Thanks to Chris at Wings of the Wind for his indirect contributions to this post.

In my last “Weekend Roundup” post, I commented on a recent “dialogue” session held in Idaho featuring evangelical and Mormon apologists. The purpose of that dialogue was to promote understanding between the two “parties” and find common ground. Argh! I’m definitely of the opinion that evangelical apologists should debate false religionists rather than dialogue with them. Accommodation and cooperation with error are slippery slopes that always lead to compromise and betrayal of the Gospel. Try to imagine the apostle Paul endeavoring to dialogue with the priests of 1st-century Roman paganism in order to benefit “mutual understanding and respect.” Imagine, if you can, Charles Spurgeon, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John R. Rice, or James R. White having dialogue sessions with clerics of false religions. Stop the tape! James R. White? I should definitely rewind that statement in light of recent events.

I truly appreciate the ministry of evangelical apologist, James R. White. He’s done some excellent work examining Roman Catholicism and other non-Christian groups. I have favorably reviewed several of his books on this blog. Where other popular apologists have accommodated and compromised, White has stood firmly on the Gospel of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. I can’t think of another apologist who has engaged in more debates with false religionists than James White. There are those who have criticized White for his sometimes brash approach but perhaps a debater needs a bit of a thick skin.

This past January, White inexplicably chose to hold two dialogue sessions with Dr. Yasir Qadhi, “one of the most influential conservative clerics in American Islam.” One of the sessions was held at an evangelical church and the other at a mosque. The purpose of the project was to increase understanding between Christians and Muslims. It appears that one of the specific goals of the dialogues was to convince the Christian audience that the extremist views of Al-Qaeda and ISIS are not representative of the majority of Muslims in this country.

Dr. White is currently catching a lot of flak from some concerned Christians for organizing the dialogue sessions with Dr. Qadhi. They wonder why a Muslim apologist was allowed to promote Islam in a church setting. They wonder why White felt obligated to help Muslims counter the general public’s negative perception of Islam due to jihadist terrorism. Is that White’s responsibility?

I believe Christian apologists should be debating false religionists, not dialoguing with them. Certainly, individual Christians “dialogue” all the time with unsaved friends, family, neighbors, and acquaintances in order to ultimately lead them to salvation in Jesus Christ. But dialoguing with clerics of false religions in front of audiences in an effort to “increase mutual understanding and respect” is definitely not the mission of apologists of the Gospel. Despite this recent breach of prudence, I honestly don’t believe James White would participate in a dialogue session with Roman Catholic clerics. How then did he see clear to organizing friendly dialogue sessions with a Muslim cleric?

I believe Dr. White made a mistake in this case, a rather large one. But nobody’s perfect. We all have spiritual blind spots. We must pray for Dr. White as he deals with the repercussions of his regrettable choice. Unfortunately but predictably, some of the objections to Dr. White’s misjudgment are being posted on the internet in the form of ad hominem attacks.

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” – Ephesians 5:11

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Christian Muslim Dialogue Pt.1 | Dr. James White & Dr. Yasir Qadhi

Christian Muslim Dialogue Pt.2 | Dr. James White & Dr. Yasir Qadhi

White’s defense of his dialogues with Yasir Qadhi begins at the 27:50 mark of the video below:
https://www.aomin.org/aoblog/2017/06/19/epiphanius-bodily-assumption-facts-observations-continued-misrepresentations-yasir-qadhi-dialogue/

♫ …It was FIFTY years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play… ♫

The 1960s was an interesting period to grow up in as society was in major flux. Throughout the decade, Walter Cronkite reported on civil rights battles, Vietnam, the rising youth culture and drugs, the peace movement, the beginning of the fight for women’s rights, the growing awareness of the environment, the dawn of computer technology, etc. Young people were rapidly losing faith in traditional institutions and were turning elsewhere for answers.

Because of my five older sisters’ love of The Beatles, I constantly heard the group’s music on the family stereo from 1964 until the end of the decade. Every time a new Beatles album came out it would be played over, and over, and over again until we all knew the words of every song by heart.

I recently watched a PBS special on the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” released in 1967. The album was a revolutionary recording at the time with its pioneering studio gimmickry. It was the first LP album cover which included the song lyrics and we were all transfixed by “heavy” wisdom of the far-out Beatles.

Jim McGuinn of The Byrds and a Beatles contemporary proclaimed in 1966, “Lord Buckley (comedic hipster) said that the entertainers now are the new clergy.”

