Rowina,

 

Thank you for your beautiful letter sharing so many aspects of your life that were so touching to read. The Lord appears to have blessed you with  discernment, empathy and wisdom.

 

The intent of my article  http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/apr2011/johnb425.htm  addressing the identity of the antichrist and the linking connection to the Catholic Church was to display the biblical verses and the facts that dealt with that subject. And it was not my desire to attack Catholic people----- but it was my intent and desire to warn them. I am not a Catholic basher. I would like to be seen more as someone like detective Joe Friday from the old series Dragnet where his famous one liner was--"the facts lady, just the facts". And for the most part I tried to list the bible verses and facts that directly related to the topic, so that a convincing case could be built. And I hoped that everyone would analyze the bible verses that I shared for their accuracy on topic, and would not instead label or infer that I was just another Catholic basher.

 

Let me back up the fact that I am not a Catholic basher-----

As I stated in my article, I was a Catholic for over forty years until I watched a video by the Berean Call titled "A Woman Rides the Beast". This video exposed a myriad of facts about the RCC that I was not aware of and it was apparent that if the facts in this video were correct my eternal salvation and that of my family were at stake. That was twenty years ago and I have spent countless hours in the interim studying the bible and world history and I can say unequivocally that the video was accurate and I praise Dave Hunt and others for it's production and the fact that it freed me from the bondage of an evil institution.

 

There is a great gentleman from Plano, Texas who has devoted his life's ministry to presenting the true biblical facts to Catholics in an attempt to free them from the unbiblical Catholic bondage that they unknowingly are trapped in. His name is Mike Gendron and one of the things he quoted was this---"It is important to realize that most of the clergy and lay people that teach Roman Catholic doctrine are not deceiving people with malicious intent. They are simply passing on what has been passed on to them, sincerely believing that they have the truth. Catholics must believe all dogmas of their church or be anathema (eternally cursed).

 

Why did I and millions of other Catholics put blind faith in an institution without checking out the validity of what it was teaching? The answer for me was  twofold, one the RCC does a great job of brainwashing it's members when they are young and impressionable and secondly if there was something wrong with that religion someone in my family tree from all the prior generations would have sounded the alarm. Let me address both of these issues.

 

First I went to a strict Catholic school where they did indeed brainwash you into believing that the RCC was the only true religion and you were to never go into or attend another church or your salvation was lost. They drilled in your head all the unbiblical rules that the Catholic Church concocted  over the years to keep you in bondage and never advocated that you read the bible. The priests and bishops would explain to you everything you needed to know.

 

Second, I did trust my parents and my grandparents as probably they did with the generations prior to them, all of us caught up in this blind trust without anyone reading the bible and comparing what it said as to what the RCC was teaching (mandating). And then I found out from history that one generation of my ancestors from Europe had to make a decision, you either knelt and pledged your allegiance to the pope and the RCC (who ruled Europe for centuries) or you were murdered. Untold millions of true Christians and Jews were put to death in Europe for centuries that would not kneel to Rome and the RCC. So I guess my relatives at some point chose life under the RCC rather than being burned at the stake. That started my family lineage of "do as you are told and don't ask any questions"--- just follow the rules that are established and you will be fine. Except when you shine the light of biblical truth on these rules, way too many were not God's rules but hundreds of rules and dogma that were created by the RCC-- not God. Remember the last verses of the bible warning us not to add or subtract anything from God's words. I believe that if you follow these RCC rules and dogma's they may lead you to hell rather than heaven. The bible says that there is a narrow path to salvation and few will find that path. I think few will find the way to salvation because people are too lazy or pridefully confident in their ancestors knowledge (Catholics), and they choose not to read the bible for themselves and find this narrow path. A path that Satan has sabotaged with detours upon detours.

 

And Rowina, I can sympathize with you on not being able to find a church that adheres to God's word. Apparently they are getting as scarce as hen's teeth. Most all of the major denominations have compromised God's teachings in one manor or another in this politically correct world we live in. I have read many articles on Rapture Ready and other Christian sites that say people all over the country are "churchless" because they can't find a church that hasn't either compromised God's word or are just teaching false doctrine. There is a huge buffet of churches and beliefs out there and precious few speaking the truth. I guess maybe that's what the great falling away is all about. If it makes you feel any better we are churchless here as well. After being extremely conned once and moderately conned with several other churches my "scrutiny factor" is high and I now know most of Satan's maneuverings and they are many and growing.

 

Christ be with you always Rowina,

         John B