One doesn’t think much about the end of life until that end is pronounced. It can come on like a storm, or should say will. Just ask those who have been diagnosed with terminal cancer for example. The thoughts come streaming in and often there is regret, anxiety, anger, and fear. I will speak on the fear below.

To be honest, I really didn’t get much thought either until my dog Leo was diagnosed at an early age with terminal lymphoma. All sorts of thoughts came streaming in on his behalf, mainly making his last days comfortable. You see, Leo as far as I can tell has no fear of death. He doesn’t fear who will miss him, he knows. He doesn’t fear what will happen to his toys or his food either. He also doesn’t fear what will happen to me.

But as humans we are programmed to fear the end. Some fear who will be at our funerals, as if that really matters. Other fears might be 401Ks and who will get our things, again as if that really matters. Some may fear how they will be remembered, that just might matter.

What one should really fear? Is that if you died in your sins, the end will be a beginning of eternal misery and torture. Those in a world religion such as Roman Catholic church should fear Jesus saying “I NEVER KNEW YOU” (Matt 7:21-23). You see, the fears are often miss-placed either by religion or by the world.

We can learn many things simply from a dog facing his end. His goal is to enjoy each day with no regret. He doesn’t fear the end because he knows he cannot change that end. So he makes the best of it for himself and those around him. He knows he will be missed, but that is out of his control as well.

The moral to the story is if your fear is how you will be remembered, today is the day of your salvation. Place your faith alone in Jesus Christ, where He promises only peace and rest. Some may remember Elvis Presley only as a singer, but I believe if he could come back and tell you the regret he had was that he was never remembered as a child of God. How will you be remembered?

Having been attacked online countless of times by Roman Catholics, I realized very early on in these attacks that the person hides behind a keyboard. However the keystrokes do not get past an omniscient and holy God.

It shows a couple of things, some do not believe God is privy to seeing what is posted on the internet or they know and just don’t fear Him so the posts generally are not thought out in that respect.

We will account for each and every word, whether spoken or written, and yes even our posts on the internet. We will have NO excuse before God if those comments blaspheme Him, degrade Him, bearing false witness, or just blatant personal attacks against others.

Having been a Roman Catholic, the mindset they encompass is a filter. They see the church as their god, and they are right to assume that this god cannot see what they are doing each day on the internet. But wrong to assume by that filter that the God Almighty does not see every single thing, including things we do not post but merely think.

Hebrews 10:30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Before we post something, always THINK! God is watching! I have reminded some in the past of this very sentiment. Some do heed that warning, some do not. Those that do not again as V31 says “it is a fearful thing to fall into hands of the living God”. Every curse word, every blasphemy or promotion of a lie or personal attack on another, will never get past Him.

If you were never a Roman Catholic, you might believe that the Catholic Church is Christian. VIewing it solely from externals, you might be deceived into believing that impression.

After all, they come across as religious, they speak about Jesus, they have large buildings with a steeple and a whole bunch of statues. They kneel, they pray, they recite creeds. You may have grown up in another denomination which does similar things, so you might think “all is well with those Catholics, we just belong to a different club”.

I know this personally, being a former Roman Catholic I was told by many non-Catholics that I was a Christian for 43 years in the church. Even the person who eventually took the time to read the Bible out loud to me viewed me as a Christian before that point. After all, I generally was a “good person” but only in the world’s eyes, I attended church religiously, I spoke of God and Jesus, so it probably seemed right and fitting that I was called a “Christian”, as I also with pride called myself one.

But NOTHING could be further than the truth! After my eyes were opened by God to His truth and I discovered the vast deception of the RCC and its false gospel, I fell down on my knees and begged for mercy because there was in no way, shape, or form I was a Christian! It wasn’t because I was searching for and committing evil daily or anything like this, it was because God showed me what a Christian was and a Christian places their faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

As a Roman Catholic, we were taught salvation is a “cooperative effort”. Basically Jesus opened the doors of heaven, and by our good college try it was our job to walk through those doors. Albeit that college try being self righteous and subjective, with the catch-all being purgatory. And without purgatory, that college try becomes fleeting. It wasn’t placing any real faith in Jesus other than He was a good guy who started the RCC, it was placing faith solely in my will power with more faith in Mary to help me than God Himself!

In other words ecumenism is WRONG because the RCC teaches a false gospel. Dig a little deeper past the eternal religiosity. I’d say besides being angry with myself and my sins, I was as angry with all those non-Catholics who called me a Christian for 43 years. Why? Because just maybe God would have opened my eyes sooner. I needed the truth, not appeasing or compromise!

The WORST thing to do with a Catholic is make them believe they are on the narrow path, because they are indeed on the wide path to destruction. Again, it is the VERY WORST thing to do to them. You do them NO favors by patting them on the back for their church attendance and their parroted talking points. Rather CONFRONT them with the Gospel, and stand firm! Get them to THINK as to these things and those who God has willed to saved will always remember you for doing this in love!

