A year ago there began a really intense longing in me for the Sacrament of Confession. Which is an odd thing for a, then, Protestant to so greatly desire. After all, I can confess my sins directly to Jesus (and of course we should). Such an antiquated idea that we need to confess our sins …
My heart feels heavy for the condition of the church. Oh, Luther! Calvin! Zwingli! Let’s go back and start over!!!! Because this is getting ridiculous. It’s passed hurtful, looking at comical in the rear-view mirror and now is downright confounding.
Here’s the first video that broke my heart:
A week or so ago I found myself sort of….well discouraged with my journey. I felt like I was in no-man’s land. I asked St. Therese to pray for me and if possible to send me a sign. On Sunday we went to St. Therese church, as has been our habit. And the kisses from …
I have been a worship leader and a pastor. In Protestant non-liturgical churches there is often a disconnect between worship leaders and pastors. Generally speaking worship leaders see the most important part of the Sunday service as the “worship”–meaning the singing and the pouring of one’s heart out to God. The music, no-doubt, takes up …
Even as I was starting to appreciate ancient Catholic doctrines, there remained this thing about Baptism. I believed strongly Anabaptist theology (Believer’s Baptism), that one must be old enough and aware enough to know what they are doing. They must be believers themselves, desire the experience, and request the experience. In addition, Baptism was something …
How often have I heard the following: Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship. It has several variations. But the gist is the same. Religion = bad. And everything gets lumped in there. If it is liturgical, ritual, sacramental, well…..that’s just legalistic, man-made and…religious.
It has been with some trepidation that I began to explore the roots of my faith, Protestant tradition and the Roman Catholic Church. It has all along been “working out your faith with fear and trembling.” And then there’s this, from George MacDonald’s The Princess and Curdie:
Sola Scriptura (Lat., ‘by scripture alone’). The belief that the truths of Christian faith and practice can and must be established from scripture alone, without additions from, e.g., tradition or development. [source]
Sola Scriptura: Latin for Scripture Alone. It’s the doctrine that the Bible is the final and only authority for Christian faith and practice. It was a battle cry of the Reformation, a backlash against the authority of Church Tradition. However, if we are going to go SCRIPTURE ALONE then surely the SCRIPTURE would teach this …
reconciling things 