Home Forums Introductions Howdy

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #1016
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Long and short – I’m Marc from NJ.

    Raised Catholic, went angry atheist in my teens. Walked away from God and the church until my mid/late twenties. Joined an Evangelical rock & roll church and did the whole born-again thing. That church was home to my wife and I and our kids for almost 8 years, until they started to get whacko. We’ve now been to a few other places, but are in limbo, always snipping at something that bugs us about a place.

    Suddenly, I’ve got this bizarre urge to perhaps return to my Catholic roots. I’m reasonably sure it’s of God, as He has made things clear to me before that came to be…

    My wife was raised Presbyterian and doesn’t know of this yet…I figured I’d let it “cook” for a few days, to make sure it wasn’t indigestion. <img decoding=” title=”Smile” />

    So…there you go.

    My point? I’m in love with God and want to be where He wants me to be. And all roads might lead back to Rome…

    Pray for His will for me, would you?

    #4094
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Good to have you Marc. Some of us here come from similar backgrounds. We will try our best to answer any questions if you find out that it was not indegestion, but the Lord leading you back to “Rome Sweet Home”.
    Deffinately keep you in my prayers.

    ~Victor

    PS-Just curious, what did they do that was so whacko?

    #4095
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    [quote:1nvweq7s]Good to have you Marc. Some of us here come from similar backgrounds. We will try our best to answer any questions if you find out that it was not indegestion, but the Lord leading you back to “Rome Sweet Home”.
    Deffinately keep you in my prayers.

    ~Victor

    PS-Just curious, what did they do that was so whacko?[/quote:1nvweq7s]

    Thanks for the warm greeting, Victor.

    Most of the whackiness and controversy revolved around disagreements concerning spiritual gifts and whether or not they were appropriate for the church today. When we started at that church, they were Cessasionists, but slowly over time began embracing the sign gifts. While I don’t personally have a problem with this, it caused much agnst and many people left. There were also some scandals involving one of the pastors and a disagreement he had with the other leaders that led to him being “cast out”…we grew weary of the drama and left ourselves.

    In other words, the place didn’t feel very much like a rock.

    #4097

    Hi Marc. I’ll certainly pray for you.

    Let us know if there is anything you need as you discern this. <img decoding=” title=”Smile” />

    #4098
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thanks Jon.

    The wisdom as to how to break this to my wife would help. Yes, I’ve been working on that. :lol:

    #4099

    Try: “Honey, I’ve been thinking…” <img decoding=” title=”Wink” />

    #4101
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi, Marc, glad to know you.
    I have a similar situation, except I’m the Presbyterian, with a wife that joined the PCUSA because of my lead, escaping from the Episcopalian church we attended when we married two years ago. I’m even a deacon, which complicates things…
    Anyway, I know what your situation feels like, if from another point of view. My wife doesn’t oppose conversion, but also feels no call to the RCC and so is at something of a loss to understand my current thinking.
    Is your wife a ‘dyed in the wool’ Presbyterian, or a member through her upbringing?

    #4103
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Elka,

    Actually, my wife is thinking that we’re either going to settle into the local Pentecostal like mega-church or one of the last Evangelical churches around here that hasn’t annoyed her (they meet in a school and several folk she knows go there)

    This whole Catholic thing is sudden for me…it’s actually pretty funny. I went to watch an episode of The West Wing on Tivo and it was actually a special about the Pope. Finding it fascinating, I watched. The next day found me feeling like God was knocking…and calling me back to my roots.

    I’m a calm, rational guy. I do computer stuff for a living and believe in making logical choices. That being said, I’ve had encounters with God and am fair at hearing His voice…I think.

    I guess I’m just scared of how she’ll react.

    #4104
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Elka and Marc, although you guys aren’t Catholic yet I commend both of you. It appears to me like you guys are being a lot more responsive to God’s Grace then I did. I fought Catholicsim tooth and nail for almost 3 years. Always tried to prove it wrong and came up short everytime. In the end, my own pride and emotions were the only thing keeping me away. I think God turned up the heat on me. Sometimes I think that I needed a Paul type of conversion. Can you imagine the Lord’s voice when he called Paul “”Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). I would of ran like a big chicken…..lol.

    [quote:p2mouvz0]Most of the whackiness and controversy revolved around disagreements concerning spiritual gifts and whether or not they were appropriate for the church today. [/quote:p2mouvz0]

    That’s true, and it’s exactly why the Protestant system doesn’t work. A book (even an inspired one) can’t sit up and tell us which side has misinterpreted it. That’s why the Protestant system has never been able to resolve any of the myriad “controversies of religion” it’s caused. Instead, the controversies invariably lead to divisions, and the divisions invariably lead to new churches being formed, and the only thing the Protestant system can do is tell both sides to go back and read their “supreme judge” again for the zillionth time. The early Church simply didn’t function in this manner.

    As far as telling your wife, that’s a tuffy. One of the things used by others is they talk to them about Catholic doctrine, but they don’t tell them it’s Catholic…. <img decoding=” title=”Wink” /> . They agree to it’s logic and conclusions and then they tell them later: “you know all those things I’ve been telling you about about? Well they are all Catholic beliefs…” Her reaction will be :shock: ..

    Maybe Jon’s advise is better……lol.

    ~Victor

    #4108
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Very insightful Victor. Thank you.

    By the way, your signature is awesome.

    #4111
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    … and it would fit perfectly with my wife’s nature. Not deceitful, either.

    For awhile, I was involved with Codependents Anonymous, although it quickly seemed pointless, or my particular group did. Everything was a gripe session. Anyhow, my point is that people quickly recognized that the most codependent action you could take was to chase loved ones around with a self-help book. I was preparing to do that with my wife — Scott Hahn books, which tend to be light but with lots of logic and meat to the arguments. Hail Holy Queen was the first. But I think your way is better, Victor…

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.