Institutional religion appeared as passé and the rock and roll troubadours seemed to have all the answers. “Sex, drugs, and rock and roll” was the new religion of the young and rock concerts were the new churches. Albums like “Sgt. Pepper” were the new bibles.

John Lennon of the Beatles went even farther that same year when he declared, “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that. I’m right and I’ll be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now. I don’t know which will go first, rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.”

Lennon was right in some respects. Cultural (c)hristianity, the kind Lennon was familiar with, has all but disappeared in Europe and is declining in the U.S. But the Gospel of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone continues to go out into the world.

Jim McGuinn changed his first name to Roger in 1967 as part of his initiation into an Eastern religion. But after hitting rock-bottom after years of heavy drug use, McGuinn accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior in 1977.

The Beatles’ partnership was formally dissolved in 1975 after five years of bitter personal and legal acrimony. I guess the lads needed more than love after all. John Lennon was murdered by an insane fan in 1980 and his Beatles-mate, George Harrison, died of lung cancer in 2001.

People are still chasing after something to fill the spiritual vacuum in their soul. Jesus Christ is the ONLY solid Rock, yesterday, today, and forever!

“Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.” – Acts 17:21

Happy Father’s Day!

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads and Granddads out there!

I’m grateful for my Dad who passed away two years ago. Our relationship was a mixed bag as is the case with many fathers and sons. Dads, don’t push your sons too hard.

I’m very grateful for my wife and our two sons and their families which include our three grandchildren. And I’m so grateful for my Heavenly Father, for Christ my Savior, and for the Holy Spirit who indwells and seals me.

Our oldest son who lives here in town is coming over for dinner this afternoon with our two granddaughters and I’ll also be looking forward to a phone call from our other son stationed down in Texas. I hope all you Dads out there have an enjoyable day with your loved ones! Family is a great gift.

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 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!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” – Romans 8:14-16

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 6/17/17

• Bishops to reconsecrate Canada to Mary’s Immaculate Heart

I would like to understand why Catholicism is so preoccupied with the hearts of Jesus and Mary. Great devotion and worship are accorded to these biological organs, all of which strikes genuine believers in Christ as very strange and idolatrous.

• Catholic groups launch conversation about female deacons

Pope Francis opened the door a crack and liberals are attempting to push it wide open. I anticipate the ordination of female deacons in the RCC in the next 5 to 10 years.

• Is Christian US soccer player boycotting team over these jerseys?

The LGBTQ rainbow alliance is pushing for acceptance in every part of public life. Churches that refuse to participate will be targeted.

• Knights of Columbus’ financial forms show wealth, influence

The K of C was founded in 1882 as a Catholic benevolent fraternal organization. In some respects, it was the Catholic alternative to verboten Freemasonry. I remember the K of C newspaper advertisements when I was a kid that defended and promoted Catholicism. Most fraternals are in sharp decline these days but the K of C guys with the silly plume hats, capes, epaulettes, and swords are still going strong and wield a lot of influence. Any sign of Jesus Christ in all of this pageantry?

• Mormons and Evangelicals bond over shared beliefs

I’m not a big fan of “dialogue” with religious unbelievers. The aim of “dialogue” is to find common ground and build upon that while ignoring or minimizing important doctrinal differences. I don’t read about the apostles and disciples of Christ engaging in ecumenical “dialogue” with religious unbelievers in the New Testament.

• Three ironies about a dramatic show of papal muscle in Nigeria

These Nigerians priests who refuse to acknowledge a bishop appointed from outside their geographic area are still mired in tribalism. Francis should accommodate them just like Catholicism accommodates/syncretizes native pagan beliefs and practices elsewhere in the world, such as in Latin America.

• Granada Catholics outraged after Muslim prayers held near Virgin Mary statue

People are surprised to learn the Muslim Quran references Mary much more than the Bible does. Muslims venerate Mary as a faithful follower of Allah and the mother of the “prophet,” Jesus. Will Marian devotion and worship be the catalyst for a one-world religion?

• Corpus Christi procession takes Catholicism into the streets

This past Thursday was the Feast of Corpus Christi (Body of Christ) for Roman Catholics. This weekend many of the ethnic parishes will have an outdoor procession with the priest carrying a large consecrated bread wafer, which Catholics are taught is the actual body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. The faithful line the streets and bow in worshipful adoration to the passing Jesus wafer.

