Are Catholics Christian?

Let’s define in the most simplest term what is a Christian,
A person who believes in Jesus, that Jesus is Christ and Lord, Saviour of our soul, and will follow all his teachings, repent, baptize, read and practice his words. Nothing more, nothing less.

In my simple mind, and a prayerful heart to go forth and seek the truth. Did a little google on “will catholics go to heaven”

Found some interesting links:
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/cath.htm
http://www.davidmacd.com/catholic/are_catholics_christian.htm
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Catholics-955/catholics-christians.htm
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Do_Protestants_believe_that_Catholics_will_go_to_heaven
http://www.landoverbaptist.org/sermons/catholics.html

There are so much debates these days on different Christian denominations, debates on Bible versions. Why? Are these the works of the devil? Maybe, I do not know. After all, the devil one of the many objectives is to draw as many of us away from God as possible. Why not ask how come we have so many religions and believes to start with? Ok, we may have gotten out of scope here. Let’s just stick to Christian vs Catholics.

I’m not here to write a thesis on these 2 major groups, but rather it’s a note on my observations and readings with an open mind and a prayerful heart.

In my younger days, I attended 2 churches. One of them was the Roman Catholic Church with my aunt sometimes, not always. There are many procedures, and proceedings. Peculiar dressing. Peculiar prayers. Peculiar responses. Peculiar statues. I recall one of them was a statue of an Angel stabbing a serpent.
Each time we enter the church, there is a little pot of water, which my aunt calls it holy water, she will dab and put it on her as a symbol of a cross on her forehead, heart, followed by her 2 shoulders in the shape of a cross. Reminds me of some Hindu behavior where they dab some color ink on their forehead. Being young I did likewise. Before seating down in the Church, she will curtsy, and I’d do likewise. Whole lot of proceedings and procedures throughout the mass (they call it a mass, not a service or a worship service).

They have a prayer like “Hail Mary full of grace… let me google more on the..”.Hail Mary, full of grace.
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Hmmmm —> Who intercedes for us? Mary or Jesus? Jesus.
Yes, Mary was indeed the chosen lady to be the Mother of Christ. That was her role, and that’s it. Sorry, no offence but this is a fact, what I was told, what I read, what my fellow brethren in likewise manner agrees.
“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Romans 8:34. in no part of the bible does it ever mention about Mary’s role of intercession.
“Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven”. Matthew 26:64

“I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”. John 14:1-3

“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works”. Matthew 16:27

“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be”. Revelation 22:12

“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they (the disciples) looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel. Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven”. Acts 1:9-11

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first”. 1.Thessalomans 4:16

Rosary – An interesting little necklace like accept it is not worn around the neck, but to be held when reciting a prayer, but it sounded more like a chant to me, yes, even back then when I was a small boy.
Go google on the rosary prayer, see to whom the prayer is directed to. The number of “Hail Mary” far exceeds Jesus. I wonder whom should we be hailing more? for me? Jesus. He died for my sins, rose again, and now exists in heaven, interceding for us daily, and will one fine day return to us and bring us back with him to heaven. YES! And Mary his mother too with him physically.

I do not want to make this a long post. I started with nothing more, nothing less. I know there are many Catholics out there. Just because many people are doing it, that does not make the wrong right. That’s just like saying since everybody is stealing, thus it is right to steal. Nay.

I’ll end my diary with a warning from God.

Revelation 22:18-9
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall addunto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book..”

As far as I am concern, the bible says it, I believe it, That’s it. Nothing more, Nothing less.
By the way, I have many lovely Catholics friends, they are splendid! So are my Muslims, Buddhists, Atheist, Anti-Christ, etc… all are good people! Except Spiritual Directions and Beliefs.

Blessed Christmas to all! Tis a joyous morning as we celebrate the birth of Christ which is the meaning of Christmas! Christmas is such a unique event around the world. Celebrated by everybody regardless of race, language or religion. A time of giving be it presents to love ones or charitable organizations. Tis a splendid season!

We went for our Christmas Eve worship service. Gosh! It must have been one of the most wonderful worship service we had. We had piano, organ, and a string ensemble to complement the worship service. How wonderful was the praises and singspiration!

The message for the evening was about the “Beauty of the Birth of Jesus” from Isaiah 9:6:7

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7).

++++++++++++++++++++++
No Other Birth in the world
++++++++++++++++++++++
@ Was brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of a virgin. @ was welcomed by choirs of angels singing in the night sky
@ brought wise men from the east to worship the one who was born with costly gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
@ was already known and predicted 700 years before it happened. (Micah 5:2, Isaiah 9:6, cf Luke 2:11)

++++++++++++++++++++++
What gives His birth so much significance and beauty?
++++++++++++++++++++++
THE ONES he was born for – Unto us.
@ He was not born for the angels although they rejoiced when he was born (Heb 2:16)
@ He is the One that the whole human race, and even the whole creation, has been waiting for and hoping for – the One who is given specialy for us.
@ God give Him to us in order to meet our need for Life (John 10:10, 14:6) @ But not everyone wants to receive and welcome him. (John 1:11) @ You need to receive Him as Lord of your Life.

