Raised a Franciscan Irish Catholic (my Dad's two brothers were Franciscan priests and Mom and Dad were Third Order Franciscans) this article not only resounded in my soul, it opened up yet another avenue for me to consider who I am with honesty, to allow His Spirit to be not only in me, but to recognize when He speaks to me and to always follow His command. The greatest of these is of course to love Him with everything we are and to love all others regardless of their religion, politics, race - anyone we think might be different. This He commanded. My Mom often said, "You may not like 'em, but you always have to love them."
Good stuff. Thank you for following my blog. Would you mind telling me how you stumbled upon my blog and why you decided to follow it. I'm subscribing to "Sancti Stulti," linking this post into the one that I'm writing now because it says something I've thought for a long time but until now didn't know that St. Francis thought it before me. God bless you, Brother.
Thank you for this excellent reminder that self-criticism is a full-time job and of the virtue of humility. On what authority do I imagine judging others? The only one who has authority in judging others is Jesus Christ, not me, to whom “all power is given in Heaven and Earth,” as it is written.
Thanks for the encouragement! I dont agree 100% with the sentiment here as you formulate it, only in the sense I think its important to reiterate that we can judge deeds. I tend to dislike how some common understandings of Jesus´s words "judge not that ye be not judged," are formulated as if we cannot judge at all. Or that we cannot judge deeds as good or evil (a lot of contemporary new age spirituality, kaballah, eckhart tolle, etc goes in this direction), thus promoting a sort of agnostiicsm or relativism about the moral life that actualy limits self knowledge and ultimately true humility and charity. St Paul says in contrast "But he that is spiritual judgeth all things" 1 cor 2:15. The obvious possible reconciliation is that we can judge deeds but not people. Or as you say "others," so perhaps we are in total agreement. What I was trying to highlight here is that the Holy Spirit will tend to help us see evil in ourselves and good in others. Its scary how easy it is to live a very ostensibly "religious" life without ever entering into this spirit. So even if we can judge all things according to the Spirit, its a sign we are not living in this Spirit if our focus is on the flaws of others rather than our own flaws.
I think we’re on the same page. Paul says “for I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God…nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Only Christ has the authority to judge, not I.
Thank you. I love your work. I spent the early part of my life as a semi-vagrant, walking, hitching, climbing mountains. I once spent a night at a Trappist monastery in Holland. I arrived late in the evening and banged on the door, and they let me in and gave me a room for the night and breakfast. I only wish I'd got up early and joined them for Lauds, but I was young and self-conscious, a sense of unworthiness.
My writing is also unworthy, but offer it free to whoever is interested. The Lord Bless you in your journies.
"What we call the artist, the writer, the poet, the modeller in the clay of the earth, is the mystic, the ascetic, the shaman of our day.
It is why we are vilified and cursed.
Because we reveal to the world its loss, it’s emptiness and confusion, and the difficulty of the path that leads back to truth."
Thanks for the encouraging comment and for sharing your work! I found it interesting, that the intensity of the mystic and artist is the same is an interesting claim I will have to think more about. All Best, Stephen
I think I would need a long time to study this piece, Stephen. I was raised a Catholic and I have started to attend mass again. However, the Catholic teaching of being a sinner does not sit well with me anymore as the Bible tells us that once saved, we are no longer sinners, but saints. I was a sinner - yes, and I don't even like to think about the way I was anymore, but it does serve as a reminder of how lost I was and how God set me free from a life of sin and death.
Orla, thanks for your thoughtful response here. im glad it was thought provoking and am thankful for your candor. And that´s wonderful you have returned to Mass!
I think you are right that the spirituality or psychology of catholicism and protestantism is fundamentally at odds here. i heard it said once that protestants go to church because they are good, and catholics go to mass because they are bad. as a protestant convert to catholicism, this rung true for me. the trick is learning to enjoy it! the catholic spirituality is not foreign to the scriptures however, consider St Paul. "that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." 1 tim 1.15 Or even David, "the sacrifice that is pleasing to God is a broken heart, a humble and contrite spirit" ps50 (51). how can we have this heart, if we think we are already Saints, already made perfect? St Paul says he is the chief, not merely that he was the chief sinner. St Francis says he is the greatest sinner, not that he was. So thats the only point I would object to in what you wrote, to increase in sanctity according to the catholic faith is to increase in the awareness of ones current sinful and wretched state, which binds us to Jesus and His Redemption practically. To me the hardest thing about becoming catholic was learning how to hope in God for the first time. Failure is possible, your situation or at least mine was and is, horrible, all the more reason to hope in God. But when youve learned from your childhood that everything was certain, this is really hard. You dont learn to walk with Jesus, to hope in him in a desperate situtation, to abandon yourself to him in this uncertainty, to give your sin to him and beg him to wash it in His Blood. This is my experience at least. I have had to wrestle with this psychological shift a lot since converting and wrote at length about it in this other post if you are interested: https://substack.com/home/post/p-143479895
Thank you for sharing, Stephen. It seems we have made a similar journey, but in opposite directions. :) However, I have not become a protestant. I have become a non denominational Christian or if you like, a follower of Jesus Christ. I am His disciple.
