Perhaps We Should All Go Back to Church

I found it amusing - a nod to political correctness - that the author felt it necessary to include Islam with more traditional American religions. But I applaud his honesty about his own Sunday behaviors. In part, the distractions of our seeming wealth has made God seem less necessary for most of us here in the US and Europe. But real wealth has nothing to do with money. What will it take for us as a country to return to God? I fear it will only be utter collapse and catastrophe. May God help our children and grandchildren because I see disaster as not too very far distant.

Pick up your grandkids and take em to Church . If your kids aren’t doing it, it’s up to you. Say grace in public. Put a rosary in your pocket. Find church on TV if you have to start slow. If you are embarrassed about your friends will think......

It's easy to fall out of the habit of going to church. I seldom miss Mass on Sunday. Only if I am sick or the roads are iced over. I was bitterly angry that the churches were closed during covid and I watched Bishop Barron's Mass on YouTube until I could go again.

I quit going to church when the sermons became more about leftist politics than religion and faith. I suspect I'm not alone.

Our nation was founded under God's providence and the faith of our founders. Their writings eloquently testify to this truth and admonish us to be ever faithful. Unfortunately a century ago the smoke of Satan, under the guise of a mild-mannered professor from a Ivy League college named Wilson, infiltrated our federal government and the Democrat Party. Slowly our society is losing its religion. However, Americans also have a history of Great Awakenings in the expansion of the 1830's and in the Depression Era. These were also unsettling times of societal shifts, new inventions and the gathering storms of war. As the author and other posters have suggested, it is up to the churched to joyfully invite the "fallen away" to join them at services. It also involves sharing the joys of living life with God. Always make time for prayer each day. Being Christian is an every day calling and the people you meet should know this. St. Francis of Assisi famously said, "Always preach the Gospel, only use words when necessary."

I have plenty of disagreements with my denomination' leftist doctrines. I grind my teeth when I hear some of my fellow parishioners' opinions, but I can say in complete confidence that we love and respect each other. I have been a part of this congregation for over sixty years, which tempers my occasional frustration. But most important - and I'm sure I share this with my ideologically-opposite friends - is the knowledge that we are all part of something greater than ourselves, and that makes us all better people. So yes, I heartily endorse the author's thesis. Find a place you feel comfortable - or positively challenged - and start attending.

I stopped going when all I heard was...... That’s an excuse to shop for a different congregation, parish, megachurch, But let’s be clear, God gave us all free will and human reason. Your choice To advance the organized religion of self in the privacy of your own mind contributes to the decay.

I sort of agree in principal.... But good luck finding a traditional church with a traditional pastor or rabbi or whatever... Rather than a church hierarchy that mostly works for the 'opposing team'.

The author is correct...we should all go back to Church, but not a mosque, as they teach the opposite of Jesus...this country, founded on God and Godly principles, is being attacked by the forces of Satan, daily, without letup...it is now ok to 'transgender' children, celebrate your 'queerness', practice immorality, lie, cheat, steal, attack people on the street, offend your brother. sleep around and spread disease, get abortion pills when you get pregnant. murder the unborn before birth, as well as the born after birth, destroy families ad naseum...

I stopped going to Mass when it became clear to me that the Church bureaucracy was hiding pedophile priests, paying off victims to stay quiet, and -instead of throwing the pedophiles out of the Church- the 'administrators' were moving the pedophiles to different parishes where the people did not know about the EVIL that these priests were doing..... and they would do it again..... and again..... and again. I can understand that every now and then there's a bad apple, but SO MANY of them! and the Administrators kept them on, and moved them to where they could prey on a fresh supply of innocent kids. It was really brought to light when it became public knowledge that MILLION$ of dollars that Parishoners had donated for charitable purposes.... to help people in need.... was instead being spent to pay off the victims of these evil priests who refused to keep their penis in their pants, especially around small boys. EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! Now, I do not claim to be particularly 'good'. I'm a regular guy, with many faults just as most of us have. But...They held themselves out as the Standard of Morality, and regularly scolded us common Sinners on Sunday... and it turned out that THEY were Satan Personified among us! Again.... not just a bad apple here and there, but SO MANY....the whole administration obviously knew, and I believe that it was common knowledge throughout the WHOLE ORGANIZATION. I cannot in good faith patronize these places ever again. I wish it were not so.... but it IS. I admire this Earth, this small corner of the Lord's creation outdoors.... in the woods.... by the seashore....by a creek or river......but I just cannot go into one of these organized events and get preached at..... by who? A man of God, or a man of Satan? They fooled my Mom. They fooled ME when I was small. Fool me Once, Shame on You. Fool me Twice, Shame on ME!

