I spent 50 years in the Catholic Church. That all changed in 2017 when I decided to make the word of God a daily journey. It was a journey not of my own. It was a path I would take to fulfill a promise that I made during my very last Lenten season in the church of Rome. This would be the Lent that would change our lives.
Upon that decision, the grace of the Holy Spirit fell upon me. Not because I was anything special or even did anything special. No! It all began because of one small decision I made. It was a decision that would make a big deal in my life. One I never expected. After all, when does God do anything small.
The very first thing I learned was the Word of God and the Catholic church were on two opposing paths. I spent decades challenging Catholic Doctrine. My Maine Catholic upbringing left me believing that while the Catholic church was not right in all things, there really was no alternative. This is the thinking of many Maine Catholics.
So here we were, off to church every Sunday hoping to build enough merit to gain salvation. Wrong! No amount of Sunday church visits will gain anyone salvation.
I realized at this point I could no longer walk with one leg on each path. I stepped off the broad path that led to the false gospel of the Catholic church and embraced my new commitment to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I learned that the Word of God in its entirety is Holy Spirit inspired, inerrant, trustworthy and true. There is only one way back the the Father and that is through His son Jesus Christ. There is no other way, ritual, tradition, sacrament, doctrine, saints to pray to or works that will gain you salvation except through, and only through the work of Jesus Christ on cross and the free gift of Salvation from the Father through His son’s resurrection which defeated death.
It is only through this perfect exchange with Christ that we can receive salvation.
2 Corinthians 5:21
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Not long afterwards, I walked away from the Catholic church and threw off the burdensome yoke they had placed upon my shoulders.
After watching the Holy Spirit, for many years guide me into a deeper understanding of Scripture, I found myself doing something I never imagined. I was called to become a Bible teacher. Today, I lead a Bible Exploration Class with an amazing group of brothers and sister in Christ whom I love dearly and anxiously await to gather with each week.
God is great in all things, and in all things, God is great!
With the help of the Holy Spirit, our class has been blessed with the excitement of exploring and learning the important message God has for us in these important last days. So many in our class have been inspired to share their learning experience and it keeps our group growing, vibrant and strong in God’s word.
I’ve been particularly led into the study of biblical prophecy. This has opened our eyes to understand the world around us. It’s no longer a mystery as to why things are happening in the world the way they are. While so much seems to be falling apart, it’s really all just falling perfectly into place.
In the course of our Bible exploration, many in our group began recording our sessions. Often, I was asked to record it myself in order that anyone who missed a session could catch up.
One day it gave me the idea to put our sessions into a website so that they could go back to it and continue growing in their understanding of what they just learned. This is what I intend for this website to be. A place to come and learn the word of God in a Bible exploration format. I also want it to be a tool to help others who may be like me, that could never imagine finding themselves in front of a group of people teaching God’s word. If the Holy Spirit can help me do it, then the Holy Spirit can lead you to do the same.
Much more to come…
Put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and he’ll overwhelm you with what He will accomplish through you.
John 14:12-14
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”