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Zosan
Member
| Joined: | Mon Dec 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Biloxi, Mississippi USA |
| Posts: | 48 |
| First Name: | Norm | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Roman Catholic - Worldwide Church of God - Assemblies of ... |
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Posted: Tue Dec 11th, 2007 02:12 am |
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Greetings from Biloxi, MS.
My name is Norm Cyr. Originally from Bridgeport, CT I now reside in Biloxi, MS. I like it here because the only snow I see is on T.V. when the cable goes out. 
I'm a cradle Catholic. My godparents made sure I went to Mass every Sunday until I was confirmed around the age of 14 or so. Memory fails me but I believe they stopped driving me to Mass on Sunday after they attended my confirmation. Between the ages of 14 to 18 I was a hit or miss, mostly miss, Catholic.
I joined the Air Force in 1968 to avoid the draft and the war in Vietnam. Friends told me it would be better to serve 4 years in the Air Force over 2 years in the Army. At least this would give me the chance to avoid the Vietnam war.
Sometime in 1968 I found myself back at the confessional after missing more than a few Sundays. I was well aware of the requirement to go to confession prior to Mass on Sunday so I could receive communion. I returned to my weekly routine of Saturday confessions prior to each Sunday mass since I was not capable of being sinless during the week.
Soon after returning to my habit of weekly confession I realized that I was repeating the same sins week after week. My intellect convinced me the problem was a real lack of true repentance, so I decided to skip the confessional until I could be truely repentant and a changed man.
So I attended mass every Sunday, but I would not go up for communion. It did not take long to question my attendance at mass while not partaking of communion so I decided I would return to mass after I became a truely repentant and changed man.
At this point in my 18 years of life I became a non-practicing Catholic and would remain one for the next 32 years.
The Air Force sent me to Tokorozawa Japan in December of 1969. I was 19 and single. Then in the summer of 1971 I heard a knock at my girlfriends front door. The Japanese gentleman introduced himself by asking me a religeous question that I do not recall, but his question peaked my interest. He was a member of a local Jehovah's Witness Church.
To be continued...
In Christ We Are One
Norm
aka Zosan
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Annie
Member
| Joined: | Wed Feb 14th, 2007 |
| Location: | Columbus, Ohio USA |
| Posts: | 718 |
| First Name: | Annie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | nothing, Quaker, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic |
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Posted: Tue Dec 11th, 2007 01:20 pm |
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Oh, man, this is gonna be a cliffhanger. 
____________________
Annie
Ora et labora
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Dave Armstrong
Network Apologist
| Joined: | Fri Nov 2nd, 2007 |
| Location: | Melvindale, Michigan USA |
| Posts: | 1227 |
| First Name: | Dave | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Nominal Methodist / evangelical non-denom / "Bapticostal" / Catholic |
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Posted: Tue Dec 11th, 2007 05:20 pm |
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Welcome to our forum, Norm. We're delighted to have you. And thanks for sharing your (TBC) story. I look forward to reading the rest of it!
____________________
I'm happy to offer whatever theological & personal assistance I can. My blog, Biblical Evidence for Catholicism, contains 1900+ papers & web pages (absolutely free) & 16 apologetic books (for sale):
http://www.biblicalcatholic.com/
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Zosan
Member
| Joined: | Mon Dec 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Biloxi, Mississippi USA |
| Posts: | 48 |
| First Name: | Norm | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Roman Catholic - Worldwide Church of God - Assemblies of ... |
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Posted: Wed Dec 12th, 2007 01:09 am |
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Greetings from Biloxi,
The Jehovah's Witness that showed up at our door in Tokorozawa Japan introduced me to the bible in a way I've never known in my 19 or 20 years of life as a cradle Catholic. Growing up I use to see the huge, red, gold leaf family bible that my father would read from time to time, but I do not recall reading it myself. I use to enjoy the wonderful full color pictures scattered throughout the book, but the text remained a stranger to me.
He discovered a cradle Catholic with a deep thirst for learning about the bible. His sharing started out once a week for about an hour after work, but soon progressed to two or three nights a week. Before too long he was showing up at our door almost every day! At that point my Buddhist girlfriend put a stop to my adventure through the bible.
I returned to my worldly ways, while keeping an eye on my girlfriend who would recite the Namiohorengeikyo prayer a few times each day. She trained me to place small plates of food and water on her alter called a butsudan before lighting a candle and insense. She was a mixture of Soka Gakai and Shinto beliefs that intrigued my curiousity early on in our relationship. Later on she added a few wooden icons called "ehai" that contained the names of her deceased parents. Ancester worship runs strong in the Asian culture.
