Once Saved - Always Saved - A Lie Exposed ! ! !

Jesus is our Shepherd, our leader, our protector.  He is not like a simple hireling, no, he laid down his life for us.  He went through the agony of death on the Cross and He redeemed us, curing the sins of our late great ancestors Adam and Eve. 

What does Jesus expect from us?  To hear some people talk he expects not much from us.  Some say that by simply saying the "sinners prayer" that we merit heaven.  These same people say that the Bible is the source of all knowledge we have about God and heaven.  Yet, they cannot tell me where it says in the Bible to pray the sinner's prayer.  The notion of once saved always saved does not make sense in the natural world nor does it in the Kingdom of God.  What if I am "saved" when I say the sinner's prayer on day one.  I live the next ten years of my life blamelessly, promoting the Kingdom, leading dozens of others in praying the sinner's prayer - saving them all - alleluia !  Then after ten years of faithful service and psalm singing I take up a new career and become a bank robber, killing indiscriminately if someone resists and I then embrace another religion such as Islam. Are you telling me that if I died with these sins on my soul I would go to heaven because "once saved, always saved" is the rule?  Sorry, that defies logic and worse than that it defies what is revealed to us in the Bible.  Recall the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 25 beginning at verse 31. "

"When the Son of man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory.  All nations will be assembled before him and he will separate people one from another as the shepherd separates the sheep from goats.  He will place the sheep on His right hand and the goats on the the left.  Then the King will say to those on his right hand. "Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take as your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. 

For when I was hungry you gave me food, thirsty you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you made me welcome.  Lacking clothes you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison you cam to see me.

The upright will say to him in reply Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  When did we see you as a stranger and make you welcome, lacking clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to see you?

And the king will answer "In truth I tell you in so far as you did this for one of the least of these brothers of mind, you did it to me. 

Then he will say to those on his left hand "Go away from me, with your curse upon you to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 

For when I was hungry you gave me no food, thirsty you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you never made me welcome.  Lacking clothes you did not clothe me, sick and or, in prison you never came to see me.

Then it will be their turn to ask, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty a stranger or lacking clothes, sick or in prison and did not come to your help?"

Then he will answer "In truth I tell you in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these you neglected to do it to me." 

And they will go away to eternal punishment and the upright to eternal life. "

So it is evident from this one story told by Jesus that simply saying the sinner's prayer is not enough to guarantee ones space in heaven.  What Jesus wants from us is more, much more.  He gave His all on the Cross, teaching us that God's love has no limits.  He lived his life not for Himself, but for our sake. He withheld nothing.  He calls us to imitate Him and to help our brothers and sisters.  

Do we have to do the heroic things? Heavens no!  In Mark Jesus tells us, "If anyone gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, then in truth I tell you he will most certainly not lose his reward."  A cup of water is a small thing but it is a great mercy to a thirsty man.  Look for the things you can do for someone else in the course of your day to day life.  Every mercy you extend you extend to Jesus. 

Please think very carefully about the "once saved, always saved" lie that the "reformers" came up with.  It has sent many to places where they did not think that they would end up. By the way we live our whole life will determine our choice of our eternal home. In order to be placed among the sheep when Jesus returns we must put our faith into action.  Believing is certainly a good first step. Studying the Bible and learning about salvation is also commendable.  We must guard against knowing more about God than loving God.  We must have knowledge of God but we must demonstrate our love by choosing to do the right for His glory and to do so expecting no reward. 

Remember, I will answer any question about the Catholic Church, her beliefs or Christianity in general.  I will not respond to hate mail.  May God bless you and light your path today.  Amen

Scandal and the Catholic Church

During the last few years there has been much talk about Roman Catholic clergy abusing their trust as religious and commiting sins against children under their care.  The scandal became world news as more people claimed to have been abused by Catholic clergy.  The situation as bad as it was was made worse when some of the higher clergy decided to try and cover it up or to transfer the offender to another place.  Both of these actions were wrong and the people that did them should have known this.

The Catholic Church is what they used to call in World War II an LST - Large Stationary Target.  It also percieved as having deep pockets filled with gold.  It is my belief that many of the stories told by victoms are the result of greed and the American passtime of suing one another.  One concrete example was the accusations against the late Cardinal Bernadine of Chicago.  His accusser said all manner of evil things about this saintly man only to recant them later.

HOWEVER

If even one child was hurt, molested, or abused in some way or if one incident was covered up by clergy that was one too many.  A child deserves our love, our guidance and should be able to trust their clergy or for that matter any of the authority figures in their life.  This goes without saying.  The Church has dismissed priests found guilty of this tragic dereliction of duty and conduct unbecomming a man of the cloth.  These people have been turned over to the authorities so that justice can be done for the victims. This is as it should be and the Church is only doing what is right in this case.  I also admit that the Church has been slightly less agressive against the clergy that made it possible for these faux priests to practice their shenanigans longer than need be.

The Church has taken it on the chin, and somewhat rightly so for these embarassments.  They also have taken steps that tilt the scale of justice one hundred and eighty degrees to the west in that it is now the accussed priest that is considered guilty until proven innocent.  This is harsh treatment indeed for some of these men who may be in fact innocent.  Father John Corapi, a very devout former Catholic priest was forced to resign from the priesthood due to the unproved accusations that he had an affair with a parisoner, not a child but with an adult woman.

The Church also has been deeply hurt by the example these men have shown the world.  While it is a very small percentage of Catholic clergy that was involved with scandal, the whole Church comes away with a black eye.  The scandal has provided much ammunition to those that are biggoted against the Catholic Church. If you read any news article say on Yahoo where the Pope or the Church is mentioned and then look at the comments people post about the story you will that these bigots, very often taught to hate the Church from early age, keep the scandal alive and well by constantly condemning the WHOLE Church for the actions of a few.  Painting with such broad strokes paints the good and the bad alike and this is a miscarriage of justice.  These comments contain a certain "holier than thou" attitude that is not very Christlike.

If these smug Protestants were to troll the internet using as the search term "Protestant Sexual Abuse" their eyes would be be opened when they see all of the abuse committed on children by Protestant clergy.  The difference between the scandals is that the Catholic Church is centralized and easier to pick apart than say a First Baptist Church or Church of the Nazarene.  Besides, in America the bias against the Church is the last "respectable" bias.

The point I am making here is simply that the scandal of the moment is not only the problem of Catholics.  It is the problem of Protestans, Jews, Hindu's, Muslims, and Atheists.  Our stand should be a united one, we should stamp out abuse of our children wherever we find it.  Also, we should take the time to display Christlike love for one another, Catholics for Protestants and Protestants for Catholics.  The differences between our faiths our real and in some cases profound.  But we should practice what Jesus taught us when He said "Love one another as I have loved you."  Before He died for us on the Cross of Ultimate Love on Calvary that first Good Friday, the night before at the Last Supper he washed the feet of ALL the disciples, even the feet of Judas who betrayed Him.  If our master could do that,can we do any less than Him?