. It does. I appreciate it. Ordered the first title. Free is good, but I need paper in my hands. :) I appreciate your discussions. Any time you can post the titles is fine with me. Wow, I asked and have received! Thank you so much. . Thank you. Well that simply doesn't leave enough time for rabbit trails. ;)

I forgot to mention King Arthur Flour has some (not all) products that are produced in a nut, soy, and gluten free facility. Their Gluten-Free stuff is produced there. I contacted them asking about how likely something from their non-GF facility would really be contaminated (one product contained a warning about being produced on the same line as tree nut-containing products. KAF sells mixes that contain almonds and other nuts.) Their first rep gave me an inaccurate response and I could tell he didn't understand my question. I wasn't sure if it was my wording or his inexperience so I asked again and Frank from KAF responded back with apologies and detailed how the product was handled. He gave me the handling information and said he believed that there was a risk for our situation. I went to their tent sale and they had prepackaged samples snacks from a completely nut-free facility, too. It was a rare treat to be at an event like that and actually be able to sample a baked good. :grouphug: Could be cross-contamination. Food allergies are so hard. We are still getting a handle on exactly what will cause our daughter to react. The labeling laws don't really help us out, either. I wouldn't say bad mom. :001_smile: We wouldn't eat those things but everyone has different situations. I'd just say: take your doctor recommendations seriously. We used to eat things that I would never consider now. And we eat things now I was terrified of when first diagnosed. We've been to the hospital and have had five severe (three life-threatening) reactions between us. The labels are frustrating, but we bypass a lot of the trouble by baking from scratch. I was the Chief Cookie Burner/Brick Brownie Baker in my family before allergies came along. Now, I really do love to bake. It's not for everyone but I ended up being glad that our allergies mean we do a lot of baking. It's been fun and I don't set off the fire alarms like I used to. :iagree: We got the green light on products that "may contain" peanuts last year since our peanut allergies improved. But no Nutella here, either. I'm not quite over that loss. Here's some vanilla recipes ... we haven't tried either, yet, but these are just two we've looked at: Recipe 1 Recipe 2 :iagree:

:iagree::iagree::iagree: This is why I won't give out safe lists. Certain products from a company might be safe, but others might not be. Companies change frequently. You can't rely on other people's research. Lists are well-intentioned but troubling. And I regularly hear about food recalls even in specialty products. If you read the label of one particular brand of ice cream, it won't say anything about nuts. But if you go to the website, there's a warning. General Mills at one point started adding peanut flour. Never go by old safe lists that you see posted. They dismay me because people w/o allergies think I should just have a list ready to go and have no problem with knowing what is ok for us to eat. Check the mainstream stuff every time. Yes, every time or at least be very prepared if there is an emergency. (Epi-pens are always in easy reach for us, anyway.) We really can't say that Dove or Oreo is always safe. It might be today but might not in a few months. I will say there is Vermont Nut Free chocolates. I don't think they will be adding nuts anytime soon. ;)

Well, this is an eye opener. I totally agree with the first line in Milovany's quote. I think I'm starting to understand why I've heard some pretty interesting misconceptions in the Baptist churches that I've been to (again, I'm not speaking for all Baptists, just a few particular churches full of lovely people like me that thought y'all worship Mary :lol:). This has given me a lot to think about. The preachers I have heard do try to answer "What does God mean here?" but their educational/training background sounds completely different. They mostly do expository preaching (individual choice) going through a book of the Bible and do topical for Sunday School/Wed. night but their sermons are obviously designed to be for older kids/adults and the whole atmosphere is very discouraging for babies/young kids. The messages are very personal and very different ... and long. I couldn't imagine allowing a young child in those services but I was happy to have them with me at Mass. Neat! The churches I've been to definitely "sell" hard. It was so weird to visit at the Catholic church and not have anyone try to convert me. Chucki, or anyone else ... any book suggestions for a Catechism or something to help me out? I'm not saying I want to convert but I'm very interested in learning about Catholicism from Catholics instead of Baptists. ;) You can PM me if you don't want to derail the thread.

