Ok -- please hold all of your tantrums about the tardiness of the post and the title, but when you look at this picture, you will exclaim to yourself -- "MAN, I'm so GLAD they didn't keep this to themselves."
Some background:
We have a man in our church that is a former Catholic priest, Richard Bennett. He has an extensive ministry now to catholics, and preaching all across the nation, and even internationally. His testimony is simply encouraging and convicting. (P.S. He is Irish as well!!) You can check out his ministry at The Berean Beacon!!! His website is awesome! Great resources about catholic apologists, testimonies, church history, and much much more! So I encourage you, visit the site, listen to some of his resources, and be encouraged!
And now for the belated St. Patrick's Day gift to you all:
Some background:
We have a man in our church that is a former Catholic priest, Richard Bennett. He has an extensive ministry now to catholics, and preaching all across the nation, and even internationally. His testimony is simply encouraging and convicting. (P.S. He is Irish as well!!) You can check out his ministry at The Berean Beacon!!! His website is awesome! Great resources about catholic apologists, testimonies, church history, and much much more! So I encourage you, visit the site, listen to some of his resources, and be encouraged!
And now for the belated St. Patrick's Day gift to you all:
7 comments:
Greetings! Found your post via Google and have some comments...
>"His testimonyis simply encouraging and convicting."
I'm a Catholic who has watched Mr Bennett's testimony video and I found it anything, but convicting.
While Mr Bennet may resound with long held Protestant beliefs regarding the Catholic faith, he falls very short among Catholics.
I found it interesting to hear that Richard found his faith through the Catholic Church, was provided clothes and money by Catholics and was offered lodging by Catholics. Yet, Richard now speaks poorly of Catholics and the Church, after clear examples of the Gospel being lived by Catholics.
I also heard how Richard came to his "true Biblical salvation" while a Catholic priest, using a Catholic Bible, in a Catholic church, with no intervention by non-Catholics. In the video, Richard offered no reasons for leaving the Catholic Church except for his personal disobediance.
Convicting is not a word I would choose.
God bless...
- Timothy
Timothy -- thank you for checking out Richard Bennett's webpage and posting your comments! I appreciate your willingness to search it out, and I encourage you to e-mail Richard Bennett with any comments as well!! Thanks for visiting!
Timothy,
Thank you for your comments. It encourages me to hear of people searching out teaching that negates or refutes what they believe. Many people would do well to search out their faith as you do. I would just like to say a few things in response to your post.
I have no doubt that Richard is thankful for the provision he recieved through the catholic church. I am aware that only good trees can bear good fruit, (John 15) but the aid that Richard recieved from the catholic church was mainly humanitarian. That does not immediately gain the status of "gospel being lived" or else we would have to consider Goodwill, Red Cross, and other organizations that offer humanitarian aid to be living out the gospel. This aid was also in response to a ministerial commitment to the catholic church. Yes, these are good deeds, but they aren't the only way to judge the validity of a church.
I would also like to say that Richard was saved just like anyone else is saved; through the grace of God. The Spirit of God can use a bible with or without the apocrypha to save someone. We cannot credit any church, whether Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal or Methodist with the salvation of souls. We must glory in God alone. Just like Paul said to the Phillipians; "whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice," (1:12-18)
One last thing. Richard left the Catholic church not out of disobedience, but out of biblical conviction compelling him to leave. A Christ centered gospel is what the bible teaches (Col. 1:18-20). A works based salvation cannot be found in the New Testament. Rather, the sweet satisfaction of knowing that in Christ the debt has been fully paid, He has been offered once for all time and is seated at the Father's right hand, His earthly ministry being perfectly accomplished and his church fully purchased.
Thanks again Timothy for your comments. I hope that the Lord coninuously leads you to Christ as you seek Him daily. My prayer is that we continually are comforted by our sufficient Savior and God's endless grace.
In Christ Alone,
Ryan
Greetings! Just dropping by to follow up...
>Sarah; " I appreciate your willingness to search it out,"
Actually, I did not search Richard out. His name keeps being dropped by non-Catholics. Someone posted his story video to YouTube, which I happened across in my apologetics work. Thought I should know something of Richard as part of my Catholic evangelical ministry.
>Ryan; "...we would have to consider Goodwill, Red Cross, and other organizations that offer humanitarian aid to be living out the gospel. ?
