I want to share a letter with you. And then you
and I are going to have a good heart -to -heart
talk about something that's close to my own heart.
The letter begins, Dear Catherine, I'm going
to have a heart -to -heart talk with you. And
the word you is underlined. I am a Roman Catholic
and a born -again Christian. I have attended
your services at the shrine since last December.
All this time I have wondered what the Catholic
Church would say about my attending your services,
but I have kept it locked up in my heart as my
heart told me it was all right for me to go.
Then last Sunday, my prayers were answered. When
you had the Catholic priest go on stage, I kept
my eye on him. And after the services, I asked
him what he thought of you. And he said that
you were spirit -filled and that you had never
said anything against the Catholic Church. I
asked him if it was okay to come and bring Catholics
to your services. And he said, yes. The tears
flowed for quite a while after that. I was so
happy that I just couldn't stop crying. I thank
God that he made you, Catherine Cooman. Oh, you'll
never know how many hearts are empty, how many
hearts are hungry, and how they are filled with
the spirit by going to your services. I'm writing
this letter because I want you to know the importance
of not saying anything against any religion.
I think preachers turn many people away when
they start ranting and raving about how such
and such a religion and the wrong things that
this or that religion is doing. People just tune
them out, and that's the end of it. any good
the preacher could have done. As a last comment,
I would like to tell you that I stood about two
seats behind the Catholic priest in the Shrine
Auditorium, and I saw the wonder in his eyes
as teenager after teenager went on stage for
the altar call. And then when I talked to him,
it seemed like two light bulbs. were lit within
his eyeballs. He was absolutely aglow with the
love of God. Thank you, Catherine, a million
thanks, and we will give all the praise to God.
May he bless you and protect you and keep you
from all harm. With a heart filled with love,
I am, and in the writer of the letter that I
have just read, signs her full name, gives her
full address, which I shall keep in confidence.
I learned my lesson a long time ago, and I had
an experience I shall never forget. I think of
it over and over again, and it was those last
days. When Mama was in the hospital in Kansas
City, Missouri, just before she went home to
glory, it was the Catholic Hospital in Kansas
City, a very fine hospital. The head nurse on
the floor where Mama was a patient was a lovely
thing. I can see her now in her spotless white
dress, robes, uniform, whatever you desire to
call it. She was about my age. Her coloring was
about the same as mine. And when I would go to
the hospital early every morning to see Mama,
She was always on duty. And I don't know whether
Mama ever knew it or not, but I never went to
see Mama. Never in my life. Whether it was at
home, in Concordia, Missouri, wherever it was,
I always dressed up. I always wore my best clothes.
I always wore a hat because I was my mama's daughter
and I wanted her to be proud of me. And so when
I would go to the hospital, I would always wear
a hat. It was summer and I liked big hats with
lots of flowers on them. And I knew mama would
appreciate it. I wanted her to be proud of me.
In those days, I think I spent more time getting
dressed up just for Mama than any other time
in my life. And when I would come to the hospital,
this lovely Catholic sister would say to me,
Good morning, and here comes the lady with the
beautiful hat. And then she would stand there
and smile, look at my hat. She appreciated the
beauty of the hat. But it was more than that.
I think we both were appreciating each other.
She could feel my love for her, and without saying
a word, she sensed what... I sensed. And each
morning, I could see myself in her uniform. And
I would say, if I had been brought up a Catholic,
if Mama and Papa were Catholics, I probably would
be doing what she was doing. Had I been brought
up a Catholic in Concordia, Missouri, Because
of my love for souls, my love for humanity, my
love for the Lord, wanting to be in service for
Him, I probably would be doing exactly what she
was doing. Beloved, sometimes we fall. Sometimes
I think that man's intolerance of his fellow
man, the lack of understanding, is one of the
biggest sins in the world today. We forget that
a man can be Roman Catholic, a woman can be Roman
Catholic, and still be born again. a child of
God. It's the same Heavenly Father. And God had
only one Son, Jesus Christ. And there is only
one Holy Spirit. There are just as many born
-again men and women in Catholicism as we have
in the Protestant Church. We forget that. So
many Protestants think that just because one
is a Catholic, they're doomed and damned and
on their way to hell. And what is true of Protestants
is true of Catholics. You'd be amazed how many
Catholics feel and have felt for generations
that there is only one church, the Catholic Church,
and they stand in judgment regarding a Protestant.
