Since you have been a Baptist, have you . . .

[Craigbythesea]

JackRuss wrote,

I know what I'm talking about.

The ridiculously false information that you posted about the Roman Catholic Church betrays the very obvious fact that you do not know what you are talking about. And please respect the purpose of this thread and the Baptists posting here that are sharing their experiences rather than maliciously using this thread as a soapbox to preach contemptuous garbage.

 

[JackRUS]

Originally posted by standingfirminChrist:
Catholic funerals are nothing but show. Like a final queue of clowns in a parade. Knights of Columbus are always seen in them in full comical regalia.

The Word of God convicts me of participating with anything within the catholic church, so, no. Even if it were my brother or sister's funeral, I would not attend.

Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.
For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat
of Christ." Rom. 14:4-10

Sounds fair enough to me folks.

Continue to live up to your handle then brother.

 

[Brice]

Originally posted by Diggin in da Word:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by C4K:
I was going to ask the same thing. Can anyone provide a Bible reason why if a good friend's mother dies and her funeral is in a Catholic Church that I should not be there for him? Especially if he is a brother in Christ?

Does the Bible tell us to have fellowship with the false church? Mine sure doesn't. What concord hath Christ with Belial?

Been to several Catholic funerals - never seen the KofC there, comical regalia or not. Since you have never been SFIC, why do you say that KofC are "always seen" there in "full comical regalia"?

I have seen many funeral processions from the Catholic Church near where I lived for 23 years. Every single one had a K of C or more going into the building or coming out of it in full regalia.

No one here that I know of is supporting the Catholic Church in an way. I want to be there for a Christian friend who realises that his mother or father who have died are very likely in hell. He needs a friend there to show Christ' love instead of all the false religion he is going to see in the funeral.

By attending the funeral, you are supporting the false church whether you think so or not.

How do I lovingly tell a brother in Christ that I am not going to be with him at his parent's funeral?

How about being honest? Tell him the christian faith forbids fellowship of any kind with the false church. Jesus said if they do not accept our report, shake the dust off our feet. The Bible teaches we are not even to invite them into our house.

When I go, everyone knows I am the Baptist pastor. I do not partake in any aspect of the mass, I am just there for my friends.

Just being there makes one a participant.

</font>

I wonder if you stick to this standard in everyday life? A simple yes or no will suffice.

 

[mcdirector]

If a Catholic (or a Lutheran or a Methodist or a Baptist . . .) doesn't know Jesus, how are we to reach them? How are we to build those bonds that allow conversations to open up that we can move toward truth.

I want them to come to my church when I invite them, but that may mean a bit of give and take on my part. It is NOT going to kill me to go to a Catholic church and may just well open an opportunity for me to share what I believe.

I just keep thinking about the people with whom Jesus ate and associated.

 

[JackRUS]

Originally posted by Craigbythesea:
JackRuss wrote,

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr /> I know what I'm talking about.

The ridiculously false information that you posted about the Roman Catholic Church betrays the very obvious fact that you do not know what you are talking about. And please respect the purpose of this thread and the Baptists posting here that are sharing their experiences rather than maliciously using this thread as a soapbox to preach contemptuous garbage.

</font>[/QUOTE]Why then did you start this provocative thread Craig?

And kindly with Scripture show me the error of my knowledge on Catholic theology as it pertains to their soteriology? (Preferably without the ad hominem).

 

[Craigbythesea]

Originally posted by mcdirector:
If a Catholic (or a Lutheran or a Methodist or a Baptist . . .) doesn't know Jesus, how are we to reach them? How are we to build those bonds that allow conversations to open up that we can move toward truth.

I want them to come to my church when I invite them, but that may mean a bit of give and take on my part. It is NOT going to kill me to go to a Catholic church and may just well open an opportunity for me to share what I believe.

I just keep thinking about the people with whom Jesus ate and associated.

Amen!

 

[mcdirector]

Originally posted by JackRUS:
Why then did you start this provocative thread Craig?

this is the original question:

Since you have been a Baptist, have you attended a Mass in a Roman Catholic Church?

I don't see anything provocative about this question. It's just a question.

 

[Diggin in da Word]

I do stick to my convictions, yes.

 

[Brice]

Originally posted by Diggin in da Word:
I do stick to my convictions, yes.

I think most of us do, but I was more so referring to this statement: Just being there makes one a participant.

 

[mountainrun]

Yes. Two funerals, one wedding.
I would clarify that I did not TAKE mass when it was given, though.
I was merely present.

MR

 

[Diggin in da Word]

Yes, I believe it does. The catholics have an entirely different way of performing the funeral service than the christian faith with their Prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary and other rituals. If we attend the services, whether we say the prayers to Mary or not, we are participating and consenting to their false doctrines.

I stand to my convictions.

 

[Ed Edwards]

Originally posted by Craigbythesea:
Since you have been a Baptist, have you attended a Mass in a Roman Catholic Church?

I have been a Baptist (also Christian)
for 87% of my life (54 of 62 years).
I never went to a Catholic Church BEFORE
converstion.

Here is how Catholics get saved:
Romans 10:9 (The Douay-Rheims Bible):

For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead,
thou shalt be saved.

Of course, Catholics aren't OSAS, but I am

My last mass was a Mass of Christian Burial
for a co-worker who offed himself. I thought
the Priest gave the family (wife and two
female teens) much comfort. He said the
(Roman Catholic) Church did not used to do
Mass of Christian Burial for suicides, but
how could he be sure my friend didn't
repent before he died of Carbon Mono-oxide
poisoning.

 

[Craigbythesea]

Ed Edwards,

Long time, no see.

Thank you for sharing this testimony with us!

