I grew up in a family with Roman Catholics on both sides. As far back as anyone could tell, there were nothing but Catholics on both sides, which is not really unusual for Italians I guess. My parents were and are basically "good people". My mother is still is a "good Catholic". and one of the most giving people you will ever meet. My father is not in good health and is nearly 81, but still watches the mass almost every day on TV. Most people would think I'm crazy to worry about my parents' salvation, but I do worry very much. When I was growing up, I was basically a "good " Catholic for much of my early years. I never started trouble, and was a pretty good kid for the most part. But that all changed when I began to drink and smoke pot when I was about 16. This also coincided with my taking World Religions class in High School. I was very interested in religious experiences, and also believed that all religions had truth, and that we could all learn from each other. Roman Catholicism bored me by now, and I began to seek "God" in other areas. I read all kinds of different books such as Edgar Cayce, white witchcraft, the koran, the Vedas, Buddhist books, philosophical books, the Bible, Hal Lindsay, etc.. I was certain that if I read enough, that I would see the common threads in all religions, and discover the real truth. All the while, I got more into drinking and pot, and still went to mass on Sundays. As I got into my 20's something strange happened. A drinking buddy became a born again Christian. I had no idea what that was, so I was happy for him at first. Even when he told our group that he wasn't going to party with us anymore, I was still happy for him, thinking that he had "found God", and was just a little over exhuberant. But I was sure that he'd settle down and come back to normal after a while. After a while passed, and any conversation with him always included the Lord, I got seriously annoyed with him. In fact I hated him, and I couldn't tell why. As time went on and my life became more futile, I began drinking heavier and becoming more miserable. Things he said about being born again, and there being no purgatory, and other things like that, all echoed in my brain for months and even years. I had a scare with my involvement with the occult during this time, and so I began to read the bible more and more, and I got rid of my witchcraft books. I had wondered why I was so miserable and in such a mess even though I went to church nearly every week,( often hung over). I began to see that the bible was speaking to my situation. After reaching the point where I would black out every weekend, I realized that I had a big problem with alcohol. Being proud, I reasoned that I could overcome this myself, and I set out to do just that. I tried with every fibre of my being to stop drinking on my own, and I succeeeded briefly, for a couple of weeks, but I would cave in and go back. I realized that I was also attached to the bar scene itself, not just the booze. It was my life, on weekends in particular, for years now. I didn't know what to do with myself outside of the bar scene. I began to see that it had a hold on me and that I could never hope to meet the right girl in those places either. Despite everything, I still wanted to find a decent girl and get married. When I lost my job, it seemed that everything in my life was crashing down. I had become everything that I never wanted to be. I turned to the Bible, but then again to the bottle for help. By now I knew enough from the bible to know that I was in serious trouble, and I cried out to God for help. One night the phone rang and the brother of the guy who became a Christian (who had also become a Christian), called and asked me if I wanted to go to Church. To his surprise, I enthusiastically said yes. That night, I answered the altar call and gave my life to Jesus Christ, and became a born again Christian. God delivered me from the clutches of drugs and alcohol, and the bar scene. I did backslide for a while afterwards, but have not touched a drop in about 8 years now. When I was first saved, I began attending both the Catholic Church as well as the Pentecostal Church. While some people expressed some concern, almost nobody really challenged on the errors within Catholicism. One man said "don't go there, it's a cult", but when I asked why it was a cult, he couldn't answer me. Some said "don't worry about it, as long as you are a Christian, it doesn't matter. It took me years to realize that it DOES matter. The big "Book on Cults" at the time was Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin. I read it and didn't find Roman Catholicism listed as a cult. Apparently, because RC"s adhere to the doctrine of the Trinity, as well as what they termed "essential" doctrines, that they did not qualify as a cult. This lead me to believe that I could work within the system in order to reach my parents for the Lord. I tried this for years, but now, in retrospect, I know now it was a mistake. My first clue should have been the reaction of my father to my born again experience. He got extremely upset, calling me Jim Jones, the devil, and cursing me to my face. I got angry back at him, yelling that he was a hypocrite since he rarely ever went to church at all, and thought Mary was part of the Trinity. I thought he would be happy for me, at least that my life was cleaned up so much. But I didn't know much about the spiritual battles that go on in these circumstances. Nor did I stop to consider the fact that my father had, for many years, been battling with alcohol himself. At the time he was losing miserably. But there were theological problems with Catholicism that I was aware of even back then. I remember being in the Catholic Church as a born again Christian and the "hymn" "Hail Holy Queen of Heaven", was being sung. I could not sing it, and it really disturbed me. But I wanted to be there for my parents - by now even my dad was coming out to church! I started to rationalize things, thinking "well, every church has problems", and "at least they believe in the Trinity" and things like that. I concluded that they were a Christian church that had some problems, but there were good things still happening there. One of these "good things" I thought was the Catholic Charismatic movement. Since I was saved in a Pentecostal Church, I was intrigued that there was such a thing in the Catholic Church. I took my mother out to some services, and she was surprised that it seemed more pentecostal than catholic. I was surprised too. One service seemed quite good, with much praise given to Jesus; but then there was a testimony time... The first person got up and gave praise and glory to Jesus for answered prayer. The second person gave similar praise to St. Jude; the third praised Mary. I was crushed. I befriended a couple of Catholic Charismatic guys who had similar concerns. They reassured me "we know there are problems, but we're trying to change it from within". It seemed like a noble quest, but the next (and final) time I went to one of their services, it was a priest who gave praise to Mary for answered prayer. I realized the futility of "lay people" trying to change something that the priests themselves didn't want changing. Yet I did continue to go to regular Catholic services. I did so because of my parents, which was wrong. The longer I went, the more I saw things that were wrong. It wasn't just Mary and the saints that