• How Eucharistic miracles show Christ’s blood type

What is Jesus’ blood type? Defenders of eucharistic miracles claim the blood from bleeding wafers is consistently type AB. But where is the Gospel in all of this?

• Southern Baptists Announce Crackdown On Fun (satire)

And while we’re on the topic of Southern Baptists…

…Did you hear the one about the Southern Baptist who decided to let his hair down and throw all caution to the wind on one particular day by reading only four chapters of the Bible instead of the usual five? Praise the Lord for the believers in the Southern Baptist Convention who remain faithful to Jesus Christ and His Word.

The deep riches of the “simple” Gospel

The Gospel According to Paul
By John MacArthur
Nelson Books, 2017, 219 pages

Most everyone in America has heard of the “Gospel” (Greek, εὐαγγέλιον, euangélion, “good news”) but the word means different things to different people. The Mormons have their gospel, which is different from the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ gospel, which is different from the Catholics’ gospel, which is different from Biblical Christianity’s Gospel.

In this short book, pastor John MacArthur takes an in-depth look at Biblical Christianity’s Gospel of Jesus Christ using the apostle Paul’s letters in the New Testament.

The bad news is we are all sinners and deserve eternal punishment. But God’s Word declares that Jesus Christ, God the Son, came down to Earth and lived a perfectly sinless life as only He could. He willingly went to the cross on Calvary and died as a sacrifice for our sins. But He rose from the grave, conquering sin and death and offers the gift of eternal life to all those who trust in Him as Savior.

That’s very Good News! No one can possibly merit their salvation but Jesus will save everyone who repents of their sins and accepts Him as Savior by faith alone.

MacArthur does a good job of breaking down the seminary terminology for all of us Theology 101-types but the Gospel in its bare essence is so simple a child could understand it.

Here’s a few of my takeaways and observations from this book:

#1 MacArthur describes Christ’s death on the cross as a part of “The Great Exchange.” The sins of men were imputed (ascribed to a person’s account) to Jesus as He hung on the cross. When we accepted Christ as Savior, His perfect righteousness was imputed to us. I know full well that Jesus “died for my sins,” but the concept that all of my unrighteousness, past, present, and future was imputed to Him just as His perfect righteousness was imputed to me at the moment I trusted in Him, well, that gives me a more clearly defined understanding of what transpired on the cross.

#2 MacArthur quotes Catholic novelist and apologist, G.K. Chesterton, regarding original sin:

“G.K. Chesteron referred to original sin as ‘the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved.’ He decried the extreme illogic of liberals in the church who gave lip service to truths ‘which they cannot see even in their dreams. But they essentially deny human sin, which they can see in the street.'”  – p. 101

Why would MacArthur favorably quote a Roman Catholic apologist who was certainly no friend of evangelical Protestantism? Chesterton, a promoter of salvation by sacramental grace and merit, was as lost as the liberal churchmen he criticized. Weren’t there any evangelical sources MacArthur could have referenced regarding man’s sin nature? I jest of course. MacArthur certainly knows better so how to explain this ecumenical “stumble”? I would have guessed MacArthur to be the last person in the world to succumb to Chesterton mania but it just goes to show we all have our spiritual blind spots.

#3 In this book about the Gospel there’s no invitation to accept Jesus Christ as Savior. Why would that be? I know “decisionism,” leading people to trust in Christ via an invitation to pray a salvation prayer, is looked down upon by some Christian groups and I have some empathy for that viewpoint. I believe untold millions of people have come forward at Christian youth events, evangelistic crusades, and at church “altar calls” and made disingenuous professions in Christ out of pressure and in ignorance. However, I also believe untold millions genuinely accepted Christ by being led to the point of deciding to accept Him or reject Him. Feedback on this is welcomed. Perhaps this topic of evangelistic crusade-style “decisionism” deserves a post all by itself.

#4 MacArthur is of course a member of the Reformed tradition so he promotes the doctrines of predestination and election. Not a problem. I’m somewhere in the middle of the Arminius-Calvin debate and remain politely non-committal.

#5 Overall, I enjoyed “The Gospel According to Paul” very much. It was such a balm to my soul to contemplate with MacArthur some of the glorious depths of the Good News! of salvation in Jesus Christ as proclaimed by His apostle, Paul.

“In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.“ – Romans 2:16

What’s going on with the Southern Baptist Convention?

