Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" --Jeremiah 6:16

 

19 June, 2006   comments: (0) Resource Spotlight   Father's Day and a Longing For My Return To Rome Yesterday's visit with my Catholic family brought to mind a most troubling prayer: "O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou art the dispenser of all the goods which God grants to us miserable sinners, and for this reason he has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so bountiful, that thou mayest help us in our misery. Thou art the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee. Come then, to my help, dearest Mother, for I recommend myself to thee. In thy hands I place my eternal salvation and to thee do I entrust my soul". Did they just tell Mary "to thee do I entrust my soul"?!?!? The name of this Roman Catholic prayer is "O Mother of Perpetual Help". I read it to my Catholic parents not too long ago, and asked my elderly mother if she could identify any problems in it. Her response: "Good prayer, nothing wrong with it at all". The prayer continues: "Count me among thy most devoted servants; take me under thy protection, and it is enough for me. For, if thou protect me, dear Mother, I fear nothing; not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the pardon of them; nor from the devils, because thou are more powerful than all hell together; nor even from Jesus, my Judge himself, because by one prayer from thee he will be appeased. But one thing I fear, that in the hour of temptation I may neglect to call on thee and thus perish miserably. Obtain for me, then, the pardon of my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace always to have recourse to thee, O Mother of Perpetual Help". My wife and I both grew up in the Catholic church, and we've watched most of our family die-off while under that belief system, or remain in it into their senior years. My wife's mother is elderly, and we noticed when she was staying with us that she was wearing a small leather necklace that had promised it's wearer that having it would keep them from hell fire. Outraged by this, I visited my own mother a couple of days later and described the necklace to her. While I was doing so, she pulled out an identical necklace from around her own neck! Yesterday was Father's Day, and so a visit to my parent's house was in order. Often when I visit, my 78 year old mother asks me to watch EWTN with her, or to read some catholic literature. She's said in the past that she feels that I'm in some cult, and has been praying for my return to Rome. During yesterday's visit she gave me a book to read by a Catholic priest, and attempted to give each of my two young daughters a baby Jesus doll. The way I handle shows and books that she wants me to review, is to make a trade with her. So if I read a book from her, she agrees to read one from me. I think this time around I'm going to have her read one of James White's books on Catholicism, perhaps "Mary, Another Redeemer". Over the past 20 years I've reached-out to my Catholic relatives and friends in many ways. Here's an interesting visual aide that was effective in getting several of my relatives to start thinking about the issues; it's called the Catholic Evangelism Kit. It's a small stack of cards that represent different beliefs that Catholics often lean on for salvation. At family gatherings, I would take out these cards and hand them to one of my family members. Then I would ask them to hand me the ones that they felt were necessary for salvation. The responses were interesting; in my mother's case - she gave me back the whole stack, indicating that she felt that all of the represented beliefs were needed. Then on the back of the cards is a little description of what the bible actually has to say about that particular belief. Click pictures to Enlarge. I can not fully endorse all of the things that are said in the Catholic Evangelism Kit (available here), in terms of doctrine. But the cards are a useful visual aide and conversation starter, and you can adapt them to your own narrative of the Gospel. I do fully recommend the books that I mentioned from James White, as well as his downloadable debates with Roman Catholics. If you can manage to find Loraine Boettner's classic on Catholicism; it's another great book, though it predates Vatican II. Perhaps in the days ahead, I will blog further about the Catholic book that I just agreed to read. I'm expecting that any Catholic readers who stumble upon my blog will make haste in adding me to their prayer list, hoping that my mother's book will finally sink in. But don't hold your breath; I've read many of them through the years. Likewise I hold out no hope of convincing any of my relatives and friends of my beliefs, aside from the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. Without this first work of the Spirit, all of the visual aides, books, kits, and presentations, fall upon deaf ears and blind eyes. It's a lesson that has yet to be learned by so many of today's largest protestant churches. Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.302   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism