If you are a member of the Catholic Church you are welcome among us. About 20% of all of our members were raised in the Catholic Church. However, the canonization of two popes this past week does give me an opportunity to point out one of several major differences between us and Roman Catholicism.
The Bible clearly and repeatedly teaches that all believers in Christ are “saints” (1 Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1 etc). But in the early centuries when the idea arose that salvation was not a free gift given to those who believe the Gospel, but rather …
She (Hannah) . . . prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore . . . she spake in her heart. —1 Samuel 1:10, 13
For real business at the mercy-seat give me a home-made prayer, a prayer that comes out of the depths of my heart, not because I invented it, but because God the Holy Ghost, put it there, and gave it such living force that I could not help letting it out. Though your words are broken, and your sentences disconnected, if your desires are earnest, if they are like coals of …
The friendship of the world is enmity with God. —James 4:4
It is like the ivy with the oak. The ivy may give the oak a grand, beautiful appearance, but all the while it is feeding on its vitals. Are we compromising with the enemies of God? Are we being embraced by the world by its honors, its pleasures, its applause? This may add to us in the world's estimation, but our strength becomes lost. —Denham Smith
It is our hope for ourselves, and for His truth, and for mankind. Men come and go. Leaders, teachers, thinkers, speak and work for a season, and then fall silent and impotent. He abides. They die, but He lives. They are lights kindled, and therefore, sooner or later quenched, but He is the true Light from which they draw all their brightness, and He shines for evermore. —Alexander McLaren
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. —Galatians 6:14
The cross is the great center of God’s moral universe! To this center God ever pointed, and the eye of faith ever looked forward, until the Savior came. And now we must ever turn to that cross as the center of all our blessing, and the basis of all our worship, both on earth and in heaven—in time and throughout all eternity.
A multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest. —Luke 2:13, 14
Angels had been present on many august occasions, and they had joined in many a solemn chorus to the praise of their Almighty Creator. They were present at the creation: “The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” They had seen many a planet fashioned between the palms of Jehovah, and wheeled by His eternal hands through the infinitude of space. They had sung solemn songs over …
Our prayers often resemble the mischievous tricks of town children, who knock at their neighbor’s houses and then run away; we often knock at heaven’s door and then run off into the spirit of the world; instead of waiting for entrance and answer, we act as if we were afraid of having our prayers answered. —Williams
He who is willing to take the lowest place will always find sitting room; there is no great crush for the worst places. There is nothing like the jostling at the back there is at the front; so if we would be comfortable, we shall do well to keep behind. —Thomas Champness
