Mark 9:24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

I inscribed “Mark 9:24” on a turkey call I gave to my Dad this past Father’s Day. It was a subtle reminder to him that I still pray for his faith to be granted by God to be saved, and pray that like the father in the verse humbly admitted, he needed help from God.

My Dad was a very devout Roman Catholic, never missed a Mass in 60 years, was very pious in following Canon laws of the RCC, and lived a life which the church found quite acceptable. The problem is as with every Catholic, he never really submitted to God and never placed his faith alone in Jesus Christ.

Upon around the age of 60, we discovered that my Dad went off the rails. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer around this time as well. It was discovered he was having a secret affair with a coworker and it literally tore our family apart. He was unapologetic, delusional, and turned into a cold hearted maniac to my Mom and the family in a very short period of time. No amount of reasoning would break through to him.

After all the RCC sacrament participation, one would think by what the RCC teaches that this could never have happened. But it certainly did, and I was a personal witness to it. He has never talked about his lost faith, but I suspect he figured out how deceived he was by the RCC. He followed all the things they told him to do, and here he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. His mindset was then “how can God be real?” The false teaching of the RCC set this all up.

My Dad returned home after his affair, but never repented. He stopped seeing the woman in question, but never apologized or admitted his iniquities. As recently 2 years ago I have witnessed the gospel, providing also a way for my Dad to freely confess his crimes. He sadly flat out rejected both.

The moral of the story is that a world religion such as the RCC most likely WILL lead one to despair and a manifest sin state. Why? Because if the assurance of your salvation is placed in yourself, the dependence is also place on yourself. And with this, FAILURE eventually ensues, so does apathy. Like my Dad, you might think at some point “what is the use! I followed the rules and now I am dealing with cancer!”.

Rather, if you are part of a world religion teaching works in of yourself, REPENT and leave today! And then place your faith alone in Jesus Christ where true peace and rest is found! With Him there are no failures, just everlasting eternal joy. You will come realize that this fallen world is not worth fretting over, and your life here is a vapor a mist which is temporary. You will stop placing treasures here on earth which will pass away, and start storing up treasures in Heaven where the King of kings resides!