HIS ULTIMATE destiny – “… And the government shall be upon His shoulder” @ “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end.” This shows us that the rule of Jesus will be permanent. Therefore we must submit ourselves fully to His rule.
@ “… Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom,”.
He will be a good king, like King David.
Because David was a godly and wise king God made a covenant with him and the throne of his kingdom could be established forever.
This covenant is now fullfilled through Jesus Christ.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28).

Today’s article reminds me of my 2003 or was it 2003 trip to Zurich. We checked into a low cost back packer inn but it was full. Except a room that was a dysfunctional kitchen turned room if we do not mind. We took it. What a blessing! It ended up we had a private room instead of a shared room, and a kitchen sink that provided a source of water and washing, with abundant drawers to store our stuff!

Indeed, for those who are joyous in the Lord, somewhere somehow, even the most terrible of the matter, he will see the positivity and God’s blessing in it.

Forwarded message
From: RBC Ministries
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:10:09 -0500
Subject: Our Daily Bread — December 24, 2009

OUR DAILY BREAD

Thursday
December 24, 2009

God’s Special Place

Read: Luke 2:1-7

[Mary] brought forth her firstborn Son, . . . and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. —Luke 2:7

As a young girl in the late 1920s, Grace Ditmanson Adams often traveled with her missionary parents through inland China. Later, she wrote about those trips and the crowded places where they stayed overnight—village inns full of people coughing, sneezing, and smoking, while babies cried and children complained. Her family put their bedrolls on board-covered trestles in a large room with everyone else.

One snowy night, they arrived at an inn to find it packed full. The innkeeper expressed his regret, then paused and said, “Follow me.” He led them to a side room used to store straw and farm equipment. There they slept in a quiet place of their own.

After that, whenever Grace read that Mary “brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7), she saw the event differently. While some described the innkeeper as an example of uncaring, sinful mankind who rejected the Savior, Grace said, “I truly believe that Almighty God used the innkeeper as the arranger for a healthier place than the crowded inn—a place of privacy.”

Through eyes of faith, we see God’s provision for Mary. Look for the ways He provides for you. —David McCasland

Wait on the Lord from day to day,
Strength He provides in His own way;
There’s no need for worry, no need to fear,
He is our God who is always near. —Fortna

Those who let God provide will be satisfied.

Today’s Our Daily Bread can be found at
http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2009/12/24/devotion.aspx Copyright © 2009, RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI 49555 USA. Written permission must be obtained from RBC Ministries for any further posting or distribution. RBC Ministries produces a variety of Bible resources, which are available for the asking. RBC Ministries is not funded by any group or denomination, and support comes voluntarily from its members and friends. Write rbc@rbc.org for more information.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. This message was sent by: RBC Ministries, 3000 Kraft Ave, Grand Rapids, MI 49512,

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Thank God for these lovely devices.

IPhone 40×9=360
Nokia e71 43×8=344
BB Curve 8900 36×11=396

The numbers shows. Looks like Blackberry is still the king of text input even in terms of space.

Infact I can shrink the Blackberry display text smaller so that I can have more input to the smallest font size of 7. The screenshot is font 9 btw. I can achieve 41×15=615

Wow! Is that a whopping lot of screen asset to blog about Christ or what!?! I’m a pretty mobile device guy. Most of my blogs are via mobile devices on my Nokia e71 or BB Curve or on my IPhone.

Seriously, I still prefer the text input of my BB Curve despite of it’s noisy clickety click keypad. The screen asset and the keyboard is waaaay responsive. I love it.
Among the 3 devices, the BB is the most noisy. E71 keyboard is very quiet. Iphone? Silent.

These 3 devices are my favourite devices.
Nokia e71, BB Curve 8900, iPhone. I use each of these device in random rotation.

They are indeed splendid devices.

Brings me to a bible verse,
“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” (Daniel 12:4).

Sent from Nokia Mobile

Evangelism

Is Evangelism just simply sharing the gospel and that’s it? Yes and No. Yes, we are called to evangelize and tell the world the good news. No, because we are to make disciples of men. ImAgine a newborn, left to fend for themselves, I’m not going to say they are nit going to survive, but the higher likelihood would be with guidance, lest they fall prey to diverse teachings. What diverse teachings am I talking about here? Mormons, Seventh Day adventist, Catholics, charismatics just to name afew. You want your new member of Christian family to grow and fend for itself. So it is really more than just talking an sharing. It is commitment. Just as Christ has shown an example to us. When he was preaching to the thousands. He was concerned for thei well being. Hunger. He perfomed the miracle with the 2 fishes and 5 bread and fed the thousands. So it’s not just talking. It is about action too. Today you talk to a person about Christ. He is moved by the holy spirit to believe and accept christ as the saviour. Followup action needs to be done for this new born to grow spiritually. Remember, discipleship. It’s not about abandonship.