It’s so interesting to me how it felt for you to be a Protestant and feel you had to be so certain about everything. I agree that that is something I do not like about Protestantism.
I used to miss how the Catholics embrace the mystery.
Regarding Paul, who said he was the chief sinner. I think what people tend to think that he is talking in the present tense, but he is saying (in my humble opinion) that he was the Chief sinner because of how he persecuted the Christians. But when you study his work in the NT, you will see that he says there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus and that he is made righteous by the blood of Jesus… He was made righteous by FAITH, not works, so he cannot boast.
As for David, that was before the coming of Christ so yes, he had to atone for his sin. But since Jesus died, we no longer have to atone for our sin. He takes all our sin away when we believe He did it for our freedom.
I believe Catholics and Protestants have a lot of the truth, but they both miss something too, but are too proud to admit it. :)
There is a lot of good things you will discover in the Catholic faith, so I say.. enjoy the journey, but once you are “born-again”, you will be washed clean.
First comes Salvation, then Sanctification.. sanctification is a process.. we work out our salvation with fear and trembling.. we are being purified.. of our old sin.. but there is not new sin or at least there should not be if we are truly saved.
I put my hope and trust in God each day. I need Him every day.. because He is my lifeline.
Blessings.. I will read your article later when I have more time to study it.
Im thankful for the interaction but, in charity, I disagree with most all of what you say here.
Its been rewarding for me to take scripture literally, and when engaging with protestants (your vocabulary is protestant, and thus spiritual descendance likely as well, even if you wish to reject the term along with responsibility for your patrimony). its dismaying that they so frequently have to basically rely on the claim that the Bible or Jesus or St Paul didnt really mean what he said at very crucial points. like John 6:55 or the previous quote from St Paul, all so that they conform with doctrines that are novel and not of apostolic origin. they often turn scripture against scripture, whereas the true Church sythesizes. Yes St Paul says in romans 8 there is no condemnation for those in Christ. He also says in 1 cor 9:27 that he chastizes his body, and brings it into subjection, that lest he having preached the gospel become a castaway". Was he not saved? Was he not in Christ? Why did he need to do penance? The Catholic teaching offers a synthesis, where the protestant one basically says St Paul didn´t mean what he said, that he really didnt think he could be a castaway. St Paul says in 1 col 1:23.24 that he in his suffering for the church perfects what was lacking in the atoning work of Christ. Is the crucifixion not sufficient for St Paul? Of course not, but this scripture cannot be made sense of in terms of protestant theology of how we are redeemed and unite with Christ and extend his Reign through our lives and suffering. Perhaps I need to study more as you say, but when the rebuttal from protestants is simply to say St Paul doesnt mean what he says whenever he departs from our theology, then its hard to take seriously.
i didnt mean uncertainty in terms of mystery, though there more of this in catholicism, but the fact that no catholic can be certain of his eternal fate as a matter of dogma, and that protestants, particularly of the non-denominational variety, but its also in the westminster confession for instance, insist that assurance of ones salvation is material to our salvation itself. this is spiritual poison from the catholic pov. in any facet of life the assurance of success doesnt increase diligence as a rule. There are many, many scriptures to back the catholic teaching on this point, most notably Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount at the very end in ch 7, "many will say to me on the day of Judgement, Lord, lord, didnt I..." also "but he who perserveres to the very end will be saved." but this is what was and sometimes is hard to adjust to. the teaching of the Bible and Saints is that the way is narrow and few find it, this is the teaching of the RCC. And you cannot know with certainty if you are on this way or will perservere on it, of course you can have some idea, but you have to learn to hope. a charismatic friend of mine in freiburg who doesnt think i am a christian because I dont have this certainty, she once told me, "i don´t know how you can stand it, if I thought i could be damned, I would panic at all times, I would be unstable, I would be full of fear." I told her, "couldn´t you just hope in Jesus?" She quickly retorted almost in fury, "But I dont want to hope!" This was telling.
