Salvation: Is it for everyone?

I am friends with a boy from my old high school on facebook, we never knew each other when we were in high school, but we are about the only two who left it with a Christ centered goal for our lives. We chatted over our winter breaks and on a parting note, he mentioned how he wished Protestants (as he is one) and Catholics (me, even though I'm sure any Catholic would be appalled to have to acknowledge me as a believer!) could unite to spread the Gospel rather than bicker over stupid, and truly minor, discrepancies. He slid in a little "I don't know if this is true, but I heard Catholics need confession to be saved..." I laughed a little, obviously thinking otherwise...but then I had to check. I felt a little stupid not knowing 100% what the Church teaches about salvation. I know I am in the process of learning, but that is a basic! So I did a google search and the first 4 sites I clicked on gave me source after source of Catholic doctrine. None of them really mentioned faith or works being a means of salvation, but membership!!!!

This site (*Click me*) had the "entire" listing of sources I gathered from the others more or less. After I read it, my heart just broke. This one especially:
Pope Eugene IV, (1388-1447) Cantate Domino
"It [the Church] firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that those not living within the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics cannot become participants in eternal life, but will depart 'into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels' [Matt. 25:41], unless before the end of life the same have been added to the flock; and that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is so strong that only to those remaining in it are the sacraments of the Church of benefit for salvation, and do fastings, almsgiving, and other functions of piety and exercises of Christian service produce eternal reward, and that no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even if he has shed blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he has remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church."

But then farther down the website, it quotes from post Vatican II documents and the Catechism about how pagans and atheists can be saved...what is going on!?

When it comes to religion, I want to know what I am "Confirming". If I belong to a church, I want to say I can positively agree with it's tenets, though I know some people say it's ok to disagree on certain aspects, I agree. I agree when it comes to minor things like modesty, or confession, or music, etc. But not when it comes to salvation matters and other beliefs that hold a lot of weight. I love the Catholic Church as it has been my home since birth, she created our Bible and has passed down the faith for 2,000 years. That's incredible, however, I just don't know how to reconcile decrees and beliefs that are so contradictory and ridiculous.

A Christian who professes his/her faith in Jesus and believes His sacrifice liberates us from our sins, is saved. Period. in my book. What do you think? For the Catholics out there, have you read these sources before? Thoughts?

Peace & Blessings!

Nightmares!

This past year has been one of great changes and I have made a conscious effort to make 2010 just as successful. And I started this with addressing one of the oldest sins I've struggled with. For years I would tell myself "this *sin* isn't that bad...it doesn't hinder you spiritually really...etc" But in the back of my mind, I knew I needed to clean up my act. Completely by accident, I read an article on the matter (about how counter-productive this was in a believer's life) and it was as if I had been divinely touched because this sin that I had allowed to hang around, and acted so casually about, for so long just left me. I talked differently, thought differently, and acted differently on the subject.

(I know I am being really vague, but it's something I am so thankful has changed and I want to totally disconnect from the "old me")

However, the problem is not in my everyday life, but in my dreams. I never dreamed about this sin or anything...it's something we would do when we were...awake? This is kind of hard to explain, but it wasn't something that consumed me, it was just a sin that I allowed to become too lax in my life when really it should have been cleansed years ago. But now all of a sudden, I dream about it. It's become a recurring nightmare. When I am dreaming, I think of the article and everything and I say to myself, you turned your back on acting this way...but let's just do it once more for kicks! And then when I wake up, it feel like it truly happened and I become ashamed/discouraged that I made a conscious decision to repent and turn from it, and just allowed myself to sin again for "fun". ( Sin is never fun! )But then I realize...you dreamed all that...no worries.

Where is this coming from? Maybe I just feel like it's too good to be true that God repaired this part of my life so...instantly and now I am on edge of reverting to my old ways? It's weird...I don't quite know what to make of it yet. Hopefully God can start stripping my subconscious of whatever it is that's plaguing me!

pray for me!
~RA

Learning contentment along with other pearls

But godliness with contentment is great gain.
1 Timothy 6:6

This scripture has been a "God-send" to me for my new life at college. I (as you are most definitely aware)have been struggling with living away from home and the pressures of the university world. I knew I had to make a change this semester, being so depressed was NOT God's calling in my life. How can I serve Him when I let myself fall down? My focus is going to be positive from my return to school to my very last final in May. I know there will be some blue moments, trying moments, and overwhelming moments, but I am going to give up my struggles this time around rather than hold them inside. I'm going to keep contentment at the forefront of my mind in any and every situation seeing as God has blessed me with an education, food, family, & friends! How can I complain? So keep praying for me! This will be (and has already proven to be) one of the most difficult struggles and adjustments of my life--emotionally as well as physically.



