I have been accused of hating Catholics. That is nothing but a lie. I have deep concern for those who belong to the Roman Catholic church. There is much of the teachings of that church that is in direct opposition to what God's Word teaches. 

Not too long back I had cause to be visiting regularly in a Catholic hospital and the crucifixes and images that I saw through out brought out to me that one of the biggest problems with the Roman Catholic church is that it is a church whose focus is out of whack. The main focus of the RCC is death.

Let me give you examples of that. Catholic churches, schools, hospitals abound with crucifixes - the majority of which have an image of Jesus hanging on the cross. The people are taught to pray to dead people the church has decided are saints. They literally worship a wafer which has no life in it. Many many masses are focused on getting those who have died out of purgatory ( which is not even a real place). One of the major sacraments of the RCC is the Last Rites at the time of death. Even the Catholic movie, "The Passion of the Christ" is focused on the suffering and death of Jesus with one little reference to the resurrection.

The power of the Gospel lies in the resurrection. Jesus is NOT still a baby in a manger. He is not a little child with Mary. He is NOT still on the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ is the risen, living, all powerful Saviour. We can be saved to the uttermost because Jesus Christ is alive. Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

We are NOT saved by being baptized. We are NOT saved by eatting a wafer and drinking wine.  We are NOT saved through the prayers of Mary. We are not saved nor kept by good works. We can be saved because the Lord Jesus Christ gave His life for us, took our punishment on the cross, was buried 3 days and arose from the dead in victory, placed His blood on the mercy seat in Heaven to forever atone for our sins. When we stop trying to earn salvation or favour with God and realize we can NOT do anything of ourselves to gain salvation, add to salvation or keep salvation and we trust what Jesus has done for us, He receives us and seals us with the Holy Spirit and keeps us for eternity.

We are cleansed from our sin by the blood of Jesus. 1 John 1:7b "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."  Confessing sins to a priest won't take away our sin - only confessing them to Jesus himself will do that. Going to purgatory (not a real place and never mentioned in the Bible) will not give a final cleansing of sin. Jesus took all our sin on the cross and washes it away in His blood. He paid for it all - we do not have to if we will trust Him as our Saviour.  He took our sin and will give us HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS and it is THAT righteousness that gets us into Heaven NOT our own. 2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Too many religions including the RCC are guilty of what this verse is talking about - Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.  Only by receiving the imputed righteousness of Christ can we be saved. We can never establish our own righteousness because such a thing doesn't exist. We are sinners through and through and everything we ever do will be tainted with our sin. But if we will do what Romans 10:9-10, &13 says, we can and will be saved - That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

It isn't in the saying of words, it is the faith of the heart. God knows what your heart really believes and you must come to the point of knowing that salvation is completely in the Lord Jesus Christ. He invites us to come to HIM, not through any intercessor such as a priest, Mary or saint, but directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you will trust HIM ALONE, not a church, not a priest or pastor, not Mary or saints, not your works - ONLY trust the Lord Jesus Christ to save you and keep you - HE WILL! Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The choice is yours - will you trust Jesus?

Kerri, you post is a complete lie. Honestly. The Catholic Church, so referred to by name by St. Ignatius, third bishop of Antioch and student of John the Apostle, in the first century (he died around 107 a.d.) focusing on what Christ did for us. His suffering brought salvation to the world. You can't contemplate the ressurection without focusing on His passion (hence why the movie, "The PASSION of the Christ" is about the suffering of Christ for US).

Your "informaion" is nothing more than anti-Catholic garbage.

If anyone of your readers wants to know what the church REALLY teaches and why, they should go to the source. If I was writing a paper for school, I wouldn't go to some ignorant yokel for information, I'd go to a library.

For you readers (should you post this comment): I was born and raised Baptist. I never felt that the faith of the sect was right. After much Bible reading and prayer, God pulled me out of the church ... and across the Tiber. I converted to Catholicism in 1994 and have never, ever looked back. As Fulton Sheen once said, "There are not more than 100 people in the world who truly hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they perceive to be the Catholic Church."

I will keep you and your readers in my prayers.

I find it interesting you call my whole post a lie. I suggest you should have read it before labeling it. Or maybe you do believe that the Scriptures I quoted are a lie? Maybe you don't believe that Jesus is the only way of salvation? Is that a lie?
You often state you were a baptist, but being baptist doesn't mean you have any true idea about the church teachings. But whether Baptist or Catholic or whatever - there is not salvation in a church. Salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. You may think it is a lie, but the truth is that we are saved by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, NOT our own righteousness.We are saved because Jesus took the punishment for our sin on the cross, shedding His blood to cleanse our sin, died and was buried and arose the 3rd day in victory. You may think that is a lie, but it is the absolute truth. We are kept by the power of God not by our own works. 1Pe 1:3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
I hope you will realize the truth before it is too late.

Kerri, stop embarrassing yourself. And stop quoting a Catholic book in your quest against the church. I was raised Baptist, so I know a great more about that Protestant faith than you could ever hope to know about Catholicism. You have never accurately portrayed anything the church teaches and I sincerely hope that none of your readers take your proselytizng as solid fact.