Once, and only once, I bought a loaf of GF bread. I think it was rice flour. Gross. Gluten Free Pantry or King Arthur Flour box mix breads are good, but pricey. Generally, I like KAF GF products best. Bob's Red Mill also sells mixes or the individual ingredients to make your own blends. Corn pasta worked better for us than rice. The rice pasta tasted ok but didn't reheat well and was a little tricker to cook. Corn pasta is cheap at my grocery store. We ate a lot of polenta. We also splurged on a lovely rice maker. Our local store has pre-washed white rice for a reasonable price. (We can't use brown, wish we could!) I feel for you! We had to be GF for awhile and it's tough. But it helped me be more aware of what I was eating and I think we are better off for the experience.

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:iagree: And I got a Pottery Barn catalog (never buy but I do get ideas there) that helped me see how colors looked. Again, it doesn't take the place of testing the color but it narrowed down some choices. My local store has the Ben Moore Aura color samples ... small jars for three or four dollars and a dollar for a mini paint tray and roller. It's a cheap way to test the color. And if you like the color, you can have it made in a different line, if you don't care for Aura or its price.

Thanks for help on the household thing. FWIW, I'm not sure any of the church leaders would have made that "babies" argument but they definitely will not accept infant baptism. The churches I went to did acknowledge things like "Trinity" not being in the Bible, but they let that slide. Again, I didn't say these things made sense. But it's what was taught, and what drove a lot of my misconceptions about Catholicism. It's been surprisingly easier to unlearn them than it was to learn them, at least. Thank you. I will do more reading about that. My apologies, I wasn't trying to argue that "Eucharist" isn't in the Bible or that it's unbiblical. I've just been explaining some of the things I was taught from a particular group of churches and showing how their interpretation of "personal relationship" leads to thinking that Catholics aren't Christian. They believe you can only have a personal relationship after reaching the age of accountability and you have to have that before you can be baptized, pray, tithe, be a church member, serve, or partake in communion. So you can see why people who are taught this are going to take issue with the Eucharist. If it helps, I don't believe those things ... was just explaining why some people have these ideas and almost automatically feel the need to hand tracts to Catholics. Thank you. That makes sense to me.

Ah, there's a huge difference. The sermon at the churches I've been to is at least 35 minutes, sometimes 45-50 minutes and the service is specifically set up for older kids to adults. It's not policy or anything, but it is considered very strange to even sit outside with your baby and listen. You would be offered the nursery service or perhaps highly encouraged to use it. Part of this idea comes from a particular interpretation of some verses, and some of it comes from the parenting style promoted within these churches. So you can see why I was so surprised about the priest's instructions to calm and comfort the babies during the Mass. Is this the norm at Catholic churches? I see. The sermons I referred to used fairly discreet language but they definitely would have raised questions for little ones. But again, the service and sermons are really designed to have the young ones absent.

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Ok, I tried the household baptism/infant idea and since the word "babies" isn't there, I was told it does not at all prove infant baptism. In fact it somehow proves believer's baptism. :confused: But what you said makes sense to me. Basically, yes. No purgatory. No Eucharist. No Pope. No Rosary. Their communion (or more often referred to as the "Lord's Table") I think, sounds like a totally different thing. For this particular group of churches, grape juice and crackers are given periodically, maybe monthly. It is a memorial to Jesus, a time to remember the Cross and sacrifice. It is usually offered in an evening service, not in the morning, and only to people who have been immersed. There is no Real Presence. Those who have a personal relationship, have been immersed, and are under a local church authority are invited to come and dine. I'm not saying this makes sense. This is just how it was taught. I've only been to Mass three or four times in my life, but I think that your time of "communion" is a completely different experience, as it seems to be a regular part of Mass? Thank you. I don't feel like I've heard malicious bashing, either. But I was taught with such an emphasis on what was wrong with not only Catholics, but also Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Lutherans, that I've been a little suspicious, I guess. The attitude of superiority and "Thank God we don't worship Mary" jabs have turned me off. And I just don't want to go to a Catholic church and get smacked with how wrong the other denominations are. I've struggled with the arguments of having a verse to go with everything because I feel like it gets twisted to justify why everyone else is so unbiblical and why we must put babies in a nursery, have services at specific times, only have communion once a month, can't possibly use wine, and would never sing Ave Maria. So much of the Hail Mary is Scripture, right? But somehow, there's a verse to tell me why it's idol worship. Enjoy your coffee and come back. That helped me. Pretty much the same here. I've been taught salvation is a specific point in time.

