And another...

mike regish

"Steve Robertson" wrote in message
...
Jay,

I'm not going to pile on here (really!), but I think Ian has a point.

When I read your missive, I immediately had the same initial reaction as
Ian
apparently had. That is, perhaps you were uncomfortable with the
conversation
not so much because you were offended, but because it made you suddenly
aware of
"unfinished business" in your spiritual life.

I grew up in neither a Catholic nor a "Bible thumper" household. As such,
I
don't carry much baggage, for better or for worse. I find some major
problems to
the point of corruption with both extremes. When I read the Bible, I find
no
mention of a pope/venal sins/mortal sins/purgatory/limbo/private
confessional/etc. Nor do I find it written that it is necessary to attend
church
twice on Sunday and again on Wednesday, speak in tongues, claim to be
"born
again", or not allowed to drink/gamble/swear/etc. Also, I haven't read
anywhere
in the Bible that one cannot lead a moral life or enter the Kingdom (of
heaven)
without being a practicing Jew or Christian (not that the word Christian
appears
in the Bible that I'm aware of). All of this stuff that one camp or
another
places emphasis on is just window dressing. The Bible is written in plain
enough
language for one to understand what the point is.

The point is ... The only way to ENSURE that one enters the Kingdom is
through
the grace of God, which for Christians is conveyed by belief in Jesus as
Savior.
EVERYTHING else is secondary. Now, one can read the Old Testament or the
Gospels
and find where the Lord want us to lead what can only be termed a moral
life.
Mostly follow the "golden rule" if you distill it right down to dregs.
Most all
of us were given free will to make our own decisions. Some of us are evil
and
some are not. But we all are sinners and most of us can and should try do
better. But (and I can't quote chapter and verse) one cannot be asssured
of
entering the Kingdom though good works alone.

Now most of us have heard that the Lord works in mysterious ways. I
believe
that. I have never witnessed any miracles. Never had any "revelations". I
don't
aurally hear the Lord speaking to me. Never had a vision. Never spoke in
tongues. I don't see an image of Mother Teresa in baked goods nor Jesus in
the
shadow thown by a bug zapper (not that anybody after His time knows what
He
looked like). But I find that I am occasionally moved to do something or
make a
particular decision by a force that just comes out of nowhere. And every
time
that has happend and I "listened", the result has been a blessing to me or
to
someone I've helped. I can't igore that this is how the Lord nudges me to
do His
work from time to time. My taking time to write this rant is the result of
one
of these nudges. I hope it somehow provides a blessing to you or someone
else
who might read this. In any case, please consider the possibility that
your
encounter and the feelings it rasied a nudge you are getting from Him.

My advice is this: Put aside all the Catholic guilt trip and your reaction
to
it. Pick up one of those Gideon King James Bibles you have at the hotel
(or
better yet, get a modern translation), and read the Gospels again. After
that,
decide one way or another what it's going to be for you. Get your
spiritual
house in order - stop sitting on the fence. Once you've done that, you
won't
feel so uncomfortable the next time you get suckered into a dialouge with
someone trying to spread whatever message that have.

Disclaimer: I'm not a theologian, preacher, priest, elder, deacon,
minister,
pastor, or rabbi. Just a sinner and sheep in His flock.

Required aviation content: The existence of flying machines just points
out to
me that the laws of physics are just too complicated and amazing to have
been
left to chance.

Best regards,

Steve Robertson
N4732J 1967 Beechcraft A23-24

Ian wrote:

Anyone ever run into this before? What did you do?

snip!.

Your rejection of the message does not diminish its truth.