On the commotion over a Protestant pastor who has gone over to Rome

People need to be broken in spirit. What church or denomination a person associates with is nothing compared to the effectual work of the word and the Spirit. The living word of God (heard or read, but received) is the wild card in the process of regeneration. Too many filters due to too much intellectual nonsense and pride can be a problem for many. Those filters have to dissolve, and the spirit has to be broken. Then an ability to see how fragile and limited our existence is. A person may be genuinely looking for a basic simplicity of the faith by bowing out intellectually, so to speak, and falling into the arms of a church like Rome, but the simplicity that person needs to have is the basic connection to the Branch which is Jesus. Once they have that, and the Spirit, they will want real biblical doctrine (which is armor of God) and not the word of man. It will happen naturally. It won't be merely intellectual at that point. Or vaguely emotional. This plays out in higher aspects of time, I believe, but there is an end of time, a harvest, so don't tarry. And don't underestimate the justice (or just-ness) and wrath of God. Remember: you were born guilty and corrupt. And then you got worse. When you hear: "Are you saved?" and you cleverly ask: "Saved from what?" the answer should shock: "Saved from God." Only the Mediator, Jesus Christ, can save you from God.

And don't be like this guy:

With regard to religion, he is agnostic, quoted as saying, "at the end of the day, if there was indeed some body or presence standing there to judge me, I hoped I would be judged on whether I had lived a true life, not on whether I believed in a certain book, or whether I'd been baptized. If there was indeed a god at the end of my days, I hoped he didn't say, 'But you were never a Christian, so you're going the other way from heaven.' If so, I was going to reply, 'You know what? You're right. Fine.' " - Lance Armstrong (who once dated an Olsen twin)