The problem with it might be for people who have had inexperienced teens looking after their babies. I went to a church where you were expected to hand over your infant to whoever was on duty, even if that person had no experience with children. They did have rules and excellent security (always having an adult present, only adults change diapers, no men in the nursery) but if I didn't feel comfortable with either the adult or the teen on duty, I would decline. Age isn't the basis for my assessment. I saw an adult woman walk away and leave a baby on the changing table. She was not in view of the baby and the infant could have easily rolled or wiggled and fallen to the floor. I can think of plenty of twelve year old children that would never have done that.

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[ :iagree: I really struggle here because I was taught that as you mature spiritually, you get to the right answer on everything. That church had a similar idea -- we have the truth on every topic (theology, music, dress, parenting, church government, etc.) And we might have to separate from those who don't agree with certain truths, even if is not a "fundamental" truth. Yes, from more than one pastor. There was a sermon series about the wrongs of having all age groups together. Not to pick on this segment of Baptists, I also went to an evangelical (not Baptist) church where a lady frantically opened the basement for childcare when she saw I intended to keep my quiet child with me. We were sitting on the aisle seat close to the back so I could exit in case the sermon topic was inappropriate for her. But I was told she shouldn't be in the service. Hearing the difference between the sermons (correct me if my terminology is wrong) at the Catholic church and the Baptist ones, though, is a major reason as to why kids are in their own classes. Frankly, we didn't want the infant to preschool age listening to the Baptist pastor for almost an hour about adultery, immorality, or marital relations (not every week, of course.) At the Catholic church, the message from Psalm 23 was more family-friendly.

Thank you for listening. Altar calls -- for some Baptists, one would never respond more than once unless they made a false profession of faith and suddenly realized that they weren't actually born again. And again, there's another reason why some Baptists will witness to Catholics and Episcopalians. They would hear responding to altar calls weekly as evidence that they have a wrong view of salvation, not realizing that your altar calls are not the same thing. Not saying I believe that, just partially explaining why there is an evangelizing ministry for Catholics. Thanks for the information on confirmation, too. Me, too. Because they beieve everyone needs to have a point in time. A Before and After testimony. Before: the time when the person was a slave to sin and unrepentant. They may believe in God, but not have received the gift of salvation. If the person had died during this time, they would go to hell (there's no purgatory). After: From that moment on, the person is free from slavery to sin (although they still sin), now will repent, has the Holy Spirit within them, must be baptized by immersion, may take communion, must join a church and start serving. In the church where I was taught, that's mostly what they would agree with. Except, they would say someone with normal cognitive function should certainly realize by a certain age, younger than thirteen. No one ever specifies exactly what that age is but it is definitely before thirteen. Very interesting! Yep, I've been told we need a scriptural reason for everything. When you say "no brainwashing", would you say that you were taught Catholicism rather than why other denominations are wrong?

:iagree: I also like simplyrecipes.com but I'm not sure it is what you would call gourmet and it doesn't have reviews. But often, comments back and forth with readers and the author of the site are helpful.

I can assure you that at least some of the people who are confused about Catholics and profess a "personal relationship" would never call Jesus their "buddy". They would say "Jesus", "Lord", or something similar. :001_smile: However, they are going to say "personal relationship" as something that they would be rather surprised to hear a Catholic would have, if that makes sense. :( Partly because they believe we are born without it and cannot have it until a specific time after one has realized the truth of the gospel, God has called, and the person responds with a prayer desiring forgiveness and repentance. I'm not speaking for everyone that uses invitations or altar calls, just what I've been exposed to. Altar calls, I think, is correct. Or "invitation". It's an opportunity to go hear the gospel again and respond to the call of God for salvation. The "age of accountability" varies depending on the child. Yes, some are told they aren't old enough if the adult discerns that the child is responding to go along with the crowd or is just parroting what they have heard. If a child really seems to understand, then they have reached the age of accountability (this really ties in more to answer what happens to infants/young children if they die before a testimony of salvation) and can be saved & baptized. And sometimes, if a child is saved young, they go through a time of doubt since they don't remember it or didn't do anything really bad before their profession. Then they are counseled about assurance of salvation. Either they get assurance or actually get saved later. They think children have to first get saved in order to be baptized. So, no, they wouldn't be told to wait if since if they want forgiveness, that is evidence they have reached the age of accountability. It's not a specific age, it depends on if God has called and the child has responded. It might explain why some Baptists evangelize Catholics.

