Msgr Pope ping
Ping!
I need Jesus; however, I don’t need the corrupt institution that the church has become.
You don’t need to join the fan club to love the music.
Where two are gathered is called a marriage and when three or more are gathered is called a family, not a church, and Jesus is there in there midst.
Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you.”
It is all about the Spirit of Christ abiding in you, and has nothing to with rules, dogma, sacraments, buildings, fonts, holy water, altars, pews, priests, confessionals, catechisms, statues and statutes, rosary beads, crosses, incense, and chalices. That is all noise and distraction.
People would well to just humbly seek the Holy Spirit everyday and avoid all other gobbledeegook.
God Bless Msgr. Pope!
The story of C.S. Lewis comes to mind whenever I hear this question. Lewis was always questioning everything, and at some point in his questioning (as described in his book “Surprised by Joy”) he came to the knowledge of the existence of God. And - given that there is a God - He was worthy of our worship. He therefore went to church simply to worship God - but he really did not like it. It took about a year, but eventually he found (was found by) Jesus and the rest - as they say - is history.
If you believe in God - then He is worthy of our worship. Period!
Everyone's their own pope?
Looks like this guy's ahead in the race!
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
II. To those who say, “I can have Jesus without the Church,” I say “no can do.” For the Church is the body of Christ and it pertains to the head of a living Body to be found with his body, not apart from it.
Mar_16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
Jesus has not come down from heaven since he ascended...You guys just mock Jesus when you tell these false tales...
One goes to church in order to practice loving your neighbor as Jesus commanded. One can love his neighbors elsewhere, of course, but where else will you find a more challenging group of neighbors to love?
Remember he also said that loving those who love you back doesn’t do all that much for your spiritual growth... It’s loving your enemies that is really important. If you attend church long enough, you’ll have plenty of great opportunities to love your enemies; and also give other people a few yourself.
I would note that believers even back to the beginning apparently disagreed with you.
II. To those who say, “I can have Jesus without the Church”...
I would say Paul (under the influence of the Holy Spirit) apparently disagreed with you.
III. To those who say, “I can read my Bible alone”...and IV. To those who say “I can watch Church on TV”...
I would say that neither of those are provided for in the Bible, not least because III simply wasn’t a realistic option for at minimum three-quarters of Church history and IV wasn’t a realistic option up until the last fifty years or so. Even radio’s only about a century old. Streaming on a home computer? Twenty years, tops. Streaming on your mobile phone? Ten. Turn off the tube, turn off the radio, shut down the computer, leave your freaking phone in the car and go to church. If I can manage that, you can manage that.
V. To those who say, “I like Jesus but I can’t stand the Church, with all those hypocrites”...”
I would say that if you think you’re better than they are, either you are, in which case you’re a remarkable human being, or you’re kidding yourself. I’m betting on the latter.
VI. To those who say “It’s the institution of the Church I object to, not the Body of Christ”...
I would say that you’re trying to make a distinction that the Bible itself never did. From the start of Jesus’ ministry on, the Church always has been, not some spiritualized thing, but, for better or worse, those guys over there, in the Temple courts, in the upper room, in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
And
VII. To those who say that the Church is irrelevant, outdated, and arrogant because it does not reflect the modern age or most of its members...
I would say that (a) since human nature has changed remarkably little since the Fall, let alone the time of the Gospels and Acts, the Church’s mission to be a contradiction to that sinful nature is therefore as up to date and relevant as it was then; and (b) news flash, kids: It’s called the Kingdom of God, not the Democracy of God.
The conclusion is a non sequitur:
"Therefore, the Catholic Church . . ."
Where in the Bible does it equate the Body of Christ with the Catholic Church?