Catholics worship Christ alone. We do not worship anyone but the One True God. Christ, by the way Kerri, is the Word of God. You seem to think that your little King James Bible is the only Word of God, handed down from the heavens in 1611.

Catholics remember the passion because it is THAT sacrifice that bought salvation. We worship on both the sabbath and on Sunday, the day that Christ defeated death through His resurrection. Crucifixes do not focus on death, but on the cruelty, the barbarity He endured for US. Can you not watch "The Passion of the Christ" without welling up in tears, thinking that "He endured THAT for me. For ME."

For goodness sakes, take some
courses in basic church history. Go to a Catholic Church and sit in on their RCIA classes this Fall.

You should focus on those who don't know Christ instead of being hateful to those who already do.

Pam, I'm not quoting a RCC book. I am quoting the Bible, the written word of God.

Yes Jesus is the Word of God. The written word of God tells us about the Word of God. The written word of God is what God has given us to know His will and way.

You always call it a Catholic book but if it was a RCC book you would really think it would support RCC doctrine and it doesn't. There is no purgatory, no priests as the RCC has, no pope, no praying to Mary or other saints, no eucharist as the RCC has. NOT one of those RCC doctrines are in the Bible.

You say you worship Christ alone, but what Christ? There are many anti-Christ and false gods. You worship a wafer because you believe The Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, becomes a piece of cracker. That is idolatry - NOT the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You are right that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus bought our salvation. IT finished ALL the work necessary for our salvation. If He had only died though without the resurrection there would be no salvation. And the RCC doesn't even teach that what Jesus did was enough alone to cleanse us from our sin and save us. They add works, such as baptism and final cleansing in purgatory.

Finally you once again toss that word hateful around - you have yet to prove where I have shown hate. I have only concern for ALL who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, whether they be people who are "religious" but lost or whether they be ones who are in open obvious sin.

Kerri, you are hateful. And decietful. And, quite frankly, ignorant. Your "facts" about Catholicism are completely false and come, word-for-word, from the anti-Catholic rhetoric too common in Southern Baptist circles.

You try your darndest to make everyone bend to your will ... you make yourself a mini-Pope, with YOUR INTERPRETATION OF A CATHOLIC TRADITION (the Bible) being the end-all, be-all.

The King James Version led me out of the Baptist faith. (I did a LOT of Bible study and spent a lot of time in prayer during my years volunteering at Awanita Valley ...)

Anyone wanting to know more about the Catholic faith should go to the source. Talk to a devout Catholic, read the works of Converts such as Scott Hahn, talk to a priest, attend RCIA. You wouldn't go to a Nature Nazi for factual information on epidurals and vaccinations, so why would one go to an anti-Catholic for information on Catholicism?

I will continue to pray for you.

You are good at name calling and attacks, but not with dealing with the truth of what I said. It still remains the Bible does not support RCC doctrines and in fact teaches differently.

I would be interested in knowing how the KJV led you to the RCC since it doesn't teach what the RCC does.

Kerri, calling you anti-Catholic and ignorant isn't 'name calling.' It's the truth. The Bible led me to the church Christ founded. A church that was in existence nearly 400 years before the first Christian canon of the Bible even existed.

I am honestly done with you and your holier-than-thou attitude. You lack the ability to go to the proper places for information. As I've said over and over and over again, you are going to anti-Catholics for information on Catholicism. I would not ask a doula for factual information on getting an epidural during labor or vaccinating my children. ;) Peace be with you and may Christ remove the blinders from your eyes. In the meantime, keep your judgemental quips to yourself.

Kerri, I'd like to answer your claims here, orderly, one at a time. I would ask that, while I am doing so, if you choose to respond, you deal with ONE topic at a time, and do not introduce NEW topics until the ones present in this entry are reasonably handled. I know this is your blog, so I acquiesce to your rules; I'm just asking this out of courtesy.

Now, you're concerned that the Catholic Church focuses on death a lot. Well, death IS a part of life, and if we were to ignore it, we would not be ministering to the WHOLE person. And, to be honest, I hear an awful lot of evangelical Christians starting conversations by asking "if you DIED tonight, would you go to heaven?" That's a bit morbid, and I don't remember Jesus or any of his disciples starting a conversation that way. ;)

FIRST: Crucifixes, crosses with the crucified body of Jesus on them. (Technically, a crucifix is ONLY a crucifix if it has the body on it; otherwise, it's just a cross.) Many of these go so far as to include many wounds and signs of torture, and bleeding, etc. Why do Catholics do this? Don't we know that Christ is raised from the dead, to die no more?

Of course we do. However, lest we forget HOW it was that Jesus atoned for our sins, we keep his cross ever in our sight. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen said: "Keep your eyes on the crucifix, for Jesus without the cross is a man without a mission, and the cross without Jesus is a burden without a reliever." We also call to mind the words of St. Paul: "WE PREACH CHRIST CRUCIFIED, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles" (1 Cor 1:23). Now, just because we have crucifixes does not mean we neglect the Resurrection! In any given church, there's really only supposed to be one crucifix; other images and icons of Jesus show him in his glorified body after the Resurrection (whether on earth or in heaven), or before his death, even as a child or infant. This is simply to remind us of the WHOLE of Jesus's life, not just one par

This is a continuation of the previous comment. I believe I left off with the eighth claim. Before I go on, I'd like to add that, OF COURSE baptism and the Eucharist and prayers from/to Mary, works, etc. won't save us, if there is no faith with them. However, faith without works is dead, and he who has faith in Jesus Christ will obey his commandments. So on to number nine.

