From today’s earlier Advent post:
It was not my intent to be divisive during this holy and joyful season. I had hoped to offer something to all Christians of benefit during these rushed days. That is what all my posts are meant to do. I regret that it is not to be.
I find the above comment reasonable, and in that spirit I am putting up a post for those who would like to share further thoughts in this season (soon) of Advent from a Protestant perspective. I ask my fellow Catholics to respect this as much as we wish our own viewpoints to be given opportunity and attention.
Please note. This is not an open opportunity for anyone to bash the faith of another. It is not a forum for you to argue theology or Protestant vs. Catholic ideas of salvation. This blog is not a place for religious apologetics, it has a different purpose, and there are thousands of sites where you can do that very thing, if you must. You will not do it here. If it becomes too much to moderate this post, I’ll chalk it up to a bad idea and trash it.
Happy Advent, and may we all find ways to open our doors to the Holy Family seeking shelter this season, ways that will deepen our ability to welcome Christ with love, on Christmas and every day.
As we near the time when we can rejoice with a “Happy Birthday Jesus”, I was reminded this evening of one of my favorite songs.
For Unto Us A Child Is Born
Then, as I sang that beautiful melody silently in my mind, I came to:
“And the government shall be upon his shoulders”
Jesus, if it is your will, and I pray it is, restore this nation to your righteousness, and correct this government to rightly sit upon your shoulders.
Lead us forward.
In the name above all names, in Jesus’ Holy Name, Amen.
Amen.
Peace and Good Will – the angels sang to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus Christ the King of Kings!
Fittingly, these are the themes of today’s devotions from Our Daily Bread https://odb.org
and Days of Praise https://www.icr.org/articles/search/?f_typeID=6 .
Well, this post has proven popular. I confess, I can’t see why. What happened here that was so different from the original post? Why was it appealing? The original person who requested it never even used it for the reason he asked. And I don’t see a single comment here that isn’t similar to what was happening on the original post.
can anyone explain to me what happened here? I genuinely do not understand why so many of you felt so much better about this post. I’m questioning the validity of any of the religious posts from here on out.
I’ll suggest you not spend much time or energy trying to fathom the intent of the person who challenged your original post. I won’t guess why a difference in responses – there are so many possibilities and golly i don’t think it matters. Advent is more than one day and some days are noisier than others.
And please do not question the validity of a future religious post. Please post what your heart calls you to write, knowing they are blessed by God. Consider it a welcome homily and believe you are writing words that will be pleasing to God and allow readers to hear His voice. I see your posts as invitations to my own prayers and others may as well.
Probably we felt you were were being unduly criticized, and wanted to both show support and demonstrate that we are one in the Spirit, even when divided by doctrinal differences.
Keep doing what you were doing. This post wasn’t necessary and is divisive rather than unifying although I applaud your desire to make everyone feel included and welcome. Your posts don’t exclude anyone from commenting about their faith or relationship with Jesus. They may choose to exclude themselves from commenting if they have a bias against or rejection of Catholicism. It is not you excluding anyone. Your posts are an honest sharing of your own beliefs, traditions and expression of your faith and an invitation for all Christians and even non-Christians to add thoughts of their own as long as they are respectful of others. There is already a place in the open thread for Christian fellowship with other Treepers for the gentleman who requested a separate post for non-Catholics since the Advent posts aren’t his cup of tea. It’s available all day, every day.
I only posted in this thread in response to a specific comment someone wrote, not because it was a “Protestant” thread. I was raised Catholic, have been Protestant 30+ years, and dig having Advent threads in the Treehouse around this time of year. One thread is good enough, and appreciated. One of the big draws to TCTH for me is the Christian cornerstone in the foundation.
Please don’t question your validity to post religious themed threads. So much evil and darkness in our world today. The world needs millions like you. If only one life is saved, then you have done as Christ commands. Use your voice and talent. You are needed…🤲
What happened was… a social engineering minion/ instigator of discord & disonnance was here to manipulate you. You did accommodate someone who didn’t want the accommodation per se – he wanted to MAKE YOU ACCOMODATE HIM.
Alinsky’s #10: 10. “The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.” It is this unceasing pressure that results in the reactions from the opposition that are essential for the success of the campaign.
https://www.openculture.com/2017/02/13-rules-for-radicals.html0:
Treepers came over here to continue the conversations in support of your post – unperturbed & unchanging in spite of the discord-generator.
“… Feeling “… so much better about this post? Possibly to irk the discord instigator.
Also people here seem to naturally automatically gravitate to newer posts as they appear – seems to me anyway.
I hate this. As Christians, don’t we all believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God? That our salvation is through Him? What difference does someone’s order of worship make? As humans we serve God imperfectly, but as best as we can.
So many of our ancestors came to America to get away from the Catholic vs. Protestant madness that infected Europe. Do we really need to continue that in Treehouse? Leave the thread alone.
The grands just left after spending a few hours and this reminded me of my time as a children’s leader and their Daddy was just three. I would practice during many of our two boys naps, trying to memorize the words and actions of the characters sharing the Advent lessons. For all my practice and planning, God had a better retelling and to my amazement huge lessons for me too. Such happy memories and now I have two and a half grands to tell the same. Merry Christmas!
Ephesians 4:13, 14,…1 Timothy 4: 1-6…
Are you familiar with the council of Trent or Vatican II or that the protestant reformation was ultimately based on the tenants of Augustine.,
Study the doctrines of men professing to be the word of God, or ohh wait a second I think I got that wrong.