Christians are now dealing with a new obstacle to evangelism; we can no longer assume people know stories in the Bible or the basic tenets of the faith. Perhaps this dearth of spirituality in modern culture will serve to drive desperate people to the feet of Christ but more than ever seekers need basic catechism to lead them back into the arms of God and the Church.
A few decades ago, almost everyone knew the bible, even if they did not attend church because even public schools read the bible and prayed before classes started. I am a convert. As a Protestant kid who went to Sunday School from 3 years old, I grew up on the stories of Jesus, singing songs about His love and memorizing bible verses. I realize now that I was a prayerful kid; God was close to me.
I was raised in the cool, calm and Conservative Presbyterian church where nobody talked about a personal relationship 
with Jesus, no one talked about accepting Christ’s forgiveness, allowing Jesus to save me or committing my life to God.
Listening to an evangelical friend in high school stirred a desire in me for an intimacy with God. Like the idealistic teen that I was, I dared to stand up in front of a Conference of Canadian ministers, missionaries and elders:
“After 11 years of faithful Sunday School attendance, why did no one tell me it was even possible to have a personal relationship with Jesus? Do I have to go to the Jesus People or the Pentecostals to learn how to be to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
Of course everyone clapped as I sat done with my heart pounding. A Presbyterian missionary, with her silver hair swept up in an elegant bun and her eyes twinkling with the love of God, asked,
Have you accepted Jesus as your Saviour?
I was baffled,
I am not sure; I don’t think so.. I am not sure.
Umm.. I am sure you already have because just now you spoke in the Spirit, with His power and clarity. Just to make sure, when you are in your room tonight, accept Jesus as your saviour by asking Him to forgive your sins and accepting the salvation He offers you. Then commit your life to Christ. Tomorrow we will pray together for the in filling of His Holy Spirit.
That night, I felt foolish like I was speaking to thin air or the wall, but I said the words, committing my life to Christ. The next morning and, in fact, for the next few years, I was flying in the midst of the “honeymoon stage” that swept me right into the arms of the Catholic Church.
God pulled a fast one on me because He placed Mary in my heart and no self-respecting Protestant church would have me. Combined with a hunger for the Eucharist, God Himself converted me to Catholicism.
There is no greater joy than watching God work in someone’s heart. Of course, the most important thing is to live in God and allow His Spirit to live in us. God can touch someone without us saying a word but we should know the basics about our faith and salvation to be effective servants in the marketplace. I was converted through direct intervention from God but also by knowledgeable Jesuit priest who answered all my questions and doubts with wisdom.
joy of nine9 
I’m on my way 🙂
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soaring like an eagle
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🙂
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Yes, there is no greater joy than to be in His Light.
“And Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in My name receiveth Me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”—Matthew 18:2-5. (Mark 10:5.)
“My substance was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in secret, and intricately wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unformed; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. “—Psalm 139: 15-16.
God Bless and Good Light always.
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YES !
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Reblogged this on therasberrypalace and commented:
one word,WOW
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When I was a child and a teen, I was pretty much a boy who did Catholic stuff because my parents and teachers told me to, living life thinking that the Catholic life is a boring life while indulging in stories that mostly involved flashy violence that many called “heroism.” I never really gave the Catholic life much thought until sometime in my high school years. I guess I got so into being a Catholic because I really liked friendship and hope and love and being a hero and stuff, things that I really liked when I was younger. Now, I’m thankful for my instinctual desires for friendship and truth-seeking being sharpened well with the help of God and all the kind and awesome people around me. Even though, honestly, there are things and rules in the Catholic Church that my imperfect self has a hard time understanding right now, I’m pretty much going to be supporting the Catholic Church and their beautiful ideals for peace that involves friendship and truth-seeking. We, the members of the Church, may be imperfect, yes, but I’ve encountered a human being truly good before (like my parents, who cared for me when I was really young and still do care and try to properly care for me today), and that’s enough reason for me to not give up on leading humanity to salvation and eternal happiness. ^_^
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we never understand everything but as you say, we can still trust in God and in loving members of the Church
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In my lifetime, I have witnessed the death of Christendom. Christendom is defined as the legal, ethical, moral life of a nation as inspired by the Gospel ethic. That’s gone. We used to be able to leave our doors unlocked, our bicycles in the front yard, the keys to our car in the ignition, etc., and have a reasonable expectation that everything would remain as is, when we went to the store, church, etc. No longer. In fact, our culture, the culture of death, is so bad, that Christians in general, and we Catholics, in particular, are beginning to be persecuted for our faith. And it will only get worse. It would not surprise me for some of us, or even many of us, to become blood martyrs for the faith.
But through this all, God is still working on us. Stories like Melanie Jean’s continue to happen all over. It is encouraging! God bless you, Melanie Jean! 🙂
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well said- thank you for adding your insights
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Dear Melanie,
After being a good practicing Catholic all my life ( attending Mass every Sunday and Catholic Schooling from first grade through high school, I left the Catholic Church at 54 years old. I too was never told that I could have a personal relationship with Jesus. I was taught the Catholic Doctrines, not the bible. After much research, I now know that the bible is indeed the Word of God. God left us His guide book.
Without repentance there is no forgiveness of sins. Although I was a “good person” by Catholic standards, I came to realize that the sacrifice on the cross is ALL that God accepts. He wouldn’t have sent His only son who was sinless to die in our place if there was any other way. I had to repent of my sin of Idolatry! I had been kneeling before statues and praying to the “saints” and Mary. The Catholic Church skips over the second commandment (Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image-any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.”) and to get the 10 they make two out of coveting – 9 and 10. See Exodus 20:17
I hope you research for the truth yourself. It is so important. I know what the Catholic Church teaches and what the bible teaches and would be happy to answer any questions. Also, a good website by an ex-Catholic is http://www.ProclaimingTheGospel.org.
Proverbs14:12″ There is a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way of death.”
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I think you definitely were spot on with God not being allowed in schools as one of the reasons kids don’t know Bible stories. I think another reason is that people have dismissed the stories as fiction and then they only believe what they hear (or want to). Satan is definitely at work here!
*Pray without ceasing!*
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