The Air Force sent me to Shemya, Alaska in 1975 for a one year remote tour of duty. Remaining a non-practicing catholic with a new found interest in the bible thanks to my Jehovah's Witness experience. While on Shemya I had the opportunity to fellowship and study with a Morman. If being impressed with the bible was not enough for me, now I found a Christian faith who had two bibles!
To be continued....
Norm
aka Zosan
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Annie
Member
| Joined: | Wed Feb 14th, 2007 |
| Location: | Columbus, Ohio USA |
| Posts: | 718 |
| First Name: | Annie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | nothing, Quaker, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Dec 12th, 2007 11:06 am |
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| Oh, man, I gotta get more popcorn, this journey story is really interesting!
____________________
Annie
Ora et labora
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Zosan
Member
| Joined: | Mon Dec 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Biloxi, Mississippi USA |
| Posts: | 48 |
| First Name: | Norm | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Roman Catholic - Worldwide Church of God - Assemblies of ... |
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Posted: Thu Dec 13th, 2007 02:22 am |
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Greetings from Biloxi,
Yes my new found Christian brother, a morman, shared a copy of the book of Morman with me while we were stationed together on Shemya, Alaska. Yet the experience with him was overshadowed by a movie, followed by other movies popular at the time (1975) that poisoned my soul. I won't mention any titles for fear of someone looking for them out of curiousity. Remember...curiosity killed the cat.
I do remember finding the book of Morman a bit strange though. Something inside of me, fortunately did not totally die, kept me at an arms length from becoming a morman.
I returned to Japan in 1976 for a second tour of duty. A few more years of experience with my Buddhist/Shinto mate who was not impressed with my Christian attitude or behaviour. She had a chip on her shoulder the size of a rafter against the Christian faith.
An example of our divergent views of life occurred one evening when I was out running. A neighbors friend was staying with us and asked her about the piano in her room. She showed it to him and started to play a tune or two. Not realizing it was a bit late and our neighbor is an early riser her music aroused him from a deep sleep. He started screaming over the fence separating our houses into an open window in the kitchen. Central air conditioning was not common in Japan in 1976. One of the comments he made went along the lines of accusing her of being "an american whore."
The Japanese language does not use profanity as the english speaking nations use it because some of our english profanity is based on our Christian faith. The average Japanese does not share our Christian faith, so they resort to personal insults in its place.
The incident errupted into violence when he ran into his home to retrieve his double barrel shotgun after my mate decided to return the insult. She escaped through a side exit of the house and ran down the street to find me. As we were returning home I listened to her side of the story. I was very upset with his choice of words even though I felt she was at fault for playing the piano so late in the evening. My plan was to ask for an apology from him for his selection of words first before recognizing the error she made in playing the piano so late in the evening. She was encouraged by my outrage over the incendent as we proceeded back home.
Our neighbor, with whom we have dinned with over the months, had a little girl with a club foot. Her father was very self conscious of the disability of his daughter and lamented the fact that she had to struggle to walk while other children her age were running and playing.
After hearing the details of the event and with a firm resolution to approach my neighbor as calmly as I could, considering the gravity of his insult towards her, she tells me the insult she shouted through the open window, over the fence, while our neighbor was ranting in his yard over the noise. Basically she said "you have a lot of nerve calling me an american whore when all you can do is produce crippled children!" That term "bikko no oyagi" haunts me to this day.
I FROZE! I WAS SPEECHLESS! WHAT EVER POSSESSED HER TO MAKE SUCH A HORRIBLE COMMENT?
At that moment my resolve to demand an apology melted like a stick of butter in a hot oven. Something I remember my mother teaching me about the kettle calling the frying pan black or something of this nature.
As we approached the two houses we discovered the entire neighborhood was out in the street. The disgruntled neighbor was telling his side of the story for everyone to hear. When he saw me he said "ah...here comes donna (Japanese for male counterpart in a relationship)...he is a reasonable man." As I got within ear shot I apologized for both the piano playing and the uncalled for slander against him and his daughter. His anger went out like a tourch stuffed into a bucket of water. Soon afterwards I had to face the tirade of my mate who felt I had betrayed her by not confronting our neighbor about his choice of words.
This incent is just one of many that challenged my faith as a Christian. Over the course of 30 years I've had many an opportunity to practice forgiveness and charity. Especially at home.
To be continued.
