A DEVIL INDUCED FRENZY OF EXCITEMENT AND DELUSIONS
The spirits of Rev. 16:13-14 seem to be driving an orgy of frenzied fervor in those who are under their control in the charismatic movement:-
By 4 a.m., thousands were lined up at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for what may soon be called the beginning of a new wave of spiritual renewal and reconciliation of the Body of Christ in the United States. . .
Protestant pastor Lou Engle of “The Call” led Azuza Now, a revival marking the 110th anniversary of the Pentecostal Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles. Throughout the day, an estimated 90,000 Christians and church leaders from across the nation joined in praise, which began at 7 a.m. and ended at 10:30 p.m. April 9.
In 1999, from his then home base in Kansas City, Missouri, Engle began to organize the first of these large gatherings that grew into a series of stadium events, hoping to unleash the Holy Spirit.
The crowd’s hunger was spiritual, evident from the excitement onstage — from the testimonials of miraculous faith-healings, to the bathroom and concession-line politeness that you can only expect from a stadium full of Christians who refused to leave in the rain.
Shalom World Media was there to broadcast the event to the Catholic world, along with God TV and other Christian media channels. “It was the first time ever that a [mostly] Protestant-Christian event would be broadcasted on Catholic television,” remarked Mark McElrath of Orange County Catholics at Work, who emceed the broadcast along with Kevin Kast, formerly of the LA Archdiocese Office of Life, Justice and Peace, who is now an independent media producer. . .
Mike Bickle shared his testimony with The Tidings while dodging heavy raindrops by standing under the cover of an outdoor kitchen canopy by the greenroom tent.
“When I was in my 20s I was asked to pastor a church and I never officially went back to the Catholic Church, but I also don’t feel like I intentionally left it either. At the House of Prayer, I encourage people to learn the teachings of the Catholic saints, as the experts on contemplative prayer, such as Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross,” he said.
“In fact, the idea for 24-hour prayer and musical praise comes from the writings of King David; however, it was first done in the Christian church by the Catholics!” Bickle joyously expressed with his famously contagious grin. . .
Matteo Calisi, former president of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, was introduced and began to address the crowd in Italian with Dr. Bruno Ierullo translating:
“We are a delegation, a Catholic delegation. … I come from Italy. And, I bring you a salute from 150 million Charismatic Catholics.” As the crowd cheered, Calisi then spoke to the crowd about the influence of the Asuza Street Revival on the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
Following these remarks, he ceremoniously laid prostrate on the stage and kissed Lou Engle’s feet in an act of reconciliatory love. “We are just in a holy moment right here,” Engle emotionally cried out. Then he continued to call out the other church elders onto the stage while he fell to his knees reciprocally kissing Matteo’s feet.
“Jesus, I thank you!” cried out Calisi while Engle kneeled before his feet, “because you are breaking the spirit of division! You are preparing a great revival in the event of this call, like you did 100 years ago. Do it again! Do it again! Holy Spirit let your Spirit come again for a billion Catholics.” . . . (Internal hyperlinks added.)
As incredible as it may seem, kindred spirits are driving both the orgy of ecstatic fervor among charismatic "christians" and the outpouring of grief and celebration in the world of "rock," "soul," "pop," and "funk" music after the death of the musical genius Prince. He excelled in a genre which mixes sexual immorality with religion, in a delusion of "christian" religiosity:
Prince is an artist who uses popular iconography to present himself as an icon of consumer culture, as a deified "rock god" worshipped by his fans, analogous to a preacher leading his audience like a congregation. His personality cult mixes spirituality and sexuality freely, and deals with issues of ecstasy and liberation, a transgressional approach that draws both controversy and public interest. . .
One of the ways that Prince achieved fame was by courting notoriety by mixing the sacred and the profane. Durkheim (1965) defines religion as that relating to the sacred and profane, the secular being regarded perhaps as being that existing between these two poles. This paper aims to show how Prince mixes, confuses and plays with imagery and traditions that are traditionally regarded as either sacred or profane, transgressing borders and creating a "Sacred Popular" that lies between the two, in the realm of a popular culture often thought of as secular, but in fact drenched in meaning, belief, faith, worship and ritual, and thus presented here as religious.