News sources have recently reported that well-known Calvary Chapel pastor and evangelist, Greg Laurie, has decided to align with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).  See the article below. I had wanted to write a post on the SBC at some future date, especially in light of reports about declining membership, but the news about Laurie got the ol’ brain synapses firing.

After my wife and I trusted in Christ in the early 80s, we attended an independent fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church for eight years. I subscribed to an IFB newspaper for awhile and one of its favorite targets was the “liberal” Southern Baptist Convention. I became increasingly unhappy with the legalistic preaching at our church and eventually walked out. Sadly, I allowed the experience to turn me away from the Lord.

The Lord graciously took me back three years ago and where did we start attending church? You guessed it! At an SBC church! I know I was purposely looking for a fellowship that didn’t resemble our previous one.

The small SBC church was a breath of fresh year because the new pastor just out of seminary emphasized God’s grace and mercy as much as His holiness. Regrettably, he was also very ecumenically-minded and often praised Catholic theologians, which is why we left after one year and began attending our current non-denominational church (with Baptist roots) about 20 months ago.

The Southern Baptist Convention reports around 15 million members in 47 thousand congregations. After one year in an SBC church, I’m certainly not an expert on the convention but I do have some thoughts on why it’s experiencing a decline in membership:

It’s too conservative

I believe the SBC is not attracting new members because it’s perceived as too conservative. In this era of egregiously hip church names – Resurgence Church, Elevation Church, The Gathering, etc. – having “Baptist” in the church name just doesn’t cut it for many. Research from Lifeway, an SBC organization, shows unbelievers and especially millennial unbelievers have a comparatively low opinion of Baptists. When Hollywood needs an “overly-zealous” religious character, who do they turn to? The character is invariably a Baptist. Then there’s the completely crazy Westboro Baptist Church nightmare in Topeka, Kansas. People also still link the Southern Baptist Convention with the White slave owners of the antebellum South and post-Civil War segregation. The young pastor of our previous SBC church dropped the “Baptist” from the church’s name only one year after he arrived.

It’s becoming too liberal

I believe some people are walking away from the SBC because it’s drifting into liberalism. An intense battle raged between orthodox and liberals over control of SBC seminaries beginning in the 1960s and continuing into the late 1990s with the orthodox eventually claiming victory. But liberalism continues to nibble away at the convention. SBC leaders, Richard Land and Larry Lewis, were initial signers of the 1994 ecumenical document, Evangelicals and Catholics Together. Popular Southern Baptists such as Rick Warren, Steven Furtick (pictured with his polar opposite, Charles Stanley), Beth Moore, Ed Young, and Dallas Willard (d. 2013) continue their assault on Biblical orthodoxy. Former SBC president, Ronnie Floyd, joined with pope Francis at Together 2016. Now, with ecumenically-minded and TBN-favorite, Greg Laurie, joining the SBC, the orthodox/conservative members of the convention have another reason to be concerned.

Too conservative? Too liberal? Is there a Catch-22 going on here or what? The rising number of “nones” (no religious affiliation) nationally is also assuredly affecting the SBC.

I am a Baptist Christian and I love my Baptist brothers and sisters. There’s many excellent, godly pastors and para-church leaders (Charles Stanley, Al Mohler, Mark Dever, and Paul Washer come to mind) and Christ-loving members in the SBC. No doubt about it. But in such situations as we currently see with the SBC, there’s the danger of fidelity to the organization and numbers taking precedence over fidelity to Jesus Christ, the Gospel, and Biblical orthodoxy. My prayers go out to those in the SBC who continue to uphold the Gospel and God’s Word.

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Greg Laurie, Calvary Chapel’s Big Crusader, Joins Southern Baptist Convention
http://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2017/june/greg-laurie-southern-baptist-calvary-chapel-harvest-crusade.html

Southern Baptists have lost a million members in 10 years
https://baptistnews.com/article/southern-baptists-lost-million-members-10-years/#.WULHKuvyu1s

Southern Baptist Convention Deploys Theology Referees To Elevation Church (satire)
http://babylonbee.com/news/southern-baptist-convention-deploys-theology-referees-elevation-church/

“The Roman Catholic Church Says I’m Anathema, What About You?”

Thirty years ago it was pretty much understood by most evangelicals that Roman Catholicism preached a different “gospel,” which taught salvation by sacramental grace and merit.