Absolutely. I do consider Goodwill, Red Cross, and other organizations that offer humanitarian aid to be living out the gospel. You should also.
As a Red Cross volunteer myself, I regularly live out the gospel through the American Red Cross.
Additionally, the young Swiss evangelist Henri Dunant, who founded the Internation Red Cross, had living out the gospel as the core values of the Red Cross movement.
>Ryan; "Richard left the Catholic church not out of disobedience, but out of biblical conviction compelling him to leave."
Nope. Disagree. Richard states clearly in his video that he left due to being assigned to a voodoo area and fearing for his life. At no point in this section of the video does Richard state anything about leaving due to biblical conviction. Richard makes clear that he feared for his life and willfully disobeyed by refusing the assignment and leaving the Catholic church.
>Ryan; " A works based salvation cannot be found in the New Testament."
Correct. The Catholic Church has long taught, since its founding at Pentacost, that salvation is by God's grace. Even the Lutheran Church, the great Reformation church itself, has signed an accord that states the Catholic and Lutheran Churches both agree and both teach salvation is by God's grace.
The only folks teaching "works based salvation" are non-Catholics who either don't know what the Catholic Church teaches or don't care what the Catholic Church teaches.
God bless...
- Timothy
Interesting post and comments.
There is much that could be said in this discussion, and much has already been said. Thus, there is no need to reinvent the wheel here.
Timothy, I am sure you know of James White and his book The Roman Catholic Controversy. If you have not read it I would encourage you to (one cannot be thought of as a serious Catholic apologist without doing so). If you have read it, although I am sure you disagree with his overall conclusions, JW has the clearest articulation of the essential differences between Protestants and Catholics that I know of.
Irregardless of Mr Bennet's testimony, the issue hinges on Scripture. There are many Protestants who have been convinced of RCism, also. Thus, the giving of testimonies matters little in comparison to what Scripture teaches.
Again, much could be said.
wow, the discussion is almost more riviting than the post.....allthough I will have to look into this guy! sounds great.
Love you guys!
Timothy,
Just wanted to comment again, but after this I request that you e-mail me if you would like to continue our discussion. Just let me know and I will get you my e-mail address.
My understanding of living out the gospel comes from a life that is compelled to live for the glory of God as a result of salvation through the gospel of Christ. I am thankful that you serve through the Red Cross and share the gospel as you go; but the gospel of Christ is not the focal point of the Red Cross' work. "it is the mission of the American Red Cross to be there and help those in need." That quote was taken from the red cross website and Christ is not mentioned, nor is the gospel. When people trust in Christ as their Lord and Savior, they will have a newfound desire to please the Lord with their lives and proclaim the excellencies of His Son, thus living out the gospel. In order for me to consider an organization to be living out the gospel, the gospel of Christ must be the focal point of all that they do. I knew atheists who offered humanitarian aid, but I would never consider them to be living out the gospel.
No doubt that the Red Cross started out with Christ centered values, but like many institutions across America today that began with a Christ centered mission statement, Christ has been removed from the center and been replaced with other less significant things.
I talked with Richard today and he asked me to refer you to two videos that he has on Youtube. One is called "The Catholic Marine" and the other is called "From Polish Tradition to Truth." All I ask of you is to search out Richard's story a little more before you make definitive judgements about him. Let me quote to you from his personal testimony titled "From Tradition to Truth."
"I saw from the Bible (I Timothy 2:5) that the role I was playing as a priestly mediator - exactly what the Catholic Church teaches but exactly opposite to what the Bible teaches - was wrong."
"Mary, the saints, and the priesthood were just a small part of the huge struggle with which I was working. Who was Lord of my life, Jesus Christ in His Word or the Roman Church? This ultimate question raged inside me especially during my last six years as parish priest of Sangre Grande (1979-1985)."
These are just a few of the many quotes that I could use. It is clear that before he left the catholic church he began to see that the Bible stood in clear contradiction to what Catholicism had taught him. I only want you to make judgements about this man and his ministry based on a thorough understanding of who he is and where he has come from.
If you want to discuss these issues or the "works based salvation" issue in further detail let me know and I will send you my e-mail address. Thank you Timothy and may we ever seek to glorify the Lord in our discussion.
Trusting in the providence of our Lord,
Ryan
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