NINTH: You said, "We are NOT saved through the prayers of Mary." I'd say we're not saved BY the prayers of Mary, but we can certainly be saved through them, just like someone else can be saved through your prayers. Those prayers can result in that person receiving the grace they need to repent, or to accept Christ for the first time, or to persevere in the face of hardship. I mean, if we can't be saved through (not BY, but THROUGH) the prayers of others, then why on earth did God tell Abimelech that Abraham would pray for him and he would live? (Gen. 20:7) Why did the people ask Samuel to pray for them that they may not die? (1 Sam. 12:19) Why did Rehoboam ask the prophetto pray for his hand to be healed? (1 Kings 13:6) Why did God tell the friends of Job that they would not be treated harshly because of Job's prayer for them? (Job 42:1) Remember too that Job offered sacrifices and prayers for his children, lest they had happened to offend the Lord during the course of the day. (Job 1:5) King Zedekiah asked Jeremiah to "pray for us to the Lord our God" (Jer. 37:3).

We see this in the New Testament also: Jesus tells us to "pray for those who persecute [us]" (Matt. 5:44)... if that prayer leads to them being saved, can we not say that they were saved THROUGH our prayer? St. Paul urges "that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men" (1 Tim. 2:1); that makes us co-mediators and co-intercessors (co- meaning "with", not "equal") with Jesus, the "one mediator between God and men" (1 Tim. 2:5).

TENTH: You say, "We are not saved nor kept by good wo

Kerri, where have I called you a name or attacked you? The Bible DOES support the Catholic Church, as it is a book that came out of the Church itself. It's just YOUR personal interpretation of a version of the Bible that was first done in 1611 that doesn't correspond.

The Bible never correlated with the teachings of the faith into which I was born and raised. I read the entire N.T. (not just snippets), prayed about what I'd read, and began a search for the truth ... not something the good ol' pastor was ranting and raving about during Sunday service. And lo and behold it led me across the Tiber. Praise be to God.

Besides, the reference guide in the front of a very old version of the KJ Bible (it was my grandmothers ... and it was old when she got it!) defies much of what you claim. It tries very hard to vilify the Catholic Church and even posts some downright false "facts", but it admits its roots come straight from the church. ;) I've posted some images from it on my blog.

Pam, there have been several comments between this comment and my answer so I'm not sure how it will show up, but this is to your comment 6-27

I am not claiming to be holier than anyone. There are many people more "holy" or "moral" than I am. I am a sinner saved by the grace of God. Jesus Christ died on the cross in my place. He took ALL my sin and nailed it to HIS CROSS and shed HIS BLOOD to pay for those sins. He arose the 3rd day in victory. When I heard and believed this good news God birthed me into HIS FAMILY. I was sealed by His precious Holy Spirit, the righteousness of Christ was imputed to me and I am going to Heaven to be Him for eternity, not because of anything I have done, but all due to what HE did for me!

It is NOT hate to want to share that with others, it is a love and concern that God put within me and once again it is HIS WORK not mine.

You say I will not go to the proper place for info - but you consider that wrong place right. I am not going to deceptive, twisted Catholic teachings. I choose instead to go to the Bible, the written Word of God that HE has given us!

Jeff, I have published your comments although you write way too long. Bravenet only allows so much room for comments and you way go over so your comments don't make alot of sense.

If you really wish to discuss something you might listen to your own request and limit it to ONE idea per comment.

To offer a brief answer to some of what you said 1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Neither we nor Mary nor any other saint is a co-mediator. ONLY Jesus can make intercession for us to salvation. Yes, we can pray to the Lord for people and ask Him to send them witnesses and that the Holy Spirit will deal with them, but ONLY the LORD JESUS can actually intecede with God for salvation and that is because He is the one who purchased our salvation for us - HE ALONE is the SAVIOUR! The people and times you quoted are once again a good example of the RCC misapplying Scripture. Most of what you referred to were not for salvation, but physical life.

Now, Pam to answer your 7-2 comment. You seemed to have a duplicate so I published the longer and deleted the other.

I too have read the whole New Testament Pam, I have also read the entire Old Testament. I read my Bible through more than once a year. As far as it not supporting what you were taught, I don't know - I have no idea what you were taught coming up. I know there are churches with Baptist on the door that are not anywhere near real.

I do also know that the Word of God does not support the Roman Catholic church.

The heart of the RCC - the Eucharist is nothing more than an idol. I suggest you read Deu 4 in the KJV. What the RCC has done is taken a wafer and declared it to be the presense of God and it isn't. I found the news article interesting that I have linked to this. Tell me that isn't idolatry!