Norm
aka Zosan
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Annie
Member
| Joined: | Wed Feb 14th, 2007 |
| Location: | Columbus, Ohio USA |
| Posts: | 718 |
| First Name: | Annie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | nothing, Quaker, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic |
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Posted: Thu Dec 13th, 2007 09:39 am |
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That is a very good illustration of Christian behavior. I'm waiting anxiously for the next installment.
I looked into Mormonism too for about a nanosecond until I found out how they feel about unmarried women! 
____________________
Annie
Ora et labora
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Zosan
Member
| Joined: | Mon Dec 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Biloxi, Mississippi USA |
| Posts: | 48 |
| First Name: | Norm | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Roman Catholic - Worldwide Church of God - Assemblies of ... |
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Posted: Thu Dec 13th, 2007 11:51 pm |
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Greetings from Biloxi,
My spiritual journey took another turn with my assignment to Keelser in Biloxi, MS in the fall of 1980. A friend asked me if I had ever been to a progressive supper in December? Of course I did not have a clue, but I was open to the experience. The supper began at one person's home with the first portion of the evening meal. Then everyone moved on to a second, third and fourth home eating a different portion of a Christmas meal at each stop. There were about 6 homes on the circuit, so it was a very enjoyable adventure.
After the meal everyone assembled at the Vancleave Baptist Church. The pastor took the opportunity to introduce me to my first "fire and brimstone" sermon. What an experience! In short he scared the hell right out of me. I was convinced after hearing his more than one hour lecture to never commit a sin, ever, for as long as I would live!
He conducted an alter call after the sermon, but I was too afraid to get out of my seat. I did not know what to expect, so I just watched as a few other folks walked down the center isle. He was a very patient man, prompting more people to join him up front, but the traffic was slow in deed. Total time in the hall was over two hours.
I was very impressed with his sermons so I took my Japanese mate with me every Sunday morning to see if something he would say would sink in. It didn't and she grew tired of the long drive every Sunday morning.
Next stop? Cedar Lake Christian Assembly, Assemblies of God Church, where I learned the value of praise and worship. The band there was just awesome. The music was very uplifting and delightful. The two hour meetings were a bit much each and every Sunday, but I guess that was the cost of being Pentacostal!
I attended the Cedar Lake Adult Bible Study every Sunday as well since it was being taught by a local elder whom I met at Keesler. He and I became very close after our initial encounter in 1982. He encouraged me to take the Windows Classes so I could become a member of Cedar Lake, but my response would always be "when you teach the class then I will take it." He was the only reason I attended Cedar Lake in the first place. He did not teach the class for many years later so I remained just a visiting brother for the rest of my time in Mississippi.
Then one Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. I was channel surfing when I came across an elderly gentleman who said "Man has made great strides in all areas of life execpt human relations. Why can mankind put someone on the moon, yet, not live in peace with his neighbor? Stay tuned for the answer."
That was the summer of 1985. The elderly gentleman was none other than Herbert W. Armstrong, Paster General of the Worldwide Church of God from Pasadena, California. His 30 minute program that Sunday morning put my spiritual journey into a ten year tail spin. I'll have to spread this portion of the journey over the next few posts since there are a lot of details.
To be continued...
Norm
Aka Zosan
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Zosan
Member
| Joined: | Mon Dec 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Biloxi, Mississippi USA |
| Posts: | 48 |
| First Name: | Norm | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Roman Catholic - Worldwide Church of God - Assemblies of ... |
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Posted: Sat Dec 15th, 2007 12:06 am |
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Greetings from Biloxi,
The first program I watched answered the question "why can mankind put a man on the moon, but not make much strides towards getting along with their neighbor?" The program was titled "The World Held Captive." Mr. Armstrong proposed a solution to the problems of humanity. Nothing rocket science, but something that hit home with me. If every human being would just keep the Ten Commandments of Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 then the world would be in better shape. How simple!
Mr. Armstrong then went on to expound on each commandment and the consequence to our society if everyone would just be obedient. He introduced me to a pattern of scripture study called proof texting. This works by first proposing an idea. Then pointing out every scripture that supports your idea while conveniently ignoring any scripture that contradicts your idea.
At the end of the program I ran to the telephone to call Pasadena to order the program pamphlet along with a copy of The Plain Truth magazine. Right after hanging up the telephone I felt this sinking feeling in my stomach. I just gave out my name, address and telephone number to a complete stranger attached to a church. Surely someone would be knocking at my door that afternoon looking for a donation or handing me an application to join.