I had a problem with, but as I read my bible, it seemed everything that was exclusively "catholic" I began to have problems with. "Masses for the dead" - where was that in the bible? Where was purgatory? Where was the papacy? where was the rosary? Didn't Jesus warn against vain repetition? Why were there statues? I knew the priests said we weren't to worship the statues, but why bow before them if we are commanded not to? Through a series of events I became very discouraged and began to backslide. I never set out to do so, but gradually, like the seed that was being choked off, I began to lose my zeal for the Lord, and entered the downward spiral of compromise. I only have myself to blame for this, but I can honestly say that my decision to persist in the Catholic Church was a contributing factor to my faith becoming nearly shipwrecked. Ironically, it was also a time when I was in a good relationship with my parents. I put a lot of my criticisms of the RC Church on the back burner, and became a "social drinker". My family was happy with the drift backwards, as it no longer brought them conviction. I settled into this mode, thinking that perhaps I was wrong in being so fanatical before. Maybe you could have the best of both worlds, contrary to what the preachers at my church were then saying. During this time I met my wife Laurie, and the Lord used me (despite myself) to help lead her to the Lord. Laurie was a former Jehovah's Witness, and at the time she was still believing that they were the truth. I took her out to church a few times, and believed that she got saved. We were married in less than a year. We had some rocky times in the first few years of marriage, and nearly all of them involved alcohol. Gradually we began to drink a little more and a little more often. At the same time I began to attend Church less and less. It wasn't until I began to see that my life was heading in the same direction that it was more than a decade before, that I made the ultimatum. After a particularly horrible night, I said to Laurie "I'm going back to church, and I'm getting right with God with or without you". Praise the Lord, it was with her. It was a rough journey back, but well worth it. What didn't help matters any was the fact that so many churches had gone haywire since I had left. We went through a crash course in charismania, abberant teachings, false prophets, and false healers. But we did learn a lot along the way, as the Holy Spirit guided us through the spiritual minefield that is today's Christianity. What helped us, I believe, is that we resolved that the bible was true and we were looking for a church that held closest to the bible. I believe the Lord will guide people who are willing to listen to His correction. Another turning point was that we resolved, nearly 8 years ago, to stop drinking entirely. When this happened, the family tensions reappeared, almost immediately. Even though we never made a big deal about it, suddenly we were the intolerant fanatics again. During this time I began to get convicted about the Catholic Church again. Although I had already stopped going for several years by now, I had rarely said anything against the RC Church for a few years. Now the Lord was opening up my eyes afresh to many things that were wrong. The clincher for me was finding out that the mass was actually a re-sacrifice of Jesus each time it was done. The explanation that it was the same sacrifice as the original, only in an unbloody manner, was pure lunacy to me. I never understood that is what the mass was for all those years. There are many scriptures that prove this to be false, but the best passages are found in Hebrews 9:24-26, Hebrews 10:10-12. Jesus died once for all, never to be sacrificed again! When asked if he believed there are true Christians in the Roman Catholic Church, Dave Hunt responded, "Yes, I do believe there are true Christians in the Roman Catholic Church, and if they are true Christians, they are on their way out of the Catholic Church...they were saved IN SPITE of Rome, not because of Rome". I would have to agree with this statement. It certainly was true in my situation. Even though I learned some truth that planted general seeds of faith in God when I was in the Catholic Church, it was always fatally mixed with leaven. I learned far more through a few short months of daily bible reading than I ever did in the three dacades that I spent in the Catholic Church. Roman Catholicism is a false religious sacramental system based on works. It always has been and always will be until the Lord returns. Grace in Catholicism is supposedly dispensed in the sacraments, not bestowed upon a repentant sinner through faith. Every major Christian doctrine suffers violence in the hands of Rome, even though, for alterior motives, Catholic apologists can sound very evangelical in their dialogue. It can actually be a blessing for a Catholic to remain ignorant for a time about the true theology of their church, I believe. The reason why I say this is that it opens the door for the true Gospel to come in should they do their own private bible study, like I did, even before I was saved. In my experience, most Catholics don't know their own theology very well, and cannot defend their faith biblically. For this reason, it can also be very dangerous for the Catholic, should they talk to the well trained cultist, such as JW's or Mormons. Incidently, many JW's are ex-Catholics. I had previously mentioned that it was a mistake for me to continue going to the Catholic Church, even though I was doing so primarily to reach my parents for the Lord. Aside from the things that I have already covered, I believe that I bought into a common lie of our day, namely "the ends justify the means". In truth, the ends do not justify the means. It is our own human reasoning that tells us to do things like this, not the Word of God. The bible says "Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye recieve not of her plagues" Revelation 18:4. In my prideful thinking, I thought I could go into that Church and work within it until my parents were ready to come out. It nearly destroyed me. We want, in our flesh, in our humanness, to have a peaceful, non- confrontational relationship with our friends and loved ones. If this is possible, indeed we should seek to have it so (Romans 12 :1. But the bible is clear that the Gospel will cause divisions in families between those who believe and those who do not (Matthew 10: 33- 36). This goes contrary to the spirit of the age as well which cries out for tolerance and unity at all costs. This spirit has been firmly entrenched in the Church world as well, for many years now. Yet it is the true Gospel, which is offensive to the sinner, that is the only hope for the lost in this world. By compromising, the Gospel loses its' power, and the lost won't be saved. My burden is for those lost in false religion, thinking that good works or belonging to a particular Church will save them. My parents have been in such a state for decades. I have hope because I have seen the Lord do some real changes in their lives. I have hope because they see that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. I have hope because they have said "the sinner"s prayer". I have hope, but I don't have assurance, because despite all of this, they still cling to Roman Catholicism. I can't rest until they have denounced this false religion. I pray that they will very soon
