"There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death" (Prov. 14:12)
My desire to serve God
I was born and raised in a Catholic family. My mother was very devoted. The point came in my life when I wanted to serve the Lord in a special way. Since I was Catholic, the only way I knew was by entering the convent. I decided to enter the Sisters of Charity. This Order attracted me because they were very friendly, I heard that I could be happy and serve the Lord in the way He wanted me to serve Him. From the moment I entered, they told me that I did not deserve this "Sacred Vocation" and that I would not remain for long if I did not grade to all of their standards. I determined to be a good Sister of Charity. However, it didn't take me too late to realize what life in the convent is like. Instead of peace, harmony and working together, I found contention, gossip,
A false system of works
While I was in the convent, I trained to be a teacher. Every day I received instructions on how to be a good and effective brother, and then we had a second lesson on Catholic doctrines, such as the mass, sacraments, rosary, infallibility of the Pope, etc. These doctrines began to be of no importance to me, as a complicated system of works, sacrifices and penances that were put together, hoping to get to heaven faster, but without the assurance of reaching heaven as soon as I died. I diligently began to pray to God to increase my faith, so that I would not doubt the teachings of the Catholic Church. However, I stayed in this situation for a few years, day by day no matter what happened. I still believe that I have to earn my salvation, but it is not like that, As we read in Ephesians 2: 8-9, “For by grace are you saved through faith; and this not from you: it is the gift of God: Not of works, so that no one can boast.
In the convent they keep us busy so we can't have enough time to think about the falsehood of the system. The bell rings at 5:30 in the morning, following an hour and a half in the chapel in formal prayer, then mass, then choirs, school classes, meditations and the rosary. Each one is brainwashed with ideas from the Catholic Church, such as prayers to Mary, asking her to stand before God for us and calling her "the mother of God." We faithfully wear the scapulars to help us pass through purgatory.
Guided by fear
You are not authorized to tell your family or friends what is really going on inside the convent. Everything should be presented as a pink box, and keep all suffering, pain, sickness and unhappiness within you. You are robbed into thinking, acting, speaking, and doing the same, all at the same time. It is the aspect of fear that keeps the young women in the convent, afraid of leaving the "true Church", as Catholics often say, and possibly risking their chance to enter heaven. You are never taught to ask Christ for help or to thank Him. You always have to pray to Mary, Joseph, or some other "saint" like Antonio, Judas etc. In the convent there is a lot of superstition. For example, they put a statue of Saint Joseph in the window so that it doesn't rain, but it always rains. They put a statue of Mary in the dishwasher to keep it working, but it always remains broken. In the Bible in Deuteronomy 16:22, we read, “You shall not set yourself up as a statue, which Jehovah your God hates” and in Exodus 20: 4, down on the earth, nor in the waters under the earth ”. Can you imagine such a supposition in the 20th century?
Tradition over truth
The rosary has never answered any of my prayers, as it supposedly did for others. Thank God, now I see why. Matthew 6: 7 says; "And praying, do not use vain repetitions, like the gentiles, who think that by their talk they will be heard."
Confession never gave me that clean feeling like it did for others. Now I see why. In Romans 14:12 it says; "So that each of us will give an account of himself to God." We are responsible before God, not before a priest, for our sins. Thank God for His mercy, by casting doubt on me during those years in the convent. Receiving the "Host" at Mass, the supposed blood and body of the Lord Jesus Christ, as we were taught, never helped me to strengthen my faith. It was just a piece of dry wafer for me. There was nothing to hold onto that was real. In Colossians 2: 8 he warns us. "See that no one deceives you by means of philosophies and hollow subtleties, according to the traditions of men, according to the rudiments of the world, and not according to Christ." But Roman Catholics insist that tradition is better than the Word of God. As the years go by, I continue in my state of unrepentance before God, because I have not yet been able to see that salvation is only through Christ.
Answered prayer
In January 1972, I began an awakening to the truth. I asked God to tell me if I should stay in the convent or not. God showed me that I should quit and He blessed me for the first time in all those years with peace of heart and happiness and relaxation of mind. When I told my superior of my decision, he told me that I was emotionally affected and could not make such a decision for at least three or four months. They told me that my parents would no longer love me if I left, and that I would not demand respect if I did not wear the nuns' habit. But I kept praying for God to deliver me from that place. I did not know that my parents were saved and that they were asking God to take me out of the convent. They didn't want a divided house and they prayed that their only children (both in religious life) would also be saved by the infinite mercy of God. They believed in Acts 16:31 "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved." After many days in prayer, my superior finally told me that if that was what I really wanted, to leave.
Salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ
I left the convent on February 1, 1972. When I got home, I was in a state of confusion that I cried over my little things. I went completely against God, I did not want to know anything about religion. I felt that my world was collapsing and I was afraid of the world outside. My parents had been saved under the ministry of Rev. Alex Dunlap on January 17, 1972. They continued to live their new Christian life as before I came home. They got me excited for me to go to church with them, so I went to their church (Cedar Grove Church, a church of biblical foundational preaching), but just be nice at home and not cause friction. My mother listened to Oliver B. Green and his Bible study in the mornings, and I listened to be nice.
Finally, through deep concern and many prayers from the Christians in my parents' church, I realized, six weeks later, that I was a sinner. Without the precious blood of Christ, which was shed on the cross for me, I would surely go to eternal damnation, if I did not accept the Lord Jesus Christ as my only and sufficient Savior. I let Christ rule my life, I received him in my heart and He has saved me from my sins. Now I know that when I die, I will go straight to heaven and be with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The final message
Now that you have read this story of how Christ saved me, I pray that you, too, will recognize your sinful nature, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) and receive Christ. as their Lord and Savior. I glorify God for saving my whole family. My brother, Frank, who was studying to become a priest now preaches the Word of God instead of the traditions of men. He has found in the Bible in Timothy 2: 5 that "there is only one God, and mediator between God and men, the Lord Jesus Christ." This mediator is not a Roman Catholic priest, as Catholic doctrines teach.
If any parent reading this testimony has a son or daughter in religious life, I beg you to remove them from that system. Have you seriously thought about where you will spend eternity? There are only two places: in heaven with Christ or in hell with Catholicism and its works. I am sure that you have received gifts from family and friends, and you have generously accepted the gifts with pleasure and joy. God also freely offers you the gift of eternal life… "The gift of God is eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 6:23). "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
Behold now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation ”(II Cor. 6: 2). Accept the Lord Jesus Christ, your gift of Salvation, now. He is the only way. "I'm the way, the truth and the life; No one comes to the Father except through me ”(John 14: 6).
After five and a half years in the convent, I am now serving my precious Lord and Savior as a missionary through Gospel Outreach, Inc. PO Box 905, Taylors, SC 29687-0905. Please contact me in case you need additional information.
[Source: https://bereanbeacon.org/es/esta-es-mi-historia/]
No comments:
Post a Comment