That knock on the door never came so I watched the program the next week. The topic was the United States and Prophecy. WOW! What a program. I quickly ordered the pamplet for that topic as well. This pattern continued week after week for about 2 years. During this time I watched every weekly program. I collected every copy of the Plain Truth published, even asked for back copies, along with every pamphlet ever produced and even spent some time studying their comprehensive bible study program. ALL FOR FREE! Or so I was lead to believe.
In the summer of 1987 I called Pasadena and expressed a desire to attend a church service if the group was meeting somewhere close to my home. They were not listed in the telephone book and I had no personal contact outside of the toll free number in Pasadena. I was told someone would be in contact with me.
I received a letter from a Pastor who lived in Mobile. I promptly called him to get directions to the weekly services, but he would not tell me where the group met in Mississippi. He did tell me he has a congregation in Biloxi that meets every Sabbath, Saturday, but he wanted to meet with me first. That should have been the clue to drop this subject like a hot potato, but I was hooked.
The pastor came to my home one Tuesday evening for a 3 hour meeting. He answered all of my questions about the church, with the exception of the location of the local hall, along with every spiritual question I could throw at him. When ever I would ask a spiritual or biblical question he would not tell me "we believe or I believe" he just pointed out the appropriate scripture. I was impressed to say the least.
I told him of my desire to join the group, but he felt I was not ready yet. Apparently I had been doing my homework since I was familiar with a lot of the doctrine of the church and the teachings of Mr. Armstrong, but he felt more time was needed.
Right after he left I started to wonder "what are these folks doing during their weekly Sabbath services every Saturday morning somewhere in Biloxi that he does not want me to see or hear?" I knew the church followed the old covenant laws to the letter, but why couldn't I attend? Then it dawned on me. Oh Lord! They are killing innocent lambs each week, pouring the blood on an alter and sacrificing the meat! What else would be his reason to keep me at arms lenghth of the group?
A few months later I was reassigned to Okinawa Japan. I quickly became discouraged with my new found faith because I could not watch the weekly Word Tomorrow Program. My addiction to the program was very evident at this point. I quickly contacted Pasadena for help. They put me in touch with a pastor in Manila who flew to Okinawa from time to time to interview perspective members.
I met with the pastor when on one of his visit to Okinawa. I tied him and his wife up all morning, all of the afternoon and into the evening hours the first day we met. I did everything I could to convince him that I was ready to be baptized into the Worldwide Church of God. Late that evening he was convinced of my sincerity, but he was not prepared to baptize me on this visit.
Before we parted he slipped by telling me of his appointment to meet the only member of the Worldwide Church of God on Okinawa the next day. Of course he would not tell me who this person was for privacy reasons, but I pushed him to pass along my name and telephone number to this person. If this person choose to contact me then he would not be violating their privacy. He agreed.
A few weeks later I received a call from Edna. A wife of a Marine stationed on Okinawa and the only member of the Wordwide Church of God on the island.
To be continued.
Norm
aka Zosan
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Zosan
Member
| Joined: | Mon Dec 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Biloxi, Mississippi USA |
| Posts: | 48 |
| First Name: | Norm | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Roman Catholic - Worldwide Church of God - Assemblies of ... |
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Posted: Sun Dec 16th, 2007 01:18 am |
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Greeting from Biloxi,
Edna and her two boys and I would meet every Saturday morning, the weekly sabbath, for a bible study. The four of us would go over various teachings of the Worldwide Church of God. Her husband was not interested in the church so he would either work on his car or play dominos with his friends in the living room.
By the time I reached Okinawa I decided to make some changes in my life. Some of these changes could have a major impact on my career in the Air Force, attempting to keep the weekly Sabbath for instance, but I left that change for a little later. I did incorporate the required dietary changes soon after my arrival on Okinawa. I gave up unclean food, in accordance with the teaching of the book of leviticus, such as pork, shrimp and the other unclean foods. Basically I was following a kosher diet.
About a year after visiting with Edna every week I decided to write a letter to my commanding officer to tell him of my decision to honor the lord's sabbath every Saturday. I would not be reporting to work after sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturdays. I needed to write this letter because I was required to work weekends during mobility exercises. Shortly before getting the guts to take such a bold move, I could face very severe penalties for such a decision, the leadership changed at Kadena where I was stationed. The new leadership did not see a need to work weekends during mobility exercises, so every exercise terminated at 5:00 p.m. on Fridays and resumed at 6:00 a.m. on Mondays. Go figure!
