"Church Guidance"

Church Attender

Church Attenders are people who are generally new to the Church.  They have an interest in God.  They may have had a background in the Church during their younger years when they were in Sunday school but their families pulled them out of Church before they had a chance to ask Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.  They didn't become Christian Members before they left.  Over the years they got disconnected from Church, but suddenly they came back to Church to get connected again.  They eagerly learn about God, the Bible, the Messiah, the Savior, the Christ.  They can be given basic responsibilities like: bringing food for others to share, cleaning, volunteering in groups led by Church Members and being greeters, however they are not allowed to teach.  Whatever activity they are involved in, they need to be overseen by Church Members.  They accept that they have sins and that they need to be forgiven to have salvation.  They have grown and they are ready for the next step.

 

 

Church Member

A Church Member is someone whose spiritual maturity has grown to the point where they have asked Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins; these are true Christians; they took the step and graduated from Church Attender.  Their foundation is strong and Biblically based.  They were Church Attenders but who have been taught by Christians about Christianity to build their foundation.  Church members are important to the growth of the Church; these are the role models for the Church Attenders.  There has to be distinction in the Church between Attenders and Members; it has to be noticeable.  Church members (male and female) are allowed to vote, teach, train, host, lead, serve communion, take communion, help with financial reports, collect offering, etc.

 

 

Churchgoer

Churchgoers started out as Church Attenders but they fizzed out.  Church Attenders are supposed to grow and become Church Members, but something is holding them back causing them to be perpetual Church Attenders; these are Churchgoers.  Churchgoers have a problem and they are not willing to change or grow, they stay in this state indefinitely, year after year.  Churchgoers are very odd, they don't have the faith to go ahead to be Church Members, but they have enough faith to not quit and to stay.  They trapped themselves in between in an undecided state.   They have not accepted and they have not rejected, they are neutral, they are in the middle.  People in this situation, who do not accept Jesus, actually reject Jesus.  Perhaps they are confused and they think that they are earning points!  There are no points for good behavior, this is not prison!  This is the hallmark of many of the false religions: there are no sins, there is no consequence for sins, sins do not need to be forgiven, just be a good person; just be 51% or more good, be more good than bad.

 

 

Deacon

Some denominations use the term Deacon.  Deacons are not mandatory but as a Church grows larger a Church may want to have Deacons.  Deacons are Church Members but they stand out among Church Members in the number and level of the ways in which they serve the Body of Christ.  They serve in more capacities than the average Member in: attendance, attitude, vote, teach, train, host, serve communion, take communion, help with financial reports, collect offering, etc.

 

 

Elder

Some denominations use the terms Deacon and Elder.  Elders are not mandatory but as a Church grows larger and even larger a Church may want to have Elders.  Elders are Church Members but they stand out among Deacons in the number and level of the ways in which they serve the Body of Christ.  They serve in more capacities than the average Deacon in: attendance, attitude, character,  missions, youth programs, outreach, praise and worship, community leadership, Church leadership, discipline, formal documents and processes, taxes, paperwork, reports, compliance, safety, vote, teach, train, host, serve communion, take communion, help with financial reports, collect offering, etc.

 

 

The Pastor is the Head of the Church

The Pastor is the CEO, President and has the final say of all decisons in the Church.  The Deacons and Elders are there to support and aid the Pastor, not to circumvent him for their own agenda. The qualifications of the Pastor may vary from having a seminary degree to being a lay-Pastor.  The title of the qualification doesn't matter; what matters is that the person is first a genuine Christian, has read the entire Bible and understands it and can defend it (apologetics), has a heart to teach God's Word and is inspired by God to take this position.

 

The pastor is to be in full control over the Church finances, the Church bank account, and the ownership of the property (unless a parent denomination owns the property).  This does not mean that the Pastor is an unaccountable dictator, but instead he is responsible for its downfall if there is fraud, abuse, scandle, misappropriation, illegal, immoral, criminal behavior, etc. The pastor is to be transparent and accountable to the deacons and elders about finances, bank accounts, audits, budgets, loans, lines of credit, collateral and the title and deed and ownership of the property. 

 

If there is factual misappropriation by the pastor, the deacons and elders are powerless to cease, hide, divert, close bank accounts, loans, lines of credit and property deeds.  The power and accountability of the deacons and elders is that when factual misappropriations and or crimes are commited by the pastor, then this fraud is exposed to the congregration.   The congregation can vote with their feet and leave the Church.  A Church without a congregation will soon die off.  The problem has corrected itself.   You see this way, the Pastor has a vested interest to act responsibly, with stewardship and transparency and will suffer the consequences of poor decisions. 

