Satan deceived the first two people to walk the earth. Now, 7 billion people later, he’s deceived much of the world. Members of most mainline Protestant churches are either unaware or proud of how they became liberally unbiblical, beginning 150 years ago. Those who were aware finally took a stand and formed the National Association of Evangelicals in the 1940s. Now the devil is getting a stranglehold on them as well. As far as the Roman Catholic Church goes, I’m saving that one till last for a reason.
“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4).
THE SLIPPERY SLOPE
Eric Barger provides a very good explanation on his website of what happened then and what’s happening now. See EricBarger.com, Where Are Evangelicals Heading?
The following is from page 182 of The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey. Published 45 years ago, it tells us what to expect from the churches in the end of days before Christ’s return. If, after reading the excerpt, some are still unaware of its amazingly accuracy, hopefully they will realize it by the end of this writing.
“In the institutional church, composed of professing Christians who are in many cases not Christian, look for many things to happen: With increasing frequency the leadership of the denominations will be captured by those who completely reject the historic truths of the Bible and deny doctrines which, according to Christ Himself, are crucial to believe in order to be a Christian. In some of the largest Protestant denominations this has already taken place. The few remaining institutions which are not yet dominated by the disbelievers will go downhill in the same manner.
There will be unprecedented mergers of denominations into religious conglomerates. This will occur for two reasons: First, most denominations were formed because of deep convictions about certain spiritual truths. As more of these truths are discarded as irrelevant because of unbelief in biblical authority, there will be no reason to be divided.
Unity is certainly important to have, but never, according to the teachers (who are) of Christ, at the expense of the crucial truths of Christianity. Secondly, as ministers depart from the truths of the Bible, they lose the authority and power that it has to meet real human needs, and as many ministers are not truly born spiritually themselves and are consequently without the illumination of God’s spirit, they no longer will be able to hold their present congregations, much less attract others. So they will resort to ‘social action gimmicks,’ super-organization, and elaborate programs as a substitute.’” — Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth, 1970.
PERVERT TO CONVERT
I’d like to provide you with one example of a “gimmick” used today to attract and retain young church members. These types of lures and others that are unbiblical are occurring in other churches too, but I wouldn’t have expected the following from Southern Baptists:
At Cross Church, which is the church of Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the youth pastor danced with his girlfriend to a vulgar song in front of the kids. The couple had a dance routine down pat, so obviously they listened to the song at least a few times, enough to be aware of the words to it.
The video was on the Cross Church facebook page until the “stuff hit the fan,” after which it was taken down. You can view this worldly video at PulpitandPen.org, Cultural Filth at Ronnie Floyd’s Cross Church. The words to the song are provided in the accompanying article.
The son of the teaching pastor/president of The Cross Church School of Ministry defended the video by posting this angry remark: “Your legalistic garbage is sickening to any half-way decent Christian. If you don’t like the music or dancing, that’s fine, but claiming that it’s a sin IS a sin in it of itself.” (I assume he meant to say in and of itself).
View the post at PulpitandPen.org, More Downgrade at Floyd’s Cross Church.
Let’s look in God’s word: “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God” (James 4:4). “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17).
But let’s not stop at that one; the same site pointed out another one. It’s titled Floyd’s Cross Church Does the Harlem Shake. Be sure to read the article with the video to see just who started the dance craze in which these youth members at Cross Church are participating, along with their leader.
Paul explained the importance of having godly leaders in his epistle to Timothy (1 Timothy 3:1-13), after which he said, “I hope to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:14-15).
That aside, what should we expect from this SBC president? Let’s see; he endorses Word of Faith preacher, Robert Morris, and says he listens to him regularly. Is that really a cause for pause? Yes. Why? Read on.
The following excerpt is from GotQuestions.org, Is the Word of Faith Movement Biblical?
“The Word of Faith movement is deceiving countless people, causing them to grasp after a way of life and faith that is not biblical. At its core it is the same lie Satan has been telling since the Garden: “You shall be as God” (Genesis 3:5). Sadly, those who buy into the Word of Faith movement are still listening to him.
Our hope is in the Lord, not in our own words, not even in our own faith (Psalm 33:20-22). Our faith comes from God in the first place (Ephesians 2:8; Hebrews 12:2) and is not something we create for ourselves. So, be wary of the Word of Faith movement and any church that aligns itself with Word of Faith teachings.” — GotQuestions.org
Okay, what else? The following is an excerpt from a June 10, 2014 article on the Apprising Ministries website titled Ronnie Floyd, New Southern Baptist Convention President:
“The election of Ronnie Floyd, and the decision to bring in sinful ecumenicist and Purpose Driven Pope Rick Warren as Keynote Speaker for the SBC’s 2014 Pastor’s Convention, would appear to me to signal that the SBC may also be heading into a more Seeker Driven (man-centered, not God-centered) and ecumenical (as in false unity) direction as well.” — Apprising.org
URGENT! EMERGENT DIVERGENT
The definition of the word ignorant is: unaware. However, there are just times when ignorant seems to fit better.