i work with protestants from time to time, ywam, etc, and they have shaped my apostolate in crucial ways, praying for healing, deliverance, or simply how to pray with and for people in general. I dont doubt that Jesus converts souls outside of the Catholic Church, or even, given the fact that 98% of catholic recieve a terrible catechism, out of the Church so that they might develop a personal relationship with Him and study the bible. I guess my point of view is that the Holy Spirit, if it is at work in these conversions, will lead souls back to the apostolic faith and the catholic church at some point.
You have touched on many things here Stephen which is great, but also difficult to respond to.
Regarding 1 Cor. 9:27, I never thought of that verse as the apostle Paul doing penance. Rather, I saw it as an analogy of a man running a race to win and would be very strict on himself. Paul was diligent in his walk with God and did not take it lightly. I agree with you that Protestants and especially Evangelicals are so over confident (even arrogant at times) about getting into heaven. Some Christians say we can lose our salvation, others say we can’t, so we all have to grabble with these doctrines and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us. I like to think I will get into heaven, but the Bible does say once we are born again (really saved), we will then be judged on the quality of our good works only. https://orla.substack.com/p/judgement-day-those-who-do-not-come
We are all learning and the more we study and pray the more we will come into the TRUTH.
I have some Protestant theology and some Catholic theology.. this is what happens when you study the Bible for yourself.
I also think it’s very strange about John 6:55 and what is even more weird for me is Matthew 16:18 which is another big divided between P&Cs.. The Catholics believe it means Peter was the first pope.. :) and the Protestants do not agree.
So, keep studying and praying. Only God has the TRUTH. I believe the Holy Spirit helps us if we seek Him with all our heart.
remove the plank from thine own eye orla! check out your second to last comment (you opened many fronts on that one! ha.). anyway I am grateful for your gracious response here.
my emphasis of the 1 cor 9:27 was equally "lest I become a castaway" showing the possibility of even St Paul being damned, without penance, according to his own spirituality. hebrews 6 talks about real believerfs falling away, so i question your notion of born again being a once and for all sort of thing that occurs before eternity. the catholic view is a combination of a judicial and biological one. Christ takes our punishment, but we must also be healed to enter into eternity and contemplate God, we are healed by sacraments and most expecially the most Holy Eucharist, the Body of Christ. Thus purgatory for those who havent done penance for their temporal punishment (Jesus takes the eternal punishment), and have not been perfected as a spiritual organism, i.e. havent become inwardly just, to use the langauge of the council of trent.
St Paul says that the Church is the pillar and ground of the truth in 1 tim 3:15, and yes we should ask the Spirit to guide us while reading scripture. But there is a testimony of the working of the spirit in the church and through the saints that for me is really important to my theological method and I think it should be to everyone. To me it feels like a sort of ask dad, dont like the answer, ask mom sort of tactic to focus simply on reading the scriptures according to "the Spirit" without reference to apostolic tradition. perhaps you disagree.
I think, as you say, prayer is really the key and praying with your whole heart and offering your whole heart! Thats a lovely way of putting it. Ive really appreciated our interaction on substack and am thankful for your thoughtrfulness, generosity, and spiritual depth.
Stephen, thank you for this. So many quotable parts from you “the greatest sinner”. (Please accept that projection as a prayer for us both). Thank you also for subscribing to my substack. I will be sharing your substack with my brothers. Majik is one of my subscribers & I’m one of his. We connected on Richard Beck’s substack & it’s been a fruitful & encouraging connection.
I’m sure I will add comments as I read back through this post. Thank you again & be encouraged.
Great question, I ask my friends who comment on my posts the same thing. I’m going to go back through your post & unwrap (in writing) the parts that resonate. I will, hopefully, cite you well so stay tuned as it will be in my substack.
Raised a Franciscan Irish Catholic (my Dad's two brothers were Franciscan priests and Mom and Dad were Third Order Franciscans) this article not only resounded in my soul, it opened up yet another avenue for me to consider who I am with honesty, to allow His Spirit to be not only in me, but to recognize when He speaks to me and to always follow His command. The greatest of these is of course to love Him with everything we are and to love all others regardless of their religion, politics, race - anyone we think might be different. This He commanded. My Mom often said, "You may not like 'em, but you always have to love them."