On to another fun topic...heehee. Love! Ok I always seem to focus on the same few topics: Modesty, love, school, headcoverings, etc! But I simply cannot help myself. I'm young and many of the blogs I read (well the teenager bloggers) create a lot of love/marriage centered posts. I'm going to be 19 this year...whoa that was weird to write out...but anyways. Turning 19 is a scary point for me. Many of my cousins, who have been dating steadily for years now, met their boyfriends at around this time. I have friends who are already engaged. And oddly enough, I've been proposed to twice already. So marriage is on my mind, however I'm not seeking or pursuing it in this point in my life.

I will admitt that I think about it a lot. I have met one Christian guy at school and he off the bat started discussing marriage (not between us!) I think he is going down the courtship path, which was something I thought was the safest and godliest way to discern marriage, but I think it stays strictly within Protestant circles.

My friend made a comment about there being only elderly, middle aged, and children/pre-confirmation aged parishioners in the 3 churches we attend and how she just plans on settling on a non-religious man to marry. I really hadn't worried about meeting guys before, but this year I have really rewired my brain toward a more holy lifestyle and now the guys I was once easily able to hook are not the guys I want to be around. A good Christian man is hard to find and a Catholic one is even harder. The only catholics guys my age that I have met, with a sincere faith, are not interested in dating or marriage at all...because they are discering vocations. Which is an INCREDIBLE thing!! Very honorable. I just wonder...with a school like the one I attend...where is it that I will find a husband in the future? No relationships I cultivate here will really be anything I'm looking for years down the road....after graduation and on. It's just something we have to blindly follow God with, but it's such an exciting part of life that I can't help but wonder.

where did you meet your spouses/fiancees? (for those who are married) and how long did you date/court? were you more traditional or did you do things "your way"?

Peace & Blessings!~

!Modesty!

I don't know how many of you watch EWTN, but late at night they have a program for young adults & teens about purity, modesty, sexuality and how it applies to the Catholic faith (and really to any Christian!) One of the hosts, Jason Evert, has a little clip on youtube about modesty I thought was spot on ;)

Enjoy!

Sola Scriptura...thoughts.

I posted a video challenging sola scriptura before, but I was thinking about it again recently and I had some questions. I was trying to find a christian discussion forum yesterday and I found a really cool one....that was until I saw the rules prohibiting "Catholic talk" and that it could only be mentioned in the 1 on 1 debate section or the End of Times section. How one sided could you get?! And there was one question as to why this was a rule, and the immediate response was "Catholics tend to get aggressive". Umm...I think anyone with an ounce of passion for their faith will defend it...and if the forum is 95% protestant, there is probably a lot of instigation.

I haven't posted there yet...I'm a little hesitant, but I have read through some of their topics. The sola scriptura topic stood out. The author preached this doctrine while simultaneously bashing the "blood thirsty catholics". Mhm. Well immediately I asked myself why anyone can hate the RCC and love the Bible. The Catholics MADE the bible people! And even if you have grievances with the Church, which I sometimes do, it's impossible to completely cut ties with her. How could they trust the Catholics to create the Bible, but then spit on them for their teachings? Their 2,000 year old teachings. I feel like Protestants don't realize that there were OTHER gospels out there at the time of the compilation. How can they affirm that those Gospels had no divine inspiration? Why is the Bible we know today accepted rather than questioned by them?

I feel like...had the Bible been the basis of the Church (i.e created prior to the creation of the church itself) then I could see the point. Maybe the sola scriptura is the true way to understand Christianity. But that's not how it was. The Church created the Bible. And the men who compiled it had reasons and interpretations that were obviously guided by the Holy Spirit. Protestants cannot refute this or else their Bible and their doctrine fail.

Gah I am trying so hard to simply understand how this doctrine remotely makes sense. When they say "The spirit guides us today and our interpretation is God breathed"...then why are there so many Protestant denominations?

Anyone here believe in sola scriptura? How do you reconcile these points?
Blessings to all!
~R.A

The Bible: In a Year

I was watching the tail end of Copeland on TBN the other day (a Christian show, for the unfamiliar) and the sermon really spoke to me. Ironically, I forgot what was being said (I have been watching a lot of EWTN and TBN shows recently) however the message interested me enough that I looked up his website. There, I clicked around and found a year long bible reading schedual *found here* which I thought was a neat idea. Many of the bloggers on here who posted their bible scheduals for the new year posted a couple of days into the month. For some stupid reason I didn't think I could catch up...and so I waited longer.

