@nrky wouldn't false teachers be the more like the Pharisees and Sadduccees?

The laity don’t even know what to do, and the local priests many of whom are good good Christians who love God, are stuck too. They have to be obedient, but at the same time, they don’t know what is coming from Hod or the Devil

@Jenjen well there goes the infallibility of the pope idea.

all i felt when i went to catholic services was blame and guilt, no redemption or love there whatsoever.... catholic preachers and laymen here in australia have become so insular that it only appeals to those who grew up in the church, which is why attendance and new converts are dwindling

@nrky Have you heard of Ray Comfort?

Saint Francis DeSales, Ignatius spiritual exercises, Saint Teresa of Avila her book the interior castle, there are so many saints and mystics in the church who have written a lot about how to pray and have a relationship with God and to place yourself within God‘s heart.

anglicanism is somewhat similar in that it's focused on maintaining a status quo, rather than sharing their gift of god's love with the world. there's no catholic or anglican witness here, mostly it comes from indian and southeast-asian presbytarians

@nrky I'm nondenominational but I just consider myself just a Biblical Christian, I don't care as much for what denomination a fellow christian is in, if they are in Christ they are my family in Christ.

Here’s a beautiful prayer by a catholic monk fairly recently:

Jesus to the soul:

Why are you upset and agitated? Leave your cares to Me and all will be fine. I tell you honestly, every act of true and blind reliance on Me results in what you desire and will resolve all your difficulties.... more found here https://www.discerninghearts.com/catholic-podcasts/jesus-take-prayer-servant-god-fr-dolindo-ruotolo/

lol ray comfort, that's the living waters dude.... i get random pamphlets in my mailbox every few months from his followers

last one i got was the one about the science in the bible, was an interesting read

there is a YT channel, there are videos of him evangelizing

He's very graceful and loving but does not compromise/water down the message of the Gospel.

ahh cool

will have a look

amen and awomen

I would be curious to see how God is petty

Every other religion in the world would allow almost everyone into heaven

Why do scientists believe in the existence of dark matter when they can’t prove it

for me? i personally believe god has no solid reason why he wants to create humans in his image (ie. that's just like having clones of himself worshipping himself). although an alternative way i consider the world is that we're god's experiment. the dinosaur age was one experiement. etc

The liturgy over the year for the Catholic mass and daily mass readings from the Bible follow tradition in the Church. The mass itself if about receiving Jesus in the sacrament of communion.

have a good day everyone and God bless ya

We aren’t clones of God, God created us to worship Him in many ways. God just gave us more than He gave any of His other creations. That being His image

Daily reminder that Joe Biden is not a Catholic.

sure, but from my point of view, creating something to worship you and punish it when it doesn't is either petty or egoistic

I think your idea of worship is rather skewed. I also want to know what you mean by God punishing us

to be honest with you, i like the "we're a scientific experiment of god" more.

i haven't yet to come to terms to how and why would god created us, aside from worshipping him. i think the idea that we're created solely to worship him is unsatisfactory for me, because it makes "life purpose" seems so mindless, aimless. i dream of bigger things than serving a God (and i'm not talking about just christian god here, but any deity). if i love god, i want to love and worship god willingly, not because he is the creator of my ancestors or the earth.

god punishing us is referring to the original sin, ie. the banishment and the pain/suffering as consequences. i don't disagree with the consequences, but if he loves us, why he doesn't give us a second chance in the garden but must banish us?

The second chance is Jesus and this life

He won’t let us run around and screw everything up forever

He did give us a second chance, He gave us a second chance for a place even better than Eden. That said God wants you to love and worship Him willingly too, that's why he gave us choice and free will. You want to do other things I understand, but even Adam was not constantly prostrate before God. We can also worship God through living our lives and the way in which we live them

i don't know. most people believe when they die they will go to heaven because all their sins were atoned by jesus (which i think i've talked with you about in earlier days). but not many could tell me what exactly is heaven, what does god offer you that satan can't? i believe we're all pawns. there's no true love and acceptance. those that "believes" in him will be saved, otherwise they don't. that's not all great and caring. i'm not disagreeing with him, because i operate on the same basis -- but i label myself as callous and cold, not loving

Just because you say your Christian doesn't mean you get a free pass to heaven, you have to put work in.

Our thoughts are not his thoughts. You have to first admit that you are powerless over your life. It may be easier to think of it instead of God, think of it as Love. Because that’s what God is. He is pure Love. So instead of seeing yourself as worshiping this powerful being who is far away, try to look at it more as finding a friend who knows you and loves you and has been through it all with you. Love only wants to be with love. Love cannot be with hate. You have to conform yourself to His love and by doing that, you become this version of yourself that is even more “you” than the “you” you were before.

Speaking of God, today i had chanhe in my pocket when i checked to see if I still had it it wasn't there. After getting up from class I turned my pocket inside out and I looked everywhere, then something told me to look in my pocket and it was back in my pocket. You can't tell me that God doesn't exist.

Or atleast a supernatural being

Satan can't actually offer you anything, he literally doesn't have the power to offer anything without God's permission. That said Heaven is a place without sin and the corruption which accompanies it. It is the perfect place

but how do we know if it is perfect? if i don't worship god, at best i am a lost soul. at worst i am in hell

indeed, we are powerless over our life. i don't hate god, i just don't think i am as committed to his love as he is to me (if we're going with your metaphor)

You can start with the humblest prayer “o god, I don’t know if you are real, but I thank you for giving me the gift of *wanting* to believe.”

Faith takes practice. And it’s not about being stupid. There are intelligent people on both sides of the fence in the God debate.

If you don't worship God then God let's you not worship Him forever. You have to understand that even though we chose not to worship God this world still has side effects like hope which are part of God. Hell won't have that because only people who want to live without God will go there