Comments

HEY, GIRLS! We love hearing from you, but feel limited in the ways we can help. For one thing, we’re not trained counselors. If you’re seeking counsel, we encourage you to talk to your pastor or a godly woman in your life as they’ll know more details and can provide you with ongoing accountability and help. Also, the following comments do not necessarily reflect the views of Revive Our Hearts. We reserve the right to remove comments which might be unhelpful, unsuitable, or inappropriate.

Some random chick
Good post!
on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 8:18 am
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Wow, Paula, what a great post! I LOVE your writing style! I know one person in particular who, if a Jehovah's Witness comes knocking, they simply go "Sorry, I believe in Christianity." and slam the door in their face. (Don't make comments on that person because that person happens to be someone I love! xD) I just wish they could see that's so wrong, they should try and explain it to them! They should at least TRY to explain that Jesus is the Messiah, etc. Even with me, I have a reeeeally bad temper, so if a Jehovah Witness started being strong-headed with me on something I know they're wrong about, I could see myself getting INTERNALLY frustrated, but EXTERNALLY I would just try to stay calm and be kind and loving and continue to try explaining to them the truth. That's my plan for when I'm all grown up and have my own house, etc.

There's this one thing on the web, it's this letter a Jehovah Witness wrote to a Christian questioning the Christian beliefs/promoting JW beliefs, and the Christian responded to the JW and there were some comments on the letter and the one guy said he showed it to his mother-in-law who had been a JW for 25 YEARS and when she heard the letter, she cried and said something like "There was always something in my HEART telling me something was off." and she quit the JW religion after 25 YEARS! That made me smile. :) If I can find this letter I will post a link to it later.

Anyway, my plan as of now if to make copies of this letter, save them, then when I'm older, if a JW comes knocking, I will give THEM a copy of the letter and ask them to stop by again sometime to tell me what they thought, instead of the other way around. :) SPREAD GOD'S WORD AND LOVE!
Chloe
Are Some Catholic's Christians?
on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 9:26 am
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I have a question as long as we're on the subject of different denominations or cults. My Dad's side of the family is all catholic except for one of my uncles who's a luthren. My Grandma says that she's a Christian and so do some others and I think that they are too. I've heard some other people say that some Catholics are Christians, but do they believe something different? Are they still Christians even though they have a different way to learn about God? I would like to think that my friends who are catholic and my family are going to go to Heaven too. To be honest with you I don't see why they wouldn't. But I'm asking for your opinion, Paula (or anyone else), do you think that some Catholics are Christian? Oh one more thing, I'm not Catholic, I'm Baptist.
Leah
Re:
on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 10:21 am
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Thanks for this post! Learning more about what I believe is definitely something I need to work on.
Heather
Re:
on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 11:47 am
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I have a question. I'm a Catholic (by default), and we definitely believe that Jesus was God in human form, but I've still been wondering if it's okay to be Catholic.

While other divisions of Christianity rely on only the Bible as God's Word, the Catholic Church has developed different doctrines from a "sacred deposit" from the sacred tradition (or something like that), but only the pope and co. can see the original, so we Catholics can't test it to see if it's from God.

Besides that, we believe in penance. So after you attend confession to the priest, he tells you what you must do to make up for your sin. I've never gone to confession, but my cousin said that when he used to, the priest woud tell him to say 20 "Hail Mary's" or so for, like, stealing gum from the candy store or something.
I also just read that we can only benefit in Jesus' sacrifice by 'the sacrifice of the mass' (is that communion?).