 

It is not the role of the Deacons and Elders to stay with the physical building or to stay with the congregation and to convince the Pastor to leave; the Deacons and Elders should leave with the congregation too, leaving the Pastor alone in an empty Church.  This way the problem will recitfy itself.

 

Sadly, many churches don't know the proper roles of the Pastor, Deacons and Elders. In these Churches there is constant bullying, arguments, slander, taking sides and sub-divisions into cliques; does this sound familiar?  Is this your Church? The Deacons and Elders become power hungry, take decisions away from the Pastor, make decisions without the Pastor, hold secret meetings, and eventually "vote" to fire the Pastor and to hire a new Pastor who is treated as a mere temporary employee to the powerful Deacons and Elders who threaten to fire the replacement Pastor to bully Him into being scared and powerless.  Does this sound like your Church or one that you used to belong to?  Of course it does, these broken relationships and corrupt roles are common, but it doesn't have to be this way.  When these Churches were founded, there were little or no bylaws to define the proper roles between the congregation, Pastor, Deacons, and Elders. Now you know.

 

There are times when the Pastor needs to step down, like if he is terminally sick, or he needs to move, or retire or there is criminal misconduct.  In these cases the Deacons and Elders find a new pastor to take over.  The new pastor has the bank accounts and the property goes to him.  The Deacons and Elders turn over everyting to the new Pastor.  The new pastor becomes the new CEO and President of the Church.  The cycle of responsibility and consequences starts over for the new Pastor.  The new Pastor is responsible for his failures.  If there is misconduct, the situation will correct itself when the misconduct is exposed; the congregation, Deacons and Elders leave.

 

 

Baby Baptism

Baby, infant, toddler and child Baptism has no real meaning; it is only a preference.  All it really means is that the parents intend to raise the child in a Christian household, but this is already obvious and redundant since the parents come to Church already.  They know that salvation begins when a person accepts Jesus of the forgiveness of their sins; this typically can be done as early as young adulthood (approximately 14 years of age) when maturity, consequences and responsibility start to bloom.  The most likely reason why parents do the baby baptism is because they are confused about the years from birth to young adulthood.  They think, "If salvation starts at young adulthood, then what happens if my child dies before reaching young adulthood, do they go to Hell?"

 

God and Jesus love children, they recognize that their young minds are not responsible for adult decisions.  God wants them to grow up and to enjoy their childhood years as their parents nurture them.  If a child were to die from birth to young adulthood, then God grants them automatic salvation because they are too young to fully understand God, the Bible, sins, forgiveness, salvation, miracles, The Virgin Birth, Messiah, Christ, Savior, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, etc.  God wants people to be responsible for their choices; children and the mentally disabled (of any age) are not responsible for adult choices. 

 

 

New Believer Baptism

As children grow up and take on responsibilities of self control, homework, sports, chores, taking care of a pet, part time work, money management, class attendance, respecting their peers and adults and authority, handling stress and peer pressure, driving a car, preparing for trade school or college or the military, etc., they are said to be young adults, which can occur as early as 16, or 15 or 14. 

 

During these young adult years God starts to tell them that they are not kids anymore and that their free, automatic salvation is wearing off.  Many young adults will start to feel that their sins have permanent consequences and that they need to be forgiven in order to have salvation.  This is where the Sunday school leaders need to be proactive and to find out who is interested in having their sins forgiven. They should offer a quick paced, high level, broad scoped class reviewing the whole Bible and at the end of the class ask the young adults if they want to accept Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins or not.  Some of the kids will opt out, but others will accept Jesus! 

 

For the kids who have just accepted Jesus, a Baptism should be held for them.  This kind of Baptism is an outward celebration to show the other Church members that new members are accepting Jesus, this is a joyful celebration!  These kids are role models for their cousins, siblings, neighbors and friends.  They are also role models for adults, Churchgoers, who never got around to accepting Jesus.  Baptism is not required to complete salvation; salvation is granted when we ask Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins.  Baptism is a good thing to do, it is the right thing to do, it makes sense to do it and it should be highly encouraged to celebrate this joyful moment.

 

I can't believe that I have to say this but I have to: Baptism must NOT be done to Churchgoers, Church Attenders; it must not be a pointless ritual with vague or contradicting meanings.  Baptism can ONLY be done to new believers who have accepted Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.   Baptism must be done with water, some kind of water, any kind of water; it doesn't have to be full immersion or the Jordan River.  Sprinkle water Baptism is perfectly fine and acceptable. 