Don’t let the devil use human failings to drive you away from the church and the Lord. The inspired apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, in chapter one, that there is only one Gospel. It is the one he & the other inspired apostles taught. He said even if the apostles, or an angel from heaven taught anything contrary to what they had taught them “let them be accursed”. Study to show yourselves approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed,rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15) Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1) Search diligently & find a congregation of Christians who are faithfully doing their best to live their lives in accordance with the written word of the Gospel & worship with them. If you prayerfully study & know the Scriptures, you will recognize them when you hear them. Thankfully, they are out there. I worship with one.

i half-heartedly agree with this. Because we are where we are because people just ‘go to church’ without being changed - without their hearts hearing the truth of God’s Word and becoming true believers themselves. So then neither do their children. Over the following generation, the understanding and the faith disappear. And then no one is Biblically literate anymore, and false teachers come in and no longer teach truth. And then it’s 2023 with society in chaos. You likely can’t go back to the church you were raised in or the one you went to even 10 years ago. It either wasn’t then or is not now a church that teaches truth. Christians in this nation are praying mightily for a revival, an awakening. The church I am currently in is amazing - The truth of God’s Word is spoken by all the elders, all the members. We are bursting now with new people, a bunch of them students from a local college. There are young families and people of all ages. it’s the MOST joyful place to be. We know God is our Creator, He loves His created ones, He knows our human nature. WE must admit our love of sin - and then we will cherish the gift He gave us: Christ, who went to hell to pay for our sin so that we do not have to. We who know this and trust Him are blessed beyond any fathomable measure. I pray for you to know this. I can highly highly recommend these teaching programs: Open The Bible (Colin Smith), Truth for Life (Alistair Begg), Revive Our Hearts (Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth, (directed to women specifically but not exclusively) whose websites/teaching can all be found on the radio, online and in apps. Other great teachers include Grace to You (John Macarthur) and Ligonier Ministries (R. C. Sproul). Also Voddie Baucham. Steve Lawson. Contact them to identify their sermon series on the basics, and hear what God says in His Word.

I don't believe it is so much an unwillingness to attend church, but more like an unwillingness to attend a Churchian church for most people. Churchian is a term I saw years ago that is defined as a church that seeks worldly affirmation vs obeying God and teaching His word. People don't like the hypocrisy they are seeing at these churches and refuse to attend. The UK has been post Christian for a very long time, and it was only a matter of time the problem popped up here.

Please pardon a second post. #10 - I share your revulsion against the evil that manifested inside the clergy and hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Although many clergy were defrocked and faced criminal charges, some of the most notorious bishops and archbishops have not even been censored. However, since the scandal broke in the early 2000's, any reported cases of abuse are now handled immediately by a set protocol that operates outside the sole control of the bishop. As a cradle Catholic I also share your feelings of betrayal. The stab in the heart that such behavior was done by a priest; a man who is in persona Christi when celebrating Holy Mass! But that is just it. A priest is still just a man who is subject to Satan, but at an intensity unknown to us lay people. The soul of a consecrated priest is a great prize to Lucifer and he targets them especially. I am not excusing these priests in any way, only offering a wider perspective between the earthly church and the Holy Catholic Church. Our Lord Jesus Christ when He founded His Church warned us that the gates of Hell would not prevail against Her. He did not say that Hell would not infiltrate Her. In our two thousand year history we have survived Roman persecution, Christianizing the barbarian tribes of Europe, several schisms, periods of two and three popes, the Borgia popes, the Protestant Reformation, two world wars, and so far even Pope Francis. We survive because we have The Eucharist; The Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. He can only be received by attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in a Catholic Church, or affiliates thereof that believe in the Real Presence. With sincere love, I invite you home the Holy Catholic Church. Pray to our Blessed Mother, she's waiting for you. Hail Mary, full of grace...

