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I recently had an opportunity to join a new friend and fellow Catholic convert, K. Albert Little on his podcast called The Cordial Catholic. Our discussion centered on how the Holy Spirit called me (and my family) to do something we never thought we would ever do; enter into full communion with the Catholic Church! My friends at the Coming Home Network encouraged Keith to have me on the show to encourage folks who, like both of us, come from the Pentecostal and Charismatic communities and traditions.
In our discussion, we talked about my early life of being raised in a non-religious home and some key points along the way that opened my heart and mind to learn more about Christianity. I share some milestones in my conversion to the Christian faith, along with my own experience of developing anti-Catholic sentiment (which I did not have, per se, until after I became a Christian). From there we discuss how I eventually ended up on a 20-year tenure in pastoral ministry including serving as the senior and founding pastor of a Foursquare Church for 12 of those years.
As I share with Keith, it was in seminary that I first held still long enough to think about the implications of the fact that there was a Church for more than 300 years before there was a fully canonized Bible that included formal (Dogmatic) universal agreement about all of the books of the New Testament. In fact, the Bible emerges, over time, out of the Church (not the other way around). Thus, Christianity is not a Bible-centered faith. Rather, it is a WORD-centered faith (which includes the Bible but is not limited to the Bible). In my own journey of faith, it was a word (locution) from the Lord to me to attend a Catholic Mass at a parish in my neighborhood that ultimately led me and my family to enter into a year-long season of discernment about the Catholic Church and to eventually reconcile and enter into full communion.
Toward the end of our discussion, we have some great dialogue about the importance of the sacraments as the ordinary means of grace, and the reality that Jesus really does give us his body, blood, soul, and divinity as we partake in a valid celebration of the Eucharist.
Enjoy, feel free to ask questions, and definitely feel free to share this post or the video or podcast with your friends.