Lord help us to spread the Good News and make disciples of Nations. In Jesus name, amen.

Jesus blood was wanted on the very day of birth.

Did we thought his blood was only wanted towards the end of the time when he was crucified? Apparently the very moment when he was born, King Herod already wanted him dead!

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

‘A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’

- Matthew 2:13-23

Thank God for his providence that in God’s timing and providence, he was spared. He was obviously divinely protected. We praise and thank God for his providence. Is it not sufficient to know that God is constantly watching over us just as he has watched over Jesus? Divine protection! God do not will us to die in sins, unlike Jesus, who had the specific mission to die for our sins. God’s will is for us to know his son, and to accept him, to repent of our sins to have eternal life with him. That is God’s will for us.

“God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” John 3:17-18

Thank God for lovely pets that we can keep. I ‘ve had this lovely RTG since 2003 when it was just a little juvenile, about 6″ long. Now it’s close to 2.5′.
Asian Arowana’s are actually endangered species, each arowana are electronically tagged, and has a certificate when the owner purchases one from the shop.

In fact, this RTG is older than my eldest boy who was born in 2004, the fish was 2003. No, I do not keep this fish for “Feng Shui” reason. It was purely for pet and passion reason. It feeds on Market Prawns, and when it gets sick of it, I’ll get some bull frogs from the fish farm. So how does this relates to Christianity when it comes to arowana? Gosh.. you mean you are going to tell me about Christianity through this fish? Why not?

Thank God for all these lovely creatures that he has created from the beginning of the world. The bible says “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” The creation of the world and all that dwell therein are all recorded for us in the bible book of Genesis.

Day 1, Light was created.
Day 2, Separation of sky from sea
Day 3, Dry land & vegetation
Day 4, Sun, moon & stars
Day 5, Birds & sea creatures
Day 6, Animals & man
Day 7, Sabbath a memorial of Creation

So our dear Arowana was created on Day 5 of creation. Am I sure it existed since the creation of the world? I don’t know frankly, and it does not matter.
The point is interestingly, air and sea creatures were created on Day 5, whilst land creatures were on Day 6. Why? Again, I do not know.

Pretty interesting, the sequence of creation has never occurred to me before, much more the sequence of Air, Sea, Land creatures creations were separated by a day!

Praise and Thank God for his goodness on us.

I am on leave today, and been driving a round a lot in the morning, and had several close shaves. Was it my fault? I do not think so, maybe I was being too cautious, but i was definitely normal driver by any standards. In the morning when I was driving to Anson Road Fuji Xerox Building with my eldest boy and my wife on board. A pick up truck was zooming by in the CTE tunnels way above 80kmh on the fast lane. I know because I’m already on 80kmh in the tunnel and he zoomed past me on the right!

Later in the afternoon sending my in-laws and my granny for a ride in the car.
A close shave with a bicycle who suddenly turned out from a pavement right to the front of my car. No, I could not see him as the pavement is blocked from my view. Then at the major road, a Volkswagen GTI doing an illegal U-Turn from an outer lane dangerously in front of me, I had to brake hard. Then along Scotts Road, I was almost sandwiched between a Taxi and a Black Honda Odyssey on my right due to the taxi suddenly swerved into my lane. I had to brake hard and swerve away, else it was a definite accident there.

Thank God for his goodness and keeping us save on the road.

Not guilty.

How terrifying will it be when we pass from this earth and only to be faced with the great judge at the judgement seat of Christ.

How irony will it be when we were offered the living bread of Christ that promises eternal life and we threw I away, mock and scorn at it. Pity is the person who were offered the living water of Christ and only to be spit out with rejection. How feeble are we. From the very beggining of creation, we are already condemn by the first disobedience thru Eve and Adam, tempted of the devil serpent. From thence, all of us have been cursed with the sin. What is sin? Sin means missing the mark. Who’s mark? Gods mark.

That’s why we need Christ. The Christ is the meaning of Christmas. Every year till the end of earth when he returns again to earth, the same way he was taken away in Clouds after he rose from the dead, three days after, after bein seen by many men, and fellowship.

This same Christ which we celebrate every Christmas is out redeeming saviour. Jesus said “no man can cone to the father except through him”. “by grace are ye saved through faith, not of works lest any any men shall boast” “if you love me, keep my words.” “if you love me, feed my sheeps”.

