I found the value of historic apostolic church (Catholic or Orthodox) when I was a young man, habitually lying. That sin of lying was hanging over me as a very dark cloud. Books I was reading gave me a sense of being a bad person, in shame and disgrace. Good preaching showed me, as in a vision, how holy God is, how glorious Christ is. I knew my need acutely. I was then converted by a message of a street evangelist; the message was that Christ died for me. My hope surged. The evangelist took me into a Catholic church to pray with me. Catholics there were preparing for mass (‘communion’ as I called it as a Protestant). It was a large church building so we were able to pray at the front of the church while the others were gathering near the back. The Holy Spirit power came upon me as I confessed candidly, and the power broke my lying habit, by filling my voice with supernatural strength when I candidly prayed in truth and leaving me every time I started to lie and exalt myself. It must have been obvious to all in the building. The evangelist took me to those meeting for the bread and wine. They must have heard this powerful phenomenon and the way I prayed. They let me receive the bread and wine, the body and blood of Christ, with them, recognising the Holy Spirit had made us one. Apparently this is acceptable in Catholic law when the Holy Spirit obviously descends on someone even if the confessor is not a Catholic. I was sad to have to go home after a while where this kind of fellowship was not know, not even in church. We Protestants do not have confession, and the like. If you want to confess, people think you are very odd. So, since then, I have made the most of Protestantism, and been given much grace from miraculous and prophetic gifts of the Holy Spirit in it, but it does not have all the benefits of Catholicism and Orthodoxy.