 

Some extreme churches that INSIST on full immersion Baptism even to the point that the salvation is not complete until the Baptism takes place.  This is Heresy and it should not be tolerated, warn the Pastor once and if it happens again, then leave and go to a real Chruch that is taught by a Christian Pastor, not a false pastor, Churchgoer pastor teaching literalism, legalism and ritualism.

 

 

Jesus was Baptized

John "the Baptist" was Jesus' cousin.  His mother Elizabeth was Mary's sister.  John was born first and then Jesus a few months later.  John started baptizing people in the Jordan a few years before Jesus started teaching, doing miracles, revealing who he is and who sent him.  God sent John to prepare the way for Jesus.  John baptized with water in the name of repentance of sins.  Jesus started teaching when he was approximately 30 years old; John started a few years prior to this.  When Jesus was ready, he met with John at the Jordan River.  John prepared the way for Jesus.  The servant prepares the way for his master.  Now that Jesus was ready, Jesus wanted to show the transition from the old way to the new way (Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit, the Living Water).   Jesus did not come as a separate teaching away from John.  Jesus came to continue John's work, but in Jesus' way.  John prepared the foundation and Jesus will build upon that foundation.  The foundation is complete; John's teaching is complete.  Jesus will take over where John left off.  Jesus vividly and respectfully showed this transition by having John baptize him.   After John baptized Jesus, God revealed, "This is my son with whom I am well pleased."  After this Jesus continued teaching, doing miracles, revealing who he is and who sent him and baptizing with the Holy Spirit.

 

 

Communion

A Church should distinguish between those who are Members (those who have asked Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins) and those who are Church Attenders / Churchgoers.  Communion is for Members, members of the Body of Christ, it is not for the general audience.  The Church can share many things with the non believers: food, the message, growth, Sunday school, Bible study, newcomer’s class, etc. but sharing Communion is NOT one of those things.  Communion is an opportunity to show that the Members are different than the general audience.  The general audience can be reminded that the Members are different and that the Members can participate in Communion.  You wouldn't have the general audience participate in Baptisms, so in the same way the unbelievers would not participate in Communion.

 

When Jesus and the Disciples had the Last Supper, Jesus took the Bread and said, "Take and eat, this is my Body."  Then he took the cup and said, "This is my blood of the covenant, ...for the forgiveness of sins."  In 1 Corinthians 11:27 we see that, "Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord." Also in verse 29 we see that, "For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself."

 

It is very clear from the scriptures that Communion is only for the believers, the Members of the Church, Members of the Body of Christ.  Inviting non believers, Churchgoers, Church Attender’s or the general audience to participate in Communion is absolutely wrong. 

 

A Church needs to distinguish its members from the general audience.  Baptism and Communion are for Church members, not for the unbelievers.  Baptism and Communion are opportunities for the Members to be role models for the Churchgoers to aspire to.   The Churchgoers need to be encouraged to grow to the next level; if we treat them as the Believers then we are lying to them.  If we do not encourage them to grow, then they will think that they have salvation just by attending a Church.  How sad we will be when we look down into Hell and see the Churchgoers who attended our very Church, and to hear their agonizing cries, "Why didn't you tell me!!"

 

The elements used in Communion are bread and juice.  The bread can be wafers, crackers, flat bread, bread with yeast, etc.  The point is that the bread REPRESENTS Jesus' body / flesh and the juice REPRESENTS Jesus' blood.  The bread itself is NOT Jesus' flesh and the juice itself is NOT Jesus' blood. 

 

 

Gay Marriage

What do we do when gays, lesbians, homosexuals want to attend our Church?  Many Churches are rude and disrespectful and shout out, "You are an abomination!!  You are going to Hell!!"  This is absolutely the wrong attitude and is not Biblical; one would have to question if those members were really Christian or not.  The Bible tells us that Homosexuality is a choice; it is a sinful lifestyle choice.  God created man and woman in his image, a man for a woman; therefore the gays are created in God's image too just like us.  Males are XY and females and XX there is not a separate category for gays.  This is why we disagree when people say that they were born gay.  Were alcoholics, murderers, gamblers, drug addicts and prostitutes born that way or did they have weaknesses and influences that made it harder for them to avoid and recover from?

 

Being gay is a sin like any other sin; if an alcoholic walks into your Church would you yell at them, "You are a sinner, you are going to hell!?  Hopefully not!  If an alcoholic or gambler or homosexual walked into your Church you should welcome them; remember a Church is about teaching and educating people about sins, forgiveness and salvation.  You would invite them into your Church but the Church would emphasize the need to encourage them to grow and to change; they need to take responsibility for their sins and to slowly change over time, just like the rest of us. 