Good stuff. Thank you for following my blog. Would you mind telling me how you stumbled upon my blog and why you decided to follow it. I'm subscribing to "Sancti Stulti," linking this post into the one that I'm writing now because it says something I've thought for a long time but until now didn't know that St. Francis thought it before me. God bless you, Brother.
Thanks. I dont remember exactly, most likely through a mutual subscriber or follower. Ill look forward to reading your post.
You should. You're twice pictured in it!
https://themjkxn.substack.com/p/i-am-the-chief-of-sinners
Thank you for this excellent reminder that self-criticism is a full-time job and of the virtue of humility. On what authority do I imagine judging others? The only one who has authority in judging others is Jesus Christ, not me, to whom “all power is given in Heaven and Earth,” as it is written.
Thanks for the encouragement! I dont agree 100% with the sentiment here as you formulate it, only in the sense I think its important to reiterate that we can judge deeds. I tend to dislike how some common understandings of Jesus´s words "judge not that ye be not judged," are formulated as if we cannot judge at all. Or that we cannot judge deeds as good or evil (a lot of contemporary new age spirituality, kaballah, eckhart tolle, etc goes in this direction), thus promoting a sort of agnostiicsm or relativism about the moral life that actualy limits self knowledge and ultimately true humility and charity. St Paul says in contrast "But he that is spiritual judgeth all things" 1 cor 2:15. The obvious possible reconciliation is that we can judge deeds but not people. Or as you say "others," so perhaps we are in total agreement. What I was trying to highlight here is that the Holy Spirit will tend to help us see evil in ourselves and good in others. Its scary how easy it is to live a very ostensibly "religious" life without ever entering into this spirit. So even if we can judge all things according to the Spirit, its a sign we are not living in this Spirit if our focus is on the flaws of others rather than our own flaws.
I think we’re on the same page. Paul says “for I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God…nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Only Christ has the authority to judge, not I.
Thank you. I love your work. I spent the early part of my life as a semi-vagrant, walking, hitching, climbing mountains. I once spent a night at a Trappist monastery in Holland. I arrived late in the evening and banged on the door, and they let me in and gave me a room for the night and breakfast. I only wish I'd got up early and joined them for Lauds, but I was young and self-conscious, a sense of unworthiness.
My writing is also unworthy, but offer it free to whoever is interested. The Lord Bless you in your journies.
"What we call the artist, the writer, the poet, the modeller in the clay of the earth, is the mystic, the ascetic, the shaman of our day.
It is why we are vilified and cursed.
Because we reveal to the world its loss, it’s emptiness and confusion, and the difficulty of the path that leads back to truth."
https://desorgher.substack.com/p/truth-beauty-and-the-pain-of-loss
Thanks for the encouraging comment and for sharing your work! I found it interesting, that the intensity of the mystic and artist is the same is an interesting claim I will have to think more about. All Best, Stephen
Excellent!
Thank you Father! Please pray for my vocation if you think of it!
Of course I'll think of it and offer prayer on your behalf.
I think I would need a long time to study this piece, Stephen. I was raised a Catholic and I have started to attend mass again. However, the Catholic teaching of being a sinner does not sit well with me anymore as the Bible tells us that once saved, we are no longer sinners, but saints. I was a sinner - yes, and I don't even like to think about the way I was anymore, but it does serve as a reminder of how lost I was and how God set me free from a life of sin and death.
Orla, thanks for your thoughtful response here. im glad it was thought provoking and am thankful for your candor. And that´s wonderful you have returned to Mass!
