I was just reading an article in the New York Times entitled "Warned About
Abuse, Vatican Failed to Defrock Priest". The article concerns the
continuing problems of the Roman Catholic Church; and in particular, the
problems which have been brewing in Germany regarding yet another pedophile
priest, whose sins were intentionally, and repeatedly, covered by the RCC,
even though the priest molested as many as 200 boys. What is so serious
about this case, is that Pope Benedict XVI himself is being exposed due to
his failure to act, when he was in the position to do so.

With that incident in mind, allow me to share with you some of my personal
thoughts.

Similar to other Christian writers, for decades now, I have believed that
the day will eventually arrive when the physical church will cease to exist.
I am referring to the worldly, physical, multi-billion dollar system of
church buildings with their lavish decor, wide-spread property ownership,
worldwide business empires, etc.

The tragedy of this situation is that the eventual demise of the worldly
system of churchianity -- as I prefer to refer to it -- will come about in
large part as a result of the rampant corruption which exists within the
system itself. Through its own sins, worldly Christianity is discrediting
itself.

I am sure that many of you are fully aware of what I am referring to: greed,
lust for power, extreme materialism, gay and lesbian clergy members,
blessing ceremonies for gay and lesbian couples, pedophilia, etc. Is it any
wonder then that at this current time, so many people are becoming turned
off to religion as a whole?

Of course, the mistake of these people is to erroneously assume that the
modern church system is a true reflection of God and His Kingdom. Those of
us who know God's Word, of course, realize that this is the furthest thing
from the truth. As I point out in such articles as "Churchianity Or
Christianity: Which Do You Practice?" and "Where Are The First Century
Churches", modern Christianity is a far cry from true First Century
Christianity, as it was practiced by Jesus and His followers.

At any rate, it will still take some time before the false, worldly church
system totally crumbles. It will continue to spiritually decay from within,
even if the physical buildings remain, and people continue to go through the
motions of being Christian. In fact, a serious compromise may come into
effect where the physical church system will be allowed to continue to
exist, as long as it abides by the rules of the coming world leader. Perhaps
it will be similar to the controlled church systems that currently exist in
places like Russia and China.

While the physical church system will continue to decay and crumble, this
will have little effect on God's true Church. I am of course referring to
the worldwide Body of Believers who do not depend upon church buildings, or
upon corrupt priesthoods, and all of the evils which have sadly become
associated with them.

God's true Church is united in Spirit by the Word of God, and it manifests
itself -- not through a visible, worldwide empire like the RCC -- but rather
through small home churches, and people fellowshipping online in small
groups, such as through Christian forums and mailing lists. There is no
leadership but Christ. There are no church buildings but our own bodies,
which are the temples of God's Spirit. As Jesus said, the Kingdom of Heaven
cometh not by observation. That was the mistake that the ancient Jews made.
They expected Jesus to be a warrior who would physically overthrow the Roman
empire and re-establish Israel, but that isn't what He came to do. Jesus
came to set up His Father's spiritual Kingdom on Earth.

Anyway, I have said all of these things before in my articles, but I
couldn't help but think of them again as I was reading about these
continuing problems within the RCC, and other denominations as well.

If you would care to read the New York Times article, please go here:

/25/world/europe/25vatican.html?th&emc=th


Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
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