You’d think there wouldn’t be much to fear, in reading dreary books for teens, and following the world’s news from the safety of one’s living room.
But lately it’s like looking down into the abyss with your toes hanging over the edge.
What we see there is complete and utter Godlessness, no Jesus Christ, no Light of the World: only darkness, and the lurid red light of creeping landfill fires.
This is an indescribably evil age. World War I, World War II, and the 20th century charnel houses of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao were bloodier and much more violent. But in this age the devil is playing with seduction and seeing how much mileage he can get out of idiocy painted up as wisdom. He is trying to convince us that there is no God, there is no King of Kings: and not only that, but also that we don’t need a Savior anymore, we can do the job ourselves. To Satan this is much more hilarious than war.
Everything we have that is good, everything we hope for, everything we are or ever hope to be, all of it… is from the Father of lights. From the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable (I Corinthians 15:19).
Without Jesus we are nothing but prey–to disease, to accident, preyed upon by other human beings, preyed upon by sin (our own and others’), and hunted down in the end by the arch-predator, death: and there is no possibility of anything but that.
But we are not without Jesus Christ! How many times does He tell us He is with us, He does not abandon us? We have to believe Him. The Holy Spirit testifies in our hearts that God has not forgotten us, but we have to listen. And sometimes it’s hard. Like when you’re peering down into the abyss. And hearing those mocking voices float up from the darkness: No God, no Christ, no eternal life, no forgiveness of sins, you’re all alone, you’re all alone… Mocking voices whose owners wear sandwich boards proclaiming themselves the wisdom of this world.
It’s crap. The devil’s full of it.
Cling to Jesus, cling to God’s Word, cling to His promises. Don’t let go.
I don’t know if I’m saying what I want to say. It’s that the abyss is looking especially dark lately, and smelling especially foul, and I am conscious of some evil force, some counterfeit wisdom backed up by power and money, trying to pull us all down there into the darkness with it.
Believe God. Worship Jesus Christ the King of Kings, our only Savior.
Just do it.
I was just reading about the number of Christians whom have converted to Islam. One of the points they make is to question the need for salvation based on the sacrifice of Christ. Take that away, and Christianity deflates into nothing. What folly.
And this heretic pope is running around telling people that all faiths have salvation, atheists have salvation, good people have salvation, aliens have salvation – none of them need Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. God loves them and wouldn’t throw them away just because they don’t believe on His Son. He must have missed the part where Jesus said the ONLY way to the Father is through Him!
I sometimes have a dreadful suspicion that this Pope has somehow strayed out from a chapter of Oy, Rodney.
Maybe you could figure out a way to stuff him under the wading pool!
Interestingly enough, just yesterday I had a long and painful discussion with someone whom used the notion that the only road to God was through Christ to try to get me to go to his church. He kept saying there was ONE WAY to God, and we agreed that was the Christ. Through logic that I could not understand, this fellow said that proved his church was the right one. I said that proved that we are saved by Christ. We repeated several iterations of that “logic” until I finally took my leave.
This pope is a mystery to me. In not Catholic and don’t see the pope as having any particular significance other than being the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church, but most popes up until now at least seemed to be practicing Catholics. I don’t know WTH this guy is.
He’s a Jesuit!
Yep, they’re pretty far out there.
That’s being kind lol. Have you ever read their oath? Makes your blood run cold!
I just read the alleged Jesuit oath. Linda, I believe it’s a work of fiction, an anti-Catholic slander.
No, I have no idea what they really have as an oath, or if they even have an oath at all. Yes, I know they’re a bunch of commies with very eccentric ideas of what constitutes Christianity. But that doesn’t mean they take an oath to murder everyone who isn’t them.
Linda, funny you should mention that. I’m Catholic — and UnKnowable, I could explain to you the Catholic view of the papacy if we had “world enough and time” here — but back when I first heard that the new Pope was a Jesuit from South America, my heart sank. I knew we were in for trouble. I just didn’t know how much trouble. Believe me, all the orthodox Catholics I know are groaning as much about this Pope as everyone here is doing. This is another abyss we’re looking into. But we have Christ’s promise that the gates of Hell will not prevail against His Church, so we hold fast to Christ and His promise.
Some years ago, a friend of mine said, “I remember when the Jesuits were still Jesuits.” I replied, “I remember when the Jesuits were still Catholic.” That’s how bad it’s been for decades, especially in South America.
Phoebe, I came from a very Catholic upbringing and my dad had two cousins who were Jesuit priests. I understand how the Catholic Church operates. I’m now – and have been since I left home – a non-denominational Christian who follows Jesus and I believe the Bible is God-breathed. The Catholic people (my recently passed mother-in-law was Catholic) are wonderful people. It’s the Church and all her idols and pagan traditions that I object to. And as for the Jesuits – and this pope in particular – I share your pain. God bless you sister.