 

[Bible Believing Bill]

I have not attended a Catholic Mass since becoming a Baptist. I rarely attended when I was nominally a Catholic myself, so why would I attend now?

I WILL ATTEND A CATHOLIC FUNERAL MASS WHEN MY MOTHER DIES!

There is nothing anyone can say that would keep me away from my mother's funeral. She is a member of a Roman Catholic Church and if that is where she wants her funeral that is were she will have it. I will not take communion, and I shouldn't both from my perspective and that of the Catholic Church since I don't believe the same things as they do.

Lets keep in my that there are MANY members of the RCC who are saved, there are Mormons who are saved, their are JWs that are saved, etc. Just because they gave some (or even a lot) of their doctrine wrong doesnt mean they are not saved.

I imagine there will be a lot of Baptists in heaven who will be surprised to learn that we have some of our doctrine wrong as well. Baptists are human and humans will mess up everything including doctrine.

Bill

 

[PastorSBC1303]

Originally posted by C4K:
Our church still meets in our home and we have Catholics coming every week. You better beleive if one of their family died I would be at the funeral.

Exactly right, as any good pastor would do!

 

[DeeJay]

Originally posted by standingfirminChrist:
Catholic funerals are nothing but show. Like a final queue of clowns in a parade. Knights of Columbus are always seen in them in full comical regalia.

The Word of God convicts me of participating with anything within the catholic church, so, no. Even if it were my brother or sister's funeral, I would not attend.

SFiC

I was at a Catholic funeral mass 9 days ago, no regala no KofC nothing but missguided people who love the person who died.

Observing the people who attended this funeral I see people who would give you the shirt off their back. I mean for the most part people who would do anything for you. People who show true love for others.

Then I read statements like standing firms I have to say as misguided as these Catholics are I would choose to fellowship with them before I would ever fellowship with SFinC.

SFiC I wonder what makes God sader Catholics missunderstanding of doctrin or your hate filled self righoutness. I guess when you read love your fellow man you think it means only Baptists.

 

[Craigbythesea]

I have attended a Mass in a Roman Catholic three times. I went twice with a group of friends to a Midnight Christmas Eve Mass. Most of these friends were Protestants but they enjoy attending the Midnight Christmas Eve Mass in the cathedral in our city. The first time I went, the message was an evangelical sermon on being born again and was brought by the bishop of the dioceses. The second time was the following year and the message was brought by the same man but it was a very poor message and the entire congregation seemed to be aware of that fact. It was a very bad experience and I never went to another Midnight Christmas Eve Mass.

More recently I attended a regular Mass at the Catholic Church near my home because I wanted to learn more about the churches in my neighborhood and their ministries. The message was, in my opinion, very poor and I have had no desire to visit there again.

I have had close friends who were Roman Catholics, including a Roman Catholic scholar, but I have never had an occasion to go to a wedding or a funeral in a Catholic church. Should such an occasion arise, I would certainly go.

My knowledge of the Roman Catholic Church is almost exclusively an academic one, rather than a personal one.

 

[JackRUS]

Originally posted by mcdirector:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by JackRUS:
Why then did you start this provocative thread Craig?

this is the original question:

Since you have been a Baptist, have you attended a Mass in a Roman Catholic Church?

I don't see anything provocative about this question. It's just a question. </font>[/QUOTE]The term provocative merely means thought provoking. How then is this thread not provocative?

 

[JackRUS]

Originally posted by Ed Edwards:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Craigbythesea:
Since you have been a Baptist, have you attended a Mass in a Roman Catholic Church?

I have been a Baptist (also Christian)
for 87% of my life (54 of 62 years).
I never went to a Catholic Church BEFORE
converstion.

Here is how Catholics get saved:
Romans 10:9 (The Douay-Rheims Bible):

For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead,
thou shalt be saved.

Of course, Catholics aren't OSAS, but I am

My last mass was a Mass of Christian Burial
for a co-worker who offed himself. I thought
the Priest gave the family (wife and two
female teens) much comfort. He said the
(Roman Catholic) Church did not used to do
Mass of Christian Burial for suicides, but
how could he be sure my friend didn't
repent before he died of Carbon Mono-oxide
poisoning. </font>[/QUOTE]Catholics believe that they are born again through baptism; infant or not. They then are slowly saved through faith in Christ + the receiving of the Catholic Sacraments + Meritorious (thus the name) Works and the keeping of the Commandments.

If one still fall short when dead, then fellow Catholics may pray for their dearly departed to be released from Purgatory, and the saying of Masses helps to hasten their eventual release into Heaven.

They also believe that mortal sins among the stil living ruins any partial justification that they may have merited up to that point.

Faith alone was throughly argued against at the Council of Trent.

 

[Craigbythesea]

DeeJay wrote,

Observing the people who attended this funeral I see people who would give you the shirt off their back. I mean for the most part people who would do anything for you. People who show true love for others.

Amen!

Some years ago I rented the oldest surviving building in a very large city and pioneered a church. The building was a wreck and I had no money to buy any furniture. The building was in the poorest part of the city and the folks who began coming to the church had no money to give. The pastor of the Roman Catholic Church nearby heard of our need and he asked his very poor congregation to come to our aid and they did so most graciously and abundantly. As our church grew, our members related to me their experiences with other pastors and churches in the city. The highest praise of all was offered up for the rector of the very large Roman Catholic cathedral up on the hill in an affluent part of the city who had personally reached out to them in their time of greatest need and made known to them the love of Christ through his own personal sacrifice on their behalf. I had the pleasure one afternoon of spending an hour and half with this most gracious and loving man sitting with him in his study at the cathedral and it was an experience that I shall never forget. Never before nor since have I been so very much aware of the Spirit of Christ in the person of another human being. I can only begin to wish that my own life was so full of the love of Christ as was his.