Just because one is a Protestant outside of the
Catholic Church, that they're doomed and damned
and couldn't possibly go to heaven, couldn't
possibly be an heir of God and a joint heir with
Christ Jesus. Remember something. It's that new
birth experience, whether you're Catholic or
Protestant, whether you're Jew or Gentile, it
is still that new birth experience that makes
you a Christian. Any man, any woman who will
meet the condition that the Word of God has laid
down. If we confess our sins, he is able and
just to forgive us our sins. If we come boldly
before the throne of God and in the wonderful
name of Jesus, we confess our need of Jesus.
When we confess that we needed the blood of Jesus
Christ to cleanse us from all sin, all unrighteousness.
regardless of who that man, that woman might
be. In that moment, the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, will cleanse that one from all sin.
In that moment, when that glorious spiritual
transaction takes place, we call it the new birth
experience. In that very second, the mighty Creator
becomes that one's Heavenly Father. Jesus becomes
that one's great high priest. Whether you are
Catholic or Protestant, Jew or Gentile, through
that wonderful transaction, Jesus becomes our
great mediator, our advocate, our great high
priest. To him we confess our sins. Know that.
No man can forgive sins but the great high priest.
For all have sinned and come short of the glory
of God. We can talk our troubles over with each
other, but there's only one. who has the power
to forgive. And that one is Jesus Christ. In
that moment, that one is born into the body of
Christ. Born into his church. And when we have
the great catching up, And when we say the church
and the Lord Jesus Christ will be caught up,
we're not just talking about Protestants. We're
not just talking about Gentiles. We are talking
about men and women who've been born again. Members
of his body. There'll be Roman Catholics in that
great catching up. There will be Jews in that
great catching up. Protestants in that great
catching up. God knows no such thing as nationality.
There'll be Russians in that great catching up.
There'll be Germans, Italians. Why? God knows
no such thing as nationality. He knows no such
thing as a great church system that has nothing
to do with one's born -again experience. Do you
know that today in Russia there are literally
thousands and thousands of wonderful born -again
Christians? saints of God and yet how often we
are guilty of referring to Russia as the great
communistic nation and we take for granted because
of our intolerance that everybody in Russia is
communistic and deny the deity and divinity even
the very existence of God Almighty. There are
literally thousands of saints of God in Russia
today and in communistic nations throughout the
world. Yes, beloved, man's intolerance of his
fellow men has down through the ages caused more
hatred, and war than anything I know anything
about today. And today it threatens to wipe mankind
off the face of the earth, our ignorance of others'
aims or virtues, failure to discover them, our
refusal to tolerate them. Misunderstood long
enough, people and nations become demons in our
eyes. and we in theirs. And the ugly thing looms
larger and larger, and it has gotten way out
of proportion today. We need to do something
about it. When you get to know a fellow, know
his joys and know his cares, when you've come
to understand him, and the burden that he bears,
and when you've learned the fight he's making
and the troubles in his way, then you find that
he is different than you thought him yesterday.
You find his faults are trivial, and there's
not so much to blame in the fellow that you jeered
at knew his name. You're quick to see the blemish
in the distant neighbor's style. You can point
to all his errors, and you may sneer at him the
while, and your prejudices fatten, and your hates
more violent grow as you talk about the failures
of the man you really do not know. But when drawn
a little closer and your hands and shoulders
touch, you'll find that the traits you hated
really don't amount to much. When you get to
know a fella, You know his every mood and whim.
You begin to find the texture of the splendid
side of him. You begin to understand him, and
you cease to scoff and sneer. For with understanding,
always prejudices disappear. And you begin to
find his virtues, his faults you cease to tell.
For you seldom hate. a fella when you get to
know him very well. When next you start in sneering
and phrases turned to blame, no more of him you
censor than his business and his name. For it's
likely that acquaintance would your prejudice
dispel, and you'd really come to like him. him
if you knew him very well. When you get to know
a fellow and you understand his ways, then his
failures won't really matter. For you'll find
an awful lot to praise. And when it comes to
this thing of religion, Remember the scripture.
Follow after love. We know the Ten Commandments,
but Jesus gave the Eleventh. A new commandment
I give unto you, that ye love one another as
I have loved you. that ye may also love one another.
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,
if ye have love one another. Love is still the
greatest force in the world today, and the greatest
need in the universe this hour. is a love. His
love. For it is his love that gives understanding.