This same Jesus will declare us not guilty before the awesome judgement seat of God. How can that be? Jesus death on the cross, the out pouring blood was the perfect sacrifice that God the father needed, once and for all for our sins. By his death on the cross, he renders us all not guilty when we come before the judgement seat of God.

How wonderful this is for us who love and have confessed that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour.

Is it really sufficient to just believe in Jesus to be saved?

The devils believed in him, in fact they knew him! Satan was once an angel of God.
I think there is more to it than just believe in the whole context. Let’s take a side step and look from a human analogy love perspective.

In the bible, it is always about perspective and context. Without understanding the perspective and context, many things can be twisted out of the original intent.
It is likened to a person who wants to know God’s will, open the bible and read about Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus,

Love will usually lead to marriage. Can one person love another and yet no be married. Maybe, but through love, you want to be married and to be committed to each other for life. The very act of marriage is likened to consecration, put aside, dedicated for. The act of marriage is like an outward declaration of faith, a declaration of commitment and dedication. The act of marriage is likened to baptism. Interestingly, I wonder why baptism is done in Church and not in public. I know some does it in public. It is a public declaration that I believe in Jesus, and I will follow him. Marriage. Baptism.

There had been much debate and argument on this matter. I would certainly agree if a person who had never believe in Christ, and on the final hours of their life believed in Jesus, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43) as Jesus said to the thief who believed on the dying cross. But should we then wait until the final hours before we believed? NAY!! From this aspect, I fully agree, believing in Jesus as Lord and Saviour is more than sufficient to be in paradise.

But what of those who have heard of Jesus? What of those who have known Jesus for a long time but of no repentance? The Bible shares with us quite a fair bit of the saving grace and the conditions and context. Hmm.. So this leads to our salvation as conditional?

This is my summary of understanding for those who believe in Jesus and my defination of the terms
1. Short Term – Perhaps less than a day to a week? A new Christian.
2. Mid Term – A few years?
3. Long Term – More than a few years.

It is true that all new borns and toddlers goes to heaven when they pass away. Yes, they may be conceived in sin. But they knew no sin. As such they are not bounded by the law.

How about young children who already knew what’s right and wrong and had already been presented with the Gospel but do not believe? Will they fall under the above condition such that they are not aware? I don’t know. I believe if they will believe if the gospel had been preached to them unless another adult who knows commend otherwise. My 5 year old boy is fortunate to grow up in a Christian Home, going to Church from young. He believed in Jesus. In fact he believes everything that we have shared with him. Praise God! So will they go to heaven? I believe so as long as they believe. How about those who have not been told of the gospel? I supposed they will be judged by works. Wait a minute. But you said we are all “by grace are ye saved through faith, not of good works, lest anyman should boast Eph 2:8″? Yes. Absolutely right. Above context would be definitely true for a person who had been presented with the gospel of Jesus as the saviour, yet rejected the same and insists by good works, we’d be saved. Not! Nobody can get to heaven by good works. Nobody! We need the beloved Saviour Jesus. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me.” John 14:6.

He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:18

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Mark 16:6

So we see, from this verses, the first condition is to believe in Gospel of John. Baptism is required as well to be saved in the Gospel of Mark. Looks baptism has now became an additional condition! So does the bible contradicts each other? Nay! Baptism would follow on naturally after belief where time permits. Remember the dying thief on the cross? He did not have the luxury or time to be baptized. He believe, in fact he declare to Jesus then and Jesus responded straitway that the thief that believe shall be with Jesus in paradise. HE JUST BELIEVED!!

“But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. ” (Luke 23:40-43).

So that was an example of a person who believe and immediately saved. In fact, we have many of such scenarios in hospital dying bed. But please, do not wait till the dying moments to believe. Believe NOW. Remember if you do not believe, you are condemed already. Moreover, nobody knows when they will die.

But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: Luke 12:20

Ok. So I typed a whole bunch of stuff earlier via blackberry. Now on my iPhone. We were talking about is it really true that salvation comes by Just believing and we concluded it is true by the correct perspective and context.

My pastor used to share with me not to fret too much about the nitty gritty details. Those comes later. Obey the commandments as they come along. So first would be believe, confess, repent, baptize, read his word, pray without ceasing, obey his commandments, obey the ten commandments, love one another, worship him, good Christian fellowship, etc. All these will come along when you are a true believer of Christ. If you do not show such results, it can be worrying that Christ is not in you all! The devils all believed in Jesus, and also obey him in fear. But they will never be in paradise. They loath Jesus.

Believe in Jesus will always be the first Pre requisite. Everything else follows. Else you are already condemned.

This site explains quite well of something similar in context. It’s about “can we lose our salvation”. It touches pretty close to what I thought about on “does it takes more than just belief”?

http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-lose-salvation.html