To Lighthouse Trails and readers:
I attended Catholic Church and school through college. There were many things I did not believe, but I never said anything to avoid hurting my parents.
My high school was very sports-minded and blue-collar. Bullies were all over, but the worst of them were young teachers in their 20s, usually coaches, who could get away with it because they could. Yes, these guys cussed in your face, physically threatened AND attacked you, and encouraged other students to do so. Many had graduated from the school then came back after college to teach there and stayed for years. They were pure evil. This was Bishop _________ in Columbus OH. It still hurts me as an older man.
I finally figured out that Catholicism is merely a system of control, and I had to violently rebel against the notion that I would go to Hell for rejecting it. Over the past few years, I’ve seen so many of my old classmates falling away from doctrines Catholics believed in while continuing to attend Mass regularly. Now so many of them are embracing gay marriage, “love is love” at pride parades, gay/predatory priests, abortion on demand, heavy drinking, and acceptance of illegal drugs.
The final blow for me was being a part of a group called Catholic Youth Renewal Team in Seattle back in 1984/85. Very strange things happened in that charismatic organization, which allowed many teachings involving cultish practices.
Bluntly, most Catholics don’t read their Bibles, and Catholicism does not lead to any meaningful changes for the better in their lives. In fact, it is even more dangerous than being of no faith at all because Catholics feel they can simply confess off their sins to a priest and continue the same sins. That is so wrong. As for me, I’m done with it, the whole thing.
Oh yes, Mary is in Heaven enjoying her reward for being the first person to say yes to Christ by allowing herself to be used as a vessel for Jesus’ birth. At Cana, she told the workers “do whatever he tells you.” Praying to her, going through any mediary because you think you can’t go to Jesus directly—how sad! Jesus loves you, and to lost Catholic hearts, I pray you will come to him, the truth, no more distractions of this world. This world is dying. Jesus is LIFE and the only way to salvation!
Andrew
(photo from istockphoto.com;used with permission)
I was set free from all that when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and started reading His Word, at 28 yrs. of age. I praise God that He opened the eyes of my understanding and I continue to grow in Him at age 76.
👏👏👏 I attended Catholic school 1st, and 4th grade. It was while I was in 4th grade I started questioning some of the teachings. My mom was the secretary, and the teacher told my mom. My mom married into the church. So at dinner time she, decided that would be the perfect time to tell my dad. Yikes, was he angry! I’m so thankful that at that time God was giving me the gift of discernment. I always question everything. 3 times while growing up , there was someone brave enough to tell me about salvation through Jesus. I didn’t really understand what they were talking about. Finally @ the age of 20, I trusted Him for salvation. That didn’t go over well with my Catholic husband. lol It took him 9 years to trust, and receive salvation. The older a Catholic is, and the longer they stay in that brain washing church, the harder it is to witness to them. They will argue until the death! There is a great book called, Done, by Cary Schmidt. $5.00 investment! Hand them out to your friends, especially Catholics . If you attend a church, then your pastor can probably get a discount . Either way it’s worth the money.
praise the lord you came out of that harlot system.