Linda, after taking some time to think of how to respond to your claim that Catholicism is pagan and idol-worshiping — and thank you, Lee, for pointing out that the so-called Jesuit oath is an anti-Catholic hoax — I have to say that there’s no idolatry in Catholicism, and certainly no paganism. If you’re referring to the presence of, say, statues and pictures (and these aren’t unique to Catholicism), that’s no different from people who have pictures of loved ones on their desks, or pictures of national heroes in public places. No one worships these reminders of people we esteem and reverence. As for the “paganism,” I don’t know what you’re referring to, but if you mean some of the ceremonials or the adaptations of former pagan customs, these have been done since the earliest days of the Church, often referred to as “baptizing” the customs in order to give the newly converted a feeling of home without sacrificing the true Faith. If you have Christmas decorations, you’re doing the same thing.
And since these things HAVE been done since the early days of the Church — along with the liturgy that the Catholic Church still uses and the understanding of the Eucharist that the Catholic Church still accepts — to reject these early practices is to say that the Church has been mistaken from its beginning. If so, then even the Bible, which the early Church put together in its current form, may be mistaken. This is a problem I faced when I was an atheist scrutinizing many systems of ideas to see whether any of them could be true. Protestants could never answer my question about why I should believe in this one book instead of other books that claimed to be the word of God. It always wound up in a circular argument — and all the Protestant denominations seemed to disagree on how to interpret important passages anyway, even about what was necessary for salvation. So why should I believe one interpretation rather than another? And if the book itself couldn’t be interpreted on its own grounds without everyone disagreeing, how could it be from God? There had to be some corroborating evidence, and some central teaching authority from the beginning, or the whole thing fell apart.
I’m sorry, everyone; I never wanted to seem to attack your beliefs, or get into a religious controversy. But after these attacks on my own beliefs, I had to present my case for them or else seem to agree that I’m a pagan and an idolater.
I still love you all. And Linda, I’ve actually met wonderful Protestants and awful Catholics — and vice versa. The point for me has always been not whether I like or dislike the people, but whether the system of ideas is true. If a thing is true, it’s true whether I like it or not. If it’s false, it’s false whether I like it or not.
This species of myopia is the achilles heel of Protestantism. Maybe I should say the achilles big fat butt with a “kick me” sign on it.
I suspect he wants to be the False Prophet.
He certainly is putting all the ducks in a row – gathering all the wayward protestants and all other religions under one umbrella – the Church. Ecumenism.
“I remember when the Jesuits were still Catholic.” That says a lot. It’s mayhem, not only in the Catholic Church, but in many mainline denominations.
“My peace I leave with you.” Thank you, Lee, for this beautiful “sermon.”
My own impression is that the issues are becoming ever more stark. Denominational differences are chicken feed in comparison with the larger issues. In the end, it comes down to our acknowledgment of the Creator and the Christ.
We are seeing darkness all around us as this world sinks deeper in its own mire. The only light will come from our Creator and the Christ. People will choose according to the desires of their hearts. There will be no doubt as to the path to salvation when push comes to shove.
I don’t get a vote because the denomination I was raised in has extinguished itself, merging with a flatline liberal bunch. Old Rev. ver Straat would be appalled. Anyhow, I now consider all Biblically faithful churches to be my home.
How I wish I could discuss this with Aunt Betty, the nun! She’s not here anymore.
My wife & I went to church today and the pastor preached faith in Christ and His promises. We fellowshipped with the members afterward and went home feeling blessed. Later on we went to a crowded local nursery for new plants and flowers to add to our yard and house and a family from church was there also and we hugged. As we made our way up and down long aisles of the most beautiful flowers (such abundance) I notice how many of the people were wearing Christian shirts! After sitting by a pond with gold fish eating the free hot dog, popcorn, and soda and enjoying this wonderful Spring day the lord has given us, we headed home to enjoy our day of rest from our own works. I wish days like this for everyone.
Sounds good!
Phoebe, please tell me how you feel I attacked your beliefs. If I did, I ask you to forgive me. It was not my intention to attack anyone! And I’m sorry you took it that way. In fact, my comment stated that I, too, was raised in the Catholic Church, and also that Catholic people are wonderful. I still have much family who remains Catholic.
My remarks about paganism and idolatry I believe are valid. We are commanded to worship God alone. The Church has seen fit to elevate the status of ‘saints’ to positions of particular importance – so much so that people should pray to them, especially for specific things, such as St Michael the Archangel as patron of law enforcement, St. Christopher as patron for travelers, etc. And, of course, there’s Mary – Queen of Heaven. And as for statues, etc., I agree. They may be as innocent as having pictures of your loved ones in your home. However, when we have statues that cry or bleed, or that we stand in awe in front of, that to me is problematic. These are not minor issues. We are to pray to the Father alone, not even to the Son, but always in His Name.
In any case, it’s not my intention to cause strife among the brethren. Just because one disagrees with an institution doesn’t necessarily encompass its members. I disagree with the institution – for many more reasons than stated here.
I’m sorry for any misunderstanding, sister. God bless you.