"how could he submit to...an unchristian faith?...Catholicism is the same as an unchristian faith!" he added suddenly, his eyes flashing and staring straight ahead..."An unchristian faith, first of all!" the prince began speaking again, in extreme agitation and much too sharply. "That's first, and second, Roman Catholicism is even worse than atheism itself, that's my opinion! Yes, that's my opinion! Atheism only preaches a zero, but Catholicism goes further: it preaches a distorted Christ, a Christ it has slandered and blasphemed, a counter Christ! It preaches the Antichrist, I swear to you, I assure you!...Roman Catholicism is not even a faith, but decidedly the continuation of the Western Roman empire, and everything in it is subject to that idea, beginning with faith. The pope seized land, an earthly throne, and took up the sword; since then everything has gone on that way, only to the sword they added lies, trickery, deceit, fanaticism, superstition, villainy; they played upon the most holy, truthful, simple-hearted, ardent feelings of the people; they traded everything, everything for money, for base earthly power. Isn't that the teaching of the Antichrist?! How could atheism not come out of them? Atheism came out of them, out of Roman Catholicism itself! Atheism began, before all else, with them themselves: could they believe in themselves? It grew stronger through repugnance against them; it is a product of their lies and spiritual impotence! Atheism! In Russia so far only exceptional classes of society do not believe, those who have lost their roots...in Europe, awful masses of the people themselves are beginning not to believe - formerly from darkness and deceit but now from fanaticism, from hatred of the Church and of Christianity!"
"...For socialism is also a product of Catholicism and the Catholic essence! It, too, like its brother atheism, came from despair, opposing Catholicism in a moral sense, in order to replace the lost moral force of religion with itself, in order to quench the spiritual thirst of thirsting mankind and save it not through Christ, but also through violence! It is also freedom through violence, it is also unity through blood and the sword! 'Do not dare to believe in God, do not dare to have property, do not dare to have personality, Brotherhood or death, two million heads!' You shall know them by their deeds, it is said! And don't think that it's all so innocent and unthreatening for us; oh we must respond, and swiftly, swiftly! Our Christ, whom we have preserved and they have never known, must shine forth as a response to the West!"
When we stopped going to church in 2018 I always had an underlying internal conflict of not wanting to mess up my kids. Tradition is hard to break and a lifetime of church attendance didn't come without worry on my part. Though I must say that it is important to note that I have a naturally worry-prone personality that takes great effort to keep in check. It wasn't until this summer at a loved one's wedding that my concerns, in this area, ended. Sitting in the visitors center at the temple and staring up at that cold marble Christus statue and hearing the church's pre-recorded message that began with, "I am Jesus Christ..." ... I knew I couldn't go back. That is a distorted Christ that I couldn't allow my children to think that's who Jesus is.
"How have we learned Christ? It ought to be a startling thought, that we may have learned him wrong. That must be far worse than not to have learned him at all: his place is occupied by a false Christ, hard to exorcise! The point is, whether we have learned Christ as he taught himself, or as men have taught him who thought they understood, but did not understand him. ...The Christian religion, throughout its history, has been open to more corrupt misrepresentation. Have we learned Christ in false statements and corrupted lessons about him, or have we learned himself?" (George MacDonald, The Truth in Jesus)
Last month, one of the greatest people I will ever know and love, passed away. They were a brilliant and lively soul that transformed me and my family in ways that echo in eternity. The last few years of their life was coupled with dementia. The greatest gift this person gave me was this: Jesus. And here’s something interesting…even in the thick of their dementia - they had things they repeatedly talked about that were etched so deeply into their soul that even the devil could not steal it from them. They would bear testimony to my kids that they can call out to the Lord for help any time, anywhere. They would say, “You don’t even need to close your eyes. You can be in a classroom or a car - and you can pray to Him for help.” In their last month of life I was sitting with them one afternoon and I gave them different names and asked, “Do you remember them?” And each time they would shake their head and say “no”. And then I said, “Jesus - do you remember Him?” And they said, “Yes.” And I said, “Who is He?” And they said, “He loves me.”
When they were in the depths of their dementia and the undeniable hell it must be to be trapped in a body where you can’t remember most people or what you were doing or where you were going. In the thick of that it became hard for them to write anything down, even their own name. But one day I found a newly written on 3x5 index card where they wrote what I would consider to be the most profound revelation they had ever received and I want to share it with you. Keep in mind - in order for them to write that card they had to keep the thought of that revelation in their head long enough to write it out. And it said these four words: Jesus is my Relief.
And so with that I declare that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Holy One of Israel. The Mighty God. The Ruler of Heaven and of Earth. And if you don’t believe in Jesus, that’s okay. He believes in you.
Someone once said that when the Romans nailed Jesus to the cross, they stretched his arms as wide as they could. With his arms wide open, Jesus was physically demonstrating, “I love you this much! I love you so much it hurts! I’d rather die than live without you!”
"Jesus died and faced the darkest torment so that you and I would not need to. There is no greater imaginable act of love than that.
The pain and disappointments of life erode our confidence in the goodness of God. Satan wants to use our heartaches to cause us to doubt God’s goodness and His love for us.
Where in the world has God the Father most proved His love for you? In the sacrifice of his own Son for you. Jesus loved us enough to die for us - yes. But He loved the Father more and was obedient to the Father’s love for you. The Father loved you first and Jesus did what the Father wanted most - to rescue His children.
Does God love you? Does He see you? The cross removes all doubt." (Resilient)
And may you have the power to understand,
as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
(Ephesians 3:18-20 )
I know there are people that read this blog who are longing for more of Jesus. I can't implore you enough to start doing "Resilient" from Pause App by Wild at Heart. We do it every day as a family. We are able to do it together at night and in the morning we play it while the kids are eating their breakfast. It's not perfect - but we are doing our best.
This morning before I got out of bed I saw myself holding the head of my littlest child while she lay on the couch. When she came upstairs I told her to come lay her head in my lap and we just chatted. My husband put on the Resilient devotional for the morning session (they take about 10 minutes). Today it was all about how much Jesus loves us and that we are worth the death of Christ. When the session was over - my little 8 year old had a wet face with tears running down. Worriedly I said, "Oh dear! What is wrong??" She took a few moments to be able to speak and as she wiped her face she said, "It is so beautiful." Jesus has captured her heart and these Resilient devotionals have been a major part in the further development of some of her spiritual gifts. I can't express the amount of spiritual experiences we have had with Jesus. It can only be experienced. I hope you can take the time to do it in a quiet place to reap maximum benefits. But if not, anything is a good start.
Love,
Ruth
"Resilient" found in the "Pause App"
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I left the church in 2020. I have been trying to find a wayto help me draw closer to Christ and my Heavenly Father. I enjoy reading your blog and I just downloaded the pause app so I can try it. 😊
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