Anyway, I'm confused because I *know* my local church teaches that Jesus was God in human flesh, but these other things don't seem to line up with what I've heard I'm supposed to believe.
Some random chick
I found it!
on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 12:26 pm
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Here is the link to what I was talking about: http://www.freeminds.org/doctrine/preaching/how-to-respond-to-a-jehovah-s-witness.html I hope that if any of you know any Jehovah's Witnesses that you would consider showing them this in a loving manner, or if a Jehovah's Witness comes to your door that you would consider giving them a copy of this. You never know, it just might save their life. <3
Heather
Re:
on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 1:51 pm
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Another thing! We pray to Mary. Yeah, as in, directly to Mary, Mother of God. I don't really know what to make of this, and I never have prayed to Mary, even though as a Catholic I'm supposed to.
Claire
Hmm...
on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 4:17 pm
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Chloe and Heather...I really don’t want to hurt anyone by what I’m going to say so I’m going to talk about the points you brought out. 1. Hail Mary’s…hmmm…well lets start here the bible never says we should worship or pray to Mary, in fact it is clear God is the only one we can and should pray to. Exo 34:14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God) Mary is not called another God but anyone or thing we worship with or instead of the Triune God is an idol. How about praying to the saints, well lets look for one second at the contest Elijah had with the priests Baal couldn’t answer, why because he was not God, he was a false god. Now let me get this strait, I am really really encouraged by Mary example, that why she was put there for us to learn from her story and be encouraged. Mary was an amazing woman Mary was and is a saints, but so are all who are Christ’s Eph 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: This verse clearly shows that the saints were alive and living in Ephesus, why were they saints, they were faithful in Christ Jesus. 2 Confession…I believe way to many of us are burned with sin that God wants us to be free of because of one of two things, one we have confessed it to him 1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness., and two we don’t confess our sin to each other, Jas 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
So does it help to have someone to confess to….absolutely, however the priest can’t forgive sins, only God can do that, and the leader should not be the one and only one people can confess to, the Church is a body, confessing to the body, not to one man. Can you confess your sins to the pastor in your church…yes, but in some instances it’s better to go to parents, or older women in the church and let them surround you with prayer, that way 1 the pastor doesn’t have to deal with everything, 2. the older women and your parents are fulfilling their mandate.
Penance…this is one doctrine that make me sad, why? Well when God forgives he freely forgives, we don’t need to do anything to make up for it (our sin) True some people, most people can take God generous forgiveness lightly at times, but look at it this way if you’d work really hard to get a beautiful gift for someone you loved, how would you like it if they turned around and tried to pay you. You’d be hurt, how much more the Son of God who gave his own life?
Added books to the Bible,….there are 66 books of the Bible no more no less. If you compare the other books the Catholic church adds to the books of the Bible thing do not add up, for instance I believe it is the book of Judith that condones murder, or other sins the Bible is against.
Also Catholic believe salvation is by works, that if they sin, their in bad with God and might go hell but the Bible clearly states Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
Eph 2:9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. Does this excluded good works, no but should come out of gratitude for what Christ has done, not the need to earn it.
Finally…the Catholic church teaches that by most part take of Christ body and blood, so far so good, but they actually believe that it is the body and blood of Christ that people eat… my problem with this…my Christ is risen! This is only a symbolism of his sacrifice, a way of remembering. And if anyone says the only way you can part take of the sacrifice is to have communion, their wrong, communion does nothing to save you it may strengthen you spiritually remembering what Christ did but it does save you, if you were to never part take of communion and yet were a Christ, (I believe we should part take of it as command in the bible, but) if you didn’t you would still go do heaven the same as any other believer in Christ. As for Chloe’s question, yes I believe Catholics can become Christians, they may even stay in the Catholic church for awhile, but when their eyes are opened to the wrong extra biblical teaching, I believe God will cause them to try and find, not a particular denomination, but a Bible believing church. I truly hope I have hurt no one and have answered your questions clearly and correctly, please don’t think I presume to know everything, I’ve just studied I lot about this over my life and also had the help of godly men and women. I hope this helps girls, and that you feel I spoke in love, because without love, “I am as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.”
savvy
just wondering
on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 5:57 pm
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Hey thanks for this post! I was wondering if we should try to minister to Jehovahs witnesses? Or just not bring up the topic, and send them on there way?
Sarah
re:
on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 8:09 pm
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I've been following LYWB for quite a while, but haven't posted anything in a looong time..

Good post. I'm rather confused about what JWs believe. They believe in Jesus Christ, the perfect Man? How is this even possible? How do things not contradict for them? I mean, Jesus was a perfect Man who lied (claiming to be God. ) ? Does His claim to be God bother them?