Astonishing facts have been published about Prince's religious roots and ultimate practice:
Purple Faith: Prince's Life as a Jehovah's Witness
Prince was raised a Seventh-Day Adventist in Minneapolis frequently attending services with his grandmother at Glendale Church, a historically African-American congregation in the city. "Both of his parents believed in the strict faith as did Bernadette Anderson, who took him in after he left home," Touré writes in his book about Prince, I Would Die 4 U. Religion informed every part of his life: He told PBS that he informed his mother an angel told him he would no longer suffer from the epileptic seizures that plagued his early childhood.
Decades later, it took two years from Graham's initial work with Prince before the Purple One converted. News of Prince's conversion circulated in 2001 (the Associated Press was the first large outlet to report it, apparently based off an interview Prince gave to Gotham magazine), but people seemed to have a hard time believing the man who wrote songs like "Jack U Off" and "Sexy MF" was now a devout Jehovah's Witness until October of 2003.
On Oct. 5, 2003, a couple in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, opened their door at 2 p.m. to find Prince standing on their doorstep, Bible in hand. Needless to say, they were shocked. Compounding their surprise: They were Jewish, it was Yom Kippur and the Vikings were playing.
There is no way of knowing whether Prince received proper instruction in righteousness during his early years in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, or what influences led him into a career of corrupt religiosity. Nevertheless, the publication of his upbringing as a Seventh-day Adventist should be an embarrassment to the denomination. Worse yet is his identification as a Jehovah's Witness. It is beyond comprehension that the Watchtower Society is not embarrassed to acknowledge him as a church member:
The church said that Prince “found fulfillment as a Witness and in sharing his faith with others."
The statement added: "We do not have any details regarding his medical condition or the cause of his death. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, particularly his fellow worshippers in the Saint Louis Park congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Minnesota. We hope that all find comfort in the Bible’s promise of a future time when death, pain, and tears will be no more.—Revelation 21:3, 4."
This failure of the Jehovah's Witness Church to recognize the depravity of Prince's musical artistry is symptomatic of these end times. The vast majority of professed Christians are ignorant of the moral standards mandated by the Bible.
To state the obvious, the spirits of devils have thoroughly corrupted contemporary Christianity. The foundation was laid for their present work by the invention of "higher criticism." Faith in the Bible as the inspired Word of God has been dramatically undermined, and the result is "biblical illiteracy." Churchgoing people are not simply violating the moral standards of the Bible; they do not know that the standards exist for Christians.
Considering the role of the Church of Rome in destroying faith in the inspired Word of God, it should come as no surprise that while claiming the papacy's right to teach and enforce morality in the world, the Vatican has joined in recognizing and lamenting the death of Prince and praising his legacy:
Vatican pays tribute to Prince’s legacy
The death of the songwriter, singer and music producer Prince drew reactions from the Vatican and praise for his musical talent.
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, sent a tweet quoting the artist’s song “Sometimes It Snows In April:”
“Sometimes, sometimes I wish that life was never ending / All good things they say, never last.” . . .
The Italian edition of the Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano spoke of the artist’s death in Giuseppe Fiorentino’s article “The Prince and the ‘labels’.” . . .
While his music and performances were at times raunchy, his music sometimes had Christian-inspired overtones.
There is a fundamental reason for the Church of Rome's satanic work of undermining faith in the Bible and and her indifference to moral depravity. That reason is revealed in the very foundation of the papacy. Its founder was Simon Magus, not Simon Peter. The entire document SIMON MAGUS is highly profitable reading. In the context of the Church of Rome's true origin and her lack of moral legitimacy, note the following passages:
What Luke Tells Us About Simon Magus
What Did Simon and the Samaritans Believe?
What Deities Did the Samaritans Worship?
Simon Magus and HIS Universal Church
Simon Magus Blends Paganism With Christianity!
Simonites Establish UNIVERSAL CHURCH
In the history of Simon Magus lies a full revelation of the Roman Catholic Church's origin, the hollowness of her claim to be the true Christian Church of God, and the key to understanding the rampant mixture of the sacred and the profane in modern society.