OBW,
I am for the extinction of Religion. But I am NOT for the Extinction of the Word of God.
To your comment:
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It seems quite evident that there is a general disdain for anything that seems like tradition, ritual, liturgy, etc., as simply being "religious" and therefore cannot be Spirit filled."
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Not completely true. For example, I had more of a disdain for the RCC when I was in the LC than I have now. My parents had Catholic funerals in 1977. I remember calling "O Lord Jesus", through most of the mass, to myself of course. I would not stand or kneel. I simply sat there. Was I convicted by the Spirit to do so ? Noooo. I was 'convicted' by the LC teachings.
Since then, I have attended more Catholic masses because most people I know have Catholic backgrounds. My friends are saved but their parents or family members are still involved to some extent in the RCC. So if there's a wedding or funeral, we attend the mass. I don't 'freak out' at the notion of being in a Catholic church. And I participate in parts of the mass. For example when the priest says "The Lord be with you", the congregants reply "And with your spirit." I know what it means and thus I reply with my heart. I do pray the LORD will be with the man's spirit ! Do most attendants understand what they are saying ? Of course not. But they say it every time they go to mass. When the priest says " Let us pray: Our Father who art in heaven etc", I pray along because I AM addressing our Heavenly Father from my heart, from my spirit. Do most congregants while praying the "Our Father" understand what they are saying ? NO ! How do I know ? Because I was a Catholic for 20 years and at different seasons, went to mass DAILY. I went to a Catholic shool for 12 years !
My childhood friends who also went to Catholic shool with me are now SAVED. They never were in the LC and guess what ? The Holy Spirit revealed to them the Presence of God is not in mass. I never told them that ! And neither has anyone else!
So, the fact we were told in the LC "Christ vs Religion" has nothing to do with how I feel about religion. Btw, I could never get through that book. I've been to a couple of Lutheran, Episcopal Methodist, and Prebysterian services. The Lutheran & Episcopal services are virtually the same as the Catholic mass w/o the statues and veneration of Mary. And why shouldn't they be? They are direct off shoots of the RCC.
One thing I will say about the RCC: They acknowledge very much the Trinity. The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. I don't ever recall hearing a teaching but I was brought up to believe there are 3 Persons in ONE GOD. And that is a TRUE FACT. I GET it but I am not going to go round and round about that subject either.
The other observation that is sort of a credit to the RCC is, their mass consists of an altar and a tabernacle. Through the RCC, I got a little understanding of the OT elements.