I think you are right that the spirituality or psychology of catholicism and protestantism is fundamentally at odds here. i heard it said once that protestants go to church because they are good, and catholics go to mass because they are bad. as a protestant convert to catholicism, this rung true for me. the trick is learning to enjoy it! the catholic spirituality is not foreign to the scriptures however, consider St Paul. "that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." 1 tim 1.15 Or even David, "the sacrifice that is pleasing to God is a broken heart, a humble and contrite spirit" ps50 (51). how can we have this heart, if we think we are already Saints, already made perfect? St Paul says he is the chief, not merely that he was the chief sinner. St Francis says he is the greatest sinner, not that he was. So thats the only point I would object to in what you wrote, to increase in sanctity according to the catholic faith is to increase in the awareness of ones current sinful and wretched state, which binds us to Jesus and His Redemption practically. To me the hardest thing about becoming catholic was learning how to hope in God for the first time. Failure is possible, your situation or at least mine was and is, horrible, all the more reason to hope in God. But when youve learned from your childhood that everything was certain, this is really hard. You dont learn to walk with Jesus, to hope in him in a desperate situtation, to abandon yourself to him in this uncertainty, to give your sin to him and beg him to wash it in His Blood. This is my experience at least. I have had to wrestle with this psychological shift a lot since converting and wrote at length about it in this other post if you are interested: https://substack.com/home/post/p-143479895
Thank you for sharing, Stephen. It seems we have made a similar journey, but in opposite directions. :) However, I have not become a protestant. I have become a non denominational Christian or if you like, a follower of Jesus Christ. I am His disciple.
It’s so interesting to me how it felt for you to be a Protestant and feel you had to be so certain about everything. I agree that that is something I do not like about Protestantism.
I used to miss how the Catholics embrace the mystery.
Regarding Paul, who said he was the chief sinner. I think what people tend to think that he is talking in the present tense, but he is saying (in my humble opinion) that he was the Chief sinner because of how he persecuted the Christians. But when you study his work in the NT, you will see that he says there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus and that he is made righteous by the blood of Jesus… He was made righteous by FAITH, not works, so he cannot boast.
As for David, that was before the coming of Christ so yes, he had to atone for his sin. But since Jesus died, we no longer have to atone for our sin. He takes all our sin away when we believe He did it for our freedom.
I believe Catholics and Protestants have a lot of the truth, but they both miss something too, but are too proud to admit it. :)
There is a lot of good things you will discover in the Catholic faith, so I say.. enjoy the journey, but once you are “born-again”, you will be washed clean.
First comes Salvation, then Sanctification.. sanctification is a process.. we work out our salvation with fear and trembling.. we are being purified.. of our old sin.. but there is not new sin or at least there should not be if we are truly saved.
I put my hope and trust in God each day. I need Him every day.. because He is my lifeline.
Blessings.. I will read your article later when I have more time to study it.
Im thankful for the interaction but, in charity, I disagree with most all of what you say here.
Its been rewarding for me to take scripture literally, and when engaging with protestants (your vocabulary is protestant, and thus spiritual descendance likely as well, even if you wish to reject the term along with responsibility for your patrimony). its dismaying that they so frequently have to basically rely on the claim that the Bible or Jesus or St Paul didnt really mean what he said at very crucial points. like John 6:55 or the previous quote from St Paul, all so that they conform with doctrines that are novel and not of apostolic origin. they often turn scripture against scripture, whereas the true Church sythesizes. Yes St Paul says in romans 8 there is no condemnation for those in Christ. He also says in 1 cor 9:27 that he chastizes his body, and brings it into subjection, that lest he having preached the gospel become a castaway". Was he not saved? Was he not in Christ? Why did he need to do penance? The Catholic teaching offers a synthesis, where the protestant one basically says St Paul didn´t mean what he said, that he really didnt think he could be a castaway. St Paul says in 1 col 1:23.24 that he in his suffering for the church perfects what was lacking in the atoning work of Christ. Is the crucifixion not sufficient for St Paul? Of course not, but this scripture cannot be made sense of in terms of protestant theology of how we are redeemed and unite with Christ and extend his Reign through our lives and suffering. Perhaps I need to study more as you say, but when the rebuttal from protestants is simply to say St Paul doesnt mean what he says whenever he departs from our theology, then its hard to take seriously.
i didnt mean uncertainty in terms of mystery, though there more of this in catholicism, but the fact that no catholic can be certain of his eternal fate as a matter of dogma, and that protestants, particularly of the non-denominational variety, but its also in the westminster confession for instance, insist that assurance of ones salvation is material to our salvation itself. this is spiritual poison from the catholic pov. in any facet of life the assurance of success doesnt increase diligence as a rule. There are many, many scriptures to back the catholic teaching on this point, most notably Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount at the very end in ch 7, "many will say to me on the day of Judgement, Lord, lord, didnt I..." also "but he who perserveres to the very end will be saved." but this is what was and sometimes is hard to adjust to. the teaching of the Bible and Saints is that the way is narrow and few find it, this is the teaching of the RCC. And you cannot know with certainty if you are on this way or will perservere on it, of course you can have some idea, but you have to learn to hope. a charismatic friend of mine in freiburg who doesnt think i am a christian because I dont have this certainty, she once told me, "i don´t know how you can stand it, if I thought i could be damned, I would panic at all times, I would be unstable, I would be full of fear." I told her, "couldn´t you just hope in Jesus?" She quickly retorted almost in fury, "But I dont want to hope!" This was telling.