With that said, Rick Warren, pastor of one of today’s mega-churches in America (of the Emergent Church Movement), made the following ignorant statement at the 2005 Pew Forum on Religion biannual Faith Angle Conference:
“Now the word fundamentalist actually comes from a document in the 1920s called the Five Fundamentals of the Faith. And it is a very legalistic, narrow view of Christianity; and when I say there are very few fundamentalists, I mean in the sense that they are all actually called fundamentalist churches, and those would be quite small. There are no large ones…that group is shrinking more and more and more.”
Just what are the five fundamentals of faith Warren is saying are “too narrow?” They are the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the virgin birth, the blood atonement, the bodily resurrection, and the inerrancy of the scriptures.
I guess Rick doesn’t think God knows best.
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 17:13-14).
The Bible warns us that in the last days men will “have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power.” We’re told, “From such turn away!” (2 Timothy 3:5). Also, 2 Timothy 3:13 tells us these “impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
Warren called for all religions to come together and focus on things like “stopping wars, healing the sick and feeding the hungry.” That’s the “social action gimmick.”
What about focusing on salvation in Christ Jesus? Unity at the cost of throwing away the fundamentals of the Christian faith is not true unity at all, but a false unity that does not save one’s soul. This is not God-centered theology; it’s man-centered theology.
THE CREEPING CRISLAM
Rick Warren has been criticized for embracing Crislam (the idea that Muslims and Christians worship the same God). However, he’s not the only one who does so. To see just how far it has crept, read Is Your Church Embracing Crislam? by Geri Ungurean at NowTheEndBegins.com. You may be surprised. Also read Christian Leaders Continue to Endorse Chrislam at ProphecyWatch.com.
GIVE ME YOUR MONEY, HONEY
Let’s not leave out those prosperity preachers, the televangelists that espouse the greed creed. They live in lavish compounds costing many millions of dollars with money they took from gullible people, most of whom can least afford it. They twist God’s word, and they have no shame in doing so.
1 Timothy 6:5 tells us these are “men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.” See also 1 Timothy 3:3, 6:9-11; Luke 12:15; Matthew 6:19.
Hebrews 13:5 tells us: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”
IS THERE HOPE IN THE POPE? NOPE!
The road to Rome is paved with Protestants these days. On James Robison’s program, Beth Moore said God had spoken to her that we were to have unity with Rome. Robison looked into the camera and said, “Pope Francis, I see Jesus in you.”
Rick Warren called the pope “our” new pope and said, “If you love the pope, you’ll love Jesus. He is doing everything right. You see, people will listen to what we say if they like what they see.”
Oh! Okay. That’s the ticket, huh? Tell them what they want to hear and you’ll have them. Now what does that remind me of? Hmm…Oh yes! “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires” (2 Timothy 4:3).
Remember when Francis called for Catholics and Charismatics to spiritually unite a year ago? The “we are gods” Kenneth Copeland of the give me your money and make me filthy rich gospel, praised the pontificating pope and said, “Heaven is thrilled over this.” Francis’ friend, the late Episcopal Bishop Tony Palmer, said, “Brothers and sisters, Luther’s protest is over. Is yours?”
A lot of Protestants seem to have forgotten why the Reformation occurred in the first place. Many died horrible deaths to get the Bible into the hands of the people so they could read biblical truth instead of a perversion of the gospel.
Pope Francis said, “God is good to me; he has bestowed on me a healthy dose of unawareness. I just do what I have to do. From the start I said to myself, ‘Jorge, don´t change, just keep on being yourself, because to change at your age would be to make a fool of yourself.'”
Let me tell you, this pope is anything but unaware! He knows exactly what he’s doing. Even conservative Catholics are up in arms over his radical statements, but he lets complaints go in one ear and out the other as though he never heard them. He just continues to move ahead with his agenda. The Jesuit motto is to be all things to all people in order to achieve the goal. What is this goal? It’s to unite all Christian churches and other religions under the Rome dome.
Catholic conservatives, upset with the direction that Francis is leading their church, are wondering whether there may have been a secret plot to elect him, questioning the legitimacy of his papacy. If true, he would be considered an anti-pope. I can’t help but wonder about the supposed supernatural sign that Cardinal Schönborn claimed to have occurred in the conclave, “of which he cannot speak,” that resulted in Francis being elected pope.
The pope has pandered to atheists, gays, Muslims, evolutionists, space alien believers — and in his latest remarks, animal lovers. Yes, we’d ALL like for our pets to be in heaven with us. The Bible does mention Jesus and his saints coming to Earth riding white horses (saints as in true believers in Christ, not specific RCC venerated ones). However, the Bible is not specific about pets in heaven, though God does tell us we will receive wondrous rewards (1 Corinthians 2:9).
