[Faith-talk] Advice and prayers

[debby phillips]

Hello there!  I will definitely pray for you in your decision.  
There are wonderful things about the Catholic Church, that I 
think you may end up missing in the long run, so although the 
Adventist church seems more interesting to you, and seems to be 
more Bible-based, you might want to consider a liturgical church 
like Lutheran (Missouri Synod) for instance.  But in the end, you 
will have to decide for yourself.  I can tell you that it will be 
a lonely road at times.  You see, I made the reverse decision and 
became Catholic.  Many of my friends stopped speaking to me.  I 
still loved Jesus, still had a relationship with Him, still 
believed that He was my Lord and Savior.  (I still do believe all 
those things).  But people told me that I was going to go to Hell 
for making such a decision.  When I ultimately decided that I 
would not be a practicing Catholic, my Catholic friends behaved 
in the same manner.  Now, I no longer claim membership in any 
denomination, and most likely will not.  I think it breaks the 
heart of God how divided we are as His Body.  I am sure that He 
knew that there would be differences of opinion about this or 
that doctrine.  After all, he spent time in the Temple with the 
various groups (the Pharisees, the Sadducees, etc).  So what I 
will say to you is this: You must know in your heart of hearts 
that what you are doing is the right decision, and you must be 
able to stand alone even when good friends decide that they 
aren't going to have any fellowship with you anymore.  When you 
are sitting in a church service feeling bewildered by what's 
going on, you may long for the days when you were back in your 
familiar surroundings in your local parish.  If you want to talk 
ever you can reply to my email and we can work something out.    
Blessings,    Debby