 

When we first came to Church we were sinners too.  Slowly over time we were taught about sins, forgiveness and salvation.  All sins are equal; none are worse or less than another.  A murderer who never asked for forgiveness of their sins will go to hell just like a good person will, which only had "minor" sins of lies, envy, jealousy, anger and arrogance (who also never asked for the forgiveness of their sins).  Likewise a murderer who asks for the forgiveness of their sins and who repents of their murders and who takes counseling to get at the cause of committing murders (anger, rage, child abuse, etc.) and then becomes a changed person will be granted salvation; when this happens the murderer will become a Christian.  The murders don't go away, but the sin of the murders goes away.  The inmate has to serve their time in prison to satisfy man's law as punishment from the victim, the victim’s family and from society; law is very different from sins.

 

The size and number of sins doesn't matter, the fact that we have even ONE sin means that we need to ask for the forgiveness of our sins and change our sinful ways, otherwise we will not have salvation.  Either way whether we are gay, murderer, alcoholic, "good person", cohabitating, having an out of wedlock child or planning an abortion, salvation is about recognizing our sins and changing our lifestyle.  In this sense gays are no different; they would have to change their lifestyle too.

 

What happens sometimes is that there are gay only churches that condone this sinful lifestyle.  These churches teach them that they do not need to change, that they are fine just the way they are, that being gay is not a sin.  Let’s think this through, if a murderer, an alcoholic, a "good person", a cohabitating couple, a couple with an out of wedlock child and a person planning an abortion all walked into the gay only church, what would they be told?  Would they be told, "You people are sinners but we are not?" Or would they be told, "None of us are sinners; there is no sin!"  The problem with gay marriages is that the gay couple is not encouraged to change their ways.  The marriage condones their gay lifestyle and this tells them that they do not need to change, they are what they are and they are not sinning.  This is not what God tells us, God tells us otherwise, this is against what God tells us.

 

In the same way, if an alcoholic couple comes in to the Church to get married, wouldn't the Pastor want to delay the wedding until the couple goes through counseling and a 12 step sober program?  Would the marriage honor God if they were to be married drunk without being encouraged to change first?  Wouldn't this also be true for gamblers, drug addicts, porn addicts, cohabitating couples, domestic abuse couples, unmarried couples who already have kids out of wedlock, pregnant unmarried couples, a couple planning an abortion, etc.?  All of these couples have the option to have a state authorized marriage, where there are no questions and no consideration for what God wants.  Doesn't it therefore make sense that if a couple comes into a Church of God and they want God's marriage; that they be accountable to what God wants?

 

God patiently waits for ALL sinners, God does not give up on us whether we are gay, alcoholic, gamblers, prostitutes, cohabitation, good people, have out of wedlock children, had an abortion or are planning an abortion.  Secularism and false churches lie and tell us that God gave up on us; these are lies!  The Bible tells us that these are lies.  Don't be lied to anymore!  Find the truth of God!  If you want to be taught about Christianity, then you need a Christian to teach you, not a liar pretending to be just-like-the-Christians.  God would say to ALL of these people, "Go to counseling, pray, read the Bible, heal, change your friends and influences and slowly change your ways."  God does not want ANY of these people to just accept how they are and not change.  God's forgiveness of sins and salvation is waiting for ALL of these people.  The Bible is Good News, Forgiveness and Salvation is Good News!  Christianity is God's Word and is Good News for ALL of us sinners!

 

 

Easter vs. Resurrection

As Christians we honor the fact that Jesus had resurrected on the third day (Sunday) after the Crucifixion.  This occurred approximately in the spring of 30 A.D.  Somehow we don't know the exact date that this happened but today we celebrate it around the last Sunday in March, based on a varying solar/lunar calendar.  The Christian Churches as started and spread from the time of the Disciples until today, celebrate Jesus' Resurrection by calling it what it is, the Resurrection.

 

The problem is that the term "Easter" did not show up until the 7th or 8th century.  The problem is that the term Easter is used in place of the word Resurrection, to replace the word.  The problem is that the English Catholic Monk Bede popularized the word Easter based on his findings about a mythical goddess called Eostre where people honored her with feasts in April.

 

The problem is that this is a Christian celebration but it is also a national holiday.  The problem is that the pagans celebrate the day off in their own way.  The problem is that secularism made their celebration so large that it overshadowed the Christian celebration.  The mockers came up with an "Easter Celebration" story where a mythical Bunny hops along and hides colored chicken eggs and hides baskets filled with chocolates.  This mockery along with much marketing and advertising overshadows the True story of the Resurrection and replaces the Resurrection with the word "Easter".   The problem is that even the Christians use the word "Easter" rather than "Resurrection" and they don't even realize the origins and intent of the word "Easter".  The word "Easter" is a fabricated word to overshadow and coincide on the same day as the Resurrection celebration.  The mockers are laughing and the Christians don't even realize it; in fact they celebrate Easter too.

