What would any of Jesus’ Disciples say if they walked into your church? If Peter walked into the cathedral built in his name, I think he’d start tearing down statues — including those of Mary — and candle stands and scream, quoting what Jesus said when He cleared the money changers from the temple…
“The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”
Matthew 21:13 NLT
He would also add that with all the idolatry, it’s become a pagan temple and an abomination to God. And, he’d be right.
If Paul walked into a progressive church like the United Church of Christ, he’d sit quietly in the back shaking his head and thinking to himself… “Oh, dear Lord! What I wrote to Timothy all those years ago came true! What happened?” What did he write to Timothy?
You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
8 These teachers oppose the truth…They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith. 9 But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are…
2 Timothy 2:1-5, 8-9 NLT
What Did Happen to the Church founded by Jesus portrayed in the Book of Acts?
Power-hungry men who thought they knew better than God happened. Greed happened. Pride and vanity happened. Sexual immorality happened. False teachers happened. Everything the New Testament Gospel writers warned us about happened.
After doing the deep-dive that I did on Where the Catholic Church went wrong, I came to the conclusion that the Roman Catholic Church has strayed so far away from what Jesus taught, that they cannot be considered or called Christians. This is what I discovered…
- Infant baptism is useless — it does not pave your way to heaven.
- Constantine adopted paganism to better unite the Christians with the Roman Empire.
- Purgatory was invented by an early pope and later another pope saw it as a way to swindle hard-working people from their money. If Purgatory exists, then Jesus suffered and sacrificed His life and died for nothing.
- Penance and confessing to a priest is also useless — it does not save you.
- Peter was NOT the first pope!
- There’s no magical Eucharist. Jesus is in heaven, not in the bread or wine.
- The 7 Sacraments are also useless.
- Indulgences were the biggest Ponzi scheme ever and they still go on! See #3.
- The pope’s presumed authority and infallibility is false.
- Replacement theology is wrong as well as antisemitism — and it started in the church.
- Mary was just the Mother of Jesus.
- Venerating and worshiping Mary and the saints is a sin!
- The assumption of Mary is another lie.
- The church kept the Gospel Truth away from the people for centuries with their Latin Bible.
- The Reformation failed to change what was wrong within the church.
- The most horrendous sin started with denying clergy and nuns the right to marry.
What about the Protestants? What happened after the Reformation?
As I stated in #15 above, the Reformation failed to change what was wrong with the Catholic Church. It actually caused a split. They then became the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestants went their own way.
I’m not going to go into how each branch of Protestantism broke off and became their own denomination. Dr. John Barnett, goes into very nice detail in this video…
I grabbed a screenshot of his timeline of the Protestant church denomination splits. It’s really interesting to see what branch came from where…
- The Protestant Reformation – 1517 — the Lutheran denominations stem from Luther. However, they’ve split as factions have gone more liberal.
- John Calvin and the Reformed Church – 1520
- Ulrich Zwingli and the Anabaptist – 1525 — they coined the name “Halfway Christian” because the churches still failed to teach true redemption, salvation and baptism.
- King Henry VIII started the Anglican Church – 1534 — because he wanted to divorce his wife and marry another just so he could have a male heir — which he got, but died too young.
- The Mennonites broke from the Anabaptists – 1536
- The Presbyterians stem from the Reformed Church through John Knox – 1560
- Robert Browne started the Congregationalist Church in 1592 — which later, in America, merged back with the Reformed church to form the United Church of Christ (UCC). That was the Protestant church that I attended for years not knowing any better.
- The Baptist Church stems from the Anglican in 1612.
- In 1693, the Amish split from the Mennonites, settling mostly in Pennsylvania, but also pioneering west.
- The Unitarian Church stemmed from the Congregationalists in 1785.
- In 1787, the Methodist Church, led by John Wesley broke from the Anglican Church. Stems from them created the Salvation Army, the Holiness Church and the Pentecostals. I cover some of that history along with the Charismatics and Fundamentalists here.
- In America, the Episcopalian Church was renamed from the Anglican Church – 1789.
Wow! And then, of course, there are millions of independent, non-denominational churches which don’t align themselves with any other church but the Church of Jesus Christ — or so they say!
Our Dilemma
That’s the problem we have. Who’s right? Well, it’s gotten to the point that I tell a new Christian to find a church that preaches the Bible truth. That they are Bible-based. Seriously, if you’re church shopping, you have to research the church’s website. Read what they believe. If they say they are “open and affirming”, run! Those are the Progressives and they have twisted and watered down the Gospel so much that Paul and Peter wouldn’t recognize it.
If you’re not sure and you’re just attending a church because it’s nearby, then you’ll have to depend on the Holy Spirit to help you discern the truth.
If you want to learn more about Christian Church history, I highly recommend Ryan Reeves on YouTube. He has a series of videos on church history covering everything you will ever want to know.
All in all, you need to READ THE BIBLE for yourself! Always Seek the Gospel Truth. How do you know when it’s true, twisted or watered down? By asking the Holy Spirit DAILY to reveal His Truth to you.
By yourself, you’ll never get it. Satan wants nothing more than to separate you from Jesus. That’s the devil’s goal in life. Every one of us needs the Holy Spirit in our hearts to help us discern what is truth and what are lies.
Do you have the Holy Spirit in your Heart?
If you’re not sure if you’re saved or not, if you truly want to be born again and have the assurance of salvation, receive the Holy Spirit, feel His Shalom — a peace that surpasses all understanding, and get a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven after you die, or that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture, which can happen at any moment, this is what you have to do…
Invite Jesus into Your Heart and Receive the Gift of Grace, Joy, Peace, and the Confident Hope of Eternal Life…
My Testimony…
- From Catholic to Prodigal: Surviving College
- From Prodigal to Progressive: Surviving Hurricanes
- From Progressive to Born Again Christian: Surviving Unemployment
The 5 Solas — which came out of the Reformation
The 5 Solas
- Sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”): The Bible alone is our highest authority.
- Sola Fide (“Faith alone”): We are saved through faith alone in Jesus Christ.
- Sola Gratia (“Grace alone”): We are saved by the grace of God alone.
- Solus Christus (“Christ alone”): Jesus Christ alone is our Savior, Redeemer, Lord, and King
- Soli Deo Gloria (“to God alone be the Glory.”): It’s all about God, not us.