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I was taught that Catholics don't talk to Jesus since they pray to Mary and the saints and think they can only get to God through a priest, violating the command not to call anyone "Father". I know you didn't ask me, but yes, it did surprise me to realize that. It shouldn't have, since I knew the Rosary way back when. But then, I was told that it was vain repetition and idol worship to use rosary beads. The people that I know who use the term "personal relationship" (and this is not representative of all) would be horrified to call say "bestest buddy". What they are saying is that there was a specific moment in time when, after the "age of accountability", God worked in their hearts an he or she realized they were a sinner, asked for forgiveness, turned from sin, believing Jesus died for their own sins, and got saved. From that moment on, they have supernatural understanding of the Bible and God will finally begin to hear their prayers as long as they regularly repent of sins. They are no longer spiritually dead, but alive in Him. They can begin to grow spiritually. If they are then baptized by immersion, they can begin taking communion. Some may have the "buddy" idea, but that is far and away from what I've been around. After just visiting a Catholic church for the first time in years, I second the idea. :001_smile: Ah, yes. The Baptist church I went to described the start of a relationship with a personal Savior as a specific moment in time. But they did not identify as Protestant, either.

That's a huge one. I was just talking with a friend and was told the Hail Mary prayer was clearly idol worship. I used to buy into that idea but as I recited it, I wondered ... isn't it a request to ask Mary to pray? Baptists always ask each other to pray for things. And if they believe Mary is alive in heaven (which they do), wouldn't they want her to pray for them? The counter argument was that it is wrong to call her "Mother of God." Ahhhh! :confused: Thank you for addressing that one. Glad to hear that. More than once, I've been told how certain verses prove that babies must be in the nursery. I used to have a book about the Rosary and it talked about the meditations on Jesus. At a Baptist church, I heard a lot about the importance of meditation, but it would probably knock their socks off to realize that the Rosary is all about Jesus, rather than idol worship or vain repetition. Recalling the Rosary meditations was a step in breaking down some of the misconceptions I've had about Catholicism.

Very interesting. I've been thinking the same thing about Awana. Also I just went to a Mass where the priest said that if the baby cries, there's plenty of room to walk around and comfort the child. Stand in the back if need be, but don't leave, he said. Total opposite of a non-denom. church I attended where we heard Bible verses used to support the reasons why kids really need to be in the nursery. Nothing against people who use a church nursery. I just liked this thought. I didn't even want to bother to go when I had infants b/c I'd spend most of the time on mandatory nursery duty anyway. I'm so sorry you hear that. I hope that the fact that I'm not Catholic but commenting can be forgiven since I have been thoroughly embarrassed by my former misconceptions and have been trying to show that I don't believe them anymore. I used to think so many of the ones listed (Catholics aren't Christians, worship Mary, think everything the Pope says is infallible, don't follow Jesus, etc.) I think it may have been another recent Catholic topic thread where someone said they were Protestant and didn't hear these kinds of misconceptions. To shed a little light, maybe (?) ... I heard these things from people that would probably be called Protestant. But the pastor of the church actually said that they weren't really Protestant because they (Baptists) didn't protest, they went beyond and got really biblical by totally going on a different track. Somehow their way was superior in every aspect (salvation, theology, church govt., etc.). And in sermons, we'd hear about the wrongs of the Catholic church. We were told "Ave Maria" was a lovely piece of music but unfortunately off limits since it is used to worship Mary. Basically, if we said someone was Catholic, that automatically meant "unsaved". I remember Pope John Paul II's death was used as a springboard for a sermon again pointing to the error of the Catholic church. There was a genuine heartache for the people they believed were in need of the gospel but I scratch my head now. So many of the misconceptions that I kept hearing just stopped making any kind of sense. Sorry to also ramble but my apologies and thanks to those who have been helping me understand the truth.

Well, I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for but here is a link to Singapore materials on Rainbow Resource

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