 

These mockers and secularists don't mock and obscure Hindu, Muslim, Buddha, Judaism, Mormon, Jehovah's, Zodiac, Greek Mythology, Scientology, Eastern Orthodox; only Christianity.  The irony is that they mock what they reject and they reject the truth.  Unwittingly they testify to the truth of Jesus by mocking it.  They don't mock Buddha because they know that it is not the truth, instead they mock only Christianity because they know that it is the only truth.

 

They reject God, therefore they reject Christianity.

 

 

Christmas vs. Jesus' Birthday

As Christians we honor the fact that Jesus was born in approximately the year 5 B.C.  Somehow we don't know the exact month or date.  Jesus' birthday was the term used to celebrate Jesus' birthday by the Christian Churches which originated with the Disciples and spread throughout the world ever since.  

 

In the year 310 Constantine rejected joining the Disciple Christian Churches and started his own church of Catholicism.  The date of 25-December was chosen in the 4th century by the Catholic Church to celebrate Jesus' birth.  In the 6th century, the Catholic Church coined the phrase "Christmas", which to them means The Mass (Communion) of Christ.  Somehow the emphasis shifted away from Jesus' birthday to the Catholic Mass / Communion which is in association with Jesus' birthday.

 

December 25th became a national and world-wide holiday for several reasons: 1) the Christians celebrate Jesus' birthday, 2) the Catholic's celebrate the Mass of Jesus' birthday, and 3) the pagans, secularists and mockers came up with an anti-God, anti-celebration.  The secularists and pagans made their own holiday to coincide with the celebration of the Birth of Jesus.  The mockers put much marketing and advertising into this to overshadow and to mock Jesus' birthday.  The Mockers came up with a mythical jolly man who made toys for good girls and boys and delivered the toys in a flying sleigh and snuck into people’s houses through their chimneys.  St. Nick, Santa Claus, St. Claus and Kris Kringle are the mythical toy giver who delivers the toys the night before Christmas so that the kids would have the toys on Christmas morning. 

 

The problem is that the word "Christmas" does not honor Jesus' birth; instead it honors the Catholic Mass which is associated with Jesus' birthday.  They even went so far as to remove Christ from Christmas and replaced it with Xmas.  They tried to pretend that there was an innocent explanation for this, which is, "X stands for the Greek letter Chi." The problem is that the Christians don't even know this.  The problem is that most Christian kids care more about the gifts than the story of Jesus' birth.  The story of Jesus' birth is celebrated by the Christians but it pales in comparison to looking forward to presents all year long!  This shows the amount of time, effort, marketing and advertising that the secularists put into this effort to minimize, overshadow, obscure and obfuscate the celebration of Jesus' birth and to overshadow it with a pagan, mythical holiday.

 

Jesus' birthday is replaced with, "Christmas is about family."  Rather than stories of Herod issuing an order to try to kill Jesus, Mary and Joseph being guided in a dream and by a angel, Jesus as a baby in a manger, wise men following God's star to find Jesus, the gifts from the wise men, Herod trying to trick the wise men and the shepherd's honoring Jesus' birth, we get a tree with a star on it, lights in it, presents under it, Black Friday, sales and a daily countdown of the number of shopping days until Christmas.

 

These mockers and secularists don't mock and obscure Hindu, Muslim, Buddha, Judaism, Mormon, Jehovah's, Zodiac, Greek Mythology, Scientology, Eastern Orthodox; only Christianity.  The irony is that they mock what they reject and they reject the truth.  Unwittingly they testify to the truth of Jesus by mocking it.  They don't mock Zodiac because they know that it is not the truth, instead they mock only Christianity because they know that it is the only truth.

 

They reject God, therefore they mock Christianity.

 

 

Saints

The word "saint" is used in the Bible many times.  There are two kinds of saints.  Saint always means those who believe in the Bible, God and Jesus and who have asked Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.  Saints can be living people or they could have died.  Some saints are in heaven and some are on earth.  I am a saint now on earth and when I die I will be a saint in heaven.  My parents (believers) when they were on earth were saints, now they are saints in heaven.

 

The problem with the word "saint" is that Catholicism from the 4th century through the 12th centuries used it as bestowing a title to assure political alliances to countries, nations, princes, kings, queens, duchess’ etc. 

