PrayerWorrior52

I have many friends who are either Catholic or Methodist or some other form of Religion.. and i have noticed that the many different Religions have so many different "rituals" or "traditions". and i see nothing wrong with these. BUT, it is so easy for some people to get there Salvation mixed up with Having Religion. I hate the word "religion", B/C. religion to me is just the act of doing things.. You can go to church every sunday wednesday, every time the doors open. you can participate in all the activities.. and traditions.. you can go through the motions and everyone will say.. "so and so is very religious". So many times ppl get missguided into beleiving that their "traditions" or there "religion" is what saves them. They end up Beleiving more in their "religion" than in having a personal relationship with God.

A favorite quote of mine is this. "People these days are too busy worrying about being a Baptist than being a Beleiver, too busy worrying about being a Methodist than being a Minister of the Gospel, too busy worrying about being a Prodistant, than having a Personal relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord."

and it is so true in alot of cases. and this can be applied to life too.

people are too worried about worldly things. there attitude is of "i am a <insert profesion here> who just happens to be a Christian"

it should be. "I am a Christian! Who just happens to be a <insert profesion here> and b/c of that now has an oportunity to take God's Word into the workplace"

my point to all of this is this..
We are 1st of all things Christians.. anything else falls second to that.. we 1st have a Personal relationship with Christ. anything else falls second.
and do not confuse Having "religion" with having a relationship....

.....Which one do you have?.....

~PrayerWorrior~

Fluffy

__________________
Be transparent before God, He sees right thru you, anyway!
http://www.likepreciousfaith.org/testimony_val.htm
Please pray for your local emergency responders, daily.

Athanasias

I can definatly understand where you are coming from. The Relationship with Jesus is the utmost important thing. As a Catholic I can also say that some people can simply go through the rituals without any knoweldge of whats going on and without any care. However, I beleive that these people need to be taught what the rituals mean. In my faith I believe that having that personal relationship with Jesus includes those rituals and the Church I beleive he founded. Catholics beleive that we cannot just have a relationship with Jesus in the fullest sense apart from the church he founded for us(The Catholic church in our understanding). We cannot separate the head from the body so to speak. So to us faithful Catholics if we want to have the most personal relationship with Jesus we can we need to receive him the way he wants us to and set up for us in the sacraments. especially the Eucharist and Confession. And we need to be able to hear his voice clearly through his Catholic church because that is how he guides us in faith and morals.

We use the term religion in the older sense. It meant to "Bind to". Our Catholic Faith and Church should bind us to Christ. In other words for us it isn't a either or situation, its a both and situation.

At least that is the Catholic opinion.

God bless you all!

In Jesus through Mary,
Athanasias

Housesitter

__________________
Ray
Enjoy a rent free holiday with
Christian House Sitters
www.christian-housesitters.com

Athanasias

Sorry. I was just trying to explain my understanding, not looking for a debate. I guess I do not know how to do that without promoting the faith. Sorry once again.

May God bless you always.

In Jesus through Mary,
Athanasias

Housesitter

MODERATORS COMMENT
We note from your profile that you list your interests as "doctrinal debates with protestants only "

If you have joined this forum for that purpose you are in the wrong place.

Our rules are crystal clear

Note Rule 3.2b ChristianForumSite.com has a wide variety of members from around the World. This Forum does not allow the elevation of one Christian belief system over another. This is a violation of Regulations 3.1 and 3.2 in demeaning and belittling the beliefs of other Christians while promoting another system so as to create an atmosphere of superiority. Any such posts or threads will be removed and a reminder, warning or ban issued as necessary

__________________
Ray
Enjoy a rent free holiday with
Christian House Sitters
www.christian-housesitters.com

Athanasias

Those are part of my interest as I have many protestant minister friends who love a friendly discussion about doctrinal differences. Doctrine is important to study. However I feel you are being a bit paranoid and picking on me. I assure you I was not trying to debate. Nor did my post suggest such things. I was very kind in my post and not judgmental nor condemning of other faiths. I was not Being overlording or saying my way or the high way. I did not put down other faiths. I was simply trying to explain the Catholic position(Which I beleive is correct) to others who may not understand it. I hope you can understand that.

I would hate to start off being enemies with a person I do not even know.

I feel this is all a misunderstanding. So may the peace of Jesus the Lord be with you always my brother in faith.

In Jesus through Mary,
Athanasias

Housesitter

__________________
Ray
Enjoy a rent free holiday with
Christian House Sitters
www.christian-housesitters.com

Silverwolf

I think many people tend to mix different denominations of Christianity when it comes to theological belief. But the Bible says we must have the mind of a child to ender the Kingdom of God.

__________________
Jesus reigns forever. He is our reason to live! :]

Athanasias

Yes I think you are correct and have good points. Amen! We certainly must become like a child and have complete innocent trust in God. But we must also have a adult faith for we have an adult body and mind and Jesus told us to Love God with all our Mind too. When I was a child I thought like a child Paul would say.

People generally tend to mix different denominations when it comes to theological belief because their theological belief and outlook on certain scripture interpretations will depend upon what denomination they come from and are influenced by.

I hope that makes sense to you.

God bless you!
In Jesus through Mary,
Athanasias