One day Edna slipped when she told me about sermon tapes she was receiving from Pasadena each week. I have never attended a Sabbath service with the Worldwide Church of God so I had no idea what they would talk about, but I was very interested to find out. I begged her to let me listen to a tape or two, but she held her ground. Only baptized members of the Worldwide Church of God could listen to the tapes.
I called the pastor in Manila, he had not followed through on his promise to baptize me, so I told him how badly I wanted to hear what Pasadena had to say. He told me of the rules, but understood that it was not my fault that I was not a baptized member. He accepted my logic and instructed Edna to share her tapes with me each week. She was required to return the tapes each month, but gained permission to hold on to them a little longer so I could listen to them.
Up to this point I had read every thing ever written by Herbert W. Armstrong. I had a whole library, something I cherrished, along with copies of the Plain Truth and Good News magazines. The Good News was a bit deeper than the Plain Truth magazine.
I could not believe what I heard on those tapes from Pasadena. The wisdom, understanding and depth of theology just blew me away. It was better than anything I have ever read or listened to in my life. I started to idolize most of the speakers. Week after week was just one more surprise after the other. I was hooked for life with this Christian Cult!
As a matter of fact one of the senior pastors from Pasadena was invited to speak at a local college when they were on the topic of cults. The pastor listed all the various beliefs that would label any group as a cult and we fit every single belief. I was a bit surprised, but did not mind being involved with a cult. I believed everything taught by the Worldwide Church of God, a lot of things not shared with the general public, so what's the big deal I thought.
Over the four years I was station on Okinawa I would fly to Tokyo a few times a year to meet with other church members during the holy days. These days were Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Day of Atonement, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles.
I had to wait until December of 1990 before being baptized by the associate Pastor from Manila. Every time I would meet with the main pastor from Manila either in Okinawa or Tokyo he had an excuse not to baptize me. I could never figure this one out, but the day I was baptized into the Worldwide Chuch of God was a day I will never forget. It took me more than 5 years of very intense bible study in preparation for this event. Oh how blind I was to the truth!
I retired from the Air Force on May 1, 1991 in Biloxi, MS. I did not waste any time calling Pasadena to find the location of the local congregation now that I was a baptized member. They gave me the address of a small hall that was rented every week by the church. A pastor from Mobile came over every Saturday morning for services. I have fond memories of the day I walked into the hall at 9:00 a.m. for my first real Sabbath service with a church that kept me at arms length for more than 5 years.
The yearly Feast of Tabernacles was held at the Biloxi Coliseum in 1991. I attended the 8 day festivities along with thousands of members from around the world. What an experience to sing and fellowship with thousands of brothers and sisters in Christ. To top it off 3 or 4 of the Pasadena pastors whom I have come to idolize were actually speaking during the week. I even got the chance to spend a day with one and his family! That is a story all in itself.
Oh how I cherrished my time with the Worldwide Church of God from the summer of 1985 until sometime in 1994. The year the Worldwide Church of God collapsed!
To be continued...
Norm
aka Zosan
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Zosan
Member
| Joined: | Mon Dec 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Biloxi, Mississippi USA |
| Posts: | 48 |
| First Name: | Norm | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Roman Catholic - Worldwide Church of God - Assemblies of ... |
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Posted: Sun Dec 16th, 2007 11:45 pm |
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Greetings from Biloxi,
From 1991 until sometime in 1994 I was enjoying my fellowship with the Worldwide Church of God. Keeping all of the holy days. Traveling each year to attend the Feast of Tabernacles in Florida. Yet there was a storm brewing in Atlanta when the local pastor of a very large congregation started to preach against the doctines and beliefs of Herbert W. Armstrong. He even went as far as to move his congregation, those that would follow him, to Sunday worship. How could he turn his back on the 4th commandment?
The Pastor General of the Worldwide Church of God was Joseph Tkach Sr. Mr. Armstrong passed away leaving the chuch in his hands. He traveled to Atlanta to confront the wayward pastor. Everyone who held strongly to the beliefs of Herbert W. just knew Mr. Tkach would set the record straight when he spoke to the congregation in Atlanta.
Well he set the record straight all right. He told the congregation and the entire Worldwide Church of God membership via the Church newspaper that the leadership in Pasadena was in agreement with Pastor Williams from Atlanta! He said the leadership in Pasadena came to realize the errors of Herbert W., but did not know an easy way to break the news to everyone. He used the meeting in Atlanta do break just such news.
SPLIT...SPLIT...SPLIT...The church splinter groups popped up very shortly after that famous meeting in Atlanta. Many church elders broke away, claiming to hold to the truth once delivered by Mr. Armstrong, the income fell drastically and the church started to shrink at an alarming rate.