About Catholics and Christians. Define Christian: Follower of Christ, the God-Man. Catholics are followers of Christ as such. Catholics believe a lot of things that other Christians believe: that Jesus is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, born of the virgin Mary, that Jesus Christ was FULLY God and FULLY Man, and pretty much most of the other essentials. Catholic belief in salvation is REALLY misunderstood by a lot of well-meaning Christians.

Heather, here's more info on it the deposit of faith. http://www.catholicfaithandreason.org/depositoffaith.htm Also, PLEASE take some time to research more on the questions you've asked here. There are so many rich answers out there. It DOES all make sense, I promise, and is.. ahh.. really awesome.
Some random chick
Re: savvy
on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 10:03 pm
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I'd definitely say try to minister to them, if you read my above comments I think you'll understand why I say this. Also, I'd recommend that you go to the link I posted above and check out the letters that were written between a Jehovah's Witness and a Christian. And look at the comments below the letter, specifically the comment made by the guy that talks about how he showed the letter to his mother-in-law. If you do this, please let me know what you thought. :) <3
Jean
Important topic, too many questions
on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 10:49 pm
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Hi all, what a great topic you chose to blog about and it raises all kinds of questions that Im sure need a lot of time to respond to try to tackle.

While I knew most of the things JWs believe and don't agree with our christian beliefs I wasn't sure about Mormons and Catholics, but one thing I'm sure of and is that they not pray to Mary they say they ask for their prayers, like if I ask you to keep me in your prayers or something like that.
Chloe
Claire
on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 9:36 am
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Thank you so much for answering my question. You didn't offend me by what you said, in fact, I find it to be quite true. Mary does not deserve prayer or worship because when you look at it that way they're almost making her an idol even though they believe she is a saint. I hope that I haven't offended anyone by what I just said if you are Catholic or disagree.
Sarah
Chloe and Claire
on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 10:14 am
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This you must believe to be a Christian…no matter what denomination…Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, etc….you must believe that Jesus is the one true and living God, that God sent Jesus, His one and only Son, to die on the cross and shed His blood as forgiveness for your sin, that God accepted His death as payment for your sins. There is no other way to become a Christian. You can’t work for it, do enough good deeds, pay enough penance, talk your way into it, take communion enough times…you must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Believing in your “head” is not enough. One must believe in the heart. Jesus becomes a personal Savior. He lives within a true believer through the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). Listen to what the Bible says…But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12

Did you see those words…RECEIVE Him and BELIEVE IN HIS NAME? That tells you if you are a Christian or not. To just “believe that He was God in human form” is the beginning of faith, but one must believe in her heart (receive Him) and believe in His name (all that His name means—Jesus—Savior of the world, Lord—Master of your life) that … if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

The bottom line…Jesus said… "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6 And again He said…"No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:44

So, how do you know if one is a Christian…look for faith alone, Christ alone, His Word alone.
Lydia D.
THANK YOU!
on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 10:34 am
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This is a very timely post. My speech teacher and her family are Mormon, and I've been wondering what was different about their faith. I know that Mormonism isn't really Christianity, but I didn't know why. Thanks!
Sarah
savvy
on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 11:26 am
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It’s a tough question. We are to be light in a dark world, but consider John’s words in 2 John 1:9-11…Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.

As for me, I take this verse and do not receive them into my house or argue the point with them.
Heather
Re:
on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 3:17 pm
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Hmmm actually I realized something about the "Hail Mary" prayer. For those who don't know, it goes like this:

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thou womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

So I guess we're not really praying to her; we're asking *her* to pray for *us*. Is that still bad?
redvacuum
Re:
on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 10:12 pm
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hm. isn't the hail mary just direct scripture. there are verses in the none catholic bible's that say the exact same words as the hail mary's. can somebody help me understand if it is bad or not?
Claire
Heather Re
on Friday, December 17, 2010 at 12:44 am
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I wouldn't say the prayer is so much wicked, as useless. Mary can't do anything for us in that way. And why pray to her when we can pray to Jesus who hear all and bring it before the Father? Jesus is the only one who can save us in the hour of our death, Mary can't. it slightly misquote a bible verse, "Was Mary crucified for you?" Nope, my Jesus hears prayers and anyone who calls on His name to be saved, and believes with all their heart will be.
Claire
Re
on Friday, December 17, 2010 at 3:08 pm
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Nope Hail Mary's are not direct Scripture
Megan
Heather
on Friday, December 17, 2010 at 5:46 pm
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I don't think it's wrong or useless to ask mary to intercede in prayer, but I don't think it's any more powerful than praying directly to God. Praying directly to God, however, may allow us to foster our relationship with him!
Sarah
redvacuum
on Friday, December 17, 2010 at 9:12 pm
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The phrase “Hail, Mary” is not in Scripture. The correct wording is “Hail, favored one, the Lord is with you.” These are the words spoken by the angel Gabriel to Mary in Luke 1:28.