This morning I woke up and after watching an episode of the Duggars, I felt a push to start reading asap. Josh & Anna read scripture together every morning, or from what I see on the show, and for a time, I too started my day with God. (For some reason, the laziness kicked in, as did all the other issues I have posted already, and I stopped reading altogether) I also read a young Christian girl's blog who posed the idea of reading just as many times as you eat meals (or any food) because spiritual nourishment is just as important as physical. What a nifty idea eh? Well anyways, long story short, I wrote down the scripture I missed from January 1st to today...the 9th...and boy has it been a long day! haha I had 20 chapters of Genesis in addition to 11 chapters of Matthew. I have only gotten my Genesis accomplished...Matthew is next on the night's agenda. The reason it took me so long was because I wanted to do more than read this time around. I highlighted, meditated, and wrote notes down chapter by chapter. This way I can remember the teachings I am learning.

I was also pondering how lucky I am to have a Bible to read, I shouldn't take it for granted. Why did the RCC make it illegal to print and or read the Bible in the past? I read somewhere that it was illegal to purchase or own a bible until the 1800's in Italy. What the heck? Why? I know they must have feared a misunderstanding of the text from the laity, but the catechism and sound preaching/teaching could solve that. There's been a lot of weird things the RCC and the popes have done throughout the generations...it makes me think, how could God have appointed or supported such people and their behavior?

Oh and random question: why does Abraham tell Sarah to tell the kings she is his sister multiple times? He says he feared being killed for being her husband...but it's such a weird part of the story.

That's what's going on here, thanks for reading :)
~Peace

Spiritual Inspiration

I have been thinking about my spiritual walk lately. (as I have been for weeks now) Today I was watching Kimdonesia's channel and thevintagegoth on youtube.com and I realized I see a lot of myself in their struggles. Kim was always a very passionate religious girl...we got in a fight over facebook once about the Jews and she also answered a youtube pm from me warning me about hell and how I could get to jannah. I thought she was a crazy fundamentalist at the time, but if you simply switch religions...I see myself. I get angry with myself if I don't cover my head, I've been focusing on modesty too extremely (sleeve length, skirts only, pants, pant length, swimsuits), I try so hard to study the Catholic feast days and rememorize the mass, the prayers, the gestures etc, and I have caught myself avoiding some people due to their flaws & sins rather than reaching out to them and providing support and simple love.

Erin, thevingtagegoth, asked a question about the legitimacy of the Qu'ran on her channel and a woman named Brekketechie posted a Christian response. She was so articulate in her expression of beliefs and the message of Christ. She said she believed the Bible itself, while the word of God, is flawed because imperfect creatures were the ones to physically record a perfect message. At first I was a little disgusted by this...how could she think the Bible is flawed? But then I recalled myself questioning it's perfect status when I read certain scriptures.

I have been so angry with myself for so many weeks now because of my little doubts, questions, and struggles that have surfaced. I thought I was so alienated from God for He knows what has been going on in my head. I cannot hide my thoughts and that even further upset me and I fell into a bit of a depression. I wanted to work my issues out in privacy, away from God's presence and then come back when I was "fixed". Brekketechie made the point in her video that it should be ok to have these down periods in one's spiritual walk (without feeling shame!) & that we're supposed to grow with God, he'll use these moments to teach us and guide us. I felt like she had been talking directly to me, it was phenomenal how applicable it was to my situation.

So I'm going to start this new year with this outlook. I want to stop trying to learn the ways of the RCC for now (and any other dogmas mj protestant or catholic.), stop covering, stop swearing, and stop separating the religious from the non. I will be wearing modest clothes w/o obsessing over inches and style, and focusing my attention on God's love and putting it into practice in my life. Yeshua commanded us to love and even stated that all the laws hung on this one. Such a little request proves to be my greatest challenge each and every day. How can I love someone who yells at me? mocks me? sins in every way possible? I need to keep in mind that it is NOT my position to judge their sins, God will hold us all accountable. I don't need to teach my room mates or friends ANYTHING, God will. So when I remove the need to control sin around me and forgive with an open heart, love will come naturally. And when others see my loving attitude and behavior, they will see God and it will bring glory to Him. This will hopefully be a period of just me and God. I don't need all the answers yet...he'll get me there in His timing. I trust this journey I am on, and you should too because YHVH the One True God is leading the way.

We Can Not Fail With Him Guiding Our Steps.
I also want to make a shout out to all my faithful readers. You guys have provided me with your words of wisdom, support, and kind words. I am so blessed and I want to let you know how thankful I am that you take time to read & post here. You make this blog worth it all!
Peace to all, may the Lord teach you and bless you this year!
With Love,
~R.A