Religion....a word for which I hold great ambivalence. Fully aware that man made religions are man's way of trying to reach God, often times stepping over and around God's way of trying to reach man, Jesus Christ, It is relatively easy to find fault in man's efforts.
I was born into a catholic family, baptized as a baby in the catholic religion, made my First Holy Communion in the catholic religion and was Confirmed in the catholic religion. I was an altar boy. I attended catholic grade school and a couple of years of the largest co-ed catholic high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin....Pius XI High School. I know something about this religion or would not feel qualified to discuss it's merits or demerits. None of the above sharing of sacraments was by choice...I was indoctrinated into that religion as I am sure many of you are indoctrinated into varying protestant sects, Hinduism, Taoism, Islam and you name it....you wre dragged to a church, synagogue, mosque ever since you were in diapers. When I was a child, I thought and acted as a child....as an adult, I am all out of excuses.
When I was 17 I was quartered at a place in Milwaukee called Perpetual Help Boy's Home after having previously been sheltered at the Milwaukee County Children's Home and about 4 foster homes after the marriage of my parents (when I was about 8) dissolved as the marriage of two drunks often do. When we weren't actually doing homework at the home quite often you could find us pushing cinder blocks on top of cut up army blankets on our hands and knees shining the linoleum floors in that place.
Nineteen days after my 17th birthday in January, 1964 Milwaukee County signed for me to join the United States Marine Corps where I stayed for the next 9 years. My dog tags during the entire period, including two 13 month tours in Vietnam (Marine's did 13 month tours), stated 'NO PREF' in a place where one would normally expect to find a religion....I suppose so they knew how to bury you in case that was required.
At that time in my life I found no fault with any religion nor did I have any preference and I suppose I considered myself agnostic at the time or very certainly, disinterested. Five years after I was honorably discharged from the Marines I was attending a non-denominational full gospel church in Alexandria, Virginia with a girl friend and the Holy Spirit pricked my heart as the pastor of that church provided a message followed by an altar call asking those present who would turn their lives and hearts over to Jesus Christ. I was born again in the Spirit on that day....and then my 'religious' education began.
Unlike my catholic experience, wherein we had these little catechism books and nuns and priests told us what they thought we ought to know about God and His word, I began to carry and study the bible. Prior to this time I suppose it would not have done me much good to study the bible as '...the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ'. I Corinthians 2:14-16. The day I accepted Christ as my Saviour I unwittingly obeyed Jesus Christ, not knowing the scripture at the time, to be born again in the Spirit....even as Jesus told Nicodemus he must be in order to be saved in John 3:3 and emphasized again in John 3:7. From that day forward, I have been indwelt by God's Holy Spirit who among other functions serves to give us that spiritual discernment necessary to understanding the Word of God.
Today, I am a member of a particular religion but as you might suspect, it is a religion in which I hear that altar call every time the church doors are open as the ministers obey the Great Commission of God which is to further the gospel of Jesus Christ. Which religion does not matter as all I care about is that they are true to God's Word which I can now understand and if I am seated someplace where I hear lies, half-truths about social justice and/or collective salvation, I get up, kick the dust from my heels and depart that assemblage of dead men's bones filling the pews.
Reading the bible, I have never been able to find that connection between the Apostle Peter, whom the catholic church claims as their first pope and the catholic church. I find where God instructs us to call no one Father but Him and I find where there is but 'one God and one intermediate between God and men, the man Christ Jesus' (1st Timothy 2:5) but no catholic connection. Nor connection to any religion for that matter.
Catholicisms' St. Malachy went to Rome in 1139 and gave Pope Innocent II a prophetic manuscript detailing the prothetical announcements, in number 112, indicating some noticeable trait of all future popes from Celestine II, elected in 1130, until the end of the world. Malachy did this in an effort to cheer up Innocent II during his period of tribulations. Benedict XVI is listed and Malachy saw him as one who would be a peacemaker in the Chruch and in the World, and thus carry the olive branch. I know him as one who has come against the Obama administration pronouncements of collective salvation and social justice as a means to individual salvation.
St. Malachy concludes with Petrus Romanus (Peter the Roman), also known as the defective pontiff who will feed the sheep through many tribulations, at the term of which the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the formidable judge will judge his people.
Prophecy tells us about the soon to appear man of perdition, Mr. 666 otherwise known as the Anti-Christ and of his evil side kick the false prophet. Peter the Roman will likely be this false prophet as he seeks to join the major religions of the world into a 'one world religion' thereby quelling the murderous tendicies of the muslim and the ability of the Christians to continue to spread the 'intolerant' gospel of Jesus Christ which holds that there is only one way to heaven, through belief in Jesus Christ.
Far fetched you say....so was the idea of a one world government and the yuan world monetary system which by now, under Obama, we see right around the corner.
Bottom line people, it is still all about God's chosen people Israel....as this 7 year revamped Oslo Accord finally gets inked and we see Israel encompassed about by her enemies with Syria gaining the Golan Heights and edomites in a clear position to finally eradicate their life long enemy, the Jew, then shall the end come. Clear thinking fellow Americans will not wish to be part of that scenario. Before that man of perdition can even be revealed the born again in the Spirit Christians will be taken up (raptured if you will) not to be seen again until after the 7 year great tribulation period.
My source for the prophecies of Malachy is http://www.catholic-pages.com/ so this you can read for yourselves and after you are born again, you can read the bible yourself and understand.
Being born again in the Spirit is as simple as what you will find and can understand in Romans 10:8-10. You have no excuse for dying in your sin. Like they say, be born once and you will die twice but if you are born twice, you will only die once.
This is by no means to be taken as trashing the catholic as there truly is no christian religion, no christian nation, no christian church....Christians only come in individual sizes.... as we are born again.
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