Tripping over Hypocrisy

“The (Catholic) church does not feel authorized to change the will of its founder Jesus Christ.” So stated a Vatican spokesman in a recent Associated Press article I previously wrote about.
Oops! This from a church that harbors abundant examples of deviating from the will of Jesus Christ, many of which I’ve written about:
Do not call [...]

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Christian Churches – A Broken Tool

“Today’s churches provide the foundation and mechanisms for achieving Jesus’ purpose for our lives; for advancing the commission He assigned to His disciples. Or do they? What does Jesus think about this tool that has been constructed to achieve His ends?” That’s how I ended yesterday’s post. It might be helpful to read that post [...]

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Ban on Women Priests

“The Vatican insisted that it is properly following Christian tradition by excluding females from the priesthood as it issued a new warning that women taking part in ordinations will be excommunicated.” So saith the opening paragraph of an Associated Press article appearing in the May 31st issue of my local newspaper.
A spokesman for the Vatican [...]

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Saved by a Label – NOT

Which clubs do you belong to? Which labels can you add to your name? Labels can give prestige and honor, and sometimes even protect you. Believe me; I would have second thoughts about harassing someone who called themselves “Navy Seal” or “karate black belt.” Maybe these aren’t good examples, but my point is that a [...]

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Catholic Confession – A Manmade Obstacle

It just didn’t make sense to her. Why should Mary have to see a priest to confess her sins? As she explained it to me, this was a key reason Mary left the Catholic Church; she didn’t like the idea of a middleman. To Mary, the confession felt like an obstacle, hindering her from being [...]

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Need Help? Go to the Source

Why pray to Mary the mother of Jesus, when you can go directly to Jesus Himself? Someone recently explained to me something about the relationship Catholics have with Mary: “We pray to Mary and the saints to ask them to pray to our Lord for us. Since Mary is the immaculate mother of Jesus and [...]

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ALL Sins are Forgiven!

Mary, being raised Catholic, was taught that there are different levels of sinning, and that some sins are not forgiven. Mary attended a small Bible study group I was part of, and she once made a statement that sounded like a mixture of assertion and question. It went something like this, “God doesn’t forgive all [...]

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The Pope – Only a Man

Should the Pope be worshipped? Should the Pope be bowed down to and praised? During the recent papal visit to the US, I saw images on TV of people dropping to their knees before the Pope and kissing his ring. This is a very familiar image and another of many that we have grown accustomed [...]

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How Disturbing – Christian Bigotry

“Anti-gay church to picket funeral” – so proclaimed the front-page headline in today’s local newspaper. Bleary-eyed and still emotional from my youngest child’s high school graduation party last night, I was yet able to focus my attention enough to sense a blog post waiting somewhere within the anticipated dark text of the newspaper article. So, [...]

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Getting Back to Jesus

In the name of Christianity, don’t we often get involved in issues that actually serve to distract us from what is most important; Jesus Christ? For example, take a look at the three newspaper articles that have been the source of several posts I’ve written over the past couple of weeks. For the last time [...]

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