It quote brother Mundabor a fair amount. One of the people I read and quote is Scott, who is Serbian Orthodox. I consider both members of troubled churches: there are many faithful in the Roman Church, but few of them are in the leadership, which seems to want to converge with the Uniting Church of Canada and the PCUSA, if not the Unitarians.
For the leadership must defend sound doctrine, and that we have from the beginning.
Alas, the Church of V II appears to have only one commandment: Thou Shall Not Offend.
The commission bent over forward in the most extraordinary way, dividing the apparitions in two groups: the first set of “unannounced” alleged apparitions and the industry of the thousand of alleged apparitions afterwards. In the first case, the majority (but not all, as Church Militant tell us it’s necessary) of the members consider the apparitions supernatural. There is no conclusion of constat de supernaturalitate, because – again, according to what CM reports – for that unanimity would be required. Therefore, even the first apparitions do not pass the test.
The second set is destroyed as expected, though even in this case our heroes stop short of issuing a constat de non supernaturalitate. Rather, it seems to me the conclusion is non constat de supernaturalitate, but I will have to read more in detail.
In a third stunning turn of event, it is proposed to examine the possibility of making of the place a sanctuary, under control of the Vatican, because Medjugorje would encourage “spirituality” and blabla. Apart from the obvious rebellion of following a fake Blessed Virgin who says uncatholic things against the open condemnation of two bishops, with this train of thought the Church should establish Lutheran sanctuaries in all important places of Lutheranism (Erfurt, Wartburg, Worms, the lot) as there is no doubt Lutheranism has produced many very pious men and women.
I’m not goint to argue with the faithful Catholics on such. I spent too much time hanging around the Pentecostals in my youth, and I learned to mistrust prophecy and prophets. ALl such utterances need to be tested: taken seriously, for true prophecy exists.
I am no prophet, but I can read patterns. And when the faithful are distracted into superstition, it is time for the reformed to back our Papist Brothers. This smells as much as Washington Journalists making shit up to impeach their elected president.
There are those within the church who are misleading us. They are leading us into superstition, and they are leading us to despair: they imply that the ordinary sober live is not godly enough. As if we can make ourselves to be God. We cannot: but we can deceive ourselves, and call institutional unity what it is not: oneness.
In Christ we are one, and in Christ we live with the differences between traditions, many of which are just that: saving our differences for the things that matter.
Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God. We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then, each of us will be accountable to God.
We need to tolerate each other. We all have a parts of our ecclesiology that we love too much, and our churches can save us or damn us. As the blokes at social matter note:
… one’s understanding of the mechanics of salvation (or lack thereof) heavily influences behavior. But ecclesiology heavily influences the incentive structure.
I note that the means of witnessing are becoming less. I’m no longer at the top of a search by blog title even here, and neither is Scott. For the comments made at his place show us how the solution will work.
Christian men do not go their own way. They go God’s way.
Paul referred to himself as a “bondservant of Christ Jesus” and a “prisoner of Christ Jesus”. A bondservant does not go his own way, he goes where his master sends him. A prisoner does not go his own way, he goes where his captor sends him.
For some men, that means a wife and children. For other men, that means receiving the gift of celibacy. Either way, we’re called to glorify God, not to go our own way. Sir Hamster is right. The difference is far from trivial.
Of course, but they have to *choose* to go this Way within the context of the human freedom God has given us. Leveraging a MGTOW mindset to break from our depraved modern culture; the feminine imperatives of abortion, promiscuity, single motherhood, hookups, etc., committing evil to maximize their sexual strategy; and worst of all the satanic “Man Up” wolves trying to scatter and devour the Christian male sheep. This situation requires a determined effort to go your own way, to find the one true Way: following in Jesus Christ’s footsteps.
Beware of the wolves. Those who will distract. Who will lead us down spiritual rabbit holes that damn us as surely as if we were a full participant of the narrative. Beware of those who excuse your sin.
Stand up. Be a man. Care for your wife, protect your daughters, train your sons. And if single, go boldly where no married man can take his little ones.
For these are the days. The Gospel will shine, for the deeds of the secularist and their Islamic religious arm are stained irretrievably by Satan, and with him will fall.
Do not be them. Do not be like them.