We often go to two extremes when it comes to Mary, the mother of Jesus. The first extreme is to exalt her. The Bible does not present her in that light. And theologically the problem is that it often relegates Jesus to second place.

The other extreme is to ignore her and not give her the esteem that Scripture does. Scripture does say that Mary was “blessed among women” (not blessed above all women). We always do best to let the Bible speak for itself and neither add to or take away, as Scripture warns us not to do.
Lydia
Re:
on Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 2:38 am
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Hi, I just wanted to bring up a passage that comes from Philippians right quick. I am very aware that there are differing opinions in Christianity, and there are also these other religions that go under the guise of Christianity (Mormon, JW, etc.)
...I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Phil 3:12-16 (for a bit more context, read the rest of chapter 3)

We talked about this in small group several weeks ago, and it made a lot of sense to me. There's all this confusion about doctrine and denominations and other religions, right? And sometimes, I feel like God's watching, a little amused, waiting for us to take our concerns to HIM! Claire, I think you did a great job of explaining the Biblical relevance of some of the Catholic practices. And I absolutely condone reading the Bible to assure teaching aligns with it. But you know what else is a huge part of it? Your own heart. Each person is going to experience Scripture in a different way. And, I'll go ahead and say it: sometimes, for me, the Bible has been a little... flat. But that's my fault! There are SO many layers and layers to the Bible (how many of us thought of the 'ogres are like onions' just then? =] ) and you cannot sort it all out without the author's help! So I think that it is very important that before we even look at the Bible, we pray for guidance, clarity, and that God would reveal to us what He wills to. So anyway, back to Phil 3... notice that in verse 15, it says "And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you." Wait, what was that? If we disagree on a point, God will make it clear to us! I believe that the Lord wants you to have a clear understanding of His Word, and I don't think that he would want you to be confused; I think the first thing you should do whenever you have a question about your youth teacher's lesson, about something your friend said, about something you read in a book, that seems to send off red lights for you, is pray. God will make it clear to you what is correct. Granted, often He makes Himself clear through His Word. But without bringing the Lord into the picture, I think you are missing dimensions of understanding.

May God bless you all, and shower you with His best gifts in store for you
<3 Lydia
Sarah
re:
on Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 11:07 pm
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I typed out a comment a couple days ago, but it never got posted, so I'm trying again.. hope that's alright. I think it's good to see both sides to something like this.

I know I don't have time (nor do I think this is the appropriate place) to give a huge long explanation of Mary and Confession. I will heartily encourage you all, though (especially my fellow Catholics) to FIND the answers to these questions. If you truly care about the truth of what we believe (and are not content to settle for misrepresentations of Catholic belief, which are all over the place) then PLEASE get the answers from a Catholic source.

As to the Hail Mary: Luke 1:28 "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee" and Luke. 1:42 "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb" This is the first half of the Hail Mary, and straight from the Word of God. The second half of the Hail Mary is a petition to our Mother to pray for us. (Prayer, you see, is not strictly worship. it is spiritual communication.) And see here... you ask friends to pray for you, don't you? Why do you, when you should go directly to God? See what I'm saying..?