i work with protestants from time to time, ywam, etc, and they have shaped my apostolate in crucial ways, praying for healing, deliverance, or simply how to pray with and for people in general. I dont doubt that Jesus converts souls outside of the Catholic Church, or even, given the fact that 98% of catholic recieve a terrible catechism, out of the Church so that they might develop a personal relationship with Him and study the bible. I guess my point of view is that the Holy Spirit, if it is at work in these conversions, will lead souls back to the apostolic faith and the catholic church at some point.
You have touched on many things here Stephen which is great, but also difficult to respond to.
Regarding 1 Cor. 9:27, I never thought of that verse as the apostle Paul doing penance. Rather, I saw it as an analogy of a man running a race to win and would be very strict on himself. Paul was diligent in his walk with God and did not take it lightly. I agree with you that Protestants and especially Evangelicals are so over confident (even arrogant at times) about getting into heaven. Some Christians say we can lose our salvation, others say we can’t, so we all have to grabble with these doctrines and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us. I like to think I will get into heaven, but the Bible does say once we are born again (really saved), we will then be judged on the quality of our good works only. https://orla.substack.com/p/judgement-day-those-who-do-not-come
We are all learning and the more we study and pray the more we will come into the TRUTH.
I have some Protestant theology and some Catholic theology.. this is what happens when you study the Bible for yourself.
I also think it’s very strange about John 6:55 and what is even more weird for me is Matthew 16:18 which is another big divided between P&Cs.. The Catholics believe it means Peter was the first pope.. :) and the Protestants do not agree.
So, keep studying and praying. Only God has the TRUTH. I believe the Holy Spirit helps us if we seek Him with all our heart.
remove the plank from thine own eye orla! check out your second to last comment (you opened many fronts on that one! ha.). anyway I am grateful for your gracious response here.
my emphasis of the 1 cor 9:27 was equally "lest I become a castaway" showing the possibility of even St Paul being damned, without penance, according to his own spirituality. hebrews 6 talks about real believerfs falling away, so i question your notion of born again being a once and for all sort of thing that occurs before eternity. the catholic view is a combination of a judicial and biological one. Christ takes our punishment, but we must also be healed to enter into eternity and contemplate God, we are healed by sacraments and most expecially the most Holy Eucharist, the Body of Christ. Thus purgatory for those who havent done penance for their temporal punishment (Jesus takes the eternal punishment), and have not been perfected as a spiritual organism, i.e. havent become inwardly just, to use the langauge of the council of trent.
St Paul says that the Church is the pillar and ground of the truth in 1 tim 3:15, and yes we should ask the Spirit to guide us while reading scripture. But there is a testimony of the working of the spirit in the church and through the saints that for me is really important to my theological method and I think it should be to everyone. To me it feels like a sort of ask dad, dont like the answer, ask mom sort of tactic to focus simply on reading the scriptures according to "the Spirit" without reference to apostolic tradition. perhaps you disagree.
I think, as you say, prayer is really the key and praying with your whole heart and offering your whole heart! Thats a lovely way of putting it. Ive really appreciated our interaction on substack and am thankful for your thoughtrfulness, generosity, and spiritual depth.
Sorry if you felt judged by me, Stephen. It was not my intention. It was nice to hear your thoughts on the faith. Thank you for sharing.
Stephen, thank you for this. So many quotable parts from you “the greatest sinner”. (Please accept that projection as a prayer for us both). Thank you also for subscribing to my substack. I will be sharing your substack with my brothers. Majik is one of my subscribers & I’m one of his. We connected on Richard Beck’s substack & it’s been a fruitful & encouraging connection.
I’m sure I will add comments as I read back through this post. Thank you again & be encouraged.
thanks alot for the encouragement and especially for sharing with others! id enjoy learning what exactly resonated with you. God Bless.
Great question, I ask my friends who comment on my posts the same thing. I’m going to go back through your post & unwrap (in writing) the parts that resonate. I will, hopefully, cite you well so stay tuned as it will be in my substack.