 

Constantine's Catholicism was created in the year 310 when he refused to join the Disciple Churches that had spread for 280 years from 30 AD to 310.  Constantine created his own religion called Catholicism and he married it to the military and to the government, thereby intertwining Catholicism, Military and Government.  This Catholicism led to Byzantine Catholicism which led to European Crusade Catholicism which led to Spanish Inquisition Catholicism.  Under these Catholicism's the "church and State" were one.   This is where the need for the term "Separation of church and State" originated.

 

We can also see the Catholic origin of pagan uses of saints, like St. Nicholas and there is a Catholic statue that is buried face down in the lawns of eager Catholics who are selling their homes (this is said to make their house sell quickly).  How is this different from a pagan superstition?  If the house does sell quickly then credit is taken away from God and given to a pagan idol; how does this make God feel when he specifically blessed you?

 

Today we can still see many conflicting uses of the word saint, but we can easily distinguish between the origins of the uses.  The Christians use the word saint to refer to believers in God and Jesus whether they are currently living or have since died, while others use it as a man-made title bestowed by certain holy officials or they use the word for idol and pagan worship. 

 

Which one are you, how do you use this word?

 

 

Martyr

Note: The following is not anti-Catholicism.  To explain the word Martyr, I need to show the bitter truths of early Catholicism before the Reformation period.  Catholicism prior to the Reformation went through a barbaric phase in the mediaeval period for over 1200 years.  Catholicism in the modern era, post Reformation, is much more mainstream.

 

People who believe in God, Jesus, the Bible, sins, forgiveness and salvation, who have asked Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, are Christians; they became Christians.   As such they joined the Disciple Churches that spread throughout the world from Jesus’ time to today.  People have a choice; God does not force them to choose Him.  God guides them to the truth through the Holy Spirit, the Bible, blessings and prayer, but sometimes people still reject Him.  God patiently waits for them to find His Truth.  In the meantime if they rejected God then they could remain pagan, join Hindu, Buddha, Judaism, Catholicism, Muslim, etc.

 

What happened in the pre-Reformation Period, is that many people joined Catholicism instead.  These people have a particular weakness for title, position, role, authority, pageantry, theatrics, performances, choreography, stage, traditions, idolatry, etc.  Many people are engrossed with ritual pageantry even at the expense of their own salvation.  Other reasons for joining Catholicism is that it was the ultimate power source since it married together the Government, Military and Catholicism (a union of the "church" and State); many people are enamored by power even at the expense of losing their salvation.  Other people reject the Christian Disciple Churches because they hate God and they join Catholicism anyway for its power.

 

Early Catholicism had a mix of people, those who love authority and theatrics, those who love the power union of church and state and those who simply hate God.  Either way Catholicism has a history prior to the Reformation Period, whether from Constantine, Byzantine, Crusades or Inquisition, of pushing their power and devouring anyone who does not join.   At this point it is no different than any other imperialistic power, invading provinces, nations and regions to usurp the resources for their gain and to force their victims into the mediaeval, caste, serf and peasant system.  The point of invading was to overpower the resisting military.  Once the military was disabled then the government would have to agree on the new terms.  The point was not to kill all of the people; the point of the mediaeval era was to have indentured servitude.  They wanted to tax the people of the captured region; if they were all killed then no one could pay tax. 

 

The problem is that the Early Catholics went out of their way to identify and distinguish the people that they captured.  If they discovered that their victims were Christian then they would force them to reject and deny God and to become Catholic.  If the Catholics were actually Christian, then why would they force the victims to reject and deny God?  Why is it a prerequisite to be Catholic?  This is IRONY!  Christians don't force anyone to reject God to join, quite the opposite, Christians want their members to ACCEPT God, not reject Him. 

 

The Judaist Period was prior to the Constantine era which began in 310 A.D., the Judaists persecuted the Christians from when Jesus started teaching God's Word around 27 A.D. through to when the Disciples started spreading the first Churches after Jesus' death in approx 30 A.D. up until Constantine in 310 A.D.  The Judaists were Synagogue leaders, Sanhedrin leaders, Chief priests, Pharisees, Levites, priests, teachers of the law and scribes who rejected God's Word, his prophets, Jesus and the Disciples.  There were many others before Saul, with Saul and after Saul.  Since the Judaists hated God then it follows that they hated the prophets, Jesus, the Disciples and Christians.  Like Saul, they loved the pageantry and power and position and admiration of the idol worshipers, so to preserve this way of life and income, they hunted, persecuted and even martyred the Christians when they could. 