As an addition to #11, I recommend listening to a good audio Bible. The New King James Version is an updated version of the King James Bible. It is a good, solid translation that basically follows the King James but with modern English terms. The Gospel of John and the book of Acts is good place to begin, imo. But, we need all of the Bible & listening to it is an easy way to begin learning. It will lead you to begin to research various passages, which will lead you into deeper study & deeper understanding. Pray for guidance, understanding and wisdom of the word as you study and get to know more about God. It’s life changing in the very best of ways.

My wife and I had been limbo, pardon the pun, for about 2 years post-COVID. But the Lord lead us, through a Bible study we were attending, to a wonderful independent Baptist church. Definitely not a mega church, which we didn't want anyway. Pray and seek. You will find. Of course being in a church doesn't save, Jesus alone can. But hearing Scripture clearly taught will get you pointed in the right direction.

#14 – Wanting to be enlightened, with all due respect, would appreciate chapter and verse from Holy Scripture where it is written that the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus “can only be received by attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in a Catholic Church, or affiliates thereof that believe in the Real Presence.”

#17 - John 6:52-71 Christ then instituted the priesthood and the Eucharist at the Last Supper. The Real Presence remains within all Consecrated Hosts until they are consumed or naturally decay. With all due respect, the Protestant teaching that the "Real Presence" somehow "disappears" after the communion service is over means there was no "Real Presence" at all. There are Eucharistic Miracles of Consecrated Hosts and Wine turning into human flesh and blood that have been in existence for hundreds of years. The oldest is Lanciano, Italy occurring in 750 a.d. and still in existence. The most modern is the Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires in 1993. All Eucharistic Miracles, across the centuries have the same characteristics of being AB blood type, the universal donor, and of being cardiac tissue. Lanciano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyQGpvpcHxk Buenos Aires: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXLfwdw2yUk

#18~ Truly fascinating, enlightening, appreciated commentary and videos. LCMS Lutherans believe a person is saved by God's grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. LCMS Lutherans believe that Christ’s body and blood are truly present in the earthly elements of the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper but do not believe that the elements are permanently changed from the substances of bread and wine into the substances of body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. With all due respect, transubstantiation attempts to explain the mystery of a work of Christ’s Word which we can only believe and not explain. Scripture refers to the elements as BOTH bread and wine AND body and blood. (1 Corinthians 11:26-27) The two videos may be considered as corroborating the “mystery” of partaking the earthly elements of bread and wine after consecration by people who BELIEVE Christ’s body and blood are truly present in those earthly elements; of how those earthy elements are transformed within the human body into Christ’s body and blood. (Up to 60% of the human body consists of water.) Again, with all due respect, considering the Roman Catholic Church’s belief in transubstantiation, the question of whether or not the purity of God would permit sinful mortals (including clergy) the power to turn the earthly elements of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus--to touch the body and blood of Jesus in administering Holy Communion to church members is merited. Scripture provides an account of God striking dead Uzzah for having put his hand out to steady the ark of God when the oxen stumbled. The anger of the Lord struck him down on the threshing floor because of what Uzzah did and he died beside the ark of God. (2 Samuel 6:6-7)

#19 - Thank you for your detailed and interesting reply. I have many questions, but it would be an abuse of this forum for us to continue a conversation. Have a blessed day.

#20~ Appreciate and, as acknowledged years ago, sisters in Christ. Understand and agree to not abuse this treasured salon. Blessings. Shalom.