Look up Jn. 2:1-12. You see here an instance of Mary's motherly care. Jesus had not started His ministry, and did not intend to at that time. But, due to the gentle request of His mother, and how she cared for the embarassed young couple, He performed His first miracle.
Praying to Christ's mother won't bring us away from Christ! It will bring us closer! Asking for her help (as you ask for your own mother's help) is just what Christ wants us to do! Jesus honored and loved His mother; we are supposed to be imitators of Jesus.
Claire
re: Sarah.
on Monday, December 20, 2010 at 4:50 pm
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Sarah I don’t want to look like I’m trying to pick on anyone so this will be my last post, in the Bible it does say Mary is blessed among women, and I say this genuinely Mary is one of my favorite people in the Bible her amazing faith, and submission to the Lord’s will is an example for all of us. However I find your point a little odd, we ask our friend to pray for us so what’s wrong with asking Mary. It is clear from Scripture that it is good for the body of Christ to come together as when the church prayed for Peter, and God miraculously released him. But there is a difference between that and asking Mary to rely our prayers. There is not one word in my Bible which says it is right to pray to Mary or any of the saints that are dead you say prayer is a form of spiritually communication, absolutely but it also entails worship. Here me point your not praying to your friends to ask them to prayer to God for you are you? If praying to the saints is a good and acceptable thing then why didn’t Jesus pray to them? He could have prayed to Elijah, or Elisha who had a double portion of Elijah’s spirit? Or David a man after God’s very heart? Or one of the prophets, but he only prayed to His Father, we pray in Jesus’ name because he intercedes for us with the Father, something He made very clear that He was able to do because of His death. Again I ask was Mary crucified for you? She didn’t die for us, so she can’t take the same intercessory place as Jesus. What about friends well their not their to pray for us but with us, the Bible says “when two or more are gather together in my name there am I in the midst of them.” Their prayers don’t influence God more than our own, but it bring power to the body when we pray together knowing we are walking through this together and therefore strengthens the bond of the body of Christ. As for praying to Mary like were asking our own mother, it is true we should we imitators of JesusBut Jesus never ever came up to his mother and ask her to relay something to God for him, he did his first miracle at a wedding yes! And at his mother request, you know what this shows, , two things Mary’s faith that her son was God, and Mary went to her son because she knew he was the Son of God, out of obedience and respect for his mother, and also love, and because it was part of His Father’s plane , he preformed the miracle. We should be imitators of Jesus, this shows us we should be obedience to our parents and respectful of them, of course he obey Mary she was his mother, and of course she told him about the wine because she knew he could do something about it, the disciples came about the hungry five hundred and Jesus did something. Mary was his mother and therefore worthy of respect, but not just because she was Jesus’ mother but because she was a child of God, and created in His image. Jesus said whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is mother and my brothers. One more thing Sarah you ask the readers not to accept Catholic misrepresentations, I’m assuming you meant people like me. I’m not offended I can’t understand how you would not wish your doctrine miscommunicated by someone who knows nothing about them, but let me assure you my mother was a part of the Catholic church for over 16 years and my grandparents on that side were also Catholics and my uncle is as well, so I would like to assure you that through what I have been told by people who were and are part of the Catholic church that I have a pretty good grasp on most of the doctrine. Anyway I hope God bless your week and you Christmas, love in Christ.
P.S. Lydia you are so right about our hearts, and i know Christianity so a heart religion, but sometimes our hearts can be deceptive which is exactly why like you said we need to make sure our hearts are inline with God's word!
Heather Sv. (previously 'Heather')
Sarah
on Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at 4:42 pm
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(I'm changing my name to Heather Sv. so I can be more identifiable).

Sarah: Touche. That's a really good point. I don't think anyone here is going to be able to argue with that. *Snaps for Sarah* ...Chuckle. I like that =D

But I still have a tiny peeve about Catholicism. I feel like our churhces aren't comfortable. It might just be the few Catholic churches I've been to, or it might be a product of the area I live in, but I feel like we're not a community at my church. Nobody knows anyone. It's like we just go every Sunday, going through the motions, and it's pretty much dead there. Like I said, it could just be the churches I've been to, but are all Catholic churches like that? I want to be part of a loving church community. I want to be part of a youth group. I want to be friends with the people I go to church with. I want to meet an older Christian woman who can guide me. I want an accountability partner. I feel like my church doesn't teach us about the things I learned here on LYWB, and that makes me sad.

