Lights In The World

One co-blogger Sterndal asked me this question: I just would like to ask about your religion. i hope you don't mind, but are you a catholic?

Here is the excerpt of my answer to him which was included in the comments section of one of my blog.

"My religion is that of the Apostles. Church of God.

1 john 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—

1 John 1:2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—

1 John 1:3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

God said, my people are called by my name.

Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Any church therefore other than Church of God is a fake religion."

I just would like to clarify the above statement "my people are called by my name".

2 Chronicles 7:14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Even for us humans, things that belong to us are called in our name. You will not call the son of Peter as the son of John or the wife of Peter as the wife of John. We even assign our whole name attaching Junior at the end, thus if the father's name is Juan de la Cruz, the son is called Juan de la Cruz Jr.

1 Timothy 3:1-4 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence

1 Timothy 3:5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?);

The Catholic Church also has a bishop, but can I ask my intelligent readers a question, are they biblical? You can not even find their church in the entire Bible not even mentioned once by the Apostles in their entire preaching.

Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

The Church is already existing before He died. After His death, are we authorized to create another Church other than that which was already laid?

1 Corinthians 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

John 6:65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

Simply read the verse above as, no one can accept, enter or be a member of the Church of God without divine intervention because it's hard to surrender material things the world has to give. Refer to my previous article on How Are We Called.

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Catholic Church has a wide and broad gate. You are free to do what you want. - vices like drinking of wine, smoking cigarettes, dressing up like almost naked, always free as a bird and are still Catholic for life.

This is the commandment to the Church members with respect to anyone who is called a brother in the Church.

1 Corinthians 5:11-13 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”

Do I mean keeping company only with the righteous inside the Church but how about those outside the Church?

1 Corinthians 5:9-10 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.

Philippians 2:14-15 Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.