.
Hello;
I was christened an infant into the Roman Catholic Church in 1944, and
eventually attended catechism to complete First Holy Communion and
Confirmation.
My siblings are Catholic, my mother was Catholic, my eldest brother entered
the priesthood and made it to Friar before succumbing to cancer a few years
ago. My wife is a former Catholic, her dad was Catholic, his wife was
Catholic, my aunt and uncle were Catholics, and my wife's cousins are
Catholic; one of them was recently ordained a Deacon.
I was loyal to Rome for the first 24 years of my life till one day in Feb 1968 I
was approached at work by a Protestant minister who asked me if I was
prepared for Christ's return.
Well; I must've been either asleep or absent the day that the nuns in
catechism talked about Jesus coming back because that man's question was
the very first time in my whole life that I can remember somebody telling
me. I was 24 and hadn't a clue what he was talking about.
My initial reaction was alarm because I instinctively knew that were I called
on the carpet for a face-to-face with Christ, it would not go well for me
because I had a lot to answer for. Well; I don't like being made to feel afraid
so I became indignant and demanded to know why Jesus wanted to come
back. That's when I found out for the very first time that it was in the plan
for Christ to take over the world.
Then the man asked me if I was going to Heaven. Well; of course I had no
clue because Catholics honestly don't know what to expect when they pass
away. I was crossing my fingers while in the back of my mind dreading the
worst.
Then the man said; "Don't you know that Jesus died for your sins?"
Well; I had been taught in catechism that Jesus died for the sins of the
world; that much I knew; but honestly believed all along that he had been a
victim of unfortunate circumstances. It was a shock to discover that Jesus'
trip to the cross was deliberate, and that his Father was thinking of me when
His son passed away, viz: my sins were among the sins of the world that
Jesus took to the cross with him.
At that very instant-- scarcely a nanosecond --something took over in my
mind as I fully realized, to my great relief, that Heaven was no longer out of
reach, rather, well within my grasp!
That was an amazing experience. In just the two or three minutes of
conversation with that man, I obtained an understanding of Jesus' crucifixion
that many tedious years of Catholic masses and catechism classes had
somehow failed to get across. Consequently, my confidence in the Roman
Catholic Church was shattered like a bar of peanut brittle candy dropped to
the sidewalk from the tippy top of the Chrysler building.
Long story short; I eventually went with that man to his church and, along
with him and a couple of elders, knelt at the rail down front and prayed a
really simple, naive prayer that went something like this:
"God, I know I'm a sinner. I would like to take advantage of your son's
death"
My prayer wasn't much to brag about; but was no doubt the smartest
sixteen words I'd ever spoken up to that time because seeing as how Jesus
gave his life for the whole world, then God couldn't very well refuse my
request; now could He.
• Rom 5:6-8 . . Christ died for the impious. Very rarely will anyone die for a
righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.
( A really eerie moment happened while I was saying my stupid little prayer.
I got a vivid mental impression of someone there with us. I couldn't see
anything or hear anything, or make out a face or a form. Whatever that
impression was hung around for every last syllable of my prayer, and then it
was gone. I'm not a big fan of paranormal activity but I'm telling you,
something was there; and I hadn't been drinking, wasn't taking any
medications, nor have I ever used drugs of any kind even once. )
As of today's date, Oct 11, 2022 I'm 78 years old; and an on-going student
of the Bible since 1968 via sermons, seminars, lectures, Sunday school
classes, radio Bible programs, and various authors of a number of Bible
commentaries and special topics. Fifty-four years of Bible under my belt
hasn't made me a seminary-quality expert but at least competent enough to
be useful to inquiring souls now and then.
_
Hello;
I was christened an infant into the Roman Catholic Church in 1944, and
eventually attended catechism to complete First Holy Communion and
Confirmation.
My siblings are Catholic, my mother was Catholic, my eldest brother entered
the priesthood and made it to Friar before succumbing to cancer a few years
ago. My wife is a former Catholic, her dad was Catholic, his wife was
Catholic, my aunt and uncle were Catholics, and my wife's cousins are
Catholic; one of them was recently ordained a Deacon.
I was loyal to Rome for the first 24 years of my life till one day in Feb 1968 I
was approached at work by a Protestant minister who asked me if I was
prepared for Christ's return.
Well; I must've been either asleep or absent the day that the nuns in
catechism talked about Jesus coming back because that man's question was
the very first time in my whole life that I can remember somebody telling
me. I was 24 and hadn't a clue what he was talking about.
My initial reaction was alarm because I instinctively knew that were I called
on the carpet for a face-to-face with Christ, it would not go well for me
because I had a lot to answer for. Well; I don't like being made to feel afraid
so I became indignant and demanded to know why Jesus wanted to come
back. That's when I found out for the very first time that it was in the plan
for Christ to take over the world.
Then the man asked me if I was going to Heaven. Well; of course I had no
clue because Catholics honestly don't know what to expect when they pass
away. I was crossing my fingers while in the back of my mind dreading the
worst.
Then the man said; "Don't you know that Jesus died for your sins?"
Well; I had been taught in catechism that Jesus died for the sins of the
world; that much I knew; but honestly believed all along that he had been a
victim of unfortunate circumstances. It was a shock to discover that Jesus'
trip to the cross was deliberate, and that his Father was thinking of me when
His son passed away, viz: my sins were among the sins of the world that
Jesus took to the cross with him.
At that very instant-- scarcely a nanosecond --something took over in my
mind as I fully realized, to my great relief, that Heaven was no longer out of
reach, rather, well within my grasp!
That was an amazing experience. In just the two or three minutes of
conversation with that man, I obtained an understanding of Jesus' crucifixion
that many tedious years of Catholic masses and catechism classes had
somehow failed to get across. Consequently, my confidence in the Roman
Catholic Church was shattered like a bar of peanut brittle candy dropped to
the sidewalk from the tippy top of the Chrysler building.
Long story short; I eventually went with that man to his church and, along
with him and a couple of elders, knelt at the rail down front and prayed a
really simple, naive prayer that went something like this:
"God, I know I'm a sinner. I would like to take advantage of your son's
death"
My prayer wasn't much to brag about; but was no doubt the smartest
sixteen words I'd ever spoken up to that time because seeing as how Jesus
gave his life for the whole world, then God couldn't very well refuse my
request; now could He.
• Rom 5:6-8 . . Christ died for the impious. Very rarely will anyone die for a
righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.
( A really eerie moment happened while I was saying my stupid little prayer.
I got a vivid mental impression of someone there with us. I couldn't see
anything or hear anything, or make out a face or a form. Whatever that
impression was hung around for every last syllable of my prayer, and then it
was gone. I'm not a big fan of paranormal activity but I'm telling you,
something was there; and I hadn't been drinking, wasn't taking any
medications, nor have I ever used drugs of any kind even once. )
As of today's date, Oct 11, 2022 I'm 78 years old; and an on-going student
of the Bible since 1968 via sermons, seminars, lectures, Sunday school
classes, radio Bible programs, and various authors of a number of Bible
commentaries and special topics. Fifty-four years of Bible under my belt
hasn't made me a seminary-quality expert but at least competent enough to
be useful to inquiring souls now and then.
_
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