Posted on 02/10/2005 7:45:57 AM PST by NYer
There are enough doctrinal differences between the evangelicals and the Baptists to separate them. Personally, I was raised Southern Baptist in an area of Texas that was half Catholic. All of us growing up together knew there were enough common areas to make common cause. The Baptists' big problem was CYO dances and drinking (I used to suffer through Sunday sermons in misery after a Saturday night partying with my buddies at CYO dances).
It did not bother my parents at all when I converted to Catholicism when I married a Chicago Irish girl. The RE teacher at her church was really surprised at how much I already knew.
He is a bit late to the party, the persecution is already going strong and the MSM is leading the charge.
They felt that dancing was the devil's gateway to get you to drinking and fornicating.
This alone says much of this fine man of God!
I'm not a Catholic, but I really like this Archbishop. He tells it like it is, stands for what he believes in, and is not intimidated by the flack from those who are offended by the truth.
Amen to that, NYer! Thanks for this most uplifting post.
Lol ... this past week was Cana Sunday. Our pastor began his homily with a personal story. Several years ago, he was invited to a wedding. At the reception, he found himself in conversation with a (female) Baptist Minister. He offered her a glass of wine. She politely refused, explaining that she was a Baptist. He asked her why Baptists don't drink and she cited various scriptures - all from the Old Testament.
Father asked her if she believed that Jesus was the Son of God and if she accepted the Bible as the Word of God, to which she of course said yes. He then asked her how Jesus had evangelized? She seemed perplexed by the question. Father cited the New Testament scriptures, showing her how Jesus evangelized by eating and drinking with the people. He asked her once again if she preferred red or white wine. She had a glass of red wine ;-D
I think drinking is one of the main moral issues that Christian conservatives ignore. To me there isn't a more destructive social behavior, at this poitn, than drinking. yet we ignore the issue becaause so many people do it--so who wants to call a friend or family member out?
I proudly do not drink and my denomination (nazarene) tends to argue against it as well.
Drinking isn't the problem [Jesus and Mary spoke of wine in the bible at the wedding feast etc.] ....it's the abuse of drinking that is the problem. We are all resposible to follow God's laws. Outlawing drinking never solves the problem of abuse drinking.
The world will hate us because it hated Him and we follow Him.
The world hated Him because He reminds us of a truth we do not want to hear.
We are men, not G-d. We are created, not Creator. When we faced a man who was, in fact, G-d, and we could see the difference, we hated Him for showing it to us.
Shalom.
Many Christians are ignorant and/or poorly catechized. In fact, many Christians wouldn't know the difference between catechized and cauterized.
If education is important then religious education is critical. Yet how many Christians are willing to allow their Christian education to be taken care of 1 hour/week on Sunday mornings and occasional casual reading of Scripture? And how many Churches/denominations don't offer any more?
Shalom.
We have differences because we think we can fathom an infinite G-d and have the temerity to try.
We have in common what He Himself has revealed in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ. When we focus on what is written, rather than on what we think was meant between the lines, we are clearly One in the Spirit.
There is One Faith, One Hope, and One Baptism. There is only One G-d, and One Savior, His Son, Jesus Christ.
Shalom.
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