Today, Rome still teaches the very same false “gospel” but many evangelicals now gloss over irresolvable doctrinal differences and accept Roman Catholicism as a Christian denomination. What changed? Why are deadly Catholic falsehoods now accommodated as harmless “denominational distinctives” by some evangelical apologists?

Below is a short article from Pulpit & Pen, which points out that evangelical ecumenism with Rome does not compute.

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The Roman Catholic Church Says I’m Anathema, What About You?
By Seth Dunn
Pulpit & Pen
6/13/17

Frequently, we receive email at Pulpit & Pen chastising us for our position that those who believe Roman Catholic doctrine are not Christians.* This is a plainly biblical position and its quite frustrating to see it constantly challenged by Roman Catholics and Protestants alike. So, I thought it would be prudent to present a short argument that demonstrates that Roman Catholicism is not Christianity. Examine the following propositions:

To continue reading, click on the link below:
http://pulpitandpen.org/2017/06/13/the-roman-catholic-church-says-im-anathema-what-about-you/

An ex-Catholic evangelical speaks to Catholics but the Gospel was nowhere in sight

Religion is a tribal activity for most people, right? People affiliate with the same religion or denomination their parents belong to, preceded by their grandparents, and so on. Most don’t investigate the doctrines of their religion. Their thinking is, “If it was good enough for Mom and Dad (and Grandma and Grandpa) it’s good enough for me!” Within each family, religious piety and practice range from fervent to nominal but the most important rule, especially for Catholic families, is or used to be that no member join another church. Catholicism boasted that it was the “one true church” and warned that anyone who left its ranks was doomed to hell. Catholic parents felt guilty and remorseful if any of their children left the church.

For myself, as I read the New Testament as a Catholic in the early 1980s, I came upon many discrepancies between God’s Word and Catholic dogma. It was soul-wrenching. I eventually left the church, accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior (Yahoo!), and began attending a Bible-preaching church. My parents were not overjoyed but they took it in stride (except for whenever I witnessed to them). They were probably relieved that at least one of their six children was attending some kind of church. Looking back, I’m grateful for some of the information I was taught as a Catholic, but the church has done unimaginable harm over the centuries by leading billions of people away from Christ with its false gospel of sacramental grace and merit. Praise the Lord for saving me!

“Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'” – Luke 9:62

Speaking of ex-Catholics, news sources reported that the nation’s Vice President, Mike Pence, addressed the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday, June 6. The former Catholic parochial school student and altar boy accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior in 1978 at a Christian concert when he was nineteen, although he continued to attend Catholic church. Following undergraduate school, Pence married his wife at a Catholic wedding ceremony in 1985, but the Pences were gradually moving away from Catholicism. In 1995, the couple joined Grace Evangelical Church in Indianapolis and eventually shifted their membership to College Park Church in the same city.

It may have been a little awkward to have an ex-Catholic speak at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, but Pence quelled any uneasiness by saying many flattering things about Catholicism (full transcript below). He was much more politically correct than I would or could have been, but I’m not a politician.

Twenty or thirty years ago, the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast would not have invited an ex-Catholic as the main speaker, but things are changing. For both evangelicals and Catholics, belief is becoming less doctrinaire and more relative. “If it works for you, that’s fine, I just went in a different direction,” was Pence’s sentiment.

“While my own faith journey has taken me and my family in a different direction, I want you all to know how much I cherish my Catholic upbringing and cherish the Church. In fact, I just attended mass with my mom this weekend when we were in Chicago with family.” – Mike Pence

No, Vice President Pence, either Catholicism’s gospel of sacramental grace and merit is correct or Bible Christianity’s Gospel of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone is correct. They are diametrically opposed. They can’t both be right. Traditionalist Catholics cry foul when an “apostate” like Pence is the featured speaker at the Catholic prayer breakfast (see the “Mike Pence’s Catholic Mom” article below). True, there’s very little belief-wise that I share with the Michael Voris and his Catholic “Church Militant” cadre but at least I can say they’re trying to remain true to their untenable Catholic dogmas and have the courage of their convictions, which is more than I can say for some “evangelicals.”

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Remarks by the Vice President at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/06/06/remarks-vice-president-national-catholic-prayer-breakfast

Mike Pence’s Catholic Mom
https://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/vortex-mike-pences-catholic-mom

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup – News & Views – 6/10/17

• U.K. diocese tells Catholics how to venerate pagan ‘deities’

Catholic apologists like to present their church as a unified monolith but the reality is the spectrum of belief runs the entire gamut – except for the teaching of the Gospel of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

• Catholic cathedral welcomes ‘Pink Saturday’ gay pride gathering with bishop’s blessing

Some Catholic parishes are totally on-board with being “welcoming” and accepting of all “lifestyles.”