I was in a state of shock for some time. I prayed hard to understand how our Lord could allow me to be so lead astray for close to 10 years of my life. All that money and all those sacrifices. All gone in a puff a smoke.
One evening at my office during some intense prayer I was lead to read the book of Ephesians. I don't recall ever reading any book of the bible under the guidance of the Worldwide Church of God during my time with them. I was too busy reading Mr. Armstrongs material, listening to sermons and highlighting my King James bible with three colors so I would know which scriptures were quoted in the Plain Truth and booklets. Which scriptures were quoted from the very lenghthy bible study and which scriptures were quoted during sermons. Each color helped me to see the importance of which scripture for which audience.
As I began to read Ephesians from chapter to chapter without any study guides I noticed something that I had not see before. There were passages of Ephesians that were not highlighted! This was true of every book of my King James bible. Every book had numerous places that were not highlighted. That meant that these key passages where never quoted by the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). AND FOR GOOD REASON! They contradicted the doctrines of the church.
What a fool I have been for more than 9 years. I was not alone though because many of our brothers and sisters in Christ were in the same boat. Some returned to their previous denominations. Some left to follow one of the elders claiming to hold on to the truth. Me? I stayed with my pastor in Biloxi to ride out the storm.
While all of this confusion was going on my local pastor and our only elder and their wives decided to pay a visit to Brownsville, Florida. They heard about a revival there. It did not take them but a few weekends to come back to us speaking in tongues, holding healing services, laying on hands and slaying members in the spirit from the stage! Hey. This was all very familiar to me since I spent some time with the Assemblies of God before discovering the WCG.
My pastor was fired from Pasadena for teaching us to speak in tongues, so the less than 100 of us left decided to break away as an independent church. Our new name was The Gulfport House Of The Solid Rock. Later the named changed to All By Grace when the pastor found himself buried in the book of Romans.
I stayed with the group as long as they were close to home. I was ordained a deacon in the WCG so I just continued with the pastor after his termination. When he decided to move the church 40 miles north I decided not to follow him. I just returned to fellowship with Cedar Lake Christian Assembly.
In 1994 I joined Toastmasters International, a public speaking organization, who introduced me to a whole new element of society. One of my closest friends was Catholic and invited me to a bible study called Renew 2000. A bible study for Catholics which made me a bit uncomfortable. The group talked about Canon Law and the bibles in use had extra books. Not only that, but the book of Daniel even had extra chapters!
Now the real jouney begins, or ends actually, as I'm reintroduced to the faith of my childhood. Something I never thought was possible between 1968 and 2000.
To be continued.
Norm
aka Zosan
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Intercessor
Member
| Joined: | Tue Sep 25th, 2007 |
| Location: | Southcentral, Kentucky USA |
| Posts: | 859 |
| First Name: | Becky | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Southern Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Mon Dec 17th, 2007 10:55 am |
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Annie, could I have a little of your popcorn?
Want some of my Milk Duds?
Wow, Norm, tell us more!
____________________
"If our charity is arrested by the difficulties encountered in dealing with our neighbor, . . . our relations with our brethren are not regulated by our love of God, but by our love of self." Divine Intimacy p. 781, Fr. Gabriel, O.C.D.
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Zosan
Member
| Joined: | Mon Dec 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Biloxi, Mississippi USA |
| Posts: | 48 |
| First Name: | Norm | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Roman Catholic - Worldwide Church of God - Assemblies of ... |
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Posted: Mon Dec 17th, 2007 12:29 pm |
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Greetings from Biloxi,
Thank you for your interest in my journey. I do not like to read long emails so I'm attempting to break the jouney down into bite sized increments.
I'll continue the story later this evening as I spend the day gathering my thoughts.
In Christ We Are One
Love,
Norm
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Zosan
Member
| Joined: | Mon Dec 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Biloxi, Mississippi USA |
| Posts: | 48 |
| First Name: | Norm | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Roman Catholic - Worldwide Church of God - Assemblies of ... |
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Posted: Tue Dec 18th, 2007 01:55 am |
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Greetings from Biloxi,
One aspect of the Renew 2000 experience was the invitation by my Toastmaster friend, Erma, to attend a Sunday mass with her. I was not thrilled by the idea, but I struck a bargin with her. I would attend an 11:30 a.m. mass if she would attend a 6:00 p.m. praise and worship service with me on the same Sunday. A deal was struck and I attended my first mass in more than 30 years. I was confident the praise and worship service would convince her to jump ship and join me at Cedar Lake Christian Assembly.