My point is: What better way for the pope to lead everyone back to captivity under the papacy than to placate them? Torturous murders didn’t do the trick awhile back, so Rome has come up with a different approach. I’m sure you’ve all heard the expression “You catch more flies with honey.”
He even seems to be trying to placate ISIS with his remark that the door should always be open to negotiate with them. There is no negotiating with ISIS! They’re determined to follow the religion of Islam to the letter and massacre just the way their god, Allah, and their prophet, Mohammed, order them to do in the Qur’an.
Some are now wondering openly if the pope has taken leave of his senses. No, no. Not so! His senses are sharp — as keen as the blade of a guillotine.
The ones he does criticize are the fundamentalist and evangelical Christians, because they “stick too close to the Bible” and spread the gospel, hoping to convert the lost to Christianity, which Francis calls “proselytizing.”
In his video message, urging a reconciliation between Catholics and Charismatic Protestants, Francis spoke about Joseph’s brothers going to Egypt due to lack of food. What he was inferring was that Protestants are like Joseph’s brothers wandering the wilderness, trying to find their way to what will save them, which is the Roman Catholic Church, the one they call “the only true church” and “The Mother Church.”
I’ve already pointed out many errors in the RCC belief system in a few articles, the main one being Ides of March Part III: A Mystery Nevermore, so I’ll not repeat them here. But, suffice it to say, there is no way we can have any kind of unity with the Roman Catholic Church due to these serious errors.
In The Hal Lindsey report titled Unity At Any Cost, which aired on Dec.5 and Dec.12 of 2014, he pointed out that he’s been looking for one great prophetic sign to begin to develop fast, and that is the coming together of all the various religions called Christian, but a false form of it under one leader, specifically the pope. We see this happening, and “that is a sign that we are right at the door before Christ removes His ambassadors in what we call the Rapture.”
He said, “There are two factors going here. The antichrist comes and he resurrects the old Roman Empire politically, but the great harlot is the one who resurrects from what has been a latent form of the coming empire in the Tribulation—the religious aspect.
“They are seven kings (or kingdoms); five have fallen; one is, the other has not come; and when he comes he must remain a little while” (Revelation 17:10).
Hal pointed out these kingdoms with false religions that were spawned by Babylon over seven empires. The first five which had already fallen in John’s time were (1) Egypt (2) Assyria (3) Babylon (4) Media-Persia (5) Greece (6) “One is”— that was Rome which ruled in John’s time. (7) “And the other has not yet come.”
Hal explained that number seven “is going to be the resurrection of political and spiritual Rome again…The political empire ceased to exist at the end of the fourth century A.D. But it still remained in a secret form religiously.”
He went on to say, “Now, what religion is that? The Roman Empire out of Rome continued to exist as a religiously-controlled empire; and religiously for centuries it controlled the western world.’” — Hal Lindsey Report,Unity At Any Cost: Pt.1 & 2.
TAKE A LOOK: IT’S IN GOD’S BOOK
The Bible is filled with plenty of warnings and examples of Satan’s deceptions. We are to search the Scriptures to see if what we’re being taught is the truth, not the doctrines of men (2 Timothy 3:14-17; Acts 17:11 and Matthew 15:9; 1 John 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:21).
Jesus did not say that the Scriptures also include the Word of God. He said they were the Word of God. “Now He said to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures’” (Luke 24:44-45).
Unfortunately, many aren’t interested in reading the Bible. Therefore, they’re in danger of wolves that have invaded the flock, who come in sheep’s clothing and with flattering words to draw them away (Acts 20:29-30).
Any church that has its own book it refers to other than the Bible, that adds to or takes away from the Bible, or that rejects any portion of the Bible is a false church and is an abomination to God.
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1).
IN CONCLUSION: HEED THE CALL OR TAKE THE FALL
The apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that “we are not ignorant of Satan’s devices.” Luke said in Acts 17:30, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent.”
The “Mother of Harlots” unitized false church, prophesied in the Book of Revelation, is coming together at warp speed right in front of our eyes. The signs foretold in the Scriptures are literally screaming at us, yet there aren’t even enough pastors in the churches preaching the truth of the Scriptures, which includes Bible prophecy.
Jesus’ coming for his Bride, followed by the Tribulation, is right at the door. We must take up the slack and be the watchmen on the walls who plead with urgency on Christ’s behalf!
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
God urges mankind to accept the truth throughout the Scriptures. It’s only when they reject Him and His gospel message that He gives them over to their sinful ways.
“Just as they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations,
so will I choose their delusions, and bring their fears on them; because, when I called, no one answered; when I spoke they did not hear” (Isaiah 66:3-4).
True believers in Christ hear and are watching and listening for a certain sound…
“I hear the sound of a mighty rushing wind
And it’s closer now than it’s ever been
I can almost hear the trumpet as Gabriel sounds the chord
And at the midnight cry we’ll be going home…