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Pam says:
I was taken to the Catholic church from the time I was a baby. Following Catholic doctrines and traditions was the way of life for my family.
I was baptized at a Catholic church as a baby.
(In the New Testament we see that we are baptized after we are born again, not as babies.)
Acts 8:36-37 ... and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
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My parents took my two sisters and I to the Catholic church for Mass each Sunday and sent us to the Catholic elementary school.
(No where in the Bible are we instructed to perform rituals called "Mass")
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Catholic priests were welcomed visitors at our house. I recall one priest, whom my parents especially liked, coming multiple times to our house.
("Priest"
is an Old Testament term, but is not used in the New Testament church.
Ministers given by Jesus to the New Testament church are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. Ephesians 4:11-12)
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My mom kept a bottle of "holy water" from the Catholic church in the refrigerator. She would give us a small cup of this water to drink if we became ill.
(No where in the New Testament is there anything about "holy water". The only reference to "holy water" in the Bible is in the Old Testament, Numbers 5:11-31, in which "holy water" is used to determine whether a woman has been unfaithful to her husband.)
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During elementary school there were times when my mom seemed very concerned about something. She would prepare an envelope with a note and check in it and send my sister and I to the rectory with instructions to give the envelope to a priest so the priest would "say a mass" for whatever was on the note.
(Under the New Testament we go directly to God in prayer, not going to someone called a "priest".)
Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
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Also during elementary school my older sister wanted to be a nun when she grew up. She found a way to order a child's version of a nun's robe and veil and would go around the neighborhood dressed up in these garments.
(No where in the New Testament Bible are we instructed to wear religious garments such as robes, and there are no such things as "nuns" in the Bible. )
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My mom worked with ceramics as a hobby. Among the many pieces she worked with were some statues of religious figures. We had also purchased some religious statues at stores. My older sister prepared an altar for religious statues in the bedroom we shared, and I copied her, preparing an altar for statues I had as well. But I soon lost interest when there didn't seem any purpose for these things. I didn't know what to do with them.
(Religious statues such as these are an abomination to God, as we see in both the Old Testament and New Testaments. We don't worship God through images, for God is a spirit.)
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship HIM must worship HIM in spirit and in truth.
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Being taught that the Catholic church is the only true church, it never occurred to me that any of these things were wrong.
But they are wrong.
Although I believed everything taught in the Catholic church was correct, to me the Catholic church was "spooky". My earliest recollection of church was when I was 3 or 4 years old, walking up the stairs to the church building and dreading going inside.
Nothing bad ever happened to me in the church building, but it was strongly in me that this was a "spooky" place and I didn't want to be there.
As I grew older, this sense that the Catholic church was "spooky" continued with me.
I thought something was wrong with me.
Later, I was shown by God that many of the doctrines and traditions of the Catholic church are contrary to the New Testament Bible and are antichrist.
I believe God had put this aversion to the Catholic church in my heart, even as a young child.
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Hebrews 8:10 God says:
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to ME a people:
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