 

When caught, the Judaists accused the Christians of being Satan worshipers.  How IRONIC, the Christians believe in the God that the Judaists REJECT!  When caught the Judaists accused the Christians that their god is the devil and to reject their god.  The Christians said that their God is not the devil and that their God is the God of the Israelites, but the Israelites hate their god so they forced the Christians to reject their God, when they refused to deny God then the Israelites murdered them.  Being murdered for your belief in the one true God of the Bible makes you a Martyr.  These people were Martyrs because they held to their belief in God and did not openly reject God even if that meant that they would be killed for it.  This is a true and correct use of the word Martyr.

 

During the Constantine Catholic era which started in 310 A.D. during the mediaeval period, many people say that Constantine put out an order for the Judaists to stop persecuting the Christians.  Constantine allowed only his Catholics to persecute the Christians.  The Christians were identified and were forced to join Catholicism.  If they refused to join Catholicism, then they were forced to deny their God.  If they refused to deny God then they were jailed, beaten, tortured, hanged, set on fire, etc.  Those who died because they would not deny God are Martyr's.  This is a true and correct use of the word Martyr.

 

During the Byzantine Catholic period, after the Constantine era, the Byzantine Catholic church from 324 A.D. to 638 hired Knights Templar to fight the battles for the ruling Imperial families.  The Templar’s were a small scale military force that invaded and forced the mediaeval rules on the invaded countries.  In addition to this they sought the Christians and forced them to join their Byzantine Catholicism by denying the God of the Disciple Christian Church to join the Byzantine Catholicism.  If they refused to deny God, then they were killed.  This is a true and correct use of the word Martyr.

 

The Muslim Era followed the Byzantine era; this is the Muslim era of persecution.  The Muslim religion began in the year 600 when Mohammed rejected the Christianity of the Disciple Churches which had spread throughout the Arab regions and worldwide for 570 years starting in the year 30 A.D. leading up to the year 600 and beyond even to today.  In the year 600 Mohammed rejected God and started his own religion just like Constantine did in the year 310.   Mohammed claimed to be a prophet and he wrote a book of quotes called the Koran / Qur’an.  The Muslim religion also spread through the Arab countries to other non believers and they became a world power in the year 638.  They conquered nations and spread Muslim teachings up to the year 1099.  During this time they built the Muslim Mosque in Jerusalem in the place where Solomon's Temple was, and it is there even today.  It is funny to listen to Muslims today who try to describe this era as peaceful and respectful teachings of the Muslim religion; they peacefully conquered nations and they valued other people's religions.  The Muslims too persecuted and martyred the Christians just like the Judaists, Constantine Catholics and Byzantine Catholics did.  The Muslims were told to convert the Christian pagan dogs to Allah and if they refused, then to kill the Christians.  The Christians were caught and were forced to deny their God.  Those who did not deny God were killed because of their testimony of God; these people were Martyr's.  This is a true and correct use of the word Martyr.  During this time Judaists were killed too, but since they do not believe in God then you cannot say that they were martyred; you can just say that they were killed for being Judaists.

 

European Catholicism became a world power with the Crusade era.  Catholicism gained support and growth in Europe and became a world power in the year 1099.  This European Catholicism was much more organized than Byzantine Catholicism and it was stronger than Constantine's Catholicism; both of which laid the foundations for European Catholicism.  European Catholicism spread for 200 years and ended in the year 1291.  During this time they were a mighty killing force and this era is called the Catholic Crusades.  The Catholic Crusades killed the Muslims and spread the mediaeval era.  The Muslims who were killed cannot be called Martyr's because they do not believe in God; remember that they rejected God to become Muslims.  Muslims who were killed during the Crusades are simple called dead, not Martyr's.  The Crusades also persecuted the Christians by forcing them to join or die.  They had a, "Those who are not for us are against us" mentality which helped them to rationalize killing the Christians.  The Christians who refused to join pagan Catholicism were accused of devil worship and they were forced to deny their God.  When they refused to deny God then they were killed for their testimony for God.  This made these people Martyr's.  This is a correct and truthful use of the word Martyr.  The Crusaders became nervous because the Pope had blood on his hands for giving orders to kill the Christians.  To distance the Pope, the Vatican and other high ranking officials, the Pope sanctioned Jesuits to do the murders, persecution, killings and Martyrs.   Oddly today the word Jesuit is redefined, in an attempt to hide the past, to mean Catholic colleges, monk monasteries, nun monasteries and orphanages for children.