Maybe Catholicism just isn't for me. Idk. Maybe I'll try out some different denominations. Any suggestions? I feel like Baptists are always very kind. Maybe I'll try going to a Baptist church on Sunday.
Hannah
Hail Mary
on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 9:14 am
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Question: Mary was human, right? So if you can pray to Mary you could pray to any dead human in history?!? Personally I think it would be safer to pray to Jesus than a flawed human. (I hope that doesn't sound rude, I am just trying to understand why Catholics pray to Mary)

Heather Sv.: remember to test every church you visit by the Word of God. My church isn't part of a certain denomination (closest thing would be Baptists) but they preach the Word of God. Here is a website of a pastor I know who might be helpful to you http://www.joshgelatt.com/
he has a good blog and might be able to point you to some good churches that preach the Word of God.
Praying the Lord will direct you to the right church.
Love your sister in Christ, Hannah
Sarah
Re:
on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 12:46 pm
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ach.. I told myself I wouldn't do this. :P

re:Claire
Jesus is GOD. There wouldn't be any reason at all to pray to one of His creatures. (Elijah, David etc). Also, Mary and the saints are not dead. (Mt. 22:32) Prayer is not worship. For a Non-Catholic this might be hard to understand, when you ONLY pray to God, in the context of worship.
Claire, just because someone has the label 'Catholic' does not mean they at all know their faith. I say this from a lot of experience.

Heather, Church isn't about comfort. It's about worshipping God in the best way possible. That said, I'm really sorry to hear about your situation. A lot of Catholics go to church on Sunday simply out of obligation, which is really sad. That makes for poor community. I know at my Church (a much more traditional church), we have an AWESOME community. Everyone there is there because they WANT to be there. Also, occasionally we'll go to other churches, and some places people reach out to us, and others they don't. But that's all right. though community is very encouraging and everything, it's NOT what going to church is all about. It's not what *I* can get out of it. It's about truth.
You're in my prayers.
Jiana Barnett
WOW!
on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 2:59 pm
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I don't know why but this comment really hurts my feelings... I was supposed to be "brought up" as a Jehovah Witness and some of the things that you say you found in research is nothing we believe . I don't attend the Kingdom Hall as much as I used to but Jehovah Witnesses aren't the bad people tht you think we are, We believe in Jesus and God and everything else you are saying. What we don't believe in is the Christmas and Halloween and the other unnecessary holidays that have nothing to do with God! Christmas isn't even the day that Jesus was born on... How could the Shepards be looking out onto a star and it be freezing cold? It makes not one bit of since to me and i hope i didn't hurt anyones feelings in this blog... i just can never understand why everybody thinks wwe are the bad guys and the "only" false religion... Can you pick on someone else?
Claire
Re:
on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 3:05 pm
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Thanks Sarah, but my grandparents Mum and Uncle do understand their faith/ fore-more faith :) (My grandma, was very into Catholicism, and My mum met with many people like nuns etc, and she understood.)
Heather Not every denomination is doing the right things, while I’m probable closest to Reformed Baptist, I still see things in this that need working, unfortunately Heather many older women and men aren’t taking their roles, I see this in small ways in the Church I attend, so don’t expect that Baptist will have it all together (glad you think their kind though : ) ) but like one of the previous readers the MOST important thing is the right beliefs. Something else I would encourage you to do is be a mentor yourself. I have a small handful of girls about 12-14 that I’m friends with and mentor, I’ve already walked through what they are going to (well some of the same things) and by God’s grace for a while now I walked with my hand in Jesus’s, so when you find the Church you know God is leading you to, mentor away, it’s a great joy, and suddenly made all my problems seem smaller. Love in Jesus. Claire (Big internet hugs to you girls)
Heather
Re:
on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 11:21 pm
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@Hannah: Thanks for that link. I'll def check it out!!!

@Sarah: I understand your point, but what I'm saying is that the church I attend isn't helping me find the Truth. I need encouragement and direction, something I've not yet found at the churches I've attended. I believe that having a community helps you find the Truth. That's mainly why I come to this blog- we're a "community" of sorts helping each other out. Your church sounds nice, and it's good to know that not all Catholic churches are like the ones I've been to. Thank you for your reply=)))))
Paula Hendricks
To Jiana
on Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 4:36 pm
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Dear Jiana,

I’m so sorry to have caused you pain. My intent wasn’t to “pick on” Jehovah’s Witnesses—they’re just one example of many others who do not believe that Jesus is who He says He is—fully God, and fully man.