My first experience with mass at Our Lady of Fatima and my introduction to Father Paddy was sort of ho-hum. There were some differences in the mass from my earlier recollections. The priest was facing the people. The mass was entirely in english and I had forgotten how many times everyone would stand, sit and neal during the mass. Of course I did not participate in any of this. I just sat in the seat watching and listening the entire hour. That part was interesting. Services at Cedar Lake would spend close to an hour just in praise and worship before the more than 30 minute sermon. Add in more praise and worship after the sermon and the services will last a bit over 2 hours. Throw in a 1 hour bible study at 5:00 p.m. and be prepared to be at Cedar Lake from 5:00 p.m. till 7:30 or 8:00 p.m.
This pattern went on for a few weekends. Ms. Erma, as her friends called her, was very patient and polite while attending with me at Cedar Lake. She never complained about the length of the service and she appeared to like everything about the experience.
Then from the ambo one Sunday during mass Father Paddy said something that tweeked my interest. He said something to the effect that Catholics have a document called the "didache" that our protestant brethren either are not aware of or they do not care about it. I don't recall his exact words, but Ms. Erma noticed a change in my posture the moment he spewed those words from his mouth. I had never heard of or read this document, but my ears were twitching. I could hardly wait to get to the Internet to research such a document.
I found the document, printed a copy and sat down to digest the contents. I discovered it to be a document attributed to the Apostles of Christ. I did not see anything wrong with the contents and gave Father Paddy credit for pointing out something to me that I was not aware of before his homily. O.K. so now he has some credibility. His earlier homilies were O.K., but he did not say anything prior to this Sunday that tweeked my interest like this Catholic document titled the didache.
So next Sunday I waited in anticipation to see if he could teach me something else. I was not prepared for the following weeks homily. Even though it lasted less than 10 minutes.
Nine years with the WCG caused me to be deeply involved with and totally consumed by biblical prophecy. In less than 10 minutes Father Paddy had managed to totally contradict just about everything I've ever read or learned about biblical prophecy! I was so upset with his homily that I did everything I could to remain in my seat. I wanted to jump up and say "hold on a minute!" He managed to totally capture my attention from that homily forward.
A few months of weekly masses shifted the balance. I stopped attending Cedar Lake while attending 11:30 a.m. masses with Ms. Erma. Father Paddy, without knowing it, was bringing me home one homily at a time.
I do not recall the Saturday, but one Saturday I showed up at Fatima for the scheduled confessions from 3:00 p.m. till 3:45 p.m. I found out from Ms. Erma that confessions can be conducted the old fashion way or I could take a seat in front of the priest. I decided to face Father Paddy since I've never had this experience before.
Forgive me Father for I have sinned. It has been 30 plus years since my last confession. I waited to see if Father Paddy would collapse to the floor. After all missing a single Sunday mass, in accordance with my teaching as a Baltimore catechist, was a mortal sin. I'm not sure how many Sundays there are in 30 plus years, but more than enough to make a priest fall out of the chair. Or so I thought.
He looked me straight in the eye and asked me "so what else is bothering you?" His exact words. I'll never forget them I'm sure. I was speechless. What else is on my mind? Isn't 30 plus years of mortal sin bad enough? How could I ever come up with anything worse?
My life has not been the same after returning to the sacraments that day. The following Sunday I attended mass. I sat, stood, knelt and prayed along with the rest of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Then I received the precious body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the first time in more than 30 years.
Buckle your seat belts folks. The ride is about to become fast and furious.
To be continued.
Norm
aka Zosan
Last edited on Tue Dec 18th, 2007 01:57 am by Zosan
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CajunRick
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
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| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Tue Dec 18th, 2007 08:50 am |
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Zosan wrote: Buckle your seat belts folks. The ride is about to become fast and furious.
To be continued.
I certainly hope so! We're enjoying this Advent ride.
____________________
Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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EMarshallBuckles
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| Joined: | Mon Nov 19th, 2007 |
| Location: | Rockville (Near Richmond), Virginia USA |
| Posts: | 524 |
| First Name: | Marshall | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Christian Church,Episcopal Church,Baptist denomination,learning about RCC |
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Posted: Tue Dec 18th, 2007 01:38 pm |
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| You all can have some of my Diet Coke, too, if you like. I'm reading in interested attention!