 

Many other eras persecuted the Christians.  The Early Catholics prior to the Reformation are not the only ones who persecuted and martyred the Christians.  Egyptian Sultanates, Egyptian Mamelukes, Egyptian Muslims, Ottoman Turks, Communists, Dictators, Emperors, Kings, etc. also persecuted, killed and Martyred many Christians.  Their purpose for killing was the fact that their victims were Christian.  They didn't just happen to kill them because they were business owners, land owners, water rights, mineral rights, etc.  They were singled out as Christian, identified as Christian and were killed because they were Christian.

 

The Spanish Inquisition is another of the Catholic inspired persecutions.  The Inquisition started out in Europe and led to the European Catholic Crusades.  The Catholic Spaniards where infamous for torturing Christians in order to get false confessions of witchcraft.  Anyone who believed in God and who did not want to deny God to be Catholic was deemed a witch.  Once branded a witch then they had no civil rights and they were publically tortured for sport, money and entertainment.  This also made its way to the US in Salem Massachusetts with the Salem Witch Hunts.  The Spanish Inquisition and Conquistadors from 1540 - 1550 took its course in South America and Central America when it raided the Americas for gold, but this is an ugly motive, the official motive was to spread Catholicism to the pagan Americas.  Mostly there were pagans in the Americas, but if they found Christians, then they were martyred.

 

Christianity prospered despite the persecutions and Martyr's for thousands of years.  Christianity prospered and God's Word continued to spread wholeheartedly throughout the world from Jesus' time to the Disciple Churches to today.  God's Word has outlasted every man-made empire, and there have been many.

 

Today we see the word Martyr being misused, watered down by the secularists.  Today they misuse the word to mean, "Anyone who died for any cause."  So you can see how the emphasis drastically changed away from those who were killed because they believed in God and their killers killed them because the killers hated God."  Today secularists use the word in mundane ways like, "Joe was a naturalist, he recently died while painting scenes in a rainforest, therefore, he was a martyr for the nature movement."  Today we can see two conflicting uses of the word Martyr; but we can distinguish between the uses and determine the correct context of the use.  We can distinguish between who is correctly using this word and who is incorrectly using this word.  What are the credentials of the person who is incorrectly using this word?  Oh how the secularists love to misuse this word and many other Biblical words.

 

Question 1:  Sam was a Christian missionary who went to remote countries to teach the people about God, the Bible, Jesus, sins, forgiveness and salvation.  He dedicated 10 years of his life doing this until one day a dam broke and a mudslide killed him and his family.  Can you call Sam a Martyr?  The answer is this is no because he was not captured and forced to deny God and then refused to deny God.  All Christians eventually die, whether we die of accidents, disease, injuries, naturally or randomly, this does not make us Martyrs.

 

Question 2:  Anne was a Christian missionary who went to remote countries to teach the people about God, the Bible, Jesus, sins, forgiveness and salvation.  She dedicated 10 years of her life doing this until one day a group of hostile natives came into her camp and accused her of teaching lies and that her God is the devil.  They demanded her to stop teaching Christianity because it is devil worship and that their god of the Mighty River is the only real god.  She refused to stop teaching Christianity and she said that the God of the Bible is the only true God and that the River god is just pagan worship, so they killed her.  Can you call Anne a Martyr? 

 

 

Purgatory

There is no Purgatory.  Purgatory is a made up term asserting that there is a place in between Hell and Heaven.  To believe this is to believe that this is where God is confused, dazed, in-decisive and contradicts Himself.  Clearly from the Bible we know that Hell is permanent; it is a one way trip to eternity with the Devil for those who have rejected God.  Heaven is a one way trip to spend eternity with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, angels and other saints as a reward for the forgiveness of your sins.  Remember when Jesus was crucified?  One of the robbers who was also being Crucified said, "Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom."  Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."  Believers, when they die, go to heaven right away.  Notice that Jesus did not say to him, "I will have to think about this and put you in temporary storage until I can figure this out in a few weeks."

 

Purgatory is a result of false teaching by paganism.  With paganism there are no sins or forgiveness just good people and bad people.  With paganism there is no consequence of un-forgiveness, therefore there is no Hell, just heaven.  The liars teach that all people go to heaven; it is just that some people take a detour to purgatory to become a good person.  After purgatory when a bad person completes his punishment sentence, then he is released to heaven.  This is secularist heresy; it is widely taught, therefore it is important to know the Scripture yourself.

 

God clearly teaches us through the Bible that we have sins and we need forgiveness.  When we ask for the forgiveness of our sins, then Jesus forgives us and salvation is granted to us.  The result of not asking for forgiveness of our sins is risky.  If we delay it and grow older eventually we die.  If we die without having asked for the forgiveness of our sins, then the result is permanent; eternity in Hell.  Putting off your salvation is risky and very stupid.  What are you waiting for?  Don't delay!