• Duggar son-in-law “complains about pagan religion of Catholicism”

A praise to the Lord and a tip of the hat for the forthrightness of the Duggar’s sons-in-law.

• Catholic shrine in Champion, Wisconsin draws visitors from around the world

Few Catholics know (or care) that the alleged apparition of Mary at Champion, Wisconsin in 1859 is one of only seventeen apparitions world-wide and the only one in the U.S. officially approved by the church. Mariolatry diverts people from salvation in Christ.

• U.S. cardinal writes forward to new book approving Communion for divorced-remarrieds and cohabitors

Traditionalist Catholics are aghast at this pope Francis-inspired, communion-for-adulterers breech in orthodoxy, but liberal priests have been distributing communion to any Tom, Dick, or Sally for decades.

• Maybe it’s time to reconsider calling priests ‘Father’

The Bible says no one is to be addressed as spiritual “father.” I believe Catholicism’s defiant rejection of this clear biblical teaching is one of the many signs the Lord has used to publicly mark her apostasy. See here.

• Is It Hateful To Believe In Hell? Bernie Sanders’ Questions Prompt Backlash

Senator Bernie Sanders’ recent attack on Trump nominee, Russell Vought, for his Christian beliefs is just another indication of society’s growing intolerance for Bible Christianity.

• ‘God Cannot Be God Without Man,’ Pope Francis Says

Au contraire, Francis, so-called “Vicar of Christ.” The Lord God Almighty is from “EVERLASTING to EVERLASTING.”

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. – Psalm 90:2

• The SBC lost almost 78,000 members in the past year

Why the membership decline in the Southern Baptist Convention? As someone who attended an SBC church for a year, I have my theories, which I’ll expound upon in a future post.

• United Methodist Church Throws ‘Going Out Of Orthodoxy’ Sale (satire)

If you’ve never visited the Babylon Bee you may enjoy their irreverent humor at the expense of “churchianity.” The old-fashioned Methodist teaching that a person could actually achieve a sanctified state of sinless “holiness” this side of eternity was way too close to Catholic doctrine but the denomination’s slide into liberal apostacism goes back to the early 20th-century.

Trying to nail down the elusive Catholic “gospel”

It’s a question that’s on the back of most everyone’s mind, even atheists if they were honest: “What’s going to happen to me after I die?” The vast majority of people on this planet believe in some kind of afterlife and they generally believe that “good” people will go to a good place (and most people would claim they are “good”) and “bad” people will go to a bad place.

If you were to ask 100 Roman Catholics how to get to the good place – Heaven – probably around 70 to 80 would answer something along the lines of, by being a “good” person. The remainder, who take their religion more seriously, would attempt to briefly describe the complicated salvation process put forward by their church: Get baptized, receive the sacraments, cooperate with sacramental grace by obeying the Ten Commandments (impossible!) and church rules and performing works of charity, and hope at the end that they’ve done enough to merit entrance to Heaven or, at least, to purgatory.

Because the Catholic concept of salvation is a complicated, lifelong process with many caveats and pitfalls, it’s very difficult to find a succinct summary of “How to get to Heaven” or How to be saved” on a Catholic website. After all, Catholicism has 1752 Canon Laws and 2865 numbered paragraphs in its official catechism.

Because clear and succinct explanations of the Catholic process of salvation are soooooo hard to come by, I really do appreciate the 2013 article below from Catholic apologist, Brantly Millegan; “What must I do to be saved?” I enthusiastically invite my Christian brethren and sistren to check out this 1800-word article. After reading Millegan’s account, do you really think the Catholic system in any way resembles the simple yet profound Good News! of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone?

“Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe (πιστεύω. Greek transliteration: pisteuō – to believe, put one’s faith in, trust) in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:30-31

Roman Catholics are a mission field, my friends.

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What must I do to be saved?
By Catholic apologist, Brantly Millegan
https://aleteia.org/2013/01/17/what-must-i-do-to-be-saved/

“Faith alone will not save a person. To attain salvation, a person must, in response to God’s grace, fulfill the following: believe in God, put his faith in Jesus, repent of his sins, be baptized, remain within the fold of the Church, hope in God, persevere in charity, and finally, die in a state of grace….”