The point of this post was to encourage girls to really search the Bible to make sure that the teachings they hear line up with who God revealed Himself to be. That’s all.

I don’t consider you or any other JW the “bad guys.” All of us have sinned and have no hope of peace with God—except for Christ Jesus, the mediator between God and man. That’s why I want to continue to point others to this God-man, Jesus Christ.

Respectfully,

paula
Sarah
Heather
on Monday, December 27, 2010 at 3:32 pm
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You are right, Heather; it brings a great amount of joy to be in a church “fellowship.” I know you understand the importance of choosing a church by what it teaches, so if there is a strong, evangelical church in your area where the Word of God is preached and taught, and where you can enjoy the fellowship of a youth group, it will give you opportunity to have a life full of joy and purpose.

As you mentioned, a Baptist church would be good to visit and check out…Baptists are known to be “people of the Book” and they are usually strong in the area of fellowship. Visit the Sunday School of the churches you check out, visit the youth group activities, and look for godly women involved in the youth area that could mentor you.

Such churches are available; I am praying for you that the Lord will lead you to just what you need and desire!
Kate
only one mediator
on Monday, March 14, 2011 at 4:48 pm
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i know that no one is probably reading this now since this blog is old, but i just wanted to point out something about the Hail Mary prayer. in 1 Timothy 2:5, it says this: "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Mediator means "a negotiator who acts as a link between parties." Mary cannot be a go-between for us and God. By asking Mary to pray for us sinners, that's like asking her to be our mediator. The bible clearly states Jesus is our one and only mediator. Praying to someone who is dead (even thought they may be in heaven) is like praying to my Grandad or one of my family members or something. We would all pretty much acknoweledge that Mary is not God, she is human. And while she is special, because she was chosen among all women to be the virgin mother of the Holy Child, she is not holy. Jesus did not become holy when he became man, he was already holy, which means she had nothing to do with him becoming holy. Hope that helps anyone a little befuzzled =)
Melon
Bahá'í Faith?
on Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 1:25 pm
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I want to tell my friend about Christianity and she's a Bahai, apparently its a new religion, they believe that Jesus is one of the prophet but not God. I had a conversation with her before about our beliefs, but I didn't have much evidence to support my argument. I really want her and my other non religious friends to believe in our God>.<
Amy
Excuse me.
on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 1:55 am
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I'm Mormon (aka a member of the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints) and an avid reader of your blog.

The information you posted about my religion is mostly incorrect. We do believe that Jesus was created by God (as we all were, including Satan). We believe we are all brothers and sisters (in a spiritual sense because God is our Heavenly Father). We believe that God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are not the same being, but one in purpose. Jesus was sent to atone and die for us so that we can one day return to be with God again. We do not believe that Christ came to earth to colonize it with humans. We were sent to this earth to learn. And as children of God, we have the potential to become like Him because we have been commanded to be perfect. Christ is the center of every LDS worship meeting and the name of our church includes His name.

Before you post "facts" about a religion, please ask someone who actually believes in it to get the truth to spread to your readers.
Sarah, with the LYWB team
Excuse me...
on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 3:03 pm
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Thank you, Amy. We are so glad you avidly read our blog!

You have stated several things that are different than what evangelical Christians believe. Jesus was not “created” by God; He is God (John 1:1-3, 14). Those who accept the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God are brothers and sisters in Christ. (John 1:12) God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are one Being with separate functions. (Gen. 1:26; Deut. 6:4) We were individually created by God and birthed on this earth (Ps. 139:13-14) for His pleasure (Rev. 4:11) and to bring glory to God (Ps. 150:6). Jesus said, “Be ye perfect, even as I am perfect.” (Matt. 5:48) “Perfect” in the original Greek here means “complete.” We will never be divine like God, but we can be complete in Him.

The distinguishing characteristic of an evangelical Christian is that he believes exactly, and all –no more, no less—than what the Bible teaches about who Jesus is and what He did. Anything that detracts from or adds to makes it impossible to be a biblical Christian. One thing that we cannot get wrong is the deity of Christ. Jesus is God and we must never teach a false gospel. (2 John 1:9-10)

God bless you, Amy.