Ecumenism with Catholics is wrong, it is spiteful, it is ignorant! If the church you are attending is not reaching out to Catholics and seeing them as unsaved, you might want to search for another church because they too are probably lost and/or willfully ignorant to the truth or just never took the time to discern right from wrong.

This past Sunday, a pastor’s theme was on prayer. He mentioned through Scripture that the Apostle Paul in particular expressed that we often do not know how to pray or what to pray for. I concur with this, but we also as Christians grow in our prayer life and with growth comes boldness.

It was mid-January of this year and my dog Leo whom I was praying that God would continue to heal from his lymphoma suddenly crashed back into his illness. His treatments showed promise at first, and then we hit a wall. He stopped eating again, was in much pain, his lymph nodes were swelling.

Honestly, I was at a loss. But it was at this point I prayed with boldness. I asked God “why???” I mean I uprooted my life, took Leo to Colorado for this treatment which was something by God’s leading, and now this? I talked to Him as I would to a parent whom told me for example that I could use the family car if I did my chores of which I completed, only to find out they lent the car to someone else. I boldly prayed to God. I had sacrificed much, and worked around the clock to keep Leo on track, and then poof, we went back to the beginning. so instead of trying to figure it out, I turned to God.

I was at peace after I prayed boldly. I explained to God what was on my heart of which He already knew. As I mentioned in a previous post, praying boldly doesn’t mean we berate God or burn Him an effigy, it means confronting the situation you are in of which He is already aware of. Unlike humans, God never forgets His promises.

As I learned, God was teaching me to pray without ceasing and with boldness. Stop whining, and start praying in other words. Confront the problem and tell God exactly how you feel about it. Empty phrases and lofty platitudes He has heard ad nauseum. Yes, He knows you love Him, so don’t try and play the manipulation game with Him. Indeed He knows EVERYTHING, He doesn’t need a reminder nor a quid pro quo from you either. That is a common mistake I made in my former life “God if you would just do this for me, I will do this for You”. God doesn’t play that game!

So the lesson here is to pray with boldness! Pray as if you truly mean what you are saying and that God is listening. Praying with boldness also means praying without ceasing. Never cease in praying to God. It isn’t the more you ask, the more He will give, it is the more you pray the closer you are to Him! Remember, when God is magnified, fear leaves! Do you really believe that anything is possible with God? If so, pray this way, in boldness! He is good! So also remember God will never be a party to sin, so praying for something which will enable sin in your life will pretty much get a stern “NO!” from God.

The simplest prayer you can say to God is “THANK YOU LORD”. Thank Him for everything, the air you breathe, the water you drink, everything because He made it possible. If you are going through a trial, thank Him as well for sustaining you. The trial is always meant as a teaching for you to grow closer to Him, so thank Him!

Ref: 1 Cor 13:4, “love is patient”. Many have heard this verse at a wedding, as it starts with love being described as “patient”. And then is goes on to say “love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered”.

In describing love, Paul lists patience first. Something we need to really think about. Take your significant other, a child of yours, a friend, a parent, a family member, and you will understand how love can be patient. We are naturally patient with those we love in other words. We have no problem waiting for them in many ways because the love we have for them is patient.

In my view, Paul is describing God’s love. He is the most patient based on His holiness and our sinful nature. He waits with long-suffering as we scramble into sins of which defiles His holiness. If He wasn’t patient, we’d all be doomed! But also, Paul is describing our love for God, we must also have patience with Him. We cannot be anxious or demanding, we must wait on His will.

God is always teaching patience. Some like me need dosing of patience teaching every day. I humbly admit the defect in my character is that I am not always patient, rather I get impatient. I want things done now in my time, God says to me always, be patient and trust in His timing. By His grace, I have grown in patience, but still have a long ways to go.

Yesterday for example, I went in for an oil change thinking this would take at the most an hour. Well 6 hours later based on some other work they needed to do, I finally got my truck back. I can say it really tried my patience as the mechanic kept saying “oh, just another 20 minutes” only to discover after an hour, it would be another hour, then another hour. I confessed to God that I was quite impatient. The moral of the story, I lacked love, because love is patient.

When Jesus tells us to “love our neighbors”, patience is the first thing on the list! Be patient with our neighbors, don’t chastise them for a waiting period. Now it doesn’t give license for rudeness, when we say we are to meet someone for example at a certain time, we should strive to meet this goal. But in love, we are to be patient with our neighbor. And to me, besides forgiveness of others, it is definitely one of the harder disciplines to grasp and grow in.

A good way to look at it? If you have been saved by Jesus Christ, think of ALL the years and ALL the sins you committed while He waited on you. Think of all the time He waits on you to turn to Him in your time of need. Jesus perfectly loves, thus He is perfectly patient! We need to strive and grow in His love to be as patient!