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Zosan
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| Joined: | Mon Dec 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Biloxi, Mississippi USA |
| Posts: | 48 |
| First Name: | Norm | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Roman Catholic - Worldwide Church of God - Assemblies of ... |
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Posted: Wed Dec 19th, 2007 02:05 am |
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Greetings from Biloxi,
I asked Father Paddy where I could serve at Our Lady of Fatima. He asked me about my interest so I told him of my background in adult education and my desire to teach. He asked to me assist with the baptism instructions so this is where I started. It did not take long before the primary instructor bailed out on me once I got my feet wet. I enjoyed the class and continue to this day to offer instructions to anyone who requests to have their children baptized at Our Lady of Fatima.
Very quickly doors began to open and opportunities started popping up in rapid succession. The first door to open for me was a new program in the Diocese called "New Wine". This class met for 3 years on a Monday night and gave me a very good foundational understanding of the catholic faith. The part of the class I enjoyed the most was meeting all the various priest and religious who were called upon to teach the various classes. I was introducted to all sorts of books and materials such as Vatican II documents and Papal Encyclicals (my favorite documents to date).
O.K. That took care of my Monday evenings. Then I was introduced and inducted into the Knights of Columbus. They meet on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. During the month there are all sorts of opportunities to serve the community as well.
Then Father Paddy asked Ms. Erma, who enlisted my help, to start a program on Wednesday evenings called P.L.A.Y. A program for children in the 1st through 6th grades. The programs proper name is Praying and Learning About YHWH. I do the weekly bible study for the children. I decided to combine my baptism instructions with P.L.A.Y. each week since I was going to be at Fatima every Wednesday anyway. So much for Wednesday evenings.
Then one Sunday afternoon a man named Johnny visited me at home to tell me all about Cursillo. It sounded interesting so I went. This group conducts an Ultreya on the first Thursday of every month so guess where I am those evenings.
Then Father Paddy brings a program from San Antonio called A.C.T.S. which stands for Adoration, Community, Theology and Service. This is a three day weekend experience, born from the Cursillo movement, with both a Mens and Womens weekends. Of course I signed up for the first weekend.
Low and behold Father Paddy had another idea. He asked me, along with two other folks, to conduct a weekly Sunday morning scripture class. Of course this fit into my schedule just fine since I attend 11:30 a.m. mass each Sunday and this class started every Sunday at 9:00 a.m.
Of course our C.C.D. director enlisted my help with the 9th grade C.C.D. students on Sundays after the 11:30 a.m. mass.
Somewhere along the line I was enlisted to help as both a Commentator and Lecter for the 11:30 a.m. mass as well. Don't quite remember when this creeped up on me, but it is something I enjoy doing at least once a month.
I was the first Vice President of the newly formed A.C.T.S. Core Team. I have worked both mens weekends each year for the past 3 years.
I am currently the Secretary for the Cursillo Movement of South Missisippi. Over the course of a year I've worked on Cursillo Teams, Kitchen Teams, ARISE Teams and ARISE Kitchen Teams. I would love to work a KAIROS weekend with the prison folks, but the thought of having my fingers broken if I reached for an application prevented me from accepting this opportunity.
I am the coordinator for a great program called The Light Weigh on Monday nights at Fatima (graduated from New Wine) as well as the coordinator for the same program on Tuesday evenings in a parish 45 minutes away (current conflict with Knights of Columbus).
I am a coordinator for the Upon This Rock Scripture Study held on Wednesday mornings at St. Mary's in Woolmarket (20 mintes from the house) this year. Last year I attended the 24 week class on Matthew and this year I am working with the ACTS 20 week class.
I am addicted to E.W.T.N., Mother Angelica, Father Corapi, Scott Hahn, Marcus Grodi, Mitch Pacwa, Robert Spritzer and numerous other folks on E.W.T.N.
Some of my favorite authors are John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Padre Pio, St. John of the Cross, St. Terese of Avila and I'm working my way through the diary of Faustina.
This is my story and I'm sticking to it! The jouney is not over, but at least I'm on the right road this time. (I love the assent to Mt. Carmel!)
Norm
aka Zosan
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Annie
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| Joined: | Wed Feb 14th, 2007 |
| Location: | Columbus, Ohio USA |
| Posts: | 718 |
| First Name: | Annie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | nothing, Quaker, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Dec 19th, 2007 11:45 am |
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Oh, man, I shouldn't have gone out to the kitchen to heat up a Hot Pocket TM, I missed a lot!
That is a GREAT faith journey. So interesting. Thank you very much for posting it.
throwing myself on the sofa with my Hot Pocket TM,
Annie
____________________
Annie
Ora et labora
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