Wednesday, October 17, 2018

What Catholics Don’t Want You to Know About Purgatory



What Catholics Don’t Want You to Know About Purgatory

Mark Hart, the Executive Vice President of Life Teen, a Catholic youth outreach program, wrote this statement on his website:

"… Catholics still very much believe in Purgatory (Catholics who follow the Church, that is and not “their own” set of beliefs). Purgatory is a temporary state of purification where imperfect saints have the effects of their sin purged.”   [End quote] (Hart).

Scott P. Richert, a Catholic author and editor, wrote:

“Through penitential practices, prayer, works of charity, and the patient endurance of suffering, we can work through the temporal punishment for our sins in this life. But if any temporal punishment has been left unsatisfied at the end of our life, we must endure that punishment in Purgatory before entering Heaven.” [End quote] (Richert). (Posted on Sept. 6, 2018).

The above quotes are verbatim. Catholics believe in Purgatory, which is said to take place after a Catholic dies. According to Catholic teaching, purgatory is a place of torment and suffering. Augustine of Hippo, one of the founders of Catholicism, said:

"That there should be some fire even after this life is not incredible, and it can be inquired into and either be discovered or left hidden whether some of the faithful may be saved, some more slowly and some more quickly in the greater or lesser degree in which they loved the good things that perish, through a certain purgatorial fire." [End quote]. ("Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Charity" c. 421 A.D.) (The quote was taken from: "Purgatory: What …”).

 According to Catholic “church fathers,” purgatory is a place of suffering which supposedly cleanses deceased Catholics of the “stains” of their sins which they did on earth.

To support their belief in purgatory, Catholic websites refer to extra-Biblical writings, such as the Second Book of Maccabees and the writings of “church fathers.” They also take a few random verses from the Bible, here and there (out of context). But, take a look at what Colossians chapter 2 says.

What the New Testament Says

The Apostle Paul wrote:

[Colossians 2:8-15]

"8. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

10. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11. In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12. Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

13. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." [End quote].

In Acts chapter 20, the Apostle Paul wrote:

Monday, October 1, 2018

THE TRUTH ABOUT HEAVEN THAT THE DEVIL DOESN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW (from the Bible)



THE TRUTH ABOUT HEAVEN THAT THE DEVIL DOESN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW

Topics covered in this article:

1. Introduction
2. Why Heaven Is Only For Certain People
3. Who Can Be in Heaven
4. How Heaven Is Beautiful, and How You Can Enjoy That Beauty Here on Earth Too
5. Who Will Not Be in Heaven
6. What Heaven Is, and What Heaven Is Not
7. Conclusion

[ Read this article in a PDF format here at this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/134kUsn1nydRWtwUPHGexFgy48zDajqIv/view?usp=sharing ]
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1. Introduction

There are some important things that the devil (Satan), who is your enemy, doesn’t want you to know about Heaven (or the third Heaven, the paradise of God). Many people have listened to the devil’s lies instead of God’s Holy Word (the Bible). The Holy Bible describes the beauty of Heaven and tells us who can enter Heaven, and who cannot. The Word of God reveals to us truth that gives us the ability to experience a taste of Heaven while still living here on earth.

In this article, we will see who can live in Heaven, and who cannot. We will see what Heaven is like, and what it is not like. One thing we know for sure, Heaven is not like earth. It is perfect, sinless, holy, and perfectly beautiful. (See Isaiah 35:10, Revelation 21:4, and Rev. 21:27 ). There is no sickness, disease, sorrow, pain, or death in Heaven. All is peace, joy, happiness, and rest. Pain is gone. Misery is gone. Boredom is gone. All that is of the earth is gone. Only the basic personality of a believer remains essentially the same, but the believer has been transformed to look like an angel of God (See Luke 20:34-36).

Like the angels, a Christian in Heaven will live forever, will never die, and will be able to worship and praise God in His glory and beauty. A Christian in Heaven will see God’s face and enjoy God’s intimate fellowship in a deeper way than he or she can on planet earth. But, even on planet earth, we can experience deep fellowship, and friendship, and closeness with Abba Father God through Jesus Christ. And, that is what Abba Father God desires, as scripture verses such as Deuteronomy 33:3, Jeremiah 31:3, Psalm 16:11, 1 Corinthians 1:9, 1 John 1:3-7, John 17, John 14, John 15, and so on declare.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:9

“9. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” [emphasis added] [end quote]

LUKE 20:34-36

“34. And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage : 35. but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage : 36. neither can they die any more : for they are equal unto the angels ; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.” [emphasis added] [end quote]

Learn more about salvation through Jesus Christ here at this link: https://exploringchristianity1.blogspot.com/p/salvation-through-jesus-christ_10.html .


2. Why Heaven Is Only For Certain People

Heaven is a beautiful place located in a different dimension far from the earth. It is full of joy, peace, harmony, and happiness far beyond anything most people experience on this earth, in this dimension in which we live. There is no sickness, pain, suffering, or sadness in Heaven because Heaven is perfect and without any sin or imperfection.

Simon Peter's Three (3) Denials of Christ and Peter's Three Boastful Statements in the Gospel Accounts

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