quick message

Well, some of you who remember me should be surprised, but i'm back in the catholic church.

Purgatory, Papicy, baptismal regeneration, baby baptisms, virgin Mary. All that stuff has biblical support, and i was proven wrong.

this happened yesterday. this is the same day emily sent me an email apologizing for writing false info on the King James Bible. Coincidence? i think not.

I hope that all of you forgive me for my sins i've commited against you.

God bless, marcin

-- marcin of chicago (coolis00@hotmail.com), April 30, 2004

Answers

Marcin! PRAISE GOD! Of course you are forgiven, for any supposed wrongs, I don't even remember any. Thank you for your message - This is the best news I have heard in a long time! If you remember, I wish to become Catholic as well - convert from Protestant. God was convicting me and urging me to send that email actually, and I kept thinking of you, and I did not know why. I am not making this up, I really felt that there was a reason specifically that it should be sent to you. So I sent it to all on the thread.

Could you please share some details about how this came about that you were led by God back to the Catholic Church?! Marcin, this is the highlight of my week, maybe the month.

God bless you!

-- Emily (jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), April 30, 2004.

marcin,

welcome back, may the good Lord keep you in His flock for all of your days.

Peace be with you

-- paul h (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), April 30, 2004.

Praise the Lord!

May the passion you showed us in days gone by, fill your new found faith as well.

Dano

-- Dan Garon (boethius61@yahoo.com), April 30, 2004.

Marcin,

I would like to take this moment to say how God's Word speaks to this situation. In reference to the wrong that I did, we see that Joseph and his brothers had a similar situation:

Gen. 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

And now in reference to those who sin and repent (me, you, and all of us)

Luke 15
1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?
9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.
10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

At the risk of saying something you may already know, I'd like to advise you to please go to confession ASAP and talk with your priest. You will need to repent for not attending mass, and any other sins.

Heb 10
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

God bless,

-- Emily (jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), April 30, 2004.

Marcin,

Praise God! He is truly awesome and He has truly blessed you abundantly!

I don't recall any sins against us.

I will pray that you continue to grow in Christ.

May the Lord of Hosts continue to bless you and keep you.

-- Andy (aszmere@earthlink.net), April 30, 2004.

Hope you still keep tour KJV thouhg. It is a good translation, and very beutiful.

-- ZAROVE (ZAROFF3@JUNO.COM), April 30, 2004.

I had followed your previous post with great interest and a LOT of prayer..Welcome back to the Church..!!!!!!!!

-- lesley (martchas@hotmail.com), April 30, 2004.

marcin,

nothing poetic to say; just this is awesome news, and a bit of a jaw- drop. Wow! Congratulations!

-- Brian Crane (brian.crane@cranemills.com), May 01, 2004.

AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME, Praise the Lord Marcin and forgive me for any time I spoke against you even though I was giving Catholic truth I was being a little prideful in trying to "defend" my beliefs. But anyways, THAT'S AWESOME! I can assure you the angels in Heaven are rejoicing! :):):):):):)

-- Jason (Enchanted fire5@aol.com), May 01, 2004.

okay, i would like to see a copy of this email that emily sent, it must have been wonderful... emily, you should post it on a new thread.

-- paul h (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), May 01, 2004.

paul h, it was nothing big. You will see my apology here: http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl? msg_id=00BilW

I sent it to all on the thread but you, as you do not have an email address here. I don't think Marcin's conversion had anything to do with my email, I think it was just that it was on the same day.

-- Emily (jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), May 01, 2004.

Marcin you wrote:

"I hope that all of you forgive me for my sins i've commited against you"

Maybe a little distinciton should be made here:

SIN is something we do that offends God and therefore only God can forgive sin.

The HARM that follows some sin and falls on some person can be forgiven by that person. An example: if my neighbor deliberately smashes the windshield of my car he is of course committing a sin and is harming me in my property. Is up to the Lord to forgive his sin if he is repentant and asks for His forgiveness. As far as the harm done to me or to my property there are different ways to fix it:

- apologize for the harm done - be ready to pay for the same - apologize and pay at the same time

In the first case if I accept the apology and I don't expect him to pay for the windshield everything is alright.

If I expect him to pay for my windshield and he pays maybe be the situation will continue on a "malaise" basis: no apologies, no pardon.

In the last case if he apologizes and pays at the same time and I accept both things everything is again allright.

As far as the sin committed is up to him to repent and ask the Lord to forgive him.

So, Marcin, if you sinned ask the Lord to forgive you.

As far as the harm done to us Catholics (displeasure, slander or what have you) we heartily forgive you.

Anyway, WELCOME to the Church again.

Enrique

-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), May 02, 2004.

Marcin,

I have been waiting for you to return and tell us the story about how you came to decide to return to the Catholic Church. It would give me joy to hear it. Please share some details about what happened if you are able. You said you were "proven wrong." With whom were you discussing these issues?

Thanks and God bless!

-- Emily ("jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), May 13, 2004.

stop emailing me for pete's sake

my philosophy professor was raised evangelical free church, converted to catholicism after reading church fathers. i learned this after discussing my topic for my term paper (attacking darwinism/theistic evolution.) one thing led to another. although my decision was a bit rash. i haven't fully commited myself to catholicism. i don't understand why i jumped so quickly. the chicken laid an egg on the roof, which way is it gonna roll? don't know yet, learning new things continually...

nevertheless, even though some of my objections have been answered, not all of them have, and many important ones haven't.

take it easy

p.s. the book my teacher offered me was The Salvation Contreversy by James Akin. Although there was supposedly a lot of scriptural support, the support was ambiguous and the verses were highly open to interpretation. nothing too concrete i coulda worked off of... but he said it was amazing and it proved catholicism, etc. i didn't notice it myself.

-- marcin of chicago (coolis00@hotmail.com), May 13, 2004.

marcin,

i've never heard of the book your teacher referred to you...

but i have heard of scott hahn, and of tim staples, both of whom are former protestant ministers who have great brains just full of biblical verses and significance. i would recommend reading/listening to/watching videos of BOTH of their works (although, personally i prefer tim staples because he can be funny) and you will begin to see even more of the proof for catholic doctrines. I am sure, over time, that the egg will roll the catholic way, just look at the party here that is being thrown for this prodigal son...

-- paul h (dontsendmemail@notanaddress.com), May 13, 2004.

Two other great books (by a former Protestant) are "A Biblical Defense For Catholicism" and "More Biblical Evidence For Catholicism" written by Dave Armstrong. They are both exellent! Full of scripture and historical facts.

-- Jason (Enchanted fire5@aol.com), May 13, 2004.

Not to mention of course "An Essay on the Development of Christain Doctrine." By John Henry Newmen.

-- Jason (Enchanted fire5@aol.com), May 13, 2004.